Our Merry Christmas Skype from Elder Martinez

My Elder, my Poo!

Elder Helbig and Elder Martinez

There always has to be a skype bomb

On Christmas, we got our skype from Elder Martinez. It was an awesome Christmas present. He is healthy and so happy. His German is totaly coming along and was able to share his testimony in both German and English. He keeps very busy doing the Lords work. We love him and are so thankful for what he is doing. So thankful for the members in Augsburg for their love and devotion to the well-being of the missionaries. Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

Saving it all for skype on Christmas

Elder Martinez and Elder Helbig have a love/hate companionship

Hello mom, you are the only person that I got emails from today. This will be a very fast email session today. Probably because I will be talking to all of you in a couple of days. Thats ok, that just means that I am not as rushed to try and write everybody back. But to start, I will answer your question that “no” I have not received your giant package yet. I didn’t know that you were sending one, but i will be sure to watch for it in the mail the next couple of days.

It is so good to hear that Jessi is doing a good job and that she is still living and doing well. That is really interesting to hear that the mission president did not call the parents or send out an email that they all got there safely. I know that each mission president is different but I am sure that they need to do that but, oh well. What can you do?

I am trying to keep most of this short and not to explicit because I am going to see you in just two days. Remember, there is no exact order that we will be going in but I can tell you that Ii won’t be first. I am very excited to see all of you and talk to you. I don’t know how much German I will speak because I know for a fact that you will not be able to understand me but, I will if you still want me too.

All is going well still in this part of the world and I am still alive and still moving this work forward in my little area of Augsburg. I have so much to tell you but I will wait to tell you in a couple of days. So you will have to wait in anticipation. Sorry, but I do not want to spoil it for you.

Mom I love you and I can’t wait to see you and gma and gpa and everybody else in a couple of days. Here are a couple of pictures that Elder Helbig and I took. I don’t know if I can last the holidays! Eating wise!

The German members know how to spoil the Missionaries

Hi mom, let me start by simply answering all of your questions about skyping and all of that good stuff. We will be skyping on the 25th of this month. and we will be doing it starting at about 9:00 in the morning your time. There will be four of us all at one computer so only one of us will be able to go at a time. so it could be at nine or maybe at 11:00. Just have it all ready and I will call you. The only thing that you need to do is send me your account so that I know who to call when it is my turn. I will be calling from Elder Helbig’s account and I will send you his account name next email, so that you can know what name to look for. It does not matter what computer you use, just as long as it has a camera on it which both the ipad and Jessi’s computer do. I hope that all of that made sense. The only thing I need for sure next week is your skype account name so that I can call you. Everything else should work just fine. If there are any problems we still have next week to try and figure it out. Also, I can skype with Jessi. Just her and I for twenty minutes. If you can send me her skype name as well so that I can do that with her as well.

That’s enough of that boring poop, on to more serious stuff, and more important stuff. Mom, my heart took a small little jump when I heard about you and that spot on your nose. I just have one question, is everything ok, and are you going to be ok? From the sounds of it you are going to be ok, but you don’t simply say it. So is everything ok? I am not wigging out about it, but I would like to know next week if everything is ok.

This week in Germany, simply put, was lots and lots of candy and lots and lots of eating appointments set up for the holidays. I won’t complain, it is a really good thing. The members really showed us there love this week and I am really looking forward to the Christmas week because we won’t have to buy any groceries. I am also able to really get a feel for the German Christmas tradition and for that I am very excited.

Many many miracles happened to me and Elder Helbig this week. To just tell you the biggest one that happened to me, because of time, is that we had an investigator come to church finally yesterday and he said that he wants to come back again next week, I know that the Lords hands are in this work and that him coming to church was nothing short of a miracle.

Well mom, I do have to go and I do want to end by saying that I love you and that I am sending you a small birthday package and I hope that it can get to you on time for your birthday. I love you so much and I can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks. One last thing before I go, is there anything that I can do for you out here in Germany? Just let me know?

I love and miss you tons, you are with me always, till next week, your son, Elder Martinez

This week has been a very long week for me and Elder Helbig in more ways than one. I will get to all of that soon enough. Let me start from the beginning.

We started our week doing all of our proselyting before we have our p-day. We went by some potential and actually got some potentials that day. The reason why we did our proselyting time in the morning first is because it is harder to do it during the end of the day. Its getting darker faster and people are not as likely to talk when it’s dark. We did our time of proselyting and then from there we did our p-day. Last week we, along with the Sisters, went to the weinnachtsmarkt here in Germany. It was alot of fun; got some small things with the little bit of personal money I had left. But I won’t tell you more because I will show in an upcoming letter.

The rest of the week started and the week for us was a little slow. Most of our investigators were all out of town so we could not meet with them this week. Most of our time was spent finding more people that we could teach. We actually did a really good job on that front. Elder Helbig and I found 6 people this week that want to learn more. That was really good this week. We did not get to many lessons.

One of our investigators came back and we had an appointment set up with him for Saturday. But out of nowhere, Elder Helbig got really sick. I mean really sick. He threw up about 9 times the whole day and because he was so sick I could not leave the apartment. That was a little bit harder because we had to cancel our appointment. We did set another one for tomorrow. But then all of a sudden that night I got really sick. I threw up only twice. So I did not get it as bad as Elder Helbig, but I was still pretty darn sick. I was not going to let that stop me. We had appointments to go to and church to go to. So I kept going. Yesterday was a very long day because I was just so tired from the long night that I had. But we had a really good lesson and all went well. I am doing great right now. I am totally back to normal and all is moving forward.

I heard that Jessi is doing great in the MTC and that she is doing well there in her first week. She sent me an email as I am positive she did the same for you. I am so happy to hear that she is doing well. I can’t wait to see the pictures in the mail.

I do have to go. The district is going to the Munich Weinnachtsmarkt tonight and we only have an hour for emails

Till next week, Elder Martinez

Pday in the Augsburg Christmas Market

Thanks, companion for making missionary work fun!

Hallo alle meine familie,

This email will not be as long, simply because I don’t have a lot of time to write really long emails anymore. But I will do all I can to tell you all about what happened this week.

I did get a new companion this week. A lot has changed and a lot has happened. I am now working with Elder Helbig. In just the short time that we have been together, I have learned how to make missionary work so much fun. He is just always making jokes and just being funny. It is so nice to finally laugh. A little bit about him is that, he only has about 3 months left and he does not want to go home. He is so committed to this work that he just can’t think of going back; which is nice because I was really scared that he was going to be hard to work with because he would be thinking of home all the time. But that is the last thing that he does. He is simply the funniest elder that I have been able to work with so far on my mission.

With all of that being said, I did have to take over all the area because Elder Helbig is new to Augsburg. With this week alone I have spoken more German and talked to more people then I did my whole first two transfers. Simply because I need to do most of the talking because Elder Helbig has not been here before. He speaks really good German, but he does not know the people and investigators so I have to talk and explain things to all of them. I can already see my German improving and my vocabulary getting better.

We got another baptism date this week. That means we have two for Dec 28. I was so excited when I got that date this week. I know the Lord’s hand is in all things, especially his work. We hope that in the coming weeks we can get another with a wonderful investigator we have been teaching.

The Elders and the Sisters did have a small dinner with a member. It was definitely not thanksgiving dinner, but it was still nice to sit down and relax for an hour. But then we had to get back to work because we had some people to go by and visit.

I am excited for this coming week, miracles happen every day, you just have to look for them. I love all of you and I know Jessi is going to do well on Wednesday, but I write to her personally. Mom I love you and you walk with me always.

Till next week, your son, Elder Martinez

More good things happen, and a change in companions

Let me start in response to all the events that happened to all of you this week:

Mom, your last email about the family, and all the events that happened, made me realize that things happen and I really don’t even notice it. I knew from last week’s email that Jessi was giving her farewell talk, and so was Hampton. I knew that all the family was getting together, but that was all that I knew and had remembered from what you told me. Yesterday I was in abendmahlsversammlung and the thought just came to me that Jessi is giving her farewell talk today. It was 10:30 in the morning and you were all still asleep, but at that moment, I said a little prayer and I knew that that day was going to be a good one for her and for all the family. Then my day and  the work went on. I had members to talk to investigators to set up appointments with for this coming week. Then reading all the emails from home this week, reminded all that happened. Where before, one of my biggest concerns was that, how in the world could I miss out on all the fun things that happen at home? All the family events and get togethers? It really made me scared. But this week reminded me that, though I do miss all of my family and I do care what happens at home. I have work to do here, and yesterday was a testimony to me, or even a little sign from my Heavenly Father, that I have my mind and heart in the right place. I had completely forgotten about Jessica’s farewell until that Sunday, and I prayed for her and  peace came to me and I knew that she would do great. Then with that peace, I didn’t need to think of it anymore. It was in the Lords hands and I had work that needed to get done. I know that the lord will always bring to remembrance what is needed to be said or done, only when we are doing what is needed to be done.

Your last email did make me really miss good old American Thanksgiving. All that great food. Oh man, America, how I miss you sometimes.

To give you a start on the great week that I had, I will start with the beginning…transfers. Let me tell you about what they are, I may have done that before but I will explain it again. Every six weeks we have what is called a transfer where, missionaries move from area to area all over the mission and other important changes take place. This is the start of my third transfer. Last time nothing changed because I was still being trained, but now that I am no longer being trained, Elder Evans and I were possibly in for a change. Drum roll please.................................................. I will be staying in Augsburg and Elder Evans will be transferred to Esslingen. I will be getting a new companion on Thursday. His name is Elder Helbig, and he only has two transfers left before he goes home. So Elder Helbig and I will be able to really get some work done. I am so excited for this next transfer. I will probably be in Augsburg for a little while longer, I am guessing another 12 weeks, but you really never know when it comes to transfers. You go where the president feels you need to be.

The same day we got our transfer calls, is the same day that the best thing of the week happened. I do mean the best thing of the week. We had an appointment with three investigators and they are all from Nigeria. I believe I told you about them last week. We had an appointment with them for Thursday and Elder Evans and I both felt that it would be a good time to extend a baptismal date for them. So the lesson went really well and the spirit, you could see, was working in their hearts. Ii extended the baptismal date to one of them, to prepare to be baptized by the proper authority on Dec. 28. and she told us that she will follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. it was so hard not to jump out of my seat for joy. The spirit was so strong and I know she knows that this gospel is true. When the appointment was over, the newly baptized friend of theirs who helped joint teach, simply said to us. "wow, man!" that’s all we could say to. “Wow, Man.  Elder Evans and I,  when we got back into Augsburg, had celebratory McDonalds  (my first time eating there since being on my mission) never before had McDonalds tasted so good.

This week we also had a baptism within our district. We had it in our church building because our church building is the only one in our district with a font. The rest usually do it in lakes or rivers. but the weather is too cold for that, so we did it in Augsburg. it was a small baptism, only about ten people there mostly missionaries, and the branch president from the area he was from. The amazing thing was what happened to a particular person that we invited to the baptism. We invited an investigator  to the baptism. He is a great investigator and we have been working with him for about three weeks now. Meeting with him about twice a week. he is progressing and doing great but he just can’t see how this gospel can work for him. He came and it was his first time coming to the church building. That’s another problem he has is coming to church. we gave him a tour and he seemed really happy. but then we got to the actual baptism. and the ordinance was done and I looked back and his face was one that I will never forget. I knew he knew that he had to be baptized. but to put a cherry on the top of this already awesome experience, the person who was baptized gave his great testimony. Our friend was just drawn into it. The spirit was so strong in that chapel. I looked at him and he had tears rolling down his cheeks. Mom, this man is the strongest German I have ever met, and he was crying. the Lord took his hard German heart and softened it down for him to know without a doubt that this is what he needed to do. We asked him after how he felt and if he wanted to talk, and he simply told us, that he needed to go, but he has something to tell us when we meet on Monday. Today. I am so excited to meet him and talk to him today.

Well, I have written alot and my fingers are actually getting tired from all of this typing. I love you so much and I can’t wait to hear about the day Jessi leaves for the MTC in a couple of weeks. I know the moment she puts on that Black Badge, she will change.

There is one thing that I need to ask from you, can you give me a list of all of the family birthdays. Everyone. From cousins to aunts and uncles. I want to make sure that I write them and don’t forget their birthdays even though I am out here in Germany.

