Hi everybody! I have a new companion and he is cool. But before I talk about him I will just mention a little about Elder Robertson. He is in Galveston now and was very excited. I miss him and I hope that he is having a great time down there. He was a great missionary and a great companion. Rhett or rather Elder Oliver is in Silver lake which is in our zone so I will see him three times at the least this transfer for meetings and such. Elder Oliver was very excited to get back to missionary work.
My new companions name is Elder Johnson. He has been in the mission for nine months and is a Spanish missionary. He has been in the city his whole mission. His first area he told me that he never saw anybody besides Hispanics and in his second area was the same. He told me that even in Chinese restaurants the menu is in Spanish. He hasn't prayed in English since the MTC and is having an interesting time readjusting to this area. He still thinks in Spanish so it takes him a moment to respond. He is a good missionary and I look forward to serving with him this transfer. Sadly he will most likely only be with me for this transfer. There were alot of missionaries who came in this transfer and none of them were Spanish. So in order to have them trained in their language they moved out many Spanish missionaries for a transfer until more english missionaries arrive. Back to Elder Johnson. He lives in Ogden Utah and is studying to be a nurse. he already has his associates and is planning on getting his masters. He is very intelligent and a nice guy.
Elder Jones my MTC companion is in our district now. It is great to see him again and to talk to him about the old days back at the MTC. He is a great missionary and is doing very well. Elder Maw who was replaced by Elder Jones, (That makes it sound really bad), has been moved for his last transfer into the city.
So what is Elder Dudgeon's address? I would like to send him a letter. Anyways.
This past week has been alright. the weather is starting to heat up fast. It is really warm and a little humid. Yesterday was perfect it felt like a summer day in Washington. Now is the best time of the year here. Except those who have allergies. Elder Johnson is having a rough time with his allergies. There is a lot of pollen in the air.
Sorry this email is so scattered and doesn't have much information about my area. things are going well. The ward is strong and there have been some people coming back to church. Also our investigators are doing well. We have alot of member involvement here in this ward which makes all the difference.
I love my mission and I love all of you. thank you for your emails and your letters and packages and girl scout cookies and prayers and everything you all do for me. It really lets me know that I am loved. I wish a good week to all of you and I hope that life keeps going well.
love,
Elder Devon Joel Marr
P.S.
The gospel is true.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
TRANSFER 8
I have been here for three transfers so far. we got transfer calls this morning and sadly Elder Robertson will be leaving. I am gonna miss that Elder. He is a great missionary and he worked extremely hard out here. I have no idea where he is going but time will tell and I will tell you guys next email where he is. I guess that I will be staying in Friendswood for the next 1-2 transfers. I love it here. I would miss it very much if I left. So Rhett Oliver is getting transferred this week. He is going to be spending a transfer in our mission before he goes back to California. He is a cool guy and he will be a great missionary. In other news...
This week we taught more than ever before in a week. I loved it. Usually we have alot of stuff that falls through but this week things all seemed to work out just right. Our main focus was teaching members and helping them be familiar with Preach My Gospel and how to talk to their friends about the gospel. It has been really effective and I have enjoyed doing it. I remember before my mission I knew a lot of the gospel but I didn't really know how to talk about it with others. I admit that I should have read at least chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel and chapter 4. It is a great book and tells you all that you need to nkow to share the gospel regardless of who you are. It brakes it down very simply. So this week in district meeting President Saylin asked all of the district leaders to do what they have done before and give the same training in the whole mission at the same time. We talked about how to follow the spirit more in teaching. It was really good experience and was even mission changing. Instead of preparing a lesson we are now just studying the doctrine and letting the spirit guide us in teaching fully. It is difficult to explain how it works but if you would like to know more ask me about it.
So the weather is already starting to heat up. It has been 70 degrees this whole week with the humidity starting to rise as well as how many bugs are around. I am not looking forward to the heat but if I am on a bike I will sweat away a few pounds. I make fun of myself but I only weight 202. That's not a lot for my size. Anyways. It is good to hear that things for the most of you have been pretty good. Life has been good here.
Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes in a certain area that we felt we should go this week. No body really wanted to listen to us and it was tough. But on our way home we stopped and talked to a man that was working in his garage. His name is Leslie (a man not a girl). We start to talk with him and we don't really think he is listening. Then when we mention modern day prophets it caught his interest. He asked us to sit down and tell him more. We talked for a half an hour and it was great. He has searched around a lot of places for the truth and doesn't go to church anymore because he can't find what he is looking for. As we talked to him he brought up a lot of good questions and wanted to know a lot of stuff about our beliefs. We told him to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. He told us he would. usually when people tell you they will you usually know if they will or not. I have faith that he will. The Book of Mormon is the greatest tool of a missionary. There are promises associated with it and you cannot prove it wrong or false. There have been many theory's as to where it really came from and what it is but none of them hold. I have been thinking lately about what Elder Holland asks us to do if we want to deny the Book of Mormon. He asks us to come up with a reasonable reason why the Book of Mormon is false. By trying to account of a way that this great book was written. I have tryed to come up with some way that it is false. I know that it is true by the spirit but thinking of how others could see it as false. But the more I read it the more I understand that Joseph Smith or even an expert writer could not have come up with something as powerful and complex as the Book of Mormon there is no other answer than the one Joseph Smith gave.
I love you all and I hope that you have a great week. Thank you for letters that I have received from a number of you. Have a great week.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
This week we taught more than ever before in a week. I loved it. Usually we have alot of stuff that falls through but this week things all seemed to work out just right. Our main focus was teaching members and helping them be familiar with Preach My Gospel and how to talk to their friends about the gospel. It has been really effective and I have enjoyed doing it. I remember before my mission I knew a lot of the gospel but I didn't really know how to talk about it with others. I admit that I should have read at least chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel and chapter 4. It is a great book and tells you all that you need to nkow to share the gospel regardless of who you are. It brakes it down very simply. So this week in district meeting President Saylin asked all of the district leaders to do what they have done before and give the same training in the whole mission at the same time. We talked about how to follow the spirit more in teaching. It was really good experience and was even mission changing. Instead of preparing a lesson we are now just studying the doctrine and letting the spirit guide us in teaching fully. It is difficult to explain how it works but if you would like to know more ask me about it.
So the weather is already starting to heat up. It has been 70 degrees this whole week with the humidity starting to rise as well as how many bugs are around. I am not looking forward to the heat but if I am on a bike I will sweat away a few pounds. I make fun of myself but I only weight 202. That's not a lot for my size. Anyways. It is good to hear that things for the most of you have been pretty good. Life has been good here.
Elder Robertson and I were riding our bikes in a certain area that we felt we should go this week. No body really wanted to listen to us and it was tough. But on our way home we stopped and talked to a man that was working in his garage. His name is Leslie (a man not a girl). We start to talk with him and we don't really think he is listening. Then when we mention modern day prophets it caught his interest. He asked us to sit down and tell him more. We talked for a half an hour and it was great. He has searched around a lot of places for the truth and doesn't go to church anymore because he can't find what he is looking for. As we talked to him he brought up a lot of good questions and wanted to know a lot of stuff about our beliefs. We told him to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. He told us he would. usually when people tell you they will you usually know if they will or not. I have faith that he will. The Book of Mormon is the greatest tool of a missionary. There are promises associated with it and you cannot prove it wrong or false. There have been many theory's as to where it really came from and what it is but none of them hold. I have been thinking lately about what Elder Holland asks us to do if we want to deny the Book of Mormon. He asks us to come up with a reasonable reason why the Book of Mormon is false. By trying to account of a way that this great book was written. I have tryed to come up with some way that it is false. I know that it is true by the spirit but thinking of how others could see it as false. But the more I read it the more I understand that Joseph Smith or even an expert writer could not have come up with something as powerful and complex as the Book of Mormon there is no other answer than the one Joseph Smith gave.
