Of Mice and Missionaries

Hey Everybody

          I hope you all had a great Halloween! It was different for me. The Hollywood Ward (English) and my ward did a combine Trunk or Treat party at the ward building on the day before Halloween. It was fun. The bishop in the Hollywood ward and wife dressed up as Barbie and Kent and had their two little kids as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story it was the best ones that I saw there, but It was quite crazy on Halloween, President wanted us in by 5:00 pm to keep us safe from the messed up people here in Los Angeles, so my zone ended up playing basketball at the church. Super fun. So we planned to have Luis's baptism this Sunday, however when we interviewed him on Thursday, he told us that his family wasn't going to be able to attend yesterday, so we postponed it for this next Sunday, other than that he's pretty much ready for baptism. We wish we could have worked more with his family, but his parents are quite the busy people. But we hope that Luis's baptism will spark a fire in his family to listen to us. Luis asked me as well if I could baptize him, so I'm super humbled to do the ordinance for him. It will be my first time so I'm pretty excited! Also this past Saturday, Elder Walker and I had the special opportunity to go to Presidents brand new house to eat dinner with him and his wife. Every transfer President prepares a dinner for the missionaries who had the cleanest apartment, and surprisingly we won. It truly is a surprise because we received notice that we won last Monday, but a day later we ended up finding 3 mice in our appointment. It was quite hilarious as we ended up trapping 2 of them down and killing them. The first one ran and hid in the closet, and we planned to scare him down a corridor that we made to make him run into a corner, so Elder Walker could drop a 25 lb. weight on him. However I ended up stepping on his leg as scared him up, Easy Kill! The second was reacting wildly as Elder Walker ended up chasing him down with a frying pan. He first tried to hit him with it, missed but shook him up, then with his soccer instincts, he stomped him super hard. Let's just say it was quite the mess! Anyway, yeah, we won the cleanest apartment award! Don't worry we told president about it. But it was nice to sit down and talk with him and a have more personal interaction with him and his wife. There were other missionaries there and they asked him about how the influx of missionaries will affect the mission. He said that we should expect that several areas in the mission should be being split in half in about year. Craziness! Even though LA is one of the smallest missions in the world, the organization is out of this world complex. My president has a really hard time keeping track of all the missionaries, the language they speak, it is quite a demanding job. I believe he's inspired of God and I wish him luck this transfer with all the decisions he will have to make as 22 new missionaries are coming in this week, the probability of me leaving Silver Lake/ Hollywood this Wednesday is very high. Wish me lucky. I appreciate all your prayers and thoughts. Remember God loves you!

Os amo tanto

Elder Marrott  

GO LUIS!

Hey Everyone,

        It’s been another interesting week with a lot of changes at church here in Hollywood. Part of the changes to the Los Angeles stake adding in the Spanish wards, the ward I attend and the English Hollywood Ward are combining the Primaries and the Youth Programs so they can grow up and work together to build the stake and church in Los Angeles. What happens now is that Hollywood Ward still has sacrament at 9:00am, but now The Spanish ward starts church with classes with the Hollywood ward at 10 00. We end up having sacrament meeting last something I've never done before, and I actually like it a lot as people get to mingle better before classes and by sacrament people are sitting together and are more unified. Unfortunately, Luis wasn't able to make it to church as he got a ride to a party Saturday Night where everyone got super drunk and he couldn't get a ride back home in time. He stayed strong and resisted the temptation to drink, but he's told us that his desire to drink is gone. He’s attending church enough times that he's still on for his baptism on Sunday. He'll be interviewed this Wednesday, and I can't think of anything that will prevent him from coming. Ana Monzon was planning Saturday Night to come to church, but she woke up sick with headaches and nose bleeds, so she didn't come. But she's pretty much committed to progressing and investigating the Church. She's loved the videos we've suggested for her to watch online like the Testaments, Both Restoration Videos and the speech that Elder Bowden of the Seventy gave about the loss of her children. She got a lot of comfort from it and she knows that two of the children that she lost are in a good place and with a purpose. Lastly, I had a pretty cool experience while waiting in the church while my companion was in a leadership meeting. An older couple walked in the foyer, and asked us when church started on Sunday. They were English so I told them that the Hollywood Ward started at 9 00. They said they had been inactive for about 25 years after they both went to BYU, and haven't had any contact with the church at all except Christmas cards from their old bishop and a visit from a missionary couple 2 years ago. Apparently what the missionary had to say to the sister really left an impact on her. They both watched conference and were really touched by President Monson’s talks. This was a great testimony booster for me as it shows that God is aware of all of his children and that he wants all of them to partake in the blessings of the gospel. I love 3 Nephi 28:10-11. And how we can receive [editor’s note: Elder Marrott left this statement incomplete].

Until next week! Os amo tanto

      

Elder Marrott

Hiking Up to the Hollywood sign and Sis. Monzon

Hey Everyone

      I just got back from hiking up to the Hollywood sign with my zone. We live about 20 minutes away from the Hollywood Hills, and we see the sign everywhere we go. It's one of the most unique views I've seen in my life. It’s not very often that you can be on a mountain overlooking one of the biggest cities in the world. I make sure to send some photos home for you all to see. It's been a very successful week in a way as Elder Walker and I were able to accumulate 4 baptismal dates. Luis is still on track for his baptism even though he didn't come to Stake Conference this week. Recently he's been playing for a local soccer teams and playoffs are starting soon, which are on Sunday nights. We hope this doesn't interfere with his baptism, but we hope he will make the best decision. We've also been working with a lady lately named Ana Monzon, yeah she has the same name as the prophet only with a Spanish zing to it! She's from El Salvador, and she's quite the optimist. In the past she's had 2 of her 3 children pass away, both who died in their preteen ages from different diseases, but she is very humble and she knows that God loves her and her family. We've wanted to show her the conference talk one of the seventy gave at General Conference about his experience about losing his child. She'd love to hear that God has a plan for them. She loves us coming over reading the Book of Mormon with us and we were able to explain the blessings of baptism by reading 3 Nephi 27 and she really wants to prepare to be baptized as she knows that it will bless her life. We also found a man last week too named Raul from El Salvador who used to live next to members who housed missionaries in El Salvador. He never took the opportunity to talk with him before until we came by. He's local jeweler and a great family man that cares for his family. We read with him the promise of the Book of Mormon, and he can already sense that it is true and he's determined to read and feel the divinity and veracity of it. It's been a great week! Missionary work is all about determination. Elder Paul H Dunn said “there is no disgrace in falling; it is laying there that defeats us. The life of every great person is full of discouragement - falling, failing. Getting up is what makes the winner.

Os amo tanto

Elder Marrott

Some Real Progress with Luis

Hey Everyone,

        This week was difficult but ended up being very rewarding. This week we had Zone Conference, where President Baker focused a lot on how we can be better at "flooding LA with the Book of Mormon this last part of the year, and he challenged us to finish reading it by the end of the year. I've taken a lot of time to really understand and breakdown the BOM and I am really starting to see how inspired it is and how no evil man could write it and a good man wouldn't have written it unless it was through the power of God. Anyway, I bet you all were all excited to hear about Luis's baptism. Well....This Wednesday we visited the visitors’ center and he surprised us by saying that he wants to wait until the end of the year to be baptized so he can start the New Year off fresh, like a new year’s resolution. We would have been more bummed up, but we really enjoyed the visit at the VC main because Luis truly understands the gospel of Jesus Christ and has intentions to follow him. He came to church on Sunday, but I didn't go because there was another elder that had a baptism to go to and I joined him. While Luis was at church, a member talked to him about receiving the blessings of the gospel sooner, so after church we were able to agree to have him baptize him on Nov 4 the Sunday before the end of the transfer. We are happy for him, especially because he has a desire to serve a mission as well.

Os amo tanto

Elder Marrott

After General Conference

Hey Everyone!

