Hey Family!
 
Well, had two baptisms this last week. We had plans to baptize three but we were not able to get the signature from Henry’s dad because he was working in the city, so Henry will be baptized this Friday, and Brandon will be baptized this Saturday!
 
Good news! Mariela has decided that she is going to get separated from her boyfriend! Which I think is way better in the long run then getting married to him. He really does not want to change, he is still smoking and drinking. We should be able to baptize her one of the first weeks in July. 
 
We have changes this next Tuesday. Usually after the new missionary has two changes with the trainer and one with the next missionary to show him the area, the newer missionary would leave. But when we had interviews with president a couple weeks ago he said that he was thinking that he would leave us together. I really hope I have another change in this area, but we will find out this Saturday, and I will let you know this next P-Day.
 
Marta is about 26, I’m not sure if her bf wants to get married or not, we are still trying to figure that out. She has three kids and the oldest one is 12.
 
There was not a prize if you won the Locked Room, just the satisfaction. It was fun getting to dress up with the red robes. We also started with old lock handcuffs on, that was one of the first things, to find the key for being able to get the cuffs off. 
 
My birthday was fun. We contacted all day, literally all day, besides about an hour. Then there is a member who has a bread shop here in San Gabriel where we live, so in the evening we made pizza with them. This month I had my birthday, Elder Fogg, and the other two elders in our district also have birthdays in June so all four of us were there, so that was fun. I will make sure to attach pictures down below. 
 
I was reading in Ether this last week and read a verse in Ether 6:3 that says, "And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness." I know that this verse is talking about the rocks for the barges that they made, but there is also an interesting parallel to missionary work. If the stones represent missionaries, the light that the stones put off represents the restored gospel and the great waters in darkness represents life, then we learn that missionaries purpose is to share the restored gospel so that people can have digestion for this life. I love being able to find joy in the missionary work, even when there are days that we do a whole lot of walking and not a whole lot of teaching. Luckily there aren’t too many of those types of days but there definitely are some. 
 
I love you all so much, keep doing good in your different goals! 
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks
 
 
PS  It catches my funny bone sometimes when I realize were I am. Especially when we are bumping around on a bus listening to classic Latino music looking at all of these houses crammed in here. What a great experience!

Hey Family!
 
This last week was another good week! I realized yesterday that I have not really told you guys about some investigators that we have. One is Henry and another is Marcos. They are both 15 and we found them by going to the mutual activity. They are awesome for coming to mutual and for coming to church but both struggle in actually reading. President’s advice was that if they have the desire, and believe that this is the true church, to go ahead and move forward with the baptisms and just make sure that they are reading. And that with time their desire for reading will grow. They are both going to get baptized this Saturday, as well as Santiago.
 
Another investigator is Brandon who is the cousin of Andy. Andy is the son of Mariela. He has been coming to church and actually reading some. Once he has one more attendance to church he will be able to be baptized. We are hoping and praying that he will be able to be baptized this next Saturday, 23. 
 
In church this last week we had seven investigators, one of which was Marta. She was an investigator a while back who kinda dropped off for a while but now she seems to have more of an interest again. She will still need to get married but seems to have a growing testimony.
 
Thank you for the package! It is always nice to get a package from home with the goods. The Sour Patch are sweet (see what I did there J). Those Doctor Scholl shoe inserts are awesome! They are super comfortable and should last for quite a while. If anybody there wants a really sweet pair of shoes inserts I would recommend them. The Jerky is waiting for me in the desk for a day when I just really need it:) The Myoplex will be super nice to have for smoothies and stuff like that. 
 
There are now three different volcano’s going off in Guatemala and I heard that Hawaii has volcano’s going off also. There are always rumors of war, and all other sorts of bad things happening in the world. This last week during my personal study I was reading in Mormon 8 verses 28-33, which talks exactly about the signs of the times. Obviously we do not know when the second coming is going to happen, and there are still lots of things that need to happen to fulfill prophecy, but things happen fast so now truly is the time to prepare to meet God.  
 
I love you all so much! Keep on doing all that you can!
 
Love, 
Elder Marks

Hey Fam!
 
The baptism this last Saturday went really well - after waiting for almost six hours! We got the church to set up and clean at 1:30 for the baptism to start at 3:00. But there was no water in the big cistern for water. So we called Bishop to have him get the water guy on the way, but there is some construction going on between Milagro and Las Margaritas. So the water truck showed up at about 6:00 or so. After getting the font filled up we got underway and it was a nice spiritual experience for everybody, including an investigator of Quetzals. The name of Miguel’s wife is Ilse, she has been a member for about two years. She was able to go to the temple with us so that was really good I think for the family.
 
This last week was another good week. We found four new investigators, which was one under our goal, but we really focused on having our investigators attending church again. We had 10 investigators in church with us. We have a number of potential baptisms this months. We have both adults and kids who are investigators. We have a number of people who we are working with to be able to baptize them this month, and a lot of them are in a similar place, they have a desire to know but now they need read more and actually pray and ask God if this is true or not. 
 
We have one investigator named Liseth who wants to know what is true. The thing with her is that she feels good when she goes to the Evangelic church, but she also really likes the messages that we are teaching her. But she has been praying trying to get an answer. We had a lesson with her yesterday to try to help her understand how it is that she can identify her answer and how the spirit works. I am really happy with the work that Elder Fogg and I get done together and I hope that President Shumway leaves us together for another change.
 
We were fed cow stomach again for lunch! But this time I was prepared. I just slowly put pieces in a plastic bag because the family that fed us were outside and kinda coming and going from the house. I knew I should just man up and eat it, but when you don’t clean that stuff right it tastes like things you really really do not want to eat.
 
I’m looking forward to getting that package, it will be nice to get a few things from home. The umbrella that I have works fine so worries about that. I use the Alpha Smart every week, and sometimes Elder Fogg as well. It is so nice to have.
 
I’m sure the stretching does get old, that is a lot of time devoted everyday to stretching but if that is the main thing that helps just keep stickin’ with it. I know you can lock in the rest of the way! Mom keep stickin’ with the run walk program, really good on ya for getting up earlier then you usually do to be able to take care of your health.
 
We are careful around dogs, when we look down the way we need to go and there are a bunch of dogs we usually go around when we can. I really don’t like when I see dogs that look like they are on the edge. We will keep being safe and making sure we are alert of our surroundings. 
 
Sounds like a lot of things are still changing there and like you guys have some big plans for changing some things up. Although doing the whole shop and getting a filter system set up, it will take some time but I think it will be well worth it. The short video that you sent showing the yard and stuff was awesome. It is so green and clean!
 
A volcano erupted this last week so we had some sandy raining last Sunday. It has not erupted for about 30 years or so. We are a little ways away from the volcano so we are totally safe here, but still getting a little ash. The Volcano is in another mission but the same zone as we are in. We were not really able to see anything. I am hoping that we will be able to get some good service work in with the current situation. That is so nice of Shawna to call so worried. She is such a nice loving lady. The weather here definitely is changing. We are starting to get more and more rain almost every day now. Those coconuts were brought from the coast, then some lady who happens to speak English wanted to practice speaking so she gave us each one for free, and we practiced for a little bit. 
 
One of my current favorite scriptures is in 3 Nephi chapter 5 verse 13. The first part is Behold, I am then insert your own name. Behold, I am (name) a disciple of Jesus Christ the Son of God. I have been called of God to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. How true it is! We are all called as disciples of Christ. Whether we have a name tag on teaching for 9 to 10 hours a day or not we can all do our part. I know at times it is a little hard to open our mouths and talk to random people or even our friends about the Gospel. But with this new emphasis on Ministering, I think that this is a good reminder of the duty that every one of us has to try to help and do our part.
 
I love each and every one of you so much, and am so grateful for the example that you all are for me. I am so happy for the time that I am having here to help other people grow and to come unto Christ, but also for the strength of testimony that I feel growing, I’m becoming a strong converted disciple of Christ.
 
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks

Hey Family!
 
How’s alls ya doin! Well first things first with investigators. Miguel Angel is getting baptized this Saturday! This last week has been awesome for visiting him. Last Friday when we visited him he was saying how he still did not really have a big desire for baptism, and he didn’t feel like he was totally repented of all of his sins. We invited him to please pray and basically repent and pray for this desire. Then we visited him again Sunday and we had the best lesson that I have had on the mission. He told us that since his last lesson he spent a lot of time praying and repenting and asking if this is true or not. He said that he did not feel anything that huge just at one point during his prayer when he was asking for forgiveness that he felt a cold shiver. I felt the power of the spirit working through us so strongly. Feeling the things to say and what scriptures to share. Being able to help him identify the spirit and that he had received his answer. He has been investigating the church for 12 years, at times he really did not want anything to do with the church, and did not want to listen to the missionaries. But he was prepared for Elder Fogg and I, and now he is going to have the chance for baptism, and in a year to be sealed to his wife. I am so excited for him!
 
Overall this whole last week was awesome! We had 11 new investigators, almost all of them are references from Mariela, who is not even a member yet! Her boyfriend, Daniel, seems like he does not really want much, so we will see what she decides to do with him. A lot of the investigators are family members of hers. We also contacted a couple of new ones that “are never home”. And also a couple of teenagers that have each come to church twice, one of which wants to serve a mission. Yesterday in church we had 8 investigators with us. Last week was a great week and I think that this week will be another great one. 
 
The yard is looking awesome! Everything is so green. That will be nice to have the plum tree. Hopefully the deer with obey and not be too annoying with trying to eat the trees. That is really nice to have the driveway done, hopefully there won’t be any more pot holes. :)
 
The cinder block thing was kinda fun, I was just getting blisters from using it for so long, we were helping fix somebody’s roof and they needed to build up one side so it would all be even.
 
A dog tried to eat us this last week. Seriously it is! There’s this dog that’s always barking at us but usually does not actually do anything. But this time we started to walk down the stairs and he was in front of us facing us and started barking and growling and showing his teeth. We started backing up but not taking our eyes off of him, then he did a small lunge forward so I grabbed a rock. Then he went after Elder Fogg, when he tried to bite him, he kicked the dog right in the face. The dogs tooth actually dented the top part of his shoe! I think I should start carrying a Taser around with me just for the dogs :) or one of those extendable sticks like the police use.
 
You guys should go onto lds.org and find the Mormon message from Elder Holland called A Testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is just a super powerful reminder of the sacrifices that were made for us to have the book, and why it is so important.
 
With Love your brother and Son
Elder Marks

Hey Family!

This week was a great week with our investigators. This last Saturday we went to the temple with Miguel Angel and Mariela. We had such a great experience. Mariela really has a testimony and wants to get baptized, I think she is trying to figure out if she really wants to get married to this guy or not. But she had a really good experience at the temple. 
 
Before this last Saturday Miguel had not really prayed and received an answer, because he had not really prayed. But the night before we went to the temple we were visiting him and I felt super strong that I could promise him that if he prayed, that without fail he would receive an answer at the temple. After the little temple tour, we had the chance to go inside and sit in the small front waiting area. After about 15 minutes he said he was ready do go. When we got outside we asked what he felt and if he prayed or not. He said that he didn’t pray because he did not feel comfortable with so many people coming and going. So we talked with him and invited him to come back in, just him and us, and this time to pray and to ask God if this church is true or not. When we went back in, he sat there with his head down and after about 10 or 15 more minutes he said he was ready to go. We weren’t really sure if he has his answer or what. Once we were outside he told us that he prayed that time and that he felt something like he had never felt before. And that he felt like crying while he was praying. He received his answer! Now he just wants to feel more ready for baptism and to have a bigger desire to be baptized. We are working really hard with him, it is only a matter of time before he is baptized.
 
We have some really good new investigators this week. And quite a few of them were from references from members. I think that we will have a really successful month of June.
 
That is kinda crazy to hear about Alie making that decision. The world really is more and more confused. Still our family and that will never change, but that might make life a lot tougher for her. 
 
So this experience I was debating with myself whether to send it home or not. We had to go to immigration really early one morning and we were on a bus around 5:20am, when two guys started yelling at everybody, pulled out their pistols and smacked the top of the bus and was telling everybody to get out their phones and stuff. Elder Fogg and I were sitting in the very front of the bus, they were yelling at us "Why don't you have a phone?" even though it was obviously in Elder Fogg's pocket. I'm sure they were looking for a smart phone from the two young gringos. After searching our stomach looking for a phone hidden in our shirt, they took a couple Quetz and left the bus. I really don't want people at home to be worried. I know it is dangerous, but thinking about the experience later in the day I realized how calm and not worried I felt. Feeling the complete confidence that God was and is always watching out for us. I know that as missionaries of the Lord we are being taken care of. As we are obedient to the rules that we have, we will be protected from both physical and spiritual danger. Truly angels standing on our left and on our right with swords!
 
Elder Fogg has been out for 11 months, but his mom is from Chile so he has spoken Spanish as long as he has spoken English. Which is really nice because of how much he can help me.
 
It sounds like you guys have a lot of projects on the list. Try to leave some of them for when I get home so I can boss you guys around:)
 
Thank you for sending me your ward conference talk Dad, I will be able to read it later. I’m sure that it is awesome! Maybe I will translate it and use it for the next time that I have to give a talk in church. :)
 
Here is a quote that I really like by William Jennings Bryon, “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a think to be achieved.” This quote is really quite straight forward. We all have our different goals and different things that we want to achieve. Just a reminder to go after the desires of our heart and to never give in to the idea of waiting for the magic to happen, but rather making the magic happen. 
 