I love you all and I hope that you have a great week. Thank you for letters that I have received from a number of you. Have a great week.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
Monday, March 1, 2010
ZONE CONFERENCE W/ Elder Zwick of the 70
This past week was amazing. We had a zone conference with Elder Zwick of the 70 that was wonderful. We all got to shake his hand and hear him speak. Usually in a meeting like this they ask you to do certain things. He never told us something to do. He just talked and taught and invited us to listen to the spirit and let Him tell us what we can do differently from then on. The spirit was stronger in that meeting than in any one I have ever had before. Rhett Oliver came with us and talked to President Saylin, Elder Zwick, and our stake president. Rhett may be serving as an Elder for a few weeks here in our mission during transfer time. He is a great guy and has such a good testimony of the gospel. He was talking with us this week and told us that when he got back he had fun watching movies and TV and other things but that it is not as satisfying as before. He feels like it is a good thing that he came home for a time because of his leg to give him a better appreciation of this work and being a missionary. He wants to go back really bad.
The meeting was great he talked about having a sure foundation. Having a solid foundation of Christ is one of the most important things. I felt like I need to read more out of the Bible especially the "gospels." Learning about the savior and who he really is is extremely important. A lot of people think that we don't believe in Christ but worship prophets. That doesn't make any sense. We believe in Christ and God just as much as others. We also have even more evidence of Christ's love for the earth and the people on it. I love the gospel.
He also told lots of stories about the general authorities. Especially President Hinckley and Elder Irering. He talked about how much energy President Hinckley had and how he was like a young man in stamina. There was one story he told that I really liked; President Hinckley was going through the different sessions of dedicating the Nauvoo temple. Upon leaving the temple there were some 2000 people outside just wanting to get a look at him. Elder and Sister Zwick were with him at the time. He told them to go and wait in the car if they wanted. He then told them that he just wanted to shake a few hands. 2 1/2 hours and 2000 hands later they left to the airport to go to New York. Elder and Sister Zwick were invited to fly on the same plane that President Hinckley was going to fly on. Immediately when you were allowed to take off your seat-belt President Hinckley got up and said; "It's time to exercise." He started stretching and walking up and down the plane doing different work outs. They were shocked at his energy levels. When the plane landed Elder and Sister Zwick went with President Hinckley to drop off their luggage. Then they took the car to the Hill Cumorah. You can drive almost all the way to the top. But not President Hinckley. He asked to be dropped off at the bottom and jogged to the top. They were amazed at his energy and stamina. They thought surely the Lord gave him this strength at this time. The whole time Elder and Sister Zwick were exhausted and couldn't imagine how President Hinckley could have so much energy if not a servant of the Lord.
This week has been pretty good apart from the amazing zone conference. I was excited to get a copy of Blaine's departing talk at church. I hope that he has a great time. I know he will work hard and do a great job. Something else I learned was how missionaries are called into there missions. But that will have to wait for another time. I love my mission and I may very possibly be getting transferred in a week and a half. Most likely one of us will be leaving. But who knows what the Lord wishes for this area. I trust that President Saylin will do the Lord's will here and will send me where the Lord wants me to go.
I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for all of you.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
P.S. Heleman 5 "SURE FOUNDATION"
The meeting was great he talked about having a sure foundation. Having a solid foundation of Christ is one of the most important things. I felt like I need to read more out of the Bible especially the "gospels." Learning about the savior and who he really is is extremely important. A lot of people think that we don't believe in Christ but worship prophets. That doesn't make any sense. We believe in Christ and God just as much as others. We also have even more evidence of Christ's love for the earth and the people on it. I love the gospel.
He also told lots of stories about the general authorities. Especially President Hinckley and Elder Irering. He talked about how much energy President Hinckley had and how he was like a young man in stamina. There was one story he told that I really liked; President Hinckley was going through the different sessions of dedicating the Nauvoo temple. Upon leaving the temple there were some 2000 people outside just wanting to get a look at him. Elder and Sister Zwick were with him at the time. He told them to go and wait in the car if they wanted. He then told them that he just wanted to shake a few hands. 2 1/2 hours and 2000 hands later they left to the airport to go to New York. Elder and Sister Zwick were invited to fly on the same plane that President Hinckley was going to fly on. Immediately when you were allowed to take off your seat-belt President Hinckley got up and said; "It's time to exercise." He started stretching and walking up and down the plane doing different work outs. They were shocked at his energy levels. When the plane landed Elder and Sister Zwick went with President Hinckley to drop off their luggage. Then they took the car to the Hill Cumorah. You can drive almost all the way to the top. But not President Hinckley. He asked to be dropped off at the bottom and jogged to the top. They were amazed at his energy and stamina. They thought surely the Lord gave him this strength at this time. The whole time Elder and Sister Zwick were exhausted and couldn't imagine how President Hinckley could have so much energy if not a servant of the Lord.
