August 3rd - "First Female LDS Missionaries in Willcox in more than 15 years"

Hello my amazing family :)

I'm glad to hear that you were already able to see the article that was put in the Range News here about the missionaries here in Willcox! Sister Bushman came up with the idea and then she and Brother Bushman talked to Ainslee who works there and she said it was okay! I wrote the article and we roped the elders to come with us there for the picture haha. It is funny to hear all the members tell us that they saw the article. If they all saw it, then how many others did?   :)   Really hope we are able to open some doors because of this fun finding idea! Now I can say I'm a published writer ;) only kidding haha, but this really was a fun experience for the missionaries here.

When I got Grandma's letter last week and she told me that Gage was getting baptized on the 1st I was so happy for him :) love all my cousins. Can't wait to see pictures and hear all about it. I hope that he got the letter that I wrote for him on time!

Sunday was awesome :)  One of our investigator families came to church! This was for English. They had a good time and the Romney family invited them to dinner on Saturday with us! Everyone was so welcoming to them. We have a great ward here.

Hermana Tapia gave the class in Relief Society! At one point we were talking about visiting teachers and she brought up how her rescuers were the sister missionaries :)  She also talked about it in sacrament meeting. Oh I just cried, both times. I love her so much and she has such a beautiful testimony. I cannot wait to see all that she accomplishes! She is such a strength to her family and the branch.

I was able to meet one of my cousin Zac's friends this past week. Her name is Iza! She came to the Spanish branch today and gave her testimony for the first time in Spanish. She is moving up to Tucson to where El Dorado is at. She wants to go to the Singles Ward but I told her if she wants, there is an AMAZING Spanish branch there! Shout out to El Dorado! Miss you!!!

Mom I got your package!! You are the best :)  The stamps, sweets and makeup are much appreciated haha! Now I can send letters! Oh...but first I'll need to write them. Haha, but on the bright side I’m just a few days shy of catching up completely on my journaling! Yea I failed really bad the past few weeks, but we have a challenge as a District to write every day so that has given me great motivation. 

Love you all like crazy!! Miss you  :D  Talk to you soon!!

Hermana Martin

PS Do you know where the phrase "Return with Honor" comes from? Sister Stuart (who recently returned home) showed me where! Ensign, July 1994:

Robert learned an important principle while serving in the air force.  Each unit in the squadron had a motto that had been chosen to inspire the pilots in their efforts. Our unit motto (displayed on the side of our aircraft) was ˜Return with Honor,” says Elder Hales.  This motto was a constant reminder to us of our determination to return to our home base with honor after we had expended all of our efforts to successfully complete every aspect of our mission. This motto has served as a reminder of the importance of honesty and integrity in his personal and professional life.  As a father, he put his arms around each of his two sons before they left to serve their missions—Stephen to England and David to Germany--and whispered, “Return with honor.”  He still refers to this motto today.

Holding a member's baby chicks.

The article that Sierra wrote for the local paper in Willcox!

(There's a link to the article online on an earlier post on Sierra's page)

One of Sierra's favorite quotes of the week

Looking cool driving through the desert

July 28th - The LBT and other such adventures from Willcox!

We went up to the LBT (Large Binocular Telescope) and 2 other telescopes this past P Day which was pretty cool minus the fact that we were there forever haha. But this is why I'm on today doing emailing and not yesterday. I woke up at 5am yesterday to do laundry and clean and write a few letters. We left at 7:30 and didn't get back until 6:45. We had 2 appointments last night and we grabbed a few groceries in between the appointments. Quite the day haha. I learned a lot of really cool things though. The 2 tour guides were both members and they connected everything to the Book of Moses and other scriptures talking about the workings of God, which was super cool. To know Science is to know God. One of the telescopes up there is call The Vatican and yes, it is owned by the Catholic Church. The Priests there have PhDs and they said that the more they know about the universe, the more they know about God. Sounds like what we believe right?!    http://www.lbto.org/

We helped out at a Basketball Camp this whole past week that Brother Douglas was running. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet a lot of really cool people! I've gotten a lot better at Basketball since coming here to Willcox but I think I will still never been good haha. Hermana Adams would be so disappointed.   :P

We had a Relief Society activity this past week where Hermana Garcia taught everyone how to knit. It was a lot of fun! I learned how to do a basic chain knot but then ended up talking to people the rest of the time. Sounds like me right? Haha I can't sit still for very long. 

