Hola All Y'all: February 1st - New Companion, Interviews, and Oscuro

Family & Friends,

This week had a few fun adventures despite having to stay in the apartment a few days again due to Hermana Acosta being sick again :( Poor soul.

I had an impression that there was a dog inside a gate we went through as were tracting. We heard a dog barking but it sounded far away. Then, it stopped. We turned to the left and suddenly there was a large black dog's head staring at us over the bushes. Its head was probably about as high as my waist. If Hermana Acosta and I hadn't started walking away off the porch steps right when we did he probably would've gotten me. Luckily right as he lunged at me his chain caught him and my leg was spared. *phew* After we went past him, he went up onto the porch, soooo if we'd stayed there we would've been in trouble. I'll take more caution next time. Oops. We named him Oscuro which means "Dark" in Spanish.

Couple of cool potentials:

G. is ....married.... but kinda separated because her husband is always out and about not being the best of people. She is so faithful and accepted a Book of Mormon. We're going back tomorrow to introduce the Restoration to her. We did Plan of Salvation last time because she lost her mom recently. She's amazing.

J.T. is also married with an Energizer Bunny for a son. We're seeing her Sunday and she was very accepting of the message of the Restoration.

Upon checking on an investigator that hasn't been responding to us, we tracted Andreas' door because he was playing super loud Spanish music featuring a loud Tuba. We are seeing him on Thursday. Yay for Spanish!

Also, Transfer calls came on Saturday!!! Because all Transfer Meetings in the world are no longer allowed, we got all the information over the phone. I'm very much looking forward to having Sister Portilla as my new companion. =D She's from Columbia so Spanish is her first language. Though I am going to miss Sister Acosta, I know she's going to have fun with Sister Conteh (my MTC companion) in Bessemer. =D

Also, Dustin, our investigator we dropped a few weeks ago, texted us last night saying he'd been to church a couple times (not ours) and he'd been praying. He asked us to pray for him because of a court case he has today.

I find it interesting that God sometimes give us trials to compel us to turn to Him, as Alma teaches in Alma 32: if we're not humble, we'll be compelled to humble. However it is better to choose humility to start with- there's far more blessings and peace in doing so. An LDS texting service I joined in High school called "Voices for Virtue" or "V4V" would send daily texts with quotes, inspiration and encouragement to be our best selves. One of the quotes was "Is prayer your spare tire or your steering wheel?" It took me a while to understand this completely, but now I have a firm testimony that when we turn to our Heavenly Father regularly and rely on Him, He will guide us in everything we do, rather than if we only turn to Him in times of 'emergency' and when we 'really need Him'. May we always remember the simple truth in Hymn #98, "I Need Thee Every Hour, most gracious Lord. No tender voice like Thine can peace afford." In order to have His peace, we need Him in our lives.

So grateful for this Gospel and the Savior in my life :) Nothing can replace them.

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

~Hermana Martin II

P.S. - Forgot to mention. We had Interviews with President Hanks on Wednesday. He was running way behind so I only talked to him for about 3 minutes but it's amazing how much individual love and concern he packs into those few minutes.

Steadfast in Christ!!!