Week 9: Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning... Finding legos in my stocking! 

 Elder Rivera opening his own stocking in a package from my family

Elder Martin and Elder Cox

Hello Everyone, Happy New Year!

Because all the international college students we normally teach all went home for the holidays, this week was likely the lowest numbers in proselyting for a long while! But this is the last week of the break, and it will certainly begin to string up from here. The BYU English Learning Center, where we've met the vast majority of our investigators, opens back up soon along with BYU's regular winter semester this week.  That should bring a whole new wave of people to contact, as well as our recent converts and investigators coming back into town.  It means we are hoping that this week is the calm before the storm!  Regardless though, this week was still filled with some good teaching and great fun. 

I guess we'll go in order of the week then:

So, on p-day we played some sports and I had my first legit Snowball fight, full fledged, and fun. That night we had a lesson with Toree about the temple, learning in the process that she has a calling now and is preparing to get her patriarchal blessing! Things are moving along so wonderfully with her, just better and better all the time.  Elder Rivera and I come out of her lessons just so stoked that she is continually and proactively improving and learning. She's set an example for me at the very least.  

On Christmas Eve we mostly ran errands, grabbing some last minute Christmas presents, dropping off Christmas cards and having Pho soup for lunch. We then had dinner with a Hispanic family, which was fun and filled with delicious tamales and pasole. Afterwards, we hung with the other Elders in our District.  We also spent Christmas Morning with them, so they served as our family away from home. It was good fun, and both the starry eve night and sunny Christmas morning set a nice backdrop for a wonderful day.

I got some Legos for Christmas, and I was glad to see that tradition was not impeded by the mission! But the best gift was certainly getting to Skype with my family, and seeing them all. It's only been three months, but Sophie sure has grown a lot, and the rest of the family is moving along as they will. It was wonderful to say the least. The rest of Christmas day was relatively chill: we visited people, hung with district bursts, had dinner with the Baird family, and said goodbye to Elder Kim, who was to leave (two years done) the next day.  It seems weird that missionaries I know are already finishing up. In any case, that night back at the apartment as I was finally finding some quiet time to reflect, I read the book of John (finished the next morning) and listening to the Lower Light carols, I ended Christmas Day on a note of the love of Christ and feeling so glad to be a missionary.

The rest of the week we had Elder Cox with us since his Mongolian companion is not out of the MTC yet and Elder Kim had already left. We contacted bishops in our new wards, did some work on Facebook, and had dinners at a nice variety of restaurants.

Our scattered lessons also went well.  We are gaining ground with Diana Fernandez. She was at church again on Sunday and that was good to see. We had our final lesson with Diana Gabriela, as she is leaving Utah for good now, having finished her time here.  She seemed touched by our friendship and concern for her, hopefully it will lay seeds for something more, and we'll keep in touch on Facebook. We also had to help Angel Corrona late one night, as his car got impounded. He was just on his way back from vacation and this will put a major dent in his normal life for now.  Please keep him in your prayers.  He is an honest soul and one of the best people I've met.  It was a nice way for me to spend the night before my birthday, helping out someone I'd grown to love over the mission.

My birthday itself was rather chill, I got birthday wishes from Sister McCune (the mission president's wife) and some investigators too.  We went to the Japanese ward with Elder Cox since our schedules are kind of combined right now.  This actually gives us more to do and works very well.  We were able to have dinner with a Japanese family that night, which was fun and delicious, it's cool to jump into other cultures every now and then as a Spanish Elder.

But yes, now I'm 19, and both this year in my life and this calendar year of 2014 will be entirely dedicated to The Lord, start to finish.   I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve, and as I set goals for this new year to forge me into the best missionary I can be (three month interviews with President McCune on Jan.1st as a matter of fact!), I pray that the Spirit will abide with me as I press forward.

Beyond that, all is well here in Provo! May the new 2014 year be the best, 14 is my lucky number after all!

Best Regards,

Elder Martin

Missionaries for Christmas Dinner

We received an email with pictures from the Baird family, 

who had Elder Martin and Elder Rivera over for Christmas dinner:

Kristine wrote: "We love having your missionaries.  They are AWESOME!"

Week 8: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 Our Missionary Apartment Christmas Tree

(With gifts from 12 Days of Christmas from my family & packages from friends) 

Angel's Baptism Picture

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

All is Merry and bright here in the Utah Provo mission! And Christmas will be no exception, I am finding more and more that being a missionary allows you to say Merry Christmas (or Feliz Navidad) to anyone without any trace of being weirded out.  But yes, the snow is falling again, lots of fun Christmas activities happened this week, and we are filling up the days as best we can in this calm before the storm, because come January not only will everyone be back, but the new semester will bring in a whole wave of new people to teach.  Exciting!  This week also held my three month mark, which is scary because it's going by way too fast.

As for this week though, p-day we played laser tag and that was way fun. We had two zone conferences, one where we had Elder Arnold of the 70 come and teach us, and the other was a Christmas Party, where we walked up and had a talent show,  I played piano while the other elders dressed up and reenacted the Nativity.  Suffice it to say Elder Kim was our zebra-blanket wearing donkey and Elder Rivera was Mary (or María), and you get a good idea of how that went.  We also watched the movie "Up" during the zone conference, and with all the elders pointing out the funny things it made an already good movie great.  Indeed, I got to see a lot of my district this week, not only from the joint meetings or talent show practices, but also from baptismal interviews and helping fill fonts and set up for many baptisms: the UVU Asian missionaries had four baptisms this Saturday alone. This is a busy and exciting mission district to be in for sure!

And my companion and I are not too behind the mark either! Diana Fernandez from Colombia is the only one in her apartment during the holidays, while the others are in Florida (for Oscar Corredor's wedding!)  He plans to be sealed in the temple in 10 months, a year after his baptism), so besides for her hectic work schedule we will be able to meet with her one on one (or two I guess) much more this next week or so.  We committed her to baptism if she receives an answer since her last lesson, and hope to set a concrete date next time.  Toree Coleman is still doing well and we are teaching her the new member discussions (one of which is tonight and about the temple, which is way exciting!)  In fact, her father is also participating in them, which means things are getting better and better.

In other news, we have been combing through our three North Provo family stakes and finding the Spanish speakers.  Most of the Spanish speakers there are already members, which is good as we are building relationships with them through service and visits.  As of yesterday, we have also received two more family stakes, bringing our grand total up to 27 stakes covered!  This includes President McCune's stake, which is fun.  This also means we'll have more families and bishops and leadership to meet, which will be much easier when tithing settlement is complete.

But beyond that, this week was rather chill, but it has given me some good time for reflection and solid blocks of study time, in which I have been continuing to read the gospels and become more acquainted with Christ's life and words.  Throughout the whole thing I am continually struck with really how perfect and farsighted he was and how he truly was the Son of God.  This time of Christmas takes the life of Christ and looks at it at the very kick off, the day of his birth, and with it comes a sort of irresistible hopefulness, like the star that shone above the manger, pushing the night out and making day night and day that seem as one day. I think that's not only miraculous, but symbolical and foretelling of Christ in many different ways. As was so well said in the Carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem, "so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven".  Every string of garland, every ornament, every twinkling light reminds us that it's Christmas time, and that reminds us of Christ.  And as I have said before and will say again, I love being a Missionary.  It's especially great during Christmas, as I get to fill the shoes of the valiant missionaries who years before visited my home on Christmas. It's great to see it from the other end, and I sure love it!

Well, Merry Christmas to all!

As only perfect music is allowed in heaven, let us take the Angel's Chorus as perfect too:
Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace, Good Will to Men!

-Elder Martin

Week 7: For Unto Us A Child Is Born

Hello everyone!

Merry Christmas to everyone, and I hope the holiday season is treating you well! It certainly is for me, though as predicted we weren't as busy as usual, and so there's not too much to say for this week. That being said, it was still a great one and we got some good stuff done.

Much of the day to day was filled with hours of shoveling snow, visiting families the Bishops had referred us to stop by and see either for helping them out or asking about Hispanic families or friends they might have for us to teach. Elder Rivera has also been scoring a lot of lessons on Facebook, and though I have had not nearly as many, in the more down times or while waiting for people to respond I've been practicing Christmas carols on the piano.  I now have a handful of carols down and was able to play piano for District Training Meeting this week. I hope to keep up the habit, and perhaps in time I'll have a belt full of hymns to choose from. In the spirit of service I'd also like to mention me and Elder Rivera's amazing hot chocolate creation we made for the district at that meeting, which was enough to fill 10 missionaries with leftovers.

In terms of lessons, of the few that we had, many were actually canceled or postponed due to holiday festivities. No hard feelings there though, we went to a few of our own festivities! We got to see many Christmas programs and parties this week, and I must say it has worked wonderfully in bringing the spirit of Christmas into this valley.  No where else do I receive a warmer reception to saying goodbye with a "Merry Christmas!"  The carols seem to be showing up everywhere now and the snow just makes it all the better.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year, and it's so fun being a missionary in the middle of all of it!

But once again, this week's highlight was a baptism! This time for Toree Coleman. Having taught her from the first lesson several weeks ago, I'll be the first to say that Toree is a prepared person. Genuinely seeking a way to better her life and put behind her anything that'd hold her back.  In spite of a rough past and a Catholic mother that did not want to have her last daughter to be baptized like her two older siblings before her, Toree chose to fully embrace the gospel and its teachings, repenting, changing, and preparing for baptism.  She was baptized by her father, who had been making great efforts of his own to be prepared to perform the ordinance.  I was able to be a witness with Elder Rivera for the baptism. As I could see her face under the water, eyes closed and face content, I could feel the spirit testify to me of the power and cleansing of this divine ordinance. This will have a huge impact not only in Toree's life, but also in her family's and her many friends' lives. I feel so honored to have been a part of it and an instrument in the hands of The Lord. She was confirmed yesterday by her brother, who also had made his own efforts to be prepared for the blessing. What better than the gift of the Holy Ghost for Christmas?

Well, that's about all I got here, as short as it feels. Merry Christmas to you all, and may your days be Merry and Bright!

-Elder Martin

Week 6: First Snow!

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!

I won't get many chances to say Merry Christmas, so I'm doing it now! Things are wonderful down here in Provo, and the snow just makes it better! That's right, there has been snow on the ground all week and I am proud to announce I am both loving it and not too cold (Granted, we have a car, so w we'll see how a walking area treats me later).  The week went well though.  Our last p-day we went ice skating at 7 Peaks and I only fell twice. Pictures to accompany.

After ice skating, we had a lesson with Toree Coleman, who has been struggling a lot recently and has definitely felt the strong pull of the adversary on her in light of her upcoming baptism this Saturday. However, she has gone through the repentance process sincerely and after another lesson or two and her baptismal interview, she is still on track to be baptized on the 14th. Way exciting!  On a side note, we were at her bishop's home setting up details for the baptism one night, where all the bishop's children and grandchildren were staying, when Santa came to pay the kids a visit! It was so fun to see a family and little kids all excited together about Christmas, and it was fun to be the Elders in this situation--finally being in the shoes of the many Elders we have had in our home around Christmas time.

The day to day things this week involved several "last appointments" since people are already preparing to go home for Christmas, and thus we won't see them again until next year. We've done this with Felipe, Alejandro, and Desiree already, and are bound for a few more next week. With all of them this trip will likely prove a catalyst point to them, since they will either slip off the commitments they have made or hopefully try on their own to bring the Spirit into their lives. Either way, we'll be praying for them especially during this time and by the end hopefully more change will come from it.  In fact, it may be just what we need to shake things up a little with some of them.

