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