Arriving In Malaga!!

Derick is now out in the Mission field!!

Being picked up by his Mission President Deere and his wife.


Derick and his trainer, Elder Antezana will be going to the Sivilla 2 area.

At President Deere's home

Headed out into the Mission Field

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow!!! It is crazy! I'm getting pretty nervous. But way excited too!!! Mom, I have 4 other Americans coming to Malaga with me and a few native sisters. So don't worry! haha. I'm excited for the train ride so that I can see the country side for a few hours! I hear its beautiful!! Before I forget...I don't know if I will be emailing next monday because some missions don't have P days right after a transfer. So if you don't get emails, that's why. Well the last few days have been good though. At the parque on Saturday I was very grateful to be with my REAL companion, Elder Webber! It was great because we are so unified and so in tune with the Spirit. It was the only day I didn't place a Book of Mormon. But I felt the Spirit SO strong with us the whole time we were there! It is amazing to feel the Spirit show you where to go! We talked to tons of people that I honestly felt that we needed to talk to. Normally I would feel very disheartened that I didn't do anything big but when we got on the metro to head back I had the strongest feeling that the Holy Ghost said "Good job. You did what I needed you to do." It felt amazing! Yesterday we had a talent show for the MTC and the kids in my room wanted to sing "Lead Kindly, Light". They asked me to sing a solo for the first verse. You know how much I hate showing off...but I did it anyways. The guy that sang right before us was COMPLETELY tone deaf. So everyone was pretty rowdy I guess and as soon as I started singing all the girls in the room gasped and everyone went quiet hahaha. I had lots of Hermanas talking to me after that! haha. I am very grateful that we sing a lot here! It puts me a lot more at ease! Nothing much more to report. It's only been a couple days haha. So hopefully you'll hear from me next Monday!!

Love, Elder Marchant

Last Week At The MTC!

Alrighty everybody!

This has been a great week! All of them have been so far! I can´t believe that I´m out of here in a few days and out into the field! In Spanish it is called “El Campo” haha. I know that the first 2 or 3 weeks are gonna be pretty rough but I’m praying for a great trainer! And I’m gonna have a great attitude! I really am so thankful that I got to be in the Spain MTC!! I have made some of the best friends of my life! They are like family to me and I will hate leaving them. Also yesterday was my last day with Hermana Martinez and that was really sad. She has been such a huge impact on my time here. She has built my testimony a lot and she is so in tune with the Spirit! There have been days that I have not been doing too hot but haven’t told anyone anything and she will pull me out into the hall and read a scripture to me that is EXACTLY what I needed! “Teaching” her for the last time was awful because I was so sad! But me and Elder Webber taught one of our best lessons ever! I am SO excited to actually be out there teaching people that really need me! I have always loved helping people and actually doing so will make me so happy! Today was my last time in the temple. That was also sad. But I am looking forward to hopefully going back there with a family that I teach like my setting apart blessing said! That will be one of the happiest days of my life! These 6 weeks have gone by so fast! I’m gonna be home before any of us know it! Haha. I bought myself a really nice pair of Spanish Scriptures with the money that Grandma and Grandpa Evers gave me for my birthday. I love having my own set that is so nice so thanks Gma and Gpa!! I got a letter from Shalayne last night!!! Hahaha. That was nice : ) . Hopefully in a few weeks I can get one sent out to her too. Mom, I would love it if you could send me a few of this pictures you made in a letter and would REALLY love it if you could send me a nice small picture of Christ smiling. I’m looking forward to Skyping home for Christmas in a month! I’m glad that I will have been out for a while before I do so but that I’m not waiting 6 months! Haha. Last week at the parque my Companion was named Elder Pavon. He is from Honduras but he is serving in Stockholm Sweden. It was nice to have someone fluent with me because he speaks English too and helped me when I got stuck. I have been out a month longer than him so I did a lot of the teaching but he helped with Spanish which was nice. It was raining really hard and there were more missionaries there than people to teach haha. But we taught a girl that took a Book of Mormon and said that she would read it and pray and then call the mission home if she wanted to learn more. I really hope she does! I hate that I never get to know where the people I taught go with what I give. But I hope that one day I meet them in heaven and they come and give me a hug and thank me for getting them started! : ). I will be emailing home on Monday because I’m taking the train to Malaga on Tuesday morning. So be on for that! Haha. Thank you for your love and prayers! I really do feel them and I know that they keep me going! : ) . I’ll be on a little later today to email! But for now…Nos Vemos!



Elder Derick Marchant




Dear Mom,

I forgot some stuff in my first letter so you can make sure everyone else gets this:)
So one of my favorite things ever to do is sing in lessons with investigators! I bought a tiny Spanish Hymn Book and I use it all the time! Elder Webber was in choir too in high school so we sing “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” In Spanish as a duet whenever we talk about the atonement! It invites the Spirit immediately! And I LOVE singing it in Spanish!!! It is so pretty! It has grown into one of my favorite hymns! So with one of our investigators, we ran out of missionary lessons haha. So we have just been meeting with him to read scripture chapters and stuff. Yesterday we taught him a lesson solely about Christ. I wanted to read Mosiah 3;4-12 to him about the prophecy of Christ’s life and then read to him parts of 3 Nephi 11 when Christ comes down to the Nephites and has them feel the prints in his hands and feet and side. Then we sang I know that my Redeemer Lives to him and it was just absolutely amazing! I’m definitely going to be using that lesson plan! Only 20% of the members here are active so a lot of teaching here will be with less active members so I will be using that lesson when needed whenever I can! Today all the kids in my room went out to eat at a Burger place a few miles away for lunch. It was way good! I also got a piece of Hawaiian Pizza and they just put one piece up pineapple on and it was cold! I pulled it off and ate it and it was soaked in Alcohol!! It was terrible!! I felt awful! Haha. But I got to warn all the other Elders so that’s good! haha. I have a quote that one of the teacher’s gave in a sacrament meeting talk: “Only God can turn a mess into a message, a trial into a triumph, a victim into a victory, and a test into a testimony.” I really like that. Well I’ll email you sometime on Monday! I also have lots of pictures that I will be sending once I get into the field!
Love,
Elder Marchant

SINGING....and teaching in the rain.

A few pictures for President Sitterud.

Pictures from President Sitterud

Alrighty everyone...

Alrighty everyone... What a good week!! Last Saturday at the Parque I was with a Russian again. So I was pretty much on my own. I placed 2 Book of Mormons and obtained 2 referrals again! The girls that I got them from were 19 and I told them my birthday was the next day and I´d be 19 too and they invited me to a party hahaha. I said I couldn´t and they said ¨Do you not have parties in your church¨haha it was way funny! I spent almost an hour talking to them and teaching them so me and my companion were late getting back to the MTC. Good thing I know my way around the Metro Stations by myself here! haha. My birthday was great! The Elders in my room woke me up at midnight to tell me Happy Birthday, the next morning I didn´t remember it and they were mad haha. At breakfast the 2 Sister missionaries gave me letters that they wrote for me! They like talking to me because I have good stories haha...mostly girl stories :) They are pretty jealous hahaha. The Elder's in my room had gone to the store the day before and got me some Spanish treats and stuff and a marble sponge cake in a bag haha. So that night we sliced it up and invited the Hermanas for a party! It was fun! Also, I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting in Spanish!!! "For a little Birthday Present" so they say! And they announced me doing that RIGHT AFTER THE SACRAMENT WAS PASSED!!! Good thing I'm amazing! hahaha. But that was a great day! I also have another experience to share. Ya know how in the scriptures it talks about your tongue being loosed and you don't know what you're saying but the Lord is talking through you? It happened to me. I was teaching our "investigator" hermana Martinez and it was a lesson about faith. I shared a quote with her by Elder Holland that I translated and then I looked up and she was crying. The Spirit was so strong! And all of a sudden...I was saying stuff in Spanish that I didn't know. I went on for 10 or 15 minutes in almost perfect Spanish! I had no idea what was going on but I looked around and she was crying and my companion was too! It was by far one of the most amazing feelings in my life! So I wanted to share. Thanks for all the letters! I got some one Friday last week and the rest of them on Monday....well all except Brooke's! That one came Tuesday! So it's been a great week! I gotta go get my first haircut now so if I remember anything else I will email again later! Thanks for the Birthday wishes and the love and prayers! I really can feel it every day.


Love,
Elder Derick Marchant

Update post...

From Mom:

Derick usually sends us a 2nd email during his P-day so this is just an update and answer to a couple of my questions and he wanted me to send him the lyrics to the song, post.

Thank you so much! Every sunday we sing at the Temple Steps and we always sing Called to Serve, Redeemer of Israel, Army of Helaman, and Onward Christian Soldiers. I love it! The 1st Counseler of the MTC Presidency sang in MOTAB so he leads us and teaches us. He is awesome!! His name is Elder Sullivan. He talks to me a lot because he likes it when I sing haha. We also sing at the park every week. I just got back from the Prado Museum of Art. It is one of the most famous museums in the world. It was a really neat experience going there but I didn't have much of an appreciation for the art (lots of naked portraits) haha. I know it's art but I just wasn't a fan. It was the first time I had been downtown Madrid and it was BEAUTIFUL!! I took pictures so I will send them sometime! We ride the Subway here a lot and on the way back I talked to a guy from Malaga. He was super nice! I hear that the people down south are the nicest. He had never heard of the Mormons but he had heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints haha. Kinda backwards. But he was way nice. I didn't send this to everyone because I don't have a lot of time so make sure you post it on your blog or something :). Thanks again for the music! I love you. And I'm gonna tear it up out here! haha. Hey, and thank you for letting me know how Greg is doing. I have been more worried about that than anything. I put his name on the temple roll every week. Please keep me updated.

Love,

Elder Derick Marchant

My goal is to help 1...

Dear All, 

To be honest, it´s been a pretty uneventful week. But still great!!! Mom, I’m glad you got the pictures from President. I hope he sent you the ones of me teaching in the park too!! So the park last week was awesome! I was with an Elder from America who is learning Russian…So I was on my own! Haha. But the first people I talked to were 2 high school students. They were very interested and it was awesome! People really don’t seem interested until I bear my testimony. And then for some reason they listen! It is so amazing to me. In the 2 hours I was teaching in the park, I only talked to 6 people. Because my conversations with them were SO LONG!! I kept talking in Spanish to people for over 30 minutes! It truly is a miracle to me. The high school students took a Book of Mormon and also filled out a referral card for me to give to the missionaries so they could go teach them! The last person I taught was a girl from England. So I got to teach in English which was a huge blessing! If you go the pictures of me teaching a blonde lady, that was her. She also took a Book of Mormon and I filled out a referral for her as well. It was also a huge miracle to me that I had an English Book of Mormon. I gave her mine! The one that I brought on the plane with me to have just in case. It was awesome! When we go to the park we make companion goals…how many BoM’s we are going to place, referrals obtained, etc.. But my goal every week is that I will help 1 person. I pray the whole time that I can just help 1 person. I never know who it is or how I helped them. So I have to go as hard as I can the whole time there. But I know that Heavenly Father lets me help 1 person. I am definitely one of the most successful missionaries when we go to the park. And I think it is because I am not focused on placing Book of Mormons. I think it is because I just want to help 1 person. :) I like being able to do that. So last week I found out that the black track sweats I brought are TYLER’S!!! So I get some pretty funny looks when I walk around the sleeping floor in small sweats hahaha. But it has turned into a pretty funny joke. Yesterday we had TVEspana come in because they were interested in the Mormons. They came in and interviewed and filmed MY district! AWW YEAH! We are now famous in Spain! The cameraman was filming and he walked up behind Elder Mullins and said “write something” and Elder Mullins wrote “and we went to the park” right in the middle of his book in ENGLISH!!!! Hahahaha! We gave him so much crap! It was hilarious! I love playing soccer here. You wouldn’t believe it…but if there are no natives playing with us, I am the first one picked for the teams! Hahaha. I am dang good at defense! I really think that it is because people get intimidated by me charging them that they freeze in place and I steal the ball or the pass it crappy haha. I really am pretty awful. But it’s fun! Haha I only play defense because I am scared that someone will pass me the ball if I move forward. But everyone fights for me being on their team mwahaha! We go to the temple every P-day. I love the Madrid temple. It is so beautiful!! Today was the first day that Madrid got the new movie so we got to watch that today. It was nice. I think the hardest part of being out here is not knowing how everyone is doing at home all the time. I don’t get too homesick. But I do hate not knowing how people are doing for sure. But I just have faith that me being out here is blessing everyone :). I think that is all for now. I will get on again later this afternoon just in case I forgot everything and to email more individually. So I hope all is well! I love it here. I love knowing that I will be changing lives. Yo sé que Jesucristo veven y que el Evangelio es verdadero. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that his Gospel is true. 

Love,

Elder Marchant

From Derick's mom:

Derick asked me to send the Lyrics to this song to him.  I have attached a clip of the BYU mens chorus singing it if you would like to listen to it.  It was written from 2 Nephi chapter 4

http://www.youtube.com/v/FASG0h6-5XQ?version=3&autohide=1&attribution_tag=bW3tv1Va2BM-OaJmBLHcDw&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share

Singing in front of the Spain Temple and the MTC.

 Proselyting in the Park.

What I have is ENOUGH...

Dear All,

Once again, I don't have much time right now but I will be getting on again to finish a little later. First of all I am sorry you didn't get emails yesterday!! Today is Dia de Muerte in Spain so we switched P-days for the convenience of the teachers so that they could be home with their families for the Holiday. This week has been so great!! I have been making a list of things I need to talk about so if I don't finish. I will later! Anyways...remember Elder Santos!? The Portuguese elder that was my comp in the park?! Well he became really good friends with all my roommates and last week Elder Schwenke was having a hard time and asked Elder Santos to give him a blessing. He asked us all to be in the circle but Elder Santos gave the blessing. He gave it all in Portugese. The Spirit was so strong! It is crazy because we didn't understand a word he was saying but we knew that what he was saying was inspired of the Lord. I know Elder Schwenke was comforted from what Elder Santos was saying even though we didn't understand anything he said. My testimony of the priesthood grows all the time here. Last Saturday for the parque, Elder Richins (a really good friend from my district going to Barcelona) and Elder Alves (The OTHER Portugese Elder) were my companions. One of the first persons we talked to was a man sitting on a bench listening to music and playing with his dogs. At first we weren't going to talk to him because his headphones were in but we felt we needed to. I talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he didn't seem interested at all. He started walking away and all of a sudden I asked him to wait. I bore my testimony to him and he came back and all of a sudden he filled out his own referral card, told us how to tell the other missionaries to get to his house and graciously took the Book of Mormon we gave him and I also gave him a Pamphlet about the Restoration and a card so he could go to Mormon.org. and by the way....ALL THAT WAS IN SPANISH!!! Heck yeah! I am advancing more and more every day in Spanish and I am catching up fairly quickly to all the Elders here that took it in High School! The bad thing is...all I know is Gospel stuff. Last week I was trying to get around Madrid with my Companion but we didn't know how to talk to anyone about anything but the Gospel!! hahaha. I gotta get on top of that when I get out in the field! The rest of the day at the parque was good. We didn't have a whole lot of people that were interested. But that doesn't matter. As long as we are planting seeds in their hearts, they will hopefully be prepared for future missionaries. I was able to talk to quite a few people in English actually and I am a lot more comfortable teaching in English haha. But I will get there. My roommates are my new family. They truly are my brothers and the hardest part of leaving here will be leaving them. We have room prayer every night and we shift every night giving spiritual thoughts. It's one of the best parts of the whole day! One of my teachers, Hermana Martinez, is the most amazing lady ever. I was really struggling the other morning with my confidence as a missionary. She must have known. She Shared a thought at the beginning of class about when the Savior fed the multitude. The Apostles came to Him and said "This is all we have. 5 Loaves and 2 fish" But the Savior blessed it and was able to multiply what they had and feed the multitude. She said we can be likened to that. "Lord, I don't know Spanish. I don't know every Scripture. This is all I have. Please bless me that what I have can be enough to help ALL the people out there." I felt SO comforted by this! I thanked her and she said that she felt prompted all of a sudden to give that thought and it must have been for me. She reassured me that she KNOWS that I am a great missionary already. She always feels such a strong spirit with me in the room. Especially when I teach her. She says that Satan knows that I will bless tons of people and he is working so hard on me to tell me that I'm not good enough. To convince me to go home because I will never be good enough to do what I want. He's right. I never will be! But the Lord is with me. It is His work. No missionary can do this by himself. I love Him so much. And I will do everything I can to help everyone feel of that Love. I won't ever be enough to do it by myself. But I am preaching HIS Gospel. And if I preach it HIS way, I will bless the lives of countless people. :) I'm out of time. I will email a little later today :)

Mom and Dad,

I guess I wrote everything I had written down to send to everyone. Sometimes I won´t have time to try to send an email to everyone that emails me. So if you would make sure all my friends know how to get to the mission blog thing I would really like that. Sorry the pictures won´t go through. The computers at the MTC aren´t updated and the internet is really crappy. I will send all I have when I get out into the field. Everything is going good! I haven´t really gotten that homesick. It just sort of feels like the next step in my life! Sometimes I get really sick thinking about how long 2 years really is but I am so busy that I don´t think too much during the day and I´m so tired that I don´t think too much during the night haha. You asked me what I wanted for my birthday...the only thing I really would like is a letter from everyone. At least everyone in the family. If grandparents would like to I would love that and Greg too if he can. An actual letter. Not email. I can take letters with me wherever I go and read them whenever I need to. We had a member of the 70 come speak to us this week and his message was really good! One of my favorite quotes he said was "Christ is the light of the world...You are his torchbearers." I thought that was really neat!! So many spiritual things happen here! I love it!! We watched a MTC devotional Elder Holland gave in Provo and it was AWESOME!!! He is just the best!! Here are some of his quotes I loved.. "I COMMAND you to come home with at least one convert and IT BETTER BE YOU!" and "Go out there and astonish somebody!!" In the scriptures it talks all the time about missionaries and prophets astonishing the people and he talked about what is it to be astonished and that quote was just powerful! He is just a powerful man. Today we watched "On the Lord's Errand" it's a movie about President Monson! It was awesome! You guys should watch it for family home evening sometime. It's on Youtube. Also read D+C Section 80! It's a really good Missionary section! Replace the name in verse 1 with mine and then skip verse 2 and read the rest! I miss you guys and I love you! Thank you for all you have done to prepare me for this and also the way you've taught me to never give up!

Love,

Elder Marchant