Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Pictures of Ken!



August 5, 2013

August 5, 2013
Que Transa?!

Me and Elder Jorgensen are doing great here in West Chester Spanish. We just found outon Friday that we will be together for one more transfer at least! We are so excited! Because me and him are getting along well and we might have three baptisms this next transfer so we both wanted to see them all get baptized. We are so excited to see our personal conversion change and also we both know that our Spanish is going to get so much better! We have improved so much since the last transfer. This area is very amazing and I am learning so many lessons everyday that I am here. I am so grateful for all the blessings God has given me here in this area.
This week I have been thinking about what I could share with you either a spiritual one or some stories. And I am still not sure. I have seen that the missionary work is being hastened we had a Jehovah witness come up to our sisters the other day and say that they heard we are no longer going door to door and trying to preach that way. (Which is true but they do not know how we are doing it.) Secrets love them. But it's not a secret we are going to get IPads soon and that is how we will be doing our Area books and planners and pretty much everything. We also are using facebook a lot more than people think. I invited one of our investigators to be baptized on Facebook this past week and he ACCEPTED! I was so excited! The conversation was short but I felt the spiritual prompting to invite him to be baptized so I invited him and he said yes. I could not believe that Facebook would be so useful. I have been so blessed I feel to be in this time in my mission because there is so much things that I feel like I was prepared for and this generation was prepared for that we are now doing in the mission field. I want to challenge all of you to share the Gospel on Facebook it is so powerful and people can and will receive strength from your posts. Do not be afraid to post the Gospel if it is so precious to you and makes you feel so good. Do you not want other people to have it also?
We have also been trying to find out talents that we have to share with people and to help this work progress. I am working on using Photoshop in this library to post things on Facebook so that people can have a visual of what we are saying. Also I hope that I will be doing more art work in the near future we just got to talk to some business's because the laws out here are so weird.
Do all the little things, They all matter, And they will all pay off.
Cuidate
Elder Kenneth Marse
Sorry this letter is so short we are going to Filly today and need to leave as fast as possible!

July 29, 2013 with picture attached

July 29, 2013
Here in West Chester everything is going great we are seeing a lot of miracles and I am truly seeing the Atonement work in peoples lives and how it literally changes your mind set when you get to see one of your investigators transformed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Elder Jorgensen and I are doing good we are trying to work with the ward to help re-activate less active members.  It is awesome because I think that me and Elder Jorgensen are just two peas in a pod. We don't really argue about anything and if there is anything we need to talk about we just say it because we know that is the only way to be able to work in harmony with each other. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be companions with Elder Jorgensen and for me and him to learn together as we both do not have that much experience in the field. I am hoping that at the end of this week I am able to say that I have become a better missionary since the start of this Transfer. I have set goals to make sure and to check how I have changed and what I can improve on for this next Transfer.

This week I wanted to write you about a topic that I think people just look over a lot or don't think that it is very important.

Accountability

Elder Jorgensen and I have had a very interesting lesson that we learned this past week as we witnessed miracles in our area. At the start of this month while we were at Zone Training we were giving accountability for baptismal dates. As we were discussing with each other on what we would say I felt prompted to be honest. We wanted to say one baptism for August. But in reality we had none. Through all the thoughts that were going through my head from what they would think if we said zero. I was comforted to know that as we were honest with our accountability that the Lord would bless us. We agreed and told the Zone Leaders zero for August. Both of us knowing that we would try our hardest to not have that zero stay we started to make necessary plans to change that number. We prayerfully found investigators that could be baptized in that month and started to make specific plans to help them accept a date. For the next two weeks we had no success we could not get any of these investigators to accept a date. But in this last week after not seeing tow of our investigators for one week we stopped by both of their houses without an appointment and were able to extend invitations to baptism in August and they both accepted! They both told us that they know what they need to do and that this is the true Church on the earth today. We even got a new investigator from one who is very interested and came to church with him. I am loving this area so much. The ward is really understanding our urgency for less active work and I know that the Lord is going to help us out so much with reactivating these members!
News on my Spanish. Es muy bien yo puedo entender casi todo que los hispanos dicen. Pero a ves en cuando los dominicanos hablan muy rapido yo no puedo escucharles. Pero asi es estoy tratando cada dia.
My headaches are practically gone. I have been praying a lot about them and how I have the faith to be healed and it was when I was giving a blessing to one of the Sisters in our District I understood how I needed to have faith and that only Jesus Christ could heal me. I am so grateful for this blessing that I have to serve a mission here in Filly. Thank you all so much for your letters they really have helped me know that I have support as I am out here serving the Lord.
By the way the weather out here is nuts! Every once in a while it just wants to down pour for like an hour and we are just walking around. We are now on time number two for having to run a quarter mile to an appointment in the pouring rain. Got to love Kennett Square there is now place like it anywhere else.
NEWS! I have now been given a whole cow tongue that a member is going to teach me how to cook it and make super good tocos del lengua! Also we got a slow cooker from a member who had an extra one that gave us pork chops and a whole chicken! Me and Elder Jorgensen are learning how to cook super well here! We are going to be walking a lot in the next couple days because we don't have anymore miles left on our car but oh well I am going to be super dark! We find out this Friday if one of us is getting transferred. But we are pretty sure I won't and me and Elder Jorgensen don't think he will either but who knows crazy things do happen!
Cuidate Elder Kenneth Marse

By the way I thought that I would take a hardcore picture infront of this arch and send it to you guys! My Zone Leader took it for me. Your welcome.

