Hey Family!
 
Well such a short time has passed since last P-day that there really is not that much stuff to tell you guys. :) I’ll just fill you guys in on the investigators that we have.
 
The investigator closest to baptism is a 19 yr old girl named Flor. Flor works in the house of a member and has always been invited to church but never forced to go, and then a couple of weeks ago she decided to go and really like it. She has already been to church three times and really wants to learn more about the church, and she has big desires to be baptized. We are going to be going to the temple with her this Saturday if we can.
 
Another investigator that is progressing is Sara, she is the girlfriend of a member but they are not married. Classic! The members name is Otto and originally did not really like the idea of marriage, but just in this last week alone he is starting to open up to the idea. Yesterday we saw him and Sara together in the street and started talking with them and he told us that they were talking about marriage and then made a joke saying that Elder Ribeiro and I might have to put in for the rings! Sara also has two brothers who are 16 who live with her and Otto because their parents died a few years ago. We just started teaching them but if they go to church with Sara and Otto this week, then we are going to try to take them to the temple at the end of next week. Lots of potential there to have all three of them get baptized during the month of May.
 
Another two investigators that we have are Tania and Yoliver, who came to church for the first time on Sunday. Also, the non-member family of an elder that is serving in Mexico came to church on Sunday for the first time. It is the sister, mom, and grandma of the elder, their last name is Pinto. There is another guy named Diego, who almost always goes to church with his member girlfriend but has always said that he did not want people coming up to him and trying to teach, but rather in his own time he would invite to missionaries to come over. This Sunday we approached him and started talking and we are going to visit them on Saturday just to get to know him and gain some confidence. He also has a lot of potential, he studies the Come, Follow Me program and everything. When we talked to him before church he was sitting in the chapel early reading in Come, Follow Me. We will see what happens. 
 
"And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights, and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them, and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things" Jacob 5:72. The Lord is truly with us in all that we do! He wants the best for every one of us. He is on our side in every battle of everyday! Our worries are His and the joys and blessings that we have and feel come from our loving Father in Heaven! I love you all so much!
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks

Hey Family!
 
I feel like its been forever since I have written or communicated with you guys! This last week felt like such a long one with the change in P-day! Even two days more than usual feels like a whole extra week. This last week was a good one, there were lots of things that happened, including changes!
 
I did get transferred, so I am now in an area called Boca del Monte, or Mouth of the Mount. My new companion is Elder Ribeiro, from Brazil. He is 21 and has 19 months in the mission, he speaks Spanish, English (not perfect, but really good) and he speaks Portuguese! The native language in Brazil is Portuguese. So by the end of the time that we have together, whether it be one change or two, I should be on my way to being tri-lingual! 
 
The area of Boca del Monte is in the city, but not in the heart of the city. There are not skyscrapers or anything like that in the area. But a 10 minute bus ride and it is city city. I’m not really sure how to explain this area. It still has more money, nicer houses and most people have cars, but there are still some parts that are a lot more poor. The area has parts that are dangerous at night, but for the most part it is a fairly safe area. We do not go to the dangerous parts at night, so don’t worry too much about that. :)
 
So, before I left my last area, I just had to go Iguana hunting with one of the members there named Jaime, so last week we went and hunted iguana. As missionaries we can’t use guns, so we just went with them. But Jaime climbed about thirty feet up in a tree and saw and shot an iguana! The next day we ate it! :) It was a lot of fun, and a great way to remember Jaime and his awesome family! I will attach a couple of pictures below of me with the Iguana. While we were doing that, there were some other people who were fishing in the near by river. They caught a couple of tiny fish, some snails, and some crabs, so at the end of the day we made a very fishy soup for dinner and chowed down. Honestly, I did not do much chowin’ but I did eat a crab. Got some cool pictures of the natives doing their “no shoes or shirt” cooking thing so I’ll also add them below.

Also, something really interesting is that I ate cashews in the most natural way that you can! The fruit is called Maranon, and it has a seed, and the inside of the seed is cashew. But I remember that forever ago we watched a show talking about cashews and that if they are not cooked they are very bad for you and can be poisonous. So we threw a bunch in the fire till they were nice and cooked, then using a rock cracked them open and ate some natural fresh cashews! They tasted good!
 
I’m not sure if you guys got an email or not, but here in Boca I will have the opportunity to serve as a zone leader. I am excited to being a zone leader because now I can exercise my power over people! Not - just kidding! But to be able to serve and help other missionaries, to be more animated about the work, and help things function smoother. Although it include maybe not sleeping as much as normal, that’s totally ok. 
3 Nephi 13:5-7 says:
 
And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
 
But thou, whey thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when though hast shut they door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret whall reward thee openly.
 
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
 
Here in Guatemala we see that so much! People preaching and praying in the bus and then asking people for money! Prayer should be such a personal one on one time with our Father. And family prayers are a time in which we communicate our gratitude and needs as a family to the Father who sent us here and gave us the awesome family that we have! Just remember the power of prayer, we should not allow ourselves to leave our prayers to one side for any reason. God wants us to talk with him, and when we do, we can call the blessings down upon us. Those blessings will come in Gods due timing. Neal A Maxwell said, "faith in God includes faith in His timing." 
 
I love you all very much and hope that you have an amazing week!
 
Love, your brother and son,
 
Elder Marks 

Hey Family!
 
