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

7/25/13

Hello hello hello family!

     So this week has been crazy!! Transfers happened...sisters went outbound, sisters came back and sisters left!  We had 54 new sisters come into our mission and so we are up to 200 sisters and will soon be to 220 in the next month!  A lot of sisters have been coming off transfer.  Nothing really changed with me.  Thankfully, I got to stay with Sis. Lotoa!  I was really hoping that I would be able to stay with her, and we did!  We got switched to a new zone and so our p-day is Thursday and our assignment is “All Square”!!  I will be walking the Square all day!  But it was good because when I have surgery on the 8th, I won't have to find cover for my assignments.  

     This week has been really good though.  Angel got baptized this Saturday and after driving a very long time to find the building that was very close to us, we got there and were able to be there for him!  He seriously was a miracle especially because we found him in the Beehive House and I have loved being able to help him and to teach him!  

     Tuesday was our transfer conference.  We gathered as a mission and TC Christensen came and spoke to us.  He is the film director for “17 Miracles” and for “Ephraim's Rescue”, (which just came out a little while ago), and other church movies.  So we got to watch a bunch of clips from different movies and it was so cool!!  We are so spoiled in this mission!!  We have very cool experiences and things that we get to do here.  One of them being the Pioneer Day Parade!  (I didn't even know that there was a pioneer day parade until last week),  and it was so fun!!  Pres. Uchtdorf was in the parade and many other people.  We were trying to find good seats and we found some bleachers,  but you needed a wristband......well, then a guy gave us wristbands, and we ended up with chairs and great seats!!  The cutest little family sat next to us and they had twin 3 yr old boys, and one of them loved us!  He reminded me every second to take a picture of the float!  :)  It was soo cute, and the parade was so much fun!! 

     Also, this week I saw the Garcia's from Santa Rosa!  It was so funny because she looked so familiar, but I wasn’t sure exactly who she was, and she had to tell me!  She also said they really miss our family in California!!  Also, it was a pleasant surprise to get to talk to mom this week!  I had asked Sis. Gillette to call, and when I saw her the next day I asked if she got a hold of her?  She said, “No, sorry I have been away from my office all day”. Then she said, ”Lets call her together!!”  Anyway, I guess I just got a little emotional because since I’ve been on my mission, I have realized  how much I love my family, and how special they are; especially my parents.  I also wasn’t feeling too great that day.  Anyway, so when I got to talk to mom,  I just got a little emotional.  Don't worry, I was smiling and I was very happy to have heard your voice!  No need to worry about me.......everything is GOOD!!!!  

     So, my new p-day is Thursday, so remember that!! :)  Thanks!!  Also, I forgot to tell you the best part about my new zone!!!  Sister Briggs my companion from the MTC is in it!!!!  And I am only 1 of 3 Americans in my Zone.  I am also the only one who drives from my zone,  so I think that p-day’s are going to be crazy and  packed because I am going to be driving people everywhere!!  Also, we have 4 of the 6 Poly's in our zone (half of them went outbound this transfer)  but our zone has almost all of them, and  that means it will be a party!!  Sis. Lotoa is our district leader so its going to be so fun!!  I can't wait!! 

     Thank you for all you do!!  I love you mom and dad!  I pray for you and I am so grateful for you!!  I am sure that me/Sis. Gillette will be in contact soon because of the surgery  but don't worry about me!  I am not scared for the surgery I am just counting down the days till August 8th!  Thank you and I love you so much! 

     Hope everything is going well!!

The church is true. 
Love, Sister Marsh

Me, Angel, and Lotoa 

This is Bob.  He has been here for 5 years every single day!  He loves the sisters on Temple Square!  I always remind him and tell him to never forget who is favorite sister is!!  He is in a wheelchair but it was so special because he wanted to show me he could stand for a couple minutes!

I know I look so gross!  I felt sick all day!  But this was at Transfer Conference with TC Christensen!! These sisters are all from American Samoa!  Lotoa, me, TC Christensen, Sis. Saili (just went home), and Sis. Savelio (just went outbound to Louisiana)!!

Me, Lotoa, & Tukuvato with our favorite twin boys!! Matthew and Jacob!! 

President Uchtdorf!

7/17/13

TALOFA!!!

     That means Hello in Samoan!!  I have been working on my Samoan and learning how to bear my testimony!! Slowly but surely it is coming!!  This week has been crazy!!  So this is the last week of the transfer so yesterday at Relief Society President announced all the sisters that would be going outbound next week! I am kind of sad though because like 80% of all the Poly's are in the same class and so they are all going outbound next week and so half of my friends are leaving!! :( Not where they will go but just who is going and then they told us who the other new AP is and it just seems crazy that this transfer will already end in a couple of days!  But this means I MIGHT not have a p-day next week depending on when my new p-day is next transfer so just be patient I have no idea when it will be!! I might have to email you though if I end up getting surgery though... 

     But this week has been interesting--our investigator Angel is getting baptized Saturday!!!!! So excited, but we invited him to meet us at Temple Square so we could have a lesson with him and the elders that teach him and so we did and we also invited a member to be there too.  So we invited our former less-active Abe. Angel told us that something he gets worried about is if he will go inactive....we were all freaking out and so nervous because the member Abe, used to be less active and we were like oh shoot oh shoot don't ruin it Abe.  But it went well so the baptism is still on!  No worries! 

     Also, it is so cool how many people come here that are from all over the world!!  I have started to keep track of all the countries that I have met people from and it is insane!!  Also we have lots of sisters in our mission from China and we always pray that the doors in China will open soon, and it was really cool some of the Chinese sisters took around some government officials from China the other day!  It just amazes me how much the Lord is orchestrating his work to all nations!

     Sorry I feel like this email is going to be bouncing all over the place but that's me!  This week we have had crazy thunderstorms every single night.  I had another wheel chair day!  I am like a charity case!  Every one wants to talk to me because they feel bad I am in a wheel chair and everyone asks to help and want to give me referrals!  But after that night I came home and I had cookies and candy from Elder and Sister Frost! They are so sweet and the Relief Society President in the mission brought me dinner.....haha I feel so bad! 

     It has been really neat though.  We have special guests that speak to us in Relief Society all the time and so last week Sis. Bonham came and she is on the Relief Society General Board and so she brought up something about BYU brownies and hardly anyone had tried them and so a couple days later she brought brownies for the whole mission!  And then the other day the Primary General Presidency gave us all goody bags with treats and a key chain and quote and stuff!  We are spoiled in our mission for sure!!  It is so fun!!  My mission is just so much fun!  I love all the sisters here and we all work so hard but we all laugh and have so much fun as well! 

     That is kind of all that has happened this week!  When I get to write next week, which who knows when it will be, but that email will probably be way more interesting!  My assignments will be different I MAY get a different companion, I will have a new P-day everything will change but I am super excited!!  

     Thanks for everything!!  Pray for me and that if I need surgery it can be fast!  I love you all!  Shelby Moeller stopped by but I didn't get to see her but tell her thanks for the note!!  I love serving on Temple Square!!

Love you!  Remember the church is true!!

Sister Marsh

7/10/13

Hello Family!

     So I will start with the bad things first.....my hernia is back.  Grandma and Grandpa, that is why you didn't see me on Sunday; I was at home all day! So I went to the doctor and it is a hernia and so I am meeting with the surgeon on the 18th to see if I need surgery.  I am ok.  No one freak out but mom you might get an email from Sis. Gillette talking about that so just be aware! The zone leaders and everyone is very obedient though and are making sure that I am off my feet so the first day I was in a wheel chair, but I was so embarrassed that I don't ride it anymore! Anyway I think that is it! 

     So I was so sad I didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa but that is the reason!  I did see a lot of people this week though!!  I saw Reece Scurr from highschool and he had just got home from his mission a week ago!  Hunter Cowley came in town as well!  OHHHH and I saw Madi Rush's family!!  Ahh I love seeing people I know!! Also I was walking and I was like "holy cow this little girl looks so familiar!"  It was Ella, Rob's niece and so I got to see Rob's brother and sister and I think they sent a picture home. That was fun....I pretty much counted them as my family!

     Good things are happening though.  Ron and Sherri are the most amazing new converts!!!  They text me today and they said, "Our goal is in a year from now we will be on a mission too!!!"  OMG I love them so much.  I want to see them so bad; truly was the best thing to meet them!  I couldn't be happier!  So remember the guy I told you about, Angel, who we met like a week and a half ago in the Beehive House? Well he is amazing!  He is getting baptized this next Saturday and we get to go to his baptism!  He doesn't have a place to stay and he lives in his car but he was able to get a job this week and we have seen him like every day at Temple Square this week because it makes him happy so he is there all day!  He is so happy to see us always and he makes me cry.  He is just the happiest person but he has nothing.  He has so much faith and I can't wait to go to his baptism and to be there for him!  

     PS.  I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July!!  We kind of closed down the Square and we had a big talent show!! My goodness the sisters here are the best!  I know everyone says "I have the best mission"  but really mine is!!! :)  Where else in the world can you meet people from all over the entire country within 35 acres!?  ya....NOWHERE!!!  But most of the talents were dances from their own countries!!  Honestly it makes me wish I was from a different country!  hah I love America but it is so cool to see everyone else's country dances and things like that!!  The sisters here are so amazing!!  I love everyone!!! 

     Well sorry this email is very short!  But I was kind of a worthless missionary this week!  Hahah just kidding, I worked as hard as the doctor allowed me too!  It was funny though...all the texts that got sent out about tours...we just responded and said "can't companion is useless!!" It was great!!  But I am ok....I am just waiting to go to the doctor so I can get fixed.  I am hoping I can just get surgery and not have to worry about it in the future on my mission but I will keep you posted!

     I hope everyone is having fun at Lake Powell...hate you....jk I love you all!!  Have so much fun!!  I miss you and pray for all of you!!

The church is true.

Love,

Sister Marsh

With Dave and Jill Ryan and their kids

Elder Creer and his cool car!! We jammed out in the back!!

Happy 4th from me, Sister Olden, and Sister Dantas!

My favorite Sis. Briggs!!

Dad knows...I am friends with all the Poly's! 

Wheel chair day!!!!! ahhahahahhah biggest joke ever!  Everyone thought I was faking it!!

7/3/13

Hello Family!!

     WOW!  Sorry about not emailing at the normal time!  I had a great surprise this afternoon and was able to see Dad and to be with him for a couple hours!  Luckily it was my p-day so we were able to actually be with him and not have to worry about assignments!  Thanks Dad, I needed that and I love you! 

     First off, I wanted to tell you about a funny story first!  So we have a presentation about God's Plan for families and you move from like room to room and watch a video and its displayed to look like what is happening in the video-it is actually really cool!  But anyway we were taking a group on a tour and I thought we were done and so I was like so relieved cause I had to go to the bathroom sooooo bad. Then the group was like "Oh well we have 20 minutes before we have to head back." We were like oh great!  So we took them to God's Plan and in the first room I was like, "Sis. Lotoa I NEED to go to the bathroom NOW." And she was like "ok here is the phone. Call an exchange and have her switch with you."  I was like "I CAN"T!!! Calling someone will take too long I have to go right now."  So we had to ditch our group in the middle of the presentation grab the first sister we saw and I SPRINTED to the bathroom.  The sisters were so confused and Sis. Lotoa and the exchange ran back to the presentation and the group on tour was soooo confused and oh my goodness it was so awkward and so embarrassing!  Then I tried to just join back in the tour but everyone knew and it was so bad!!  Typical for Mindy right?!  :)

     RON & SHERRI got BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They got baptized Friday and they are the best ever!!  I love them and it was the best news to hear!  

     So I saw A LOT of people this week!  SO CRAZY!!  So first off, a lady walked in the Beehive and said she was from Dallas so I said, "oh cool my sister lives in Coppell." And she said, "oh really whats her name that's where I live." I said, "Hannah Ryan?"  She goes "OMG red hair pregnant?"  I was like YA! She said, "Oh ya I am in her stake!!" So her name was Mary Lynn Gouty?  Then I was walking at City Creek and saw Capri Funk!!  That was so fun!!  Then another group came in from AZ and high schools got brought up and she said she went to Thunderbird and she looked your age (mom) so I said "wait my mom went there." And she said, "whats your mom's name?" And she was like "OMG ya I went to school with her!"  Her name is Carol Conway so she was so excited!!  This week everyone was here I knew!  And I can't forget the NC Marsh's!!  P.S.  Sorry I wasn't able to chat more with you! Maybe you can come back on the way home!! :)  But I am glad I saw you for a second!  

     Tomorrow is 4th of JULY!  I am so excited to dress up in all Red White and Blue!  We are having a big talent show with the whole mission and I am so excited!  I will let you know how it goes and I will make sure I take lots of pictures to send next week because I took ZERO this week sorry!!!  

     Thanks everyone for all you do!  I love being a missionary and I am grateful for all the examples I have in my life!!  The church is true!  LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Marsh!

With Dad and Sis. Lotoa on the Temple Grounds