Here are some excerpts from William's letter last Monday. One of his big concerns going to Colorado was the winter weather. As many of you know, he does not like the cold because he feels it so much (one of the curses of having such low body fat). So it was good to hear his take on the weather this past winter.

"Winter here really isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. February was the heaviest snow fall and maybe coldest, but even when it would snow it would all be gone in like 2-3 days. March has been awesome! for the last 3 weeks it's been hanging around 60-70 degrees. Yesterday it got up to 80 degrees! This morning we got up early and went with some other Elders to Waterton Canyon and rode our bikes all around. Last week we went on a hike there, it's been gorgeous!
 
The other day at church some guy came up to me and somehow knew who I was. He asked me if I knew an Aimee Mobley from Moscow Idaho! Haha, it was Aimee's brother...apparently Aimee has 6 kids now! It took me a minute to remember and once he said that Aimee said I was their favorite baby-sitter I remembered."
 
"We found a new investigator last week! We went to McFatties to visit a less-active who works there and when we walked in all the people who worked there were super outgoing and we just talked with them for like 30 min about the gospel. It was kind of late and not too busy. John was the name of the guy who showed the most interest and he said he would love to come to church sometime. Hopefully we can get him there this Sunday. It was cool explaining to everyone what the Book of Mormon really was and seeing the looks on their faces. It will be really cool to hopefully teach John and some others there.

Thank you for being who you are and raising me to be where I am today. I can tell my mission is helping me to become a better man. I look forward to seeing you all again and being around the family. Keep up all the good work and remember to always include the Lord in your day, and all your righteous efforts. I love you.
 
Your Missionary,
 
Elder Marks

"Sorry one more thing...last week we had Corned Beef N' Cabbage 3 days in a row! I really dislike that meal right now haha!"

William is now in Columbine. This is exciting news and we will post his exact address as soon as we get it.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the letter we received this morning:

"Everything went well with transfers, My new companion is Elder Galenzoski (it's pronounced just the way it's spelled) he's from Canada. We cover 2 wards, the Chatfield and Columbine ward, and we get a car! ;o) It feels so good to use the Yoga Back again. The day after I got here we had a District meeting, the district is pretty cool. There is a vibe from some missionaries that they don't like Elders in leadership, especially someone who has been out for less than six months. I'm sure it will all be fine as we get to know each other. On Friday I did a baptismal interview for a man getting baptized in the "Clement Park" ward. It really wasn't hard, I just didn't see this change up coming. I never would have guessed at the beginning of last week that on Friday I would be doing an interview for baptism."

"Thanks for all your confidence and support in me. This is a little wierd to me to be a District Leader, I don't think it's as big of a deal as a lot of missionaries think, but I'll definetly do the best I can."

"There is a family here (the Woodruffs) who are close to baptism. The whole family wants to get baptized accept the father isn't to sure and they won't do it unless they do it as a family. I'm not sure what the situation really is with the Dad, but we'll try to find what's actually stopping him and resolve whatever it is.  Both wards have a small teaching pool and we really need more investigators in each. The people we do have, have been meeting with missionaries for quite a while."

"Well, I miss you all like crazy. Thanks for your faithfullness and support."
 
Love forever,
Elder W. Marks

William entered the MTC in September 2011. He entered the Colorado Denver South Mission on October 17, 2012. His first area was in Greenwood Villiage, which is part of Englewood, a suburb of Denver. Then in January 2012 he was transferred to Centenial, which is about 15 minutes from Englewood. This morning he was to report to the Mission Home to receive a new assignment to serve as a District Leader somewhere in the mission. We will be curious to find out where.