10/22/14

Family,

     This week has been a good week! We had a wonderful lesson with Frank and the elders on Thursday, but we feel that he is not progressing towards baptism like he should.  He goes to church every week and reads the Book of Mormon every day and has been taught everything but is not wanting to get baptized still...so we kind of decided that we are going to ease off a little bit and see if it helps him.  

     Oh, and this was quite fun; Thursday we were filmed for a commercial!! haha the AP's asked us if we would do it, but we didn't really know what it was going to entail......well, it was way intense and hard core!  They took 4 companionships and some elders in the SLC mission and took us down into the recording studio that they have in the Conference Center. Bright lights, HUGE cameras, and equipment everywhere!  They are making a commercial for scholarships for the returned missionaries who attend LDS Business College. Anyway, so they recorded all of us (several times) signing “Called to Serve”.  Then they did the filming part and afterwards combined the 2 shoots.  They took lots of professional pictures.........we all felt like movie stars, hahah! So, it should be playing in about a month and they are going to send a copy home to me! It was really fun and we all felt really really special! 

    This entire week I have been trying to call Jamah but have not been able to get a hold of him.  I know this sounds terrible, but it is just the truth.......I was worried he died of ebola, so I called the Branch President.  Thankfully Jamah had just lost his phone so wasn't answering my calls!  I did finally get a hold of him Tuesday and he is doing awesome!  He is receiving the Melchezidek priesthood this week and I am so happy for him! 

    We have also received a lot of new investigators this week, which is exciting because I can leave Sister Sonku with lots of people to teach! We have had lots of good experiences this week together, and met several people from South Africa. I love when Sister Sonku sees people from her state or that served in her home mission because then they speak to each other in Xhosa and I love listening to her speak it! 

    I am going to miss her so much; she is wonderful!  She is a great missionary and a wonderful person.  She has helped and taught me so much.  It will be sad to say good bye to her, but it will be ok.  And we have a lot of things happening this week.  Sunday at Music and the Spoken Word our entire “departing class” will be recognized and then have a meeting to discuss and give advice to the sisters who will be going outbound.  We also have to check out with the mission President Sunday night as well.  Then Tuesday we are meeting with the Temple President at 8 and then attending the 10:00 session and then taking a billion pictures after I am sure. Then we’ll have our departing lunch at Tucanos (thanks to me) along with our little testimony meeting there too!! Then I have my departing interview right after lunch with President.  I love him so much.  Since he’s been the mission president he instituted a planning diagram for our week and for our transfer, that we use now when we have weekly planning. Well, we got a letter this week from President, and he said that he wanted us to make the same chart; but for the 1st year AFTER our missions.  I have put a lot of time and prayer into this, and it has been so fun and good to make it.  It has made me really think about I want to do when I get back and the goals I have. I do know that I want to continue to progress spiritually.  Anyway, we need to them in by Friday; and then he will review them and go over them with us on our departing interview.  I am so excited to hear what advice he’ll give me!  I truly love him and will miss him so much.

    And I love all of you too!  I am so grateful for all the support and love my family and friends have given me during my mission.  I am so grateful for the opportunity and experience I’ve had to be a full time missionary.  It has been such a blessing.  And now I will be seeing all of you in 1 week!  Don't forget to pick me up at the airport!  

I could write what I have learned my entire mission but it would take forever, so here is just a little testimony:

    My mission means everything to me.  This last 18 months has changed me and helped me understand the plan God has for me and who I am as a daughter of God. I’ve learned to love as the Savior loved, and to see God's children and the potential they have.  I love the people I have met on my mission.  Doing everything I could to serve them brought me so much joy; but I think the most valuable lesson I learned was that if I follow the will of my Heavenly Father it will bring the most happiness.  I learned this early on my mission.......I had set high expectations and goals for myself that I wanted to accomplish each transfer and I was NEVER happy because I was never reaching those expectations. I remember going to one of the Assistants and asking for advice. What she said changed my whole perspective, and I think it will help me for the rest of my life.  She said, "Sister Marsh, if you set your expectations lower than God's expectations, you will never be happy or satisfied; but you will also never be happy or satisfied if your expectations are higher that God's.  They need to be the SAME as His."   

    The moment I changed my expectations to His, I was happy.  Whether it was the assignment I was given, or the companion.......I knew that it was God's will for me and I accepted it and made the best of it.  I have learned I will be happy if I follow God's will and to do His work the way HE wants it done. 

    I am forever grateful for the experiences I had, and for the opportunity to serve the Lord and preach His gospel.  My life will never be the same and I will be forever grateful for the testimony I have gained being here.  Like it says in Alma 26:16 ,"I will glory in the Lord.  I will rejoice for my joy is full, I will praise my God forever.  Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Ye, who can say too much of His great power and of His mercy and of His long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

    I love this gospel and it is perfect and blesses my life in so many ways.  I know that it has been restored by His servant Joseph Smith and I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and was needed to be brought forth to complete and fulfill the Restoration. I testify that Jesus is the Christ.  He died for me and for each of you.  He never forgets us and has our lives manifested on His body. (1 Nephi 21:16) I love Him and am grateful for the sacrifice He made for me, that gives me the chance to be perfected in Him.  He lives today.  He is aware of me and is in the details of my life.  He is involved in His work and I have felt His help and the help of His angels, especially Matty, during my time here.  His work is the most important thing we could do in our live here on earth.  I love this gospel.

    The work is bigger than I am, I am blessed to be a part of it.  The work isn't better because of me, I am better because of the work.  I didn't do anyone a favor by going on a mission, the favors were done to me, by allowing me to go. 

The church is true.

For the last time,

           Sister Mindy Marsh

10/15/14

Family,

     Another week has gone by! I can't believe I only have one more week to email before I am home....that is freaky!!!  This week has been full of surprises! Lots of things we did not plan for but lots of miracles.  God is sooo good and he blesses us soo much!

     Friday I got to see mom and dad!  I was so excited to see you and it was fun to have lunch with you! We were walking around Temple Square and Sister Sonku and I have this little game we like to play about guessing all the black people and where they are from... we talk to EVERY black person that we see, anyway we stopped this lady and she was from South Africa.  Her and Sister Sonku knew some of the same people so that was fun.  We talked to her for quite a while and then we were like ok we need to go and we start walking to the South and I was like, "Sister Sonku look how cute that African family is and their 2 kids!?" Well we got closer and it is our investigator FRANK!  I was sooo excited to see him! He was with his cousin and her 2 kids, but we got to talk to him for a while.  We had a really good lesson with him.  He is so solid!  I love his sincere desire that he has it is remarkable truly.  He was having a little bit of confusion why we want him to be baptized again for a 3rd time and so I talked to him about the priesthood but then about how as missionaries we are not just wanting people to join the church to join the church, but we talk about baptism so much because it is the first step to returning to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again and we want them to receive eternal salvation.  That night I was thinking about it, and it made me realize how important baptism really is and I would rather baptize 1 person on my mission that makes it to the temple and is sealed to their family, then to baptize 100 people who never make those covenants after baptism. Baptism is not the end, but rather a beginning of a life, living after our perfect example Jesus Christ.

     Speaking of sealing to their families, Saturday was one of the most special days for sure while I have been here.  President is such a nice guy that he gave me permission to go to the sealing for Carter, Brad and Emily!!  I did not really know what to expect with a baby sealing, but it was the most precious experience.  It was so fun because I was able to see so many of my family on both sides and be with them in the temple.  Though the actual sealing is very simple and brief, the spirit was so strong.  I just remember sitting their enjoying the Spirit and then the door opens and little baby Carter is all in white so happy and calm.  It was a beautiful sight and I could not help but cry.  More importantly though, is that Carter is now sealed to his parents for time and all eternity and the relationships that they are starting right now will be able to continue in the life to come.  It is an amazing thing.  

     On Sunday morning after sacrament, we were told that David Archuleta was coming that night for a little concert! hahah they told the sisters to stay quiet, don't clap and don't scream.... ya that didn't happen with 200 sisters that are from different countries going to see him in person! :) But it was very neat actually.  Of course he sang, but we did a question answer and there were lots of questions about his mission and how he keeps his testimony strong in the music world and things like that.  I was very impressed and very touched by many of the things he said.  I took good mental notes of things that I could do when I get home to make sure that I continue to progress spiritually.  He talked about how during the trips on the road he always felt like people controlled him, telling him where to go at what time and what he is doing every second of the day, but he said that one day it dawned on him that I CONTROL MY LIFE. If I want to go to church while I am on the road, I CAN... if I want to go to the temple every week, I CAN...I choose what I want to do.  I love that.  Ya I am never going to have to worry about Hollywood doing my schedule, but work school family friends can take over as well and take away from spiritual things, but if I commit to myself and to Heavenly Father, I can control my life, and I can do those things if I commit to do them.  It was also fun to see the Lowe's! I had NO idea that Kendra was his pianist...she was sooo excited to meet me and it was fun to feel a little more connected! 

     This week has been great finding new investigators as well!  We have found lots of new people to teach! People who are very prepared from mormon.org <http://mormon.org>  chat.  Just to share one example real quick, I was chatting with this lady and she said, I am very interested in your church, I have been studying and I told my husband I am going to be baptized at the end of this month! He is not totally into her getting baptized but she asked if we could help her learn more so that she could answer the questions her husband asked and help her prepare to be baptized this month...ok yes thank you I would love to help you! OH one more.  This girl called in to find an address for a church building...she lives in Phoenix which made it 100x cooler, but we started talking.  I invited her to go to church this Sunday and asked her if missionaries could come to her house and she said please send them!  We continued to talk and long story short she told me she is not a member yet but was going to go to church and wanted to talk to me and meeting with missionaries so that she could get baptized! I am calling both of them later this week and I am so happy!! The Lord prepares soo many people to receive his gospel it is amazing!!

The church is true.

Sister Mindy Marsh

10/8/14

Hello Family,

     This week has been so great!  General Conference was wonderful as always and there were so many good things that happened this week.  Here is a little recap of the last week! 

     Thursday- I went on exchanges with Sister Weidmann.  She is from Switzerland.  She is an amazing missionary and I had a blast with her and so many miracles happened!  We took this wonderful couple on a tour Kenya and Dimitrea.  They were soo prepared for the gospel.  We taught them the Restoration as we took them to different places, and Dimitrea I swear is a member....she knew EVERYTHING!  It was so cool to be with them, we ended by taking them to the little movie about the Plan of Salvation and they were so happy they loved it and they wanted to know more.  They took Books of Mormon and they gave us their information to keep teaching them! We were taking ALL the tours so we went and took another tour right after that!  It was a couple and their daughter.  The wife is from Thailand and we were with them for 2 hours!  It was such a long tour because they talked and talked and talked but it was awesome.  They were very intrigued by the things we shared with them and so they told us please tell us more and email and call us! Then quick little story we went to Deseret Book to get something really quick and Elder Christofferson was there just roaming around and was like " Hello Sisters!" He talked to us for a little bit and we felt very special that he talked to us :)

     Friday- There was a missionary who served in Sister Sonku's ward for the last 9 months and so he finished his mission and came straight to Temple Square to see her and had his Stake President release him on Temple Square.  The Elder wanted us to be there too so we went.  I didn't know ANY of them and it was so emotional for me.  It made me not want to leave the mission ever! I am just dreading when President Hiatt tells me to "bear your testimony for the last time as a full time missionary" so I hope he won't :) and then he said Elder you can now remove your name tags...I just am going to be so sad.  It hit me hard during that little meeting that my time really is so short now, I can't believe it and it made me so sad to think my 18 months is already done and that my time as a full time missionary is almost over.  How sad!  My time as a missionary has completely changed my life.  I am soooo grateful for my mission.  It means everything to me and I am so happy I was able to serve. 

   Saturday and Sunday- GENERAL CONFERENCE MADNESS!!!!!!!! Sister Sonku and I attended the Saturday morning session!  It was wonderful I loved it and I thought it was so fun that they had general authorities speak in their native languages! I loved Elder Wong's talk even though I had to read the subtitles on the screen!  It applied so much obviously to me as a missionary but I loved how he said, " To assist the Savior in His work we must work together with love and unity." That is something I have learned so much on my mission.  I thought of me and my companions, when something was ever wrong, or we were not communicating with each other, our missionary work was not as good, but when we were working well together and were really unified. that is when we saw so many miracles and so many investigators progress! I also liked his comment about ANXIOUSLY SEEKING those who need our help.  I love that, as missionaries that is what we try and do everyday, to find those people that God has prepared for us, but I know that he prepares people for everyone not just the missionaries.  There are people that will be placed in our path that need us that need us to help them feel of God's love and we need to be looking for them and taking advantage of them when they come to us! 

     The rest of conference we will watch later- I promise- but we stayed VERY busy contacting people on Temple Square and talking to lots of them.  We were very very tired and our feet hurt a lot but it was so good!  After Sunday when everyone was gone we watched Meet the Mormons again as a mission.  It is the film that we watched back in April when I got back from outbound.  It comes out this week and it is wonderful it was just as good the second time than the first time I saw it! Everyone needs to watch it and invite friends and neighbors to go see it it is worth it!!

     Monday- GREAT day!  We had a wonderful lesson with John and the Elders.  We taught the rest of the Plan of Salvation and the Law of Tithing and he is solid for baptism on the 19th which is really awesome!  I can't wait!!  Then right after Frank came for a lesson as well.  We watched the Joseph Smith movie with him and he enjoyed it as well! He said he is preparing to be baptized October 26th! YAY!  Also really great news one of our investigators Margret was not looking forward to General Conference at all.  She was thinking it was going to be boring.  She had so many questions and she went to conference and she said, "All my questions were answered and I am in 1 Nephi 17!" So so happy about those 3 people.  I love them so much! 

     I love you all!  I am excited to see you this weekend!

The church is true.

Sister Mindy Marsh

9/24/14

Hello,
     This has been a very busy week.  The week of transfers is always hectic.  Thursday-we had a meeting for all the new sisters and their trainers.  Then we took all the new sisters to Walmart so they could go grocery shopping.  It was quite funny Sister Sonku didn't really know what to buy or what things she even liked because she was looking for all the brands they have in South Africa, but I told her she was not going to find that here! :) 
      Friday- We covered the Humanitarian Center today while the sisters had training.  I have been teaching a couple people that work there, so I take every opportunity to go back.  Larry was SOOO happy to see me. Holy cow!  I also had NO idea that Peter, my adopted little brother, (who went on his mission last week), his mom works there too.  She was so sweet and came up to me and remembered me. We had a little bit of down time while we were there so I read a talk by Sheri Dew.  It was about who we are as children of God and the potential that we have.  It is exciting to me to think if I truly understood how the Lord felt about me, my life might be very different.  The Lord has immeasurable and unconditional love for his children.  He sees who we really are and the people that we can become.  This is something that I have seen a little glimpse of.  As I have taught many different kinds of people, I have been able to see them maybe kind of the way He would. It has completely changed the way that I look at people.  I remember before my mission having a lot more pre-judgments about people; but now I know that to God, all of his children are equal; and  I have a duty to help any and all that I come in contact with. 
     And my companion is soooo funny, and the celebrity of our mission because she is the ONLY African here!  I’m glad that she has a sense of humor.  She is very very sarcastic and she likes to lie about her life in Africa.  Everyone assumes that South Africa is like the stereotypical Africa that we think of, lions, tigers, living in huts, children everywhere, etc.... so she pretends it is.  She tells people she lives in a bush with a stone as her pillow, that she has to go to the bathroom in a bush, that they get water from the river and everything like that.  Well, it’s completely false!  She lives in a very well developed area and it is very Americanized.  No one has ever been there so she tells them and they all believe her!  She is already my new best friend, and when we are finished planning, all we do is talk and laugh.  She is so awesome and I am so blessed to be with her.   
     Sunday-  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I love you. Today we had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Ogden Temple Dedication.  I loved the talks that were given.  Elder Hallstrom talked about covenants and he said, " Being a covenant keeper is the only way to fulfill our eternal purpose." I loved that, and it made me understand that the covenants we make in the temple are essential.  Sister Oscarson talked about how when  a temple is dedicated it is a time for us to dedicate ourselves to His work.  I think that is so powerful.  We need to be dedicated to the work of the Lord especially in performing those ordinances for the dead.  It is a wonderful opportunity for us to give that chance to those people who have already passed on, to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be sealed to their families for time and all eternity.  President Eyring talked about how there are people on the other side standing and shouting for joy as you perform those ordinances for them.  I agree completely. He also said, "It is only in the temple that we are leading the dead out of spirit prison; “you are opening the prison door so that they can have eternal life."  I love temples.  I am so grateful for the ordinances that I have been able to participate in for myself and also for other people. And I am so blessed to be serving on Temple Square where I can walk on dedicated ground every second of my mission.  
     Oh and we have some exciting things coming up this weekend; we have a 10 year old girl and 8 year old boy getting baptized, Kelly and Jeduh!  As well as Nelly and Jesse too!  I am so excited.  I love them all so much.  Pray for them that everything will work out. They are so prepared and love the gospel so much!  It has been so fun to teach them all, and they each have such a strong desire to follow the Savior. They have allowed the Spirit to teach and testify the truth to them, and I have been able to be a tool to help in their conversion.....so cool.  It is incredible to see the difference  when the investigator allows the Spirit to touch their lives and when they don't.  I am so grateful that the Spirit is the teacher and testifier of all truth.  He is the reason that people join the church.  I love being an instrument in the hand of God.  Missionary work is life changing.  I love it!

The church is true.

Sister Mindy Marsh

9/15/14

 FAMILY!

     This week has been literally crazy!!!!!!  So many things happened in the beginning of the week that were soo amazing.  Then on Friday Sister Hansen and I received the new transfers and all the new assignments and companions for next transfer so that we could make schedules and all the emails and excel sheets before transfer conference! We have been really busy and stuck in our office all day every day and I kind of am just sick of typing and looking at a computer because it makes me want to hit the computer! 

      Tuesday- This day has been incredible!  First of all it is President’s birthday today! Sister Poulsen asked if we would go with her to Costco to pick up cakes and ice cream for President and all the sisters.  We of course said yes but first went to TC for a little bit.  I contacted 2 more of the referrals that Peter gave us and it was so fun.  They are so prepared as always and I wanted to give Peter a chance to talk with them and share with them his testimony and say goodbye to them before he leaves.  We called Danisa one of his cousins and they talked for a little bit and it was so sweet.  Little African kids were singing in the background and Danisa was so so happy and excited for Peter to serve the Lord.  He told Peter that he wants to take the discussions but he would like to not only have us call them but would like to have missionaries come visit him.  Man!  We were just talking to him and he said, “I didn’t know that I couldn’t hold babies, now I am sad, I hold babies in church every Sunday.” Then we talked a little bit because he did not know that we are ALWAYS on Temple Square and never leave and he said, “That is so cool that you get to serve so close to a temple every single day.” Peter is the most sincere boy I have ever met.  It is the day before he goes into the MTC and he is just teaching all of his friends with us on the phone, and teaching a mission prep class tonight.  He told us that we could call him that whole day and he would help us whenever we needed him.  He said, “Its ok I don’t need to rush I just want to help my Africans.”  The cutest African I have ever seen.  Then we went to Costco.  Sister Poulsen was so cute.  I learned a lot about her and President.  They are so fun. When we got there the cakes were not finished so we just walked around and waited.  We obviously went by the Blend Tec guy and he made us green ice cream, then we walked past these 2 guys who were advertising honey butters. They were delicious.  Then we saw Sister Poulsen getting ice cream so we told her hey you need to stop by and try this honey butter….ya we sold her on that!  She bought 2 of them! J hahha we got everything and came back to Temple Square and then we had to set up for the party.  We cut all the cakes and put all the pieces on plates.  It took us forever!  We were sweating we were so hot cutting the cakes for like a solid hour.  We all surprised President and were all down here singing happy birthday to him!  He is the sweetest man.  I love him so much.  It has been such a blessing to serve so close with him and get to know him on a more personal level.  We also had our last district meeting today.  NO way I cannot believe that it is already the end of the transfer…eww!  But the whole day I was just looking forward to Peter’s setting apart.  

     We drove to the chapel and they were having mission prep.  They invited us in and it was kind of interesting but I really liked it a lot! They had everyone there share with each other how they got to the point they are now in their spiritual journeys.  Peter shared such a tender testimony.  He talked about how rough it was when he was in refugee camps in Uganda and how he felt so blessed that he ended up in America.  He knew when he got here that he needed God more in his life.  He said that he was taught by 2 missionaries; 1 from the US and 1 from Fiji and how he knew that he needed to be baptized.  He didn’t have a strong testimony yet but knew that in his heart he should.  Then he became less active and didn’t go to church but one day got impressions from the Holy Ghost that he needed to go back to church so he did.  He continued to go every week and his testimony grew and then his stake president, President Degraph started asking him if he would want to serve a mission and he was only in high school but he knew it was right and so he met with him a lot and he helped him prepare to serve his mission and now it is the time to actually go.  Sister Hansen and I both shared our testimonies of how we got to serve a mission and how our mission has blessed us.  Sister Burton shared her testimony after us and she told us how her mission that she served in New Zealand has changed her life forever and how she knew that she needed to serve again.  The spirit was so strong and already I started to cry.  I knew I was doomed for his actual blessing.  I was reflecting the whole time on how blessed I have been to serve a mission.  How the mission has completely changed my entire life.  I will never be the same because of these last 17 months.  I feel sooo grateful for what my mission has meant to me.  My heart is so full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to serve Him and for letting this change my life so much.  

     We talked for a little bit outside before we went into President Degraph’s office.  He gave some counsel to Peter first.  He read from D&C 4 and how missionary work is that marvelous work that he is about to be a part of.  That he will work on those Christ like attributes his entire mission and strive to follow in the footsteps of his Savior.  He gave him 3 pieces of advice. 

1.       Work hard

2.       Be obedient

3.       Love the Lord

     He then asked Peter to bear his testimony before he set him apart.  Peter bore the sweetest testimony.  He talked more about how hard life was in Uganda in refugee camps for 13 years.  How he would go 3 or 4 days without eating sometimes and how he never imagined or believed that he could ever be in America and be where he is right now.  His friends all told him he was a “Chicken with his head cut off” and that he was doing the wrong thing, he didn’t have a testimony at that time but he knew in his heart that he needed to be baptized and be in the church.  He said he knows how much God loves him, and that he answers his prayers.  He said that Heavenly Father has ALWAYS answered his prayers no matter what.  “I believe the church is true.  I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the BOM is true.”  So sweet…just cried the whole time.  Then President DeGraph gave him his blessing.

     After the blessing we took some pictures and we all gave advice to Peter.  I was crying a lot.  I just had so many things that I wanted to share with him.  I told him to:

1.       Write in his journal EVERY DAY even if it is only 1 line.  

2.       Start praying for his trainer now (so cute he didn’t even know what that was) 

3.       Work and serve with all your might mind and strength and you will not have any worries

4.       When times are a little bit hard, DON’T GIVE UP and rely on your Savior Jesus Christ

5.       Be exactly obedient and THAT is when you will receive the most blessings and see the most miracles

     We had to say goodbye and then we went in the car and just cried.  We talked about it for the whole car ride home.  Peter is the most tender sincere boy.  When he speaks or shares his testimony it is so pure and close to his heart you can tell that he does not even know how to express himself.  He was raised in such humble circumstances that he TRULY is grateful and so thankful for all the things that he has in his life.  The gospel means everything to him.  Sister Hansen and I talked about how every African is so sincere and grateful because that is how they were raised…they are taught and brought up to be so humble and grateful for everything.  It is incredible to be around them.  I just want to be around him all the time.  

     We came home.  I didn’t want to write in my journal I just wanted to cry myself to sleep.  I got in bed and said a prayer.  A very sincere prayer because Peter is my little brother.  He has a very special place in my heart and I want to do anything I can to help him.  I want to give him everything.  I am so protective of him and I wish I could go with him to the MTC so I could just take care of him.  I was BAWLING hysterically.  I could not breathe.  My nose was sooo stuffy and I was so sad.  I have had soooo many friends leave on missions while I have been on mine but this has been so sad for me.  I think I just realize that he won’t be getting all the support that most LDS kids get that I just want to be that support for him.  I love him so much and I am so proud of my little brother. 

     This has been such a special experience for me.  I have reflected so much on when I was set apart 17 months ago.  It was incredible to witness Peter get a mantle of authority and power to serve the Lord.  It helped me remember the things that I was blessed with when I was set apart.  All I could think of during this time was when President told me, “I now commend you into the Lords’ care”.  Just like it said in Peter’s blessing if he is obedient he will be protected and he will always be safe because the Lord is taking care of him.  I thought of how my mission has completely changed my life and how much I have grown from being here and how much Peter is going to grow and how his time is just now starting and what a wonderful time this is for him. I could not be more proud of him.  This is going to change his life and it will change the lives of his family as well.  I love missionary work.  

     Well the rest of the week we have been in our office.  We worked soooo much faster this time then we did last transfer and I am so proud of us.  It has been so weird planning for my last transfer.  This week I have just been so grateful to be a missionary.  President told me really early (in our assigment- in the office we find out everyone's companion way earlier) so he told me last week that I would be training a new sister coming from the MTC my last 6 weeks.  I am so excited.  I am a little worried because it has been a long time since I have trained a new sister but it is going to be the best.  I don't even know which sister it is yet, but I already love her so much.  I already just am going to be a mom to her and I just am so excited...I thought about extending just so I could finish the whole 12 weeks of training...but don't worry I will still come home in October... it just crossed my mind thats all, because I don't want to give her to someone else to finish training her I just want to be selfish and have her to myself! :) 

     Anyway I am just so grateful to be a missionary.  There is nothing greater in this world than serving my Savior Jesus Christ.  My experiences as a missionary has changed my life completely and I can not express the love I have for the people I have met. Sharing the gospel and helping children of God come closer to Jesus Christ is the best thing.  It changes lives and it helps bring so much joy to their lives.  I don't want it to ever end.  I love my Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that He lives and that He is there for me in every detail of my life.  His gospel has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and it is a blessing for me.  I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon.  It has every answer I need to every question I have and it brings so much peace to me as I read from it.  I have gained a very strong love for the scriptures and I am just so happy to be a missionary!! 

