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
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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
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
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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. :)
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. :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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
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
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