I do have to go, I love you and until next week,

Elder Martinez

Setting goals:

This week it has been the most rewarding week of my mission so far. Let me start from the very beginning like I usually do and I will explain why this has been a very good week.

This week we had zone training meeting and there we get together with all the missionary’s in the München zone and we go over all kinds of important things. We go over new rules that have changed and or have been instated by the president and also go over several other things that help and benefit the missionary work.

This time something else was discussed that has not been discussed in a very long time. As a mission, we have a goal that we will baptize 290 people this year. As of right now we still have about 180 to go. I know, as a whole mission, if we prayed and had the faith and worked as hard as we could, we would reach our goal by the end of the year. We only have a month and half.

After Zone training meeting, Elder Evans and I had a different desire and looked at our goal for this year. We both felt that as long as we worked our hardest and did what we could in Augsburg to reach this goal that blessings would come and that miracles would happen. So we worked hard. We talked to more people. Worked harder with the members and the investigators that we had so that we could find more people to teach and to find more people who the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel.

On Thursday this week, we had a lesson with a newly baptized member. We have met with him several times, and we asked after every lesson if he had any friends that could use this message of the restored gospel in their lives. Everytime he would say no. We get to the lesson and before we had the chance to sit down, he tells us of three of his friends that he has invited to church this Sunday. We were shocked and ecstatic! Through talking with him, we were able to get him to introduce us to them this Saturday. He was more than willing to be there and introduce us to them. We got to the appointment on Saturday and never before had a lesson gone so well. They had all seen missionary’s where they were from and they had been looking for the same black badge they had seen back at home. At first they were a little confused because ours were not the same they had seen back at home. They had seen the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in English and they did not recognize it in German. When we explained it to them, they were all so excited and happy. We had a great first lesson, and they all came to church the next day. and they are all so happy and excited to learn more and to follow there Heavenly Father.

I know that miracles happen. When you work your hardest and you show your faith by doing and by walking in faith, the Lord will always provide for us. I know this to be true.

This week has been the busiest week of our mission. We have had more lessons with progressing investigators than ever before in our companionship. We also made so much progress with the investigators that we already had, and also with the members in our ward. We hope that by the end of this week, we can have four baptism dates. Never before have I worked so hard and tried to reach a goal so hard…ever in my life. But as I work hard, the more I feel the Lords love and hand in all things. I love my mission and my area, Augsburg is going to explode with people looking for this gospel.

On to answering your questions, all of our Russian investigators have hit stand stills and most have stopped investigating. All though we still have contact with them, but they just don’t want to investigate anymore. We always have to remember that all of Gods children have their agency and they have every right to use it. it’s hard for us as missionaries because we know this gospel will bless them but they, in the end, will choose.

My German is coming along, every week I understand more and more, it’s just that most of the time people talk so fast and I can’t get all the words that they say. Just like me with English, I just talk so fast that people that are new to the language will never understand. It’s the same with me and German. But people in the ward are starting to realize this and they are talking a little bit slower. They still talk really fast. Especially people that we contact on the street. They talk so fast. But I am getting better and I can understand more and more the more I study and practice by simply talking.

Christmas and skype, we won’t use face time because we don’t have any access to it. So we will be skyping, so you will need to get one. We will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day with members and that is when we will have the time to use skype. We will probably do it on Christmas Eve. I will give you more information the more that I know but for now just set up an account and get familiar with it. I will let you know how I will be reaching you that day.

Transfers are next week, but I will more than likely not be transferred. Still you never know. I will probably leave after Christmas. So don’t worry too much about my address changing, it will probably stay the same. I have everything that I need. I don’t need anything for a while. Just worry about Jessi. That’s all that you need to worry about right now.

Well mom, it’s another week and another email sent and done, keep telling Gma and Gpa that I love them and keep telling Maddox and all the family that I love them and that I miss them. I still haven’t heard from Mikey, so keep getting on him. Good luck this week with Jessi and her getting ready to leave. I will be thinking about her this Sunday.

I love you and miss you so much, but I have lots of work to do, till next week,

Elder Martinez