Home at Last

This is probably the last post I'll do, (though Jason may decide to do some) because Elder Martin is home and has been released.
Here is the post from the mission blog about Jason's departing group. http://azphxmission.blogspot.com/2012/06/departing-missionaries-june-2012.html

Week 102

Well here it is.  My last entry.  My last week. 

My mission has been one incredible experience after another. I will do a recap of my mission.

I was called to serve in the Arizona Phoenix Mission, the APM, the Number One Mission in the World! I arrived at the MTC on June 23, 2010, it seems at times a very long time ago, and at other times, just yesterday.  I met my two companions, Elder Paulson and Elder Carlson.  Elder Paulson sadly didn't make it out of the MTC, that was a difficult experience. 

I arrived in Phoenix on July 13, 2010 and as I recall it was 114 degrees... an average day.  That very day I met my companion and trainer, Elder Campbell, I spent 3 months with him.  I was assigned to the Waddell ward as well as the Cottonflower YSA ward, and I served in those two wards for 14 months.  Waddell is my home away from Idaho.  I would live there if it weren't in Arizona! That is where I would say I experienced the most growth as a missionary.  I had 6 companions while I was there, two of whom I trained. 

On September 7, 2011 I received word that I was going to be transferred.  Very hard to leave my area.  I promised the people that if I served there more than a year, I would tell everyone that I served in the Arizona Waddell Mission.  Thus, I was called to serve in Phoenix, but served mostly in Waddell.  I was reassigned to serve in Cottonwood.  That was my dream, if I left Waddell, I wanted to serve in one of two places.  South Phoenix, or Cottonwood.  I struggled in Cottonwood, it was hard to love the people.  That has changed.  I very much love the people here, and it will be very difficult to leave.  I have served here for 10 months.

I have met many people on my mission who have influenced my life forever.  From members, to non-members, to missionaries.  Many people I know I will never again see in this life, and some I will make sure remain in my life always.

When I want to complain and whine, I sometimes look at this experience as taking up 7 years of my life, as it took 5 years to come out and 2 to be out here.  I would gladly give another 7 if the Lord asked for it.  This is not the end of my service to the Lord or His church.  I will serve in whatever capacity required, hoping and praying that what is required of me is to be a nursery leader for the duration of my life.  I can never be who I was when I left.  Either I will rise to greater heights, or I will fall from the light, but I cannot ever be where I was when I left.  I have learned too much to not be a missionary always.  I have gained and experienced too much to not try the rest of my life to repay the Lord.

My testimony at this time is unshakable, as it is built upon the Rock of my Redeemer... yet I know that such a testimony can once again become fragile.  I know through the whisperings of the Spirit that Jesus Christ is the Savior of my soul, and of this world.  I know that Joseph Smith is His Prophet, and the Prophet of the Restoration.  The Book of Mormon IS the word of God! To deny that is to deny the power of God, as well as reality.  It proves itself on every point.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Gods church on the Earth today.

Elder Jason Martin

Link

Here is a link to the mission blog. Elder Martin is a big part of the most recent post. Check it out.
http://azphxmission.blogspot.com/

Week 101

What a week! I wish I could put it all down right here, but I haven't the time.

 

It all started on Monday.  Cause that's when the week starts for me.

 

It really began tuesday though, we had a meeting tuesday, and then I rushed to waddell! I had a wonderful evening of visiting old friends and investigators.  I learned that one of my recent converts has already been through the temple!!! What incredible news! I was so happy.  Speaking with other families this week, I found that two are preparing to go to the temple later this year.  It was so good to see everyone.  The meetings throughout the week were pretty good as well. 

 

Saturday I was asked to speak at a funeral! I had never even heard of the guy, there were about 10 people who came, it was pretty sad.  I taught the plan of salvation to all in attendance, it was a little bit awkward, but that's quite alright. 

 

Sunday I played the violin in a trio in sacrament meeting, it went really well! it was a lot of fun, I sure do like that instrument, and music in general.  Ah, I wish I had more time to go into more details on my week.  It was such a good one!

 

Church is true, next week is my last entry, its been good!  Real good.

 

Elder Martin

Pictures from the mission presidents wife's blog

Week 100

Whoa, 3 weeks remaining! I don't know what to do or think right now.  It doesn't feel like I'm going home soon, because nothing has changed! But I guess that's good, every now and then I get glimpses of reality and understand the fact that I wont be doing this full time anymore. 

 

This has been a good week mostly.  First half went well.  Thursday Elder Fluckiger got really sick, and carried it into friday.  He then passed it on to me and I have been sick ever since! Saturday was miserable, Sunday was awful, and today isn't as bad.  Saturday I spent all day in Mesa! That doesn't happen often.  Elder Fluckiger had a recent convert who was going through the temple to be sealed and they invited us.  Whenever a recent convert is sealed we get permission to go to the temple.  That is the only time for those in cottonwood, except Christmas.  It was awesome!! Except for the fact that I felt like I was going to die.  I had never seen a sealing session before.  Very strong Spirit!! That's a really neat ordinance!

 

Sunday I didn't stay for all of church, I think that was the first time ever on my mission.  I haven't slept for a few days.  I should be good by tomorrow I hope.  Next sunday I am playing a violin trio for sacrament of If You Could Hie to Kolob. It's an incredible arrangement, and its starting to sound really good.  Some timing issues, but we're working them out.  I'm excited for it.  These things are great tools to convince investigators to come to church! HA, Isay Pop who hasn't come to church since October has agreed to come.

 

Hmmm... what else has happened? Not much, but this week will be super busy, we have 24 hours worth of meetings crammed into 3 days.  Should be really good! I'm actually excited, normally I don't like meetings... okay ALWAYS I don't like meetings, but I'm excited for these ones. 

 

Sorry for a super short entry! But that's what you get today.

 

Elder Martin

Week 99

Melanie here. Be sure to read this post and the previous one. I posted them both today because somehow the letter from last week was deleted from my email or something and I had to have Jason send it again. Here is this week's:

It's been another great week as a missionary! I usually get pretty tired of my companions after about 6 weeks... still goin' strong! my companion is awesome.

 

Wednesday marked the 23rd month as a missionary for me! That day we got a referral, which does not happen very often.  Oh side note... so I was talking to my companion, who served in Maryvale... south phoenix area, and apparently in parts of this mission, there are a lot of people to teach! I never knew, he said they would get 5-6 media referrals a day... which means that they get a text on their phone saying someone wants a book of mormon or something like that... he got more in the span of 2 days, than I have seen in my entire mission.  Sometimes I want to be bitter about it, but then I remember I have had a perfect mission, so I'm happy.  So anyway, we get one of these, for me, rare referrals and we go to the house.  House is out in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road, it looks like a scene from a horror movie as we are walking up to the house, I step on the porch, I look down and see a giant chain.  Oh no... Chains that size usually lead to very large dogs.  I quickly assess the situation and realize that the chain is plenty long enough to reach me.  I follow it and find that underneath the trailer the chain is indeed attached to a large dog.  I see my companion looking at some dog remains, and coming to the same conclusion as me... I point out the dog to him and we both stand in horror! I notice the wind is at my back, driving my scent right into the dog's face... he knows we are there.  The dog stands up and pokes his head out.  This isn't just a dog, its a huskie! But oh, what's that? the dog is BLIND! Doesn't stop him, he comes out, my companion books it... but not very far, and I am still on the porch... He's not making a move to eat me, so I knock on the door, which alerts him to my presence.  Turns out, he's a very nice dog! and a very poor guard dog.  The lady was nice said we could come back but that it was a bad time for her.  Story end=good.

