30 December 2008

Bonjour à tous,

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to be with family and friends. We had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend some time with some member families and are amis. We had to finish the day we ate at President Carter's house, we were also joined by Soeur Carter's sister and her family. It was a wonderful Christmas. Of course the most wonderful part of the day was the opportunity I had to speak over the phone with my mom and the rest of the family.

Since last Tuesday we've been kept pretty busy, which is always nice. We had a fun little miracle this last week. A few weeks ago we contacted a family from Romania that spoke very little French, they had quite a few little children with them and we fixed an appointment. We went over on the 24th and to our delightful suprise they also invited some more of their family. There before us was this family, with four kids, three over the age of eight, and some siblings of the parents. It was a wonderful lesson, the kids participated and didn't leave the room or lose interest. At the end of the lesson we had eight new amis!!! I can't remember ever having that many in a week let alone in one lesson. They also asked if they could all come to church, it was so much fun.

Things are cold here and we even had a rare surprise the day after Christmas, it SNOWED!! Toulouse had a light blanket of white that lasted all day long, it was pretty and was alright to have just once. Well I love you all very much and wish you a very Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Marsala

23 December 2008

The Best Christmas Ever!




Merry Christmas!

Well the holiday season is in full swing and we are preparing for Christmas this Thursday. We are lucky to have some eating appointments coming up, there always appreciated, especially at this time of year.

Last night after zone conference, the Toulouse and Montpellier zones stayed in Toulouse to put on a special show, for members and non-members alike. It was fantastic! We formed a choir of approximately 35 missionaries and sung Christmas Hymns, had a special video presentation on the life of the Lord with the song, "Come thou fount of every blessing" which was an amazing rendition. Some of the missionaries had the oppotunity to share some Christmas stories, special musical numbers, and two were chosen to bear their testimonies about Christmas. The elder that bore his testimony stated it as the best Christmas that his family had ever had. He told of his family and of their love for one another. He told of some of the struggles that come with living in a part member family. He spoke of his mother and her unyealding faith that she showed in taking her children to Church on her own every week for more than twenty years. He mentioned two beautiful and nearly perfect sister missionaries that came to his door late in 2000. He told of countless other missionary visits before and the hope that the family had in these two sisters without trying to get there hopes to high and then being let down. He continued as he talked about the charished Apostle Elder David B. Haight who reached out with pure love towards his this elder's father. He spoke of the stake conference where thay met and their unannounced meeting that followed shortly there after. The storied continued with the sisters coming over to watch the "Special Witnesses of Christ" video and the testimonies that were born afterwards. His father accepted to receive the lessons from these loving sisters giving them just one shot. The day of the appointment came and this elder and his sister were quite anxious to hear the outcome, dad came home and sat the children down and announced the news, he was getting baptized! Shock filled the room and joy overwhelmed the family, the date was fixed for Christmas Day 2000. Christmas came, as did nearly three hundred people to watch him enter into the waters of baptism. This elder can still remember perfectly the image of his father dressed all in white standing in the font, he can still remember the joy that radiated from his mother's face. The story ended with the family being sealed for all time and eternity in the temple by the hand of Elder Haight. Thank you dad, I love you.

The finalé of the evening followed immediately after the testimony, with a sister missionary singing the most beautiful and most powerful version of "O, Holy Night" that I have ever heard in my life, it was perfect because that is the favorite Christmas song of my dad.

I'd like to thank Sister Sites and Sister Still who helped my dad along this path, I'd like to thank Elder Haight who took the time to reach out to him, I thank my brothers and sister for living as examples, I thank dad for making this decision and for being the greatest dad in the world, and mom, thank you for everything, thank you for enduring and for never giving up. I love you!

Merry Christmas everyone! I love you!
Elder Marsala

16 December 2008

Merry Christmas everyone,

The Christmas season is getting into full swing here in Toulouse and the city is beautifully decorated. This last week was transfers and there was some changes and some big suprises. I will be getting two new companions here in the bureau. None of us are leaving the bureau at the moment, but we have switched up the companion make up, I will now be with Elder Moon the Accountant and I will be training my replacement, Elder Mendenhall! I love Elder Mendenhall, he was in my MTC district and he's sweet! It was a shocker to us all but it should be fun. Things are going great here and we're all very excited for the Christmas concert will be putting on this Monday at the chapel.
I love you all and wish you a very merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Marsala

9 December 2008

Bonjour,

Well Christmas is definitely in the air and all of Toulouse, and the rest of Franc I assume, is preparing for the Holiday. Street lights and decorations are all hung and it definitely adds to the atmosphere. I'm happy to be in a larger city this year that's not over 80% Muslim, because there's more than four street decorations. Packages are already starting to flood the bureau and the mission is planning some Christmas evenings for all the amis.

Saturday was a marvelous and long-awaited day for Elder Gysler and myself. We finally saw Kojo Philip D'Zikunu enter into the waters of baptism. When we first started teaching him he wanted to be baptized but just didn't seem to willing to do what was necessary, he'd never be there for rendez-vous' and after months of promising to come to church he just never did. A few months ago we went to teach him with one of our English speaking members, he speaks no French, and we taught the Sabbath Day and changed his baptismal date to the 20 December. The next day was Sunday and we waited in anticipation and when he arrived I threw my hands in the air. Since that Sunday he's never missed church except for Stake Conference when he was ill. He only missed one rendez-vous since that day and as previously mentioned he was baptized two weeks earlier than planned. Philip has an amazing faith in God and Jesus Christ, he's so willing to put his life in Their hands and to just trust Them. Often he'll speak the lesson about the Sabbath Day and he mentions how he felt the Spirit and he knew that the Sabbath was very important, that night he had a dream telling him to go to church because it was where he needed to be, he's poor and has had to turn down many Sunday jobs, but he does it for the Lord. He was with his friends the other day and he wouldn't drink and they asked why, he briefly explained that the Lord told us not to, his friends now call him Pastor. He's so wonderful.

Thanks to everyone for all your love and support, have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Marsala

2 December 2008

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin


Bonjour,

I hope that everyone one of you is doing well. I'm doing pretty good. This week on Thursday we had the second greatest zone conference that I've ever been to, second only to the one with Elder Richard G. Scott. Elder Kopische of the First Quorum of the Seventy taught us so many wonderful things pertaining to missionary work, it was amazing. He just made it seem so simple, one of those, why didn't I think of that days. We were most definitely edified. We also learned a great deal from Elder Paya, the area Seventy in the south of France.

It hasn't been more than five minutes since I read that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away last night. We're all saddened by the loss of this great servant of the Lord. I will sincerely miss his talks at General Conference, he taught boldly, clearly, from the heart, and also made us laugh. It's hard to think that he will not be there come at Christmas or at the next Conference in April. He was an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he lived up to and magnified his calling. I know that I have personally been blessed through his words of inspiration. I know that he is now happy to be re-united with his dear wife and that he is continuing to serve on the other side. May I suggest that we remember both him and his wife in our prayers.

I love you all very much and I thank you for your support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

25 November, 2008

Bonjour tout le monde!

This past week was pretty good, yesterday and this morning were spent preparing the bureau for Elder Kopische of the first quorum of the Seventy who'll be coming today and staying the week to do zone conferences. Our zone conference in Toulouse will be on Thursday which for you will be Thanksgiving. I can hardly believe that it's already time for Thanksgiving, I was in Carcassonne last year with Elder Dearing, wow how time flies.

I would just like to take a few lines to express my thanks and gratitude for some things in my life. I'm ever so grateful and thankful for my beautiful mother Carolee who has always and will always be there for me. I'm always very grateful for my father and for his decision to be baptized eight years ago this Christmas. I'm so grateful for my brothers and sister, and likewise their spouses who are equally consider as my brother and my sister. I am so thankful for my nieces and their pure love that they have. I'm very very thankful for my mission president, Président Carter and his wife Soeur Carter, I am equally thankful for my other mission president, Président Merrell and his wife Soeur Merrell. I'm so thankful for the opportunity that I have at this time to be a missionary here in the South of France. I'm thankful for the Scriptures and the opportunity to study them. How thankful I am for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in it's fullness. I'm thankful for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all the Prophets we've been blessed with down to the present day with President Monson. I don't have the words to express my gratitude for our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. Such love he showed and shows, such compassion, such kindness, such mercy, and such sacrifice. I love Him and thank Heavenly Father for the matchless gift of His Son. I'm so thankful for His Atonement and for the power and strength that He offers me. I'm forever thankful for eternal families and for January 8, 2002.

I love you all very much, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love,
Elder Marsala

18 November 2008

Hello everybody,

Wow, it's seems just like yesterday that it was time to email. Elder Gysler and I had a rather neat experience this past Sunday while doing some contacting en chemin. As usual we were talking to people and not too many people were overly interested or seemed to have the time to get in any real testimony about the Restored Gospel. As we continued down the street in the dark, we saw a stroller and two women walking with it. Elder Gysler opened his mouth and started. This was a three generation family. Both the grandmother and the mother mentioned that they have been asking themselves lots of questions and that they would love to belive in God and His Son and Their mercy. They had a particularly hard time with the treatment of the Jews during the War and were troubled by children dying young. As we testified of the saving power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that through Him all children are saved and will dwell with God they almost wept. I don't remember ever having seen the Spirit touch someone so deeply or so quickly while contacting on the street. We were able to exchange information and set-up a rendez-vous and the soeurs will be visiting them this week. It was wonderful.

I love all of you and thank you for your support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

11 November 2008

Elder Marsala with Elder Gylser and Brother Bandieri (older gentlemen) and friends -baptized 25 October 2008


This is Miles' Halloween costume. He went around all day dressed as Joseph Smith.



Bonjour tout le monde,

The Pyrenees, The Alps, and The Mediterranean‏

This past week Elder Gysler and I took a little journey. Because Elder Gysler is in charge of the apartments for the mission and there were some apartments being closed, off we went. We sent out Thursday after having received 13 blues on Wednesday. We started by heading towards Nîmes, well there was one wrong turn taken in Carcassonne and with the "help" of the GPS it took a little longer than normal to get to Nîmes. We were sent down smaller roads through small towns and vineyards. It was breathtakingly beautiful! It is early November and all the bushes, trees, mountains, and vineyards have decided to change colors. We drove through seas of color on both sides of us, deep reds, blazing yellows, burning orange and crisp brown. It was amazing to look on either side for as far as the eye could see, and only see this ocean compossed of waves of different color. It was, as my dad would say, "Marvelous, simply marvelous."
We eventually made it to Nîmes and thanks to some road construction en ville things were slightly complicated, but we made it and were able to deliver the elders there some new beds. Afterwhich we took a few more wrong turns and headed off to Vitrolles. It was nice to be back in Vitrolles, I hadn't been there in ten months, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it there. We would spend the night there and leave behind a chest of drawers. Early the next morning we headed off to Avignon to make a quick delivery and then to Manosque to deliver a bed and do an inspection of the apartment. We left Manosque and headed to St. Raphaël. We made there and got to work emptying the apartment of the recently departed Myers. They had loads of stuff left behind. The Elders of St. Raphaël pitched in a helping head. After we had loaded the Trafic to maximum capacity we headed up to Antibes to unload the items into the chapel in Antibes which is no longer in use. We had no idea what we were missing at the chapel that night until the next day. After unloading we headed back to St. Raphaël and filled the Trafic to capacity again and then we parked and stayed the night with the Elders in St. Raphaël. The next morning we headed back to the Antibes chapel to unload again. Wow! So the Antibes chapel is a villa that has been slightly remodeled on the inside, it sits on a hill with a million dollar view of the Côte d'Azur, where one can see in one snapshot both the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea. It was breathtaking. We missed sunrise but the sun was blazing and it was gorgeous, I can't even explain. After taking a moment to soak in the beauty of the place we unloaded the Trafic and headed to the old Anibes apartment, with the help of the Elders from Nice we filled the Trafic up twice and took emptied it at the dump. After our day in Antibes we headed back to St. Raphaël to finish emptying the Myers' apartment. After we had once again filled the Trafic to it's limits there was still chairs and a lamp to fit in, so with no way to make it all fit, we were grateful to run into a neighbor who was delighted to take them off of our hands. With it getting late and time running short we left in a hurry, seeing how the next day was Sunday we wanted to get as close to Toulouse as possible. Aix-en-Provence would be our host Saturday evening and we had a great time. Very early Sunday morning we hit the road heading to Montpellier hoping to get there before there services started. We ran into the Elders and Soeurs as there were heading to church, with joy we gave them some things and after a quick laugh or two Elder Gysler and I climbed aboard for one last stretch. Going from Montpellier to Toulouse was an easy stretch of driving as far as conditeions are concerned, but considering the Elder Gysler doesn't know how to drive and I had already done so much driving I was spent and the drive became very tiring, I'd be happy to never drive the Trafic again after all the miles that we did in that thing! We arrived safely home and cleaned ourselves and made to church on time. We came home in the evening, ate the first real food we'd had in about four days and dozed off to Neverneverland a touch earlier than normal. It was great to sleep with the quilt that mom had made me, I had sorely missed it and it felt wonderful. Odd thing about the trip was as neat as it was to not wear a tie for a few days, getting ready for church it felt so relaxing to sleep on a clean white shirt.

Thanks to all of you for all of your love and support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

4 November 2008

Hello,

This past Sunday frère Vasco Santo Bandieri received the baptism by fire. Elder Gysler confirmed him a member of the Church and conferred upon him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a beautiful blessing and it was a neat experience. One of our other amis, Philip, has been making some sweet progress in the last few weeks, he has stopped working on Sundays and coming to church, which was hard for him to do for about three months. Yesterday we again went to the family Thomas' home, but this time with Philip and his sister, it was rather interesting because the Thomas family doesn't speak too much English, hardly none at all, and Philip speaks practically no French, it was a rather amusing.

Today is the transfer and it's a big one, thirty équipes were changed and there are thirteen blues coming in tomorrow. But there are no changes in the bureau, so it's almost certain that will all be here until the new year comes.

Well I encourage all of you to go out and vote! I love you and thank you for everything.

Love,
Elder Marsala

28 October 2008

Bonour à tous,

This last week was great! We had the privilege of attending the baptism of our ami Vasco Santo Bandieri on Saturday. It was great, he was found about six weeks ago and he has been baptized. He's a very, very nice gentleman, with a good heart and a strong desire to do what is right. Frère Thomas had the privilege of baptizing him and it was a wonderful service with a pretty good attendance. This last week was Stake Conference and it was very well done, due to the conference frère Bandieri will not be confirmed until this upcoming Sunday.

Other than that this last week was pretty average. The weather has taken a sudden change to the cold side of Autumn. It was a beautifully warm and sunny October until a few days ago when it all changed without any warning. Luckily none of us have taken ill. There was an event rather out unusual this past Wednesday. It was Zone Development Meeting, as we left the bureau in the early morning we noticed a problem with our Traffic, our utility van, the bumper was missing! It was unusual there was no wreckage or damage to the vehicle, just a missing bumper, we found nuts and bolts and screws, and we came to the realization that it was stolen! Who steals a bumper?! Why?! We took it to the garage where they were quite surprised and confirmed our diagnosis that the bumper was indeed stolen. It caused some minor excitement and stress, but we all survived.

I love you all very, very much, I wish you all a wonderful week and a Happy Halloween! Thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Marsala
P.S. I would like to wish a happy 88th birthday to my Grandma B

21 October 2008

There is something in a Sunday...

Bonjour tout le monde?
Comment ça va? I'm doing wonderful. This last Sunday was a bit hectic but it was magnificent in the end. So in the morning I received an early phone call from the assistants telling me that they had crashed the car in the middle of the Alps and were in a bit of a pickle. So that was a lovely start, but nobody was hurt so no real worries. We then proceeded to church in the afternoon which was fantastic. So it started with Philip. He's an ami from Ghana that speaks English and not French, he's been an ami for quite some time and even had a baptismal date. But he doesn't have much money so we can't see him as often as planned because he's obligated to work anytime somebody calls him and offers him money. This was also a problem because he has promised to come to church almost every week since early August and has never come. Saturday night we went over there with Julie Sordes and taught the Sabbath Day. He agreed to live it and said that he'd come to church. As we got to church we called him and he said he was at the metro, so Elder Gysler and another Elder went to find him while I waited for frère Bandieri. When I saw Philip walk in the door I threw my arms in the air and stated, "YES!" He came for all three hours and loved it. He also told us that that morning he had had a dream telling him to go to church. That morning he also received a call from his buddy offering him 50 euros to work that afternoon, but he replied, "No. Today is Sunday and I have to go to church."
Frère Bandieri came to church as usual and had his baptismal interview with Elder Nolan. It went well but he has some personal worries that we discussed. We then took him to the bishop so they could more formally meet one another and also get the bishop's help with these worries. It was a great little chat, the bishop spoke some rather inspiring words and really helped out.
Then we headed to Sacrament meeting, and in walked a young man in his mid-twenties. He sat by Elder Nolan for it was he that first contacted him on the street a few weeks ago. Elder Gysler and I had called him earlier in the week to invite him to church. Chris is sweet! We had the opportunity to teach him the Plan of Salvation afterward which really answered a lot of his questions about resurrection. He was very interested and sincere.
In the end we ended-up with three amis at church, I can only remember maybe one other time during my mission having at least three amis there. It was such a blessing! We were smiling ear-to-ear all day.
Well everyone, I love you all and I thank you for your love and support.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Marsala

14 October 2008

Hello everyone,
Last night Elder Gysler and I had a wonderful experience. Frère Thomas in our ward had taught our engagé Vasco Banderi with us earlier in the week, Sunday at church he invited us and frère Banderi to come to there house for Family Home Evening with him, his wife, and their two young children. It was great! Frère Banderi really appreciated it and was grateful for the opportunity. We talked a lot about the importance of reading the scriptures everyday, the importance of the Book of Mormon, and our need to study it regularly. We then watched the short film about Parley P. Pratt finding the Book of Mormon and reading it all day and all night and then being converted. It was fun to have Family Night and to be able to be strengthened together. It was also pretty cool on Sunday, the Stake President of Toulouse was visiting our ward and he made the announcement about the baptism of Vasco Banderi.
We had a good zone conference this past week and learned a lot. Today we had five francaphone (French native) missionaries arrive, that was pretty neat. Well, have a great week everyone. I love you all and I thank you for all your support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

7 October 2008

I would like to start today by wishing my dear mother and father a very happy 31st Wedding Anniversary that they celebrated yesterday, CONGRATULATIONS!

Wow! What an incredible weekend we had. Isn't General Conference just the greatest?! I was completely giddy about it the whole time and could hardly contain my excitement! It was wonderful to hear about five new temples being built, including Rome! What a step forward for Western Europe, I remember being at blues conference in August of last year with President and Soeur Merrell talking about a sister missionary at temple square from Italy that spoke to an Italian official and he was deeply moved my her words and the spirit at Temple Square. Then President Merrell held back tears as he stated, "And thanks to this sister missionary and her testimony, there will be a temple in Rome." And now the time has come.

I loved every single talk and was touched by all of them. I especially enjoyed Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Elder David A. Bednar, and Elder Quentin L. Cook. I could just name all the speakers but that would be too easy. But I definitely think that my favorite would have to be Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk about difficult times and moving forward through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was just wonderful. It was rather amusing to hear "le Petit Prince" quoted over the pulpit, and of course it was by the French member of the Seventy. But after all is said and done, I think my absolute favorite quote was when Elder Neal L. Anderson quoted a four-year-old girl in saying, "Jesus will make everything alright." It couldn't be simpler and it couldn't be more true.

I love you all so very, very much. I'm eternally grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How blessed I feel to have Thomas S. Monson as the prophet of God on the Earth and to be led by him, the First Presidency, and Twelve Apostles. What a great day we live in. Thanks for all your love and support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

30 September 2008

Bonjour tout le monde,
Wow, today is the 30th, which means that it has been exactly 16 short months since I started at the MTC! Isn't amazing how quickly time flies? Speaking of time flying by, this weekend is yet again, General Conference!
How blessed are we to already have again the opportunity to hear from our beloved Prophet, his counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and other general authorities and leaders of the Church? I absolutely love General Conference and I relish in the opportunity to hearken to the words of prophets and apostles, to think that these men are there called by God to Preach to all the nations and to receive the necessary revelation to guide His people, it's just amazing how much God loves us. One thing that I think we should all remember this weekend while listening is that Thomas S. Monson is not the LDS Prophet and the Twelve are not the Apostles of the Church. Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet of God here on the Earth for the entire human family and the Twelve are the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not just speaking to the Church, they're speaking to the world, everyone is invited to come listen, nobody is excluded. Something that I find interesting about prophets is that they warn and prophecy. For years I remember President Hinckley and others talk about getting and staying out of debt and not have overly large home debt. Wouldn't you know it, it seems to me that there have been a few financial problems with the banks in the US and some in Europe. Coincidence? I think not.
This past week was great! We had the opportunity to help two households move and it was wonderful to do some labor! The first one had a piano to move. We had four missionaries and the member and we all had trembling hands and arms afterward; it was great! We also met a sweet ami named Vasco, he's sweet! We've already had two rendezvous’ with him and he also came to the baptism of Leann Riviere this past Saturday who was baptized and confirmed by her father. Then the next day he came to church for all three hours! He's sweet and we have some high hopes for him.
Well, I wish you all have a wonderful week. Enjoy this weekend of General Conference. Thanks for everything. I love you!
Love,
Elder Miles Marsala

23 September 2008

Hi everybody,
Well this week is that start of a new transfer, the beginning of my eleventh-WOW! This transfer brought a lot fewer changes than the last one did, with only one blue coming in tomorrow and only three Elders going home, there weren't too many mix-ups. Naturally I'm staying here in Toulouse and I'm very happy about that, I love the ville, the ward, our amis, and my companion Elder Gysler. Elder Pendleton is now leaving the bureau after more than eight months as the mission accountant, his transfer was the most anticipated in all the mission, he's headed to Pau.

Elder Gysler and I have been greatly blessed as of late with some wonderful miracles. Other companionships have been finding us some sweet amis and potential amis. It's been a great week, full of miracles and good times. We will be seeing some slight changes in our area this transfer, the assistants are becoming traveling assistants, meaning that they will only be in Toulouse on Mondays to handle all the key indicators, otherwise they will be traveling all over the mission every week to do exchanges with pretty much everybody. So we're inheriting a portion of there area and that should help us to find and baptize some more people.

Well I love you all very very much and I thank you for everything that you do for me. I would like to send my congratulations to Jenn and Ryan McDaniel who were married in the temple this last Saturday.

Elder Marsala

Pictures from Toulouse are here!

16 September 2008

"Spring is almost over and summer's comin'..."
or should I say, "Summer's almost over and the fall is coming the days are gettin' short"
Hello people of the world, mostly just America, but that is part of the world. I chose this little rendition of a diddy by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band because it is applicable. Without any warning of any sort it's getting cold. Toulouse is known for it's hot and humid summers, and while cooler weather is nothing but welcome, it was a bit suprising to be burning in short sleeves one day and then the next day be in a sweater. But as we all know, with change comes beauty, there is just something special about the change of seasons that always turns our thoughts to our Creator and brings us a sense of gratitude for His wisdom, majesty, and perfection.

Yesterday Elder Nolan, our district leader, lead is in a very good district meeting, probably one of the best ones that I've attended. It was very neat to watch the change that has taken place in the short time that he has been distict leader. It was another witness to me that the Gospel can and will change lives, I'm not saying Elder Nolan wasn't already a good person or a good missionary, I'm simply saying that as he applied his new assignment there has been a change in his stature and the way he does things. I think it'd be a good thing for all of us to do a little more to push ourselves everyday, whether that be in daily scripture study, daily prayer, or simply being an example to those around us. The Lord will recognize our efforts and he will lift us to the level that we desire and that He desires.

I love you all very much and I can't thank you enough for all your support. Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Marsala

9 September 2008

Hello everybody,
This week was absolutely wonderful! While there were no big events out of the ordinary, it just went by rather smoothly and everyone seems to be rather happy.
I've also received tons of good news from all of you across the ocean and that definitely makes me extremely happy. I was overjoyed to hear about one of my great buddies decisions to serve a mission, I also received a wedding announcement from one of my best friends and everyone just seems to be doing well.
I love being able to see the world from a missionary point of view, while that often times can bring heartache and sorrow while seeing others in darkness, there definitely comes an increased gratitude for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. An ability to finally recognize the joy that comes by living the Gospel and applying it's principles. I think it would do us all a bit of good if we'd pause for five to ten minutes and just reflect on the Gospel and all the blessings we receive thanks to it. How grateful I am to my family and there dedication to the Gospel and their love for the Savior and His work.
I love you all and thank you for your support.
Love,
Elder Miles Marsala
P.S. I appreciate the increased amount of emails this past week.


*Be sure to keep checking in... new pictures will be posted soon. :)

2 September 2008

Hello everyone,
This last week was pretty good, we had a good zone conference. As a mission, we will all be rising at 6:15 to read from The Book of Mormon each day so that we can finish it before the end of the year, we have also instituted a few days as mission-wide fasts, and a daily prayer at 6:30 as companionships. We are doing this in order to increase our faith and unity so that we can reach our baptismal goal for 2008.
We got the call yesterday that Elder Knowles will be leaving the bureau today to continue his mission in Montpellier. I'll be sad to see him go, Elder Knowles and I have gotten along very well and have enjoyed each other's company these last nine weeks. He is a great friend and a wonderful missionary. I wish him the best of luck as he heads back out. It'll now just be Elder Gysler and I flying solo, it'll be interesting to no longer be in a threesome, but nice.
Thanks again for all your love and support, and don't hesitate to write, I promise it won't offend me if I receive some letters or emails.
Much love,
Elder Marsala

26 August 2008

Bonjour tout le monde,
Wow, so it's been quite a ride with the cars in the short eight weeks that I've been here. My first week in the bureau there were four accidents, no injuries. So I figured that's about all that could happen...I was wrong.
The Zone Leaders in Cannes received a brand new car, which in the first week of owning it, was keyed, then the Assistants’ car was in Bagatelle and when they came out of their lesson they found nothing where the window should of been and a lovely rock on the seat. So they started to use the bureau car instead. We took in our utility van and had its check-ups done and that the same day we discovered that on another car, a tire was completely dead; we got it fixed. We finally got the assistants’ car an appointment to have the window fixed and I began to breathe a sigh of relief as things started to work out....I shouldn't have; I received a call that the bureau car the assistants were using had the kind pleasure of having two of its tires slashed.
In the end I find this all rather amusing and I just hope that all will run smoothly next month.
I love all of you and I thank you for your support.
Love,
Elder Marsala

P.S. I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my dad who will be 53 this Friday

20 August 2008

I recieved rather sad phone call yesterday from Périgueux informing me that Purevsuren "Surène" Sharkhuu passed away yesterday morning at age 79 due to complications in her liver. I was informed that the week after she was baptized that she was diagnosed with cancer but no one told me the seriousness of the problem. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know her as I spent my time in Périgueux. She is with out a doubt one of the most faithful women I have ever met and I can still remember the joy she felt at her baptism, it was such a beautiful day. I'm also grateful that she is no longer in pain and that she was baptized and received the Gospel in her life before she was called home. I'm also happy that now she will be able to learn and better understand what was taught to her but possibly lost in translation, considering we don't speak Mongolian. I will be very happy to see her again and to express my love for her.
I love you all and I thank you for your support.
Love,
Elder Miles Marsala
P.S. I would like to congratulate my little brother Quinten who recently made the BHS Golf team as a Freshman
P.S.S I would like to wish my mother a Happy 50th Birthday this past Sunday and to wish a Happy 28th Birthday to my brother Nathan this upcoming Friday
P.P.S. Congratulations to Soeur Turner and her husband on their third wedding anniversary


(**Purevsuren "Surène" Sharkhuu is the woman in the photo with Miles by the baptismal font a few posts below this letter.)

12 August 2008

>

Hello everyone,

This past week was quite interesting for lots and lots of reasons, but after all is said and done it went pretty well I thought.I would say that the highlight of the week came last night. Elder Knowles and I had the privilege of going to eat at the family Caplin's home, it was so good. They live about a 35-40 minutes outside of Toulouse in a very small town, which was typically French, quaint, charming, and beautiful. They have a sweet home and a lovely family, they were just so happy to have us over and there was just a loving excitement radiating from them. The father is an excellent cook and who has a passion for cooking and food similar to that of Dennis Larsen, it made me laugh.

So this week starts again a new transfer, they just come and go so quickly it's ridiculous. Obviously I'm staying in the bureau but I still had to pack my bags. Elder Knowles and I have moved into the apartment above the bureau with the other elders that work here, and our proselyting area has been slightly modified, but will still be in the same ward. We will also still be in a threesome because Elder Gysler from Switzerland is coming to replace Elder Knowles after this transfer. It's rather hectic around this place during transfer week but it's fun anyways.

I love you all and thank you for your support.

Love,

Elder Miles Marsala

5 August 2008

Bonjour tout le monde,

This has been a pretty great week! We had Zone Development meeting and our first interviews with President Carter and it was wonderful. This upcoming week will be the transfer but we know that I'll be staying here which I'm quite excited about so that's good.

This last weekend was great! Brice Wilson was baptized! He has been an ami for more than a year, he was originally being taught by the Assistants and then he moved into the Zone Leaders area, he's so awesome! The baptismal service was great and he was so proud to be a Latter-Day Saint. During his testimony afterward he sung a couple of songs and it was fantastic. Sunday he went to his ward at 9AM and then stayed for all of our block as well which ended at 5PM never leaving the church. He bore his testimony in both wards in which he also sang, he's so cool. He came to family night last night and gave the lesson on Prophets, Apostles, disciples, and missionaries and he did a wonderful job.

As of next week I'll finally have a dead companion, meaning he'll have returned home. All my companions are still living but for the next four transfers all my companions that I've had to this point will be leaving except for Elder Knowles, who is my first companion younger than me.

Well as of this past Friday, August 1, I've officially lived in France for a solid year, pretty neat I'd say.

I love you all dearly and I thank you for your support.

Love,

Elder Miles Marsala

Pictures from Perigueux, France

June 28, 2009

Miles baptised Hongova Sandag (the young girl in front)

Below:

Elder Marsala with his companion and the youth in Perigueux

29 July 2008

Road Trip

Bonjour tout le monde,
This last week was absolutely fantastic! I had such a great time, last Tuesday we had a wonderful fun filled day at the Carter's home. They're such great people, I love them! Thursday Elder Knowles and I hit the road. He is the apartment manager and had some things to take care of in Perpignan and Carcassonne so off we went. The travel went smoothly and it was great, but in Perpignan nothing that we went to do worked! But we had fun anyway. Then we continued up to Carcassonne, but en route we needed to eat so we stopped off at the Buffolo Grill, which was most literlly Wyoming en français, it was so fun, it was weird to be in a real restaurant with a small salad to start and all that normal stuff that we never do or see, so it was quite a blast for us two. Then we made it to Carcassonne, again everything we tried to do didn't really work, but we were entertained. Then right before heading back to Toulouse we stopped by the family Pondela and shared a spritual thought, it was so wonderful to see them again! The rest of the week went pretty well, but yesterday was amazing! We went to do service at the family Sordes, they are such an amazing family! We had such a great time! We went there to tear down walls by means of sledge hammers, and it was as fun as it sounds, I absolutely loved it, it was so fun to be able to labor and utilise harnessed agression. Afterwards we ate and read scriptures together. They could very possibly be the coolest french family that I've ever met, they are incredible!
I love all of you and thank you for your support.

Love, Elder Miles Marsala

21 July 2008

Hello tout le monde,
So this past week has been pretty swell. Last Preperation Day we had a wonderful time playing sand volleyball with 14 missionaries, and as you all have justly assumed I'm horrible at it, but it was great. During the week we were teaching our ami Romaric the Plan of Salvation and we were talking about the Three Kingdoms of Glory when he just at random said he has decided that he wants to be baptized on August 28th, so that was definately exciting!Earlier in the week we found a new amie named Sylvie, and she's sweet. After learning about the Book of Mormon and holding it in her hand we asked how she felt and she replied, "I feel the Truth." What a cool lady. We passed by the family Aubin at random and they invited us in and fed us, they are such an amazing family. There are three little ones and the parents are strong in the Gospel, and it's easy to see that all they want is to have a strong Gospel based family and I think that they're doing a pretty sweet job of it myself. We've all been pretty excited in the bureau this week, for President Carter has invited all the bureau Elders and the Assistants to his house today for a BBQ and to play sports for the day, we're all quite energetic about the activity. I hope you're all have a wonderful summer and enjoying the sunshine. Thanks for all your love and support. I love you.

Love, Elder Miles Marsala

15 July 2008

Hello everyone, how are you all doing? I'm doing great! This past week we had our first Zone Conference with President and Soeur Carter and it was fantastic! They are so cool and have a sweet conversion story, "il y a trente ans" it was so much fun. They taught some great stuff and it was fabulous.

We had some pretty sweet rendez-vous and lots of fun teaching this week, the work is moving forward!

So le tour de France passed through Toulouse this past Saturday and it only cause heartache. Elder Knowles and I were dying to go and catch a glimpse, but it was exchanges. Fortunately for us we would be in Toulouse for the day and were hoping to see a bit, but the day was in a sense over planned with rendez-vous very far apart, most of which didn't happen due to road closures and le tour de France, so simply we snapped pictures of the crowd that was waiting for the cyclists to arrive. But even worse, we were at the chapel and were just raté-d, we recieved a call from another missionary, knowing we where we were, asked if we saw it, we replied in the negative and he asked why, considering that not more than three minutes before he called us all the cyclists went zooming past the chapl! We were sad. ça va.

Yesterday was a sweet day as well. We had district meeting and then about ten missionaries all went to lunch together, we went extravagent, McDonald's! But the great part was that the Scotish Open was on the entire time, I had not seen golf on the TV in over a year, I didn't go to watch but we did stay there to eat and it was continually on...then after a great day at tha Bureau we went out and found a sweet man that is starving for the Plan of Salvation, he just doesn't know it yet. We also passed by a woman, her sister was there and we were able to teach and found an awesome new ami, the two of them are so funny. Then we went to Family Home Evening at the chapel and it was a riot!

I love you all so much, thanks for everything.

Love,

Elder Miles Marsala

8 July 2008

I must say that I absolutely love Toulouse! It is such a wonderful ville and it is beautiful! It's fun to be in a big city with lots of people. Sunday was fantastic, I love our ward, it's big and has families and an organ. I have not heard an organ played in church since the MTC but doing Sunday services there it was by piano too, it was great.

My two companions are absolutely fantastic, I love them! I heard a rather cool story last night about Elder Knowles, he was on the "Price is Right" on an episode that aired May 14, 2007, he even showed me some pictures.

Again this weekend I was privileged to see two more people make the covenant of baptism with Heavenly Father, Tommy Houbron of the Toulouse Concord ward and Major M'binji of the Toulouse Capitole ward, it was a nice service. What a blessing, three week-ends in a row I've been privileged to see baptisms, seven in total!

I love you all and hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July!

Love,

Elder Miles Marsala

3 July, 2008

La ville rose!

Well I assume that you have figured out that I was most likely transferred, considering the fact that I'm writing on a Thursday and I spent almost six months in Périgueux. Have you been able to guess where I am...that's right "la ville rose"! AKA Toulouse! I am in Toulouse the fifth largest city in France and the headquarters of our mission, and that's exactly where I am, the bureau. I am currently being trained to be the new Car, Bikes, Phones, and Referrals guy. I've found that the bureau is a lot of fun and it's nice to constantly be around multiple missionaries. I would say that the biggest draw back is feeling like I have a job on top of the mission. We live in the newest apartment in the mission in a very beautiful part of town called Colomiers and our street is "Arc-en-Ciel" cela veut dire Rainbow! So for the time being I have two companions, Elder Workman(whom I'm replacing) from Salt Lake City and Elder Knowles from West Jordan. I am in the shortest Elder in the trio and I know you'll all be shocked but I've only had one other companion taller than me(other than Elder Rees at the MTC)

I have had the wonderful privilege of meeting President Michel Carter, our new President as of this past Sunday. He and his wife are from Quebec, Canada and he is wonderful. As a matter of fact my companions and I are in his ward. Toulouse has two LARGE wards each with about 120 Members and I'm very excited about that. It has been a sad experience to lose President and Soeur Merrell they are amazing and have deeply touched my life and I will love them forever. I know that President and Soeur Carter will do a wonderful job taking over and it has been and I do expect it to be a smooth transition.

This last week I also made it to Brive, the blue ville of Nathan, and it was pretty. The Périgueux Elders had to go there to search out a baptismal dress because we BAPTIZED on Saturday! After a nearly six month stretch in Périgueux with what was starting to feel like fruitless labor, Hongora Sandag(14) and Purevsuren "Surène" Sharkhuu(79) both from Mongolia entered into the waters of baptism. I was honored and privileged to perform the baptism for Hongora, I was nervous as could be having never personally baptized someone before, but it went wonderfully. The service was absolutely fantastic. Surène bore her testimony in Mongolian while Hongora translated and it was strong! I was so happy!

I love all of you so much and I wish you all the best of weeks. I would also like to congratulate Soeur Jennifer Martin and her husband on the birth of their first child, Joseph Thatcher.

Love

Elder Miles Marsala

24 June, 2008

So this is the last week of the transfer and there are lots of changes coming. It is very possible that I could change villes, it's almost certain that I'll be changing companions and it is 100 percent that I will have a new mission president. Yes indeedy, President and Soeur Merrell are heading home this Sunday June 29, 2008 and President and Soeur Carter are arriving Sunday June 29, 2008. I'm awfully sad to see the Merrell's heading home I love them so much! I am however excited to meet President and Soeur Carter.

I'm rather neutral on my feelings of staying in Périgueux again or not, I've liked the ville and the branch, but it would be nice to see something different, so if I stay or go I'll be happy.

I had the great opportunity to see three more of God's daughters enter into the waters of baptism this past Saturday. A mother and her two daughters were baptized into the Brive branch, which has been officially told it will be a ward in the next few months. It was great, I see the Brive members coming here so often for baptisms and conferences that most of the members know me and I them, it's kind of like serving in two branches. Soeur Marie Bringard of Brive says that she know Nathan(Elder Marsala who bleued in Brive) and that she had him over every Sunday for dinner, cool!

Jacques finally returned from his state side basketball camps and it was a joy to be able to see and teach him again, I'm really going to miss him.

The 21st was La Fete de la Musique, it was crazy all night long there were bands and musicians on every corning just jamming away, there were so many people!

Last night Hongora and her grandmother were interviewed for baptism, I'm so excited, they're being baptized this Saturday! It's been so fun to see the faith of her grandmother as she's been taught, it's been interesting as well considering she doesn't speak French or English and we don't speak Mongolian, but she has well understood and is excited for her baptism.

I love you all so much! Thanks for everything have a great week!

Elder Marsala

17 June 2008

I hugged a woman!

At the end of last week's email I wished you all a Happy Father's Day and an amazing U.S. Open...well as you all know it sounds like you had both. I am absolutely thrilled to have heard the results from this year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, I think it's cool that it took a short 91 holes to do it as well. I'm told it was one of the most exciting and thrilling, I'm told that on Sunday and Monday Tiger made some big birdie putts to get the job done I'm smiling from ear-to-ear!

In some very exciting news I hugged a woman and it was fantastic! She smells so much better than the missionaries, and it was great. I haven't hugged a girl since my mother on May 30, 2007 at the MTC but on Friday the 13th of June 2008 I hugged Soeur Merrell! The Merrell family came to Périgueux on Friday to say goodbye, to have final interviews with President Merrell, take pictures and say goodbye. I was definitely sad to think that they're leaving and that I won't see them again until I've been released. But it was a great day and it was marvelous to see them. They shared some lasts bits of wisdom with us before parting and as always it was truly great and wise. They will be with us until the 29th when President and Sister Carter arrive.

Well everyone, I love you all and wish you another great week. I hope that you're all wearing red in honor of the victory.

Much love

Elder Miles Marsala

10 June, 2008

Torrey Pines!

Is it really already U.S. Open Week?! YES IT IS!!! And I am so thrilled even though I will have no idea of anything until Tuesday when it's two days over, but I don't care, I'm giddy!

I understand that Tiger hasn't played since Augusta, but this is Torrey Pines, nobody plays better at Torrey than TW, nobody. He's definitely hungry for a third U.S. Open as well.

Aside from my extreme excitement for the week to come this past week was pretty good. Wednesday was our last Zone Conference with President and Soeur Merrell, it was so cool, it was simply amazing and I loved every second of it, they showed us some very very cool things and told us some great stories. Fortunately this would not be the last time that I'd see them while we're all set apart, they will be visiting Périgueux on Friday to do interviews and to say goodbyes, I'm expecting a tear jerker. I just love them so much.

Sunday we had a really cool Stake Conference, in fact it was Stake Conference for all of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands-and everyone of us in these countries tuned in for Stake Conference from Salt Lake City, there was a transmission and Sister Liffert of the General Primary Presidency spoke, President Neal L. Anderson of the Presidents of the Seventy, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve, and yes in deedee President Thomas S. Monson the Prophet all spoke to us and directed there comments towards Western Europe, it was so good, I love our leaders!

I wish you all a great and Happy Father's Day and an amazing U.S. Open

Much love,

Elder Miles Marsala

3 June 2008 - The "Halfway" Point!

A Very Good “Hump” Week!

I had a simply splendid week since I last spoke to you all, as my wonderful father would say, "Marvelous, simply marvelous!"

Last Tuesday I received a phone call from Thomas, asking if he could see us on Wednesday because he was moving to Sweden on Thursday, I must admit it was one of the best phone calls I've ever received, he wanted see us one last time on his last day here. Wednesday during the rendez-vous he offered to say and then did offer the opening prayer, Thomas prayed, out loud. I hoped, but didn't imagine, that he'd ever pray. I was extremely touched and exceedingly well pleased. The rendez-vous was good, a touch sad, but it went well, he also mentioned that he's started to read the Book Of Mormon. I sure hope that he finds a French speaking missionary in Sweden.

We hadn't seen Jacques and Mawuena for awhile and were sad about this fact, we got in touch with Mawuena and learned that the reason was because Jacques is currently int the US doing some training with the Wizards and some other camps in Tennessee and California. Mawuena mentioned that she was lonely without her man, she doesn't know many people here, so last night she went to her first Family Home Evening with us and the Fisher family! The Fisher's are a rather large, family, nine children, from Tahiti, they were great with her and made her feel at home. The boys were excited to have Jacques' fiancé over considering they follow the basket ball team here.

It was a beautiful week with lots of miracles to record.

And yes, Friday was my year mark and just for your information today is also a year mark, I return home on June 3, 2009.

Thanks again, I love you all

Elder Miles Marsala

27 May 2008

A Rainday, I mean Sunday!

So Sunday was just that, as most days, Rainday but that's okay because we're rather used to the rain by now.

Sunday however was exceptionally wet and it was a much more constant rain than usual, which would normally decrease moral, but with all the great stuff that happened, it was impossible to be discouraged.

In sacrament we had a surprise guest that needed our help, an American family currently living in England is spending a week in the Dordogne and came to church, it was sweet, their oldest child/daughter had just returned from her mission in Kentucky, chez-Elder Walker, and their third child, a son, is heading to the MTC to serve in the same Korean mission as Elder Ellsworth's girlfriend. The youngest of five was a boy and was wearing an American flag tie, which our Tahitian sister wanted in a trade, after hesitation and some encouragement from his family, he left without his pretty tie.

So we returned home and after lunch we had a rather long day in the rain staring us in the eye, nothing really firm as far as rendez-vous were concerned, we had planned to hike into another ville to try and find a family that had stopped coming to church, we had no phone number or address, just an incorrectly spelled street name. En route the first five or six people that we stopped, in the rain, were awesome and they all gave us information so that we could speak again, one of them is even a former ami from years ago and the son of one of our members, pretty cool I thought.

Later on during the journey we came across some men standing outside a house during a family party and the men were so nice! They were speaking to us and knew that we were Mormons for a few factors, one he currently lives in San Francisco, two he lived for years in Park City, UT, and three his wife is from Salt Lake! You should have seen her reaction when she saw us, one of shock and disappointment, she's not a member and almost refused to believe that we were there and that I too was from Salt Lake, it made me laugh.

We continued on, still in the rain, we found the street we were looking for but we had no idea which house it was, time was running short so we started eliminating that houses that had names on them that were not the name we were searching, that left us with four houses, first three were either incorrect or nobody was there, and yep you guessed it, the very last one was the family! They didn't really have time to talk, but it was a wonderful experience just searching and eventually finding them.

I know that this email was rather long but Sunday was pretty awesome and I just wanted to share it with you all.

Love you much, thanks for everything

Elder Miles Marsala

20 May 2008

Holy cow time flies! I just finished my seventh transfer! I don't believe it at all. As I'm sure you're all curious to know where I'll be and with who for transfer number eight....I will be in Périgueux, France with Elder Walker! No one is more surprised than I am. It should be a fun and interesting transfer.

This last week I saw two brilliant rainbows that made me oh so happy, isn't God just wonderful?! I love seeing His hand daily and the small miracles and tender mercies that He provides us, just to remind us of His love, it's a beautiful thing.

So time flies fast, at the end of next week I'll be reaching my year mark, I can't believe it. But just in case you didn't know, today is a year mark of sorts as well...it was one year ago today that I spoke at church, which means that it's also been a year since I've seen my older siblings, there spouses, and my beautiful nieces, sad I know. I must wish happy 22nd Birthday to Alex Anderson of the G2 who celebrates it today.

I love you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you, thanks for all you do.

Love,

Elder Miles Marsala

13 May 2008

Bonjour tout le monde,

So yesterday was quite an interesting day. We were to take a 7:30 train to Bordeaux, arrive at 9:00 be to the chapel by 9:45ish so we could have interviews with President Merrell and also a little zone meeting thing and then to catch a 2:00 train and get home by 3:30. Well the Zone Leaders told us we needed to catch an earlier train to get there earlier of course.

We planned on the 6:50 train to get there at 8:20, so we arouse early and got to the train station and there is a problem between here and Bordeaux, so the train was cancelled! But we had to go, this was interviews with President, then the trains decided that all of us stranded passengers deserved passage to Bordeaux so they sent us on another train headed towards Agen, the opposite direction. Have way there they had us all switch trains and take a southern route to arrive in Bordeaux at 10:30! What a morning.

Interviews were amazing, I absolutely love President Merrell and I learned so much from him, he is inspired, and I know that he is called of God to lead this mission. The little zone meeting was also fun and it was nice to see some other missionaries. But the meeting went long.

We arrived at the train station at 4:00 for our 2:00 train, not a problem because there were still no trains running between here and Bordeaux, so they provided a crowded bus for all the hopeless riders. After a late arrival of the bus and a beautiful bus ride home, we arrived safely home at 7:15pm

It was so fun to be able to see some areas of travel that I would not have otherwise seen, it was so beautiful. So I thought that the scenery and the interviews were enough to make up for all the difficulties, but it got better. Received a call from a frère telling us we had to hurry over to there home to eat crèpes with the family because a former missionary that finished two years ago was visiting and they wanted us to meet them. The crèpes were delicious, the former missionary was cool and his wife was very nice, even better she served in the Paris mission so we didn't have to speak English, it was so fun. It was a pretty great day in the end.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, I sure did, I spoke to my mommy, and my family as well.

Thanks for everything, I love you all.

Miles

Photos from Perigeux, France

6 May 2008

Hello everybody,

The sun is shining and it is warm! Well it has been, it's cloudy again today but that's only because it's my one day to do something like go to a golf course, which is unlike without rain gear. But none the less, I'm so happy to see sun and to have warmth.

This last week was absolutely fantastic! We had two amies tell us that they want to be baptized in June which was very exciting. Thomas, who's the one of the coolest people I've met in France prayed for the first time in his life, that was very encouraging. And we found some new amis that are sweet! They say that they're Jewish but they absolutely love everything that we teach them, and they understand it just beautifully. They've done some research on the internet, he hasn't mentioned anything untrue but he found some things that typically cause problems with people, such as doctrine that is found in the Book of Abraham, but no, he was like tell me this, we didn't go into it just gave a brief explanation and he said it made sense and of course it's that way.

What a great week it was, I'm so excited for summer and for the work to move in the same direction as the thermometer.

I love you and thank you for your support.

Elder Miles Marsala

29 April 2008

Hello my loved ones,
So the week started a little slow with not a lot happening, which can be rather frustrating, but than Thursday came...We all hustled in to Bordeaux for another Zone Conference and this time we were blessed to be with a General Authority again. Elder Francisco J. Vinas of the First Quorum of the Seventy came and instructed us, it was so cool! He is definitely an inspired man called of God. I learned so much in just a few short hours. He carried the Spirit so strongly with him and had so much love to give to all of us, it was wonderful! It's amazing to think that the Lord calls the most ordinary of people to the most extraordinary things. I've come to realize that the leaders of the Church are so remarkable and so talented because they've always dedicated their lives to the Lord and His work, even before they were called.
After the wonderful Zone Conference the work picked up in Périgueux. We had plenty of rendez-vous to keep us busy and found two new amis. We also saw a little miracle when we were placed in the path of a young woman that I had spoken with two or three previous times, she finally said she'd listen, she now has a copy of the Book of Mormon and is excited to study it, that is why we must always contact everyone, even the juene filles :)
I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week, thanks for everything.

Elder Miles Marsala

22 April 2008

Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well, I am.
But unfortunately not a whole lot happened this week due
to the illness of my companion.  We spent almost the
entire last three and a half days inside, I'm sure
I'm getting Cabin Fever now. But I've been able to get
in some extra studies.We had the opportunity to see
Thomas again on Sunday, it went well but unfortunately
he's moving to Sweden soon, that saddens me a touch
but ça va, he's promised to keep contact.
  It's odd that February was record warm and record dry,
 but now at the end of April it's just cold rainy days!
Why is it that Mother Nature is so confused, why? 
Oh well.I just realized that this email is kind of lame,
 I apologize forthat, but know that I love you all.

Love,
Elder Miles Marsala

15 April 2008

CONGRATULATIONS!! First and foremost to my beautiful
sister Alyssa Lou who gave birth this last Thursday
 to little miss Allie Wahlquist, their third daughter!
I'm so excited to again be an uncle, as most of you
know, I love these little ones todeath. I can't wait
to see Allie in approximately 14 months.
Second Congratulations would go to all of you and this
 day of taxes. :)
And finally a congratulations to Trevor Immelman on South
Africa on his first Major and his win at the Masters! 
I was sad to miss it, but it wasn't all that difficult
to miss I was busy.  As for Tiger, it's too bad he took
second, but he's still the best as you all know, there
are three more majors this year and he'll be looking for
redemption, and his colleague under the Swoosh was the winner.
I'm so happy for all of you, especially for my sister and
 her family.This past week was pretty good, nothing
too exciting but pretty good.Elder Walker and I are getting
along well and we're happy.

I wish you all the best of weeks, much love.

Elder Miles Marsala

Congratulations Uncle Bobo on your new niece!

We've made a slide show for Uncle Miles to see pictures of his new niece, Allie Wahlquist.
Born April 10th 2008.

8 April 2008

Hello my dear family and friends,
Well as for the transfer I'll be staying in Périgueux and getting Elder Walker as my companion. Elder Coull is headed to Manosque.
Wasn't Conference spectacular?! I loved it soo much! I felt so privelaged to stand and sustain President Thomas S. Monson as the Prophet, it was a great experience. I was blessed to be able to watch four of the five sessions this weekend, only missing the very last one. I enjoyed all the talks and all the subjects, it is clear to me that the Lord truly leads His Church through His chosen representives on the Earth. I felt edified and re-energized. I also can tell you that I know that President Thomas S. Monson is truly God's living Prophet and that Elder D. Todd Christofferson is in all reality an Apostle of the Lord.
I hope that you all enjoyed Conference as much as I did, what an awesome blessing it is to be able to listen to a prophet's voice, isn't it a miracle? I know that I definately under appreciated Conference before and how lucky I feel to have it.
In other exciting news it's MASTERS Week! Holy cow! I can't believe it's already here, I remember the last one so vividly in my mind, I'll miss the Azaleas and Dogwoods this year, but I'm expecting full updates.
I love you all very much and I thank you for your support.

Elder Miles Marsala

P.S. Today is an anniversary, it's been officially 13 years since my baptism

1 April 2008

Poisson d'Avril!


Holy cow! Time flies super fast! So today is April 1st that is to say that as of today I've officially been a missionary during all 12 months on the calender, on Sunday I hit ten months and this week the transfer already ends. Not to mention that it's already General Conference time this week-end! Wow, the time is very short.
This last week was pretty good, lots of people "gave us the rabbit" it's a French expression, and with all irony on the week, I finally actually ate some rabbit. The weather is starting to warm and the sun has been fighting to come out, we're all quite excited for Monday because President told us that after Conference we can take off our jackets!

As for the excitement of the week...well this last Saturday the 29th of March there was an article in the news paper, about The Mormons...yeah...let's just say that Elder Coull and I were terrified to find our picture on the Front Page! Agh! President is going to eat us alive for this one, but on a brighter note there was also a tiny little article about the missionaries entitle "Chic and Smiling" we did no interviews and answered no questions but I'm not too thrilled about the situation. I think we'll be fine, but Elder Coull and I have been rather nervous for our interviews that are coming up in less than an hour.
Love you all very much,

Elder Miles Marsala

25 March 2008

Bonjour tout le monde!

Happy Easter! I hope yours was wonderful as was mine. What a great holiday, a special time of year where we take special attention to the most important event in history, the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I loved the day and I love everything that it represents. I'm so grateful for the Atoning sacrifice of our Redeemer. I felt especially blessed to celebrate it in the mission field with the people of France.
This last week was a fun one, did two exchanges and learned loads of good things. I had the opportunity to go with Elder Hill, one of the zone leaders from Kaysville, to Bordeaux, it was definitely a day filled with excitement and fun. There was some crazy driving involved, this is France, but it caused for some excitement.
We had a little miracle in finding a new ami on Saturday, we contacted a young woman on Monday and fixed up a rendez-vous on the street for Saturday, to be honest this situation is almost never a success and the person doesn't typically show up, especially young women-I don't know why. Well we called to confirm the rendez-vous and she said of course that she was coming, well this posed another problem because we couldn't find a member! Headaches, our 1st counselor agreed(at a sacrifice on his part, so I felt bad) well we were there waiting and she wasn't there, agh!!! After all the stress, but then she showed up and had a fantastic lesson about The Restoration. From all this I learned the Lord needs me to be both more patient and have more faith, if only I already had these virtues.

Love you all very much, thanks for all you do.

Elder Miles Marsala

18 March 2008

Hello everyone,

This last week was pretty good, there were no big events or anything in particular that peaked interests, but it was good none the less.
We did have a great zone conference where President Merrell made a sad but exciting announcement that named names. He told us that starting in July we now know that it will be President Michael Carter and his wife Danielle from Quebec. It's exciting to know but sad to think that President and Soeur Merrell are almost finished.
Well the next time I write it will be after Easter, I wish you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday and truly remember the sacrifice of our Lord and of His resurrection.

I love you all!

Elder Marsala

11 March 2008

Rain, Rain, Rain -

...I'd like to say that it was a light drizzle here and there, but no, it's constant raind for days-I find it rather fun though. Oddly enough it makes me want to go golfing, I always loved playing in the rain.
So in this last week there was some fun stuff and some sad stuff. Fun stuff, well I don't exactly know what isn't fun as a missionary. But I think the highlight was when a member gave me some cool new dictionaries. I'm constantly asking this member how to improve my French and to teach me phrases and I go on endlessly trying to improve my language skills, so finally this member on Sunday gave me a dictionary full of French expressions and another of synonyms! They are the coolest books ever, other than the scriptures of course. Poor Elder Coull, he's constantly hearing me try to use new phrases and say new things, and whenever it works I get excited and he just laughs.
I would say that the saddest event that occured was Friday, Ralulu, the Fidjian rugby player, moved to Mont de Marson to play in the next division up. I was very excited for him but quite sad to lose him. We passed his info to the Elders there. One of them called me to tell me that they made contact already and that they love him, how dare they, that's my Ralulu! ça va
Well world, things are going great here, I love you much and I thank you.

Elder Miles Marsala

P.S. I would like to extend congratulations to the Lee family on having their forth child and third daughter

4 March 2008

Hello,
So this week I was privileged to see another baptism, Giovanni Cichella was baptized at age eight by his father, who was quite the excited and proud papa I might add, it was fun.
There was not a lot of commotion or extra excitement this week, it was pretty standard. Although it was rather funny during fast and testimony meeting, one of our ward missionaries whos preparing to go on a mission got up to bore his testimony of the work. He has the opportunity to work with us quite often and he was talking about some of these experiences. As he went on he mentioned that we talk to lots and lots of people and get lots of rejection, he continued to mention that quite often and not uncommonly the people will say, gesture, shout, or whatever something mean or rude and not too uplifting. He then in reference to us the missionaries and the work said, "I don't know why they do it." Promptly everyone in the room looked at us with a slight giggle, we simply shrugged our shoulders.
If only there had been time to tell them that we do it because we love the Lord, because we know the Church is true, because it's the only way by which we can return to live with our Father in heaven and we wish that all of our brothers and sisters will return to Him. There's nothing better that we could be doing at this moment in our lives, it's what the Lord has aksed us to do and it's that simple.
Have a great week, love you much

Elder Miles Marsala