WEEK 70!!! PICTURES AGAIN!!! ZONE BASEBALL, A SACRAMENT CHALLENGE, AND A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE YOUNG WOMEN CLASSES, SEMINARY "FEASTS," CAMPS, ETC. THAT HAVE SHAPED HER TESTIMONY!!!

​BASEBALL CHAMPS!!

I FINALLY won the golden plunger!!!! And I got a new pillow from winning it!!!

Elotes before General Women's Conference

#heckyes!!!

#neverthoughtI'dlikeelotes

Meagan Martineau	Mar 27 (1 day ago)

HOLA!!!!

First of all, THANK YOU so much for helping out with the package for Hna Perdomo!! I am so excited for her birthday!! The Elders, our ward mission leader and I are planning a little NDH (FHE) for her with the ward on Monday night :) bueno, they're planning it, and I'm keeping it a secret and secretly making sure we don't have appointments haha!

And yes we get still along amazingly!!! I love Hna Perdomo so much!! <3 So thank you for helping out :) And our zone is ALL ELDERS. This was an all-elder zone until Hnas Latimer and Perdomo came in last transfer, so it's kind of weird being the only girls, it almost feels against the rules to be with all of them haha!! But it's fun!

I am so glad you enjoyed your trip!! I hope to hear all about it when I get home, get more of the details!! 

So this week was a good, but pretty uneventful week! That happens de vez en cuando :) 

Last Monday we played baseball as a zone!!! It was so much fun!! And I actually hit the ball!!! Every time I went up to bat!!! (That was a shocker to everyone...!) I have grown an appreciation for sports on my mission, don't get excited Mom, I still don't want to play a sport, but I like to play for fun with people!! 

On Thursday we had our transferly zone conference!! I love zone conference so much!! It is my favorite mission meeting!!! That is when we meet as a zone with President and Sister Layton and they teach us :) At this zone conference I learned a lot about the importance of the Sacrament. It is such an essential and sacred ordinance, a lot more important than I ever thought!! President Layton challenged us that every Sunday from the first note of the Sacrament hymn until the last deacon sits down to think ONLY about the Savior. Don't think about the investigators that didn't come, or about the class you have to give in the next hour, think only about the Savior, His life, His ministry, the things He taught, the things He did, etc. It brings a powerful spirit when you do that. So that is my little challenge to all of you too, to really, truly focus on only the Savior during the Sacrament, I know it will bring so many blessings!!!

I don't remember if I've told you all about Rosemary, so just in case I didn't, she is 16 and her mom is a less active member. We have been teaching her and she is getting baptized in April!! She is so cute and has the sweetest heart <3 Also this week we talked to her little brother who is 8 and he wants to be baptized with his sister!! This week the whole family (except the dad who is not a member and not interested) came to the Elder's baptism, then came to church, and they stayed for Gospel Principles class, which they've never stayed that long!!!! That was so cool!! We are just hoping that one day the dad will want to learn too so that they can all be sealed as a family :)

Then of course on Saturday we got to watch the General Women's conference!!! I LOVE General Conference in a way that I thought I would never love it!!  I truly learned so much about true charity and sacrificing yourself for the Lord and for others. I am so excited for this coming General Conference!! I know it is going to be awesome!!!

--P.S. This morning for the first time I watched that DVD of Youth Conference July 2015. I just cried and cried as memories flowed back of all the amazing things I learned there and the testimony I grew. I know that everyone there helped me so much to be who I am today, and that all those youth activities, girls camps, etc. helped me to serve a mission and to grow my testimony enough to be able to testify when people try to discredit, to square my shoulders when they say we're silly little girls that don't know anything. Well I do know. I know that Christ's true church has been brought back to the earth. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that the Priesthood power to seal families is on the earth. The evidence of all that is the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for this knowledge I have gained. It has changed my life for the better. Thank you for all the work that all of you have done with me. Thank you for all the Young Women classes, seminary "feasts", camps, etc. Without them I wouldn't have the testimony I do. I hope I can keep increasing my testimony every day of my life. I know that this work is the Lord's work and I feel privileged to be a part of it, however small my part may be.

I love you all!!!

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau

The "Bro Zone" as they call it. We're back to the Elder Martinez story.

(if you don't remember, I'll tell you in June ;) )

I put coconut oil in my hair now...advice from Hna Arceo to make my hair grow! I've done it a few times.. I guess we'll see what happens!!

WEEK 69!!! ENGLISH REFERRAL, SAY WHAT?!?!?!? ARVIN!!! UNDERSTANDING HER ROLE IN HEAVENLY FATHER'S PLAN=HAPPINESS!!!

Hnas Martineau and Perdomo

Hna Martineau in Lancaster

Sister Rosario Posada with Hnas Martineau and Perdomo

East Lancaster Zone - 12 Strapping Young Elders with 2 Lonely Hermanas! :)

Meagan Martineau	Mar 20 (3 days ago)

HOLA de Cali!!!

