Steven's letter Dec 28

Dear Family
Hey how was everyone’s christmas?  It was great talking to yall this last week.   It was good to hear everyone’s voices.   Christmas was great here.  We went around and saw 4 or 5 families in the ward and then went caroling.   We had a Christmas eve party with the Darby family.  They had a few of their neighbors over and we got to talk to them a little.  One of the families was a Hindu family from India.  They were really nice people.   They have a little girl about 5 years old.  They had never celebrated Christmas before, they really enjoyed the party.  The Darbies kids had a nativity play.  It was a lot of fun.  They invited us over for Christmas breakfast too.  They are a really nice family.  Then we went over to the Jessop’s.  That’s where we called home from.  They have a really young family.  Both of them went on missions.  After that we went to the McBride’s for an early Christmas Dinner.  All of their family lives in the Memphis area, so they had a full house.  I think Brother Harris said they had about 40 people there.  They invited a recent convert over to eat to.  His name is Brian.  He is from Simbobway.  He is going to University of Memphis for school.  He lives in the other ward.  He is a really neat guy.  His Wife is moving here this next week, and she wants to be baptized.  The elders that cover that ward are really excited.  After that we went around and saw a few more families and went caroling.
So I don’t know if you remember Kelly.     Elder Perza and I were working with him a lot trying to get him and his girlfriend to get married.  He got married the day I left Pocahontas and baptized that same Saturday.  Any way.  I got a call from him Christmas night.  Last Sunday,  he got the aronic priesthood.  And he is now a Sunday school teacher for 13-15 year olds.  So awesome!  It was great talking to him.  I miss being able to see him.  He is such a great guy.  There are a lot of people I miss being able to see in that area.  I’m sure its going to be the same way when I leave here.
   Elder Morris is getting transfered.  We are pretty bummed about that.  I guess it would have happened sooner or later though.  He is getting moved on Wednessday so half of this week we are going to be going around so he can say good bye to everyone.    He has to pack everything up today.    We are going over to the harris’ tonight.  They are having us over for dinner and then we are going to show them how to have Family home evening.  Things have been going a little slow this week.  Its been hard to catch people home over the hollidays.  Elder Morris and I have really been trying to find people are ready to hear and accept the gospel.  I’m a little nervous about him leaving.  I don’t feel like I know the area or the people very well yet, but I know that God will help me.  I have come to rely on that help with a lot of things since I’ve come out to Arkansas.    Well I hope everything is going good there.  I hope you have a great week.  I miss you all. 
Love Elder Marshall
Quote of the week
“Whenever we are inclined to feel burdened down with the blows of life, let us remember that others have passed the same way, have endured, and then have overcome.”
        -Thomas S. Monson

steven's letter Dec14

Dear Family
How is everything going there?  Is everyone getting excited for Christmas?  It’s coming up pretty fast.  It feels like December has just started and its already half way over.  Has it started to get cold there?  Its kindof different here.  It can be real cold one day and be we will be wearing our big coats, and two days later it is t-shirt weather again.  It’s pretty nice today.  It’s been a pretty good week.  We go one on one off with the car.  This week was our walking week.  So we got a lot of walking done.  Brother Harris is getting baptized on Saturday.  He is real excited for that.  He was telling everyone at church about it.  He’s a great guy.  I don’t remember if I’ve told you, before but a week ago when we went and saw him,  he told us he believed that Joseph smith was a prophet, and that the book of Mormon was true,  but he didn’t believe that God would want him to give up the tobacco and the coffee.  He has been chewing tobacco since he was five years old.  He told us he would pray about it though, and if he got an answer to his prayer, he would quit.  Elder Morris and I were praying for him too.  Two days later, he had a doctor’s appointment.  He has problems with depression.  The doctor told him he needed to quit chewing tobacco, and drinking coffee.  That was pretty neat to hear.   Kind of like out of the mouth of two witnesses.  His wife has been less active for a few years now, but wants to start coming to church too.  They have the goal of going to the temple to be sealed together in a year.  It’s a great goal for them to have that will help them both as they become active in the church.  The members of the ward here are really excited for the baptism.  It’s the first baptism they will have since the ward was formed 2 years ago.  We are hoping that there will be a big turnout at the baptism and that it will get the members excited about doing missionary work.   Well I hope everyone is having a great week.  I love you.
Love Elder Marshall
Quote of the week
“They do not love that do not show their love”
                           -William Shakespeare

Steven's letter Dec7

Dear Family
Hey is everyone getting excited for christmas?  How long before school lets out for christmas break? I got the package. thankyou.  Its been a really good week here.  Im still trying to find my way arround collierville.  Elder Morris and i are working really hard together.  We have been working with a lot of the members here in  the ward.  We are trying to get them to do more missionary work.  Missionary work is a lot better when it is the members that are finding people for us to teach.  So we are trying to help them see that.  We have been working a lot with Brother Harris.  He is the 79 year old.  we are hoping that he is going to get baptized before christmas.  We talked about how he can get married in the temple to his wife.  Thats something that he really wants.   He has to give up his chewing tabacco though.  That might be a little hard for him to do, but i know he can do it if he wants to.  He has been chewing tabacco since he was 5 years old. He has to stop drinking coffee to, but i don't think that will be as hard for him.  I think its really interesting how big of a thing the word of wisdom is.  almost every person that i've seen get baptized has had some kind of a word of wisdom problem.  Even a 13 year old girl.  And most of the time, it was a challange for them to give it up.  It just shows how a testimony of the gospel can help us and those around us come closer to God.  They knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Word of Wisdom had come from God, so they knew that it was something they needed to follow.  well I hope everyone is haveing a great day.  I love yall.  Hope you have a good week. 
Love Elder Marshall

Quote of the week
"The spirit of giving gifts has been present in the mind of each Christian as he or she commemorates the Christmas season. Our Heavenly Father gave to us His Son, Jesus Christ. That precious Son gave to us His life, the Atonement, and victory over the grave.

