tHey Family!
This last week actually went quite quick. It was also a really good week. The highlight was definitely the baptism for Sara last Saturday.
The baptism went great, and as usual we had great support from the ward, which is really nice because it does not always happen like that. There were probably about fifty people there, including eight people who are investigating the church. It was really cool to see Sara be able to take this big step after so much time, to be able to enter into the waters of baptism together with her husband and have him baptize her. Then on Sunday I had the opportunity to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was my first time confirming somebody to the church and it was a really cool experience.
We were not able to visit Maria and Jaime much this week, though on Saturday they are going to get married they will not be getting baptized until the end of next week, July 6th.
Somebody that we started teaching a couple of weeks ago and has already came to church twice is a guy named Ovidio Ochoa, who is 25 and is the "friend" of a recent convert. He has had a lot of problems in his life and is really trying to change. He used to drink, smoke, and spent about a month in jail. He now does not drink or have problems with the law, he still smokes but it is no longer a pack a day, just about 4 a day. He knows he needs to stop, and more importantly, he wants to leave smoking behind. The journey towards baptism might be a little longer with him but he will eventually make the needed decisions to make covenants with Heavenly Father and get baptized.
I have honestly seen throughout my mission how the Lord protects his servants and keeps us out of harms way. Although small things happen, big things rarely happen. For example, in front of our house there is a park. We were in front of the park and then we left, then about 5 or 10 minutes later somebody got shot and killed in the park. I don’t want to startle anybody, just to let you know that the Lord is watching out for us.
My spiritual thought that I want to share this week is actually an audio from Elder Uchtdorf. When I first listened to this, although I did not cry, I could feel the reaffirming whisper of the spirit testify to my spirit that these things are true. The other thing that I read that I loved! was from Dad’s Ward Conference talk about consecration. The big thing that stuck out to me was that being simply dedicated to something is not enough. The need to commit one’s will to the Lord and be consecrated is what is needed. The best thing that we can give to the Lord is our will.
I love you all and am pulling for you. You are all in my prayers along with your different needs and desires.
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks
This last week actually went quite quick. It was also a really good week. The highlight was definitely the baptism for Sara last Saturday.
The baptism went great, and as usual we had great support from the ward, which is really nice because it does not always happen like that. There were probably about fifty people there, including eight people who are investigating the church. It was really cool to see Sara be able to take this big step after so much time, to be able to enter into the waters of baptism together with her husband and have him baptize her. Then on Sunday I had the opportunity to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was my first time confirming somebody to the church and it was a really cool experience.
We were not able to visit Maria and Jaime much this week, though on Saturday they are going to get married they will not be getting baptized until the end of next week, July 6th.
Somebody that we started teaching a couple of weeks ago and has already came to church twice is a guy named Ovidio Ochoa, who is 25 and is the "friend" of a recent convert. He has had a lot of problems in his life and is really trying to change. He used to drink, smoke, and spent about a month in jail. He now does not drink or have problems with the law, he still smokes but it is no longer a pack a day, just about 4 a day. He knows he needs to stop, and more importantly, he wants to leave smoking behind. The journey towards baptism might be a little longer with him but he will eventually make the needed decisions to make covenants with Heavenly Father and get baptized.
I have honestly seen throughout my mission how the Lord protects his servants and keeps us out of harms way. Although small things happen, big things rarely happen. For example, in front of our house there is a park. We were in front of the park and then we left, then about 5 or 10 minutes later somebody got shot and killed in the park. I don’t want to startle anybody, just to let you know that the Lord is watching out for us.
My spiritual thought that I want to share this week is actually an audio from Elder Uchtdorf. When I first listened to this, although I did not cry, I could feel the reaffirming whisper of the spirit testify to my spirit that these things are true. The other thing that I read that I loved! was from Dad’s Ward Conference talk about consecration. The big thing that stuck out to me was that being simply dedicated to something is not enough. The need to commit one’s will to the Lord and be consecrated is what is needed. The best thing that we can give to the Lord is our will.
I love you all and am pulling for you. You are all in my prayers along with your different needs and desires.
Love, your brother and son,
Elder Marks