3 More pics from Jimmy - includes two from a hike he got to do
Monday, November 7, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Okay, sorry if that thing at the beginning of my last email was confusing, I was just trying to demonstrate how crazy of a feeling it is when time is flying by and all of a sudden I have to switch planners because I'm through with my first transfer!
I'm glad Naomi is feeling better, but bummed I missed her first sacrament talk! Thank you SO much for the package!! The gloves are SO nice, they're a little tight, but I think they should be. The coat from brother Scofield is AMAZING! It is exactly the kind of coat that my call packet asked for, zip out liner and everything, and I wrote him, but the package didn't come until Tuesday(really quick if you sent it out on Friday) so I didn't have a chance to mention it in my letter, so PLEASE thank him for me!
Thank you for the advice on smoking, it's amazing how much of what you said is included in the program the Church teaches, it is truly excellent. One of our smokers is sick and the other fell off the map, so no progress at the moment, but I will be keeping everything you said in mind as we work with them! This week has been very administrative. We have had meetings in STL, Weekly Planning and Mission Correlation all in one week, but Thursday was the greatest day of my mission so far, and Elder Marshall (remember, he's been out 10 months) said it was the best of HIS too! We spent ALL of our time teaching! It was GREAT! Four lessons, all of them came through! We taught Teri-Lyn, a single mother who is VERY studious in the large print triple combo and bible we got her, loves 1 Nephi, and who's 6 year old daughter loves coming to church, she came to church twice in a row, but missed this week because she was sick. Tim Evans, a man looking for God after a long life without Him, he just started going to church a year ago and he's 51, he is so friendly and his house reminds me of Grandmother Jeanine's because he had a vision of his father and Elvis one time and so has Elvis plastered all over EVERYTHING! Also, we had an AMAZING first lesson with our next-door neighbor Liz! She has no religious background and is very honest with us, allowing us to really apply the Gospel to her and her needs, it was such an uplifting lesson. Then, to close the night, we taught another single mom up in Potosi, April Eads, who also has no religious background but is looking so hard for the truth and is very in tune with the Spirit, we had a great lesson and all of her questions were about baptism and she agreed to be baptized! I love this work so much. Elder Marshall said that he has never faced more adversity at any time in his mission, and I am not surprised, but that honestly just strengthens our testimony just as it did Joseph's (editor: he is referring to Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brother and yet bore his trials and let God make something good come from them, I mentioned it in an earlier letter to him.) that this is where we need to be, and God has sent us to Potosi and the adversary really isn't happy we're here. I love the Spirit that I feel when sharing the Gospel and in our wonderful Church buildings that isn't found anywhere else we go. We visited a Pentecostal church with Tim Evans on Sunday, and it was pretty interesting. We wanted to hear some of the preaching, but we could only stay for 35 minutes before we had to make it to Sacrament, and so we only caught the singing (35 minutes of it!), which was pretty intense, I might add. I threw a snowball at Elder Marshall this morning! I made it out of the thick frost that had covered our car last night, then I wrote him a love note in it to apologize! I'm almost concerned about the end of this transfer, because I don't see how any companion I get could be as amazing as Elder Marshall, and I'm even MORE nervous at the prospect of training in four weeks! We shall see. I am doing well, though! If the protection of the Lord isn't comfort enough, I don't know if I could have any more reliable sources of help than Elder Marshall and President Clark, they are truly phenomenal.
I'm glad Naomi is feeling better, but bummed I missed her first sacrament talk! Thank you SO much for the package!! The gloves are SO nice, they're a little tight, but I think they should be. The coat from brother Scofield is AMAZING! It is exactly the kind of coat that my call packet asked for, zip out liner and everything, and I wrote him, but the package didn't come until Tuesday(really quick if you sent it out on Friday) so I didn't have a chance to mention it in my letter, so PLEASE thank him for me!