     I hope you all enjoyed General Conference! I got to watch it in two different stake centers, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. I was pleased to hear about the announcement concerning the age qualification change of missionaries, and I'm looking forward to hearing that the priests in my home ward will prepare to go on their missions as soon as possible. There's also been a need for more sister missionaries as well, so were excited to hear that they have to wait less time to serve a mission. Great News! If any of the talks touched my heart the most it would be Elder Holland's speech on Peter's life changing conversation with the Resurrected Christ. One of my MTC teachers shared with me this same talk given by Elder Holland when he spoke to missionaries in an MTC in Mexico on this very topic. I loved how he said that "The crowning characteristic of love is loyalty" I don't think there is any other way that we can show our love to Christ than through our loyalty to do what he asks of us; Keep the Commandments; Love others; and Share the Gospel. Once we have taken upon the name of Christ upon us at baptism, there is no reason or excuse to go against doing what is against God's will. Christ's atonement marked the beginning of a Christian life, not the end! I was so glad to take part in such a great conference. Anyway concerning this week, it’s really going to define if we are going to baptize this transfer. Luis has been really sick this week with a bad cough, so it’s been hard to meet with him and help him completely prepare for his baptism this coming Sunday. He has expressed his desire to be baptized this Sunday, and he even got online on Sunday to watch all the sessions of Conference while he's recovering. As long as we are able to keep daily contact with him, and have his baptismal interview this week he's set to go. Dad wants to know more about him, so Luis is 21 and he was born in Guatemala, but moved over to LA when he was a really young. From what he's told us is that he wasn't a good influence on his peers or his family while he grew up through high school, but after dropping out of school for a couple years, he finally realized he needed to make a change. In the past couple months he's had 3 jobs and has been going to school to get his GED. He graduated a couple months ago and now he's in a college trying to get a degree in literature. The missionaries found him the transfer before I came in, and he's had interest in the gospel for a while, but he was so busy with school and work that we could hardly meet with him. One day he told us he quit his job so he can focus more of his efforts in school and to make more time for us. Before he met with us, he was about to baptize in to a local church by his house, but he didn't when his mom told him that once he got baptized he could go back to the way he was before. When we invited him to be baptized, he told us that he was really to make the change, and he knows that the gospel has truly inspired him to live better. He lives with his parents and 2 younger sisters. We haven't really gotten to know his family, but Luis has expressed to us that since we've met with him, his parents and sisters have seen improvement and a change of heart. We have plans to teach his family this week to explain what Luis will be committing to do with his baptism. The ward has been really good with him as the last couple times we've invited him to play soccer with us on Mondays. He loves it a bunch!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week y Paz a vos!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

    

Big Transfer, Zone Divisions and Great Music

Hey Everybody

Well, we had transfers again this week. With the changes of the Spanish stake, the whole mission got rearranged BIG TIME!

Elder Walker and I are still here, but the zone has totally changed. There is only 3 companionships that cover our ward instead of 4 and there's only 2 districts in our zone; My Spanish district and the district with the 2 Korean speaking elders and the English Elders that cover Hollywood. But that's not the craziest thing. Apparently, there has been a boundary conflict that the mission and the LA stake have had between My ward LA Barrio 4 and and LA Barrio 3. The major portion of the area where most of our work had been inside LA Barrio 3 limits, but missionaries of 4th ward had covered it for a long time. Now a large portion of our area has been officially given to other Elders in Barrio 3 which includes 2 of the baptismal dates Paula and Flor and most of the members that we work with. Yeah...so It looks like Elder Walker and I are starting at square one again to find more people to teach. Luis is still our light of hope at this point as he seems to be progressing towards his baptism. He got sick however after playing soccer with us and the ward last Monday. He still came to church, and has a strong testimony. There was a couple fun things that I did last P-day. There's a place in Hollywood called Amoeba Music where it has the largest inventory of CD, Vinyls, and Movies in the United States. I found a soundtrack CD from the Movie called The Soloist which takes place here Los Angeles. I saw it in orchestra class in high school. The music is played by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra that plays in the Walt Disney Concert Hall that is in my area. I thought of it as a good souvenir, and its approved music. BONUS! Well considering the changes, its seems like Elder Walker and I will survive this transfer, and We're looking forward to baptize Luis! Los Angeles is pretty hot still as it hit 104 degrees when we were playing soccer. Take Care!

Os amo tanto!

Promising Results from Investigators and Gangstas!

Hey Everyone!

