July 16, 2012

¡Hola!

Wooohooo! Another great week here in Paraguay!

Well to start off this past week we did not have any water. When I say no water I mean no water! We had to go downstairs to fill up bottles of water (2L) every morning! WEEEE!!!! The old-fashioned cup and boiling pot of water bathing method isnt one of my favorites but it gets the job done. My poor, smelly, stinky companion didnt want to do the method I chose so he just didnt bathe. I finally told him we need to go to the other missionaries apartment to bathe, not so that I could shower but so he could. YIKES! It was a like a green smelly fog was floating around his sockless feet at night, and his face seemed 100 times closer when talking to me with unbrushed decaying animal breath. I love the guy but its ugly when one doesnt bathe!

Other than that everything else is well. It is still pretty cold but the temperatures arent freezing like they were awhile ago. We are approaching spring this next month (August) and the members keep telling us that we are in for a fun ride this next summer! YEAH! I cant wait! I have learned to love the heat more than the cold. I hope that I will be able to bare the cold temperatures that Utah has, if not I might have to move somewhere warmer....Just kidding, no but really it will take some time to adjust.

All of our investigators are progressing well. We just have to get them to go to church! We had a few come yesterday but if we want to complete with some of our goals for this month we have to make sure that everyone is coming! EVERYONE! Other than that, everything is well! I love to hear about the crazy experiences that people say they have with the Holy Ghost! We have had some crazy stories of Satan attacking one investigator during the night from choking (which Im pretty sure is from his obesity issue and asthma) a lady saying that the Virgen Mary was trying to kill her swinging her roseary beeds around her neck, a member in Gospel Principles class ask why we dont drink wine for the Sacrament (she has 35+ years of membership in the Church and was trying to convince our investigators which didnt have a question about it) and plenty of other which is just a barrel of laughs. HEEEEHHEEEHHEEE!! You have to have a sense of humor! I dont think I have laughed or cried as much as I have out here! Funny!

Spiritual Thought!

I was reading in Enos and I love the way that he describes his change of heart and of attitude through the process of repentance. It says in verse 12

"And now after I had prayed and exterted with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: For your faith, I will consider your desires."

If we do all we can and it is just and noble the Lord will make up the rest. If we have any kind of problem first it calls for our part (our diligence and prayers and actions), and then it is the part of the Lord to "consider our desires". I know the Lord answers us when we do all we can to make it right! Just do it, and the Lord will help us understand the way He wants us to understand- simple. JUST DO IT!

Love you and hope you are happy and healthy!

¡Chao!

Elder Martinez

July 9, 2012

BURRRR!!!!WEEEEEE!!!!!!!AHHHHHHH!!!!!WOOOOOOHHOOOO!!!!!!!

are just some of the sounds of the amazing times we are having here in PARAGUAY!

Hope all is well and warm wherever you are! I swear the mission just gets better and better as time goes by!

This past week we got to meet our new mission president and his wife Pres. Agazanni and Sister Agazanni. They are so cool and fun loving! They are young as well! We had a meeting with our zone to just get to know him. He wanted us to ask him any questions that we had for him and he is hilarious! I love them! They are going to be great here for the mission! President and Sister Callan did an amazing job in preparing for their arrival and now it is time to explode the mission with success!

We had a little bit of cold here this last week but igual we found TONS of people and are teaching them alot! We found some amazing families and I testify that the Lord prepares people everywhere for every missionary. We do the harvesting and the planting of the gospel! I love it!

Scripture thought for the week is based off a General Conference talk that Elder Oaks gave in May 2012 about Sacrifice

There is a conversation that happened between a Christian minister and Pres. Hinckley when he was asked by the minister why we dont put a cross on our churches and temples. President Hinckley told him that the symbols of our religion are the lives of our members. The sacrifices they make the choices they make and everything that they do to further the work. It truly is amazing. A religion that doesnt ask its members to sacrifice doesnt provide the faith necessary to provide for salvation and eternal life.

I know this to be true and that each one of us can further the work of the Lord in our everyday lives. Every member a missionary!

I love you all and hope you´re all happy and healthy!

Con cariño,

Elder Martinez

July 2, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

What a great week we had and great times we have ahead of us! I love the mission and every little detail that our Heavenly Father helps us learn. Whether it is little things like knowing how to cook rice or huge gospel principles that take time to learn- patience, God knows and places us in situations and circumstances to help us in the long-run of our journey here on Earth. I know that the Lord knows me personally and although Im not perfect I know that His gospel is perfect and that He sent His perfect Son to save us from the mistakes we make in our lives. For this I am extremely grateful and will do my best to serve Him all my life! How blessed we are!

I am so grateful for my new companion! We get along so well and teach with such ease, and I know that God placed him with me at this moment to have a lot of success. I know this because we have begun to see the fruits of our labors and the progress that the people we are teaching are making. God has His timing and own plan for our benefit and I know that He is so merciful and patient with us! Think about it- sending young men and women throughout the world in places before unknown, languages before unspoken, and cultures before thought of as strange and bizzare. I know that with God all things are possible that these places become known, languages are spoken, and cultures are loved for the differences and similarities. God is so merciful and I know that we can have the Spirit with us always when we keep our promises and are obedient! The Lord places commandments and teaches us covenants to help us understand a purpose greater than we understand. I love to guide and teach others to help them understand this great concept as well.

1 Nephi 2:15 Is a scripture that many would think "Why is this scripture?" but from its short but powerful meaning we learn a many great life concepts- 

Obedience, Sacrifice, and Consegration

"And my Father dwelt in a tent."

Lehi left behind all of his riches, everything he held dear because he was obedient to the Lord. He sacrificed his life and all of his wealth to follow the command that the Lord had given him. Finally he consegrated everything that he loved all for the progression of those he loved. His life was at the service of God. What a great example and profound passage of scripture!

I love you all and hope that the Lord blesses you for all you need! I love the missionary work! I love the mission! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ! My life will always be at the service of God.

¡Les quiero!

Elder Martinez

June 23, 2012

¡HOLA de PaRaGuAy!

This past week has been amazing! We had changes/transfers with my companion and I, which was sad, but I stayed with an amazing Elder Gayoso from Buenos Aires, Argentina! He is amazing and together we are going to destroy this area with the amount of baptisms we´ll have! He is a blessing and I know that we will have a lot of success together!

Everything is going great down here in the Great Mission Paraguay Asuncion! Our Mission President and his wife will leave the end of this week to complete their mission here together and Presidente Agazzani and his wife will come from Cordova, Argentina. They will bring their 5 children and will be amazing! Can´t wait to meet them in person!

All is well!

Spiritual Thought for today is based off of Elder Oaks talk from this past General Conference about Sacrifice. Being members of the only true Church we sacrifice a lot but through the sacrifices we have the Lord blesses us. There was an interesting statistic that he used that in all Christians in the United States Latter Day Saints were in the upper 20% to those who devote more time and money than others. This statistic isnt used to brag or boast but to show that the true Church of Jesus Christ follows His teachings, not just believes or says the actions which faith requires. I know that Sacrifice is something we can all use to bring us closer to the Lord and his Spirit!

Sorry this is super short but I have to sacrifice my time to be obedient to the rules of the mission and be the best missionary I can!

I love you all and pray for your success and safety!

Love you,

Elder Martinez

June 18, 2012

¡HOLA!

All is well down here in Paraguay! The freezing cold weather has left us for awhile and now it went back this week to super hot. Right now in the ciber it is really cold. Hot and cold, hot and cold, never is the same! The weather is CRAZY!

We had another baptism of the brother of Roy. His name is Vladimir Carballo. He is 16 and will receive the priesthood this next Sunday! Him and his brother will both help with the Sacrament Sundays! Sooo cool!

This week is transfers or changes! Crazy how fast the time flew by with my companion! We have been together for these past 3 months and now with this new program it is pretty certain that he or I will leave this Wednesday. We shall see!

My companion and I have probably eaten more than we ever have so far in our missions this past week. We had a lunch appointment every day with Sunday filled with even more food! Really it was a HUGE blessing to have the members help us out with that this past week! They are so great! Yesterday for example, which this usually never happens ever, we were invited to 2 BBQs, a birthday party, 2 family nights, and in random appointments people were just offering us food. I dont know what was up yesterday but it was super nice. We only went to have lunch with an active family and had a family night to end the week with a recent convert and their family, but all the members that offered to have us over gave us food to take home anyways! Whoohoo! MIRACLE! I LOVE PARAGUAY!

Besides the blessings of yummy delicious food, we also had the opportunity to have another bapitsm! How great it is to see people change their whole life to meet the requirements that the Lord has put here on the Earth. It really is remarkable to see the desire of one who changes 180 degrees because they know from experience the difference that the gospel can make in their life! INCREDIBLE! Needless to say this past week was FANTASTIC!

Spiritual Thought for the WEEK:

We are in Moroni 7: 40-42 which says (that I can translate, bare with me)

40. And now, my dear brotheren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How can we develop the faith, if we do not have hope?

41. And what is it that we hope for? And now, I tell you that you should have hope, through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, in which we shall be resurected to eternal life, and this because of our faith in Him, which is is according to the promise.

42. In which if a man has faith, it is necessary that he have hope; because without faith there is no hope.

In Preach My Gospel there is a section on the atributes of Christ and what each of them is and how we can develop them. Faith and hope are so intertwined that it is so important to have a hope for all things that they will end up fine. Remembering that there is an atonement, eternal life, and Christ who is at the center of it all is so important. I know that if we work on having the sufficient faith in our Savior our desire and growth of hope will develop as well.

I love this gospel and know that it is soooo true! Every day out here is another step in building my own testimony of the Savior. My life is dedicated to this work!

¡Les quiero!

Elder Martinez

June 11, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

Another fine week down here in Paraguay! We had another baptism this past week of Roy! We are teaching his family and his brother will be baptized this next week with his parents the following! WHOOHOOO! WE love the work!

This past week it got super cold down here! So I think I mentioned back in like December or January how hot it was down here like 110-120 degrees Farenheit, to my suprise it also gets SUUUPPPPEERR Chilly as well like 32 Farenheit with HUMIDITY! YIKES! It was so funny to see my companion and I wear aboslutely everything we brought to keep ourselves warm during the night. Seriously I wore 2 pairs of thermals, two shirts, two sweats, 4 socks, not including the two wool blankets that the mission leaves in every apartment! WHOOO WEEE it was freezing! Right now it isnt that bad! Only every now and then during their winter here it gets super cold.

I got my first dosage of food poisening down here in Paraguay yesterday morning. My companion and I did divisions to bring more people to the chapel and I felt miserable! After a long day of vomiting and diarreha we went back out to teach a few people! Dont worry I am much better now! :)

I cant believe I only have one full week left with my companion! The time has gone by super fast! We have changes the next week and with the new program they have with training it is set that one of us will leave! NOOOO!!! He is such a great Elder and I swear that I have learned more from him than he has from me! I have loved training, it is difficult but so worth it! I think that I have learned more of how to be a better missionary from this time we have together than any other companion that I have had. I will be super sad when we arent companions anymore! :(

The Spiritual thought for the week are 2 scriptures that I read while on divisions with the zone leaders. We went to teach a recent convert and we read Doctrine and Covenants 103 together. I love two verses that we read and I have taken them to heart. (I have my spanish triple so it might not be word for word in English)

27. No man fear to give his life for my cause because he who gives his life for my cause shall find it anew

36. Every victory and every glory is brought to pass through our diligence, fidelity, and prayers of faith.

I love these two verses because really I have come to realize that giving your life to the gospel really does help you  prioritize the things that matter most. Every challenge we face can be won through our "diligence, fidelity, and prayers of faith" I know that these things are true! My life is dedicated to this cause! I have come to know that the work of the Lord isnt only for my time here in the mission but throughout my entire life! My life is consegrated to the work of the Lord!