July 22, 2013 with picture attached

July 22, 2013
Hola Como Estan Todos?!
Elder Jorgensen and I are doing amazing here in West Chester as we just had a baptism yesterday of Britney. She is amazing and her dad was able to baptize her because he just got the priesthood last week! He is a body builder by the way and could crush my head between hes biceps. I love it so much! You can also here him walking to the door when he comes because there is no basement so you just here like pounding and you know its him. My Spanish is coming along super great! I am learning so much everyday as we just keep on talking to everyone! Update on the migraines I am on medication right now but I just keep going out everyday and working hard. My migraines are not very strong anymore. Also I have to go see a neurologist. I finally found a doctor that is covered under my insurance and He can not see me till August 13th so we will find out then or after. Who knows?! I am right now getting diagnosed with narcolepsy so that is pretty interesting wonder who I got it from?

The 4th of July here was pretty calm I thought it would be crazy but it wasn't but I did see a lot of drunk people so that was funny. But anyways I was walking with a member and my companion around this building on the 4th of July when I hear some music playing. My body took control of all resistance that I gave it and gave into a whole hearted fist pump in the air and a little jig of my hips. That is a lesson I have now learned never to do when you live around a lot of Black People. As I looked up to see where the music was coming from I saw two black ladies on their porch just dancing away. And I instantly realized that one of them had seen me do my little thing. And instantly I knew that this was going to be an interesting walk. She then goes on to say, "MY SON! MY SON!" (In a Philly accent) She then proceeds to walk down here stairs coming over to my companion, me, and a member. She then goes, "come on my son lets dance!" She then grabs my hand and tries to start to spin. I of course say, "sorry mam I can not do this. She then goes to each of us and tries to dance (even the member). She was very drunk and a lot bigger and stronger than me so I could not do much in the fight of resistance. Luckily her ACTUAL son came over and pulled her off of us and took her back across the street.
Another story is we were meeting with one of our Mexican investigators that is 75 years-old and it was so funny because we were seeing how much English he speaks! Well we were very impressed by what he said so here it is.
Fransiscos English:
1) I don't know
2) Hamburgers
3) Pizza
4) I don't speak English
5) I don't understand
6) Hello
7) How are you?
8) I am Barrack Obama
9) Barrack Obama likes my money
I was dying of laughter the whole time and he was laughing to. I just wanted to this time share some more stories because I feel like I have not shared that many yet. Also a Less Active took us out for Sushi last week so here is a picture of it.


July 15, 2013

July 15, 2013
Hey Everyone!
Well everything here is going pretty good and we are just trying not to die out here with all of the random weather here. One day we have pouring rain all day and it feels great. Next day we have just a burning hot humid day which they are no fun you can not do anything with out dripping sweat. Then the next day we have just a cloudy day maybe with a little lighting it is pretty weird and I think my body does not like it because I have been getting a little sick and my migraines are going crazy so now I have to go to the doctor and I am not allowed to drive until I get cleared. But I hope that it is not to bad the Nurse lady in our ward thinks that I either have mini seizures or that I might have narcolepsy because I conked out while driving the other day. But then this other nurse lady says I might have epilepsy. I was very worried about what I was going to do or what the doctor was going to say but I have praying a lot lately and I know that my faith is in the right spot. I told Sister Anderson my Presidents wife that I am here spiritually I am growing and I am being converted more and more everyday. But that my body just is not agreeing with my Spirit. But I know that anything is possible.

Matthew 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

I wanted to share somethings with you this week that I have been pondering deeply and really trying to apply it to my life. I started to read the New Testament this past week and I am just filled with comfort as I have read the teachings of Jesus Christ to His disciples in parables. And I have been really pondering this parable to about how Jesus Christ was the perfect example of what we should be doing as members of this church and as the work is being hastened what we must do. In Matthew we have the parable of Jesus Christ going into the mountains to find the one lost sheep that strayed away from the heard.

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.
 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
But as I look at that and think about a meeting we had yesterday with our Bishop. I could not help but think that this sheep is in the world today a Less Active Member of The Church. And when I was looking at the baptisms that I have had are all through a less active member in our ward. That lost sheep is who we need to be searching for as missionaries and also as members of this Church of Jesus because I believe that if He was here today that He would be doing that because the are lost. I challenge all of you that if you have friends or family that are less active and try to get them to come back to the Church we need them! More than ever!
Elder Marse

July 8, 2013

July 8, 2013

There is this thing here called First Friday and everywhere pretty much here every First Friday in the Summer they have something special going on it is super weird and out here in Kennett Square it was not that interesting. But ya Kennett Square is doing great we just had the confirmation of two of our investigators and we have a baptism in two weeks! We are so excited! My Spanish is doing great I finally understand the Mexican accent which is super nice now. By the way there has been no rain the past couple of days until today it started to rain which is nice because I can not stand the hot humid days that we have been having. And when I say hot humid days I mean HOT HUMID DAYS. We pray before we leave the house always and now me and my companion just start to drip sweat. But luckily we have a A/C Unit in our bedroom. So ya it still smells like mushrooms everyday so that is always a pleasant smell.

Elder Jorgensen and I are doing amazing in West Chester Spanish. We are finding that our Spanish is getting better and better with everyday because we are so new with it and we just know that we mess up and that messing up will happen and that we need to learn from our mistakes so that we can become the missionaries that we have set goals to become. We have been doing great as we have been helping the Sisters out in our district with any problems they have with their areas and trying to motivate them so that we can become a district that you can trust fully. I have been thinking about something this past week very much and was able to talk to Elder Larson the assistant about it and he gave me some powerful but simple advice that I feel like I could have thought of but sometimes it just takes someone to say it to you. But what he said will ring in my ears for my whole mission. His answer to my question "how can I become the best junior companion that I can be?" He replied with, "Serve your companion." Something that I have probably heard time after time had never pierced my thought as much as this reply did. I thought about it again and again and pondered about it and as I started the New Testament this week it clicked. Elder Larson maybe did not realize this but he had taught me his fellow missionary by the Spirit and I can not thank him enough. In Matthew the common factor that sticks out to me is that Jesus Christ himself served more than anyone else. He never stopped serving from healing the sick to making the lame walk and to suffering in the Garden for us. To me this is what Elder Larson wanted me to understand is that I must be like Christ if I want to be the best companion I can be. Serve the everyone Charity is an aspect that we must all learn and that we need in our lives.
I also had the opportunity to teach with my companion our Gospel Principles class in Spanish about Charity. I have a new outlook on how important Charity is in our daily lives and the blessings that we get to receive from them are enormous and indescribable! We must look for opportunities to find people to serve when we do this we are becoming like Christ and God will see our desires in our hearts that we want to build His Kingdom more and more everyday. I love Charity and am so blessed to be able to be serving a mission. I know that Charity is an attribute of Christ and that as we reflect Christ we will be able to more fully understand what He did for us.

Elder Marse

July 2, 2013

July 2, 2013
Hola!
Man the new area is sick! I got moved to an area that is called West Chester and we only cover 1 ward out here always. But it is super funny because my last area did not have that many spanish people but when I came here we live in the city called Kennett Square and it is 50% hispanic! We just walk on the streets and contact people. It is raining like crazy here and is going to rain for the rest of this week so the weather says. But ya man it is pretty sweet me and my companion have been out for the same time it's pretty funny and he is from Taylorsville and we played soccer against each other in High School! We are in a Sistric which means that me and my companion are the only two elders with 4 other sisters in my district. It's pretty crazy I would say myself.

We had an experience yesterday that taught me a very important lesson on the mission it was actually with a investigator that has a baptismal date and we were going to stop by her house so that we could teach her. But as we got there and knocked the door the daughter came out and told us she was not home which we were sad about but then she said that her dad had moved here from California and he was in the house. We then just kept talking for awhile and just asked her some simple questions but then I was prompted to ask if we could go in and meet her dad. So I did so and since I am new to the area my companion said I have never met the dad. I said perfect lets go meet him. So we went in and sat down with him. He is a very nice and humble man from Mexico as we were talking some how we started to talk about the Restoration and our church and by the end we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! It was a miracle and it taught me a very important lesson that is when you plan by the spirit the night before than there is a reason why you are going to go there and to that area and that you should not just leave once your plan does not work pray and listen to the spirit to be guided by Him.
I do have a Facebook now my name is "Elder Kenneth Marse" but I will tell you that you can not add me as a friend sorry. My Facebook is primarily for the missionary work. But I will be posting pictures and other things on there. You can follow me so we are not friends but you will see all the things that I have.
I have also learned down here that eating with utensils is pretty much the most gringo thing that you can do! So we eat with our hands, WE EAT EVERYTHING WITH OUR HANDS. It's actually pretty fun.
If you want to send me a letter you can send it to my new address which is:
321 Marshall Street Apt A
Kennett Square, PA 19348
Con Amor Elder Marse

June 24, 2013

June 24, 2013

Well another week in the mission field I am now done with training and guess what?! I am getting transferred to a new area! It was crazy because they just tell you that you are leaving on Friday and then you say by to people and pack and then you find out Tuesday morning in the Mission Office where you are going and who you new companion is. It is pretty crazy and so now I am frantically packing all my stuff up and getting ready to leave this place and take myself to a new place to Hasten the Work in that area!

I DID IT!
Well I hope that all of you were able to watch the Broadcast last night. Because it was pretty much just a mini General Conference all about MISSIONARY WORK! I was so excited when I heard that we were able to watch it because I think that we all should have been edified by the words that were spoken and the stories that were shared by our beloved leaders in this Great and Marvelous Gospel. If I could share a short story with you that as I watched the broadcast last night I was reminded of. I have been wondering how can I love the people I meet when I do not even know them. I meet so many people on the street everyday and I have been having a really hard time understanding or maybe in some cases seeing these people as someone that can be baptized in our Church. But last night as they said that the way to get people to be able to receive the Gospel is that we must love our neighbors and for me everyone that I meet. As we have thinking of ways to find new people in our area my companion thought of his talent with the piano and that we could play a song for members for the lessons and then after they feel the Spirit then we would ask them "who do you know that you want to feel that same Spirit that you just felt?" The answers were great and even though none were for the Spanish Elders we started that process in the minds of the members of this ward to be creative with how they approach people about the Gospel. Then during one of our lessons with a member I decided that I needed to help this cause and to be more creative with how I can find people. And during that lesson as he was playing the piano I thought of Spray Painting and how many people will watch these people do it in Vegas and New York City and how I can even though it is not the most religious thing. I could share my talent with people and as they would come up to me and watch it my companion and the other Elders would talk to them and try and teach them a lesson and get their information. The results were amazing! We had found a way to get the younger generation involved with talking to us and starting conversations with us about our Church! The spray painting idea brought people from all sorts of ages to come and marvel in my God given talent which I am so grateful for. We were able to hand out Books of Mormon and also teach people about the Restoration. I can only say that I am so very grateful for this talent that I have and I am so excited to share it with the WORLD as I am now getting transferred.

Well I will for sure let you all know next week where I am getting transferred to and any other insights into how we can all be effective missionaries. Till next time. Nos Vemos.

Paz Elder Marse



June 17, 2013

June 17, 2013

Hola!

Just another day in the great state of Pennsylvania! I have been doing great and we just had two baptisms yesterday for the English Elders in our ward. It was super funny because one has never gone under water in his whole life so we had to do his baptism 9 times till we did it right it was amazing! I did get sick again because I ate to much food at a buffet that a member took us to. But I am all good now. The area is booming we have another baptism date for August. And we are finding so many more people it is awesome. I really don't want to leave this area except for that the Spanish members (Except for the Rollins) do not think that I can speak or understand Spanish and just say that they want my companion to stay instead of me. So that is kinda hard to accept but I am working on it. We also have one investigator that does not want me to pray in the appointments because I do not have good Spanish so she always asks my companion to pray instead. Which she doesn't know how go my Spanish is because when I try to speak she cuts me off. But I just keep on praying that I will be able to understand and speak more and I know that I have been blessed with the Gift of Tongues because I understand a ton! And I am starting to read in Spanish and we are teaching English to Spanish people as a second language and I am learning a ton in every appointment. So I am not worried just trying to work on not worrying what people think about my Spanish.