It’s only been a couple days, but several interesting things happened this week. Out of the 3 investigators we have with a baptismal date only Luis came to church. It’s a little frustrating, but Luis is on his way towards baptism and he's not looking back. There are several more things that we need to address, but he's totally gung ho about baptism. We had a lesson at the church again where we had a "Plan of Salvation Tour". Elder Walker and I along with Hermano Laguna (recent convert as of 3 years) went from room to room and taught a principle from the Plan of Salvation. Luis had some former ideas that Resurrection basically meant Reincarnation, so we cleared that out! By the end, Luis opened up and told us that his mind and perspective on life has never been clearer than before, and he's going to do his best to make the church priority in his life. At church, because the Spanish stake dissolved, the LA stake president, President Bragg, address the ward. He served his mission in Monterey Mexico so his Spanish was really good. Luis really enjoyed his message as he talked a lot about the plan of salvation that we covered the day before. We've been in really close contact with him as we played soccer with the ward again this morning and Luis came as well. It's all working out well with him. Concerning the other two baptismal dates, Flor actually went to the visitors’ center with Hermana Bernardino and the sisters taught them a lesson there. She liked it, but she's not really convinced about how the gospel and the church is relevant to her life right. She wants to take it slow and learn at the pace she wants. She's got friendship in the church and she's going to try to read more from the Book of Mormon. We'll see how it goes. And with Paula, AHHH she promised that she was coming to church FOR SURE. But she didn't. It's hard to get in contact with her as she never answers the phone, but she has such a great testimony in the gospel. Our goal is that she can at least come to conference because we know that once she hears the voices of the prophets, it’s going to put her priorities straight.

It was cool to hear about the space shuttle being transport here to Los Angeles by a jet airplane. An investigator told us about how it was going to fly around LA for everyone to see and land at Exposition Park where they have the science center where is going to stay. Unfortunately, we had district meeting at 11:30 and it pasted by us at 11:45, so we missed it. It’s okay, because Elder Walker and I drove past a crime scene on Sunday Afternoon where there was a helicopter, 8 cop cars, and 7 cuffed up gangstas being arrested. All of them were tattooed up from head to toe. That's LA for ya. That's about it!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Finding Lots of People to Teach!

Hey Everyone,

  Sorry I didn't write on Monday. Today we have Temple P-Day so I just came from an endowment session. I was very peaceful and I feel very comforted about a lot of things that happened in the past two transfers. Everything seems to be calming down a lot, BUT we have great news that we've set 3 baptismal dates this week. One is Flor who is older Colombian woman who lives in the house behind recent converts in our area Dora and her daughter Janet. They are very good friends with her and she loves the missionaries and the church. Because they are so close, her transition into the church will go really well. We have a dinner set up with her tonight; she makes some awesome Colombian food. The rice is really good because it's really salty, how I like it. The second is Luis, a 21 year old who we've been in contact for along time but he's been busy with work and school and we haven't seen him very often. But now he's opened up his schedule, his coming to play soccer with on P days and he's wants to meet with us 3 times a week. We had a church tour with him this last Friday where we showed him around the classrooms, library, gym, and the chapel. He felt super peaceful and happy inside the chapel and he felt like it’s a special room that cut off from the rest of the world. The best part of the tour is that we were able to talk about all different topics of the gospel. We watched several Mormon Messages on his phone including the "Testimony of the Book of Mormon" with Elder Holland and the "What is Light" Segments with Elder Bednar. I absolutely loved them and I recommend everyone to watch them. He's come to the conclusion to himself that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet, and he's getting ready to be baptized on the 14th of October. The last one is Paula! Yeah we found her again at home, and she had been praying this past month to come back. She's already in Alma in the Book of Mormon and she loved the Restoration movie that we left with her. We had a lesson where we went over the baptismal interview questions and she has a testimony of everything, EVERYTHING! She's committed herself to come to church so she can be baptized on the 21st of October. YEAH! So it’s been a great week with Missionary Work. On Sunday, We had Stake conference and Elder Johnson from the Seventy came again. In LA there is one Spanish stake, Huntington Park West that covers the whole southern portion of Los Angeles. It was actually the first Spanish stake ever organized. But Sunday they totally dissolved the Huntington Park West Stake, and integrated the wards into the English stakes. BIG CHANGE. The primary purpose of the change is to better prepare the youth of today to lead the Church tomorrow. The Spanish and English units in each stake will work together to establish common primary and youth classes taught in English. Adult classes will continue to be taught separately for each ward. It's exciting news, so now I'm serving in Los Angeles Stake. Cool Stuff. One more thing, Elder Walker and I ran into a hobo on the street we found at very beginning of the transfer. Her name is Tex and she's a Navajo Indian that was foster raised by members of the church. Super funny lady. Last time Elder Walker gave her an extra pocket knife that he had on him. She told us that she had stabbed 2 men who had tried to attack her. Los Angeles is CRAZY! Other than that, Life is great and I know the gospel is true. President Packer said that "The study of the doctrine of Christ will change the behavior of men a lot faster than the study of behavior will change behavior." So true!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott