She Been Home and her mission was a life changing experience.

 

SHE'S HOME!

Congratulations to a brave, determined, spiritually aware young woman. 

I'm glad that you learned & accomplished so much on your mission and I am looking forward to you learning & accomplishing many more things in the future.

 

Jenny Waiting

Jenny & Dad Waiting

Jenny & Abby's Happy Tears

Dad & Abby

Ron , Abby, Jenny

Ron, Elle, Annalise, Abby, London, Ruben, Jenny

😀 One 😀 Last 😀 Hoorah 😀

Well fam, this is it! I did it! I served a mission! It's so crazy to think that I will be able to hug you all next week. These past 18 months have been the best time of my life. I've learned so much about myself, about God, and His Son Jesus Christ and he love they have for each and every person on the earth. 

I thought that I had a pretty good relationship with God before my mission. But coming on a mission has showed me how much more knowledge and how many blessings are available if we trust God and submit our will to His. I know what I need to do now to make sure that I will live with my family and my father in Heaven again.

Looking in the mirror, I'm still the same person. I still like a lot of the same things. But I have become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and that has changed the desires of my heart.

More than anything I want you all to know, that I know, that Jesus Christ lives. I know that he is the Son of God and that he was chosen from before the world was created to come to earth and to be Our Savior by paying the price for our sins with His blood. Because he did this he can now turn to us with his own set of requirements and ask that we follow him, to become perfected like him, so that one day we will be able to return to our Father in Heaven and live with Him again. I know that Adam and Eve's role in the Father's plan was necessary for the rest of us to come here and obtain bodies, so that we might make choices that would help us learn and gain knowledge and become more like our Father in Heaven. This life is a probationary period for us to learn how to make the choices that will bring us closer to God, to learn to love and serve like his Son Jesus Christ. The Father's Plan is full of justice and mercy, and is His plan for all His children. 

Reading the Book of Mormon has helped me understand that God is my Father, and He  loves me like a perfect parent. From reading about how Heavenly Father warns His children, delivers them from bondage, shows them miracles, chastens them, withholds blessings, sends them a prophet to teach them, keeps all His promises, mourns when they aren't making good choices, reminds them of Him, answers their prayers, protects them, etc. From seeing all these things happen in the Book of Mormon, I understand better the character of my Heavenly Father and how He feels about me. The biggest example I've been able to call upon to help me understand this love is the example of my own father. 

But most of all, I know that I will see my Mom again. I know that I will be able to run to her and hug her and see her smiling face. I know that because the priesthood of God has been restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith, the sealing power to bind families together for eternity can be found in God's holy temples. One of the biggest blessings that I have received from dedicating myself to the Lord, is how close I feel to my Mom now. If I had know that by becoming so close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ I would in turn become closer to her, especially as close as I am now, I would never have hesitated to be obedient and do the things that keep me close to God.

But in the meantime, I have 1 full week left as a dedicated full time servant of the Lord set apart to preach his gospel and we intend to make the most of it! 

I love you all more than I can say, and I will see you next week!!!

Love,

SISTER Abby MARTINEZ

💜 Our week 💜

Hey everyone!!

So this week was great! On Saturday one of our stakes did a mini MTC experience for all the youth and it was amazing!! We got to stand at the door and be dorks and tell all the youth "Welcome to the MTC" Haha. They looked at us like we were weirdos but we thought, once you get to the real MTC you'll understand. Then we got to spend the rest of the day doing service and cleaning this woman's yard with our district! It was a mess and she had a lot of things that needed to be hauled away. It was  an overwhelming project for one person but with our whole district (which includes 3 senior couples that know how to do yard work) we got it looking great in a couple of hours!

We were finally able to see Jen and Xander this week!! We started Xander's after baptism lessons and we taught the plan of salvation and he remembered almost the entire thing! He is such a smart kid, and he loves reading his scriptures. Jen is doing really well and has her eyes set on going to the temple! She recently lost her cousin in an accident and so she was asking us all sorts of specific questions about what happens after we die and where we go and she told us the plan of Salvation is how she has found peace as she's gone through this loss and she downer know what she would do if she didn't have it! She even told us that she feels like she should take out her nose ring haha she's amazing. She and Xander are both on fire and Riley, Jen's husband has been coming to church almost every week and staying for all three hours since Xander got baptized! We have invited him to sit in on Xander's follow up lessons so hopefully he will be there for the next one. Riley is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. They are just a wonderful family!!!

We also had a really great lesson with Sebastian this week! He is 17 almost 18 and he is graduating in a couple days so he's got a lot going on right now. We had his lesson in the home of one of the young

men in his ward who is going to serve a mission so it was a great opportunity for him to gain experience in sharing the gospel. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and the Laws of Chasity and initially I was a little nervous but it went really well! Sebastian is the sweetest kid and surrounds himself with good friends that will help buoy him up when he needs it. He is also such a good influence on everyone he comes in contact with because of his great example! It breaks my heart that I won't be here to see him get baptized but I'm so happy for him!! We are still waiting for his dad to give him permission to get baptized right now, but he is doing so good. We are so happy for him!

Those were the highlights of this week! It's gone by so fast it's hard to believe. I can't believe I only have two weeks left! I hit my 18 month mark last week so I count myself lucky that I get almost 3 extra weeks in the mission!! :) it's been a wonderful experience! Next week will be my last email. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Abby Martinez

 

Us with out dork dots! Also, it was Sister Zee's 23rd birthday!! 😄

Sister Milligan & Sister Zeegelaar & Sister Martinez

Sister Milligan & Sister Martinez & Sister Zeegelaar

Sister Zeegelaar & Sister Martinez & Sister Milligan