week seventy-seven: who do you know who recently had a dog?

Hola hola! It was a wonderful week. This transfer is seriously flying by and it’s scaring me but I’m here right now so we’ll just focus on that. 🙂

I went on some awesome exchanges this week. The first one was with Sister Oliekan who is one of our ASL sisters! It was so great. She’s completely fearless so we talked with a ton of people! One of the highlights of the day was when we ran into a woman walking around her neighborhood. She was from Thailand and didn’t know a lot of English. I was able to use some of the few Thai phrases that Sister Sainan taught me to communicate with her! It was so cool. She told us her husband doesn’t like visitors, but she was going to give the passalong card we gave her to her daughter who speaks more English. Planting seeds on the daily.

The second exchange I went on was with Sister Bendixsen. We also had an awesome day of talking with lots and lots of people! Sometimes I walk away from contacts freaking out because of how awkward it was, but then I remember that I was just trying to bring them closer to Jesus Christ and it’s all worth it. We met this guy named Omar (he’s a YSA, hallelujah) who was super open to learning and set a return appointment with us. That was the miracle of the day. Also I awkwardly approached him while he was getting into his car. I thrive in awkward situations.

Sunday night we had a cool experience. About a month ago we met this guy named Anthony who accepted a baptismal date, but we haven’t been able to sit down and teach him since. We were going to go stop by, and while walking to get to his apartment we saw a guy sitting on a bench across the way. It was dark outside so we didn’t approach him but we agreed we would on the way back if he was still there. We stopped by Anthony’s apartment and he wasn’t there, so we walked back. We walked closer to the bench this time and realized it was Anthony who was sitting there!! We ended up teaching him right there and it was awesome. It’s so amazing how that worked out. We couldn’t find a parking spot and ended up having to park really far away…and if we hadn’t parked far away we wouldn’t have walked past Anthony and seen him that first time. But we did and the timing was perfect because the Lord knew we needed to see him.

I love being a missionary so much. I know I say this so much but I really do. For P-day today we went to a mall and I just really prefer being in my mission bubble over being in the world. I just wish that everyone had the gospel. The world would have so much more peace and happiness. If you’re looking for more peace and greater happiness I would 10/10 recommend the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it’s true!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

All my love,

Sister Martinez ❤

1. the lake in Irvine 🌊
2. Yep
3. Got to see Sister Burgess!!
4. Exchanges with Sister Bendixsen 🙂

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week seventy-six: the BoM squad

Hello hello! It’s been a busy but awesome week….I feel like I’ve said that almost every week of my mission. We had President
interviews, exchanges, car troubles…but it was still a good week! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

On Wednesday we went on exchanges and I went to Anaheim 4 with Sister DeAdder. It was a great day! Last transfer when I went on exchanges there with Sister Benn, we met and taught this guy named Miguel. Well..when I went back this time, I found out they had put Miguel on date
for baptism!! It was so cool. I love being able to work in different areas even if it’s just for the day.

A couple weeks ago while Sister Garcia was backing me out of a parking space, she started talking to this boy named Angel and got his phone number. We ended up meeting with him this week! He was really receptive and accepted baptism! He’s only 16, so we’ll have to pass him off to the family ward missionaries, but it was still so awesome to find him and teach him. We found a ton of new people this week, but only two of them were YSA’s 😦 we’re kind of having a hard time finding people to teach who are young or single…BUT I have faith that there is someone who’s a YSA in our area who is prepared to receive the gospel

I feel like I don’t have much to say this week so I’ll just say what’s most important. I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ lives. His gospel has been restored to the earth..and nothing brings me more joy! I can’t even imagine my life without the knowledge of my Savior. If you’re searching for: purpose, a sense of belonging, security, peace, eternal life, truth, or a strengthened family….you can find that in Jesus Christ’s restored church. I know that’s true.

Love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Martinez 🌸

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week seventy-five: mormons can’t swim?!

Hello everyone! It was a great week in Irvine 🙂 not too much to report on but I’ll share a couple cool things.

A couple weeks ago President Taggart emailed us asking if we would be willing to speak in some Theology classes at a Lutheran high school in the area. So on Tuesday, we went! We spoke and did a Q&A session with 3 different class periods of seniors. It was sooo awesome. Basically we started out teaching the restoration and then answered questions the whole rest of the time. Other than one guy asking his teacher if as a Lutheran church they believed we were going to be saved (awkward), it was all really respectful. We were also asked a bunch of funny questions:
– I heard Mormons can’t swim, is that true?
– Do you believe you’re going to get your own planet one day? – Have you ever had coffee?
– What is your opinion of Book of Mormon the Musical?
– Can you date on your missions? (haha)

It was hilarious, but also I do feel like we cleared up a lot of things for the students and helped them to understand more about the church.

We were walking around an apartment complex one day and talked with this dad and his son. The son, Anthony, told us that he used to meet with missionaries but it had been awhile. They gave us their address and said we could come back and see them. The next day, some sisters from one of the family wards sent us a bunch of referrals who are YSA’s that they found in their areabook. One of them was Anthony, who we had just street contacted into the day before. It’s so cool how the Spirit guides us to the right places at the right times.

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator on date, Emily, this week! She brought her boyfriend, Angel, who we recently found out is a less active member, and he is interested in learning again. And then, they both came to church on Sunday!! It’s awesome when people actually progress. 🙂

Every week when I sit down to write my weekly email, I am just filled with gratitude. The Lord shows us miracles every week and always strengthens my testimony. Every week, and everyday for that matter, I am brought closer to Jesus Christ. I know that He lives! And sometimes I feel repetitive when I say that but it’s because I am so fervent in my testimony of Him and His gospel. I’m so grateful to be a missionary, and to have the privilege of bearing His name.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Martinez 💕

1. That moment when you run into one of your bffs from BYU Hawaii!!!! 2. 🌸

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week seventy-four: “quit snorting or we’ll throw you on the grill”

Hi everyone! It was a wonderful and crazy busy week. Lots of meetings but all good things. 🙂 we kind of had cool things happen everyday so here ya go.

Monday night we met with a guy named Anthony who we met recently. We were able to teach him the restoration and he accepted a baptismal date! Wooo!! We might not be able to keep teaching him because he splits his time between Fullerton and Irvine…but I’m grateful that we found him and that he has the desire to be baptized.

Tuesday we had MLC. We mostly talked about talking with everyone, working with members, and finding people to teach. It was sooo good. I have such a strong testimony of talking with everyone. One of my favorite parts of missionary work is street contacting. It’s so awesome to just be able to go up to people and testify of Christ. Once we received the training, we were able to go give the same trainings to our zone and the Anaheim zone. Good times.

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Emily this week. She’s on date to be baptized at the end of the month and she’s doing great! We originally were planning on teaching her about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but once we talked about how Christ cleanses us from sin, she asked how you know if something is a sin. We basically told her about all the commandments. I was nervous that afterwards she would tell us she didn’t want to have so many restrictions, but instead she told us she was so grateful we were there to teach her about the gospel and tell her what is right from wrong. She wasn’t raised with any religion or anything, so she didn’t know what she should and shouldn’t do in life. I’m so grateful that she recognized that the commandments are loving instructions from our Heavenly Father because they truly are. They are a blessing.

This weekend was amazing because GENERAL CONFERENCE. I was just in awe the whole time. A couple of weeks ago I started praying about what questions I needed to ask going into conference, and there were some I didn’t even know I had. Well, all of my questions were answered in some way. Heavenly Father truly is so mindful of us. He knows what we need when we need it.

We hadn’t been able to find any new investigators all week, until Sunday night. We were getting to the awkward time of 8:30pm when you feel weird about knocking on people’s doors, but you do it anyway. We went to go find a former investigator and ended up meeting his roommate, Nester, instead. This week, the new Easter video “Prince of Peace” came out (go watch it on mormon.org) and we were able to share it with Nester. It touched his heart and he set a return appointment with us. Miracles on miracles

With this new Easter initiative, I’ve thought a lot about how Jesus Christ is my Prince of Peace. It is truly only through Him that I have found continual peace. I know that He lives.

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Martinez 💕

1. MLC
2. exchanges with Sister Whiting!
3. Invading Anaheim’s zone picture

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