"What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps. It was said of Him that He 'went about doing good.' As we do likewise, the Christmas spirit will be ours."
Thomos S. Monson

family letter

O quote of the week
"There is danger in the word someday, when what it means is not this day.  The thought "some day i will" can be a thief of the opprotunities of time and the blessings of eternity.  If you choose to serve the lord this day, i make you 2 promises, hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the lord this day.  By choosing to serve Him this day, you will feel his love and grow to love him more."   - President Eyring

Have a good week
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Nov 30

Dear Family
How was thanksgiving? I hope it was a lot of fun.  Did you watch a movie over at the shop?  Is it still nice and warm there?  Its been a pretty good week here.  Elder Morris and I have been staying pretty busy.  We have a lot of fun together.  He has been out almost 11 months now.  He’s from Logan Utah.  I’ve learned a lot from him.  We spend a lot more time walking than I’m used to.  In pocahontas, we had a car the whole time.  Now we have a car every other week.  I think I like walking more.  We get to talk to more people while we are walking.  The ward here is a really nice ward.  There are a lot of nice people here.  We have a baptism coming up on the 12th.  We found him last wednesday.   Its an older guy.  He is 79 years old.  He is probably one of the most humble people I’ve met while I’ve been out.  We talked to him about the restoration of the gospel and watched the Joseph Smith movie with him.  He told us he felt the spirit stronger then than he had in a long time.  That’s when we challenged him to be baptized.  He came to church for the first time on Sunday and loved it.  We talked to him about being baptized again and he told us he didn’t feel like he was ready yet, but said he would keep praying about being baptized on the 12th.  He believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the book of mormon is the word of God.   He is a really great guy.  Elder Morris and I are excited to be working with him.  Thanksgiving was a lot of fun We went around and talked to a lot of members.  I think we saw 16 families.  We had dinner with the Rees family.  They had a bunch of family out from Utah.  It was a lot of fun.  We are going to go buy a little christmas tree today.  Well I hope everything is going good there and everyone is having a lot of fun.   Have a good week. 
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Nov 23

Dear Family 
I think that’s  a new record getting pulled over three times in one trip.  And I thought I got pulled over a lot.  Its been a pretty good week here.   Elder Morris  Is a really good missionary.  He has been teaching me a lot about how to be a better missionary.  Its been kindof hard coming from a little branch to a big ward.  There are a lot more names to remember.  There are a lot of nice people here in the ward.  We had a fireside at the ward mission leader’s house last night.  That was a lot of fun.  We have a new investigater because of it.  It was for the youth to bring their friends to.  There was only one non member there, but she really liked it and I think we are going to try to see her again on Wednesday.   She told us that she wanted a copy of the book of mormon so she could give it a chance and find out for herself if it was true or not.  Elder Morris and I are pretty excited to get to teach her. We get fed a lot more here than we did in Pocahontas.  That’s going to be nice.  We have only had to cook dinner twice since we got here.  I miss the little town life style though.  Everything is really big here.  The people here in Collierville are a lot more wealthy than the people in pocahontas were.   A lot of the buisness people that work in Memphis commute there from German town and collierville.  We go down into mississippi too.  The people there are more country people.   I had a lot of fun going out there.   It was a lot more like what I was used to.  One house even had the cocroaches running all over the walls in the living room.(and the floors… and even one on the kitchen table.  No joke)  That grosed out the member that went with us.  Thanksgiving is going to be a lot of fun.  They have a turky bowl here.  There are two wards here, so we get to go play football with them in the morning.  We are going to be going out like a regular day besides that though.  We do have 2 dinner appointments already though.  So Elder morris and I are planning on being pretty full by the end of the day.  Well I hope everything is going good there.  Hope every one is having fun in school and corey is having fun working at linns.  Have a good thanksgiving.
Love Elder Marshall

Dear Family
Hey just letting you know im in Collierville.  Its right down next to Memphis Tenessee.  It looks like its a pretty wealthy area.  I don't think i've ever seen houses as big as the ones here.  I thought they were appartment buildings.  My new companion is Elder Morris.  I'm looking forward to serving with him.  He says the people here are really wealthy so I think its going to be different than Pocahontas and Ash Flat were.  He was serving with Elder Baron before me.  Elder Baron was in the MTC with me.  I got to see him and Elder Steed today at the transfer meeting.  It was good to see them I haven't seen Elder Baron since we got to arkansas.  Well i better go.  Hope everything is going good there.  Talk to you on Monday.
Love Elder Marshall

Here is my mailing address:
396 ramport lane
Collierville, TN 38017

Steven's letter Nov 9

Dear Family

How is everything going back home?  Everything is going really well here.  Elder Perza and I are staying really busy.  We work really good together.  We have been spending a lot of time in ash flat.  We have a guy here that is going to get baptized in the next two weeks.  We don’t have an exact date yet though because he and his girlfriend have to get married first.   They know they need to do it though and said they would be talking to the branch president in the next couple days about getting married.  Elder perza and I are pretty excited for them.  We have been spending a lot of time with him in the last week.  We met him about 2 weeks ago.  What first interested him about the church was when he found out Glen beck was a Mormon.  When he heard that he thought there must be something to it.  He really likes Glen Beck. We got a pretty bad call Saturday night.  Tina called us at about 7.  She is the lady who has the two little kids whose husband just died about 4 months ago now.  Her house was on fire.  She lost everything.  She and her kids weren’t hurt though.  They weren’t home when it started.  They were driving in their driveway and they noticed there was a glow under one end of their trailer.  I guess it burned pretty fast.  She lives in Ash Flat so it took us an hour to get there from Pocahontas.  It was done burning by the time we got there.  She has gone through a whole lot in the last few months.  The branch has helped her out a whole lot though.  She really appreciates it too.  She is staying with her sister in law right now.    We are going to go over in a couple hours to see how she is doing.   Transfers are next week.  I’m probably going to be moved next Wednesday.  Elder Perza talked to President Drewes Saturday night.  He told him that was probably what was going to happen.  I’ve gotten pretty attached to the people around here though.  Especially Tina and Tanara.  I’ve loved working with them and seeing them be baptized. I’m going to miss this area a whole lot.  I guess I’ll let you know for sure whether I get moved or not next Monday.  Well I hope everyone is having fun.  I miss you.   

Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Nov 2

Dear family
How is everyone doing.  Are you starting to feel better?  Hey sorry I didn’t email earlier today.  We had a couple service projects that we did today so we weren’t able to come email till now.  We helped Carla (she got baptized a couple months ago) paint her front porch.  We got introduced to her husband.  We have been trying to go over to see him for a while now, but this was the first time we were able to.  This week has gone pretty fast for us.  We have been staying pretty busy.  Tanara was confirmed yesterday. That was a great experience for her.   I feel really blessed to have been able to know her and watch her make changes in her life.  We started working with a new investigator this week.  His name is Kelly. He is about 40.  He has already told us that he wants to join the church.  He knows a lot about the church.  He got interested in the church because Glen Beck is a member of the church.  He is a pretty funny guy.  We are having fun working with him. 
It finally stopped raining.  Its been nice to see the sun the last couple of days.  The rivers are still pretty high though.  I think the water level is starting to go down though for most of the rivers.  We had to help one of the members move everything in his house up on tables because his cabin is right next to the river.  We talked to him today and he said that no water was in his house, just up to the steps that go to his front door. I’m not sure if its supposed to be raining more or not.   Well hope everything is going good there.  Hope everyone is having fun in school.
Love Elder Marshall

O I only see my mission president every 6 weeks.  I’m not sure if that’s just because we live so far away from everyone else or if that’s how much all the missionaries see him.  We don’t see any other missionaries except for district meeting(Tuesday s) and zone meeting which is the same day as the interview.

