I really don’t know how to approach this email......yep......... Well I guess I will just do what I always do in my emails and give yall an update.
So we had interviews this week and I saw Elder Voeks. My trainer who has been home for 15 months. Crazy A.
............I am going to miss my mission. The greatest time of my life and i have to go home. I love teaching the gospel. I love feeling the spirit. I love talking to someone on the street and testifying to them. i love talking to somebody that does not want to talk with us. I love the random people that you see and talk to, that make no sense at all. The mission is so full of inside jokes that i just can never really convey well unless you were there. I love the missionaries in this mission and for their love and support that they give to those that they teach. I love the people who I have taught out here. Even those who have not been baptized. I love the faith of so many people and for their determination to serve the Lord. I love President Saylin and for his faith and for his closeness to the Lord.
As i have done in my past emails I will do so in this email. In the words of President Monson this last conference during priesthood session. "If you have not read the Book of Mormon, then read it!" I would like to add if you have read it then to read it again and again. i have found that on my mission that when i think that I know everything about something I am only scratching the surface.
Gain a testimony of this gospel by the power of the Holy Ghost by praying and asking if these things are true! Hearken unto these words and believe in Christ. And if you don't believe in these words then believe in Christ. And if you shall believe in Christ you will believe these words. For they are the words of Christ. And they teach all men that they should do good. What can I say more? The scriptures are laid before you. Please do not rest them.
I know by the power of God that this gospel is true that the Book of Mormon is the word of Him and that Joseph Smith even though a young unlearned boy with his own struggles and problems was and is a true and holy prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that God exists and I know that Christ lives and has a resurrected body of flesh and bone. I know that we all one day will live again.
If you have any doubt of anything that I have said then that is just fine. There will always be a need for faith. But faith is not the end goal. There is a chapter in the Book of Mormon where Alma encourages everyone to try an experiment. It is in Alma 32 and i encourage all to read it. We all can plant a "seed" in our heart and see if it grows. I know that in this way we can all going a perfect knowledge after we exercise our faith.
I love you all and I sure do love my mission. For those of you preparing to go. Be worthy. If you are it doesn't matter how experienced or shy you are you will perform miracles in the lives of those you will be sent to serve. That is a promise. If you are not worthy than push back when you will be leaving and talk to your Bishop and work with him to get your spiritual life in order. If you may be reading this and leaving on a mission very very soon then be obedient to your mission president and to the white handbook even if missionaries around you are not.
I love my mission. I need to repent still of so many things and i still have changes that I am planning on making even with this one week left to serve full time. I am sorry to all of you if i have ever done anything in that past that has hurt you or if I have been a bad example to anyone. I am a new person and look forward to talking with all of you in person again.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Turning up the Heat
This week it was hotter than usual. The temperature here in Texas has been crazy hot. Besides one day for an hour of sprinkling and about 5 minutes of actual rain it has not rained since early January. So hopefully I bring some of that back with me when I come back to Washington. But I want rain. I am getting tired of seeing a cloud that is a little dark and being extremely excited hoping that it is going to rain. And then it doesn't. It has been a little hot lately too. For the past week and a half it has been in the low to mid 80's with two of those days being in the low 90's. It's hot but not that hot.
Anyways, this week we went to the temple. We were in the earliest session and went through with President Saylin. It was a very sacred experience. Our session of 15 missionaries got to go to a sealing of an office senior couple here in the mission. It was a very special experience. They have a son who has passed away and they were sealed to him as well. Elder Whippy was proxy for their deceased son. It was a very special experience and a powerful one. We all felt the spirit strongly and many if not all shed a few tears. It is an experience that I will not soon forget.
When we came out of the temple we took a few pictures and I took some with past companions. Elder Hansen and Elder Cayas were both there. It was strange that this was the last time that I would see them as a missionary...... Weird. I love those two Elders. I have loved all of my companions. It has been one of my favorite blessings of my mission. I have made friends that i will have forever. I am going to miss them. I love my areas, i love the people that I teach, I love to teach, I love to be a missionary, but the two biggest things that i will miss will be feeling the spirit this much and this intensely and being away from my close friends in the mission field. I feel almost like Alma the younger when traveling to a city to preach. At this point he had not seen his brethren, the sons of Mosiah, for 14 years. They were rebellious together, they spent time together, they saw an angel together, they were converted together, and they preached separately but the same message. Then he sees them and as the record says he was overcome with joy because they were still his brethren in the Lord. I have that feeling sometimes when i see some of the missionaries that I have become so close to. We have served together, been more converted together, has special spiritual experiences together, and preached the same message together and then later apart. I will miss these great missionaries I have come to know on my mission who have served with zeal and with love. I hope to be more like some of my companions one day and more like those missionaries who serve with such care and love. There is still time.
I love this time of my mission. To be perfectly honest I don’t think i am coming home in 2 weeks. My mind just doesn't let it register. It seems to me like a joke or something. Don't get me wrong I am very excited about coming home and being able to spend time with each of you but i just have such a hard time understanding that there are only 2 weeks left and then it will be over for a very long time. I wish I could get a 2 year extension. *sigh*
Anyways you guys only get one more of these after this one so I love ya. Look forward to sending you a message next week. And maybe one the week after but I have no idea.
I love you all and keep reading the Book of Mormon and going to the temple. If I had to choose one or the other it would be the hardest decision of my life.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. Be good and go to church. :)
Anyways, this week we went to the temple. We were in the earliest session and went through with President Saylin. It was a very sacred experience. Our session of 15 missionaries got to go to a sealing of an office senior couple here in the mission. It was a very special experience. They have a son who has passed away and they were sealed to him as well. Elder Whippy was proxy for their deceased son. It was a very special experience and a powerful one. We all felt the spirit strongly and many if not all shed a few tears. It is an experience that I will not soon forget.
When we came out of the temple we took a few pictures and I took some with past companions. Elder Hansen and Elder Cayas were both there. It was strange that this was the last time that I would see them as a missionary...... Weird. I love those two Elders. I have loved all of my companions. It has been one of my favorite blessings of my mission. I have made friends that i will have forever. I am going to miss them. I love my areas, i love the people that I teach, I love to teach, I love to be a missionary, but the two biggest things that i will miss will be feeling the spirit this much and this intensely and being away from my close friends in the mission field. I feel almost like Alma the younger when traveling to a city to preach. At this point he had not seen his brethren, the sons of Mosiah, for 14 years. They were rebellious together, they spent time together, they saw an angel together, they were converted together, and they preached separately but the same message. Then he sees them and as the record says he was overcome with joy because they were still his brethren in the Lord. I have that feeling sometimes when i see some of the missionaries that I have become so close to. We have served together, been more converted together, has special spiritual experiences together, and preached the same message together and then later apart. I will miss these great missionaries I have come to know on my mission who have served with zeal and with love. I hope to be more like some of my companions one day and more like those missionaries who serve with such care and love. There is still time.
I love this time of my mission. To be perfectly honest I don’t think i am coming home in 2 weeks. My mind just doesn't let it register. It seems to me like a joke or something. Don't get me wrong I am very excited about coming home and being able to spend time with each of you but i just have such a hard time understanding that there are only 2 weeks left and then it will be over for a very long time. I wish I could get a 2 year extension. *sigh*
Anyways you guys only get one more of these after this one so I love ya. Look forward to sending you a message next week. And maybe one the week after but I have no idea.
I love you all and keep reading the Book of Mormon and going to the temple. If I had to choose one or the other it would be the hardest decision of my life.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. Be good and go to church. :)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!
I have no time to write this email because of some other stuff that I had to print out and my email to President Saylin.
Anyways so this week I have several events to mention.
1) I went on exchanges with Elder Williams in Chinatown. It was awesome. It was a little strange and we only taught one lesson all in Chinese but I loved it. It was way different than what I normally am used to in the mission. We got along great and he was best friends with one of my past companions Elder Richardson before the mission. So we talked about him and we had both served in Broadway in the past but at different times. So we got along way good. We had a great exchange and some spiritual lessons. It was a good exchange.
2) During our exchange I received a phone call telling me that I would be going on a two day exchange on Thursday night to Saturday night. And that I would be spending two days in Pasadena North,(my area two areas ago) with Elder Richardson (who I served with there. He is still there) So it was like a flashback. It was like watching your favorite T.V. show but you have missed a season. Some of the characters are new and some are gone and some have different haircuts and beards. Any ways it was the best exchange of my mission I think. It brought back so many memories and it was great to see some of the people that I was able to teach while I was there in the area and to talk to some of the members that I had gotten close to. I don’t have time so I have to move on but this exchange alone could merit a whole page of a weekly entry.
3) While on exchanges in Pasadena i received a phone call that one of our investigators, Brother John Adams, wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. We held his baptism this past Sunday and it was a wonderful experience. I love that man with so much of my heart. He is so humble and willing to change even though he could keep going through his life living it the way that he always has. But he wants to follow the Savior and do what God has revealed to him that he needs to do. He has a strong testimony of the Savior and that the Lord has restored all of his blessings and teachings in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter0Day Saints.
This is all I have time for I am sorry that this is so short.
love,
ELDER MARR
Anyways so this week I have several events to mention.
1) I went on exchanges with Elder Williams in Chinatown. It was awesome. It was a little strange and we only taught one lesson all in Chinese but I loved it. It was way different than what I normally am used to in the mission. We got along great and he was best friends with one of my past companions Elder Richardson before the mission. So we talked about him and we had both served in Broadway in the past but at different times. So we got along way good. We had a great exchange and some spiritual lessons. It was a good exchange.
2) During our exchange I received a phone call telling me that I would be going on a two day exchange on Thursday night to Saturday night. And that I would be spending two days in Pasadena North,(my area two areas ago) with Elder Richardson (who I served with there. He is still there) So it was like a flashback. It was like watching your favorite T.V. show but you have missed a season. Some of the characters are new and some are gone and some have different haircuts and beards. Any ways it was the best exchange of my mission I think. It brought back so many memories and it was great to see some of the people that I was able to teach while I was there in the area and to talk to some of the members that I had gotten close to. I don’t have time so I have to move on but this exchange alone could merit a whole page of a weekly entry.
