Christmas and Catalina!

Feliz felicidades!

  

So many things have happened this week! I had a great Christmas and was so happy to Skype home and get some happy Christmas packages from family too. Thank you! We opened things with our roommates in the morning, did a zone activity, and had dinner at a member family's home that night too.

The best feeling for me, though, was just walking those streets of New Jersey with Sis. Willis, singing and caroling to whoever would listen to us, and realizing that we are literally representatives of Jesus Christ. We are the light of the world! And we have been given so much that everyone around us needs to know about Christ. I feels good to be serving him so completely right now!

Feliz Navidad!

FELIZ NAVIDAD A TODOS!

Wow- Christmas is in two days!! I've been learning that the 24th is actually the big day of celebration in hispanic culture instead of the 25th, so maybe it will feel like two Christmases in a row! It looked like it was going to be a white Christmas but it suddenly got warmer and now it is just raining. But it's not so cold outside, so I'm not complaining about that! On Christmas Eve night we are invited over by a family. On Christmas Day, my companion and our roommates (the Elizabeth English sisters) and I will open our Christmas packages and go to a zone activity at the church. Then Sister Willis and I will go to a sister's house to Skype with our families and have dinner with the only complete and active family our area (besides the bishop and his wife)- the Cannabarros from Uruaguay, who we also spent Thanksgiving with!

Our combined Spanish ward/ English branch Christmas party this week was a once-in-a-lifetime event! Let's just say that there were clowns and Winnie the Pooh involved singing "Feliz Navidad" in the church. It felt a little bit like Times Square, but I believe it built some unity between the ward and branch and was a good time. No one else will ever understand the things my companions and I experience here... haha.

Today our zone went to the mission home for the "Jingle with the Jeppsons!" Breakfast, bell-ringing activities, and scripture study with President and Sister Jeppson. All of the missionaries adore our mission president and his wife. It was good to feel like we were at home for a minute. All of the elders got ties and the sisters got cute scarves, too!

I feel strongly that there are a lot of people in this area of Elizabeth who are ready for us to teach and will want to be baptized! This week we walking down the busiest road in our area and I was feeling bad for not talking to a few people I felt like maybe we should have contacted. So then we determinedly stopped a lady who was walking down the street with her husband and son. They were in a hurry, but we explained to them a little bit about the Book of Mormon, gave them a copy, and set an appointment with the mom. She confirmed it! And she was there! She had lots of questioned and even prayed to know at the end if it is true.

We are fasting and praying for our investigator named Hermana Morales. She is from Mexico and has two daughters and two sons. She has met with the missionaries for a long time and is finally feeling the desire and determination to be baptized! She's stopped drinking coffee and tea and has come to church every Sunday since I've been here, except the day when the schedule was changed because of snow. She's gone through a lot of hard things in her life and the Atonement has been blessing her with more hope. She's had a baptismal date for the 29th- this coming Sunday- so we are praying that she can make it!!! We have been finding some new investigators who we are excited about and even got some member referrals this week for two couples from Cuba! We'll keep working diligently and obediently. The miracles have come and they will keep coming!

It's crazy to think that in about a month and a half, I'll have spend a full year in the mission field! I miss my fam, but I'm grateful to be out here in this crazy state having adventures every day. I have grown spiritually, mentally, (maybe not physically...), and felt myself be molded by God into the woman he wants me to become. I'm learning that as children of God, we have so much more potential than we could ever imagine for ourselves. But He knows. Christ made it all possible. We just have to show our faith and love for Him. I am SO blessed. We all are. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

John 3:16.

2 Nephi 26:24

I love the last two lines of "Oh pueblecito de Belen" or, "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" that says, "Aunque su nacimiento paso sin atencion, aun lo puede recibir el manso corazon." Rough translation: "Although his birth passed unnoticed, the meek heart can still receive him."

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Love,

Hermana Marissa Martin

Skyping on Christmas Day with the fam!

Christmas is coming to Joyzie!

Feliz Navidad!

From what I hear, there has been more snow in St. George than here... until a couple of days ago! When the roads get to snow/ icy, we're not allowed to drive the mission cars. So what do we do? We bundle up and walk out into the snow! (Some people think it's polite to cancel appointments because of bad weather, but ironically that just means that we spend more time outside knocking doors than inside their home, so let's hope that doesn't happen a lot.) It was snowy and breezy all day on Saturday, so that was an adventure walking around! But it was fun and people are impressed that we're dedicated enough to go out in the weather! :)

This week we went on our twice-yearly temple trip to Manhattan! I took some pictures on the drive there to give you a taste of the Jersey life! The contrast from being in the middle of New York City and being inside the holy temple is about as dramatic as it can get.

