Been Sick and Transfers

Hey Everyone,

            UGH...It’s been a long week. I've been sick since last Monday and I'm finally getting over it! I threw up on Monday and I've been having really bad congestion in the throat and nose. I wasn't able to get out and work very much this week, besides a few interviews and a couple lessons. We have 3 baptismal dates at the moment. Maria and Joe who have been coming to church the past 2 months and they have a super strong testimony. The just want to make the baptismal service as special as possible inviting all their friends and family, which would be great! Victor also has a date. His aunt is a member and he just got back from a long trip from NYC. He knows the church is true but just needs to learn all the doctrine. Transfers just happened. I'm staying in Maywood with Elder Anglade. Good news. I love this area. I just need to get back to work. I hate being sick. Don't have much time again today. Sorry!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Happy Mother's Day from Elder Marrott's End

Hey Everyone!

             I hope you all had a great Mother's Day! This past week was fun because our investigators Maria Noami and Joe were able to come to the Mother's Day dinner on Friday at the stake building. The Spanish ward was in charge of the dinner and the set up.  They did a fantastic job. They cooked a dish called Beidria which is beef post roast cooked in a Latin marinade along with rice and beans. REALLY GOOD! They had a little talent show afterward performed by the primary kids from both the English and Spanish wards. Our investigators loved it! I was a great end to the week especially because the beginning of the week wasn't as great. Elder Anglade's bike broke twice so we spent a lot of time fixing that, so it was pretty frustrating. But it was all worth it in the end. We had the Mother's Day dinner, the next day on Saturday we had dinner with Hermana Flores and her nephew, Victor, who had been traveling the last 2 weeks to NYC. Victor is planning on staying in the area now to look for work so we are excited to be teaching him more. He's super pumped about the church and the missionaries. Also yesterday after we called home we visited a family that we ran into this week. We taught the father, Thomas, a little about our beliefs and what we do a missionaries. He really admires what we do. We said a prayer with them before we left and it was super special to meet them. We hope to teach them this coming week. I love finding FAMILIES! I was so happy! Things are going so well, and I can’t wait for what’s in store this coming week!

Os amo tanto!

   

Elder Marrott

Working with Noami

Hey Everyone!

       After a lot of meetings this week in regards to my new companion and district leader responsibilities, we had a very productive week in regard to our investigators. On Friday I got to go on exchanges with Elder Baich, a friend that came in to LA with me from the MTC the same day, we had been waiting a whole year for it to happen. He's from Argentina, so it was great to teach with him as I have had to work with my new companion who is still working with the language. We had a lesson with Noami and talked about what would be in the way for her to be baptized. She mentioned that she wants her family to be a part of the church with her and doesn't want to be alone. We taught her the importance of following the example of Christ and how as she sets the example for her husband and her family they will want to follow her because of the changes she will be making. We taught her the Word of Wisdom as she has had trouble with smoking most of her life. She really wants to stop smoking and we mentioned to her that she is able to overcome her addiction, her family will notice the change she is making and want to know why. That intrigued her a lot. We gave her a priesthood blessing to give her strength to overcome her addiction, and it was a very spiritual moment for her as she wants to sincerely make a change. Unfortunately she got sick on Sunday and couldn't make it to church. But we were able to see Maria and Joe again on Saturday. They pamper us so much as Maria is convinced that we are angels and wants to do everything for us. She got us Yogurtland after the lesson. SO GOOD! They came to church on Sunday, but left early because Joe had a special conference to attend for school. But it was cool, but he told us that he knows that church, should be a priority before everything else. That's a 14 year old! Super cool. This coming week the ward is holding a Mother’s day dinner on Friday and most of our investigators are getting rides from members to go. Everyone is excited for it! There is so much good happening and I'm looking forward to this week!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Trio Becomes a Duo Again and Alicia's Baptism

Hey Everyone,

       Well how I start every week....It’s been crazy! I'm no longer in a trio anymore as Elder Marin got Emergency Transferred on Thursday to train a new missionary in another area. It was a sad day as Elder Marin and I worked super well together and now I'm left with my new trainee all by myself. It was a lot easier as a trio but life moves on. This Sunday was by far one of my favorite days on my mission as Maria and her son Joe and granddaughter came along with Noami to church and they really enjoyed all the classes. In gospel principles they taught about the family of the covenant of God. The class really helped them understand how once they accepted baptism that they would be accepted into the house of Israel and become the children of Christ. It finally clicked with them and they are wanting to continue progressing towards baptism. Maria calls us her angelitos and ninos, so she is in love with us. I great to see their conversion process in motion. But that's not all......I also got to go back to my last area to see Alica's baptism!!! She was one of my former investigators who always came to church, but it took her 6 months to finally make the decision. It was a beautiful service as my last companion Elder Low baptized, and another Elder and I did the missionary moment. It was the best baptism I've seen in a while! I got to see several members in my last ward that I fell in love with. I have great memories of Harbor 3rd ward! The work keeps moving forward here in LA! Many changes are happening soon with more missionaries and a new mission president this coming July. Life is going well! Until next week!

"The kingdom of God is not a democracy. Wickedness and Righteousness are not legislated by majority vote. Right and Wrong are not determined by polls or pundits, though many would have us believe otherwise. Evil never was happiness. Happiness lies in the power and sweet simplicity of virtue" Gordon B Hinckley

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Elder Anglade and More Golden Investigators!

Hey Everyone,

 What a crazy week! So Elder Marin got our new companion from the MTC on Wednesday, Elder Anglade. He's from South Jordan Utah and he is waiting to get his visa to go to Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission. He’s a big guy with a big heart. This week has been great as we had some fantastic lessons with Joe, Maria's son who we've been teaching the last couple weeks. We went to his birthday a couple weeks ago. I wasn't there as I was doing a baptismal interview for one of the companionships in my district, Antonio, which was amazing. A month ago I did the interview with his nephew Junior and now he got the missionaries to teach his family. It’s great to see things like that happen. Anyway, Joe from what I hear was very receptive to everything and accepted a baptismal date for next month. The next day we taught Maria and Noami again about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We used an object lesson that uses water, pepper and soap that really helped them understand how the Gift of the Holy Ghost works. It finally helped Noami understand why she needs to be baptized again. We are finally making progress with her. AND I can finally say I have found a GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR. Last Sunday, Hna Flores a member in our area brought her nephew Victor to church. We had gospel principles class and he just loved it! On Friday we had Dinner at Hna Flores house and Victor heard we were coming over, so he came over from next door to talk to us. He explained to us how much he loved church and how there is a lot of love there. He said that his best friend is a member of the church and how he has taught him a lot and invited him to church, but has never had time to come. Now he's on break from work in NYC and has time to investigate. He mentioned that how his friend invited him got his attention. "Hey come to my church and if you don't like it you don't have to come again." He told us that is "a celestial invitation." After dinner we invited him to have a lesson. We sat down he asked of if we had a Book of Mormon? YES WE DO.  Even before we started teaching he told us that "ok I'm going to read as much as I can and I will let you know when I want to be baptized." WHAT! Amazing. We set a date for May 19th with him. Tender Mercies! So great!

Os amo tanto

Elder Marrott

Still in Maywood and Trio Companions

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I don't have much time. Transfers have come again and its doosey this time. Elder Marin and I are both staying still here in Maywood, but we will be training a new missionary together straight from the MTC. Yeah TRIO POWER! I think he will be a missionary that is waiting to get his visa for Argentina, but we will see tomorrow. We are excited but it will be a challenge for sure. As for this past week we had a great experience with our investigators Maria and her grandson Joe! It was Joe's birthday on Tuesday and Maria invite us to come because he doesn't have many friends of his own. Elder Marin and I had the idea of inviting some of the young men in the ward to come to the party too. Hermano Reyna the young men’s leader was able to bring 4 young men over to the party. It was so great to see both of Maria and Joe's faces because of kindness that the young men showed to Joe. The next day Maria and Joe were able to come to the activities at church like Boy Scouts and we were able to give Maria a tour of the church. It was a little over whelming at first but it worked out. It was a evidence of ministering of angels those young men. Brother Beck gave a great talk at priesthood about ministering and how it goes beyond than Sunday. Things are going great!

Os amo tanto

Elder Marrott     

Conference Was Great and Amazing Maria

Hey everyone!

General Conference this week was amazing! There were so many talks that we can use to help my investigators! President Monson's funny story on starting a forest fire was awesome! Elder Perry gave another great talk on obedience. "Obedience to Law is Liberty" It’s plain and simple. I would invite everyone to read and watch conference over and over again! This past Friday we had a great lesson with Noami and her friend Maria who came to our Easter Sacrament Service last week. Maria is so prepared to receive the gospel. We taught them the plan of salvation and they seem to understand it extremely well. Maria even expressed to us even before we started the lesson that she is considering baptism because she knows that it is how she can accept God's plan for her. So as I was inviting her to be baptized there is a phrase we always use to invite people to baptism. "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood of God" Before I could finish asking the question" She cut me off and said yes like 5 times! So prepared!

I hope you all have a great week!

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott