Email....June 28, 2010

Hello Family!

This past week has been a good one. I went on a companionship exchange for the first time and it made me realize that I have come to love Coquille more than I thought! I went to North Bend with Elder Johnson, and Elder Mangelson went to Coquille with Elder Nelson. It was for Friday night and most of Saturday. North Bend isn't a big city but it is a lot bigger than Coquille. It is easier to find people to talk to but it is a pretty dirty city. There is Coos Bay and North Bend which are right next to each other and it is kind of like Provo and Orem where it all just blends together into one big city. When I say big that's by Oregon's standards. Combined they only have around 11 thousand people. I didn't like it very much though. I have come to love the small town feel.

We had an amazing experience this past week. We were tracting on Wednesday and we knocked on this man's house. He answered and was in so much pain he could barely talk. He said he had just been in a car accident and broken or cracked a few ribs. There were some boxes on his porch and he asked us if we could bring them in, so we did. He was in so much pain just standing up that we just gave him our number and told him to give us a call if he needed anything at all. We also told him we would stop back by and see how he was doing. So we left. About an hour later we get a call from him. He asked if we could come back over in a few hours and go pick him up some dinner and help him move some things around. It looks like he just moved into the house there is boxes all over the place and not much furniture. We had an appointment for the time he needed us to come back so we said we would get there as soon as we could. He called back while we were in our appointment and left a message saying that someone had come by and did it for him so we didn't need to. So we just pushed him into the back of our minds. We put him on the potentials list on our board however as broken ribs guy because we didn't know his name. So on Sunday we decided that we were going to go through and contact all the potentials that we had on the board. He was the first house that we knocked on. He answered and was still in some pain but not nearly as much as he was before. He asked if we were the young men that the Lord had sent before to help him. We said that we were. He sat down because he couldn't stand for long because of the ribs. We got talking about how he was doing and he started asking questions about our church and which church we were from. So we told him and then started into a discussion of religion. Come to find out he is a very well versed in the bible and understands it very well. He started telling us what he believes and it was like he was describing the church. It was amazing.

He has been so prepared to hear what we have to say. He said that he had been a minister for another church but he didn't say which one. The way he interprets scripture I know that he has felt the holy ghost in his life. He talked about Christ and his ministry here on the earth and he was telling us that we were doing exactly what Christ did while he was on the earth. He said that the fact that we showed up and just helped him with the boxes had made such a huge impact on his life and he knew that we were sent of God. So we talked for a long time about our church and the bible. He then asked us out of the blue, "do you believe that Christ appeared to the ancestors of the native American's?" It was perfect, it couldn't have worked out any better. We then started telling him about the Book of Mormon and how that is exactly what it is. We talked about that for a long time and asked him if he would read and pray about it. He said he definitely would. He asked us what our favorite passages of the book were so that he could read them. We gave him 3 Nephi 11 and also Alma 32.

In the MTC we talked a lot about the lords elect. Those who have been prepared to hear the gospel and are there for us to find. This is exactly that. He has been prepared by our Heavenly Father to hear what we have to say. It was such an amazing experience. The spirit there was stronger than I have ever felt it before in my life. He is just amazing. Oh his name is Harold Edward Clark. The lord has blessed us so much. I know that he will feel the spirit when he reads and that he will come to know that this church is true. I am so excited to start working with him. We are going back tomorrow to talk to him some more about it. He was just so excited while we were talking to him. He was telling us after we gave him the scriptures to read that his favorite scriptures in the bible is the parable of the sower. It was perfect, that is exactly what Alma 32 talks about. Faith is like a seed. I can't even describe how amazing this experience was. There are some other things that happened while we were there but Elder Nelson and I decided that we would keep those between us and the Lord and Harold. It has increased my faith and my testimony so much. That is exactly why I'm here, I know that we were sent to find Harold and bring him the gospel.

I have a challenge for everyone. Well not exactly a challenge but I want everyone who reads this to write down their testimony and send it to me. You don't have to but I would love it if you did. I know for a fact that this gospel is true. After that experience I can never deny it. I know that my savior lives and knows and loves each and everyone of us personally. He came and paid the price that we could not so that we could return and live with him again. I have felt that love and spirit testify to me. This gospel IS true.
I love you all very much.