Tengo ganas de estar en Guatemala con ustedes hoy, pero ustedes solo estan viendo ruinas, yo estoy viendo cambios de corazones, entonces, les gano ;) jaja!!

So real quick:

-I love the schedule, Mom, it is perfect!! :) I will take the Folk Dance class this sememster, then next time I'll take the Latin one when I have a partner ;)

-I got the package and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I wear the necklace almost every day!!! It is my favorite thing!! Thank you so much <3

-those t-shirts are from the MTC in Provo, they make them for individual missions, but I didn't go to Provo, so I don't have one :/

-Hna Perdomo is my same size, so what you'd get for me, will work for her, except in length cuz she's short, haha! :) (thank you so much again by the way :) )

-I am STILL the driver. I have come to terms with it. I don't necessarily like driving, but I don't hate or resent it anymore :) Now it's just whatever :)

-I don't think there's valley fever here...I'm not sure about that...the wind blows more here than in Bakersfield, but when the wind blows here people don't run inside and put on face masks like they do in Bakersfield, so I assume we're safe here :)

-Joshua branch is an all Spanish branch :) we eat at member's houses every single day! The members want to feed us so much that there aren't enough days in the week for them all!! It's a smaller branch, but growing :)

-Hna Perdomo is from Puerto Cortes, on the north part right by the coast and Guatemala! You weren't too far away, maybe 3 hours ish from where she grew up!!

-we have a pool of investigators building up now :) We were able to find the last 2 weeks :) There are a lot more white and black people than hispanics, but they are here!! 

-It has been getting progressively hotter, it's been in the 80s which is too hot for Hna Martineau!

So this week was awesome!!! We got a referral from a member from the English ward in North Edwards (45 mins away from our area) for her friend Molly. Neither of them speak Spanish. Why did we get referred to her? Because both of them live on the Edwards Air Force Base. Their husbands are in the Air Force and are deployed for a year, so they are alone in their houses on base. So the Elders that are in that area can't go in their houses without a man, and we are the closest sisters, so we got to go teach her!! We got special passes to go on base to visit and had dinner with the member and her friend. Then we taught her and she accepted to learn more!! We are going to see her later this week again :) I am super excited!! It was such a fun experience!!

Then on Friday-Saturday we got to take the big 1.5 hour drive up to ARVIN!!!! We got to go to exchanges there again!!!! It was SO FUN!!! I was with Hna Blau and we got to teach that same investigator that I got to teach last exchange, the one that Hna White and I found and taught! His name is Refugio, and he is finally getting baptized this weekend!!! What a blessing to have been a part, however small, of his conversion!! Also I got to see the Lopez family and eat dinner with them!! They were all so surprised to see me!!! I love them so much!!!! I love and miss the people from Arvin, and from all my past areas, but I am excited to get to love the people here even more :)

 Then yesterday we were asked to give the missionary moment at an 8 year old's baptism, so we taught the restoration, then we ate dinner with the whole branch at the member's house!! It was so fun!!! 

(P.S. Mom, did you get some pictures from someone named Rosario on facebook? She is a member here and she sent you some pics :) )

But that was my week!! It was pretty fun!!! I have really been growing my desire to understand my role in Heavenly Father's plan which has been helping me have been self-esteem. These last 2 weeks have been two of the happiest on my whole mission :) I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and for the help He always gives me <3

I love and thank you all for everything that you do for me <3

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau :)

WEEK 68!!! NEW AREA, NEW COMPANION, LOVES IT ALL!!!

No pictures this week. Her sd card is infected with the virus from her last area. Hopefully she will have a new sd card for next week! A fun picture from a month ago....her first time at Wendy's in over a year!

