Monday, February 20, 2017

WEEK 65!!! CHARLA FOGONERA, INVESTIGATORS CARLOS AND ELISABETH, AND EXCHANGES IN ARVIN!!!

Picture of Hermana Martineau and Arceo taken Sunday, Feb 19, 2017 by Mary Ann Warner, a former Hermana in the California Bakersfield Mission who trained Hermana White, who trained Hermana Martineau, who is now training Hermana Arceo. 


Meagan Martineau

11:33 AM (9 hours ago)

Oh my goodness I cannot believe that our little tiny Tremonton is under water!!! That is crazy!! I would have LOVED to help out and just be there with all the rain!! That is so fun!!! Not fun that everything is soggy, but fun that everyone gets to help out one another. That truly brings the Spirit - selfless service to others! I am sad that I didn't get to be there to see that and help out, but I am so glad to be where I am!! I never thought I would grow to love a place so much that I didn't know existed!!

Bakersfield has been pretty darn wet this year which is so odd!! Normally there are only a few hours of rain A YEAR, but this year it has been raining a bunch!! On Friday it was raining pretty hard, but more than that it was very windy, which for Bakersfield is rare and dangerous. There is a disease called Valley Fever that really only exists in Bakersfield, CA and you get it by breathing in the polluted dust here that blows in the wind, so when it's windy NO ONE goes outside because it's dangerous. So this week we didn't do as much tracting as normal, more just stopping by people's houses to try and get in someone's house, and covering our faces on the way to and from the car :) But we are all safe and sound, thank goodness :) Hopefully you all are safe and sound too!!! <3

So yesterday we had a beautiful charla fogonera (fireside) that us missionaries planned out. We've been planning it for a few weeks now with our amazing ward mission leader. We decided what food we wanted, each companionship was assigned certain foods to attain, and then we went out and met with the less-active members and recent converts in our area and asked them to bring those food items to help out (and so they would come ;) ). We planned and asked for speakers, everything. It was a lot of work and a little stressful but with all of us working together it pulled together really well!! We sang "Fuente de tus Bendiciones" (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing) mixed with "Yo Se que Vive mi Senor" (I Know that My Redeemer Lives). It was a gorgeous arrangement that our district leader Elder Diaz made. He is from Peru and AMAZING on the piano!! He doesn't know how to read sheet music but if he hears a song he can just sit down and play it perfectly and even add in special cords and such - never taken a piano lesson before either. It's crazy! But it was a very beautiful and it was such a privilege to sing it. After we sang, President Layton gave a beautiful talk and the spirit was very strong. Afterward we had some good snacks. Not everyone that signed up to bring food showed up so we had to improvise a lot but everyone got something yummy to eat :) There were about 70 people there and that's more than double the amount of people that normally come to our ward firesides apparently!! So that was incredible!! Everyone was really touched and asking when they could come out with us to lessons!! It didn't quite all go as planned, but it couldn't have been more perfect <3 Heavenly Father sure is incredible, isn't He!? Without His help there is NO WAY it would have worked!! :)

Our investigator Carlos Ramos came to church again yesterday and he really enjoyed it! He couldn't come to the charla but he gave us fruit to share (which was a huge tender mercy and helped us have enough food!) but Elisabeth couldn't come yesterday... She is going through A LOT. More than I can even begin to start writing, the poor thing. She ended up staying all night Sat. night with her cousins in Arvin who literally got dumped at their aunts house by their mom who no longer wants anything to do with them. So sad <3 But as for investigating the church wise she is doing well!! We took her on a church tour on Valentine's day and gave her a talk called "The Power of God's Love". She loved it and said it was the best Valentine's Day ever!! Oh ya, and at our lesson with her last Monday she straightened my hair!!! (too bad I can't send you a pic.. :( )

Sorry I am going all sorts of out-of-order, but on Tues-Wed we had exchanges in Arvin!!! I went with Hna. Luquette which was super fun!! I used to be the STL that took her on exchanges and now it's flipped!!! She is a great leader and I love her and Hna Blau so much!! <3 In Arvin I got to teach an old investigator of mine and Hna White's (I don't know if you remember a Refugio from way back when or if I ever wrote about him, but he is getting baptized!!) and a lot of the people we saw in the street recognized me and I them!! It was so fun!!! <3 I love Arvin!! It was a great exchange, a great experience!! We even saw the Moreno family (Adriana, Juanita, Jessie, etc.) that we worked with so much. The sad thing is that they told us they are thinking of going back to the Catholic church. I straight-up started crying and they said they probably won't have us back. After lots of tears, lot of testifying, they accepted a return appointment with the other Hermanas. Hopefully it went well!!! I love that family so much and still pray for them!!! <3

Well that's all for this week folks!! This week I really learned about praying for and expecting miracles. Heavenly Father really does give miracles if we have the faith that He will give it to us. But that faith should never be in ourselves that we can do it, but it should be in Christ, faith that through Christ and His divine help we can do anything that is the Lord's will. What a great lesson to have re-learned this week :)
Well I love you all so much!! Thank you for all your support and love!!! I hope you have a great week and always look for the Lord's hand in your life!! <3

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau





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