Investigator Updates

Hey everyone!

It has been another productive week but very wet! It rained on and off this past weekend. So it was great to be on the bike. California really needed some help though to break through this drought. Everyone is very grateful. We found some great success come from the English class and church tours this week. We were able to find Juan and Lorena who are a very humble couple with a desire to learn. We gave them a church tour as well ans they found the church to be very nice. They didn't come this Sunday, but they hope to continue coming to the classes, so we hope to see them this Wednesday. If only every place in the world had the desire to learn a new language, it would be a very good finding tool for every mission to use. As for our investigators:

Julio and Niria: We gave Niria a blessing in preparation for a surgery that she was going to have. However, right after the blessing she got news that her son was in the hospital in critical condition. She decided to postpone the surgery in case something happened to her son. Fortunately, he is doing better and all is well. They are really excited recently because we got to help them put on the Gospel Library on the iPhone so they can read the Book of Mormon on the go. We are really excited for them! We just pray that Julio can work out his divorce so they can progress more in the gospel. They both love the Church!

Raymundo: We taught him the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation to him this week. He committed to baptism, however he needs to work on some commandments and also find time to come to church. He has truly shown his desire to be repentant, though, as he says, he truly wants to follow Christ!

Juan: We have a hard time getting to meet with him, so we hope this Wednesday we get to see him and teach him.

The mission has been a great experience to come back and see the changes in me and in the mission.

D&C 64: 33-34

Te amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Pray for These People, Please!

Hey everyone, I don't have much time but this week was great. If you could pray about my investigators, it would be great.

Julio is trying to get divorced from his former wife in Guatemala so he can marry his current spouse to get baptized. I hope that he will have the time to go to the embassy to turn in his papers.

Juan was found through the LA English class and he's had a hard life. He came to church this week. He just needs to feel that he is loved and that the restored gospel is his answer.

Raymundo was also found through the LA English class. He wants to be baptized but he hasn't come to church yet. I hope that he can come to church to accept the gospel.

Those are investigators that we work closest with.

This week a family got sealed in the temple in our ward and it was great to see them: the familia Vargas as an eternal family.

I hope I have more time next week.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Second week back!

Hey Everyone!

This week, Elder Summerhays and I have found a lot of success finding people through the LA English program. It makes it a lot easier to talk to Hispanics here as they find learning English as a necessity here. We found 6 new investigators through formers and LA English. The program has brought a lot of people to church for the class and introduced many to the missionaries and the gospel. One man we started teaching is named Raymundo. He's 30 and works construction. He really enjoys learning, so that is why he is wanting to pick up English and take the missionary lessons. We introduced him the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and we plan on giving him a tour of the church after English class on Wednesday. Julio is progressing well as he came again to church on Sunday. However, he currently is not married to the woman he's living with and he's married to another woman in Guatemala. He wants to get divorced and get married with the woman he is currently living with. He even has the papers to do so. We are going to work with him. It's not the first time this has happened. Violeta, one of my former investigators had the same problem; I am again in the same area as she, so we've been able to catch up. I went to her wedding and baptism 2 years ago and now she is planning on getting her temple endowments in April! I will be able to go! I am so excited for her! Lots of things are happining! That is what happens when you pray for miracles.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

"I'm Back Baby!"

Hey Everyone!

It's great to be back in Sunny California again. The weather has been nice and cool. Just the way I like it. It did rain on Tuesday but it was very much needed as it's been very dry in Cali. Anyway, the first day back, I stayed at the mission home with the assistants helping out the new missionaries that came in this transfer with their stuff. Man the mission has changed a lot! President Weidman has done a great job making things more efficient. The next day was transfers. We now have a transfer meeting where all the missionaries that are being moved meet up at one the stake centers in L.A. and we have a little testimony meeting and President spoke, too. Lots of miracles are happening in the mission. In December, the mission hit the monthly record of getting 60 baptisms. They had 50 in January. I was so excited to hear it! I have been placed in the first area I served in back 2 years ago in Lawndale. I was so excited! Elder Summerhays is my companion. He's from Salt Lake and we get along really well. Tuesday was great because I got to see all the missionaries at transfers and get updated from everyone I've served with. Everyone was really happy to see me, so it made me feel really good. I got to see my mission father, Hermano Romero, who is the ward mission leader in Hermosa Liahona ward where I am serving. I cried out "Mi hijo perdido regresado!" It's really nice to serve around him again. It's been weird to bike around because I already know the area pretty well. The work is different, however, for the better. The mission has developed an amazing English Class Program called L.A. English that has been implemented in every stake where we get to advertise and teach a really simple and effective English class. There are three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Elder Summerhays and I teach the advanced class and it was super fun! At the end of class, we share a spiritual thought to introduce people to the gospel. We offer church tours and the missionary lessons. I am just very surprised because people actually come. It is nice because during the week we can focus on advertising English class instead of tracting. It's an amazing finding tool! Currently, we are teaching a student that goes to the class named Mario. He has absolutely no Christian background and believed that there is no afterlife. He is very interested in learning our doctrine and has lots of potential. The investigator that is progressing through is Julio. He came to church and a baptism this Sunday and enjoys everything we've shared with him. We had the bishop come with us to a lesson with him and taught the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was effective as he committed to a baptismal date on March 9th. He is the very definition of humble. On Sunday, I got to see all the members again, including Violeta who was baptised when I was here 2 years ago. Now she teaches the gospel principles class to the investigators and recent converts in our ward. I am so happy for her. Her husband was baptized recently and are working toward going to the temple this year. Life is just great and I couldn't be happier.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

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