Hey everyone!!
So this week was AMAZING!!! I know I say that every week
but if you keep reading you'll see why!
So to start I had my final Zone Conference this week and
it was amazing because we talked about Worldly fear vs Godly
fear and how we can use Godly fear to cancel out our worldly fear. We
talked about the example in church history of Martin Harris losing the 116
pages of the translated manuscript, and the verses in the Doctrine
& Covenants where the Lord rebukes Joseph Smith (D&C 3:7-10). I
love these verses so much! Not only does the Lord say "you should have
been faithful; and he (God) would have extended his arm and supported
you against all the finery darts of he adversary; and he would have been
with you in every time of trouble." But he says "But
remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which though hast done which is
contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still
chosen, and art again called to the work;" (the work of translating
the Book of Mormon into English)
It amazes me every time how merciful God is. If it was
me, I would have been just praying to not have eternal consequences
for directly disobeying God. But not only does God offer forgiveness,
but He offers to give back the gift of translation! How incredible is
that!? He is willing to pretend it never happened if Joseph Smith
would repent. And so it is with us. He offers to pour us our blessings if
we will put our trust in Him, and obey Him. Fear God more than man.
I also gave my departing testimony at Zone Conference,
that was hard. And scary. I am the only one going home in my zone so it
was just me. When I got up there though the only thing I could think
to say was "I don't know how I got here." Haha I gave the rest of
my testimony after that but the truth is, this has all gone by so fast. I
feel like this is the best dream I've ever had and I don't want to wake
up! I love being here, I love being a missionary, I love having no
other obligations but to look for people I can serve and teach
about Jesus Christ and bring the joy of the gospel too!
Which leads me to one of the BEST MIRACLES of my whole
mission that happened this week!
Over a year ago in Tooele there was a family I taught
that I really connected with. The mom, Tasha, lived with her boyfriend
Joe and had two of the smartest bits I've ever met, Sebastian and
Tristian who were 8 & 9. I LOVED this family, and I loved teaching
the boys. They knew how to help their mom, who did the best she could,
and they wanted to get baptized. Their mom Tasha is not a member
and neither is Joe. But she thought it would be really good for the
boys, and she had always enjoyed coming to church. So we put them on date
for baptism, and right before their baptism I got transferred out of
the area. About a week later I got a call from the elders telling
me they couldn't find them and they had disappeared.... Luckily I
had a phone number and was able to get in touch with Tasha and talk
her through some things for the next couple weeks. They were staying
with her mom
in Murray temporarily and she asked me to send
missionaries over there (because it's out of our mission), but her family was
anti and by the time they got there the boys didn't want to be baptized
anymore because of some of the stuff they had heard. Tasha was
devastated.
I haven't heard from Tasha much since until about a week
ago, she sent me an email saying THE BOYS ARE GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!! 😊 I could not believe it! President Palmer gave me special permission
to go out of our mission for the baptism. Tasha didn't know I was
coming so it was
a complete surprise! When she turned around and saw me
they all ran and gave me a huge hug and Tasha and I both started
crying. HaHa I was so happy!!! The baptism was beautiful. I didn't want to
leave, as I sat there watching the boys I felt like I was back at the
beginning of my mission again and I still had months left instead of
just weeks.... It was so peaceful. Tasha and Joe and the boys are all
doing much better now than when I first met them. In Tasha's words,
"We are finally happy now."
And that's what the gospel of Jesus Christ does!! After Christ's crucifixion his voice spoke to the people
of Nephi and
said "...Will ye not now return unto me, and repent
of your sins, and be converted that I may heal you?" That is what our
Savior wants to do for us, he wants to heal us!! I know that in time Tasha
and Joe will both come to know Christ through this gospel and it will
be because they will see their boys living it and being examples of
Christ.
More than I know anything I know that this gospel is
true. There is not much left in the world nowadays that is pure or true.
But, this gospel is pure, and it is true. It has been a long road
for all of them but they are slowly getting there. I am so grateful
that I was able to see Tristian and Sebastian get baptized and to
see Tasha and Joe doing well!!
GOD IS SO GOOD!!
This was the last baptism I will see on my mission and it was perfect. I love this gospel
so much and I love being here and getting to see that my service out
here really did make a difference for this family.
I love you all so much and I hope you have a great
week!!!
Love,
Sister Abby Martinez
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| We made a bunch of banana bread last p-day for the people
we teach and the members who help us out a lot! 👌🏼 It had tons of mini chocolate chips so it was bomb. 👌🏼 |
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| Zone Conference |
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| Having Fun @ Zone Conference |
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| Joe, Tristian, Sister Abby Martinez , Sebatian , Tasha |
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| Sister Milligan's Birthday Cupcakes |
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