Hey Family!
 
As for as investigators go, we had six non-members in church this week! I think the members have been wanting good missionaries for a while now. The members do such a good job at helping in the missionary work. Of the six we had only talked with four of them. One of them is a son in an inactive family. The Valensuela family, we are working with them to get reactivated, they have been inactive for five years. One of the others was Carlos who has a baptism date for Saturday, he is the one who already had the desire to be baptized from the last missionaries but had not been taught any of the lessons. Then a couple people that were invited by members, we made sure to talk with them and get their address so we can visit them and hopefully teach and baptize them. We are also teaching the Leti family. Brother Leti is a member but his wife is not, so we have been teaching her and they have been attending church. With Maria Luiza I think we cleared up that the LDS church is not the Catholic church. We have now been able to teach her the Plan of Salvation and have another appointment with her tomorrow to hopefully introduce lesson three, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is an older lady, but not super super old.
 
Thank you for those pictures, I’m happy to see that the car is good:) Tell the cats to stop it already! That is an awesome picture of William and Mariam. They look so happy together. As far as the other pictures go, just whenever you get them.  I think I knew that about a Temple sealing but had forgotten. It is kinda nice that they did the reception in Boise then will have one in Sandpoint in May. It would be cool to get some of the video that you made for them, sounds like it turned out really well. 
 
We do interviews with President and his wife once every exchange, and I was talking with sister Shumway about being able to find where we are on the map and she showed me meetinghouse locator. It is on lds.org. If you do meetinghouse locator and then Milagro, then find Cuidad Quetzal. Then find the church that is closest to that. That is our building that we share with the Quezal area. Our area is to the left of the building.
 
Dad, last week you asked about spiders. Luckily there really are not too many at all. We have only had one in the house, and it was big but no bigger than the spiders at home. Did Chad Coon’s water fix work in the church or is the water still brown?  Mom you have also asked about service opportunities. We have a service project this Saturday and next Saturday for the Golindo family. Sister Golindo is in a wheelchair and cannot really get out of the house much to go to church or anywhere else because their yard area is really rough. So we are going to be building a cement path for her to be able to use. This Saturday we are preparing the way, then next Saturday we will be pouring the cement.
 
That should be super fun when you guys go shooting! I really do miss the hot tub, just chillin’ and lookin’ up at the stars.
 
I’m doing good with the stress, I really do have to just go with the flow quite a bit. But little by little I am understanding more, so that is really nice. There are some gringos in our district and zone, which is really nice, because when we are all together I can ask questions and its nice to be able to speak some English. Good job dealing with the Spanish session. Kinda frustrating but still awesome. Now just imagine being somewhere where everybody speaks that... It is awesome, I really am enjoying it. 
 
So my companion has this thing called a NEO2 by ALPHASMART that allows you to type messages and then when it is P-day you plug it into the computer and transfer the file. It would be really sweet to have one. He got his on Amazon. I know last week I asked Kylie about a calendar and now this and I know that the mailing system is kinda spendy so please just transfer money from my account. Speaking of the mail system, there is also Mayan express, which is the same idea as Mission to Fly, but might be worth checking out for pricing. From everything I hear the regular mail system is really not that good for being able to get mail. Maybe those things could be put in with the Easter package.
 
A quote that I heard in the MTC that I really like, “comparison is the thief of our joy”. This week I was doing some studying in the scriptures about faith. I really like 1 Nephi 7:12 which talks about how the Lord is able to do all things according to the faith that we have in him. This reminded me of the story of the Woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25-34. She had faith that if she could just touch the clothes of the Savior she would be healed. And she was. I think you guys should read those scriptures, faith is truly an amazing thing.
 
I love you all so much and hope that you are doing great with your different goals and efforts!
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks
 
P.S. I’m not sure what they call my sickness last week down here, but I have also heard it called the double-headed dragon, and Rocky Mountain Quick Step. Glad that I’m all healthy now. :)

Hey family!
 
Sorry Mom. I’m sorry to say but I do not think that those are close to where we are. We are in zone Mixco. The other elders are saying that if you type this into Google maps, it should bring up our area. When we have lessons that fall through or are not teaching we tract. The people here are really receptive so far, so that is nice.
 
I hope things are going well, especially with the wedding! I’m so excited for William and Mariam. I really wish I could be there, maybe they could wait for a couple years? No, just kidding, it should be a really happy day for everyone. Dad, I was thinking yesterday, Shocker right... and I know that you can do civil weddings as bishop but can you do temple weddings? I would love to get some pictures next week of family outside the temple. 
 
I forgot to tell you guys this last P-day, but on last Tuesday we got to go into the city and listen to Elder Cook speak in person. It was really awesome, he talked about the urgency of the missionary work. Especially how lately they have been feeling the urgency more and more. He also talked about how lucky we are to be called to this part of the world where the people are overall more receptive to this message, and the fact that they are the literal descendants of Father Lehi. At the end he talked about how people do not really share really spiritual experiences because of how special they are. He then bore really strong testimony of his knowledge of the voice and the face of the Savior. Overall, a really good day.
 
As far as investigators go this week. We taught Alfredo again this week. We have been teaching a guy named Danni, he has listed to the missionaries before and has a sister serving a mission right now. He has some issues with the Word of Wisdom and has quite a few questions. I think he likes what we are teaching but I do not know if he really has a desire to change yet. We have a baptism scheduled for Saturday the 24th for a teenager named Carlos. He has attended church with us and is wanting to be baptized, but we have the rest of the lessons that have to be taught before baptism. We taught Maria Luiza again this week. She says that she thinks the Book of Mormon is true. But she also thinks that all churches are the Catholic church! Kinda funny, she also keeps asking us what she owes us for the BOM and the pamphlets. Now we just need to get her to attend church with us.
 
