Hola!
I just barely hit my year mark on February 6th! Only 1/3 left to go! You'll meet all kinds of interesting and amazing people here in the Elizabeth Public Library. About 5 weeks ago during our email time, my companion struck up a conversation with a young black lady named Arlene sitting next to her at the computer. They talked for about a half hour and Sis. Willis encouraged her to look into the church and got her information for the English-speaking elders in our ward who cover her area. Arlene showed up at church with her baby girl and is getting baptized this Sunday! Wow- I was just selfishly emailing while my companion was sharing the gospel! Open your mouths! :)
It is Sis. Willis' last week in the mission field. I'm "killing her" since this is the last transfer of her mission and she'll be going back to Parker, Colorado next Tuesday! I will miss her a ton! She's really taught me more about being dedicated and working hard. We are going to have a very busy week and need to take lots of pictures, plus make some arroz con leche with one of our members. :)
Chances are, I'll be staying in Elizabeth for 2 more transfers (3 months), and leading out in the area with a newly companion. I always get a little nervous about getting a new companion, but I feel better when I focus on what I can do to help/ serve her, rather than feeling judged or worried about any issues we could have. I'm bound to get a good one! :) I love getting to go on exchanges with other sister missionaries, because every one of them has such unique gifts that I can learn from, and we help each other out and have a lot of fun working. We experience countless different funny, awkward, spiritual, and miraculous things out here!
Our teaching pool is pretty small right now and our numbers of lessons etc. have been dropping. :/ But yesterday in ward council, our members introduced our new Ward Mission Plan, which has some extremely high-reaching goals for baptisms and bringing less-active members back. It includes a focus on encouraging members to give references and us as missionaries teaching the members about missionary work. So if we all stay dedicated in 2014, things should get better and we will see miracles! Our investigators, Rosario and Luis, both attended church yesterday, thankfully. Luis is progressing toward a baptismal date of March 9th, and Rosario still says she is too busy/ not comfortable with having us over most of the time, but I just lover her so much and I know she'll get it someday! Poco a poco.
I didn't realize how close I still live to New York City until we drove to Ellis Island! It's so neat to just see the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty peeking out as you approach Liberty Park. (New Jersey actually owns more famous landmarks than most people think!) We helped people look up their family names recorded on immigrant ship records in the Family History Center at Ellis Island. It is rewarding to help people find a name and hear them say things like, "There he is! There's my grandpa who came from Poland!" The Spirit of Elijah is here!
I've been feeling a little homesick lately, but I know it will be alright. Even though I'm still in America, the Hispanic + East Coast culture has been something super different for me! On the rare occasion that I get to talk to someone from out west (besides missionaries), if feels like home for a second. And sometimes I just really don't want to get out of the car into the snow and ice and knock on another cold door, but I'm learning that in those moments I need to tell myself, "Okay, I'm doing this for the Savior." And then I slowly start to realize how small the sacrifices that I am making really are. Pres. Jeppson told my in interviews that this is like the" final quarter of the game" in my mission, and it should be the best because I know what I'm doing and I know the gospel better than I ever have in my life.
I love you! If you want to bloom, sink your ROOTS deep into the gospel- it's the only way to be strong and truly share beauty with others!
Matthew 11:8 "Venid a mi, todos aqellos que estais trabajados y cargados, y os hare descansar."
Love,
Hermana Martin
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