These pictures were taken last year at our Trunk or Treat

Rebecca was really trying to do a nice job.


This is the pumkin that Kaitlyn carved. She really got into carving this year.

This is Corey's pumkin. He did a good job too.

Rebecca got up Thursday crying because it was costume day and she had no costume. I completely forgot about her party at school. I had been so caught up in the homecomming ordeal. Rondalene to the rescue. She was able to find a costume that Rebecca was happy with. Thank you Rondalene!!

I took a class on making this table runner. This is just one end. The other end has the same witch facing the other direction. Isn't it cute!!

This is Heather's sister, Rebecca, and Kaitlyn.


Corey was so excited to be riding in the parade. Probably just as excited as I was.

All the students tied these ribbons on this float. The part that has the heart on it was made by the construction class. They will be displaying it at all the school funtions. Assemblies, game, and even graduation. Right before the homecomming game started they brought this float onto the field and they had 30 sec of silence.

Steven's letter Oct 26

Dear family
Hey how is everyone doing this week?  So how is Corey likin the new job?  It’s been an awesome week here. It started out real slow though.  Elder Perza was sick for a couple days.  So we couldn’t go out and work Wednesday and Thursday.  It was a slow couple days with not much to do.  We did a lot of studying.  It was good to start working again on Friday.  Tanara did it.  She quit smoking and drinking coffee.  She got baptized yesterday after church.  It was so awesome.  Tanara has had to change so much to get to where she is.  We have been talking to her a lot this week.  She has been having really bad headaches because she is used to having a pot of coffee every morning, and she has been really struggling with not smoking any cigarettes.   There were a few nights when we called her that she was having problems not giving in, but she was able to quit.  Last night when we talked to her, she said it was the first time this week she hasn’t had any headaches or cravings for cigarettes.  She is going to be an awesome member of the branch up there.  We have been working with another guy up by Eveningshade.   Elder Perza drove on a dirt road for about an hour to get to his house.  He lives way out in the middle of no where.  I thought I could understand people with strong southern accents,  but I have to really concentrate to understand him.  He is a really good guy.  Elder perza and I are looking forward to getting to know him. He doesn’t know much about Christ or what a prophet is or anything about the bible, but he knows he wants to get baptized.  He has a date for the 7th of November.  We were pretty excited to find him.  His name is Eugene.  Well hope everyone is having fun.  Love yall
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Oct 19

Dear Family
How was your week? How is Grandma Winsor doing? How is Corey liking the new job at lins? This week has been pretty good here. It has been raining a lot here. It has been real nice the last few days though. This weekend has been awesome. We havebeen up in ash flat a lot. We are probably going to start spending more time up there. I think we are going to have to stay at the senior couple’s apartment acouple nights this week. We’re still trying to figure that out. Elder Perza doesn’t think we should sleep in the church. We have been meeting a lot with Tanara lately. She is the single mom that used to be into drugs and gangs out inWashington. She has made a lot of changes in her life. She has been in jail 32times, but has been off drugs and out of gangs for the last 3 years now. We have been working with her to help her quit smoking. Well last night we set a date with her to get baptized next Sunday. It was a really neat experience. We told her she couldn’t get baptized until she quit smoking and drinking coffee though. It took her a little while to make the commitment, but she finally gave us all of her cigarettes, her ash trays, all of her coffee, and both of her coffee machines. It was an awesome night last night. She says if she doesn’t have any coffee orcigarettes in the morning, she gets really bad headaches and it makes her sick so itwas a pretty big commitment for her. We called her this morning though to see how she was doing and she was pretty happy. We are going to be talking to her a lot in the next few days checking up on her. I love doing missionary work. Well hope everyone is having fun there. Thanks for the pictures. Have a good week.
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Oct 12

Dear Family
How is everyone doing there?  Everything has gone pretty good this week.  Elder Hansen and I just went around so he could say goodbye to members of the branch here in Pocahontas on Monday and Tuesday.  Then Wednesday we drove to Memphis to the big transfer meeting.  41 of the 51 companionships got split up so it was a pretty big meeting.  I haven’t seen so many missionaries since I was at the MTC.  Elder Hansen is in Conway now.  My new companion is Elder Perza.  He’s from Idaho too.  He is a pretty cool guy.  There is a whole lot I can learn from him.   He said he was Weiser Idaho.  I think its west of Boise.  He is a good missionary.  Hopefully Ill get to stay with him for a while.  We have been working pretty well together.  Jacky has a baptism date for the 24th. She is the one that came and asked us if she could be a Mormon after the first session of General conference.  We have been seeing a lady up in Cherokee Village.  We helped her move a couple Saturdays ago.  She has been trying to quit smoking.  She even told us she knows that God doesn’t want her smoking.  She has gone from smoking 2 packs down to only a few every day.  She says she really wants to quit.  We are hoping to set a baptism date with her and that maybe that will help her want to quit even more.  We only get to see her once a week though because she lives so far away. So that makes it hard.  We have been able to see quite a few people.  It has been raining a lot.  I think it’s supposed to be raining all this week to.  Well I hope everyone is doing good.  Are a lot of sick people from school sick?  I love you all and miss you.  Have a good week.
Love Elder Marshall 

Steven's letter October 5

Dear Family
Hey how is everyone doing this week? Is it starting to get cold there?  I heard it snowed in Idaho this week. Elder Hansen is mad that he can’t go snow boarding.  Its been getting cold here already.  Its been a pretty good week here.  We had two baptisms this week.  One on Friday night here in Pocahontas, and one on Sunday between sessions of Conference.  They were both really neat baptisms.  Elder Hansen and I have been working really well together.  We are getting split up though.  He got a call from the mission president on Saturday morning.  He is getting transferred and is going to be a new Zone leader.  So Wednesday I'm getting a new companion.  This transfer was huge.  Every companionship in our zone got split up.  There are 9 new missionaries coming out and 9 going home.  It’s going to be a busy week.  I think the next couple days we are just going to be going around so Elder Hansen can say good bye to all the members.  No fun.  Do you remember the lady that Elder Hasalam and I gave a tour of the church to last week?  Well she came to all 4 sessions of conference.  She really liked all of them. After the 1st one, she came up to Elder Hansen and i and asked us if it was ok if she became a Mormon.  That kind of cot us by surprise.  she is getting baptized on the 24th of October.  She is a pretty cool lady.  She is 79 years old.  She used to be the treasurer for the Lutheran church here in Pocahontas.  The first time we met her she was trying to give another one of our investigators anti-Mormon literature.  We asked her if we could come talk to her.  She has changed her mind about the church since then.  Well thats about all that has been going on here.  Hope everyone is having fun in school.  I miss you all
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Sept 21