On Thursday we had dinner with the Whittenbrakers. They live WAY out in the middle of farm country. About an hour drive from Willcox. About 5 minutes away from their house I look down and the gas light came on. There is no gas station between here and where they live. Fetch....BUT they work on a farm and were able to help us out! That could have been so bad haha. They are such a sweet family, I like them a lot!

Last Monday while buying groceries, a sister from 1st Ward bought our groceries for us :) and then when we were buying supplies to make food for Sister Rios' birthday Bishop Chaffey was there and he bought the food. Seriously we have been so blessed! I feel like everyone here really looks out for the missionaries. The elders said they've been to Subway twice this past week and members paid both times. Willcox is great :) 

Love you all much! I will talk to you soon!  Bye!

Hermana Martin

P-day field trip to the observatories

Scenic drive up the mountain

Sierra's basketball certificate - "I never played basketball; 

Oh look, I just made a 3-pointer!"

Our District before Elder Howard left :( they made us tree flowers haha!

July 20th - Hermana Garcia and I are staying together!!

Hey!! The transfer call never came! So we are both good haha. Even when you 'KNOW' you won't get transferred there is always that reminder that you just never know....transfer call night is kind of scary but I got an email from President last week that mentioned that we would be staying together so that took all the fun out of Saturday night ;) haha. Elder Howard, our District Leader, is heading up to El Rio so get ready for him my friends! He is great! We'll be getting Elder Driaza who was there in El Rio with me when I first got there. Reunion!

Well we've had a pretty good week here! We were able to find 2 new less actives in English completely by accident, and then 1 for the Spanish branch. We have been able to help them out a lot :)   The one from the branch was able to come on Sunday and ask President about a Patriarchal Blessing which is fantastic! Also Virginia came with us to church! We walked and I held an umbrella over her and her scooter (super hot). After church we then discovered that was her first time going to church in 3 years!! Super happy to have part in that miracle :) PS in Relief Society we were asked on the spot to do a duet to "Love At Home". Oh, I am not a singer....but we did the first verse in English and the second in Spanish. Not bad without practice haha!

On Wednesday we celebrated Elder Howard's birthday which was fun and then had an amazing day! We found 5 new investigators! 1 couple, 2 single men, and then the wife of an investigator we already have. 5 news from 4 different households in one day was nothing short of a miracle :) We're also doing something that my sweet, wonderful trainer did with me where we decide how many miracles we want to see that day and then find them at the end of the day. That has been nice to truly see the hand of the Lord in all that we do.

On Thursday we went to go give blood (first time for Hermana Garcia). The first finger prick I came up low on iron, my bad! Then I said a prayer in my heart and had her prick a finger on the other hand. Just barely made it! Whew, glad I could still donate. At one point Hermana Garcia came in and asked me for the address for the mission. I gave it to her and when she left the worker who was there said to me in Spanish, "Wow, I never would have guessed that you spoke Spanish." I get that a lot at Safeway too when we're shopping. Random people will ask me where I'm from haha. Apparently tall red headed girls don't look like they should speak Spanish. It turns into a great contacting tool though haha!

Melissa took us out to lunch at a cute restaurant called Isabella's after. Super good chimis :) Melissa is such a sweetheart. We take her out to lunch and then she takes the receipt and pays. She is too good to us. We always have such a great time with her. We're going to get together and do a breakfast on Wednesday :)

We were able to later help the Holyoaks move to Safford. We're losing a lot of members of the ward it is so sad :( we love them all so much. Seriously the members are beyond good to us here. Everyone wants to help us, give us food, and just adopt us in general! The elders here before said we would be well taken care of. They were not kidding haha. We are super blessed to be here! Especially to live with the Bushmans. I cannot wait for you to meet them!! I wish I knew how to thank them for all that they do for us.

So for all my young women, I finished memorizing The Living Christ this past week for my Faith project!! It was so cool to say it all together for the first time. I remember being halfway done at Easter and feeling super accomplished haha. Keep on going! Keep doing your Personal Progress! It makes the difference!

Love you all so much! And the adventures in Willcox continue! Have a great week!!

