Too Many Stories to Tell...

Feliz dia!

So much has been happening! We are getting close to the end of my 2nd 6-week transfer spent in the "Hightstown" area including the towns of Princeton, Plainsboro, Cranbury, parts of Trenton and more! My trainer, Sister Nava, is heading back to Utah soon and we will miss her! (She's been getting lots of marriage jokes from us lately, but we really are excited for her future!) We have shared so many good times here, and this will always be a special place for me and hopefully for those who I've been able to help strenghten their testimonies of the Gospel.

This week Hermana Carmen taught us how to make "arrepas" like they make in Venezuela! She is such a sweet lady and we love her! We are also trying to help her develop a greater love for The Book of Mormon. Mine has grown SO much since being a missionary!

We have met some amazing people while walking the streets close to the Princeton University campus, which are full of Spanish-speaking people, mostly from Guatemala. One investigator with whom we've been meeting has work on Sundays and hasn't made it to church with us. Hermana Daniels sent him a text saying that we are praying that he will be able to come to church. Just recently his job hired a new guy who may be able to work for him on Sundays! He shared with us in a lesson that he recognized this as prayers being answered! Those moments are so rewarding.

On Saturday there was a huge multi-cultural festival. Two men in our branch played in an Ecuadorian band and helped to organize the event. They asked the missionaries to serve and some of us did facepainting and gave away free donated candy, toys, and books at a table. It was so much fun! We LOVE the Latin-American culture- the food, music, dancing, language, lovingness, generosity... I am learning so much! Yesterday (P-Day) in Hightstown they had a cute Memorial Day Parade through the cute, old neighborhoods and main street! I felt such a love for America and our blessings of freedom here, too! It has been such a unique opportunity and blessing for me to be in the United States as well as to experience the many different cultures that people bring here with them.

We finally got pictures of the crazy mariachi band statues and the tooth with statue people looking at it. New Jersey is random!

Personal study in the mornings for an hour every day, especially focusing on The Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel, along with prayer, is really changing my life. I am really learning the roots of testimony, which we can develop by reading, praying, and really pondering the word of God, is what help us have greater understanding and come closer to God.
Elder Koelliker from the Quorum of the Seventy talked to us in a "mission tour" meeting last week. I liked that he said something like "Righteous behavior is the natural reaction when our heart and our minds are in line with with gospel." We can always learn more and be more humble- and then we are able to become for like Christ!

I love you all! Thank you for your love and support! Thank you to all the missionaries who serve and the friends and families who inspire us!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Martin

Garden State Update

Feliz dia!

It is so green here! We have been dropping off our trainer, Hermana Nava, to do over-night exchanges with other sister companionships as a Sister Training leader about twice a week. She is exhausted but stays strong through these final weeks of her mission! Hermana Daniels and I can understand and speak so much more Spanish now than when we got here, so that is really exciting! We just celebrated our second "Jersaversery" on May 18!

We have been getting so close to the members here and we love them lots! The other night we went to an hermana's house for dinner in Trenton and found a bunch of other members over there too all making tacos together! (We have had some ridiculously delicious, authentic Latino food lately!) It is amazing to see how the active members of the church all pull together to support eachother and the missionaries, and others who need the gospel.

The work is slowly progressing in our area. An investigator came to church yesterday for the first time- a man named Abraham who we met while serving in a thrift shop. He has already changed his work schedule so that he can come to church on Sundays, which is really exciting! His first time at church, he came to the stake conference address broadcasted to the New England area with Pres. Packer, Pres. Perry,and Pres. Rasband (translated into Spanish). There was a baptism afterward, and he came to that too! (I guess he kind of had to stay because we asked his ride, Betty, to stay... but he seemed like he loved it!)

There are so many people to teach- it is just trying to find the ones who will open their hearts! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Martin

Happy Mother's Day

Feliz Dia de Las Madres!

FaceTime call at 7:30am on Mother's Day with the family!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! My companions and I were excited and anxious to talk to our families! It was so great for me to hear their voices, tell and hear funny stories, and feel reunited again! I didn't cry until the very end when I had to say goodbye. It is hard not being able to talk to them all the time, but I am grateful that we can write and email, and I know we are always praying for each other! I have such and amazing family and I love them so much!

