Another Week in the Lords Vineyard

Well, another week gone by in this part of the Lord's vineyard. What a week it has been. SO full of ups and downs, as usual, but the ups really just seem to out weigh the downs all the time.

Where do I begin?! Well, after emailing last Monday, we left and went straight to a lesson with our family. They have truly become my family. We taught them the Word of Wisdom. That's always a tough point for investigators here. But we taught it and I can proudly say that today is 'M"'s sixth day being completely drug free!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOO! I truly feel like these people have become my own brothers and sisters. When they trip and stumble, I choke up and cry. When they are strong and push through their adversities, they make me stronger. When they hit sorrows, my heart breaks. When they smile and laugh, the sun has never shined brighter. I wouldn't dream of ever coming home. I've never felt such a great depression and such a great happiness before. Confusing? You bet! Worth it? All the more! "M" is doing astoundingly good! The rest of the family is all in different places. Some are doing better than others. Just goes to show we are all unique and God will work with us all in our own ways. I love them and I don't know what I'll do if I get transferred... it feels like leaving home and family again... BLEGH!

Well, lemme tell ya about valentine's day. We had an appointment set up with a widow in our ward. We were gonna have a little pizza party with her... but she got sick so we just dropped by, said hi and left. Well, we were worried because we had so many people trying to make appointments with us that our night was booked! ha ha!!! Valentine's day was busier and better than Christmas!!!! We had a pizza party with "M", "E", "D", "B" and "C". They are the best family ever! "M" will probably be baptized this Saturday! Fingers crossed!!! Then, the young women's were having a valentine's shin dig at the church. We were invited by the "G"'s (the same guy who gave me a blessing a couple weeks back). They are my family!!!! I have never met anyone like them in my life. So we got there and they had invited the Elders to the dinner too. So we ate with the "G"'s, the Elders and some others. We got to meet a lot of non members and just talk and laugh with the ward. Mom, these people are my family. I've never been closer to a group of people in my life! I love them so much!!!! Then after that we went to the "J"'s and saw sister "J"... whew! That family is going through some tough stuff! But they'll be ok. Well, we decided to go visit a potential we placed a book of Mormon with and see if they had read it at all yet. We visited and, get this, her mom answered the door and her name is "R". She told us her best friend is LDS and she's always wondered about our church. So when her daughter came home with a book of Mormon she was surprised and she said she was really glad we came and found her. we are visiting with her this Satruday!!!!!! woooo! God prepares all His children to receive His word!

Well, the day before Valentine's was Elder Cox's birthday. So Sister Calton and I took some of the balloons I got for my birthday and blew them up and took them with us to district meeting. He loved them! Everyone in our district signed the balloons and it was fun! We have some pretty amazing Elders in our district. They work hard, even though not everything goes very good all the time. Well, we are spoiled by the people in our ward either way! Elder Cox must've had 5 birthday parties!!!! We end up at the same dinners and the same places a lot so we ate a lot of cake these past few days!!!! ha ha they really love us out here. Needless to say, Elder Cox and Elder Abad have a lot of cake in their fridge to eat.