I love you and pray for your happiness and safety!

¡Les quiero mucho!

Elder Martinez

June 4, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

¿Mbe´Chepa? Ypora

Wow! What a week of miracles! I love the missionary work and I promise that my life is dedicated to this work forever! Where ever the Lord calls me I will go! Whatever He asks me I´ll do! I love the work!

This past week we have found a lot of people! We found a youth named Roy who will be baptized this weekend! He is so smart and he invited some of his friends to the church yesterday and all 5 of them came! They all asked at the end what they need to do to be baptized! The Lord knows and prepares every single person in His own due time! There are always people ready! ALWAYS! I LOVE TO FIND, TEACH, and especially BAPTIZE!!!!!!! This month we are planning for miracles and expect to baptize a lot! WOOO HOOO! I am on a spiritual high right now!

Spiritual Thought for this week is this:

2 Nephi 33:1

“Y ahora bien, yo, Nefi, no puedo escribir todas las cosas que se enseñaron entre mi pueblo; ni soy tan poderoso para escribir como para hablar; porque cuando un hombre habla por el poder del Santo Espíritu, el poder del Espiritu Santo lo lleva al corazón de los hijos de los hombres.”

Sorry I dont have it in English, but to summarize what this scripture is saying is that the Spirit is the only one that can testify to the people of the truthfulness of this message of the Gospel.  Not only testifying but changing, telling, and prompting the people that this is something desirable or precious. The Gospel is so precious and the more that we share our own testimonies of this message, it not only strengthens our own but develops a change in others! How cool!

Recently a lady in our ward who works at a local shop bore her testimony to a customer about the importance of the Word of wisdom. The customer asked if they sold coffee, and because the store is owned by the Bishop he doesnt sell coffee. When the member shared her testimony to the customer she began to weep. She not only cried but returned to tell the member she will never drink coffee or tea again! The powerful influence of one testimony is extraordinary! Really it changes and blesses others to receive the góspel!

My challenge to you is to share your testimonies more often or with a friend who isnt a member to share with them (when the situation is appropriate) the way the Gospel and it´s commandments have blessed your life! I know that it can change the lives of many people!

I love this work! Every day I am out here my conviction to dedicating my life to this work grows deeper and deeper! I LOVE THE WORK!

Thanks for all of your support and love! Hope all is well!

¡Les quiero!

Elder Martinez

May 28, 2012

BUEN DIA!

Another fantastic week in PARAGUAY! What a whirlwind of moving apartments, teaching investigators, divisions with other missionaries, and running around like a madman finding all of the people in the street! The weather is still crazy with rain and then having it be super hot, the humidity is like a SAUNA! WHEW!

My companion and I are doing fantastic! We have been finding more and more people this week and have been committing more people to baptism than ever before. It is weird that although I only have a year in the mission I am ready to just take off like I just got here! The adrenaline hasn’t stopped! I love it!

I just want to share a spiritual thought really quick with all of you on the power of humility. Selfishness is the root of all anger and bad feelings, while humility is the opposite. We read in the scriptures that those that “humble themselves before God” are blessed. Jesus Christ Himself taught “blessed are the humble and the meek for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. We know that as tough as it is at times, even when we feel like we haven’t done anything wrong, asking the Lord to humble ourselves helps us grow more spiritually than any other way. We are all here to learn and I know for a fact that the more humble you are the more the Lord is willing to help you understand and learn from your weaknesses that they may become strong. I know that this work is true and that the Lord sends those He calls for a reason. I am here to become the person the Lord wants me to become and to help others realize that potential within themselves by helping them be baptized! I love the work!

Anyways I love to be a missionary and wish I had all the time in the world to write to you more and more every week but I know that retelling my experiences after the mission will be even sweeter to cherish! 

Until then ;) Actually until next Monday!

¡¡¡¡¡Les quiero!!!!!

Elder Martinez

May 21, 2012

¡M´be Che´pa!

Hope everyone had a fantastic week and is just loving life! I AM!

My companion and I had an awesome week that just passed! We found a lot of new people and have placed 10 people with a baptismal date! We are really trying and working as hard as we can to find and see the results of MIRACLES! The mission is going great and the time is flying by! Right now it seems like there is not enough time in the day to visit more people, find more members and help others. My companion is really taking off and helping me every day to reach higher and higher goals! I LOVE IT!

Yesterday my companion and I had the opportunity to give a talk during Sacrament meeting. While my companion gave a great talk on missionary work I decided to speak a little about a principle that everyone is working with OBEDIENCE. Here in the mission, when there is no obedience there is no progress. Being a member of the Church is exactly the same result when there is no obedience- no progress. God has given us these commandments so that we can have that progress and those blessings. Without obedience there is no happiness. Being down here there are a lot of people who have sports clothing like Adidas, Nike, or Puma and are proud to wear it. I have learned to especially love Nike and their business slogan "JUST DO IT!". If we just do the things the Lord requires we will be blessed. "Just doing it" means to not complain, argue, challenge, or hesitate when the choice is ours to "just do it!". I have learned to love this slogan and live it by applying it! Just like the "blessed" and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God in Mosiah 2:41 we can always remember to "JUST DO IT!"

Eating a lot of mandarine oranges right now down here! Everything is going great! Plan to make brownies tonight at a family night activity with some members in our ward. They are dying to know what it is! So funny! Life is great!!!!!

I love the work and try hard every day to do my best! 

I hope all of you live to apply the Nike slogan and "JUST DO IT!" when the Lord requires

¡Les quiero!

Elder Martinez

May 13, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

Another great week here in PARAGUAY! Hope all the mothers had a nice holiday and know just how much you are appreciated! I love you mom!

What a whirlwind of events have happened this past week with moving plans to another location, mother’s day, a marriage and baptism that fell through, and eating about a thousand mandarin oranges every day!