Hermana Martin

The Hermanas out doing their thing.

More of the little black bugs that are everywhere.  She assures me

they will be gone by the time we visit in December!

This is a "vinegaroon" apparently.  They caught it in their kitchen.  UGH!!!!

July 13th - Monsoon Season has started!!

It has been raining a lot lately which I just love! Hermana Garcia not so much haha but that is why we have an umbrella in the car :P I just love how pretty Arizona is. Especially the sunsets. Can't wait to show it to you!

We had exchanges this past week with the Sister Training Leaders. Sister Stuart came here and Hermana Garcia was with Sister Jones in Safford. She said her head really hurt after a whole day of only English. I can imagine! I had a really good time with Sister Stuart. I've been around her a bit but never for exchanges. On Tuesday night with her we visited Tiffany Rios and her family and she cooked us some rattlesnake! It does kind of taste like chicken like everyone says, but has the consistency of fish. But now I can say I did it! Trying all sorts of crazy things here on the mission. 

We had zone meeting on Wednesday and Sister Bushman took us and the elders up together. She is so nice! We also were able to pass by President Kimball's old house that is up there so that was super cool!

Ah I'm running out of time!! Hermana Tapia came to church by herself for the first time ever! And for all 3 hours :D that was awesome! And we sat with Tiffany and Andrew during Sacrament Meeting :) so happy that they were able to come to church with us!

I'm going to leave it at that. Sorry I ran out of time. Love you!!

Hermana Martin

PS There is an orchard out here called Apple Annie's that is super cute! We need to all come together :) The Bushmans are seriously the best ever. I love them like crazy, They took us out there on Saturday morning for breakfast.

Sierra and Hma. Stuart

Hma. Garcia and Hma. Martin

So many bugs!

July 6th - Happy 4th of July!!

Hola hola! It has been a fun week and we've been able to stay pretty busy!  It got kinda dead close to the weekend because everyone was so busy with the 4th of July. There were fireworks for a little bit but then it started to rain. We had a good time with the package that you sent mom! We had glow stick wars!! You have 3 lives and you throw the glow sticks at each other. Yes, we know how to use toys properly haha. Thanks for the entertainment!!!

On the 4th the elders had a baptism. We helped A LOT haha! I made brownies and bought cookies, learned a few songs the day of to play at the baptism, and we also gave the missionary moment! We were asked about 10 minutes before hand and we couldn't practice because I had to play piano. The elders only had a day notice of the baptism change though which was hard, but it all came together super well! The Burrolas from El Dorado are friends of the family and they were there!! Super cool to see them again :)

Let's see....we had 7 less actives at church yesterday!! And 2 investigators :D  We are super excited for them! The Tapias came to church to hear our special musical number. With the baptism and everything it didn't end up so bad! I really want to get back into the piano when I get home when I have time to practice haha. There is a member of the branch who I'm going to start teaching how to play this week. Reminds me of when I was teaching Sam how to play :)  Those were the days!

So our investigator Ramond said that if we are going to teach him about Jesus then he gets to teach us how to box. SO we went to the boxing gym this past week! The next day I really couldn't feel my arms haha. The boxing coach there says I have great potential. We had to hit the punching bag for one drill as many times as we could in a minute and I got 241! He said that's better than his current student so...mom, I'm going to drop out of college and go into boxing. Thoughts? Haha.  COMPLETELY kidding. But it is good exercise for the moment!

We've been working hard and seeing miracles! The area is going great and Hermana Garcia and I are doing really well :) thanks for all your love and support!

I was really sad to hear about President Packer's passing, but glad to hear that he finally getting to rest! All I could think about was his awesome poem from Conference a few years back:   https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/these-things-i-know?lang=eng

He will be greatly missed!

Love you all so much!! Talk to you next week! Have a fantastic time on Trek :) take lots of pictures!!

Hermana Martin

PS a new favorite I discovered this morning while reading a book about President Monson that I received from Hermano Robles in El Rio.  Peter 3:15

Trying on Sister Dorsey's heels. We decided I walked like a new born giraffe haha!!

Found a dead mouse and the elders had to come and save us haha!

Found a baby cardinal with a hurt wing. We saved him and

 gave him to a member to take care of him.

This is Sierra, Virginia named her after me haha!

June 29th - Monsoon Season has started!!

