Week 14

I only know what week it is because it's the week of transfers! I've really enjoyed the 6 weeks I've had to serve with Elder Kirsi, I'll let you know what's happening to our companionship at the end of the E-mail again.

This week was a much better week in terms of lessons, almost all of our lessons (90%) had the added bonus of a member present. The only downside to the whole week was that we had 1 person come to church. We were planning on 9. It can be a little frustrating sometimes. People just get sick, or don't think it's important. :( Hopefully we can figure out something to get people realizing how important it is to come to church.

Carrie and her kids are still incredible. We're helping her to quit smoking, and it's going really well. They still plan on being baptized on the 14th. Joseph might be falling off date due to parole issues, but hopefully he will still get baptized soon! We were also able to put Ashton, the daughter of a recent convert on date for the 29th. She was a tad apprehensive at first, but her mom helped explain that this is only a showing of your commitment, that she doesn't have to know everything. We were worried at first, but we found out a few days later that she is super excited about it! The area's looking forward to a blessed transfer!

Nothing really funny or interesting really happened this week, again, maybe things are just becoming more routine. Still trying to write back. I'm almost finished with one of my letters... >.>

Now, for the moment you all have been waiting for (hopefully)! *drumroll*

Elder Kirsi will be leaving, and I will be staying in Rock Springs. Again.

It's exciting because I love it here! This place is awesome and I don't want to leave yet. So if you are sending letters, my address is still the same, at least for 6 more weeks. I'm going to miss my personal Finnish companion.

I love you all, and I play for you every day. I love hearing from every single one of you! Until next week,

- Elder Martineau

Week the Next (WITH PICTURES)

​Another week come and gone. It's crazy how fast it happens. Only one week left and I might be somewhere else.. I've grown to like Elder Kirsi, he's a good step-dad. Recently, I've been working on a 'family tree'. Your dad is the person you're with for your first transfer, and your step-dad is the one you're with for the 2nd. (Sometimes these are the same person) I'll add a picture at the end of how I've worked it out so far. It's fun, but hard, since you can't go very far without people dying off, and becoming much harder to talk to since they're home.

This week was a hard and very stressful one. We didn't teach a lot for the first half, people fell, or are going to, off date, and most of our investigators are experiencing different trials and hardships. There are many people that experience opposition from their families, but I think that this will only root them in the gospel more. We have a couple that's living together that we're teaching that don't want to move apart, so they have to be baptized after they're married. The bright ray of sunshine is Carrie and her two kids though and I love being around them.

Just like the stress came very suddenly, it was also taken away very suddenly. I'm able to feel the Spirit and the peace it brings most when I'm teaching. And when we were finally able to teach a really spiritual lesson I was perfectly fine. My headache, exhaustion, all of it was gone. I'm really glad for the experience, because I know it helped me grow. I've made a lot of mistakes out here, but I'm glad that I'm learning from them.

This Friday I was able to go up to Pinedale with Elder Tagg. It was a nice being alone with him up there, we met a lot of awesome people. and we get along well together. We got to start a fire, and we roasted marshmallows while we worked on my family tree. We drove back the next day and got to watch 'Meet the Mormons', which was a great movie. So awesome. A lot of good will come from that movie. We had all 3 APs, the Mission President, and his wife all in the same room; quite a lot of power.

We had stake conference last Sunday, and I happened to give the closing prayer. When introducing me, one of the people in the stake presidency mentioned how I wear a scarf all the time since I was from AZ, and that 'he hasn't seen anything yet'. My scarf has become a pretty regular part of my attire. 

I have had one pretty funny experience though. So, when the alarm goes off at 6:30, we both kinda rustle around and kneel down by the side of our beds and say our morning prayers. Elder Kirsi got to speak in Stake Conference, but he wasn't given a lot of notice, so he was up all night preparing. He got in bed at 1:00, and I heard the bedsheets rustle, which woke me up. I got out of bed, knelt, and said my morning prayers. When I finished, Elder Kirsi was just looking at me funny and he asked me what I was doing. I found out that it was 1 in the morning, and he told me to go back to bed. Pretty funny stuff.