We have been planning on moving to another location because right now our landlords are smoochin off our electricity. The elders in the office came to help us find a new house this past week. We found one that is right next to the bishop and his grocery store. It is the perfect location. The only thing now is that we need to move by ourselves and the members help. We have it all planned to move this Thursday right after the new landlord signs the contract. It will be nice to not worry about problems like that from now on. This new house is super nice! We are really excited to live there!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to Skype my family to wish my mom a happy mothers day! Its always fun to talk when you are on the other side of the world! I love you guys so much!

So my companion and I were going to have a baptism of a couple but it turned out that the wife had problems with her license and so it has been postponed. We don’t know how much longer it will take to solve the problem because here there are thousands of people who have problems like this and so they will just have to go to the city to try and figure it out. Kind of sad… Other then them we are finding tons of people with real potential who are awesome to teach! The work is GREAT!

I love it here! Anywhere you go there are just crazy things happening! One of the things I especially love is just walking down a street and having hundreds of different fruit trees ready to be eaten! Everyone here is super nice about sharing as well! The other day we were just passing by a home with a giant mandarin orange tree. We politely asked if we could each have one. The guy said “are you kidding?” and brought us grocery bags to fill up with the oranges! “Pass by anytime and take as many as you want!” YEAH! THEY ARE SUPER GOOD! Anyways it is like that here! The people are super nice! And they give you fruit! HAHAHA!

Anyways the work is going great here! My spiritual thought for the week quick and simple: Whatever you are called to be, fulfill it! I have learned to love NIKE more and more just from being here on my mission all from their slogan “JUST DO IT!”. It is so true, the Lord didn’t put us here to have a calling and then do nothing with it, use it, live it, and just do it! The Lord blesses those he calls so just do it! If you want those blessings just do it! If you want more success in your life, don’t moan or complain, just do it! How much better of a world this would be if the people would just do what they said, and just did it! So for all of you from this spiritual thought of the week, when the Lord calls- JUST DO IT!

I love you and pray for all of your happiness and success!

¡Les quiero muchisisisisisisismo!

Elder Martinez

MAY 7, 2012

¡Hola mis queridos amigos!

This past week was great here in great PARAGUAY! We are back to really hot weather and the members tell us that we are going to drop down to really cold temperatures later this week possibly the next week! Crazy!

The work is going great! We have the baptism and marriage of a couple we found and they are super excited and looking forward to this Saturday! We have found a ton of new people this past week in our area that have great potential and hopefully within this next month we´ll have amazing success! I love being a missionary!

Training with my companion is going great! I swear I am learning more and more each day from "teaching" him. He is super great and in reality he is teaching me! He is super outgoing and always contacting and trying to do his best! I love him and his example! How great is the work here in our ward!

We also had stake conference this past week here in Ñemby with a little over 1000 members in the stake center! The temple president spoke and mentioned how he had been the mission president for a counselor in the stake presidency and talked about the importance of temple work here in Paraguay. He exhorted all the members to make it a priority to come to the temple and to do that work for their own families. The stake president then told all the members about the dangers of social networks. He asked each of them the question "Would you be willing to tell the Savior that all that you have on your wall, post updates, twitter status´ is acceptable?". No matter where in the world you are, people still have the same problems. He then talked about the 10 commandments and how we should live up to them or at least try our best to live them.

Well, everything is great! The work goes forth and the thought of the week I would like to share with you is something our mission president shared with us. The thought is all about the laws of consegration, sacrifice, and obedience that the Lord has asked us as members of His church. Not only as missionaries but as members, as we follow the laws of obedience up until obedience no longer is a problem for us, the laws of consegration and sacrifice will no longer be thought of as hard or difficult. We will feel more of the Spirit in our lives because we are using the concepts of the gospel and showing the Lord that we won´t drink or smoke, shop on Sundays, or break any other commandment that he has asked us to follow. I know that the law of obedience saves us from wickedness, harm and temptation. I know that the law of sacrifice draws us closer to our Heavenly Father to rely more on Him and His Son and the Holy Ghost. I know that consegration is the building up of the Church so that every one of His children can have the opportunities to hear of the gospel.

I love to be a missionary!

Wishing all the mothers a Happy Mothers day this next weekend! I hope my mom knows just how much I am grateful for her! She is the greatest example I know of love and kindness! She is the best mother in the WORLD! I love you mom!

Con cariño,

Elder Martinez

APRIL 13, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

Well it was a very rainy week down here in Paraguay! Let me tell you once again "When it rains it POURS!" How crazy the weather is here! The streets were completely flooded with water and the mosquitos are attacking the people here stronger than ever! The members told us after the first storm (like Wednesday) people started rushing to the "hospitals" and hundreds of cases of dengué were reported. Its alright, we are just taking our precautions with a lot of mosquito repellent and the chemical they give us here to spray on our clothes. If your sick just push along harder because lying down just makes it worse!

On a brighter side, it stopped... Hahaha the rain that is. My companion and I are searching for new people to teach and have found a lot so far. Hopefully in a few weeks we´ll have the baptism and marriage of a couple we have been teaching! Training is going good! Little by little my companion is understanding more of the mission and his progress is going very well!

Spiritual thought for this week is the law of consecration. Our mission president is really hitting this one hard before he leaves this upcoming June. He has counseled that we all should go the extra mile to give up something for something better and more worthwhile. Sacrifice is a principle of the gospel that all members, when baptized, should remember to live. The Savior spent his whole life in sacrifice. The law of consecration should apply to all our life.

Con cariño,

Elder Martinez

APRIL 16, 2012

¡Hola Amigos!