I love you all.

The church is true.

Sister Mindy Marsh

PS. My new pday is Wednesday so I will email you in 2 days again :)

Mitonzi Family

9/8/14

Family!!! 

     This week has been really really good, productive and exciting!! The week started off a little bit rocky, but has just gone up and up every day.  My mission right now is incredible.  I am so blessed.  I have so many wonderful investigators and sooo many miracles have been happening all the time.  It has amazed me how involved the Lord is.  I am just so grateful for him and for all the things he blesses me with.  

     Wednesday- We had a great lesson with Benson and the elders.  I am so happy that Benson has had the desire to learn about the church again.  He was not able to read the assignment that we gave him in the BOM, so we read with him from Alma 26.  We had a really good discussion about it and he is ready to act on the answers that he receives, which has been so cool to see!

     Thursday- This morning we had Relief Society and President spoke.  It has been a huge discussion lately on how we can be more effective and what needs to happen for the sisters to work harder and to baptize double the amount that we are right now.  I told President in staff meeting that he should speak in Relief Society and chastise the sisters...in a nice way, to get them motivated...well, he did!  He talked a lot about the widow's mite and the parable of the talents. Moral of the story he said, "When we are given a task or assignment we are to make something of it."  We have been given these 18 months to serve the Lord and to help everyone we can, to come to know the gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to take advantage of that time and to give our all to that task.  We were all motivated to conquer the world, so we had a lesson with John and the Elders.  John was someone we met at the Swahili ward last week who hadn’t talked to missionaries before, so we set up an appt with him and had the elders come since they are his local missionaries.  Well, it was an introduction to the church for sure.  He has never heard of the church and doesn't know much about any of the beliefs.  He had lots of questions that were soo good and it was so fun to teach him.  I am looking forward to the next time he comes! 

     Weekend- I had a heart to heart with President on Friday and it made me so much more calm.  I have been so worried about my last transfer.  I have sooo many African investigators and I just want them to be taken care of when I leave. I am looking ahead so that when I have to transfer them,  they will be good.  President understood exactly where I was coming from, so I am relieved.  He pretty much told me I could choose what I wanted to do for my last transfer.  He is amazing and I love him so much.  He also gave us permission to go to Peter's mission setting apart.  Peter has helped us so much with our missionary work and this week he has given us 7 referrals from East Africa that have all turned into new investigators!!  I am excited to go tomorrow to support him.  We have spent a majority of the weekend contacting those referrals and teaching them.  They are all so open to the gospel and so excited to learn from us.  Also, we talked Jamah this weekend and he told us that he is preparing to serve a mission!!!! How exciting is that??  He is meeting with the Branch President regularly and doing all he can to prepare to go in a year;  I am sooo happy!!!  And the best news of all is; a former investigator Jesse text us this week.  He only has texting on his phone, so it has been pretty impossible to teach him; so I just send him a text every once in a while and send him scriptures. Well, he text us and said he is getting baptized this Saturday!!!  WAHOOOO!!!! I am soo happy!  

     Well that is really it for this week!  It was fun to see Clara and Grandma and Grandpa this week as well!  I love you all so much and am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary it is the biggest blessing.  I love the gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ.  

The church is true.

Sister Marsh 

9/1/14

Family-

     Well p-day was fun this week!  We went to the store really quick and as we were checking out I got a call from a sister saying that Elder Elliott from the Liberia mission was wanting to meet me...we sped home as quickly as we could.  Elder Elliott was the missionary who taught Jamah.  I had talked to him mulptiple times on the phone and when the ebola virus started spreading, all the missionaries left, so he got reassigned to SLC.  So crazy!  Then we went to a senior couples house in our mission for the rest of the night.  We had a BBQ and just hung out.  So so fun!!

     Woah. Thursday was crazy.  It started off just on a perfect note...waking up LATE! I was talking to Sister Hansen last night as we laid in bed and said wouldn’t it just be the worst if the alarm didn’t go off and we woke up late?  Well I woke up this morning at 4:45 and was thinking yayyy I have until 6:15 to wake up (we have what we call early schedule so I wake up at 6:15 not 6:30) well I went back to bed and then Sister Hansen in a panic wakes me up from above me (we sleep in bunk beds) and says, “Sister Marsh its 6:25” NO WAY!  So that was the start of the day.  Then the whole morning we were SO tired.  I felt a little useless all morning to be honest.  We finished the tour report and so I felt a little productive, but then I just felt like not doing anything.  Me and Sister Hansen were throwing a little pity party for us because we just felt a little off.  I kind of grudgingly went to TC.  We found the nicest lady on chat.  Her name is Nelly and she was so so sweet.  She gave me her number so after I ended the chat I called her and she was the nicest! She is a little Spanish lady from Paraguay.  She is really really interested in the church and has just barely started meeting with the missionaries.  We connected really quickly and she wanted me to help her prepare to be baptized.  I told her of course and that I would do everything in my power to help her.  Then we finally got to have Square time meaning contacting people outside and taking tours.  We have had so much office stuff to do that we haven’t had any in like 3 weeks.  Well it was about 2:00 and we were walking by the Temple Model and Sister Galgiani tells us we should play a joke on her investigator and stalk him.  So we started following him around by the Temple Model.  He was taking a video of what he was looking at and he saw us in the reflection of the glass and was like oh sorry, and he gets out of our way and then we just kept following him! J hahah he was here to have a lesson with the sisters.  Well Sister Galgiani’s companion was talking to this girl on the couches by EF desk so the guy was just standing there and he says, “DANG they are good at stalking me” hahhah but anyway Sister Paulino long story short asked if we would talk to this girl because she needed a lot of help.  So we sit down and start talking to her.  I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.  We asked her why she came to Temple Square and she said, “I want to be closer to my Heavenly Father.” We thought wow that is really good, we are so happy you chose to come here it is a great place to do that and to feel the Spirit.  Well then she says, “Do you think you can have the Holy Ghost if you deny Christ?” Then we were like hmmm wonder where this is headed.  So I told her you know we can have the light of Christ with us, but having the Holy Ghost is a gift, and a gift that we have to live worthy of.”  She says, “That is true.”  She is super interesting because she is like twitching and super spacey and I can tell the whole time she is high on meth.  She smelt like meth so bad and it just made me so sad.  I felt like an interrogator but that is what I was being led to do...ask her a lot of questions so I know what I can do and what is actually wrong with her because I knew she was having some serious problems.  Well she opened up because so many of my questions.  She gave all her answers in 1 sentence or less and she said that she keeps breaking the law of chastity.  Well we talked to her for a while about that and I asked her what things she could change so that she could keep that commandment.  She is obviously really less active.  She said that she could leave her boyfriend and it would help her.  I encouraged her that if her boyfriend is not helping her be a better version of herself than she should not be with him.  She then said, “I also smoke meth.” I was not surprised at all.  But she was being so sketchy and so I asked her how many times she smokes and if she is addicted and she said yes.  She then went on to say that she has evil thoughts to deny Christ.  That was her big thing “denying Christ” so she says that she smokes to get her evil thoughts away, and has even tried to kill herself.  I immediately had the impression that she is abused by her boyfriend.  So I tried to look at her wrists or anything that I could to see if she was physical abused and her wrists were scarred up.  I just wanted to cry.  I was looking at a daughter of God who is abused and controlled in such a manipulating way that she has no idea who she is anymore.  I was so sad.  The Spirit was so strong, I had to be bold and I knew that she needed it that way.  I said, “ You are a daughter of God.  Heavenly Father loves you so much.  He wants you to follow Him and follow His Son Jesus Christ.  He is really really sad when you disobey him and smoke and break the law of chastity.  He doesn’t want you to do that.  He wants you to follow his commandments so that you can become closer to Him.  But the things you are doing are doing the exact opposite.  Smoking and breaking the law of chastity is taking you farther and farther away from Him.”  The Spirit was so powerful she felt it and I was pierced hard at that moment.  After about an hour, we tried to get her number and she wouldn’t give it to us.  She only wanted to take ours.  I understand now why but not at the time.  She has a sketchy life and doesn’t want to be found or caught.  Well she left and we stood up and we looked at each other and were like that was intense and scary.  We looked out the sliding doors and she was using some guy’s phone.  At first we were like SHOOT no way she is in on drug deals and sketchy things and this guy is with her, but then we got the impression that this guy had NO idea who she was.  So I was like, “Ashey do you need to use a phone or anything?”  She said she did so we left the poor guy alone and we walked inside the South Visitor’s Center.  I called security to come because she was on crack! She was crazy seriously I was feeling a little uneasy to tell you the truth and I have seen a lot of weird things here, and then security comes.  My favorite Italian security Giovanni comes J He says can I help you?  She was like, “What did I do? I should go. Then Giovanni’s like oh shoot “no no you didn’t do anything wrong we just want to help you.  Do you need a phone to call someone?” So she calls her boyfriend and it is so just wrong.  So creepy and she gets it all settled and so he is on her way to pick her up.  Well then she just starts crying and says, “I hate the person I am.”  I said, “Ashley remember the talk we had with you.  Heavenly Father loves you so much.  This gospel is for you to be the person you want to be.  You can change and be whoever you want.” So as we are waiting security gets her first and last name and asks for her ID.  She says, “I don’t have one.” Then they ask for her DOB and she says, “5,20,1990”  I then felt prompted to ask if her boyfriend was the one picking her up, she said yes and I asked her how old he was.  “20 years older than me.” So 45ish? “Yes he is old enough to be my dad but it is ok.” I was like okayyy this is just NOT RIGHT!  She then walked out and walked the opposite way of where he was picking her up and so we were like um wrong way!  Then we followed and stalked her the whole way until her sketchy 45 year old boyfriend comes flying down the road and she runs across the street and jumps in the car.....and there went Ashely Herrick! Everything made sense after.  We came to the conclusion that her boyfriend threatens her, abuses her, makes her do things she shouldn’t and makes her do drugs.  He manipulates and controls her in every way of her life and she is trapped and stuck.  I left so sad and feeling TERRIBLE for her wanting to do anything to help her.  Heavenly Father wanted to slap me across and face and show me that when I am throwing a pity party that there are people in this world that have it a WHOLE LOT worse than I do.  That some people are not blessed with the testimony that I have of the gospel.  I cannot complain.  Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with a good family, with a testimony of the gospel, with strength to overcome trials that come my way and to have been raised in a good environment with good people and friends.  My life is dream compared to hers.  My life is nothing compared to hers, it is SO easy.  I have nothing to complain about.  I am a missionary.  I have the opportunity to share the gospel with everyone around me and share the best news in the world.  The gospel can transform people and bring true happiness to their lives.  It is a wonderful thing!

     Well this morning at around 3 AM we text the Branch President in Liberia to skype Jamah’s baptism...well he text back and it says, “So sorry we are unable to skype because the internet is down. We will email you pictures.” I just wanted to cry so bad.  It broke my heart.  I was going to watch Jamah be baptized and also meet 2 of my other investigators on skype, but not anymore.  We got to the square really early to open all the doors and buildings, and while we waited a couple minutes we called Jamah.  He could not say anything except, “Thank you so much, thank you so much.  I am so happy so soooo happy!” It made me cry, he is so happy and so appreciative of all that we did to help him and all the members did to show love and support to him.  So so cute!  I will go to Liberia so I can meet him and my other investigators, there is no option, I have to go.  I love them sooooo much and it kills me I cannot see them in person every time I talk to them.    

     Also the most unfortunate thing happened to Sister Hansen this morning.  I about died!  So when we were opening the square we were opening the South Visitors Center and there are 2 doors next to each other, well one of the doors is automatic at 9 AM but the other one we unlock, so I used my access card to open the automatic door so I could go unlock the other one and Sister Hansen didn’t walk in the door fast enough so it started to close on her (they are sliding doors that have a realllly strong magnet on them) well it started to shut so she stuck her arm in it and it just kept closing.  It was not opening at all and it was getting tighter and tighter and was smooshing her.  She was screaming OUCH OUCH help me help me!  It was so sad I opened the door for her and her arm was sooo red and her eyes were all watering because it hurt her so bad!  So unfortunate that I didn’t know what else to do but laugh! 

     Sunday was also the best day of my mission! I was soooo stressed about my going away talk this week.  It is a tradition in the mission that the sisters going home soon are the sisters who speak on Sundays so I spoke yesterday.  I was so nervous and had not really had time to plan or prepare for it.  The AP's and me and Sister Magidson spoke.  I am super close with the AP's because of office and staff meetings, and us 4 were MTC companions so it was a special time for all of us.  Sister Briggs and I sang the musical number. The Spirit was SO strong...it was emotional we were trying so hard to keep it together so we could finish the song.  Then I spoke right after.  It was good...so everyone said, but I feel so relieved to be done.  Then we had staff meeting which is always good.  The First Presidency has asked all the missions in Utah to double our baptisms so we were talking about how we could increase the number of baptisms.  President has a saying he ALWAYS says, "If we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always got." So we brainstormed a lot about what things we could change to bring different results! Then we went the Swahili Ward in SLC.  President gave us permission and I literally walked in and was in heaven.  I cried right away.  The whole ward is Africans and I cannot express how much I love African people.  Their ward is 2 hours long and one of the members in their ward that I have gotten to know really well had his farewell yesterday so they had a HUGE feast after church that fed the WHOLE ward and it was delicious.  I about died though playing with all the little African children...they melt my heart they are sooo cute!!! We met a new investigator that is coming for a lesson on Tuesday!!  Also the elders in that ward are amazing.  We have gotten to know them so well because they teach so many of our investigators and they teach with us at Temple Square.  Well we left the ward and we came back to have a lesson with Benson.  If you remember Benson he was the guy from Kenya who was supposed to be baptized but didn't know he couldn't have a girl roommate....well he has completely IGNORED the elders for like 2 months and has not entirely ignored our texts or calls but he wouldn't come to Temple Square anymore.  Well I invited him to my talk but he said it was too early for him but he promised he would come at 5...so without him knowing we invited the elders to come and show up!  It was awesome!!  We talked to Benson for 30 minutes before the elders came and it was so spiritual...Benson felt the spirit so strong and was pretty speechless. Then the elders came.  We addressed all his concerns and we talked to him about being baptized.  He loves the church and knows it is true.  His testimony is so strong.  Well I was happy to find out that my consistent texts about praying for him and sharing scriptures with him paid off.  He said, "Ignoring the elders was pretty easy, but I just couldn't continue ignoring you after all the effort you put in"  YES it worked!  So anyway he is now investigating again and is coming Wednesday.  He said he would never ignore us or the elders again and that he would prepare himself again to be baptized!!  What a wonderful day!!  I am so so happy.  This was honestly the best week of my mission!  I love this work.  It brings me so much joy.  Serving others in any way that I can is the thing that I love most.  I love you all. 

The church is true.

Sister Mindy Marsh

The district

The zone

Me and Sister Hansen

Me and Potato-seriously that was his name, cutest thing ever

Me with Peter ( going to Oakland on his mission) and his siblings

Me and the African sisters :)