3) While on exchanges in Pasadena i received a phone call that one of our investigators, Brother John Adams, wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. We held his baptism this past Sunday and it was a wonderful experience. I love that man with so much of my heart. He is so humble and willing to change even though he could keep going through his life living it the way that he always has. But he wants to follow the Savior and do what God has revealed to him that he needs to do. He has a strong testimony of the Savior and that the Lord has restored all of his blessings and teachings in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter0Day Saints.
This is all I have time for I am sorry that this is so short.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, April 4, 2011
General Conference Weekened. We have been fed!
This week was a good one. We had some of our investigators come out to conference with us. Armando Escobito and John Adams. It was a good weekend. I especially loved the talks gave by Elder Bednar, President Uchtdorf, President Monson (especially his priesthood session talk for those who heard it), and Elder Holland. Elder Holland's talk was great that he emphasized the importance of conference and what it can do for all of us. He spoke of fulfilled prophecy and of the special expereince that is general conference. It really helped me to understand that I need to cherish the gospel more and be more grateful. In between sessions we went out contacting. Trying to talk to all that we see. It came more naturally to bring up modern day prophets and apostles to these people. Yet so many people are stuck in what they believe. I talked with one lady this week who seemed to me to fulfill prophecy gave in the 28th chapter of 2 Nephi. I told her about the Book of Mormon and the blessing it is to have more of The Lord's word. She told me that she had the word of God and didn't need any more. Because she had enough. It is a little sad when people shut the door as it were on what you have to say. It is all worthwhile to find those who are willing to accept what you have to say and have the faith enough and humility enough to ask the Lord if our message is true. I love it! I have been able to teach so many people who are so sincere in trying to find more purpose and meaning to life and who want to just know the truth.
I love the gospel. Hearing the words of modern day prophets and apostles is a marvelous blessing. Having a modern day prophet is more valuable to us than a dead prophet. Even though what they speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost is scripture having a modern day prophet warns us of dangers not experienced by prophets before him.
Elder Bednar spoke about light. I loved his talk. It goes hand in hand with President Uchdorf's talk on the Melchizedek priesthood and its privileges. How I wish I could have these great sermons printed today and not have to wait a month. I loved conference. I learned a lot and I know some big things that I need to change to come into conformity with what will make me most happy and what the will of God is for me.
To all of those brethren who read this blog/email whatever it is. I challenge all of you who hold the priesthood to study the sections that President Uchdorf asked all of us to study. I sadly can only remember 3 of the sections off the top of my head. Read Doctrine and Covenents section 20, 84, and 107. These will tell us what our duties are, the promises we make and that the Lord makes with us, and the gifts, powers, and blessings of the two priesthoods. These things are important and are gave to us to let us know how to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost through the magnifying of our callings and priesthood.
I love my life. I am quite sad yet have a piece of joy that my mission will be ending so soon. I only have one month left. I love my mission and all that has happened in it. I thank all of you for your faith and for your prayers. I would ask you to do something for me and for someone else. Sister Jennifer Saylin our mission president's wife is pregnant. There have been a few complications and she may have a premature baby a few months before she should be giving birth. She is in the hospital right now and has been for about a week. I ask you to pray that she will not give birth to the baby for some time. They are in need of many prayers and much faith. They are great people who love the Lord very much. Sister Saylin has a laptop and her phone and is still fulfilling her calling in taking care of sick missionaries and giving them advice and guidance and co-coordinating doctor’s appointments. Please pray for her and for the baby.
love,
ELDER MARR
I love the gospel. Hearing the words of modern day prophets and apostles is a marvelous blessing. Having a modern day prophet is more valuable to us than a dead prophet. Even though what they speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost is scripture having a modern day prophet warns us of dangers not experienced by prophets before him.
Elder Bednar spoke about light. I loved his talk. It goes hand in hand with President Uchdorf's talk on the Melchizedek priesthood and its privileges. How I wish I could have these great sermons printed today and not have to wait a month. I loved conference. I learned a lot and I know some big things that I need to change to come into conformity with what will make me most happy and what the will of God is for me.
To all of those brethren who read this blog/email whatever it is. I challenge all of you who hold the priesthood to study the sections that President Uchdorf asked all of us to study. I sadly can only remember 3 of the sections off the top of my head. Read Doctrine and Covenents section 20, 84, and 107. These will tell us what our duties are, the promises we make and that the Lord makes with us, and the gifts, powers, and blessings of the two priesthoods. These things are important and are gave to us to let us know how to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost through the magnifying of our callings and priesthood.
I love my life. I am quite sad yet have a piece of joy that my mission will be ending so soon. I only have one month left. I love my mission and all that has happened in it. I thank all of you for your faith and for your prayers. I would ask you to do something for me and for someone else. Sister Jennifer Saylin our mission president's wife is pregnant. There have been a few complications and she may have a premature baby a few months before she should be giving birth. She is in the hospital right now and has been for about a week. I ask you to pray that she will not give birth to the baby for some time. They are in need of many prayers and much faith. They are great people who love the Lord very much. Sister Saylin has a laptop and her phone and is still fulfilling her calling in taking care of sick missionaries and giving them advice and guidance and co-coordinating doctor’s appointments. Please pray for her and for the baby.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, March 28, 2011
Hot and Cold
Last P-day was a sad one indeed. Several missionaries ended there service of 2 years. We had to meet Elder Howard at the mission home to take him with us for a few days until transfer meeting. I was able to say my final goodbyes to Elder Hall. He is a great guy and I hope that he reads this and then sends me some letters and stuff.
So this past week went pretty well. We had some disappointments with some of our investigators but some great strides with others. There is a lot of potential in this ward. We are teaching some great people and they are sincere. We have been teaching a man by the name of Armando for quite some time. He just set a date for his baptism this past week. He will be baptized shortly before i leave the mission field. We have been working with him my whole time here. He reads the Book of Mormon every day and knows that it is true. Our lesson with him was not very usual. In our lesson this past week the majority of our lesson was describing what the spirit feels like and sharing our experiences with it. I shared with him my experience of how I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and Elder Moreno shared some of his experiences. It went really well. He then shared what he felt as he has been reading the Book of Mormon and an experience he had in his yard. He said that he was watering a plant a few days before we came over and was just thinking about different things. He then said that he had a scripture pop into his mind very strongly that he had read form the Book of Mormon. Then he said that it was so clear that he could almost read it in his mind. I do not remember what scripture it was but it was talking about forgiving others or you will not be forgiven. He then decided that he was going to forgive one of his co-workers that had wronged him. He said it was a great experience and the scriptures helped him to be a better person.
As we spoke to him in our lesson he began to realize that it was the spirit that did all of this for him and helped him feel these feelings and have this scripture pop into his mind. We then set a goal for his baptism. He is excited and sees how the gospel has been helping him to be a better husband and father and how he has been more patient and loving to his family and co-workers. He is a good man and evidence of how the gospel can bless you if you are willing to "experiment upon the word." His seed has grown and now he has felt the light of the gospel lift him to be a higher person and a encourage him to be a better person by expanding his capacities.
I love the gospel!
Elder Moreno and I this week biked for about 6 hours straight. No one let us in to teach them so we were outside all day long. It ended up being a good day and in the evening we had a wonderful lesson with a less-active family and a great visit with Bishop Owens. But it was warm. mid 80's with about 90 something percent humidity. Elder Moreno was dying. He has not experienced humidity like this before. I can just imagine what my trainer must have thought about me and how I could not stand the heat when I first got in the field. I love it though. I am going to freeze when I get off the plane (I'm not trunky). It is going to be in the mid to high 90's early May. And at home it won't be near that temperature.
So there is a member in our ward whose son wrote a New Era article in this month New Era. It is the one about the grandfather and the grandson working on the car. It is by Justin Gessel. He is on his mission now but the article is in the New Era.
We had a R.M. come and bear his testimony yesterday in church and he also went to the same dinner as us. He is a lot like me and it was like getting a trailer of the movie of my life for what it's going to be like after I get home. It was really strange. Like, REALLY STRANGE. He is a lot like me and R.M.'s are weird. i think I am going to be a little bit of a goof when I get home. Readjusting and all that jazz.
Anyways. This week is going to be a good one. We have a few great people who will be getting baptized in the next few weeks. I really look forward to that. I will let yall know more as their baptisms get closer. I love yall and keep reading from the scriptures. They will tell you all thinks that you should do. As well as following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Have a great week and I love yall.
ELDER MARR
So this past week went pretty well. We had some disappointments with some of our investigators but some great strides with others. There is a lot of potential in this ward. We are teaching some great people and they are sincere. We have been teaching a man by the name of Armando for quite some time. He just set a date for his baptism this past week. He will be baptized shortly before i leave the mission field. We have been working with him my whole time here. He reads the Book of Mormon every day and knows that it is true. Our lesson with him was not very usual. In our lesson this past week the majority of our lesson was describing what the spirit feels like and sharing our experiences with it. I shared with him my experience of how I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and Elder Moreno shared some of his experiences. It went really well. He then shared what he felt as he has been reading the Book of Mormon and an experience he had in his yard. He said that he was watering a plant a few days before we came over and was just thinking about different things. He then said that he had a scripture pop into his mind very strongly that he had read form the Book of Mormon. Then he said that it was so clear that he could almost read it in his mind. I do not remember what scripture it was but it was talking about forgiving others or you will not be forgiven. He then decided that he was going to forgive one of his co-workers that had wronged him. He said it was a great experience and the scriptures helped him to be a better person.
As we spoke to him in our lesson he began to realize that it was the spirit that did all of this for him and helped him feel these feelings and have this scripture pop into his mind. We then set a goal for his baptism. He is excited and sees how the gospel has been helping him to be a better husband and father and how he has been more patient and loving to his family and co-workers. He is a good man and evidence of how the gospel can bless you if you are willing to "experiment upon the word." His seed has grown and now he has felt the light of the gospel lift him to be a higher person and a encourage him to be a better person by expanding his capacities.
I love the gospel!