Ok, I keep forgetting to tell you where I am emailing from. It is just this little hole in the wall area with four computers and a TV for people to play video games. It is only 10 quetzals for an hour of use on the computer, so about a dollar forty. It is really weird writing on computers here because when I write in English every single word is underlined in red lines. Couple of things here you guys would appreciate. Like that almost every person here wears crocks or the Guatemalen equivalent. I want to get pictures but I do not think that would be appropriate in the middle of a lesson. I really need some of Kylie’s glasses where when I blink it takes a picture for me. :) Also, people have some amazing speaker systems. We will be sitting in a house that really stinks and the people just do not have much. And then there will be a really really nice full speaker system. Subwoofer and everything. It is always kinda nice to be walking and hear some American music.
 
This is the last week where our P-day is on Monday, starting next week the P-day is going to be on Wednesday. I’m not really sure why, but that is just the new norm in the Guatemala South Mission. I was a little sick for a couple days this last week. Nothing too bad, threw up a couple of times and lets just say I am grateful for toilet paper! We still went out and did good full days of work. And I am feeling a lot better now, so that is nice.
 
I am really grateful for the family prayer that we had all growing up. I think it is one of the things that I miss most from home. We were teaching the Golinda family, which is a part member family. The dad is a non-member, but are working on him. We were teaching them about the importance of the family and challenged them to say family prayer together. It just made me all the more grateful for the strong family ties that we have. I love you all so much!
 
Your son and brother,
Elder Marks.
 
P.S When it is clear enough for the stars to be visible and we get home, Orion is directly above us. Orion always has been my favorite. Thanks for the pictures!

Hey Family!
 
First off I’m sorry about last weeks email. It was kinda scatterbrained and I had more that I wanted to share and ask but just ran out of time. My first two weeks went well, the time actually passed quite fast! We do have running water and it is warm! The shower has a wired in water heater, so that is nice, but wires right next to the water – comforting! :)
 
As far as the main system goes… the regular mail is not reliable, but I have talked to some of the other missionaries about what they do for mail. There is a private system in place for mail called Mission on the Fly. The letter or package goes from you to the mission office and then from the missión office to me. I think the address of the mission office is in the original call packet.
 
Also, I did not talk at all about people that we were teaching! oops :) One of our investigator’s name is Marie Luitza, she is an older lady and is Catholic. But she keeps having us come back and she is reading in the Restoration pamphlet that we gave her, and she is reading a little in the Book of Mormon and says that she thinks that it is true. So it seems like just a matter of time, but we will see what happens. We invited her to come to church with us yesterday but she did not, Surprise! Surprise! Hopefully this week she will.
 
Another person that we are teaching is a man named Alfredo Valensuela, he is an older man, and really seems to like what we have to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His eye sight is really bad for reading so he has to use a magnifying glass to read the pamphlet, but he read the whole Restoration pamphlet and said that he will read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we invited him to read, and that he will attend church with us this week. There is also a family where the dad and the two kids got baptized but not the mom, we have taught her a little and are going to be teaching her more this next week. 
 
I’m going to try to send some pictures today, some of the other elders have said that they have gotten viruses and lost some of their pictures, so I am going to use a new memory card with a couple of random pictures to make sure I know what I’m doing. Then if it all goes well, I will attach some pictures at the end of this email. Speaking of pictures, Dad, would you send a few pictures of the different wood things that I have made¿  There is a guy in the ward who does woodworking and he was asking what things I had made. But it was really hard to try to tell him in Spanish. :) The Spanish is going well, at times it is a little frustrating because I know what things I want to say but just do not have the words in Spanish yet. But little by little I am able to understand more of what is going on around me and am able to talk more.  

It sounds like it’s been a crazy winter. Sometimes I wish it was a little cooler here, I know the land of eternal spring is awesome and all but maybe if spring was not quite as warm. I’m sure once I am here for a little while longer it won’t feel as hot.
 
This is one of the things I wanted to include in last weeks email but ran out of time. It is a poem that does not rhyme that I wrote on the last day in the MTC as I was thinking about the journey I was getting ready to embark on.
 
Arise soldiers of the Lord
Rise and come forth
Years have passed and now is the time
We have been chosen, we have been prepared
And we have been called 
Valiant brothers and sisters answer the call
Who is on the Lord’s side?
We are they who are on the Lord’s side!
With faith and trust we boldly move
Spreading truth to all that moves
Zion’s message ringing through! 
As soldiers of the Lord, arise and come forth!
Marching forth from lands afar and leaving family to go proclaim the one true truth
Looking back one last time
One last tear on your loving parents face
Tears of sadness
Tears of the unknown,
Tears of great joy! 
Trust in the Lord,
The arm that cannot fail! 
Lose Fear 
Arise soldiers of the Lord and come forth!
 
Man I love you guys so much! It sounds like things are going well there, I always love hearing from you guys!
 
With Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks
 
P.S. A quote that I read from President Gordon B Hinckley, "My plea is, stop seeking out the storm and enjoy more fully the sunlight." Truly an optimistic man. Life’s storms are all around us and easy to see, but when we can focus our eye on the gifts of the Lord, we can have so much peace in our life.
 
P.P.S. Also, our house just has an M6 on the side but we do not have an address. :) But the mission office knows where we are. The actual name of the town that we live in is San Gabriel, but most days we take either a bus or a tuk tuk over to Las Margaritas. Other town names are Panorama, and Linda Vista. 
 
I got the picture thing figured out but I can't see which ones I’m sending home, but there should be one of my MTC district, the view of the temple out of my MTC room, the shower in our house, and a dinner from one night.

(Garrett didn't quite send the picture's he though, but here is what we received...