Week 24

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Oh I'm excited about Christmas, I'll be celebrating in shorts and a T-shirt! I got my first present a few days ago from the Nampa 17th Ward! how exciting, tell them all thank you.

Let me tell you about my awesome week! Tuesday was good, can't remember it though he he... oh yeah that is right, I had a meeting with the Halls! Every tuesday from now on. They are great, David is so much more ready for Baptism than he realizes, he is really doing well! It's always fun to go over there, as they are pretty much family! literally. Did Ruby send you pictures mom? we were playing with Chickens, maybe you can give them to Melanie and she can post them on the Blog.

Wednesday is the weirdest thing... I can't remember any of it!

Friday I had an awesome exchange with Elder Westbroek, he is our District Leader, he just got released as the Assistant to the President, so it was a great opportunity to learn from him all day, we put up some Christmas lights in the morning and did some tracting and contacting, it was a fun day.

It all led up to the greatest day of the week! Saturday. All day exchanges again with a priest in the ward. 10 AM we go tracting, ridiculous story... so we are talking to this lady and she has two dogs barking at us the whole time we are talking, she wasn't interested, so we start to leave, and one dog BITES MY SHOE! he just takes a nip at me as I'm walking away! stupid dog... named Maverick because the lady said "Maverick, what do you think you're doing?" I nearly kicked the dog in the face, but I caught myself. It's reactionary okay? If someone bites my shoe, my reaction is to kick back. Had she not been there.... So at 12:00 we went to a baptism! Asa. I taught her once, but then found out she was in a different ward. But I still wanted to go to the baptism. It was pretty good. Then we had lunch, I made my famous fried potatoes... they are quite famous! and thanks Christine for the idea of Brown Sugar in them... its actually my secret ingredient to almost everything. Saturday was probably my best batch of potatoes. Mmmm... I remember it like it happened only 2 days ago.... anyway, so we started teaching a girl Lauren on Saturday, we've been meeting with her for a while, but never got to teach her, she has been coming to church though. So I finally got to teach her, it was really good! she has already read the book of Mormon all the way through, and is again in Jacob! She knows that this is the right path, but is having a hard time committing to it, she will probably end up losing a lot of friends over it, which is really sad. We had a great lesson though, or at least I think so.

Right after the lesson, we had another Baptism. Trisha Miller!! YES!!! What a wonderful experience, it was such a great baptism, the spirit was so strong, she was crying through a lot of it. She was so prepared for it, it was so wonderful! I am so grateful I had the opportunity to teach her the gospel and to see the changes she has made, and the changes the Gospel has made in her life.

That was my week I guess! It was a great week, and I can't wait for this week cause every week is awesome out here!

Elder Martin

Week 23

Hello friends and family, how is it goin'?

Things here are awesome! It's still in the mid 70's, so I'm lovin' life, how is the weather there? he he, nah can you imagine?

So let me tell you about this week. Our awesome investigator Trisha didn't go to church a couple week ago, we were worried. I called her about an appointment, and she had cancelled, she wouldn't set one for that week, it felt as though she was backing off, I was so worried! I talked to Elder Farnsworth, and told him that same thing, I talked to the RS president, and asked her to call Trisha to invite her for a dinner to try and guage the situation. Thursday I was planning for the week with Elder Nuttall, but the phone wasn't with us, so when I got to the phone I had 4 missed calls, and 4 messages! AGH! I saw that one was E. Farnsworth, one was the RS president, and one was Trisha, and then someone else... First one was Elder Farnsworth, he said "Elder Martin, I just talked to Trisha. We need to talk, but I think it would be best if we talked in person." His voice was sad, he helped teach her for 5 weeks, he grew to love her as much as I did. I was devestated! NO!! This was obviously not good. Next message, Trisha. Similar somber voice, "This message is for Elder Martin, I just wanted to call and let you know some things. E. Farnsworth said I should talk to you. I was wondering if I can be Baptized on December 18th" WHAT??? That's not at ALL what I expected! That little punk Farnsworth, so I call her back and we iron out some details, and now she is going to be baptized THIS SATURDAY! YES!!! Oh I was so excited, and I still am SO excited! I was so scared for a while, but it ended up being so wonderful.

Last Saturday we did an all day split with some priests in the ward. It was an awesome experience, I wish I could have had that before I came out on my mission. We started at 8 AM and they came and studied with us, I asked my companion to study the Restoration lesson, because we would be teaching it that day. We ended up having the opportunity to teach it 3 times. One was to his family, which I set up, but he was unaware of, but it was a great experience. He had the wonderful priviledge of tracting! although no real bible bashers, that's too bad, but oh well. It was a great day. I had another lesson on faith. When I was with E. Farnsworth, he one day said "We'll get 52 contacts today" a contact is where we teach a principle and bear testimony and invite them to do something, we've been asked to contact 140 people a week, or 20 people a day. It's not very easy to get sometimes, with so many people not letting us say anything, they just say no thanks and that's it. Well, I doubted Elder Farnsworth, we ended up with more than 52 contacts that day. So for this saturday Elder Nuttall and I were planning, and I said "We need 80 contacts between the two of us" he said "Impossible" and looking back on the previous experience, I thought 'not so' so I told him we could get it if we had faith. I told him I could get 50 contacts, if he could just get 30, he said okay. Then I changed it, and said "No, I'll get 52 contacts" We didn't quite get 80. Elder Nuttall got 17 with his companion, and I got ... ... 52!!! I knew that I could get that if I put my faith in the Lord, and somehow he worked his miracles as he always does. I know that when we do what the Lord asks, he will always prepare a way for us. This week we got exactly 140 contacts. It may not be a significant story, but it strengthened my faith. Also taught me that faith requires action, we acted, and the Lord worked through us. That whole day was very spirit filled.

Well I must go now, I know the church is true! the spirit has been with us so strongly in the past few lessons, I wish I could tell you all about the wonderful lesson we had last night, the spirit was so strong.

Love,

Elder Martin

Week 22

Dear the World,

How is December? Cold? yeah, I bet it is... I wouldn't know though, it sometimes gets as cold as in the 40's here though! yet, its still in the beautiful 70's during the day. I am perfectly content with not having snow for Christmas.

Last monday we had a Zone Activity, we were supposed to be playing Ultimate Frisbee. We got there and played Soccer. Oh yeah, I hate soccer. I'm never playing again, I got knee'd in the back, kicked in the knee, and clotheslined! what a dumb sport. Sorry Soccer fans, its just no fun. I'll stick with Volleyball. My P-days are generally not very fun! I hate them, and I think I figured out why. P-day's my focus is on Elder Martin, what do I need to get done, what can I do for fun. The rest of the week, its what can I do for others. What a great principle, the more selfish we become, the more miserable we become. Service and selfless thinking truly is the key to happiness.

What a wonderful wonderful week this has been! absolutely incredible! I'll explain.

Tuesday was a good day, we were tracting and ran into this guy, he said he has friends who are LDS but he wasn't interested, so we kept going, 20 minutes later we were coming back the other side of the street, and he calls to us "Hey, come back, I want to talk a bit" so we went and talked to him for about an hour and a half, or maybe more like an hour, but we just answered all of his questions, we didn't have a bible with us, so we used his. I like the idea of using other people's bibles to show them what truth is. All the questions he asked we could back up with scripture, they were relatively easy questions... Baptism for the Dead, potential to become like God, excommunication. He said he had a lot of really hard questions for us to answer. The world doesn't realize that there truly is an answer to every question. We don't have to guess about God's character, or about our eternal destiny, we KNOW! we gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it 1 page at a time, then pause and ask himself if a man wrote the book, and then to pray about it, he said he'd take our challenge, I also gave him our number. He hasn't called us yet, which means he didn't truly take our challenge. Anyone alive will gain a testimony if they read the book of Mormon and Pray about it. Anyone!

Wednesday we had 5 appts! 4 of them cancelled. Boo. Relatively normal day.

Same with Thursday.

Friday however was incedible! the entire day. Yet I didn't do a single moment of proselyting, I didn't talk to anyone outside the church. We had Zone Conference in the Morning, a special Christmas Zone Conference, I played a violin duet of Still, Still, Still with Elder Cobourn, it turned out alright... we had no music, and Elder Cobourn can't play by ear, so I ended up writing out an arrangement on paper which I've never done before, so that was kind of fun. The violin I used was a little brassy, but got the job done. I'm playing next sunday as well, but I got a different violin this time, a really really nice one! Ooooh how I enjoy playing it. Anyway, that's a side note, so the Christmas Zone Conference was incredible, the spirit was so strong, and it was such a great experience, and then we went to the Mesa temple for the rest of the day. I love the temple! It is so beautiful inside of the Mesa Temple, they have scriptures and quotes by many of the doorways that really make you think and look at things differently. The spirit was very strong inside the temple, there was over 100 missionaries there which was such a neat experience.

