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
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