This week has been pretty good apart from the amazing zone conference. I was excited to get a copy of Blaine's departing talk at church. I hope that he has a great time. I know he will work hard and do a great job. Something else I learned was how missionaries are called into there missions. But that will have to wait for another time. I love my mission and I may very possibly be getting transferred in a week and a half. Most likely one of us will be leaving. But who knows what the Lord wishes for this area. I trust that President Saylin will do the Lord's will here and will send me where the Lord wants me to go.
I love you all and I hope that this week goes well for all of you.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
P.S. Heleman 5 "SURE FOUNDATION"
Monday, February 22, 2010
THANK GOODNESS FOR THE GOSPEL!!!
This week it has been pretty good. we had interviews with President Saylin. He is a great guy and we had a good interview. Our mission has been focusing on talking to 70 people a week each so 140 a companionship and it has been tough. It is good though and we testify alot. it is good to try not to let one soul go and try to talk with everyone.
It has been colder this week again and isn't supposed to warm up any time soon. It is weird that this winter has been so cold. It usually doesn't get this cold in the winter. In the day it doesn't get that cold but in the evenings it gets alot colder and you have to wear gloves and everything.
We have talked to alot of great people this week. There are several people who we have been teaching for a while that are doing really well. One of them gave out a Book of Mormon to her friend and testified of it. That is always cool. It has been harder to teach our regular people this week because many of them are busy and will be busy this week as well. with he economy the way it is people are just trying to keep their jobs. Also NASA is the main employer of most of Friendswood and one of their projects was just rejected by the government so thousands of people will be losing their jobs soon. It is going to be tough.
THANK GOODNESS FOR THE GOSPEL!!! It helps people out so much. It brings so much comfort to those that stand in need of comfort.
This week i was with one of the zone leaders Elder Maw and also Elder Wang. We had a good time and talked to alot of people. This weekend it seemed like there were more people around than usual. We did attend a baptism on Saturday and it was spiritual. He is a member but she is not and he was not active in the church for over 20 years. Their home teacher went over there at least once a month every month for 20 years. Now he is back active in church and she has joined the church. Alot of her family was there that were not members of the church. She stood up at the end of the service and testified that she can feel the difference and wished she had not put this off for so long. the spirit was strong and her family was touched. It was a great experience.
This week I learned alot of new things that I have been wondering about. I have always wondered what the Dead Sea Scrolls had on them and I found an older ensign article about the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was very interesting. The people who had the records were alot like the Lutheran Church in a sense. They noticed that things had been changed from the way it should have been done and tried there best to get it back to were it was supposed to be but with out priesthood authority couldn't fully do it. It was very interesting to see some of there practices and there worship. I suggest whoever is interested to research it.
Anyways back to my actual life. Things have been pretty good this week. We have a member of the quorum of the 70 coming. His name is Elder Zwick. I have never heard of him before but I look forward to hearing him speak. we will be meeting with him next week. i look forward to talking about that in my next email. I loved hearing from Elder Costa, those months ago. The general authorities of the church are wise men who love the Lord and who are not afraid to have a sense of humor.
This week has been very good. This week I have felt the spirit very strongly and through obedience I have felt more of the spirit in my heart softer but for a longer period of time. It is hard to explain but i have had a really great feeling week.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
It has been colder this week again and isn't supposed to warm up any time soon. It is weird that this winter has been so cold. It usually doesn't get this cold in the winter. In the day it doesn't get that cold but in the evenings it gets alot colder and you have to wear gloves and everything.
We have talked to alot of great people this week. There are several people who we have been teaching for a while that are doing really well. One of them gave out a Book of Mormon to her friend and testified of it. That is always cool. It has been harder to teach our regular people this week because many of them are busy and will be busy this week as well. with he economy the way it is people are just trying to keep their jobs. Also NASA is the main employer of most of Friendswood and one of their projects was just rejected by the government so thousands of people will be losing their jobs soon. It is going to be tough.