Saturday and Sunday we had a nativity festival at the stake center, and choirs from all different churches were invited to attend. On Saturday night, the final choir was the Mt Pleasant Baptist Choir. Wow, what a treat! I'm sorry to say, but the average baptist choir has our choirs beat! Why can't we rejoice like that? Sometimes as Latter Day Saints we seem so somber and depressed. We should be the happiest people on the PLANET! We have the TRUTH, the fullness of the everlasting Gospel, we are told to REJOICE! in 1st nephi 11 I think verse 6, the Holy Ghost "Shouted with a loud voice; Hosanna!" So I've decided that when I get home I am joining a baptist choir. After the performance I went and told many of them thank you, and then later I found the choir director by her car, I told her about a concept called "Holy Envy" and that I had holy envy for her choir, and asked if she would let me join the choir after my mission. She said yes! SWEET! already in! By the end of one of their songs, they were all wiping sweat off their faces, they were panting, and nearly passing out, it was awesome! and the pianist was incredible!!!

Anyway, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is still better...

That's all for today, thanks for listening to my rantings.

Elder Martin

Hallelujah

Week 21

HAPPY THANKSGIVING... Last week... it was a great thanksgiving here, I started the morning by going to the ward turkey bowl, I'm not allowed to play football, so I took all the kids and organized a game with them, I coached one team... we won. Naturally.

Can I just say that being a missionary is so much fun! ya know how everyone says its awesome and hard? or some say "It's the hardest thing you'll ever love" ... well... LIES, its not hard at all! It's too much fun to be hard, yeah there is a ton of rejection, and sure some investigators drop you, and its frustrating, but its so great! I love the culture of this mission, we are constantly trying to improve as a mission, and we have so much fun! I'm really excited for this week, we are all going to the Mesa Temple, as a mission! its going to be awesome! I haven't been to any temple other than the Boise Temple, the Provo one was closed when I was at the MTC. My job as a missionary is to talk to people, that's it! I just get to tell people what I know to be true, could life be any better? Plus I have the greatest friends here, my missionary friends are amazing! Elder Kavatoe still lives with me even though we aren't companions anymore. He's so funny. I am playing a violin duet with another Elder this Friday at a Zone Conference, so I've been able to have a violin with me for the past few days to practice. Every single prayer that Elder Kavatoe offers, he says "Please bless Elder Martin that his violin playing will get better, and that he will one day be professional" and goes on for about a minute and a half about my violin playing... I'm not sure if I should be offended or not. Last night he gave a ten minute prayer giving thanks for everything imaginable. A filibuster prayer. Elder Pearson, who is Elder Kavatoe's companion is a beat boxer, so we often sing the lion sleeps tonight with the beatboxing in the background.

Speaking of Elder Nuttall, we were tracting yesterday and a girl comes running out of her house screaming his name and runs and gives him a big hug! it was the funniest thing! We randomly decided to tract a street I've never even thought of tracting before, and it just so happens that his aunt and his cousin are staying there for thanksgiving, they were shocked, he was shocked... I was confused, at least at first. I had no clue what was going on for a second, her scream stopped me dead in my tracks and I was ready to bolt. But because of that, we found a less active family we can hopefully teach! also on that street we got a new investigator and 2 bags of home grown grapefruit! oh how blessed we are. That night we also were given a pie.

I had a really awesome story I wanted to tell, but I can't remember what it was, I remember writing it in my planner so I wouldn't forget, and then I forgot to bring my planner today.

Little Jason is wanting to be baptized! the 11 year old boy, we talked to his dad last week, and his dad told us that his son could follow any path he chose, and Jason told us "I want to be baptized 1 or 2 days after I go to church! sadly that can't happen, but he can certainly be baptized soon!

We've had some crazy people talk to us lately, telling us the most ridiculous beliefs. We talked two a couple of guys playing volleyball (different vein of thought now) and they said they'd come to church, but they didn't, and we even tried calling... argh, I don't know why I even told that story, it was fun though, we played volleyball with them for a minute (pepper).

Well that's all I can write today. Love you all, the church is true, I love the videos of the church! go watch them, they're awesome. Some are weird, but that's okay too.

Elder Jason Martin

Week 20

Greetings to my friends and family... Say, does anyone even read this thing? is it worth me writing these? I hope so.

So this week has been great, I got a new companion, Elder Nuttall from California, he's a great Elder and its going to be a good 6 weeks! Elder Farnsworth and Elder Kavatoe are STILL in my same area though! its so awesome, Elder Kavatoe lives in the same apartment as me, and Elder Farnsworth is now my Zone Leader, I knew he would be.

I had an awesome lesson with the the 11 year old boy named Jason, we were teaching at his friends house, he is so excited to learn! the other kids were being so noisy and disruptive, and he would say "Stop it, I'm trying to listen, I want to learn about this!" it was awesome. They were pretty loud and kept interrupting, a 10 minute lesson lasted an hour, at the end they said "When is this lesson over, I want to eat" I said "Well, it was a 10 minute lesson, but you kept interrupting and talking and asking questions not on the topic" they said "Oh, good point". Anyway, at one point, Elder Nuttall was about to tell the story of Joseph Smith, the First Vision, but I stopped him and said "Now you guys have to listen and be quiet as he tells this story, its an incredible story and the spirit always comes when its told, so pay attention and don't interrupt him." and said other things to set it up and grab their attention, there eyes were all on him, so intent on listening, and then, as usual, someone knocks on the door! all three boys jump up and run to the door! UGH!!! Satan, you crafty devil you. Without fail, a phone rings, a door knocks, something happens during the story! always always always.

I've had quite a few people who are just crazy, I thought I've heard every argument ever. I was talking to a guy in the park, and he was making some silly points about how we are saved no matter what because of "Freedom in Christ" and I quoted the Savior himself in Matthew chapter 10, and he said "Well, that was said during his life, when people were still subject to the law, after his death no one was subject to that law anymore." I was baffled, through talking more, I learned that he pretty much rejects everything that Christ said, even though he denies that fact... it was so strange! people have so many ways of justifying their actions.

I wish I could write more! It's a busy day, I have to leave, I still believe though! =] the church is true and I love missionary work.

Elder Martin

P.S.
Oooh, great story, I meant to tell it in the other letter to everyone, maybe you can add it in there melanie. So the other day we were visiting the ward mission leader, and I thought "Hmmm, lets go visit the Quast family who live nearby" I thought I knew where they lived, but wasn't exactly sure, so I got to the house that looked like theres, and knocked on the door. It was not the quasts, but we talked and she said we could come back and teach some more! we'll see how that goes.

Week 19

Grandma, thanks for the reply! I haven't met with ruby yet again, but she spoke so highly of your family, told me stories about how hard you all would work, and so unselfishly, it was really nice to hear.

Well this week has been awesome! some bad news though, transfer news. I'm losing Elder Farnsworth! The past 6 weeks have really flown by! I can't even believe it. The work has been skyrocketing here, I can't even believe it! We had an absolutely wonderful baptism this past saturday! Don Welchoff, I'm sure I've mentioned him a few times, he is such an amazing man! and it was such a beautiful baptism, his daughter, who is not a member, was really touched by the spirit, I really hope to start teaching her. This baptism really meant a lot to me, its amazing to have seen from the first visit to where he is now, he was always a wonderful man, but now its even more so and he's grown so much.

We had an awesome experience on I think Saturday! we were up in this really cool area called Verrado, its like a dream location for a family, anyway we saw a kid in our ward, and went and talked to him, and then saw a group of 8 teenagers farther up by the street/park and asked if he knew them he said he didn't really, but they may not be the best of kids... but we went and started talking to them anyway. It was awesome! I love talking to teenagers, for some reason its a lot easier for me. One of the kids, I didn't know his name, but I'll call him Kyle for convenience, seemed somewhat anti, he was asking questions like "Who do you guys think created God?" and things like that. So most of the kids were cool, and receptive, some asking really good questions like "So where did the Book of Mormon come from?" we were having an awesome conversation!! somewhere in the middle of it this older lady came and sat down and was listening, and then Elder Farnsworth said "Don't take our word for it, we're only a few 20 year old guys" and then the lady piped in "Oh that's interesting, 20 years old huh? hey, just out of curiosity, how old are you kids? are any of you over the age of 18?" oh great, I knew exactly where she was going with this, they all said No, and she said "Oh, I just don't know how appropriate it is for you guys to be talking to these minors." and our good friend Kyle said "WHY?" and I was like YES! and she said "well, as a parent, I just don't think I'd like my kids to be out here exposed to all kinds of ideas like this." and kyle said "Why not? they're not doing any harm! They're talking to us about God, is God a bad person?" it was so awesome, we were being defended by someone who used to seem like a critic, and then all the other kids jumped on his side "Yeah lady, they're just trying to help us out! They're doing us a favor." and she would say "That's good, but I just don't think they should be telling you these things without your parents here to give you another side." I piped in then, and said "If any of you have any problems with us talking to you, just let us know we'll be happy to leave." they all said "No, no, we're really enjoying this" and then I said "And please do take this to your parents, share what we've shared, and again don't listen to us, but ask God if what we've said is true." We shook their hands and left. It was such a great experience, those kids defended us so quickly, especially Kyle, he was defiant! That lady did more good than she realized! Later one of the kids came riding his bike over to us, and said "Sorry about that, what a crabby lady!" and we talked to him some more, he was one who was asking most of the good questions.