By the way update on Baptisms we are still having one baptism this week on Saturday! Her name is Sophia and she is 12 years old. Jorge is not prepared to be baptized and so we moved his date back to July 7. It was sad but oh well I want him to be prepared. But Sophia is super prepared and asked me to perform the baptism. She says that she wants me to do it because she looks up to me like I am her older brother. So that makes me feel good. So I am very excited because this is the last week of the transfer so who knows who is going to leave. But we both get to see at least one of our investigators be baptized!


I wanted to just touch on something that Preach My Gospel says that when we are teaching or we are the students that in the lesson everyone needs to be edified. I looked at this passage the other day and gave thought to it. Why does the teacher need to be edified if he is the one teaching. I think that we can take a look at the best student that we have ever heard of. That person is Jesus Christ. Even though He is the Son of God and is perfect I think that we need to realize that He even Jesus Christ was a student to our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father taught Him of all the things that he must do and of all the things that He must know. I can not even begin to imagine to describe the edifying moments that went on between Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But I can imagine that as we are striving to follow His example that we must look into the possibility of everyone being edified in a lesson if it is with and investigator, member, or even at church we need to pray to be edified.

I just wanted to thank you for your support in this work and am so grateful for this opportunity! Stay strong and make sure you study the scriptures everyday. Because if you don't then you are turning off one of the ways that God can communicate with you.

Con Amor
Elder Marse

June 10, 2013

June 10, 2013
Hola!

I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here and to really change everyday to be a stronger servant of the Lord. I have been able to study more in depth the concept of being teachable. I have known my whole life that I am kind of a stubborn person when it comes to someone my age trying to teach me. But as I am finishing my training I am coming to realize that the Lord has out a helping hand into my life and has brought a confidence in my heart and mind that I have never felt before. I can't imagine having a different trainer than Elder Mason and I wanted to let you know that he is a amazing trainer he truly makes sure that he personalizes the training so that you get the most out of it that he thinks you can. I know that when we ask Heavenly Father in sincere prayer to help us with our weaknesses that He will help us but maybe not in the way that we think He is going to or with as much boldness in our daily lives but when you look back over that time from whence you started that plea with the Lord for your help than you can truly be so grateful for the miracle that He has bestowed on you.

We were able to drive down to Delaware yesterday and listen to Elder Rasban the President of the Seventy give a talk to all our missionaries in our mission. It was amazing and I wanted to touch something that could maybe help you in your efforts to be a missionary. Because as he said yesterday that in 3 months there will be 85,000 missionaries in the field and to think that we can not do it all we need the help of members.

I wanted to just mention something that has been on my mind since the meeting yesterday with Elder Rasban. When we were talking about members there was a lot that was a lot that was going through my mind but there was one thing that stuck out more than ever. This question popped into my mind, "how would a member act if a General Authority came over to their house for dinner?" Would the member think that they can have a casual conversation with this person or would that know that this person is called by God and that they must respect them? When we are invited over to someones house is it for the sole purpose to eat dinner? Or is it for the purpose to invite others to come unto Christ? It seems a very big problem for members to be casual around missionaries at dinner appointments. But are we not the same as a General Authority? We are set apart for this time to Preach His Gospel. As Elder Holland says, "we are apostles with a little a." We need to make sure that members understand our purpose and why we are there we CAN NOT be casual. Being casual drives away the Spirit and does not benefit us or our area with inviting others to come unto Christ. May we take the words from Elder Holland in a more serious matter that we truly are "apostles with a little a." We need to act like that and put forth our efforts to make sure members respect us as if we were an Apostle walking into their house.

I know that this may be written as a missionary and from my stand point but I want to stress that as you invite the missionaries over for dinner or for anything (which I recommend you do if you have not recently) you make sure that you speak about the work ask about their investigators and what you can do to help them with the work.

By the way if you want to see pictures of me you can look at my companions facebook. Elder Joshua Mason in about 3 weeks I will have a Facebook to so than you can look on that to look at some updates. Or Elder Adam Sorge and Elder Kaydon Stubbs they have some pictures of me on there.

Con Amor Elder Marse

By the way we have TWO baptisms next week! Sophia on the 22nd and Jorge on the 23rd! I attached a picture of Jorge and and me and Elder Mason.

Friday, June 14, 2013

May 2013 (4 entries)

May 6, 2013

Hey everyone! I am finally realizing what it means to be patient. It is such an amazing thing for me to finally start to understand and realize what I need to do to be patient. These first 5 weeks have been amazing and very challenging but as I was looking back on the past 5 weeks last night I was realizing how much I have changed from the small things to the larger things like having Faith in Jesus Christ and putting my trust in God and doing his Will. I want to share a very rewarding and a HUGE MIRACLE that I was able to gratefully be a part of last night.