THANK GOODNESS FOR THE GOSPEL!!! It helps people out so much. It brings so much comfort to those that stand in need of comfort.
This week i was with one of the zone leaders Elder Maw and also Elder Wang. We had a good time and talked to alot of people. This weekend it seemed like there were more people around than usual. We did attend a baptism on Saturday and it was spiritual. He is a member but she is not and he was not active in the church for over 20 years. Their home teacher went over there at least once a month every month for 20 years. Now he is back active in church and she has joined the church. Alot of her family was there that were not members of the church. She stood up at the end of the service and testified that she can feel the difference and wished she had not put this off for so long. the spirit was strong and her family was touched. It was a great experience.
This week I learned alot of new things that I have been wondering about. I have always wondered what the Dead Sea Scrolls had on them and I found an older ensign article about the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was very interesting. The people who had the records were alot like the Lutheran Church in a sense. They noticed that things had been changed from the way it should have been done and tried there best to get it back to were it was supposed to be but with out priesthood authority couldn't fully do it. It was very interesting to see some of there practices and there worship. I suggest whoever is interested to research it.
Anyways back to my actual life. Things have been pretty good this week. We have a member of the quorum of the 70 coming. His name is Elder Zwick. I have never heard of him before but I look forward to hearing him speak. we will be meeting with him next week. i look forward to talking about that in my next email. I loved hearing from Elder Costa, those months ago. The general authorities of the church are wise men who love the Lord and who are not afraid to have a sense of humor.
This week has been very good. This week I have felt the spirit very strongly and through obedience I have felt more of the spirit in my heart softer but for a longer period of time. It is hard to explain but i have had a really great feeling week.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The past two weeks
I know that I didn't give an update last week and this weeks update will be very short. I have been busy with more important things and personal matters. I do want to say that life is going pretty well here in Texas. We have alot of people that we have been teaching and talking to the past two weeks. One lady we talked to told us last week that she would read the book of Mormon by today. We are goin over there to follow up with her about that. The Book of Mormon is one of our greatest tools. It will bring more comfort and more support than anything that I can think of. It testifies of Jesus Christ and gives us another witness of his reality. I have found alot of support from this "book". With everything that I have I encourage you all and invite you all to read it and to pray and ask God if the book is true. Even if you have received an answer it does not matter. I pray about the book on a frequent basis. I have learned more from it and changed more because of it than anything else in my life. It will only make you a better person. It will only make you happier. And it will only bring more peace into your life. The Book of Mormon is God's word to us and is true.
These past two weeks Elder Robertson and I have had alot going on. We moved into our new apartment and we are more central in our area. We taught a couple when we first got here and they were not very interested. But recently they have been coming to church and have called us to come and to teach them again. You always hope that this will happen and with them it has.
We had a little scare on Thursday this past week. Anyone who has served a mission will know how intense this is. So Thursday is our planning day and Elder Robertson and I are not bad at planning. We are doing our planning session when we get a phone call. It is President Saylin. He tells us that he is at the church building and would like to come over to sit in on our planning session. We were so nervous. We had no ides this was going to happen. So he came and it wasn't as scary as we thought. It was actually very good. he brought us lunch and everything. President Saylin is a great man and a great leader of the mission. He encouraged us to try to talk to 10 people a day each and to never let a week go by that we didn't talk to 70 new people. We have interviews with him this week and he is a wonderful man.
I am sorry that I did not write much. I am keeping busy and we are finding alot of people and teaching alot of people. I love Friendswood and I will try to send a better email next week. I love you all and I encourage all of you to find comfort in the Lord and in his words.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
These past two weeks Elder Robertson and I have had alot going on. We moved into our new apartment and we are more central in our area. We taught a couple when we first got here and they were not very interested. But recently they have been coming to church and have called us to come and to teach them again. You always hope that this will happen and with them it has.
