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
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