Otherwise, we did a handful of snow shoveling activities, which I was so stoked for because I can never get enough service and people didn't take up our leaf-raking offers as much as I would've hoped. Luckily, when it snows, service seems to fall right out of the sky, and I am already convinced from my limited snow experience that shoveling someone else's snow for them is the best way to get warm, period.  Plus, I actually quite enjoy it.  There's something gratifying about shoveling snow that's different from other activities.  Elder Rivera and I want to get our own shovels soon so we can ambush unsuspecting people's homes with a cleared pathway, I'm so excited for it. Good stuff comes out of these service projects too: while we were shoveling for the Minonds, a family from Chile who owns the Pantrucas restaurant in North Provo on Canyon Road by Days Market (so flipping good, all of you need to go there, we get free lunch every week. Tell 'em Elder Martin sent you, haha) we got an offer for dinner by the lady that lived across the street. In the course of a wonderful dinner we not only found out that he was the Bishop of a YSA ward of four of my friends (Traci, Cassidy, Micah, and Ephraim), but also that they had lived near Mom's family in Cairo many years ago, and that they knew my mom and aunts and uncle and grandparents. They attended the same LDS branch in Cairo in the 80s.  The world only gets smaller when you're a member! A picture with Bishop and Sister Riley included below.

By far the highlight of this week was the baptism of Angel Corona.  Elder Rivera baptized him, and I confirmed him yesterday, and both were wonderfully sweet experiences and powerful reminders of how simple yet deep these ordinances and the gospel are.  It was also reaffirmed to me when I saw him reading the hymns before the service began just how genuine he was about everything, but especially about the gospel.  He is a well-liked guy, and had a good turn out at the baptism.  He will be well supported in this momentous step in his life.  He certainly felt the power and witness of the Spirit.  As I mentioned before, he is from Sonora, Mexico, and came up to the US for work, but felt a particular draw to Utah, though he did not know why.  His friend Kianna from the Mexican Restaurant in Lehi where he cooks first suggested that he take the missionary lessons.  Angel started meeting with Elder Rivera a month or so before I came.  Kianna has since left on a mission of her own, but Angel was still quite up for learning, as he felt that things were true and especially that they were good, as in sound, correct things for our lives.  His conversion has been one that been laid out by the Spirit all along the way, and he will be a tremendous influence in the lives of many, I'm sure.  His confirmation was particularly poignant for me, as I had spent two days trying very hard to be extra clean and spiritual to not impede the Spirit and to be able to assist The Lord in Angel's life.  I felt the spirit tremendously and in a particular manner I had never felt before during the confirmation, and although I sound like a broken record, I won't hesitate to say once again that I love the Priesthood.  And that being a missionary is amazing, and one of, if not the best, decisions of my life.  I must say though, I feel bad for those not called to Provo, because they must know that their mission is just not the best, haha.

As a word of parting, thanks so much to the Katy 3rd Ward youth for the Christmas Care Package, it was wonderful and the letters were lovely.  Thanks also to Grandma Wadley for the Christmas Tree! We set it up in true Charlie Brown Christmas fashion.  And especially thanks to everyone for all your prayers for me and missionaries in general around the world as we saw given in the wonderful Christmas broadcast yesterday.  Please know that the prayers do not go unnoticed and that we all are striving to do our best with them, and I am no exception.

And to end with a warning, please know that my snowball threat is ever more real now that there is snow on the ground. I WILL throw snowballs at you if I see you, whether or not you are aware I'm there.  Don't take it personally, but I just can't peg any old person.  Equally however, I will feel slightly offended if you say hi to me and don't throw snowballs at me.  This is a fair exchange here people.  But in the mean time, as was so well repeated at the Christmas Devotional, Here's to Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards men!

Happy and warm,
Elder Martin

Week 5: Thanksgiving Was Amazing. Enough Said.

Hello y'all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Mine certainly was!  Let's start from the beginning...
Because of Thanksgiving break sweeping over a college town, this week turned out to be less busy than usual, as many people went home for the holiday. That being said, there was still a lot of fun that got accomplished. After my email on p-day we again played more Star Wars Episode 1 Monopoly, and then that night pegged quite a few birds with one stone by watching the Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration video in Spanish with three investigators, Oscar Corredor (a recent convert now) and his fiance, a member. I highly recommended everyone watch it, whether in English or Spanish.  I've seen both and both are fantastic.

The next day I got to go on exchanges with Elder Hatch from Arizona, one of my Zone leaders. He is a rock star missionary, actually first came out to Pleasant Grove and lived behind Grandpa Wadley's farm during the summer of 2012, and thus has been out 18 months or so. This was great for me, since he had a lot of experience not only as a missionary, but also as a Utah Provo missionary. I was able to learn a lot from talking with him about everything on how to better improve myself as a missionary, though granted with some differences since I'm Spanish speaking.  Elder Hatch was also a state champion wrestler, and I had a good time asking questions and learning about the sport, which is both quite interesting and as Elder hatch will always mention, draws so many gospel parallels. For example, in wrestling, finding yourself on your knees is the most dangerous position to put yourself in, as it makes you unstable and vulnerable to be thrown down or pinned.  Curious then, is it not, that we kneel when we pray, submitting ourselves humbly and vulnerably to The Lord?

Thanksgiving itself was kicked off with the Turkey Bowl, which was played on a BYU artificial turf field. Due to the sheer numbers of players, I didn't get much contact with the ball, but it was highly enjoyable and fun, and the weather could not have been more perfect, sunny, cool, and with the mountains looking as thankful as ever. We hung out with the UVU Asian Elders until dinner, when we went over to Bishop Bennett's home. They were swell hosts, and the family there was wonderful, many Spanish speaking too. The food was so good and I ate my fill with plenty leftover. Upon arriving home, I sat down and, in the company of my pilgrim hymns and dirges, hammered out a list of things I'm grateful for, found at the end here. It was a good way to end a thanksgiving, and a sore, full, grateful Elder Martin slept quite well that night.

