May 16th - English. Espanol. Spanish. Ingles. Wait, what?

Dear all y'all,

Marte and Martin have still been home-bound most of the week due to trainee's ankle (Marte) and the trainer's (Martin) returning fever and sore throat/muscles. Yay!!

We had an English lesson with a 16 or 17 yr. old and ...12? yr. old Mexican girls (most Spanish youth that grew up in the States or have lived here a long time prefer and understand English more). Sister Marte did quite well explaining parts of the Plan of Salvation to them. The older daughter, T., is very interested in learning how to find happiness. She seemed to be quite touched by the hopeful message we had for her. We have a return appointment for this evening, and their other sister and parents should be there today, too.    :)

We've been having random people we've never met come to English class. It's pretty cool to see how a random little card from a month or two is bringing people to the Church and getting them interested in our purpose as missionaries and the Gospel. Tender mercies.

On Wednesday, we went early to Hna. M.'s house to talk to her daughter B. who has been very back and forth on her decision to be baptized or not (she's 8). So, we talked to her (in English) and explained essentially the "Gospel of Jesus Christ"/the 5 steps with an emphasis on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We also explained that it doesn't matter that she can't hold her breath for very long because she'd only be under the water for a few seconds. Her fears were calmed, and with a better understanding of baptism and it's beautiful simplicity though eternal importance, she agreed excitedly that she wants to be baptized this following Sunday.   :) 

12-week is going well. Role plays every day haha. We're getting pretty good at those. My Spanish fluidity is really getting put to the test, too haha

Side note: due to extra time being spend in the apartment lately, I've dedicated more time to studies and I'm really falling in love with the Old Testament.  I loved learning about how Jacob became Israel because now I understand those story lines better and who the 'children of Israel' are. I especially enjoyed learning about Joseph being sold into Egypt and forgiving his brothers because he saw why God permitted those things to happen (to save everyone from the famine).

Well that's about it on this side of the Mississippi. Hope that things continue to go well for y'all in the promised land of El Oriente (the West)

The Church is true,

The Book is blue,

and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

May 9th - The Adventures of Marte and Martin!!! Episode 1

Dear All Y'all,

Training isn't as scary as I thought it would be!! haha.... I'm such a worry-wart sometimes. xP However, on Tuesday night,  we received another call from the Assistants and I was told that I would actually getting Hermana Marte (Dominican Republican but came from Puerto Rico) and not Hermana Kenyon as my trainee haha. So I've been speaking a lot more Español.  xD

Sister Marte sprained her ankle on Monday pretty bad playing basketball at the MTC the day before she came to Alabama. We've received instructions to have her wear a walking boot for 3 weeks and stay off of it as much as possible. I feel bad that she's starting out on the wrong foot (literally) but we've had a great time getting to know each other and getting a kick-start on "12-week" (training program for new missionaries) together during the past few days. She is such a fast learner and I love listening to her bear her testimony, which is something she has no qualms about and it benefits every hearer.

She is so excited to help other to come closer to Christ and share her excitement about the Gospel. It's contagious :) We're reading chapters out of the Book of Mormon to help her practice reading in English. Companion studies are so great. We switch back and forth between Spanish and English, but "12-week" we do in Spanish.  We did a role play for “Teach People not Lessons” and she wanted to be the investigator so I was the missionary. It was actually really cool - I got to testify about the Word of Wisdom and how God and Jesus Christ could help "Maria" overcome her addition to coffee if she had faith. It went really well, even though I actually HATE role plays (as Hermana Acosta can attest to ;)  ), but I'm not letting on to that with Hermana Marte of course haha.

Also, Skypeing the Family was awesome. As always :)  Only have to wait 7 months to do it again! ;) haha

I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to be a trainer and become a 'mom' just in time for Mother's Day! I love Hermana Marte so much already and I'm looking forward to a great time with her here in Lorna. I'm also grateful to have the Gospel in my life and to now have the opportunity to share it with others. I know that God answers our prayers and knows what's best for us in our lives.

La Iglesia es verdadera (The Church is true),
El Libro es Azul (The Book is blue),
y Dios les ama(And God loves y'all...you)!

Firmes en Cristo (Steadfast in Christ)

~Hermana Martin

Laurel's "daughter" that she is training - Hermana Marte

3-generations:  Laurel's trainer (Acosta), Laurel, Hna. Marte

Reunion with Hermana Conteh from the Mexico MTC

The dynamic duo - Marte and Martin

May 2nd - Transfer Calls...... Drumroll, Please

Dear all y'all,

.....So, transfer calls came on Saturday night aaaaaaaaand......

Drumroll please.....

I'M GETTING A BABY MISSIONARY!!!!!!        AHHHH!!!!

......AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I may or may not be completely losing my mind. I'm both nervous and excited, I just want to do the best I can for her.  Her name is Sister Kenyon and that's all I've got xD hahaha

I think she's from Utah though.

Other than that the week has been pretty uneventful. Sister Barton and I have still been sick back and forth so it's been hard to do much of anything.

I learned something cool though. I have one of the best district leaders EVER. So, once upon a time, I got started on a medication on Wednesday because the resurrection hasn't happened yet and my body is dumb sometimes. Then, I was having a bad reaction to it (nausea). The doctor told me "If you be sick, get B6" buuuuut if I be sick, I don't want to be OUT. So, I sent the Elders out on a quest for me. Hallelujah. Doing lots better now. Elder Perrault thinks he got away with getting me the medicine without me paying him back, but I have ways around that mischievousness. >=) mwuahaha.

We went on a hike today that was waaaay longer than we thought it'd be, but it way pretty. There was a waterfall at the end and along the way I found laurel bushes!!! :) That made my day.

Well.... That's about it. Until next week!

The Church is true, The book is blue, and God loves you!

~Hermana Martin

Silly sister missionaries

A welcome sign for Laurel's new trainee

Laurel with a laurel (bush, that is!)

Waterfall hike on P-day

April 25th - Once Upon a time, there was a Turtle, a Kitten, and 2 sick Missionaries

Dear all y'all,

Kinda less-eventful week haha. Sister Barton continued to feel ill during the beginning of last week and then I wasn't feeling well at the end of the week. Perfect. I hope to be feeling better soon so we can knock out some work and finding this week and accomplish our mission-wide goal for having every companionship baptize in May. (If we accomplish said goal we'll have 88 baptisms in May!!!)

We had the opportunity to visit D. and extend a baptismal invitation to her this week. She said that she had been baptized already, but as we reviewed the Restoration again briefly she softened and recognized what we were saying about the authority of God was important. She agreed to pray about it.

Another cool experience we had was visiting with a somewhat less-active member one evening for dinner. She was expressing the difficulty she was having getting her husband from the middle east to the states despite the promised rapid results. It's been 3 years now and she broke down and began crying as she told us how unhelpful the agency has been in making progress on her case. I couldn't think of anything to do but hug her. After dinner, during which she talked about her two kids that her parents are taking care of for her in Mexico, the message we shared was Alma 38 : 5 (a new favorite of mine to share with investigators/members/etc that are going through a hard time). She began crying again but it was a different kind of cry; a little more hopeful. It was a good reminder to me that missionaries are here to help members and help them grow their faith, too. She came to church on Sunday and she seems so happy there.

Lastly, I'm just a couple chapters away from finishing the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time (cover to cover, on my own)! I'm so grateful that being a missionary has given me the opportunity to read the scriptures and study the Gospel every day and learn more about how to be spiritually independent and steadfast in Christ. Nothing else brings greater, truer, lasting joy.

The Church is true,
The Book is blue,
and God loves you!

Hna Martin II

Laurel holding a kitten

Another street with her name.   :)

Selfie time!

April 18th - Little Tender Mercies anyone?

Hey all y'all! Brace yourselves for another update on a great week =)

This week Sister Barton was sick again so not too many stories to tell. However these are some of my favorites.

Yesterday after church we were helping a young girl named E. with her homework (her mom hardly speaks English so asks us to help her with spelling because we say the words without an accent). While Sister Barton was starting helping with E., I was with her cousin L. who is also a member (both are 8). I started asking her about her favorite scriptures and if she wanted to read with me. She said she doesn't like reading the scriptures. Eventually I coaxed her into getting her Libro de Mormon out of her car. Turns out she reads/understands English more than Spanish. So, I gave her one of our English copies. She asked what my favorite chapters are and I gave her a few. We read some verses from Mosiah 2 together in-between rounds of a guessing game. This continued for about an hour, and then L. said "I LOVE reading now!"  Hah! Mission accomplished. She was so excited to show her mom all the chapters I had marked for her to read and her scripture reading assignment I gave her ;) hehe.

Had a cool experience on a blitz with Hna. Ontiveros this week :)
A young boy named G. (around 9 or 10 maybe) started talking to us while we were tracting the complex where he lives. After we continued on tracting, he came back and started asking us some questions while we were at some lady's door. So, Ontiveros started talking to him and I kept talking with the lady. She turned out not to be interested but we continued chatting with this young man and he had some very profound questions and responses throughout our discussion. He invited us to come back and see his family soon.

We got a call last night a couple minutes before 10:30 from an unknown number. We answered it, and a man's voice asked if this was the Spanish sister missionaries in the Hoover area. We responded affirmatively and he began explaining that he has a referral for us, but he's going to give our number to his Spanish-speaking friend. She has apparently participated in some church activities in his area, closer to Inverness, but she doesn't feel as comfortable with English as she does with Spanish of course. *trumpet sounding* Hermanas Barton and Martin to the rescue!!!!!

We also got to see S. again yesterday, a man we met tracting. We taught him the Restoration on his balcony, standing by his door. He is very faithful and he agreed to pray about our message and the Book of Mormon. He also is very open to prayer and asking us to pray for him and everyone else. He is so humble.

Prime example of humility: Sh. We met her tracting in the Hoover Sisters' apartment complex. I think she's one of the most amazing examples of humility I've ever met. She kept saying that she's so blessed right now, and everything she had came from God. It's so amazing how easy it is to see well-developed Christ-like attributes in some people. She's incredible. 

Also, once upon a time, we went to Subway after district meeting. I let a woman with a very small baby boy go in front of me in line. A couple hours later, while tracting, we found her again! She gave us her number so we could schedule a time to see her again.   =)

Tender Mercy:  My missing planner was found (I left it at E.s house last week. Oops.) so now we have the phone #'s and addresses I wrote down on our exchange.   =D    No Child (of God) left behind! ;) Yay!!!!

That's all. 'Til next week!

The Church is true, The Book is Blue, and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

Hanging out with Sister Layton

Reunion with her trainer, Hermana Acosta

Working with Hermana Ontiveros

Martin and Barton on the road!

April 11th - Exchanges, "Coincidences", and 'Service' of a Sort

Dearest all Y'all,

Exchanges were awesome!  We went tracting in the complexes near ours and found T. She asked us to come back later when she was less tired (she works nights) and we did so. She invited us in and was much more awake and talkative. She has reservations about reading the Book of Mormon but agreed to pray about it and consider it. Sister Layton read a beautiful verse from it that hopefully helped soften her heart to the idea.

We also met a man named D. whom we briefly taught the Restoration at the doorstep. He agreed to have us come back the next day so we could share more with him. Somewhere between the trailer park and the next morning on our exchange I lost my planner though :(   I remembered the time and where the apartment was though, but we didn't have his number to confirm our appointment. Thankfully, he was there and he allowed us to come in to share a message with him, his girlfriend D., and their 1-yr old DJ. Nearing the end of explaining more about the Restoration, his girlfriend said she had a copy of the BOM she'd gotten from another pair of sisters. ....What? She went and got it out of her room. ....Coincidence? I think NOT! (" 'Coincidences' are just miracles that God doesn't get credit for.") We're planning on seeing them later this week.   :)

We saw O. on Saturday; she has been reading the BOM and praying, but when we invited her to be baptized at the end of this month she said she felt like it was a little soon. She agreed to pray about it though and we'll going back to follow up this weekend.

Yesterday, we went tracting near T. for literally ten minutes in one complex, but in those ten minutes we knocked two doors- the first one didn't answer. At the second door, we met M. and he had never heard of the Book of Mormon before!  How is this possible??? We quickly fixed that by giving a brief overview, sharing a verse, giving him his own copy, and scheduling a return appointment.   :)  He seems really interested and I'm excited to see where his interest takes him!

Also, we went and did a “service” activity this week I haven't done in 3 years! Pictures are included :)

Until next week!! Love yall!

The Church is true, the Book is blue and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

Its always fun to find your name on a sign!

It's been 3 years since Laurel's last hair donation......

This donation went to Wigs for Kids!

The end result!  Should be much easier to get ready and 

will be much cooler this summer!

April 4th - Zone Training, Sisters' Training, and General Conference, oh my!!!

Dearest all y'all,

This week was filled with great experiences from Zone Training, the Sisters Training (all the sisters in the mission), and especially General Conference.

Saturday morning I was reviewing questions and 'requests' that I had for Conference during personal study. I decided one of the things that would be beneficial to me would be to receive a mental vision of the person that Heavenly Father wants me to become ultimately. Then, I began reading in 3 Nephi. After a few minutes of study, I came across the 27th verse in chapter 27 : "...Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." In putting myself into a state of mind that I was receptive to advice, correction, etc I found the answer to my question 'by accident' simply through scripture study. It was a great reminder to me that the answers we need in our personal lives don't have to come straight from our living prophet at conference; we don't have to wait 6 months to get answers and receive the aid we need, especially in this work . All we have to do is prepare ourselves spiritually and listen to the Spirit as we continue to grow and learn. Also, the ultimate goal is always to be like Christ. Duh. (This is why I'm still learning xP)

However, some answers DO come through conference. One of which was when Mervyn B. Arnold said simply "Thank you for your efforts"; and also when Elder Holland told us how much the brethren love us. I felt a comfort and peace come to me that even though it's hard sometimes to be here, even though I'm imperfect, even though I've hit my 1/3 mark and no one I've met here has been baptized (yet), my efforts aren't going unnoticed. He knows and He wants me here, whether the fruit of my labors shows outwardly to others or not (because most of them never will).

So grateful for the restored Gospel on the earth today and for the opportunity to hear from them regularly and hear more of the word of God.

The Sisters' Training theme, chosen by Sister Hanks, was "Angels". It reminded me of one of the devotionals we had at Oakcrest about angels surrounding us and that "they that are with us are more than those that are against us", and also that we have people here and people on the other side of the veil helping us all the time. Never alone.

At Zone Training, both Zone Leaders and both Sister Training Leaders trained on great topics and helped me recognize something that I can do better and things that I need to improve on. Our leaders, from President Monson to the District leaders in the field are led by the Spirit to know what to do and say to help care for God's children.

Well, that's all for now!! 6 months down, 12 to go!! ;) (No, I'm not trunky.)

The Church is true,

The book is blue,

and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

Hna. Portilla signing Laurel's quilt

The hermanas - Martin & Barton

Assume the position!  This is how they spend their time when they are ordered to be on tornado watch, which they were last week.  They must get in the bathtub with their bike helmets on and a mattress over the top of them.  I think they were trying to have fun with it! 

The dynamic duo - Martin and Barton!