Dear Family
How is everything going back home?  Is everyone liking being back in school? So we have a new bishop?  I bet he does a good job as a bishop. It’s been another really good week.  We have been staying really busy especially going back and forth from Pocahontas to Ash Flat.  The 16 year old girl's mom still hasn't changed her mind about letting her get baptized.  We are still able to go see her though so we are grateful for that.  That has happened once before, only the other time the parents wouldn't let us talk to her or let her come to church.  So at least she can still go to church and go to mutual.  Elder Hansen and I have been spending more and more time up in ash flat.  We are going every week, usually twice a week.  We are teaching another person who used to be into drugs and gangs out in Washington.  She has changed her life a lot and has been going to church with us the last couple weeks now.  She is trying to quit smoking this week.  She says she has been trying to stop for a while now.  She has even tried hypnotism and fake cigarettes.  We gave her a copy of the churches 15 step program.  We won't see her until next Saturday though to see how she is doing with it.  Tina has started to introduce us to some of her friends and family.  We met her cousin and one of her friends on Sunday.  I think we are going to start trying to teach them this next week.   Well I hope everyone is having fun.  Hope to hear from you soon.  I love you.
Love Elder Marshall

O I heard that skyline beat hill crest.  Go grizzlies.

These three girls loved to dance together!!

Travis and Pam were able to see Steven in Pocahontas. Steven thought that he was meeting a Bishop from Kansas for lunch and instead Travis and Pam was there. Steven was quite excited and surprised.

Steven's letter Sept 14(Sorry it is a bit late getting on)

Dear Family
This week has been a good busy week here in Arkansas.  We left Pocahontas on Tuesday and didn’t get back until Thursday night.  We had to go to Jonesboro on Tuesday night.  Elder Hansen had to do interviews there on Wednesday.  Then we had to be in Memphis on Thursday for zone conference.  That was a lot of fun.  That’s one of the best parts of the transfer I think.  We have a baptism coming up next Saturday.  Elder Hansen and I are still going up to ash flat.  We were supposed to have a baptism this Saturday, but the girls mom wouldn’t let her be baptized.  She is only 16 so she has to have her permission.  Elder Hansen and I are going to try to see the mom sometime this week.  We have a couple other people who are starting to get closer to being baptized to.  Tina has a cousin that just moved in with her and we are starting to teach her.  Between the two areas, we are being kept pretty busy. 
Thanks for the package you sent.  I really liked the shirt and the CDs.  Thank you.  Tell Rebecca thank you for the Balls too.
It was good to see Uncle Travis and Aunt Pam.  That was a pretty big surprise.  We were expecting  it to be a bishop from Kansas.  That was a pretty big surprise seeing them walk through the door.  It was fun getting to talk to them  and eat lunch with them.
I didn’t know they were taking the old church building down already.  Are they going to build another building there?  Are you still having to go out to Moapa for church?  Well I hope everything is going good there in Logandale.  I miss you all.  Hope you have a good week.
Love Elder Marshall  

Steven's letter Aug 31

Dear Family
So there are a lot of fires going out west?  I didn't even know that.  We don't know anything thats going on unless the members tell us what the news says.  So no new bishop yet?  i thought there would have been one called by now.  Youll have to let me know when someone gets made the bishop.  This week has been a lot of fun here in pocahontas.  We have been able to do a lot of service this week.  We helped a couple of the older sisters in the branch paint their chairs.  Then we got reminded that we had some things that we needed to get ready for the fair.  So we made a big sign with the 17 points of the true church,  we made a display thing that shows how our church is set up the same way that Christs church was set up. We also got asked to help one of the members put a roof on a building at the fair grounds and then paint it. We have had a pretty busy week.   This next week is going to be really busy to.  The fair starts on tuesday and goes through saturday.  We are going to be there at the booth a lot.  It doesn't sound like it is a really big fair, but they have a lot of neat stuff at it.  There is a rodeo, a little carnival, and they have redneck games.  Im not sure what is going to be in the redneck games, but Elder Hansen and I are definatly going to those.  Its going to be a lot of fun.  We have been inviting alot of our investigators to come and see it, and a couple of the people who have just been baptized are wanting to work in the booth. Tina and Travis are doing pretty good.  We saw them on sunday.  Tina's Sister is moving out for a few weeks though so we arn't going to be able to keep teaching her for a while.  So we are only going out to Ash Flat once a week now.  How is everyone liking being back in school?  does rebecca like Kindergarden?  Well i found this story i thought yall would probably like.  It made me laugh.
The first Epistle of the Elders
to the Letter Writers:

Chapter One
1. In the beginning was the mailbox and the mailbox was void of letters.
2. And the missionaries said, Let the mailbox be filled and the box was not filled.
3. And the missionaries beheld the continuing void and were not pleased.
4. And lo, it was the first day of the week and there was no mail delivered, but this was good.
5. But on the second day mail was delivered, yet the mailbox remained empty.
6. Yea, even from the second day unto the seventh was the mail delivered.
7. Even so the box retained its' void.
8. And yea, great mists of darkness spread forth from the void and enshrouded the Missionaries. Yea and did bring much sadness to their otherwise cheery days.
9. Even the long hours of fruitless tracting, being chased by the fowls of the air, and being pursued by the beast of the field were not as disheartening as the lack of sacred objects known as letters.
10. Yet they persisted.

Chapter Two
1. And, lo, on the second day of the second week the mists still encircled the sacred mailbox.
2. And on the third day, from within the depths of the void was a single postcard.
3. And this postcard put forth a single ray of light which did pierce the darkness and did overcome the mists.
4. And the Missionaries were well pleased and there was much rejoicing.
5. But, alas, their joy was not to last. For the mailbeast had made a mistake and the postcard was for someone else.
6. But if their joy was so exceedingly great over someone else's mail, how great would be their joy at partaking of their own mail.

Chapter Three
1. But some will say, a letter, a letter. We have already written a letter. We have no need to write anymore letters.
2. Know ye not that there are more days than one. And more events than one in a day. Why think ye that these events need not to be reported.
3. Yea, and ye need not worry that your letter will go unanswered.
4. But you should say, I will go and write the letter that a missionary requests. For I know he giveth no request except he be prepared to respond.
5. And we give unto you the Parable of the self addressed envelopes.
6. When the missionary departed into the far off land he gave a certain number of self-addressed stamped envelopes to his friends.
7. Unto one he gave 5, unto another he gave 2, and unto the third he gave 1.
8. And while he was gone he that was given the 5 envelopes wrote 5 letters, then in his zeal wrote 5 letters more.
9. The same with him that had 2 envelopes; he wrote 2 letters and then 2 letters more.
10. He that was given the self-addressed envelope became slothful and careless. And he lost the envelope, even that which he was given.
11. When the missionary came home he went unto his friends. And he that had written 10 letters was warmly greeted.
12. The same with him that had written 4.
13. But he that had written none at all was given nothing more than a Fishy-Whimp like handshake.

Chapter Four
1. And it has been said; Blessed are the letter writers for they shall receive mail in return.
2. Blessed are they that keep in touch with a missionary for they shall know all that happens to him.
3. Ye and your letters are the light of a missionaries' day.
4. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
5. Neither do men write letters and put them in a desk but in an envelope that it giveth light unto all that are around the missionary.
6. Let your letters so be read by missionaries that they may see your good works and show an increased love to you.
7. And we give unto you the Parable of the Prodigal Letter Writer.
8. A missionary had two friends while he was laboring in the field.
9. One was faithful and wrote every week to the missionary.
10. Meanwhile, the other friend spent his stamp money on riotous living and wrote no letters.
11. But after 231/2 months he felt deep sorrow and did write a letter unto the missionary.
12. Who when he received it did go and kill the fatted Macaroni and Cheese box and did feast and was merry.
13. For it was meet that he should make merry for the letter writer which was lost was now found.

Chapter Five
1. And the missionary said unto his friend, Lovest thou me?
2. And the friend said, of course I love thee.
3. He saith a second time, friend, Lovest thou me? and the friend said, Thou knowest that I love thee. He then said, Feed my mailbox.
4. He then spake a third time saying, Lovest thou me? and the friend said, Thou knowest all things, thou knowest I love thee.
5. Then the missionary said, Stuffest my mailbox.
6. And the vision is become unto all as the words of a letter which is sealed in the envelope that the men deliver to one who is not serving a mission saying, read this, I pray thee; and he saith I cannot for it is not mine.
7. And the letter is delivered to him that is serving a mission saying, read this I pray thee; and he saith, why sure.
8. Therefore you should proceed to do a marvelous work among a missionary, even a marvelous work and a wonder by writing a letter.

I hope everyone has a good week and has fun in school.  Let me know how everything is going.  I love you and miss you
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Aug 24

Dear Family
This week has been great here in Arkansas.  Its been a little hectic though.  Elder Hansen and I are together for at least 6 more weeks here in Pocahontas.  The 2 baptisms on Saturday went really well.  Ill send some pictures so you know who I’m talking about.  We slept in the church building up in ash flat on Friday night because the baptism was at 10 in the morning.  It’s a long drive to get all the way up there so we just drove up Friday afternoon and slept on the floor in the gym.  We brought the cushions of our couch and the couch in the church for our beds.   There is a fair coming up on the 1st through the 5th here that we are supposed to be planning.  We need to start planning.  Elder Hansen and I are pretty excited about being in that.  We have a booth in the main building.  We have a whole lot of pass along cards and pamphlets to hand out to people.  The members here in the branch are excited to be working in the booth with us to.  There is a rodeo and a lot of good food that is supposed to be there too so its going to be a fun week.  We are still driving out to ash flat twice a week.  There are a couple more people out there that we think might be getting baptized in the next 3 or 4 weeks.  We don’t have any scheduled yet though.  There are a couple people here in Pocahontas that I think are pretty close to wanting to be baptized.  And one out in corning too.  Well that’s about all that’s happening here.  We still haven’t seen any tornadoes yet.  The weather has been really nice.  Well have fun going back to school.  Lol I hope you find the snake.
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Aug 17

Dear Family
This week has been pretty good here in Pocahontas.  We had a baptism for Duke pinn on Saturday.  It was a really neat baptism.  Duke even got up and bore his testimony after he got baptized.  He said he had never felt the spirit as strong as he was feeling it then.  He is a really neat guy.  He is going to make an awesome member.  We have two more baptisms next week for Tina and her son Travis.  Tina’s husband died about a month ago now.  She is really excited to get baptized and eventually go through the temple and be sealed to her husband.  There are a lot of really nice people here.  Elder Hansen and I keep meeting more every day. 
Transfers are coming up next week.  Elder Hansen doesn’t think either of us is going to get moved.  We will find out on Sunday if either of us is going to get moved though.  We will be together at least till next Tuesday though. 
I met sister May’s cousin on Sunday.  We got a new senior  couple.  They said they used to be serving in Nauvoo.  I asked them if they knew sister May and it was her cousin.  They are the Normans from Cash Valley.  Elder Norman was in the Tabernacle choir for 18 years.  They are living out by Ash Flat. 

We were in Memphis on Tuesday for zone meeting.  That’s about a two hour drive each way.  Elder Hansen and I have been spending a lot of time in the car lately.  We have to go to ash flat twice a week which is about an hour each way, Jonesboro once a week, another hour each way.  Then this week we had to go to Memphis.   Lol that was a pretty good story about the snake getting into the house.  You’ll have to let me know how that turns out.    Well that’s about all that’s going on here.  Have a good last week without school.
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter Aug 10

Dear family
The reunion sounded like it was a lot of fun.  Its been a really good week here.  We have had to drive out to ash flat twice a week for a while now.  There is a baptism there this Saturday and two next Saturday.  Elder Hansen and I are really excited for all three of them.  We have been staying really busy.  Transfers are a week from Sunday.    I was in Blytheville most of this week on splits with the missionaries there.  It was fun to see another part of Arkansas.  I like Pocahontas a lot better, but it was fun to go somewhere else.  I was supposed to be going to Memphis this week with the zone leaders, but they have to go to Blytheville instead.  Elder Hansen and I still have to go on Tuesday to Memphis for zone meeting though.  This week I learned all about how to go catfish hoggin’ .  They do it a lot here.   It sounds like a lot of fun, but I don’t think we can do it as missionaries.  You find a whole where the catfish sleep. Then you just stick your hand down into it real slow until they bite onto you hand, then you pull it out of the water.  I guess they have a big competition here.  lol  I learned the best way to skin a squirrel this week too.  And I got told all about bow fishing.  We spent a lot of time this week with one of the families that lives out away from town this weekend.  It was a lot of fun.  They live out on a farm out in the hills.  I’m glad I’ve been writing stuff in a journal because there has been a lot of funny stuff that has happened out away from Pocahontas. On Friday night Elder Hansen and I went out to see the family that has all the dogs. I think they have about 30 now. They needed help herding their pigs from one pen to another.  That was a lot of fun.   The pigs didn’t want to get moved.  Elder Hansen has chiggers all over now.  Its been a fun week.  well thats about it from here.  I hope everything is going good there.  Have a good week.  Let me know how grandpa is doing
Love Elder Marshall

Gregory and Corey decided it would be fun to try and ride the 4 wheelers from Logandale to Beaver Utah. Gregory has done it before but it has been a while. Corey has never tried it. It should take them about 10 hours. I am going to Beaver( in the van and on the freeway) to pick them up.

It sounds like there are a lot of changes going on there.  This week end went pretty good here.  Joie's parents were at the baptism, but not at the confirmation.  Elder Hansen and i want to ask them if they want to be taught.  Her dad just had a pretty bad stroke on saturday, but it sounded like he was doing better by sunday.  We are going out there tonight to see how they are all doing.  The baptism went really well.  We have another one this saturday for Carla.  We just met her 3 weeks ago. on the 4th of july.  She is going to be an awsome member.  She has already started introducing us to a lot of her friends.  She lives in an appartment right down the street from us.  a few weeks ago we were going to see a family in walnut Ridge.  They werent there so we decided to walk around and try to talk to their neigbors.  thats the day i got sprayed by the little kid.  Well we went back to see if we could teach the mom.  I guess she knows one of the sisters in the branch and already has a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We taught her last night and she told us she would like us to come back.  She said we could stop by the hotel she works at and talk with her while she is on breaks to.  Elder Hansen and i are pretty excited to start teaching her.  So you are going to Nauvoo on this Saturday?  thats going to be a lot of fun. Ya i remember Sister May.  She was my 5th grade teacher wasn't she?  she was in Nauvoo on a mission last summer to.  We saw her while we were there. So Amelia came over?  Is she still going to babysit while you are gone?  when you see her again, tell her i said hi.  well thats about it from here.  Have fun in Nauvoo.
Love Elder Marshall

Just a little update on what we have been doing....not a whole lot. Sometimes I feel like we are still in a bit of a fog. I didn't realize there was so much to do after a funeral. Bank accounts, pay checks, insurance issues, head stones, cleaning out bedroom..... Maybe it just seems like a lot because I don't want to do it. Gregory and I are getting ready to leave on Saturday for Nauvoo. It should be a fun trip. It has been nice to focus on something fun. The kids will stay home. We have someone staying with them. The girls are fine with it but Corey thinks he is to old for someone to have to come "babysit" him.

Dear family
  Its been a busy week here in pocahontas.  We started teaching Carla last Saturday.  Her baptism is going to be on the 25th.  She is pretty excited to be baptized and is already trying to find other people for us to teach.  Joie's baptism is on this saturday.  She is prety excited to.  She is trying to read the Book of Mormon before she gets baptized.  She is only 13 years old.  We have been trying to get her to let her brother Kevin baptize her, but she thinks he would drown her.  Kevin got baptized 3 weeks before i got here.  He has been bringing his girlfriend to church the last few weeks and he wants us to start teaching her to.  hopefully we will be able to sometime this week.  We haven't been able to talk to her yet. We are going to start going all the way out to ash flatt starting on Tuesday. Elder hansen says its about a 120 mile round trip so its going to burn through our miles. Their branch has a couple people who have been coming to church for the last 3 or 4 weeks.  Elder Hansen and I are hoping to set a date with them either this week or next.  I guess we will see what happens.  We are pretty excited about how things are going here.  I got a call from one of the spanish elders on tuesday.  He wanted me to talk with him in spanish.  I didn't do very well, but at the end he said that President Drewes is looking for more missionaries to go spanish speaking.  Ive been pretty woried the rest of the week because transfers are this week, but if i was going to be transfered i think i would have gotten called by now.  I'm hoping i can stay here at least one or two more transfers.  So Grandpa is in Washington?  That sounds like a lot of fun.  I miss going flying with him.  We are all done moving and cleaning.  We had our first big storm here two nights ago.  There was a lot of lightning.  There was never a pause in the thunder.  Just a conastant rumble.  You could have walked around outside with out a light pretty easy because of all of the lightning.  The wind was blowing pretty hard to.  There were a few trees blown over and lots of libs on the ground.  Joie's power was out for about 12 hours.  It was really humid all day yesturday.  O Elder hansen said that Nauvoo is only about a 4 or 5 hour drive from here.  i dont know how he knows though.  O I found out that music isn't as strict as it says in the book that came with the letter.  President Drewes said that we can listen to any music that doesn't drive away the spirit.  one of the CD's that is approved is Spirit  by Alex Boye.  I was wondering if you could maybe get me a copy of it.  I'm pretty sure you can buy it on deseret book. o and i was wondering if you had found out anything about a gps.   Well thats about it from here.  I hope everything is going good in logandale.  I miss you all. 
love Elder Marshall
O one of our investigators is having trouble accepting Joseph Smith.  She believes everything we have taught her about the restoration, and the gospel, and she accepts him as long as we call him brother joseph or just joseph.  But she doesn't like his last name. Elder Hansen and i aren't sure how to convince her that he had a last name.  If anyone has any ideas let me know.  

Steven's Letter July 6

Dear family
This week was a pretty busy week.  We had to move into the Elder and sister Winegar's appartment.  We are appartment B now instead of A. There isn't any one in the old appartment yet so we can still check both mailboxes, but could you let everyone know that the address is changed?  They aren't going to replace the winegars.  We are the only missionaries in our area.  The nearest elders are about an hour drive away in Jonesborro.  Thats where Elder Fjerstad is.  We had all the missionaries over last week to help the winegars move out.  We had to clean their appartment after they left, Then move all their furniture out and ours in.  Then we had to clean our appartment really well so other people can move in.  Then load all the Winegars stuff on to a trailer to go back to Little Rock. It took all day tuesday, and part of Wednesday.  We are down to just one baptism schedualed on the 18th.  The two that were suppost to be this saturday are running from the law right now.  So they arent going to be baptized this week.  We had three investigators at church on sunday.  One of them wants to be baptized so we are going to be setting up a date with her some time pretty soon. She was talking to missionaries before she moved here from Texarkansas, but she lost track of the missionaries for a while.  It hasn't rained here since i got here.  Elder Hansen said that it was raining a lot before i got here,  but the grass is starting to turn brown now because it hasn't rained in three weeks.  So i haven't seen any lightning or tornadoes yet, but hopefully pretty soon.  He says the clouds turn green when there is a chance of a tornadoe.  Ill try to get some pictures.   :)   Thank you for the light, the knife, and the Priesthood line of authority.  I just got the box today.  There was a lot of stuff in the box. Did you take the pictures off the card and put it on the computer? transfers are next week. They happen every six weeks.  Elder Hansen thinks i am going to be switched to spanish speaking pretty soon, but he doesn't think it will be this transfer.  I guess ill find out by Sunday if i am going to be transfered.  Hopefully i wont though. I like it here.  The people have been really nice.  The food is really good to. I haven't tried any wierd food, but Elder Hansen has.  He has eaten possom,  pig intestines, and some kind of squirl soup that had fur in it.  I've just tried deep fried brocoli.  O i ment to ask you what all of the envolopes were for that were in the box with the blanket and pillow.  I still have them, but i'm not sure what they are for.
So did you go to Lagoon?  Grandpa said something about that in his letter.   Well i better go.  I hope everything is going good in Logandale. Have fun on the Lawn mower.
Love Elder Marshall

o and the humidity was pretty bad when i first got here.  I thought i was going to sufficate when i walked out of the airport.  I don't think its to bad now.  Its not as hot as it gets at home.  but i still swet a lot.  There are rivers that go all over the place here you cant get into town without going over at least one bridge or more.  the windows are always fogged  up on the car and in the house.  In the mornings sometimes it looks like there is a mist just hanging around.  The morning is deffinatly the best part of the day.

O and elder Hansen says he knows some bowmans in Idaho Falls.  He doesn't know the Collins though.

These letters might be a little out of order sorry.


Dear Family
So I'm on an airplane right now. We should be getting to Huston in about an hour now. It was kind of weird going to the airport this morning. There was a big group of people that even started clapping for us as we walked by. Everyone has been really friendly to us especially in Salt Lake. We are just taking off from Huston. I wanted to tell you some stories about Elder Fjerstad. He likes to sleep a lot. A couple of weeks ago, I was in an interview with the branch president. When I came out. he was standing in the middle of the hall with his head back and his mouth wide open. Lol. He had fallen asleep standing there. He was getting a lot of funny looks from a lot of people. The branch president had to shake him awake.
Elder Fjerstad also talks in his sleep. We have full conversations with him. He can answer all kinds of questions when he is sleeping. We can ask him how to solve all kinds of math questions and scripture questions. He always gets the right answer.
About a week ago we were reading out of Preach my gospel to each other. He was reading out loud, and he fell asleep half way through his sentence. I smacked my hand down on the table and he woke up pretty fast. Lol. He even fell asleep this morning while he was standing in the shower. Lol. But we only got about 2 hours of sleep last night so I can't really blame him. A coupe days ago, he had been nodding off in class, we were walking between classes and he walked right into 2 poles and a group of sister missionaries. He didn't remember it after though. I think I already told you about what happened yesterday at breakfast.
One time we were getting ready for Gym. I was down the hall from our room, and Elder Steed and Elder Baron started to lave for gym. They just started running out the door and Elder Fjerstad followed. I didn't know they had left. I guess when they got half way to the field Elder Steed asked Elder Fjerstad "where is your companion." Then Elder Baron asked "Elder where is your shirt?" Lol. He had forgotten to put a shirt on and had ran all through the MTC in his garments. Lol. He was pretty embarrassed about it.
Everything is pretty flat. Well I better go.

Love
Elder Marshall

Steven's Letter June 22

Dear Family
 So I'm in the Pocahontas Area of Arkansas.  Its a pretty big area.  We cover Pocahontas and  Walnut Ridge,  but i think we are going to start going up to Ash flats and Mountain View.  They are both in our area, but we don't usually go there because they are so far away from Pocahontas. I think  Ash flats is about 50 miles away, and Mountain View is about 100 miles.  If we start going there i think we will stay with a member in those towns for part of the week and just spend a couple days a week in each area.  I think our area is the biggest in the mission. We have to go to ash flat sometime this week any way because the branch president has a list of names who he wants us to talk to.   My companion is Elder Hansen. He is from Idaho Falls.  He has been here in Arkansas since just before Christmas.  We are the second set of missionaries in this area.  It has been closed for the last 10 years and was just opened again in January.  The branch is pretty small.  I think there were about 25 or 30 people here yesterday.  I think there were only like 4 young women, and 3 young men. They are really nice people though.  Everyone has been really friendly.  The food is really good here to.  They deep fry everything.  I even tried deep fried broccoli and Cauliflower on Friday.  We were at a part member family's house.  three of the kids are baptized, but the parents aren't.  We are going to commit another of the kids to be baptized tonight when we go over.  Her name is Joy. I haven't met here yet because she has been at her Grandma's house for the last two weeks.  Her brother Kevin was just baptized a few weeks ago.  He received the priesthood yesterday.  They have 21 dogs and a lot of cats.  I haven't been to a house yet that hasn't had some kind of animals.  There are some senior missionaries that live in the apartment next to us.  They stay here in Pocahontas permanently.  That's where I'm at right now.  We get to eat over at their apartment a lot.  I haven't had to worry about any meals but breakfast so far. They are from Utah.  Elder Fjerstad is still in my district. He is down in Jonesboro.  So I get to see him every Tuesday at district meeting.   We have been teaching a lot.  We had lessons the first day i got here.    I know Sister Mondaca.  She was one of the sisters in my district.  Her and Sister Sloan, and Sister Flukiger.  They should all be there at Temple square.  How was she?  did she give you a tour?
 O on Friday we were knocking on some doors.  We were talking to a mom out on here front porch while her kids were playing on a slip and slide on the front lawn.  We were asking here when we could come back to teach her family. all of a sudden the 8 year old started spraying me with the hose.  Lol I got soaked.  The mom was pretty mad at the kid. I bet he got in pretty big trouble after we left.  We are going to try to come back on Wednesday or Thursday.  Sounds like the hike was a lot of fun.  You even had Ice on the side of the tent?  Was it the same hike that I went on?  Well i better go.  I hope you are having fun in Salt Lake say hi to the sister missionaries for me.

Love Elder Marshall 

Dear family
Every thing is going good here at the mtc. Elder baron started to feel sick a couple of days ago, but he feels a lot better now. no one else has gotten sick in my room.  We had another Departure devotional last night.  I think it was the same as the one we had 2 weeks ago.  Besides that there hasn't been a whole lot going on here.  We have been spending a lot of time in the referal center, We have been doing the chats online.  I have had a couple of really good ones.  There are also a lot of prank chats that we get too.  I really like doing the chats because between chats we have a lot of time to just sit and study.  I think i am really starting to like the time we have to study.  It is the most relaxing part of the day.  I can't believe we get to go to arkansas tomorrow.  Hopefully this time we will make it.  We all have our fingers crossed.  So far we think we are going.  We haven't been told otherwise so we are going to go pack right after we are done here doing our laundry.  I think i already told you but we are leaving at 3 tomorrow morning.  We get to Huston at about 10:30 i think. Then we fly out of Huston to Arkansas at about 1:30. I think.  I'm not sure what time we are suppost to get to Arkansas. 
   So thismorning before we all went to the temple,  We were eating breakfast around our table, We were just getting up to leave for the temple.  Elder fjerstad was already standing, and he had his tray right over Elder Steeds head. Elder Steed was in a hurry to stand up and hit his head on the tray that was over his head. Lol, the tray and everything on it went flying.  Elder fjerstad had a bowl of half eaten cereal and a plate on the tray and it ended up all over the place.  I was glad i was sitting on the other side of the table from them.  Elder Millet got milk all over him though. Lol he wasn't verry happy.  Elder Fjerstad and Elder Steed were both pretty emberaced, but everyone else thought it was pretty funny.  We have a lot of fun with Elder Fjerstad.  i think alot of the funny stuff that goes on here has something to do with him.  Well I hope everything is going good there.  I hope Dad and corey have fun on their Hike. I guess they probably already left.  I was glad i got to talk to all of you yesturday.  It was good to hear your voices.  I'll call again tomorrow, but i'm not sure when ill be able to.  Probably after 10:30 when the plane lands in huston.  any way i better go.  Tell everyone i say hello and that i miss everyone.  I think i'm sending a package today and ill put my memory card in it to.  I hope i can fit everything back in my bags.
Love Elder Marshall

