March 25th, 2013

Hola!! I'm in Texas!! Better yet, i'm on the border! I'm in Eagle Pass. I can't even tell you how much I LOVE it here! We're less than a mile away from Piedras Negras, Mexico. We can see the giant Mexico flag everyday! It's huge. Definitely makes me a little more excited to be speaking spanish. Before I tell you more about Eagle Pass...
Our flight was delayed so I was able to talk to Mom and Dad for a little longer, which was nice. Oh and before that, both my bags were over 50 pounds. woops. My mission president was laughing at me when I told him how much I had to pay for them. But we got on the plane and filled half of it. It was a small plane that only fit 60 people. 31 of us were missionaries. The flight was quick and we were in Texas!! Our mission president greeted us and welcomed us to San Antonio. It was about 80 degrees and sunny! We went to the mission home and had lunch. I talked to both President and Sister Jones about how I know their niece and I gave them both hugs (from the Websters--Julianne) They loved it. I had a great first interview with President Jones. He asked how my spanish was and i said it was doing alright and then he said, "well i already know where i want to send you, so unless i receive another answer.. you're going to a special place!" i just sat there, not knowing what he was talking about.. i knew he truly was and is called of God. We went to the Alamo! But because our flight came in later than planned, we only had 20 minutes or so to walk around. But it was great! The River Walk is a "red zone" for missionaries. So i won't ever get to go there. They read the speech that was given and said "any of you that are going to be on the Lords side, and would lay your life down for the Lord and His work here in the mighty TSAM, step across the line." We all stepped over. It was a really spiritual experience.
After that we went back to the mission home for dinner and took pictures then loaded up the cars and drove to the church. The sisters all stayed at members homes the first night. We had the FUNNIEST lady. She took 3 of us and we each got our own queen size bed, unlimited access to REAL food and then called it a night. She drove us by the San Antonio Temple too which is beautiful! Sorry i feel like this is all over the place, but i'm trying to hurry and fit it all in one email!
The next morning we had transfer meeting. At this point we still had NO idea where we would be serving. President spoke to us and we had a little orientation then the AP's announced where we were going and who our companion was. They read my name and all i heard was "Border Zone" !!!!! Ah i was so excited. I'm in a trio. Hermana Ferguson is our trainer. She's been out 15 months and is from St. George. She's incredible. So funny, and patient with us. My other companion is Hermana Regan. She's from Springville. We work well together and have had a ton of fun and success already.We drove from Transfer meeting for about 3 hours to Eagle Pass. It's a town of about 20,000 people. You see EVERYTHING here. Literally shacks made out of sheets of metal, a million stray dogs and cats, trailer parks, and a few nicer homes that have air conditioning. More shacks than anything though. But the people here are SOOO humble and want to learn. They all say "soy catholico" ya right.. none of them go to church they just love God and love to pray. We'll get them, dont worry :) I love speaking Spanish!! I'm improving each and everyday and know that without the Lord, it wouldn't be possible for me to be able to speak in a whole different language. We've had so many cool experiences! The first night we went and taught a man who was baptized last week. His name is Hermano Gomez. He is probably 70 and has had 7 strokes. He can't use his right arm at all. He's so sweet and loves el libro de mormon. Another family has 5 kids and everytime we go over, all the kdis run up and say "sisterssss!!" and hug us. Ah i love it. I miss my nieces and nephews like crazy though. We live in a really nice apartment. But we can't drink the water. It literally is like we're in little Mexico.. i LOVE it! You can send letters and packages to our apartment. I'll be here for 12 weeks (or atleast that's the plan) so i'll give you a heads up when to start sending things to the mission home again. If you've sent things there i wont get them for 2 more weeks, until President Jones comes down for Zone Conference. But i'll get them eventually :) I got eaten alive by mosquitos a few days ago. This place is crazy. It's not that humid. But it's HOT. I got sunburned the other day while we were out knocking doors. It's crazy. After the first few doors, I just decided I couldnt be scared anymore. I have the power of God with me. I'm going to share my message with everyone I meet! We contact every person that walks by. People probably think we're crazy, but i dont care. I'm not ashamed of this Gospel. It makes me so happy. I'm thankful that I get to serve out here in Eagle Pass. I truly love it. I love this work. It's hard, and it's rough when people cancel appointments, but the good times definitely outweigh the bad. The missionaries are pretty much in charge of church. I found out 10 minutes before sacrament that i'm now the piano player for our branch (spanish speaking) and then my companions and i had to teach the gospel principles class. Haha i love the people so much. The Spanish branch decided it was fast sunday last week so I bore my testimony. It was a little intimadating in front of fluent speakers, pero esta bien.
AHH I love this work. I'm so thankful to be a missionary. I'm thankful for all of you and the examples you are to me!! Thank you.
I'm sorry I sound crazy in this email, we're in the library and have a time limit so i'm trying to fit everything in.
Our address is:
2295 Veterans Blvd. #9
Eagle Pass, Texas
78852

I love you all!!!!!
love,
marissa

please tell everyone that i will email or write them next time i can! I only have 7 minutes left and have to email my president real quick too. here's some more pics. I love you all! Tell emilie i will write her a letter or email her next week will you? And tell them fam I LOVE getting their emails. thank you!!!
love you!
we were pretending to be justin bieber haha
an awesome cake that an investigator made.. soo good. a bundt. haha i love my bundts!

March 20th, 2013- Arrived in Texas!

Dear Missionary Families,

We are happy to inform you that your son or daughter has safely arrived in the Texas San Antonio Mission! President Jones and I and our assistants greeted them at the airport at about 2:50 this afternoon. The plane from Salt Lake City was delayed, so we were anxiously awaiting their arrival. They arrived with smiles on their faces, happy to be here. What a great group of missionaries!  This was our biggest group ever with 31 missionaries, 18 being Sisters!

After collecting their luggage, we made our way back to the mission home where we had lunch, individual interviews with President Jones and some orientation. Then they were off to the Alamo where they learned a little history and participated in some mission traditions. We welcomed them back to the mission home for dinner, and time spent getting to know one another. The Sisters then left for various members homes and the Elders left for the assistants apartment for their first night in the mission field.

Tomorrow morning we will have an orientation and transfer meeting where your sons and daughters will meet their new companions and head out to their first areas. You should expect an email from them on Monday which is their preparation day. We are so happy and excited to have the opportunity to serve with these fine young men and women. Thank you for sending such well prepared and wonderful missionaries!

Sincerely,

President and Sister Jones

March 14th, 2013

I'm so happy right now! It's 5 AM and i'm smiling.. mom probably doesn't believe that. But i am :) I love it here. I love this work. I love the Book of Mormon. I get so excited just thinking about sharing this Gospel with everyone in San Antonio. We had a great lesson from our teacher Hermano Henderson yesterday. He shared a cool mission experience then we started talking and I felt like it was a pre-game speech. All I wanted to do when he finished talking was get on the plane and go! I was fired up and ready to get to work! I really am so grateful that I've been able to be in la CCM por seis semanas, but I want to get to Texas. My mission prep teacher at BYU told us that "it takes one missionary to change the mission. For the better or for worse. Be the missionary that changes the mission for the better." I want to be that missionary. The one that changes it for the better. I'm going to work hard every single day to bring everyone closer to Christ. I pray everyday for my family and friends, that you all will strive to come closer to Christ. I have never been so excited and motivated about doing something. I want to share this message with everyone I meet. I got my travel plans and I leave on the 20th at 6 AM. My flight leaves a little before 10 so i'll be calling around 8 or 9 i would think? Mom and dad, will you be home? Or are you still traveling the world? I will also send my new address later today, for Texas. This week has been really good. I've learned a lot. And Spanish is making sense now. I know it'll be rough for the first little while when I get out in the field, but i'm up for the challenge. We've had lots of really neat experiences this week.. I had a meltdown on Friday and was able to ask the elders in my district to give me a blessing. I was able to feel of my Heavenly Father's love for me and as soon as they laid their hands on my head, I felt His love and comfort come over me. At choir this week, the director shared a story with us all, he said.. "So you're in a foreign country with several of your friends. You're touring the city and you see a wall with graffiti all over it. You all talk about how fun it would be to go spray paint your name on it. But there's a sign that says 'No Trespassing.' You decide to come back that night and all paint on the wall. When it's dark, you all come back and begin spray painting the wall. Before you could finish your name, flashing lights come from around the corner and the police jump out of the car. All your friends get away but the police arrest you. They tell you that they are putting you in prison forever. You sit in your cell for a few hours, crying, thinking what have I done? Then one of the officers comes up to you and tells you that if you have a family member who would be willing to come and have their hand nailed to the wall, they would let you go home with them when they decide to pull their hand off, the nail ripping through their hand. You contemplate the idea for a little, but the thought leaves your mind. You think 'no one in my family would do that.' Before you can give your reply, your brother walks in. The police beat him and whip him. They torment him. You sit there yelling at them to stop, but they don't. When they are finished they walk you and your brother out to the wall. They take his hand and nail it to the wall. He cries out in anguish. You yell 'no! stop! i'm sorry i'm sorry!' You run to your brother and tell him how much you love him. You thank him and cry while you hug him...  So my question to you, elders and sisters, is this. What have you done for your brother lately? Do you let others use his name in vain? Do you live your life as if He were standing next to you? Do you have a picture of him in your room?"
WOW. It was so powerful. I think that was the turning point for me here at the MTC. Prior to the story, i was learning patience and love and charity.. but after hearing this, I had a new sense of commitment to the work, and especially to my Savior. He did more for us, than we ever could for Him. I guess that's one of the biggest reasons I'm here.. to repay Him in even the smallest way. To bring our Heavenly Father's children back to Him. I know the Atonement is real. I know that our Savior suffered for all of us. All of our pains and sorrows. I don't want anyone to have to live with those feelings. This Gospel offers hope. It offers happiness and joy. I'm so excited to share that with those in San Antonio. The next night at dinner, Brian came and ate with my companion and I. He asked me how I was doing and then asked how I've changed since being here. It made me realize that I have. I know I will continue to learn and grow, and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in San Antonio. If you get a chance, you should look up "feed my sheep elder holland-mtc" and listen to the last 15 minutes or so.. Elder Holland tells the story of Peter and the disciples when Jesus asks "do you love me" three times. It's so powerful. I love it. It's going to be a rough weekend, saying goodbye to our zone and our branch presidency. They are incredible. I play the piano a lot, which I love. Except the branch presidency decided to changed the sacrament hymn on me after the meeting had started.. the power of prayer is real, I can testify of that much. Haha he asked me to play a hymn I didn't know. But Heavenly Father answered my prayer! Hermana Lund and I have been locked out of our room 3 times this week.. twice of which i was in my towel-straight out of the shower, standing outside my door until someone could come unlock it. The joys of being at the MTC.. I'm trying to beat the records in the gym one more time before I go. My goal is 20 3's and 40 free throws.. haha it's a long shot, but we'll see. we'll see if Dad's coaching will pay off!
I feel like I have so much more to write, but I think i'm going to have to call it good. We're heading to the temple for the last time as a district. I love you all!!! Thanks for all your support and prayers. I pray for you each night. I'm so thankful for my family. I couldn't do it without you. Be safe!
Love,
Marissa

I just received an e-mail from my mission president that says there's a new rule from the mission department that missionaries are allowed more time to email and write friends and family. As well as the fact that we're now allowed to e-mail whoever we want.. so i'm going to! It'll be easier to communicate too because letters take a really long time to write.. (Marielle will you still put them on the blog, i only have a few of my friends e-mails) Sorry you're going to get even more e-mails from me now!! LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Van Wagenen and me. I want to send this picture to my sem teachers at brighton. we had seminary together and we thought it'd be cool to show them that they made a difference for us :)

I saw Kim's brother Steve and he said he's never been so happy! He is totally changed and is happier than i have ever seen him. he loves it. The sun was really bright. Ha ha. 

all the boxes from the packages i've gotten.. haha

March 7th, 2013

Hola! 
Thanks for all the e-mails/letters/packages. It really helps. I know I say that a lot, but it keeps me happy to hear from all of you! It's crazy i've been here a month! Time flew by. The days go by sort of slow, but to think that I'm starting my 5th week already is crazy! Hopefully we get our travel plans Friday (tomorrow). A lot of missionaries are getting reassigned because none of their Visas are here. But thankfully I dont have to worry about that.. I'm not sure I could take this food any longer than I have to. It all tastes the same now and my stomach still isn't very happy with any of it. I had dinner with Greg and Brian the other night, and they served Chicken Cordon Bleu.. they loved it. It had to be at least 800 calories in itself but it was so good haha gross.. But i'm not complaining! Our district has had one of the biggest rooms with a great view of Timp, we're on the top floor. But randomly they told us we had to move because they needed to film an instructional video for language teachers so we got kicked out and now we're on the other side of the building with a view of the gym. Haha my only question is why they wouldn't want me to be in the video? Esta Bien. I broke the free throw record.. I think I told you last time that i made 27 then the lady said she didn't see it.. yeah i was pretty upset. haha but I had another lady watch and I got 24 in a row! Boom. Gym helps me get out all my stress and emotions. And helps me work off all the treats that Mom sends me :) I started to read the Book of Mormon 2 weeks ago and am trying to finish before I leave the MTC. I LOVE IT! I don't know what it is but I understand more than I ever have, It all makes sense and I really feel the spirit when i'm reading. I don't know if it's because i'm reading with the perspective of a missionary or what, but it's incredible! I love testifying of it's truthfulness to our investigators. We read in Preach My Gospel that it is our most powerful tool in the conversion process. It's so true! I love reading a lot every day because the stories make sense and you can really see the timeline of everything. My desk is by the window, and while I was reading yesterday I wasn't really getting much out of it, i felt like i was just reading words, so I said a prayer that I might be able to have the Spirit with me. To teach me, and that my eyes and mind might be open to the words. I kid you not, the sun started shining right through the window onto my scriptures and I felt the Spirit so strong! That's what I love so much about being a missionary. Or maybe it's just being at the MTC, the Spirit is so strong and you can feel it. We had a really neat devotional on Sunday. It was Marcos Audikaitis (probably spelled that wrong) but he and his wife are from Brazil. He's in the 70. He was hilarious. He had a really strong accent and would make the funniest jokes. He talked about the kingdoms and which one we wanted to inhabit after this life. It was the coolest thing because we don't talk about that too often. He told us to decide now, write in our journals in huge letters, what kingdom we are going to inherit. He said once we make the big decision, the other little decisions will fall into place. I thought that was a neat perspective. One of the funny things he said when he was talking about the telestial kingdom was, "if you want to inhabit the telestial kingdom, you're doing too much already" Haha maybe you had to be there, or maybe i'm just super into the missionary mode so it was funny, but it's true. I know that by being out here serving the Lord, is the right thing for me to be doing. I know i'm here to help others to come closer to Christ. I'm so thankful for eternal families and for the opportunity I have to share that great blessing with other families in San Antonio. The Spirit testifies of the truthfulness of the Gospel. We are simply the instruments in God's hands. Sunday was fast Sunday, so we had a big Mission Conference. All of the MTC Presidency spoke to us as well as their wives. The MTC President had two of the Sign Language missionaries come and bear their testimonies. WOW. The Spirit flooded the room. I thought it was neat to feel the Spirit in our lessons through our broken Spanish, but to feel the Spirit without hearing one word was such a testimony builder of the Spirit. We taught a lesson last week to Georgina, one of our investigators, we had the lesson all planned out, and of course, she decided to throw a curveball and we had to trust that the Spirit would take us in the right direction. What we had prepared wasn't what she needed to hear. So, we followed the Spirit and taught an incredible lesson about prayer and faith. I love teaching the gospel. I know it's true. Sorry, i feel like my letters are always all over the place, but there's so much I want to say! Spanish is coming along great. I finally am to the point that I can say what I want to say. Even if it's not totally correct, I can still get the point across. Greg left on Tuesday. I said goodbye to him Monday night. No Bueno. It was rough but I was glad that I got to see him while he was here! He's going to be an incredible missionary. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy as I did while he was here. I'm jealous he's out of here already. I can't wait to get out in the field! I know I'll be a little nervous but I'm so ready! I love this Gospel and know that it is true! I know Joseph Smith saw God and His Son Jesus Christ. I love you all and miss you so much! I pray for you everyday. I wish I could write you all individually, but just know i love getting all your letters an pictures! Especially from my neices and nephews. I miss them like CRAZY. I'm so happy here and I'm doing well. Don't worry Mom :)
Love you all!!
Marissa

p.s. they're doing construction across the street so they made an announcement that they'd be shutting off ALL water to the MTC for 8 hours today.. I'll never take running water for granted again!

It was 5 am...yes, I have puff face ha ha 

LOVE YOU!!!

February 28th, 2013

hola familia :)
i'm starting week four now! crazy.. i really enjoy getting all your letters, packages and emails! supposedly it doesn't work if i just push "reply" so i'm not sure if you all got the email i sent you individually last week. sorry if you didnt! things are going great. I haven't had any breakdowns-yet. Except for the fact that my district all has departure dates before me. I'm not stressing out yet but supposedly i'm here till the 27th. heck no!! i'll break out of here. Spanish is coming along better now. Our teacher was gone all of last week and the 2 weeks before that, he was acting as the investigator so we are just now getting to know him. He's really cool. We've had some cool teaching experiences this week.. we have 4 progressing investigators. (they're teachers here.. but they make it seem super real) and it's awesome because the spirit testifies in so many different ways! We taught Juan, who doesn't want to belong to any church and is really faithful in reading his bible. He didn't want anything to do with the church but once we talked about eternal families.. got him! They finally put my name up in the gym and gave me a certificate for the 3 pointers. I beat the free throw record last night with 26 in a row but the lady that was in charge was like "i didnt see it.." ugh. could've killed someone at that point. so i'll have to try it again. Guess what!! M. Russell Ballard came and spoke to us on Tuesday night at the devotional! It was amazing. I sing in the choir so I get super good seats every week for devotional. We sang Consider the Lillies. Which made me think of you mom.. Belting out Music and the Spoken Word while i'm still sleeping on Sunday mornings. In your paper towel robe. I told all my district about that because we watch Music and the Spoken Word before Relief Society each week. Sundays are my favorite days here. I'm so sick of the food. It's not bad, just doesn't taste good anymore. I literally eat fruit and chocolate milk for every meal. Unless they have Country Fried Steak Dinner.. then i definitely eat that. Takes me back to elementary school and when Dad would have me mix my egg nog with skim milk because i was chubby. Haha I was able to go out into the real world this week! My companion got pink eye so we had to go to an after hours clinic and rite aid to get some medicine. It was great! Last sunday was pretty emotional.. 2 of our districts left, as well as lindsay. And our favorite counselor in the branch presidency got released as well. A lot of goodbyes. But i know that soon enough i'll be leaving too! Our new counselor is broth and sister Price. Their kids went to Brighton and they lived in willow creek till a few years ago. It's crazy how small of a world it is. Especially if you're mormon.. ha I hope everything is going well back home! I pray for you all every night. I'm going to try and send an e-mail to each of you/your families.. we'll see if it works! Thanks for all your prayers and support. I love you so much!
marissa
ps i'm sorry i'm so awful at writing!! we're only allowed to write on p days and it takes FOREVER. i'll try and write more though. 

Greg's brother, Brian has been sooo awesome. He helps me and my companion with Spanish a few times a week and takes his own time to do it. Mom i might have you make him cookies at some point or something.. 

our roommates who left this week to florida and washington state. and all the hermanas in our zone in the second pic :)

it's not awkward at all. it's actually really fun seeing greg. we have the same eating schedule so i see him in the cafeteria. we wanted to take an awkward one though. and the other one is my zone. 

February 21st, 2013

Hola!
Thanks for all the letters and packages. They help a ton. I feel bad I haven't been able to write everyone but we only get 30 minutes on Thursdays to e-mail and it's usually at 5 am. I'm going to try and e-mail later on today too but for now this is as good as it's gonna get! Spanish is finally coming along.. I can teach the first lesson and the restoration. We pray in spanish, bear testimony and attempt to invite people to come closer to Christ. This work is incredible. The spirit is so strong here. I started getting a little homesick on Sunday night and started thinking.. crap, i don't want to have one of those "mtc breakdowns" but my district went to watch the Joseph Smith movie after the sunday night devotional, and as I watched it, the Spirit testified that this is where i'm supposed to be. I saw everything the members went through to start this gospel on earth and I felt so dumb for even thinking that a year and a half was a long time. These people died for this Gospel. I was really glad that Lindsay was here because otherwise I probably would've just cried myself to sleep. It was like EFY where you're just so overwhelmed with the Spirit and you're like "this church is so true!! i want my mom!!" haha none of you even know what i'm talking about but i tried.. Mom your package was perfect! honestly you picked every thing exactly how i would've. I got the necklace at Etsy by the way. She'll just have to search "florida heart necklace" the lady that made mine, her company was Truche. i think. those cookies were sooo good! My roommmates and i attacked the rick krispie last night too.. haha i'll send some pictures. i can only send 2 pictures per email so don't be mad if theres like 10 emails in your inbox. i know you love me though lois. both those shirts you sent me are really cute and fit perfect! I broke the 3 point record.. dad will appreciate this story. so the record was 4. then some girl made 5.. so i had to get at least 6 but i didn't want to get beat so i was going for 8. I started making 4 in a row. like 3 times. then i finally made 6! then 2 minutes before gym ended i was like heck no, i'm beating that. so then i started singing the song in my head that i used to when i would shoot my free throws.. before i knew it.. 14 in a row! "hand up till it goes through!" - Dad. I will try and e-mail again later today but for now i'm going to send some pictures!! i love you all and hope all is going well at home.
love you!!
MarissaP.S. i love those pajama dresses!

I PROMISE I WILL WRITE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!! I LOVE YOU ALL AND YOUR SUPPORT HELPS ME SOOOO MUCH :)

londyn, rylee, dylan, harper, bo, luke, britton, blakely, paige..

i'm miss you all so much!! I just sent you all letters.. hopefully you'll be getting them soon. I love you all so much. I'm so proud of you :) keep choosing the right. I love all the pictures and letters you send me! I like them better than your parents letters.. but dont tell them that. Keep sending them! I pray for you every night. Love you!!!
Love,
Marissa, BFF, Ya Ya, Issa

Sorry for all the e-mails! i tried to send them to everyone! ask mom if you didn't get one or something.. that picture of lindsay and i with our retainers in is SUPER attractive. thats what we look like every night. haha i saw Greg!! i look a little to excited in the picture. esta bien. I'll write you all individually so i can respond to your letters and everything. Thanks again for writing me and sending me things. It really means a lot. I have the best family in the world. I thought i knew that before but it's even more obvious to me now. i love you all so much. 
love,
marissa

a little bit of memphis... for jon and jenny. totally racist. i'll repent

February 14th, 2013- First email!

