Pics from Mark

Christmas Zone Conference The real missionaries

Fire at the complex across from where Mark lives. He more than ever wants to be a firefighter.

"Look what I found in the trash."

Email 12-20-10

This week has been grand i dont want to say to much because i'm going to call. We are getting 20 new greenies on january 12th. and my district and zone leaders say they think i am pregnant!!! i'll finally have my firstborn in the wilderness...... maybe..... dont pray for it to happen because that would be scary but i've been told its a possibility. anywho im going to call around noonish here so i think thats 10 o clock there. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALL THERE PLEASE!!!! even philius and heather if possible. and boy do i have some stories for you!!!! thank you for the presents..... ADHD kicked in and they've all been opened. hahaha but i love them ESPECIALLY THE BLANKET EMMA SENT ME!!! its very warm and cozy. anyway love you!!!

Email for 12-13-10

ITS BEEN SOOOOOO COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its been in the single digits. here all week long!!!! its snowed to much!!! im buying some long johns today at walmart and a new camera i guess. CURSE YOU CAMERA DEMONS!!!!!! i have no luck. anywho. evrything is going well here. we've been walking all week but now its our turn to drive!!!!!! YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so we'll be warmer this week. so the snow storm we are going to be getting soon is the same one that hit the minneapolis metrodome and made it collapse. so it should be exciting.

oh hey brother freeman said he put up some pictures of his wedding on my facebook for me. so you should go check them out. and send them to me. i havent seen them yet!!! hmmm what else. but all is well here in lafayette!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Pics from Mark

Lafeyette courthouse and somewhere over the rainbow.... in Indiana.

No. 1? No surprise. hehe!

Crunchy the Leaf Man.

Email for 11-15-10

alrighty so this week, we have a baptism of a young man named weston wands. he is so awesome!!! he is totally ready for baptism. AND HEY I"VE GOT SOME OTHER BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!! DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IVE BEEN CARBONATION/CAFFEINE FREE FOR 6 MONTHS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the funny thing is i feel great, but i love the taste of mountain dew and THE "DOCTOR" but thus far i am done drinking soda for the rest of forever. its not really good for you im sure you've heard. so 6 months ago i decided to stop. and i did!!! oh man crazy awesomeness stories, first one -- i bought a nerf gun and modified it on p day and now it shoots about 65 feet!!!! and second story.... we always play dodgeball on p days. so last pday we were playing dodgeball and Elder Von throws it as hard as he could and hits Elder Hurst in the ear..... so he gets knocked down on his butt. then elder hurst got back up and started playing with his ear... he said he couldnt hear. that it felt as if his ear was dead. sure enough elder hurst is now deaf in one ear. he is going to go see a specialist this week. hope everything turns out well, but there goes dodgeball on pdays. anywho not really much going on here besides westons baptism. i talked to elder Neilson (zl) last night and he said he thinks my mission right now is to help elder von. so to not worry if nothing is happening investigator wise. its seems as if the last 2 transfers have been for me to help my comp. that is what president told me anyways. alrighty i hope you are having a super awesome fall back home. our trees are better out here though. but i gotta run so LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Pics from Lafayette, IN

Mark's apartment.

cool photo of light up ball.

Boys and guns. When Mark was little we wouldn't buy him a gun and he and his bro would bite their sandwiches into gun shapes. It's a no win.

Silly p day antics. Notice Mark is wearing a Indy firefighter shirt.

A special baptism day.

Mark's always flirtin' with the ladies.

Mark's bud and his wife.

Rats of unusual size.

Swine Registry?

A zone of happiness.

Email for 11-8-10

Hi All! Nothing really new this week. Purdue just lost to Wisconsin yesterday. It was really bad I guess. We have text updates on the games so we have a good opener to talk to people while tracting. So guess what !?!?!?! I have only two more transfers until I've been out on the mission for a year! crazy eh? time flies. seems I left yesterday. anywho, Weston is to be baptized on November 20 and now we're teaching his mom too! I hope everything goes well. hmmm. other updates. not much happening. but Mom - I would like to make a request for Christmas. a 50 gift card to wally world. our area is saving to buy Super awesome Nerf guns so we can all meet on a Pday and have a great WAR ZONE !!!!!!! It should be fun. anything else you would like to know? if not,that's all I have for this week, but I love you SOOO MUCH !!!!

Email for 11-1-10

hmm so this week has been super awesome i guess. honestly nothing new at all. its kind of slow in our area right now but it should all get better soon. ummm wow thats pretty much it. WE are getting a 2011 chevy malibu in 2 weeks or so. and im still the full time driver for the car so its pretty awesome. ummwhat else. we are going to go play ping pong today at the institute building with some of the YSA members ummm other than that not much to update. its already super cold. this winter is going to suck with epic vacuum suckiness. umm wow its getting harder to write home because nothing is new here. same investigators. Weston still has a baptismal date. a new scripture i read says, "" for tracting exuberantly in west lafayette profiteth an elder nothing. for all the people round about in the land are wine-bibbers and gluttons, and want nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ." its a very true scripture. we had 8 tracting contacts this week...... its all good though. missionarying has its fasts and its slows. the church is true. anywho LOVE YA"LL!!!!!!

ELDER SWANSON

Email for 10-18-10

SO TRANSFERS IS ON WEDNESDAY AND IM STAYING HERE IN LAFAYETTE SECOND WARD FOR ANOTHER SIX WEEKS. umm not really much else to say. We had a baptism on saturday for the Hill family. their dad has been a member for a long time but his wife and 2 sons have not. but he got to baptise them, it was so amazing. they have been meeting with missionarys for about a week before i got here so i got to see the whole process. they are such an amazing family. i'll be sending pictures out next week. but anywho this next part i think you will find amusing.

ATTENTION ALL PEOPLE THAT LOVE MISSIONARIES!!!! AS WE ALL KNOW THAT OH SO SPECIAL DAY OF OCTOBER 31ST IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.... AS MISSIONARIES WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO TRICK OR TREATING FOR SOME REASON THAT DAY BUT IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED IF WE COULD STILL RECEIVE SOME BY MAIL!! SO HERE GOES....... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK......... TRICK OR TREAT!!!!! OUR ADDRESS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO RESPOND TO THIS REQUEST BY POOR NON TRICKORTREATING MISSIONARIES, IS

2330 NORTHWESTERN AVE
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN, 47906

ANY CONTRIBUTIONS WOULD BE AWESOME(ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE IN THE FORM OF CHOCOLATE/ JOLLY RANCHERS/SUCKERS ETC....)

HOPE YA'LL ARE HAVING A FANTASTIC WEEK!!!!

LOVE,
ELDER SWANSON AND THE LAFAYETTE ZONE

Email for 10-11-10

wow what a week its been!!!! so the Hill family is being baptized on october 16th!!!!!!! they are so ready for the gospel. but the big thing that happened this week was Brother Freemans wedding. i dont know if you remember him but he was my first real convert to the gospel. So i get a call from him two weeks ago saying that he wants me to come to the wedding. so i say yes but i have to call president collins. so i call president collins and he says yes that would be great. so little did i know he had a huge surprise in store for me. so me and Elder Buchanan get picked up by brother freeman in the morning and we head back to his "no longer a man cave" and we talk for a bit, then he pulls out this bag that says Shane Co on it and says take a look at the rings. so i admire them for a few minutes and ask him about them. and then the killer........... i go to hand them back and he says " bro you better hold on to those for a while because you're the best man...............................*silence*.................. me-- "uh what?? ......................... for real??...................... oh crap............. then he starts laughing. so the wedding went real smooth until after when they were taking pictures of us all. jenny and i took some pictures of just us together and for the first one they wanted me to put my arm around her waist............. and i said again........................ uh....... what???................... then they just took pictures of us side by side....... but then the real freaky part............. the camera lady said Alright now kneel down and lift up her dress and pull the garter off with your teeth and again i say...................................................................................uh............................................um.......... ...................................................but........... im a.........................nope cant do that one................. it was really awkward for all of us, especially since i knew everyone there but the camera people werent Lds so no biggie i guess. anywho not much else has happened this week. not a lots of investigator action. lots of tracting but besides that, its all the same. alrighty im gonna go but LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email for 10-4-10

WE GET A TEMPLE IN INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! its so awesome im so happy there are finally putting one in here!!!!! we watched all the sessions at the stake center here in lafayette, and when they announced it all 11 elders and sisters shouted YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! in the stake center. it was way funny. anywho not much new going on here. we have a baptismal date set for ocTOBER 16th with the hill family!!!!! it is so awesome they are so prepared. anyway something really really really SUPER AWESOME IS HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO NOT JUST THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU REMEMBER BROTHER FREEMAN........................ WELL HE"S GETTING MARRIED TO A MEMBER NAMED JENNY WHISTLER IN ELWOOD ON THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and well he called and asked me to come........... so i called president collins........... and he said................................................................................................................................................................................ ..............................................................................................................................................he said.................................. ....................................he said............. I CAN GO!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! im so excited to go to his wedding!!!!!! ITS GOING TO BE SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of all the people i've met on the mission. i've grown closer as friends with him than any other person out here. HE IS SUCH A GREAT GUY!!!!!! truly one of the lord elect!!!! so once again, not much else is going on here. we are going to Happy HOllow Park to play soccer and barbeque for p-day after we all email home. but CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING NO?? WOAH WOAH WOAH ELDER BUCHANAN JUST TOLD ME THAT UTAH STATE AGGIES STOMPED THE BYU COUGARS IN FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THATS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO USU!!!!!! anywho i really dont know what else to talk about but i hope ya'll are doing well. thank you for the rice crispies momma.
LOVE,
ELDER SWANSON

Address Correction

See changes to address. Thanks!

Email for 9-27-10

no time this week. doing very well!!! LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR THE TREATS!!!!!!!

LOVE ELDER MARK ALTON SWANSON

Email for 9-20-10

LIFE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!! we are doing really well here in lafayette. my companion and i are working on some things this week. we have 2 completely different personalities. he is kind of shy and reserved and im just crazy. but THE DAY AT PURDUE WAS SO FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we got to separate from companions so it was just you ...... alone talk/walking with people. IT WAS CRAZY!!!!!!! our zone got 392 personal contacts that day. i think the funnest one for me was when i was walking up the street on campus these 2 girls were sitting on a table in the smokers area. and no missionaries were going in there, and i saw them point at us and talking so i hopped the fence and went and sat down next to them and talked to them for a little. ones name is Kay and the other was Sarah. they werent really interested but it was fun talking to them anyway. my favorite part though was the question of the day area. we had a huge poster board with pictures of the restoration on there and a whiteboard with a "question of the day in the middle..... and the question of the day was............. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CHURCHES????????? so we got to talk to people about the priesthood and the apostasy and first vision A LOT!!!!!! it was so fun!!! awww man some crappy news my bike has had 2 flats this week so far and i think its my rim. the puncture is on the inside of the rim and its always in the same spot............. DANGIT!!!!!!!!!!!! but anywho we have quite a few investigators here, but this week we are setting a baptismal date with A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Hill family is a part member family. dad is the member and mom and 2 boys are going to be baptized soon.

i went on a spanish speaking exchange. our district Leader Elder Yi is a sapnish missionary so i got to sit in on some spanish tracting/lessons. i couldnt speak any spanish put i could understand what was being taught for the most part. it was WAY COOL!!!!! hmmm other cool/exciting things....... oh yeah last night we gave a presentation on how to make a missionary lesson plan, at the new duty to god intro thingy for our ward!!!! it was SUPER FUN!!!!! and we got ice cream after. umm other stuff....... hmmmm...... oh me and one of our zone leaders(Elder Hurst) full on wrestled in there apartment. it was so fun. i won of course because i have a 100 lb advantage but still he's quick. ummm i believe that is it for now. hope to get the package soon!!! LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

All the Indianapolis, IN missionaries. Mark is in the back row giggling with another elder grabbing him in a bear hug. Rarely serious - always loveable. That's Mark.