Steven's letter June 1, 2009

Dear family
I leave for arkansas tomorrow. I cant wait to get there.  We leave at 4 in the morning so its going to be an early morning.  I'm really excited to get there.  it sounds like everything is going good there.  It sounds like your having fun going hiking.  I was glad to hear that my package is going to get there by the time i get there. thank you.  we had a devotional last night for all the missionaries leaving this week.  i think thats my favorite part of the mtc. the devotionals.  i really enjoy them. every tuesday there is a general authority that comes and talks to us. and on sunday evenings there is a devotional as well.  last night elder fjerstad and i watched the new joseph smith movie too. it was a really good last sunday.  well i better go. there is a line for the computers and i still need to pack and get a haircut before five.  i hope everything is going good there. i love you all and miss you.
love elder marshall

there are a lot of people getting sick here at the mtc. I'm not sick at all and as much as i have enjoyed my time here at the mtc, i'm really glad we are leaving. there have been 3 people in my district that have gotten sick so far. today we have heard that a lot of the people that were supposed to be leaving soon can't leave now. We havent heard anyone say that we cant leave yet and two missionaries from our district left this morning so hopefully we will be able to leave. if we hear anything it will probably be tonight in our class. So would you  pray for all of us here at the mtc? I think we would have heard something by now if we were staying too. anyway i just wanted to let you know what was going on. I hope everything is going good there. Im not sick at all and neither is any one else in my room so hopefully the next letter you get will be from arkansas. I think i might be able to call tomorrow. An anoncment just came over the intercom and said that all leaving missionaries will be delayed for a week. they said that there was a news release going out so you will have to let me know what it says. so now i don't know whats going on. any way i better go. I just wanted to let you know i was ok and healthy
Love Elder Marshall 

Steven's Letter on May 25

Dear family
I got the letters you sent.  I think the dear elder is the best way to send me mail.  It was good to hear from all of you. I got the email too.  I havent used any money at all.  It looks like you were up pretty late. The week has flown by pretty fast.  We are being kept pretty busy.  I am studying mostly out of preach my gospel.  We go over the lessons constantly.  i am also studying the questions of the soul a lot.  They are on page 107.  I found out that zera pulsipher is in one of the books from the missionary library.  He is in Our Heritage.  I think thats the name that kandace and i looked for when we were in Nauvoo.  I have a lot of reading in that book too.  Elder Fjerstad and I have spent a lot of time in the referance center.  Thats a place here at the mtc where we make calls and recieve calls from people who want free book of mormons or dvd's when they see comercialls on TV or on the radio.  I have had a couple neet teaching experiences there now.  I have gotten to send out book of mormons and have even been able to get people to recieve the missionaries.  Im working with a lady from back east right now. I get to call her again tomorrow night to see if she will let the missionaries come over and teach her.  The four of us got our travel plans a couple days ago. We leave a week from tomorrow at 4 in the morning. Only 8 more days and i'll be in arkansas. I can't believe how fast the time is going here. I hope everything is going good there. That movie dad made sounds like it was a lot of fun. It sounds like corey kinda got the raw end of the deal with Lysha painting her finger nails in our room.  O if you could thank a few people for me i would really appreciate it. Thank Bishop jenson for the hynm book that he gave me when i got baptized. I found out when i got here that you have to have one.  So most people had to by them.  Thank grandma for the set of scriptures. And i wanted to thank you for the missionary books that you gave me.  I have used them a lot.  Thank you so much for the letters.  I kinda know how the missionaries on the Best Two Years feel when they got their mail.  O i didn't use those ear phones that you found on the desk.  I had a pair.  i'm not sure how the case got there or where the ear phones are.  I got the letter you sent in the mail and the Dear Elder letter on the same day. I think it was on tuesday but im not sure.  Tell Rebecca and kaitlyn thankyou for their letters.  I am using kaitlyns book mark in my Our Heritage book.  Tell her thanks for the picture to.  well my time is just about up so i better send this before it kicks me off.  I hope to hear from all of you soon. 
Love Elder Marshall

Hello from the Marshalls

Dear Family,
So i hope you get this e-mail.
This week has been a pretty intense week. My companion's name is elder Fjerstad.  He's a pretty nice guy and we have been working hard to learn how to teach the gospel.  our classes are about 3 hours long each and we usually have 3 of those and then a two hour class later at night.  we wake up at 6 and are in class by 7 and are usually back to our rooms by about 9:30.  Elder fjerstad has been having problems adjusting to the schedual.  I think he is used to having more sleep at night.  I haven't had to big of a problem though.  I think im getting a lot more sleep now than i am when i was up at byui.  There are a lot of people here that i know. Joe redman is here still.  Josh still has 4 more weeks to go.  He was pretty upset when he found out that i would be leaving the mtc before he would be.  Zack Lee is here.  He lived 2 doors down from me when i was living at biddulph.  Now he lives right next door and is in my zone so i see him every day.  He got here the week before me so he has two more weeks to go.  Kyle hogan is here too.  He was in the rotc program with me and i did a couple double dates with him last semester. he lived on the second floor at bidulph.  carlie is here to. She was allyssa's room mate up at byui.  She is going to texas and got here the same day i did.  I thought there would be a lot more free time while we were here but we cram as much into each day as we can.  Even today, P day, its a full day. We only have 30 minutes for letter writing letters on email and then the computer kicks us off.  we also do all of our laundry today and anything else we need to do to be ready for next week. I think i've worked more this weekend than i ever have before on a weekend.  Even sunday was full of meatings and studying.  and saturday was just a regular day at the mtc.  There are 4 of us that are going to Arkansas together. besides Elder Fjerstad and i, Elder Baren and Elder Steed are also going.  All of us are in the same room. I hope every thing is going good at home.  Monday is the only day we can do any writing. and its the only day the computers will let us read emails. so if you want to tell me something before monday, you will have to send the letter in the mail.
                                                             Love Elder Marshall

We have been quite busy. We got Steven off to the MTC. He was excited to go up until it was time for him to go one way and the rest of us go the other way. It was a little hard on us all.

May 9 was also prom for Lysha. She had a good time.

Last night we had a orchestra concert. Lysha and Kaitlyn both played in it.

Steven is getting excited about leaving. He only has 2 weeks left.
We took these pictures in the font yard. Corey and I held up a piece
of fleece for the back drop. We sent them to Walmart to get developed
and they would not give them to us because they were professional
pictures. We had to bring the card in that had the pictures on it to
prove that we took them.

We had a nice Easter. The kids were happy to find all the Easter Eggs that the Easter Bunny left for them outside. As they were looking for the eggs Rebecca found these little rabbits that the Easter Bunny left behind.