Bueno, Im super sorry that I dont have a lot of time to write you a great long speech, but Ill try and put in a lot with the time I have left! ;)

This week was super great! We have been searching for our futures GOLDEN investigators and we have found a lot of new people. Ill keep you posted as to how much they improve, but I have a lot of hope for the many people we have found this past week. The members are doing well. A case of dengue, the bone-crushing disease, has been going around the ward to the bishop, his sister, and to a lot of other people. My companion and I have taken the extra precautions by soaking our clothes in the chemical the mission has given us to repell mosquitos. Hopefully it works.... and we wont get it.... ;)

One of the things I wanted to talk about is something I have been studying in personal study this past week- our conversion. I was reading in the Bible Dictionary and it tells us that our own conversion comes from our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or in other words:

1. Faith in Jesus Christ

2. Repentence

3. Baptism

4. Receiving the Holy Ghost (and keeping other covenants)

5. Enduring to the End

More than anything I have been trying to deepen my conversion process by studying each one of these steps in the scriptures and the missionary "library" that we have. The "True to the Faith" book is really helpful and has given me greater insight to each topic. But I would encourage you to search for yourselves each of these gospel principles with the question "how converted am I with/in __________?". It really has helped me understand what I can do to improve and how to become more of what I need to become.

I love you and hope this helped,

Sorry for the shortage of time, like always ;)

Todo esta bien, Les QUIERO,

Elder Martinez

APRIL 9, 2012

¡Hola Famila!

I can´t believe I am 20 years old! I had a great experience down here in Paraguay with the members and them helping me celebrate with cake and lots of yummy food! We ate at the bishops house and had a cake called Budín de Pan with coconut and carmel frosting. It was sooooo good! My new companion and I also bought a chicken with mandioca to finish off the night!

So with regards to changes, I now have a new companion Elder De La Cruz from Lima, Peru. He got off the plane about 6 days ago from the Argentina MTC and I will be training him for the next 3 months! He is so great and I am soooooo excited to learn and help him become the greatest missionary! MY SON!

This past week was a national holiday and a holiday for many Latinamerica countries "La Pascua" or easter. They have a whole week called "Semana Santa" in which they celebrate the life of the Savior and eat lots of chipa and other kinds of food. Out of all of the holidays in the year this is the one (besides Christmas) when everyone comes out of the wood-work to go to Church. We had the highest attendence that I have seen so far here in our ward of about 76 people. It was nice to have a testimony meeting and celebrate with others the life of Jesus Christ.

This past week has made me reflect on what it means most to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Our mission president has talked to us many times on how to be better missionary by developing the Christlike Attributes in Preach my Gospel. In Doctrine and Covenants section 4 we learn that some of those attributes are fatih, hope, charity and love, diligence, patience, humility, and [obedience]." When we want to develop a deeper testimony of Him adquiring these characteristics will draw us nearer to Him.

I love you and hope that you all had a great Easter!

Les quiero,

Elder Martinez

MARCH 27, 2012

¡Hooooolaaaaa!

A great week here in Paraguay as usual! The opportunity to go to the temple, eat at BurgerKing, and find another awesome couple who wants to be married and baptized! Another day of contacting and another future family found!

My companion and I have been working really hard to try and find new people- especially families! We found a woman named Lidia when we contacted a home on the side of the road near another eternigator we had. When we arrived there was loud music playing and this woman came out rockin´out dancing with her hands up doing some kind of funny hokey-pokey looking thing. It was so funny and she was so embarassed but we set up another return appointment when her boyfriend would be home. So we came back later that night and taught them the first lesson. They didn´t understand fully but said that with what they felt they want to go to church and get baptized. Not only that but the boyfriend told us that he wants to get married to her as well. It was all so crazy fast! They came to church with us yesterday and loved it! They´re coming to conference and will be married and baptized hopefully the following week (April 7th)! The Lord prepares!

Spiritual thought of the week is to be a real believer of Jesus Christ. We can find out what is a true follower of Jesus Christ from the last article of faith.

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

I know that when we apply the teachings of both Bible and Book of Mormon we understand more fully the mission of Jesus Christ. To serve, uplift, and help one another.

I´m so grateful to be a missionary in this Church and for the help of the Lord. He lives, he listens and he answers when we call.

Les quiero,

Elder Martinez

MARCH 20, 2012

¡Hola!

Well you are probably wondering why I am writing a day later than
usual right? Well the reason is that our P-Day is today because we
went to the temple here in ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY!!! It was such a great
experience and it was the very first time I got to go in almost 1
year! We woke up early this morning at 5 o´clock to take a bus to the
session that started at 9! We took some pictures of the outside
grounds and the coolest is the inside! The inside of the temple was
all dark wood with purple (like the colors of our home chapel). The
workmanship of everything was AMAZING! Although it was small, the
Spirit was super strong!

Anyway I am now writing to you and I hope this all makes sense because
my companion and I are really tired...

We are finding a lot of new people-especially families! We found a new
couple this past weekend and taught them only the first lesson and
asked us, without us even mentioning baptism yet, what they needed to
do to get married and THEN baptized!?!?!!?! WHAT!?!?!? The Lord
prepares people all around, we just need to find them. I believe that
my progression throughout the mission has dramatically improved the
more I look back at the situations I´ve been in, places I´ve worked,
and people I have met. The thing that is amazing in all of this work
is that it has nothing to do with me or my companion. God has
everything planned out for a reason, and when we are prepared he will
guide us to help fortify our testimonies and build our character. Sure
it takes effort on our part, but we are nothing without the name on
our plaques that we represent. We need that faith- our strong belief
that he will help us in any circumstance- JESUS CHRIST.

I am so grateful for the changes and miracles that I have seen. If I
have learned at least one thing from this past change it is that
MIRACLES HAPPEN. From the tiniest little thing to the most
mind-boggeling experience, miracles are real. Lack of miracles are
caused by a lack of faith. A lack of faith is caused by a lack of
gratitude. A lack of gratitude comes from the deepest pit of sin-
egotism. When we strive to improve ourselves through loving, serving,
and caring for others that is when our personal progress increases the
most.

Anyways, things are going great here! Today was awesome because of the
temple. We went to BurgerKing afterwards as well- and trust me we
enjoyed every second of eating it! Hope you can all prepare for
conference in 2 weeks! How cool is it that we´ll be watching it live
with you from all the way across the world!

¡Les quiero muchismo!

-Elder Martinez

36th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

WOW! I HAVE WITNESSED A MIRACLE THIS PAST WEEK!

So I believe in last week´s email I had told you about a family that we had found just walking down a pathway and how we taught them about the Restoration. For the past 2 weeks my companion and I have been going to and from their house teaching them all of the lessons and everything they wanted to know about the Church. This family is absolutely AMAZING! They were sent in our path by the Lord so that we could teach them. They accepted everything we taught them and have been living, breathing, and doing all we have asked. Well, they are now members! That is right! This past week we baptized the father, mother and their 10 year-old son. AN ENTIRE FAMILY! What a miracle! 2 weeks is all it took for this family to be baptized! They were prepared so well and every day my companion and I give thanks for their commitment to follow through and to become members of this Church.

There is a scripture somewhere in Doctrine and Covenants 88 or 89 that says something like:

"And I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my angels round about you to bare you up..."

My weekly message for this email is to always remember the small and simple miracles that the Lord places in our paths.Too often we take things for granted in our lives, and I believe that coming on my mission has helped me 100-fold in realizing that there are miracles all around us. It is a miracle that I am here writing you from another hemisphere, it is a miracle that I have been born in the church, it is a miracle that I am learning new things day after day ;) Along with realizing the miracles we receive every day comes the deep appreciation of those miracles through our prayers. I know that the Lord blesses us as we give thanks for his helping hand. I know He listens and guides our lives to people, places, events, and situations. I know that he is on our "right hand and on our left". I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo grateful for Him!

Know that this work is powerful and impacting! This work not only changes lives but blesses them. This is the only true work that the scriptures tell us "rolls like a stone cut out of the mountain without hands". This is the work of God, and I am so grateful to be a representative of His Son Jesus Christ!

¡Espero que todo esta pasando perfectamente con sus vidas!

¡Les quiero!

-Elder Martinez

35th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

Another wonderful week down here in Paraguay! I love our new ward that we have here in Ytororo! The members are so dedicated and care so much about missionary work. Hopefully with this much enthusiasm we will be able to work wonders down here!

So I have to tell you about a family we have found here in our area. My companion and I were just walking and we found an old man cutting grass by the side of a field. We asked him if we could help him and he said no. After we offered to help we asked if we could go and share a message with him. He said yes, but at that moment he was busy so we set up an appointment at a later time. We came back to the directions he gave us to his house with a member and found that a family of 5 were all waiting for us. We taught them the first lesson and invited them to pray about what they have heard. The dad said he knew it was true already and that he would pray but he knew that we were sent by God to his home to teach his family. He said he has been looking for a way to have more peace and a better feeling in his home, and that we had brought that peace....WOW! We set up other appointments with them and they came to our ward activity we have every Wednesday night. The WHOLE FAMILY! We have kept on teaching them and they assisted church yesterday for the first time! They love the members and the whole way the Church functions. We had a lesson with them afterwards and put them with a baptismal date for the 17th of March. Every single one of them accepted. This family was prepared by God! We have been so blessed!

I was reading this morning our purpose as missionaries in Preach My Gospel. Every single one of the scriptural references tied all back to baptism. Preach & Baptize. One of the things that is so essential more than the baptismal statistic is the way we help our investigators get to baptism. The reasons why we baptize are more important than a number. We offer the way to repentance. We offer the way to salvacion. We offer the way to a happier, more peaceful, eternal perspective on life. That is why we baptize. A missionary´s purpose is to help others come unto Christ and to be saved by his atonement through making their own covenant of baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost.

I know that families can be together forever! I know that the Atonement of Christ is the key to all of our problems. I know that Christ lives! I know that God lives! I know that this work that all the missionaries in the world are doing is helping others receive the blessings and happiness of the Gospel! I love this work!

I pray and hope all is well with you and your families!

¡Que Dios Les Bendiga!

¡Les quiero muchisisisisisisisismo! ;)

-Elder Martinez

34th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

So I am now transferred to a new area called Ytororo in Nemby, Paraguay. It´s about 1 hour of where I was before but I am still in the Asunción area. My new companion is Elder Valle from Melbourne, Australia born in El Salvador. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and has a killer accent! He is a convert for about 2 years and has only been in the mission for 3 months. We are excited to work together and help the people of Ytororo!

I came into a great ward here and a huge area! I love it already! We have a pretty nice pension and at times the water or light will go out. Other than that its great! We have lunch appointments every day except Monday (pDay) and Thursday (weekly planning). We have found a few people in the few days we have been together. One is a man named Francisco who completly wants to change his life around. we found him walking down a road one night and just started to talk to him! So cool! Another is a family of 5 we found and the dad is a sailor! I never knew that a land-locked country with no oceans, seas, or huge rivers had jobs for sailors. If they have a navy, I guess so right? Anyways we taught them after just contacting the dad one day and they are really interested in the Gospel. Hopefully we can help them out more!

Anyways there isn´t whole much more...but I have included some pictures with this email.TAKE A LOOK!

Loving the mission!

Les quiero,

Elder Martinez

33rd Letter

WOW!!!

This week was sooo crazy! I never new how much time and effort goes into a wedding until we had one here in Paraguay. We had to call a lawyer/judge, order a cake, make invitations, get the members involved and try and juggle the whole rest of the work all in together as well. Whew! Fortunately we pulled it all together and "ta-da" they were married. The wife will be baptized next week to complete a part-member family! How awesome! We have a few other investigators that we are working with- Carlos Dominguez and his family of 4, Danny y Lorena Barrios and their two kids, and a young man named Elias that we are helping. They are all coming along great and its awesome to be in the process of changing their lives.

Thought for the week is to be "patient, full of long-suffering" and kind to your fellow man. Nobody is perfect, we are all trying to make our way in the world and we need "lovers" not "haters". Pass-along kindness.

