See You Soon

Hola Everyone!

I can't believe that this is it, this is my last missionary email! The time went by absurdly fast and I can't even begin to explain what these last 2 years of my life have meant to me. The closest I can get is what Book of Mormon prophets have said

Alma 26:1-3

1 My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started...that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren...were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

Alma 26:16

16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Alma 36:25

25 Yea, and now behold...the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;

When I look back on the people I've met, the investigators I've taught, especially those who changed their lives and accepted the gospel and were baptized, I can't even begin to describe the joy that fills my heart. There is nothing like seeing the Light of Christ enter into people's lives, to see how happy they become and how much it blesses their family. 

I love these people so much and I love my mission so much. My mission means everything to me. And not only have I seen others change, but I've changed more than I ever imagined I could.

I love my Savior and I know that He lives! I know that His gospel works! It can change everything in our lives for the better if we just let it, if we just let Him. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us more than we could ever comprehend and they will always love us, no matter what.

I love all of you! See you soon!

Hermana Martin

YAJAIRA GOT BAAAAAPPPPPTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD

The baptism was so beautiful and SO MANY PEOPLE CAME! Since she's in the young women's program that's combined with english a ton of the english members and youth came so we had to do everything in Spanglish, which was a little tricky but we made it work! 

It's incredible, she is so visibly happier and her grandma was telling us how since her baptism she's been more sure of herself and just kinder and she definitely has that visible light in her eyes. Ahhhh baptisms are the best because the Spirit is always so strong and it's such an important day for the person who is making that decision. A decision that means that they can begin to qualify to return to live with their Heavenly Father again and to have a forever family. Missionary work is the best!

We went hiking last p-day

It's super weird to think about how this will be my last baptism and that my mission is quickly coming to a close.There's still so much work to do here! This last week we organized a big branch family home evening and set up a whole obstacle course kind of thing in the gym with a rope that lead to "the tree of life" like the story in The Book of Mormon (see 1 Nephi 8).

Our "tree of life"

 Our members loved it! We were basically on our own organizing everything so our "tree" was a little special, but the members loved it and it really increased the trust that the branch has in us!

And this week we had to many little miracles of being able to find amazing new investigators! I can't wait to hear all about them and to be able to work with them a little longer this week!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Taco Bell because it's more of an americal-mexican holiday than anything else
​

Also, yesterday there was a big multi-stake musical fireside in Albuquerque that missionaries organized and since Hermana Johnson is an amazing singer we got to go! It was so beautiful and there were a ton of people that came! And it was so fun to see some old mission friends!

​At the musical fireside

This week we've been talking a lot about faith and how to help our investigators and members develop the faith they need in their lives to be happy and to make it through the different trials that they have. When we really trust in Heavenly Father, when we know that He loves and and wants only the best for us, and that He really did send our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to help us overcome the hard things of this life, then we can be ok. No matter what comes our way we can love God and feel His love and strength. When people are really struggling we often read with them Alma 7:11-13

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me

I know that Christ knows every hard thing we ever have and ever will go through. He chose to feel all of it just so that He can know how to help us through it. He always knows and He is always the perfect and only source of hope, happiness, and peace. 

New Mexico is the best!

I love you all and I love the gospel! Have a great week!

Hermana Martin

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Hola everybody!

Surprise! Santa Fe is crazy and this weekend we got about a foot of snow! Good thing I keep procrastinating on sending my winter clothes home! We were snowed in for most of Saturday and got lots of good organizing done! 

Also, we made really good use of our lunch time and built a snowman bigger than Hermana Wallis!

This week was kind of tough actual work wise, we didn't find as many new investigators or teach as many people as we normally do, but those we did find and teach are awesome! And our amazing 16 year old (Britney's cousin) is getting baptized on Wednesday! She's doing so great and loving church and going to Young Women's and everything which is super funny because she has this whole punk image, but really she's the sweetest and is repenting so sincerely and can't wait for her new start after her baptism!

Classic tag pic

And we found this new investigator, Luis! (One of 6 Luis's we're currently teaching...) But he's so amazing! He's like 26 and has been around a lot of Mormons in his life and because they've all mostly been really amazing people he's interested in learning more about the church! (His mom is actually a baptized member but she doesn't remember anything at all about that or the church so we're kinda trying to teach her too haha) But he's so excited to learn and find his own answers from God and he texted us last night after reading the Book of Mormon for a bit about how awesome Nephi is! He's going to progress so well!

It's so important that we all do our best to live the best we can, try our best to be examples. Thanks to lots of good examples in his life we now have the miracle of teaching someone as prepared as Luis is! 

There really is a different light about us as we strive to keep the commandments and be a little more like Christ every day. Investigators have told us on multiple occasions that they started talking to us because they could actually see a visible light, something different about us. And it's the same for members! Be lights! It makes more of a difference than I think we ever really realize. There's a poem that I love that President Monson shared once in a talk

I met a stranger in the night

Whose lamp had ceased to shine.

I paused and let him light

His lamp from mine.

A tempest sprang up later on

And shook the world about.

And when the wind was gone

My lamp was out!

But back to me the stranger came—

His lamp was glowing fine!

He held the precious flame

And lighted mine!

-Lon Woodrum

We never know when our light will help another, and when in turn we'll need help. Always grow your light and share it with those around you!

We couldn't resist breaking out the Christmas decorations

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Martin

Miracles From Cookies

Hola everybody!

This week was awesome! We had a rough day or two, but overall it was good! We're finding some really amazing investigators! Also, one of our investigators called us and professed his love for Hermana Wallis this week, but he was pretty drunk so we're going to see how that one goes and how we're going to manage that. And a couple of our investigators are really struggling giving up different addictions that they have, from alcohol to cigarettes to coffee. We're teaching so many people with addictions right now! But they're making baby steps and hopefully they'll keep progressing this week!

Also, we got the best surprise ever this week and our mission car that we drive was one of the older ones and we were racking a lot of miles on it since our area is super spread out, so they're retiring our car and they gave us a brand new one! It is so beautiful and has Bluetooth and a back up camera and push button start and it is so nice! It has a TON of safety features and is practically crash proof so we're super pumped. Basically we're really spoiled here :)

​We ate at a sweet taco truck for lunch, the sun was super bright though

And yesterday was one of the best Sundays ever! Saturday night we baked a bunch of cookies and put them in little baggies with a little pass along card that has a picture of Christ and we wrote the church address and time on the back and delivered them to as many people as we could, and so many people came to church! The chairs were completely filled in Relief Society and we had 58 people in sacrament meeting (Easter Sunday we had 48 and normally we're in the 30's or 40's). It was such a testimony to me that the Lord really blesses us when we do all we can. Most of the people we delivered cookies to didn't even come, but by putting in that extra effort we saw miracles because God loves us and He loves to bless us, especially when we're trying our hardest. When we put in everything we have, even though we often fall short, He makes up the difference.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Martin

BRITNEY GOT BAAAAPPPPPTTTTIIIIIZZZZZZZEEEEEEDDDDDDD

​Isn't she just the cutest?! It was such a beautiful baptism and she was so excited all weekend! She has so much of the Light of Christ and she just radiates with love for everyone around her! And also she's just tiny and the cutest!

But yeah, so this week was really good! Honestly it's probably been one of my favorite weeks ever! We're seeing so much progress with some of our investigators and Easter was beautiful and my birthday was super fun and it was just great! 

Charlie (our recovered addict) and his brother Juan are doing so amazing! Charlie has a baptismal date for May 6th and we're going to set one with Juan hopefully tonight! Juan came to church yesterday and he felt so amazing, and when they were confirming Britney and giving her the gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting he leaned over to us and said "I'm next! Just text me whenever and I'll come and be baptized!" We still have a lot to teach him before he'll be ready, but he and Charlie are so willing to change and be the men that they know that God can make them. 

This was our grocery cart this morning. My companions are changing me. 

Last night we taught them the Word of Wisdom (the health commandment that says what things we should and shouldn't eat in order to be healthy) and committed them to live it. Charlie has been trying to quit smoking and drinking for a while, ever since he quit heroin, but last night we were able to set goals with him and make plans and he's finally going to be able to do it! We'll be going to addiction recovery classes at the church with them on Tuesday nights and it should be fun!

Also, my birthday was super fun! My comps showered me with confetti when I woke up and they wrote me all sorts of cute little notes and we also just had really good lessons that night and we came home and make non-alcoholic pina coladas because #21!

Also, Easter was so beautiful! The Spirit was so strong the whole time at church and we had so many people there! It's just such a beautiful time to reflect about what Christ did for us and what the means for us individually. Holidays as a missionary are the best!

​You can't not take an Easter pic

Something we've been talking a lot about lately is the Holy Ghost, especially preparing Britney to receive it, and what we need to do to keep it with us and have that constant comfort and help. On Sunday after her confirmation we gave Britney a Spanish CTR ring (stands for Choose The Right) and talked to her about how now she can have the Holy Ghost helping her always but, just like choosing to put her new ring on every day, she has to try to make good choices all throughout the day because when we don't listen to the Holy Ghost and we make bad choices it will leave, and when we try to make good choices again it will come back. I mean that's a pretty simplified way to explain it but it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately and how often I'm really trying to make that choices I need to to keep that constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. God loves us and He wants to help us, we just have to choose to let Him!

And we found more green!

Love you all! I hope you have a beautiful week!

Hermana Martin

Trio Life Again!!!

Hola everybody!

Sorry I'm emailing so late, I hope I didn't scare my family too bad. We went up to Espanola this morning and played sand volleyball as a zone and it was so fun! I'm starting to get somewhat decent at sports which I thought was impossible. You really do see miracles on missions!

Trio life is going great! We only tired Hermana Wallis up briefly! But it was just practicing for an Atonement object lesson we're doing at the different Easter family home evenings we're doing with the branch members

But anyways, trio life is so amazing!!! Hermana Johnson is awesome, she's from Eagle, Idaho and has so much fire and we've already found 9 new investigators in just this last week! And our adorable 9 year-old, Britney, is still going strong for her baptism this Saturday and we're so excited! And we started teaching Britney's 16 year-old cousin that lives with them and her name is Yajaira (pronounced like Ja-hi-ruh) and she's so amazing! She's been relating a lot with Joseph Smith because she has a lot of questions and really wants to know the truth for herself, and she's progressing amazingly!

The zone!

Also this last week we met two brothers, and their mom. They're crazy amazing and are so ready to make changes in their lives! One brother was addicted to heroin but decided that he was tired of living like that and so he turned himself in (he had a few charges against him) and started changing his life around. He's been sober for months now and has been looking for God in his life and how he can make these changes permanent. 

And the other brother has been going through a hard divorce and has been trying to find a way to change and come closer to God. And then their mom used to investigate the church, but then they pulled the missionaries out of the area and she just lost contact and she was so excited to see us! 

They're a funny family but they have such sincere desires to do everything that God wants them to do and to find peace again in their lives. We're so excited to see them continue to progress!

​And the trio! We'll take better pics next week, this was after hours of sand volleyball

This week we've seen so many little miracles, so many examples of the Lord showing us that He loves us so much, people being put so directly in our path! I've been thinking a lot about faith this week and how important it is to have strong faith so that we can see those miracles! Miracles can only be worked if we have faith, but they do happen! We see them every day out here in the field and the same blessings are extended to everyone, not just missionaries. And the best way to grow our faith is to learn about the person we're to have faith in. 

Read your scriptures! 

I know they say it all the time, but I cannot imagine at this point in my mission ever going a single day the rest of my life not reading my scriptures. They're so essential for finding and growing a testimony. You just have to do the little things! They make ALL the difference.

I love you all, hope you have a great week!

Hermana Martin

Surprise! Transfers!

Hola everybody!

The spell check on this computer isn't working so I apologize in advance. Hopefully it won't be too obvious how bad my English has gotten!

And I forgot to mention that this week is transfers and we got the news last Saturday! Since it was like 900% for sure that Hermana Wallis and I are both staying here this transfer I just kinda forgot about them, but we got a surprise! We're both still staying here, but we're going to be a trio! 

Trio life!!! 

I'm so excited! We're getting Hermana Johnson, who is one of the most amazing missionaries in this entire mission, and also she will be my first tall companion! I'll tell you more about her next week and send pics, but she's the best and we're so excited to pick her up on Tuesday night! Also, it's really convenient that they never took away the bunk bed form the last trio here so we hardly have to do anything to make room for her, she'll fit perfectly!

​WE FOUND A GOAT THIS WEEK

But anyways, this week was awesome! We have a baptism officially scheduled for one of our very adorable 9 year olds, Britney, for April 15th! (what a perfect birthday present! Just one day late) She's doing amazing and her faith and love for the Saviour is such an example to us and the rest of her family. She's going to do amazing things in her life! Our other investigators are doing well, but we really need more, and we're still working on that.

And a horse. We had quite an adventure. And we also saw a roadrunner like 5 minutes after this so it was a very exciting day!

And then General Conference this weekend was AMAZING! I never want it to end! There were so many amazing talks and stories shared and I always leave with a renewed desire to do everything my Heavenly Father sent me to this earth to do and really be an instrument in His hands. 

I loved that a common theme I noticed was how important it is to listen to the Holy Ghost and act on the promptings we receive the first time. That was a really good reminder for me to stop questioning things so much and just act in faith! And that is the best way to grow our faith and really be able to be instruments in the Lord's hands. I mean really, why would we ourselves have the random thought to visit a specific person that we haven't seen or thought about in a while, or have a quote or scripture or something pop into our heads while we're talking with someone. 

​El Camino Real is the name of our area (and the branch we serve in) so we had to take a picture!

Those little thoughts are from the Spirit more than we tend to think they are and so we need to just act, go and do!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Remember to go back and review what you learned in conference and actually actively apply it, or else it won't be any help!

Hermana Martin