Hello!!! I dont' know how long this will be because I only have a half hour on here.. but i'll try to get in as much as i can. It's 5 AM and we're doing laundry. LOVE IT. I dont even know where to start.. um the MTC is great. It's so cool seeing all these youth so devoted to the work. It's freakin hard but the spirit just picks you right up as soon as you're about to give up. It's awesome. I wrote down all the questions you asked so hopefully I can answer them. first off, thanks for the letters and packages!!! They help SOOOO much. not to mention my entire district is way jealous. I just have the coolest family in the world i guess. so keep sending them! Dad.. how's your shoulder? thanks for all the letters! did YOU find the mouse? i found mine! the "longer letter" made me laugh. and i really really love the bookmark. that's my favorite testimony to listen/watch. Mom, Gosh you made me cry when you said you had used all the kleenex and had a headache! I miss you all. I slept well the first night. No tears. I was just exhausted. Everyone here is so nice. My roommates are great. There's 6 of us in the room. My companion is really nice. She's into theater and singing. We find lots of things to talk about....... :) um Our district is incredible. There's 5 elders and 4 hermanas. the elders are funny and treat me like on of the guys. The girls are girls. but we all get a long great and have fun together. Which is a good thing because we sit in class for over 7 hours a day. Spanish is crazy hard. It was easy the first 3 days. I was getting it down. Then i got frustrated. Then i had some inspiration and was able to bear my testimony in spanish. then i got discouraged again when we started learning more things. then i had another spiritual moment. it's just back and forth and back and forth. but i know the lord takes care of us all. the spirit here is really neat. there's just a happy feeling about the whole place. thanks for the bundt cake!! it was so good. i needed some real food. the food here isn't bad.. just not that great. i try to eat lots of salad and fruit but for some reason it's just not sittin right. if ya know what i mean. Diana and Lynn were in the cafeteria when i saw them. i've seen them a few times. Lynn has been stuffing his face with cookies and talking with his mouth full. haha LINDSAY is one door down from me!! ahh what are the chances?! i see her about 3 times a day. we're able to talk and everything. it's been great. How is everyone at home? Why hasn't londyn written me :( ' '   '   '  see the sad face is crying. haha thanks for fixing my blouse mom!  and thanks for going to greg's farewell. i had dinner with Brian on monday and he said that he did great. will you tell jon thanks for the letter? and cam? cam sent me one the first day! it was really nice to get one. letters help so much. the sisters all dress really cute here, so no mom, i haven't been stopped by the fashion police. My zip code is 84604 by the way. it's been wrong on a few things. just FYI. I'm going to try and email my sisters but can you get me cam, nic, and jons email?? i could atleast send this to them too.. as well as their addressess? Thanks for all the prayers and support! I'm happy and i'm being tough! We had a really cool experience this week teaching an investigator.. lets just say i believe in the gift of tongues and it is the coolest feeling being able to bear my testimony in spanish!! i feel like i forgot to say a whole lot.. i'll write letters so i can tell you more. LOVE YOU ALL!!!! 
love, hermana egbert
Happy Valentines Day!!!

oh and mom... can you send me a few more things? the bookstores got nothin.. 
-vaseline
-another pj dress from target.. the rainbow bright one
-my RPT shirt it's in my middle cupboard of my dresser
2 more sports bras
a pencil box
a BRUSH! i forgot one
and tweezers?
LOVE YOU SO MUCH LOIS!!!!!

i got my scriptures and hymn book engraved for free dollars

I love you all!! I love getting letters emails and packages from you guys! they help a ton. i pray for you all everyday and night. be safe! see you in 18 months!

I had a little more time to get back on.. good thing because i forgot to tell you some things!! we just went to the temple and did a session with our zone. it was really neat. the provo temple is really pretty. i fell asleep a little, didn't have any mentos. here's a few pictures too. maybe you can save all my emails? that'd be pretty cool :) oh i gave brian my temple clothes. greg might be texting you and maybe you could get them for me?? he and his family sent me a package for valentines day. it was super cute. cam sent me a package also with chocolate covered strawberries!! my roommates love me because i keep getting treats. gym is the best time of the day.. i'm going to try and break the record for pull ups, push ups, 3's and free throws.. let's see how good of a coach dad really was! mom.. can you send me some tights? i didnt exactly pack for provo.. anything else you want to send me too is fine!! i got a package also from Morgans today. debbie sent me a scarf and told me to stay wrapped up in the work. it was great! love you all!!! 
Marissa
ps i'll write you on tuesdays and email on thursdays.. most likely. 

peace and blessings.. peace and blessings