Love
Elder Erickson

Email....June 21, 2010

Hello Family!
The weeks are just flying by! This week has been an up and down week. We went and met with Kyle on Monday night and it didn't go very well. He had went and saw his parents the previous day, which he hadn't seen in years and wants to get life so he can go and live with them. They are all Jehovah's Witnesses so he thinks that if he is baptized that they will not except him and he won't be able to go back and be with them. He also has a son whose mom has a restraining order out against him but he found out that she wants him to be in his sons life now and so he just dealing with a lot of stuff right now. We tried to tell him that the church is not going to hinder any of that but make it better. It will make his relationships better and help his life go smoother. So he told us that he doesn't want to have us teach him lessons anymore until he figures everything out. He said that he is not ruling out baptism but he just wants to make sure that is what he wants. Its a good and bad thing. I wouldn't want him to have gotten baptized and then have gone inactive. There is no point in that. We baptize for active members. We have been doing a lot of that lately too, trying to keep the recent converts active. It is going pretty well except for one of them. Her name is Amanda. She is 18 years old and was baptized like 6 months ago I think. Her whole family situation is really messed up. They just have a lot of issues. Her mom is a member and she has two little nephews who were baptized a little while after she was. But they are just a very disfunctional family. She was into some not very good thing before she was baptized and she is starting to go back to that a little bit. We are working with her but there is not much we can do at this point. She has her agency and can choose to do what she wants. We go over there a few times a week to talk and have lessons.

Anyway other than that we really only have one other person we are teaching and that is Andrea. We are trying really hard for her but she just doesn't really have the support there. Her grandparents are trying but that can only go so far. I think I told you a little about her last week. We were not able to meet with her this week. They are very flaky. Her mom is a less active member but we are going to try and get her involved. We had been going through the grandparents before to try and set things up but we are talking to the mom now. We have an appointment set up for Wednesday so we will see if that actually happens.

We actually have a lot of lessons set up for Wednesday. We found 4 new investigators this week! It is so good to see that the prayers and hard work are finally paying off. We have been out all day everyday trying to find people. The zone leaders challenged us on Saturday to go out and get our 20 OYM's for the day and we did. OYM's are open your mouths, its when you talk to people on the street rather that knocking on doors all day. The standard of excellence for the mission is to get 20 a day and we haven't been doing the best in that department. There just isn't enough people outside most of the time. Because it is raining most of the time. But it was sunny on Saturday and we got out on the bikes and got them. We actually got 22. We found a new investigator that day and also 2 new potentials so it was a really good day. We just need to keep doing that everyday. So we have three lessons set up for Wednesday and one for tomorrow. So I would appreciate the prayers so that they will go well. Our teaching pool is really low and we need to get it up. The people we are meeting with really need to feel the spirit and know that this is true.

So how's everyone doing? What's going on with the house in Spanish Fork? Isn't it around this time that they choose whether they want to buy it or not? Any fun trips or plans for the summer yet? Sounds like the trek was a great experience. Did Matthew and Melinda both go? I sent letters for Mom and Matthew off today. Still waiting for one back from you Melinda, and Maggie and Megan and Mckay and Dad, pretty much everyone! Just Playing, but it really is great to get letters so keep them coming! Grandma is definitely in the lead for who has written me the most, so thank you Grandma! Anyway we are going to this waterfall and lake today out in this town called powers which is technically part of our area but its over an hour away and there is only like 200 people in it and they don't like the missionaries at all. I guess its not very safe either so we'll see how it goes!

Well I love you all very much and hope to hear from you this week.
Love,
Elder Erickson

PICTURES

Here are some pictures from Marshall's MTC stay. (May 12 - June 1, 2010)

His MTC companion, Elder Hill.

Email....June 14, 2010

Well Hello Family!

