Monday, August 27, 2012

A Great Start In A New Area


Hey Everyone!

          This week has been full of fun and exciting news and experiences. Since the beginning of this transfer, we've found quite a few new investigators that are interested in the gospel. One includes Rocillo and her family. We had a lesson with her Monday night with her nephew Omar and her grandma Socurro that live in Mexico. We taught the plan of salvation and answered a few questions they had about the pre-earth life and the difference between a spirit and a soul. We are meeting with them tonight and hopefully receive their information so they can continue receiving the missionaries in Mexico. With my new companion being a district leader, we've gone on exchanges a couple times when he had meetings or to have interviews with the other missionaries in our district. I went on exchanges with Elder Hernandez, who is my grandfather in the mission. (He trained my trainer Elder Ditton). He's from El Salvador and he's been serving in his area forever. All the members of the ward are in love with him. Many of the ward events planned for this week are too give him a farewell party as he leaves at the end of this transfer. Anyway we had a really great lesson with a lady named Ita and we were close to having her accept a baptismal invitation after teaching about the gospel of Christ. I learned a lot about teaching with Elder Hernandez as he's a very natural teacher and I wasn't hard for him to ask her to be baptized. As a mission we are working a lot this week on the FUNDAMENTALS of missionary work, and one includes the Doctrine of Christ which focuses on extending the baptismal invitation in the very first lesson with a new investigator. This really helps as we quickly address with our investigators that our purpose is to help them come unto Christ which includes baptism. This week has been special because I had 2 opportunities to invite our investigators to be baptized. One was with Paula and her 95 year old mother Graciela who we met my second day in Silverlake. But she's one of the "prepared" people how address to us that she loved the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet that we gave her. She took time on her own to find out about what it takes to get baptized, and she read from Moroni 6 about not baptizing children until they're eight. She really liked it. She told us directly that she wants to join our church, even though we didn't teach anything or come to church yet! SO PREPARED. We planning to have her and her mother be baptized the 5th of August. She couldn't come this Sunday because she works really late at a rehabilitation facility. She's coming this next Sunday and we hope to teach her a couple more times this week as well. That's not all. This past Friday we had a lesson as well with Luis, 21 year old who's been working hard to get his GED. My Companion Elder Blackham and his past companion had been teaching him for about a month, and he has shown a lot of interest in what we have to share. He's changed his life around so he could be more responsible to take care of his family and to prepare himself for the future. We were on exchanges again, and Elder Rodriguez (who came into the mission the same day as me) taught him the plan along with one of the young men in our ward Dave. It was a very spiritual experience even though we did in a stairwell to an apartment. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted. We're excited for him; the only thing that might impede him is that he plays soccer on Sunday, so we are looking forward to teach him more about the Sabbath Day. Basically the work has skyrocket here in this area, we going to keep working hard to get our investigators to progress. The other great thing about this area is the Ward. Barrio Cuarto is very organized and very active. Last Friday, we had a missionary dinner at the church building with all the members who are involved with missionary work; the ward mission leader, gospel principles teachers, ward missionaries, quorum presidents, relief society, bishopric. I'm excited to get to work with more members because they are the key to accelerating the work.
      Anyway, I'm been having a lot of fun. My companion and I are very similar in personality but we are very different in height. He's super tall 6'7! The Spanish is going well, I don't know many words, but one way or another I can carry out a lengthy conversation. I'm obviously still working on it, but I feel very comfortable teaching and it's the best part about the mission. I'm back in a car area, so I'm not biking as much and the members that feed us here, stuff us up. I love Latino food, but man they make so much! Elder Blackham and I are working on running more in the morning so hopefully we don't gain weight. Last I checked I was still 135, hopefully it’s the same! The weather here is a little different than it was in my last area as I was closer to the beach. Now I'm nearer the city and there's more concrete and blacktop to absorb the heat. It's gotten to the 90s but it's not humid at all so I can deal with it.

Anyway that's all folks. I love this work and its helping me become a more bold and fearless person. 2 Tim 1: 7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and of a sound mind" I feel God working miracles inside me and with the people we met. HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING!

OS AMO TANTO!!!!!!

PS. I can't believe I'm almost 1/4 through my mission AHHHHH!!!!

Elder Marrott


Dad: Elder Blackham lives on the other side of state street near 800 N and 400E by Provo Canyon. He said that they teared the whole school down except the field house. Thanks for the info about the All-star game. I forgot all about it. Yeah TONY!  Try to get Phil’s Ecuador address, I probably won't get send my letter to him before he get's out of the MTC.

Mom: I haven't got your other letter yet but I'll get it soon. Thanks for the photos of Cam's wedding everyone looked awesome! Keep up with your running and the sales   

Kurt: Happy Birthday! I'm going to try to get a letter to you soon. Keep your head up.

Aubrie: Sorry I will try to write to you soon.

Missy and Ryan: I hope you all are doing well thanks for keeping up my blog!   

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