Spencer Marks Kiribati Mission
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  • How to Write Spencer

February 23, 2014 Letter

As far as this week goes... Man, it's been great! We've been doing
even better with lessons, we've been finding more people, had an
AWESOME guy get baptized, and really started to click with my comp.
He's kind of ridiculously awesome. :)

The guy who got baptized! Uering! THE MAN! We found him a couple
months ago, and we've been working with him. He'd gotten out of jail
and started talking to a lot of religious denominations. He talked
with a bunch of different denominations, the KPC, the 7th Day
Adventists, the Jehovah's witnesses, and he said that they were good,
but they weren't enough for his heart. And he said that when we came,
and we taught him, he thought, "Ah, this is it." It's so awesome! Quit
smoking, drinking, nangona, and tea, and totally flipped his life
around. 

Brought his less-active best friend back to church, and his
wife will be baptized way soon. His wife's broken down crying in
lessons with us, just thanking us for the huge change in her husband,
and I've told her, no, it's not us, it's been the Lord. And honestly,
I was there for those lessons, the part we were doing wasn't really
that great. Uering was ready, and the Lord was there! He told his wife
he'll cry when I get transferred (him and me both) and I got to
baptize him. It was SO AWESOME. 

I realized that between his family and Rosary, if nobody else's life is changed 
through my service on my mission, it is TOTALLY worth it. Sometimes people 
fall back after baptism, but his faith is SO strong. He's asked if he could serve a
mission, we told him maybe when he was old he could serve a senior
couple mission. :) SO GREAT!!! I'll try to get pictures home soon.

Speaking of getting transferred... Word just came from my connections
in Zone Leadership that I should be getting ready to go. Nothing's
official yet, but it's looking like I should be getting ready. Which
makes sense, I've been here forever, but just thinking about it makes
me way depressed. I'm with a companion I love, in an area I love, with
people that I love and know, and now I'm about to leave. I know, it
happens, but it's really depressing. So I'll crack it hard for the
rest of my time here, and leave with no regrets and lots of pictures!
:)

Anyway, I should be going, time runs short, but I want you to know
that I love you! Hope business goes well, hope everything else goes
well, you're in my prayers!

Love,
Elder Marks

February 17, 2014 Letter

Man, it's been quite the week. I'll try to keep it fast because it's 3
and my comp still hasn't gotten to email. Spent all day trying to find
internet that worked. :P

But ya, crazy week! My comp has been sick all week, but he's a beast
and we've gone out to work every day except one. There have been a few
times where he just ended up passing out next to me while I taught...
Poor guy. But it's been good! We've been getting SO much done! We went
from 1 investigator that was making progress a few weeks ago to 7 this
week, and 6 have a date set for baptism, from this Saturday to March
22. 

One of our people is Rosary's cousin, and she's been having a lot
of problems because her husband is a less active member who drinks
quite a bit. So this cousin was having a lesson at Rosary's house, and
Rosary bore testimony of the huge difference that the church has made
in her husband's life, and how after they started to be involved in
the church, they found peace in their home, and almost never have
problems. It was great! And it's so true, I've seen the difference in
both of them! I love being able to see how peoples' lives are changed
by the Gospel of Christ, and it makes me even happier when we can help
even more people see how their lives can be changed as well!

I'm loving the work, and the work is going awesome. We're starting to
be crazy busy, have 8 lessons planned for tomorrow, and it's awesome.
I love feeling the Spirit 24/7! My one problem... My new comp just got
here from the states, not really in 100% missionary lockdown mode yet.
And me, my sense of humor has gone Kiribati. I can be the funniest guy
in the world here, but as soon as I'm in English? Er... We just joke
about different things! So my poor comp is stuck with a guy who
doesn't really remember what people talk about back in America, and
who has a Kiribati sense of humor... Poor guy. I'm pretty sure I'm
going to be the most boring person in the world for a couple months
when I get back. Ah well. I'm loving it. :)

Thanks for the email, hope everything continues to go well! Love you
loads, keep it up! You're in my prayers!

Love,
Elder MArks

February 9, 2014 Letter

All right, lot to say. First off, my comp. His name is Elder Davis,
from Logan Utah. He's the 5th of a family of 6 boys, and his dad's
name is David (sorry, Kiribati protocol to introduce him that way.
Speaking of fathers, something clicked the other day. I've been saying
my dad's name was "tak", trying to kiribatize it, and everybody always
went, "huh"? I finally realized that it's because that's also the
Kiribati word for duck. :) )

He's a bit shy, but he's a way hard
worker, and we've been doing a lot of good work out here. I'm
realizing how hard it is to teach Kiribati, but we're doing some way
good work! 

Funny story, his first morning here, he was unpacking while
I did our progress record. All of a sudden, I heard him yell, "Woah!
Something made BABIES in my suitcase!" I ran over and saw 4 baby mice,
maybe a few hours old. They were all pink and NASTY! So he finished
unpacking, and then threw them outside. I was glad he still got an
intro to Kiribati, even living in the hotel. :)

Living at the hotel is awesome! For the first time in my mission, I'm
living in my area! :) And it's only a half hour bike ride to where
most of the people are! The people there are super nice, they give us
ice water and watch our bikes at night, and they're all super
friendly. I love it! And we can start teaching at 12 rather than 2 or
3, so that's a huge blessing! we're getting a lot of work done, and
I'm having a blast. I love it!

This week, I've been really feeling like I've come into my own. I feel
like my training is finally done, and I'm really a missionary. I got
asked to give a talk in sacrament last second and gave a good one, I'm
really connecting well with people, and I'm feeling the Spirit as I
teach. And I'm being blessed with the gift of tongues! I'm absolutely
loving missionary work, and looking forward to the next little while
that I really get to work Banana! 

For the blog, if anybody out there
is thinking about serving a mission and isn't sure, DO IT!!! It's
hard, but you grow closer to God than you ever thought possible, and
you really feel what it's like to be a tool in His hands. It's
awesome!

I'm loving life, and I love you! Best of luck with everything back
there, you're in my prayers! Tekeraoi! :) (Good luck)

Love,
Elder Marks


February 2, 2014 Letter

As far as my week goes, it's been another great one! Been CRAZY,
because Elder Paora and I have been working two areas. As it turns
out, our kids (trainees) touched down on Kiritimati, had a two hour
layover, and kept on flying through Fiji to Tarawa! As we say in
Kiribati, "A aki bwaati kain Church Travel." But oh well. I actually
got to talk to my kid for a little bit, because Zone Leaders called
and he was with them. He sounds cool! Maybe a little bit in the "I
just got here in a 3rd world country and I'm putting on a brave face
until I get this shindig figured out," but not bad at all. I'm excited
to meet him on Wednesday! His name is Elder Davis and he has a Rocky
Mountain accent. I'm pumped!

I've been a bit sick the last couple days, but I've been drinking lots
and I got a priesthood blessing, so I've been able to keep working.
Which is good, because we don't have time to rest! We've been going
crazy getting new investigators, teaching old ones, and having to walk
because our bikes our broken, but it's about to get easier. Tomorrow
we'll be moving into and setting up at the Captain Cook Hotel, my kid
will be arriving early Wednesday morning, we'll have a District
Meeting, and then he and I have 6 lessons planned! So it'll be fun! We
have a lot of catching up to do, so we'll be busy. Which is the way to
be as a missionary. :)

Anyway, I'm loving being a missionary. Working with Elder Paora is the
best, we're being what a companionship should be, and we're rocking
worlds. I feel like I've finally finished my training, and I'm just a
tad bit scared that I'm not going to be able to always have awesome
back-up whenever I need it. He says the same thing, we're an awesome
tag-team. :) But here we go! It's fun working together, but we need to
do about twice as much work, so, after maybe three weeks of rest, God
is about to start stretching me again! (Remember how I used to grow?
Get tall and skinny, then fill out, then get tall and skinny, then
fill it out. Same deal here!) So, For Narnia! And for Israel! :) Love
you lots, you're in my prayers, best of luck with everything!

Love,

Elder Marks


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