The rest of the days featured sparse lessons and ample personal study, which I found as quite an acceptable adaptation to the times. Reading El Libro de Mormon once again continues to help my Spanish tangibly, down to the very word (orgullo, or pride, was used multiple times in a lesson with Diana Gabriella, and I had learned it only that morning from my reading. She's progressing well too, has many wonderful and specific questions that keep me studying!). We topped the week off with another lesson with Angel, to be baptized this coming week.  In order to have him ready, we had to teach the law of chastity, word of wisdom, and tithing all in one night. To our delight, he was basically already living most of them, had no problems with any, but still had insightful questions that showed he cared. The Lord has truly prepared him, and I am so excited to see how these next few weeks go for him. It is a pleasure and honor to serve in this area, and I am excited to continue to improve so I am able to help others come unto The Lord!

But yes, other than that, the week was rather chill!  So, in lieu of stories from investigators, a little something more about the Provo City Center Temple. The first thing I found to my liking regarding it was an Elder Holland quote I believe from the dedication that reads, "It is inspired to build a temple out of the ashes of the Tabernacle." Such depth in that statement, I don't know where to begin. The second is something I also found regarding the original structure of the tabernacle, which is still applicable to the remaining outer portion today: "...President Young had advised that it be designed with a view to preserving for the youth of Zion a sample of the kind of edifice in which many of their fathers and mothers, as members of the Presbyterian Church, had worshiped before they heard the gospel."

These both coupled with some passages from the article I quoted earlier: "Both were already useful structures, dedicated to serving the Savior. But an extensive renovation process was necessary in order to create something that filled an even higher purpose.

“The first use was very good and very attractive, but the new use will be even more attractive and more important and more divine,” Elder Walker said. Similarly, “When we’re restored or converted, we’ll be the best that we ever were and a little bit better.”  Each individual’s conversion begins at a different starting point. As with the Provo Tabernacle, an individual’s conversion process can involve difficult, painful events.

“No one wanted the fire, but sometimes those crises can cause us to refocus on what our real value is,” said Dean Davies, formerly managing director of the Church’s Special Projects Department and recently called as Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. “Sometimes we have to go through a shock in our lives to reawaken us to what our real potential can be.”

I'll leave y'all to ponder these messages yourself, and keep my own interpretations to myself so as not to redirect your own, but man, "treasuring up the words of life continually" sure does lead to some interesting thoughts!

Now it's time to unpack the Christmas spirit!

With a grateful heart,
Elder Martin



My Thankful List for this year:

The feel of grass, Texas grass or Utah
Music, the specifics of which would require a separate list
Friends and family, who are would require a separate list to name each and every one
Laughter and jokes
Laying down when you're tired
Being full of good food
Ramen
Snow (pending)
Snowball fights (already decided)
The gospel
Prayer
The numerous teachings and scriptures we have, and access to them
Continuing revelations
The light of knowledge
Paper and pen, "which have enlarged the memory of this people"
Tul Pens
My investigators and people I'm teaching, who would also require a separate list
Stories and experiences
The mountains
Memories
Seasons
The temple
Covenants with The Lord
Progression and improvement
Trials and afflictions
My trainer, Elder Rivera
My time at the CCM and the people there
My time in the field so far, and my friends there
The chance of enduring the cold
Different peoples and cultures, which would require a separate list to specific each and why
My native people and culture
Language and the gift of tongues
Art and other mediums of expression
The atonement and my savior, Jesus Christ
My country, the United States of America
My home, Texas, and especially Katy
History, and all we can learn from it and compare by it
Holidays, all of them (the specifics would require a separate list)
Getting warm after running around in the cold
The rain
Clouds
Patches of clovers in the grass
Names for different specific things, like certain actions or feelings
Proper nouns, and names for mountains and people and lakes and rivers and areas etc.
God's love and plan for us
The simplicity of the gospel's core, and the infinite glory and embellishment surrounding
My ancestry
The trees, in all their kinds
Deep blue, particularly the hue Ultramarine (look it up)
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
Pokemon
Avatar the last Air Bender
Legos
Jurassic park and dinosaurs
Wit and wisdom
Dúnith: The Black Mazda 3 hatchback I drove at home
Being a missionary In Provo Utah, the greatest mission on earth, having been called there by an Apostle of God, and being directed, trained and surrounded within Provo by fellow servants of God
Feeling the Spirit
That I still have 22 months of my mission left!

Week 4: Thanksgiving is Nigh

Well hello friends and family!

It's great to be a missionary in Provo! This week was quite eventful, and as such went by quicker than any before. I guess I'll just mention everything as it comes to me, and not in chronological order. To begin, I have slowly been working my way through El Libro de Mormon, and already I feel that my ability to understand and speak Spanish is markedly improved, though I do feel that this was the right time to start reading it in Spanish.

We had a powerful lesson with Alejandro Herrera this week about God being our Father in Heaven, and that families can be together forever (which I felt I was able to contribute to better than other discussions).  The same applied to our lesson with Diana Gabriela.  Our lesson with Desiree Arredondo was my first (and unfortunately I feel not my last) in helping her deal with a member who had offended her.  Just a reminder to everyone that people watch us as members of the church, especially here in Utah.  She luckily is very sincere in her desire to learn about the gospel, and we helped her work over it.  She is progressing nicely, though, and will go home for the winter holidays for a while, so we won't see her for too much longer.

Last p-day, the Elders in my district got together to play Star Wars Episode 1 Monopoly again, which I won with heaps of luck.  It is a nice saving grace that in an area of 25 stakes and countless people to meet, I can make lasting friends with the other Elders in my district, and at my first Zone Conference we had a lot of fun learning how to be better missionaries. On that note as well, Elder Rivera and I have begun an initiative to meet with all of the Bishops in the wards we cover, starting with the family stakes we have in North Provo. It has been a great opportunity to get to know so many fine servants of the Lord, who know their wards like a shepherd knows the quirks of all his sheep. It has given us not per se many investigators, but plenty of people to strengthen and serve, especially as the winter snows loom near.  (I am so stoked for my first real snow, woe be unto any within snowball range when it comes).

We have continued to try and build a friendship and spiritually encourage Diana Fernandez, who still has not made the leap into baptism,  but we do not want to rush her in. Toree Coleman, the American girl we're teaching, finally came clean with her Catholic mother and told her of her decision to be baptized. It took some time for the dust to settle, but we'll be meeting with her again tomorrow. We feel confident that her faith will sustain her in these hard times.