I love you all so much! Keep doing awesome!
 
With Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks
 

Hey Family!
 
Well first things first, it was awesome to speak with everybody! and Mom, Happy Mother’s Day! Sorry I forgot on Sunday. :) A lot of missionaries are baggy or trunky after calling home, but I’m just feeling ready to go. You guys are my motivation!
 
Changes were yesterday, my new companion is Elder Fogg, he is from Idaho Falls. Yesterday was the first day together and it was only from about eleven thirty on but it was a great day. We are already friends, and we both have the desire to work really hard this transfer. It has only been a day but I can tell we are going to do really well together. Oh, and he is a gringo. :)
 
As far as investigators go, things are going well. We taught Marta the second part of lesson two and gave her a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon. Mariela is still doing good, she really wants to get baptized, just needs to make a decision about this boyfriend and, “ok lets make this happening” (Tony Beets). A couple of new investigators that we had last week, named Pablo and Byron, are doing well. They are the sons of an inactive member. She works every Sunday so she never comes to church, but she wants her sons to be active in the church. They have been taught lesson one. Pablo, who is 13, attended church with us but Byron was sick and did not go. But this Sunday is going to be a good Sunday for investigators in church. We are going to the Temple with Miguel Angel and his member wife this Saturday, we are also inviting Mariela and Daniel, her boyfriend, to go with us. Noberto, the boyfriend of Leti, is quite sick for a while now. He has diabetes and is all swollen up, has liquid in his lungs and is starting to have heart problems.
 
That is awesome that the sprinkler system is working! I knew it would all work out. I think that is smart to have the bigger pipe going under the driveway. Did much of the layout change? Or is it about the same as we had?
 
But broken pipes! What the flip kip, that is so lame, it just would not be the same if something like that would not have happened. I hope it does not mold but it sounds like there is a good chance it will. Hopefully you don’t have to redo everything. 

Kylie, I can’t believe that you are leaving for Fiji! You are going to do awesome. There are always some unknowns with leaving home, especially going somewhere totally new and out on some island somewhere. You are going to be able to help the people there so much. Maybe even find some stud muffin to bring back to the States. Just kidding (no, really though).
 
The missionary grind is awesome! There are days that are better then others but I don’t think I have ever said or thought, “today was a bad day”. With Elder Fogg, I can tell that even the days that are tough are still going to be great, we both are motivated and want to set the area on fire. Reactivate members, teach repentance, and baptize converts. We still do a lot of walking but we have the area and the bus system figured out, so that is nice.  Dad, I love what you said about when people are aware of the emotions of missionary, or regular life, and are obedient and strive to do our best in other aspects of life also, we will be successful in our striving. 
 
Dad I’m sure your talk is going to be really awesome in Ward Conference this week. It sounds like you have a good idea for what you want to talk about. For ministering you could use the quote, ¨Even if we are on the right track, we will get run over if we just sit there¨. I think sharing your experience would be appropriate and a good example for people. And maybe help them catch the vision a bit more on what ministering really is. You are going to do great!
 
I love you all so much! Keep doing great with everything! Just keep your goals in mind and work work work! 
 
Love your brother and son
Elder Marks

Hey Family!
 
As far as investigators go for this week they are all about the same. Leti, Mariela, and Marta are all ready for baptism and want to be baptized but need to be married, so we are in a bit of a holding pattern with them. We still visit and teach them though. We have been teaching the boyfriend of Mariela, his name is Daniel. He is a really good guy, he has attended church once and is reading on the Doctrine and Convents. But only in the Doctrine and Convents. We are hoping that he will also read in the Book of Mormon for knowledge and not just reading D & C for questions and contention. I think that he honestly just wants to learn more but we will see as we continue teaching him. We really want to go the Temple with Mariela and Daniel this Saturday so they can do the mini temple tour thing. There are missionaries whose mission is to work at the temple and answers peoples questions and stuff. I think this would be a really good thing to do with them. We hope that all goes as planned.  
 
It is always sweet to get some pictures, and it sounds like and looks like everything went really well. Mom, the cake looks perfect! You did awesome!
 
The quote this week is a little longer that usual but I think is awesome, it is from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “For our part we must remain steadfast in hope, work with all our strength and trust in God.  … I learned that adversity, when confronted with faith, courage, and tenacity, could be overcome. … That’s the thing about work. If we simply keep at it - steady and constant - things will certainly improve.” I love it and I want some more of it. Like Elder Holland said, “Salvation is not a cheap experience.” This is why we must work, work, work, if we want to have a strong enough testimony to survive in the coming storms in this life - we must work. Work in the scriptures, work in our prayers, work in our thoughts. Because I believe that even if at first these things seem like work with time we will realize that these things are some of the greatest sources of joy in our life. 
 
