Dear Family:

(Mom told Elder Marquis that dad was stuck out in the middle of PA and was only eating McDonalds :)

Well to start off I would kill to be able to eat some McDonalds lol. AHHHH, and a large drink, sooooo good.
Those big telephone wire spiders are called Golden Orb spiders and are very common in most of the tropical humid climates. Yeah, those babies are pretty ugly looking, lol.

No baptismal commitments this week...again...but close, hopefully.
I'm working with like 5 teenagers that are friends of the kids at church and one family that I really want to baptize. The father is coming along nicely but the mother is an Evangelico follower, and she really doesn't want to leave her church for the truth...but we´ll see.

I have 6 elders in my district. This past week I got to do my first interviews, which went pretty smoothly.

How has your week been?

My week has been super wet, lol, and I need to wash a lot of clothes but those babies take about a week to dry and I don't know if I'm going to have changes or not until tomorrow, hopefully yes, lol.

Last week you mentioned maybe having a meeting with a man you meet on the bus and your "perma-fried" guy on the street...were you able to visit with them this week?

I went out looking for them and couldn't find the guy on the bus and the perma-fried guy is still fried and can't really progress. But we´ll see.

Has it been really raining alot? I saw that there was another tropical storm this week. Do you have a "Go Kit" for emergencies?

Yeah, it´s rained a lot everyday since I started the mission lol, It's rain season lol. And yes, I have one prepared just in case something does happen, but very doubtful.

Me and some of the mom's on my missionary mom site are really going to try to make Christmas Stockings for the Elders and Sisters in your mission that wouldn't get anything. One mom's son, Elder Fetters, works in the office and is going to get us a # so we will know how many to make. If you have any suggestions of what to put in them, that would be great!!

They like candy and a lot of the missionaries socks have holes. I don't know, just stuff, lol.
But that's cool that you know Fetter´s mom, lol, he's one of my favorites. Almost all of the guys in the office are pretty sweet.

Do you want me to find you an electric razor and try to send it, or can you find one there?

Yeah if you can find one, that would be cool. I don't know exactly where I could find one down here lol.

I am trying to send out another box by the end of this week with a few pants in it. Need anything else??

Those Reeses were awesome!! lol.

Where will you listen to conference next weekend? Do you get to listen to all sessions?

Well, if I have changes I don't know where I'll be. If I don't, then I'll come here to Coatepeque at the stake center so I can listen to it in English.


Most interesting contact of the week?

On Wed. or Thurs. I went on divisions with some of the elders in my district and got to do my first interviews which was pretty cool. And then later on that night we went to the stake presidents house who lives in their area and ate dinner with his family. That was really cool because he can speak English so I could actually have an intelligent conversation for once, lol. What's really cool is that he had a carpet rug in his house! I haven't seen that in sooooooo long, lol, I didn't even put my feet on the rug because I didn't want to get it dirty. And something else pretty cool, he learned his English in England, so he had a little English accent when he spoke. I want to live in England soooo bad one day!


Do you know how fantastic you are and what an amazing man you are becoming and how much you are loved???

Yeah, but I still having some trouble speaking Spanish which stinks. UHHHH, I have almost been here 8 months!

See ya in a few or so...lol.


So yeah, thats about is for this week.
Love yall a ton,
E. Marquis

...Cool to turn a fight into a baptism...

Dear Family:
Sooo, you guys want to go on a mission too huh? Getting a little jealous are we? lol. Sounds cool though. Do you guys get to choose where you want to serve or do they call you like mine? If you do get to choose I'd go for England, the European area, or Italy! That's going to be a really cool experience.

1. So how are you doing?

Doing good, the zone leaders received another box from you guys for me. But, since I didn't shave this morning they said I need to shave first, soooooo, yeah, lol. I hate shaving, such a waste of time and I end up using sooooooo much shaving cream. I think I just might end up buying an electric razor here if I can find one, lol....

....I do like the look of wearing a suit. I think when I get back I'm definately going to be doing some type of business work where I get to wear a suit and maybe speak some other languages....I really want to learn more of them now that I have spanish more or less down, lol.

2. When the next transfers be?? Do you think you will transfer or stay there?

The next one is going to be this coming week on the 28th. And I don't know if I'll go or not. In reality I would really love to go to a new area..I have been in this one for 2 transfers now.

3. How is the work going? I know new converts are probably hard...anyone interested right now? How is it coming with the inactives?

Well we do have this one guy that is looking pretty positive, Celestino, he's about 32-33, and doesn't go to any church. He's reading and praying and doing everything that he's supposed to do, so I've got high hopes for him! The rest of our investigators more or less are all coming from the teenagers. We´re going to go out today and try and put some baptism dates for this weekend so wish me luck, lol.

4. What was your most interesting contact of the week?

The most interesting one, was when we were coming back to Amparo from Contacting in El Tumbador. I like to read the pamplets when I ride the bus just to make sure I got everything. And I was reading about the plan of salvation and out of the corner of my eye I could see the guy sitting next to me more or less reading the pamphlet too. So after "we" had gotten through a few pages I turned to him and started talking with him. His name was Angel, and he had just been deported from the states but his wife and kids are still living up there. So we started talking and got on the the subject about how gringos won't let them live and work up there and really he just wanted to fight. (They must be deporting a ton of people from up there and especially from Arizona?) Anyways, I didn't want to fight so I started asking him questions about his family and if he missed them and how big a part did they play in his life. And with this I led into the plan of salvation and gave him a run down of where we came from, why were here, the importance of families, and where were going when we die. Right before he got off the bus he started asking me about what all you need to do to become a member and be baptized and I made an appointment to visit with him later on. Just cool to be able to turn a fight into a baptism, lol. But we´ll see how that one turns out, lol.



5. Have you seen any interesting "animals?"

Well there are those humungeous spiders that waant to eat your face...and there are these really cool looking birds down here called the quetzal. They have these really long, colorful tail feathers which are really cool. And yeah, all the normal bugs just a little bit bigger, lol!!

6. Have you eaten any weird foods?

Over my whole mission I've eaten cow brain, cow tongue, some animals... (edited..), some of the grossest tamales that you could ever imagine, and lots and lots of beans and rice. And about 20 tortillas at every meal. lol.

7. The language...have you had a time where you made mistakes with the words and it came out weird, and they thought you were funny?

lol, Yeah just about every time I talk, lol. But the other night I was suuuper tired and we were talking with the branch president about some stuff and when I get tired I start talking like dad...kinda studdering and mixing up my words. So I'm already just about to drop from exhaustion and he asked me a question and I wasn't really paying attention so I just want to say...I don't know...which is, yo no se or no se, and how it came out was I don't no se, lol, and everyone just loved that, lol!!! So yeah I mess up my spanish quite often, lol.

8. Cultural observations to share...we love these :)

Well, no matter what you eat you will always have tortillas to eat them with, corn tortillas, always, lol.
And the other day I was having a little conversation with this little girl and right in the middle of it she just squatted down and started peeing and I couldn't help but bust up laughing, lol. Good times, good times, lol!

9. Spiritual experience for the week? (We love these too, no matter how large or small)

On the way home last night, we were walking down the road to our house, and always, there is a guy that is always sitting on the side of the road. He always looks like he's perma-fried, so we don't usually pay him any attention. But I was walking by and I felt something jerk at me and tell me that I needed to go back and talk with him. So I did, cause those inspirations don't come around every day, and we started talking and he couldn't get taught in that minute, but we are going to visit him tomorrow morning. Just cool when you listen to the whisperings of the spirit and it actually leads into something good, lol.

10. Did the kids like the little dinosaurs and punch balls? Should I send some fun little things like that for them for Christmas? How about CTR rings?
Do you think we should send some Elders or Sisters a Christmas box, that wouldn't get one? How many if we do?

Yeah, the kids freaked out over that stuff. Glow in the dark stuff and balloons barely exist down here. And like I said before almost every missionary down here is from Central America so almost all of them are poor. I don't know how much that would cost but I'm guessing a lot. But if you still want me to check I will.

11. Do you know you are wonderful and we love you to pieces??

mhmmmm.

...about the changing of the seasons...That sounds pretty sweet. I really miss the changing of the seasons and even the cold, lol. And one of my new goals...to learn Italian, German, French, Portugese, Chinese, I really would like to learn them all if I can...who knows maybe one day.

Love ya much,
E.Marquis

...I have grown to depend on the spirit...

Dear Family:
I´ll have to write you a long letter next week. We just spent the last hour looking for some place that has internet, it's like finding a needle in a hay stack lol.
Just a quick couple questions....
Is it possible to get the recipe from Sister Sonney for making homemade rootbeer? That would be great!! I answered the questions and I love hearing from you guys and hearing all the stories, even about Callie watching her bones lol. And thank you sooooo much for those packages you all send! I love getting a little piece of home every time lol.

1. Are you able to print things off the computer on email days? If you are I think I will write you a letter that you can read later, and just ask my few questions. That way you will have lots of time for a nice LONG letter :)

I can print things off, but I don't usually because the way things work out down here is there just isn't enough money to do extra stuff like that lol.

2. Do you use the backpack we sent you out with, or have you had to get another one?

Yeah I still use that one everyday...the camel back would be nice but all of our drinking water comes from little bags of water...so can't really do that. But the bag is still in good shape.

3. You were Will's companion at his 7 month mark and you thought his spanish was pretty good. Do you think YOUR spanish is pretty good? How is that going for you?

Well, I still think that his is and was much better than mine lol. I can understand just about everything, just need to continue learning more words to broaden my vocab. And as far as speaking goes I can carry on a conversation pretty well but still need to learn a lot more about the grammar...I hate the grammar, lol.