Thank you for the advice on smoking, it's amazing how much of what you said is included in the program the Church teaches, it is truly excellent. One of our smokers is sick and the other fell off the map, so no progress at the moment, but I will be keeping everything you said in mind as we work with them! This week has been very administrative. We have had meetings in STL, Weekly Planning and Mission Correlation all in one week, but Thursday was the greatest day of my mission so far, and Elder Marshall (remember, he's been out 10 months) said it was the best of HIS too! We spent ALL of our time teaching! It was GREAT! Four lessons, all of them came through! We taught Teri-Lyn, a single mother who is VERY studious in the large print triple combo and bible we got her, loves 1 Nephi, and who's 6 year old daughter loves coming to church, she came to church twice in a row, but missed this week because she was sick. Tim Evans, a man looking for God after a long life without Him, he just started going to church a year ago and he's 51, he is so friendly and his house reminds me of Grandmother Jeanine's because he had a vision of his father and Elvis one time and so has Elvis plastered all over EVERYTHING! Also, we had an AMAZING first lesson with our next-door neighbor Liz! She has no religious background and is very honest with us, allowing us to really apply the Gospel to her and her needs, it was such an uplifting lesson. Then, to close the night, we taught another single mom up in Potosi, April Eads, who also has no religious background but is looking so hard for the truth and is very in tune with the Spirit, we had a great lesson and all of her questions were about baptism and she agreed to be baptized! I love this work so much. Elder Marshall said that he has never faced more adversity at any time in his mission, and I am not surprised, but that honestly just strengthens our testimony just as it did Joseph's (editor: he is referring to Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brother and yet bore his trials and let God make something good come from them, I mentioned it in an earlier letter to him.) that this is where we need to be, and God has sent us to Potosi and the adversary really isn't happy we're here. I love the Spirit that I feel when sharing the Gospel and in our wonderful Church buildings that isn't found anywhere else we go. We visited a Pentecostal church with Tim Evans on Sunday, and it was pretty interesting. We wanted to hear some of the preaching, but we could only stay for 35 minutes before we had to make it to Sacrament, and so we only caught the singing (35 minutes of it!), which was pretty intense, I might add. I threw a snowball at Elder Marshall this morning! I made it out of the thick frost that had covered our car last night, then I wrote him a love note in it to apologize! I'm almost concerned about the end of this transfer, because I don't see how any companion I get could be as amazing as Elder Marshall, and I'm even MORE nervous at the prospect of training in four weeks! We shall see. I am doing well, though! If the protection of the Lord isn't comfort enough, I don't know if I could have any more reliable sources of help than Elder Marshall and President Clark, they are truly phenomenal.
YAY Max! Aw, I miss my little buddy so much! Sorry about all of my stuff, thank you for keeping it safe, though! I'm kind of jealous that Liz is moving in AFTER I left, that would have been so fun to have her home!
(Editors note: Jimmy's nephew went to his first day of pre-school today and his sis is moving into his room temporally so we had to pack ALL his stuff and store it - 7 bins!)
Thank you so much for all that you have done for me, everyone reading this, because if you are reading this, you have probably done more than you know. Every decision I have to make, I stop and think about whether or not it is worth not only the two years of my life that I am sacrificing, but all of the Lord's time it would take up, and all of the time, energy, and love put into my being here by everyone I know and love. I'll continue to work hard and I'll be emailing you some baptism pictures before too long!
Love,
Elder James Marshall
Love,
Elder James Marshall
Monday, Oct 24, 2011
I almost started crying when I read about the Vilayvong's endowments! Was that not just the most amazing thing ever?? Oh, I cannot WAIT to be able to go through the temple with them when Kenny and I get back. Brie is going to be learning the Espanol, huh? I bet DoLo is SO proud! She's going to be like the Sisters from the District! I am so sad I am missing so many AMAZING events, but hearing about them are such an inspiration to me!
This area is a tough one to work. There are many many people in very humbling circumstances, and it is marvelous seeing how vastly differing their paths are along their individual spiritual journeys. Many of them are willing, but have a long way to go, but that's okay because I have a feeling I will be in this area more than my 2 training transfers! No baptisms yet, but one of our Progressing Investigators is already on 1 Nephi 17!
Okay, my email got partially deleted and now I'm short on time. Dag nab it. Speaking of which, my companion always makes fun of me for being 80 years old because of some of the things I say and the fact that I wear a cardigan!