Elder Buchanan - Mark's new companion.

Mark & The Cole Family

This community is all about the King Arthur ledgend. Mark sent about 12 pics. of streets all named after that story.

Email for 9-13-10

I'm now in west lafayette, right off of PURDUE campus!!!!! its so awesome!! we have 5 other missionary companionships here with us emailing, and after we all email and go shop, then we are going to go play some dodgeball at the church. my new comps name is elder buchanan( we were in the mtc together, but in different districts) he is from west jordan, utah and he is awesome. im now senior comp. wooot! so i get to drive the dodge caliber hatchback. its so fun. so im still not really familiar with this area yet, but we are teaching quite a few people right now. one family is praying about a baptismal date and we will be setting a date with them on friday!!! haha something kinda funny is that we live right below the zone leaders. we had a sleepover last night it was pretty fun!! something coming up is really cool though, everyone in the lafayette zone is coming up to purdue on friday and we are going to blitz purdue campus. which means splitting up from companions (staying within sight of course) and talking to as many people we can for a whole day!!!!!!! its going to be sooooooo fun!!! so everything is going really awesome this transfer so far. im senior companion, so its kind of stressful, but not too much. as for the temple trip I WANNA GO SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i miss the temple so much. we have the biggest ward in the whole mission and we cover a huge area too. anywho LOVE YOU LOTS AND HOPE YOU HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK!!!!!

Email for 9-7-10

i am leaving!!!!! SO I"LL SEND YOU A LETTER TOMMOROW WITH MY NEW ADDRESS ON IT!!!!! oh man i cant believe i've been gone for 6 months already. time sure swims huh. so nothing really new this week. im all packed and ready to go. we are going to crawfordville in about an hour to go to B dubs(buffalo wild wings) ive never been so we are gonna spend to day over in c-ville with elder bronk and elder luster. anywho thats really it. so hope you guys have a good week!!!! im gonna write a lot of letters next week one to each of ya. on a side note though. i now talk like a HOOSIER!!!!!!!!!!!! DANGIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i catch myself slurring my words and putting weird accents on things almost everyday!!! but thats all so love you guys!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email for 8-30-10

Remember folks - Dad says I shouldn't edit these, so you get what we get. This kills the teacher in me, but you get a better sense of Mark's enthusiam. enjoy!! The Mom

i suck at journal writing so i figure i better keep track somehow. but to let you know how bad at writing and updating i am. we had a baptism on saturday of Millie Minor. she is like our grandma. she is so awesome! we've been teaching her for about 4 1/2 months but we also have a baptism on wednesday for Scott Peachee he is an Eternigator. he's been investigating the church and has known its true for about 6 years. his only problem was smoking. he said he's seen many many many many many missionaries and they have all tried to get him baptised. but he will remember us because well (elder empey and i are rather blunt sometimes and we pretty much told him to put up or shut up. he says its what he needed. i love this area. all of the branch members love us. they say that we have been the best missionaries they've had in about 2 years because we are both real people. because we dont project ourselves to be perfect or something. so its nice. but i love you guys sooooo much too. philius has messaged me once a week and i guess he's picking up longboarding O_O wow right?? but everything is fun here in lebanon. OH MAN!!!! TRANSFERS IS ON SEPTEMBER 8TH AND ONE OF US IS LEAVING FOR SURE!!! BUT THE DAY BEFORE TRANSFERS.......................................... THE FIRST LITTLE CAESARS IS OPENING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and next monday is going to be really super fun. we are going to spend some time over at the Milakovics for LaborDay/Pday and play some football and BARBEQUE!!!! i'll send some pics sooner or later. hope ya'll are doing well. i dont have an accent yet but i do say some words funny already. but HAVE A SUPER RAD WEEK!!!!!

Email for 8-26-10

So this week was pretty good. Thank you for your prayers. i need them a lot. anywho im writing today instead of yesterday because zone conference was yesterday.Elder Golden from south africa came and spoke to us. it was so cool!! we are spiritually drained today just because IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! he talked a lot about not assuming things because "when you assume.... it makes an ass out of you and me" that stunned a lot of people but i was laughing pretty hard. anywho it was way fun. i talked with all my mission buddies, and we ate pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. then we came back into the chapel and Elder Golden taught some more. i didnt take notes this time. i was just reveling in the spirit. it was sooo amazing. anywho so i met my little brother Elder Aguerra. he my trainers new trainee. but everything is going well here i love the work. on a side note i hurt my back somehow so i've been taking it kind of easy this past week. i dont know how i did but i've been hurting. will you guys send me letters from time to time?? its nice to get mail during the week instead of just on monday. and so guess what........ i lost my camera again...... i always lose it. anywho ot much else to say besides I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

L-dur swanson

Pictures From Lebanon (pronounced Lebanin) IN

Mark in a tank and hanging out w/ a hairless rat. Random


Mark w/ the Swain Family. Youngest - Brandon Swain. They look like they get along well.


A tornado siren, Elders watching a storm, and Bro. Osbourne - who calls Mark's parents regularly to let us know how much he loves Elder Swanson. Bro. Osbourne is 95 years young.



Indy clean up day.

Mark's companion - Elder Empey

Email for 8-9-10

Exciting news this week. 2 of our investigators, Mike and Amanda are getting MARRIED!!!!!! he proposed last wednesday and they are getting married Sept 19th THIS YEAR!!!!!! AWESOMENESS!!!!! so we are dropping one of our investigators this week as well. his name is roger and he isnt ready for the gospel. it sucks so bad. we've been teaching him for a long time. longer than i've been here in lebanin. but it just isnt working.

anywho guess what?!?!?! For Elder Empey and i alone........... THE LORD OF THE RINGS SOUNDTRACK IS APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!! i love that soundtrack so much. so send me some pics of ya'll again, so i can put some in my scriptures!!! love you guys lots and have an awesome week!!!!

Love,
Marko

Email for 8-2-10

Not much new here. im in lebanon for another 6 weeks. the branch members say they love us!!! they had a spell of lamo dry missionaries or something i guess so its nice to be liked. umm oh yea im starting to weight lift in the mornings and do lots of sit ups/pushups. and im starting to eat healthy too. no more kraft mac n cheese or microwave burritos. just fruit, chicken, salad, yogurt and stuff like that. but im excited to start losing a bit of weight and get some muscle. thats all really. im for real going to send a letter with a bajillion pictures this week, but I love you guys!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email from 7-26-10

Nothing really new this week but im writing a letter and sending some pics home today. LOVE YOU LOTS!!! oh and by the by P-day is now on monday. pres. collins changed the rules but its awesome. Love you guys!!!!

Note from Mom - I will not be editing Mark's emails for capitalization anymore. Dad says it's better to let you read Mark's letters the way he send them. Thank goodness he's a good speller.

We will post what he wrote in his letter when we get it. Pics too.

:)

Email for 7-20-10

It’s alright I found my camera YAY!!!!!

So any who, not much to report this week except we were at Hardees (Carls Jr) and I was washing up after lunch, because my hands were all greasy, then we walked outside and Brother Prebe from Crawfordville walks up to us and asks us for our help. So we said sure!!!! So any whoo, we walk with him to this house and he asks, “Have you ever lifted a dead body before???”

............. WHAT!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! So we helped him put a guy named Charles Gardner in a body bag and threw him in the river so he wouldn’t get in trouble……… Just kiddin’ but we did put a body in a bag and then in his van. He’s a mortician.

Any who, love you guys lots. Oh by the by, I’d like you guys to buy me some Paul Cardall cds. One of them is called Faithful, but he has a lot of good ones and they are approved. So now only piano music, hymns, and Motab are approved...................... IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! TOTAL MUSIC WITHDRAWALS!!!!!! MAN I miss 2 things the most out here and that’s my tunes and........ you know..... But SEND ME ALL THE MOTAB/ HYMNS/PIANO and Those Paul Cardall cds please!!!!! That would be great!!!! Any who, nothing else to report.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

More Pictures

Mark's sunny experience in a grove. Reminds me of......

Mississenwa River. Indiana is flat but green.

Beem me up Scotty!

Indiana was James Dean's home.

Hoosier food. Hope he doesn't eat that often.

The middle Elder, Jared Renfro was our neightbor RIGHT ACCROSS THE STREET when Mark was a little guy. Small World!!!!

Indiana is Garfield's home too.

Speaking of home, look at the frilly curtains the elders have in their Marion, IN home. Sweet!!

And you call me a big chicken?

Mark can't pass up a stray person or stray animal. These are the neighborhood strays in Marion - Starsky and Hutchins.

Email from 7-13-10

I LOVE BROTHER OSBOURNE!!!!!! He does live way out there. He is really old. 90 percent blind and amazing. He never lets us inside his house because " I never expected to live this long so I didn’t keep up my house, so you can’t come in because it’s a mess!!!!!
I now have a Lithonia bike. All I have to do is pedal and if I have the spirit with me it with self steer me to where I want to go!!! Just kidding. But mom............... I LOST MY CAMERA !! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sniffle* *sniffle* I don’t know where it is.

Tell Philius to play "Ghost Opera" by Kamelot on his drums or something by Epica THEY ARE AWESOME!!!! Speaking of music elder Empey and I took Grandma Millie (one of our investigators she is being baptized august 14th) but we took her to Penn station for lunch and "Peace of Mind" by Boston came on the radio and I started tearing (tearing) up. So I sang along with it with tears in my eyes then after some commercials, Piano Man by Billy Joel came on and I teared up again but then the killer came...... Wanted: dead or alive by Jon Bon Jovi came on......... I didn’t realize how much I missed that till then!!! If nothing else I miss 2 things the most. You all know the first thing.... but the second one is my tunes!!!! We as missionaries consider those events like what happened in Penn station "tender mercies of the lord".

But anywho last night we set a baptismal date with Millie. The spirit was so strong; we took Bro Milakovic with us. I love the Milakovic family!!!! They are my favorite family in the ward. Hahaha, oh man, time for a spazz moment. So we went to the Milakovics for dinner last night, and they have 3 kittens. So remembering an SNL skit I saw a year ago I picked one up and cocked it like a shotgun..... Chk chk... and we all started laughing!!!! It was awesome!! I’m sorry to say but I have a really lousy sense of humor now. Everything is funny! At least I’m happy right? So nothing else new except I NEED A NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO BAD!!!!!! I’ve missed so many awesome picture taking opportunities. I’m sending a few more home this week so enjoy those but hey!!! I love you guys!!!!!

Oh man one more thing. We were at this thing called why I believe and a Spanish lady got up and was telling about how she found the church and she said she had a dream one night. Where the lord came to her and (you know the Catholic picture of Christ) he was all bloody and he was crying blood and the skin was hanging off his face and crazy stuff. We had some investigators there and they were stunned, but we told them it was a catholic thing. It was kind of a stretch, but no harm done. Anywho I don’t really have anything else to say so LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

Elder Swanson

The Wilkins' baptism day.

Bill's baptism day.

Hair cut day w/ Sis. Stover.

Mark waiting his turn in true Mark fashion.

2 phone calls from Indiana this week.

The 1st one to say that Mark's $150 Walmart bike fell apart (surprise) and that he needed more $ to buy a bike off a missionary going home. They are going to use all the parts from Mark's broken bike and another Elder's bike to make a new bike for soemone else. "So it's all good mom. We're helping someone else."

The second call was from Bro. Osbourne in the branch where Mark is serving. He wanted us to know how much he appreciates Mark - for being a good missionary and a good teacher. What a treat for us.

:) the mom

Promised Pictures

Clinton's Baptism Day.

Email from 7-6-10

We have a new mission president his name is President Collins!!!! He is so awesome!!! Everything is changing!!!!!!! They are adding more to Preach my Gospel and changing/adding some things!!!!! but thanks for everything mom!!!! i love you so much!!!!!! I'll send another email next tuesday and a letter too!!!!!!

I LOVE PRESIDENT BURDETTE(atake pres. in his old area - who called us (the mom and dad) to tell us what a great person/missionary Mark is) !!!! WOOHOO CARE PACKAGE!!!!! so anywho, nothing really new, except one of our investigator is in prison now. Charges will soon be dropped. We are seeing him in there for a half an hour today so wish us luck. OH OH OH HEY!!!!!!
elder Swanson

p.s. SAY HI TO PHILIUS FROM ME!!!!!
Phillip flew home from France today - arriving at 10:06 p.m.

Mom's response to email sent 6-29-10

Mark didn't want his actual email posted this week. He's feeling frustrated. Much like in the times when Christ was on the earth, those who actually listen to and embrace the good news of the gospel are those that have sunk to the depths of despair and need God’s tender mercies most – sinners (aren’t we all). To a missionary, this is a wonderful blessing to be able to lift, comfort and help “lost” souls come unto Christ and by so doing help them turn their lives around, find happiness and become givers in the society instead of takers. So what’s the problem? Just like in Christ’s earthly time – those already in the church – born in the church – often see these humble souls only by the labels society has put upon them – druggies, felons, etc. – not worthy of our association or support. They sometimes forget what it means to be Christian and act like the Pharisees and Sadducees, looking down on those sorry, unworthy ones. Mark – who loves ALL PEOPLE can’t understand why some in his local congregation are not more welcoming. Which give us all a chance to ponder…. Am I seeing this person in front of me as God would see him/her? Am I lifting or putting down? Are we not all sinners, dependant on the Lord’s mercies? Do we not want to forgive and nurture others so that the Lord will forgive and nurture us? I’m grateful Mark was born with the gift of love for all mankind. He has overcome many challenges in his life and knows he would be nothing without the forgiveness and healing of God. He knows he will make many more mistakes – as we all will – and trusts that if he does his best, the Lord will forgive, strengthen him and help him be a better man. He gets it. That’s all a parent could ask. Thanks for being supportive friends and examples of Christlike behavior.
Sincerely,
Marjean, The Mom

email sent June 22, 2010

Hi Everyone!!

I’m now in Lebanon Indiana!!!!! Everyone calls it Lebanin because they don’t want to be confused with the "terrorist country" it’s kind of funny. Last night sucked!!!!!!!!! We got home and planned, and then we saw some sort of light flashing outside. So we went outside and off in the distance it looked kind of like a whole lot of fireworks were going off!!! UNTIL WE FOUND OUT IT WAS LIGHTNING!!!!!!!!!!! Lightning was spider webbing across the sky like mad! It wasn’t dark for more than 2 seconds at a time!!!!! And it was loud!!! So just in case we packed some emergency gear, watched it for a bit then around 11:30 we crashed. Around 2:30 in the morning I woke up randomly, I lay in bed trying to get back to sleep, when the tornado sirens went off!!!!!!! It was so freaky!! So we got dressed and grabbed our stuff and headed to the basement of the apartment, which required RUNNING OUTSIDE INTO A PSYCHOTIC LIGHTNING STORM!!!!!!! We stayed there for a bit. Nothing particularly exciting happened after that but this lighting storm lasted from about 10:15 at night until 5:00 in the morning!!! It was freaky!!!

So anyway, my new comps name is Elder Empey (just remember military police, MP) he is awesome!! He is from Idaho Falls Idaho!!!! This transfer is going to be so awesome!!!!! We get along even better than Elder Ricks and I did. A cool thing that’s happening is we have a wedding date coming up soon for Will and Tammi!!! The area’s sweet black couple that loves the gospel, has three crazy kids, and wants to be baptized!!!!!! So their wedding is on July 24th!!!! I get to go to my first wedding of the mission!!!! Cool eh?? The branch is awesome!!! We get fed almost every night. But the girls here are crazy!!!!!! They don’t even try to hide the flirting!!! It’s like they want us to falter!!! I guess wanting a missionary is good but a missionary that would do something like that isn’t worth anything!!!! It’s insane!!!

Anywho me address is:

318 N Jameson St
Lebanon, IN, 46052

So hope you guys have an awesome week!!!!! LOVE YA!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email sent 6-15-10

Hey hey hey!!!! I'M GETTING TRANSFERED SO STOP ALL THE snail MAIL!!!!!! I'LL SEND my mom AN ENVELOPE WITH MY NEW ADDRESS ON WEDNESDAY!!!! Anywho, the work goes great!!!

So nothing big this week except yesterday we were riding our bikes out in Gas City AND ELDER RICKS GOT HIT BY A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was AWESOME!!!!!!!! He's okay just bruised, but we we're laughing the whole time!! We went to the ER to check out his leg last night, but he only had a minor concussion (big boy word for bruise) but I'M GETTING TRANSFERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Transfer meeting is tommorow so I'll tell ya where I am next Tuesday!!!!! I dont really have anything else for ya except I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email 6-8-10

