Hey mom and dad!
I miss y'all so much! But I love being down here.
Thanks for letting me know about Garrett! I love hearing about him. I
am so proud of everything he's doing. Has he applied for BYU yet? I
know the priority deadline is December 1st if I remember right. That's
so cool y'all got him a propane forge! I'm sure he loves it, and now
you'll never get him inside since he can be in the shop! Hope you can
both fill your tags, I know they season ends soon.
Good luck! I miss being around for this time of year, it's a fun one.
It'll be good to get the scareboxes done soon and in to amazon. Then
you can just relax on that part for the season.
Speaking of being around, that's so great everyone is home for
thanksgiving! Mom said me, William and Justin were the only ones gone.
Greg actually wrote me, I'm so proud of him! I'm so happy for him too. I
know he's going to just love a mission and thrive in that environment.
Mom told me you were spreading llama manure on the new plants. Did
that smell good? Probably better than chicken manure! 😄 How is the
yard coming? I'd love to see some pictures before the snow hits too
hard!
Man mom, I feel your pain with daylight savings time! We're not
allowed to go tracting or anything after dark, and so we have to try
to fill our evening hours with lessons, which sometimes works and
sometimes doesn't. Especially when so many lessons fall through. I
remain hopeful that some of these people and families will let us in,
but it's a determined hope, because when they keep canceling last
minute, it's hard not to think that they just really aren't
interested. I love them though, and won't be giving up on them too easily.
There's a talk where Elder Holland is speaking to mission presidents
and he says that part of the reason he thinks missionary work is hard,
is because salvation was never easy, and it is not cheap! When we look
at how much the Lord went through to make salvation possible, is it
any wonder we have to go through a token of that suffering when we're
trying to save his children's souls?
I got to drive for a day! We went on exchanges, and sister Havea
doesn't have a driver's license so I got to drive. Such a relief to be
behind the wheel again! And the exchange was awesome. Sis Havea is a
wonderful missionary. She's been out about a year, and is one of the
sister training leaders. It was actually really nice to have a
different companion for a day. I really love Sis. Poulton, but you know
how it is - it was nice to have a change for a bit.
We haven't been able to meet with the Ruizes yet, but we will this
Tuesday. We were able to meet with the Johnsons though! Well, we met
so Julia, Corey was out of town. He's the one that is inactive, and
we're hoping to be able to get together with both of them this week. I
really want to see them be sealed in the temple for all eternity
because I know what a blessing that will be for them. We have high
hopes, but we're not sure yet that they are definitely going to want
to take all the lessons.
I have really seen the Lords hand in blessing me with charity for
these people we serve. There are definitely some people that I'm
pretty sure, if I didn't have the missionary mantel, would drive me
bananas. However, I can legitimately say hat I really love them and
care for their eternal salvation. What a blessing charity is!
Some random things I've seen this week I wanted to tell you about:
there's a woman in our ward who legit has a mullet, and it's so funny.
I mean, talk about party in the back! Haha :) Also, its almost getting
cold now! I could actually see my breath Saturday night, and the wind
is crazy! Even when it's not that cold, with the wind it really is.
However, it's warm again today, and I would honestly be so surprised
if we get any snow here at all. I'm hoping though! Also, you have to
try Chalula. It's a hot sauce that I actually really like. I tried it
the other day, and it's kinda spicy, but not too bad. However it has
that classic hot sauce taste. Anyway, I love this sauce, which you
know is surprising for me to say! I know I have Gnorman out here, but
I miss Gned! Haha. 😂
The last two things I wanted to tell you about are more spiritual I
guess. The first is President Uchtdorf's talk from April 2014 called
Grateful in any Circumstance. It's soooo good, and we've been sharing
it a lot recently with thanksgiving right around the corner. I think
y'all would love it. The other thing I noticed last Sunday, which I
think is super interesting, is that Christ fasted for 40 days. The
number 40 shows up a lot in the scriptures, and I don't really know
why, but this was interesting because 40 days is about 6 weeks,
which is how long a transfer is. Just gave me a little food for
thought. I've never really connected how long 40 days is before.
Anyway, I love you all sooo much! I hope you have a great
Thanksgiving, say "Hi" to everyone for me. I'll be thinking of y'all and
the delicious food you'll be having! We're going over to a members
which will be serving steak instead of turkey. It'll be good, but I'm
going to miss the traditional food.
The only photo I have for you today, I took because it just cracks me
up the way people use the silhouette of Texas for everything down
here. I mean it's seriously everywhere. This was just next level
though 😂
I love you so much! Have a great week.
