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

We found the color green this week!!!

Hola everybody!

This week was awesome! We went and explored more ancient indian ruins in Pecos and there were so many green trees there! Well, more like big bushes, but they were green! That was the most green I've seen my whole mission! And we got to climb in some old kivas and things so it was fun!

Look, GREEN!

Cool miracle this week, we were coming out of a lesson and we saw a group of older guys a little ways down in the apartment complex and they're really awesome! We were talking to Steve, who is a Vietnam vet and was a prisoner of war in Cambodia (he has crazy amazing stories!) we found out that they were helping their elderly neighbor, Betty, move so we volunteered our help! We came the next morning with the english sisters and as we were talking to Betty it turns out that she's a member of the church! She lost contact the last time she moved and she was trying to call the old number that she had for the missionaries so that they could come help her move, but it didn't work. BUT, Heavenly Father sent us to her anyways! 

​The old Catholic church

It's my favorite thing to see how God really puts us exactly where we're needed! Now they're getting her records moved into the english ward and those sisters will be able to start helping her!

​In the ruins of an old Catholic church

Also, we have a super cute 9 year old, Britney, that we're teaching and she loves the church, her whole family are members but just don't come very often, but she's really understanding and wants to be baptized so badly! The trouble was helping her get to church and we've been trying just about everything, and this last Sunday they came! She should hopefully be able to be baptized this next month now and hopefully her family will come back to church as they continue to see her amazing example!

​From the inside of a kiva!

Also, General Conference is this next weekend!!! Conference is that absolute greatest thing! Especially as a missionary! But Conference really is what you make it. If you come with questions prepared, ready to learn from the prophet and the other leaders of this day, you will receive answers and be just absolutely filled spiritually! 

​And we got to pet Juan the chicken this week!

I love the church's page about preparing for conference (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ideas-to-prepare?lang=eng) (which also has great ideas for how to help children prepare) and I love this quote from one of our apostles, President Utchdorf:

"If we listen to and follow the promptings of the Spirit, they will serve as a Liahona, guiding us through the unknown, challenging valleys and mountains that are ahead (see 1 Nephi 16).

Since the world began, God has raised up prophets who speak the will of heaven to the people of their times. It is our responsibility to listen and then apply the messages the Lord provides for us.

Our merciful and loving Heavenly Father has not forsaken and will not forsake His children. Today, as well as in times past, He has appointed apostles and prophets. He continues to reveal His word to them.

What a marvelous privilege it is to hear God’s messages for each of us during general conference! Let us prepare well for this great blessing of divine guidance delivered by His chosen servants."

​It says 'restoration', we couldn't resist

I know that there is a prophet today on the earth and that this church is guided by Jesus Christ Himself, because this is His church. I am excited beyond words for the opportunity to learn and listen to what the Lord would have us do at this hard time in the world and to how we can better come closer to Him. I love this gospel and I love my Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Martin  

P-Day Adventures

Hola everybody!

This week was harder, but it was still awesome! 

We found our states!

So basically our investigators just really aren't progressing so we're focusing with them hard core on the Book of Mormon this next week since it's the key to them receiving any answers they're looking for and for their conversion, and we're going to find super prepared new investigators! We'll see how it goes! But yeah, nothing too exciting in the way of investigators this week.

​Frijoles Canyon! Yep, bean canyon!

Last Monday we went with the Santa fe english sisters and the Los Alamos elders and hiked Bandelier! (I have no clue if I spelled it right) It's this super cool park around White Rock and basically it's some really easy hiking with super cool native american ruins! So I have lots of pictures this week!

I found real life grass!

But back to the real work, the branch is doing awesome here! Things are a little tricky with everyone gone for spring break, but we have a lot of fun Family Home Evenings planned and we're excited to start working with the members on the easter initiative! They spoil us missionaries so we got to see this year's video already, even though it'll be released this Friday, and it's SO GOOD! This year it's based off of the scripture in Isaiah 9:6 about how Christ is the Prince of Peace. As I've reflected on the times I've felt the most peace in my life, they've all been centered around the Savior and I know that He really is our one true source of peace in this crazy world. 

The most green I've seen my whole mission

I invite you all to reflect on why Christ is called The Prince of Peace and what that means for you. And also, watch the video when it's released on Friday and share it with your friends (on Facebook, or just showing someone, or whatever you want to do, just share it!) and share a little light in an ever darkening world.

I love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Martin

Our new friend Gus

Hola everyone!

This week was amazing! We didn't see as much progress in our investigators as we were hoping for. This week we're really focusing on using the Book of Mormon effectively so that they can really get their answer for themselves and have the desire to read on their own. 

This last week we really focused on improving what we say when we're just out talking to people and to make sure we're teaching at every opportunity, even just in one simple sentence, and we found 5 new investigators because of it! And this week we're going to try to really teach those we see in our first contact so we're going to sing a lot of hymns because everyone loves a good hymn and they really teach gospel principles so effectively!

And one of those investigators was a miracle, one of our superstar members (Hermana Labra) brought a friend to church who wants to learn more! We taught him during sunday school and we have an appointment to see him again on Saturday! That's the absolute most amazing thing as a missionary! Because it's amazing when we find a really prepared investigator, but when they just come to us out of the blue it's the best surprize ever!

We were out walking to an appointment and a dog that I have named Gus came and decided to be our best friend!

The weather has been getting really nice, I haven't even needed leggings under my skirts the past few days! And so we've been able to walk between appointments a bit and just enjoy the sun! And so my tan lines are starting to come back! We'll see how dark they get before the end of May!

Something I've been thinking a lot about this week is how this life is hard, everyone we talk to has something hard going on. But we knew that this life was going to be hard, I'm sure we had a good idea of the exact hard things that we would have to go through, but we knew that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan and we knew that we wanted to follow it, as hard as it may be at times. And because it's so hard, Heavenly Father provided us with everything we need to not just survive it, but to grow and progress and be happy; He provided us with His gospel, His plan for us and His teachings. A thought just came into my head that life was never meant to be a vacation, but we might as well go where the flowers are! Living the teachings of Christ and of our Heavenly Father is the only sure way to find joy in this life, and in the life to come.

I love you all so much! And so does your Heavenly Father!!!

Have a great week!

Hermana Martin

Temple Visit

Hola Everyone!

Ok I really don't remember all that much from this week so this will probably be a short email!

Our investigators are doing awesome, slow but steady progress! We're excited to see how this week goes and who we are able to find and start teaching!

One really cool thing, this last weekend we had stake conference and Elder K. Mark Frost of the 70 came! He was such a nice man! The Saturday session felt just like being in General Conference, it was so powerful and we received so many answers to prayers! And Elder (our recent convert) got to talk with Elder Frost for a bit and told him about how he wants to go on a mission now for sure! It was an amazing weekend!

​The Santa Fe sisters!

And this morning we had our temple trip!!! It's been 6 months since I've been able to go to the temple and I never really realize how much I miss it until I'm there again. There's so many answers waiting for us there! Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, His plan is beyond perfect, and He's always waiting to answer our honest questions and help us become the best we can be. I love the temple SO MUCH!!! If you can go at all, please please please do! It is one of the most incredible blessings we have in our lives here on earth, take advantage of it and always go with a question in mind!

​And I got to see Queen Bosch again!

Love you all! I hope you have an amazing week!

Hermana Martin

Oh and I finally took pictures with Hermana Wallis!

But it was SUPER windy so don't judge our hair!

Hermana Wallis!

Stressful, but awesome!

Hola Everybody!

Hermana Wallis and I forgot to take a pic again. But we'll have one next week, promise!

 

This week was awesome! Stressful, but awesome! It's just kinda tricky transitioning to only having two heads to remember everything we need to do instead of three, but Hermana Wallis is adjusting great and has been a HUGE help already! She's picking up everything really fast and we're going to have a great transfer!

Our investigators are doing so well and Dora might be getting baptized this weekend! Scheduling complications with stake conference still might push it out to the 11th, but we'll finalize everything tonight with them. 

Dora and Jose are doing so amazing! They came to church again yesterday and the branch is really embracing them! They have tons of fellowship in our tiny branch and they're loving learning and progressing! And last night for a branch activity we went to the chapel and watched "The Testaments" (absolutely my favorite church movie, if you haven't seen it you have to youtube it or find it somehow!) and we all ate sourdough waffles after so basically it was the greatest thing ever, and Dora and Jose were able to come to that too! There wasn't a dry eye in the chapel when the movie ended and Dora was especially touched. We're so happy for them and to see how they continue growing!

And we found two really amazing new investigators this week! Alicia was a former investigator that we went to try to contact, but she wasn't home so on our way out we made sure to talk to everybody and ask everyone we talked to if they knew anyone we could help and we were referred to so many different people and apartments that I think we spent about two hours there and as we were finally heading out we saw one last woman and stopped to talk to her and it was Alicia! 

She was excited to see us and our first lesson with her went really well and we're excited to keep teaching her. And then we were in Dora's trailer park and we felt like we should knock just the last corner trailer in the few extra minutes we had. So we go over and knock and the woman who answered was Lupe, who's a regular at the English class we teach! She was excited to see us and said that of course we could come over and teach her the message that we share! The first lesson went great with her as well and we're excited to see how she progresses!

This area is so blessed and Hermana Wallis and I are going to continue to see so many miracles!

Something really interesting that found in personal study this week was a story that I don't remember hearing before in the New Testament. It's Matthew 16:5-12

 5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

 6 ¶Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

And I really LOVED this story because the disciples, all incredible examples of faith and being great servants of the Lord, just got caught up in one of their mistakes that they missed the bigger picture of what Christ was trying to teach them. He essentially had to tell them "don't worry about yourselves and your weaknesses and everything else, I can make up for all of that, just focus on what's really important." 

That was so comforting for me this week since it's so easy to focus on what we lack and what we're not quite doing right, but if we just take it all to the Lord, forget ourselves, and focus everything on Him and His teachings then everything will work out perfectly. When we simply do our best, He always makes up the difference. 

I love you all and your Heavenly Father loves you even more! Have a great week!

Hermana Martin

Transfer news....

...drumroll please....

I'm staying here in Santa Fe! And I'm training a new missionary! 

Both Hermana Thompson and Hermana Openshaw got transferred to El Paso and it was so hard to say goodbye to them. They're two of my best friends and this last transfer has absolutely been my favorite. But my new companion is super awesome and cute and we're already becoming fast friends! 

Her name is Hermana Wallis and she's from Washington! She's amazing and has already graduated BYU and is super funny! I'll most likely (although there are no promises ever with transfers) stay here in Santa Fe for my last 2 transfers (3 months) and finish her training. 

​The primary kids think we're really cool now

It's been a week super jam packed with miracles and goodbyes. One of our investigators, Dora (la investigadora, as our members love to call her) is looking good for a baptismal date of March 4th (if we can work out the scheduling with having stake conference that weekend) and her friend Jose said he'll get baptized the week after her! 

​The Sheffers (our branch president's family)

We've seen such an incredible change in them (especially Jose) as they've really began to read the Book of Mormon. There's such a visible light in their eyes! I love how the gospel changes lives!

​The Santa Fe zone

It's really hard to help people come to church here, the only investigator we've ever had at church has been Elder. BUT this last Sunday 4 investigators came! The branch is getting so excited and we are too! It was a great last Sunday together as a trio. We realized that on our very first day together we met Elder and Dora, and on our last Sunday Elder blessed the sacrament and Dora came to church! It was beautiful.

Our area is doing amazing and we have so many investigators that are really progressing! Santa Fe has struggled with missionary work for a long time and has been considered the hardest area in the whole mission, but that's starting to change! I'm so excited to keep working here with Hermana Wallis and see how these amazing people continue to change their lives! It's stressful to take over an area and train and all that, but Heavenly Father always makes up for our weaknesses when we just do the best that we can!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Martin