Elder Moreno and I this week biked for about 6 hours straight. No one let us in to teach them so we were outside all day long. It ended up being a good day and in the evening we had a wonderful lesson with a less-active family and a great visit with Bishop Owens. But it was warm. mid 80's with about 90 something percent humidity. Elder Moreno was dying. He has not experienced humidity like this before. I can just imagine what my trainer must have thought about me and how I could not stand the heat when I first got in the field. I love it though. I am going to freeze when I get off the plane (I'm not trunky). It is going to be in the mid to high 90's early May. And at home it won't be near that temperature.
So there is a member in our ward whose son wrote a New Era article in this month New Era. It is the one about the grandfather and the grandson working on the car. It is by Justin Gessel. He is on his mission now but the article is in the New Era.
We had a R.M. come and bear his testimony yesterday in church and he also went to the same dinner as us. He is a lot like me and it was like getting a trailer of the movie of my life for what it's going to be like after I get home. It was really strange. Like, REALLY STRANGE. He is a lot like me and R.M.'s are weird. i think I am going to be a little bit of a goof when I get home. Readjusting and all that jazz.
Anyways. This week is going to be a good one. We have a few great people who will be getting baptized in the next few weeks. I really look forward to that. I will let yall know more as their baptisms get closer. I love yall and keep reading from the scriptures. They will tell you all thinks that you should do. As well as following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Have a great week and I love yall.
ELDER MARR
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Whittling and Whistling Brigade
One of my close missionary friends leaves today. I will get to see him at the mission home though. His name is Elder Hall and if there are any ladies looking for a good man to marry in Las Vegas send me a letter and I will give you his info. :) Anyways I am going to miss him. He knows a lot about the gospel and we have had some really great conversations with each other and he was a great district leader back in PASADENA.
This week went well. We have a lot to do and a lot of people to follow up with. Our stake had a trek this week in east Texas. They all dressed up like pioneers and pulled handcarts. Elders Stevenette, Harris, Bellomy, Peterson, Moreno and I all put on a skit for the trek. We were asked to do it by President Saylin. He read a story about a group of kids that would scare people out of town as mobbers or people up to no good would wander into Nauvoo. Then we acted it out. I have to say that it was one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life that I know I can look back on and get a good laugh. Sadly there were pictures taken. Which means there is evidence of this for other missionaries to see. I know that the picture is going to wind up being framed in the mission office or something. So funny.
Anyways, we taught a lot of people this past week and have a lot of things coming up. We are teaching a lot of great people. We have grown really close to some of those in this ward and also to our investigators.
This week is transfer week and for the first real time in my mission our entire district of 6 missionaries is staying the same. Elder Breeze and Elder Thomson, our zone leaders, told us that they have never seen this happen before. Especially with a district of 6. Most of my districts have been 4. Anyways, I am really excited for this coming transfer. 6 more weeks of greatness. There is a lot that I want to accomplish and do. There are a lot of people that I can still help and lead closer to the Savior. Including me. Thank you all for everything that you do and remember to share the gospel with your friends and family. Help someone come back to church or read the Book of Mormon or meet with the missionaries. I love you all and have a great week. Sorry this is so short. Keep doing well.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. I have another challenge for yall. It is not as important or spiritual as my past challenge about reading the whole Book of Mormon beofre I get home. BUt I challenge everyone even though I am goign to be home in one transfer to send me a letter. Every single one of you. This way i can have at least one final letter on my mission from all of you. BUt I have one requirement. No mentioning how soon I will be coming home or how little time is left until you can see me. If you are someone who has been reading these emials and have never met me. Send me a letter anyways.
4010 Indian Point dr.
Missouri City, TX
77459
:)
:)
This week went well. We have a lot to do and a lot of people to follow up with. Our stake had a trek this week in east Texas. They all dressed up like pioneers and pulled handcarts. Elders Stevenette, Harris, Bellomy, Peterson, Moreno and I all put on a skit for the trek. We were asked to do it by President Saylin. He read a story about a group of kids that would scare people out of town as mobbers or people up to no good would wander into Nauvoo. Then we acted it out. I have to say that it was one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life that I know I can look back on and get a good laugh. Sadly there were pictures taken. Which means there is evidence of this for other missionaries to see. I know that the picture is going to wind up being framed in the mission office or something. So funny.
Anyways, we taught a lot of people this past week and have a lot of things coming up. We are teaching a lot of great people. We have grown really close to some of those in this ward and also to our investigators.
This week is transfer week and for the first real time in my mission our entire district of 6 missionaries is staying the same. Elder Breeze and Elder Thomson, our zone leaders, told us that they have never seen this happen before. Especially with a district of 6. Most of my districts have been 4. Anyways, I am really excited for this coming transfer. 6 more weeks of greatness. There is a lot that I want to accomplish and do. There are a lot of people that I can still help and lead closer to the Savior. Including me. Thank you all for everything that you do and remember to share the gospel with your friends and family. Help someone come back to church or read the Book of Mormon or meet with the missionaries. I love you all and have a great week. Sorry this is so short. Keep doing well.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. I have another challenge for yall. It is not as important or spiritual as my past challenge about reading the whole Book of Mormon beofre I get home. BUt I challenge everyone even though I am goign to be home in one transfer to send me a letter. Every single one of you. This way i can have at least one final letter on my mission from all of you. BUt I have one requirement. No mentioning how soon I will be coming home or how little time is left until you can see me. If you are someone who has been reading these emials and have never met me. Send me a letter anyways.
4010 Indian Point dr.
Missouri City, TX
77459
:)
:)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Huo Ji Junglou
This week I went on exchanges with our district leader Elder Tsui. His English is alright. He had to learn it for the mission. He speaks just fine but sometimes he has a hard time understanding others. So when he talks to people on the street he is very straight forward and to the point. I love it. He is not scared to say anything and gets right to his purpose. I love him. He is a strong member of the church and he is going to continue to be a great missionary.
This week was a little bit sad by the end of the week. We had a few people not make it to church. We really thought that some of them said that they would be there but they did not show up. It was a little disheartening. I wish people would just come to church. But besides that it was a good week. We have some investigators who read the Book of Mormon like they found it in buried treasure. The book has such a power in it that people who do not normally feel the spirit or even those that do. Can feel the spirit and love to feel it. I love the scriptures. It is like eating food. It just nourishes you.
This email will be a short one just to let you know. We are trying to find more investigators to teach. We have been doing a lot of finding lately. We have found some success from just riding around on our bikes and talking with whoever we see. I am not a huge fan of knocking doors. In some places it is the best way to find but in my past few areas it has been very ineffective. We are finding more people to teach. The members of the ward are more than willing to come out with us to teach but I have not been able to teach a members friend. We are doing our best to find people to teach but referrals from the members are the best. Member's friends who are not already members of the church have a drastically better chance of both joining the church and staying active in the church than people that the missionaries find and teach. Our mission president has shown us statistics on it. I have not had a baptism on my mission that is not a member referral or a part member family. I have taught many that are not but they have never come to baptism. I invite each of you who read this to pray to know who you can share the gospel with and invite to be taught by the missionaries with you. It will change your life and the life of those you share the gospel with.
I have seen so much happiness on my mission when a part member gets baptized or a member referral gets baptized. It brings families and friends closer together. At the end of April I will be going to a sealing for one of those part member families. I believe that if the member who was already friends with the family would have asked his friend in the part member family to come over for a lesson with the missionaries and dinner that the family would have been reactivated much sooner and the wife would have been baptized much much sooner. But the active member did not act. The missionaries were going to visit a less active member and ran into his brother who is the husband of the part member family. Then they asked if they could come over and have a lesson. So they did and the remainder of the family was baptized and reactivated. It happens. How I wish that the active Brother would have acted and tried to have them over before to meet with us. I am sure that he was the last person that he thought would be reactivated. But it happened. I just wish he could have been the foundation of the coming back to church and to have participated in their baptism and reactivation in a larger way.
I invite all of you to pray sincerely to know who of your friends should be invited to be taught by the missionaries, with you there. Fear is opposed to faith. Exercise your faith and try. I know that the Lord will guide you in the right way and you will know what to do. Even though I only have until May 3rd send me a letter and let me know how it goes. I love you all and I thank you for your support and for your love have a great week and be strong. If you need any help with sharing the gospel with your friends then call the missionaries. They can give you tips and pointers. And if you are not a member than call the missionaries and have them come over and explain all the crazy stuff i talk about every week and why I love it so much. I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
This week was a little bit sad by the end of the week. We had a few people not make it to church. We really thought that some of them said that they would be there but they did not show up. It was a little disheartening. I wish people would just come to church. But besides that it was a good week. We have some investigators who read the Book of Mormon like they found it in buried treasure. The book has such a power in it that people who do not normally feel the spirit or even those that do. Can feel the spirit and love to feel it. I love the scriptures. It is like eating food. It just nourishes you.
This email will be a short one just to let you know. We are trying to find more investigators to teach. We have been doing a lot of finding lately. We have found some success from just riding around on our bikes and talking with whoever we see. I am not a huge fan of knocking doors. In some places it is the best way to find but in my past few areas it has been very ineffective. We are finding more people to teach. The members of the ward are more than willing to come out with us to teach but I have not been able to teach a members friend. We are doing our best to find people to teach but referrals from the members are the best. Member's friends who are not already members of the church have a drastically better chance of both joining the church and staying active in the church than people that the missionaries find and teach. Our mission president has shown us statistics on it. I have not had a baptism on my mission that is not a member referral or a part member family. I have taught many that are not but they have never come to baptism. I invite each of you who read this to pray to know who you can share the gospel with and invite to be taught by the missionaries with you. It will change your life and the life of those you share the gospel with.
I have seen so much happiness on my mission when a part member gets baptized or a member referral gets baptized. It brings families and friends closer together. At the end of April I will be going to a sealing for one of those part member families. I believe that if the member who was already friends with the family would have asked his friend in the part member family to come over for a lesson with the missionaries and dinner that the family would have been reactivated much sooner and the wife would have been baptized much much sooner. But the active member did not act. The missionaries were going to visit a less active member and ran into his brother who is the husband of the part member family. Then they asked if they could come over and have a lesson. So they did and the remainder of the family was baptized and reactivated. It happens. How I wish that the active Brother would have acted and tried to have them over before to meet with us. I am sure that he was the last person that he thought would be reactivated. But it happened. I just wish he could have been the foundation of the coming back to church and to have participated in their baptism and reactivation in a larger way.
I invite all of you to pray sincerely to know who of your friends should be invited to be taught by the missionaries, with you there. Fear is opposed to faith. Exercise your faith and try. I know that the Lord will guide you in the right way and you will know what to do. Even though I only have until May 3rd send me a letter and let me know how it goes. I love you all and I thank you for your support and for your love have a great week and be strong. If you need any help with sharing the gospel with your friends then call the missionaries. They can give you tips and pointers. And if you are not a member than call the missionaries and have them come over and explain all the crazy stuff i talk about every week and why I love it so much. I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, March 7, 2011
Weekly Update
So life is good. This will be a short one. We had our last mission conference this past week. It was a great way for my last conference to be like. We only have zone conference every other transfer so these were my last. But O how great they were. I am so lucky to be able to have 3 weeks of all day all mission conference for my final conference. It was wonderful. I will miss these meetings. Zone conferences are my favorite meetings on a mission. Maybe besides the temple. I love the temple. But mission and zone conferences are awesome.
This coming week we have a lot to do. Our area is wonderful but sadly many people have chosen not to meet with us anymore and we have stopped visiting some others. There is a lot of true potential. Just as with my past two areas. This area is a great one and the members are more than willing to do missionary work. We have an exchange 4x times a week for two hours each and this next month we will still have that but one of us will be with a member in their home teaching one of their friends or home teaching families that they have invited over. The member work here is wonderful. The best that I have seen in my mission. They want to share the gospel and love coming out with us. We are just in the process of continually building our area and bringing more and more people closer to the Lord.
It has been a busy week. We have a lot that we are trying to accomplish. Several of our progressing investigators are doing very well. Bro. John Adams is getting very close to baptism. He has been meeting with us for a while and because of medical reasons has not been able to get out to church very often. But his heart is right. He wants to do what the Lord wants him to do. He is a humble man and is easy to love. I love teaching him. He wants to follow Christ in all things. We just hope that his medical issues will be able to be taken care of soon or at least more bearable.
Elder Moreno is a good missionary. I don’t think that I talk about him enough. He is a far better missionary than I was at his age in the mission. He knows how to talk with people and remembers things. He is still learning some things but he wants to do what is right and already is able to handle a lot of responsibility. His trainer taught him well. He is number 7 in a family of 10. As opposed to me not having such a big family. So it has been a transition for him to not be living with a ton of people. He is a people person and likes being around a lot of people. I am the same way. I don’t like doing stuff alone. I never have.
I love you all and i am sorry that this is so short. I love you and have a great week. The gospel is true, and go to the temple. It is the house of the Lord and no matter how many times we have been there before it will bring further happiness into your life. I can barely live without the temple and the spirit that I feel there. I think of it often and quite frequently go through the things that take place there in my mind. The temple is so important. Just as important as the chapel is for the sacrament so is the temple for its ordinances. I love the temple.
love,
ELDER MARR
This coming week we have a lot to do. Our area is wonderful but sadly many people have chosen not to meet with us anymore and we have stopped visiting some others. There is a lot of true potential. Just as with my past two areas. This area is a great one and the members are more than willing to do missionary work. We have an exchange 4x times a week for two hours each and this next month we will still have that but one of us will be with a member in their home teaching one of their friends or home teaching families that they have invited over. The member work here is wonderful. The best that I have seen in my mission. They want to share the gospel and love coming out with us. We are just in the process of continually building our area and bringing more and more people closer to the Lord.
It has been a busy week. We have a lot that we are trying to accomplish. Several of our progressing investigators are doing very well. Bro. John Adams is getting very close to baptism. He has been meeting with us for a while and because of medical reasons has not been able to get out to church very often. But his heart is right. He wants to do what the Lord wants him to do. He is a humble man and is easy to love. I love teaching him. He wants to follow Christ in all things. We just hope that his medical issues will be able to be taken care of soon or at least more bearable.
Elder Moreno is a good missionary. I don’t think that I talk about him enough. He is a far better missionary than I was at his age in the mission. He knows how to talk with people and remembers things. He is still learning some things but he wants to do what is right and already is able to handle a lot of responsibility. His trainer taught him well. He is number 7 in a family of 10. As opposed to me not having such a big family. So it has been a transition for him to not be living with a ton of people. He is a people person and likes being around a lot of people. I am the same way. I don’t like doing stuff alone. I never have.
I love you all and i am sorry that this is so short. I love you and have a great week. The gospel is true, and go to the temple. It is the house of the Lord and no matter how many times we have been there before it will bring further happiness into your life. I can barely live without the temple and the spirit that I feel there. I think of it often and quite frequently go through the things that take place there in my mind. The temple is so important. Just as important as the chapel is for the sacrament so is the temple for its ordinances. I love the temple.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, February 28, 2011
MISSION CONFERENCE 2
The second week of the mission conference. It was great. There were a lot of great trainings on lesson plans and teaching people not lessons. That one is my favorite. Some people think that we are just here to share a certain number of messages and then you are supposed to get baptized. That is not the way it works. I love this training and I have tried to follow the guidelines in it for most of my mission. I love teaching to people's needs and following the spirit to know what to share with those I teach. Sure you have to still teach the lessons but you do it in such a different way. I love that we are able to have the Holy Ghost to be with us to guide us because when I try to teach by my ability it never goes as well and the spirit is not as strong.
We were told to get to know our investigators more and to teach to their needs. Asking inspired questions to find out what they already believe and what they are looking for. Sometimes people don’t join the church because they don’t have a spiritual witness others it is because they dont understand why we have baptisms for the dead. People also have questions that seem never to be answered because it is not in one of the missionary lessons. We have been advised to always teach from the lessons but for a foundation. We are here to answer questions and to help people understand that this gospel is for them and not just some church.
On to another topic. President Saylin shocked the mission when behind the pulpit during our meeting this past Thursday. He was standing and giving a few closing remarks. You can always tell if he is about to share something that he knows he is going to get a reaction out of people because he gets this grin on his face and just seems gitty. As he spoke he said; "I haven't been feeling good to lately as you and neither has most of the mission. Sister Saylin also hasn't been feeling too good this past week. But she hasn't been feeling too good because there is going to be another addition to the Saylin family..............................." A long pause. The whole mission instantly went silent and started talking quietly amongst themselves. The first thought that went through my mind was; "AWESOME!!!! That is so cool. They are both 42 and they are having another child!" They still have a year and 3 months left on their mission. They will be on their mission when she delivers. That will be so cool. Nobody knew about it and they are so excited for #7.
Also another cool thing to mention. You may have seen him in the news a little bit. But the man who found the cure for AIDS is in our ward. He actually gave us a really great referral that we are going to teach tomorrow. Brother Packered is a nice guy. Elder Born who I replaced here has a picture of Brother Packard roping an alligator with an extension cord. WELCOME TO TEXAS!!!
Last P-day we had a zone activity. We just had fun at the church and went to a field and played rugby. I love that sport. it is so much fun. Especially when you are around people who at least kinda know how to play.
President Saylin came to church on Sunday and totally scared us. He knew he shocked us too.
We went to a Chinese baptism this week. It was really cool. The young man who was baptized is from mainland China. He just moved over here over a month ago I believe and was only taught for 3 weeks before he was baptized. From what was translated to me from Elder Williams he was in China and before he left his teacher gave him a ring. On the ring it has a few letters on it and she told him it stands for Choose the Right. Then when he came here to the U.S. it helped him in his conversion. What are the chances! There are so few members in China. I believe only about 1,000. And they have the most population of any country in the world and the teacher just happened to be a member who just happened to give him a CTR ring and then he just happened to join the church and to be in a place where there was a Chinese branch close by with Mandarin Chinese speaking missionaries. To many coincidences. I love the gospel!!
I hope that you all have a great week. I wish that I had time to send you all a personal email or letter and talk to you one on one. I hope that you all have a great week and for those in Washington I hope that it snows again. I miss snow. I wish I could see more of i but it has been since I was in Friendswood 1.
I love yall and have a great week.
ELDER MARR
We were told to get to know our investigators more and to teach to their needs. Asking inspired questions to find out what they already believe and what they are looking for. Sometimes people don’t join the church because they don’t have a spiritual witness others it is because they dont understand why we have baptisms for the dead. People also have questions that seem never to be answered because it is not in one of the missionary lessons. We have been advised to always teach from the lessons but for a foundation. We are here to answer questions and to help people understand that this gospel is for them and not just some church.
On to another topic. President Saylin shocked the mission when behind the pulpit during our meeting this past Thursday. He was standing and giving a few closing remarks. You can always tell if he is about to share something that he knows he is going to get a reaction out of people because he gets this grin on his face and just seems gitty. As he spoke he said; "I haven't been feeling good to lately as you and neither has most of the mission. Sister Saylin also hasn't been feeling too good this past week. But she hasn't been feeling too good because there is going to be another addition to the Saylin family..............................." A long pause. The whole mission instantly went silent and started talking quietly amongst themselves. The first thought that went through my mind was; "AWESOME!!!! That is so cool. They are both 42 and they are having another child!" They still have a year and 3 months left on their mission. They will be on their mission when she delivers. That will be so cool. Nobody knew about it and they are so excited for #7.
Also another cool thing to mention. You may have seen him in the news a little bit. But the man who found the cure for AIDS is in our ward. He actually gave us a really great referral that we are going to teach tomorrow. Brother Packered is a nice guy. Elder Born who I replaced here has a picture of Brother Packard roping an alligator with an extension cord. WELCOME TO TEXAS!!!
Last P-day we had a zone activity. We just had fun at the church and went to a field and played rugby. I love that sport. it is so much fun. Especially when you are around people who at least kinda know how to play.
President Saylin came to church on Sunday and totally scared us. He knew he shocked us too.
We went to a Chinese baptism this week. It was really cool. The young man who was baptized is from mainland China. He just moved over here over a month ago I believe and was only taught for 3 weeks before he was baptized. From what was translated to me from Elder Williams he was in China and before he left his teacher gave him a ring. On the ring it has a few letters on it and she told him it stands for Choose the Right. Then when he came here to the U.S. it helped him in his conversion. What are the chances! There are so few members in China. I believe only about 1,000. And they have the most population of any country in the world and the teacher just happened to be a member who just happened to give him a CTR ring and then he just happened to join the church and to be in a place where there was a Chinese branch close by with Mandarin Chinese speaking missionaries. To many coincidences. I love the gospel!!
I hope that you all have a great week. I wish that I had time to send you all a personal email or letter and talk to you one on one. I hope that you all have a great week and for those in Washington I hope that it snows again. I miss snow. I wish I could see more of i but it has been since I was in Friendswood 1.
I love yall and have a great week.
ELDER MARR
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Mission Conference 1
It was so cool. So great to see so many missionaries that I have not seen it what seems to be ages. And it will happen three weeks in a row. The meeting this last Thursday was from 7:30am to 6:00pm. With several quick breaks and a lunch. It was a long but great day. I learned so much and gained a lot from the meeting. President Saylin talked about the sacrament again and how important it is for all of us. He also spoke on the reverence we should have during the sacrament within ourselves. I had a great day on Sunday because of the things which he spoke on.
During the mission conference was a focus on several points. Teaching investigators some simple yet profound things that can help them progress in the gospel. The teachings were on. Revelation through prayer, revelation through church attendance, and revelation through the Book of Mormon. It was a focus on helping our investigators to receive revelation in each of these categories. That is why we are told to do each of them as members of the church because it is when we do these things that we receive personal revelation. Sometimes thinking about personal revelation frustrates me in the sense that so many people don’t have faith that it can happen.
This week just about every person who I talked to i asked if they would meet with us and pray to know if what we have told them is true. If there is a prophet today, if the Book of Mormon is true, or if the church made by Christ is back on the earth, or if God even exists. Hardly anyone understands what we say to them. We are telling them that they can receive personal revelation and have a direct answer on a specific question right from the Lord. Why would you not want an experience like that? I cannot understand why a good person who believes in the Lord would not want to do that or play it off like it is just something that the Mormons say. It is serious and it is amazing. There is no other organization on the earth that tells you that you can and should pray and ask the Lord if what we tell and preach is the truth. I love it! I have prayed and I know that these things are true. I know that Christ lives and that he does today the same that he has always done in sending his messengers to the earth. Like the prophets and apostles and that he loves us enough to let us know form him which messengers are from Him and which ones are not from Him. I know that whoever asks with a sincere heart and with real intent to act upon the answer received ,whatever that answer may be, they will receive a witness and an answer from God. I have received an answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet chosen by the Lord to be his mouthpiece. I also know that Brigham Young and every prophet since has been chosen by the Lord. If you have not received an answer if these things are true I would ask you to think about what i have said and to pray and ask if these things are true with a willingness to leave your comfort zone and do what will bring you the most happiness. Even if it is hard. I know that God knows what will make us happy better than we do.
I love you all and this week was a little rougher but this coming week look promising. I love Elder Morenpo and his willingness to serve and to work in this area. There is a lot to do and a lot of people that we are going to be visiting. I also look forward to the second meeting of our mission conference this week. I love you all and thank you for all of the help which you have given to me.
love,
ELDER MARR
During the mission conference was a focus on several points. Teaching investigators some simple yet profound things that can help them progress in the gospel. The teachings were on. Revelation through prayer, revelation through church attendance, and revelation through the Book of Mormon. It was a focus on helping our investigators to receive revelation in each of these categories. That is why we are told to do each of them as members of the church because it is when we do these things that we receive personal revelation. Sometimes thinking about personal revelation frustrates me in the sense that so many people don’t have faith that it can happen.
This week just about every person who I talked to i asked if they would meet with us and pray to know if what we have told them is true. If there is a prophet today, if the Book of Mormon is true, or if the church made by Christ is back on the earth, or if God even exists. Hardly anyone understands what we say to them. We are telling them that they can receive personal revelation and have a direct answer on a specific question right from the Lord. Why would you not want an experience like that? I cannot understand why a good person who believes in the Lord would not want to do that or play it off like it is just something that the Mormons say. It is serious and it is amazing. There is no other organization on the earth that tells you that you can and should pray and ask the Lord if what we tell and preach is the truth. I love it! I have prayed and I know that these things are true. I know that Christ lives and that he does today the same that he has always done in sending his messengers to the earth. Like the prophets and apostles and that he loves us enough to let us know form him which messengers are from Him and which ones are not from Him. I know that whoever asks with a sincere heart and with real intent to act upon the answer received ,whatever that answer may be, they will receive a witness and an answer from God. I have received an answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet chosen by the Lord to be his mouthpiece. I also know that Brigham Young and every prophet since has been chosen by the Lord. If you have not received an answer if these things are true I would ask you to think about what i have said and to pray and ask if these things are true with a willingness to leave your comfort zone and do what will bring you the most happiness. Even if it is hard. I know that God knows what will make us happy better than we do.
I love you all and this week was a little rougher but this coming week look promising. I love Elder Morenpo and his willingness to serve and to work in this area. There is a lot to do and a lot of people that we are going to be visiting. I also look forward to the second meeting of our mission conference this week. I love you all and thank you for all of the help which you have given to me.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sienna Plantation
New Address
010 Indian point
Missouri City, TX
77459
We live with members here in the ward. The Stone family. It is a nice place. We live just south of Sugar Land so the area is a lot more fancy than any of my past areas. Even Friendswood. There are some huge houses here and a lot of more rich communities. It is not largely developed for how large our area is but there are many people. we have a large teaching pool and a lot of great recent converts in the ward. The missionary before me trained Elder Moreno. So this is his second transfer in the field. He is a great missionary and will go far on his mission. He is already very obedient and hard working. He loves the people and does his best. He has been a little stressed with taking over the area but that passes with time. We are already great friends and work very well together. I love Elder Walker but we had a challenge in teaching with each other. Sometimes it just wouldn't match up as well as we would hope. I miss him though. And the whole area of Broadway South.
We went back to Broadway this past Saturday for a baptism. Isaac Chavez and his daughter Aleisha were baptized in the Broadway 1st ward. I taught them almost the whole time that I was in the ward and I was so happy to see a part member family become an all member family. My whole mission has been part member families and member referrals. We found them by street contacting and started teaching the family. They are so strong in their testimonies and I am so happy for them.
This are is great. I haven't been able to work here for too long. I went on exchanges with Elder Breeze, now the zone leader, and planned another day and had church another day. So I have not had a straight day of work.
Our district leader is awesome. I have known him for a while. His name is Elder Cui. He is from mainland China and is 24 years old. He is a Chinese speaking missionary and is so hardworking. His family and he are converts to the church in China. i find that sooo cool. There is no proselytizing in China and I forget how his family found the gospel.
We have a lot to do here. There are some less-active members that we are trying to help re-activate and some new approaches to our meals. We are trying to have a non-member or at least a less-active to all of our meal appointments. It has been interesting trying to get the members on board but it is a great tool. We did it a lot in Broadway and had some really great experiences come form it.
One last quick note. We will be having a mission conference for the next three weeks every Thursday to train the mission as a whole on the fundamentals of Preach My gospel that the brethren have put out. It is going to be soooo great to see so many missionaries that I have not seen in what seems to be ages. I will get to see them for three weeks and see them all one last time.
I look forward to what this next week brings. I have been changing alot these past few months. I might have already said that. I have a lot that I love and my heart just doesn't let me go back on some things. i have been experiencing somewhat a change of heart. At least a potion. I love it. This mission is so great. The greatest gift that I have ever been given besides my family. I am just so happy all of the time. A mission is so much fun and so edifying. I still have a lot of time left to bring more people to Christ. Because that is what we do. i am not out here to baptize people. i am here to help all to have a spiritual conversion to the Lord and to his gospel.
I love you all and have a great week. Send me mail. :)
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S.
HAPPY VELENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!
010 Indian point
Missouri City, TX
77459
We live with members here in the ward. The Stone family. It is a nice place. We live just south of Sugar Land so the area is a lot more fancy than any of my past areas. Even Friendswood. There are some huge houses here and a lot of more rich communities. It is not largely developed for how large our area is but there are many people. we have a large teaching pool and a lot of great recent converts in the ward. The missionary before me trained Elder Moreno. So this is his second transfer in the field. He is a great missionary and will go far on his mission. He is already very obedient and hard working. He loves the people and does his best. He has been a little stressed with taking over the area but that passes with time. We are already great friends and work very well together. I love Elder Walker but we had a challenge in teaching with each other. Sometimes it just wouldn't match up as well as we would hope. I miss him though. And the whole area of Broadway South.
We went back to Broadway this past Saturday for a baptism. Isaac Chavez and his daughter Aleisha were baptized in the Broadway 1st ward. I taught them almost the whole time that I was in the ward and I was so happy to see a part member family become an all member family. My whole mission has been part member families and member referrals. We found them by street contacting and started teaching the family. They are so strong in their testimonies and I am so happy for them.
This are is great. I haven't been able to work here for too long. I went on exchanges with Elder Breeze, now the zone leader, and planned another day and had church another day. So I have not had a straight day of work.
Our district leader is awesome. I have known him for a while. His name is Elder Cui. He is from mainland China and is 24 years old. He is a Chinese speaking missionary and is so hardworking. His family and he are converts to the church in China. i find that sooo cool. There is no proselytizing in China and I forget how his family found the gospel.
We have a lot to do here. There are some less-active members that we are trying to help re-activate and some new approaches to our meals. We are trying to have a non-member or at least a less-active to all of our meal appointments. It has been interesting trying to get the members on board but it is a great tool. We did it a lot in Broadway and had some really great experiences come form it.
One last quick note. We will be having a mission conference for the next three weeks every Thursday to train the mission as a whole on the fundamentals of Preach My gospel that the brethren have put out. It is going to be soooo great to see so many missionaries that I have not seen in what seems to be ages. I will get to see them for three weeks and see them all one last time.
I look forward to what this next week brings. I have been changing alot these past few months. I might have already said that. I have a lot that I love and my heart just doesn't let me go back on some things. i have been experiencing somewhat a change of heart. At least a potion. I love it. This mission is so great. The greatest gift that I have ever been given besides my family. I am just so happy all of the time. A mission is so much fun and so edifying. I still have a lot of time left to bring more people to Christ. Because that is what we do. i am not out here to baptize people. i am here to help all to have a spiritual conversion to the Lord and to his gospel.
I love you all and have a great week. Send me mail. :)
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S.
HAPPY VELENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Transfered
I love this area and I don’t want to leave. Part of me felt it coming though. For some reason I knew that I was going to be transferred. This area was a great one. There are so many people that I am going to miss and that I have to stay in contact with the best that I can. I will miss this place. I feel like my next area though is going to be awesome. I have no idea where i am going but I know I will love it. It will most likely be my final area. That is scary to think. I really don’t realize how long I have been out. I feel like I just got out in the field and that I have years left to serve and to work. But it is coming to a close and I don’t want it to. There is still so much I need to do and so much that I can do. Elder Walker has been a good companion. He is a hard worker and we were able to get a lot accomplished. This area has such a bright future and is already going strong in the missionary work. And in the reactivation work.
Besides getting transferred this week was a little odd. They thought that it was going to snow. But it didn't. It just stayed in the mid 20's to mid 30's not counting the strong wind chill for two days. Elder Walker and I both got sick because we were not allowed to drive because of the ice and our bikes would have slipped too so we walked everywhere. We did talk with a lot of great people though. But it was not the best week for the work. We had a zone meeting as well and Elder Hougard was sick so one of us had to stay with him while Elder Schaat and Elder Walker or I would go out and work their area. We had some really good lessons this week. One to an investigator named Fitzroy. We have been working with him for a long time and he finally came to church. And church was awesome. We had a stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake. The speakers were Ann Dibb of the relief society presidency, Elder Martin of the 70, Elder M. Russel Ballard, and President Thomas S. Monson. It went for 2 hours and was magnificent. The spirit was strong and the talks were great. It was a broadcast to Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. I really enjoyed it. It is not a usual thing to be able to hear from the general authorities of the church every Sunday. Fitzroy enjoyed it and I believe is now going to start keeping more commitments.
This week I was also able to see some great missionary friends at zone meeting. It is odd to think that I met Elder Oliver and Elder Manoa 6 months ago. Time just flies. There is no other way to describe it. It just shocks me that everything travels so fast that it seems like you never have time to think about everything you have to take care of. It is a rush. I love it though. A busy mission is a lot better than a slow mission.
P.P.S. Next week will be long with information on my new area. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for all of you. I am so grateful for all of your prayers and help which you have given to me. I wish that I could give back more. I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. Keep reading from the Book of Mormon
Besides getting transferred this week was a little odd. They thought that it was going to snow. But it didn't. It just stayed in the mid 20's to mid 30's not counting the strong wind chill for two days. Elder Walker and I both got sick because we were not allowed to drive because of the ice and our bikes would have slipped too so we walked everywhere. We did talk with a lot of great people though. But it was not the best week for the work. We had a zone meeting as well and Elder Hougard was sick so one of us had to stay with him while Elder Schaat and Elder Walker or I would go out and work their area. We had some really good lessons this week. One to an investigator named Fitzroy. We have been working with him for a long time and he finally came to church. And church was awesome. We had a stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake. The speakers were Ann Dibb of the relief society presidency, Elder Martin of the 70, Elder M. Russel Ballard, and President Thomas S. Monson. It went for 2 hours and was magnificent. The spirit was strong and the talks were great. It was a broadcast to Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. I really enjoyed it. It is not a usual thing to be able to hear from the general authorities of the church every Sunday. Fitzroy enjoyed it and I believe is now going to start keeping more commitments.
This week I was also able to see some great missionary friends at zone meeting. It is odd to think that I met Elder Oliver and Elder Manoa 6 months ago. Time just flies. There is no other way to describe it. It just shocks me that everything travels so fast that it seems like you never have time to think about everything you have to take care of. It is a rush. I love it though. A busy mission is a lot better than a slow mission.
P.P.S. Next week will be long with information on my new area. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for all of you. I am so grateful for all of your prayers and help which you have given to me. I wish that I could give back more. I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S. Keep reading from the Book of Mormon
Monday, January 31, 2011
Elder Gaverrett of the 70
It was an amazing meeting. He talked about so many things and shared so much with us that we are trying to learn and follow. It is always so great to meet with one of the general authorities. I look forward to the future and applying what he spoke about to us. There was a lot. One of the things that really hit us all hard was what he said about the baptisms in this area. Our mission goal for 2011 is to have 600 people come to the waters of baptism and start their journey in the church. Elder Gaverrett said " Your goal for baptisms is 600 for this year. Why not 1,200? You can do it. There are many here that want the gospel and will accept it." It made us all think about how much the work is going forward and become more determined to work even harder.
It was a great meeting and I had a great experience. After he introduced himself we sung a hymn and then the assistants got up and read off a list of people to give a 3 minute talk. They read off about 5 people and then I knew that I was going to be next. I just felt it. And I was. In hindsight you would think that I would be scared to death to give a talk on the spot in front of a 70. But the Lord calmed my fears and helped me not to freeze up. It was a great experience. I am so happy to be able to be on a mission. I would not trade it for anything. It is so great. I love feeling the spirit and having it guide me. I hunger for it when I don't feel it. I am scared a little to not have those feelings as much when I get home from my mission. But I know that the Holy Ghost will still be there. Also I will be able to go to the temple and feel the spirit there. I miss the temple. Hopefully I will get to go here in a month and a half though. And before I leave. I wish I could go every week. There is limitless knowledge there.
Normally I talk about the weather first but I will talk about that now. It has been rainy and really warm lately. This morning it was foggy and humid. It would be rainy and look really cold outside but you would go out and it would be 75-80. So it has been warming up. Supposedly it is going to be cooling off this next week though.
Transfers are coming up. I will know if I am being transferred next week. I don't want to be. I love this area and the people in it. I also love Elder Walker. My time with him has been a lot different than the time with most of my companions but we love being in the work together. This ward and area has so much potential that I just never want to leave. It is a great place with a lot of great people.
So we are working with a ton of people right now. It is hard to keep track of everyone. Keeps us busy. I don't think I have ever been this busy. There is always something effective to be doing and we have so many scheduled appointments. I love it. It isn't easy here but it is a lot different than say Bay City or Angleton. A totally different type of area. The way you go about the work and plan is so different. I love it though. Keeps you busy.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately as part of my challenge. I love it. I feel so good when I read it. My day doesn't go as well unless I read from the Book of Mormon. It teaches me so much and helps me to feel the spirit. Even if I have a hard time understanding it it does help me to have the Holy Ghost more in my life. If anyone wants to feel the spirit and feel comforted just read the scriptures. They help so much. I can't go a day without reading them anymore. My day will be terrible if I don't read.
I know this email is a little scatter brained and short paragraphs but I had a great week. I love these people. I love this ward. I love this area and the way it is at times. I love the stage I am at in my mission. I love the things which I have learned about the gospel. Priceless gifts it seems I have received from coming on a mission. I don't know how you could call it a sacrifice. Definitely an investment.
I love you all and have a great week whether you are going to school, working, looking for work, or on a cruise I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
It was a great meeting and I had a great experience. After he introduced himself we sung a hymn and then the assistants got up and read off a list of people to give a 3 minute talk. They read off about 5 people and then I knew that I was going to be next. I just felt it. And I was. In hindsight you would think that I would be scared to death to give a talk on the spot in front of a 70. But the Lord calmed my fears and helped me not to freeze up. It was a great experience. I am so happy to be able to be on a mission. I would not trade it for anything. It is so great. I love feeling the spirit and having it guide me. I hunger for it when I don't feel it. I am scared a little to not have those feelings as much when I get home from my mission. But I know that the Holy Ghost will still be there. Also I will be able to go to the temple and feel the spirit there. I miss the temple. Hopefully I will get to go here in a month and a half though. And before I leave. I wish I could go every week. There is limitless knowledge there.
Normally I talk about the weather first but I will talk about that now. It has been rainy and really warm lately. This morning it was foggy and humid. It would be rainy and look really cold outside but you would go out and it would be 75-80. So it has been warming up. Supposedly it is going to be cooling off this next week though.
Transfers are coming up. I will know if I am being transferred next week. I don't want to be. I love this area and the people in it. I also love Elder Walker. My time with him has been a lot different than the time with most of my companions but we love being in the work together. This ward and area has so much potential that I just never want to leave. It is a great place with a lot of great people.
So we are working with a ton of people right now. It is hard to keep track of everyone. Keeps us busy. I don't think I have ever been this busy. There is always something effective to be doing and we have so many scheduled appointments. I love it. It isn't easy here but it is a lot different than say Bay City or Angleton. A totally different type of area. The way you go about the work and plan is so different. I love it though. Keeps you busy.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately as part of my challenge. I love it. I feel so good when I read it. My day doesn't go as well unless I read from the Book of Mormon. It teaches me so much and helps me to feel the spirit. Even if I have a hard time understanding it it does help me to have the Holy Ghost more in my life. If anyone wants to feel the spirit and feel comforted just read the scriptures. They help so much. I can't go a day without reading them anymore. My day will be terrible if I don't read.
I know this email is a little scatter brained and short paragraphs but I had a great week. I love these people. I love this ward. I love this area and the way it is at times. I love the stage I am at in my mission. I love the things which I have learned about the gospel. Priceless gifts it seems I have received from coming on a mission. I don't know how you could call it a sacrifice. Definitely an investment.
I love you all and have a great week whether you are going to school, working, looking for work, or on a cruise I love you all and have a great week.
love,
ELDER MARR
Monday, January 24, 2011
I really have been having a hard time coming up with good titles for my blog entrys
So this week was a good one. I always say something like that. We had our zone activity. We had a huge nerf war and it was a lot of fun. We have the largest zone in the mission so there were a lot of people. It was one of the funnest activities I have done on my mission for a P-day. I got to see a lot of missionaries that I love too. This zone has a lot of missionaries that are very close to my heart. I am going to stay in contact with many of them. All missionaries say that but I really do want to stay in contact with a lot of the people here.