                This last week was a good week, nothing massive just overall a good time working. The General Conference went really well.
 
                Elder Nelson and I bought a tiny little BBQ thing so we have been eating good the last two nights. We just grilled a little hot dog thing and the second night we did steak. It was really good. We had interviews with president on Monday also. He kinda told me that I would be leaving the area and going somewhere else. I also know that Elder Fogg put in the request that I could be his last companion before he goes home, so there is a chance that I will be able to be his companion again. It would be awesome but we will see what actually happens on Sunday when we get changes
 
The daughter in the Lopez family was able to go to conference this last week, so that was really good. We are really hoping that they can start to progress more this week so we don’t have to leave them. But also we are aware that everybody progresses at their own speed so we will make sure to be patient with them.  Ana Maria is still in a weird mental place and still has more doctor examinations, and is really not showing a lot of interest right now. She also just had a brother-in-law pass away, so she is a little distracted with other things.
 
Also, for P-day today we went to Ixwatahn to some waterfalls! It was a lot of fun though I did get burnt on my neck, but I will make sure I attach pictures down below. 
 
In General Conference, I liked that the big focus was on being prepared gor the second coming of Jesus Christ. I loved the talk by Elder David A Bednar. He talked about the importance of doing your own work to get your testimony and keep it. I read a scripture yesterday morning that said the following, “and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3). I think it is interesting that it says contend. We know that contending and contention is not of God. To me it does not literally mean fight against other people for the faith, but rather it means fight that you gain a testimony. Getting and retaining a testimony is not something that just randomly happens, it is something to be fought for. Ephesians 4:13 and 14 says, “Till we all have come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” We have to do our own part to make sure that we are firmly planted in our own testimony so that when the trials come and the nay sayers, and the people who leave the church for one reason or another, that we are not like children who are tossed to and fro.
 
I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week. Travel safe and enjoy your time in Boise. I am looking forward to chatting today and hopefully with William the next week also.
 
Love,
Elder Marks

Hey Family! chan cha quilh? (how are you in ket'chi)
 
Well this last week had some amazing things happen as well as some things that are unfortunate, and other just overall fun experiences that can only happen in the mission. 
 
First off the baptisimal thing... Delmi was baptized! But, unfortunately Ana Maria was not. :( She was not baptized due to some of her sickness things. The day of her baptism she was quite sick, or lots of pain from the operation that she had about five months ago. We hope that she actually has the desire to be baptized and not just going along with the idea because her husband talks about it so much. She has several examinations that are coming up in the next few weeks, so we will see if she can keep progressing or if she is going to be on the slow route for a little bit. However, the baptism that we did have went very well. We had about 25 people in attendance and Delmi’s grandpa (Brother Ceferinos) was the one who baptized her, so that was great. Some pictures are attached below.
 
General Conference is going to be great this weekend! It is superbowl time here in the mission! We are all super excited to be able to go enjoy conference and also take investigators so that they can have their questions answered.
 
We have changes on the 16th of this month. Although it is hot, I would be really fine with another change in this area!
 
So, here in Guatemala there are about 8 different languages that are spoken. More then anything is just Spanish but there are also a lot of languages that come from the indigenous people, one of which is called Ket'chi. So Elder Nelson and I are learning some of that, totally ooch chavil. (very good). To say good day you would say, chah vil kutan. To say dog you would say, xiih.
 
Anybody want to guess what we ate for lunch yesterday? NOT cow stomach, something that was a lot better. There are some members here named Jaime and Alba who have three kids. Since the start of my time here I found out that people here hunt and eat Iguanas. So yesterday we got a call saying that Jaime killed an Iguana using his slingshot! We went and skinned and chopped and ate Iguana. Honestly, it was really good. Just kinda like a tougher version of chicken. hmm tastes like chicken! Also have some pictures attached below. 
 
We also found another well made Guatemalan bridge thing so we had to walk out on it and take a few picture. Dad, at least it is not that far up, but I also did not trust it much either. 
 
We also have a small family of investigators right now named the Lopez family. The mom’s name is Carmen and the dad’s name is Miguel Angel, the oldest daughter is 18 and named Angela and then another daughter named Melany, who is 12, and then the youngest daughter named Mariel, who is 5. Miguel Angel went to church with us last Sunday and they have plans to go on Sunday to the General Conference. Angela’s birthday was yesterday so Elder Nelson and I bought a small cake and shared it with them last night. The family has a lot of potential. The daughter more then anything. I will also attach a picture of us eating cake down below.
 
Well, I cannot think of many more things that happened this last week, but it sure was a good one. I hope you all have a great week this week! Keep doing good in your goals and keeping focused on the things that really matter. I love you all tons! Have a great week!
 
Love,
Elder Marks 
 
Spiritual Thought:
 
In Doctrine and Covenants section 88 verse 24 it talks about the three kingdoms of glory. However, it also talks about other options for people, or where they can go, but those are not all of the options. The scripture only hints at several other places where people could go after this life, but they are not kingdom or glory. 
 
To do all that we need to do to make sure that we can live in the highest kingdom, we have to trust in God and do all that we can. Proverbs 2, verses 5 and 6:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
However we also need to follow the council of James and do all that we can within our power. The faith and trusting in God is not a passive thing, It is something that requires a lot of action. We show our faith through our works
 
James 2:18 says...

 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.  


Love You!
Elder Marks