Week 17, in Sum

Hey Everyone,

       I don't have much time, so I'll give a quick summary. This week again started off really tough, but the rewards always come at the end. Elder Cressman and I are getting along together great, but it has been hard to adapt to each other’s ways of teaching. My teaching really focuses on sharing doctrine, and Elder Cressman tries to teach according to what the investigators want to hear. We had a couple shaky lessons, but now we understand how each work and I going to get a lot better. Also, one of our investigator families that week found last transfer dropped us last week. Patricia decided to go with her friend to her church last Sunday and she felt more comfortable there. I we've regretted not getting members more active in our teaching with them, but we feel there's a chance that she might come back. We have hope! But this weekend was fantastic! We went to Violeta's and Sergio's wedding on Sunday as Bishop Vargas performed the ceremony in their backyard. It was beautiful! Then on Sunday..man.. it was the most stressful Sunday of my life as we were planning for Violeta's baptism. Making programs and following up with speakers and other people participating, while we were coordinating rides for investigators to get to church. I also had the privilege to ordain Violeta's son Kevin to the office of a priest as he was going to baptize his Mom later that night. Wow! I was mentally and spiritually drained by 12:00, but the baptism still had happened yet. But in the end it was great. I got to see Elder Ditton again, Kevin performed the baptism correctly, My companions and I sang Grande eres Tu!, and Violeta bore an amazing testimony. It was so worth the work. I have had a true change of heart this week and I am excited to have more experiences just like yesterday. I will never forget it. Everyone stay safe and healthy. I know that Christ lives and loves us all.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Week 16!

Hey Everyone,

         This week has been a roller coaster, but in the end, it has been a great blessing. Wednesday was transfers, and my trainer Elder Ditton left to another area after spending 6 months . You can imagine how I felt to know that I'd be leading an area just after one transfer in the mission. It was pretty hard to sleep that night. But it's all worked out. My new companion, Elder Cressman, is super awesome and super ambitious to help the area here in Lawndale. He's from Spanish Fork and has been here since December. He's Spanish is great and easily gets along with everyone we have met. Before he came, we was on BYU's track team as a high jumper, so it been fun talking about our experiences. Also Elder Cressman said that his dad served in Madrid Spain......hey wait so did my Dad. He said he served from 1981-83, the same time as Dad. Does the name Elder Dale Cressman sound familiar, Dad? Anyway, we are getting along great, but It's been difficult determining what to plan for the day especially because we no longer have a car. We've struggled a little bit on getting on time to appointments, but it's getting better. This week is exciting as we will be planning for Violeta's baptism, it will be a new experience for me, and I'm looking forward to it. She's been waiting a long time, at least 12 years, for her baptism as she's been trying to get divorced to her husband in Guatemala, so she get married to Sergio. After talking with the Stake President and President, they found out that if she has been separated from her husband for at least 10 years, she's permitted to marry another man legally in America. So she's going to be married on Friday and baptized by her 16 year old son Kevin on Sunday. It's a great miracle, and I'm just lucky to be here to witness it. We are also making a lot of progress with a group of investigators that live in the same apartment complex. We found them through a member in another ward that owns the apartment building. Long story short, we've found 3 investigators who want to get baptized. There's one guy especially, Enrique, who just understands everything we teach and understands the concept of receiving personal revelation. He knows that he needs to receive answer about the Book of Mormon directly from God through reading and praying. He's Golden! Anyway, we've made arrangements to teach the lessons to them individually, and come together every Saturday to read from the Book of Mormon. AHHH! I love it! I know that if we do our best to share the gospel, I know the the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared to hear the gospel. I love the scripture in Matthew 16 where it says, " Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" I can testify that if we give ourselves  up to Him, we shall be given more than we can imagine. 

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott       

Poor Elder Marrott Got Sick, but He's Better Now!

Hey Everyone,

        This has been a very interesting week full of unexpected twist and turns, but in the end has been very rewarding. Well, from the second that I send my last e-mail, I started feeling queasy as we were leaving the library. Because the bathroom was occupied, I ended up throwing up my breakfast in the parking lot. Thinking that it was just a spontaneous reaction, Elder Ditton and I went to visit around Redondo Beach, but not on the beach however (really pretty area). By the time we headed back to the apartment and got all our errands done, my insides just imploded and became really sick.  The Zone Leaders and my companion gave me a blessing around Monday afternoon, and I was in bed the rest of the day. From 1:00 pm Monday to Tuesday Morning, I was basically throwing up every 15 minutes. I did my best to stay hydrated with water, but nothing stayed down. Tuesday Morning, My companion had Missionary Leadership Training, and I just went along with him, so I could just sleep in the foyer. It was quite the scene having President Baker come up to me wearing my pjs. He understood, and I was completely feeling better by Wednesday. Some other notable moments included a 2 hour lesson on the Plan of Salvation with two of our new investigators Patricia and her 15 year old son William. They are from Colombia and I loved having us over the first time when we tracked their apartment last week. They had some legitimate questions about Adam and Eve that we answered pretty well and the committed to coming to church. It took some work to get them there but they were able to see half of sacrament meeting and last 2 hours as well. They really enjoyed it and will see them again on Friday.

It's great to hear that Aubrie is a missionary again! She will be so blessed for her efforts to get back into the field! Make sure to send me her emails over to me, and her address as well.

The Mission is hard, but very rewarding in the end. God's work cannot be stopped (D&C 3). If you get the chance to read Alma 48? about Moroni and the Title of Liberty, it has truly opened my eyes to how we need to stand up for what we believe in, especially in days like today.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott   

More Pictures!

Week 13!

Hey Everyone!

I was great talking to the fam on Sunday and hearing from everyone. Hopefully everyone was able to ask everything that you wanted to say. I didn't get an update on Missy and Ryan, so I would love to hear how they are all doing. Also I forgot to ask you something too. On my first night here, we had an appointment at a less actives house and as we were leaving, I dropped my Spanish bible in the mud..........yeah, so I was wondering if you can order another one, and send it out to me. I can still read from it, but it doesn't look very good at all. I don't really care what it looks like as long as it’s in good condition. I'm looking forward to receiving the flash drive of pictures and the stories as well. Yesterday, I think I exaggerated a little too much on how many lessons we are teaching, on average we teaching at least 10 to 12 lessons a week, but the highest amount that we had in one week was around 17. We are aiming to have a lot more lessons than that too. Well, we are coming up on the last week of this transfer, and we are hoping to make some more progress on the investigators that we found this week. There's one guy Enrique that we are really excited about and we can already see that he's making the changes necessary to live the gospel. He absolutely loves the Book of Mormon. He told us last time that some of his close friends tried to convince him that all those Mormons are phonies and turn him off from the Book of Mormon, but he's told everyone he knows that he feels really good about it. We're looking forward to getting him committed to coming to church and preparing himself to be baptized. We going to do our best to make this week count as it might be Elder Ditton's last week here in Lawndale (I hope not). I can honestly say that everything that happens here on my mission is for a reason. Sometimes I might not understand why, but it's for a wise purpose that only God knows at this time (Alma 37). In D&C 3, It says how the work of God continues to move forward, and it’s the work of man that can only be frustrated. I can say that as long as we are obedient to the commandments that God has sent and strive diligently to do the right, in the end, we shall see the fruits of our labors and find everlasting peace and happiness in this life and the next. Pray often with a sincere heart and real intent, and then shall God reveal unto you the things that we should do.

Os amo tanto!

Elder Marrott

Yay, Baptisms!

Hey Everyone,

It's been another great week here in LA. The weather has been great, had some great lessons, and we are going to have a baptism! Her name is Violeta and she has been waiting several years to get baptized. I will have to tell you her story when I call on Sunday. We also had a great lesson with a referral we got too. It's a crazy story, but I eventually invited someone to be baptized and he accepted. I tell what happened on Sunday too. That's basically the main proselyting highlights of this week. I bore my testimony yesterday as well. I'll fill you up on anything you want to know on Sunday as I don't have much time. I will call you around 5:00 pm central time (your time). It will be three o'clock here. I can't be more than an hour because we are having a baptism at 4. Get your questions ready! I will not be skyping, not allowed in my mission. It sounds like everything is going well. I will hear from you on Sunday.

Os amo tanto

 Elder Marrott

Finally, Pictures of Elder Marrott!

Arrival to L.A.!

Arrival to L.A. (cont.)

Group picture!

Day at the Beach!