WEEK 53!!! DANIEL GOT BAPTIZED!!! FUN STORY OF THE WEEK--DON'T MIX COALS AND BUD LIGHT!!!

Decorating the tree!!

Putting on the star!!!!

Coloring in my new santa hat, using an Arabic Book of Mormon!!

Making tacos de papa for Thanksgiving lunch!!!

Also, I can't believe I forgot this part!!! This was the highlight of the week!!!

My friend Daniel who I taught in Arvin got baptized on Saturday and asked if I could be there, so I got special permission to leave the zone to go back to East Bakersfield for his baptism!!! So I got to see Hna White one last time and see this wonderful young man enter into a sacred covenant with our Father in Heaven. What a blessing that was!!!! I can't believe I almost forgot!!! 

Meagan Martineau	Nov 28 (1 day ago)

Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias!!!!

So this week was... kind of rough because everyone is gone for holidays and most of the people we talked to don't live in our area and were only here visiting for the holidays!!! So it's been a bit slow, but that's ok! It'll pick back up!! So there's not a whole lot to report on this week...

Thanksgiving was wonderful!!! People took such good care of us!! We had dinner with a member and their family and our whole district!! So that was kind of fun!! It was really weird too though, because it was at the member's family's house who lives out of our zone, so we didn't know them and we were eating at their house! They were super nice though and the food was WONDERFUL!!!! It was la familia Urbina. I wanted to eat so much more, but I made sure I left still a little bit hungry because we had a second dinner with a less active member, Felix, in our area! I've only met him once before and he is living with his VERY Catholic girlfriend.. and they are in their 50s. It was very quiet and also a kind of weird dinner, but again the food was SO GOOD!!!!! We had this weird green fruit that kind of looks like a pear that only grows in South America where he is from and it was stuffed with meat!!! It was SO GOOD!!!!! 

(but this is making me hungry because I'm fasting!!!) ;)

And we got a wonderful, thoughtful Christmas package on Friday, then on Saturday there was a big dust storm so we had to stay inside for about 2 hours until it passed (because here in Bakersfield there is something called "Valley Fever" that you can only get from the dirt here in Bakersfield and nowhere else in the world, because the dirt and air is so polluted!! And Valley Fever affects you for your whole life and can kill you! So we stayed inside under our leader's direction :) ) so we used that time to start decorating!!! We set up our little Christmas tree and decorated it! We are working on coloring the little foam angels and ornaments stuff we got too!! It is so fun!! We feel the Christmas cheer!!! Although Christmas isn't the same without snow!!! (I realized that I will go about 3 years without snow because the last time I saw snow was the end of winter at the beginning of 2015 and I won't see it again until the beginning of winter of 2018!!! Que triste!!)

Also, fun story of the week: we were talking to some guys outside and while we were talking their trash can lit on fire from coals they didn't fully extinguish from the night before!! And the coals were put in a big, empty box of BudLight. That is why you don't drink. Especially when having a fire, because then the fire comes back the next day in the trash can and you have to extinguish it with a hose in front of 2 Mormon misioneras :) So that was fun!!!

But that's about all!!! I just want to leave you all with my simple testimony that I know that this gospel IS true. Jesus Christ is our personal Savior and He loves us more than we could ever know!! I know that we are truly healed through His Atonement. Through His Atonement and the gift of the Holy Ghost we are cleansed and purified. That is what I am grateful for this holiday season :) 

I love you all so so much and sincerely appreciate all the love and support you all constantly give me!! I hope you have a great week!!! <3

con mucho amor,

Hermana Martineau <3

WEEK 52!!! SHE HITS HER YEAR MARK THIS FRIDAY!!! BACKWARDS EXCHANGES WITH MIRACLES, MIRACLES, MIRACLES!!! ANOTHER GREAT WEEK IN HERMANA MARTINEAU'S GRAND ADVENTURE!!! :)

​Hna Zambrano is so cute!!! I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday last minute and I was super nervous as I was preparing for it in a classroom at the church, and while I was writing my talk she drew this on the board <3

Object lesson about spiritual power from President Layton during ZTM this week!

That's a LARGE HEAVY copper cord!!

A member - Hna Quel - gave us this box of Mexican goodies at church yesterday <3

​Feelin' like a Cali-girl wearing this in 55 degree weather! (I BETTER not be a wimp!! I have been cold a lot more a lot easier now after spending a summer in Bakersfield!!)

Backward exchanges!!! Me and Hna White used to take Hnas Blau and Zambrano on exchanges, now Hna Zambrano is with me and Hna Blau and White are taking us on exchanges!!

