8/29/13

Hello Familia!!!  

     Well, I stayed home two days this week; so I feel like nothing happened.  Actually, a couple fun things DID happen this week! Saturday we had a big “enrichment activity”.   We hiked Ensign Peak.  Ok, you all know me........I am not usually into  devotional-type hikes........BUT, it was very good!  We stopped along the way to have  little thoughts, and then at the top the AP's talked to us as well!  There is something about being on top of a mountain that makes you feel very small, and like you are the only person there.  It caused me reflect a lot on my life and what I want to do in the future....... things like that.  I'll admit it, I really did enjoy it!  Well, except for the fact that it caused my hernia to flare up. Sunday it was so bad that I had to stay home and rest almost the whole day!  And Monday I was still in a lot of pain.  I am anxious to get it fixed and to not have to worry about it again!

     Monday was a "mission meeting"!  We were all a little nervous that we were going to get chastised on obedience or something  serious.  But, we were way wrong!  President announced that ALL of the mission is going to read the Book of Mormon TOGETHER, from the beginning!  But I have a little head start, because after I finished reading Jesus the Christ a couple weeks ago, (amazing by the way) I started the Book of Mormon again.  So, I am a little ahead right now:)  

President also announced which sisters would be going “outbound” and there are 28!!!  It’s so crazy........the mission is going to feel way different!  Many of the sisters going outbound are some of my favorite sisters, and there are also some going home next week.  It is really sad.   

Speaking of transfers, they are happening next week!  Me and Sis. Lotoa will be getting split!!! :(  I am very sad!  I have been so blessed to have such a wonderful trainer and companion.  Seriously, I am nervous for Sunday, but we will find out everything then.   I am not sure when my new p-day will be.  So, maybe write me Sunday just in case my p-day is earlier than Thursday.  Crazy things are gonna happen.  New zone, new assignments, new roommates, new companion!  

     Also this week, President wanted to let us see the new temple movie, so we got to go to the Bountiful Temple!  We left this morning and it was sooo awesome!  The Bountiful Temple is gorgeous and the new movie is 1000 x better!  I love that we are able to go to the temple as often as we do!  It is such a blessing, and it’s so nice to be able to just relax and feel the Spirit and not have to worry about where we need to be, or what we are going to teach.  

     Quick little side story!  We have a sister from Taiwan in our district and she speaks Mandarin Chinese.  She thinks her English is terrible, and it is just hilarious!  But I love the International sisters because they know simple English, and they teach really simply.   So Sis. Chang led this tour and she shared the scripture James 1:5 and talked about Joseph Smith and after she read the scripture she asks, "So what does this mean or say?"  No one answered, so she said, "Well in other wards, if you are ‘stupid’ then ask God".  Seriously, I could not stop laughing!  So that is my moral to you, that if you are “stupid” and you don't know things, then just ask God and he will help you!  Hah!  

     The mission is amazing!!  Love you all!  Have a wonderful week and thank you for all the love and support you give me!

The church is true.

Love,

Sister Marsh

            

                At the temple with President Seppi

A picture will my people...the Poly's of course! 

                              

Me and the Phillipino Sisters!  Yes I am a Giant!

Brooke Eagleston and her kids

8/22/13-Elder Holland

Hello family!!!

     This week has been filled with so many things!!  At church on Sunday, President got up and said that we had to go over “General Authority Protocol” and so he described what the procedures are and said that a general authority would be coming to speak to us on Tuesday morning.   Then everyone was dead silent and he waited a VERY long time........then he said,  “He is actually a 12 apostle........and his name is....Jeffrey R. Holland!!”  Every sister seriously gasped and screamed in the middle of Sacrament meeting!!!  So, Tuesday morning everyone woke up super early so we would be extra early to the room, and we got to hear from Elder Holland.  I was expecting a very serious, and stern talk, but it wasn't as bold as his talks usually are.  He talked mainly about missionary work and how we should embrace every moment of our mission and enjoy it!  Something I loved that he said was,  "Don't you ever ever ever ever ever underestimate the gift that you can give to someone.  This part in your life (referring to the mission), will NEVER come again........so embrace it, do not miss it.  Love every single minute of it because it will NEVER come again.  You are NEVER supposed to be the same after this mission."  I love how much he stresses the mission.  He talked about how we need to guarantee that there will be “1 true devoted convert”, and it should be US.  He said everything that we want our investigators to do: “Come closer to Christ, read more from the Book of Mormon, and to pray more to our Heavenly Father.”  It’s EXACTLY what God wants US to do too!  The talk was very powerful.  We had a little question and answer afterwards and a question that he spent a lot of time on was something that a sister asked, "How do we forgive ourselves?"  (Elder Holland is in charge of restoring temple blessings to those who have been excommunicated or have been on probation or in prison and things like that.)  He said that he has to interview each person.  He said as a normal member, “forgiving others is way easier than forgiving ourselves.”  He said EVERY time he will ask the person 2 questions:  1) Have you forgiven everyone that was involved in the situation?  Usually the answer is “ Yes.”   2)  Have you forgiven yourself?  He said often times they say, “I am still trying to forgive myself.”  He said he always has the same answer.  "You HAVE to forgive yourself, because if you don't, you are denying the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He has forgiven you, he has paid the price for you, and YOU are getting in the way.  If you do not forgive yourself, you are saying,  I CHOOSE to block the Son of the Living God who lived his whole life to die for me.  I choose to be in the way."  This hit me very hard.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest gifts we could ever have.  We need to accept it and be able to use it in our lives.  I am so grateful and have even chosen a scripture to dedicate my mission to.  I found this scripture right before my mission and I love it.  It is 1 Nephi 21:16 and it talks about how Christ has engraven us upon his palms and his feet and we are continually before Him.  This means a lot to me.  I have gained a very strong testimony of my Savior. Because Christ has physical evidence of the pain that he went through for me; he can NEVER forget me. He is ALWAYS there for me and he is the one that I can always turn to.  I need to be the one to accept him and to always remember him and to let him always be a part of my life.  

      WOW.......long paragraph about Elder Holland!  Anyway it was very very cool!!  

    Then today we had Relief Society and Sister Rose from the General Relief Society Board came!  She talked about how important Relief Society is and how our missions can help us be a better member of Relief Society when we go home.  She shared a quote from Elder Anderson that I really liked. He said, "Your sacred duty is to return to heaven safely and bring MANY with you."  And that is EXACTLY what we are trying to do on missions as well!  Our mission is so privileged to have so many wonderful speakers come and talk to us!!

     Anyway, on a lighter note...(Don't worry it was my p-day, so I wasn't really part of it) Temple Square was closed for a couple hours today due to a chemical spill in the building!  Everyone had to evacuate and the street was blocked off and there were bout 12 ambulances there. All the sisters had to be tested to make sure they didn't inhale the chemical, but a couple of sisters actually went to the hospital!  There were cameras everywhere and there was Security everywhere, even a helicopter!  Everyone is OK and the Square is open again, but it was intense!  Me and Sis. Lotoa were at home, but we went down to the Square to check out the scene! :) 

     The mission is Awesome!!  I love it so much!  I am so happy that I am here.  I pray that my mission will change me spiritually for the rest of my life.  I want my mission to mean everything to me, just like when Elder Holland talks about how his mission meant everything to him.  I love this gospel and I know how much it can bless us as we follow it.  I love all of you and I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!   

     LOVE YOU Mom and Dad!!

The church is true. 

Love, 

Sister Marsh

Visitors

Mindy has ran into a lot of friends and family since being on Temple Square. She loves seeing familiar faces!

Here are some pictures from when she saw her best friend Rylee (Rogers) Zylstra and her mom Kim.

              

Rylee and Mindy

          

Lots of love

              

Rylee, Mindy, Sis. Lotoa

          

Mindy, Kim, Sis. Lotoa

        

Mindy and her companion

Sis. Lotoa, Mindy, and Rylee

She also saw her old roommate MarLeice Robison.

Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Broadcast

Mindy got to sing in the missionary choir at the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Broadcast. She talked about it in her last letter. Here are a few pictures of Mindy singing.

    

8/15/13

NI HAO!!! ( Hello in Mandarin Chinese) 

     Hello everyone!!!!  Well missionary work first!  We got 2 new investigators this week on the same day at the exact same time!  We were on chat and 2 separate people came on and they both referred and we are teaching them now!!  They both went to church for the first time last week and so we are soo excited and we think they are going to be really good!!  Also we had a baptism this last week!  Her name is Josie Ashton and she is 15 so we had to go through the parents which is not always easy!  Her parents are divorced and both remarried and so her dad and step mom were wanting her to get baptized but her mom and step dad didn't want her to!  I don't know what Josie did but she text us one day and told us her step-dad said yes!!  We were so excited!  But the best part was we went to the baptism and on the program it said, Candice Marsh would be welcoming her to the ward because she is the Young Women's President.  So not thinking anything of it, I went up to her afterward and was like hey maybe we are related and I pointed to my name tag.  We started talking and we found out that she is Jeff Marsh's daughter-n-law and so she married his son!  I was like are you serious!!!!!  I told them that Jeff was my favorite teacher at BYU!!  Weird connections and such a small world!!!  

     News in the mission....... :(  All the mission presidents attended a conference this week and something terrible happened they counseled all the Utah missions to have no more caffeine...so I can't drink Diet Coke anymore!  I was soooo sad and so many of the sisters were so mad it was so funny!!  They said we can drink it after our missions! haha Also our mission president is the nicest guy in the world.  We have been extremely busy with all the tours and opening the Square at 8 and so he wanted to reward us, so for the rest of this transfer we have P-day the ENTIRE day and not just half day!!!! Best thing ever!  We had it for the first time today and it feels so good!!  Also the rule with going to the temple is we get to go once every transfer (6 weeks) but to the SLC temple, so it is live every time, but the new temple movie came out and so President is allowing us at the end of this month to all go to the Bountiful Temple so we can see the new movie!!  Ahh our mission is the best and speaking of being the best!  Today for Relief Society we had a very special speaker!  We are very privileged to have so many cool guests speak to us so this morning, Elder Oaks' wife came and their daughter Jenny Baker who is an amazing violinist!  It was such a good meeting and the Spirit was soo strong!  Her daughter Jenny and her 3 little kids played with her.  Her daughter who is like 9 played the piano she was incredible and another daughter is no more than 7 played the cello and her son who is probably 5 played the guitar and she was on the violin!  Prettiest thing ever and it was amazing that her kids were so little but soo good!  It was like the Lowe family!!  

    This week has been really good.  I finished Jesus the Christ!  If you haven't read it you need to!  It taught me so much and made my testimony of the Savior as well as my relationship with him grow so much!  I realized that I am so imperfect and that I need the Savior and his Spirit with me at all times.  Christ truly is our brother and he died so that each of us as individuals could have someone to go to, to have someone who understands exactly what we are going through, and so that each of us could come a little closer to him.  I am so grateful for him and the sacrifice that he paid for me and for everyone.  

     I can't remember if I have told you before but something that is interesting that we get to do is team teach with the elders in the neighboring missions.  So the Elders will bring their investigators and we teach a lesson all 4 of us.  So guess who was the Elder that we had the lesson with?  Hunter Banks!  It was so funny!  So him and his companion came to Temple Square and me and Sis. Lotoa taught with them!  He had no idea that I had even come on a mission and he didn't know I was at Temple Square either so it was fun to see and be able to teach a lesson with someone I went to high school with!

     Last but not least I will end with a funny story!  So I am one of 2 drivers in my whole zone and so we do a lot of driving around sisters on p-days!  So this morning I drove some sisters to the grocery store, we didn't need anything so we stayed in the car and read emails that we printed off and wrote letters in the car as well!  We started to get a little hot so I tried to turn on the car....battery is completely dead!!!!  I was like are you kidding me?  So we had to call the Fleet (in charge of all the car stuff)  and they had to come to Walmart and help us.  Then they had to call the Fleet people from the Church Office Building and they had to come jump the car.  Fleet didn't want to risk the car dying again so they took our car and we switched cars!  ahhah it was a good way to start off p-day but it was funny!!  The sisters that were in Walmart had no idea that any of this even happened!!!

    Anyway I love you all!  I pray for you and I hope everything is going well!!  Thanks for everything!

The Church is true.

Much love,

Sister Marsh 

8/8/13

Familia!!!!

     Well, I am sure most of you already know, but the surgery didn't happen today.  I will keep you posted, but I think it will be the first week of Sept.  Sorry for those who emailed and wished me good luck with surgery; but, thanks, I love you all!  

     School already!???  I seriously feel like it was yesterday that school was almost out, and now everyone is already back in school!?!  Seriously time flies!  And Clara is already a senior and Krissy is at MVT.........that is insane!!  

     Yesterday was one of the best days!  I was able to see Ron and Sherri Clark (recent converts).  I was so happy!  I could not stop smiling and they made me so excited to be a better missionary.  They are so fired up about the gospel, and are really hoping that the policy for waiting a year to go through the temple and go on a mission will be decreased to 3 months.  They want to leave right now for their own mission!  They are so enthusiastic that it made me want to work even harder.  

     So a couple things--girls camp last Saturday was sooo much fun!!  We all got matching t-shirts and drove up to Brighton Ski Resort.  While there we were able to zip line, and play a bunch of games that the camp provided for us.  It was so much fun!  I got really into some of the games and I ripped a big hole in my knee!  But it was totally worth it.  We did have to climb up a big hill to get to the camp site, and the camp instructors call the hill "Hernia Hill" ........ ironic right?  So, I was lucky and got to ride up in a car because President didn't want me to get 2 hernias!!   We are so spoiled up here and we have so many GREAT activities that we get to be a part of!

     Last Sunday I was also able to go to “Music and the Spoken Word.”  We are able to go every 6 weeks.  I even saw Uncle Ralph and got to talk to him for a little bit.  Then we had to rush off and start the presentation for a group.  It was the “Descendants of Joseph Smith” and Elder Ballard was the speaker! So, Sis. Lotoa and I got to meet Elder Ballard!  Then that night we were walking home to our apartment and Elder Hales was walking with his grand-daughter!  Haha, there are apostles everywhere!  

