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Nov 14 (3 days ago)
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So many ducks! Was she getting scared when they started swarming?
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Week of November 14, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Temple Days and Zone Conference Assignments
To the Missionaries of the Great Texas Houston Mission,
There has never been a better time to be serving in the Texas Houston Mission! It looks like we will be enjoying a White Christmas here in the South! We are having a remarkable November and already have more people at this stage of the month with dates for December than we have ever had for an upcoming month since we have been here! Wonderful things are happening as a consequence of your commitment to find and to use the the Book of Mormon as the powerful tool for conversion it was designed and preserved to be!
We have heard from many of you about the wonderful experiences you had taking your own family names to the temple this week. We are so happy for you and for those of your family who received the saving ordinances for which they have been longing.
We are looking forward to be with you this week during zone conferences. We would like for you to prepare for 5 minute talks with the following assignments:
Senior (longer serving) companion: 1 Samuel 15:1-23. Help us understand what is of greatest value to the Lord and what are the temptations we face to confuse or forget this.
Junior (shorter serving) companion: Alma 37:38-47. Help us understand the application of this teaching to our success as representatives of Jesus Christ in Houston.
We love each of you and look forward to learning from and being with you this week!
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
There has never been a better time to be serving in the Texas Houston Mission! It looks like we will be enjoying a White Christmas here in the South! We are having a remarkable November and already have more people at this stage of the month with dates for December than we have ever had for an upcoming month since we have been here! Wonderful things are happening as a consequence of your commitment to find and to use the the Book of Mormon as the powerful tool for conversion it was designed and preserved to be!
We have heard from many of you about the wonderful experiences you had taking your own family names to the temple this week. We are so happy for you and for those of your family who received the saving ordinances for which they have been longing.
We are looking forward to be with you this week during zone conferences. We would like for you to prepare for 5 minute talks with the following assignments:
Senior (longer serving) companion: 1 Samuel 15:1-23. Help us understand what is of greatest value to the Lord and what are the temptations we face to confuse or forget this.
Junior (shorter serving) companion: Alma 37:38-47. Help us understand the application of this teaching to our success as representatives of Jesus Christ in Houston.
We love each of you and look forward to learning from and being with you this week!
Love,
President and Sister Mortensen
On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 3:06 PM Mark Owen Vickers <mark.vickers@myldsmail.net> wrote:
(Zone Meeting)
(The Elder with the glasses is our DL and he's the best! So funny)
(Stayin 'cool' in Spring)
(Elder Lozano, our DL, drew this for a less active. Pretty neat)
-- Elder Mark Vickers
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Nov 14 (3 days ago)
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Hi Everyone!
Coming up on week 6 of this transfer. Wow this one flew right by. Other missionaries kept telling me how the mission would speed up as time went on but I wasn't quite expecting just how fast.
We are still working with T and T. They are great kids and always have great comments during our lessons. , their mom, is doing great! Honestly I have never met someone who once they received the gift of the Holy Ghost progressed so quickly in the Gospel. She is amazing!
Many other great opportunities to preach the Gospel. Loving it here in Spring. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help y'all.
Until next week,
-- Elder Mark Vickers
Monday, November 7, 2016
Week of November 7, 2016
At the zoo
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Sep 26
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I've been organizing files and found a journal entry about you when you were about 7. Do you remember this? We lived in Michigan and we were at Sacrament meeting and they announced that the Ward was supposed to come to the temple Wednesday night and that all the families were invited. And so you were so excited you got home and you were like dad, mom....our entire Family gets to go to the temple every Wednesday!
I saw how excited you were and I thought that is so great I didn't want to tell you that you had to be 12 before you could participate. I said well sweetheart what the word is asking is that people can sign up and go to the temple but you have to be 12. You looked so sad and told me but I already got to go with daddy I said I know you did get to go visit and you will be able to go soon. I said why do you want to go to the temple? And you said when I went to the open house with dad it was so wonderful I want to go bad
| Mark Owen Vickers | Oct 17 | ||
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Oct 17
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Well I was in the Houston North Zone, haha but now I'm in the Woodlands Zone.
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4:42 PM (3 hours ago)
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Hi Family and Friends,
Another great week here in Spring, Texas. We are working with so many great people right now. Among those are Randi and her children Tanaya and Terrell. We were able to visit them yesterday and introduce family history research to Tanaya. She was so excited to research her ancestors and to have her family tree all filled in. Looking back I never would have imagined that people would be calling me a family history guru. Go figure. It really is true that the Lord makes more of us than we could ever make of ourselves.
We are also working with Tomas, Stormy, and Carlos. Tomas is a great man with great desires to learn all he can about our Savior Jesus Christ. As we met with him you could tell that questions he had always had were being answered and in ways he did not expect. We left him with an invitation to read the first 15 chapters from the Book of Mormon and to pray to know that it is truly another testament of Jesus Christ.
Something that was brought to our attention at Zone Meeting, a meeting where a group of missionaries meet and discuss the progress in the larger area in which we all serve, was that rather than refer to ourselves as simply missionaries in our interactions with others is that we should try saying instead 'we are representatives of Jesus Christ'. Truly we bear His name and should remember this always.
We also have the opportunities to volunteer in this area on Wednesdays at the PCI Ranch and Special Angels. PCI is a Christian horse ranch where those with mental or physical disabilities are able to come and receive therapy through horse riding. We help clean up the property and bag hay from bales into hay bags. It's a good change of pace and great to serve an organization doing so much good. Our other opportunity to serve on Wednesday is with Special Angels of the Woodlands. They are a dayhab for Adults with special needs. Most weeks we play monopoly with a young man named Aaron. He loves monologue and playing with the missionaries.
As King Benjamin tells us in the Book of Mormon 'And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.' Mosiah 2:17
I know this is true and I have felt His love as I serve. I invite everyone for this week to look for an opportunity to serve in some way you have not done in the past and promise as you do so that more joy will come into your life from your service.
Until next week,
-- Elder Mark Vickers
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9:11 AM (11 hours ago)
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I wish i could convey to you both how much your dad loves and misses you:) He gets very tender. He says he will probably grab onto the both of you when you get home and not let go!:)
so cool!
| Mark Owen Vickers |
Friday, November 4, 2016
Week of October 31, 2016
Halloween in the mission field:)
Kinda dark but it works
Ward Halloween Party
Kinda dark but it works
Ward Halloween Party
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Oct 31 (4 days ago)
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I can't remember if I replied to this email. Does this mean dad could get a transplant if a kidney is available?
| DEANNE VICKERS | Oct 31 (4 days ago) | ||
| DEANNE VICKERS | Oct 31 (4 days ago) | ||
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Oct 31 (4 days ago)
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Oh man that would be amazing. What steps are necessary for the transplant process?
-- Elder Mark Vickers
-- Elder Mark Vickers
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Oct 31 (4 days ago)
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We need to meet with daddy's cousin and they will determine if he is an organ match if he is not an organ that she could possibly give his kidney to somebody else and they would give it to somebody else until we found a match for dad. If it's a cadaver then I think they just call us and we go ahead and get a kidney :-) I think that's what they Man and they wanted us to be on call 24.
Pretty exciting huh
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Oct 31 (4 days ago)
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Hey Family!
How is Laura doing? She is recovering well? Did she do a different costume from the Princess in the pictures?
When is the cut-off for them to hear back from schools?
How is Lance liking his job? Is he just washing them and moving cars around the lot?
Love seeing you guys having fun with Elly-bean.
Haha I just won't go to the mission office until Christmas and they can hold on to the package so I'm not tempted to open it early.
-- Elder Mark Vickers
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Oct 24 (12 days ago)
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Mi Padre!
Elder Skelton....good guy. . He just got done with training so we're working to find out our teaching styles and how to mesh those together. He is from Tooele, Utah.
The work is a bit slow here in Spring so far. We taught 14 lessons this last week which is pretty great but no new investigators which will kill us in a few months. The mentality we are running into is the "I'm good." or "I'm content." from those we contact into. Spring has changed quite a bit in the last few years. They've added several toll roads and they go right through neighborhoods. Pretty interesting.
I heard about the game! So awesome. How was the Boise game?
They certainly did! Love you dad! Keep me updated on the fam.
-- Elder Mark Vickers
| Oct 17 | | ||
Hey Everybody!
So I know it's been a bit since my last actual weekly update. Sorry about that. The work in Westfield was going really great and I assume it still is. I got transferred! I am now in the Spring Ward which is just about 10 minutes North on the 45. The new ward is great. There was a baptism this last weekend for a woman by the name of Randi. She is awesome. After the baptism my companion, Elder Skelton, and I went to their home to help her sons repair part of their fence that had rotted away. It's neat what skills you learn and those that come back to you that your dad tried to teach you growing up. Thanks dad!
I am really looking forward to this new ward. There are some great members here and I know the Lord is preparing more and more people all the time to hear the message of the restored Gospel. I know more had happened since my last update but I can't really remember details at the moment. Sorry!
I love all of you and hope you give it your all in whatever you do.
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