Dec. 26, 2011

Hello Hello Hello!!!!
Soooo Drum Role Please.... I'M STAYING IN QUEEN CREEK!
                                          WE'RE STAYING IN QUEEN CREEK!
We are so excited to be able to stay together again for another transfer. Thank goodness I'm not going home yet so i still have plenty of time to be able to open a new sister's area. big things are happening right now and lots of areas are being closed and new ones are popping up everywhere!  we will be getting two new sisters and we aren't losing any so that will make it 14 English sisters, which is an all time high! and we will have 7 Spanish! Awesome!

So Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful one!
It was awesome to be able to hear and SEE my family with Skype, for the first time since MAY! wow i can't believe that it has been that long!  we get to talk again on mother's day and then i will be back home sometime around October... EEK that is scary because i have LOTS to do and time is ticking, so every second counts.

Big news from this week is.. CHASTITY! Yey, she is a new investigator and she is just awesome! she is 15 and has actually been going to church with her aunt and uncle for a little while now.  She went to the Christmas Lights at the Mesa Temple and referred herself.. AMAZING! Sometimes it's hard to teach people that young because we need to have a parental consent, but we met her parents and they were totally okay with everything, which is a huge relief. Hopefully they will begin to join us for our lessons. We invited them last time but no such luck.  Only time will tell! :)

Also., one of the BEST Christmas presents I received was from one of our recent converts named Josh! he wrote Sister Doll and I a letter and it was the best thing ever. It was a really great note and it made me cry like a little baby! Also we got to see him bless the sacrament for the first time on Sunday, which was such a blessing. His family came and supported him as well! Aww, I just love families together on Christmas!

Spencer Algers made these shirts for us for Christmas!

We made these bracelets with our names on them for all the Sisters for Christmas.

Sister Doll and I truly love each other.

Awesome stockings that Sister Alger made us! We love her!

On Tue we had an Arizona Tempe Mission Christmas Party and it was so great! we ALL went to the temple on Tue so they split the mission in half; half went at 6 am and the other half went at 3 pm. At one time there were 100 missionaries together at one time with president and sister Howe's, which was AWESOME! we all got to eat a Christmas feast with pie and it was fun to all be there together. We're all going to be together again on wed and so I'm excited.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We're all getting skinny for 2012
love,
sister martin

Dec. 19, 2011

Hello Hello!
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOMAMIA
AND HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY LINDSAY AND LAUREN!

Well the theme for this week is CANCELED LESSONS! Ya not too fun... we get it, this time of year is busy and even people go out of town but its kinda rough!  i am SOOO thankful that i only have to miss one Christmas... even if that does mean that i have to endure the Arizona summers!

Nonetheless we were on our bikes ALOT this week but that is a good thing to try to counteract all the cookies and other treats that we have been given. One particularly hard day this week when all of our lessons fell through and we had been rides our bikes all day we went to a members for dinner and they surprised us with the "12 days of Christmas"!  What a blessing!  So now even if the day is hard,  its okay, because each night when we come home we open a Christmas present and with each present is a Christmas story. Those stories have really helped to bring the Christmas spirit into our home. There are classic stories of the Christmas Orange and the Christmas Shoes and then there are others that I've never heard before but  are very touching and inspiring.

I am so grateful for all the I have and for the warm home that we get to live in. Yesterday at church was the best ever because in one of our wards the whole sacrament meeting was just full of stories and beautiful Christmas musical numbers! Of course knowing me, I was a ball baby because it was just so touching :)
I just love Christmas and being on a mission and not being preoccupied with the stresses of shopping for presents and making treats. My mission has helped me to really focus on Christ and the real meaning of Christmas.

Our 12 Days of Christmas gifts!

Mesa Temple Nativity

Mesa Temple Lights

Our pictures are dark, but the lights behind us are amazing!

Sister Doll and I had the opportunity to go to the Mesa Temple Lights and to talk to people from all over the world - even close to home from Rock Port, Missouri :)  We loved talking to them about the true meaning of Christmas!  Another blessing of the week is that Sasha is going to be baptized on Dec 31 as well as Josh! This is the first time on my mission that I have had more then one baptism in a day! HAPPY NEW YEAR.  Transfers are on Dec 28th too. If i get moved i hope that i can come back for them-- cross your fingers.

well i love you all and i hope that everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hint, hint,  I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS :)

Love,
Sister Martin

Dec. 12, 2011

HELLO HELLO HELLO!

okay so great week :)   JENNIFER GOT BAPTIZED! ohh man it was so great and her whole family (mom, dad, and brother) came to it! ohh ya the Power of Fasting! she is so cute and was a little nervous, but  afterwards,  she was just glowing!  I love that "after baptism" glow and the spirit at baptisms is breathtaking!  Another great thing about this baptism was that she has been dating this less active member and he got his act together and  the lessons really helped him and he ended up baptizing her :)  That is a 2-in-one in my book. I Love baptisms but its sad that we don't get to see her twice a week anymore. i really feel like a parent sending my kids off to college, out into the big scary world without me! It's good for her and she has a great support system and is already set up with visiting teachers that will just help her.

We did have the awesome experience of teaching Josh Horner one of his new member lessons this week! its just cool to see how much he has changed since we taught him that lesson for the very first time! the first time we met with josh we were talking, obviously, a lot about God and His son Jesus Christ, and asking him questions about his relationship with them and he got all embarrassed and told us how it was hard for him to talk about it and to even mention their names because he never had before Then be able to see him last week bare his testimony in front of the whole ward is just truly amazing!