In district meeting this past week (same day as Elder Cox's birthday) I was asked to do another training. You know me. I LOOOOOOOVE to talk and motivate people. So the Christ like attribute I worked on this past week was patience... Lemme tell ya, when you ask God to help you be better at something, HE GIVES YOU THE CHANCE TO WORK ON IT! He doesn't just make you patient or smart. NOPE! Needless to say, I had ALOT of opportunities this week to work on patience! I have never felt a greater pain in my life than when I go to a member's house and they tell me and my companion that they can't do it anymore. People we used to trust look us right in the eye and say it's just too hard. They say if Satan wants me, he can have me cuz I'm done fighting!!!!! I am constantly reminded of Satan's illness. I can feel him breathing down my neck and whispering in my ear. All I can muster up the strength to say in the final moment while they shut the door is a choked up sad, "please don't." Then the door is shut and we walk away from the house. yes. It happens. My dear friends. It happens. It makes me sick sometimes. We have to bear with patience. So, I shared this in my training this week. So many people give up because they don't understand patience and hope. Just because you join the church, went on a mission, got married in the temple and live your life the best you can, doesn't mean your scotch free. It most certainly does not. You must be patient! Then, I used an example. The greatest example of patience in this dispensation. While in Liberty jail, the prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith, faced the greatest adversity the world has known other than the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. sold to a mob by his own friends, with a wife, children and saints being murdered, plundered and savagely treated by the adversities of darkness. with streaming guilt, pain and suffering in his soul for the welfare of not just himself but also his brethren in the jail with him and his people.God's people! he cries to the Father he thought had abandoned him. He pleas to the Father and cries out, "O God, where art thou?" He asks the Father to show Himself. He begs to Him and asks why He has abandoned His children. He claims to the Father that if He would just strike down their opposers and save His people, they would be faithful to God forever. Why wouldn't God save him? Why did God abandon him and His people? Then, as He always does, He answers this prophet's pleas. He says to Joseph, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." The greatest revelations Joseph Smith ever documented were received in the hellish pit called Liberty jail. Revelations we hold onto to this very day. Yes. It happens. Struggle. Grief. Pain. It happens. But when we bear with patience our afflictions and have hope, we KNOW that God will answer our prayers, hear our pleas and keep His promises. When we are patient and hopeful, we are confident and strong, knowing that God is truly not that far away. We stop looking at our hardships as punishments. We stop seeing them as abandonment and start seeing hard times for what they really are. AN OPPORTUNITY! I cannot stress this enough. I get turned away because, "it's just too much" all the time. Yes, it's hard. It's supposed to be. If it was easy, it wouldn't be true. I am sorry, but that is how God is going to see who we really are. Definitely easier said than done, but doable for sure! If you are having a hard time and feel like giving up, I exhort you to study the Atonement of our Savor a little better. I promise that as you study His Atonement and come to understand it better, you will come to know Heavenly Father. You will come to know your purpose better and you will be able to bear your afflictions well. It's so simple, yet so hard. It's so depressing, but so happy. It's so heartbreaking, but so fulfilling. So up and down. But aren't those signs of life. On a heart monitor, we call it flat lining. When there are no ups and no downs in that line, it means the heart is not beating and the person is either dying or dead. But when the heart beats there is a dramatic up and down motion to that line. It's a sign of life. It means your breathing. There are so many people who are spiritually flat lining, we as missionaries, every member being called and enlisted, are expected to be spiritual paramedics. We are called to bring these people back to life with our spiritual defibrillators! teach them of who they really are and give them a beat, a life full of ups and downs! Because it is in those ups and downs that we progress, that we become like our Heavenly Father. We become happy! Of course I had to throw some medical stuff in there. There are too many people giving up/ spiritually dying in front of my eyes to sit back and let them go. Satan thinks he's so tough! That ill snake has another thing coming!

Moral of this giant email, go bring someone back to life today! Someone who is flat lining, someone who needs to know they are loved, someone who needs to know there is more to life than what the world has to offer them. Go! Get them! Save them! Let them feel the happiness and joy that comes with having a beating spiritual heart! Do not let the adversary take you! You are much stronger than that! We all are! Remember, God leads this work. Wherefore can we fail? God does not fail. Choose you this day! (needless to say, the training went pretty well).

I love you mom. I love you all. Tell Daddy I said hi. Keep praying for missionary opportunities. Fight. Don't let go. God is on our side.

Love always,

sister J Martinez

My advice: Be Patient!

Hi mom!

All is well this week! So much better! Never in my life have I truly relied on the Savior before. I never truly understood that phrase until now. Everyday my Savior lifts me up and makes me stronger. Sometimes He has to lay us low before he can lift us higher!

