Jammed fingers and Elder Archuleta

Dear Family,

      

       First off, Thank you for the package that included my sweater. I don't think I told you that it came in yet, but I've had it for a while. Thank Kurtis for me for the email, It's been weird to think that he's only been 1 block away from me this whole time. It doesn't feel at all like I've been in Provo. The MTC is a very different place. Anyway as of this Monday, my district is the oldest in our zone right now as the one above us left for Chile and Nicaragua. It's challenging to deal with all the changes but its great to know that my time here is almost over! This past week has been the most physically painful week as I was playing basketball. One day as I was jumping for a rebound, the ball rammed down on my left thumb. It's the weirdest jammed finger I've ever gotten because my thumb was perfectly fine, but the joint in the palm of my hand was totally inflamed. I had a dark purple streak going down my palm into my wrist, and for a while it felt like a had a rock inside my hand. I was the weirdest feeling. It is pretty much healed and I've been monitoring its recovery. This past week, my companions have had multiple practices in the mornings and throughout the week for choir. They are going to be singing on the 2nd session of General Conference. Even though it's great that they have this privilege, I'm glad to just be able to stay and relax this weekend. Because of this I can listen to all the sessions of Conference and be able to take notes on all the talks. So there's a pro and con to everything. The choir sounds really good, and I sang on Tuesday with them for the Devotional. They are singing 2 beautiful renditions of Lead, Kindly Light and Praise to the Man. Anyway, yesterday was a fun day too as I got to help direct traffic for the new missionaries coming in yesterday. It was enjoyable to see all the different reactions of families dropping off their missionary. The funniest one I saw was a tiny pickup truck with about 10 people sitting the bed come and drop off a sister. She was a champ, I did see her shed a tear as the rest of her family was bawling. She attempted a couple times to leave, but they wouldn't let her go! People are funny. Oh if you could let Aubrie know that Elder Archuleta actually came to the MTC yesterday and is living in the residence floor beneath me. I've seen him a couple times, but I haven't talked with him yet. I plan on giving him a high 5 before I leave. Something that I've been spiritually pondering the last week on the connection faith, hope, and charity have with each other. Before I came here I've basically seen faith and hope as two really similar things, but I've seen faith in a different light here. I see faith more as a expression of trust and confidence. Since then, I've seen how I need to have confidence and trust in the gospel, hope/expect/wish for the best, and express my faith and hope through charity towards others. The way I've see it now is if you don't have faith, you don't have hope. If you don't have hope, you don't have charity, and if you don't have charity, Moroni says you don't have anything. This changes my perceptions of how I should serve as a missionary. The last article of faith really sums it up for me in what I need to do and teach. My testimony has been truly strengthened here. Don't let me forget when we talk on Mother's Day to remind me what happened on March 21st and talk about on of my teachers Hermano Gillon. It's totally defined my stay here at the MTC. Well, I'm off to do laundry. I hope Aubrie enjoys her trip to Idaho. Say hello to everyone in the ward, and I'll keep my eyes out for the Farmers!

Te amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

3 Weeks Away to L.A.!

Hey Family,

        Thanks for the letters for this week and I was glad to hear you had a great weekend. The caucus sounded like you had a lot of "fun." At this point, I'm really glad that I don't have to fluster over that, and leave the world to preoccupy on politics. Keep being involved, and I love hearing about what is going on. Give my best to Grandma and Grandpa, and I hope that they will be feeling better. I hope you enjoyed Elder Bednar! He's the best! I CALLED IT! I knew he was going to talk about the character of Christ. That talk truly gave me some reassurance that as long as I am diligent in doing what Christ would do, I will never fall away. It was one of my first spiritual moments I had here at the MTC. Also Mom and Dad keep telling me about this awesome experience Aubrie had with Elder Bednar. I'm getting a little anxious to find out what happened. I'll be expecting an email soon from you Aubrie! Some exciting things happened at the MTC this week. A large portion of the district that left our zone 3 weeks ago for Fresno came back on Monday! It includes 3 of the favorite Elders I've come to love the most. They finally got their visas and they were here til this morning before they left again for Mexico. I can't express how awesome it was to see 7 elders fresh from the mission, and to see how much they changed. Their testimonies and love for the gospel and people have grown so much. Last night, I had the greatest spiritual experience I've had in my entire life. It's so sacred to me that I'll wait until we have a chance to talk either on Mother's Day or when I come home. I'll just say I got question answered that I've had since Elder Carter left for home. It has definitely got me totally pumped up to go to Los Angeles right now. I only have have 19 more days/3 more weeks left, but it seems like it will take forever. The Spanish is coming alright, and I need to practice more. I can read and understand Spanish, the only difficulty is speaking it fluently and doing all the fun verb conjugations in my head. But I'm really not concerned about it. In D&C 84:85 it says how I should treasure the words of the gospel in my heart, and if I do, the words will come at the needed time. I'm putting my faith on the Lord to helping me with speaking, and I hope once I get in the field it will come faster and faster each day. Also on Tuesday, Elder Oaks and his wife came to speak to us. Elder Oaks spoke on how we can obtain and keep the spirit with us throughout our missions. He said the main key to having the spirit is to partake of the sacrament each Sunday, and we prepare for each Sunday to be determined to do what the sacrament prayer asks; take his name upon us, keep his commandments, and always remember him. Only through this can we be promised formally each we that we will have the spirit to be with us. It is a great blessing to have an apostle come and speak on the simple truths of the gospel. All Elder Oaks does is teach straight from the scriptures, and I come to appreciate the fact that I can study from them everyday, and receive counsel from them just as I would if it was General Conference. Speaking of General Conference, it's coming up, and the MTC choir will be singing on one of the session on Saturday. However, I will not be part of the choir. It's kind of sad because basically everyone in my district will be going,.....but me. I had a hard time at first. But I will be a blessing because I won't have my obnoxious companions to distract me from listening to each talk. However, It would have been nice to be on the stand with all the apostles and President Monson. Ahhh....oh well. Thanks for offering to put Elder Carter's name in the temple. From what I know he had surgery this past week and I let you know how it went when I find out. There's Sister right now that has started to struggle with migraines and stresses similar to what Aubrie has gone through. Her name is Hermana Reyes, and if you could put her on the prayer roll too I'd be grateful. It's been so crazy how there's so many people that I've known recently struggling with headaches. There's definitely something I need to learn from this. Well I be off to the temple today, too. I will look forward to that. Give my best to everyone, I hope I can hear from all of you. Until next time!

Love

Elder Marrott

Tips from Elder Marrott

Hey Family,

I was glad to get your emails and letters this week and I hope goes well for everyone. If there was any week I'd like to be home for it sounds like it would be this week. I glad that Mom and Dad are able to be a part of the caucus, and I hope you have a fun time there! And ever since I've been here I've gained a stronger afinity for Elder Bednar and  his teachings. I really wish you were able to listen to one of the talks he gave here on Christmas. If he starts to speak about the character of Christ, be prepared to get you're mind blown! One of the greatest quotes I've heard him say is, "Success isn't a gift......We must do everything (in regards to following the gospel, missionary work, etc...), and expect nothing in return." That is the most Christlike incentive, I've heard in my life. I hope you all prepare yourself to have the spirit guide you while he's speaking. Don't try to write down everything he says, but based on the feelings you have, and the Spirit guiding, you will remember all you need from him. I heard that there's a single adult meeting he's holding too. I hope that Aubrie and Phil are able to go to that. Concerning Aubrie, first off, I apoligize but I guess the people who told me about David Archuleta were misinformed, so I guess he's not here yet......oh well. Anyway, I feel so bad that she had to go through that last week, and I can't even imagine. I wonderful that she's feeling better and I hope that it's all down hill from here. I'll keep Aubrie and Daniel in my prayers. I got an email from Elder Carter, and he says that he's going to have he's fourth sinus surgery on Friday, I believe. His doctor let him aware that the infection in his sinus could have caused severe damage to his vision, or possibly could have lead to major internal bleeding if he didn't get the attention he needed. So even though I miss him, I'm really glad that he's home right now! Keep him in your prayers too. This week was pretty cool because we had Elder Toomey, and elder in one of the previous districts that left 2 weeks ago, come back from Washington because they got his visa ready to send him off to Mexico. He was here for the weekend, I was awesome to hear all the experiences he had in the field there. It was funny because the night before he came back, My companions and I were talking about how weird it would be if he came back.......(epic foreshadowing). He left this morning, and I hope he does well. I've had some spiritual moments while teaching to my proxy investigators this week, and its all because of the devotional that Brother Heaton, an administrative president at the MTC, gave on Sunday. He talked about setting goals and how we interpret the meaning of success in missionary work and the scriptures. My favorite words used in the scriptures now are PERPHAPS, HOPE, MIGHT, MAY, MAYBE. Because everything that God and Christ did and does for us is for a perphaps. In the BOM, it gives so many referances to how the prophets did things for concerning God's children a perphaps. Just look at Mosiah 28:2 or Nephi 19:18 or Jacob 5. Sometimes with missionary work, we can't go into a lesson with the "We're gonna win" attitude and know that we are going to get a baptism or in our terms "success" because the agency of others is not in our control, but all we can do is pray and hope that they have made a connection with God, so they come closer to Christ through baptism. I'd love to share more, but I'm running out of time. I love you all and I hope that your we goes well.

