[7/28/2014] Week 73: Where does the time go?

Wow, we worked super hard this week. We did so much finding! It felt really good each evening to know that we had been diligent all day. We did find one new investigator, Aaron, who accepted baptismal date right off! We will see him again this evening before ward home evening.

DeMarkeyas (my immediate right) was baptized into the Mill
Creek ward on Saturday. He and his new wife, Osharrhea, moved
back to Alabama for school today. They are so wonderful!

I was secretly hoping that I would stay with Elder Haupu. We had a (I don't know if this is really the right terminology, but I'll use it because it's fun to say) knock-down, drag-out companionship inventory -- where we discuss personal and companionship goals, point out strengths, and ask for suggestions on how to improve (Preach My Gospel, p. 150) -- this week. We finally were able to flesh out every little thing we've been bothered or concerned about, and honestly, things are so much better now. I look at the missionary that I was two transfers ago and compare that image to who I am now, and I'll tell you what, I have learned so much from Elder Haupu. He's helped me get out of a lot of shells, and I'm really grateful for that. During district meeting this week, we were trained on companionship unity and loving and serving each other, and that was super helpful as well; I learned a lot about Elder Haupu that was pretty crucial in communicating with and understanding him specifically. I was sad knowing that we had finally gotten past all of this negativity/unaddressed friction and that it was likely we would part ways after this transfer. But hey, we all know how unpredictable President Bonham is.

I can't believe Christian goes through the Temple to receive his own endowment on Thursday! I'm so excited for him to start his mission!

Wellp, a new transfer ahead. Should be a wild ride!

[From my Dad]: I told Cole I was going to meet a young man and his pastor for lunch tomorrow. I was anxious that the Pastor would attack me for talking to his protegé about the Gospel, "trying to lure him away." I wasn't, and I only wish to share good feelings and fullness of truth with other Christians. I don't want to fight about the Gospel with anyone. The next couple of paragraphs contain his response to my fears. I definitely needed to hear his reassuring testimony.] 

And Dad, this morning, in fact, we were perusing ties in Value Village (a common thrift store up here) when we were approached by a random stranger who had all kinds of crazy things to say about our beliefs. He just wanted to argue. In the middle of the store! He had no interest in our thoughts or in having a healthy conversation. With all the respect we could muster, we invited him to have a nice day. That's something that I face nearly every day of my mission. A lot of people like to tell us what we believe. There is a lot of persecution. I can tell you that these experiences rarely get to me and do not shake my faith. It is because I do my best to fear God more than man. I know that my conviction is a precious gift given to me by God. It came through no one else. It was a powerful answer to my prayers, and I know it is real. I don't need imperfect men to tell me what I believe about God when I have learned about God from God Himself. The adversary will try and get you to forget that, and he can be pretty good at it. But remember who you are. Pops, you as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and as a holder of the restored priesthood of God represent Him. You are entitled to inspiration. That inspiration will include what to say as well as how to act. I have learned time and time again as a missionary that it is more important to preserve His image as humble and meek and loving than to get your words in there and prove yourself right --- if it gets to that point, I promise your "contender" won't even hear you.

That's my two cents. I know you already know that. But I just took the opportunity to write that to remind myself of what I know.

I love y'all!

Elder Martin

The district!

[7/21/2014] Week 72: A Great Week!

Hey, you know what? It was a great week. All of our appointments fell through, but we found and taught seven new investigators! How about that? That was thrilling. It's amazing, the kinds of things that happen on exchanges.

This week, our zone had scheduled interviews with the mission president during which Elder Haupu and I had the opportunity to prepare and give instruction while missionaries waited for their turn. For us, this was a great experience. Elder Haupu and I really worked hard to seek inspiration for the zone, and boy did we find it! For part of our instruction, we trained on and role played correcting investigators' prayers and inviting them to offer another prayer if they didn't ask Heavenly Father specific questions about Joseph Smith/the Restoration. Why is this crucial? I have a firm testimony that when you ask Him specific questions, He will respond with specific, powerful, heart-changing answers. When you ask Him specific questions, you show that you have exactly in your mind what you want to know, and that you're serious about knowing it. If you shy away from being bold and specific in your prayers, you miss the mark on what Heavenly Father really, really wants you to know. A sincere and seeking heart is a heart prepared to receive revelation and act on it. As well, I have learned that taking time to pause and reflect and listen directly following a sincere and specific prayer is crucial. That is when the whisperings of the Holy Ghost reveal truth, light, and direction. Sometimes, it takes just a few seconds of listening, and sometimes one should be prepared to wait longer, pray consistently, and follow the Holy Ghost to ask the right questions.

We had the opportunity to watch an investigator, DeMarkeyas, whom we taught get married to a recent convert, Osharrhea. That was awesome! DeMarkeyas will be baptized this weekend before he and his new wife move back to Alabama for school. I love how the gospel organizes spirits into families. The Temple will be soon enough!

I've been working really hard and praying really hard to get along better with my companion. We've had a much better time, and have definitely seen the impact on the work we do. Our spirits are higher, and the prepared people keep popping up.

I cannot believe Christian leaves in a month. It's blowing my mind! Soon enough, there will be another Elder Martin out there! He's going to have such a great experience, and he's going to be a killer missionary! I'm stoked! What's Seth thinking about all this mission stuff? Is he going to serve? If so, right after high school, or will he do a year of college first? I love our family!

That's all I've got. Have a great week, fambly!

Love,

Elder Martin

[7/14/2014] Week 71: The Weeds are Subsiding

Hey, hey!

I feel unusually affected by the news of the Stay family and their tragedy. Nearly an entire family cut short of their opportunity to live here and experience mortality, and it is because someone misused their agency. Really, I'm saddened, which is not a normal reaction for me to news like that. I guess that makes me sound cold and hardened, but it's true. Who knows? Maybe I've changed.

We definitely saw more miracles this week in finding new investigators. Last week, Elder Christensen and I went tracting while our companions taught DeMarkeyas a hand-off lesson. The very first door was answered by Veer, a young single adult currently studying nursing at Shoreline Community College. She and her family are from India, and she was raised Sikh, but she is still figuring out what she believes, so she was totally open to a chapel tour and learning more about what we believe. On Tuesday, we gave her a chapel tour, and she even brought her friend Andre, a Ukrainian young single adult, who has his own crazy conversion story of when he found Christianity. We taught them several times his week, and invited them to pray about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. As we taught them about the Book of Mormon, and arrived at the point in chapter one of 1 Nephi where Nephi relates Lehi's first visionary dream, Veer described to us an experience of her own: she prayed just before going to sleep the night previous to our lesson, and subsequently had a dream that she was flying. This may seem inconsequential, but in Veer's experience, when she dreams, she only has nightmares. What's more is that in her culture, a "flying dream" a really, really good sign. Isn't that incredible? Heavenly Father works with us in our own currency, and He certainly answers prayers! Unfortunately, Veer is headed to India today to work on a college project, and she won't return until mid-September. But we'll see her then!

I learned a lot about leadership this week. On exchange with Elder Shaver in the Thomas Lake ward, I took the advice of one of our assistants to the president, which was to "help your missionaries love their mission". I felt impressed by the Holy Ghost to compliment and build up Elder Shaver on everything that I noticed he was doing well. Usually, I notice a lot of things that missionaries do well, but I rarely say anything because I assume that their good qualities and attributes are clear, and "go without saying". But I figured I'd not be lazy, and I just went all out. It was actually really fun to just point out everything he did well, and at the end of our exchange, he said something awesome: "You know how when a parent tells their child they're smart again and again, the child becomes smart because he believes it? I feel like that's what you've done for me. Thanks, Elder Martin, for this exchange." It was so cool to hear that because I felt like Elder Shaver already knew how awesome of a missionary he is, but clearly, my comments had a remarkable impact on the way he viewed himself and his missionary work. I was just humbled to be a tool in Heavenly Father's hands to do some good for another missionary.

