Aug. 22, 2011

okay... it's official I'M SENIOR!!!  this is not supposed to happen. remember I've only been out for a little under 5 months... ya i should def not be senior for another transfer or two!

Well i guess the Lord has more trust in me then i do,  so i better start gaining some. Sister Johanson just left and i felt like a little kid with my mom driving away. I have no idea what I'm doing!!! I NEED LOTS OF PRAYERS

 this week was great! Holly got baptized which was AMAZING! seriously that was one of my favorites. Holly has been taking the lessons for over a year and so is just so prepared. after her baptism she got her temple recommend and did baptisms.  CRAZY HUH

We also had sad news with stephen canceling his baptism a couple of days right before. there is no doubt in my mind that he won’t get baptized, I'm just not so sure when it will be though.

 Our prayers have been answered with finding a lot of new investigators lately so hopefully, that will all go well. this stake is AMAZING! so this week was stake conference and the sat. night session was completely about missionary work! omg i wanted to cry it was so good. our wards are so missionary- minded so it’s awesome.  Hopefully, we will soon see the fruits of all the members labors. when ward members are missionaries then the whole teaching process is so much smoother and everything just works better.

 Well time flies, so sorry i don’t have much to say. this week will be great and i know I’m about to be the most stressed that I’ve ever been, but also about to learn more then i ever had!   SERIOUSLY.. i need prayers, LOTS of prayers! This stake worshiped sister johanson because she had been here for a year and now i have to take over. I really hope this area doesn’t just crash and burn! I’m trying to stay positive but im scared out of my mind.

 I love you soo much,

Sister Martin

My whole Zone at El Ricos. Missionaries eat for free, so of course, we go there after every District Meeting.

Sister Johanson and me!

Holly

Elder Reddish - he is my Zone Leader from Nampa.  He knows Jordan, Devin and Spencer.

Awwww . . . I will miss him!

Aug. 15, 2011

                                          Sister Orton, Johanson, and I at the Mesa temple

Happy Road! All the road signs here are awesome!

I sweat ALOT! Proof to everyone that I finally sweat and it's not a pretty sight!

A BIG CONGRATS to taylor and crystal for tieing the knot on sat!! woot woot!  Sadly i couldnt attend but I saw some pictures and everything looked great! i LOVE the picture with the all the family.  Everyone looked so cute especially my beautiful sisters and of course the BRIDE! where did Taylor and crystal go on their honeymoon?

 well the weeks are flying by like no one’s business and next week is transfers already so that means sister johanson is gone.... im not okay with that! this week we had interviews with our mission president and i asked him to give me a blessing because im soo stressed about becoming senior and it was awesome! i wouldn’t be surprised if pres. howes was the next prophet! seriously every time he speaks, the spirit just floods the room. So no baptisms this last weekend but Holly is getting baptized on the 19th and Stephen on the 20th! CRAZY

 this transfer has been filled with success and  its all becuase of the awesome members. all of our baptisms have been in our singles ward because the members just aren’t scared to bring their friends to church and its awesome. hopefully that keeps up and I don’t run this area into the ground! we have pretty much baptized everyone that we have, so now we really need to find some more  new investigators. we have a few potentials so hopefully, we can contact them soon. Its crazy that we only cover a 15 square mile radius and we still find new people to talk to everyday and some of them have never even met lds ppl before.  don’t ask me how that's possible.  sister Orton’s mom made us three cute shirts so ill send you some pictures of those next week.

 mom I just love it here and I’m so blessed for this awesome opportunity. I’m out of my comfort zone and because of that I’m learning a TON! I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about this amazing church but despite that fact, I still knew it was true. I def did not need to have a perfect knowledge of this gospel to have a testimony and I’m so grateful for that. thank you so much for putting up with me and all my stubbornness!

 sorry this is so short but i have to go. i love you all.  go out and spread the great news of the gospel!

 love sister martin

Aug. 8, 2011

                                                Shae! She is so beautiful!

Parker's mission call opening. He is our ward mission leader.  Look out Spokane, WA because Parker is awesome!

Trio!

From: Emily Martin <emily.martin@myldsmail.net>

Date: August 8, 2011 11:52:41 AM CDT

Okay so not on a spiritual note i got my haircut this morning and this lady was CRAZY! ya she chopped my hair and i def broke down when i saw it... ughhh im never cutting my hair again on my mission. i dont care if i have 10000000 slit ends. now i just look like a boy and its def not cute! but then i was happier because one of my ward mission leaders is a dentist and owns his own business and so today we went and got teeth impressions for retainers and so that we can whiten our teeth!!!! YEY im so excited and its all for free :) ohh the blessings from being a missionary. oh and next pday were getting our teeth cleaned as well! at least my smile will be pretty even if my hair looks horrible.

okay back to spiritual matters... Shae's baptism was amazing and i just love her so much! this week was awesome!  so i was super nervous because just me and sister orton had to teach stephen and this was a very imprortant lesson because we had to get him back on date but it’s touchy because he has major family problems and we didn’t want to be too pushy. so i was freaking out before but we just prayed A LOT and so because of that the lesson went awesome and he actually told us at the end that he needed to set a date!!! YA...  that never happens. this taught me such an important lesson about the spirit and how the spirit is the most important thing in the lesson because that is how the investigator will be taught, not by me! if it is by me then that's a problem and that's when people fall away from the chruch.  stephen will be getting baptized on the 19th and holly the 20th! that will make 5 baptisms this month in our singles ward! NUTS!!! this ward is amazing and its just awesome to see just how awesome members really help. We didnt find any of these great people. they are all referrals or just came to chruch because they were invited. when the missionaries and the ward members help each other the work really progesses!

well i hope all is well in the world! good luck taylor and crystal on getting married this weekend!

July 25, 2011

Us with Sister Matta. WE LOVE HER!

Rockin the red, white and blue-except I'm wearing black

okay so AMAZING NEWS!

we having been teaching this 18 year old girl named Morgan for about a month now and she was doing amazing until tons of people got together and completely “anti-ed” her with tons of false doctrine. she got really freaked out and so she dropped us and we had the hardest time getting ahold of her. She then went on vacation for a week and so we were really worried but were hoping for the best. She came back in town on thur and CALLED US and so we set up a lesson for friday and it was one of the most spiritual lessons that I'v had here yet. We helped her with a lot of her concerns, which was great. She came to church yesterday so we talked to her right after sacrament but then we had to leave. a little while later she texted us and told us that had recieved an answer to her prayers and she wanted to be baptized! YEY!!! we were freaking and overwhelmed with happiness! She will be getting baptized this friday now and then Mike will be baptized on Sat.!

 Queen Creek is absolutely awesome and the stake members are so missionary minded! The stake leadership right now is doing this thing where they’ve challenged every family in all the wards to pray specifically for us three by name and to pray for missionary opportunities! miracles are about to happen and i can hardly wait! Stake conference in Aug. is centered all around missionary work as well! Our trio is awesome and its amazing because we can go on splits with the members and can literally be in the 3 different places at once.

 Who wouldn't want to be a missionary is what i want to know! I get to see the gospel change lives, including mine! I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is another witness of Jesus Chirst! I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life and for the health that i have that i am able to do the Lord's work. I hope all is well back home and that everyone is safe.

 love you all

sister martin

July 18, 2011

HELLO FROM QUEEN CREEK!

So no more Tempe for me, now im in hickville, USA!  i feel like im back in idaho forsure and i love it.

This area used to be the San Tan area if you know where that is too. this area is completely different from tempe. in tempe there are tons of apartment complexes and actual sidewalks, but not here. there are open fields, farms, and just houses. I'm covering 4 wards again and one of them is a regular young single adult ward which is way weird since im used to my mid single adult ward! Ohhh and guess what??? IM IN A TRIO!

 Ya i feel like im back at the MTC! okay so when i figured out that we had an odd number of sisters this tranfer i knew that i was going to be in it and i was super nervous about it but its AWESOME! i love my companions and we are all learning so much about each other. we look like a biker gang and the members call us Heaven's Angels :) haha

 Sister Johanson is from Colorado and this is her last transfer, but WEIRD.., she has been in this area for a year! the members love her and i couldn’t imagine being in the same place for a year, but she is def been a help to this area. She is way awesome and i wish that she could be my comp for a while longer. Then there is Sister Orton and she just got here last transfer so she is still in the middle of training. She is from Florida and it’s awesome that none of us are from utah or idaho! we already teach so well together .  im kinda nervous that im going to go senior next tranfer because sis johanson will be gone and so then it will just be me and sis orton! actually sister johanson went senior in her 3rd transfer so it could happen to me but i DO NOT want it to. That pretty much scares me to death having to be in charge over an area.

 Ohh and so Brad got baptized this weekend.  i got permission to go back to tempe and attend the baptism and it was the best thing ever! He was as happy as can be and the spirit was so strong! He is such an amazing person and i am so grateful that i had the privelege to teach him!

 Well, i don’t know what else to say besides I love my Mission! It truly is the best thing ever and im so greateful for this awesome privelege. THE CHURCH IS TRUE! i just can’t say that enough. I KNOW that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and I'm so grateful for the restoration of the gospel! Ilove you all

 love sister martin

July 11, 2011

Emily holding a hummingbird found with a broken leg.

Feeding the hummingbird sugar water.

Well I'm Outta here!!! Goodbye Tempe  - Hello who knows where!

Well it's official, last night at like 10:45 i received the call that i will be transferred tomorrow so now im frantically packing and trying to get in all the goodbyes. I'm way sad to be saying goodbye to Sister White! I love her so much and she truly is an amazing missionary. Last night we were laying in out beds and i was like, “Wait Sister White tell me everything you know!”   She knows everything and more about the church and im scared to not be with her. My prediction is that I am getting sent to Yuma and that I'll be in a threesome. Only one new English sister is coming in this transfer and no one is going home so that will make for an odd number. Omg I'm just so excited tho to be able to start fresh in a new area and with new wards. The only sad thing is that Brad is getting baptized this weekend so if i get sent to Yuma then i wont be able to come back for it because i will be 3 hours away.  i will be VERY sad if i cant make it. Brad is AMAZING and so i will be going over to see him today so say goodbye... WEIRD!

okay so for more news... DID YOU SEE THE DUST STORM!!! It was crazy. Sister White and i were thankfully in Brad's house teaching a lesson when it happened so we didnt even know that it happened. After, we walked outside and it was like it snowed, but it was just all dust. the temp. dropped 15 degrees and it felt amazing, but we had to bike home in it and so we were coughing the whole time and we were covered in dirt when we got back. It was so weird because even walking on the sidewalk, our footprints were left so it truly was just like snow. we saw pictures and videos of it and it was just nuts. I guess the dust went a mile high if you can even imagine that! and when we got home we check our phone, we had tons of texts telling us to go inside AT 7:30!!! we never get to go in by then but all the other missionaries got to! LAME!

Well beside all of that it is SOOO HOTT and i have never sweat this much EVER! it's embarrassing because we look so gross. We showed up to teach wesley and he was like "WO what happened to you two!" haha thanks. but ya there is nothing we can do about it. to make ourselves feel better about biking in those temps we just talk about how we are working on our tans. if i get sent to San Tan,  there isn’t a car at all,  so pretty much i will be black... well except my face! because we have to wear helmets and our faces are always shaded, so my face looks pasty while my arms are tan! ohhh the joys of being a missionary.   Ohh and i am officially done with training! this may sound like a good thing, but im sad about it because it was an extra hour a day that we got to be inside out of the heat so im really not happy about it.

Home sounds like a blast! shout out to my awesome nephew Dayne! Happy 7th Birthday!!! Wow i cannot believe that you are 7. I vote that everyone stops growing until i get home because everyone is going to look so different. Well this week was another good one and now i have to leave my area and all my investigators, but i'm making sister white write me with all the updates. Hopefully i wont be too far so that i'll be able to come back for their baptisms. Well i hope everyone is staying cool out there!

love Sister Martin

July 4, 2011

okay so this week was just a blessing!  On Tue we took Brad to the visitors center and we watched the Joseph Smith Movie and afterward the VC sister missionary asked him what he thought about the movie and he pretty much bore his testimony there and then told us that nothing was going to stand in his way of getting baptized.   i was tearing up for sure!  then wed (which stated the 10 day countdown for his baptism) was the day for him to quit smoking and HE DID IT! he has been weening himself off them for the past 2 weeks but still has been smoking around 3 a day and then wed he was done! he told us on sunday that the first 3 days were the hardest but now he is fine. Omg Brad is just amazing and his faith is just so powerful. He was supposed to be baptized on the 9th but his g-pa died and that is the day when the memorial service is on so he had to push it back the the 16, which i was nervous about becuase i thought that he would start smoking again before the 10 day started again but he didn’t.   he is just so awesome!!!

 okay so then on sat we had a BAPTISM!!! it was just awesome. i never knew how stressful planning a baptism was. but overall it was just awesome. Her name is Jennifer and her sister actually got baptized in Nov of last year but never wanted anything to do with the church.  every week we go to their apt and read a few chapters from the book of mormon with her sister and becuase of that she finally came around and wanted to be baptized as well.  She is just awesome and we love her so much!

ohh HAPPY 4th of JULY!  i just got done eating at the ward pancake breakfast this morning and it was so much fun. Joe and Rocio and their two daughters came as well. they are the best family ever and we love teaching them.

 It's so hot here! it got up to 118 this week and our air conditioning barely works. its 92 degrees in our apt and the other night i couldnt sleep because it was so hot so i got in the shower then i finally fell asleep soaking wet on my bed and it felt so good. i just can’t get cool here. i really ALWAYS feel hot. ohh well, thank goodness it will only be like this until october. haha isnt that weird that october will be in the 100s! im used to snow in october. well all is well here and i hope yo all have an awesome 4th of july! i love you
oh and yes mom and told kass to wear my clothes.  i always wore her clothes when i lived with her so its her turn now.

love sister martin

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