Josh Chapman- the 18 year old with an inactive father and brother- got  on date to be baptized this week for Dec 31! cool huh.. he will be baptized in 2011 then confirmed in 2012! But its just great to be able to teach his whole family and then to see them all come back to church on Sunday! such a sight to see!

Tis the time for Ward Christmas Parties! Saturdays are packed with Christmas parties when you cover 4 wards... its so fun though, and its the best way to really meet the members and their friends. also every winter the Mesa Temple decks out in Christmas lights and its HUGE and people come from everywhere to see the lights... maybe not as good as Temple Square but similar! there are local bands that come and sing Christmas carols each night as well. Sister Doll and I get to work there with other Mesa missionaries on Sat which I'm really excited for. Our job is to just walk around and answer questions. you should google the mesa temple lights to see!

We had zone conference this week which was awesome as well!!! except they installed TIWI's in all of our cars which tell the mission office every time were not wearing out seat belt, speeding, etc!!! not okay and it makes me a nervous wreck... ughhh but i guess i get the reason, but that doesn't mean i have to like it. Biking is far better FOR SURE!

I love you all SOOO MUCH!  Think of Christ :),  he suffered for all of us because he loves us (1 NEPHI 19:9) one of my faves.  Tis the season to be JOLLY!

I look like a GIANT!  I love Toni who got baptized last week!

Lovely Jennifer!

Jen and her boyfriend, Taylor

love,
sister martin

December 5, 2011

 i want to tell you about my week! BLESSING ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY!

okay so first of all TONI GOT BAPTIZED! ohhh boy it was the best ever and it felt like a Queen Creek celeb reunion! all of the new and old mayors and town council people were there and the old mayor confirmed her on Sunday and a bishop of another baptized her. it was the greatest :) she is the very best and  i just love her!

okay so everything happens for a REASON!  Thurs. we had 3 lessons planned and a great dinner and by 12:00 ALL of them were canceled... yes even dinner! so i was discouraged and it was cold and rainy but we had to be on our bikes because we had to talk to people. so we loaded up ,thank goodness i have the best comp. ever that never complains or else that would have made it even worse, but so we loaded up and headed over to a recent convert's house named Austin!  While we were biking, this guy was in his yard behind a fence shoveling (creepy.  We turned around and went to talk to him. turns out he is WAY nice and  that elders had talked to him forever ago and had given him the Restoration DVD and that he just moved into our area and that he wanted to learn more! we set up a lesson for the next day and moved on VERY Happy!

then we saw Austin and that was great and we got back on our bikes and were going to the road and on the opposite side there were two ladies talking so we crossed the street to go talk to them.  I'm way nervous for this awkward approach because we were going to interrupt their conversation, but long story short,  one of the ladies is an inactive member that we have been trying to find for a while and a couple days prior she had prayed that someone could help her to come back to church! AWESOME! so thank goodness our dinner canceled because then she offered to feed us and to get us out of the cold and misty rain, we had a good talk with her and we are going back today to meet her nonmember friend that lives with her!

THEN we finally contacted this other lady whose house we have called and stopped by a million times and taught her! we have another lesson with her on Tue :)

ohhh man i could go on forever about this week! in the end we had a great lesson with Cuco (the shoveling guy) and he came to church all by himself on Sunday and stayed the whole time!

okay so not enough time to write about Jennifer but we had an awesome experience with her this week. we had a group fast with Jen for her parents hearts to soften and probably 35 people joined us for the fast! but so our prayers were answered and actually Sunday night we got to go and meet her whole family!!! CRAZINESS! it was awesome and her mom committed to coming to her baptism this sat! i am SOO excited :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary! but the cool thing is that you don't have to be a missionary to receive all of these blessings and to see all these miracles... all you have to do it pray for them and Heavenly Father will answer your prayers :) SO DO IT! I am sooo grateful!

i love you all so very much
Love,
Emily

November 28, 2011- More Pictures

Yes, we made Indian hats for Thanksgiving :) missionaries give each other spirtual animals and so those are what's written on our hats! I am an appaloosa, which is a wild horse. . .long story!

Ward mission leader's home burned while the family was out of town. 

 Emily's new odometer melted  in the fire.

Hiking the San Tan Mountains was easier going up in the light than going down in the dark with no flashlight. The dark and cactus made a prickly situation!

By accident, Emily and Sister Doll matched colors in their Sunday outfits.

 Had to take a picture of it since so many members commented.  The cutest Sisters ever!!

Friendly Visitors on Nov, 24, 2011

Heather's friend, Bryan Wright with his sister, mom and dad visited Emily on Thanksgiving while in AZ for the holiday.  They were so kind to fix her bike, Sister Doll's bike and bring lots of great treats!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Bryan's dad, Tom Wright with Emily and Sister Doll

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!! I love you and miss you to pieces

Hello Hello!
Happy Late Thanksgiving to everyone :)  my Thanksgiving was GREAT!!!!!  from 12 through the rest of the day on Thur. was our p-day so we started off the day by ding-dong-ditching :)  ha ha this was, of course,  my idea! one of our bishop's wives kindly agreed to make us some goodies for some of our investigators so we made a cute note telling them that we were thankful for them, left it on the porch, and then ditched! good times!!