Me and Elder Mason have been making a goal of getting one referral for the English Elders in our Ward. Which has really been pushing us to strive our hardest to talk with everyone which is a very hard thing I realized. But as we have been doing this goal and getting it most days I have not felt the satisfaction that I thought I would feel from devoting myself and really making sure that everyone has a chance to hear His Gospel. But last night as we were walking to this visit this lady that said we could come back later we knock the door and it has been a couple of days. She is not Spanish but we felt like we needed to talk to her. As we knock the door this lady pulls up in a car behind us and says: "Hey Elders! How are you doing?" Us realizing she is this lady we met the past week that owns a huge flower place behind our apartment and also is a teacher at another church in Hatfield. We say hi and talk to her for a second until the door opens behind us and I instantly turn around to talk to the man at the door. His name is Calvin and he is the husband of the lady we are wanting to contact we then start to talk to him about Family History and Genealogy. We kept talking about these things and when we could come stop by and teach him more. We invited him to church and he said that he would try. He told us that we could stop by during the evenings but that he may not be home all the time. So we thanked him for everything and gave him a card of the temple with our number and the address of the church. We then start to walk away knowing we have an appointment in 10 minutes down the street we start to walk to it. As we just barely are about to get to the corner a lady comes out of the top apartment in the building next to us we stop to talk to her and she comes down and starts to talk to us we asked her if she knew someone who needed some hope in their lives. She said well everyone and then we start to talk to her more she tells us that she had her husband die in her arms and that she is having a hard time with her son because she is always sick. I was able to bare my testimony of my grandparents and that I know they are in heaven and that I will live with them again and that families will live together forever. The spirit was powerful she started to tear up and we asked her if there was another time we could come by to share a message with her she gracefully agreed. As we left that thinking this was a true miracle and only having 5 minutes left to get to this appointment we start to walk down the street. And out of no where this guy that is jogging stops and says: "You guys on your missions?" We tell him yes and how did he know that he says that he is from Florida and had a couple of really good friends that went to BYU to play football and that he knows a little we then knowing how much time tell him we would love to come stop by another time and meet with you and share our message with you he says: "Oh ya that would be cool my house is just right down the street." We then get his address and bid him fair well. And as we are now walking away we see our investigator crossing the street that we were going to go meet with. We asked him where he was going and we start to walk with him. He was going to the store and so we taught him as we walked with him. By the end of the night we were finally able to have him understand the authority of the priesthood and why he needs to be baptized and accepted our invitation to baptism on June 22! I was so excited and so humbled at all the work I have put in and that God graciously helped us convey this message to Jorge. This was truly a miracle to remember. 




I finally got my first baptism date and I am so excited. I heard that people have already had their first baptism experience that is so cool I can not wait for that time! I wanted to thank you all for everything and how much of a part you have played in my life by helping me have more Faith in Jesus Christ. Can't wait for this next week! By the way we had a huge multi-stake conference on Sunday and President Uchtdorf and Robert D. Hales! It was amazing and they talked a lot about the importance of family home evening so my advice for this week is act upon those words and have family home evening it is so important and can strengthen your family so much more! Love you all can't wait to here from you!


Elder Marse






















































May 13, 2013

Hola! Happy Late Mothers Day! 

First it was great to talk to my family yesterday and to see my niece and nephew especially that is what made me cry I got to say they are the best and I can't wait to see them all grown up. Me and Elder Mason are doing great we are realizing that we may say things that the other person does no fully agree with but that we are two different people and that we are to different spirits and two different children of God. We have been able to talk to each other about any struggles so that we can make sure that there is always the promptings of the spirit with us. I am learning everyday to work in a companion ship which I know is not easy at all. But I have learned this past week even more that God has a time for everything and that we need to be patient because he will answer us in the time that he knows we need it not the time that we think we need it. The attribute that I am working on this week is Charity because I have realized that the more I love everyone and love my companion the more the spirit is with me and the more I am guided by God through the Holy Ghost.

This past week we had the opportunity to do exchanges with our district leader. It was my first time taking over the area and I was worried because of the language. But when I was on this exchange I had a calm feeling that the Lord would help me that day with anything that I was going to do and that I needed to be in that area for a reason. To my surprise the area we were in had about 20 apartment buildings and I had about 10 names that I was going to go see. We started to look for all these people and as we started knocking doors no one was home and it was very sad. We then ended up going through all the names we had with in one hour. What was even harder was to know that we still had 3 hours at this apartment complex that we had planned out. So I turn to Elder Sorge and I said to him when we are standing in the middle of the road feeling kind of lost. "Where do you feel like we should go?" Elder Sorge then says G1 which was just a random building to me but he was prompted to go there. As we enter the building there are 12 apartments in each building so we start to knock the doors. As we started to knock the doors no one was answering. We then walk to the next floor and knock the doors no one answers that is interested. We then go to the top floor and I am thinking 4 apartments left. We knock the door and the first door no one, the second door is this nice catholic lady who tells us no and we walk out the door and then in that moment I felt like we needed to knock just one more door the next door we knock is this little Hispanic guy from Mexico I start to talk to him and tell him who we are then I asked if he has time right now that we could come in. He tells me yes but on 5 minutes. I said, "Okay that is perfect." We go in and start to talk he says that he has felt lost from God lately and does not know why we are here. I tell him that we are here because God sent us into the specific building to talk to you and to bring our message to you. You may never know why the Spirit prompts you to go to somewhere specific but that if you don't just knock that one last door you might miss the reason you were sent there.

I wanted to real quick mention a couple things that President Uchtdorf said last week. He mentioned things that we need to do in our home. 1) We need to as a family have family home evening at least once a week. It is truly at this time that we can come closer as a family. 2) We need to pray together as a family so that we can always have the spirit in our home. 3) We need to study the scriptures together everyday for these scriptures are the words of God and we need to always have that in our home. I love it out here and can not wait to hear from you next week. Have a great week and don't forget that God will help you with things in His own time not in yours so be patient!

Love Elder Marse











May 20, 2013


Take a Step Back

This past week has been miracles after miracles. But how do miracles happen? Why does God decide to have these miracles happen in our lives in that exact time? There are so many ways that we can say why these things happen, but I want to look into one aspect that with out it we can not experience or merely comprehend why things are happen. This simple but profound principle is prayer. In this world there are temptations all around us and Satan wants us to get distracted or even distorted from the straight and narrow path. Why do we pray? My favorite answer from people is to talk to God. Is it that simple? I think that it is, but is it enough to just pray? In Mosiah 10:4 It talks about three very specific characteristics we need to have when we pray. These principles are: 1) Sincere Heart 2) Real Intent 3) Faith in Jesus Christ. I think that when we pray we should take a step back. I repeat that again for the significance of this statement. When we pray we need to take a step back, to ponder, to remember, and the most important to prepare ourselves for this humbling opportunity to talk to nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial. When we start our prayer we say His name the sacred name of our Heavenly Father. Then we give thanks, but for what? We give thanks for all the blessings, our investigators, our ward, the mission, and other missionaries. But have we ever thanked God for our trials and for giving us these trials so that we can prepare more to live with him again? In Ether 12:6 it he says: "...I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Through thanking God for these trials are we not expressing our faith to him so that we can see this witness he talks about out? We then next ask him for blessings and this is the time where we can humbly ask him to bless all the people by name that they may be blessed by His love and everlasting Gospel. When we close in the name of Jesus Christ we should ponder. Do not be swift with your actions for you might miss the promptings of the Spirit or even an answer to your prayer. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to talk to my Heavenly Father whenever I want or need to.

Thank you for the birthday package Family! The Jersey es MUY CHEVRE! I am scared to get it dirty at all! I am so grateful for all of your support in my life and for everyone that has touched me and helped me gain a stronger testimony. Keep praying as much as you possibly can!

Love Elder Marse

























May 28, 2013

Hola Amigos y Familia! Como estan?!
La Ultima semana fue deficil. Pero no es importante. Well me and my companion are starting to teach in harmony and my Spanish is getting better and better everyday! I am starting to have English fasting days and today is one of them. Es deficil pero posible. I love studying the attributes of Christ because as I do this I find a lot more peace and joy in my life and it helps me to change. I am sorry to say but when I come back I will not be the same person. I will be a better person as I strive to be more Christlike. I recommend to everyone to buy a preach my gospel for themselves and study chapter 3, 4, 5, and 6. I have found so much knowledge from these chapters and so much guidance as I strive to become a Preach My Gospel Missionary and a servant of God. I have found so much charity in this past week with two of my investigators. Jorge is geting baptized onJune 23 and he is amazing and is quiting coffee! He is amazing and calls us he "buddies". He is from Costa Rica and I think 28. Then we have Isaias who is amazing he is like 68 I think but he is amazing and is reading the Book of Mormon and seems to be changing. I love this work and he people that we are meeting ans helping them change as I a changing.

If you did not get to go to Brooke Gledhills fairwell I wanted to share a poem that she read that I received in a letter this past week that really touched my heart and helped me to find strength in this work. As you read this ponder in your heart and mind what the Savior has done for you and how he has helped you get out of this hole. And if there is more that you can do to get out an help others. 
Robbie's Poem
After All We Can Do
I’d been in that hole for a very long time –
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I could see it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.
Nor could I remember the world way up there,
So I lost all my hope and gave into despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floors, and the walls,
When from off in the distance I heard someone call,
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder.”
This had never occurred to me, had not crossed my mind,
So I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, the old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another I’d get out of that hole.
So I soon had a ladder that was really quite tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”
Then I climbed up my ladder, it was no easy chore –
For from lifting those boulders my shoulders were sore.

So I worked and I climbed and at last had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short – some ten feet from the top.
I climbed back down the ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.
I went back to my ladder and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do; I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die,
And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder too short? Or my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then hope, love, and faith entered my chest,
As the voice said to me that I’d done my best.

He said, “Nothing’s the matter.  There’s reason to hope.
Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.
You have worked very hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.”
I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I stood at the top, there stood the Lord.

I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground; his feet did I kiss.
I cried, “What can I do to repay thee for this?”
He looked all around Him – there were holes in the ground.
They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep.
Then the Lord turned to me and He said, “Feed my sheep.”
Then He went on His way to help other lost souls.
And I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
“Get up!  Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a find ladder!”

It now was my turn to spread the good word.
The most glorious message that man ever heard.
That there’s One who is willing to save one and all,
And we’ve got to be ready when He gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of the hole that we’re in,
And save all our souls from death and from sin.

So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:
Just build up your ladder; He’ll throw down His rope.

Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y Jose Smith fue un profeta. Yo se que familias pueden vivir con sus familias para siempre. Por favor piensa acerca de estas cosas porque yo se que estas cosas bendicira su vida para siempre. 

Con amor Elder Marse

Sunday, May 5, 2013


April 29, 2013
This past week has been a miracle and I say miracle with the most respect to Jesus Christ and how He literally puts people in our path.I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity to do service for the city of Philadelphia on my birthday for 6 hours. I am doing great physically and the work is really coming along and I want to just share this with you. My companion and I are doing great we finally are opening up to each other and finding peace in our relationship and are working in harmony with the Spirit. By the way don't worry mom because on my birthday a member made me tons of hamburgers and hot dogs and root beer and a huge cake and ice cream. She wanted to make sure I told you that so you don't feel like I am starving.
In this past week I was able to study the topic "Faith in Jesus Christ". I divided this topic up into 3 sections: 1)"Faith"- Faith to me is knowing no matter what that this thing or person exists and can help me in my life. 2) "Jesus Christ"- He is my Savior and Redeemer and I know that I could not be here with out his mercy and his sacrifice. 3) "In"- The word in to me means that you are putting something that you have and placing it on someone else or on something else. Now I think that this phrase is simple meaning that it is only comprised of 4 words but that this phrase is the most complicated because it is comprised of the Holy Ghost and how you interpret it as a Child of our loving Heavenly Father. This topic resembles our devotion as missionaries and our desire to forget about our selves and put our "Faith in Jesus Christ" and realize we are but a Shepherd that he is guiding to bring the sheep back to the fold as Ammon did with King Lamoni's sheep. Then as we do this and forget about ourselves the Adversary will fight back with the "natural man". He does not want us to win and we know that but I do think that there are many ways that he will deceive men to not listen to our message. I know for Hispanics it is almost always "I work to much I'm sorry we don't have time". I want to promise you that the Lord will make time in their lives if you are persistent in what you say and do for everything we do on this earth is not on our time but on the time of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. I want to stress don't lose Faith for it is more precious then almost anything you can have for once your Faith is gone Satan knows and he will attack you in any way possible. Be like Ammon when the Lamanites were trying to scatter the sheep fight back don't back down for we are more powerful than any power of the Adversary. We have been called of God to bring his sheep back to the fold and partake in this miraculous Gospel that is centered around Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.
I know that this church is true and I know more that it is true everyday. I know that the Gospel we have is true and the Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he truly restored his Gospel to the Earth today. I love this Gospel and strive to live it in exactness.

Elder Marse

April 22, 2013

Hey everyone,


Well this letter might not be as exciting and as long as I have had before because I have had a really rough week and a very blessed week at the same time. The mission is not easy and I know that but I know that I am learning much more than a language out here I am learning a life style and how I want to be for the rest of my life. I can not even comprehend the miracles that I see and the amazing opportunities that I have had to try my hardest to speak Spanish. I have been studying recognizing the Spirit and how to this past week a lot. I want to tell you that I think one of the biggest sins that a missionary can commit is to get comfortable with the Spirit or get use to His promptings. Now you may ask why? But I tell you that we are called out here to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to help bring people unto the fold. Now I know you can't see it but I have noticed when I am teaching by the Spirit and when I am teaching by my own words. I know that the best way to teach by the Spirit is by personal experiences and by baring your testimony to everyone you meet. This past week during companionship study I have had a really hard time with my confidence and knowing the doctrine so that I may teach these people. But as we were again sitting in silence together waiting for me to give him an example or to speak Spanish he says I actually have an idea. He had heard of this from another trainer and wanted to try it in a different way with me. I of course said okay and went about doing what he asked he then pulls out his camera and begins to record me. I just look at the ground and am like I am not doing anything this guy asks me to do. He then goes on to say. Bare me your testimony in English. I look up and then put my head back down. I in that moment realized that I had not bore my testimony in a long while for a missionary and that I really needed this opportunity to express what I know is true and to bare my testimony on things that I have experienced it in my life. I then end in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. And I sit there with tears rolling down my cheeks and thought to myself where did that come from? I did not know what happened I sat there and just waited for my companion to say something. And then he says, "I can't believe that it has taken me this long to realize this. But, I just learned more about The Plan of Salvation and the Restoration in those two minutes of you baring your testimony than I have in my whole mission." I still sat there not knowing what to say but then realized that I did know these things are true but that before I was sharing my testimony with my words. I want to say that again "I was baring my testimony with my words." Not until 9 weeks into my mission did I realize that if I want to touch the hearts of the people in my mission I need to forget about my self and really try to touch there hearts through speaking my testimony with the Holy Ghost. The beauty of a testimony sometimes can be over looked I think we "teach people not lessons" Preach My Gospel says. But I realized that the best way to teach is to ask questions and then with the Holy Ghost you testify of those answers you hear. We are not hear to put information into peoples minds but to have them become converted to know that this Gospel is true and the Heavenly Father is our Father and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I love you all and hope you are all doing well have a great week and don't forget to share your testimony with people. 


With my love,
Elder Marse 

Monday, April 15, 2013


April 15, 2013

Dear Everyone,


I am doing great thank you for all of the e-mails and for the support in me serving a mission. If I could ask one thing though first is that when you right me if you could please include maybe a spiritual experience or maybe a scripture for me to read so that I can more focus on the work here in Philly. Like I said I am doing amazing I love it here and there are so many cool things to see, me and my companion were walking on the railroad tracks the other day so I made him take of picture of me and so I will send that next week hopefully. The weather is also pretty crazy here last week me and my companion were trying to find so people to talk to and then we look up in the sky and see that is is pitch black to the north of us and that is moving south fast so we bolt it back to a Walgreens and go inside instantly after we get it the rain came pouring down it was crazy and then there was lightning everywhere! It was so cool. Well we finally got furniture in our apartment and so now I feel like it is real. I know also understand where my companion kept saying to me you don't even know what a spanish Elder is like because we usually get fed like 2 meals a night and we have gotten maybe 2 this whole past week. But then this past Sunday night there it is 2 dinners one right after the other and I don't really know where the food went to. They are feeding us tons of food and I hope that I just don't come back super gordo. Well ya everything is going great we have been finding everything very well and getting to know the area very well. But I do not want to talk about this stuff to much and I want to talk about testimonies as I titled this e-mail the power of you testimony.


The Power Of Your Testimony:
What a profound and amazing subject. I bet I could ask every single one you you how you use it and you could give 200 examples and they are all amazing and  you should thank God for those times and opportunities. This past week has been rough my trainer is not easy and I am very grateful for that because he makes me do a lot and wants me to be able to take over the area if he gets transferred. But we had an experience the other day when we were doing role plays with each other and I was teaching him The Restoration. Now I had just studied this the past week and I thought that I would be able to figure out how to teach it simply and with power. I then go on to a silent teaching with no words and I was trying to figure out everything that I was going to say. He then goes on to ask me questions about The Restoration and I answer them and he goes well okay but what about this? And I go answering all of his questions. He finally stumps me and I just sit there then he goes on to pressure me and to give him an example and I am trying so hard that I literally thought about giving up. But as I was about to give up I say to him that I guess I don't know The Restoration like I thought I did. What a humbling experience it was for me to confess to my companion that I do not know The Restoration of our church as well as I thought I did. My companion goes on to say to me "Elder you are being way to hard on yourself I know that you are stressed out with the language and with everything I went through it also." He then says: " I can't even imagine being out in the field after only 6 weeks in the field and being asked to do all of this. But I know that you can do it." He then goes on to bare his testimony to me of trials and how he has gotten through them and how I need to look at certain things. His testimony was so strong and I started to second guess my own testimony and getting more worried. But then he says: "You need to remember why you are on a mission and why you came here and to be truly converted to this work." I then go on to think and to pray about what I needed to to do to figure out and to remember these things and so I can conquer this situation.


