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

Sept. 5, 2011

The San Tan Mountains before sunrise!

               Mom and Dad and Heather, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE

i cant even tell you how excited that i was when i saw it! and i LOVE the cardigan and i got tons of compliments on it on Sunday.  you are all the very best! so wierd that you were here though. i def was looking around all day to see if you were going to try and see me.  haha

i loved the marshmellows and i def have been toasting those babies!

 So this morning we all got up at 4:00 and hiked the san tan mountains and it was awesome... I’m super tired now but what's new. Sister Johanson is back here for the weekend. haha she couldn’t leave for long. This week has been WAY good. Okay so we have been praying for new gators like CRAZY and this week our prayers were answered! we got this new gator named Anthony and he is awesome. During the first lesson we were telling him the whole story of joseph smith and he stopped us and told us that for the past 3 months he has been feeling exactly like that. At the very end of the lesson we put him on date for oct 1!!! He came to church yesterday and we talked to him afterwards and he just kept talking about the spirit that he was feeling and he said that he was trying his hardest not to smile becuase he didn’t want to look like an idiot! iv never heard anything better than that. This week we are meeting with Darrin and we're way excited for that lesson too!

 well im sorry that this is so short but i just love you all! 

I am so grateful that i can pray and that i can recieve answers to my prayers and that it’s not just a blessing that i get, but it's a blessing we can all recieve as well!

i love this gospel so much and im grateful for all the prayers that everyone says for my companion and I! we really have been strengthened

 i love you all!

love sister martin

Aug. 29, 2011

Ok CRAZY things are happening here! you might have heard of all the "i am a mormon" blitz campaigns going on around the world...   starting

oct 3 there will be one happening HERE! its going to be nuts. billboards, bus stops, TV commercials.  you name it, “Mormon” will be on it. I’m a little nervous because people are either going to love us or hate us! its okay though, because we are only looking for people who are prepared.  

 so the wards are pretty much going nuts here trying to be prepared and salt lake is asking everyone in the area to make a profile on mormon.org as well. this happened in NYC and 47% of lds people got APPROACHED by nonmembers with questions about the lds faith and almost 100% of the youth got approached!  they are telling us that in NYC people were just showing up at church without even being asked if they wanted to come because they were so curious and they found the ward building on mormon.org as well. WOW

 our teaching pool is LOW and i mean low! pretty much all week it has been around 114 degrees and we have been outside biking in that ALL DAY LONG just trying to find people to teach. this lull always happens in the work so its okay because i know that things will soon turn around. its super stressful being senior and i feel a lot of responsibility but its okay because im learning tons.  It’s also way weird only having one companion!!! i miss sister johanson! i am so grateful for everything that she taught me.

 mom i can’t believe you, Dad and Heather are coming to Phoenix on wed! welcome to the heat. i don’t really need anything... ummm well, food and pictures would be nice . thanks for the gps, it was MUCH needed and we love having it. the candy is very yummy. im glad it was all nestle haha

 well i love you all so terribly much.

love sister martin

sorry no pictures... you dont want to see what i look like after biking all day in 114 degree temperatures HAHA but seriously!