Hey Family!
So it sounds like you guys have already heard about a lot of the changes that happened. Elder Barczi went to another part of the mission to train one of the 26 new missionaries that are entering this change. I am also going to have the chance to train!!! I am really excited! Yesterday I went to the capital to pick up my “son”. His name is Elder Rodriguez and he is from Honduras. He seems really squared away and like he will be a good missionary, we will see if goes through those weird teen years or not! :) He does not speak any English but he does want to learn so I will also be able to help him learn a bit. I also have been called to be the district leader here in District Porvenir. The district consists of Porvenir 1 which is us, Porvenir 2 which are sisters, Minerva 1 which are the zone leaders, and Minerva 2 which are also sisters. Now the two zone leaders are elder Corrales and Elder Fogg, so in the district there is my "dad," "stepdad," me and “my son". It the whole fam damly! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I am really grateful to the Lord for this opportunity that I have to serve as a district leader and for the trust to be able to train one of his soldiers. I also feel humble because I know that without His help we really cannot do many things.
I totally forgot about Plantains when I was writing this last week. They are actually really good, and we eat them a fair amount. The food now really does not seem weird, sometimes we still get fed things and we’re not really sure what are, but usually taste fairly good.
I am really happy to hear that you guys had a good day for dad’s birthday last week, that you were able to go the Japanese Garden in Spokane and enjoy some time together.
This last week we also had the baptism for Henry, which went really well! Everything went smoothly with the baptism, which is always really nice. His dad, who is inactive, was able to be at the baptism and then he was also in church the next day to see him confirmed. Luckily Henry lives with his grandma on the weekends and his grandma is really active and always goes to church. Hermanito Axel, who is 12, has a baptism date for the 10th of November, we are hoping praying and doing our part so that all goes well. He is part of a inactive family, well his grandma is active but his mom is inactive, but good news is that she did go to church last week for the first time in a long time, so that is really good.
In 3 Nephi chapter 11, Christ has every single person in the city come unto him, one by one, to feel the marks in his hands, feet, and side. It then says that after everyone had their chance to know that He is Jesus Christ they all exclaimed in one voice saying, "Hosanna!" But what does hosanna mean? What were they really saying? Hosanna means save us of save us now! The very next part of the chapter is when Christ gave the authority to Nephi to baptize and he established the way that we are to baptize people. Christ’s response to the cry save us now was to give the authority and the knowledge of the way that we baptize. Baptism is one of the very important saving ordinances that we can do. The Lord is powerful and through his help all of us can be powerful instruments in the hands of the Lord, whether we are full time missionaries or not. I love you all so much, I appreciate all of your prayers and letters showing your love and support.
Love,
Elder Marks
p.s. - Exciting news! I'm going to the doctor this week to get my toenail ripped off! That should be great. It is in-grown for about 2 months now, but it is finally to the point that we have to take a day to go to the doctor. I know, Mom, I should have gone about a month and a half ago but I was just being a silly boy! :)
So it sounds like you guys have already heard about a lot of the changes that happened. Elder Barczi went to another part of the mission to train one of the 26 new missionaries that are entering this change. I am also going to have the chance to train!!! I am really excited! Yesterday I went to the capital to pick up my “son”. His name is Elder Rodriguez and he is from Honduras. He seems really squared away and like he will be a good missionary, we will see if goes through those weird teen years or not! :) He does not speak any English but he does want to learn so I will also be able to help him learn a bit. I also have been called to be the district leader here in District Porvenir. The district consists of Porvenir 1 which is us, Porvenir 2 which are sisters, Minerva 1 which are the zone leaders, and Minerva 2 which are also sisters. Now the two zone leaders are elder Corrales and Elder Fogg, so in the district there is my "dad," "stepdad," me and “my son". It the whole fam damly! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I am really grateful to the Lord for this opportunity that I have to serve as a district leader and for the trust to be able to train one of his soldiers. I also feel humble because I know that without His help we really cannot do many things.
I totally forgot about Plantains when I was writing this last week. They are actually really good, and we eat them a fair amount. The food now really does not seem weird, sometimes we still get fed things and we’re not really sure what are, but usually taste fairly good.
I am really happy to hear that you guys had a good day for dad’s birthday last week, that you were able to go the Japanese Garden in Spokane and enjoy some time together.
This last week we also had the baptism for Henry, which went really well! Everything went smoothly with the baptism, which is always really nice. His dad, who is inactive, was able to be at the baptism and then he was also in church the next day to see him confirmed. Luckily Henry lives with his grandma on the weekends and his grandma is really active and always goes to church. Hermanito Axel, who is 12, has a baptism date for the 10th of November, we are hoping praying and doing our part so that all goes well. He is part of a inactive family, well his grandma is active but his mom is inactive, but good news is that she did go to church last week for the first time in a long time, so that is really good.
In 3 Nephi chapter 11, Christ has every single person in the city come unto him, one by one, to feel the marks in his hands, feet, and side. It then says that after everyone had their chance to know that He is Jesus Christ they all exclaimed in one voice saying, "Hosanna!" But what does hosanna mean? What were they really saying? Hosanna means save us of save us now! The very next part of the chapter is when Christ gave the authority to Nephi to baptize and he established the way that we are to baptize people. Christ’s response to the cry save us now was to give the authority and the knowledge of the way that we baptize. Baptism is one of the very important saving ordinances that we can do. The Lord is powerful and through his help all of us can be powerful instruments in the hands of the Lord, whether we are full time missionaries or not. I love you all so much, I appreciate all of your prayers and letters showing your love and support.
Love,
Elder Marks
p.s. - Exciting news! I'm going to the doctor this week to get my toenail ripped off! That should be great. It is in-grown for about 2 months now, but it is finally to the point that we have to take a day to go to the doctor. I know, Mom, I should have gone about a month and a half ago but I was just being a silly boy! :)