The Saylins and Life Here

Today I am going to jump right into it. The Saylins are great. President Saylin is a very righteous and loving man. He is intelligent and humble which is great to see. Our new mission motto is “stay the course.” He also promised us that he would not make any changes in areas or transfers or any decisions like that unless Heavenly Father tells him to. He shared a special experience of when he and his wife were called into the office of President Eyring. He spoke with them for about an hour then when the conversation started to die off he said to Brother and Sister Saylin that he is waiting. They wondered what for and asked him. He said that he was waiting for the spirit to extend the call to them. He waited for a few more moments then like he does he started weeping and pointed at Brother Saylin and extended the call to serve a 3 year mission as mission president in a Spanish mission. President Saylin accepted. Then he turned to Sister Saylin and extended the call to her, to be President Saylin’s companion. I find it very cool that he extended both calls to each other separately.

When at the MTC President and Sister Saylin along with a few other new mission presidents had one last meeting. On the stand were; President Monson, Eyring, Uchdorf, eleven of the twelve apostles, the presiding bishopric, and some of the seventy who are over missions. He said that it was one of his favorite life experiences and that he was a little taken back by the fact that he was in front of those with the highest of God’s authority all at once.

They have five kids. Youngest to oldest; Cloe, Sophie, Seth, Keith, Scott, and Kate. Cloe is three and Kate is 14 and the rest are in between. They all spoke and are such cool kids. Cloe’s nickname is Ned. Which is a little weird but really funny. The Saylins have a great sense of humor. They are so loving and such real people. In my opinion they are what every family should look to for an example of a LDS family.

I had a great birthday this week. It was fun even though we didn’t do anything real special. I love the gifts that I have received and the love that I have felt from everyone. I really cannot believe that I am 20. Also I can’t believe that Jared is 18!! WOW time flies. The speed of time on my mission is so much faster than at home.

This week was really good but I am going to talk about general life here in Rosenberg. My apartment is not the best. We have roaches and such. We live about 30 yards from the church though. This is a little weird because we live in a semi ghetto neighborhood. The thing about our area is most the people we talk to are unemployed. Now although I wish that some people were able to understand the things we talk to them about better the people here are far more humble then in other areas of the mission. I rarely have bad experiences with people that I talk to. Our area has a pretty ghetto area, to middle class, to upper middle class. All races and all types of living. It seems like if you lived a mile from where we live your life would be different. It feels like you are in a different town depending what street you are on. Also I will speak a little bit about what I call Rosenbergers.

Rosenbergers are the people of Rosenberg. The people here are much different than even other areas in the mission. I feel like I am living in a novel and that the people here are all characters. The ward for example. The members of this ward are so loving and really have most things together. I love how different our ward is and how many characters we have. I have heard from several families in this ward that it has characters so it is not just me. The way I heard it best described is remember in the first Star Wars movie when they walk into the cantina and there are all of those different aliens and stuff. But if all the aliens had faith and love for God. That is what the ward is like. I am not meaning to be rude at all but it is the best way that I can describe it. I would do anything for anyone in this ward because of how great they are but people definitely have their own personalities.

Here is a rundown of our regular day. Wake up at 6:30. Take a shower. Get dressed. Study, for me that is Book of Mormon right now Elder Voeks is studying D&C. Then we pray to start companion study. We then have companion study usually we role play talking to people and talk about how we can best help our investigators and how to find new ones. After that we have companion study we get our stuff together, pray, and head out. We have planned the night before were we are going to go and the appointments we have with investigators and such. We go and talk to our investigators. Usually a few appointments fall through and we knock or try people who do not go anywhere during the day. Now all of this is the normal routine. However many times we have been led to go places or talk to certain people because of revelation. Before my mission I never really understood this truth. I rationalize a lot but the amount of “coincidences” I experience cannot just be coincidences. Anyways we work until about 1:00. Then we take a lunch but if we have an appointment then we take our lunch early. We usually try not to eat unhealthy but lately we have been getting at least a drink at Sonic frequently. Then we head back out. Driving from place to place Elder Voeks and I usually have very deep conversations. Elder Voeks was meant to be my companion. Him and I will be friends or maybe even just stay in contact for our whole lives. We get along great and we rarely are mad at each other. We then do the same thing usually with more success then earlier in the morning. The Brazos Elders usually call us and need a ride somewhere during the day which almost always works with were we are going and is at a good time. We do this until about 5:00. Then we go to dinner at a member’s house. The members always feed us and we are very close with the members. I haven’t had an unbearable dinner yet. I now like rice, tomatoes, peppers, and watermelon. I have been sucking it up and eating it and I have found it enjoyable. I also eat bananas more often. After dinner it is about 6:00 and we head out to appointments. This is generally the most effective time of day because everyone even those who work start to get home. We usually head in at around 9:00 but the past few nights 9:20 because of longer lessons and such. Then we talk. Depending on how fast we plan one of us might take a shower. I come into the apartment, grab my nerf gun, and head to were the roaches usually hang out and kill as many as I can. I don’t shoot those darts at people so don’t worry. Then we usually talk while writing in our journals. Then we go to bed. We haven’t been attempting to sleep until about 11:00-11:30 lately because we start having very spiritual conversations were we share insights and stories from our lives. I have never felt the spirit so frequently as on my mission. It is the greatest experience. Especially if you are doing all that you can do. Then I wake up the next day and do it again. But no day is the same as the last. At least for Elder Voeks and I it isn’t.

I love you all and have a great week.

Love,

Elder Devon J. Marr