It was not till last night and today that I truly remembered why I came on a mission. I could say I came on a mission because of the story about my great uncle from Japan but that is not really why. Last night as me and my companion were knocking doors. We were following a referral from and english Elder that was here awhile ago and as we are walking down this street I hesitated a couple of times as we walked down the street think nothing of it maybe we were just needing to knock on this door and maybe there is an elect person in there waiting for us. But as we knocked and there was no one there. I turned and saw a young girl sitting on the curb across the street. I tell my companion lets go talk to her. We walk over and I start to talk to her introducing ourselves as missionaries and that we are trying to find people that need a message of happiness and families and just hope in the home. She then goes on to ask us well what church are you from. We tell her and she notices that we are Mormons. We then go onto share with her The Book Of Mormon and the power it has and how it can bless our lives. I asked her does she believe in Jesus Christ knowing that she believes in the Trinity because she said that she went to the Calvary church but does not go anymore. She then said that she has a hard time believing in Jesus Christ. I then was able to bare my testimony to her of Jesus Christ and that he truly is the Son of God. I can not forget her face as we left her at that curb with a smile and just so happy that we talked to her. She may not call us but atleast I know that through my testimony she truly was spiritually uplifted. I love this Gospel and hope that you are all sharing your testimonies with everyone that you meet. Have a great week you are all in my prayers.


Love you all! Elder Marse

April 8, 2013

Dear Everyone, 


Everything is going amazing I am doing so good and yup I am in Philly! My new companion/trainers name is Elder Mason and he is from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He is so amazing and is such a great trainer for me. I am so excited that you could guess my e-mail. The field is great here so much better than the MTC and 20 times harder this is so hard to find people. Me and my companion are re-opening a new area call Souderton (Spanish) I live in this small town called Hatfield just south of it. But we are the only Spanish elders in our whole area so we have to cover a lot! But we do not have the miles to cover all of it which is hard to explain. But I get to drive this sweet 2013 Subaru it only had 15 miles on it when I started to drive it. (I think it is a Hybrid but not sure) I live in this apartment that still does not have a table or chairs we use our suit cases for our desks. But we hopefully sometime this week that will change I heard about this whole e-mail thing and now I am getting e-mails from all my friends its super nice. There are some things if you want to send me a package you need to send it to the address at the bottom of the e-mail that is the mission office and that is where I can get it from. We have like no food it's about as much as the Other Side of Heaven in Philly that you can get. For the first 2 days we were with out a phone and that was rough because we just tracked all day long. It is really hard to find where the Hispanics are in all of these cities but once you find one Hispanic then you find like 40 more. This work is far from easy it is probably the hardest thing that I have done all my life but I feel so blessed to be able to do it and to have the opportunity to serve the Lord our Savior for 2 years. The work is going well though we are starting to meet members now and finding our who the Spanish speaking people are. Me and my companion are trying to only speak Spanish to each other all day long every day but that is super hard when I don't know that much. But I have faith that I will figure it all out sooner or later. It will be on the Lords time not my time for he knows when it is best for me to learn everything. In my mission this is the year of Miracles and we are trying to find miracles every week which this past week as I think about is hard because I did not see very many miracles and I actually had to diligently seek to find some. The first on more of a joking matter it was a miracle that I did not throw up on the plane ride from Detroit to Philly because the plane was the smallest one and it was so so shaky and by the time we landed my and my companion and about 3 others were all pale as can be and just dying to get off that plane. This second miracle is a lot more serious and very close to my heart. As I was thinking about the miracles this past week I was looking for the small and simple things and realized that I had forgot about one of the biggest miracles in my life that is still a miracle today. This miracle is the miracle that I am on a mission right now I have been through so much in my life and you all know that I am still fighting the battle with Satan everyday. Just because you are serving the Lord does not mean the Satan will leave you alone he attacks you more than ever. But I have realized that, that is the miracle for my week. I am here on a mission in Philadelphia serving the Lord in Spanish where he called me to serve and that is a miracle by its self. I love this Gospel so much and am learning more and more about it everyday. I right now am on the PPM (Philadelphia, Penn. Mission) Spiritual Diet and the number one thing that want me to have done before the end of my 12 weeks of training is to have re-read the Book of Mormon. Are you kidding me I already wanted to do that anyways and what a blessing it truly is I learn so much from it and am frequently marking new scriptures that I probably have read multiple times but now I see it a different way. I know that the God helps you in mysterious ways that you may not be able to understand or even see but make sure you always are searching to see these miracles and find one each week and thank God you Heavenly Father for that opportunity to feel His love and to see Him blessing your life. I have had the door many times in this past week shut in my face but do you think that gets me down? No, it makes me stronger and reminds me that I am not here to baptize everyone I am here to find the elect there are people here that have bee prepared for me and are ready to receive our message about the restored Gospel on this earth today. Hey mom I am sorry about the phone call on Tuesday but guess what Mothers day is coming up so I can talk to you then! I love all of you so much and can someone please get me Mandis e-mail address so that I can send these e-mails to her. And let her know that I truly love her no matter what she does and so does Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Till next week love you all.


721 Paxon Hollow Rd. Suite B
Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008
(All Letters and Packages sent here)



Elder Kenneth Marse