Hard times came as well to Alex, a Russian returned missionary who was part of our Sunday night blessings we gave a couple of weeks ago.  He had been feeling some very negative influences on his spirit and in his apartment. He asked us for an emergency blessing and we came right away. Elder Rivera gave the blessing and took the brunt of the negative casting-off, as Alex trembled and wept. By the time it was over, a sense of stillness, like after a loud noise finally turns off, engulfed us, and with the space that he cleared, I was able to bless his equally afflicted roommate, Valentino. It was a very easy blessing for me, in comparison to others, as I did not feel worried of what I would say or the effect it would have.  It was well received, and I hope will encourage Valentino, who is struggling with the decision to go on a mission.  Interestingly enough, my outer suit tag was not on while I preformed the blessing, and it made me realize that if this had any lasting effect on Valentino, he would not be able to remember my name, only the Spirit. To me, it testified that the Spirit is the true teacher, healer, and messenger, and that we have the opportunity to give the honor to the Savior, and that our own personal effect is not nearly as important.  Quite subtle, but interesting to me nonetheless.

The Provo temple closes soon, so Elder Rivera and I went one last time before it closed, and it was an incredible experience. Especially after spending time in the waiting room reading the Sermon on the Mount, which I can't even relate how powerful and simple it is, I received so much spiritual testimony and guided thoughts/personal revelation that I had not room enough to receive and remember it all.  I love the Temple, and it makes me think a lot about the New Provo City Center Temple under construction, which I see quite often and I often draw as a parallel to myself. This article I found basically sums up what I had to say, I'll add more of my own thoughts next time:

 http://www.lds.org/church/news/provo-city-center-temple-teaches-lesson-on-conversion?lang=eng&query=provo+city+center

But the week's highlight falls on last night, when we had a lesson with Angel Corona from Mexico. I'd only had one lesson with him before, but I was impressed by his sincere desire and sweet spirit, and despite often forgetting others in my long list of investigators to pray for, I always remembered him. We had not had a lesson with him in two weeks, since he could only meet us on Sundays. This Sunday, on three separate occasions in Sacrament meetings, as I was praying, I felt the slight reminder to text him about a lesson for tonight, which we did not have. I forgot the first two times to do it or even write down a reminder, and finally on the third I talked to Elder Rivera right there and we set it up.  I am grateful that the Spirit was persistent with me and my faults!  In that lesson Angel accepted the invitation to be baptized on December 7th.  It was a wonderful experience, and the Spirit filled the room in a happy, joyful kind of way.  I am glad that I had the opportunity to help in this, and throughout the whole thing it taught me the very important lesson that it is much easier to listen to the Spirit when we try to align our thoughts and heart with him, rather than just look for influence on our own self-appointed path.  Hopefully I'll be able to further exercise this as I continue on as a missionary. Everything is very exciting here!

To end it all, I don't have my list of things I'm grateful for fully complete just yet, but to sample you something before Thanksgiving (I'll include my full list and how everything goes Thanksgiving-wise next time), this is the list I wrote up in our Mission-wide grateful list. Note that I was trying to be unique and specific to avoid doubles with other missionaries, hence the lack of some of the obvious ones that will be present next time.

The sound of running water
A sun-warmed couch
Seeing a good friend after a long time
Tripping but no one sees
Shoe gaze
Crunch of leaves
Snowball fights
The moon on the mountains
A loud, solid high five
Seasons
Finding candy in your pocket
Finding money in your pocket
Finding a pocket
Pebbles
Puddles
Sunrise
Sunset
Dawn
Dusk

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, God bless, and Eat till you're stuffed!

-Elder Martin

Letter from the Mission President

Week 3: Greenie!

Well Hello Everyone!

It has been another solid and interesting week here in Provo!  We finally managed to schedule appointments with and teach all of the people we haven't seen in a while.  At the same time we were not able to meet with most of our regulars due to them being busy.  It was actually kind of cool, and it illustrates for sure that people are busy in life, and making the time to meet with missionaries at all can be a sacrifice for people.

One girl for instance, Diana Gabriela, who I hadn't even met yet because she had been so busy with work, was finally able to meet with us, and things are going pretty well with her.  The same thing happened with Alejandro Herrera and Desiree Arredondo, who we had also not been able to meet with for some time and were finally able to teach.  We also met with the recent converts Sergio and Ruben, as well as our neighbors, the Martinez family.  All of our investigators are progressing and accepting the principles as we teach them bit by bit.  But they are all still genuinely seeking their own answers and witnesses of the truth, which they are doing with a sincerity that is truly touching.  It has definitely made it clear to me the importance of the nature of our work, which is not as much bringing souls to Christ but helping souls bring themselves unto Christ.  In the end, we all must choose our own path, and whenever we do it with Patience, Diligence, and Faith (there are those three together again!), Heavenly Father in the wisdom of his timing will always manifest his Spirit unto us. Just as our investigators are doing this, I have been, bit by bit, trying to come closer to the Lord in my own life. And goodness gracious knows what the end result of these two years will be in doing that!

But in other news, I have finished running through the Book of Mormon in English (I started in the CCM).  Now that I have done that I'm going to read it in Spanish during personal study, which should really help me progress faster in the language.  (I would have started sooner, but when you're halfway through Helaman you might as well finish up).

We also had our last lesson with Jose Ignacio Pardo, who will in the next few days head down to Bolivia to be baptized.  He has a sweet, persevering and genuine spirit, and I only wish I could have got here to meet him sooner.  Picture included below (along with Courtney from his ward).  Elder Rivera and I are going to keep in touch with him via Facebook.