Mother's Day Barbeque

 

In honor of the amazing women of the branch, the priesthood put on a barbeque outside the church after our meetings. They went full-out and barbequed some of the tastiest steak I've ever had, plus rice, pasta, salad, fruit, and ice cream! The weather was perfect and everything is so beautiful and green, and I was surrounded by some of my newest favorite people on the planet! We love the members so much, and these are memories I will always cherish.

Cutest Twins in the Branch

We have had some great team-ups with members lately! One is a 20-year-old named Luis from Guatemala. The elders ran into him on the street one day and were shocked to hear him say he is a future missionary! None of Luis' immediate family lives in the states, and only he and one of his brothers are members. He is very sweet and humble and helps us bring the Spirit into lessons. We also love Betty, a lady in the branch who has a very inactive husband, but she stays very strong and is a friend to everyone. Yesterday after the barbeque, we took them both in our car and Betty led us to some of her friends who could potentially accept the gospel!

 

My companions and I are close friends! Despite some differences, we love and confide in each other. Plus we have some great inside jokes. I am learning and growing every day. I am learning to love and appreciate God more and more and all He does for each one of us.

 

Love,

Hermana Martin

 

Learning Lessons and Teaching Lessons

Querida familia y buenos amigos,
A few lessons I'm learning personally through people/ experiences and the Spirit on my mission so far:

1. Don't talk longer than I need to. Christ taught simply. Plus it gets awkward.
2. I do not deserve to be loved. That is the miracle of Christ's mercy- he gives us what we never earned. Therefore, shouldn't feel entitled to anything from anyone, and be grateful for what I have.
3. Don't critique everything people do.
4. Things only feel monotonous when I'm not understanding the importance of it. Or it really isn't that important.
5. God wants to work miracles through me and my friends/ companions every day! So I should believe and act on that! :)

Investigators!
We are teaching an awesome man named Ivon. We met him just knocking some random doors on our walking day at an apartment complex near us. He was excited to see us and we set another appointment. He loves to talk about "La Palabra de Dios" or "The Word of God." When we see him, he sings his own upbeat hymns a little for us, tells us all about how he doesn't work on Sunday, and it's so good that we dress modestly, and how he loves to read the Bible, and so forth.

When we first met Ivon, he wasn't wearing a shirt and he had on jeans with paint all over them. The next time, he wore a tank top. The last time we came over he greeted us in a shiny black shoes, jeans, and a nice blue, button-up shirt. It just goes to show that, even without words, the Spirit brings a change in people and a sense of respect for God that leads us to live the commandments. He didn't make it to church yesterday, but we hope to see him progressing by coming to church and agreeing on a baptismal date soon!

On our way to another appointment, we met a high school junior named Miguel. He said that he has recently been getting into church and stopped doing drugs a while ago. I have such a great feeling about him! I really want to teach all of his family and help them get to the temple someday!

We're still working on meeting again with the man from the cupcake shop!

There is a couple who comes to basketball on Thursdays who know quite a few people in the branch. They are both Catholic, from Ecuador, and were married about a month ago (yay!). They've met with missionaries before and Hermana Daniels and I taught them the first lesson. We were SO happy that they came to church yesterday. The Gospel Principles class was about Eternal Marriage and the husband asked what you would have to do to be able to be sealed! We're excited to teach them again.

Because of her calling, my trainer, Hermana Nava, is traveling New Jersey doing exchanges with other sister missionaries and helping them! So Hermana Daniels and I have been entrusted to run the area on our own once in a while even though we're technically still "in training!" It's amazing how far we've come in getting to know the area more, the people, the language, and the gospel. I've learned more that we really understand the doctrine behind things, the principles of the Restored Gospel are so much easier to live. We can understand the doctrine by reading the scriptures!

I love hearing about my friends getting mission calls and updates from home! Can't wait to talk to my mom and family on Mother's Day! I love you all!

Mucho amor,
Hermana Martin