I Love Newsies!

This week we met a lady at her door who said we could come back later in the week. She miraculously confirmed the appointment when we called her the day before. We took a member to her house- Sis. Rivera, who is from Nicaragua and got back from a mission in St. George, UT a year ago! When we went in, her husband and kids (ages 22-ish and 16), plus her brother, were all home and sat in and listened to the lesson! It was such a rewarding experience! We have such a good feeling about this family and are excited to go teach them again tonight! We'll be teaching more about who God really is as our Heavenly Father and hopefully help them understand why he calls prophets to
teach us the truth... and that the truth has been restored today an that they can know it's true by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon!

We had a Christmas devotional with all of the Spanish missionaries last night. Many more festivities to come! I am learning more about the Savior this Christmas than I ever have.

I love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Martin

Gracias y Feliz Navidad!

Querida familia,

Thank you so much again for the birthday package and now for the

Christmas package! It's really getting me in the Christmas spirit! I

love you. I have been thinking about you a lot this week and I am so

grateful for all of the fun Christmas memories we have shared as a

family! I've been telling other sister missionaries that they should

start a family ornament tree like ours after their missions. :) I was

also telling my companion, Sister Willis, about the 12 Days of

Christmas radio recording. (Turtle doves... swans..."Oh... good

idea!") I was hoping she could understand how funny it is to us, but

I'm not sure if it was the same for her.

Yesterday we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at an

investigator's house with two families and it was great! I miss the

Martin fam. But I'm also grateful that my testimony of the Savior has

been strengthened out here and that I can share it with these people!

We had a really good week and hopefully we will have some baptisms

soon! I've been on 3 exchanges already with other sisters as a Sister

Training Leader and we're doing another one tomorrow! It snowed

yesterday too- and that reminds me of being up in Salt Lake for

Christmas. Our mission's theme for this year is, "Always Remember

Him," I hope you do things at home, like "noche de hogar, la oracion,

y leer las escrituras" to remember Him more this month too. I STINKING

LOVE YOU ALL! I get to see your faces in like 16 days! Woo!

Love,

Hermana Martin

Conquered West New York (the building in front of our house was completely destroyed right before I went to transfer conference)

The building's gone! And I'm gone!

 My two cute former companions at transfer conference- Hermana Clark (from Arizona) and Hermana Stansel (from Idaho). It's been a while since I've had a companion who's taller than me... but now I have Sis. Willis.

Holy cow. Biggest week ever.

HOLA!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! A lot has been going on for me in the past week here in Nueva Jersey!

Cosas que pasaron:

Monday: Packed up everything in West New York to get ready for Transfer Conference! I miss Sis. Clark and the people of West New York, but it will be okay...

Tuesday: Got transferred to Elizabeth, New Jersey with an awesome Sister Training Leader companion- Sister Willis from Colorado!

Wednesday: First full day in Elizabeth. Meeting with my new District.

Thursday: Thanksgiving! "Turkey Bowl" sports with the missionaries in Newark in the morning. Weekly planning. A nice dinner at a member family's home, also with the Relief Society President, her husband, and cute little daughters. After, we stopped by another home for a more casual, buffet-style dinner in the living room with a less-active family.

The freezing cold Turkey Bowl with my new companion, Sis. Willis, and Sister Hendrickson.

Friday: My birthday: Opened a package from home and my ward in the morning with companion and roommates!  1st Mission Leader Council meeting with Pres. and Sis. Jeppson and all of the zone leaders in the mission. We talked about how we're doing as far as statistics in our mission, were trained on how to teach investigators about how to receive answers through prayer, and were introduced to the mission theme for December, to "always remember Him." They all sang Happy Birthday to me at the end.

Same day- my first exchange as a Sister Training Leader! Sis. Willis left and I brought another sister back to my brand new area for an exchange! Pretty crazy! The sister I was with is basically perfect and reminds me of Snow White. We taught a less-active family and the smoke alarm only went off once during our day together... (We didn't celebrate a whole lot on my birthday, so my companion made peach cobbler with ice cream for me this morning). :)

Saturday: Taught some great lessons with Sis. Willis! An investigator who has met with missionaries for years accepted a baptismal date for Dec. 29! We are excited! We talked about faith and the Atonement, and she prayed right there with us at the end of the lesson to Heavenly Father to know if this baptismal date is right for her.

Sunday: First church experience in Elizabeth! It's a place with character, that's for sure! The members are great, and many shared really inspiring testimonies in Sacrament Meeting. There is a Spanish ward here and an English branch! The Sunday School, Relief Society, and Priesthood meetings are combined with translations (by the missionaries/ others), and Sacrament Meetings are separate. It's very unique.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your support and encouragement!

Love,

Hermana Martin

Sunday dinner at the Canabarro Family's home

Dinner with the Fallas Family

Answers to some of Mom's questions:

 1. Thanksgiving and birthday was pretty good! It was kind of sad to be in a brand new area on my birthday... but some fun stuff did go on. :)  I wrote about it in the email.

2. New address: 167 Elm St., 2nd floor. Elizabeth, New Jersey. 07202

3. Ok, I got your package (thank you, thank you!), Noni's and Grandpa's package (love the gifts!) and the package from the SC 11th ward youth (so awesome)! I received G&G's birthday letter and $50 too. I think that's it... Sis. Clark said there are 2 packages and 4 letters for me back in West New York! So I will ask her to send them with her zone leaders to a meeting I'll see them at on Friday. That should work.

4. My companion is Sister Brooke Willis, from Colorado. She is awesome! I feel like we are on fire when we teach together! She is 22 and only has 2 transfers left in the mission. She is SUPER obedient and hardworking. I love her. She reminds me of Mandy a lot of the time.

5. Our new place is pretty nice. We room with the English sisters in our area. We live above an older, Cuban lady in a two-story house. This area is so much more neighborhood-like than West New York and it's actually pretty cute.

6. I had a meeting and my first exchange already. This Friday we are teaching the new district leaders about how to be organized and work with the sister training leaders in order to support the sisters they are over.

7. I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY GIFTS!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I really like the dress, the suitcoat, the shirts, the iPod, and everything! You are the best! Sister Jeppson complimented the white ruffly blouse. Love you, Mom!! Thanks for always thinking of me and taking care of me.

Big changes!!

President Jeppson called last night and extended the call for me to serve as a new Sister Training Leader in the mission! I was not expecting this at ALL! That means I'll be in a leadership position with a new companion. We'll go to the monthly "Mission Leader Council" meetings with Pres. and Sis. Jeppson, the Assistants and all the Zone Leaders. Pres. Jeppson said I'll be doing about two exchanges with sisters every single week to support, help train, give advice and encouragement to the companionships we're assigned to! Crazy! The rumor is that I'll either be transferred to Short Hills with Hmna. Solomon (who was in my MTC district!) or Elizabeth with Hmna. Willis (I'm not sure who she is right now, but I hear she's great)! Transfer conference is TOMORROW! I'll be spending this Thanksgiving and my 20th birthday in a brand new area. I guess that's a good chance to get to know people and make some immediate connections. (I mean the members have to be nice to me, right-- It's my birthday! ;)

Sis. Clark is out of her training now and will be leading out here in West New York with a new companion. My heart is a little torn to leave the people I care about, but I know that Sister Clark and her new companion will do well taking care of them.

Awesome story!:

Last Sunday, Sister Clark and I spent about four hours straight on foot, trying to find the apartments of former investigators, walking up and down stairs, and talking to a few people here and there on the street. We'd been praying to find new investigators but seen very little success. We were dead tired and thought about going home to make phone calls when I looked at the time and said, "Let's give it 10 more minutes." We ran into a less-active member on the street who is a returned missionary going through a lonely, hard time. We read one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon with him and he was excited to commit to reading again! He was at church yesterday.

On the way home that same night, walking down the busy Bergenline Ave, we passed a man sitting on a corner who said something as we walked by. We turned around and approached him and a lady sitting with him. We got into talking a little bit about God and the Book of Mormon. This man didn't want to give us his information, but his friend with him, Daffy from Chile, accepted a Book of Mormon, committed to start reading it, and set an appointment with us for later in the week!

As we went to teach her last week, we had an inspiring first lesson with her and her 15-year-old son, and left her tiny home, I felt that a promise was being fulfilled which I had felt from the Lord before my mission that I would meet people here in New Jersey who specifically need me to teach them! I feel so much love for this lady and her son! Even though I'm leaving this area now, I feel it was God's plan that my companion and I could be spiritually prepared enough to turn around and talk to those people and to be a connection for Daffy and her family to learn about the restored gospel!

