Hello Everyone!!!!
So this week has been CRAZY!!!!! So as you know I am back with Hermana White, my trainer, which is absolutely weird and crazy! But also we are whitewashing Arvin.....AGAIN!! :) My whole mission so far has been whitewashing! Every transfer I have moved and whitewashed! It's crazy! Obviously I have something to learn from whitewashing I guess... Maybe getting readjusted to change over and over I suppose!!
So I am LOVING Arvin!! Everyone told me it's like Mexico in the US... And it's true!!! EVERYONE speaks Spanish there!!! Everywhere I've served almost everyone speaks Spanish, but the teenagers and young adults usually prefer English because they would go to school and talk to friends in English and just talk to their parents in Spanish. But here in Arvin, everyone speaks Spanish and even most of the teenagers and kids we've ran into prefer Spanish over English!! It's super weird!! But it's really good because hopefully I will improve a lot on my Spanish :) And also in Arvin they started a group not too long ago. It is too small to be a branch so it's just a "group" right now. We meet in an old American Veteran office building. It's really small and there are a bunch of USA decorations and boxes stacked up the wall. It's a little crazy!! But everyone in the group loves it. I have never seen more unity in my life!! They all love each other so much!!! It is very humbling experience to serve here :)
Oh ya, and I'm now the designated driver!!! AHHH!!!! So I have to drive all the time, everywhere!! I don't like driving very much, but at least I'm in Arvin where there isn't much traffic like in Palmdale or Bakersfield!!
So yesterday was Mario's baptism!!!!!!!!! :D :D Hermana White almost didn't let us go because we had to go to Bakersfield for correlation, back to Arvin for church, then back to Bakersfield for the baptism. Which made sense, and I was sad about not going especially because I was playing the piano and I promised Mario I would be there... But at correlation our Ward Mission Leader Hermano Rodriguez told us how excited he was for the baptism and showed us the program with my name in it for the piano and with Hermana White's name in it for leading the music. So we went. THANK GOODNESS!!!!! I was SO GLAD and feel SO BLESSED that I got to see him get baptized!!! It was really funny though because Mario is a really big, tall 300 lb guy and he was baptized by the member he's living with right now who is an old, crippled, tiny little Mexican man. He didn't make it all the way under the first time so he had to get dunked twice so that was funny :) He looked so happy and clean and pure!!! I love the ordinance of baptism because it's through that that we can be truly 100% clean of all of our mistakes. Sometimes I wish I could get baptized again to be made clean again, but then I remember I can every week when I take the sacrament :)
So the craziest thing of the week: I GOT CALLED TO BE A SISTER TRAINING LEADER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!??!?!?!?!?!????!!??!!!! So here's what happened: Hermana White and I were just minding our own business going about doing our usual companionship study on Thursday when President Wilson called us... I was so nervous thinking we did something wrong.... We timidly answered the phone and he said "We have a special assignment for you Hermanas" and we thought it was about the group here in Arvin or that he was going to expand our area or something like that. But no. He called us to be Sister Training Leaders, well Hermana Training Leaders. Basically like Zone Leaders over the Hermanas!!! We have to call them and do exchanges with them and help train them and everything!!! And usually there's an experienced STL that trains a new STL for a few transfers of how to be an STL, then that newer STL trains a new STL and so on, so they know what to do and are with someone who knows what STLs do. NOPE!! Neither one of us have been STLs before and have NO IDEA what we're doing!!! And I just barely got out of training!??!?!??!! It's crazy!!! I'm just wondering what on earth President Wilson was thinking!!! It's crazy!!! There's obviously a reason for it but I have no idea what!!! And so I am now the training leader over Hermana Pincock, who backup trained me!!!! It's kind of intimidating. And very humbling.
So that was my week!!! I love you all so much!!! Thank you for everything!!! Remember that God is mindful of you forever and always!!! D&C 18:10 ; Alma 26:37
Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau <3
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| Mario before he got baptized!! :) :D |
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| A less-active family we were working with in Bakersfield, La Familia Jiminez :) Hermana Jiminez, Vanessa, and Sebastian :) |
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| Our investigator Roberto (the younger one) and our former investigators (they don't really want to learn but they'll let us in and listen anytime!! It's just not their time yet.. Maybe after Roberto the younger gets baptized their hearts will soften :) ) And Roberto Senior and Leandra. I have oranges because EVERY TIME we go over there they give a bag full of oranges!!! |
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| La Familia Soto that we had dinner with a lot :) Hermana Soto, Selma (right), Valeria (next to me - she was sad I was leaving so she wouldn't smile...) |
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Our investigators Reina and Osmin :)
(PS these are all from Bakersfield, not Arvin :) )
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| La Familia Alvarez. Their daughter Isabella (or Izzy, or Bella) is a recent convert because the family was reactivated not too long ago :) |
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| Last day with Hermana Pincock. :( |
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| First day back with Hermana White!!! |
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| Arvin here we come!!! |
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| Arvin, we're coming for ya!!! |
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| Designated Driver--Arvin, HERE WE COME!!! |
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| Hermana White at the American Veteran Office Building where we meet for Church. |
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| Look what I found!!!! |
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| How funny!!! |
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