March 28th - Loving Lorna!

Hola all y'all !!!

This week has been so great with Sister Barton. We get along really well and we're two peas in a pod. I'm also happy with the new district/zone/area- ESPECIALLY the Rama (Branch). Everyone has such solid testimonies and they're all soooo nice. They're already like family to me.

Several of the branch members work at a bakery nearby so they have us over to eat and help with folding boxes or washing dishes for service. I feel like I'm at Del Taco again in doing so, haha. We went to a restaurant called "Three Amigos" and I ordered in Spanish, much to the waiter's satisfaction. Mwuahaha. Whitest girl in Alabama speaking Spanish, say what? The branch was also pleased with my level of Spanish after sacrament meeting. (They ask us to speak every time we get there for the first week and when we leave).

Two great experiences I had this week came from tracting:

1. D. - We knocked on her apartment door twice and we were walking down the stairs to the next level when she opened her door and stepped out slowly. I didn't even notice her;  Hermana Barton turned around and went back haha. We told her who we were and why were there, and she said she was about the head to the hospital. We asked if we could help her with something and she said she would like to say a prayer with us, so we did. She added onto our prayer and prayed for us to have safety, success, and the Spirit. She is such a sweet soul. We're planning on visiting her apartment again soon to see if she's ok and would be interested in a message about Christ, which I'm pretty sure she will be.   :)  She's so faithful and Christ-like.

2. C. - we were tracting in a mainly Hispanic trailer park and "happened" upon C.'s trailer. When he first started talking to us he seemed confused and said he didn't know very much about religion. It was an awkward start, but he invited us to sit on his porch and talk to him, so we shared the Restoration, gave him a LDM (Libro de Mormon), and invited him to read and pray about it. We then extended a soft baptismal invitation to him and he accepted with hesitating. He asked a couple more questions about religions in general and ours. He is so sincere. We're planning on seeing him this weekend :)

Lorna is so great and I'm excited to serve here!!

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

~Hermana Martin

"Tracting + finding a flower bush= 

Cliché missionary photo with a BOM"

(how cute is that face!?!?!)

Martin & Barton

Gotta love a rhyming companionship!

(and yes, her companion did just drop food in her lap!)

March 21st - Laurel is going to Lorna! ....I mean... Hna Martin.... xP

Dear all y'all,

Transfer calls came on Saturday night, and I'm going to Lorna, in Hoover Alabama! It's near Birmingham and I'm going to be in another Spanish Branch with Sister Barton (she came out with Hna. Acosta, so I'm killing her off (that means sending her home) ) and Sister Mitchell is killing off sister Acosta in Bessemer!

Previously, in Huntsville:

One miracle we had was on Tuesday. Huntsville C asked us to go to a neighborhood near the church/us to tell a lady that they wouldn't be able to come by that day but they would tomorrow (they didn't have her number) but if she wanted we could share a message with her instead though. En route, due to me getting lost (which happens with more frequency than should after spending 3 transfers in one area haha) we met a young woman named S. Martin (we're going to look into if we're related somehow ;) ). She told us that her husband is a member of our church, that she almost got baptized last year but had to move, but now they're back and she is still interested. She gave us her address and number and also told us she's planning on quitting smoking this week. I'm sad that I'm leaving but I know that what needed to happen, happened, and what God needs to happen, will happen.

We also tracted into a gentleman I met with Sister Acosta a while back that we had given a BOM to. He said he hadn't had much time to read it yet, but that he had been thinking about getting back into a church, so maybe this was a sign. Maybe. ;) He invited us to come back and talk with him more.

Small tender mercy: Sister Portilla and I both strongly dislike bees/hornets/things of that nature and there were a TON out this week during the warm spell when we were tracting. How many times did we get stung? CERO. Hahahaha. Yay for protection from ALL evil - including rude insects.

I've seen so many miracles in Huntsville, and I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm also ready to go now since God needs me elsewhere. :)

The Church is true,

The Book is blue,

Lorna in two,  (days)

and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

P.S. - We did indeed get the St Patrick's package and we were able to give K. and M.K. a copy of the Book of Mormon as well as a few others. We haven't gotten any from the mission yet, no. Maybe now that we have transfers we will, but I'm not sure. Thank you SOOO MUCH  Mama

Laurel with Hmo. & Hna. Collins

The Bahena family - featuring Charlie the beagle

St. Patrick's Day goodies

Laurel was happy to get some BOMs in her package 

since the mission has been out of them for awhile!

Saying goodbye to Hna. Portilla

March 14th - Miracles and Blessings

Dear Reader: Brace yourself.

One of the greatest things I learned is that sometimes investigators are the ones who answer our prayers, not the other way around; and not necessarily because they’re "golden"- simply because they're in tune with the Spirit and give needed encouragement and love.

One of those times was yesterday, tracting before church. We met a gentleman on the sidewalk who told us he'd met with missionaries before, that he was still interested, but his wife was against meeting with other religions. As we were parting, he told us that we were changing lives and that we were sent by God to help others.

The more powerful time was after dropping in on a potential named K. She had said she was going to call us the last time we met her but she hadn't, so we decided to stop by. She invited us in and she explained that she hadn't called us to come over to visit because ***1) the neighborhood apparently is crazy dangerous and she didn't want us to get mixed in with the wrong people (this is the neighborhood where several people thanked us for coming to see them even though it was sketchy) and ***2) she's been somewhat depressed lately because she had to give her dog to her neighbor for a time because the less-than-fantastic people in her neighborhood let her loose the last time she left her out on a chain. But, she proceeded to tell us that her mom is actually LDS (convert) and talked about how happy her mom was in the LDS church. We shared a short message with her from Alma 38:5 and said "my daughter, K." instead of "my son, Shiblon" and assured her that even though things were hard right now that God loved her and would help her. When it was time for us to leave, we asked if she wanted to say a prayer. She suggested that one of us as well as herself would say one. She went first and said in her prayer that we were touching/blessing lives all around us and that we were making a difference. I had been feeling the few days prior that my presence wasn't making much of a difference here at all, but when she said that it brought the Spirit to my heart, as it is doing now as well, recalling that moment, that even if I don't see any of these people enter the waters of baptism that somewhere along the line I did some good and that's what matters. She also said "When you get out there... Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop!" So grateful for her and her words.

***Tender Mercy: we tracted the upper level on the 3 buildings, bottom levels of 2, and the top and bottom sections of the apartment houses across the street. K. told us the places where the dangerous people live is the bottom level of the first building that we skipped and the houses in the middle of the street that we didn't tract. Coincidence? I think NOT!

Another amazing experience was when we stopped by to see the gentleman named M. K. again. After he opened the door, he apologized for not responding to our voicemail and said, "My wife doesn't want to add another book onto the Bible. I mean, what's the purpose of the Book of Mormon anyway?" Sister Portilla responded "That's a VERY good question." MIRACLE: he invited us to sit down on the couch on his porch (very common in the South) so we could explain. So, we explained more about the purpose of the Book of Mormon and how it corresponds, supports, and testifies of the Bible and of Christ; how they work together; and that it's not a replacement. We finished by explaining that the Book of Mormon is necessary because it's the evidence of the Restoration; if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet. If not, Joseph Smith was a phony. Ta-da! We bore our testimonies and that really brought the Spirit to the discussion. He agreed to meet with us in a week after reading through the Restoration pamphlet so we could answer more of his questions/discuss some more. (they are having a Book of Mormon shortage right now, so they weren't able to give him one - Laurel felt really bad.  I got several at the distribution center and mailed them to her so hopefully that will hold them over until they get a new shipment to their mission.)

The Sparkman Elders met the A. family and we've started team-teaching them. The mom has accepted the invitation of baptism. :) Looking forward to seeing her progress and hopefully getting her children and husband more involved as well; the parents have been reading and praying together!! Just need to get them to come to church. xP

Also, Temple Trips make everything better.

Miracles and Blessings all around!

The Church is true,

the Book is blue,

and God loves you!

~Hermana Laurel Martin

Group picture at the temple

Cute sister missionaries!

March 7th - Hola Y'all!

Dear All Y'all,

Despite the BOM problem we've been having (we're in a Book of Mormon drought), it was a great blessing to give out 15 this week, mostly in Spanish. I wish more people knew how important this book is to this time period and how much it could bless their lives if they would just read it with an open heart and mind.... But I guess that's why we're here!

One unique thing we did this week was a "Media Table" at the park in downtown Huntsville (I believe it's called Big Springs Park or something). We set out pamphlets, pass-along cards, Family Search Information cards, etc. and talked with people who passed by. We met lots of kind people and were invited to visit some of them in their home later. We're hoping to do this activity again in the near future.

We also planned out a member fireside that got moved back to next Saturday. Each companionship is going to be doing a breakout session and teach a different topic. Huntsville A Elders (Messick and Wilson) are talking about scripture study, we (Huntsville B) are doing eliminating fear & having confidence; and Hunstville C Hermanas (Bartlome and Mitchell) are giving ideas to the Rama on unique, easy ways to invite their friends/family to learn more about the Gospel and/or participate in activities. I think it will be a fun way to bring the Rama closer together and get them more involved in missionary work.

That's everything out of the usual! Have a great week!

The Church is true,

the Book is Blue,

and God loves you!

~Sister Laurel Martin

Laurel by a flowering tree that she loved (of course!)

Posing at their "Media Table" in Big Springs Park

February 29th - Spanish People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear all y'all/ustedes,

WE FOUND SPANISH PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE 'SQUARE'!!!!!

OK, so, we've continued going North of our area rather than South to the 'square' of Spanish concentration, and we found some amazing English and Spanish people. For example:

We tried to visit a LA (less active) from Sparkman but the house appears to be vacant now. We decided to tract the area and found instead M. and A. (nick-name, her full Spanish name is hard to say). M. told us her kids weren't interested in religion, but when we went to our appointment with her, she wasn't there so we talked to her daughter instead. She said the only reason she didn't want to go to church is because it's early and a long drive. (Communication error much?) So we told her our Spanish congregation starts at 12:20 and that it's only about 5 minutes away from her house. She seems very interested in hearing more about the Gospel.  :)   She was going to come to church but accidentally slept in late- but she texted us to let us know :) Maybe next week!

We also found a Hispanic woman who is married and has 2 adorable daughters near another LA from Sparkman  that used to be taught by missionaries. The last time we went by to confirm our appointment this week and get her number, she was watching the movie "Son of God" - I haven't seen it, but I love that she's interested in learning more about the Savior in her personal time.

In continuing working in the area where we met G. and L. (and now her husband J.), we met some very open and accepting people again in the same apartment complex and one further down. One who especially touched us was a German woman named U. She has a lot of faith and a strong belief in doing God's will. She talked about how it is, in a way, useless to pray for things we need because God knows what we need and whether or not we ask for it directly, He'll provide- IF it's His will. She is a very kind woman. As we were leaving, she asked if we would want to have coffee the next time we came by. "Uh, we don't drink coffee."  "Tea?"  "We don't drink tea either."  "What do you drink then??" hahaha. Oh boy.

Our last cool experience is brought to you by good examples of Christ-like love and acceptance who lived in Indiana in the 70's. We met an older gentleman named H. who goes by "B." who was very receptive to our message of the Gospel because he had met Mormons before. He used to do long truck-driving routes and he had to stop once in Indiana to wait out the night - it was snowy and he didn't have anywhere to go. A farmer came by and invited him to stay in his clean, heated, cozy barn rather than in his cold truck. B. accepted. B. said that the Farmer and his family (who were Mormons) treated him like part of their family and were incredibly kind to him. That experience happened around 35ish years ago, but because they were so accepting and willing to help this man in his hour of need, he was willing to listen to us, take a Book of Mormon and agreed to read it (or try to until we can get him a large-print copy) because he had seen that we strive to follow Christ's example. I can't wait to thank those people in heaven.

Well. That's the week's happenings.

The Church is true,

The Book is blue,

and God loves you!

~Hermana Martin :)

Laurel and Hna. Diaz

SIs. Bartlome (from Riverton), Laurel, and Sis. Mitchell