GENERAL CONFERNCE WEEKEND!!!!

Dear Everybody,
 
This weeks weather has been magnificent. Cool air has been blowing and it has been lowering the temperature by a considerable amount. It feels like a perfect mid-summer Washington day today. Especially this morning. It felt wonderful. I love the weather this time of year. It is perfect. I hear that it is nice and cold up in Washington. I can't even imagine it being cold right now. Not this time of the year.
 
So this week was a basic week. Except for General Conference. That was great. I loved the Saturday afternoon session and the Priesthood session. They were both sooo great. For those who did not attend the Priesthood session I would encourage you to read Elder Uchdorf's talk when it comes out in the Ensign next month. It was great. He talked about Pride and it was a humbling talk (no pun  intended). But I loved Conference. It is so great to feel the spirit and see a real Prophet and real live Apostles. I wish that all of my investigators would have been able to see all of the sessions and feel the love that these men have for all of us. It always testifies to me that they are truly Prophets and apostles. In the book of Mathew, I think chapter 24, the savior says that there will be many false prophets and teachers. He tells the disciples and us who will read it as well that the way to know if they are true Apostles or Prophets is by their works. President Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, Elders Holland, Oaks, and all the rest are either "wolves in sheep's clothing" who are their to deceive and then destroy us or they are truly Apostles and Prophets. In other words they are either false prophets who look like real prophets but inside they are evil or they are true Prophets. The Savior says that the way to know if they are his prophets or "wolves in sheep's clothing" is by their works. "By their works ye shall know them." Look into the life of each of these men and see if they are wolves in sheep's clothing or not. Do they do evil things or good things, help build up or tear down? I know that these men are truly Prophets, seers, and revelators of God and that they are his servants. I know that every talk that was given this past conference was not to pat ourselves on the back or to puff us up above others but to help us to know how to be better and what we can do in this life to change ourselves for the Savior. They are here to help us to change and to repent. I know that they spoke on exactly what the Savior would say to the church if he were here. I am so grateful for the great opportunity I have had to hear the words of the Lord through his chosen servants at Conference. I have looked into their lives and all I have found is service and love. However they are still mortal men but they are great men who live lives of service.
 
Sadly we received our transfer call this morning. Elder Leishman is leaving as well as Elder Manoa. I wish that they could both stay in this district for one more transfer but the Lord has other plans. I will miss Elder Leishman. It seems like my past few companions have all been very fast. Not even being a full 2 transfers long since Elder Robertson. I was with him for 3 and I wish that I could be with him again but he is home. I will most likely have a companion who I have never known before. There are a lot of missionaries in the mission who I have never met before. Many new faces and many new people coming in with a extremely large group of veterans in my eyes who are going home. The mission is Dear Everybody,
 
This weeks weather has been magnificent. Cool air has been blowing and it has ben lowering the tempurature by a considerable amount. It feels like a perfect mid-summer Washington day today. Especially this morning. It felt wonderful. I love the weather this time of year. It is perfect. I hear that it is nice and cold up in Washington. I can't even imagine it being cold right now. Not this time of the year.
 
So this week was a basic week. Except for General Conference. That was great. I loved the Saturday afternoon session and the Priesthood session. They were both sooo great. For those who did not attend the Priesthood session I would encourage you to read Elder Uchdorf's talk when it comes out in the Ensign next month. It was great. He talked about Pride and it was a humbling talk (no pun  intended). But I loved Conference. It is so great to feel the spirit and see a real Prophet and real live Apostles. I wish that all of my investigators would have been able to see all of the sessions and feel the love that these men have for all of us. It always testifies to me that they are truly Prophets and apostles. In the book of Mathew, I think chapter 24, the savior says that there will be many false prophets and teachers. He tells the disciples and us who will read it as well that the way to know if they are true Apostles or Prophets is by their works. President Monson, Eyring, Uchdorf, Elders Holland, Oaks, and all the rest are either "wolves in sheep's clothing" who are their to deceive and then destroy us or they are truly Apostles and Prophets. In other words they are either false prophets who look like real prophets but inside they are evil or they are true Prophets. The Savior says that the way to know if they are his prophets or "wolves in sheep's clothing" is by their works. "By their works ye shall know them." Look into the life of each of these men and see if they are wolves in sheep's clothing or not. Do they do evil things or good things, help build up or tear down? I know that these men are truly Prophets, seers, and revelators of God and that they are his servants. I know that every talk that was given this past conference was not to pat ourselves on the back or to puff us up above others but to help us to know how to be better and what we can do in this life to change ourselves for the Savior. They are here to help us to change and to repent. I know that they spoke on exactly what the Savior would say to the church if he were here. I am so grateful for the great opportunity I have had to hear the words of the Lord through his chosen servants at Conference. I have looked into their lives and all I have found is service and love. However they are still mortal men but they are great men who live lives of service.
 
Sadly we received our transfer call this morning. Elder Leishman is leaving as well as Elder Manoa. I wish that they could both stay in this district for one more transfer but the Lord has other plans. I will miss Elder Leishman. It seems like my past few companions have all been very fast. Not even being a full 2 transfers long since Elder Robertson. I was with him for 3 and I wish that I could be with him again but he is home. I will most likely have a companion who I have never known before. There are allot of missionaries in the mission who I have never met before. Many new faces and many new people coming in with a extremely large group of veterans in my eyes who are going home. The mission is a lot different now and I will have to get accustomed to being one of the older missionaries.
 
There are a lot of excited things to come the next two weeks. This coming weekend Elder Costa of the Presidency of the 70 will be speaking in a tri-mission conference up in Houston. He spoke last year and I am really excited to see what he talks about this week. HE gave a talk in General conference that was really fast. He gave the 14 points of a prophet which was pretty cool. Anyways we have that this weekend and then the coming weekend we have our temple trip. Which is always amazing. I am lucky to have the new temple Ensign (with the Houston temple in it) to help me have an even better temple experience in two weeks. It will be a busy few weeks.
 
This past week we started teaching a great family. They are both very interested but the daughter is extremely interested. She said that she would like to read the Book of Mormon so we taught them and gave he a copy. Usually when this happens the sad reality is that they usually do not read it or "didn't have time to." But I was pleasantly surprised. We gave her the book on Wednesday and by Sunday this 15 year old girl had read the first 4 chapters of the Book of Mormon and asked us questions about it. She understood everything she read. IT was pretty cool. If everyone showed the determination to read from the Book of Mormon like she has then there would be many more members of the church and many more active members of the church. The power of the Book of Mormon can never be underestimated. On my mission it has always been a focus of my teaching and it really is one of the most important things to have in the gospel. I just wish that more people read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. I cannot stress it enough. It has the power to change a persons heart and prepare them for the next life. I love the Book of Mormon and the testimonies of the Savior that are found in it. It is truly the greatest book on earth that will "draw a man closer to God than any other book." I wish more people would read it diligently. I love it!
 
Anyways, I never thought that I would type this but I have seen a hill. It is a fairly large one in the park. I have a few pictures that I will have to send home soon. I keep saying I will send pictures. I really will but my time is never with me. Like today I am emailing and it is already 2:39. We still have to shop and do a few more chores like getting haircuts. P-day never seems to go by slowly.
 
I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for all of you. I know that this gospel is true and that the Lord loves all of us. I look forward to telling you some good stories that I am sure will be shared by Elder Costa. And who my new companion will be. Stay tuned.
 
love,
 
ELDER MARR