Feliz Julio!

Here are some updates from the area I love- Hightstown, New Jersey!

 

1. Hermano Abraham received the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting, and it was beautiful. The Spirit was so strong and filled me with such joy and purpose. It is amazing to think of the day I just saw him in the hallway at the thrift store. I couldn't have imagined how very prepared he already was to accept the gospel.

 

It was a VERY stressful morning that day. We were trying to make sure everyone had rides to church and teaching a lesson before. On the way, one of the members told me and my companion that we need to speak Spanish more together because she can see that we weren't practicing enough.. right before I was to give a 10-15 minute talk in Spanish in sacrament meeting. (The members can be kind of hard on us sometimes, like when I almost cried because I got called out in a ward council meeting in front of everyone for missing 2 appointments with an investigator. And now they expect me to be better at Spanish and tell my 3-week-old companion that she needs to work harder to learn the language... but it is all in good love and the care for us and want the best for us and the people we teach.)

 

2. We really only have one sincerely progressing investigator at the moment. Hermano Rigoberto, a 66-year-old from Peru, says he is happy learning about the gospel and it is helping him cope with some serious problems in his family. He loves reading a conference talk by Elder Cook that he received in church, as well as the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets. He read about Moroni's promise about praying to know and says he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon before he gets baptized! He also told us that the church is going to be full of all of his friends and family the day he gets baptized!! He brought his graddaughter to church last Sunday.

 

3. We taught our upstairs neighbor, Emily, again-- this time with her husband, Steve! Sister Stansel and I, along with Elder Hafoka who was with the other elders, taught Emily part of The Plan of Salvation at iHop last P-Day! Now we are waiting for them to come back from a vacation (we are feeding their cats in the morning and night) and are hoping to continue to help them progress!! :)

 

4. It's a good thing it is P-Day today, because Sister Stansel and I decided to challenge ourselves by not buying any more food last week on account of we were out of time and money last Monday. So now in our apartment, we are basically down to half a bag of leftover tostadas, some dry oats, a bottle of mayo in the fridge, and a little can of sardines that dear, old Hermana Carmen sent us home with as a gift about a month ago. I love mission life! (Don't worry, we still eat more than plenty every day. :)

 

5. I drove my companion and a trio of sisters through the rain to Jersey City today for an orientation meeting to prepare to do service on Ellis Island! We got a few pictures in front of the Statue of Liberty, but I forgot my camera supplies today, so there will be more photos and info on that soon, I hope! :)

 

The mission is such a blessing to my life. I am being stretched in ways and to extents I couldn't have imagined, but I am also being well taken care of and feel love from the Lord SO strong in my life. I understand the doctrines of the gospel more clearly and more of why his is the only complete, true, and living church of God on the face of the Earth.

 

My companion and I are realizing that outside of Utah, Idaho, where we are from, and other really densely-LDS areas, it is SO rare to have a fully-active family with parents who have been sealed in the temple. We are praying for this here. This should be the goal for all of us.

 

If you want to something truly nice for a missionary, set up an appointment with them and one of your family members who truly wants to listen to and act on the gospel message. That is what will make us happier than anything! I love you all! It is so great to get news from home, so keep that coming, please! I am so grateful for all that you and the Lord have given me! Carry on!

 

Love,

Hermana Marissa Martin