Hello Everybody!!!!

Mom, I loved your email!!!! I was sitting here in the library just laughing to myself about some of the things you said. ... Vianey came to church yesterday! And, they came to our stake Christmas party!!! She and her two boys, but not her husband, he was working. But we had a lesson with them Friday night and found out that Hugo is not a member. Wo! Yeah, he's worked with tons of missionaries and we thought he was baptized a year and a half ago with their oldest son, Bryan, but he wasn't. So that'll need to happen before we get them sealed in the temple :)...  Hugo told me a while ago that he really loves it when he gets to connect with missionaries and who they really are and their families and everything. Their boys' names are Bryan and Oscar. ...

I think that was really our miracle this week - that Vianey and the boys came to an activity and to church, because it's real growth, and shows promise - not just a one time thing. Her boys love music but I can tell they can't really afford piano lessons so I offered to help. I wasn't sure what she thought, but she asked me this week if I really would do it. ...

Hna Blauer and I [Mom note: talking about improving their companionship and dealing with homesickness during the holidays] ... have some plans to try and replicate some traditions that her family has at home (like making breakfast pizza Christmas morning - never heard of it but it should be fun :) and we have lots of ideas for little service/gift ideas we could do for people in the ward and the elders in our district, so we're getting excited about that, and I feel really strongly that in looking outward we will have the love of God more in our companionship, and that through that, we will become a lot closer. We're excited! I really am, because after me, I want my second convert to be my companion so it's great to work on these things.

We decorated our apartment this week!!! Between things we've found, and going to the dollar store, it looks pretty good :) We had been looking and looking for a tiny tree or branch that could look like a tree, or something... but then we got a package from Sis Blauer's fam and there was a little tree in it! So we stacked some cardboard boxes, but a cloth over it, and the tree on top. We have our advent calenders hanging, and we got stockings from the dollar store (I wrote Hermana Marks on mine :) so those are hanging. And we made a little Christmas chain (15 more days!) I just love Christmas!!! And we're experimenting with all the things you can do with one pad of construction paper.

I love you each, have a grrreeat week! A little thought from President Hinckley this week:

    “Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”

What a wise and dear man!

Love you All!!!!
Hermana Marks

Just a little something that I put in Will's email that I realized I forgot to write about to you guys:

... it's hot here! What the heck!! Our AC is still running throughout the day, and I'm still in short sleeves every day... Also, we had this great Christmas party with the stake the other night. This choir came from what must be a private Christian school on the Westbank (other side of the Mississippi). They were all African American and they were in traditional orange and purple choir robes. They sang in the chapel. Some of it was traditional Christmas music, other was more gospel and I don't know how to call it..."soul" music. It was sooo neat!! ...And then we all went outside and they had a live nativity on the grass behind the church. Everyone (again in short sleeves :) sat on the grass and watched as Mary came in on a mule, they had this whole production thing and we sang songs throughout, it was awesome!

Alrighty, now that's it. Love ya!

Buuueennnas Dias!!!!

Well, well, it's transfers week again, thus why you didn't get an email from me yesterday. We're getting one more Spanish sister to complete the 8 this mission is going to have for awhile, and it was me or one other option for who to train her so the speculation has been going around. President called us about something else Sunday, and then as he was getting off the phone, hintingly said, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." In other words, "I'll be calling you to ask you to train." I was so surprised and said, "Are you sure?!" He chuckled and said yes. Here's the thing about the mission that no one ever told me, you NEVER know what is going to happen every six weeks! You just wait for that call Monday night to know, and the texts are flying around, and everyone's trying to figure it out, which doesn't do any good because it's gonna be whatever it is. Anyway, President changed his mind because we got the "official" call last night and now we're staying together this transfer! So I will complete the 2nd half of the training program for the first time, and this will be the longest time I've ever had a companion! ...

It's been a wonderful week. Our number of lessons keep going up, which is exciting because each one of those is a person or family! 12 of our 14 lessons were less actives. So we met that goal, but missed our goal of lessons to investigators (we had 3 that fell through). This is the focus of the ward right now, so I'm bummed those investigator appointments fell through, but not too worried. The only thing is that almost none of the lessons had member’s present at them, and that's a worry. Because that is where success and retention comes: through the members. It's almost like we're fighting this battle to activate members so that we can have enough members to be ward missionaries (right now we have one who, ironically is inactive and whose name always comes up in Coordination meeting).

...

Miracle for the week! I went on exchanges with one of my best friends in the mission, Sis Price. She is wonderful! I had asked if we could go with them (the traveling sisters). It's a great opportunity for us to be able to work with someone who has more experience than us (which I treasure because of how my mission has gone so far!) There is a family that we have been trying and trying to work with to bring them back. They are really great. They have two little boys who are just awesome. But last time we stopped by they didn't let us in, and it wasn't the most friendly thing. But Saturday night I had a feeling Sis Price and I should go there. What?! I thought. They were pretty clear last time. But we went anyway. Right before we knocked on the door, I told Sis Price that I thought we just needed to take some time with this family, and show more love and care about who they are. They let us right in, and the whole family was there (which never happens! He runs a cab company). We talked to them for awhile about nothing gospel related (well, directly :) and eventually shaped the questions into things like how they've seen the gospel bless their family in this last year and a half (when they were baptized). Hugo (the dad) thought and then answered that honestly he couldn't answer that because he doesn't feel they've been doing the things they should to enjoy those blessings the gospel brings. It brought great discussion! The Spirit was there, and for some reason they were trusting us! We eventually taught out of Alma and then at one point Hugo said, "We just need to come to church. Right Maria? It's time. We have to go." Awesome! We hadn't said one word directly about church. The rest of the lesson went amazing. A little later one of them said, "O.k, we'll be at church tomorrow. And you can call us in the morning to help us be there." We left, got in the car, looked at each other, and said, "What just happened?!!" Haha, and they followed through and came! After accompanying in sacrament, I went and sat with them, and it was great. I might as well have had my own family investigating right there. Because the goal is the temple, and I really hope they will now be more open to us coming and maybe working with them toward goals like that. Maria, the mom, is more reserved. I gave her a hug after church and thanked her for coming. She pulled back, looked at me, and said, "No, thank you for coming last night. Thank you." Those are the moments right there that make it all worth it.

...

I sure do love each of you! lds.org has a cool Christmas campaign out right now that we're using a lot as missionaries that you might like. They have free motab Christmas I'm grateful for each one of you! I'm happy and doing well. Have a fantastic week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Marks