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!