"Come thou fount of every blessing"

This week we had zone conference. It was great as you would expect it to be. There were some great talks and some great principles taught. President Saylin really tried to get it across not to put what we learn on the back burner but to apply it to our lives and to study and change from it. I have learned a lot lately how much you can change because of the gospel. I see it all the time. Even though you remain the same person you don’t have to repeat the same mistakes that you have made. That’s all the Book of Mormon and Bible are is showing what happens when you make certain mistakes and what happens when you follow the rules. They are there so that we don’t have to make the same mistakes that they made and don’t have to follow the same patterns of human nature that cause so many problems.

We had an interesting week. We had some really good lessons but there was a lot that happened this week so I will try to cover a lot of stuff.

Mark and Mary a part member/less active family that we teach are doing very well. He has medical problems that hold him back from coming to church but he has been studying and really trying to gain a testimony. He is progressing slowly but strongly. Their family already seems much happier than they did before we started to meet with them. I love the peace and joy that the gospel brings into people’s lives.

We had some interesting mornings this week. One morning a member asked us if we could talk on how to share and teach from the Book of Mormon for her seminary class. We had to wake up at 5:00 to get out there but I loved her class. It was a fun way to start off the morning. Also another morning, I think Friday, we helped at the old folks home with their garage sale. Getting things outside and stuff. It was fun and some of those ladies are so funny. I like that people at places like this find ways to laugh and to be happy.

Our whether has been great this week. During the day it has been around 75-80 degrees. Also at times with a light breeze. It has been clear skies all week. It has been beautiful. It actually makes Rosenberg look like a pretty place. Everyone here is astonished over how long it has been nice like this.

So another funny story from this week. Elder Garcia and I were going to see if a less active member was home. We go up there and knock and no answer. It is an apartment complex and to our right there are two older ladies sitting on the balcony. Out of nowhere a lady comes up the stairs and starts getting really mad at one of the ladies saying that she stole her 3 quarters that were on the washing machine. They said that they had been at the store so they couldn’t have stolen them. One of the old ladies picked up a cane and told the lady accusing one of them to be a thief to get off her porch. We tried not to get involved because it was not our business but we couldn’t get past them. So we tried to cool them all down and eventually gave the lady that was mad 3 quarters so that she could do her laundry. The Spanish missionaries saw all of this because they were on their way to visit an investigator and saw the argument.

Also the funniest/weirdest/saddest story of the week is that the sweetest and nicest of our investigators went to jail. Her wallet was stolen by one of her neighbors and she needed it because it had information on it for her housing meeting that she needs to make to keep her apartment. So she called the police and they came and she told them about it. The man could not confess ,even though she didn’t want to press charges, because he was on probation. So the officer asked if she had been drinking at all. She said that she had two sips of a beer. She took a breathalyzer test or something and she passed. But he said that she had been drinking outside which is public intoxication. So she was arrested. She told us later that the police officer can get into trouble for arresting her when he didn’t see her do it and she wasn’t drunk or anything. So she goes to jail and we hear because she gets to call us. So we go down there the next day to talk with her. They just built a new jail this year and it is really well made. I have never been to a jail before. It was really different. When we went in to talk with her we could tell that the police officers really liked how respectful and good we were. In the room there were people who were rude and loud and completely disrespectful. It was really strange. So we talked to her and she was not sad at all. It turns out that she has to stay for a few days because of some old tickets that she didn’t remember. Since she makes hardly any money she wasn’t really sad. She said that by the time she meets with the judge they are going to release her because her tickets will be paid for because of jail time and that they are spending money to keep her there when she didn’t do too much wrong. When we talked to us she told us that she is never even taking a sip of alcohol again. She said that she has been having Bible study, playing basketball, and has been trying to give love and kindness to her fellow inmates. We laughed pretty well when we met with her. She is so cool. She looked at this as an opportunity to help other people. She is amazing and she is not afraid to tell other people what she believes about the church. She is being released today and will hopefully be baptized in the next month. I have never been as shocked as I was when Elder Garcia hung up the phone and told me “*name* is in jail.” I was more shocked than ever before.

I love you all and I love my mission. Even though things have been a little rough for the people we teach this week it has been an uplifting and edifying week. I feel more consistently happy now than I can ever remember. Serving the Lord brings great blessing and feelings and capability to change. The fullness of the gospel is on the earth. That much I know without a doubt.

Love,

Elder Devon J. Marr


P.S. The title to my email is an amazing song