We've had a wet few past days and I couldn't be more excited! While my companion may not like getting wet I have a great time with it haha. Can't wait to see how the monsoons here compare to those up in Tucson. I'm just glad that I will still be getting them here!

So I must apologize. I read over my email that I sent you last week and it was kind of pretty much super lame and I forgot a lot of important things. So last Saturday we were called and asked to give talks the next morning in the Spanish branch. I've only given 2 talks on the mission so that was fun! I talked about the Holy Ghost and it went so well! I actually had to cut it short. Never thought that would happen. Also on the spot I was asked to play the piano because the person who comes in and does it didn't show up that week. My piano skills are coming in handy! I'll be doing a special musical number PROBABLY next week with the missionaries in the branch. I've got the song pretty much down now I believe.

Okay so this week we found 4 new investigators, one of which is beyond awesome. Her name is Melissa and her aunt is a member of the ward here. She is super sweet and is really interested in learning more! We'll be seeing her on Wednesday :) can't wait!

Mercedes came to church on Sunday! She looked so cute too. She is going to be baptized on July 18th. We are really excited for her :)  Her grandma came too and we'll be seeing them tonight. The work really is going great here. We're on fire! Even with losing Monday for the conference we still had 23 lessons and hit 6 "members present".   :) We took members out 11 times last week so we are really working hard!

We weeded a less active member's home this past week with the elders. Took nearly 3 hours and afterwards we said we'd treat them to Subway. Well, we went there and a member from the Prudence Ward in Tucson said, "Elders, I'll buy you lunch today." We turn around and the elders weren't even wearing their name tags. I asked her, "How did you know they were missionaries?" (We were still in our service clothes). She said, "Sisters! I didn't know they had sisters out here now!" Haha, but then she continued to say,"You can just tell. You don't need name tags for people to recognize you and who you stand for." It was a super special experience. She bought all of us Subway. She was so sweet :) I just wish I could remember her name...it is killing me.

We played dominoes at the Nursing Home here with Emma (an 86-year old lady they visit). My first time playing dominoes for real haha. I won both games! Who knew I was a master domino player. She said, "Didn't you know you're supposed to let me win?" Haha :P I'll remember that for when we go back on Saturday.

Okay 10 points for me, I sent a much better email this week. You're welcome!

Love your guts! Talk to you very soon! Thanks for the picture of Laurel at the temple :)  Made my heart so happy! Wish I could have been there but in the end all that matters is that she is making that decision in her life. She is amazing! Can't wait for Hermana Martin the Second to start her adventure!  (For those who don't know, Sierra's sister Laurel just received her mission call to Alabama Birmingham mission, spanish-speaking.  She leaves 8 weeks before Sierra gets home).  

Hermana Martin the First

Doing some serious yard work!

Sierra's new investigator Melissa

June 23rd - Half Mission Conference with Elder Corbridge

Emailing a day later but it is SO worth it! Elder Corbridge and Sister Corbridge came down from Utah for a half mission conference. They are meeting with the other half of the mission up in Tucson right now actually! It was such an amazing experience. He talked about making sure all the lessons are centered around "The Most Important Thing". He didn't reveal until later on that the most important thing is the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its ability to cleanse us from sin so that we can receive power from on high. Yea, it was a super powerful meeting! 

They both sat with us during lunch and (mom you're going to hate me) but I was able to ask him to send along a message from me to President Monson. He promised me he would. He said, "I will tell President Monson that Hermana Martin from the Arizona Tucson Mission would like to serve 2 years instead of a year and a half." Yep! That is how bad I wish I could just serve 2 years like the elders. We'll see if anything comes of it ;)

Oh man, my week....we got 6 news and had 26 lessons! We worked hard. We are seriously giving it our all. I'm trying to be the hardest working missionary this area has ever seen.

We've spent a lot of this week doing service for different members! I think we hit nearly 9 hours. Tiffany Douglas is so cute and did my nails this past week (acrylic) and they are so adorable. All the service really took a beating on them though haha.

I love serving here and we are having a great time. We keep seeing miracles and are trying our best to be the best instruments for the Lord.

Thank you for all your support! Talk to you next week!   

                  

Hermana Martin

The house Sierra is living in.

Her bedroom with the cool bunk beds.