Toree Coleman has been progressing fantastically, in fact sometimes I feel like we're just preaching to the converted and that we're merely formalities in her conversion.  She loves the lessons though, and since things have gone well with her Mom she has decided to move up her baptismal date to December 14th. Pretty sweet!  Our experience with her has affected me mostly in that I want to learn Spanish faster, and be able to connect, understand, and feel what those I'm teaching in Spanish are saying just as well as I can while teaching Toree in English.  Not just understanding the logistics of what they're saying, but the connotation and meaning conveyed through the tone, phrasing, and choice of words. It will take some time, of course, but I am recommitting to make not just studying, but learning Spanish (if you get my drift between the difference of verbs there) as my number one priority. After all, if you can't hear what your investigator is saying, how on earth are you supposed to hear what the Spirit wants for them?

And to end with some fun notes, as Elder Rivera is District Leader, we got to go on exchanges this week.  I got paired off for a day with Elder Brown from Alabama.  Two Southern boys together made the day (which ended up slow) turn out to be quite enjoyable.  He is a semi-professional bass fisher, and in fact payed for his mission with fishing tournament winnings!  We talked about a lot about that and we made some southern-seasoned chicken and cornbread for our companions when they got back to re-trade.

Also, a funny story...  Elder Brown and I were walking around one the Riverwood Malls after one of our references wasn't home and we came upon a family unloading out a van.  Their little girl, who couldn't have been more than 4 years old,  flabbergastedly exclaimed to her parents, "Mom!  It's the mississis... the missishnairies!"  Her mom smiled at us and looked down at her daughter frantically trying to pronounce "missionaries" and encouraged her to say hi and wave.   Just how many other missions get celebrity experiences like that?  Me and Elder Brown headed back to the car laughing and saying "Missishnairies"

The work is going well, thank you for your prayers and support!

-Elder Martin

Week 2: Not Much New

Dear Friends and Family,

Never has time passed so quickly and slowly simultaneously because I look back and think, wow it's only been two weeks, and then I realize that I already feel like I'm in the thick of it. Wait till a year in, and then I'm straight up in the thick of it! I will say that I have less time today than before to write emails and in fact I have less time in general. As a general rule, please try to send me letters or at least email me your addresses, because I have more time to write letters here than to send emails, it's just more economical with my time.

But the week was good! I am trying to speak to Elder Rivera now solely in Spanish. Which I'm sure is nails on a chalkboard for him but my speaking, which lacks most of all, is getting better. Things with the investigators are going along as they will. Yolanda got very stressed by her family in our last lesson with her, and has decided that she needs to wait to get baptized. Not ideal, but we're keeping her in our prayers, and she is still faithfully praying and going to church. These things take time, as does just about everything except making Ramen noodles, I have found throughout my life. For a few days during our unscheduled time we've been doing a lot of street contacting, but until we tried Saturday and really focused on praying with faith and knowing that we'd find people afterwards did we get like five new referrals. We won't teach all of them, and even less when we pass the English speaking families onto the other elders (we primarily cover Spanish speaking students unless we're up in the north of Provo), but regardless it was great to see some traction in the work. Lessons with Toree have been going solid. She committed to baptism, but will wait until after the holidays to smooth things over with her Catholic mother, and Filipe's and Angel's lessons are going strong as well. Scheduling conflicts have kept us from seeing Oscar for a while, but we're gonna see him tonight and both he and our other recent converts like Ximmena, whose Uruguayan accent is coming to my understanding slowly but surely, are solid.

My great experience for the week actually happened last night: teaching Carla Antezana and a bunch of her friends, including a less active member, we were asked to give Priesthood blessings to several of those present. I gave one blessing and did some anointing, but Elder Rivera with his Spanish (even though they all spoke English) was asked for most of them. Regardless, the Spirit that filled the room that night was undeniable, and another true testament to God's power and willingness to grant unto us blessings according to our faith. The priesthood gives a whole other dimension to Christ's commandment to be a servant to all, and I am so grateful for that ability. I will strive for the rest of my life to always be able and worthy and ready to give a blessing if it is needed. Elder Rivera is a stud, and an absolute perfect companion trainer. I grow more and more grateful for him every day and am glad to see us becoming fast friends. He is a textbook awesome missionary, and anyone who knows him would tell you the same.

As for the last small anecdotes from the week: I met a former EFY roommate in my zone at Zone Training Meeting. His name is Elder Peabody from Austin, Texas, who I first met at the 2011 San Antonio EFY session. Our EFY counselor actually served his mission in Utah - Salt Lake, which was the first time I actually considered Utah as an option for a mission. "Coincidence". We also had a great dinner with a member family up Provo Canyon this week, which was a lovely drive, dinner, and home. We had a service activity this week for a less active family, the Minods, who give us a free lunch every week from their Chilean restaurant (oh gosh....empanadas)! And I also enjoyed the fun of raking leaves again - you taught me how to work, thanks Dad.

I'll keep you all in my prayers!

Elder Martin




               The pumpkins we carved on Halloween!




                      Our weekly planning board

                               The Utah mountains




                      The Provo River

Letter from a Member

Dear Martins,

We had the privilege of having dinner with your son and his companion on Sunday.  One parent to another, He is doing so great!  Elder Rivera and Elder Martin shared a sweet message with my children and assisted my husband in giving me a blessing.  What an amazing work this is!!  As we visited with them we realized Elder Martin's family lives in Houston, 9 minutes away from our son who is serving in Richmond, TX.  And the other crazy coincidence is he lived in the same "casa" at the Mexico MTC as Elder Alan Christensen (my nephew), who just arrived in the Dallas mission Spanish speaking five days ago.  Of all the hundreds of missionaries in Mexico he knows Alan and of all the places to be from, he is from Houston right by Richmond.  That was a fun coincidence.  What a small world!  Or maybe there are no coincidences right?

Much love,

Kristine Baird

Sister Baird sent a photo of them eating dinner at her house.  So kind of her!

Week 1: First Week out of the MTC

Back to BYU - but don't worry! It's my Mission area, I haven't copped out!


Dear Friends and family,

Well, it's crazy how much one week can contain:  Thus ends my first few days in the field!  It has been quite interesting to see how everything gets set up, but the end message is that all is well!  I have been assigned to the Provo BYU Spanish Area, which means I cover 25 YSA Stakes and a couple other in Provo, amounting to a few hundred wards or so.