There is still a lot of progress to be made in the area of West New York. I still have plenty of ways in which I need to personally improve also. But I am so grateful for these experiences that the Lord has provided for me in my life!

Keep yourself spiritually fueled and don't be afraid to open your mouth! If you don't know what to say- just listen. That's something I'm learning. We are planning to invite members to read 3 Nephi chapters 9-30 before Christmas to come to know the Savior more. Try it!  Pray for me and the work of salvation! I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Martin

 p.s. The building in front of our apartment is completely torn down now! Elementary school boys walking home got a big thrill out  watching machines grab huge chunks of brick wall and pull them down. Like we predicted- it was all done in the past 12 weeks we've been here! Now on our way home at night, we have a view of the Empire State Building all lit up and peeking at us from across the Hudson! I guess this is a sign that my mission in West New York is complete...

Hola, hola 12 semanas en West New York!

 The adorable primary girls singing in the "Noche de gracias" activity we put together this week

 El Libro de Mormon makes its way down 60th Street in West New York!

Wow, it is the 12th week of training with Sis. Clark! There are many things I wish I would have done done better the past two transfers, but I have learned a lot! The advice on planning from our sister training leaders has helped us a lot. By having better back-up plans and more specified activities for every hour of the day, we've been put in the right place at the right time, and we feel more like we're doing our part in finding. I do think we need to balance between motivating the members in missionary work and using our own finding efforts. 


We have been struggling to find investigators to teach and keep them progressing. But we were happy to see all 7 of the recent converts in our area and several of the less-active members we have been with in sacrament meeting yesterday!

I am grateful to be a missionary! It is silly to me now thinking back on how I thought my purpose coming out here was giving something back to the Lord, because now I can see that all I am doing as a missionary is qualifying myself for more blessings from Him as I strive to be worthy of my call! I have become a deeper and firmer person in the faith of Jesus Christ.



 My companion, Sis. Clark, got a cookie bouquet from her mom on her bday!

Buenas!

Feliz dia,

There have been 3 cakes (postres) sitting in our fridge this week from Sis. Clark's birthday! If any Latinos start changing "mordida!" at your birthday, you should probably expect your face to be pushed into a cake, because that was what happened to Sis. Clark! She wasn't expecting it at all from our ward missionary! It was hilarious and we caught it on film and showed it to some of the other missionaries and Sis. Jeppson this week.

There was a frantic moment this week that led to some miracles... We were meeting a member sister to visit a less-active member clear at the edge of our area when we realized we hadn't written down the exact address of her house. We called the lady we were to visit but neither of us could understand the other on the phone (language/ she is also about 90 years old) and it was cold and windy outside! The sister we were going with doesn't have a cell phone, and we were feeling bad for being late! Then, I realized I had a ward list in my bag and when I took it out the wind whipped the pages right out of my had and Sis. Clark screamed and we ran after them!

After we finally figured it all out, we stopped to eat at a Latino restaurant called Pollo Campero to warm up before we were going to go home and make some phone calls. That's when I realized I'd lost our mission cell phone. When we left the restaurant, we spotted a sister member at a bus stop and talked to her for a minute. Then Sis. Clark said, "elders!" and I saw the four elders in our ward driving right by us in their van. We ran up to them and told them about the phone and they stopped to help. A few seconds later, another member turned the corner holding two coats that were her daughters and she had previously told Sis. Clark and I that we could have. They had already been washed, but she felt like she should  take them to get washed for us or something at that moment. We bundled up in those coats, the elders miraculously got a hold of a man who had picked up our phone (it was on the grass where we had been chasing the ward list in the wind, apparently) and they went and rescued it for us. We have decided that, like babies and puppies, God and people have mercy on poor, helpless things like missionaries and we get taken care of.

 

I love you all! We are switching into FINDING mode now. Our investigators, Monica and Israel, still haven't kept their commitment to come to church. But Monica said she feels the Holy Ghost in her home more since we've been visiting and notices a difference in her family when we don't visit for a few days. She has been teaching her little girls to pray. We are focusing on prayer this month in the mission and it has definitely helped me to keep going. Life is good, but hard sometimes. I love you all!

