Hey mom and dad!

I love hearing from you both so much!

I love so much that y'all are officially getting hogs! I think
it's so fun, and I wish I could see them. I am so jealous everyone got
to work on the hog house without me! I'm sure Garrett appreciates
finally having a place to go now though, haha! :):) That reminds me,
the other day we were out about to start a lesson with this family and
all of a sudden a pig came inside! Haha! I attached a picture, but it
was so funny! It actually ended up being a great lesson though, and
the two kids (10 and 12) have a baptismal date set for January 7th!
The mom is a less active coming back to church, and the dad's not
really in the picture. I'm so excited for them. The girl, Annie, is 10
and he boy, Jared, is 12, which means he can receive the priesthood
too, which we're excited about for him!

On the flip side, we've had an investigator text and tell us she
doesn't want to meet anymore, right after we finally started really
progressing. She won't answer the phone when we call, and won't return
our voicemails. I'm super worried for her, cause I really love her,
and I don't understand why she wants to drop us. I really think if we
could just talk to her, she would continue taking lessons, and I think
she could be ready to be baptized in a few months (she's a slow
investigator, has already been taking lessons for a few months, but is
finally making progress, well she was...). I'm really praying for her
though, and of course for the two kids and their mom.

Other than those two notable events with investigators, not much is happening.
We've been struggling to set appointments with people, and it's hard to
watch them be so close to what could bring em so much happiness and
peace and not reach out and grasp it. It makes me wonder what I do in
my life that makes Heavenly Father feel that same way. What is right
within my reach that I'm not doing that could make me a better
missionary? What can I do to rely more fully on the Lord? I'm trying
so hard, and I pray earnestly every day for a little more strength, a
little more charity, and a little more ability to be like Christ, to
understand what these people, my brothers and sisters, need, and what
they need to know and hear. I just feel so weak, though I know that
Christ will enable. And I believe that. I know, through past
experience, that "whom the Lord calls, He qualifies" that qualifying
process is long, and hard though, and I pray I will allow Him to
change me as completely as He needs. I have already felt that change
start, and I'm so excited to see who He is shaping me to be.

I'm so happy to hear William got to be home for Thanksgiving! It
sounds like y'all had a ton of fun! I was thinking of everyone
throughout the day, and it was weird not being able to help cook
anything. I actually really miss being able to bake and cook.
Especially for Thanksgiving. I have always done as much as I could to
prepare the food for that day, so it was weird just eating... it was
also super weird having steak for dinner! But it was delicious. Man,
that brother knows how to cook steak! :) And its cool they sent a
picture of me home. It's always kinda weird when members do that. I'm
trying not to let them as often as they want to, but it's kinda fun.

Overall, my Thanksgiving was awesome! We had a lot of members invite
us over and so we had a full, fun day. Though dinner was just a small
thing, and non traditional, I did still get some turkey!
Luckily, for lunch we had gone over to a recent convert's (Don's)
home. He's probably almost 50, and his parents, who are super Baptist
but love the missionaries, actually invited us over. They had a huge
get together, the type that reminded me of home, and they had a
classic Thanksgiving lunch. It was super interesting being there
though. It was fun, but weird because Don's the only member, and a lot
of the family (who're all Baptist) really don't like Mormons, and
thought that Don had joined a cult or something when he joined the
church. Sister Poulton and I decided to go, and show them that
we were just happy, normal people. We had a cool experience there
also. I indicated that I could play the piano, and Don and his mom
said I should play some hymns and Sis Poulton and I could sing. I was
hesitant at first because I didn't want to be rude and play over the
conversations, but Don convinced me to, so I did. Then a mini miracle
happened. A lot of the sisters came over and started singing from
their hymnal (I was kicked off the piano for someone more experienced
pretty fast) but Sis Poulton and I stayed to sing with them. You could
feel the spirit so strongly, and it was cool to see their hearts
soften toward us. Don was telling us later that he was shocked when
one of his brothers, whom he was worried was going to be really rude,
came up to us and introduced himself, and was actually quite polite.
The music had brought unity into the home and family I don't think
they've seen in a while. The grandma (Don's mom) was so grateful to us
as we left. But all we did was sing a hymn, and God did the rest.
Music is truly miraculous. I'm so grateful to have been raised in a
home where music was important. Thank you for instilling that love in
me.

Dad, as far as justifications for our faith go, I think that that is
such an interesting topic. You were so right when you said that we
can't expect to see the justifications before we show the faith. It's
the same principle as found in John 7:17 or Ether 12:6. That you
receive not a witness until after you act. So I think we are justified
in wanting justifications for our faith because these two scriptures
promise we can expect that. He has told us that after we have faith,
we will see the miracle or witness, or knowledge or whatever else
we're looking for. How often though are miracles so much smaller than
parting the Red Sea! These small justifications you mentioned, I
believe are small miracles. For is it not a miracle that God answers
prayers at all? And even more of a miracle that it doesn't matter how
eloquent the prayer is so long as it is said in faith in Jesus Christ,
with a sincere heart and real intent? I believe that if you are
looking for reasons as to why your faith is based on something real,
and not just a wish cast into the evening wind, then you will find
them all around. And by the same token, if you refuse to allow
yourself to see how God has touched your life, then no matter how many
justifications he puts in your path, you will never see them. That's
really all the commentary I have on that without going in circles
besides my testimony. I know that our faith in God is always
justified. Maybe that justification won't be obvious until a later
point, but it is justified. Each one of us can look back in our lives
to see to see when that faith was so obviously justified, and since
God never changes, it must needs follow at our faith is still
justified today. God loves each of us so much that he has His blessings
pouring out upon us if we will but lift our eyes long enough to see
them. Those blessings are probably very small most of the time, but I
have felt them so strongly as I now serve the Lord full time.

As I've taught different people about how to change their lives
through Christ, I realize far more fully that that also applies to what
you are. I know Christ will help anyone overcome weaknesses if
they will but place trust enough in him that they will allow him to.

As far as how I'm doing physically, I'm doing quite well. I refuse to
game the "Fort Worth 40" as the "freshman 15" was bad enough! I work
out every morning, and am trying to eat healthy, though the members
feed us most nights, so it's a bit up in the air on any given day.
Overall though, it's pretty good. Speaking of food, y'all should have
the sisters over for dinner sometime, I know that they would love it,
and it would bless the home. As missionaries, we're told to leave a
blessing in every home we enter, if we are permitted to say a prayer -
fun fact! :)

Anyway, I'm almost out of time. I love you all sooooo much! I miss
home, but there's no place I'd rather be. The daily grind is beatable
mainly because I know that if millions have done it before me, then it
is an honor to walk in their shoes. The ups and the downs are very
real, but Christ has overcome all, and through him, I can overcome the
small portion given to me. I love this gospel!

Love forever,
Sister Marks

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❤️❤️❤️