My companion is Elder Rivera from Mexico, and he is the bomb.com.  He is from Mexico and actually went to Benemerito, the school that was turned into the CCM, and has been in the field 10 months, and as such will hit his one year mark training me here in Provo, where he has been for the past few months.  He, of course, is a native Spanish speaker, which has really helped my own Spanish, but he also speaks superb English after only being here 10 months, his first time in the states.  We get along really well, and I think by the end of my 12 weeks of training he will be one of my best friends in the Mission.  He is a hard worker while still having fun, an obedient missionary without being ridiculous, and a powerful teacher (in both English and Spanish) despite his immense humility.  I am set.

Provo itself is awesome, and though it is odd at times to be teaching people (as we often do) at the building I had church in this summer, or to see people I know (the list right now is Carter, Mallory, Angie, Traci, Dane, Kaelin, and I think Sydney) or to just walk on campus in general (we actually use computers for email or Facebook lessons in the BYU Library), I love serving in Provo.  We have already taught some 25 or so missionary lessons since I came!  All with wonderful people.  Most were in Spanish, of which I understood the majority of what was said and followed the conversation, as well as being able to make my own comments here and there, though some are in all English (because they want to learn/practice) and some are mixed.

Either way it has been great, we have some phenomenal investigators and recent converts that are just wonderful people.  Oscar Corredor, for example, was taught by the Elders for some months now until he was dropped because he wasn't progressing.  However, as he had always done even when he didn't keep up with other commitments, he went to Church last Sunday and during a primary program heard a little kid testify "I know God lives and has a plan for me, because he loves me."  Oscar went straight to the bishop mid-meeting and asked to be baptized, the spirit had given him all the answer and witness he needed from this child's words.  And so, Elder Rivera baptized him two days ago and we confirmed him yesterday.  Absolutely amazing experience, and one that I was very lucky to get to ride with.   Indeed, I certainly came into a lot of wonderful situations that I did not work for, but I feel like it is a good chance to get my feet wet before I start seeing the fruits of my own labors.

One of such is Yolanda Sanchez, an 85 year old great grandmother from Chile who we are teaching now.  She will be baptized on the 19th.  We taught her the second lesson a few days ago, so I feel like I'll have sufficient claim to call her one of mine.  But really, I already have so many stories to tell of wonderful people we've met and are teaching, I just simply don't have the time.  But Provo is good, the cold is not bad at all, and when it snows every now and then (just falling out the sky, hasn't stuck yet), I occasionally start laughing like a little kid.  Woe unto those I know who I see when the first snow actually comes, I will be the Snow Ball Master by the time I am done here.

But yeah, things are great!  The other Elders in our district teach in Asian languages (yeah, most of them - that's right), and they are great guys, we're gonna play bowling and monopoly with them simultaneously today.  For Halloween we had to go to a Chapel to just have fun, because people dress up like missionaries here as costumes, and President McCune (who from my 6 minute interview with him is a really solid guy) wisely called it better safe than sorry.  So, we just watched Ephraim's Rescue and carved pumpkins together.  It actually erased the few remaining doubts I had about people saying that you actually had fun on a mission-- like a laughing, enjoyable great time fun.

We get our own Ipads here!  So, we can thus carry both our Spanish and English scriptures (and basically anything else the church has published) plus our Area book/daily planner app all in one little board.  We also use Facebook to teach people anywhere in the world, and slowly but surely I am starting to get a grasp of how to use it as a missionary tool (which is all it is by the way, don't expect any personal messages or pictures from there).

My companion, Elder Rivera, is the District Leader.  Since we cover the whole of Provo basically, we have a car, which I may regret 30 pounds later - thank goodness for early morning exercise time.  But yes, I have been feeling the Spirit already as I am serving people here and I can only say that this will have to be a drop in a bucket compared to what's coming.  This mission is going to be like nothing before in my life.  By the end of it, I'm sure it will seem like this first week was just yesterday though.  Crazy how the time will fly.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and please know you're in my own.  I can't guarantee fast responses, but please send me anything that's going on with you and I'll get to it.

Loving the Mission and Life,
Elder Martin

Week #7 - Last Day in the MTC

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, the time has certainly passed by fast! As of writing this email, I will leave the CCM in 11 hours and fly to Dallas, then to Salt Lake where I´ll be shipped down to Provo and begin the actual mission! Thus my P-Days will be Monday from now on and I will be at a different address, I´ll let everyone know next week where I´ll actually be.

But yes, how the time flies! Last night I said goodbye to my district, and when I woke up it was only Me and Elder Jones left, and he left today a few hours ago. It was a rather heartfelt goodbye to everyone, more than I thought it would be, and particularly to Elder Jones, who I have become very close to. My time here at the CCM has been short, just 5% of my mission really, and will be way different from everything else I experience, there won´t be anything like it again for me. But after being around so many people, and some of them nearly every waking hour, I have made some new friends that will probably come up again. Indeed, since my last newsletter, nothing much has happened beyond the usual, other than the classes became more chill, and yet more important. The field is waiting, and that´s where the real test is. Six Weeks, and all the years before, of talking about a mission is finally going to start being put to the test in a matter of hours - I cannot wait.

We watched the Joesph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration Video last night, and I was surprised to see that the part that affected me the most was the scenes of those first Early Church Missionaries preaching in the United States and England: That´s going to be me soon! Granted, I don´t think I´ll find myself on too many soap boxes, but regardless the message will be the same.

And so, as many have asked, how was the CCM? It was a once in a lifetime experience, and a necessary step into the missionary life.  But it´s time I moved on, any longer here would be a disservice to everyone involved. I met many other missionaries, learned of their lives and testimonies, and then saw how they lived and acted as missionaries. But now, it´s time to throw myself into the fire, make mistakes, and get forged. I will admit that coming into the CCM I thought it wouldn´t be as important, the friendships I would make not as lasting as those in the field, and the things I learned not as important as those I would learn while actually going and doing, both language-wise and gospel-wise. All have been thoroughly disproved, and I am really glad that I was able to spend time here, cherishing even the day to day routine of everything.