I'm excited for this last week and always look forward to hearing all of you!

- Elder Martineau

Up in Pinedale with Elder Tagg

Up in Pinedale with Elder Tagg

Elder Bass

New Desk

Rearranged Living Room

The message we got...

The Enemy (jk)

Us 'winning' $100,000

Us 'winning' $100,000

 My Family Tree

T2W4 (Transfer 2, Week 4) (WITH PICTURES)

Dang, I can't believe this transfer's almost over. I'll be sending back some pictures later today, but nothing interesting has really happened this week. I'm really starting to fall into a routine around here.

I do have one pretty funny experience, but I'll get to that in a little bit. We've picked up some solid new investigators, but nobody new is on date, we still have the same 6 that were before, which is still great. :) We've been able to teach progressively more lessons as this transfer's gone on, which is a blessing.

Ever since I've come out on my mission, I've not liked giving blessings. The words didn't come easy, and I just felt awkward. However, recently, I've been giving more and more, and I've noticed an incredible difference. When I sincerely cared about the person I was giving the blessing to, words flowed so much easier. I honestly believe I've been able to develop that love for the people I teach; and the power of my blessings increases based on how much I love and care for that individual. I look forward to giving blessings now, because I love seeing the power of them in people's lives.

The funny story I was talking about was with an investigator named D.J.. His wife is a member, and we've been teaching him for a few weeks. He was talking to one of his 'work buddies' about how he was going to be meeting with us later that day. His friend said something like: "You're meeting with Mormons? Dude, they'll just try to convert you. They believe in this giant magical toad! Just ask them, they'll tell you all about it!" So yea, when he met with us later that day, we told him all about the giant toad we worship.. People. I don't understand them sometimes. I like people who are against the church for dumb reasons like that, because it just makes us seem all the more credible :)

Well, other than this nothing else has really happened. For those who have written me (especially you Taylor) I'm working on writing back, I just have no time ever! But I'm working on it, a little bit at a time. Thanks again for all of the support I get!

Love you all,

Elder Martineau


Flaming Gorge:

 American Pride:

Our whiteboard:

Elder Kirsi & I:

Cool Stake Center in Evanston:

Week-I-don't-even-know-anymore!

Well, it's finally gotten there, I have no idea how long I've been out, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Just a quick apology to those who have sent me letters, I'm working on writing back, I just have literally no time. At all. I should have responses sent out soon!

We've had incredible miracles this week! We now have 6 people on date; James for the 25th of October, Debbi and Joseph for the 1st of November, and Carrie, Hannah, and Tera for the 14th October. We also plan of having 2 more people on date by the end of next week; Ashton, and Dawn. We were also blessed to have 6-8 investigators watch General Conference (which counts as going to church), which is double anything I've ever got so far. We also have a lot of potential investigators that we'll be able to add to our pool soon. It's humbling because I know I couldn't do anything like this on my own.

Sadly, I still don't have a cord, so I can't upload pictures yet, but I should be able to buy one soon.

Last Tuesday was probably the most ridiculous day of my mission. It was so bad that Elder Kirsi and I made a list of everything that went wrong:

- Our dinner appointment with a super-solid investigator canceled

- One of our teaching appointments wasn't home, and so we weren't able to commit her to baptism.

- Two of our referrals said they were not interested, like at all. We thought they had a lot of potential as well. 

- The left leg of my pants ripped so high I had to emergency staple it. 

- We were talking to an investigator on her porch (we couldn't go inside because there was no other priesthood holder there), it starts raining after 10 sec of talking, she says bye, goes inside, and it instantly stop raining. 

- We were knocking on the house of a referral, no-one was home, we leave and watch him pull into the driveway moments after. (he say us drive away, so it would be super awk to go back)

- We got an address wrong twice on the way to visit a referral. 

- We got home after curfew

and the kicker,

- I forgot my tie, like I went around almost all day without a tie on. Elder Kirsi didn't notice either, but I'm sure I looked ridiculous.

So yea. That was a fun day.

Elder Kirsi got to go down to Park City to attend the baptism of someone he had taught. (The fact that he was able to find a ride was a miracle in itself) However, that meant I was alone all day, so I had to find people to drive me around and to stay with me. Luckily, I was able to find a few really good people to do this. It actually turned out really good, we were even able to get a referral for some other missionaries.

General Conference was an incredible thing, it's the first time I took notes, and I noticed I great difference in what I learned. My favorite two talks were Lynn G. Robbins's about 'Which way do you face' and Bednar's addressed to nonmembers. i want everyone in the world to watch Bednar's talk, because it sums up missionary work perfectly. We had to privilege of watching different sessions in investigators' houses. They were really blessed by the spirit conference brings, and really saw that these were men of God.

I'm thankful for all of the support I get out here, and I still always look forward to hearing from you.

With my love,

Elder Martineau

Week 10 - Week 8 in Rock Springs, Wyoming

So far, I've had a great time with Elder Kirsi.  First off, we have 2 people on date to be baptized, James on the 25th of Oct, and Debbie on the 1st of Nov.James is probably the most golden investigator I've ever seen. He's so eager to learn, it's amazing! We've been blessed with a ton of investigators that will either be baptized this transfer or next transfer. My goal is to have someone on date for every single week next transfer at least. That way, the missionaries coming into Rock Springs will see at least 6 people on date, and be incredibly motivated because of it. And then if they work towards putting people on date for next transfer, then our area will be baptizing every week! As long as we continue finding new people, this area will be extremely blessed throughout the mission.

This week was a blessing week. Elder Kirsi and I got to give like 4-5 blessings, and all of them were very spiritual. We got to meet and give a blessing to a man with ALS, which was an amazing experience, he's thinking about learning about the gospel, but we're waiting to hear from him. We also gave a blessing of healing to a man suffering from cancer, and the next day, he wasn't in pain anymore. We were also able to give a blessing to a single mom with 2 kids who knew nothing about the gospel that moved her to tears. I think the Lord's trying to increase my faith in the power of the priesthood. It sure is working.

Our recent convert, Justino, lives in an apartment building, and we've become really close with everyone in there. The single mother, Carrie, lives there along with many other potential investigators. Everyone in there is like family to each other. I think that after we baptize Carrie and her two kids, the apartment will explode with investigators.

Something that our zone has been struggling with is getting people to attend church. I have never had more than 3 investigators at church, but yesterday we were planning for 9 people to be there! Sadly, 6 were out because of sickness, and 1 overslept, so we only had 2.. Luckily, since this week is general conference, Satan can't really stop them from coming. :) I'm hoping for 11 people to 'come to church' this week!

Before I forget...again... Elder Jensen and I, the Sunday before he left, sang in church. We sang 'Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy'. It wasn't anything amazing, but we could both carry a turn, so we did fine. We even sang parts at one point. Elder Kirsi and I bore our testimonies every sacrament meeting we were at yesterday, which was something I was not used to at all,l but the words came really easy. As a missionary, I hope I'll be able to speak in sacrament meeting soon, which is something I never thought I would ever say.

I was also able to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders again, this time with Elder Berry. He's a convert of 4 years, and the humble, optimistic view he had on missionary work is something I'll never forget. I wasn't able to spend very much time with him in Evenston, which I guess was a good thing, because Elder Kirsi, who didn't know the area at all, had it hard enough for the short time he was running it while I was away.

Well, that's about it, keep in touch, I love you all!

- Elder Martineau

Week 9 - Week 7 in Rock Springs, Wyoming

Week 9!
 

Alright, so, this has been my first week with my new companion, and we've been able to see a lot of success so far, even though Monday and Tuesday were 'dead days' (where, due to transfers, we couldn't teach) so our goals were a little out of reach, but we were able to make the most of it.
 

I'm am now with Elder Kirsi. (pictures later today, hopefully) He's from Finland, and has the exact same personality as me, which is great. We work very well together already, while it took Jensen and I a little bit longer to bond. We have someone on date to be baptized, James Kline, a golden! We have him set for the 25 of October, but it may be sooner than that, who knows. We have a lot of solid new investigators that have come from our obsession with finding, we can do better of course, but it's good to see progress! This transfer will be full of baptisms, hopefully.
 

It's funny, because all of the young missionaries are staying, and getting different trainers, in our district 5 out of 8 people are less then 3 months old. and 3 of the babies are in charge of their area, me included. It was stressful at first, being the one in charge, but it's not so bad anymore. We were able to clean the apartment, and we found some white boards that we're going to use to hold all kinds of information.
 

One of the problems we had at first was that we would go too long on our lessons. Like way over. That was mostly because we were still trying to get a feel for how the other teaches. The real test for this was when we had 4 back-to-back lessons on Thursday. One at 5, 6, 7, and 8. All of these lessons were really key, and we were worried it wasn't going to work out, but we taught much better. Every lesson was 40 minutes, and we were able to teach every single one. We got 2 new investigators out of it, and we were able to put James (the 7:00 one) on date, like I said before. Short lessons are more powerful, I've discovered.
 

We've been running around this week trying to get everything situated, and so we haven't had too much time to proselyte (besides lessons) but that's just because it's out first week together. This Sunday we had a temple re-dedication, another reason we really couldn't go out too much, but it was very neat to attend.
 

Expect to hear about a whole bunch of people on date to be baptized next Monday, we have big plans for this week :)
 

Love you all,

Elder Martineau

Week 8 - Week 6 in Rock Springs,Wyoming (WITH PICTURES)

Week 8:

Hard to believe I've been out for 8 weeks now. It doesn't feel like any time has past at all! 2 of the Elders I know are going home, Elder Paige (the one that was serving in Ukraine) and Elder Beard (the one I went on transfers with). I'm going to miss them both. 

I got to read 'My Search for Happiness' last Tuesday. (It's not very long of a book) It's really good, and I would recommend it to pretty much anybody. It teaches the first 2 lessons that we teach, just in much more detail. 

This week, the main event, besides transfers, which I'll get to soon haha, was an exchange with Elder Tagg, who came down from Pinedale. I love him, but our personalities were exact opposites. And neither of us were allowed to drive yet. So we walked. For about 5 hours. Which was fun. Until someone was off work that could drive us around to appointments. Luckily we only had to walk around once during the exchange. (So I don't sound like a wimp, we live like 12 miles from the church building.)

To explain mine and Tagg's relationship, here are some of our conversations. 

"Yo M-dog, what would you do if I threw this egg at you?"

"..."

"Hey Martin, would you be mad if I drank all your milk?"

"Yea, probably."

"How mad?"

"..."

Guess which one was me. Haha

But really, he was a great teacher, and I learned quite a bit from him. 

The baptism of Justino Co happened on Saturday. He's from Guinia, Africa, studied Philosophy for 5 years, and speaks 7 languages. He was so solid that he switched his work schedule from day shifts to night shifts so that we could teach him, and so he could go to church. Makes me think I could do a lot more to show my appreciation for the gospel. Pictures are being put up now. 

I've set a goal for the number of baptisms I want to have before my mission ends. I won't say it, because I really don't know if it's high or low, but there is a very big importance in setting goals to strive towards, in every aspect of our lives. So 1 down, and many more to come. :)

We've really been blessed with tons of new investigators these past two weeks, Jensen and I have really focused on finding new people, and our work really has paid off.

And now, the moment you guys have been sitting on the edges of your seats for (I doubt it but anyways)

Elder Jensen will be training a new person somewhere else, and I will be staying in Rock Springs. 

I don't know who my new companion will be, I'll find out when we go down to Salt Lake tomorrow, but he'll be finishing my training, and staying with me in Rock Springs. I know I didn't like it at first, but this place is really starting to grow on me. I love all the people here :)

I'm grateful for all the kind words and letters that have been sent my way. I still look forward to them every day. 

With love, 

Elder Gunner Martineau