So we had ward conference this past Sunday. It was wonderful. The stake presidency called us out in sacrament meeting and had us recite D&C 4. With no warning as always with stake leaders. Luckily I could still remember it pretty well. The other three did very well also. The stake president spoke about the missionary work and retention in the League City stake. There have been a lot of converts this past year that the stake has been around our area has two companionships for one ward and might be getting another companionship in the future. It is an amazing ward.
The ward conference was very good. I love great meetings were the things shared are so interesting and you want to learn about what they have to say. The focus of the meetings was on a deepened conversion. The church recently did a study of institute in particular. And 96% of those who graduate institute get their endowment. 98% of those marry in the temple. So they focused on the youth as well on us and how we can strengthen our testimonies and our conversions to the Lord. I feel like a mission has helped my testimony so much and i have felt so close to the Lord many times. But I look forward to going to institute when I get back. When I go to school and stuff at least.
Also during their meetings with the ward they talked about a single scripture in D&C for an hour. It was about our duty as priesthood holders. It was a wonderful lesson that helped me reflect a lot on my duties in my calling.
On another note the rain here has been awesome. It started to warm up but it has been raining all day just like Washington rain. People here seem to shut down when it rains but it just makes me want to be outside and work. I don't know what the future of weather holds but we will see.
So this week in two days Elder Gaverett of the 70 and his wife will be coming to our mission for a special zone conference. I don't know if I said that in my last email but I am extremely excited for this meeting. One of the greatest experiences of my mission was when Elder Zwick came here and taught us and spoke to us. I have only felt the spirit that strong a few times. I am looking forward to feeling a similar way when I here his teachings. 70's are wonderful servants of the Lord and you can just tell that somethings is different about them. Especially when you see them in person. It is that way with all of the general authorities.
This is a cool story. Elder Walker's sister and brother in law are inactive. He works at a hotel in Utah and I am not sure what he does. Elder Walkers sister is inactive and his brother in law I believe is not a member or has not being active since a very very young age. Anyways, he was behind the counter one day talking with the people coming in to get a room and in walks a man that he feels looks familiar but he can't put his finger on where he has seen him before. He sees the man walking and seems to be looking for something or someone. This man stops and talks with one of the employees telling them that he is looking for a particular person who always shines his shoes. He just loves this shoe shiner. They tell him that they don't know where the certain person is and the man leaves. This whole time Elder Walker's brother in law is watching. As he watches he feels something is different about this man and that he is almost different from anyone that he had ever been around. That just being around him made him feel peaceful and calm. After this man left he realized that it was Thomas S. Monson. He then went home after work and told of his experience. He is now reading from the Book of Mormon and is almost done reading for the first time. He just knew that there was something about this man that he wanted in him.
That is how it feels at times to be in the presence of these holy men. It gives me a 1% taste of what it must feel like to be in the presence of the Lord.
I love you all and have a great week. Keep reading your Book of Mormon all of those who accepted the challenge.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S.
For those who it may concern I got new shoes :)
So we had ward conference this past Sunday. It was wonderful. The stake presidency called us out in sacrament meeting and had us recite D&C 4. With no warning as always with stake leaders. Luckily I could still remember it pretty well. The other three did very well also. The stake president spoke about the missionary work and retention in the League City stake. There have been a lot of converts this past year that the stake has been around our area has two companionships for one ward and might be getting another companionship in the future. It is an amazing ward.
The ward conference was very good. I love great meetings were the things shared are so interesting and you want to learn about what they have to say. The focus of the meetings was on a deepened conversion. The church recently did a study of institute in particular. And 96% of those who graduate institute get their endowment. 98% of those marry in the temple. So they focused on the youth as well on us and how we can strengthen our testimonies and our conversions to the Lord. I feel like a mission has helped my testimony so much and i have felt so close to the Lord many times. But I look forward to going to institute when I get back. When I go to school and stuff at least.
Also during their meetings with the ward they talked about a single scripture in D&C for an hour. It was about our duty as priesthood holders. It was a wonderful lesson that helped me reflect a lot on my duties in my calling.
On another note the rain here has been awesome. It started to warm up but it has been raining all day just like Washington rain. People here seem to shut down when it rains but it just makes me want to be outside and work. I don't know what the future of weather holds but we will see.
So this week in two days Elder Gaverett of the 70 and his wife will be coming to our mission for a special zone conference. I don't know if I said that in my last email but I am extremely excited for this meeting. One of the greatest experiences of my mission was when Elder Zwick came here and taught us and spoke to us. I have only felt the spirit that strong a few times. I am looking forward to feeling a similar way when I here his teachings. 70's are wonderful servants of the Lord and you can just tell that somethings is different about them. Especially when you see them in person. It is that way with all of the general authorities.
This is a cool story. Elder Walker's sister and brother in law are inactive. He works at a hotel in Utah and I am not sure what he does. Elder Walkers sister is inactive and his brother in law I believe is not a member or has not being active since a very very young age. Anyways, he was behind the counter one day talking with the people coming in to get a room and in walks a man that he feels looks familiar but he can't put his finger on where he has seen him before. He sees the man walking and seems to be looking for something or someone. This man stops and talks with one of the employees telling them that he is looking for a particular person who always shines his shoes. He just loves this shoe shiner. They tell him that they don't know where the certain person is and the man leaves. This whole time Elder Walker's brother in law is watching. As he watches he feels something is different about this man and that he is almost different from anyone that he had ever been around. That just being around him made him feel peaceful and calm. After this man left he realized that it was Thomas S. Monson. He then went home after work and told of his experience. He is now reading from the Book of Mormon and is almost done reading for the first time. He just knew that there was something about this man that he wanted in him.
That is how it feels at times to be in the presence of these holy men. It gives me a 1% taste of what it must feel like to be in the presence of the Lord.
I love you all and have a great week. Keep reading your Book of Mormon all of those who accepted the challenge.
love,
ELDER MARR
P.S.
For those who it may concern I got new shoes :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
LONG WEEK & COLD WEEK
I have never been this cold. The beginning of last week was ridiculously cold. We we told that we needed to have members take us out after the sun went down if we were in a bike area. I was in Clear Lake for two days with Elder Cortez. It was an interesting exchange. Three companionship's switched around for the two days. I took Elder Cayas' spot in Clear Lake while Elder Lidich came here with Elder Walker. Clear Lake is a lot like Friendswood. It is a lot different than this area but there are still a lot of great people. Those two days were busy. We also had interviews this past week. That was great as well. President Saylin and I talked about some good stuff. There are a few tings that he wants to experiment with in our area and I think that it will yield good results.
We have been working with a lot of new people. As well as some of the people that were here when I got in the area. We have been running from teaching appointment to teaching appointment. We have no time to breath. It is great. There are so many people who want to meet with us and so little time. We have been teaching like crazy and trying to get a lot of members out with us. This past week was a great one.
Just to let yall know this weeks email is going to shorter than the normal emails. There isn't much time. We are trying to get all of our stuff taken care of quickly for a zone activity today. When you are in a district with other missionaries who rely on you for a ride you have to go fast. At the library where we do our emails there is a sign up section and you have to wait forever until you get a computer. By the time you get one it is about an hour after another missionary started. So you could be at the library for 2 hours.
Anyways, this week was great. There were a few really powerful spiritual experiences that we have had. We are trying to help a member in the ward to stay active and change. She is a great person and the spirit was so strong in our lesson yesterday that a lot of tears were shed by several of us. The Lord cares so much about every single person and doesn't want any of them to fall away and be lost. I have had some of the most powerful teaching experiences when they are to investigators who are going to drop you or members who are choosing to go inactive or to fall off the map, so to speak. The Lord has brought the spirit so strongly so many times when I am privileged to be teaching one of His children. The Lord doesn't want them to leave and he sends the spirit to try to soften their hearts. It always makes me feel like nothing. I cannot teach well. I have no real ability to change people. But I know that the Lord does. And I learn more and more each day of how to invite the spirit in teaching those I meet with. He does the teaching. I cannot soften someones heart. I love my mission. I love the people. I love the Lord. I know that this gospel is true and that He cares about all of us. Even if there are times that we do no feel that he does. He does. He wants us to just be happy and follow him. It really is so simple. But like I said in a previous email. We just have to do it. And that is hard.
I love you all and have a great week,
ELDER MARR
We have been working with a lot of new people. As well as some of the people that were here when I got in the area. We have been running from teaching appointment to teaching appointment. We have no time to breath. It is great. There are so many people who want to meet with us and so little time. We have been teaching like crazy and trying to get a lot of members out with us. This past week was a great one.
Just to let yall know this weeks email is going to shorter than the normal emails. There isn't much time. We are trying to get all of our stuff taken care of quickly for a zone activity today. When you are in a district with other missionaries who rely on you for a ride you have to go fast. At the library where we do our emails there is a sign up section and you have to wait forever until you get a computer. By the time you get one it is about an hour after another missionary started. So you could be at the library for 2 hours.
Anyways, this week was great. There were a few really powerful spiritual experiences that we have had. We are trying to help a member in the ward to stay active and change. She is a great person and the spirit was so strong in our lesson yesterday that a lot of tears were shed by several of us. The Lord cares so much about every single person and doesn't want any of them to fall away and be lost. I have had some of the most powerful teaching experiences when they are to investigators who are going to drop you or members who are choosing to go inactive or to fall off the map, so to speak. The Lord has brought the spirit so strongly so many times when I am privileged to be teaching one of His children. The Lord doesn't want them to leave and he sends the spirit to try to soften their hearts. It always makes me feel like nothing. I cannot teach well. I have no real ability to change people. But I know that the Lord does. And I learn more and more each day of how to invite the spirit in teaching those I meet with. He does the teaching. I cannot soften someones heart. I love my mission. I love the people. I love the Lord. I know that this gospel is true and that He cares about all of us. Even if there are times that we do no feel that he does. He does. He wants us to just be happy and follow him. It really is so simple. But like I said in a previous email. We just have to do it. And that is hard.