 

Thursday we had my last ever Zone Conference! it was the greatest one I've ever been to.  Some of my favorite missionaries in the world were there, and it was so good to see them all and talk to them, I got a lot of pictures afterwards.  I remember at the very beginning of my mission thinking "Man, I hate these meetings, I dont' know ANYONE" and now I know almost everyone, except the ones who are now where I was saying "Sheesh, I know no one".  It was a wonderful day.

 

It was a good week.  I am not sure what this week has in store for me, but next week is going to be awesome I think! Talk to you next week.

 

Love,

Week 98

Well, transfers came and went, and that was the last transfer meeting I will ever attend.  It feels so weird to literally be on the last leg of my mission! After waiting for so long, its finally come and now its gone.  I understand why missionaries get trunky... but I don't at the same time.  It depends on what people mean by trunky.  Excited to go home? Then yeah I'm trunky... but when I see trunky I see it as, can't focus because they only think of home and going home, so they become lazy.  I don't understand that.  The mission will end when it ends, thinking about it wont make it come faster, in fact it will make it go slower.  My thoughts are more "hmmm, not sure if I accomplished all I wanted to, better try harder these last few weeks." I will certainly miss what I do.

 

I got more shots on wednesday in my feet.  It wasn't so bad this time at all! I think they have been successful. 

 

We got 3 brand new missionaries in our zone! It's fun, we have a good time.  We'll see if that does anything, hopefully so. 

 

Hmmm what happened this week? I had some good stories.  I get to play the violin soon in a musical number, so I'm borrowing one for practice, that's fun! haven't been able to really practice yet, but I should get sometime today, it being p-day. 

 

Saw a sweet eclipse yesterday.  The smoke made it cool.  So... apparently there are some pretty bad fires here, I don't know anything about it though! yet its practically in my backyard, its always smokey and there are towns in our zone that have been evacuated.  So its pretty close. 

 

Had a really cool meeting last night... sometimes its cool to go to meetings, usually not.  This meeting was neat because it was all the Bishops in the stake and their counselors as well as the ward mission leaders, the stake presidency and someone from our mission presidency.  I've been in meetings with important people before, but that was a large group of important people, it was really neat. 

 

I wish I had more to write.  But not this week.

 

Elder Martin

Week 97

Welp, it appears that I will be 'dying' in cottonwood! Transfer news came, and I am staying.  I will finish with these statistics:

 

Areas: 2

 

Companions: 9

 

Mission Presidents: 2

 

Pairs of shoes: 3

 

How strange, I start my last transfer as a missionary! It seems like I just started writing on this blog... yet at the same time, it feels like I've been here forever! I used to always say "Sheesh, the MTC seems like just a week ago." Well, not quite anymore, it was a long time ago!!! I must say I feel really weird, I don't think I will really have any trouble 'adjusting' like many do, probably due to me being older, but it will definitely be strange.

 

Ah, once again I forgot my planner, cause I made a new one.  What happened this week? There was a baptism in the spanish branch, I have a really good friend in that branch who only speaks spanish, and I only speak english, he is about 65 and the epitome of an old mexican guy.  Thick mustache, he actually looks like most drawings you'll see of an old guy in a mariachi band! He was making fun of me the whole time in spanish, it was quite funny, and he would try and speak english and say to me that I am 'too much ugly' but in reality we are best friends.

 

We might be teaching some really cool people soon who will be super prepared for the gospel.  One is a girl who keeps asking her friends about the church and about meeting with us, but like usual, people withhold them from the gospel.  Please don't do that... its not up to us to decide when they are ready. 

 

Allergy season = bad news for Elder Martin! Yesterday was really bad.  Who said that dry weather means less allergies? FALSE! I have never dealt with it more in my life.

 

I have to say... the church is True.  There is no way its not true, its funny how much evidence there is, yet people refuse to see it! there was someone we talked to the other day who was very adamant that we were going to hell, we had quite the discussion with him, it was good, he was at least friendly about it, and we really got into the scriptures.  Yet still he refused to believe, so we bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and left.  During the conversation he said "There is absolutely no evidence archaelogically, linguistically, or any other evidence whatsoever that the Book of Mormon is true." HA, funny that he says that, cause linguistics as well as archaelogy prove that the Book of Mormon is true... but such things mean nothing without a spiritual witness.  Oh I remember how we ended the conversation.  I asked a question "If Jesus Christ personally appeared to you, and you KNEW without a doubt that it was Jesus Christ, and he was holding a Book of Mormon and he said 'This is my Book, it is true." would you then believe? his response was No.  We left.  It's nice to know that at the end of the day, the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true, and no argument that anyone brings up will ever change that.  No amount of pretend evidence will ever change that.  I try to be humble, but I LOVE being right, thus this is definitely the church for me, cause its the right one.

 

Elder Martin

Week 96

Well, another week has bitten the dust... and there is a lot of dust to be bited! How many cringed at that? I apologize, but not enough to change it.

 

I think its been a slow week that has gone by super fast! I dont' remember.

 

Oh yeah, here's the good stuff! BAPTISM! Eddie Lipkeman was ... successfully ... baptized.  Finally.  It took 4 attempts, but he was finally baptized.

 

So, funny stuff.  There have been many times the past month where I have needed things.  "Ah man, my desk is TINY I need a new desk really bad!" and then last saturday a giant desk appears in my life! and now I use the biggest desk in the mission.  "Hey, our investigator needs a dryer..." Boom, driving down the road, dryer out of nowhere with a 'free' sign'.  We snag it.  I can't remember them all, but there were at least 2 other things just like that.  Crazy.  Man, I need a family to baptize! They should now show up.

 

Wednesday.  I got fat.  Morning we go to an investigator and help stack wood for her, we sing her a song and she buys us pizza.  I ate a lot of pizza, but not too much, cause I knew I had lunch scheduled with our ward mission leader in a couple hours.  So we go to panda with him,and I am dying from being so full, its now about 3 in the afternoon, and we get a phone call "Hey, we have you guys scheduled for dinner tonight... how does 5 sound?" Whoa~! outta nowhere! okay, soudns good... never deny free food.  We get so much lately... we will visit someone and they say "Oh hey, we just made this really awesome salsa... how about 2 jars of it for you?" we never buy our own eggs.  God blesses us so much, its awesome.  Being a missionary rocks.  I highly suggest it.

 

My companion has never tasted peanut butter.  WHAT the? Seriously, he hasn't.  He has never once even tried it, he refuses! He's not allergic to it, he just doesn't like the smell.  Well, that doesn't work for me.  He will eat peanut butter.  Apparently everyone his whole life has tried to get him to eat the stuff, and he wont, even almost forcing it down his throat, but alas the beauty that is peanut butter has never graced his tongue.  Well, we shall see.  I have a plan currently in motion that will bring this curse... this drought... this abomination to an end! He will eat peanut butter by weeks end.

 

Well, the gospel is sweet and stuff.  Don't forget that, it really is awesome! I'm so glad to be a part of it. 

 

Elder Martin

Week 95

(Read this in a slow, deep almost gravely voice)

April 26, 2012.  I awoke with a shiver, as the temperature had plummeted to below 60 degree's during the night.  We could almost see our breath, but not really.  I looked at the clock, and with dread realized that I had a mere 2 minutes left for sleep.  We would be arising at 6:00 to exercise longer.  We noted the dark clouds rolling in, and I didn't at that time realize that these clouds were a dismal prediction of the upcoming afternoon.  After our studies, and weekly planning, we had lunch.  More rice... good, I love rice. No, that's right, I don't, but I eat it every day for almost every meal anyway.  After Lunch we headed to Crestview to offer to bless peoples homes.  It started off pretty nice, a young boy named Hayden rode his bike to us and gave us each a juice pouch.  How I love my juice pouches! Went downhill from there. 

 

   "Hello sir! how are you today?" I ask

   "What's your first name!" came the quick and harsh response

   "Ryan" States my companion.

   "And you? Whats YOUR first name?" I had long ago decided that when people demand that information from me, that I would not give it to them.

   "I go by Elder Martin." I said as I pointed at my tag.

   "Oh, you have a tag that says it... sorry.  You Mormons?"

   "Yes Sir." He didn't much like that. 

   "Well I sincerely hope that you can come to know the lie that you are living, and embrace the truth! I will pray for you."

    "Actually, that's exactly why we are here, we wanted to know if we could pray with you and bless your home."

    "That would be as pointless as my wall praying." Wow, that was rude, and not even clever. "You don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God."

    "Well actually, that is all we preach! we know that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and the Son of God, it is the fundamental teaching of our church."

    "No, I once read some literature that said you don't beleive that he is the son of God."

    "Well, we are the official representatives of what we believe, and we are here to tell you that the literature was false, and that we do believe that Jesus Chris is the Son of God."

 

What I wish I would have said was "Yesterday I read an article that said every person in Arizona worships the Sun god, we are here to tell you to stop worshipping the sun god." and maybe he could see how ridiculous it is to believe literature.

   

 

Thus it began.  Every single home, every single person the rest of the day we talked to.  I love days like that! Honestly, I really do.  I prefer people to be interested, but if not, then I enjoy the angry ones.  I got a little frustrated at one home though, I don't like when people bad mouth Joseph Smith very much.  We were talking to this naked dude (he had a towel on) and he kept saying how horrible our church was, and the leaders.  Then he said

 

  "Now, its not you guys that are bad, you are just tricked.  It's Joseph Smith that's bad.  I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now." I got a little bit sarcastic

  "Yeah, living in the presence of God, that must be a tough gig!"

 

He didn't like that, and promply closed the door.  Ah, I have yet to require the appropriate mouth filters that are needed as a missionary.

 

I couldn't believe how many people on that road were the same way! most just slammed the door... we dont' often get slams, just slow closes.  So that was fun.  I love being a missionary! (No sarcasm, I seriously love this stuff!)

 

So Eddie asked me to baptize him, I'm pretty excited about that.  When I first met Eddie, I thought he had no interest or desire whatsoever.  He has completely changed, I'm excited for him.  He's 14, and not many 14 year olds care... in fact that is where he started.  "Have you ever wondered about God, or why you are here on earth? or about anything like that?"  "No, I just play video games".  Awesome... this is going to be good.  Turns out, it WAS good!

 

Well, that's all for this week...

 

Elder Martin

Week 94

Dear People,

 

Had a wonderful week!

 

Have I ever mentioned a guy named Jim? Maybe not... well he's kinda crazy, but he's quite intelligent.  We've only spoken with him on his doorstep.  Last time we went he said "Call me, and we'll go to a restaurant and meet and talk and have coffee." My response "Well, how about we meet at the church?" "No, I would rather meet at a restaurant... don't worry though, I'll buy the coffee." we informed him that wouldn't work out so well... but maybe he'll buy us a 7up he said... still, I don't like it, you can't really feel the Spirit in a restaurant... But we'll maybe start there and move to the Church or something like that.  Good guy though.  He understands a lot about the Gospel, but he's quite off base on a few things... but that is okay cause he hasn't had the Holy Ghost to teach him, so its expected. 

 

I went on exchanges with the oldest missionary in the mission... and its not ME! Hurray.  My whole mission there have been a total of 3 Elders who have been older than me, and I have interestingly enough  been on exchanges with each one of them.  It's real nice to be with someone over 19 sometimes, not gonna lie.

 

We had a very... bold lesson with one of our investigators the other day.  It's an investigator who has been very dodgy, who is mostly likely trying to join for money type of thing.  But the gospel can change everyone.  He was finally upfront and honest with us, and it was awesome, he basically said "If I don't feel like going to church, I'm not going to go to church! and you can't make me." and then said "I know I'm getting money from the church, and when I dont' do my part, I look like a real bad guy, it makes me look like an idiot." my response "Correct." I shared a scriptures in 2 nephi, the principle of acting or being acted upon, and told him that his whole life he had been acted upon by outside forces, such as drugs, alchohol, and tobacco.  Told him that we can suggest he go to church, and do all the right things, but if he does it for us, or for anyone else, its not doing him any good, but that he needs to do it for himself and his family and for God.  Then Elder Fluckiger shared 2 Nephi 2:27 and told him he's choosing captivity, and that Satan wants him to be miserable.  He indicated that he feels miserable quite a bit, and we told him its his own dang fault.  He said to us "Everyone feels miserable! we all do." We explained the only time you feel miserable is when you are disobedient to God's commandments... we can feel other things, such as pain and sorrow while being obedient, but misery comes from our own mistakes.  It was a very bold lesson, it was fun, and he committed to come to church every week whether he felt like it or not.  He came to church on Sunday.

 

Well.. That is all I think for this week.

 

Peace Out.

 

Elder Martin

Week 93

Okay, lets see what we've got in the planner. Ooooh, we met a crazy guy this week... real smart and kinda neat, but crazy. I love crazy people, they are so fun to talk to... you can actually learn a lot from them too! This crazy guy helped me understand some scriptures that I hadn't understood before, it was pretty sweet.
We re-established contact with Isay... thought he hated us, he wouldn't answer his phone calls, so we just stopped by, he was nice.
 We had a great lesson with Eddie, I thought that he wasn't very interested, but he is showing a lot of interest now, and he is opening up to us, so that's pretty sweet. He came to church on Sunday, and I went with him to class, and their was no teacher, so I ended up teaching class. It was on Jacob somewhere is what the kids said, so I didn't want to teach that, so I taught the Doctrine of Christ, kinda. It was fun.
 Not much happened this week until sunday, we found a few new people to teach, and taught a few people we were already teaching, and also we went to church, so that was good. Oh we got a new ward mission leader. Our previous one has been in for a very long time I believe, sad to see him go, but we are excited about the new one, who looks apparently exactly like Groo? Grew? Gru? from Despicable me... I haven't seen the movie so I dn't exactly know, but apparently its true.
 We play tennis sometimes in the mornings. It's fun. I am not good at it!!! Much worse than when I left even... I have a lot of work to do... that better not be the case with Volleyball.
 One of the Elders that I trained, is now training! That's really exciting, so I am going to include a picture with the three of us. I trained the one in the middle. Hmmm... what else? I'm not sure. That is all for now I suppose.
 Elder Martin

Week 92

My apologies for last week, my entry was quite short, I know. This week has been quite busy! Monday I lost my companion... he went home, so all of monday and tuesday I was with another set of missionaries. I don't remember those days... which kinda worries me, but oh well. Wednesday was Transfer day! Transfer Meeting is my favorite of all meetings. This was another good one! It was one where many changes took place. 8 new Zone Leaders were announced! and 11 new District Leaders. Should be interesting to see what comes of it. We lost a lot of good missionaries as they went home this past week. 2 of my companions left. I received a new companion... I was kinda hoping I wouldn't, but I guess in the end its best this way. I am actually very happy with my new companion, his name is Elder Fluckiger, he hails from Star Valley Wyoming. I really like him! He's very clean and organized, so he will be able to do the things that I am incapable of doing! Specifically; being organized. You'll be surprised to know that I am not the biggest contributor to mess! in fact, I don't make messes anymore without cleaning them up. I'm a little worried about that, but I am pretty sure its because I lived with the Phelps for so long. It was good for me... don't worry, it should wear off someday. But anyway, he's very organized, and I am not... I forget the details, all the little things, but he remembers them. Thursday we didn't get a whole lot done, we had a meeting, and a lot of planning that day, but it was still a good day. Friday we went back down to the valley for a LONG meeting. One of my least favorite meetings, but it was actually very very good! there was some wonderful doctrine taught, specifically about Faith. The Spirit was very strong at this meeting. Saturday was awesome! We had planned to go visit a family in the ward and share a message with them... we don't do that often, but are going to start doing it more. We went in and asked if we could share an easter message with them, they said of course and we sat down. Then the wife said "Oh, I bet our neighbors would like to hear as well! I'm going to go invite them." Wow, how awesome, we are not opposed to such a thing... I didn't have high hopes for it "Hey, we got the Mormon Missionaries over at our house and they want to share a message, wanna come?" That usually ends up with a polite no thank you. To our surprise, they came!! So we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an Easter twist. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I suspect that something will come. So we thought we would try it again... we go to another home, and this time there is a less active member who is also at the home, and we share a message and she ends up in tears knowing she needs to make some changes. So we try again!! We teach another lesson at a home, and there was probably a 10 year old girl that was there as well, and she got a copy of the Book of Mormon... and not from us, and not from the parents, but from the children. It was sweet. Well, I love Easter! It's the best. Have a great week, the church is true, and so is the Gospel. Elder Martin

Week 91

Hmmm... The church is true. Conference was great. I get a new companion tomorrow. Cats are gross. But Dogs are Worse. I love Klondike Bars, and that is all. Love, Elder Martin (sorry next week will be more)

Week 90

Dear World, (Or more appropriately, Dear the 2 people who read this),

So there we were, Elder Davenport and I, sitting in our truck in a very remote area making phone calls.  We chose this location due to the fact that no one would drive by wondering what the heck we were doing.  A grey sedan randomly pulls in and drops off two hispanic girls, probably around 15 or 16 years old.  The car then leaves and the girls sit down on the curb.  We were quite confused, we paused for a moment and watched through our mirrors.  They just sat there for 5-7 minutes, and the grey car comes back, the exact same one and picks the girls up, it starts pulling away and then stops, and doesn't move for 5 minutes! I was starting to get worried that we were about to get shot.  The girls again get out and the car leaves! What the? so the girls sit down again for about 2 minutes, and then they get up and walk up the street and go down another road, and as they are walking they both start walking and spinning in unison with their arms outstretched.  They walk to a small field and stay there for 5-10 minutes at which point the grey car picks them up again and they leave.  It was very odd.  We left shortly thereafter, not going to lie, we had finished our phone calls and just waited for a while to see what would happen.  As we left, we passed a "Guidance Clinic" which had some apartment attachments, I looked up at the windows of the apartments as I was turning and was quite frightened as their was a tall lady standing in the window staring at us! It gave me the chills.  Scary movies never scared me... but things like that freak me out.  It was an interesting experience.

It was a really good week! I went on exchanges a couple of times with some missionaries, and had a good time.  Oh, also I got new glasses, they're pretty awesome I think, and most importantly scratch free! My other ones were so scratched I had to tilt them to look at people sometimes.  It was frustrating.  We started teaching a new family... by family I mean a father and son, the father is a less active member returning to activity, and the son is a non-member who is going to be baptized.  We set a date for baptism that first meeting for April 14th. 

We were asked by a part member family this week to dig a trench for them.  I always love doing service because its something different, and its always good to work with your hands.  This I was unprepared for.  Arizona dirt is more like Cement.  At first we were given a hoe and a shovel, quite disappointing.  Later the husband came home and knew where some pick-axes were, so that helped considerably.  It went mostly okay, except when I would find a giant rock with the pick axe, which was quite often.  My hands still hurt.  We didn't finish the first day, so I went back with another Elder on exchanges and finished.  The second day was worse than the first! but it was kinda enjoyable.

Well, I think that's all for this week.  Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Elder Martin

Week 89

What a week...

 

It started off slow.  I started preparing for a talent show that took place on Saturday.  Monday I went to try and get some background music for a song I was going to sing (I'll explain more later) but was unable to.  Ah, being a missionary sometimes is a handicap, if I could just have had the computer control, I would have been able to get it done that day.  No luck.    Tuesday I went to a different member to try and get it, he got the music for me, so we listened to it in the car on our way home, and it SKIPPED A VERSE! I felt like an idiot, we've tried 3 times to this point, so we call him and tell him its the wrong one, we go back and get the right one.  So, time to practice.  Hard to do as a missionary, cause we have so many other things to do.  I enlisted the help of one 'Elder Morton' from Meridian Idaho, who would be singing some parts of it, we practiced once on Wednesday, again on thursday during our Dinner hour, and then on Friday we had a sound check.  We did the sound check and it went awful! we didn't know what we were doing, so we went and practiced it 3 times and nearly perfected it.  Tried again with the microphones, and it was good! we were excited.  Satruday comes around and we get all of our investigators invited, and all the less active members, hoping that they would care enough to come and support me, secretly also wanting them to just come to a church event! no one showed up!!! It was a stake talent show, so quite a few other people showed up.  I will be sending Melanie some video soon so she can post what occurred.  It was well received, everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  It was a parody of Bohemian Rhapsody, a missionary parody.  It was a lot of fun! had a few mistakes... Elder Morton had 2 lines, both of which he messed up, but he still did really awesome.  I at one point accidentally turned off the Mic.  But it was fun.  Sunday in Sacrament meeting, a high councilor spoke, and for 5 minutes he talked about my song! it was a little bit awkward. 

 

So the weather has been crazy up here lately! Thursday, it was 70+ degrees! it was awesome! Saturday got really windy, Sunday we woke up to snow! and Today even MORE snow! Sedona was hit with a full foot of snow.  Worst part about it is that we live in a terrible apartment! its really not that bad, but the roof does leak, and its right over my BED! thankfully I was able to move it so it just misses me by about a half an inch. 

 

Hmmm, what else happened this week? It was Elder Davenport's Birthday.  On Sunday I stood up in Priesthood Meeting and said "Tomorrow is Elder Davenports Birthday, and he will be accepting Gifts Cards, as well as Cake, or anything that his companion can benefit from".  He got nothing.  I hope I didn't jinx it for him.

 

So we were tracting on Friday, and we walked by this house with a bunch of kids outside, and one just walked out, and we saw the family inside, the mom yells to her kid "And Don't talk to those weirdo's in ties!" ha... thanks lady.  Is it strange that I quite enjoy those situations and stories? they always make me laugh.  We were the weirdo's???? It was 4 in the afternoon and she was still in her PJ's, but whatever.

 

Welll.... I think that is about all for this week.

 

Love,

 

Elder Martin

Week 88

Welp... My week out of hades is COMPLETE!!!! [insert hallelujah chorus here]

 

but seriously, that was one of the longest weeks of my life!!! but so good!

 

Tuesday: Nothing happened

 

Wednesday: Zone Leader Council; longest meeting in the world.  7 hours, normally the meeting I hate most in life, but this time was incredible! we had tracy watson, the head of proselyting in the church come, as well as Lane Steinagal who is the manager of ... something... teaching? at the MTC yes, manager of the teaching department at the MTC, both have been mission presidents.  We spoke for a long time regarding the Doctrine of Christ; Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End.  It was wonderful... for a while I had been frustrated that so many of the meetings I go to haven't been about the gospel, but have been about techniques for missionary work, so this was incredibly refreshing.  I was surprised when the meeting ended.  After that we stayed in phoenix and split with some other missionaries, I went with an Elder Cannon, who I knew really well in my last area, I was very excited and we had a blast!

 

I also had another appointment with a foot doctor on Wednesday.  It hurt.  It was very strange actually, when he pulled the needle out of my foot, I felt a wave of intense cold sweep through my foot, it kinda scared me, so I asked about it, he said "Oops, I guess I got to close to the nerve." sweet.

 

Thursday: Leadership Meeting; 7 hours long.  Almost an exact repeat of the previous day.  We practiced a new contacting method, which I'm excited for, and Tracy Watson called me out of the group to help him demonstrate... I didn't have to do anything but stand thankfully, but I definitely stood up there awkwardly with him for about 15 minutes.  He's the man.

 

Friday: Zone Meeting; 3 hours long.  We spent most of our spare time after leadership meeting trying to change the zone meeting to fit what we had just learned, and then everything we planned for just went out the window anyway.  It was Elder Davenports last Zone Meeting, so he gave his departing testimony.  That's always crazy.

 

Friday-Saturday; Splits with the Assistants; 27 hours long.  All was well, we tried to sneak transfer news out of him, but we were unsuccessful.

 

Through it all, we found 2 people who are going to be baptized, it was very exciting, Martha and Vanessa, and we have an appointment tonight with someone who will most likely be baptized as well.  We are going to soon have success here!  What a good week.

 

Elder Martin

Week 87

It's been a trying week! But a lot of fun!

Most of the week was spent moving.  We moved out of the Phelps home, and into an apartment with the Spanish Elders in the Zone.  We were told we could move in on wednesday a little bit early, so we packed on Tuesday and got everything ready, wednesday came, we went to get the keys, and the news changed.  We weren't allowed to move in until THURSDAY! So we went home and unpacked the things we needed, whined for a few minutes, and then went to some appointments.  Which all happened to cancel.  Wednesday started out real good though, we had a good district meeting, and then we went to pepe's cafe for a district lunch.  Oh... back up for a minute.  So my good friend Elder Nelson has moved to prescott (By the way, did anyone know that Brother Decker is now Bishop Decker?) we still talk often, and he's probably my favorite missionary of all times, so his mom came to visit this week! not him, just his recent converts and things, so Monday night we had dinner with her, it was a lot of fun.  Tuesday we saw her as well, and the connolly's who the other missionaries stay with.  Wednesday at pepe's Sister Nelson and the Connolly's show up! it was funny, but awesome cause they paid for all of us! I was then hailed as a hero as it was my inspired suggestion to eat there that day. 

Thursday we actually got to move.  Friday we were informed we couldn't use our shower until Monday! WHAT? how frustrating, I guess every time we took a shower, it would leak to our downstairs neighbors...whiners... So this weekend wasn't very fun, but oh well.

We have a less active member we are working with who called us one night in near tears, he asked if we could hurry to his house and give him a blessing, so we rushed over.  He has been having a lot of headaches lately that have lasted for about a week.  In the past he fell off a 50 foot cliff and lived, he fell off a moving vehicle and lived, each time it caused some brain trauma, but no damage.  So the Dr. told him he is in danger of an aneurism and he didn't much like that news.  He was frantic in fact, we thought it would be a good wake up call for him.  2 days later we went over and he was drunk.  Dang it.

I swear I had so much more to say! but I can't remember.  I need to write things down more I guess.

Elder Martin

Week 86

Editorial: This was supposed to be published last week, but I guess I didn't do it. Sorry!

It's time to report on my week.  This time I have my planner on hand, so I should be able to recall a few more stories.

To start, transfer week was fun! I always love the transfer meeting.  It's fun to see where everyone is going, and who the new companionships are.  This was an interesting one.  So how transfers work is; on tuesday morning we receive the news of who in the Zone is being transferred.  That's all we know, is that they need to pack.  They don't know who their next companion is, or where they are going to go... that is all found out at the transfer meeting.  At the transfer meeting, the new missionaries are introduced and then the new companionships are announced, they will go Zone by Zone, and say "In the Cottonwood Zone, serving in the Mingus area, Elder Martin will continue serving there with his new companion Elder Davenport" and that is when you find everything out if you are being transferred.  So this time, they said "In the Prescott Zone, in the something area (can't remember) Elder Keele will be serving with Elder Hohman".  Following some confusion, President Taylor then said "You didn't know you were being transferred did you?" to which the missionaries said "No." "Well that's because we just made that change, here's the plan, you will go home for 2 days and pack and then head up to prescott.  Ha, it was crazy.  Transfer week is stressful, until you get the news, and think  "Oh good, I don't have to pack, I'm staying here for another 6 weeks." But no one is safe any longer, its funny.

After transfers I had a Dr. Appointment for my feet which are still hurting tremendously, and have been for the past 8 months.  I got a shot of cortisone in each foot, which is supposed to take away the pain within 48 hours... first time I did it, it was miraculous and I couldn't feel any pain for 3 weeks.  Well its been almost a week and there is no change, if anything I feel like my feet are now angry at me, they hurt even more.  I don't go back to phoenix until middle of next week, so hopefully I can resolve it then.

Thursday we visited an investigator named Rona who is awesome.  She just doesn't think we have anything that she needs.  She practically lives the gospel, she obeys all the commandments, I suppose with the exception of being baptized and partaking of the sacrament.  So we teach her about the Restoration, and she says its all good and stuff, but she still doesn't see how it will change her life, or why she would need to be a part of it.  So we went into bold mode a little bit.  She has heard a lot about the gospel from previous friends, we asked if she had heard of the degrees of glory, which she had, which her friend once told her "You are solidly in kingdom two right now".  We talked about how without the gospel, you can still be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven, with consideration to the Terrestrial or Telestial Glories.  But to be able to live with your family for Eternity, as well as live forever in the presence of God, you must be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and receive the blessings and ordinances that are only found in the Temples.  She said "Okay, I guess I have a few things to think about and pray about." Good!!! Before she saw no need to even search, and now she see's the need.  If she prays about the Book of Mormon, then the problem will be solved.  How nice that that solves all problems.  The Book of Mormon, the ultimate Panacea.

Saturday and Sunday was stake conference.  I loved every minute of stake conference! the talks were incredible.  I literally had a front row seat, which helps a ton! It was the perfect setting for investigators.  What a shame none of ours showed up.

Well, that's all for this day, I will talk to you the next time I write.

Elder Martin

Week 85

Well, its transfer time.

Great news, I am STAYING HERE! and so is Elder Davenport, so I will be his last companion, and I will most likely end my mission in Cottonwood, which means that I will have spent my entire mission in just TWO AREAS! I was in my first area for 14 months, and my second area for 10! most people don't stay even 10 months in one area, most people think 6 is a long time.  I love my mission, I love the places I have served, and am so excited to be here in Cottonwood still.  We have the best area in the mission, we have beautiful Sedona, and Mingus mountain, we have the Verde River... okay that's nothing to brag about, its called the Dirty Verde, its a gross river.  But we have the best missionaries in the mission, and an incredible Stake President.  All is well, but will be better.

So its been a crazy week, once again I forgot my planner, so I will have to try and remember everything.

I have had some incredible studies this past week, and have learned a lot! I love the gospel! I love the scriptures!!! God has hidden so many little treasures throughout the standard works, and you can't find them unless you search, I can't wait to find more.

Some missionaries in my district kept telling me about a guy named Bob.  They said "Elder Martin, you have to come with us! we can't answer his questions, you can convert him." Obviously not true, but he had questions that I had answers to, mostly regarding the apostasy, so I said I would love to go.  Well, it turns out Bob is a 19 year old Sophist who thinks he's the man, and also he's a Taoist.  Which was a recent change, he has been a lot of religions I guess.  So we go over there, and apparently the missionaries kept saying that I would answer all his questions, so he already had an expectation that was not going to be easy to meet.  He was an idiot! The discussion went over an hour, and I was getting fed up with it, cause it was just ridiculous, not once did he have a question regarding the scriptures, he was all about energy and how God is just energy, he was also big into reincarnation.  This may have actually been my first "Bash".  I've gotten in arguments before, but I straight out told him "Reincarnation is false." He didn't like that, to which I said "Truth is what it is, and it doesn't care if you like it or not." He talked about how he was confronted by a demon, and he said "Tao protect me" and he saw a big hand come out and snatch the demon away, and how tao is very powerful.  I told him that the power of God far outweighs the power of any other force or false god.  He also didn't much like that.  He didn't like that God wasn't a piece of energy, and that we say He has a body of flesh and bones, he says that is way beneath God.  We entertained him for the first 45 minutes, and we were tactful... after that the gloves came off, the last 15 minutes I think were absolutely brilliant... there were actually 4 missionaries there, and we all bore testimony of the truth of what WE were teaching, and told him there is no other way nor name given.  It was honestly fun, but frustrating. 

I am so glad there are normal people here too! We had a wonderful baptism of Deanna on Saturday.  It's been a lot of hard work here, and finally there was a pay off.  It was so wonderful to see her baptized, and then confirmed the next day.  Elder Davenport baptized her, and I confirmed.  When those things happen, it outweighs all the hardships and the long days! As always, the water was almost scalding when we filled the font, and almost freezing when she entered the font.  I find it amusing. 

I wish I had more time, but again I am running short on it.

Elder Martin

Week 84

Should I tell you of my week?

 

Okay, I can't remember everything.  I could just lay out our entire day for you! Nah, that would be boring.

 

Speaking to an investigator, she told us of an online college that I might look into when I get home, its called Western Governors University.  Anyone heard of it? It's stationed out of Utah I guess, and it sounds quite interesting, at least for Generals, take as many classes as possible in a 6 month period, and it costs $3000.  May look into that when I arrive at home.

 

Friday we had Zone Conference, it was awesome, we got to go to Prescott! It was a lot of fun.  After that, I got to go on an exchange with one of the Assistants to the President.  I taught him how to be a good missionary. Ha, Just kidding, but we had a really good time together, I enjoyed being with him.  Everything fell through the next day, but that's alright, it was still a great day.

 

What an exciting day yesterday was!! Our investigator Deanna was interviewed for Baptism! She will be baptized this Saturday, I am so very excited about it. 

 

I can't believe how fast everything is going! another transfer cycle is almost over, If I survive this transfer, I will most likely end my mission here in Cottonwood, which would mean I spent 14 months in my first area, and 10 months in my second! how awesome would that be?

 

Well, that is all I have to say at this time.

 

Elder Martin

Week 83

What a fantastic week this has been!

So the past many weeks have been very very slow! Satan really has been working hard on all the missionaries and their efforts here in the Verde Valley, but we just got an eviction notice for him, and have booted him OUTTA HERE! Well, we're still working on that, but it seems like it, cause things have really picked up! Last week was pretty rough, we had 3 people who had a date for baptism either move their date, or move to Oklahoma! the one who moved to Oklahoma did so without notice, and without telling the missionaries, and it happened THREE DAYS before he was supposed to be baptized! This week has been such a turnaround, and not only that, the one who moved, just moved BACK and is going to be baptized this Friday! barring any unexpected out of state moves.

On Tuesday we took one of the priests from the ward out with us and visited a bunch of our investigators.  Normally such a thing would be fruitless, and no one would be home, we expected that.  But alas, everyone was home! it was incredible, we went to the last house, and we said "Okay its your turn to choose the scripture." So he chooses Alma 37: 6 which reads  6" Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." He told us the scripture beforehand, and we go in and talk to the guy, Steve, and he tells us about his life a little bit and how he is making the small things too big, and overcomplicating his life, and a few other things, and the scripture fit so perfectly! we talked about focusing on the small and simple things, such as scripture study and prayer and church, and how those things will make life so much easier.  It was a great night.

That's pretty much how the whole week went! We found 5 new people to teach this past week, and set up 3 or so appointments THIS week that should go through.  I can definitely testify that opposition does come before the blessings.  God is really watching over everything, and He knows what is going on, and he doesn't work by the same time standards we do.  We want immediate results and blessings.  God has a better way.

Elder Martin

Week 82

Dear People of the World, certainly I have many followers of the blog from all over the world right? Okay... well maybe instead of anyone reading this, I can use it as a type of Journal! that'll be good.

There were a few great events that happened this week... I know they happened, I sure hope I remember them.

Again, I left my planner (brain) at home, so I will try and recall the things that occurred this week.

Tuesday, I do believe that there was a tuesday that happened this week.  I also believe that we had a lesson with Deanna that day... nay, it was wednesday that we had such a lesson.  We taught the plan of salvation, and the Word of Wisdom, and the Law of Chastity.  How nice it was of Deanna to start LAUGHING during the Law of Chastity lesson.  ... things got awkward... But the lesson has been taught, and she has agreed to live the law!

One of the days this week we had a guy who wanted to be rude.  So he was.  He listed a bunch of things he believes in, and said "did I cover it all? thats all you have to believe right?" I said no.  And it began.  He didn't last long, we just simply said "You also have to do all things that God has asked us to do, which include; Baptism by the Priesthood Authority" He didn't much like that, he said "There is only ONE baptism that needs to happen, and its the catholic baptism." He later, speaking of baptism, said that sometimes for good measure, they do THREE baptisms.  So I said "Wait, but I thought there was only one baptism necessary" he then yelled at us and swore bitterly and slammed the door. 

Hmmm... anything else happen this week? We had a few more stories like the one above, I went on exchanges with an Elder, which was fun, Elder Fagersten who is the man! we had a good time.  There was a baptism this week! but it was an 8 year old baptism, so it had nothing to do with us. 

Sheesh, I can't remember all of what happened this week.  Well, Until next week!!!

Elder Martin

Week 81

Welp.

 

Hmmm...

 

Slow week.  Quite frustrating in many ways.  I have a trend on my mission... every single time that I have 4 solid appointments with investigators in a single day, not just one, but every single appointment will cancel.  We had such an exciting week planned, so many appointments, and so much potential.  Every appointment but 2 cancelled, some people rescheduled, and cancelled AGAIN! its not just us.  I think its the adversary, I had a missionary come up and say "What's up with Cottonwood? is it just me, or does every appointment seem to cancel?" and then talking to other missionaries, they have been struggling as well, and are getting frustrated.  HOW EXCITING!!! Why would it be exciting? well quite clearly because when opposition arises, that means we are on the right path, and that blessings are soon to follow! So bring on the opposition, and get it out of the way so we can have the blessings.  But if not, that's okay to.  One of my favorite scriptures is Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, when they tell the king that they will be spared, and then they use the phrase "But if not".  I also read about the unprofitable servant parable this past week.  I always thought that the unprofitable servant meant a worthless and lazy servant... but I now understand it to mean that as Servants of God, we should not expect profit, or reward for what we do, so I shouldn't be expecting blessings for hard work and obedience, I should just do it for the sake of the Lord and if the blessings come (which I do know they will) then so be it.  But if not... that's okay too.

 

We had one incredible lesson though this week, which was actually last night.  We taught a part member family that I have been teaching since I've been here.  Missionaries before me asked the non-member if they could teach him the lessons, he said "No, but you can still come by and have dinner, and share a message, just not the lessons." so that's what we've done... then we just decided to teach him without permission... not sure if that's bad, but if we don't tell him they are the "lessons" it should be fine.  We first taught lesson 2, which went well, which is the Plan of Salvation.  Then we taught The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith... before we got to the story of Joseph Smith, we set it up for the Spirit (Which is something we just started doing to segway from Apostasy to Restoration) and told him that he would be feeling the spirit as we taught, and explained what he would feel.  I taught about Jospeh Smith, and turned it over to Elder Davenport for the First Vision, he then bore testimony of it, and the Spirit really came into the room very strongly.  We asked everyone how they felt, the non-member said "Very peaceful" we testified it was the Holy Ghost, and the Spirit came even stronger! It was an incredible Spirit in that home, one of the best experiences of my mission.  I absolutely love teaching!

 

I am out of time, so I must go now, that will have to suffice for the week.

 

Elder Martin

Week 80

Let's have a look at the ol' planner and see what last week brought.

Tuesday night we went and visited an investigator Deanna, who we haven't seen in a while, because she kept cancelling appts.  We thought that she was being flaky, but in fact she was not! her reasons were legitimate, and she still wanted to meet with us.  We went without an appt to her house and found her there and more than happy to talk with us.  We set an appt for the following day.  It was a huge relief to know that she was still interested in our message. 

Wednesday was transfers.  As usual it was a good meeting! Got to see a lot of friends and former companions.  Many of my former companions are already home, in fact my first 4 are already home, that's half of them.  As usual, it was a long day, a trip down to phoenix and then back up and sitting all morning, but that is my absolute favorite meeting! I get to see all the new missionaries that come in, and all the companionship changes, its just a lot of fun.  That night we met with Deanna and set a date for her baptism and gave her a calendar that we made for her progress towards baptism. 

Thursday we met with a family we've been trying to teach, but they also cancel every appt.  We finally got in there and had a lesson with them.  They aren't understanding really what we are saying.  They say they agree wih it all.  Yet they wont do anything, or change their ways, and they wont be baptized.  They don't think they need to... which contradicts the statement that they agree with everything we say.  But that's okay, its normal, and the Spirit will work with them.

Friday was interviews.  It was really good, the meeting that went along with it was a really good meeting.  I gave a talk on sanctification, then we had a new missionary give a talk on Miracles, which was really good, and then Elder Davenport gave a talk on having a positive attitude.  Most of it all tied back into miracles.  It was enjoyable. 

Saturday I went on exchanges... sheesh, I can't think of any real good stories to tell! this is a really boring entry, I apologize.  On exchanges we met with a crazy couple! the guy was super hyper and wound up, and the girl was very subdued and laid back, very strange mix.  He told us a story about how an angel stopped a bullet from hitting him, and then how he shot at a guy and it ricocheted off the angel, so he reached around the shoulder of the angel and shot the guy anyway, and then the angel looked really mad.  He was selling drugs... it is highly possible that he may have been doing them as well... or maybe the angel just had slow reflexes... Either way, it was a good story, and the couple was really cool and knew the Book of Mormon was true.  We had a good discussion with them.

Hmmm, I really wish I had some good stories this week.  Kinda boring letter I know. 

Elder Martin

Week 79

"Well, I think we should tract ridgeview" I wisely suggested to my companion. "Okay." it was as simple as that.  The plan: Tract on Ridgeview from the hours of 2:30-3:30 where we would find 1 person who was ready to hear the gospel.  Didn't go as planned.
Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock. (I usually like to knock 7 times).  "GET OFF MY PORCH".  Okay lets try again.
Knock x 7 "You guys Mormons? Not interested." SLAM. Okay, no worries.
" " " " " "    "....." SLAM.  We'll try again.  2 more, just like it.  and again! Knock x 7 "Ooooh hey look at that, you guys are mormons huh?" "Yes sir, what gave it away?" "The goofy outfits.  Tell you what guys, you're wasting your time, I don't have any imaginary friends."  "Well that is very reassuring sir, we teach a message about the reality of God." "Oh I know, but I'm sane, I have my head on straight.  You should try my neighbor, he'll convert YOU!" "Oh you mean Paul?" "Yeah you know paul?" "Oh  yes, we know him... he tried to convert us." "Well, that's all I have to say, goodbye fellas" closes the door... I may have slipped in "Good luck in life." before he closed it and "Good luck in the next life" after he closed it.  His neighbor we knew to be a "Super-Basher!" so we skipped him, and continued to have EVERY SINGLE DOOR SLAMMED.  I was shock-ed.  On the other side of the street, we had pretty good success though.  Let me just say... the most un-elect street in all of cottonwood... next to hermits lane.

Ah, another good story.  This has been a good week by the way.  So, actually its not a good story, its a very sad story.  Baptism of a great man named Jerry.  1 o clock on Saturday.  He is not our investigator, but the investigator of some other missionaries in a different ward... so we get everything ready, and he shows up and is all excited to go! but his best friend can't make it cause she was really sick.  That's a bummer.  Oh well, certainly the ward will support him.  We call the man who is supposed to baptize him, who came from a very long distance.  He heard the wrong time! he heard 2 o clock, but we can't wait til then because there is another baptism at 2 o clock.  So its 12:45 and we go into scramble mode.  He didn't yet confirm that he would be late... but we call later around 12:55 and he says he cant' be there in time.  Ugh! So we say "Okay Elders its gonna be you.  Jerry who do you want to baptize you?" "Oh I don't care, it doesn't matter who does it, it just matters that it happens." What an AWESOME attitude! so its 12:55 and NO ONE is there.  Not a single person other than the Ward Mission Leader and his wife.  So I look at the Elders and say "Who's going to baptize him?" and they say "We don't have time to get a change of clothes." so how it ends up is I live right around the corner from the church.  I was elected/told that I would be the one to do it, I was on exchanges so it couldn't even be my companion.  So the first person I baptize is someone who isn't even my investigator! but I did teach him before and I really like the guy.  So I rush home and get my clothes and get there just in time for the baptism.  Total of 8 people in attendance, 4 of them missionaries.  It was really sad, but a good experience for me.

Yesterday we had an equally bad street that we tracted, but it was worse because I slammed my knee into a stupid door, it still hurts. The person was rude too, so I had to pretend it didn't hurt til I left the area.  Good things happened this week too.  We found someone who will be baptized named Cody.  That's always exciting.

Well I have to go...

Elder Martin

Week 78

So how's the weather? I definitely endured 117 degree days here so I could fully enjoy the winter! New Years Eve, December 31, 2011 it was 70 degrees! I love Arizona.  I'm not going to lie, I'm excited for the weather when I get home, I come home end of June, by that time here in Arizona it will be well into the 100's, possibly the 110's... and I will return to 90 degree weather? maybe it will be that hot? I'm going to have to wear a jacket! But seriously, 70 degrees in the middle of winter is pretty awesome.

Nothing too exciting happened this week.  On I think tuesday we went to visit a potential investigator, and this kid stopped us. "Hey what are you guys doing?" he was definitely challenged mentally, but was quite intelligent at the same time.  We told him what we were missionaries going to visit someone and talk to them about Jesus.  He said "What you guys should do is go around the neighborhood and knock on peoples doors and tell them to believe in Jesus.  I already believe in Him, because I'm catholic." He later tried to sell us some porcelain owls for $350.00!!! and then told us about how much he hates when people buy expensive cars, and how he always shouts at them that they are show offs.  It was definitely the funniest conversation I have had up here in Cottonwood, perhaps my whole mission.  I tried so hard not to laugh, I didn't want him to think I was laughing at him, he was the coolest kid ever.  He was riding a schwinn bike, and we commented on it a lot about how cool his schwinn was... when he was talking about the expensive cars people buy he made a list "Like corvettes, or mustangs, or convertibles, or trucks." and my companion said "Yeah, Schwinns are pretty nice too huh?" he said "Oh yeah, the Schwinn is a really nice multi-million dollar car." He talked to us for about 30 minutes, and told us all the horrible things about his neighbors "Don't talk to him, he hurts his dogs, and he's really mean to me, always giving me mean looks, he's going to go to hell, so he doesn't want to talk about Jesus." So we said "Oh well I think he needs it more than anyone right?" "Oh no, he's a bad man." What a memorable conversation.

Well, I can't believe its already 2012! what a great year to be alive.  I certainly hope everyone has a chance to read through the Book of Mormon at LEAST one time this year, what a magnificent book it is! I have decided to read the new priesthood/relief society manual for the year, about the Teachings of George Albert Smith.  I started it yesterday and am amazed at what a kind man he must have been, my desire is to become like him and be someone that just loves everyone they meet.  It tells of a story where he is informed that his buggy was broken into and someone stole his 'buggy robe' whatever that is... and he replied something to the effect of "What a shame we don't know who did it.  If we knew who it was, we could have given him a blanket, for surely he is cold, and we could have given him some food as well, for he must certainly be hungry." That story really struck me.  I hope that one day I can have that kind of love for everyone.  I believe that by reading this book throughout the year that I will become more Christlike. 

Love

Elder Martin