4. When will you next conference be? Have you received the box with the socks yet?

The next conference is going to be this Wed. James B. Martino of the 70 is coming so that should be fun. And yes, I did get that package with socks! THEY FEEL SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!! The jerky went bad and molded before I could get to it but everything else is still good and well, and many thanks for the shells and cheese and Mrs. Dash! I just made some potatoes and it was almost like home, lol.

5. How is it going with working with the inactives? Are you having any luck reactiviting any?

More or less. It really just depends upon the families and how strong of a testimony they have of these things. Something that I've noticed though....is when there is a lack to follow Christ or you believe that there is something more important than going to church, partaking of the sacrament that Christ gave his life for...everytime the real issue comes down to selfishness...all sin derives from selfishness.

6. Most interesting contact of the week?

The coolest contact I had this week was when I went on divisions to another area. We found this 23 year old kid sitting on his porch and he had a Razorbacks shirt on...football team...and I was like. Dude that shirt is soooo cool, in english. And he responded yeah they're my favorite team, I really miss college football from back in the states. And I freaked out because I finally found a latino that could speak english! So the comp I was with, a latino, sat there while me and this kid just talked and talked and talked in english about everyting. Football, iphones, stores, food, everything. That was so cool!

7. Cultural observation to share?

Well this is one thing that I refuse to change because I think its just down right gross. Whenever we have the opportunity to eat some meat I like to cut my meat up with a knife and eat it with a fork like any normal human being, lol, but they will make sooooo much fun of you if you do this. Here any type of meat must be eaten with your fingers and by doing this, this somehow makes the meat taste better....I don't know how...but I guess it does,lol.

8. Spiritual experience to share?

Just how much I've grown to depend on the spirit. Through the spirit I can find those looking for the true gospel, lean upon Christ when I'm having a hard time, and have all the love and protection that anyone could ever need.

9. Name one thing that is great about being a missionary!!

I get to learn a new language and say whatever I want to in english and no one understands me lol. You can have a lot of fun with this when you are having a bad day.

10. Do you know how much you are loved and adored??
uh, huh.

Love you all, see ya in a few months.....
Elder Marquis

Angelina and Juan from Pueblo Nuevo. And Cesar from Amparo. They're soooo cool!!


Answers to a few of mom's questions:

1. Hey...we keep hearing about mudslides in Guatemala. I think it was in the Quetz mission, but have the rains effected you at all?

Not really by mudslides but a few of the boys in my district had to be evacuated from their homes for a few days because of the flooding and they live right on the beach. But we´re all good now.


2. Do you like those Koolaide packet things I send you for your bottled water? There are sales all over right now to get rid of the summer stuff...

I do love koolaide and crystal light and that stuff but the fizz stuff is a little wierd...just the regular stuff would be cool!


3. How are the shoes holding up? We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and one of them told us last winter his shoes had holes in them. I asked him why he didn't tell his mom and he said cause she would just go out and buy me an expensive pair...so make sure you tell me if you need something...it would make me crazy if you needed something and didn't ask.

There good...thats why I brought a bunch a pairs remember, lol. But yeah almost all of my areas have been like hiking through the jungle and stuff so those boots are definately my favorite especialmente con el agua!


4. How much time does it take on PDay to take care of your shopping, laundry etc. Do you have time to play at all?

Yeah I get all of that stuff out of the way...and to be honest I try to steer clear of the sports aspect. I see it as more as a waste of time. But we have started running a few miles everyday in the morning to get a good workout.


5. Have you finished the BOM since you have been in the field? What do you study everyday?

I finished the book of mormon and libro de mormon in the CCM. But I do read the Libro De Mormon aloud to help my pronunciation and I study a lot out of the preach my gospel.


6. How are your investigators coming along?

So so, we had to drop the family that we put dates with because they just weren't progressing and had no real drive to change their ways for the better. So we´re trying to reactivate all of the inactives down here...for now.


7. Cultural or food observations? What do you eat everyday besides rice? (make sure you take the vitamins I sent you in your last package.)


I have not received any packages in awhile so no to the vitamins...but good idea. And yeah my little snack that I made up that is sooooooo good is this....you get a nice sturdy piece of bread, spread Nutella on it (The best thing God has given to us on this earth...next to the gospel), a nice little layer of strawberry yogurt, and top it off with a little granola!!! SO good! And I do throw eggs or meat into my rice on occasion, lol.


8. Did you get the last package with the towels and socks in it yet?

No but I'm super excited...my socks are kinda starting to get holes in them lol.


9. Spiritual experience to share for the week?

Not really a biggy but yeah. I was on divisions with the zone leaders the other day and we were teaching this man...and to be honest it was hectic. Kids were running and music was blaring. And then I got tired of trying to talk over the noise and I started talking more suavé and quiet and they turned of the tv and the kids settled down and yeah...just because I tried to talk softer and invite the spirit, they got sucked in and were forced to listen, lol.


10. Do you know how much we all love you??
YUP.
Love yall,
Elder Marquis