We had a little scare on Thursday this past week. Anyone who has served a mission will know how intense this is. So Thursday is our planning day and Elder Robertson and I are not bad at planning. We are doing our planning session when we get a phone call. It is President Saylin. He tells us that he is at the church building and would like to come over to sit in on our planning session. We were so nervous. We had no ides this was going to happen. So he came and it wasn't as scary as we thought. It was actually very good. he brought us lunch and everything. President Saylin is a great man and a great leader of the mission. He encouraged us to try to talk to 10 people a day each and to never let a week go by that we didn't talk to 70 new people. We have interviews with him this week and he is a wonderful man.
I am sorry that I did not write much. I am keeping busy and we are finding alot of people and teaching alot of people. I love Friendswood and I will try to send a better email next week. I love you all and I encourage all of you to find comfort in the Lord and in his words.
love,
Elder Devon J. Marr
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
My week
It’s cold again. It warmed up last week and the beginning of this week but it has been cold the past few days. It also rained last night so it is really cold and wet. I actually prefer the colder weather as opposed to the weather in the summer.
SO my bike is terrible. It has been handed down for at least 5 years and is just terrible. Luckily there is a member who just got home from his mission who gave me his bike. It is really nice. He has only ridden it 3 times and just gave it to me. I am really appreciative of him and what he is doing for me. The bike is a lot nicer and works a lot better.
We have two new missionaries in our district. Elder Wang, who was one of Elder Robertson’s companions in Angleton. He is cool. It’s not common to see a 6”4 Chinese guy. And Elder Roberts. Him ad his twin brother are both in this mission. He is a nice guy and a good leader who wants us to be the best we can.
Church was really good this week. Brother Shefield talked about how if you do something one way then you will always get the same results. For better or for worse. He is a great guy and the other two talks were really good. I have really enjoyed this ward. They all are intelegent and have done a really good job in their callings. Also there are a lot of good people whi are reverant but not afraid to have fun. It is a great ward.
This week our ward mission leader’s wife’s dad passed away. The funeral was actually a really good experience. There were a lot of non-members there and the ward mission leader and the bishop talked about the restoration of the gospel and the plan of salvation. I know that it touched some of them and it is a good thing to let others know that families can be together forever.
This week I don’t have much to talk about. I do want you guys to know something that is not that cool. So the only letters that I have received have been from Blaine, Danielle, and the “dear elder” letters. I have heard from some of you that you have sent letters but until I said you could send the letters to the member’s house again I have not received anything else. So if you have sent me a letter and I have not written back then that is why. I am sorry and will try to respond to the letters I do receive.
Yall have a great week and I will send another email next week.
Love ya,
Elder Devon J. Marr
SO my bike is terrible. It has been handed down for at least 5 years and is just terrible. Luckily there is a member who just got home from his mission who gave me his bike. It is really nice. He has only ridden it 3 times and just gave it to me. I am really appreciative of him and what he is doing for me. The bike is a lot nicer and works a lot better.
We have two new missionaries in our district. Elder Wang, who was one of Elder Robertson’s companions in Angleton. He is cool. It’s not common to see a 6”4 Chinese guy. And Elder Roberts. Him ad his twin brother are both in this mission. He is a nice guy and a good leader who wants us to be the best we can.
Church was really good this week. Brother Shefield talked about how if you do something one way then you will always get the same results. For better or for worse. He is a great guy and the other two talks were really good. I have really enjoyed this ward. They all are intelegent and have done a really good job in their callings. Also there are a lot of good people whi are reverant but not afraid to have fun. It is a great ward.
This week our ward mission leader’s wife’s dad passed away. The funeral was actually a really good experience. There were a lot of non-members there and the ward mission leader and the bishop talked about the restoration of the gospel and the plan of salvation. I know that it touched some of them and it is a good thing to let others know that families can be together forever.
This week I don’t have much to talk about. I do want you guys to know something that is not that cool. So the only letters that I have received have been from Blaine, Danielle, and the “dear elder” letters. I have heard from some of you that you have sent letters but until I said you could send the letters to the member’s house again I have not received anything else. So if you have sent me a letter and I have not written back then that is why. I am sorry and will try to respond to the letters I do receive.
Yall have a great week and I will send another email next week.
Love ya,
Elder Devon J. Marr
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