Meagan Martineau Mar 13 (2 days ago) Hello from Lancaster!!!  I NEVER thought I would ever serve in Lancaster and honestly I never wanted to serve in Lancaster, but now that I'm here, I love it!!! It's a bit harder of an area, especially for Spanish work, but there is still a lot of potential. It is a brand new area that Hnas. Latimer and Perdomo opened last transfer back to Hermanas, so it's a little slow going right now but we're picking it back up to speed!!  So info on Lancaster: It is an hour and a half from Bakersfield, it's smaller in size than Bakersfield but still is a big city (well to me..people from Bakersfield call Bakersfield a small town, but that's because they've never seen Tremonton!!). It is a little windy, which is wonderful for the coming summer! Bakersfield has ZERO wind so in the summer you just burn and scorch. Here there's a cool breeze to cool you off a little bit! This weekend got pretty hot..I thought I'd escape the heat of the summer but it's already in the 80's so...I still get some heat before I go -_-   :)  There's more desert here, lots of empty fields with Joshua trees (that's why the area is called Joshua). Also there is a church called the Lancaster Baptist Church that EVERYONE is a member of and everyone thinks we are missionaries from there... haha! And no, I am not in Hna Badger's district. I'm in Lancaster and she is in Palmdale. We are actually the only sisters in the entire zone!! So that's kind of fun, but kind of weird too!  Now info on my companion: I LOVE HER!!!! She is so funny and so sweet!!! We get along GREAT!!! She was born and raised in Honduras, so Spanish is her first language, and she moved here to the US 3.5 years ago and is still learning English (even though it's pretty darn good already!!). Now she lives in Arkansas. Both her parents are converts but she was born in the church. Naturally she is more comfortable in Spanish and I need to learn Spanish so we talk all Spanish all the time. It's AWESOME!! And she teaches me all the words I don't know!! But we do studies and planning in English because she doesn't know many gospel words in English and has a hard time understanding when people talk about gospel stuff in English. So we compromise because I can do the gospel in Spanish easy, so we practice that in English for her, then normal language, which she can do in English well, we do in Spanish so I can practice!!! So we teach each other our native language which is like the coolest thing ever!! Her brother is serving a mission now too, in Utah!! He is serving somewhere in Tooele so if you hear of or find an Elder Perdomo in Tooele, it's her brother!! This week has been pretty darn good!! I've gotten to know the area better, gotten to know some members, and find a few people to teach! Our teaching pool was basically 0 when I came in, so it's gonna take work, but that's why we're here!! :) I'm really excited to see how it will grow over the next few months!!  Thank you for the pictures and for the updates!! I hope you had a fun trip!!! It looks like it was fun!! And that Aztec calendar thing, I see those ALL the time here!!! bueno, en Bakersfield si, here not so much! But those statues are like a lot of things that are in Bakersfield! And thank you for your testimony of the Book of Mormon. I absolutely agree that it is one of the biggest blessings that we have!! I absolutely know it's true, 1000% without a doubt!! What a blessing to know the true, full gospel of Jesus Christ!! <3 I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and that we KNOW what the plan is and we know what we need to do to make it back to our Father. So many people are lost and are losing hope. So many are turning away, or taking the "easy way" of God. But I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is TRUE. It IS Christ's church. I too would be lost without it! I just hope and pray I can be an effective instrument in the Lord's hands to help people find their way back :)  I love you all so much!! I am grateful for this experience and all the amazing things I see every day! Thank you for the prayers and constant support!! I love you!! <3 Love siempre, Hermana Martineau :) (ps: es un poco dificil no escribir en espanol porque hemos hablado casi puro espanol toda esta semana!! Me encanta!!!) :)

WEEK 67!!! TRANSFERRED TO LANCASTER!!! SERVE! IT IS THE BEST MEDICINE!!!

Pictures are from Thursday Ward Volleyball Night taken by Hermana Ruiz!

Meagan Martineau	Mar 6 (1 day ago)

No se preocupen, estoy mucho mejor y ya no estoy enferma para nada, pero tengo noticias acerca de las trasferencias.... :)

So transfers are happening tomorrow and.......

I'M GOING TO LANCASTER!!!!!!!!!!

I NEVER thought I would serve in Lancaster, and I thought I would finish my mission in Buena Vista! But the Lord has other plans, and of course better plans! I will be back-up training Hermana Perdomo there :) She was front trained this last transfer by Hermana Latimer!! Cool, eh? I am very excited to meet new people, but I am sad to leave Bakersfield. I have spent my whole mission in Bakersfield except for my first transfer!! I'll be going to a branch called Joshua! That's actually the area where I went to for my very first exchange my first transfer in training!! So I was there for a day, but that was over a year ago and I had no idea what I was doing back then! Hopefully I can do something productive there now :) I am sad to be leaving Hna Arceo too! We have come to be good friends and I will miss her dearly <3 But I'm excited to make another friend with Hna Perdomo!! :)

This week has been great!! We did a LOT of service this week!!! We have an investigator Grace who has 5 kids and one on the way, is a single mom, and her 3 younger daughters all have some sort of serious, deathly illness, and she is on bed rest because of some complications with her baby on the way, so we did a lot of stuff for her, washing her dishes, mopping, etc. stuff she can't do and none of her kids can help her with. Then on Friday morning we brought the 4 Elders in our district and a member with a lawn mower to her house to pull the mountain of weeds from her back yard and cut the grass so her kids can play outside. It was a LOT of HARD work, but SUPER fun and we plowed in all out in 2 hours!! (we had to because we had ZTM - a mission meeting - a 10am we had to get to!!). It was very fun! I truly found joy in service this week!! I truly can testify that if you are sad or upset or whatever, SERVE. It is the BEST medicine!!! NOTHING beats selfless service!! It truly just lifts your spirits because you're more focused on helping than on your own problems!! Plus you're following Christ's example, which naturally brings peace and joy :)

Yesterday Carlos came to church again and we finally got him to think about March 25 for baptism!! I'm just sad I have to leave now, but as long as he gets baptized, I'm happy!! 

And on Saturday we had a fun relief society activity and Elisabeth came!!! It was super fun!! But then she didn't come to church again... I guess we'll see what happens there :)

Well I am short on time, but love you all so much!!! I hope you have a fabulous week, and a fabulous trip Mom and Dad!!! I hope all continues to go well!!! <3

I love you so so much!!! <3

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau