Dear Mom and Dad,
 
I really benefited from both your emails this week, thank you so much:)
 
So I'll tell you a bit about my wrists...sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I'm not the best at that kind of thing and it's kinda making me laugh ha! ... just because I know you probably wish I would have lol ;o)  It was just over a month ago and we were playing ultimate at the park and I was wearing my cleats. The frisbee was thrown pretty far back into the end zone and I was chasing it and hit concrete at a pretty good speed and as soon as I did I just lost all traction and went down hard...landed on both wrists and scraped my leg up pretty good (which is pretty much all healed by now). My wrists still give me some grief but they don't stop me from doing anything really, I just have to be careful not to do anything stupid. We played Ultimate this morning in the rain and I still dominated so it's all good hahahah.
 
I love hearing about all the day to day stuff you do, it helps me keep in mind the reality of back home life. People hanging out, the norm with Buddy, projects, work, stuff with family, etc.
 
Erika got a job at the fairgrounds! Congrats Erika that is so cool, you're gonna make some good money this summer :o) I think that's pretty neat that Rhonda wanted you to say 'Hi' to me for her, I liked my time working there even though it was short...and I laughed out loud about your comment Mom about passing the drug test ... haha.
 
Your exhortation and advice to become more exact in my obedience and strive again to conquer challenges in the morning really are helpful to me, I'm doing my best but there's got to be something else cause so far it's still been a struggle. I appreciated your insights about the scriptures, that is the area I wish to improve most...and there is a noticeable difference in my ability to listen and teach with the Spirit when I'm having quality scripture study versus when I'm not. I feel that in the midst of struggling with the morning routine I have learned the importance of reading the scriptures, I'm grateful that I am learning the things I am. I'm far from perfect but I will never lose my desire and I believe there is great value in that. I do not mean to say that that's all you need if you aren't striving to change, but I have a testimony that the Lord can work with our righteous desires and turn weaknesses into strengths even when our attempts to change are feeble.

Kimberly is doing well, she has a hard time getting to church which I am sad to hear. Mostly because of her MS and anxieties around a lot of people. I tried to counsel her regarding this and she said it helped.

The girl that Jimmer married (or is going to marry) is in the stake (the Ken Caryl ward) so he's living here for a while. That day he was just practicing in the gym. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture with him. We didn't want to interrupt his practice to ask and then he left so we didn't get the opportunity. He seemed like a really cool guy though, he's only like 6' 1".
 
Holidays are kinda weird on a mission. The 4th was fun, we had a breakfast with the Chatfield ward and played volleyball, frisbee, and football. Played basketball with the district later at the church and then went to Clement part and played volleyball with a bunch of Russian people for a couple hours! They were super cool, what a neat language! (they also spoke fluent english). Obviously our p-day was moved to Wednesday last week but they still let us email on Monday since our families were expecting it. All fireworks were banned because of the dryness so it was kinda weird not having any of that but it was a nice day.
 
Kylie seems to be doing well, I am able to shoot her a dearelder email every week. I think it's pretty cool to both be able to serve at the same time. I got Erika and Garrett's letters, I love hearing from them! I love you all!
 
I printed off both your emails, thank you again! Thank you both for inspiring me and supporting me, I'm doing my best.
 
With Love,
Elder W. Marks

Hey Hey Hey!
 
I'm going to try and address the stuff from the last few emails so the first part of this email will be super choppy...
 
I saw Kimberly the other day! I felt like I should text the missionaries in the Greenwood village ward and ask how Kimberly was doing. They told me they met with her earlier that day and she asked about me. She was coming to the Chatfield area for the wedding of a friend and we were able to meet up. It was great to see her, I was able to give her a letter I wrote and a picture of her baptism.
 
The fires here are pretty intense, I haven't actually seen any yet but I've seen a very little bit of ash and we smelt smoke one night but other than that it really hasn't been bad where I am. 6 people have died, over 30,000 had to evacuate their homes and 170,000 acres have burned. That's the last statistics I heard.
 
I'm glad you kicked some butt at AOE haha! That sounds like a lot of fun...just remember that even if you aren't getting any better...I am getting worse! lol
 
Is Grandma still sick? I sure hope she is feeling better. Has she received a blessing yet?
 
...Jimmer is in the gym right now! Elder Ridge is in their passing the ball with him helping him practice. I don't want to be annoying cause he's probably sick of it but it would be cool to get a picture with him.
 
Those kind of philosophical questions and thoughts are really intriguing [Mom's note: Jeff had emailed William about Free Agency - if God knows everything we are going to do before we do it, do we really have free agency, or just an illusion of free agency?]. I think there is so much value in experiencing things and knowing for ourselves that we did make choices so there are consequences, wether they be negative or positive. We have been making choices long long before we ever came to this earth which led us to be where we are today...on the earth. Not everyone chose to follow Christ's plan and be here. Agency stretches back in time further than we can comprehend and will continue into the eternities, so I believe that just because God may know how we will react to situations and the choices we will make doesn't make the value of our being able to choose any less. It's a hard concept to wrap our minds around.
 
Elder Brown and I are still really struggling at waking up on time which throws our whole day off ...kinda frustrating but we're trying.
 
It was really great to get Garrett's letter! I love you all!
 
CTR!
Elder W. Marks

William sent us his photo card, so here is a picture of him on his P-day, he is truly taking the gospel to all the creatures of the earth! See the mountain goat? He appears to be listening intently!

Other photos will be posted soon under the Pics tab. I also added some pics to some previous blog entries, so make sure to scroll down to see them!

Here's William's latest:

"Dear Dad,

Ohhh man Dad, this work can feel like you're on a real roller coaster sometimes! I truly appreciated your letter, I hope Kylie is learning all she needs to while at the MTC. It sounds like she's dealing with a lot of fun stuff right now haha! It is sometimes amazing to just step back and look at the challenges we deal with, take a deep breath, maybe have a chuckle or two and then attack them head on! I feel that is what I'm doing right now, we found out that Elder Brown and I will be together for the next transfer, which is pretty unusual to stay together for 3 transfers...especially with your trainer. We have transfer meeting tomorrow. Two of the missionaries in the district got their visas and so one went to New Zealand, and the other went to Argentina! So we'll have a bit of change up in the district, We're having another brand new missionary come to the district woohoo! 

I feel that this next transfer with Elder Brown can be really great if we change some things. We need to work on our morning routine TOGETHER so that we're having our studies...sooo important! We need to pray more and bring our level of obedience up. Obviously we haven't done anything bad, but we could do a lot better. I've talked a lot with him since we found out we're staying together about this and tomorrow we're going to sit down and make some written goals and how to accomplish them and keep it posted between our desks. 

(Feel welcome to put most of the things I say on the website, the reality isn't always perfect and just dandy...people should see that. We aren't perfect but we're trying and we're heading in the right direction, I believe that's what matters.) 

A couple random things...
-We drove to Moms old house the other day! I got a couple pictures, it was pretty cool to see the house she used to live in:)
-The stake patriarch is married to one of Ezra Taft Bensons daughters and we ate with them the other night! It was pretty cool. Her name is Bonnie Madsen. 

I feel that this last week I've learned a lot about the Atonement. It is hard to describe but I feel like I'm starting to change and become who God wants me to become. I've felt divine protection from the adversary in moments when I needed it most and I am so grateful for that. I talked with President Maynes about how I felt more of a distance from God lately and I didn't know how to tighten my relationship with him. He gave some helpful advice. He told me sometimes the spirit will comfort, sometimes the spirit will bring things to our remembrance or testify of truth to our hearts, and sometimes the spirit will give us a sense of "divine discontentment" when the Lord wants us to change or become better. That is what I was feeling for a couple weeks. I'm so grateful for the things I've learned in the past week or so. There is a book I am reading right now called "The Infinite Atonement", it has grown my faith of the atonement so much and I would urge you to read it, and anyone seeking to learn more about the Atonement. What better event or subject could we possibly try to understand, comprehend, feel or love than the Atonement of our Savior? I really want to send the family a copy of the book when I can, I know Tevis has a copy he would let you borrow:) 

I am healthy, happy, and doing my best. Thank you for everything! I appreciated what you said: "You have so much to offer when you are happy and righteous. Too great a price is paid if you aren't." Thank you for that. Give my love to the family, you're all in my prayers. I have felt the prayers of so many faithful family members and friends back home. We need em! Love you Dad. 

Him Cook Burger! :P

Elder W. Marks

"Dear Mom,

I'm so glad to hear you're ok! That's a pretty crazy experience, it really was a miracle you weren't hurt more. There were some men in the ward who baptized the Woodruffs. Each of them were baptized by a different person. It was so cool to see each of them take their turn going down into the water and witnessing the ordinance. Their family has truly changed! We've visited them a couple times and seen them at church since the baptism and they have a different countenance about them...especially Clint. He seems genuinely happy now instead of just putting on a smile. Alan is the same way, and he knows it! He's been so grateful for the change in his life. 

A lot of the 14 investigators we found last transfer kind of flaked out. None of them have told us directly that they don't want to meet with us but it's almost impossible to get an appointment with most and whenever we stop by they're too busy or aren't home. 

Kristi is doing alright as far as I know. We have permission to talk to her from her Mom but we're still keeping the communication to a minimum. She's still coming to church every week and we'll text her reading assignments sometimes. I've talked with Elizabeth and she would get baptized if her family was on board with it. It's been super hard to get in to teach her and especially her parents. When it comes right down to it I think a lot of the people we try to teach aren't really willing to change...what if it's true!? :) Elizabeth and her parents are a good example of that. 

Last week we passed this parked "Allstate" car on the side of the road and I noticed it had a CDA plate! I spoke with the man out my window for like a minute and then we drove on our way. I pulled over a little way down the road and turned around, drove back and parked behind him, got out and talked with him for a few more minutes and gave him a Book of Mormon...he said he had a church and talked with his pastor a lot and he probably wouldn't read the book. I believe someday he will. 

Elder Brown and I have had challenges lately as a companionship, I think it's mostly because of a bit of a language barrier and cultural differences. He isn't willing to budge or compromise on stuff that he wants so it's tested my patience a lot lately. I think we'll have a change up come transfer meeting on the 26th. 

I really appreciated something you said at the end of your letter. "He will bless you if you keep him close" I think you're exactly right. It's been hard lately for some reason to feel as close to him as I have in the past. I think it's because when you're focused on spiritual things ALL THE TIME you can get a little numb to it in a sense. It is my desire right now to feel as close as I have in the past. 

I got a letter from Denver last week and found out that her older brother, Ben, just got his mission call to the Colorado Springs mission! He reports to the MTC in September, so we'll be like exactly a year apart and in the same state! 

.......

Please send my love to the rest of the family! I miss you all like crazy! Thank you for your prayers and faith, I hope you all know you have mine as well.

With hope, desire, and faith,
Elder W. Marks

------
Dear Dad,

Hey so we're about to leave the church and I thought I'd check my email one more time before we left! Thank you so much for your email. I don't have a whole lot of time but I thought I'd shoot you a quick email. 

I was sure thinking a lot about you yesterday as well. It was a bit hard going through 2 fathers day sacrament meetings. I hope you know that you are a true example to me Dad, I don't know why these last few weeks have been a bit hard...I think a lot of it is challenges with the companionship, hopefully we will see some change up come transfer meeting on the 26th. I love Elder Brown but we've been together 24/7 for the last 3 months and that brings some challenges naturally. 

Well we have to go now, I look forward with hope and faith right now and I have a real desire to continue improving. I don't believe we're ever flat-lining in this work...or really in life. We're either getting better or worse. The whole family is  an inspiration and motivation to me. Thanks for everything Dad. 

Forever Your Loving Son,
Elder Marks

I had not realized that so much time had passed, I somehow need to do better and update weekly with William's letters. It seems to have been a bit of a rough month for William, I think that he has been on such a spiritual high for the last 8 months, that when some normal life stuff sets in, he is having to learn how to keep the missionary spirit going. So, since it is really Elder Marks whom you want to hear from, here is what he has to say ...

"I really appreciated your letter this week, I definitely hear what you're saying, every day isn't just peachy unfortunately haha. Even though we had such a great week with the Woodruffs and Alan getting baptized I've kinda felt in a funk too, almost like I'm loosing some stamina for the work, it's hard to do everyday. Sometimes it's hard to even identify why...I think it just happens at times. I love the "action conquers fear" quote. An apostle once said that 95% percent of missionaries issues and problems can be solved by just getting to work, I believe that applies to our lives outside of missionary service. That doesn't mean we won't still have times when we get in a weird mood, or have days that are just off for some reason...but being able to identify that we just need to regroup and look forward has a lot of value. 

Honestly it doesn't seem like Spencer should be graduating yet haha, it was always weird to me having him be a year behind in school even though there's like 2 1/2 years between us. I think that's cool though that he's moving on along with all those other people, I hope he's ready for college. Erika is a boss! I can't believe she got an A+ on that paper, I always heard Mr. Search's class was pretty hard. Very cool! I'm so glad that you and especially Garrett is making keeping the Sabbath day holy a priority, that isn't easy in the world today but it's definitely the right choice! Thank you for raising us that way:) 

...I sent Kylie a letter in the mail today, she seems to be doing great!

Alan asked me to Baptize him, it went really great! Then yesterday the Woodruffs and Alan all received the Holy Ghost, I'll be sending some pictures and other things home soon. For some reason Elder Brown and I are having a hard time finding new investigators this transfer, I think we had 2 the first week but haven't found any since. Last transfer we found 14.  I wish I had more to update on for this last week. We have transfer meeting on the 26th and I've got this feeling I'm getting transferred, I don't know why. Happy Fathers Day! I'll be sending you a letter later this week. Thank you for being a real motivator for me, I'm not perfect but I have a continued desire to become better and I'm thankful to the whole family for that. I hope you all make this week a great one!  I love you, I'm grateful for who you are and I hope you know you're a real part of who I am, and I'm grateful for that. Love you All! 

With faith, your missionary, (one of em!) ;o)
Elder William Marks