Then we headed over the the Jablonski's (part-member family) for A FEAST! she had EVERYTHING! sadly mom she didn't have time to make the rolls but she did have plenty of other yummy treats. It def was lacking without the slush and homemade rolls though.. just not the same!

In the middle of dinner I checked our phone and we had a missed call from an 801 number.... hmm! guess who is was... Heather's boyfriend, BRYAN! We called him back and he informed me that he forgot my package! waa waa waa!  He felt horrible and probably realizing that this was not the ideal first impression for his gf''s BEST FRIEND to have on him, ha ha, he quickly asked me what i wanted! Well... since my odometer melted in a house fire, that popped into my head, and it was done! :)  HE IS AWESOME! So ya he totally hooked me up! my bike is BRAND SPANKIN NEW! new seat, handle bars, odometer, and it doesn't squeak anymore :)  oh and i can't forget about the new addition that he put on there.. a horn! ha ha legit huh! I love it! THANK YOU Bryan! also, he was accompanied by his awesome family who stocked us with TONS of good stuff! They are all so kind! ha ha i felt like they were my family because they know my family, so it was cool to see them on Thanksgiving! Sister doll and i also went hiking to watch the sunset and that was beautiful!

Toni's Baptism is TOMORROW and we are just soo excited! the best news though, is that she told her entire family about it. She was super nervous and didn't even want to tell her husband but we stressed the importance of doing so MULTIPLE times, and on Sat. she finally did it, and they all support her! ohhh boy what an answer to a lot of prayers that was! so now we're all set for tomorrow and we can hardly wait! Jennifer is doing awesome and she is just so excited for her Dec. 10 baptism!

last night was the annual Stake Christmas concert and we got 6 of our investigators to come and the members did AWESOME with inviting lot of their friends and family to come as well! Ohh boy how i love this time of the year! its in the 80's and its the Christmas season and i swear people are just happier :)

I love you all!

love sister martin

November 21, 2011

Hello,

Josh got baptised!

Yes, this is a wedding! anthony and Amy got married and we got special permission to attend!

This is a blow-up turkey!  I have never seen so much blow-up decorations in my life . . .

 I'm glad alot of people in MO don't have them.  They are just not for me.

Before i say anything, I just want to recognize Mike Akin who passed away earlier this week on the  Nov. 17!  mike was an amazing man and his thoughtful letters he sent to me always lifted my spirits. He will dearly be missed! My thoughts and prayers go to my sister, Kass, and the rest of her family!

Okay so this week was full of blessings!  First of all we met this girl named Jennifer who came to church with her boyfriend last Sunday and we talked with her and she was interested in meeting up with us. she is very busy and didn't know her schedule so we just had to leave her with our number. We walked away a little disappointed because when we do that it never works out in our favor.   Monday she called us and we set up a lesson for Wed! okay so we met with her on wed and the lesson was awesome. The spirit was so strong and it carried our (not very good,  not well prepared) message into her heart and at the end we committed her to baptism on Dec 10! We walked out of that house on cloud 9 just busting with joy. Then on sat Josh got baptized and we invited her and her boyfriend and they came! And she came to church and we were meeting with her again TODAY! what a blessing! she is 21.  I know I've said it before but i just really do love teaching people in this age group because their hearts are just open to knew things and aren't stuck in some routine they are used to but don't really understand why they are doing it.

We also met with Toni several times this week and in one of the lessons we taught her the Word of Wisdom. Going into it we knew that she LOVES her coffee and that it would be challenging for her to give it up. In the lesson we introduced the commandment to her and she said,  "well it would make sense that I would have to give up something I like for something better!" So pretty much I was having a party in my head because of how truly amazing she is!! The Lord is preparing people everywhere for the gospel and it is truly amazing to see.

Josh's baptism went GREAT!  Prior to the baptism... not so great! This was a hard week for Josh;  he truly was going through the refiners fire. Thankfully, he stuck it out. It really is true and you see it all the time that things always get harder before they get better. It has to . . .opposition in ALL things is the Lords plan! Thank goodness for good family and friends that can help get us through all the hard times!

Okay so there is this man named Doug and he is a ward missionary in one of our wards! He calls us ALL the time because he just loves to serve. Some background on Doug is that 5 years ago he became active again.  For about 30ish years he was 100 % inactive and pretty much anti.  Once he had grandkids, his heart began to soften and he came back to the church.  He baptized his wife and they have been sealed in the temple. Well this past week, his wife's health took a turn for the worse and she has been in a coma since last week. The amazing part of this story is, that even with all he was going through, he CAME TO CHURCH Sunday and he asked us if we could go to this other area to teach one of his wife's nurses!! I guess he gave her a Book of Mormon and bore his testimony and now she wants to learn more. We are ALWAYS a missionary and his example is incredible. For all you return missionaries out there, look to Doug's example and always be a missionary! It's never convenient, but the Lord promises us that he will place people in our path that we can help and it's up to us to open our mouths!

I love you all so very much,
sister martin

November 14, 2011

Velcro wall

It's freezing her now - 70 degrees!

I'm a cactus hugger

Took Stephanie to the Visitor's Center

Hiked the San Tan Mtns. again this morning.

Blurry, but still cool!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TAYLOR AND ANDREW!
I love you both sooo very much!

hello hello!
haha i knew that you probably said no money for sister nortons mom! haha but she is 5'5 and we LOVE the skirts. she wears one of mine EVERYDAY! so she will be thrilled to receive some of her own and i might just have to borrow hers to. It's great to live with so many girls because we get to share clothes. 

Okay so you never answered me about Elder Biggins? he is from Blackfoot and his mom's name is Zana VanOrden??? there has to be a relation there. he is in my district

Okay so mom, what is your roll recipe? could you send it? the lady that is cooking us Thanksgiving dinner wants to make something that if from our families and that's what i want.

Sorry this letter is so random but THANK YOU to Jenny Bollwitt and Elisabeth Sanders for the bday wishes ( Liz i LOVE the headband!!! thanks so much) i love you both so much :) i love that my bday never ends.

Sister Doll and I made it passed transfer calls last night so were staying in Queen Creek for sure until Dec. 27!  that means we get to be together for thanksgiving and Christmas :) yeeeyyy! and the Spanish Hermanas  are both staying too so were all way pumped!

On the sadder note... this week our ward mission leader in the Ocotillo ward, his house burnt down on Thurs!! Saddest thing EVER! they had left the previous day for a trip, so luckily they weren't home but everything was lost... including my odometer! I brought it over there from him to put it on my bike but he ran out of time and returned my bike to me on wed right before they left and told me he would put it on when he returned! Sad day! i think i will just buy another one at Walmart today. so sorry about that!

Another sad note,  last Monday we went to Extreme Air, a place with a million trampolines, and our zone leader was doing a back flip and landed on his neck and broke his back! now he is in phoenix in a rehab place and won't be able to walk for 8 months... NOT GOOD! All week i have really been reflecting on life and how anything can change in an instant. one second were all bouncing around and the next someone can't walk!  life is so precious, tangible things are so easily disposable. The only thing that we can hold on to after this life is our knowledge, state of mind, and our relationships with others. HOLD ON TO THOSE THINGS! Nothing else matters!

So next Sat. JOSH is getting baptized! we had a lesson with him last night and he told us of a spiritual experience that he had had the day before when the Spirit warned him of danger and how he heeded that warning! it is just crazy to see how much he has changed since i first met him. He is so ready and excited to be baptized :)

Also Toni came to church for the first time this Sunday and after sacrament meeting we sat down and talked to her and she just had the biggest smile on her face.  She told us that she felt like she was HOME! she said that right when she walked in the doors she knew that she was where she was supposed to be! she said that she knows she needs to be baptized and now feels like it's her mission in life. OHHH HOW I LOVE THE SPIRIT!  Great week! Life doesn't get any better then this:)

I love you all soo very much! I have a lot of letters to write back but just be patient with me.. they are coming.  Heather when i get a letter from you i just LOVE it, especially when Kenzi slips a letter in there too :) I love you all SOOO very much!

love,
sister martin

November 7, 2011

HELLO HELLO!
mom! thanks so much for the package. i shared everything except the trail mix. that was the best combination ever. did you make it? I loved the fake cockroaches inside haha!

okay so I'm sorry that i keep asking you to send me things lately but it's COLD now! haha i know to the rest of the world 70s is not cold but I think the 115 degrees thinned my bold and I'm FREEZING! haha i could REALLY use my leggings that are solid brown, black, gray and navy.  i wish i could wear my patterned stockings but sadly they have exnayed those. also i would LOVE my boots. If you are coming out the week of thanksgiving could you just bring them and then i will give them back to you after winter so that i don't have to carry them around with me? oh and also my scarves and my old navy jacket! haha sorry that is such a big list but those things are very much needed and appreciated.

Halloween was WEIRD!  it was like a full day p-day. we emailed, shopped,  then cooked some of Oliver ( a cow that one of our recent converts slaughtered, then gave to us) and made spaghetti with.  then we all met as a zone and played basketball, scum, and watched 17 miracles.  that movie was okay to me.. not my favorite but it was still good.  it was cool to see a movie that i haven't seen before though.  Halloween was good but i def didn't feel like a missionary... by the end of the day i was ready to get back to work.

Okay so cool experience. so we taught Toni this week and when we were talking to her she really opened up about a lot of things and told sister Doll and I that she feels like she has known us for years...  it was the coolest ever because we did used to know each other. I can just picture all of us hanging out in the pre-mortal world as spirits together planning a time when we would meet up again on earth!  I feel like that with all of the people that we are teaching.  this Sunday was fast Sunday and  Anthony (one of our our recent converts) got up and bore his testimony and it was the best thing ever. It's so cool to be in an area for a while because I get to see people that I've taught progress in the gospel after baptism. Dennis just got a calling on Sunday to work in the primary, and Shea has a FHE calling.  Keith is soon to get the priesthood and the list goes on! Josh will be getting baptised on the 19th and that is just super exciting! We are on the hunt for new investigators,  but hopefully this week we will be able find some from  member referrals. we contacted a former investigator this week and taught her and it was awesome. we have another lesson with her on Tue so we are super pumped for that as well.

This week someone sent sister Doll this quote and it just makes me so happy!
" Many young women are serving missions. Many are preparing to serve not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do;  but because they have a desire to serve and therefore, are being called to the work. The reason so many are going is because in the next generation Heavenly Father will be sending His priesthood army to the earth and wants to send them to Mothers who have been properly trained and taught in the gospel. What better training can a young women have than that of serving a mission."
President Gordon B. Hinckley,  Dec 2000! AMAZING!!!!

I love everything about being a missionary! I have learned soooo much and have stretched as a person more then I ever thought was possible! I love this Gospel!

love,
sister martin

October 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Shout out to my sister CHRISTY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY :) I LOVE YOU!

Birthday at Costa Vida! Sister Algers got me way too much stuff, but I loved them all, especially the spinach!

Stephanie, Doll, me, Norton, Kerr, and Maddy

Maddy, Momma Alger, me and Stephanie

Me, Dolll, Kerr, Norton - all my roomies!!

Brithday cake!

We shouldn't have gone through the sprinklers, but oh it was fun!

Austin!

Temple trip

Sister Wilson

Jessica

YEY for today! today is p-day so we don't go out until 6 but because it's Halloween we can't teach because it's too dangerous so instead we are watching 17 Miracles!! I am SOOO excited! its fun to have a day off and really get to enjoy a holiday. We have been given way too much candy this week and the side effects are not in my favor!

Okay so Halloween + 4 wards = craziness!  all of our wards had "trunk or treats" so we were inviting people like crazy this week and all of our efforts paid off! we had lots of investigators, nonmembers, LA, and inactives there so it was definitely a success. Sat night we had 2 big parties at the same time so sister Doll and I had to go on splits. About a little over a month ago my friend, Jessica from school,  got my number from the assistants and called me to come on splits with us sometime.  because she wasn't in any of our wards we haven't been able to use her, so this was the perfect opportunity.   she came out from Gilbert and helped for the night and it was so much fun to see her :)  She is the first person from my previous life that i have seen while on my mission haha!  I'm grateful that she could even recognize me :)

Okay sooo Elder Wilson is AWESOME!! he trained us on how to better use preach my gospel and how to be the most effective as possible. THEN Sister Wilson and Sister Howes (mission president's wife) came out with sister Doll and I for 2 lessons. The first one was with Toni and it was soo great!  the lesson went really well with lots of powerful testimonies and then at the end Sister Doll was awesome and committed her to baptism for Nov 29! after that we headed over for a lesson with Annette and that is always great! Man do I feel blessed. We did have some sad news this week... Josh isn't going to be baptised this weekend anymore, but we did put him back on date for Nov 19 which is still okay. still sad but it's okay!

GUESS WHAT.... okay so in our mission we are all extended the challenge to memorize "The Family A Proclamation to the World" and I DID IT! Seriously when they extended that challenge I laughed! I stink at memorizing just a scripture... there was no way i was going to be able to memorize that huge thing! Well one day i realized that I was in the best place in my life to do it and that if i didn't do it now  i would never be able to do it, so I did. It took me a month probably,  but I did it and passed it off to President last night! Now i get a swiss army knife and a CTR necklace for a prize, but that doesn't even compare to the prize I have of just being able to say that i did it!  SOOO HAPPY!!!

Reading the Proclamation daily has really been a testimony builder to me! The family is ordained of God! The Family is central to the Creators plan for the eternal destiny of his children! The family is key to everything that we are, have, and do in this life. We are warned that at the end,  those who violate the covenants of chastity, abuse their spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibility, will one day stand accountable before God. In the world today we are taught the exact opposite.  What a blessing it is to have a modern-day prophet who leads and guides this church and is able to warn the nation about these things! Heavenly Father loves us all too much to not give us modern-day revelation that will help us today in a world that is creating new sin daily! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church here on the earth! I love this gospel! Without it I would be lost!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

love,
sister martin

October 24, 2011

Some of the most darling Sisters ever!

Hello Hello!
thank you SOOO much Johnson and Dufrain family for the wonderful birthday packages :)  I have always celebrated my birthday for at least a week, so it was good to still get gifts in the mail!

Well this week was another good one! Sunday was the BEST EVER! It was such an amazing experience to watch Dennis pass the sacrament for the first time!  i felt like a proud mother watching her child go off to kindergarten for the first time.  He was so nervous but of course he did awesome! It's so great to see a 40-year old man pass the sacrament with 12 year old boys. I told him that he runs the show now :).   then we were able to be in the room when Austin received the priesthood and that was just awesome. Austin is super nervous to pass the sacrament next week but he will do great as well!

Sooo GUESS WHAT!!! this week on Thurs we are having a mission tour.. not really sure what that means, but Elder Wilson from the 70's is coming and talking with us! THEN after dinner sister Doll and I will be teaming up with Sister Wilson for the rest of the night and she is going to come with us to all of our lessons!!! uhhhh I am freaking out! I am going to be scared out of my mind to even talk!  I feel like she is going to have the Spirit so strong and everyone we talk to are going to feel it strong too and  turn their lives around ( pretty much just jump into the font!)  SOOO EXCITED!!!

Also, last week president gave us a referral... yes i mean President Howes! we made the contact and will hopefully be meeting with her sometime this week!  Okay,  i  feel a lot of pressure coming on,  but it's okay!
this week we got 2 new investigators and are really seeing people's hearts softening!

there is a lady we visit once a transfer and she and her husband are not members but their son is and he is on a mission... ummm sound like Zach??  He was dating this LDS girl in high school and she introduced him to the gospel and he just went with it! She is now married and living in Utah and he is on a mission doing great! His mother has never been interested,  but we kept stopping by and last week when she answered the door she told us that she was sick and couldn't talk, but then she perked up and said...." Hey would you girls want to have a pizza party at my house??"  uhhh YA!  so a few says later we did and we had an awesome conversion/ lesson with her about the gospel,  while eating pizza.  She told us all about her concerns and why she has never met with the missionaries and then at the end she agreed to let us come back each week to read the Book of Mormon with her!!!! We are soo excited!

This Sat. is all the ward Halloween parties and we are just so excited because we have a lot of non-members coming out. Sadly, we can't dress up!! LAME.  I'm going to do something... not sure just what,  but i will do something!  Halloween is my favorite holiday and it feels like just yesterday that i was dressed up as Mrs. Potato Head haha!  cliff and I rocked those costumes :)

sister Doll is pretty much a pro by now with no help from me. I think the Lord knew that she would be an easy one so that is why I got her! So excited for another great week!

 love sister martin

Oct. 17, 2011

HELLO!

CHRISTY YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! seriously i love the pictures that mom posted and i cant believe how big your boys are!

Okay so my birthday was just great! I woke up and the first thing i did was tear open my presents :) Thank you so mucho! I just LOVE the odometer but i have no clue on how to hook it up but one of the elders told me that he could figure it out for me. The Algers (best family ever) took sister Doll, the spanish Hermanas that i live with, and me to Costa Vida and it was the best :) they even bought me 2 cartigans, a scarf and twistable which i really wanted and spinach! haha sister Alger is a hardcore couponer so she supplies me with lots of spinach so that i get as much iron in me as possible! Then later that night Jennifer duffany, a recent convert in the san tan ward fed us dinner and got a CAKE! yey it was a GREAT birthday!

mom i finally got you deseret package on sat and thankyou so much for that! thankyou so much Brian and kass for the zumba workout dvds. I can't use them quite yet because sister Howes has to look at them first but then its on!!!  YEY then throughout the week i recieved several more bday cards and WAY too much candy. thank goodness there are 4 sisters now that can help me eat it all.

Okay so this weekend was Austin's baptism and it was awesome! Austin's dad is inactive as well as the rest of his relatives, except one of his aunt and uncles, and because of them he found the church. the baptism was such a blessing for their family. the whole chapel was full of nonmembers and inactives and it was very powerful! Austin is a poineer for his famiy and his testimony is so strong. I feel so blessed for the opportunity that i had to teach him.

due to it being fall break, (all the schools are year- round here because its pointless to have a huge summer break when its too hot to do anything) EVERYONE was out of town. So this week was a struggle to find people to teach and to even meet with our investigators. We are seaching hard for new investigators and we are really putting a lot of effort into working with our ward memebers for refferals. Oyming, aka street contacting, is the least effective thing that we can do to find people that are prepared to hear the gospel. this next week everyone should be getting home and i am so happy for that.

sister Doll and I have probably too much fun together. She is just so awesome and i love her so much.

I am learning so much in this whole process and i just love it. Sadly, one of the sisters in the mission went home on friday and it was just the saddest thing ever. the mission is the best thing ever! yesterday marked the the 1 year from then that I will come home and i am not okay with that! time is moving way too fast!

the mormon blitz is awesome but we arent getting too many questions about it yet, but we will and miracle are about to happen!

I love you all so much !

love sister martin

Oct. 10, 2011

                                sister white (grandma) me (mommy) sister doll (brand new baby)

                                                            sister white,  me,  sister doll

 ANTHONY'S BAPTISM

                                         do you see the NAIL in my tire that i ran over... not fun!

Keith's baptism

Well im a proud mother of Sister Doll! yes like a baby Doll :)  she is AWESOME!

She is from Oregon and we are the same age and she has actually been attending byui at the same time as me! She is an early childhood special ed teacher and so we have taken pretty much the same classes and have spent most of our time in the same building but we don't know each other!! weird huh! well she is just great! she is so willing to do anything and everything, and her "can do and will do attitude" is just the best. 

well she was super lucky because her first day on the mission she had a BAPTISM! and not just any baptism... Anthony's baptism and it was AWESOME! He is truly amazing and afterwards he came up to us and he was just smiling from ear to ear. He is just so grateful and is so excited. His confirmation was awesome and i know that he is about to do great things in his life.

Then on sat. Keith got baptized and that was just as awesome. Keith invited his mom to come and his recent convert brother was able to baptize him. Keith's faith and willingness to do everything possible in order to follow Christ is truly inspiring. I just love everything about being a missionary. Yesterday we got 2 really awesome referrals so hopefully i will have more updates on that next week. Yes Tue is my birthday and I'm excited! i cant believe that i am turning 22.... ughhhh oldy! But we are eating costa vida -  thanks to mom and dad - and then eating dinner at a Jennifer's house who is a recent convert so I'm really excited!

I JUST LOVE living with the Spanish sisters! So it's me, sister Doll and Hermana Norton and Kerr.  Sister Kerr is fresh out from the mtc too so we help each other train which is very helpful. I feel like i'm being trained too. I am learning so much and it's always good to go back to the basics.

Man life is just GOOD! sister Doll and I are pretty much laughing all day long, but when it comes to the work we're serious. This work is a joyful one and it brings me the most happiness that i have ever felt. What a blessing it is to be out here and to be trusted by the Lord to be able to help in His work and to help to prepare others to do it as well. I am just so blessed!

i love you all so very much

Sister Martin

Oct. 3, 2011

my prego picture :)

 i cant wait for my baby to get here  (haha dont worry its just a towel)

  

GUESS WHAT!!!!

I'M PREGO!!!....

okay so for all of you that havent been on a mission this just means that I'M TRAINING!!  Ohhh man im SUPER nervous/excited/ scared out of my mind!  I just hit my 6 month birthday last week so i feel like its WAY too soon for this to be happening but that's pretty much the pattern that my mission has been going so i guess i really shouldnt be that shocked!  i just found out last night, so i wont actually meet her until wed, but im excited for all the changes.  we also just found out that 2 more sisters are moving into our apt!  YEY this makes me super excited because NO sisters live with others sister and ALL the elders do. It's going to feel like college again so im way excited!  the only bad thing is that there will be 4 sisters and 1 BATHROOM! ya that math does not add up right...ohh well that bad def outways the good!  

i am SOO happy that i am staying in this area and that i get to be here to anthony and keiths baptisms this week :):):)  LIFE IS GREAT!

okay so what's new??? ohh actually i just remembered... I had on eof my ward mission leaders watch heather on the price is right and he told me that she gave a shout out to EVERYONE except ME!  wow thanks a lot heather... iv only been gone 6 months, im not dead!

okay so back to the mission!  Wasn't Geneneral Conference just amazing!  Seriously i wish that we had it every weekend!  i feel so spiritually filled and just ready to go as well, and physically filled too!  okay so here in AZ General Conference is comparable to the Super Bowl!  there is food galore, and all the members insist that we eat one of everything!   they must all think  im starving, but if you look at my waistline you can clearly see that is not the case. so maybe i take that back, im okay with General Conference not being every weekend.

It's still weird for me to hear the general authourities pray for the missionaries because that's ME! weird... it's kinda like they are saying my name :) but we all feel the countless amounts of prayers for us and we def all appreciate them very much!

Sooo for more exciting news... THE MORMON BLITZ STARTS TODAY!  ohh man am i excited!  the tv adds starts today and i hope that soon the billboards will be up as well.  hopefully the billboards make it out to Queen Creek because we are just a little farmtown away from it all!  this blitz is going to be so awesome for this area and miracles are about to happen. I already feel so blessed for the people that we are teaching.

This week we went to the visitors center with Anthony and on the way we talked about temples and the priesthood and he  said " I feel like you have just taken a blind fold from off my eyes that i didnt know was there!"  I almost started to cry. That right there is my purpose for being on a mission. All i want to do is to help people have that closer relationship with Jesus Christ and to help them to have a happier life. I love this gospel and i KNOW that it is true!  The decision to go on a mission is the BEST decision that i have ever made! EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO!

I love you all so much and im so grateful for all of your prayers. Keep them coming so that i dont screw up my new baby :)

Love,

   sister martin

Sept. 25, 2011

Hello Hello!!!

So Dennis's baptism went AMESOME! and he invited his mom and brother and they just loved it, so hopefully we can begin to teach them really soon. That would be awesome! I don't know if you remember, but we started teaching Dennis because his cousin Silvia introduced him to the gospel and she was just baptized in feb! It is the best when recent converts do their own missionary work!  Also we started teaching a 15 year- old boy this week named Austin. His dad is a long-time inactive member but just recently moved into his sister's house (austin's aunt and uncle's house) and started coming to church with them. Austin immediately loved the church and so we went over to start teaching him on tue. and then we met with him again sunday night. When we first got there we asked him how he had held up his commitment to begin reading the Book of Mormon and CRAZY he has read to Mosiah! and it's totally legit because he had been asking his uncle questions along the way. Austin has so much faith and is such an inspiration to me to be totally dedicated to my work. He is seaching for truth and so he is doing everything with "real intent" so that he can find that truth! He is on date to be baptized on Oct 15!  We talk to everyone that we see on the streets but that isn't a very effective way to find people to teach. the best way is always member referrals!

 

Okay so next week is transfers and I better not get moved! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the people that we are teaching right now and Anthony, Keith, Josh, and Austin are all getting baptized in October so i just can't be moved! Ughhh i hate transfers!

 

Thankfully this week the weather is dropping again to the high 90s so what a blessing that will be. Even though this last week it was still in the 100's at least it is cooling down at night. It was the worst when it was still in the 100's at 9:00 at night!  Okay so big things are coming up...General Conference is this weekend and im sooo excited. then comes the mormon blitz in this area and then MY BIRTHDAY!!!  yey i just love it!

 

So for general conference we get to attend all the sessions thankfully!  we can watch conference at a members home only if an investigator is there so that will be nice, but if not we will go to the church. the relief society broadcast was amazing!  Also my mormon.org profile is submitted and once it is approved it will be up so you should all check it out. don't judge because we didn't have a lot of time to do it and we had to take a picture on a members webcam haha but it is up and that what counts. 

Mom thanks so much for the package!  i haven't recieved it yet but ill try to wait to open it. i might get moved so just send the packages to the mission home!  thanks so much for all you do. bear lake sounds like so much fun. i couldn't watch the price is right but i had one of the members watch it and tell me all about it!  i want to see it sooo bad. i love you all so much!

 

I read this scripture this morning D&C 64: 33 "wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. and out of small things preceedeth that which is good."  this is what im doing... even though everyone won't listen to me, the seed is planted.

 

i love you all so much!

Emily

 

                                this is what missionaries eat when members dont feed us!!! SICK

                                       Dennis's Baptism! sister warner, orton, dennis, and me

Sept. 19, 2011

Hello Familia

SHOUT OUT TO MY BEST FRIEND KYLEE UEHLIN!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I love you so much

This has been another great week to be a missionary. the weather has been GREAT but sadly, this week we will be back in the 100s... i'ts halfway through september! how is that even possible!

Surprise, surpise we are a TRIO again! Yes it is the middle of the transfer but one of the sisters extended for only 3 weeks so on friday she went home and her companion came over here. i know lots of people dont like trios,  but i am SOOO grateful to be in a trio!  it just feels less stressful and more like just 3 girls just living together. It's still a little stressful since im senior over 2 sisters that are both age- wise older then me, and sister warner is older mission- wise as well... thankfully its fine but it just kinda makes me nervous to making all the decisions because im the youngest of the bunch. this whole mission experience has really helped me learn so much about myself and my personal weaknessess and even though that learning part has'nt been the funnest that iv ever experienced, its been very well worth it!

No baptism on the 17th... so the bishop, ward mission leader, and the 1st and 2nd pick for people Dennis wanted to baptize him were ALL out of town! so it got rescheduled for the 24th. im not okay with postponing baptisms for members, but i guess it's okay because he really needs a lot of people there. this week we got 4 new AWESOME investigators. What a blessing!  So first is Josh!  he is 23 and has had a really rough background but has made it through and is truly an amazing person. He is dating an lds girl and he asked her if he could meet with us because of the example that she set and mainly the example her family set for him. the lesson was amazing and tons of cool things happened during the lesson. before the lesson we prayed to know what a good date would be to extend for him to be baptized, and we knew that by oct 15th he would be ready.  So when we extended that date to him he was just shocked! literally his mouth fell open. I guess during the middle of the lesson he was loving all that we were teaching him and he asked himself when he thought that he personally could be ready to make this step in his life and he thought of that very same weekend! it was just awesome and then we showed him a mormon.org profile and he related completely with that person and it was just amazing. We're also now teaching a new couple, and another amazing guy named Daniel and tonight were teaching a FAMILY!  ohh man the blessing of being a missionary!

Life at home sounds just great and im so glad to hear that everyone is doing so good!  Mom i would love some cds! i fo rsure want Joseph Smith a tribute to the prophet of the restoration (the title is something like this) and the refection of christ cds. Aww i love that you were all watching home videos... was my hair super short and gross? haha why did you let me do that to myself? tell Paul congrats.. he is gunna rock!  Well i love you all so very much.

Mom I love you and i really appreciate all your emails and for all the support that you give me in each email. sometimes its hard to hear about all the fun things you're doing, but its okay because im glad that you're safe and are all doing good!

 i love you so much.

Emily

September 12, 2011

Hiking picture with the used to be trio

It's raining - not cute I know, but this is me EVERYDAY with my sweet helmet.

This week was another great week to be a missionary - haha when i say this i think of brother Wykert because every time he stands up to bear his testimony he always says that it's a great day to be a mormon!- We have had many great lessons this week!

 Anthony is progressing awesome and he even told us that he might want to get baptized the week before the date he was set to be baptised because it's the week of general conference! haha that was the Best thing ever!  Dennis freeman was supposed to be baptised this upcoming weekend but he pushed it back a week because the bishop, the ward mission leader, and tons other people will to be out of town. I hate to push back a baptism because of the members’ schedule but he wanted all of them to be there so we did it! I'm not so sure about Darrin... we didnt meet with him this week, which was sad, but hopefully we can set something up soon.

 We went to the tempe temple last week which is always a treat.  Lately we have been working with the members a ton because we're trying to get them fired up about the mormon blitz and we're trying to get them to create a profile. Friends and Family out there... YOU need to create a profile as well. it's amazing that we now have the opportunity to share our testimonies for our neighbors and friends to see. There was a quote by an apostle that they read to us at one of our trainings that said that in the 1800’s how the missionaries would preach in the town square because that's where all the people were and how now the internet is that town square (okay so i totally butchered that but you get it)! Mormon.org is truly incredible and it's such a blessing to have.

 So sunday finally broke the heat wave!!!! for the past 38 days the temperature has been at least 110 degrees... UGHHH! well sunday was 99 and it was BEAUTIFUL!  it poured on us sat night and it was the best ever! Sat was the first time that i have seen rain since I’ve been here. It’s so hot during the day that it rains sometimes (very very few) at night, but sat it rained and it was AMAZING! ohhh how a miss the rain. What a tender mercy of the Lord!

 I love this gospel and i am so greatful for the testimony that i have. in stake conference a couple of weeks ago one of the bishops spoke and said that that same testimony that i had in the premortal life i have with me today and how it’s my job to cultivate that testimony and nourish it so that it continues to grow! i just loved that and I’m so grateful that i can continually learn more and more each day. People are either going to love or hate this mormon blitz and we'll be running into ALOT of people that probably won’t like it.  I’m grateful i have such a solid testimony because i know that in the upcoming weeks people will try to tear it down. that's a sad thing to think of because don’t we all worship the same God? Weren't we told that God's greatest commandment was to love God first and then to love thy neighbors... if we all could follow these two commandments then the world would be such a better place!

 I love you all.

Love sister martin