Sister Marks❤️❤️❤️
I miss y'all so much! But I love being down here.
Thanks for letting me know about Garrett! I love hearing about him. I
am so proud of everything he's doing. Has he applied for BYU yet? I
know the priority deadline is December 1st if I remember right. That's
so cool y'all got him a propane forge! I'm sure he loves it, and now
you'll never get him inside since he can be in the shop! Hope you can
both fill your tags, I know they season ends soon.
Good luck! I miss being around for this time of year, it's a fun one.
It'll be good to get the scareboxes done soon and in to amazon. Then
you can just relax on that part for the season.
Speaking of being around, that's so great everyone is home for
thanksgiving! Mom said me, William and Justin were the only ones gone.
Greg actually wrote me, I'm so proud of him! I'm so happy for him too. I
know he's going to just love a mission and thrive in that environment.
Mom told me you were spreading llama manure on the new plants. Did
that smell good? Probably better than chicken manure! 😄 How is the
yard coming? I'd love to see some pictures before the snow hits too
hard!
Man mom, I feel your pain with daylight savings time! We're not
allowed to go tracting or anything after dark, and so we have to try
to fill our evening hours with lessons, which sometimes works and
sometimes doesn't. Especially when so many lessons fall through. I
remain hopeful that some of these people and families will let us in,
but it's a determined hope, because when they keep canceling last
minute, it's hard not to think that they just really aren't
interested. I love them though, and won't be giving up on them too easily.
There's a talk where Elder Holland is speaking to mission presidents
and he says that part of the reason he thinks missionary work is hard,
is because salvation was never easy, and it is not cheap! When we look
at how much the Lord went through to make salvation possible, is it
any wonder we have to go through a token of that suffering when we're
trying to save his children's souls?
I got to drive for a day! We went on exchanges, and sister Havea
doesn't have a driver's license so I got to drive. Such a relief to be
behind the wheel again! And the exchange was awesome. Sis Havea is a
wonderful missionary. She's been out about a year, and is one of the
sister training leaders. It was actually really nice to have a
different companion for a day. I really love Sis. Poulton, but you know
how it is - it was nice to have a change for a bit.
We haven't been able to meet with the Ruizes yet, but we will this
Tuesday. We were able to meet with the Johnsons though! Well, we met
so Julia, Corey was out of town. He's the one that is inactive, and
we're hoping to be able to get together with both of them this week. I
really want to see them be sealed in the temple for all eternity
because I know what a blessing that will be for them. We have high
hopes, but we're not sure yet that they are definitely going to want
to take all the lessons.
I have really seen the Lords hand in blessing me with charity for
these people we serve. There are definitely some people that I'm
pretty sure, if I didn't have the missionary mantel, would drive me
bananas. However, I can legitimately say hat I really love them and
care for their eternal salvation. What a blessing charity is!
Some random things I've seen this week I wanted to tell you about:
there's a woman in our ward who legit has a mullet, and it's so funny.
I mean, talk about party in the back! Haha :) Also, its almost getting
cold now! I could actually see my breath Saturday night, and the wind
is crazy! Even when it's not that cold, with the wind it really is.
However, it's warm again today, and I would honestly be so surprised
if we get any snow here at all. I'm hoping though! Also, you have to
try Chalula. It's a hot sauce that I actually really like. I tried it
the other day, and it's kinda spicy, but not too bad. However it has
that classic hot sauce taste. Anyway, I love this sauce, which you
know is surprising for me to say! I know I have Gnorman out here, but
I miss Gned! Haha. 😂
The last two things I wanted to tell you about are more spiritual I
guess. The first is President Uchtdorf's talk from April 2014 called
Grateful in any Circumstance. It's soooo good, and we've been sharing
it a lot recently with thanksgiving right around the corner. I think
y'all would love it. The other thing I noticed last Sunday, which I
think is super interesting, is that Christ fasted for 40 days. The
number 40 shows up a lot in the scriptures, and I don't really know
why, but this was interesting because 40 days is about 6 weeks,
which is how long a transfer is. Just gave me a little food for
thought. I've never really connected how long 40 days is before.
Anyway, I love you all sooo much! I hope you have a great
Thanksgiving, say "Hi" to everyone for me. I'll be thinking of y'all and
the delicious food you'll be having! We're going over to a members
which will be serving steak instead of turkey. It'll be good, but I'm
going to miss the traditional food.
The only photo I have for you today, I took because it just cracks me
up the way people use the silhouette of Texas for everything down
here. I mean it's seriously everywhere. This was just next level
though 😂
I love you so much! Have a great week.
Sister Marks❤️❤️❤️