This week has been a lot easier than last week. I haven't been thinking about home as much and I have been doing a lot of work. We did not have any new investigators this week. It is still hard getting people to talk to us. It goes from one extreme to the other. We have people who won't even open the door for us and then those who will talk to us but don't want to talk about the church. There are a lot of older people around and most of them will sit down and talk with us just to talk but it doesn't get us anywhere. We had interviews with President Macdonald on Saturday because it was stake conference and he was speaking in the adult session and also the Sunday morning session. It was great to talk with him and Sister Macdonald. They are both really amazing people. They were in Megans stake in Orem but left before Megan and Jeff moved over there. They only have about a year left so I will get a new one half way through. Stake conference was really good. We got Kyle out to that and he said that he really liked it. He hasn't been progressing the last few weeks but he told Sister Page yesterday that he really liked some of the talks that were given.

Okay so I don't think I told you about that whole situation so I will do that now. Kyle was homeless the first time he talked to the missionaries and had no idea what he was going to do. The elders talked with him and taught him about prayer because they didn't know if they were going to ever see him again and wanted to leave him with something that could help him. So the next time they saw him they were going to visit a less active member and Kyle was there. He was living with this guy named John. He said he had prayed and that after he prayed he met John and John said he could live with him. But that was not a good situation for him to be in while he was trying to stop doing a lot of the things that he was doing before. So a member in the ward, Brother Kane said that he could live with him for a while. But that wasn't a good situation either because brother Kane is not the nicest guy and they did a lot of fighting. So one day Kyle was out around asking people for food and he came to the Page's house. Sister gave him so food and he went on his way. He stopped by again a few days later and Sister Page got talking to him about where he was living and Sister Page told him to go get his stuff (which wasn't anything more than another shirt) and that he was going to move in with them. So Kyle moved in with the Page's. Sister Page has been a member for about 5 years and loves the missionaries and missionary work. So the elders were at their house one day and saw Kyle there and he told them what had happened and they started teaching him. They hadn't been teaching him very long before I got here. But he wasn't progressing for a while, but he has been praying and reading scriptures with the Page's and going to church and that is the story of Kyle. He says he wants to be baptized so hopefully when we go over there tonight we will set a date.

On the other hand Linda Koop who I mentioned last time is going to be out of town until mid July. So teaching with her has just kind of stopped. Things with Andrea are going well though. She has been getting involved with the young womens program and loves it. They had a pre girls camp camp out this last weekend and she said she had a lot of fun. It's hard with her because we needed to get her a support group around her because her mom is a less active member and so she has no support at home. Her grandparents are active members though and so they take her to church and we do the lessons at their house. We had a lesson set up for last night but she was sick so we rescheduled for Wednesday night. We are hopefully going to set up a date for baptism with her also.

We had district meeting on Saturday this week because of interviews. We usually do it on Friday during the day. We talked a lot about getting the ward more involved because that is one of the main purposes of the church is missionary work. It was one of the main focuses during stake conference as well. We should all be doing missionary work not just those set apart to do it full time. So we went and had a really good talk with Bishop Hladkey yesterday and made sure we were all on the same page. We are going to try and get the whole ward more involved rather than just us and the ward missionaries. We have been kind of the middle man because the zone leaders are the kind of people who want to just baptize people as soon as possible but the bishop has a tendency to want to wait extremely long to get people baptized. Elder Nelson and I are both the kind of people who don't want to baptize them into inactivity just for numbers but don't want to wait too long. So we are in the middle of all of this. That was one of the main things that we talked with bishop about yesterday and I think we are all on the same page now. We still have the zone leaders who told us yesterday that we should bench Kyle. Which means that we stop talking to him for a while which is suppose to make him realize that he wants and needs this gospel. But we all disagree. We are definately not going to do that. He needs this gospel in his life and he has already come so far. We are not going to give up. I am learning now the kind of missionary I want and don't want to be.

So thats crazy with the skunks, I bet they were pretty cute though. You all should have tried to train them and teach them to spray on command!! Thank you to everyone for all of the letters, I love getting them! Did you get the SD card I sent home? We are actually going over to the beach today so I am pretty excited for that. We are going to a town called Bandon. I guess they have one of the top ten nicest golf courses in the U.S. there. Called the Bandon Dunes. Oh I forgot to tell you there are sand dunes here everywhere. They go for like miles and miles. One of the members in the ward owns a rental company that rents out four wheelers and sand rails like the one we got at Pismo beach. So someday I want to take a trip back here and rent some and go for a couple of days. He has a sand rail that he built himself that has over a thousand horse power. Its a beast! Well I love hearing from everyone so keep the letters coming! I Love you all very much, and miss you all.

Love,
Elder Erickson

Email....June 7, 2010

Hello Family!

This has been one crazy week. Tuesday was tons of driving and flying and driving some more. I didn't really have time to do anything that day I just had to go with the flow. It was very rushed. The assistants to the president and the President picked us up at the airport at like 12:30. Then we went to their house and ate some lunch and took some pictures. Then we went to the mission office and got some information, signed somethings and had a quick interview with the president. Then we waited around for a while until everyone showed up for transfers. Then we all headed our separate ways. I am in a town called Coquille (coke-eel). It is the smallest town I have every been in. It is like 15 miles away from the coast and down not to far from California. My trainers name is Elder Nelson. He is a good missionary. He was originally sent to Mongolia and was there for a year, then they started having problems with visas so all the missionaries there had to leave. He has been in this area for three months. He leaves to go home in October. I am learning a lot from him. Finding here in Coquille is really hard because it is such a small town and everyone has either talked to the missionaries in the past few months or knows who we are and wants nothing to do with us. The members here are great though. They all love the missionaries so much and would do pretty much anything for us.

Our Area covers two other towns as well that are a ways away. One is called Myrtle Point and the other Powers. We don't go out to powers very often at all because it only has like 100 people in it and I guess they really don't like us there so its not the safest place. We went out to Myrtle Point yesterday though and visited with an investigator and some members. It is about the same size as Coquille. We have three investigators right now, there's Kyle Nickelson, Andrea Hollcroft and Linda Koop. They all seem like its not going anywhere very fast, except for maybe Linda. She is about 65 and was raised catholic. She is pretty receptive and we are giving her a chapel tour on Wednesday so we'll see how that goes. It is hard to stay optimistic because every time we have gone out and knocked doors we have not found anyone. No one wants to talk to us. But I am doing all I can to not let that get me down. We focus a lot on recent converts and less active members. I am getting used to being here, it is a very impoverish town so its very different and hard to see. I am so grateful for you mom and dad and all the things that you have given me over the course of my life. The area reminds me a lot of the mountains where terry and mike live. Its very foresty (I don't even know if thats a word ha ha). It is very green. There has only been two days that I have been here that it hasn't been raining. I know I said that I liked the rain but it's going to get old really fast.

I did need a bike but one of the members gave me one. I stood up in priesthood on Sunday and asked if anyone had a bike that I could purchase from them and brother Elmer came up to me after and said that he had a bike I could have. It was a big blessing because I really didn't want to spend a few hundred dollars on a bike. Looks like dads party was pretty fun, wish I could have been there. But Happy Birthday and Fathers day Dad. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you that on the phone when I called on your birthday. I totally meant to but I got caught up talking about other things. Its a bit overwhelming to think that I haven't even been out a month yet. It feels like the last few weeks have taken ages to go by. I'm trying to lose myself in the work but I find myself thinking about home all the time. I got a letter from Maggie on Saturday so thank you for that Maggs. My new address is 1161 N Grape St (downstairs) Coquille OR 97423. So you can send letters directly to that. I am going to send my SD card today with pictures of everything so far. Well I love you all very much and miss you lots.

Love Elder Erickson

Email...May 25, 2010

Well Hello Family!

Last week just flew by!! I can't believe it has been almost two weeks.
I leave next Tuesday at 11:30, and you're not supposed to come see me off.
But anyway, it has been a really good week. I have learned a lot. We are getting so
much better at teaching. The main focus has been teaching the investigator and not a
lesson. We are supposed to find out the needs of the investigator and teach to that instead
of just teaching them a lesson. It is so much more effective that way.
I can't wait to get out there and try it! I did get the packages, thank you very much!
And I sent a few letters home this week so you will get them soon. I don't know how it
is all going to work next week because we get there Tuesday, so I don't know if I will
be able to email. But keep the letters coming. It is really nice to get them. I did get a dear elder
from Sister Curl. So if you would tell her thank you for that and I will try to write her back
as soon as I get a chance. Tell Bjorn to write me a letter! It's weird how the days seem to take
so long while you are here but at the same time they go so fast. I heard someone say the other
day, the weeks go by like days and the days go by like weeks and it is so true. We have a devotional tonight,
our last one before we leave so I hope we get an Apostle. That would be
awesome! So on Sunday night after the devotional we got to watch The Testaments. It was so
weird watching a movie for enjoyment! I think even if I came home right now, it would
be weird watching TV again. So is 24 over yet? I don't remember when it ends. How about
Biggest Loser? And I'm interested in hearing about the NBA Finals and what's going on
with that. So if someone would let me know that would be great! We get to go to the temple
again today, I'm excited! It might be our last opportunity for a long time so I am going
to cherish it! I have taken a lot of pictures so I will send home the memory card soon now that
I have the other one. Oh by the way, thank you for all the presents! And thank you Amy for
that package also! I'm working on a letter right now. I will send it to you soon! It's going to
be tough to leave. I have come to love this place and all the time I get to study the Gospel.
I'm going to miss all the people too. I love our district. We have some awesome Elders in it.
And our zone, and our whole building. Ha ha. I have come to love them and only 4 other guys
from all of our zone and building are going to Oregon so I don't even know if I will see a lot
of these people again. One of the districts left yesterday morning and that was really hard.
It has been weird without them already. They went to Santa Rosa California. I met someone
the other day who was going to Fresno, Spanish speaking I think. Did Eileen and Jeff move
into their house yet? They need to write me a letter! Tell Traci and Troy to write me one soon
too!! And Matthew, you're the only one I haven't heard from yet. But congratulations on
becoming a Teacher. Just remember to take your responsibilities seriously. And Happy
Birthday! I sent you a letter last week. I hope you got it in time bit I doubt it. I'm sending a
letter to the house that's for Mckay because I don't have his address so will you just forward
it on to him for me? That would be much appreciated! Oh dad they said they were going to
send one more phone bill for the little bit of May that I used it, so that should come in the
mail next month I think. Sorry I forgot to tell you about that. Well my 30 minutes is about up,
but I love you all. Remember who you are and who you stand for. Be examples of Christ
at all times.

Love,
Elder Erickson

Email...May 18, 2010

Dear Family,

How is everyone? Sorry I didn't email sooner, they didn't say anything about us getting to do it that first night. It has been a crazy week, I can't believe it has already been almost a week. It feels like I have already changed so much. The first couple days were pretty overwhelming because it was just so much information to process and it felt like I would never get it. But classes are going good now. We actually have a lot of time where it is just us. Its called missionary directed time, its where we choose what we do. It's like personal and companionship study. I like my companion and district and zone a lot. They are all really good guys. Half of our district is going to Phoenix and the other half is all Eugene, its five and five. All I can say is that I'm glad that I don't have to learn a language. Being in here for twelve weeks would be crazy. I feel like I am ready to just go now. I just want to get out and start teaching. We do a lot of teaching exercises here. We had one last night that was amazing. We were just teaching one of the companionships, who was pretending to be an investigator. But the spirit was so strong we all almost started crying. It is an amazing feeling to have the spirit with you all the time and learn to teach by it. Its so different than I thought it was going to be here. Sounds like everyone is keeping busy. You all need to keep writing me letters! A package would be nice too ;) But its a very good feeling when you go in and get the mail and there is a letter there for you. So thank you Megan and grandma and dad and mom. Those are the only letters I have gotten so far. It really is crazy how much has gone on here in such a short amount of time. The second night was the hardest, but it has just been getting better everyday so don't worry about me. So apparently Elder Holland was here the night before I got here and gave an amazing fireside. I was pretty bummed. We have firesides every Tuesday night on our p day though so maybe I will get to see an apostle while I'm here. We just got out of lunch and are heading over to the temple in a little while so that will be good. Everyday just seems like it is going faster and faster. I only have 14 days til we leave for Oregon. The food here is great. Mckay you were right about the cordon bleu, its amazing, we had that for lunch on Sunday. Mom I could use a few more pairs of socks, one of the pairs got a hole in it the first time I wore it. I have a ton of pictures so when you send me that other sd card I will send the other one back to you guys. This really is an amazing experience and I am glad I am here. I am so thankful for the example you have set for me. Oh I forgot to tell you my companion is our district leader so that is pretty cool. But I am senior companion somehow. And Mckay if you read this I could really use that backpack it would be a great blessing. That's crazy about Johnny tell him I said congratulations! And I'm really excited to hear where Randy is going. I got some envelopes and a few stamps here but I could use some more. Well it was good to hear from those who wrote, I did get that letter mom thank you very much. Well I love you all very much.

Love, Elder Erickson

Some thoughts from Mom

This week was a hard week & my heart hurts.
It feels like there is a big hole at our house.
But even as my heart hurts, every part of my heart knows that
Marshall is doing what God wants him to doing right now.
I've thought a lot about sacrifice this week.
Jesus Christ sacrificed His all for us & he expects us to sacrifice our all for Him.
I've noticed in my life that as I sacrifice for God & for Christ, great things happen
because of it.
I know that will happen this time as well.
As our family gives up two years of our time with Marshall, many wonderful
things will happen, to him, to our family & to those he serves in Oregon.
I've also done some reflecting on Marshall's life & the many people who have helped
him get to where he is today. I am so very grateful to all of you family, friends,
teachers, advisors, Bishops, other moms who have influenced his life for good.
Thank you for sharing his journey with him & for making an immeasurable
difference in his life.

Tender Moments (by Mom)

*I walked into my bedroom one day last week & Mike was showing Marshall slides from his mission. Very sweet!

*Matthew & Melinda laying on Marshall's bed laughing & talking with him as he did his final packing the morning he left.

*Watching each of my children say goodbye to Marshall...almost harder than saying goodbye myself. (Nice to know how much they really do love each other!)

*Megan & Marshall having lunch together every Wednesday the last few months.

*I told Maggie that it is okay to cry when she feels like crying because she misses Marshall. So yesterday, I heard her telling Mike not to worry if she starts crying randomly, she is just missing Marshall & "it's perfectly normal".

*Mckay-crying his eyes out as he left for Chicago.

*Mom & Dad & Amy & Rodney & Jacob & Alyson taking the time to travel all the way here so they could share this special experience with us.

*Jonathan & Julie, Emily, David, Josh, Ryan & Benjamin spending pretty much the whole farewell weekend with us. We had so much fun together!

*Watching Marshall walk through the MTC doors.

Setting Apart

Marshall was set apart as a missionary by President Evans on

Tuesday May 11, 2010 at 9:00 pm.

Farewell

Marshall's farewell was on Sunday, May 9th, 2010.
Happy Mother's Day Mom ;)
He spoke about Mothers & his talk was really great.
The best part was that he quoted Backstreet Boys :)

"It takes a lot to know what is love.
It's not the big things but the little things
that can mean enough.
A lot of prayers to get me through.
And there is never a day that passes by
I don't think of you.
You were always there for me.
Pushing me & guiding me
always to succeed.

God has been so good
Blessing me with the family
who did all they could.
And I've had many years of grace
And it flatters me when I see a smile on your face.
I wanna thank you for what you've done.
In hopes I can give back to you
And be the perfect son.

You showed me how to love.
You showed me how to care.
And showed me that you would always be there.
I wanna thank you for the time.
And I'm proud to say you're mine.

You showed me
when I was young just how to grow.
You showed me everything that I should know.
You showed me just how to walk without your hands.
'Cause mom, you always were the perfect fan."

The bishop got up afterward & said he
never thought he would ever hear Backstreet Boys quoted in
Sacrament Meeting.
Ha ha ha!

After Sacrament Meeting lunch was prepared for
everyone at our house.
Lots & lots of family & friends were there to support Marsh.
We even had family who came all the way from California to hear his talk :)

Last picture of the whole family for two years!

What a WONDERFUL day!!