Love, 

Hermana Martin

Pictures of my district and zone last transfer. My district was all sisters and our District Leader, Elder Cuevas, and his companion! Sister Blair (on the left of my companion), was waiting for her visa to go to Brazil and now she is there. We have some pretty goofy, fun, spiritually-strong missionaries here in our districts and zones! Sis. Clark and I are the only Spanish-speaking sisters in Zone 1!

 

November is here!

Hola y FELIZ NOVIEMBRE! (Me encanta esta mes!)

 

Today is Sis. Clark's birthday! We are both turning 20 in November! The four elders in our ward showed up on our porch this morning and sang her a Spanish birthday song with the guitar! It was adorable! 

Don't tell Sis. Clark, but I'm trying to set up a little surprise birthday party/ family home evening at the church for her. It is basically impossible since we are together 24/7 and a companionship is designed so you can't do anything secretive... but we'll see how it goes! Some of her favorite things are Taco Bell, neopolotin ice cream, Oreos, pan de bono, and chocolate... so hopefully we can get those things involved! ;)

This may be one of my favorite pictures of all time. Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, I wore Sis. Clark's clothes and she wore some of mine, haha! Plus we and the elders wore some mustaches for a little bit at the Primary activity... It was fun to see some kids walking around in costumes that day. We were commanded to be at home at 6pm on Halloween night and the "night of mischief" the night before. So don't worry- we were safe! We did weekly planning, tried to make a Colombian drink, and watched some good church movies those nights!



Primary Halloween activity.
We love teaching this member sister, her husband
who is a recent convert, and their cute daughter!

MIRACLES! We definitely have experienced more of a spirit of unity with our ward leaders and members this week! Our ward mission leader (who is actually recently coming back into activity), conducted a combined meeting for the adults the third hour and each companionship in our ward gave a little presentation on The Work of Salvation! We had the bishop's support as well! The elders set up videos to share from the broadcast on lds.org and the Spirit was strong- members even stood up to bear testimony! Sister Clark stunned the whole ward yesterday by standing up with the microphone and boldly telling everyone their missionary responsibilities- in Spanish! I mentioned how well she is speaking and they all energetically agreed! I suggested we name this meeting "The Launch!" The elders even passed out m&m's ("miembros y misioneros") and the ward thought it was hilarious! We are really hoping to have the member-missionary work keep "blasting off" in West New York! There is so much potential here and fulfillment of prophecy! EVERY member is involved in the Hastening of the Work! Don't hold back! 

Sadly, Sis. Clark are still struggling to find new investigators though. We are teaching one cute little family, but they keep failing in their commitment to come to church. We will keep praying, brainstorming, and working to find new investigators however we can, as well as working with members. We try to talk to a lot of people all the time and have even gotten some good references, but most of the people we talk to just really don't seem interested or ready to keep commitments right now. But we know they are out there and we'll keep looking!

I'm pretty sure all missionaries in the U.S. are supposed to be getting iPads next year to use for record-keeping and teaching! We are hoping to get ours around April! I am SO excited! It's going to be such a good tool to use for showing conference and things on lds.org and mormon.org! Plus I'm so ready to be done with using white-out!

 "El Arbol de Navidad" that we made in the church. If members give us a reference and teach the investigator with us, they get an ornament
with their name on the tree! Elder Ballard invited all of us to contact someone before Christmas as a gift to the Savior!

I am learning more and more every day and feel the Gospel of Christ becoming more and more a part of my heart. We are SAINTS of the Latter-Days- not just on Sundays, but at every moment as long as we are striving to know and become more like our Savior. The gospel is true. God loves us more than we can know. Thank you for all you do!

Love,

Hermana Martin

Statue of Liberty y otras aventuras!

Hola!!

We went to Liberty Island on Tuesday! Sis. Dunning, the senior couple sister in charge of getting the sisters to do service there, went through extra trouble to allow me to get my name cleared and figure out transportation for us to do service there! Actually, the Dunnings ended up just picking up Sister Clark and me from our apartment and driving us there! We only live about 13 miles away, but the traffic was terrible!! Poor Sis. Dunning was so worried about getting us there in time, but my companion and I really enjoyed the ride because Sis. Dunning is one of the most hilarious people we've ever met! 

We were stationed in a booth where we helped tourists input their names in a free "Certificate of Visitation" to be emailed to them. We were sitting about 200 yards from the base of Statue of Liberty! We talked briefly with so many people from all over the world- mostly France, but also from England, Japan, China, Taiwan, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala (yes- I got to use my Spanish skills and it was so fun to be able to connect more with people!) and so many other countries! The only awkward part was when Lady Liberty decided to block the wifi or something and the visitors had to stand there in the cold after waiting in line as the certificate thing would load. But that would give me a chance to ask a few more questions!  

Other cool thing- Ellis Island has been closed down with the museum and everything since Hurricane Sandy hit and destroyed so much, including computer systems in the basement and everything. Since we were late because of traffic, Sis. Clark and I and two other sisters who serve in Jersey City were waiting for the next boat to take us from Ellis Island to Liberty Island (they are separate). Ellis is supposed to be opening up again today, I think, but when we went over to peek in the window, the security guards let us go in to look around! I had gone in about 5 years ago before with a school group after 8th grade and it brought back memories! The history here is so incredible- including the hastening of the work that was prophesied to take place thanks to this amazing country of freedom- and from here to cover all of the Earth! I am grateful to be a part of it! 

Sister Clark from Arizona got a little cold this week... This is how I found her... Haha, Don't worry, we're getting clothes soon and taking out the air conditioners making gaps in the windows soon so it'll maybe be warmer. ;)

We are really working with other missionaries in our ward to brainstorm and make plans to increase the member missionary work in our ward and the involvement of ward leaders! There is no way for all the potential investigators in this area, or anywhere in the world, to find the truth and the members to stay strong without all of us fulfilling our roles as disciples of Christ and fulfilling our callings! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Martin

News From the City!

Buenas!
Our second transfer in West New York is going pretty well. Something that has helped me manage stress lately is just blocking some time to do some finding using the Potential Investigators/ Formers in the Area Book or putting some of those names as back-ups for appointments. We really need to do some more finding to get new investigators! We are also really trying to use Elder Ballard's talk to push members to do missionary work and refer someone to use before Christmas, and we've started getting the Ward Council and Ward Mission Leader and Ward Missionary involved in that! 

Our investigator family didn't show up at church this week after we tried so hard to prepare them, so that was a bummer. But we'll keep working on it. I am really grateful for the opportunity to train Sis. Clark and that the Lord would trust me to train someone again. I still have so many things to learn, but we are going little by little. This week, Sis. Clark has committed to our District Leader, Elder Cuevas, to lead out in every lesson! Hopefullly this will help a lot because she has been really quiet and I am not very good at holding back when I want to speak. So I'm working on that. 

We are learning so much about faith this month! I'm excited for Zone Conference this week with President and Sister Jeppson!

Love,
Hermana Martin

More Photos from Life in West New York

Noche de la hispanidad



Hermano Concepcion doing showing his passionate patriotism for the Dominican Republic!

Saludos!

Here are some pictures from the unforgettable West New York Spanish Ward "Noche de la hispanidad" night! Best moment: Our second counselor dancing for about ten minutes with the Dominican Republic flag and then laying it on the ground and kissing it in front of everyone. That man loves his country!

Sister Clark and me - American girls!

My companion and I plus two other elders had a good time of representing the United States! Our little table had baseballs, Girls Scout cookies, a Captain American pin, and what-not. I love my country. I also love all of the diversity I am able to be exposed to here! 



Cute little Evelyn in her Ecuadorian costume. She doesn't believe that Hno. Rondoy's braid is real. (It's part of his Ecuadorian attire, too).



El Salvador! Papusas... yum!

 

 



The elders' Mexican investigator got really into the party! She got up and started dancing right in front of everyone! She is adorable.



2. WE LOVE WATCHING THEM DANCE! It pains me to not be able to dance with them as a missionary, not that I really know the meringue or salsa or anything yet. It pains me!!! But we love watching!







Mexico! Aren't they so cute?





Here come the fire trucks before the fiesta! ("The church kitchen is to prepare the food- not cook it!") haha









Ecuador! Fun people!



We had some YUMMY food that night! One set-back was that someone was preparing food in the kitchen before the activity started and set the fire alarms off! We all had to wait outside and four West New York fire trucks showed up with the firemen all suited up and everything! But it was all taken care of before most of the people showed up. We must have looked like a funny sight standing outside with some of our members decked out in their traditional Latino attire! 

Sis. Clark and I also set up a table in the church with pamphlets, pass-along cards, and Books of Mormon and talked to some potential investigators that night.