I love you all and have a great week,
ELDER MARR
Monday, January 10, 2011
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
To start I am going to talk about weather. Like always Texas throws the people for a loop by giving us weather in the low 80's for a day then 3 days later it is in the mid to high 40's. Thanks Texas!!! It is pretty cool. I enjoy colder weather. When it is hot it is more difficult to think and you can't focus as well as you can when it is cooler. the hot weather this time of year made me feel so weird. It didn't feel like winter for a few days. It is supposed to get colder this week. There has been a big storm and winds coming in that have been cooling things off. I haven't seen the sun for a few days which is odd in Houston.
We are working with some wonderful people. I love everyone I teach but the people we are teaching now are keeping commitments and doing so many great things without us even asking them. We have an investigator preparing for her baptism and she has made so many changes. She took out her piercings and gave up her word of wisdom issues and started sharing the gospel and praying every day without ever having to be asked. Once the spirit told her that this was true she made the change. She is so strong and has made me feel to repent in my heart for those things that i think bring me happiness that actually do not and i am asked of the Lord to give these things and myself up to Him. Like she has. I feel to repent of so much. There are people out here that have helped me when I have tried to help them. And they didn't even know it. There is so much that i have learning and that I am still learning about who i want to be and what i want my priorities to be. If this week has taught me anything it is that people don't have to stay the same. I already know that but seeing people make drastic changes in their lives and then seeing how they are so much happier when they are living the commandments brings so much happiness to my heart. It is so awesome.
Whenever something is going great there are some things that get thrown at you. This week was rough in some aspects. We had a lesson with a recent convert who had been offended and had some doubts about the gospel. After talking with her about them we found that the real problem lied with not being willing to forgive somebody and not being willing to live a certain commandment. That is usually why people stop coming to this church. Because it is too hard or because they choose to take offense. Or they are scared that it will be socially awkward for them to return to church after being gone for a while. Of course there are many reasons why people say they aren't going to church anymore or why they just aren't going to church. But coming to church is going to help them and when they really think about what they could have if they came to church they come. When they remember how they have felt while living the gospel and the spiritual experiences they have had, why they are members of this church, and what the Lord has to offer them and what blessings he is willing to give them then they will start to come back. With this certain convert we talked to her about why she chose to join the church and tried to bring back those memories of her spiritual experiences. She said that she would talk with the bishop and would try to come back to church.
We cannot force people to do anything. All we can do is bear our testimonies and let them know how we feel and the experiences we have had. There is so much that I have been blessed with and at times I feel inadequate and that I cannot be what the Lord expects me to be. But he would not let me know these things or put me where I am unless he knew that I could become what he wants me to become.
I am sorry that this is short. I love you all and I know that this church is true. I know that the Lord welcomes all of His children to come to him and to follow him. No matter who we are or what we are doing in life we can change and today can be the day that we choose to be happy by following Him. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for you.
love,
ELDER MARR
We are working with some wonderful people. I love everyone I teach but the people we are teaching now are keeping commitments and doing so many great things without us even asking them. We have an investigator preparing for her baptism and she has made so many changes. She took out her piercings and gave up her word of wisdom issues and started sharing the gospel and praying every day without ever having to be asked. Once the spirit told her that this was true she made the change. She is so strong and has made me feel to repent in my heart for those things that i think bring me happiness that actually do not and i am asked of the Lord to give these things and myself up to Him. Like she has. I feel to repent of so much. There are people out here that have helped me when I have tried to help them. And they didn't even know it. There is so much that i have learning and that I am still learning about who i want to be and what i want my priorities to be. If this week has taught me anything it is that people don't have to stay the same. I already know that but seeing people make drastic changes in their lives and then seeing how they are so much happier when they are living the commandments brings so much happiness to my heart. It is so awesome.
Whenever something is going great there are some things that get thrown at you. This week was rough in some aspects. We had a lesson with a recent convert who had been offended and had some doubts about the gospel. After talking with her about them we found that the real problem lied with not being willing to forgive somebody and not being willing to live a certain commandment. That is usually why people stop coming to this church. Because it is too hard or because they choose to take offense. Or they are scared that it will be socially awkward for them to return to church after being gone for a while. Of course there are many reasons why people say they aren't going to church anymore or why they just aren't going to church. But coming to church is going to help them and when they really think about what they could have if they came to church they come. When they remember how they have felt while living the gospel and the spiritual experiences they have had, why they are members of this church, and what the Lord has to offer them and what blessings he is willing to give them then they will start to come back. With this certain convert we talked to her about why she chose to join the church and tried to bring back those memories of her spiritual experiences. She said that she would talk with the bishop and would try to come back to church.
We cannot force people to do anything. All we can do is bear our testimonies and let them know how we feel and the experiences we have had. There is so much that I have been blessed with and at times I feel inadequate and that I cannot be what the Lord expects me to be. But he would not let me know these things or put me where I am unless he knew that I could become what he wants me to become.
I am sorry that this is short. I love you all and I know that this church is true. I know that the Lord welcomes all of His children to come to him and to follow him. No matter who we are or what we are doing in life we can change and today can be the day that we choose to be happy by following Him. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for you.
love,
ELDER MARR
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
THE NEW YEAR
Wow!!! 2010 went by fast. Now we just have another year until the end of the world. We hear that a lot from people on the street we talk to. You may not know it but a lot of people really do think that the world is going to end in 2012. It's not. But people think it is with all of these shows and stuff like that. But it is making people think about their lives and if they should be living the way that they are. Which is a good thing. But they are getting scared and stuff. Some people at least. We get asked all the time lately. I always just try to tell people that if he were to come tomorrow would you be ready? Then we talk about how we can be ready and should live our lives as if he was coming tomorrow.
This week.......not normal. Well no week is normal. Not a normally weird week. Elder Schaat took the spot of Elder Breeze in the north area. He is now with Elder Hoggard. They had a baptism this past weekend. Right after the baptism Elder Hoggard went to the hospital because of his headaches. He just got out yesterday. He has been having a rough time with his physical well being. He is a good missionary and looks for the good and doesn't complain much. They aren't able to find what is wrong with him and cant figure out how to help him. He has had some bad headaches before and cured them but now it is because of something else. Keep him in your prayers. He is a great man and very new on the mission. He has only been out a month and a half and is having medical problems. He is back to work as for right now and is bearing with the pain. I hope the doctors will be able to find out what is wrong with him to be able to cure it all.
I am not a good writer. Letters or emails. I am not able to express myself adequately in writing. I feel like Moroni who talks about how he wishes that he could write better and be "mighty in writing." But I am not and I don't have the help of writing scriptures so you all will have to deal with what I can type and how I communicate.
This week and for the rest of the year church will be starting at 2:30. It is the latest time I have ever heard of and attended. It is different but it is good. It made fast Sunday really good. I look forward to this time and I think it will be a good change. There are 4 congregations that meet in the ward building. Two Spanish and two English. We, this year, have the latest time.
What also to talk about. there are a lot of people who want us to teach them. There have been many who we have talked to riding around that really want us to come by and who are sincere in their interest about the gospel. I am really excited for this next transfer. There is a lot of promise in the future. I look forward to what this ward will be able to accomplish and what we as missionaries can do and accomplish with he help of the Lord.
Oh. I thought that my scriptures were done for this week. They got quite wet and I thought that my markings would bleed through the pages and they would be terribly warped. I got a paper towel and was able to dry the pages in a weird way and my scriptures have very minimal warping and only in sections of less importance like the beginning of the Bible and the index tot he Book of Mormon. (Although they are both still important) The scriptures that I have i would never give up. If they were destroyed I would rather have my bike stolen and all of my stuff taken away than have my scriptures destroyed or lost. I love my scriptures. The notes in them are important to me. I love those scriptures. Hopefully they can make it till i get home. i am sure that they will.
I love you all and I thank you for your help with me and for your letters. I know I owe a lot of you letters and more. If I had the time I would write all of you. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for you. Keep up the reading of the Book of Mormon. I am trying my best to find extra time to read and stay up with y'all. Stay strong and work hard.
love,
ELDER MARR
This week.......not normal. Well no week is normal. Not a normally weird week. Elder Schaat took the spot of Elder Breeze in the north area. He is now with Elder Hoggard. They had a baptism this past weekend. Right after the baptism Elder Hoggard went to the hospital because of his headaches. He just got out yesterday. He has been having a rough time with his physical well being. He is a good missionary and looks for the good and doesn't complain much. They aren't able to find what is wrong with him and cant figure out how to help him. He has had some bad headaches before and cured them but now it is because of something else. Keep him in your prayers. He is a great man and very new on the mission. He has only been out a month and a half and is having medical problems. He is back to work as for right now and is bearing with the pain. I hope the doctors will be able to find out what is wrong with him to be able to cure it all.
I am not a good writer. Letters or emails. I am not able to express myself adequately in writing. I feel like Moroni who talks about how he wishes that he could write better and be "mighty in writing." But I am not and I don't have the help of writing scriptures so you all will have to deal with what I can type and how I communicate.
This week and for the rest of the year church will be starting at 2:30. It is the latest time I have ever heard of and attended. It is different but it is good. It made fast Sunday really good. I look forward to this time and I think it will be a good change. There are 4 congregations that meet in the ward building. Two Spanish and two English. We, this year, have the latest time.
What also to talk about. there are a lot of people who want us to teach them. There have been many who we have talked to riding around that really want us to come by and who are sincere in their interest about the gospel. I am really excited for this next transfer. There is a lot of promise in the future. I look forward to what this ward will be able to accomplish and what we as missionaries can do and accomplish with he help of the Lord.
Oh. I thought that my scriptures were done for this week. They got quite wet and I thought that my markings would bleed through the pages and they would be terribly warped. I got a paper towel and was able to dry the pages in a weird way and my scriptures have very minimal warping and only in sections of less importance like the beginning of the Bible and the index tot he Book of Mormon. (Although they are both still important) The scriptures that I have i would never give up. If they were destroyed I would rather have my bike stolen and all of my stuff taken away than have my scriptures destroyed or lost. I love my scriptures. The notes in them are important to me. I love those scriptures. Hopefully they can make it till i get home. i am sure that they will.
I love you all and I thank you for your help with me and for your letters. I know I owe a lot of you letters and more. If I had the time I would write all of you. I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for you. Keep up the reading of the Book of Mormon. I am trying my best to find extra time to read and stay up with y'all. Stay strong and work hard.
love,
ELDER MARR
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