Bonjour!

Welcome Home Elder Marsala!

Congrats to Miles!

Just a little F.Y.I. - Miles was accepted to Brigham Young University and will start there upon his arrival home this summer. So when you see him, give him your congratulations!

13 April 2009

Dear friends and family,
This last week was pretty good. Elder Gill and I are getting along just wonderfully. We did something different everyday to have fun. One day we wrote a member in Periguex, we took pictures in the new t-shirts we had made, we made a cake for our ward mission leader and sang to Somaly Kim (Friday was their birthday), we had a pizza party and last night(Easter) we hid three eggs from each other in our tiny apartment. It's been fun. It's weird to think that a month from yesterday I'll be home. It's crazy how fast time flies. We found a sweet new amie name Vanina, she's from Tahiti and she is ready for the gospel. We had one of the best first lessons of my mission with her. Tomorrow will be my last Zone Conference and it will be presided by Elder Gerard Caussel of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy. I sure do love you and I'm excited to see you all.

Love, Elder Marsala

25 March 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
...We had a wonderful experience on Saturday, at the end of a long hard day, we went to see Florencine, our very nice but stubborn ami that has always disliked when we talk about her being baptized. Well, the lesson was on baptism. We went with our ward mission leader, frere Ojeda, and it went super well. She had a hard time when the lesson turned from baptism to her being baptized. Elder Monson and frere Ojeda persevered and were patient. When we left, she was engaged to be baptized the 18 April 2009!
I am very happy to be in the Lormont Ward, the members here are wonderful and I love the people! Don't worry about me, I'm not really trunky at the moment, which is wonderful! Not to make you trunky or anything but I'll be home in only 7 weeks from when you read this.
Thanks for everything! I love you all!
Love, Elder Marsala

16 March 2009

Dear family & friends,

This past weekend we had Stake Conference and it was presided over by Elder Caussic of the First Quorum of the Seventy, acting under the direction of the Twelve to reorganize our stake, he was accompanied by Elder Kerr, an area Seventy from Scotland that knows Elder Call's family. During Stake Conference I had a "Tender Mercy." Before the main meeting started on Sunday, there was a little welcome meeting for new converts with Elder Caussic and Elder Kerr. For some reason, Elder Monson and I were in there listening and then in walked Hongora Sandag (I baptized her last year) We were so happy to see each other. Then I had the honor, privilege, and blessing to see her shaking hands and talking with two Seventies, one, a General Authority. It was one of the greatest things I've seen on my mission. Afterward we were able to talk and she told me about her trip last Autumn with the branch to the Madrid Temple, where she participated in baptisms for
the dead. She goes to church every week and know the missionaries very well, one being Elder Gill, my MTC companion. I was so grateful to see this young member staying strong and growing in the Gospel, being only 15 and the only member in her entire family. It was a most beautiful gift from on High.
I love you all and I thank you for all that you do.
Love,
Elder Marsala

2 March 2009

Dear family and friends,

How is everybody? I hope that you're all doing just lovely. I'm doing pretty good here in Bordeaux. We had another pretty good week, which finished with Fast Sunday, meaning there are only two more on my mission - CRAZY! I remember leaving the MTC only having had two.
We were able to teach Elisabeth (our investigator) again, and this time with her husband and her father-in-law. It was so wonderful. They're a beautiful little family with lots of love for each other, it's refreshing to see. They seem to be accepting the restoration and we have high hopes for them.
A few more miracles we've witnessed this week, mostly on Saturday. After the rendezvous with Elisabeth and her family, we went to another rendezvous, he wasn't there so we went to our back-up plan, to pass a guy we met and then do some "porting". We arrived at the beginning of the street and we noticed a young lady in her car. We approached her to see if we could help with some of the groceries, she declined but continued to speak with us. She had remembered Elder Monson from December when he and his last companion spoke with her. When we asked if we could explain our message another day she replied, "Tell me some right now" Veranique listened intently and seemed touched. She is 19 or 20 and doesn't drink or smoke! That is almost unbelievable! We asked who else she knew that might be interested, she wasn't sure but said she would make photo copies of our card and hand them out, we just gave her more cards!! She was born in France but her
parents are Portuguese. Tell Matt Torgersen that he should love the people in Portugal - I do. Half the branch in Periguex is Portuguese, Elisabeth and her family, and Veranique are also Portuguese. There is a member here from a Portuguese family and served her mission in Portugal. She said the work is kind of like France, except - the Portuguese believe in God and don't hate religion like the French.
Friday and Saturday we helped somebody move, the work wasn't bad except for the place was disgusting. Upon returning home on Saturday, we saw a man and young lady standing next to a van full of furniture, we offered a hand and to our astonishment we were able to help them. There were eight people in all and about five of us emptying the van. We got the whole thing done in an hour. It was quite tiring, going up and down the flight of stairs, but it felt good.
Love, Elder Marsala

P.S from his Mom: Miles birthday is March 23rd - I'm sure he would love a card or letter.

Elder Miles Marsala
France Toulouse Mission
4, Rue Alaric II
Compans, Caffarelli
F-31000 Toulouse FRANCE

16 February 2009

16 February 2009
This week we had Zone Conference and it was weird to think that I only have one left.
Friday after Zone Conference, I went to Agen on exchanges with Elder Miles from Phoenix. He is super nice and one of the most charitable missionaries that I've met. On Saturday we were using the bikes in Agen, we had to go up a curb and I guess I was rolling to slowly for I fell and I didn't think much of it, naturally I scraped my knee and my hands, then I looked and I had done a number on my hands, especially the left one, with pebbles in it and a large cut. I went to the supermarket and cleaned it and got some bandaids, it's still a bit tender though. Later while returning to the apartment we were stopped by a "drunk". He harassed us and then called us American Spics. At one point while he was talking I checked a tear in my pants and he thought I was making an offensive gesture, so he kicked me! What a weirdo. I didn't think he kicked me that hard for it didn't hurt, but currently above my left knee is a bruise of considerable size and a
bump, oh well...