Changes are this next week and we don´t know what is going to happen?! So maybe by next p-day I will be somewhere totally different in the Grand Paraguay Asuncion Mission!

The mission is great and the work is fantastic! We have a lot of work ahead of us and I can´t wait to keep baptizing more and more and more humble, kind, amazing people! Every day I am here I gain that much more of a testimony that the Lord knew why he sent me here. I am growing so much!

Sorry for not writing much this week but please know (as always) that I love you and pray for you! You are the best group of friends, neighbors, family any person could wish for and more!

Les quiero,

Elder Martinez

32nd Letter

Wow!

I wish I had sooooo much more time at a computer to tell you all how much I love you! Too bad I don´t ;) But please know even if I haven´t written you back for a while that I love you and I am grateful for your love for me!

2 Nephi 33:9

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint, that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul"

How true this scripture is! From the time we become members of this Church we take an oath upon ourselves to always follow the example of the Savior. If not we would not be called "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". Our first part of conversion is the faith we have in Him and our communication to the Father is only valid through His name. We all have different talents and abilities that the Lord has given us and that we should use for the betterment of others. The salvation of one soul is great- your own, but the salvation of many souls is even better- your family, friends, neighbors, etc. Always remember that the Lord knows our capablities- our "performance". I wish I had more time to write but remember that through and with the power of prayer, we can make it through any worthy challenge with His help!

¡Les quiero mucho!

-Elder Martinez

31st Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

I wish I had more time to write but I don´t so I´ll give a little spiritual message and hope for the best! ;)

I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 6 where it is talking about Oliver Cowdrey trying to translate the plates. I want to share about one of the parts that really hit me hard this week. Starting in verse 18 and finishing I think to 21 we read a part about dealing with difficult people. In all of our lives we will deal with difficult people and as hard as it is we will need to get over it and move on. Another form of pride is anger, because in reality it is the core of what anger is - being mad at someone else because of the need to be offended/right/etc. I love to remember that we are all human and through the atonement we can remember this part of the scriptures that tells us the greatest commandment- love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength and the second like unto it, to love thy neighbor.

Although at time is is rough to forgive, be patient, and to forget I know that the Lord can help us through the difficult times. I know that the Lord loves us!

Anyways I hope that all is well for you!

¡Les quiero mucho!

Elder Martinez

30th Letter

¡HOLA!

Although this past week was pretty crazy, we have had a lot of changes and updates for the better and our new investigators are getting closer and closer to baptism! How fantastic!

More than anything in this email I want to write to you about how blessed we are as children of our Heavenly Father. We all have difficult times and different challenges in our lives but regardless, our Father is always there to help us out! I love this gospel and the eternal principles of faith, obedience, and prayer which can help us stay protected and watched over. There is no doubt in my mind that God is always watching and protecting us and we are never alone. Through our communication with Him, we can live a better, happier, and more tranquil life! How blessed we are!

The mission is something that I know for a certainty will change my life for the better. When I turn to the Savior for guidance he "will direct [my] paths". If we "love the Lord with all [our] hearts and lean not unto [our] own understanding" how grateful we will be when faced with the most difficult of trials to overcome. Only through Him and his atonement can we be saved, redeemed, and comforted. He is the great Counselor, Mediator, Son of the Living God, and Prince of Peace. Peace of mind, peace of our worries, peace of our imperfections, and peace of the life to come. How great He is, and how grateful I am for His life and sacrifice. Being a missionary and teaching His doctrine has been one of the best times (if not the greatest) of my life. I would never trade it for the world! I know that Jesus is the Christ and that I am here in Paraguay to represent Him and to help others know of Him.

Thank you for your never-ending prayers. I have been blessed, watched over, and protected from them. I know that because of your diligent love for me through your prayers, I have had those blessings come to pass and help me out here! I love you and hope that you know how grateful I am for all of you. Thanks!

Keep on going and living up to the opportunities to be a member of this Church. It really is a blessing and not a burden. I know that this is Christ´s Church and that he lives. He is at the head of all that we do.

¡Les quiero muchismo!

Elder Martinez

29th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

I´m so happy because my companion and I are staying together for this next change! We were worried that one of us were going to leave, but thankfully we stayed together to help the people of Barcequillo. We are trying to make this change the best one that we have had out of our other two. We are ready to BAPTIZE BARCEQUILLO! J

This past week we set tons of goals and made plans, with the help of a little creativity we are off to a great head´start in making things happening in Barcequillo. We have made plans for establishing a ward mutual night/ branch activity night that will be held weekly, trying to get the ward members to know other members, and finding and teaching so many families that we lose track of them all! Man my mind is going a thousand miles a second but we are doing things like crazy to help this little branch we have! I LOVE IT!

The temperature down here gets hotter and hotter! With summer beginning to get at its peak we reach about 45-50 degrees celsius (110-120 degrees F)!!!!!CRAZY!!!! Water has definately become my friend as well as sunscreen and the nice little set up I have with a chair right in front of our fan to cool me down every night! When I get back you won´t even recognize me because of how tan I will be ;)

This week we had the opportunity to learn about the greatest commandment the Lord Jesus Christ taught while he was here on the earth. Love the Lord your God, and the second like unto it, Love your neighbor. I love to hear good stories like that of the Samiritan who helped one in need. We should always try to be a little nicer, better, and more friendly to our peers. When you develop this, loving everyone regardless of their faults, you will start to develope the pure love of Christ- Charity.

I love you all and hope life is going great! Things down here for my companion and I couldn´t be better! I pray for all of you and thank you every day for all of your examples and influences on my life! Keep true to the faith and live it!

¡Les quiero muchísmo!

-Elder Martinez

28th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

Well I hope this message gets to you nice and safe! This last week was great as usual and my companion and I had some great opportunities to teach and preach to some new families.

First we have found 4 new families this past week. All of them have such great potential! 3 of the families are younger with 1-3 little kids under the age of 5. The other family is a middle-aged couple with 6 boys from 12-25. All of them were really great receiving us when we contacted them in the great grassy forests of Barcequillo, Paraguay. I hope I can stay to see all four of these great families progress to baptism!