I had the opportunity to sit down with another missionary in the zone for some time after zone meeting on Wednesday and talk about the struggles he is having with his companion. It was really cool, because, since his concerns have to do with honesty and integrity, I was able to think back to my experiences with Pops and how he was always the utmost example of those attributes. I can remember accusing Dad of lying or whatever while I was in my moody teen years, and he would always respond calmly, "I don't lie. I'm not dishonest." And I just couldn't argue with that. When we righteously live up to our covenants and follow the example of Jesus Christ to the best of our ability, we can stand upright and erect with calm confidence in every situation. No sweat. I hope to stand with that same confidence at Judgment Day. Not because I was perfect, but because I did my best and trusted the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace to cleanse me.

All for now. Love y'all!

Elder Martin

[7/7/2014] Week 70: What could be better than this?

Yo, whassup.

That's Mount Baker alll the way in the distance.
It's a treat for me to see from Everett on clear days
because I got to see it nearly every day while serving
in Blaine! I love Washington!

I tell you what, we were so committed to our goal of eight new investigators this week. But it didn't happen. But that's ok. Because we found four new investigators, which is four more than we've found in something like the past four weeks! Heavenly Father blessed us with a lot of miracles, and I firmly believe it was because we acted in faith and in hope. You might even say we acted in charity, as I found myself looking upon the people we met and taught not as numbers, but as children of God who have been prepared to receive us at this time--if only we would set faith-filled goals and be diligent in striving to accomplish them.

On Tuesday, we had a lesson with Junior Jiminez, a 20 year-old mixed martial arts enthusiast whom the Mill Creek elders initially street-contacted. We taught him the entirety of the Restoration using the pamphlet method and invited him to pray at the end of our visit. After he did so, we paused for 30 seconds or so to let the Spirit work, and to allow him an opportunity to listen--or feel--for an answer. As a result, he described really feeling God's love, as many religious entities have reached out to him in the past several weeks, all by coincidence--or not. He marveled at how God had answered his prayer in such a miraculous way, though he ended up receiving an answer to a question he hadn't even thought of asking until the middle of his prayer. It was way cool, and it was so clearly recognizable. I love when that happens!

On Wednesday, we had dinner with the Eames', a family that is shockingly (albeit pleasantly) similar to my own, and they invited a friend, Savvi, who invited her nonmember friend, Shauna, to join us. Shauna, who was raised Catholic, didn't exactly expect a lesson after dinner, but she got one anyway. And it went awesome! She prayed at the end, felt the fruits of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5, committed to attend church, and responded positively to a soft baptismal invitation. She described being open and trying to figure out what she believes. She made a step in the right direction! I love member missionary work!

After dinner on Wednesday, we were called to another home in the area in which a recent convert named Osh and her nonmember fiance are currently staying. Osh was baptized into the Silver Lake ward on May 31st, and her fiance, DeMarkeyas, is visiting until shortly their marriage, which is scheduled to occur on the 19th. From first looks, DeMarkeyas is a total "gangstah", but of course "the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7) and boy, is his heart prepared. Again, we taught the first lesson, really focused on asking inspired questions, and he prayed at the end. We, of course, invited him to pause and reflect for 30 seconds. This time stretched long beyond half a minute, while, as DeMarkeyas described, thoughts and memories rushed into his mind, and the Spirit filled his heart. He became emotional and responded joyously to the invitation to be baptized on the 26th. Of course, since he will be married before then, we handed him off to the Mill Creek family ward elders, who will take wonderful care of him.

There were several other miracles this week, but those were my favorite.

I did get the package this week. In fact, it entered my possession on the afternoon of the 4th, so it was right on time! Christian, thanks so much for the banner. I had forgotten all about that request, but I was was enthralled to find it fulfilled and the banner was hung promptly in our apartment. And I might add that it looks rather dashing. Does the goat mascot have a name? I am also grateful for the letters, picture, notes (Margo, no pun intended), and goodies that were included. My heart was warmed and my trunkiness boosted for an evening or so.

I love y'all! And I can't wait to start hearing about how Christian's mission is going and love hearing about how things go for everyone at home!

On the ferry to Whidbey Island with Elder Haupu

We went out to South Whidbey island again to help the sisters there find new people to teach. The ferry ride is always breathtaking and exciting, though but 15 minutes long.

Elder Martin

[6/30/2014] Week 69: Spiritual Highs

Hey, hey!

This week was rough in a few ways, but awesome in others. Elder Haupu and I were dropped by most of our investigators and struggled to find new ones, but definitely found a lot of potentials. We have a goal for eight new investigators this week, which we feel really good about and committed to. We are going to work so hard!

We are definitely doing better in our relationship, and I've just been praying for lots of charity and humility. One thing came to me randomly during personal study. I think it's way cool that the Church is no longer represented solely by white kids from Utah (nothing wrong with those). Instead, we have people from all over the world, including from Hawaii who, rather than bumming it on a beach and surfing all summer, are working hard to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you, the gospel does something amazing to young people. Well, all people. But us young people in particular.

Elder Pymm and I spent some time on the infamous West Casino Road on Thursday, and witnessed an incident of domestic violence between two neighbors spurred by the vicious kick of a child's plastic tricycle. Seriously? And they both ended up in the hospital. But you know what happened after that? We were walking back to the apartment to grab Elder Pymm's suit coat (for a baptismal interview), and ran into Andrew on the way there. When we first walked up to him, Andrew, a young single adult, called out, "Hey, guys! How goes the mission?" Not a member, Andrew had heavy exposure to the members and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while in Army basic training. He found his curiosity piqued and has of late been looking to find a good church and good community. He recently moved up here with his girlfriend, they broke up, she moved out, and he stayed because he likes his job. He agreed to a chapel tour the next day, and the tour went wonderfully! We will see him soon; either tonight at Ward Home Evening (that's what they call it in a Young Single Adult ward) or tomorrow for a lesson.

District Hike at Japanese Gulch!

The zone did wonderfully this month. If I'm not mistaken, there were 9 people baptized and 10 confirmed (one baptism took place on May 31st) in the Everett zone for the month of June. That's magnificent! Some of these converts were a while in the making, but many were a result of keeping investigators on date and getting them fellowshipped and to church each week to create true conversion and real growth. Honestly, there are some great missionaries in this zone, and phenomenal district leaders. I think they were key in staying close to the proselyting missionaries and training them on how to keep investigators progressing spiritually and socially.

I had the opportunity of attending a ward mission leader training session for the Everett stake last night, and learned some really cool things from President Duce (mission presidency) and others. I love member missionary work! Here's one quote I wrote down:

"They have the keys to prepare the investigators for baptism; we have the keys to find and invite."
      -President Porterfield (President of the Everett, Washington Stake), on missionaries and members.

My brothers (June, 2014)

I love y'all! And I love that picture! I will be buff one day like all my brudders. In the meantime, basketball in the mornings will have to do for my exercise.

Elder Martin

[6/23/2014] Week 68: A Crazy Week

Hey, howdy!

Me Holding the Title of Standards of Excellence,
which we made for zone meeting!

The Everett Zone!

I tell you, it's been a crazy week. Yesterday was especially stressful. Elder Haupu and I were asked to teach mission prep at 7:30am, teach Elders' quorum in third hour, share a little bit in Gospel Principles about priesthood organization, and at the same time, had to find two new speakers for our stake cottage meeting last night--we had three set up, but two of them were suddenly unavailable come Saturday evening. Church gets out at 4:30pm, and cottage meeting started at 7:00. I was really stressed out for the first time since I trained Elder Benedict! On top of that, we received a call at about 5:50pm from someone in Arlington requesting that a blessing be given to a patient in Providence Hospital, which stood in North Everett, about 15 minutes from the stake center in South Everett. Of course, we went!
The patient was a 52 year-old inactive member by the name of Darrell, and when we arrived, his eyes lit up as he managed a few words: "I sure could use a blessing." After the blessing, just one word: "Calming." He requested we leave him with a Book of Mormon, which we did, and then we were on our way back to South Everett (it was a judgment call with the marshmallows) for the cottage meeting. We were even 15 minutes early! I love being on the Lord's errand.

Oh, and cottage meeting ended up being really great! We had almost the whole zone there with people they are teaching.

Baptism of Jessica and Zach Flanagan

This week has been a little different for finding since the college is closed. It doesn't reopen for summer quarter until June 30th, so we've had to work a little bit harder to find and talk with YSA's. What's cool is that we decided to visit a less-active young single adult, and then afterward, we simply tracted the rest of his street. We ended up talking with a young single adult at almost every door that was opened to us, and even found some people who want us to come back. What a blessing! The Lord always provides a way for us to move His work forward.

I've noticed this week that there has really been a push in the zone for hitting standards. It's almost the new "buzz-word" in the zone. The goal of achieving the standards of excellence was one that came up with each of our zone's district leaders during accounting last night, which tells me that the message seems to have finally gotten across!

Elder Haupu and I

Often, the relationship between Elder Haupu and I gets really strained. Frequently, it is an exercise in self-control and biting my tongue that takes me right back to the transfer I spent with Elder Julius. Elder Haupu is a really good missionary, and I have a lot to learn from him, but my pride seems to get in the way of that. I have prayed a lot for humility and charity in the past several weeks, and guess what? I think it's working! Brother Hall, our ward clerk, said something profound in sacrament meeting yesterday: "Contention never was and never will be an ally of progress." I think Elder Haupu and I are a couple of pretty sharp missionaries, and the only thing Satan can manage to get in our way is contention. But if he can do that, he can really slow us down. So I'm working on being more cognizant of that!

That's pretty much what I've got for this week.

Love ya!

Elder Martin
Silver Lake Ward

P.S. An excerpt from President Bonham's letter this week, which might be helpful to you:

"We need to continue to do all in our power to let members know that “we are here to help you with missionary work.” We can also say “we are called to be teaching specialists and are ready to teach the gospel to anyone that will listen.” Notice that I am not suggesting that we say “the members are helping us with missionary work”! It is true that they do, and we want that, but that is just our “backup plan”—the backup plan is what we do when we are trying to find, teach, and baptize on our own because we have time that is not used. For now, most of our time is used in our “backup plan,” but the member understanding, skills, and confidence are growing. I see it all over the mission. One day they will keep us really busy and we won’t have time for our “backup plan.” We see that on good days and in certain spots around the mission now. I pray for that “busy-ness” to spread and grow. Pray for this to happen, then work the “backup plan” so that we have lots of good successes to invite members to join in (member present lessons, fellowshipping, inviting people to Church events) and catch the spirit of missionary work!"

I love this guy!

[6/2/2014] Week 65: Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

We had such a great week!

On Friday, we met Russell Foy. He was found by the elders in the Machias, WA ward, who taught and baptized his cousin, Josh, not too long ago. Russell couldn't help but notice how much Josh has changed since his conversion. He is much happier, more full of life, and even quit drinking! Russell has heretofore been hardly religious, if at all, and more focused on things of the world. Admittedly, he "smoke[s] a lot of pot" to help his anxiety and Acid Reflux Whatever. We taught him the message of the Restoration, using the new pamphlet teaching method, and invited him to pray at the end. During the long moment of silence following his prayer, the Spirit powerfully touched each of our hearts. In fact, he described feeling "peaceful and calm, his stomach at ease, which is weird because usually I need marijuana to do that." The next day, he attended with us the baptism of a young lady that the sisters in our ward have been teaching, we taught him about the Book of Mormon after the baptism, and he accepted a baptismal date of July 27th. On Sunday, Russell attended church with us, was received magnificently by the ward, and was reading the Book of Mormon on his phone in between meetings. He'll be playing basketball with us in just a few minutes and will attend Ward Home Evening tonight. We're stoked!

I want to share an insight from President Bonham's letter this week:

"A thought about the Big Project: I grew up with a mother that could (and often did) sew clothes for herself and the rest of the family. When Sister Bonham and I were married, I knew that she could sew too (she made her own wedding dress, for example—photo at the mission home). However, in the early months of our marriage I didn’t know how well her projects would turn out. They involved trips to the fabric store for main and supplementary fabrics, zippers, buttons, sewing tools, thread, patterns, and so on. Then would come the chaos: pattern pieces sitting out—thin paper that couldn’t be lost but would fly off the table if the door opened; fabric pinned to pattern pieces and piled up; half-sewn pieces of clothing draped over chair backs or hanging on a hanger—but missing one arm; special sewing scissors that I had better not touch; contrasting pieces looking for a place to attach; zippers that looked to me like they were put in backward; and holes for buttons opposite places where no buttons hung. Sister Bonham would work away on these projects, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, fitting in other responsibilities around them and putting them together bit by bit. Sometimes it appeared to me that the project was going backward as she would take apart a seam that she had already made to adjust it to be smaller or larger. Then, after a while, the chaos would get smaller, the stray threads would get picked up, the extra pieces would find their place in the clothing, and soon she would appear, dressed in her “project,” saying, “Do you like it”? And I always did! Sometimes the project was for someone else and it appeared all packaged and ready to go in a gift box or the mail. At first, I didn’t know if these projects would always turn out. Some looked scary and I wondered if she would finish them. Probably some were better than others, but to my untrained eye, all of them turned out well. After a while I began to develop great confidence in Sister Bonham’s abilities. I didn’t worry when I saw the chaos of a new sewing project. I knew that by-and-by, after her worry and work, something wonderful would emerge. She has even passed this talent along to four of our five children. 

"So why am I telling you about Sister Bonham’s sewing prowess (other than because she’s so wonderful—even now about half the clothing you see her in is homemade)? It is because I had an interesting insight this week. It comes from Moses 1:39: “For behold, this my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I know that sometimes we think that eternal life (the kind of life Heavenly Father lives) is just too grand of a goal for us and is not really possible. Even when we consider the idea of relying on the Savior’s atonement and having a couple trillion years to work on improving and learning and growing, we still seem to feel that we just “aren’t celestial material.” I disagree. And that is because in this case we are the “project” and Heavenly Father is the one making it. It is His work and glory to help us to receive eternal life. He is determined to get us there—and we can get there if we will choose to do the right and keep working at it, relying on the principles of the gospel and exercising faith, repenting, being baptized (entering covenants, renewing them through the sacrament), receiving (heeding) the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. So, if we are willing, He is the project manager and He has infinite power, knowledge, wisdom, ability, patience, and love. What is to stop Him from completing his “project”—us? He can and will help us to receive eternal life if we will let Him. Now if that is not a thought to “enlighten” your day, I can’t think what is!

C. S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis put it like this:

That is why He warned people to “count the cost” before becoming Christians. ‘Make no mistake,’ He says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have the free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect—until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.’ (Mere Christianity, 1952)

Yesterday, in Elders' Quorum, we were asked to name our heroes as part of the lesson, and after "my dad" and "my big brother" were already on the board, I volunteered "my mission president". I really love that guy.

In other news, Elder Haupu and I continue to disagree at times, but we're doing way better at getting over it quickly.

This week, we had the responsibility of making some pretty serious correction with a missionary who already doesn't seem to like me. ( :( ) It was a difficult task for Elder Haupu and I as we haven't really had to correct on this issue before (in fact, I haven't had to correct hardly at all -- such good missionaries in this mission!), so we role played it a lot and it ended up going just about as well as it could -- at least on our end. It still wasn't received to kindly, but I guess you can't win 'em all. We recognize nobody likes to be told what to do (refer to introductory paragraph of 1 Nephi 1), but we just want him to have the best mission experience possible, and there have been too many mistakes in the mission recently to risk not saying anything.

Leanne hit her year-mark the other week, so a letter from Mom to her might be nice. She's windin' down.

Seth looks stinkin' sharp! I like that he's almost the only white guy. And that he's not wearing anything dumb (camo pants? fedora? C'mon.). He looks way classy.

So Margo's starting marching band? That's so awesome! I'm so excited for her! On that note, I had the opportunity to play the French horn yesterday for the first time in something like two years. It wasn't perfect, but the owner of the horn had a copy of Andromeda, so I was taken riiight back to Sophomore year. It felt so good. And my face was tired after playing for less than five minutes. I can't wait to hear Margo play again!

And I can't wait to hear Seth's truck running!

I love y'all!

Elder Martin