Much needed rest...

It's been a long week. Haha

Last week Elder Gonzalez got sick so we spent the majority of the week
in the piso. So I don't really have a lot to report haha :). I got a
lot of studying done, in my free time I'm watching a series called The
Joseph Smith papers and it is super interesting and awesome. My
testimony of Joseph Smith has grown a lot! I'm getting a lot better at
darts :). And the piso is really clean.

I haven't told Elder Gonzalez but I think the reason he got sick is
because I've been praying that the Lord gives me energy to keep
working and the break we got with him being sick is exactly what I
needed! :) haha.

On Friday, Elder Gonzalez was feeling good enough to a ward activity
we had. We set up a bunch of chairs and popcorn and a projector and
watched Meet the Mormons. It was the first time I watched it and I
really liked it! David Archuleta even sings in Spanish at the end
hahaha :).

Yesterday the elders in the zone were asked to sing Called to Serve at
at stake priesthood meeting so we all went to Cádiz to do that. We
stayed the night in Cádiz and then Elder Gonzalez and I came to
Algeciras early this morning to have P-day at the rock of Gilbralter
and have exchanges with the Elders here.

Gilbralter is cool! It was really hot and really steep and we were in
a really big hurry to get to the top to see the monkeys and there
wasn't water. So it was a struggle hahaha. But we are content to have
gotten pictures with the monkeys.

President Deere leaves in a couple days and on Friday we are having a
trizone conference in Sevilla to meet President Andersen. So we are
pretty excited for that.

Also we have to go to a place called Chiclana to do a baptismal
interview this week so we will be traveling a lot. But it'll be good
:).

Well that's about everything. Hope you guys all have a great week! I love you!

Derick's last mission companion, Elder Adcock is still in their same area and was able to baptize a couple of his and Derick's investigators.  Derick was so happy to see this.  Attached are a couple pictures from Elder Adcock.  

 Rosa's kids with Elder Adcock.

It's HOT in Spain!!!

We are dying! Haha. It has been so hot this week! Luckily people give
us water in every cita, otherwise we would die! Sometimes we honestly
pass by people just to drink water. Haha. Luckily our piso has really
good air conditioning as well. Because as soon as we leave we are
sweating. But like dripping with sweat!

But it has been a really good week. We set quite a few baptismal dates
and got several investigators to church. We are really happy about
that because apparently this area has always had a really hard time
with setting baptismal dates and getting people to church. So we are
doing really well and finding quite a few new people! It's getting
hard because school just got out and now everyone is going on
vacation. But we have enough work now that we should stay busy for a
while.

This week, President and Hermana Deere came to the zone to have their
last zone conference and to say goodbye to us. It was good. They
talked a lot about staying active in the church when we get home and
getting married haha. Luckily I was directing the meeting and
translating so it came in one ear and out the mouth and didn't stay in
so that I didn't get trunky haha. And because that is what all mission
presidents talk about to the missionaries when they go home, so I'll
hear it soon enough. Then they took us out to eat and we all took
pictures. Good day :) Surprisingly, no one got emotional or anything.
I'm almost positive that President prayed hard that no one would :)
haha.

I'm also getting REALLY tired here. I've almost fallen asleep in
lessons here haha. The thing is, when I get home at night, there's
still things I want to do instead of sleeping so I don't ever get to
sleep early. But I think that soon I will have no choice. Haha.

In the District here we have been playing a card game called Bang.
It's really fun :) if you guys see it anywhere you should play.

Well I hope you guys all have a great week! Send me your favorite
scripture this week! I can check email at any time in the week. So
send it whenever :) it'll inspire me at random times haha.

Love you guys.

Chocolate & Churros

Yum

Last farewells with President and Hermana Deere

 Found this in his Piso.  First BYU shirt.

His shoes have been well worn.  Yikes!  Good thing he has two pairs, but these are more comfy.

Last 2 weeks letters

June 8, 2015

Fast week!
We had so much to do this week! On Monday and Tuesday we were in
Malaga for concilio, which was awesome! As always. It was the last
concilio of President Deere. He's gonna come to our zone to have a
meeting with us and say goodbye on the 18th.

We also had to get ready for zone meeting here and we had exchanges as
well. I went to Puerto de Santa Maria with Elder Pomazón, my old
companion haha. It was pretty fun. Puerto de Santa Maria is where
Colombus set sail from. So it was a pretty town on the coast. It's
only about 10 minutes in train from here.

On the other side of that town is a big US naval base and there is a

senior couple of missionaries there and they came to zone meeting and
made American lunch for us :). There were hot dogs and American chips
like Cheetos and Doritos, dr pepper and root beer and ice cream. It
was really nice :).

The work is going good here. It's been one of most struggling zones
for a while but Elder Gonzalez and I are finding new people that seem
really good. So we are pretty excited. We are working really hard too.
I haven't stopped sweating since I got here haha. Luckily we have a
really nice AC system in our piso :).

Well, I hope you guys all have a great week! Catch up in D&C if you
are behind! You should have studied section 24 today :)

Elder Marchant

I have either taught or contacted someone from all of these countries:
Spain
Chile
Ecuador
Bolivia
Peru
Paraguay
Uruguay
Argentina
Venezuela
Brazil
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Senegal
Mauritania
France
Germany
England
Scotland
Ireland
Morocco
Turkey
Romania
Bulgaria
China
Philippines
Canada
Mexico
Nicaragua
Honduras
Mali
Ghana
Nigeria
Russia
Ukraine
Albania
Finland
Norway
Sweden
French guinea
Portugal
Belgium
Italy
India
Costa Rica
Puerto Rico
Guatemala
Cape Verde
Switzerland
United States

June 15, 2015

I'm so tired! Haha. What a week!

So on Tuesday, something happened to and Elder in our zone and had to
go to Malaga so his companion has been living with us for the week.
It's been a little different having to work around having another
Elder with us who is fairly young in the mission haha. He got sick for
a few days so we worked around that and got splits set up so that
Elder Gonzalez and I could still get to all the citas that we had set,
but he's better and he's been a good help as well these last couple
days. We hope that he has learned a few things that he can apply to
his area when he new companion comes tomorrow.

Elder Gonzalez and I have been working so hard. We are exhausted! But
we are seeing some great things! We've been finding people who seem
really prepared. And we are lifting up the area a lot! It's good to
see progress. And we are having lots of fun! We have a fun game called
Bang that we play with the district during medio dia and p day. And we
have a dart board in the piso. We are getting really good ;).

President is coming to the zone to say goodbye this week so that's
gonna be rough. But it has to happen.

Well I don't have time now! Sorry it's short! Talk to you guys next week!

Elder Marchant

New area, new companion, new ipads.

Jerez is awesome! It is a really pretty city. The only problem is that
it is huge and we walk a ton and I've been in a car for the last 4 and
a half months haha. My first have been hurting like crazy haha. But my
companion is awesome and keeps the pace high so I'm just keeping up
with him for a few days until I know the area more and my feet hurt
less 😀

On Friday the whole zone met up in Cadiz to receive the iPads. My
favorite part about it was meeting the zone. The iPads are cool too
though haha. We've spent a lot of time this week figuring them out and
downloading videos and scriptures and things in the gospel library to
use. We can't use the Area Book/Planner app here in Europe yet because
of some laws here but they are working on it apparently.

The new ward is good. It is the first ward I've been in where the
majority of the members are Spanish. But I really like it so far. I
have a goal to use the members like crazy in this last area. A few
kids are getting ready to go on missions so it should be easy to get
them to come out with us. I wish that I would have gone out with the
missionaries before the mission. I will try to do so as much as I can
once I get home. Especially with the Spanish speaking missionaries :).

Today we are in Malaga for concilio. But now that we have the iPads we
can sit in the train station at McDonald's and email. So that's nice
:) haha. I think this Is gonna be the last concilio with president
Deere.

Also, I feel really old in the mission now. It's really weird that I'm
in my last area, I'm the oldest in my district, and elder Gonzalez is
the first companion I've had With less time in the mission than me
that I didn't train haha. I had never even met half of my zone until I
got here. It's super weird to be the oldest. But I still don't feel
like the mission will ever end. It feels like I still am really young
and have lots of time left :). I kinda hope that the end just sneaks
up on me so that I'm never thinking too much about it.

Everything is great though. I'm super happy in the new area AND the
new piso. (It has a dryer and a dishwasher) haha.

Love you guys and hope you have a good week. Share a Mormon message on
Facebook. The new Lift one is really good ;).

-Elder Marchant

New companion and new I-pads and new area

Mom is two weeks behind :(

May 18, 2015

At Concilio last week, we made a mission goal to have 106 baptisms before the 8 of July. And we decided that all the Zone Leaders would make Zone Baptism Plans for every zone.


At the Conference 2 weeks ago, on of the General Authorities explained that a golfer has 14 clubs in his bag and he knows how to use all of them and that´s what makes him a good golfer. We, as missionaries, must also use all of our ¨clubs¨ and important things we are supposed to do from Preach My Gospel if we want to have success.


So, Elder Landinez and I decided that for part of our plan, every week until July 8th, we are gonna add 2 Clubs to our golf bag. Every week we are gonna focus on 2 different Missionary Attributes and keep adding clubs to the bag until we have 14 :).


So we sent one of these pictures to the Zone with our Plan :) haha. 

If you guys are down, you can join me in my Doctrine and Covenants challenge :).


Last Friday I hit my 138 days left mark. So I started D&C. I´m reading a section every day until I get home. You guys will be 3 days behind section 2 is only like 3 verses long so it´s okay :)


Let me know if you are in! :) haha

MAY 25, 2015

Well I found out that I¨m getting transferred on Wednesday. I´m going to be going to a place called Jeréz de la Frontera. It´s under Sevilla but a little close to the coast. My new companion will be Elder Gonzalez. He´s from Chile. I know him and he´s a really good missionary! Elder Letts was companions with him and loved him so I´m really excited. I have good friends over in that zone and ever Tri-Zone conference I will go to Sevilla and see Elder Letts and Elder Cowley so that will be great :) And I´ll probably be giving my final testimony in Sevilla. That will be so cool. To give my first and last testimony in Sevilla :).


I´m gonna miss Elder Adcock a lot. He has been such an awesome companion. I´ve never loved a companion so much. We have done so much together and have helped each other out a ton. I hope he keeps driving the Murcia elders down to Málaga for Concilio so I can see him a few more times :). It will definitely be the hardest goodbye with a companion to say goodbye to him.


But I am excited for what´s coming and change is good because change helps you change. It´s a lot easier to change the way you do the work and improve immediately when you have a change of area or companions. So I´m ready for what´s coming. I spent a while this week figuring out my Vision for my last area and setting plans and a lot of small goals to fulfill my plans and vision. I want to leave everything on the altar of sacrifice in my last area!


Well, I will send pictures of the new area and companions next week! :) Until then, I hope everything goes well for you guys. Have a great week and find a good quote from Conference :)


Love you guys.




Elder Marchant

Last Skype call home!!!

Everything is just going crazy lately! haha. Our schedule is out of control. Last week the whole mission went to Sevilla for 2 days to meet with Elder Dyches from the 70 and Elder Allen from the missionary department. They talked about a lot of really neat things. It was a great conference! And super cool to have the whole mission together! I didn´t even get to talk to everyone I wanted to there were so many people there.


So having that in the middle of the week was rough. And then Monday we went to Málaga for Concilio, came home yesterday, have weekly planning today, interviews with Presidenttomorrow, and Zone Meeting on Friday. It´s all super stressful! haha. But at least we aren´t bored :).


Skype was good on Sunday. It´s weird to think that it was my last time. The next time I see you guys will be in person! That´s the weirdest part for me. But I still have time :). In 2 weeks I will go to my last area. I have no idea where it will be. But I will be happy with whatever He needs me to do.


There really isn´t much else to talk about. I don´t think haha. So much has happened and is about to happen that I can´t even concentrate on my email :) haha. So for today I will leave you guys with that.


Have a great week everyone! :) I will send a better email next week! :)


Invite someone to listen to the missionaries this week! :) ( Does anyone even ever do my assignments? haha)


Love you guys!


Elder Marchant

Best week of the mission ever!!!

This week was the best week of the mission I have ever had.


It was the week of Consecration in the mission. We were completely consecrated! Didn´t even sing any songs around the piso that weren´t hymns! haha. This month in the mission has been month of the Savior. We have been working all month on Christlike Attributes and ended the month with the week of Consecration.


We were tested all week. It was a really hard week. We had really big goals to find new investigators and set baptismal dates as well. So Elder Adcock and I were trying hard to do that all week long and the first few days were really rough. We couldn´t get in to almost anything and I had to go do exchanges twice and leave Elder Adcock in our area.


Every single Attribute of Christ was tested this week. It was amazing because every night I would kneel down to pray and the Lord showed me what He did during the day to help me learn those attributes: Faith, Diligence, Hope, Patience, Charity, Obedience, Virtue, Humility, and Knowledge. I saw every day how He helped me learn and how He tested me with each one.


As the week went on we could feel our faith getting stronger and we were working harder and being more patient, HUGE miracles started happening. We were guided to prepared people and they were guided to us. We even had a girl walk up to us in the street and give us her number and her address because, she said, ¨I´m looking for something. I want to join your church.¨ We found an amazing family from Ukraine that we were miraculously guided to. Miracle after miracle kept happening. We were so blessed.


And to end it all, we baptized yesterday. A young man named Kevin that we have been working with since I´ve been here. We had a lesson with him on Wednesday and we felt like we just needed to go over the baptismal questions. He knew and understood them all. We said ¨Can´t you see how ready you are?¨ and he told us that he was ready, and that he wanted to be baptized on Sunday. It was the most amazing feeling! We worked hard the rest of the week to get his interview done and everything ready, all while continuing to find to reach the high goals that we had set as a mission.


His baptism yesterday was the most amazing moment ever. Elder Adcock, me, Kevin, his brother, and his 2 best friends in the church were all sitting on the front row and those guys were all just crying the whole time. The talk and the testimonies were PERFECT and the best part of all was that when it was all over, everyone stood up so reverently and got in a line to give him a hug. Everyone was crying. He has so many friends in the church and it was such a special day for so many people.


I got home last night and sat down and felt like I had served a whole mission in just one week :). With all the things I learned, miracles I saw, and energy I didn´t have haha :). I think that´s almost what it feels like when you end the mission. So tired, and happy, and accomplished, and humble.


A week that I will never forget, and one that has changed my mission and my life. I will write down ALL the details in my journal so that I don´t ever forget it :).


Love all you guys! :) I don´t have a lot of time today, otherwise I would write more. :) Have a great week!


Elder Marchant