I am so excited for the best tasting holiday of the year. I will miss having Thanksgiving away from home. It is one of the best holidays of the year. We are having two dinners too so it will be an adventure. I love food. Just as an update I have gained about 20 pounds on my mission if I haven’t said that yet. Not all of it is fat though but I am sure you don’t want to hear about all this.
The work is going well. We talk to a lot of people every day on the street. President Saylin really wants every companionship to talk to 20 new people every day when at all possible. It has been different but I love it. We have been challenged to do different things and it makes you look at the work in a different way. I like it.
We went on exchanges twice this week with our district leader and zone leaders. I went with Elder Kropp on Tuesday. His bike kept having problems and the brakes kept coming loose or something. We also mapped out new developments that he didn’t have on his map. It was really good. We had fun and we talked to some really great people. On Saturday Elder Maw came down here and we had a blast. We taught a lot of people about the gospel and had some really great interactions with people. A lot of new investigators have come out of that day. It is interesting to see how the Lord can bless you. No matter how good of a teacher you are or how profound you sound the spirit is what does the converting. The spirit can soften the hearts of others and help with the work more than anything else can. Elder Maw is not the best speaker and can even be awkward at times but he is humble and knows that it is not him who converts people but the spirit. He just has to listen and love the people he talks to. I love missionaries like that.
This week was good. Thank you everyone who sent me letters and packages. I love them a lot and it was needed. I was foolish this month and didn’t watch my funds. But the packages I got will more than keep me fed until my funds are replenished. I will try to send out more letters today. I don’t know what to send home from Christmas but I will try to send something. At least pictures.
So this week we had Zone Conference. It was really good but long as always. Richmond zone wasn’t there so I only got to see a few missionaries that I know. Luckily Elder Sharp was there. He was Elder Voek’s companion after me. He is way cool and we were able to talk. Our mission absorbed part of a stake and the areas in it so he is out there. Pasadena and stuff. I think…. Anyways it was really spiritual and really uplifting. One missionary bore his testimony and told us that his father had passed away that week. He knew that his family would be all right and that his father would want him to stay out here. He was sad but he knew that because his father was a good man and that they had been sealed in the temple that he would see him again and it would only be a short amount of time before he saw him again. In the grand scheme of things. It was a powerful testimony. It lets you realize how important the gospel is and the peace it brings to the heart. He is a strong missionary.
On a different note church was very different this week. There was a scouting event that went through Sunday. Also the Bishop and his family were out of town. So there were only about 100 people at church. Brother Livasay (High Priest group leader) presided and President Stanton (Elder’s quorum president) conducted. It was different but I liked it. The members of the church here are very friendly and love each other a lot. The Bishop is a great man and knows that the spirit is what will progress this work more than anything else and he knows that missionary work will only enhance the members spirituality.
I love this area and I love this mission. It rained this week and we got pretty wet. I am not used to rain and this colder weather. I am going to freeze when I get home. Your body just gets used to it I guess. I love you all and I am glad to hear from some of you. I hope that everything goes well and remember that the Lord loves you and if he is putting you through a trial then it is for a reason.
Love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
P.S. Happy Turkey Day
No comments:
Post a Comment