Love,
Elder Marsala

P.S. A note from his Mom: Quite a contrast from the previous letter of baptism and confirmation. But we must accept the bad with the good, I guess. My current countdown is now 11 weeks!!!! I'm getting pretty exited to see Miles again.

9 February 2009

9 February 2009
Wow, what a week we just had. The ami we were teaching from Talence was baptized on Saturday. We saw her every single day in the week in order to finish teaching her. She had been well prepared by the Lord and had a great understanding. She understood her decision and was willing to live up to this commitment. She was Buddhist, her parents are Cambodian and Chinese, and she now has a great faith in Christ. Thanks to our wonderful members and the Lord, all was accomplished and Somaly Kim was baptized in Talence and the following day was confirmed. The service went very smoothly and the spirit was very strong. A weight was lifted off our shoulders when frier Fourtina said "Amen" and we took our hands off her head.
The other ami we are teaching, Florancine seems to be humbling herself and sincerely asking in prayer now, GOOD SIGN!

Love,
Elder Marsala

2 February 2009

2 February 2009

Things are alright here in Lormont, like typical Bordeaux, it rains a lot and is a bit chilly. The ward is very nice and seems to be quite strong and unified. We have some amis that are doing fine. We have an amie from Talence, which is the other side of the river, she has recently moved in with her parents over here. She is supposed to be baptized this Saturday, we now have to teach her a handful of commandments and make sure that she is ready by Saturday. I'll let you know how it all went next week.
We did find a new portuguese amie, Elizabeth. She's a young mother, her daughter, Carolina, is 1 1/2 months, we're pretty sure that her husband is interested as well, so that should be nice.
I will keep you informed of our progress.

Thanks again for everything, I love you all!
Elder Marsala

27 January, 2009

> I'm heading to my last ville. I'm being sent to
> Lormont, which is part of Bordeaux. I'll be with Elder
> Monson from Texas, we know each other quite well, we were in
> the little district in Periguex together for three
> transfers. He is a diligent/obedient/hard working elder.
> I'm excited. This transfer will be nine weeks instead of
> the standard six due to new scheduling requests by Pres.
> Carter to align our mission with other French Speaking
> Missions and the MTC.
> On Saturday the 24, January was all about wind! A
> tempest came through the southwest of France and northern
> parts of Spain. It was an incredible force of wind. Winds
> were about 60 mph with gusts above 90 mph, there were a lot
> of gusts. The city was on Red Alert, which basically means
> don't go outside, but we were out - and it was strong.
> I think at times I could have seriously flown. The
> aftermath was like after tornado, it was crazy.
> Hundred's of trees were completely uprooted, not little
> trees but enormous trees with large root systems that were
> old, went down. Many trees snapped at the bottom. Some
> fell on apartment buildings, or houses, or the streets, and
> the power lines. Some of the smaller surrounding cities
> were without electricity, heating and some without water.
> There was debris all over. Many signs had been blown away,
> fences flattened, street signs that were cemented came up,
> others snapped. Some bus stops had glass panels
> blown out. Absolutely no buses or trains were working.
> Trains were closed until Monday. It was quite an
> experience, they haven't had any winds close to that
> since 1999.
> It's weird to be leaving Toulouse, I've truly
> loved it, especially the ward I was in. Last night we did
> FHE with my favorite family in the ward which would be the
> first family I met and the last I'll see. It's hard
> to think how close the end is, I try not to think about it,
> but it does pop up.
> I hope all is well with everyone.
> Thanks for everything.
> Love,
> Elder Marsala

13 January 2009

13 January 2009
...It seems like things are going smoothly enough. A lot has changed in the last week, due to the fact that Elder Mendenhall, my replacement, was completely trained and I had nothing to do at the bureau all day. I've been moved! I didn't go to far, I went back to Colomiers which is the part of Toulouse I was first in when I came here. I will be companions with Elder Nolan for two weeks until the end of transfer, which suits me because we get along great. Elder Nolan has been in my district my whole time in Toulouse.
We'll see where I end up in two weeks.
It's really hard to believe that I'll be home in less than four months, it's a rather scary thought, I'll have to live by faith.
I love you all very much and can't wait to hear from you.
Thanks for everything
Elder Marsala

Air Mail!

Dear Friends and Family;
Miles has decided to write only letters for the last four months of his mission.
I will continue to post information from the letters I receive each Tues.
As always missionaries like to receive mail, so if any of you have a moment, write a quick note I know he would love it.

Quoting from Miles letter:

6 January 2009
"...Things are going pretty well here, we've been finding new amis and they've been sticking around. The other day we were with our ami Mohammed and he had already read 100 pages in the Book of Mormon and he understood it well. He said, "it's not Lehi, Nephi or Mormon speaking, it's God, and you know it from the first page" That was pretty neat to hear.
Just for your information, President Carter has changed return days from Wednesdays to Tuesdays, so I'll be flying home on the 12th of May..."
Love, Miles

6 January 2009

Bonjour tout le monde,

I hope all is well back home. It is snowing here again in Toulouse and that is never fun. This is a quick email to thank all of you for your love and support and to let you know that I will not be sending eny emails for the rest of my mission. So I encourage and ask all of you to WRITE LETTERS! I don't want to lose contact with any of you, and I would love to here from you all very soon. Have a great week! See you in May.

Love,

Elder Marsala

My mailing address remains the same:

Elder Miles Marsala
France Toulouse Mission
4, Rue Alaric II
Compans Caffarelli
F-31000 Toulouse
FRANCE

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