The day to day work is good. We always try to work with members to get references. We usually tract for a little while each day, but the members help a lot with the work. Which is really nice, they know the people here better than we do.
 
I love you all so much, keep being strong! JUNTOS SIEMPRE!
 
Love your brother and son,
Elder Marks

Hey Family!
 
This last week was another good week! First things first, we got Marco Garcia married this last Saturday, and baptized; along with Bryan Valenzuela. The wedding and the baptism went well, I’ll make sure I attach some photos down below. We have the hardest time actually being able to teach Marta Gomez. We were able to have a family home evening with her on Sunday at a member’s house, which was really good. She is reading in the Book of Mormon and she says that she believes in it and that she wants to raise her family in the Gospel. She also needs to get married, she has two kids. Her boyfriend is in the military and is almost never home, I think that she will eventually be baptized but it just might be a little while. Mariela attended church again on Sunday, and her boyfriend was there also. She is progressing but also needs to get married! People here really do think that just being boyfriend and girlfriend is the same as married. We are going to keep working with the investigators that we have but we really need some new investigators, preferably from references from members. The Book of Mormon really is so powerful in all aspects of life.

Really, not a lot of investigators smoke here which is nice. Of course people do, but not as many as I thought would.
 
That will be so nice to have a second smaller chainsaw. And if you want to carve a wood spirit or bear you have a chainsaw. :) That is quite classic for me to still have some stuff in the car, isn’t it? Should have been an old tape measure in there somewhere also?
 
The cake [wedding cake for Will and Mariam's reception] is going to turn out so well! Mom, you are going to nail it like you do with all of the cakes. Saturday should be a really good day. And to have Erika home also!​
 
Changes are on the 15th of May. During our interviews with president, he asked me if I was ready to lead the area if Elder Corrales left, and I am. So Elder Corrales is going to be leaving this area and I will get a new companion. I hope it is one Elder named Elder Bywater, but the chances of him coming here seem slim.
 
I bought a blender last week. It is so nice to have. I usually make a smoothie with oats, banana, a little peanut butter, and a little bit of choco Panda, which is a chocolate powder. Will you send me the nutrition information for a cup of oats? Also, is there any down side to eating lots of oats?
 
This last week we were in a Paca, which is just like a little thrift shop for clothes, and sometimes ties and shoes. These things are everywhere too because a lot of churches have a paca to be able to earn money. Anyway, we were in one and I found a pair of Johnston and Murphy signature series dress shoes. They are seriously like brand new. I don’t know if they have ever really been used. The name on the insole is not worn off or anything. They were only 25 Quetz, which is about 4 dollars.
 
I bought an umbrella this last week because rainy season is going to be starting in the next week or so. But the main crazy rainy season from what I hear is end of May and June. It rained a couple of times this last week, talk about being instantly soaked. T
 
Quote time: A man will succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. Charles M. Schwab, Billionaire Broker. I like this quote because we all have different things that we are working towards, whether it be fitness goals, work goals, summer sales goals, adjusting to home goals, being a consecrated missionary goals, working in a foreign country goals - we all have goals and things that we want to accomplish. I believe that this quote is awesome because when we have unlimited enthusiasm for something, we do the work that is required, and will eventually have success. This also reminds me of a quote from some guy who I cannot remember the name of for the life of me, which is driving me crazy because he is kind of a big name in the motivation world, whom I listened to a lot before my mission. He talks about if you want something bad enough to go out and fight for it to work day and night for it if all you dream and scheme is for it you will succeed. If you can find this quote [Mom note: it is Les Brown], will you email it to me next week? Thanks!
 
I love you all so much and am really enjoying the time that I have to be serving. The language is improving everyday, I can almost always understand what is going on now, and can contribute to conversations a little more. I do my best to study everyday and always use the words and grammar that I am learning. Speaking in past tense is a lot different in Spanish. I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers.
 
Love you Brother and Son,
Elder Marks
 
P.S. You should read Alma 37:41 and send me your thoughts next week. This verse gives us a great recipe for having miracles in our life, because God is truly a God of miracles.
 
P.P.S you will not guess what I saw this morning! As we were driving along in a tuk tuk a bus went flying past us and it had CDA plates from Idaho! I could not believe it. The driver would fit in with the rest of the crazy drivers from CDA.