    Sorry, I feel like my emails are all over the place!  But I’m just trying to remember EVERYTHING!  Oh, and the CES Broadcast was on Tuesday.  It is online so if you want to hear some of the sisters sing, or you want to see my really pretty face... :) then you can go online and see it!  It was pretty cool.  There were monitors  in front of us, and we could see who the camera was focusing on;  and it was so hard not to look at the screens!  Haha, I think I looked when it was on me and I couldn't help but laugh; so you can see me laughing on the camera!  

    Also, on Temple Square we have a lot of Youth Groups that have Youth Conference here.  We usually take them on tours, and then they have a devotional with a guest speaker.  Some times the speakers are really cool, so we like to sign up and  listen to the speaker too!  (It counts for our “companionship study” that day.)  This week we got to listen to John Bytheway!!  He is seriously awesome.  He talked about ‘Standing in Holy Places’ and how living the gospel is the BEST way.  He said, “The gospel might not be the easiest, but it is the best way.  The consequences are way too painful and way too horrible to live your life in a different way."  That really hit me.  It may seem like the gospel has so many rules and commandments to follow, but the gospel is so simple and so perfect, and living your life a different way is too dangerous and too scary.  I know that that is true.  The gospel is a blessing and God loves us so much that he restored the gospel back to the earth so that we could be blessed and kept safe.  

    Thank you for all your prayers and the love that you give to me.  I love you all and I am so blessed to be a missionary at this time!  Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you next week.

The church is true!

Sister Marsh

8/1/13

FYI, the surgery Mindy is having is to repair an “umbilical hernia”.

And is she lucky or what to be in this mission??   The cool experiences just never seem to end:)

Hello Familia!!!

     WOW, this week has been so freaking crazy!!  I was able to see Kim and Rylee and Brooke and her kids, and of course, my very special siblings Brad and Emily!! (P.S. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!)  It was so much fun! I was able to go to dinner with both of them, (thanks to my very very nice mission president), but it was seriously so fun to see them and be with them for an hour.

     This week has been good.  Last Saturday we were able to attend a Japanese baptism; and because the ward is Japanese,  I didn't understand anything.......except the Spirit:)  But, it made me really want a little Japanese baby!  The little kids were the cutest things ever and super obedient.  I just wanted to steal some of them!  

     Also this week we were told to not schedule any tours for this Saturday because there is a surprise for us........we are all going to GIRLS CAMP!!!!  So, on Saturday we are going up to the mountains and having our own girls camp and we even get shirts!  We are all super excited; so I will have stories and pictures of that next week!!  

     And my surgery is still scheduled for this coming Thursday. It will be on my p-day, so I am not sure if I will email or call. But I am positive I will be able to communicate with you somehow.  But, don't worry about me; I am not nervous, just so anxious to get it done.  I am so ready to get back to 100% and feel good again.  But, send your prayers and maybe some letters this way!  :) Please and thank you!  

     Ok, so here is a funny story...there is a CES broadcast on August 6th and 7th for all the Seminary and Institute teachers.  Elder Sharp is in charge of the music for our mission and only asked a few of the sisters to try out to sing for the broadcast.  Apparently someone told him that I could sing so he asked me to be in it.  And then I thought, “Why wasn’t Sister Lotoa invited........she likes to sing too?”  So, she texted Elder Sharp and said, “ Sister Marsh will be singing at the broadcast and I would love to come also, if that's ok?” Then he responded and said, “I am so sorry to be the one to say ‘no’, but I think we are good.”  Hahaha, I died laughing and now it is the biggest joke between us!  Anyway, it’s being broadcast EVERYWHERE and I get to be in it; so that is pretty cool!!!  I am excited!  

     It sounds like everything is good though, and I'm glad you guys are in a house now and not having to live out of suitcases!  I am happy for you guys.  I hope everyone is doing well. I am having so much fun!  There are times we get frustrated; but I have learned that when we have those hard times and we struggle, there is something good that is very close, around the corner, that is going to bless us.  I have already seen that since I have been here.  And it is crazy that we are about halfway through this transfer already.........the mission really does go so fast!!  

     Mom you will be proud-- I made a goal before I left that I would write in my journal, (no matter how long the day was), and I haven't missed a single day!  I am pretty proud of myself and I know I will be very happy at the end, when I can go back and read about the experiences and my feelings every day.  

     Thank you everyone for your prayers!  I feel the love and support every day.  And when I see people that I know, or think about friends or family, it gives me an extra boost of energy and I want to do my very best!  

     I love you all and hope everyone is doing well!  

Remember the church is true.

Love, Sister Marsh