Hey Family!
 
Well we had the baptism for Jose this last Saturday! The baptism went really well, other than starting an hour late because nobody knows how to show up on time! LOL - really though, I remember when Kylie was on her mission and talking about how everything starts late. I testify that it’s true, everybody just kinda shows up when they want to. The picture attached below goes, from left to right, Jaimito, Jaime, Alba, then the fourth person I don’t remember her name.
 
This Saturday two more people are getting baptized also! If everything goes well, we will have the baptism for Ana Maria and Delmi. Hopefully Ana Maria’s health is doing ok for this Saturday, please keep her in your prayers so that she will not have a lot of pain from an operation that she had a while back so that she can be baptized on Saturday. Ana Maria’s husband’s name is Ceferinos, and when I got to this area I thought he was kinda crazy, (and he is) but he is now also one of my favorite people in this area. I see how much joy he feels from having missionaries that can visit him and help his family progress so that they will be baptized. He is also very agile although he is 74, and sometimes he gets up and 4:30 in the morning and goes running! He also always gives us mangos to eat. What a great guy.
 
We had a mulit-zone conference this last week which went really well. One of the things that they gave us was a poem. You could say that is long but worth sharing, it goes…
 
                “I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or be still.
                My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with, low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
                I no longer need preeminence, positions, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t need to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith,  lean on His presence,  walk with patience,  am uplifted by prayer,  and labor with power.
                My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.
                I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed.
                I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
                I won’t give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ.
                I must go til He comes, give til I drop, preach til all know, and work til he stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.”
                               ‘Author Unknown’
                        (Whatever the source, it is powerful words to live by.)
 
This is a long quote but awesome. I have until the part that says, “and labor with power” memorized.
 
We saw a great sunset this last week also, so I will make sure to attach a couple of pictures down below. The super bright ones were taken with a super vivid option on the camera, and the other pictures are the normal ones.
 
I love you all! And am happy to hear that you all are doing well. Have a great week this one!
 
Love,
Elder Marks

Hey Family!
 
Well this last week was another good one. We had the chance to take Ana Maria and Delmi to the temple, which was great. We were also able to have some really good lessons with Hermano Jose and, assuming that he passes the interview on Thursday, he should be baptized this Saturday at four o’clock our time.
 
Going to the temple with Ana Maria and Delmi was a great experience, as usual, and they both felt the spirit very strong and have desires to be baptized on the 30th of this month. There is only one thing that could impede Ana Maria from being baptized. Today she is in at the doctors and there is a chance that they will have to do an operation. But we have faith that everything will be ok, that she won’t have to get operated on and that they will be able to get baptized next Saturday.
 
We found this one guy, Leonel, who turned out to be the brother of a member that lives here, so that was kind of cool!  We taught him, and after he asked if he wanted some coconuts, so he grabbed his machete and climbed up his big palm trees to cut us down some cocos, so that was cool!  He gave us 6, so those weighed down the backpacks pretty good.
 
Also, we had a huge grasshopper [possibly a cicada?] come flying into our house late at night.  Took about 30 mins to finally catch him but we got it! Haha, and some good vids.
 
I was doing some reading in Alma this last week and came across something interesting. That is when Alma and Amulek were teaching a group of people, and there came up another group of people who were saying that they were kicked out of the synagogue and that they had no place to be able to pray. It says that Alma and Amulek left the first group to go teach the second group and that they did not return to the first. Interesting because the first group could have progressed but they still left them to teach the people that were truly interested in the truth.
 
I sure love you all and am super happy to hear about the progress that you are all making on your own personal journey. May this week bring lots of awesome things! Keep eating the way that you are to be able to get back to full health! You guys are doing great!
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks

Hey family!
 
This week was quite a good one. We had lots of good things happen and some investigators really progress. We also had some exciting things happen.
 
First things first, the investigators. The investigators that we have right now are Ana Maria and Delmi. Ana Maria is about 70 years old and is the wife of a member who’s name is Brother Ceferinos, who has been a member about a year. And then Delmi is their granddaughter, but she is like their child because she has lived with them since she was eight days old. This Saturday we will be going to the temple with them and they have a date to be baptized the 30th of this month. They are both super awesome and have big desires to be baptized.
 
The other investigator that is progressing really well is Jose. It is a little harder to teach him because he is a little bit slower. He cannot read and was never taught about God and has never really attended church before a few weeks ago. He also does not know a lot of words, so it is kinda hard for him to talk or to pray. He is 22 years old and wants to be baptized on the 23rd of this month.
 
Right now we are coming into full on mango season! Everywhere you go you see mangos growing up in the trees. When they are really red and yellow that is when they are ready to be eaten. By the end of this month and the first couple weeks of April all of the mangos will be ready to eat.
 
So contacting out here is super different. The houses are set up a little different, so we almost never actually knock a door, the houses have fences and then the house is set back in a little bit. So you just walk up to the gate and yell, BUENAAAS!!! Which is just like yelling hello. A lot of times before even introducing ourselves and everything, they will just say come in.
 
I saved my companions life yesterday! Not really saved his life, but there was a dog that was about to bite his leg and I saved him from getting bit. I have a really quick time for being able to get my backpack off and swinging. The dogs were something else yesterday. At night when we were walking home for the day there were three little dogs that were barking and making us nervous that they were going to attack. We had the backpacks off and we were ready. Luckily we got past them no problem. But then I looked behind us to see a big dark brown pit bull running at us! We both ripped off our backpacks and started backing up from it. We took one good swing at it and it was enough to scare it so it went running down the road. Both of us had our adrenalin running high for the next 10 minutes or so!
 
One of the scriptures that I have really liked lately is Isaiah 41:13, “For the Lord thy God shall hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” Just a great reminder to us all that although really hard things happen, Like the passing of Ryan, that God shall hold our hand and say unto us fear not, he will help us. Have an amazing week this week! I hope that everything goes well and that we can all find success in our different goals and efforts.
 
I love you all!
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks

Hey Family,
 
Greetings earthlings! Well get this, my new companion is from the Great White North. So we got the change call Sunday night, and Elder Jones went to another area, I am now in Las Cabezas (also known as Oratorio 2, it is in the same branch as Oratorio 1. Las Cabezas is about 15 minutes south down the road, closer to El Salvador) and my new companion is Elder Nelson from Canada. Canadians eh! I mean we have only been comps for about 24 hours together so it is hard to really say, but let’s just say I think things are going to be good this change. The church building is still in Oratorio so it is about a 15 to 20 minute ride to church. Also, Mom, that sounds just like the town where we are. It is a long spread out town along the main road.
 
Oratorio 1 now has sisters, I think they will do better then elders would be able to do right now. Sisters seem to have a better way of getting people to go back to church. Also, the sisters that were sent out here are pilas! (awesome)
 
We had the baptism last week for Maynor! The baptism went well but was a little poorly attended because the baptism was on Friday at two in the afternoon, so a lot of people were still working. On Sunday he was confirmed a member of the church.
 
That is crazy about all of that ice! I forget sometimes that it is still so cold there. I remember last year having to do the same thing. Good on your guys getting up there and takin’ care of bidness! And Mom, the ground woman is just as important. Think of what would happen if planes did not have anybody on the ground doing their job. :)
 
Also, I forgot to tell you guys but the family of Jenny, who was the last person that we baptized in Jalapa, were baptized. The mom and dad no, because they still have problems between them and are not married, but the other three kids were baptized a couple of weeks ago! I was super excited when I found out, they are such a great family.
 
Investigators that are really progressing here in Las Cabezas is really just Jose for now. There are other people who might start progressing this week. Jose has a baptismal date for the 16th but we might have to push it back to the 23rd. We will see what happens during this week.
 
I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Keep up the good work in everything that you are all doing.
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks