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