We've had so many awesome experiences, I can't remember them all, and I forgot my planner with all that info in it, I'll be going back to just the 2 wards, so that will make things less hectic.

Today we got to go into a seminary class and teach the ten commandments, that was a lot of fun, I really love this area! I'm so glad I'll be staying, at the end of this transfer, I will have been here in the Waddell ward, goodyear area for 6 months! 1/4 of my mission. I love this area, I hope to stay here for a very long time. I'm really excited about the new people we're going to start teaching. We have quite a few, hopefully we will be able to teach a part member family where the mom is LDS but the husband and two kids are not, we taught them the plan of salvation and it was really awesome! the dad seemed like it wasn't new to him and was very happy to see us, the mom was very straightforward, she said "Yup, I'm super inactive, that's why you're here" and when we tried to set up a return appt, she said "If you do that, I'll just try to wiggle out of it, find an excuse to cancel, you should just come back whenever you can."

I just love being a missionary so much! I love the people, I love being able to all day long go into peoples homes and teach them the gospel. I love talking to the super anti mormons, cause it always strengthens my testimony, their ideas about the trinity are so complicated and ridiculous that it gives so much credence in my own mind to the truth! it solidifies everything we teach. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in its fullness in this Church, I know that Christ is the head of the church, I love being a part of this great and marvelous work!

Elder Martin

Week 18

What a great week! last monday we had a baptismal interview for a man I have been teaching who will be baptized this saturday! it was a great experience, he's such a wonderful man and is so ready for baptism. It was a part-member family, so his wife's family is all really happy and excited. It's so great to see a family come together like this.

I've had some great lessons this week! We finally got to meet with Kelly again, and this time he came to the church and we had the lesson in the chapel! I'm a big fan of doing lessons in chapels. It was just me and a couple ward missionaries from the singles ward, my two companions were teaching elsewhere. I invited him to experiment upon the word as is said in Alma 32:27 and suggested that he come to church on sunday, and every day throughout the week, read at least a page from the book of mormon, to pray about it before and after, and then come to church the following sunday as well, and then to see if his life wasn't blessed. He then said a kneeling prayer after accepting the challenge! it was exciting. Sunday came, he didn't show up! ugh! actually I had someone go pick him up, which I told him would happen, and he said he didn't know anyone was coming. Oi vey.

I had a great experience that same evening, just before visiting with Kelly, we had lunch at this families house who are less active, they have 2 boys we are teaching, 13 and 11 I think, and they had one of their friends over there who was not a member. Part of our reason for going was to give the 11 year old a blessing for his broken arm, the friend also wanted a blessing! he had already asked his grandparents who agreed! it was a great experience, he was so anxious to learn more about the church, so excited when he was invited to church! and he is just such a sweet little guy, it was so awesome to see his desire to learn about the book of mormon and about the Savior.

Last night we were contacting at a park, and we walked up to a guy on a bench, who said "Que pasa Amigo" so I said we were missionaries, and he said something else in spanish, so I said "Oh, do you speak English" and he said "no, no english" and then this little 8 year old came up and said "Man, he's lying to you! he speaks english just fine!" I started to laugh and said "ah, your son just ratted you out!" and he said "He's not my son" and further blew his cover, so he said "what are you selling?" and we talked to him. Saturday we went on 3 way splits for 2 hours with some people from the singles ward, and again I was at the park talking to people, and was having a great discussion with this lady about the gospel, but found she was probably just trying to confound me, she left when she couldn't, but as she was leaving 6 teenage boys came up and said "Hey, what are you guys selling?" and I said "Nothing, I'm a missionary" and he said "Oh are you Christian?" I said yes, he said "Oh, I thought you were Mormon or something" and I said "Why, I am! I'm Mormon, but Mormons are Christians" and we talked for a minute, but one of his friends said "I don't even believe in God" to which his friend said "WHAT?? Really?" boy #2 said "Yeah, he's never helped me out, I don't believe he's out there" his friend said "Man, he helps you every day! why do you think you don't fall off your bike all the time?" and boy #2 said "I fall off my bike every day." I decided it was time for a comment, so I asked him if he's ever prayed to God, he said no, so I asked how he can get an answer if he doesn't ask a question, and then told him that he does have a loving Heavenly Father who knows him very well, and I told him that if he went home tonight and knelt down and asked if there was someone out there listening, and that if he was in fact his son, that he would recieve an answer, and I gave him a Restoration Pamphlet. I hope something comes of that! I love talking to the skaters and the bikers at the park, they are such foul kids, but many are receptive, whereas so many adults are in no way receptive.

Speaking of Adults at the park, one guy came up to us and said "Hey are you Jehovah's Witnesses?" we said no, we're Mormons, and he said "Oh so you believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers" it turned into a bit of a debate, and then I remembered something I was told in the MTC, so I stopped everything and said "Let me ask a question, are you asking us this question out of a sincere desire to understand us and our beliefs, or are you just trying to patronize us?" He paused and said "Let me start over, sorry" and he shook our hands, and then started arguing some more, but much more nicely. It was pretty funny.

There are so many wonderful stories that happened this week, so many great lessons we taught to our investigators, one of our investigators committed to be baptized in December! it was one of the more powerful lessons we've taught, the spirit was very strong. We have a few new investigators that are really promising, I'm very excited about where things are going here, I really hope I don't get transferred next week! I want to stay.

One of those investigators many of my family should know! Her name used to be Ruby Bartlett, she is now Ruby Hall, its her husband we're actually teaching! They are wonderful and the spirit is working in their life, She is my cousin almost? maybe 1st cousin once removed or something like that, my moms cousin. She told stories about my mom, and about Austin Turley and asked about Joe. It was so fun to talk to her about my family!

Well the church is still true, otherwise I wouldn't be feeling the spirit so strong every day! How wonderful it is to see the changes in peoples lives, I love this work so much, and I can't believe its already been 4 months since I've been here! I have one more transfer til I'm 1/4 of the way done!!! I'm starting to feel like I don't have enough time left on my mission.

Elder Martin

Week 17

What a great week! Every week is a great week, this one greater than last!

I love being a missionary and I love my companions, I know I wont always have great companions, so I consider it a huge blessing that I have two of the best right now! they have both taught me so much about being a missionary and I know it will bless me for the remainder of my mission.

Yesterday was a wonderful day! My first baptism of someone who I have taught the whole way! Seth, a 13 year old boy was baptized last night, the program was wonderful! the talks were just perfect, the turnout was so much higher than expected, and the spirit was strong! we had an investigator there who really enjoyed it. I couldn't be happier! It's good to find, great to teach, and amazing to baptize! To see them take that step in their life, and come into the fold of God is wonderful. So exciting and uplifting! I have one more baptism before I have a possibility of being transferred, and I'm very excited for that one, its on the 13th.

We met with a famiy recently who wants to come back to church, the mom said they probably wouldn't be there on sunday but they surprised us by showing up. It's a single mother with a boy and two little girls. The youngest girl is so adorable, she tells her mother every day "Jesus misses me" and at church, they left halfway through sacrament, and the little girl was crying as she was being taken out and said "I dont' want to go home!" what a sweet girl! so young and actually WANTS to be at church! I love the wards I'm in! Yesterday I was asked to teach a class the ten commandments. We have hand actions that we do to help kids remember the ten commandments, so I went and taught the 10 year old class, it was a great experience, a lot of fun! it doesn't matter who you are, little kids just love missionaries, its funny.

I'm finally sleeping through all the snoring =] hurray!

I wish I could tell all the stories about the week, I wish I could even remember them all! I need to write notes in my planner so I can remember what to talk about in my letters home. Did I mention Vincent last week? the guy we found in the park who I thought was very promising? well at the park he told us about this Christian group he was a part of at his school. Well I called him before our lesson to ask if we were still on, and he said "Oh, well I just don't believe what I read" so I said "Well did you read what we gave you?" he said "No" I said "So how can you not believe if you didn't read it" he said "Oh well I did read it, and just didn't believe it." I didn't believe him, I knew something was not true, so I asked "Did you talk to your friends and they told you not to believe us?" he said no, but I'm positive that is exactly what happened, he excitedly told his friends about what he heard, and they immediately told him to avoid us like the plague, I asked if we could still just meet and clear up his concerns, he wouldn't. It was very sad.

So we've been without food this week, end of month, very poor... but the Lord blesses us! Tuesday we had nothing to eat for lunch, so randomly someone calls and says he's going to take us to lunch! awesome! that night we had nothing for dinner, we go to a meeting and someone has cinnamon rolls for us, well that good! but not a great dinner, we were starving. We came home and there were potatoes and steak on our doorstep! The Lord provides for us. The next day, we still didn't have anything to eat for lunch, so we were stopped by someone who gave us 10 dollars. It's amazing how the Lord watches over us, and provides when we "take no thought for ourselves".

The work is progressing so fast right now, we barely have the time to keep up. I love it!

Elder Martin

Week 16

What a marvelous week this has been! One, the weather has been great! two my companions are awesome, and 3 we are all working super hard!

Sorry Emmy, that bike belongs to Paxton, she was not happy that we were going to take her bike!

Malo elelei (I don't know how to spell it either Chris) Fefe haki? My favorite thing to say to Elder Kavatoe is Samoa Fanua Mah'ohne'ohne which means that Samoa is the Land of Righteousness. It upsets him.

Christine, do you get my family letters? I can add you to that list since you are family, but I need your address.

So anyway... this week has been great! First an amusing story, so me and my Companions went contacting at a park a couple nights ago. We were having very little success, no one would even take a pamphlet from us! there were a lot of people there, but no one would talk to us, or accept even so much as a card. Then we found out that we were contacting at an after party... an after church party... an after Jehovah's Witness church party... We promptly left. We had a good laugh about it though, 3 mormons trying to convert 300 JW's good times...

We have been super busy this week, we don't even have time to do very much of what we need to get done! we have 4 wards giving us people to contact, we have 10 or more investigators we are teaching, and we have to find time to contact people to get more investigators. I love it! I love being over-booked. We go on splits a lot and get as much done as we can. On tuesday someone else committed to baptism! Wednesday someone committed to baptism, both on the first lesson, but both are practically already ready to be baptized. One we are passing off to the sisters, we were confused on which ward she would be going to, but it doesn't matter, what is important is that she is getting baptized.

Mid-week we were tracting this street, and this guy came up to Elder Kavatoe with a Pass along card in his hand, and threatened him saying that he better not ever find another card on his door! I chuckled... The guy doing the threatening was not a large man, didn't have much to back it up... not that Elder Kavatoe would ever do anything... but that guy could do nothing to him... A dog attacked him last week... a pretty vicious dog at that... he took a good swipe at the dog, but missed, but the message was sent and the dog backed off... This nice old lady next door said "Get out of there, that dog is a terrible vicious dog!" and then she threw a rock at the dog, it was funny! That same street we talked to another old lady, who called herself Mary Green with red hair and a big mouth! She was very funny, she talked with us for a while, we might go back and see her.

Elder Kavatoe got 2 flats on his bike at the same time... thankfully we also have a car. He looks so big on a bike its quite amusing.

There is a park that we've been doing a lot of contacting at, its really good! Saturday we found this guy sitting alone on a bench, so we went and talked to him, I told him about the Book of Mormon, and usually I say something to the effect of "Would it be okay if we stopped by at another time to share more about this?" which I did with him, then I added "or even right now, we'd love to teach you more now if you have time" and he said "Yes, please do, right now would be perfect!" We then had a wonderful first lesson as he sat on a park bench in the dark. We are meeting again with him next week in the chapel. It was a great experience, we hadn't been having much luck in the park, and it was much needed. That was the same night of the JW incident at another park.

I love this work, I love being able to work so much, as long as I'm working hard things go so well, I'm always so happy! I just love doing what I do.

Elder Martin

Week 15

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you all for the comments, I do looove the comments, I am never offended by getting comments, so feel free to continue =]. Okay, time for the tree story... Since its so demanded...

One day I was checking mail, and on the way back from the mail box, there is a low hanging tree, well I was trying to figure out who sent me a letter since there was no return address, and as I was walking, I walked straight into the tree, it hurt something FIERCE, and even left a big mark in my forehead, I may have received a slight concussion, I was unable to focus the rest of the day, and just didn't feel good at all! it was pretty crazy.

Chris, we do have district and zone activities, we are not allowed to do them every week though, we can only do 2 district activities a month, and I think one zone activity per transfer, last week Elder Farnsworth and I watched the testaments, and played some basketball, the week before we played soccer (I played goalie due to my knee, and was the greatest goalie I have ever known!) and the week before that we played district basketball... its not very fun, or wasn't rather cause at that time know one in my district could play basketball very well. Elder Farnsworth is good though, so next time we play district/zone it will be more fun.

So this week has been CRAZY!! I can't tell the full story he he, but it was great fun... well not really fun, but interesting. I now have 3 companions, and we are covering 4 wards! We are busy as can be and not enough time to do all of our work, we have a big challenge ahead of us for the next 5 weeks to try and cover 4 wards, but we are excited, the other Elder is also an incredibly hard working Elder, his name is Elder Kavatoe, he is from Tonga, he can bench 500 lbs, he's ridiculous. I beat him up regularly though. We have so much fun, the three of us! but the reason we can have as much fun as we do is because we work as hard as we do. My two companions are so funny, and great missionaries!

I had my first baptism! it was completely unexpected! On monday a lady called us and said she wanted to be baptized the next saturday! so she was met with, interviewed and then baptized that next saturday! she had already taken all the discussions a number of months ago/years ago, I can't remember which, but a while ago, she was baptized and it was a wonderful experience, I'll share some pictures! I'll share a few pictures actually.

We have two more baptisms scheduled within the next month, 3 actually I think, but one isn't set in stone completely. two of them are. Oh I just love teaching the gospel, I love seeing the changes in peoples lives! We were tracting and ran into this pastor for a church, he was a great guy and was willing to talk, he challenged us to find out why we were on our missions, he thinks we are here because its expected of us, he asked "Do you REALLY care if I find the truth, or if others do? Do you ACTUALLY care for us?" He said he didn't want an answer but he wanted us to just think about it, find out why we are here. We are going to meet with him in a couple weeks, we also challenged him to really read the book of mormon, and truly ask if its the word of God, he accepted our challenge and we accepted his. As I've been thinking about it, I think about the people I am teaching, and I KNOW why I am here, its for them, its for the Lord, its not for me or anyone back home. I was sitting with a family at church and it came to me that THIS is why I am here, I have seen a huge change in this family, and its the greatest thing in the world! They are why I am here.

My friends, the gospel is true, missionary work is amazing! member missionaries are awesome! (hint hint) I love what I am doing, this week has flown by because of the dedication we have had to working, oh its so wonderful. Oh Chris, the times for working are different for a few different reasons. We are required to workout for 30 minutes in the morning, which I don't think you were, so we don't leave the apartment until 10, and we come back at 9 because its just too late at that point to really be doing much work, after 8 things just don't work so well, people are angry for us coming by, or are in bed, we actually usually get back in at 8, which is when we eat our dinner, instead of taking an hour during the prime proselyting hours we take it during the dead hours.

Now for some pictures. I love you all,

Elder Martin

A plethora o' pictures

Elder Martin sent home some pictures to my folks. My dad then sent them on to other people, me being one of those others. I selected some for the blog, but I don't have the captions for them. So I don't really know what we are seeing. I shall do my best to guess though. (Dad, feel free to comment with what things really are.


Hard to say, but I'm gonna guess that this is Elder Martin posing in front of the MTC.I bet this is Jason's zone, or district or whatever, while at the MTC.
Just some cactusy Arizona desert landscape.
I have no idea what this is, but it's pretty cool looking anyway. Reminds me of the alamo for some reason, though I haven't actually seen the Alamo.
I think we can assume that the inhabitants of that missionary apartment are patriotic, no?
Here it looks like Elder Martin has been tracting on a hot day. Do note the glistening forehead. Either he is sweating, or a vampire.
Here is motivation for each of us to never want to live in that part of the country. This is what the neighborhoods looks like?

Week 14

HI!!! How are you all? Glad to hear it, I'm doing well also thanks much!

Ooooh what wonderful comments, how nice it is to receive them, I would not be offended if I kept getting comments (hint hint).

Oh what a great week its been! I am so excited to be here, and for the work to continue to progress, and it will move at a now accelerated rate. Transfers came, and I have a new companion! His name is Elder Farnsworth from Centerville Utah, he is an incredible missionary, very hard worker, and we get along great! I would be just fine with being his companion for the next year+. I'm learning much, and growing much. I love what I'm doing, and I love the people here.

Chris, you asked about the members. The members here are incredible! I can't wait to do a "Mission tour" after my mission to come back and visit these people, I assume some of my favorite people throughout my entire mission will come from the Waddell ward. I just love these people! I love the investigators we have as well! we have two baptisms coming up that I have been greatly anticipating, I'm so excited for them both.

Last Friday we had dinner with a less active/part member family, we learned they had a wedding at their house (reception rather) the following night, so we thought we'd show up. We came and asked what we could help with, and after much persuasion we convinced them we were serious. We served food. Through serving food, we got to see/talk to over 300 people! too bad we couldn't give them pass along cards or teach them anything, but it was great exposure for us. Plus we were able to build a lot of trust with the family and now we will be teaching them next friday!

So I hurt myself pretty good the other day... we have this bike rack on our car for our bikes (go figure) and they have two arms that stick out the back... well we didn't have any bikes on it, and we normally don't have the bike rack on, but we did and I SLAMMED the trunk shut, and hit my head so hard with one of the arms on the trunk! the worst part was that a screw was on the bottom of it which hit me right on top of the head... I had no idea what hit me at first, just knew I was in extreme pain! Much worse than when I ran into a tree (he he, did I tell you all that story? funny stuff) I was quite disoriented, and OH IT HURT! I am surprised it didn't draw blood, or even just CRACK MY SKULL! It rocked me pretty good. Oi it hurt. It's been almost a week, and my head is still a bit tender.

I love being led by the spirit! we were driving in our car, and as its a new area, I'm the navigator as E. Farnsworth drives, well I was directing him and he randomly pulls off on a different street, and I said "What are you doing?" he said "Oh, ya know, we're just following the spirit" or something to that effect, indicating he felt inspired to go there. We tracted the entire street, and didn't meet anyone of interest (except a Jehovah's Witness... that was fun) our last house we ran into a family that was less active, they've been here since April but their records were never moved into the area so the ward had no idea. After meeting with them we knew that was the reason why we were on that street! Oh how I love the spirit.

Two nights ago we came home and saw this guy laying down right in front of the office of our apartments... we didn't know what was going on... so we went and grabbed our mail, and on the way back asked him if he was alright... no answer... he was breathing though, so we asked louder, we kicked his feet, we tried to rouse him as much as we could, but there was NO answer whatsoever, no response, nothing. So we called the non-emergency police, who transferred us to the Fire Dept. We told them what happened, and less than five minutes later we hear sirens, and I was thinking "Oh blast... it's not that urgent... oi vey, don't turn on the sirens" but they did... and they come screaming into our apartment complex. Oh, we were sure he was just drunk passed out, which he was... they came and they said they've seen him before, he was homeless and had done this before... so they said we could go... an ambulance came roarin' into the complex as well, and the a police car as well! I felt strange being the cause of so much commotion... meaning I called them and they responded... strangely that very night earlier in the day, I somehow accidentally pocket dialed 911!!! Oops.

We have some new investigators we're teaching and are excited to teach... we might drop kelly =[ he's just not progressing and doesn't want to progress. We're trying to contact everyone who has been taught in our areas in the past. I love this work! I love the church, I love being a missionary! I'm so grateful to be here in this area with Elder Farnsworth. I just love my job! The church is true, its all so true!

Elder Martin

Week 13

Greetings from STILL hot Arizona! All last week its been over 100 degree's, even over 105 a lot of the days. It's OCTOBER!! Should this not end yet? I was promised it would. I feel betrayed. This week is supposed to get into the 80's! I'm so excited. The other day we went to an early morning Service project at 6 AM, and it was 77 degree's, it felt incredible! we rolled down our windows, and actually got COLD! how ridiculous is that? I'm worried for when I come home, I plan on attending BYU-Idaho, so I will literally be making a 140 degree temperature shift!

Not too much to report, all my appointments this week cancelled on us, yes literally every single one of them! without fail. We tried to go back to JoeJoe's... did I tell about him? the most vile of sinners? Ha, what a guy, I did not enjoy talking to him the first time, My comp said he's pretty much a lost cause, but we persisted anyway, and we have an appointment to teach him, so hopefully that will go well. we were supposed to teach him last week, but again everything cancelled.

How about that conference??? What a powerful piece of enlightenment! I truly loved it, I felt the spirit so strong while listening to those men speak. I have never enjoyed conference more than I did this weekend. I especially loved Elders Holland, and Scott... Elder Scott's talk made me stop taking notes, I just couldn't keep up, so I decided to just enjoy it and do a deeper study on it when the Ensign comes out! How powerful! I loved President Uchtdorf's Priesthood talk on Pride! Wow I have a lot to work on. I took more notes on that talk than I've ever taken on any talk ever in my life. I'm not a note taker though, so its not a ton. I love President Eyering, he gave 2 powerful talks! I just love that man. How about that call to missionary service by the Prophet? Whooey, that should increase the numbers, it BETTER increase the numbers. If any young man was "thinking" about going on a mission, this conference should have made up his mind for him. It is our priesthood DUTY and OBLIGATION said the prophet. Or scratch that... It is our DUTY and OBLIGATION, said the LORD. So, problem solved, no one has to question whether to serve or not anymore. Awesome. Only 38% of worthy men in America serve missions, and only 13% worldwide... Almost an embarrassing statistic! (that's of course only including church membership he he)

So Transfer news came today. I am losing my trainer, but I am staying in my area. I'm very glad to stay here, I love Goodyear Arizona! I love the wards I am serving in. I love everything about this place. I love being a missionary and am very grateful to be here when I'm here. The Lord has blessed me abundantly.

Hey, does no one read this anymore? Where are my comments? Sheesh... I need some love.

I love you all,

Elder Martin

Week Twelve

What a week! It's been full of up's and down's and a few interesting/amusing moments in between!

We had an investigator drop us that we were positive would be baptized, so that was one of the downs, we got a number of new investigators, that was an up. We talked to a professional Anti-mormon, that was the amusing moment!

So this guy we talked to was the vice-president for some church, and it was his job to train the youth to avoid being "led astray" by the mormon missionaries! he then talked about how we are so blinded and kept from the truth. Quite ironic that he said WE are kept from the truth while he was actively engaged in keeping people from the truth. He started in on some of his anti-mormon rhetoric, but we wouldn't let him get too far... he used the whole "Well in revelations it says don't add or remove..." I cut him off and said "You know perfectly well that that scripture is only speaking of the book of Revelation, and you know that we know it as well. You also know that same thing is in Deuteronomy" I knew he'd argued with mormons before, so he should know better than to use such a lame argument. He tried to make it better and threw out some more dumb comments, all of which we handily shut down... I was itching to start bible bashing, but we instead bore testimony, he then left. It was amusing. It seems that at least once a week we have the privilege of running into an anti-mormon. Most people simply don't care or some have never even heard of us!

I'm very excited for General Conference this week! my first of four on my mission. A rare opportunity to get investigators to gain a real testimony of the current prophet! well there is always opportunity, but this one is quite profound.

We met this really awesome guy named Duane, or Dwayne, or however he spells it... but he's from Jamaica! He is so hard to understand. He's actually a member already, but is just getting back to church. Our first lesson was more him teaching about the importance of the Book of Mormon, he had some cool stories and is an incredible person, he will one day probably be a motivational speaker, he understands many things. It's just so hard to understand him!!! Also he was kinda rude at points, we had a member with us who has an incredible testimony and is very strong in the gospel, he's 19 I think, was just recently baptized, and is the only member of the church in his family, well Dwayne told him that the reason his family hasn't joined is because he must not be strong enough! AGH! it was somewhat amusing, because I can't imagine he meant it the way he said it, but still, rude. Oh well, what can ya do?

My district has a turtle! not really. But for a day or so we did, the sisters in my district found a baby Turtle, named him Hadley. Small little fella, but we're not allowed to have pets so we found him a home.

The church is still true! My testimony continues to grow as I see the hand of the Lord in my every day work and life. I love this gospel and I love preaching the gospel.

Elder Martin

Week 11

Arizona sure is hot! Tomorrow is Fall and its still in the 100's! will it ever end??? We had some very nice days, and I found that its very easy to go tracting when its not over 100 degrees! its almost pleasant!!! When before it was so hard to even be out for an hour, I could tract for hours and hours in 90 degree weather, oh I'm excited for the winter.

This week has been very good! We had some fun experiences, let me share...

A couple of days ago, we were tracting, and we walk up to this house and the lady says "Not interested in what you're doing." we said "okay, well have a great day then" and she said "I will, and then I'll pray that you can become christians and stop being sinners" and I said "Oh, well actually we are Christian, and I'm glad you are too! I'm grateful to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior" and she said "well you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you don't know him, and you're living in sin" and then she went off on how we've added to the bible, and then slammed the door on us. Oh I feel bad for her, but it builds my faith! The next house we found someone to teach! so blessings do come!

This week it was the privilege of the entire Arizona Phoenix Mission to meet with Elder Richard G........ Hinckley... not scott but Hinckley. It was a great experience to hear from not just a general authority, but the son of Gordon B. Hinckley! and I'll tell you what, he has the same humor as his father! he had the whole place laughing so much. He was teasing our mission president and others. It was a great experience. He gave us more B's like his father did, but said something that struck an interesting thought. He said "I'm not replacing what my father said, because he was a prophet and I am not" How interesting that must have been! I wonder if it would be difficult to accept for some people to see their father as the prophet of God to be completely faithful to him as your father and as your prophet. He was called as a mission president by his father, and he was called to Salt Lake City UT! he said he was disappointed! and then called his dad and asked about it, and his dad said it was because he wanted him close and needed him close, he moved 7 miles from his home to the mission home, and said it felt like he was 5000 miles away. He showed us some new commercials that the Church is going to be showing in television slots, they were pretty interesting, its an effort to change the worlds opinion on mormons, to show that we're not all just crazy!

I see missionaries even in this mission who don't put much into their missions and I am so sad! there are so many incredible experiences to have, I've been here a very short time really, and have had incredible experiences every day! I learn so much and I marvel at how the spirit directs this work. I hope everyone who hasn't had a chance to yet serve will have the desire, its well worth it and much better than sitting at home! It's so easy to be a missionary! its just easier NOT to be. It's easy to follow the rules here, its easier not to. Nothing that is asked of us is in and of itself a hard thing to do. Yes its hard and a sacrifice, but the blessings outweigh everything else. I see Elders in my own district who don't follow the rules, who don't try and they are so miserable! and they don't know why. The same is so true of life in general! if our lives are miserable, we should evaluate our obedience to God's laws, its that simple...

The church is true! nothing else is more important than that. If the church is true, then families can be together forever, if the church is true than Jesus Christ really is our Savior, the plan of Salvation is real and nothing else even matters as long as we do everything to make it to our next estate.

Love you all!

Elder Martin

Week 10

Hello my loyal followers! nah, can you imagine?

So what a wonderful week! We ran into some pretty crazy people this week, and some great people. Okay just one crazy fella who was the clear cut definition of Sin. He didn't want to talk to us at first, but he said he was bored so why not? He laughed at us when we said we have a prophet who speaks with God and then said we have 2 minutes to convince him that we are worth talking to. I immediately told him about the power of the Book of Mormon, we stayed for 20 minutes. He argued and brought up what he thought were excellent points. The spirit was with us, and wouldn't allow us to be confounded. He had no answer for many of our explanations, and we pretty well just told him off very boldly on many issues. I generally don't speak very boldly to the people we talk to, but I was pretty upfront with this guy, told him he would never be happy if he continued to live in sin. He said that's what made him happy. I told him he was lying to himself and that he knew he wasn't happy. Not in those exact words, but something close to. We pretty much just called this kid to repentance, cause he needs it! and there were a couple of times when I told him his thoughts on life were plain stupid. We're going to go back this week and talk to him some more, hopefully teach the Restoration.

We had a new family we taught, one member and another who had never heard much about the church, the member hadn't been to church in probably 20 or 30 years. It was possibly the worst lesson I've ever taught! I don't know what was wrong, but every answer I gave seemed hard to give, I couldn't speak clearly, I was confusing even to me! We're going to teach them again, so thankfully it wasn't too bad, but I was greatly humbled, I'm not sure what was wrong, but I just wasn't able to teach! I do know I have many things to learn from that lesson, and hopefully I learn them! I don't want a repeat.

We found a new person to teach through tracting, he was a great guy! he listened to us, was very gracious and very open to what we were saying. I really hope to bring him the happiness he is seeking in his life. Teaching the gospel is such a wonderful thing! Even when we teach lessons to members, I love it! I love the spirit that comes whenever we teach of Joseph Smith, and especially of the Savior. I have gained a testimony of the importance of telling everyone I come in contact with about the church... some places i'm not allowed to, but mostly I can!

Ah I wish all our investigators would just come to church!!! I get frustrated when an investigator has gained a testimony, but doesn't come to church, and always cancels with us! it happens all the time! well it has happened a lot the past two weeks! Satan is not sitting by idly as we go about doing the work of the Lord, that is for sure. But the Spirit of the Lord is much stronger than anything else in this world!

Elder Martin

Week 9

Hello my compadres! mis Comrades, my friends and family and random visitors to the blog!

 

First some questions for family members that may be answered through comments... Grandma, did you ever know a Vita Thude? or a Vita Haggard? I don't know her, but her son is in my ward.  I think there were other things I wanted to ask too... but oh well =] maybe next week

 

So on to the news of the week! we have a referral that we've been trying to contact, and we've yet to see him, he lives in a trailer park, so we went and searched for him after being given an idea of where he might be.  We saw a few teenagers sittin' outside a trailer, it was dark by this time, so perhaps unwise to talk to strangers.  No worries, we did anyway.  So we asked if they knew where Carlos was, and assured them we were NOT cops but missionaries.  They didn't know, but as we were talking Carlos' brother walks up to us, and he also doesn't know, so I start to teach them instead, we talk about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost, and one kid at the mention of the Holy Ghost perked up and started asking questions about the Holy Ghost, he was probably 16 years old, but showed interest! he wanted to hear more but wanted spanish missionaries, it was a really cool experience.  The next day we went back to find Carlos, but found his brother again and asked if he wanted to hear our message, he said he had maybe 15 minutes to listen.  We taught about the restoration, he said he didn't believe in God, but after we were done bearing testimony, he asked "That feeling you had, was it real? you really felt it?" we said yes! and taught some more, we asked if he would say the closing prayer, and he did.  It almost sounded like he was about to cry.  The spirit was definitely there so perhaps he was about to. 

 

It's been another good week! I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to feel the spirit so often and strongly in my life.  We finally had an investigator actually show up to Sacrament meeting! one who had said he would for over a month now, he loved it I think.  The work is unstoppable! Even someone like me can't screw things up. 

 

Elder Martin

Week 8

General Epistle from Elder Martin to the Gentiles... he he, nah could you imagine, but yeah here's my message to the non-family... but hey family can read it as well....

Greetings friends, family, loved ones, those who accidentally came here, and those who love me but I'm not so sure about... nah, I do love you all though.

So have I made it clear how much I love being a missionary? Well I do. I love every minute of every day. Except the minute of 6:30-6:31 But once I get up, I'm okay. I am so amazed at how much the spirit is involved in this work. Let me explain through story.

Yesterday, we are at church, we had no investigators, or so we thought. Apparently this guy came to listen to his friend give a talk in church, he sat in the 3rd row, when he left, his phone fell out of his pocket into the pew. A member of the bishopric who normally leaves the Chapel immediately, for some reason decided to check the pews and clean them up a bit, as he got to the third row, he saw a phone, when he saw the phone, he noticed that it just started to vibrate. He picked it up, found out that a non-member left it in the church and would like to come pick it up. Meanwhile my companion and I were just about to leave church to get some other things done, we were out by the car, and decided to come back in, when we got in we caught up with this member of the bishopric who gave us the phone and said it would be more appropriate for us to give him the phone. We find out he's in the lobby on the other side, so we walk over there, and give him his phone, he almost leaves, but then we introduce ourselves and talk to him for a second, and he says "Well I'm incredibly interested in learning more about your church, I really feel like this is what I need" We picked up our jaws from the ground and explained that we were the missionaries! he was excited. We will teach him soon.

We have a guy we are teaching who was less active for a while and desired to have the discussions from us so he could learn more about the church and serve a mission, so we started teaching him and he told us about this friend of his who might be interested, so we had him invite him to the next appt. He didn't come, he flaked out on us, so we just taught him anyway... well the next time we came over, we asked about his friend and he said "oh he's actually here right now" so we were excited about that and we taught him the Restoration, after I bore my testimony of Joseph Smith, and explained what I felt and the conviction I had that Joseph Smith was a prophet, he said "Yeah I think I know exactly how you felt, that's how I felt when I was reading the Book of Mormon". He explained perfectly the feeling of the Holy Ghost, he said he'd never really felt that way before, but he felt like a warm blanket was wrapped around his heart, he asked his friend about it, and they had a good conversation that day, and then he met with us. I am so grateful for how the spirit works and how we are blessed. I'm so grateful that this man will now be blessed to receive the gospel, he didn't come to church, but he plans on it. We're meeting with him again next week, he has a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation and we are more than happy to answer all of his questions.

I know that the Spirit uses me to do the work of the Lord, it has very little to do with me, in fact its a further testimony of the truth that He uses someone like myself to do His work, the weakest of His servants. I am so glad to be in a place where He CAN use me. I love the gospel, I love the Savior and am so blessed to be called as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm blessed to have the opportunity to invite others to come unto Him. This gospel is true, I know it is.

Elder Martin

Week 7

Greetings people of the Earth, or all those who care about me enough to read my blog! The work continues to progress, and things are going well here in my area! It's still so very hot, but perhaps that is to our advantage, the people sometimes take pity on us, we never turn down water. I tried cactus fruit the other day! it was actually pretty good! I keep hearing that it does in fact cool off here, I'm very excited for the winter months!

I give a word of warning to all who listen to me! Don't tempt the devil!! So we have this investigator, he committed to Baptism, and when he committed, we warned him that the devil would put up a fight, that there would likely be some opposition that would come his way. His response went something like this "Oh trust me, He can't throw anything my way that would phase me! I've already been through so much, there is nothing else that could possibly go wrong!" no joke, he actually said that! So he doesn't show up to church last sunday, we dont' know why. We go over wednesday, his brother answers the door and demands to know who we are, we tell him and ask for his brother, so our investigator limps up to the door, I look at him and notice the veins in his left arm, the left side of his body looks almost numb he's just limping along, for some reason I thought "Wow, this guy is totally twacked out on drugs!" Thankfully I was wrong... it was much worse, he had contracted Mersa! or Merca, or Mersca, or whatever I have no idea how to spell it... anyway apparently its this incredibly deadly staff infection, that is very contagious and painful! He couldn't walk, it was in his foot, he was in tons of pain. We told him we'd "pray something up" for him and went on our way, we said a prayer, and a few days later things healed up nicely for him. We went and visited again yesterday and he's doing much better, we'll stop by again this wednesday. He's ready to make changes in his life, he has a lot of desire to change and be happy, he's had a pretty tough life.

So this week has been quite humbling, just one thing after another that reminds me of how human I am! I am so grateful for every experience though, I know that it is helping me grow and become more like the Savior. The spirit doesn't hold things back, He definitely lets me know what areas I need to work on. I love the trials I've been given, I'm so grateful to be growing from them, and to actually be learning from them instead of just ignoring them, and "getting through them". I've learned so much this week, about the work of the Lord, about myself, and about how there is a huge gap between myself and the work of the Lord. I am excited to bridge that gap and am hopefully making the appropriate adjustments in life to allow that change to happen in my life, it is only through the Atonement of the Savior that I can do this. I am so grateful for Him and what He has done for me! He's the reason I'm out here, to invite others to come unto Him. My testimony grows every day, and I realize every day how small I truly am, how its only in and through the Lord that I'm even able to accomplish anything out here, He leads the missionary work around the world, I am a mere instrument in His hands, and in order for that instrument to do any good, it must be in tune. I would recommend that everyone who has a Preach My Gospel should turn to the "Christlike Attribute Activity" in chapter 6... I can't remember the page number, something like 146... I dunno, its the last page of chapter 6. Take it seriously. It is a wonderful thing.

Today is transfers. It turns out none of us will be transferred... unless the news comes super late... but yeah we're all staying put! I will be safe for another 6 weeks, until I believe October 3rd. I can't believe its already been six weeks in Arizona! I am still alive! I'm in a constant state of being tired, but live I do. For some reason being tired must help the work along somehow, cause I'm getting more sleep than I ever got back home, yet I am more tired all the time! maybe its the devil... its his way of trying to stop the work from progressing... I think he probably spends a lot of time here in Arizona, it feels like home to him.

Hey good news, the Gospel is true! Jesus Christ is at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I bear testimony that that is true, I know it is because He told me so. I could listen to the world and I would disbelieve, or I could listen to God, the creator of the world and all things and believe. I think I will trust Him who knows all things.

Elder Martin

Week 6

Dear Family and Friends,

Again thank you for the comments and well wishes!

I have had other opportunities to give blessings this past week, and the results were the same, I tried even saying something that apparently the Lord didn't want me to say, I started a sentence, it was pretty clear where I was going, and I was not allowed to finish my sentence, I had to just stop talking and say something altogether different.

Well the work here continues to progress at an accelerated rate, every week gets better, and each week I am amazed at how the Lord works through me as well as my companion! I don't even know where to begin with this past week! When this area first opened when I got here, we had zero investigators, we had no one to teach, we were hard pressed to find things to do, now a month later, we have 6 investigators, a number of less active members, and we are finding new people every day! I learned recently that the Phoenix Arizona mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the world... or at least the US, it obviously doesn't compare to places like Brazil, but its still pretty high up there, the people here are wonderful and are ready for the gospel! We have over 100 baptisms a month. That's of course not boasting in numbers, cause the number means nothing, its the souls behind the number that matters.

I think I've mentioned a man we're teaching named Kelly, he's a great guy and we went back to teach him this last week, we taught the plan of salvation, it was a great lesson and the spirit was strong. We invited him to be baptized and he Accepted!!! He hasn't gained a testimony yet, but he said he knows he will, and thus he will. We are so excited for him... we'll see what happens when we have to tell him to stop smoking =]

We were tracting on Saturday and I gave my usual door approach, bore my testimony on the Book of Mormon, I don't usually ask the question of "Would you like to learn more about the Book of Mormon" I usually just ask what time would be best for us to come back and teach them more, but I asked if she wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon... the reason I don't often ask it that way is because everyone always says no to that, but she said Yes! I was shocked, I didn't exactly know what to do, her husband wasn't home so we couldn't go in and teach her, so I asked if we could come back in a couple of hours. We grabbed someone from the ward and came back later that day, we taught the first lesson and it was amazing! She said that her and her husband had been praying to find a church that they could both attend together, and that maybe we were an answer to that prayer! She had a few issues with the church, she did however say she believed that Joseph Smith was probably a very significant prophet. What is wrong with everyone here? everyone says that!!! Yeah it's great to hear, but its so weird to me! If He was a Prophet, than the church he started is OBVIOUSLY true, right? She said that there are probably a lot of prophets though, and that she wasn't sure it could all just be in one church, she thought we were too centered on Joseph Smith, I think she thought the Book of Mormon was about him, we dispelled some of those concerns, and she is excited to start reading the Book of Mormon, she has a great amount of faith and has said that she knows that God will answer her prayers. I'm so excited for her and her family!

Speaking of people who believe us, we tracted into another lady, asked her if we could come back after she agreed with what we taught on the doorstep, and she said no. We then talked about prophets, and asked her why we would need a prophet today, she gave a sunday school awesome answer, she knows we need a prophet today, she believes the Book of Mormon is probably the word of God, and the Joseph Smith was probably a prophet, so we asked again "Can we come back and teach more" again she answered NO! I am still confused!

We are led by the spirit here in Arizona, we prayed where to tract, we found someone to teach, we asked him to be baptized, he said yes... that was Kelly... again we prayed where to tract, we were led by the spirit, we found a family to teach, we taught her that day... every day I see the hand of God in all that we do, He is truly at the head of this work, I know that. Oh I love being here teaching the gospel, I love finding new people to teach, I love seeing families come together in unity because of the gospel!

Interesting note for all the Turleys, I think I mentioned Bob Gibson last letter, well it turns out he also knows Grandma! he was surprised when I told him that she married grandpa, he wasn't a member when he knew them, but he's a member now. Do you remember him at all Grandma? He said he always played baseball with Grandpa, he said he knew your brothers, he went to school with Gene.

Well that's all for this week, It's been a wonderful week, I wish I could tell all the stories, I don't have time though, I had at least 3 or 4 other amazing experiences!!! One involved inviting someone else to be baptized, who said yes, so we have two with a baptismal date right now. But dang it all, none are coming to church!!!! grrr!!

Love you all,

Elder Martin

Week 5

Again thanks for the comments (Melanie sends them all to me). First, Aubree, I specifically told you and your family about my blog, I made your mom write it down and you were in the room when I told her. I told you when melanie texted me the idea of it, so you have no excuses =] and second, I'm a Martin he he.

Speaking of Turleys... I ran into someone here named Bob Gibson, he said he knew Grandpa and Teddy quite well, it was really fun to talk to him, I'll have to talk to him more and get some dirt!

Well the mission life continues to improve with each day! I love it here! This week has been incredible, with the changes we've made recently in our tracting, the outcome has been immediate. My first 3 weeks here, not a single person let us in their home, no one wanted us to come back, and last week we have had 6 or more people either invite us in, or invite us back, or just talk to us for a while. It's been incredible, we went from 2 investigators to 5 investigators with the potential to have 2 more, so maybe 7. And we keep finding! We find new people to teach every day, I love it! I love teaching, when we don't have investigators to teach, we teach the members. So much has happened this week I can barely even remember it now! We started teaching someone named Kelly, he loves talking to us, has a very open mind, but doesn't really have a desire to go to church just yet. We also tracted into someone named Trent, he's about 20 years old and only believes in what he can see and touch, we teach him tonight! He said he enjoys learning so he'll listen to us, but he's convinced that he wont progress with us very far, he wouldn't commit to pray, he said he thinks its weird to just talk to yourself. I was with my zone leader when we tracted into him, we were on exchanges, so I had a pro =] he got a doorstep prayer, which I offered, and we gave him a book of mormon and a plan of salvation pamphlet. I'm very excited to teach him tonight. Then we have another family that we have dinner with tomorrow, they already seem like they are Mormon, really nice guy, I only met him and his son. I think I heard that his wife is a member, but I don't remember. Anyway, I'm just so excited for the work! I went to bed last night thinking "Oh man, tomorrow's P-day" Don't get me wrong, I am excited to write this and other letters, I love writing letters, but I just want to get out there and find more people! On Saturday we set aside 2 hours to find 3 people. Well we found more than 3, we had so much success on one side of the street, at exactly 4 we stopped having success! The Lord is truly the one who directs this work!

We plan our day the night before, and on wednesday night, and even on thursday we had an hour that we just couldn't figure out what to do! we spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out what we should do during that hour, we came up with nothing. We left it blank, the hour we couldn't figure out was 7:30 to 8:30. At 7:30 that night we received a phone call from our Zone Leaders saying that we needed to go give a blessing, I was given a number to call for more information. I called the number and the lady on the other line was crying and almost even panicking, I could barely understand, but her mom was having a hard time breathing, she was a really old lady and apparently she kept saying she just wanted to die. The old lady was not LDS, neither was any of her family except one of her daughters, the one who called us. So we went to the Hospital and met with the family, they kept telling her to stay, and to fight for her life because they all loved her, and they said "You can't do this to us, you have to stay here" she was getting very aggravated with them, and the Dr even came in and said they were causing problems, her heart beat increased and her breathing became very fast. Elder Campbell was asked to anoint, which meant that I would be giving the blessing. I was nervous, I was in a room with a family who wanted a miracle, and a lady who didn't. As I started to speak I wanted very much to give a blessing of healing, but I could not. I instead gave one of comfort, that she would enjoy the remainder of her time, and that her breathing would relax and that she would be comfortable. A couple of times thoughts came from my own mind of how I could give a healing blessing, but as soon as I was going to put them into words, the thoughts left my mind. She passed away 6 hours later. I don't know what effects it will have on her family, one of the granddaughters is investigating the church. I learned a lot though. It was an incredible experience, it wasn't til a couple days later that we remembered how hard of a time we had with planning out a time for that hour of the day. My mission has so far been full of these kinds of experiences, where the planning is inspired, our footsteps are inspired, and even our words. I have a testimony that God is truly at the head of this work. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I'm so happy to be where I am, while I miss you all, I am where the Lord wants me.

Until next week my friends!

Elder Martin

Week 4

My dear family and friends,

thank you all for your comments! I can assure you that I am fed very well. And this may be of note to those in the family, every time I mention that I'm a Turley, everyone immediately knows a connection, the Turley name here in Arizona is HUGE, some of the most well known people here are Turley's. A Turley started the paulo verde nuclear power plant which is very large. Anyway, I'm famous already here. Oh also something of interest to the Turleys, one of the Elders in my apartment is a Bartlett, He says he knows the name of Joyce and Lester, but not sure exactly why he does. I'll update later on that.

The work continues, and the spirit increases, and my testimony continues to increase! I love being here and look forward to every day. I am always impressed by the members here in Arizona. The Bishops are incredible, and the wards are incredible, the food is delicious and somehow I'm not getting fat! The Lord is truly blessing me in that regard!!!! Must be the lack of a decent lunch.

I've noticed some interesting patterns in missionary work. I think that the Lord places people on the earth almost strategically, every street I tract has a different "theme" if you will. I think the Lord places people based on their spiritual journey. One street I tract will be cordial and kind, but will still turn us away, another street everyone will be rude and just ignore us, another street people will all look through their windows and refuse to answer the door, another street they will come to the door and chew us out for what we're doing, another street will all bring out their bibles and start to bash us... It's fascinating to me that each street really does have a theme or a common factor in how they approach life... there are always a few doors on every street that are different of course, but for the most part one street has similar beliefs and approaches to life.

I had an investigator show up to church yesterday, it surprised us! we didn't even know until after sacrament. It was an amazing experience, it doesn't matter how much we get turned away, how many doors are slammed in my face, how many people laugh at us or mock us, how many people refuse to listen, the second an investigator shows up to church that's all that matters! I'm so excited for his progression, I am positive that he will be baptized, he has an answer just doesn't know it yet! I hope he finds out soon that he knows what he must do.

Well I'm out of time for this week! Thanks for the comments and for listening

Elder Martin

Week 3 or something

Now everybody, if you read this at all, it would mean a lot to Elder Martin if you commented. He mentioned with a frowny face that there was once again, no comments for me to report to him.
His letter:

It feels as though I've been out here so long already and have so many experiences! I love being here, I love Arizona, I love the people and I love the gospel! I love teaching, more than anything I just love teaching the gospel! It's so hot, but I love the heat in a way, I hate the water though, that's one thing I don't like. Ugh, gross water.

STORY TIME!!!

Yesterday my companion and I were tracting and this guy comes out and says "Oh, you're mormons huh?" and we were both thinking "Oh dang, here it goes" we ended up having an incredibly good conversation with him! he likes our view on the Godhead, his sister or cousin is a pastor and once told him "It's like you, you are a father, and you are also a son of someone" and he said he told her "Well yeah, but I'm not my own father! you're crazy" he had a good grasp on religion and the bible, but didn't want us to come back... we're going to go back anyway and talk to him some more, he needs to hear the plan of salvation. We had another person yesterday (oh wait, the other story was two days ago) who I talked to and she listened, and afterwards she said she was busy but my companion asked her what question she would ask if she knew we were true representatives of Jesus Christ, she said "Well, I don't doubt that you really are representatives of Jesus Christ" We can't figure out why she would see that in us, but not want to know more!! We're going to go back there as well.

Our investigators are few. We taught the first lesson to someone last tuesday, her name is Sunday. She's only taking the discussions as a birthday present to her friend, but she is incredibly smart!! She talked to us about the pre-existence and the war in heaven and the fall of lucifer, she talked about giants in the bible and the archaelogical proof of their existence today, she believes Joseph Smith was probably inspired, but doesn't believe in organized religion. We teach her again tomorrow. We have one investigator who believes what we are teaching him, but he said he doesn't feel its important to get baptized, and another investigator who says he just hasn't received an answer yet, but is reading the Book of Mormon.

A couple sunday's ago we were in church greeting people and in comes this lady and says "Hi, I'm Shana, I'm just investigating" so we talk to her a bit and make her feel welcome, she sits through all of church and we talk to her after and she says "Well, my friend introduced me to the gospel, but I had a few hang ups with it, but I just had an experience, and now I'm ready to get baptized." We were floored! GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!!! We asked some more questions, she has a testimony, she knows it is what she wants in her life, she is committed, and there is nothing holding her back. But then we learned she isn't even in our area! ARGH so someone else gets to teach her, but oh well, what is important is that she found the gospel. At my apartment, I was coming back from checking the mail (I didn't get any... slackers... well there are a few who aren't, and you know who you are... the rest of you though.......) anyway... no mail, walking back and this black kid with baggy shorts blaring music, and tons of gold in his ears and mouth comes to me and my companion and says "Will you teach me about Jesus". We first thought he was just messing with us, setting us up for something, but we teach him anyway, and it turns out he really does want to know. AGAIN NOT FROM OUR AREA!!! Two golden investigators, who we have to hand off to someone else.

Well, I love the gospel, I am glad they found it, I am glad I have it in my life. My testimony grows every day I'm out here, when we teach about the Savior, or about Joseph Smith, the spirit is always present, its amazing to have the spirit present so often in my life. I love this experience so very much!

Elder Martin