I am so grateful for my mission. How many people can say that they have served a full-time mission in Paraguay! Not very many ¿verdad? It is interesting how the querky things that were once thought of as different, strange, and the unusual become the indifferent, normal, and usual parts of everyday life. Whether it is the crazy bus drivers blazing down the “empadrada” rocky-roads, the deep-voiced chipa-callers yelling at 4 in the morning, or the super-hot humid days with the sun just shining down on your heat-exhausted face ;) I love my mission.

My companion and I were talking the other day about how much the mission has helped us progress not only spiritually but mentally and physically as well. It´s kind of a “head-start” program for life we said jokingly. But the more I think about that statment “a head-start program for life”, it is so true. We are being tested in all ways possible to strengthen us for after the mission. The General Authorities today keep on telling us in general conferance how the Church needs strong, willing young-men to sustain the church. I remember hearing a quote from Jeffery R. Holland in the MTC and he said something like (referring to the last sentence) “so thats what we do…we take you 19-25 year olds and send you out to the diverse places of the world to preach the gospel.” It truly changes one´s capacities to handle whatever may come, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyways, I want you to know how grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for his atonement, and for his example. I love sharing this message to all that will listen, even if its in a tin-can shack or a multi-level mansion! I love the scriptures and the guidance they give us! I love the mission! I love my parents and siblings! I love my friends and neighbors! I love Utah! I love the United States of America! And… I LOVE (RO-HYE-HU) PARAGUAY!

-Elder Martinez

27th Letter

¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

I hope you had a great holiday and have set new goals for the upcoming year! I love this time of the year to think about what we can do better and improve with ourselves. We had a great new years down hear in Paraguay by eating some wonderful cow tongue, chipauazu, Pulp Naranja, chicken, ribs and other barbaqued meat. It was oh so yummy! (Maybe not the cow tongue, but everything else YES).

My companion and I had the opportunity to see all of the fireworks for new years up on our roof, which was the highest building in our area. It was so cool to see for miles and miles the different fireworks in the sky, the loud music playing, and all of the great stuff that made it unique. Needless to say our sleep that night wasn´t the greatest with all of the other partying going on. :)

My message is short and simple for this week- set goals for this upcoming year and write them down! A new year always gives us the opportunity to better ourselves. So do it!

I love you all! Hope you all are safe, sound, and enjoying the new year with your families!

¡Felicidades!

-Elder Martinez

26th Letter

Merry Late Christmas Everyone!

I have to let you know that although I wasn´t home this Christmas, I had the opportunity to Skype my family all the way from across the world. How amazing is technology that today in a small Cyber in Paraguay, I can see and hear my family in our home! I love it! I´m so grateful for it!

Anyways I hope that your holiday season is going great! We have a lot of work to do down here and I am so grateful to share it with so many people! We had our branch Sunday Christmas Sacrament meeting combined with another ward and we all sang Christmas Hymns, and listened to a member give an amazing special number at the very end of the meeting. We ate with many members and were stuffed! To end the night well, my companion and I listened to fireworks go off all night long- yes they were loud ;)

I´m so grateful to have members who took us in as their own and made our Christmas a great one! I hope you all have the opportunity to help someone out this week (not necessarily the missionaries) but remember that the “Christ” in Christmas is about following his example. His teachings of being a good samaritan and feeding the hungry, helping the sick, and clothing the naked are what we should all try to emulate this holiday season!

I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEARS and hope that you stay safe!

¡Les quiero muchisisismo! ;)

Elder Martinez

25th Letter

¡Hola Amigos!

How crazy to think that Christmas is this Sunday! I´m SUPER excited to talk with the family! I hope you all are having a nice cold time of the year there in Kaysville (or where ever you are reading this ;)

This past week was good! We taught a lot of the people we found and shared our gospel message with all of them. We had one family that we taught that was just, well... DIFFICULT! We found them last week and decided to go back and contact them again to verify what they read and thought. We had no idea that this family were all either lawyers or studying to be lawyers. My companion and I walked in to their home where about 7 people of this family (very kind) welcomed us and invited us to share with them. We had left a message about the Plan of Salvation with a member of the family we contacted earlier, and each member of this family literally had a notebook filled with verses in the Bible, questions for us, passages highlighted in the pamphlet- pretty much a full court case. We began with a prayer and asked them if we could teach them first and any questions that they had would be answered at the end of what we had. So...we started! It was such a powerful lesson, until the father of the family cut right in and told us that he didn´t believe one word. My companion and I had come prepared to answer and questions they had, but instead of them listening to what we were telling them, the father destroyed all the progress we had made with the rest of the family. After that my companion and I were getting frustrated because every time we would try to explain something he would rudely cut in and start Bible-bashing with us. Finally I looked at my companion and both of us were wondering what it would take to help this family realize what we were teaching was true. We both explained that we could sit here and continue trying to argue with him, but that wouldn´t be what God wanted. We then bore our testimonies of what we had taught. They persisted to try and argue afterwards, but we politely told them we needed to go and asked them to say a prayer for us. They did, and we left.

My companion and I had never been so frustrated. We saw so much potential in this family, right until the head of the household ruined everything for his wife, sons, and daughters. Leaving the house, we only hoped that one day they would finally realize what we had taught them is true.

This time of the year is the best time to reflect on our personal lives, and the lives of our families. We have the opportunity to live and follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. We BELIEVE, having an "eye perfect to the glory of God", knowing that "faith without works is dead", and that "every knee shall bow" to the glory of our Eternal God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

I love to be a missionary and a representative of Jesus Christ. Sharing this message with all who will listen and those who will not is a blessing. I have seen myself grown closer with the principles of the Gospel and hope that I will be able to continue to grow to be my best self.

I love all of you and hope that you have a GREAT CHRISTMAS!

With all my love,

Elder Martinez