But now, it´s onto Provo and the work. I really don´t have much to say, which is an ironic situation: Here I have all the time and nothing to say, and in the field I´ll have no time and everything to say. Thank goodness I´ve been doing well with daily journal updates, but expect the emails to be a lot shorter henceforth, but letters will be entirely possible and much easier to send. Many pictures to come this evening. By my next email I´ll have much more interesting stuff to say. And so, Onto the Winter and Snow!

Elder Martin

 

Email #6 - Fifth Week in the MTC

Hello friends and family!

I apologize for my lame-sauce short email last time, I did not play my timing with P-day well at all. As of today I have four days remaining here in the CCM, and then on Tuesday I fly out early morning and go to Provo, where I´ll begin right away as far as I can tell. Luckily for me, since most of my district here is leaving on Sunday, I won´t have classes, just time to pack and email on Monday, so I´ll still get some sort of a P-day instead of going for more than a week to get everyone updated.

But yeah, things have been getting better and better here.  It´ll be sad to see some people go, I´ve made a bunch of friends here. Like Elder Jones, my companion, we´ve gotten real close and since he plans on going to BYU Provo after his mission, we´re bound to hang out again sometime. Since he´s a surfer, he was teaching me the other day about how waves work and all the different variables and factors that count in to make a wave good or bad, plus some of the surfer lingo they use to describe things. I got it all written down, made me miss the coast a lot! Like I realized this summer while at BYU, being landlocked is kind of weird feeling, and I´m surprised how much I notice it. Ah well, better get used to it, I won´t see the sea for at least two more years, minus my upcoming flight! I´ve been learning stuff from other Elders too. Elder Blood, who left a week or so ago for Albuquerque, New Mexico, had an amazing conversion story and completely turned his life around so that he could come on his mission. He´s kind of a building-genius tool; he wants to make a invention company when he gets back, and turn ideas into reality. He´s a really cool guy, hope to see him again. Elder Ballard in my district is a 2nd degree blackbelt in Tang-soo Do, and I´ve been learning some basic self defensive from him, as well as ambushing him from time to time to see how he would react. Luckily, he is merciful and I don´t always get thrown to the floor. We´ve been becoming good friends too, and since he lives close to Cedar City, we´re planning on meeting up at the Shakespearean festival down there post-mission.  That should be fun! In fact, Hermanas Hatch, Pearson, Hammond, and Buys from my district are all going to Provo after their missions, and since they´ll be in Provo they´ve promised to hunt me down and try to be members for my lessons. We´ll see, it looks like I´m already making friends for life in Provo afterwards haha!

Onto more events of this week and the last, my favorite is probably the priesthood blessing of comfort I was able to give to Hermano Fernando, who´s picture I included in the last email. He was out this week and last because his wife was giving birth to his first child, a little girl named Abish. While the baby was born healthy and fine, his wife was having some difficulties recovering from the C-section, and when he finally had to return to work and we first saw him, she had been in the hospital for 10 days and was preparing for additional surgery. He was feeling very worried and troubled, and so he asked us for a blessing. We said of course, and asked who he´d like, he said anyone would be fine. My companions both looked at me, and said, "Well Elder Martin, you do have the best Spanish". So, translating what I could as I went, I gave him a mixed-language blessing, and the Spirit filled our hearts and led me to say things I would never have said to anyone. It was a great experience for me, and Fernando said he felt much better afterwards. We saw him later that day and he looked much better. We continued keeping him and his wife in our prayers, and just a few minutes ago I ran into him and he said his wife was home today and recovering just fine. What a blessing the Lord has given me to come, if only for a short time, into the life of this wonderful and faithful man. It makes me even more excited to get into the field do things like this all the time!

Though this is likely my favorite, there have been numerous spiritual uplifts here for me, and plenty of fun times as well. I will suffice it to say that I challenged a Cara De Niño, aka Jerusalem Cricket, a few nights ago, and gained $20 in the process. I will divulge the full story some other time. Frisbee has been my gym time go-to, and while my performance is inconsistent, I am getting better as a whole. I´ve been making friends left and right, some of them Latinos who only stay here for two weeks, like Elder Mendoza from Mexico who plays drums and is a big Radiohead, ZZ Top, and Red Hot Chili Peppers Fan. Some nights our district will go to the building with piano rooms, and I´ll take request for songs, figure them out, and play them while we all sing along, it´s a lot of fun.

But, I do miss you all, and want to hear more about what´s going on at home with everyone. Thank you for all your prayers, and please know that you´re in mine. I have many spiritual thoughts and new things that I´ve learned since I´ve been here, but I think I´ll close with just one at random: I´ve been reading in Alma recently, and I just hit chapter 30. Right before hand though, the Sons of Mosiah reconnect with their old partner in crime (literally) Alma as they return from their seemingly-impossibly successful missions to the Lamanites. As they share the blessings and miracles that they have witnessed in their own lives and others, Ammon, who feels so much love for his new brethren in the Church, who are faithful beyond anything they have seen among their own people, is so overcome with joy that his body literally cannot handle it, and he falls to the earth out of lack of strength. I quote from Chapter 27:


17 Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.

18 Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness. 

Thus, along the lines of the goal of my mission to not only bring others unto Christ, but to do so with as much love as I can possibly muster, I now have a new maker by which to set my goal with: I would like to feel this way, or at least a portion of it, every night before I go to sleep. If I am penitent and humble, and of course if the Lord sees it fit, I would have my strength so wrought out of me unto others and suppressed by so much joy of serving the Lord and my fellow man, that by the time I finish my closing prayer each night I am literally zonked to sleep by the sheer force of my experience. We´ll see if I can make it work!

With love to all,
Elder Martin

 The District at the Mexico City Temple

  Elder Martin & Elder Martin!

Elder Butler, Elder Martin, & Elder J

Pday with Elder Ballard