I am so happy to hear everything is going so well! You will be pleased to hear that my companion and I go jogging(yogging?) every other morning and that I haven't gotten sick despite EVERYONE dropping appointments because they are! Also, people have a tendency to invite us back, and then when we come back their spouse or sibling will answer the door and tell us that they aren't home, and we'll see the person walk through the back of the house! What the heck! We always have to just chuckle to ourselves and stop by later. We had to order 2 cases of 40 BoMs this month because we are handing them out like crazy! I love placing them! I believe it was Brigham Young who said a Book of Mormon given away is a future convert. We find it easiest to share a Mormon.org card with people with our info on it, but often as I can I use it as a book mark for a chapter that answers their needs that we have been able to discern in the short time we speak with them. I hope that everything continues to go well, and before too long I should be able to write you about a baptism or two! We are looking very hard for families to teach, which is hard, believe it or not, and we are having some success, and I can't wait to see their progress! Also, one of the hardest things is figuring out how to meet and deal with husbands and boyfriends. Women usually want to go to church it seems, and then they either talk to their significant other and suddenly don't, or it's just awkward trying to establish a relationship of trust with him. Any tips?
YAY FOR PACKAGES! I can't wait! Also, the mail is getting bounced around a little, so I haven't gotten any letters in awhile, but that's okay, because I realized I sometimes focus too much on if I'm going to get one today! I can't wait to share with you more about the wonderful people here (ie Brother Tom Pezel; 67, Branch Mission Leader, used to be 70, Branch President, High Council, etc!)
con amor,
Elder Marshall
This area is a tough one to work. There are many many people in very humbling circumstances, and it is marvelous seeing how vastly differing their paths are along their individual spiritual journeys. Many of them are willing, but have a long way to go, but that's okay because I have a feeling I will be in this area more than my 2 training transfers! No baptisms yet, but one of our Progressing Investigators is already on 1 Nephi 17!
Okay, my email got partially deleted and now I'm short on time. Dag nab it. Speaking of which, my companion always makes fun of me for being 80 years old because of some of the things I say and the fact that I wear a cardigan!
I am so happy to hear everything is going so well! You will be pleased to hear that my companion and I go jogging(yogging?) every other morning and that I haven't gotten sick despite EVERYONE dropping appointments because they are! Also, people have a tendency to invite us back, and then when we come back their spouse or sibling will answer the door and tell us that they aren't home, and we'll see the person walk through the back of the house! What the heck! We always have to just chuckle to ourselves and stop by later. We had to order 2 cases of 40 BoMs this month because we are handing them out like crazy! I love placing them! I believe it was Brigham Young who said a Book of Mormon given away is a future convert. We find it easiest to share a Mormon.org card with people with our info on it, but often as I can I use it as a book mark for a chapter that answers their needs that we have been able to discern in the short time we speak with them. I hope that everything continues to go well, and before too long I should be able to write you about a baptism or two! We are looking very hard for families to teach, which is hard, believe it or not, and we are having some success, and I can't wait to see their progress! Also, one of the hardest things is figuring out how to meet and deal with husbands and boyfriends. Women usually want to go to church it seems, and then they either talk to their significant other and suddenly don't, or it's just awkward trying to establish a relationship of trust with him. Any tips?
YAY FOR PACKAGES! I can't wait! Also, the mail is getting bounced around a little, so I haven't gotten any letters in awhile, but that's okay, because I realized I sometimes focus too much on if I'm going to get one today! I can't wait to share with you more about the wonderful people here (ie Brother Tom Pezel; 67, Branch Mission Leader, used to be 70, Branch President, High Council, etc!)
con amor,
Elder Marshall
184 My bed!
185 Our front room
186 MUDDY BUDDIES!!!!
189 Comp Study drumming session using highliters and a 3-hole punch (he used to drum like dad)
193 The local grocery store, we couldn't stop laughing, I don't know why.
163 This "gated community" in the middle of nowhere. Do these rules seem a little odd to you?
166 My first in-field haircut! I could remember if I already sent this one...
174 P-day with the ZLs at Elephant Rock!178 Me and my comp free running the park! Bouldering is awesome!
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