Well, this week has been a lot of ups and downs but the ups overshadow the downs a hundred times over! The family we are teaching came to church again this Sunday. Though we tried to talk them out of it, few of them left after sacrament but two of them stayed. Mom. Our Savior lives. This is His work. I have been tossing and turning trying to figure out what I can do better, what I'm doing wrong, why this family is not progressing. Well, it was a total surprise, a boy in our ward was getting baptized that same day. Sunday right after church!!! So of course we invited them to stay and watch the baptism. They both agreed to. One of them is 29, his name is "M". The other is 11, his name is "D". "M" is "D's" uncle and they astound me. What astounds me more was the miracle that happened at the baptism. We went and looked around to see if they were there. We spotted "D" sitting with a twelve year old boy who just got the priesthood. His name is "I". They were laughing and joking and having a blast. Then I spotted "M", sitting by "G". He is awesome, he has a long past of hardship and mistakes just like "M". "G" had completely taken "M" under his wing. Then I watched as the Elders from the Elders Quorum walked in and sat down next to "M" and started laughing and joking about things and talking about the things they learned in priesthood. I was practically in tears. With little to no effort of my own, this ward had completely enveloped these two and showed them what it means to be a ward family. Sis Calton and I could've left and they never would have missed us! I watched as everyone was talking and laughing. The love, the joy, the peace. Afterward, I had to fight my way to them because they were so busy talking to others and asked them how it went (I had not seen them the whole baptism). They both told Sis Calton and I that they were excited for their baptismal dates, they bore beautiful testimonies and told us that they had been praying and that they know that this is the true church. My heart practically fell out of my mouth (sorry that was gross... haha). There it was. The answer to my prayers. What could I have been doing better? What was I doing wrong? Nothing! I was not being patient! This is His work!!!! Not mine! No matter how hard I work, He will give us situations to teach in and they will feel the spirit when it is His will to teach them at that time. There was no way I could've planned all that out! He is ever watchful over His faithful and I know that He is watching over me! This ward totally floored me this past Sunday. I am truly blessed and the blessings just keep coming the more I get to know the people.

Being healthy is something that I have truly gained a testimony of! I am trying to teach so many people who have such awful addictions. So many addictions that are so hard to conquer. Mainly drugs here. I often share D+C 10:5 with them. The one you showed me that day in sacrament meeting. How would I know how to work hard if my parents had not taught me how to! I got it from you and dad. My work ethic is directly from you two! Just like Nephi did, don't pray to have your circumstances changed. Rather, pray for the strength to change your own circumstances.(1 Nephi 7:6-19). He has given us hardship so that we can learn! Trust me... I had to figure that one out myself last week! ha ha!

I got your letter and there truly was a spirit intervention. I am learning to handle myself. To be a big girl and rely heart and soul on the one who wears the title Savior. I know He can do as he promises and that is save. Christ is my light, my life, my true beacon in my darkest moments. As he should be for all of us! When we choose Christ we choose change! So much is changing inside of me, I didn't even know I can do the things He has made me capable of doing! It is the same for us all! When you choose Christ, you will have moments when you say, do or feel something and you think, "where did that come from and when was I able to do that?" Well, it came from your faith! It came from your Savior! Every great story ever written in the bible or the Book of Mormon, (or ever in our church's history, especially Joseph Smith) started with faith. In fact, that is His question to all before performing a miracle. Do you Believe I can do this? When we trust Him and hand Him the reigns of our lives, He works miracles! Then, with a full heart, you will hear the spirit whisper to you, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." I have never felt so "whole" in my life. All my kinks and dings are being smoothed out, my rough edges are being sanded, and my blank spots are being made whole.

I love you all! All my friends and family. All of you make it possible for me to keep moving on and moving forward. Just the other day, President Morgan called just to see how I was doing. Me! He took a moment of his time to let me know he was thinking of me. I love President and Sister Morgan. I love this gospel. I love my friends and family. I love my home here in Washmo (Washington Missouri), I love running to the Missouri river and back every morning (I have lost quite a bit of weight, I don't know how much, I don't have time to worry about how much I weigh. All I know is my skirts were not sitting so low on my hips when I left home! ha ha). I love the way I feel when I am doing what's right and I am being obedient. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I love my God and King. My Father which is in Heaven. I love the letters I get from home. I love my Washmo folk, they never cease to amaze! I love the Book of Mormon. I love my companion. I love, I love I love.

Send me some pictures for valentines day. All I ask is pictures and letters! ...and maybe a tube of true aggie chapstick, mine is all gone and I love that stuff! ha ha ha! I love you mom! You walk with me always! Happy valentines! I will send pictures soon and I love you!

Love always and forever,

Sister J. Martinez

PS. The weather here is hilarious. The last two days were freezing and snowing. Now it's like 60 outside! pfffffffff! what?! They cancelled school for the kids everday this past week but Monday. When it snows even a little bit here, NO ONE, goes outside. They all stay home and hide... that's fine we'll come knock on yo door!!! ha ha ha!!!!! just kidding.... sorta, we actually do go knock on their doors... now we just sound like creepers.... well we're not! nevermind! ha ha ha!  love you!

A Hectic Birthday Week!

Hi Mom!

First of all, congrats!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of you mom! So what was it that you got, slacker of the year, right? ha ha just kidding! You are awesome and you deserve that! That was awesome for everyone to support you like that! I love you all!

Well, I am so proud of you and dad! The world's most amazing everyday missionaries! I never knew how important it was to be an everyday missionary till now! You are awesome for helping their family.

Thank you Johnson Family !

Well, lots and lots of ups and downs this week. It's been pretty hectic. Well, this week, we've been having lessons with a great family, and their baptismal dates are coming up. We got a text from the mom asking about our beliefs on divorce. So we visited her that day and talked with her. We gave her “The Family: A Proclamation To The World”. She said she would read it and pray about what she should do. Well, Saturday was our last lesson with them till Sunday and when we got there, her husband was sitting on the couch. Up until this point he has not been interested in meeting us. He asked if it would be ok if he sat in on our lesson and come to church with us. PFFFFFFFF OF COURSE! We were ecstatic! The lesson went great and the spirit was so strong there. So Sunday came and we almost took up a whole bench because almost their whole family was there. While we were sitting there, listening to the much needed testimonies of the members Sister Calton motioned me to look over at the dad and mom. They were holding hands! This is why I'm here! This is a family looking for a better life. They recognize what this gospel can do for them and are willing to test it out because they need what God has promised them. Well, needless to say, this family has become my own family! The kids are amazing and the mom and dad seem to grow together more and more everyday. One of the sister's is already almost to 2 Nephi! I know this gospel belongs to Christ. It is His and He blesses those who seek after Him and keep his commandments. My testimony of this gospel has grown in ways that never could have happened in any other way than on a mission. I can feel the connection with my Savior growing everyday. Yeah, it's been a bit of a rough week, but if there were never any rough times, I would never grow stronger! Just like Lehi says, "opposition in all things!"

Well, I know the Lord's timing is everything to us out here in the mission field. He is constantly guiding His work and His glory. So much has happened this week, it is hard to write about it all. Even my journal doesn't capture how amazing this all is. God has a plan for all of us.

Thank you so much for sending me Poo's emails in the mail mom. When the days get long, there's nothing greater than having a letter in the mail. I got my birthday box and I LOVE IT!!!!!!! As you can see, I had an awesome birthday! Thanks everyone who sent me stuff and I love my string of pictures! I love you all and I am so grateful for all the people in my life!

Well, I'm almost out of time. I gotta get going, Missouri's not gonna baptize itself! ha ha joking.... joking. I love you all and I love this work! Till next week!

Love always, sister Martinez

I found a street with my name on it!!

We are All enlisted Till the Conflict Is Over!!!

Hi mom!

Isn't it crazy that I'll be 22! I am so old here compared to the other elders and sisters who, most of which are 18 and 19 now!!! I'm always telling them how lucky they are! I totally would have gone if I had the chance at that age!

Well, I got your envelope and can I say that was just what I needed! I've already read that new Ensign twice! I use it alot in lessons! The union elders are jealous we got the new one! All the pictures are up on my wall and I love them! Pictures and letters give me the greatest encouragement ever! I am so excited to get the birthday box!!! It sounds exciting! Just the thought of everyone thinking about me on my birthday is awesome! I have the greatest support group a girl could ever ask for!!!! 

I am so excited to visit out here again when I get home! Everyone had better eat their fruits and veggies and stay healthy so we can do some church history visiting! It's killing me being in the same state that has all the church history and not being able to go and see it. I know I will someday touch the bullet holes of Carthage and I know that someday when my Savior comes I will meet Joseph Smith and thank him for my life!  So much history here! In fact in this month's Ensign, in the article called “Enduring Well”, it mentions President Smith and his time spent in Liberty jail while all the saints were being exterminated by Boggs! Remember mom, do not ask Heavenly Father to change your circumstances. Rather, ask him for the strength to change your own circumstances! In that talk he talks about challenges not being about opposition, but about opportunity! It is a chance to prove to Heavenly Father that you mean business! In first Nephi Ch. 7 (one of my favorite things to use during a lesson) Nephi prays to Heavenly father after Laman and Lemuel tie him up and leave him to be eaten by beasts. In verses 16-18, Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances! Where does this strength come from? It comes from the Atonement! Elder Bednar once gave a talk in the Ensign, the article was called, “The Atonement and the “Journey of Mortality”. In it he talks about the atonement not just being used for people's sins. That's only half of it! The atonement should be used to turn bad men into good, and good men into better. Bad to good is only half the battle! That's the cleansing power of the Atonement and usually the only power many understand and use. But what most do not understand is the enabling power of the Atonement! The good to better half! That's where the strength comes from! Like the strength that Nephi had. The strength Joseph Smith had. The strength the saints had. The strength good people use to become better. Tap into that power. He wants to see His countenance in us. In order to do so, we have to let him make us strong by enduring well our oppositions and making them opportunities to grow. Read that talk and the talk in this month's Ensign! It will do wonders for you!

Donald and his daughter were all I could think about for so long. I spent a long time trying to decide where we could have done better. What we did wrong. But when it came down to it, I did the best that I could! I know that he will feel the spirit's whisper someday and that his family will be blessed because of the seed we planted. It is so hard to leave families behind and put them in the Lord's hands. I want to help. I want him and his daughter to live together forever. They deserve it! But I need to accept Heavenly Father's will. Someday he will see things different. I know he will. I must move on for now but that love I feel will not die. I love them both and I hope to see them again when Christ comes and I wish to listen to their story of how they became and eternal family! All is well! The brother and sister we are teaching now.... drumroll please.... HAVE A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!! That's right! They have committed to baptism. It is the greatest feeling I've ever felt! When they agreed to prepare for baptism I nearly passed out! ha ha ha! Heavenly Father has a way for preparing us all to receive his word, in his own way and time and I know it is their time! I am so grateful to be a part of this work! Whew! I am so so so proud of them and they're commitment to change their lives and become the people they were designed to be! Children of our King! The Johnsons got a new dog and are doing much better too! I love them so much! They got a Chihuahua and name him Jose! haha she was so excited to tell us about that because I'm Mexican so she told us that we just have to meet him. I call him my little Mexican brother! ha ha ha! he's cute! I'm actually going over to the Johnson's this Wednesday for my birthday! I'm excited! It has been a week of ups and downs... sounds familiar?

I am so glad to be getting Poo's e mails in the mail! Isn't that the cutest thing in the whole world! When I read about that guy showing up with his swim trunks and towel to get baptized my heart melted and it just made me wanna cry! That's the most adorable thing I think I've ever heard of in my life! It's good to hear from him! Wouldn't it be crazy if somehow I stayed out here for and extra week and a half and he came home a week and a half early and we got home on the same day?! ha ha I wonder what that would be like sometimes! What a glorious day that would be! 

Well, I gotta hurry now! That's just a quick update. I still keep a regular journal and when it's done I will send it to you and you can read all my adventures if you want! I feel like freakin Bilbo!!!!!!!!!! Now that..... is rad! I love this work. I love my Lord, Savior and King Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon, it is the Keystone of our religion. I never understood that till now! I love our prophet. I love my family and my companion. I love my Missouri people and I love this life. Onward, ever onward my mother. I love you. Give dad a huge hug for me! I love you both more than you know. You walk with me always and eternity is in the hands of those who grasp it. Walk tall, God is the head of our army. Failure is not on His to do list! We are all enlisted till the conflict is over!  

Always and eternally yours, your (favorite) daughter!

Sister Martinez!  

Week 7: What do you get when you meet all your goals...ADVENTURE DAY!!!

I will meet my goal!

So, I'm emailing pretty late today and sooooo much has happened! I need to write in my journal more often! Well, Sister Calton and I met every single goal set for our zone last week! (yaaaaaaaaay!) Inspired goals are amazing! When you have faith and you act on that faith, the Lord will help you achieve the things He asks you to do! I know now what Nephi is talking about in 1 Nephi 3! Well, because we met all our goals we got more miles (which we don't use since our car is still in the shop) AND we got to have an adventure day!!!!!! It was so awesome! We met up with one of our recent converts! She is outstanding! She is 19 and the only member in her family! Her faith is overwhelming! She went with us into St. Louis for the day and we went to the St. Louis Science center and we also went to the St Louis zoo!!!!! The saint Louis Zoo is supposed to be the best in America and it was free! It was so much fun! I got a T-shirt with penguins on it! I bought Gma and Gpa a magnet for their fridge! I need their address so I can send it to them. We had a blast! It was so weird to be wearing a T-shirt and jeans! Just like the old days! But the most amazing part about Monday was walking through the zoo and having families walk by us and say, "HEY! How's it going sisters!" or HEEEEY SISTERS! and to have small kids give us high fives as we walk by. Missionary work is so important and it is sweeping the world! Parents are preparing their children to be missionaries by making us their heroes and teaching them that being a missionary is very important! I am proud to be someone parents teach their kids to be like. I love being a missionary! I don't mean to sound big headed or anything, but missionary work is awesome! We went to lunch after the science museum and we talked with a family sitting close by. They were members and they were eating with their kids. As they were leaving the dad, stopped by and grabbed the check sitting on our table. We tried to stop him but he insisted and said, "It's ok sisters. I'm teaching my kids." That really struck me. By taking care of us and helping us, he was teaching his kids how important missionaries are and instilling a fire in them to one day be missionaries themselves! Well I hope I meet them again someday. They are in my mission so fingers crossed!

Well, We didn't get to e-mail yesterday because we had exchanges. That's when the Sister Training Leaders (STLs) switch companions with Sister Calton and I. So I got to drive yesterday and this morning! It was awesome to be able to drive again! I really missed it! So I went with Sister Minyard while Sister Calton stayed here in Washington with sister Errington. I was in Fenton for the day yesterday and I learned a lot. She taught me a lot being an experienced missionary and all. It was very weird being in a new place with a new companion. It felt like leaving home again!!!! I was so excited to come back home to Washington and Sister Calton! But guess what I saw yesterday in Fenton! I saw a Waffle House!!! ha ha made me laugh! It was so nice to come back today! I feel at home again and I really missed sister Calton! I just love her so much!

Well, our friend and his daughter are not interested in learning anymore right now. We went over for our appointment and basically, we were really only able to offer him to read the BofM and find out the truth for himself. It was a good learning experience. But no matter how we tried we always seemed to end back up on some very off subjects. But Heavenly Father prepares His children to receive His word. Maybe someday in the future.

But we are teaching a new family, I think I told you about them. This one guy we ran into had received the Book of Mormon 3 years ago on the bus in St. Louis from some elders and has been wondering ever since. His sister was interested too! She was talking to her mom on the phone just the night before about wanting to find a religion when we knocked on her door the next day and they were both home and let us in. I know nothing happens for a coincidence. When sister Calton and I do what's right, we seem to run into a lot of "coincidences" ha ha! Well, him and his sister both came to church this past Sunday and she brought one of her 3 kids. He's 11 so he went to primary while we went to Sunday school. The elders were teaching about the priesthood in gospel principles. I was nervous since we had really only taught them the restoration, but it went SOOOOO great! They seemed to understand it and they really loved the equality in our church. They loved the fact that men and women work together and that neither is greater than the other! She is a lot like me! Pretty hard headed! ha ha! She really liked that the priesthood is held by men, but used to bless everyone! It really made sense to her the way it makes sense to me. We get a long pretty well. She reminds me of you mom! ha ha! And, the men in the class were very supportive also. They talked a lot about the role of the woman being so important and that we are like puzzle pieces! You can't complete the picture without one or the other! We are a family unit! She loved that! and so did he, he liked that the priesthood isn't used for money or for social status! It's not an occupation! It is a blessing and must be used with love and care, just as Christ used it. He really admired that, he was so excited that he leaned over to me and said, "I am coming to church next week too!" ha ha it was awesome! When we went to visit them last, he told us he had stayed up til 4 that moring reading! He's not a great reader so he was only in Nephi chapter 7 but he was sooooo proud and excited! So were we! I can't wait to keep visiting them!

How is my brother, Elder Martinez? I think about him a lot and keep his picture in my scriptures. When I sit down for a lesson I often imagine him there with me, sister Calton and the Savior all teaching together. Like Chewey and Han Solo, or Sam and Frodo,  I am proud to be on the same team as him! ha ha Elder and Sister Martinez! Funny how things turn out sometimes!

Well, I love you. You and the rest of the family truly walk with me here in Missouri. I imagine the things Rachel would say when the cops pull up behind us and make sure we aren't selling anything. I imagine what Mel would do and say meeting all the dogs here in the area. I imagine Poo walking the streets with me, trudging through snow and sharing the gospel. I imagine you and Dad walking on either side of me with Sister Calton and I following in the Savior's footsteps, keeping me aware of my surroundings, keeping me warm, and pushing me to keep going and celebrating with sis Calton and I when good things happen. I am so proud of my family and of who they made me out to be and I am so thankful for this opportunity to learn, grow and become strong in the gospel by helping others get there too. Keep doing good! Sister Calton told me something the other day that made me smile. She said, "We leave our families for 18 months, so others can be with theirs for eternity."

Forever is ours through our savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel, I love my family, I love my friends and everything the Lord has blessed me with.

Forever,

Sister Martinez

Week 6: This is the greatest season!!!

The greatest things one can find when you walk and not drive!

This is the greatest season! Missionary work is booming forth just as President Joseph Smith said it would. I love reading D&C 60:8-9 and 61:3 and knowing that I am literally in the mission that he got those visions in.

Sister Calton and I decided, after having a period of not much success, to stop driving and walk as much as possible. We have had so much more success with less driving. We hardly ever use our car anymore! When we take our time and we don't go in haste, we get more done! Funny how that works.  My skirt has muddy dog paw prints on it and a couple small holes in some places from dog paws. I love all the dogs out here! They're all so sweet. My boots already look like I've had them for a couple years now and I've only been using them for a month! ha ha I wouldn't have it any other way! Everything is still in good shape. None of what I have is too worn out to use yet. Although, summer may come faster than we thought it would! Today it is a beautiful 60 degrees outside and it's beautiful! I'll have to invest in short sleeves soon.

As I receive love from the members here, what they don't realize is that in turn they are helping my parents! They are so loving here! I love these families and need to remember them. We had dinner a member family couple nights ago and we talked about the plan of salvation. The mom told us about her son who passed away a while ago. He would be about 20 years old now, he was about 10 when he unexpectedly passed away. They have a family of six here on earth and a family of seven for eternity. So while we were talking about the plan of salvation, we obviously started talking about families and one of their youngest said, "let's sing our family song!" They wrote their own cute song about how they will be a family forever. It almost sounds like a girls camp song. Very fun and up beat. Well with grins from ear to ear they started to sing. Sister Calton and I were laughing about their cute lyrics when about half way through, the mom began to cry when they got to the part about eternity. After they finished a silence fell over the room. They have a son on a mission right now, in fact he's leaving the MTC today for Brazil (I think). The very very bottom of it, with the penguins! ha ha practically Antarctica! Well, we sat in silence for a while soaking in the truth of what they sang. Then I quietly told the family that what they just sang is the reason why Sis. Calton and I do what we do. We leave Our families for a couple years so others can be with theirs for eternity.They are an amazing family that have overcome so much. It is the greatest thing we teach! Families are eternal! What a blessing and gift to have that knowledge! There are many who struggle with death without that knowledge, and that's what we're here to fix! When we know the truth, we need not fear!

That story makes me cry a little! I think of cute little Daddy all sobby trying to give blood! Awwww! Take care of those missionaries! There are people taking care of yours! haha! But most importantly, and this goes for everyone back home, the greatest way to help the full time missionaries is to be an everyday missionary. Help 'em out by joining the ranks of missionary work! We are all truly enlisted!

Well, this week, my testimony of the book of Mormon grew ten fold. I told you last week about the two young brothers in this family, and their incredible testimonies of the Book of Mormon. Well, I decided I wanna be more like that. So I started to search! I read in "Preach My Gospel" and that's what I'm studying most right now. The Book of Mormon is indeed the cornerstone of our religion! If it is not true, than Joseph Smith, modern revelation, our ancestors and everything we do goes out with it! Which is why enemies of the church work so hard to disprove it! But if it is true, which the testimonies of millions ensures, than that means that everything involved with it must be true also. That's what scares our adversaries so much! And that's why it's such a powerful tool. If you have time, look up the name Di Francesco.There's a talk by him on his own personal account and I love it! it's called: “I Will Not Burn the Book!” By Vincenzo Di Francesco. You have to read and watch "How Rare a Possession" if you can! We watched it this past Sunday and I've never felt the spirit so strongly in my life! His is the most incredible story! I have such a greater respect for the Book of Mormon. Well after we watched that I was excited to go out and share it with my folks of Washington! We got back to work and started tracting and visiting people. Well, we got the police called on us yesterday but that can't stop us! ha ha ha! We've actually gotten to know him pretty well! There's nothing they can do since we are not selling anything we don't count as solicitors! Now you must hear the gospel!!!!! Nah I'm kidding! It's ok! I can understand some people's irritation. Although at first it really bothered me. We talked to our ward mission leader and he said something I will never ever forget and I think about it everytime we get discouraged. He said, "If only they knew who you are, they'd take everything you offer them." A lot of times people don't even want to take a pass a long card. Just like Francesco offered his colleagues the Book of Mormon and said, "how can you burn it if you have never even read it!" It's so true! If only they knew what we had to offer them! So we go forward! God prepares a way for all His children to recieve his message. In fact, we had an amazing Miracle this past week

We tracted into a lady in town. She is really nice. We weren't having much luck that day and things were looking down and we've been struggling for people to teach. So she opens the door and is really nice to us and we tell her who we are. She looks a little confused at first, then we say, "we're the Mormons. That's our nickname." She lights up and says, "ooooooooh ok! I've heard of Mormons!" Then behind her a guy pokes his head around the corner and starts to listen to us talk then they let us in. It was her brother who came up behind her when we said we were Mormons. He excitedly says, "yes! I know who you are! I met a couple of boy missionaries on the bus in St. Louis 3 years ago! They gave me a Book of Mormon!" We were shocked! It's obvious whose hand was preparing the way! We sat down with him and we started to talk to him and tell him what we're all about. We started to talk about the Book of Mormon and he began to look sad. We asked if he had a chance to read it at all and he said, " a little bit, but I was homeless for a while. I lost the book. I lost everything." He began to tell us about how he lost everything he owned once and became homeless. Then he prayed for the first time in his life for help and the next day his sister took him in and he's currently searching for a job. He says he's been searching for the boys who told him to pray and gave him the book ever since then. He reminds me of Francesco!!!!! He is searching for truth and knew it when he found it. So when we invited him to church he was excited to go!!!! We had an awesome Sunday with him. The Elders in our area (Elder Cox and Elder Marvin) also had an investigator at church this week.  Our district has been struggling but now because of our faith and hard work, we are beginning to have success!!! It's exciting! We are still teaching him and we still have a little ways to go, but he seems happier since he went to priesthood with the elders! I hope things work out alright! I know they will!

Well, I love what I'm doing! I love this work! If it wasn't hard at times it wouldn't be worth it! Missouri is an amazing group of people despite their past and some of the lingering beliefs about Mormons! They actually let us in more often than not!

I love you all so so so so much and I will talk to you all again so very soon. I'm sending out more letters today. I can only write for a couple hours on Monday's so I do the best I can with them.

For ever and eternity,

Sister Martinez