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...
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...