I’m happy for pictures!!!!!! It’s pretty wacky out here in Indy. The other day Elder Ricks and I were tracting and a lady opened the door and was very friendly until we said we were Mormon. Then she flipped out and started screaming at us. That we were all going to hell for teaching about the devil...... we told her we worship Jesus Christ, to which she said NO YOU DONT!!!!!!! THAT’S JUST WHAT YOU TELL PEOPLE SO YOU CAN CONVERT THEM AND ONCE THEY ARE IN YOUR CHURCH, YOU TEACH THEM YOUR "REAL" DOCTRINE!!!! SO DONT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!!!! We laughed and said why do you think that?? She said BECAUSE YOU ADDED YOUR IDEAS AND STUFF TO THE BIBLE!!!!! She proceed to tell us that we were devil spawn so me being...... well me.................. I cut her off and said " I'LL SEE YOU AT THE JUDGEMENT BAR OF GOD YOU DRUNK HICK AND WE'LL SEE WHO IS REALLY GOING TO HELL!!!!! I KNOW I’M GOING TO HEAVEN BECAUSE I DONT FOLLOW SOME APOSTATE PREACHER WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE AUTHORITY!!!! BECAUSE WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY AND YOU DONT!!!! ........................ We left after that (disclaimer I don’t believe she is going to hell, but she made me upset and my emotions got the better of me). So this week I told a lady to go to hell..... Don’t worry I repented, but the funny thing is, as we were walking back to our car she came out of her house and asked, "WHAT DID YOU MEAN YOU'LL SEE ME AT THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF GOD?? I said "the judgment seat that God will sit on and judge the just and the unjust in their works." to which she said "NO THERE ARE 2 JUDGEMENT SEATS........ THERE IS THE BEAMA SEAT..... AND THE WICKED SEAT...... THE BEAMA SEAT IS WHERE THE RIGHTEOUS GET REWARDED AND THE WICKED SEAT IS WHERE THE WICKED ARE PUNISHED!!!!!" to which Elder Ricks said, "Where do you get that doctrine from?? It’s not in the Bible.” To which she replied.. ."WELL NEITHER IS THE CONCEPT OF RAPTURE, BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN ITS FALSE!!!!' ...Thus we see she condemned herself. She said we were going to burn for adding things..... and she and her church have also added things.... so i guess we are all going to hell!! What a joke. It was funny. But THE MISSION IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I love being here!!!!! We meet so many awesome people!!!!! Also not so awesome people too, but it’s fun!!!!!!

Oh oh oh!!!! Another funny story. I GOT TASED!!!!!!!!!!!! I and Elder Ricks were at a former investigators house and their 17 year old daughter asks..... Have you ever been tased before??? We both said no. and she asked if we would like to tase each other. WE ACCEPTED!!!!! So she went to her room and grabbed her taser and I tased Elder Ricks and he tased me!!!!!! It was shweet!!! The whole Riley family was laughing so hard!! No more fun stories or awesome spiritual things. Lots of our investigators are not calling us back and 2 of them are getting a divorce. Pray for us please. LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs,
Elder Swanson!!!

Email 6-1-10

I WANT PICTURES!!!!!! I"VE SENT A BAJILLION HOME SO TAKE SOME FOR ME!!!!!! OF EVERYTHING!!!! STEPHEN, EMMA, YOU, DAD, THE JEEP, THE PUPPIES, THE WARD, THE NEIGHBORS, THE MOUNTAINS AND EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

Anyway... so the whole ward situation........ you're going to love this. They asked me and Elder Ricks to speak on missionary work this past Sunday........ so we spoke...... on forgiveness and the ATONEMENT!!!!!!! We both spoke and REBUKED THE WARD!!!!!!! WE CALLED THEM TO REPENTANCE!!!!!! IT WAS SHWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG AND I THINK WE AFFECTED EVERYONE!!!!!!! So hopefully the ward will be doing much better now. I've decided I'm going to get into baseball on p-days. I'm buying a bat and some baseballs today at Mal-Wart. Not much going on here, but all is well in Zion...... for now. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! AND SEND ME AND ACTUAL LETTER WITH LOTS OF TRIP PICTURES AND PCITURES OF EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!! I'm sending home like 50 pictures today so expect them when you get home!!!!!! Say hi to the ward for me and tell Parker and Preston and Braiden and Keaton to write me!!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email 5-25-10

The baptism went awesome!! Clinton will be getting the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday and he is going to baptise an investigator named Shannon. It's pretty sweet. He has a Preach My Gospel already and is using it to try and show his family that the gospel is the best thing ever!!!! Anyways, I'm not doing too well today. I lost my camera and don't know where it is. I murmured a bit and now i feel like crap, so I can't send any pictures home this week because we can only develop film on Tuesdays. What is something you do when you get angry?? Nothing seems to help. Our ward officially is going to hell. All they do is argue and fight and complain about no one liking church. They have about 400 members in our ward and only 75-100 of them are active. The Relief Society is an exclusive club and everyone bad mouths non-LDS people or our investigators. If I lived here I wouldn't go to church. We have a couple families that are awesome! but the rest are like dogs fighting over table scraps. Transfers are on June 16th and I hope I move somewhere else. I thought some of the Mormons in Utah were bad, but these ones take the cake. Anyway, inspite of all this crap I still love the mission. I know I'll be blessed for being here so it makes up for the crap.

We elders are getting along well. we have our differences but we try not to dwell on them. Glad you guys are doing awesome!!! Hey by the by, on our vacation after the mission. You know when we come out here, you'll get to meet Clinton he says he's excited to meet you guys in 2 years!!!! hehehe Anyways, I gotta go, but love you all so much.

Elder Swanson

Email 5-18-10

The mission is awesome!!! Clinton "the Abyss" Freeman is being baptised by water and fire on Saturday. Did I tell you he is a former Pro wrestler "THE ABYSS" and also former bodygaurd of Violent J from the Insane Clown Posse..... that music is so HORRIBLE!!!! Very psycho, but he says the guys are nice enough! He had a messed up past life but he's such an awesome guy now!!!! One cool thing about the Clinton story is, you know how we were over Marion/Elwood. Well his street was the only street we tracted in Elwood and he was the only person to answer!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT REALLY DOES GUIDE OUR PLANNING!!!!! He already has a Preach my Gospel and read a little from it every day!!!!!! Wish me luck on trying to dunk this 6 foot 7, 350 something pound guy on Saturday!!!! I'll probably get pulled in with him ^______^ anyway I want you guys to write me a letter sometime!! Emails are nice but you get letter during the week!!! I've got to go but have a good week!!!!!!!!

ELDER SWANSON

Email 5-11-10 and Mom's Day Call

Me and Philius have been writing emails back and forth quite a bit!! and I'm going to get a bike at Walmart today when we go shopping in an hour or so. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!! It was awesome to hear from you!!!! I'm planning on sending more pictures home today with a letter so expect one soon. I love you lots!!!!!!!

Mark

Mom’s Day Call – we talked to Mark for a while then brought in Phillip w/ conference calling. It was hard to hear w/ the long pauses from overseas, but it was nice for everyone to hear each others’ voices. Not really any new info.
Mark says there are 3 kinds of people he meets when he and Elder Ricks are out tracting. NICE, INDIFFERENT, AND HATEFUL. The 1st is great, the second is frustrating, the 3rd is sometimes funny, but hard too.
Mark lives by Indiana Wesleyan College. The town of Marion is struggling w/ unemployment. He sees a lot of people w/ missing teeth and lots of run down homes. He loves his neighbors and the work. He’s most excited about Clinton Freeman who will be baptized on the 25th. Clinton is a former WWF wrestler – The Abis. Mark thinks that’s cool. Of course.

Email received 5-4-10

HEY HEY HEY!!!!!!! The Lord has truly blessed us. Kylie Wilkin was baptized on April 24th. BILL Blake, who has investigated the church for 2 years, was baptized on Sunday. Clinton Freeman (the most amazing guy in the world) is going to be baptized on May 22nd. And NEWS NEWS!!!!! A GIRL NAMED MATTI PRICHETT AND HER LITTLE BROTHER ZANE ARE GOING TO BE BAPTISED ON JUNE 5TH!!!!!! Sweet huh!!!! I love having the spirit so strong out here!!! Anyway, this week something cool that happened was a sister in the ward called us on Sunday. She said she was at her friend’s house and that she needed us to come over right away, because her friend’s husband wanted to speak with us. He wouldn’t talk to anyone but us. So we travel out to Jonesboro and Sister Swain let us in and lead us to a back bedroom where her friend’s husband is sitting on the bed crying...... We were kind of weirded out, but we asked him what we could do to help him. He asked us to pray with him. So we did, and then he proceeded to tell us that he went to church with Brother and Sister Swain, and that he had felt something so strong there. He said he felt peaceful and happy, like he hasn’t felt in a long time. We explained that it was the Holy Ghost and he said he wants his family to learn more. So we taught an amazing 1st lesson and Jordan and his wife told us they want to keep learning!!! That was so amazing!!! I love this Gospel. It can change your life in seconds!!!! And it’s true. The spirit is the converting power! I'm not smart enough to logically explain different things, but when I say something I can really feel the Lord putting words in my mouth.

Anyway…Yes I got a gps!!! I got a Garmin Nuvi its pretty awesome!!! Oh man, so we got transfer calls this morning and the assistant wouldn’t tell us where, but he said they are double transferring us out. We were shocked!!!! So we called president Corey and he said that they were going to put us in Elwood and put new missionaries in Marion.(We cover both right now.) He asked us where we would like to be and we said Marion. He said we could stay. Marion was kind of dead for a while, but now it’s awesome!! He wanted us to go where we felt we would be most effective. Crazy huh? Elder Ricks says mission president never do that!!! Anyway, I’ll send some pictures this week. And hey, if you could get in contact with Kevin and tell him to email me or write me please. I haven’t heard from him yet..... Anyway I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! AND THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!

email for 4-27-10

Answers to mom’s questions -- I’m getting up great in the morning!!!! I love the work here it’s so amazing!!! I promise I’ll stay humble!!!! Yea I ran out of grocery money. I only get 135 a month, but I didn’t budget so it ran out :( sorry it won’t happen again. Anyway me and Elder Ricks are having a blast out here. He is from Meridian Idaho!!! I don’t know what to tell you about him... maybe some specific ?s will help!!!! But we are getting along great!!!! Anyway TELL PRESIDENT FERGUSON HI FOR ME!!!!!! AND TELL HIM TO WRITE ME SOMETIME!!!!! AND THAT I WANT TO BE A MISSION PREP TEACHER WHEN I GET HOME!!!!!!! I’m thinking about being a seminary teacher.... or maybe working for the church somehow.... that would be awesome!!!
Anyway Kylie’s baptism was on Saturday and it was so amazing!!!! I’m sending home some pictures today so I hope you enjoy them!!! Alrighty I’m gonna go - LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Swanson

Email sent 4-20-10

HEY EVERYONE!!!!!! HOW YA BE????? so anyway GREAT NEWS!!!! Kylee's baptism is this Saturday and we are so Excited for her!!! she is so awesome!!!! but BILL BLAKE HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THE CHURCH FOR 2 WHOLE YEARS AND HE FINALLY DECIDED HE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED ON MAY 1ST!!!!!!!!! WWOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!! IM SO EXCITED FOR HIM!!!!! HE IS THE NICEST OLD MAN YOU'LL EVER MEET!!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!!! HE'S GOING TO THE "MAYO CLINIC" FOR SOME BRAIN SCANS!!!! SCARY HUH!!! SOMETHING IS GOING ON INSIDE HIS HEAD AND HE DOESNT KNOW WHAT SO HE GOING TO MICHIGAN TO GET IT CHECKED OUT. SO PRAY THAT HE WILL BE ALRIGHT!!!! AND FINALLY TO THE BEST PART OF THE WEEK!!!!! SO 2 WEEKS AGO WE MET A GUY NAMED CLINTON, HE WAS IN LOTSA PAIN WHEN WE KNOCKED ON HIS DOOR (HE JUST HAD A 15 POUND TUMOR REMOVED FROM HIS STOMACH!!!!) SO HE TOLD US TO COME BACK!!! SINCE THAT DAY WE'VE TAUGHT HIM ABOUT THE RESTORATION, THE PLAN OF SALVATION AND THE WORD OF WISDOM!!!!! ALL OF WHICH HE AGREES WITH AND UNDERSTANDS!!!! WE ARE GOING TO HIS HOUSE LATER TONIGHT AND I'M GOING TO EXTEND A BAPTISMAL INVITATION TO HIM!!!! I KNOW HE'LL ACCEPT!!!!!! THE SPIRIT IS SO STRONG IN HIS HOME AND HE WANTS TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT!!!!! SO WE WENT TO A LADY NAMED KELLY'S HOUSE LAST NIGHT, AND WATCH THE RESTORATION DVD WITH HER!!!! SHE SAID SHE WANTS TO CONTINUE LEARNING ABOUT THE RESTORED GOSPEL AND SHE IS WAY EXCITED TO COME TO CHURCH!!!! HAHAHA WHEN WE ASKED TO SAY A PRAYER BEFORE WE LEFT HER HUSBAND PULLED A CROSS FROM THE WALL AND WE PRAYED ON A CROSS!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!! THATS DAMNABLE HERESY RIGHT THERE!!!!!! BUT ANYWAY I DIDNT PRAY TO THE CROSS I PRAYED TO HEAVENLY FATHER WHILE HOLDING ON A CROSS....... SO ITS KIND OF BETTER...... ANYWAY INDIANA IS SO FUN!!!!! I WISH YOU ALL COULD COME OUT AND BE MISSIONARIES WITH ME!!!!! WE LIVE IN ""THE GHETTO"" BUT THE PEOPLE HERE ARE SO HUMBLE AND NICE TO US!!!! SO ANYWAY QUESTION TIME!!! WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MISSION??? ANYTHING GOES JUST SEND ME A QUICK EMAIL AT mark.swanson@myldsmail.net AND I'LL TRY AND ANSWER YOU!!!!!! SO HOW IS GOOD OL OGDEN??? HOPE YOUR NOT TO COLD!!! ANYWAY I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO WRITE SO LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS!!!!!! HOPE YOU ARE ALL DOING GREAT!!!!! AND DONT HESITATE TO WRITE ME SOMETIME!!!!! I ANSWER EMAIL AND LETTER ON TUESDAYS!!!!! MAKE SURE YOU PRAY FOR KYLEE, BILL, CLINTON, AND KELLY!!!!!!!!

LOVE,
ELDER SWANSON

Mark's Email from 4-13-10

Hi everyone!!! I'm sending home 30 something pictures today so you guys should get my letter in a few days!!! Anyway we have a lady named Kylee Wilkins who is getting baptized on the 24th of this month!!!!! YAY!!!! FIRST BAPTISM!!!!! Her husband is a member and will be baptizing her!! It's so cool!! Then we have a family home evening with Bill and Teresa Blake!!! We stopped by yesterday and Bill said he wants to be baptized!!!!! They have been meeting with the missionaries for 2 YEARS!!!!!!! I'm so honored to be the missionary that gets to help baptize them!!!! Anyway, LIFE IS GREAT!!!! TELL EVERYONE THAT I SAY HI!!!!!!! and tell everyone that I have a scripture for them!!!! It's 3rd Nephi Chapter 3 verses 7-8!!!! It's a nice little scripture that helps people grow there desire to be baptized!!!! HAHAHA look it up yourselves first!!! It's a good one!!! HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND I'LL WRITE THAT LETTER AS SOON AS I CAN!!!!!

Elder Swanson

email recieved 3-30-10

FLATLAND IS GREAT!!!!! My companion is Elder Ricks. He’s from Meridian Idaho!! My address is 1013 E 28th St., Marion, Indiana, 46953 LOOK ME UP!!!!!

P-day is Tuesday up here. It’s way awesome! We are going to go play basketball with some of the guys in "tha HOOD" later today, it should be fun.

Marion is really small, half of the homes are in bad shape or they are abandoned. All the huge companies around here closed. So there’s no more work. It’s really nice though the people are so humble. We stopped a guy last night around 8:45 p.m.when we were walking home. We gave him a pa(pass along) card for the movie Finding Faith in Christ. He then told us how proud of us he was, that the Lord will greatly bless us for having the TENACITY to get out in the street and preach the good word. That made this whole week of up and downs all worth it.

The ward is really small. We have more more priesthood members back home than they do in their entire ward. Sunday was nice we went and ate dinner at the Turner’s home. They are the most awesome people ever!!! Sheesh! Their daughter Afton is 16 or 17 and she is planning on getting a PHD in something or other. I couldn’t do that.

TELL EVERYONE IF THEY WANT TO HEAR FROM ME, THEY HAVE TO WRITE A LETTER OR EMAIL ME AT mark.swanson@myldsmail.net SO I CAN SEND A LETTER BACK TO THEM!!. We aren’t allowed to email friends, but I’m going to print off emails and write letters to you when I have some spare time.

The work is going well out here. We met with Bill Blake yesterday, he's pretty much already a member, his wife has accepted baptism, but hasn’t set a date yet because she wants to wait for him, and he wants to finish the Book of Mormon first, but he said he wanted to be baptized as well once he's done. We are having FHE with them tonight because they do that on Tuesday instead of Monday (his wife works/owns a coffee shop) then later we are going to go meet Kylee and Sean Wilkins. He is a member and has been for a long time. He’s 22 and she's 21. She isn’t a member, but Sean has been a good influence on her, so we’re going over tonight to get to know them and maybe set a baptismal date!!!! WELL I’M GLAD TO HEAR YOU GUYS ARE DOING WELL!!!!! INDIANA IS BEAUTIFUL!!!! I CANT WAIT FOR EVERYTHING TO GREEN UP!!!! Oh, on a side note Hehehe. So there is a church up here called the BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH....... I thought Methodist and Episcopalians didn’t like each other???? Hahaha well anyway, I love you guys so much!! Thanks for helping me get out here. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

OH HEY GUYS-- WHAT WE DRIVE UP HERE?? A 2010 FORD FUSION!!!! YEA BABY!!!! WE EITHER WALK OR DRIVE EVERYWHERE!!!

Mark sent more MTC pictures -

Mark - the Fun Guy!!

Utah to Indiana!!