Last days with the Jeppsons, New companion...

Buenos dias!

Last Tuesay was Transfer Conference-- the last one with the Jeppsons! I definitely shed some tears listening to Pres. Jeppson's departing testimony. We all stood up together and suprised the Pres. and Sis. Jeppson by singing the classic farewell song that they usually sing to us as a mission, and that was heart-wrenching! So many special memories that we all have with this couple!

 My new companion is an almost-five-foot bundle of sweet joy! Sister Cole is from Rexburg, ID (her dad works in the with the library at BYU-I). Her mom is from Mexico, so everyone asks her more than once where she's from or where her family is from after she says that she's from Idaho to figure out why she looks hispanic. That is always a natural "in" for talking with the people we teach!

 :) It's funny because I went on an exchange with Sis. Cole back when I was a Sister Training Leader serving in Elizabeth, and we had a fun time together teaching awesome investigators and trying out some crazy Peruvian food at a restaurant! So I already knew that I loved her when President called her name at Transfer Conference. My last companion, Sis. Haddock went to a trio of sisters in Morristown! We all miss her here in New Brunswick, too.

We've been finding some miraculous new investigators, mostly through contacting on the streets and meeting people's family! One recently-found investigators name is Mary. She is from Mexico and was excited to have her three children lined up obediently on the couch for our first visit and have us read the scriptures with them! A member, hermana Reyna Santos, came with us to that lesson, and her testimony helped a lot! We also started talking to a man named Juan who was working in the yard outside his house and he started telling us how he has a disabled daughter and some hard things he's going through in his life, but a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. It is exciting to start teaching new people the gospel!

One of the sad things that happens to us a lot is when we set up a return appointment and the person/ family isn't there. :/ Last night we had even confirmed with an investigator the night before and an hour before over text, prepared a spiritually-powerful lesson based around their specific situation, and arranged for a member to meet us there. And when we knocked, we could hear the TV and things going on inside, but no one would answer the door! So we contacted some cool people outside on the street with our returned-missionary member. A good percentage of our lessons get "juked" every week, so we just have to brace ourselves with back-up plans in our Nightly Planning always and be flexible and go with it. God always leads us to somewhere we need to be, though.

It has been a little bit more chalenging than I expected this week leading out in the area since my last companion has gone! I am notoriously terrible at directions/driving, and even though I've been in this area for 12 weeks, it still feels like a brand new place to me sometimes! Plus the roads here are really confusing! But, we did have a miracle with that! After a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader in the chapel, we had just gotten our car back, but our GPS was dead and we didn't have the charger and we had an appointment with our new investigator, Mary- who I mentioned earlier, right after that! The Spirit guided me down a road right by the church that I didn't even know existed, I got on the correct freeway, and ended up directly in front of Mary's apartment right in time! We still don't know how it happened, but God always provides a way!

BAPTISMS! :) Two companionships of elders in our ward baptized 11-year-old girls this past Sunday! These cute little girls aren't related, but both of their mothers where recently baptized as well and are following their examples. One mother and daughter was found thanks to a referral from a family member while out teaching with Sis. Haddock and I about two months ago! We started teaching them, but found out that they were one of the ones who actually live on the other side of our border in the Elders' area. I got to have a special little talk on the phone with the 11-year-old girl this week and help her resolve some of her concerns about baptism. We have been assigned to visit the other mother and daughter to teach some of the other lessons found in Preach My Gospel. It just filled my heart with so much joy to see them be baptized and be even a small part of their conversion! :)

Random thoughts: I love this ward here! I made my companion watch part of the David Archuleta "Face to Face" interview on the internet as part of our mormon.org time and tried not to scream because I was so excited! Sis. Cole does a good job of keeping me from stepping on road kill in the street. There are so many stinking squirrels around here! We also walk by a lot of Jews every day by our house and live around the corner from a Kosher grocery and "Jerusalem Pizza." I try to ignore the Elders when they start making "trunky" comments about me. We contacted a tall Haitain guy yesterday in the midst of a crazy, loud party outside some apartments and talked to him about the Book of Mormon and got his information for the Elders to go by and teach him in Maplewood! We are playing beach volleyball today in a tournament with another zone!

I love the misison! I love being a disciple of Jesus Christ! I love you!

Siga adelante! Eter 12:17; Mateo 11:28 (todos deben de aprender estas escrituras, creo)

Con amor,

Hermana Martin

Tomorrow I meet my killer...

Saludos de Nueva Jersey!! :)

 

WOAH! ONLY ONE TRANSFER TO GO! THIS IS CRAZY!!!!!! Transfer Conference is in Morristown tomorrow. We'll all be going to say goodbye to Pres. and Sis. Jeppson, and I'll be getting a new companion, because we already know that Sis. Haddock is getting booted out of New Brunswick! I mean, transferred. I'm going to miss this sister because she has been such a good friend to me!! We'll definitely be reuniting again somehow in Idaho/Utah. The sister who gets tranferred here will be "killing" me, because New Brunswick will be where I "die."

 

We've been finding some new investigators, which is pretty exciting! We just need to pray that they don't let work or distractions take over their lives too much, so they will keep their commitments to read and pray and keep setting appointments with us, so they can keep progressing in the gospel! Some of the people we have found have been dwindling away, which is sad! But I've set some good goals to help follow-up with them better and I'm praying that the new sister who comes here will have some good ideas!

 

My mindset has been changing quite a lot lately. I'm just trying not to be overstressed and to love up every moment that the Lord has given me here. I only have 6 weeks left... but that includes 120 lessons to teach, if we do the standard 20 per week, and a lot of lives to change! And more conversion to find within myself!

 

We ran into a Muslim man the other day outside who was asking us a lot of sincere questions about Christianity, and our religion in particular. He was fascinated by the idea that we believe in having a living prophet on the Earth today, "and that 15 million peolple follow him!" he said. Talking to him made me reflect on MY testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and my knowledge and desperate NEED we have in this generation from the Book of Mormon! He didn't understand the Atonement or the concept of the Son of God at all, and I just want to read to him Alma 34 and Mosiah 15!

 

It is amazing to be a representative of Jesus Christ every day, as is every believer in Christ's true church! I love you!

 

Love,

Hermana Martin

Temple Trip!  Outside the Temple!  Zone 9 The Divine!

 Slurpees after volleyball at the Perth Amboy Shore! 

Biking in the Bruns! :)...

Mis queridos...

I'm glad to say that I've been feeling happier this week trying not to take myself too seriously, like Pres. Jeppson says! My District Leader, companion, the members, and love from home have been helping me with that! Enjoying missionary work = success! It doesn't make sense to just be trudging through it when there is so much to be enjoyed in the world (thanks to the gospel of Jesus Christ)! :)

Teaching Eleny, daughter of a less-active member
who is coming back to church, the Plan of Salvation!

Yesterday, my companion and I biked about 11 miles to teach some investigators since we are without a car right now while it's in the shop for some minor repairs. I was dreading biking little bit, but my companion talked me into it! We worked some muscles that haven't been worked in a while, and we are a bit sore today, but it was so worth it! We looked kind of ridiculous riding through New Brunswick with skirts and helmets. Most people respect us anyway because they recognize us as messengers of Christ, though. Others just laugh at us while we grit our teeth and peddle past them... :) We saw a bunch of little miracles, though, in just those few hours that we wouldn't have been able to see had we not put in the extra effort! 

Here are a few: 

1. So, a few times a week, we walk past this Indian man who fills tanks at the gas station right by our house. (That is a unique Jersey trait FYI- you never fill your own gas! It gives more work opportunities, I guess.) We talked to him once and we always exchange big smiles and a wave as we walk by. Yesterday, we really needed to use these bikes that the elders lent us for the first time to get to our appointment in time; none of the members were available/planning to drive us, and we had two flat tires on one of the bikes! We walked our bikes to the gas station to get some air, which cost $1.00 to use the machine, and were standing there helplessly with exactly 75 cents.  That was all I happened to have with me in my wallet. Our Indian friend miraculously donated a quarter to our cause and made it so we could get on our way! This is a testimony to me that no kind deed goes unrewarded!

2. After a long, hot, sweaty bike ride across New Brunswick (Rutgers college town) to the apartment complex, some members of our ward who we had helped move a couple of weeks ago let us stash our bikes in front of their house and gave us some cold glasses of water! (Another rewarded service... what goes around comes around!) Then... our appointment juked because our investigator was busy with a birthday party. BUT... we contacted 2 nice men from Ghana and invited them to be baptized right there on the spot! They accepted! ("Only if it is performed in the way Jesus Christ was baptized..." YES!)

3. Then we tried knocking on a few doors of other potential investigators who live around there and spotted a lady sitting on her porch steps watching her kids play in the grass. She was visiting from Jersey City. This hermana, Carmen, said she sees the missionaries there all of the time and has been curious about what we teach, but has never been approached by them! She has three kids and we can tell that she is looking for peace and answers in her life. She said it is hard to know where to go when there are so many religions! We gave her The Book of Mormon and invited her to pray right there with us. It was one of those simply, amazing teaching moments! She has the Book of Mormon now and promised that she would talk to the Jersey City missionaries the next time she sees them!

4. Despite our hopes, instead of offering us a ride, the members who we dropped our bikes off with told us, "Buen ejercicio!"/ "That's good exercise!" and drove away in their van... On the bike ride home, we passed a cute little Hispanic family who was walking down the sidewalk. After we had passed, we heard the dad say the word, "misioneras." So we hurriedly turned back around the corner and stopped and talked to them. It turns out that the wife is a member of the church and the husband is not, and they said we could come visit them! We sent their information to the elders who cover their area, and they were so excited to hear from us because they had been teaching this family, but then they suddenly moved and the elders lost contact with them! Milagros!

I love this area and my companion. I'm happy that I'll probably be staying in this area for another transfer, because we are getting even more support from our members and have found some investigators to teach with really good potential! One of them is a cute, young mom from the Dominican Republic named Anyi. She is so sincere and receptive to everything we teach. We have brought our Ward Mission Leader and a couple of other members over to her house, and they feel so spiritually edified and excited to be able to share their testimonies with her!

Two of my original MTC district hermanas!
They are planning on going to school at Dixie and I am so excited! :)

We had an All-Mission Conference with the Jeppsons this week! It rained SUPER hard, so we were unable to do all of the sports and games they had planned to do outside, but Sis. Jeppson miraculously pulled off a fun rotation of activities for us to do inside the church and we had a fun time!  It was great being with all of the other missionaries whom I have grown to love so much, including former companions and leaders! We had lunch, and did skits as zones for each other (all of the 12 zones /

Zone 9 flag at the all-mission conference in Morristown!
(Represent!) Island art design by Elder Aspinall! 

tribes). Then we gathered in the chapel and Sis. Jeppson sang a medley of all of the clever NJMM songs she has made up for us in her past 3 years serving here, and Pres. Jeppson shared his inspiring testimony and life experiences. It was a tender time for me!!

The gospel is true! We are losing out if we are not relying on our Savior, Jesus Christ! I love you!

Love,
Sister Martin

Saludos!

Buenas!

Sis. Haddock and I set a record for both of our missions for how many lessons we've taught in a week: 32!! Wow... we were exhausted by the end, but it is a blessing to be able to teach so many people!

We have been struggling a little to have investigators progressing and coming to church. But, we have found some great potentials and new investigators in this massive apartment complex- mostly Dominican people we've been talking to!

We had an exchange this week and I met some awesome and funny people in the English ward. Recent converts amaze me with how strong they are!

Once in a while I feel a little blue for no good reason... but I've got some tips to try and I'm going to seguir adelante (press forward)!

We have an all-mission conference coming up this week and that should be exciting! NJMM missionaries are amazing!

I am learning more and more to trust in the Lord. My life is between me and my Heavenly Father, with people to learn from and bless along the way.

Pray for us because we will be walking (possibly biking) and begging rides from members this week while we don't have a car for a little while! Ahh! The Lord will provide a way for us to get out of the little Jewish community where we live and find some Spanish people to teach!

I love you!
Hermana Martin

Here we go, Junio!

Como estan?

Whoa... only 2 months and 4 days left of my mission...

The weather has been beautiful lately and everything is so GREEN!

Yesterday, we visited a cute Mexican member in our ward. Her husband is in the bishopric and they have a son on a mission, (which is much more rare occurrence out here!). She talked about sharing the gospel a little bit with her friend at the laundromat and doing service with her husband for a sick neighbor who she'd referred us to earlier. She also invited us over for some "comida Mexicana" on Thurs. (Walking day, and they live in walking distance, so perfect!) The gospel makes us so happy!

Any time we're in the car, the sister in the passenger
seat is constantly sending out text reminders to invite
people to church/ confirm and set appointments/
contact members and non-members! We take turns on driving days.

 Our investigators didn't go to church yesterday. :( Miguel and Rocio had to work. We fasted so that Miguel can find a job where he won't have to work on Sundays. He wants to be baptized and he is reading The Book of Mormon and praying daily, but he's just got to take that next step to change his job. Our Dominican family, Reynaldo, Suhety, and Abrianna, didn't come to church yesterday. Abrianna (11) says she wants to, and she's been reading in the Gospel Library on her phone.

 One of our members did go to church with her daughter, Eleny, and her baby attended church for the second week in a row after not attending for years and years! She brought her baby boy to be blessed in Sacrament Meeting, and the hermano who blessed him mentioned his potential to be baptized and serve a full-time mission! It was beautiful!

I did a count yesterday of the church members in the Spanish sisters' area (that's us) and I counted 65 members (including children who  have been baptized). That's 65 members of the true church of Christ out of the hundreds of thousands of people who live around here... crazy! And less than 30 of them are actively attending. Only 12 of the age-eligible ward members in our area have gone through the temple for their endowment... We are so blessed to have the restored gospel! It is like a having diamond in the rough! We've been working hard to involve the members in missionary work. It is sometimes a struggle to find people to teach, but the members are willing to help us out in whatever way they can!

 In area where we live, Highland Park, there is a unique population of Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu people, with a mixture of Catholic and other Christian denominations scattered in between! Talking to them, I've been given a chance to reflect on where my faith really is and what it to me means to be a true disciple of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is no Utah!

It's scary, weird, and a little stressful for me adjusting to the thought that I'll be going home soon. One more transfer to go after this. I just need to take it one day at a time. I have a goal to smile more. Sometimes it's hard with so much on my mind, but I guess that being happy is what the gospel is all about, anyways!

 2 Nephi 31:20

Love,

Hermana Martin

I found a store with my name on it!

My companion and I on the temple trip!! (Wow, it's been a long week...)