April 6, 2011 - One week in the MTC

FAMILY!

I feel like I haven't talked you in years! Mom thankyou so much for
all your letters. It really makes my day go by so much better when I get a
letter. So tons has happened in just a week so I hope I can remember it all.
So I have two companions, Sister Howard from Australia going to Boise, ID
and Sister Banks from Cody, Wyoming going to Seattle, WA. My district is
AWESOME! There are us three sisters and 4 other elders! - Okay so weird side-
note - I just found out that Sister Stacey, aka Jen, was taught in my exact
same classroom with my exact same teachers just a month ago!!! So weird but I
love it and I love hearing stories about her from my teachers. Okay so
being here is kinda like being back at BYUI cuz I know soo many people. I
think my companions might be getting tired of me always running into friends
because they dont know anyone. I see Sister VanWagenen all the time and that is
truly the BEST! Seeing people you know is just awesome. I live right
next door to sister Ross (Casey) who used to be my neighbor at BYUI
and Elder Reid (my old roommates bro) and many many more from my major. 

The food is pretty good but I can see how people gain tons of weight here.
There is always dessert and NOTHING is low cal. Some elders seriously sit down
with 5 plates of food! No thankyou! My  teachers are awesome and actually
one of them, Brother Larson used to date Ali Rowley so that's way weird to be
taught by him. But the other one Brother Katcher, and just awesome and they teach
me so much. Conference was AMAZING and I just loved being here for it. One of
the coolest things was that during the Sat. morning session everyone stood to
sing I Know That My Redeemer Lives and I really have never felt the spirit so
strong! There is such an amazing spirit that comes from 2000 missionaries! As
you can imagine I was a ball baby but I didn't even care!  Ohh shout out to
Taylor's roommate for singing in the choir! That's so awesome.

 

We had a fireside with Via Sikahema who used to play for BYU, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles and now works for NBC. He told his inspiring story of when
he was a missionary and he taught one of the people that he baptised and all
his family. It's crazy to see that one baptism can help and I can't wait to
do that! My branch president told me "You can come to the end of your
mission and hear Okay you're done or you can hear Well Done thou good and
faithful servant! I love this work and I am trying my very hardest to learn all
that I can. The time is flying by and so I have realized how valuable my time
is here and Im taking advantage of every second. The spirit is so strong! My
testimony is growing faster then I ever thought possible!

Pray for me and my companions because we could use all the help we
can get!

Write me because letters are like gold to me and really brighten
up my day!

I love you all!

Love Sister Martin