Te amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

P.S - Thank Sister Steele for sending me updates from Erik! THEY WERE SUPER AWESOME! If she hasn't sent them to you, I'd ask her to foward them over to you. It's hiliarous, inspiring, and it's just Erik! I will be writing Sister Steele a letter too. Keep sending the updates on the primaries and the Cardinals! I also can wait for the photos, Mom. I hope I can send some back to you soon. And Amy,.....I hope to hear from you!!!! Thanks for giving Leo the Scott treatment for me! Also what's the name of your bird?

Also to answer dad's question There's my trio companionship and 4 hermanas in my district. I know it's weird but we are blessed to have so many sisters, It sure keeps us three in line most of the time in class.

Adidos!

Elder Marrott's Report on March 8th

Dear Family and Friends,

So far this first week in March has been teasing me with warm weather all ready. On Monday it reached 75 degrees.

I'm super excited to go to LA!  I'm not going to miss this place, but only the people I've met here. I'd like to share some of the relationships I've built. First off, Elder Carter was one of the greatest guys I've met i my life.  He's kind of got the personality of Everen as he's very stubborn, but he's got a big heart. It was easy to relate to each other & have respect for one another.  He has a strong passion for cars, (mainly Fords) basketball, and the atonement. He has a strong testimony. I know it is because of the trials he's endured with his sinuses. I don't think I've met someone outside our family that was so close to his family.  He was always telling me about his 4 year old sister and how cute & smart she is.  When his family came and picked him up, his sister was in the back seat. Never has my heart been so touched with love than that at that moment.  I got an email from him today saying that it will be likely that he'll have another surgery. Keep praying for him as he continues to struggle with his pain.  I look forward to seeing him soon.

Elder Taylor is a funny guy. Right now we've been nagging on each other ever since I became his companion.  Both of us are really sarcastic, so it's like we speak the same language!  In high school he sang choir and played soccer.  He was the one who influenced me to sing in the MTC choir.. But like I said, we tease each other a lot. As of late, I've been on his back since we raced each other at gym. He beat me and He said that he ran a rally fast time for the 400m. Then he said that he's lost most of his speed because he's gained more weight. Ever since then, I've been nagging on him with fat jokes. He's got some good short jokes that he throws back at me, but he's more sensitive about his weight than I am with me height.  Other than that Elder Taylor is an awesome missionary with ability to plan and make lessons. I've learned a thing or two from him.

Elder Barckey, my other companion, is one of the most genome people I know.  It's crazy cuz he has the exact same mannerisms as Phil, but he's got the personality of Brother Rahm. He's just a nice guy. If we all had the same approach to repentance & charity as he has this world would be a lot better place. Basically I've loved everyone here, las hermanas, other districts. It's weird to think that they are all going different places. I' going to miss them all.

Any way, the biggest event that happened this past week was that I was called to be district leader.  Also that Alex Boye came to sing and speak for the Sunday Devotional. Brother Boye was pretty awesome as he sang an amazing rendition of "Our Savior's Love" , one of my favorite hymns. Also is conversion story was super inspiring. His exuberance for missionary work is phenomenal.He told us that we should not deny the powers of heaven that God has promised to his missionaries.  He also emphasized that if we totally put our mind to something action will follow. "Thrive, not survive"! Anyway, I'm enjoying my time here and I hope to hear from EVERYONE! ESPECIALLY Amy! Thanks for the package, Leo! That was so thoughtful of him. If one of you could chase him around the house for me I would appreciate it. I miss you all!

ios amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

P.S. I would love for one of you to send me a photo album of our family and friends. I'd appreciate it. I'll do my best to send you some photos home too.

Elder Marrott's Cool Experience at the MTC

Everyone,

In sake of time, I won't have much to say. Mainly because it's felt like an ordinary week in the MTC. I love my teachers, my trio companionship is functioning very well together, especially in lessons. The Spanish is coming along a lot better. I'm learning prepositions this week and I know this will greatly help me speak and know Spanish a lot better. It will come with practice. Another district is leaving our zone next week, which included my former roommates, Elder Hatch and Elder LaMunyon. Since I moved into the room with my companions, I've still had nightly prayers with both of them. I going to miss them a lot, as we've had a special connection with knowing Elder Carter. Well, I'll end with this. Two of probably the most famous Mormon singers in this modern age has come to the MTC. Alex Boye from MoTab came and sang and gave a fireside mainly about his conversion story. He's very energetic and funny. I have to tell you some things in my letter of what he said. Also....(Aubrie will flip out).....apparently David Archuleta is here getting ready to go to Chile. He just came in yesterday, but I haven't seen him yet. But the choir director on Sunday said we were having a really special number we're performing on next Tuesday, so It's likely he's here. Anyway I hope everyone is doing well.

Te amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Elder Marrott Sings

Hey Everyone

This past week has been very eventful and basically my life has turned upside down a little bit. After a really bad weekend, my companion went home sick to recover. Elder Carter has been a great blessing in my life and I hope he gets feeling better soon. I’m in a trio now with the other elder companionship in my district, and I hope it works out well with them. The oldest district in my zone also left to start their missions, and it’s gonna be really hard to move on with-out them. I’ve become such good friends with all of them and I hope I get to see them again after my mission. Something that might surprise a few people is that I’ve participated in the MTC choir here and I’ve sung for the 3 devotionals I’ve been here for and I’ve loved it. The best experience I had was last Tuesday when Elder Holland came to speak to us. We sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” The Spirit there was so strong, and I appreciated the wonderful talk he gave on the importance to become converted through a mission, using the Book of Mormon to convert investigators, and learning to teach after the manner of the Spirit. I’m grateful for everyone here, and I learned how to love someone through the Spirit. Spanish is going well, and I need to practice it more than I do. Time is short, and I wish everyone with good health, and look to the Spirit to guide you to build your testimony of Christ.

Elder Marrott

1st Week in the MTC

This is Elder Marrott's 1st Week Update in MTC:

Hey Everyone!

      It's been a blast here at the MTC and I've loved every moment. It's weird being back in Provo again and hearing the bell tower ringing. I makes me feel that I should be going to my geology class. But the classes here are way more fun and rewarding. The first couple days were really slow, and I didn't realize that I would be here for 9 weeks. But the last couple days have flown by. All the missionaries in my zone are super awesome because all have a desire to have fun, but also learn as much as possible. Our zone leaders are Elder "General" Mills and Elder Powell, they are great examples to us, but at the same time they know to relate to all of us. There's a thing we say that whenever someone says a really blunt fact or says that something is awesome, we all scream, "I KNOW, RIGHT!" I love them all. My companion Elder Carter is a very diligent and relaxed person, and I've learned a lot from him. He has a strong connection with his family and he loves to talk about his 4 year old sister. The two other Elders in my District are Elder Taylor and Elder Barclay. I joke around a lot with Elder Taylor and we're constantly thinking of messing with each others heads. Elder Barclay is the most genuine person I've ever met in my life. He's always wanting to find ways to share his nutrition and physical therapy knowledge with everyone. Overall I feel very at home here. The hardest part about the MTC is remembering Spanish. It's not necessarily hard, but it's frustrating when you remember about learning certain words and grammar, but not all the specific details. I will say it's a lot nicer than learning it with no background knowledge! I'm looking forward to speaking it fluently.....eventually.  Anyway I want to say to all of you that we all can learn to become more like Christ as long as we learn to "turn out" to people when most people would "turn in." Always seek to follow Christ in every way, and I know we can live happily.

     Te amo tanto!

     Elder Marrott

Elder Marrott's MTC Mailing Address

Elder Marrott's MTC address:

MTC Mailbox #267

2005 N 900E

Provo, Utah 84604

Anyway, I love it here at the MTC and everyday is getting easier to manage. These first couple days have been stressful but I know that God has been there every step of the way. My companion is Elder Carter and he's from Syracuse Utah. He's one of the most sincere people I've ever met and he's got a strong testimony in missionary work. I don't have much time to write because my computer wasn't working and I was taking up most of my writing time. I'll just say that it's hard but I know I need to be here. The spanish will come, but I will just need to focus on the needs of those I teach and help them feel the spirit. Give my best to everyone and I hope I get to write more next time!

Love

Elder Marrott