[3/24/2014] Week 55: A Cure for Hiccups

Biking in the pouring rain is the best!

Well, my mind is whirling. I can't believe that. When I read the first line of Dad's email, I legitimately thought it was a joke. But I think that's so awesome! I'm so excited to have my brother serving at the same time as me again! So will Christian have to learn French and Mandarin? And English? :p

I'm staying in Blaine for another transfer, and I'm super excited! I didn't really want to leave at all. I was just having an off week. Elder Jones and I are gonna hit it hard.

I don't miss driving in Houston traffic. That's for sure. On that note Dad, I'm going to try and bring my mission bike home and use it to commute! I love that bike so much.

This week was great. We met a lady named Jessica (the niece of Erin Kelly, my first baptism in Blaine) who was raised in Tennessee in the Church of Christ. Well, wouldn't you know it, but Marilyn Denogean was raised in Tennessee in the Church of Christ? We taught Erin (for her new member lessons) Lesson 1A with Jessica, who has a passion for religions of the world, and her fiance nearby. Of course, they had pamphlets in hand and followed along. At one point, Jessica could not contain herself and piped up with a question about Joseph Smith seeing God. We resolved it with testimony and moved on. By the end of our lesson, Jessica asked a whole slough of questions about the Book of Mormon, so we ended up delivering a Lesson 1B in about 15 minutes right there. When we offered her a Book of Mormon, her mouth gaped. She explained that all she had ever seen of the book was a few photocopied pages that her pastor passed around as "that was all the Mormons would let him get his hands on." She's always wanted one, but was convinced early on that copies of the Book of Mormon were highly secretive and impossible to come by. Needless to say, she is ecstatic about meeting with us again and about being introduced to Marilyn.

Small miracle of the week: Before leaving the apartment yesterday, I developed the hiccups. I tried every home remedy I knew to get rid of them, and they just would not go away. This was bad news, as Kellie Edwards had asked me to confirm her in sacrament meeting. I hiccuped all the way from Blaine to Ferndale. We entered the library at the church to make copies of the progress record before Ward Council, and my diaphragm still would not cut me any slack. We saw the Blaine A sisters there, and Sister Wilkins jokingly suggested, "Take 10 really deep breaths in a row!". Well, I tried it anyway, hoping anything might help. And it worked! I confirmed Kellie without any hiccups and the day was saved. And then they came back after church.

I don't know if anyone is worried about me being jealous or feeling shortchanged or whatever. I definitely don't have those feelings! I think it's really crazy cool that he's going to serve in such a ridiculously unique way. And I really love my mission. I love the people I've met, taught, and brought unto Christ. I love the geography and climate. I love the experiences I've had and lessons I've learned. I just can't wait for him to have the same feelings as I have. I can't wait to start telling people where he'll be serving!!

I love y'all!

Elder Cole Martin