"I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike"

A long week. A good week. I will try to go in order of things that have happened this week.

First we went to the park on P-day last week. It was alot of fun. We also played Monopoly and I lost first both times. I am not that good.

Random story. Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes near an elementary school that we live by. We saw some birds in the distance on the ground that looked pretty big. As we got closer we saw that it was about 10 vultures. We got up to about 5 feet away from them and all they did was look at us. They were eating something but it was strange that we could get that close to them without them flying away or something. They were pretty gross. I am not a huge fan of a lot of birds.

So we had lunch with the Bishop on Wednesday. He is a great Bishop. He is very focused and has a great family. He is a testimony to me that if you follow the council of the general authorities you will be blessed. He is a nice man. If he was younger I would be his friend for sure. I say that about a lot of people though. I have realized out here that the world has a lot of good people in it. Him and his family are some of those people.

Funny story: I love popcorn. So I bought a box of 24 bags on Monday. I popped a bag and Elder Robertson and I had a race to see who could eat 8 pieces of popcorn the fastest without using their hands. It was pretty fun. HE recorded it on his camera and it looks ridiculous. I lost by about a fifth of a second.

We had our zone meeting this week and I was able to see some Elders that had become my friends from serving around them before. It was a good meeting and I was really happy to see them again. There are a lot of obedient but cool and fun missionaries in our mission. IT is very hard working. I believe that that is something that President Allred definitely did for his mission. Hard workers. I trust all of these missionaries to do a great job.

Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes to visit some members when we started talking to a guy on the street. He was a nice guy but liked his church and didn’t want to change. He said that his last name was Rigdon. And that he was an ancestor of Sidney Rigdon. (If you don’t know who this is ask a member of the church) So that was pretty cool. We talked to a lot of people on the street. Many people here do not want to change or even listen to our message. But I know that we have people in our area that are prepared by the Lord to ask Him questions and that truly want to know the truth.

Stake conference was this week and it was a good one. The Friendswood stake has a great stake president. Also the Temple President spoke at the adult session on Saturday night. He was hilarious. He made some really funny Utah jokes. He was quicker witted and naturally funny than stand up funny. But he talked about genealogy a lot. When I get home I really want to look into it. Especially using the new web site. We also had our investigator fireside this past Sunday. One of our recent converts and a few others gave their testimonies of the gospel. One of them received a witness that the church was true. This was when he was 25. He didn’t feel like he should be baptized because his wife was EXTREMELY against it. So he called the stake president and talked with him about it. He was told that at some future point that he would be baptized but that he should focus on his family for that time. HE said that the hardest thing he ever had to do was to wait. He waited for I believe 26 years. He was alone with his wife then and had several children and grandchildren. His wife got sick and had to spend some time in another state. The spirit told him that this was the time for him to be baptized. He went to Salt Lake city for a week and was baptized and confirmed by the missionaries who taught him 26 years prior. He then went back and told his wife. She attacked him on it and was mad at him for a while. He said that for a year it was the hardest time of his life. She would do things to keep him from church and such. Then one day she walked in front of him with a few backs packed and said; ”You have to choose. Me or the church.” He says that it was the hardest decision he has ever made. He loves his wife with all of his heart. But he said; “I cannot deny what I know to be true. God told me that this is true and he knows that I know. I cannot deny what I know to be true.” So she left. HE was then called on a mission in Salt Lake and received his endowment there. His wife 2 years later talked to him and was very ill. He came and talked with her for a while. She told him that after she had passed away that they could be sealed together in the temple. Two days later she passed away. A year goes by. He performs the ordinance in the Salt Lake temple. At this time his children and grandchildren hate him because they blame him for the separation. But in this time one of his grandchildren is living with him. The day that he preformed that ordinance he baptized his grandson that afternoon. He made sure that we knew that he knew the gospel was true and no matter what happens that we need to stand strong and the Lord will bless us. He also told us that even if something very huge is asked of us that we should do it. Even Abraham was told to do something huge and he was willing to do it. We all have things that we must do and they are always hard. But you will receive blessings for doing what is right.

Love,

Elder Devon J. Marr