Possibly the last time I see Hna White as a missionary!!! :( 

Meagan Martineau	3:45 PM (5 hours ago)
to me, Lynn, Gage

Almost Thanksgiving!!!! Almost....A YEAR as a missionary!?!?!?! HOW???!?!!?

This year has flown by!!! It has been so full of joy, tears, laughs, frustrations, miracles, and SO MANY LEARNING EXPERIENCES!!!!! I am so grateful for this year that I have had as a missionary!! It has been SO HARD and it still is. It never gets any easier, but let me tell you, it is WORTH IT!!!!! Sometimes I feel like I've been gone for 2 years, and sometimes I feel like it's been 5 months!! Looking back I realize how much I have changed. THANK GOODNESS!!! But I still have a LOT more changing to do!!! I just hope that I can keep changing and improving over the next 6 months!!

Thank you for the emails of encouragement Mom and Dad!!! I really appreciate it and all you do :) I am so glad you were able to meet Hnas Pincock and Van der Toolen!! They're pretty awesome!! <3 I hope you get to go to Hna White's homecoming too!! She goes home Dec 13!

So the weird thing that happened this week is we had exchanges!!! It was weird because I went with Hna White and back to Arvin, which was weird!!!! It was like normal times, but she was my Sister Training Leader this time!!! It was pretty backwards!!! But super fun!!! We saw SO MANY miracles on the exchange!!!!! So we had dinner with a less active in the same trailer park where our old investigator Jessy lived. (Jessy with the tattoos that we taught for a while and right when I got transferred out of Arvin he texted and dropped us...) Right when we finished dinner and walked out of the trailer, we got a text from Jessy that was another drop text, but he was already dropped. So we figured since we were already there that we would just go see him cuz I was back!! We walked to his trailer and he was outside. We talked to him and turns out he...IS AMAZING AND FINALLY KNOWS THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!!!!!!!! When he dropped us before I got transferred we asked him to read Alma 36. He did. He read it and picked it apart and read it with his ex-girlfriend and asked her questions about it "like how you guys do" (like he said) and that when he did that he felt pure joy. He said he felt happier than he had ever felt before and he knew that that was the Spirit telling him that he needs to follow this gospel. He now has moved to Bakersfield but said that when he is settled in he would like to have the missionaries visit him so that he can get baptized in January when his parole ends!!!!!!!!! What a HUGE miracle that was!!!!! And that "just so happened" to happen on the day of the exchange and that I was in Arvin with Hna White for the exchange!!! What a blessing!!!! Heavenly Father is absolutely the greatest!!! <3 

Also on that exchange I got to see my other old investigators Julio, Lucas, and Daniel!!! And (as of that day anyways - it could have changed by now) Lucas and Daniel are both planning on getting baptized this coming Saturday!!!! What a blessing!!!! And how cool it was that I got to see them again and be a part of their conversion!!!! <3 The Lord truly is incredible <3

And the work in Buena Vista is looking up too!! We were able to find 4 new investigators this last week which was a blessing!! It's a little hard though because out of our teaching pool, 3 of them we can only see  once a week and 4 of them are all leaving or have left for a 2 week vacation for the holidays (which is ironic because they're Hispanic and Thanksgiving is an American thing haha! I guess it's like when we celebrate Cinco de Mayo ;) ) so that's kind of hard because we won't be able to really see anyone this week.. but that's ok!! It has been a really good week!!! Life is good!! So many blessings!!! I love this work more than ever and I love my Savior!!! The scriptures have truly become dear to me in ways I never imagined. It is truly incredible this experience I am having!!! I love it!! I am so grateful for all that I have. I am truly blessed and I recognize them now more than ever!! The thing I am the MOST grateful for above all: My Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement for me.

I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving and that you all remember and count your many daily blessings!! Not just on Thursday, but every day of the year!! There is truly SO MUCH to be grateful for!!!

I love you all!!!

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau <3

WEEK 51!!! "IT'S ALL GOOD IN THE HOOD!!!" ELDER BEDNAR!!! AND GETTING LOST!!!

La Fiesta Latina last week!!

Me and my comp fiesting!!!

First day with Hna Zambrano!!! <3

Selfie!! Wearing my favorite outfit, having a good hair day, and I MET ELDER BEDNAR THIS DAY!!!

I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON THIS MORNING!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

The famous 2 a.m. donkey!!!

When you stay up till 2 a.m. coloring a donkey...

Meagan Martineau	Nov 14 (2 days ago)

Hello Everyone!!

I am doing well!! Hermana Zambrano and I's catch-phrase is "It's all good in the Hood"!!

So this week (like every week) was like a roller coaster!!! Some good days, some not so good days, but I'm not getting discouraged!! This area is very different from Arvin, and a lot of success has been found here in the past. We're not quite seeing it yet, but it will come!! We just gotta build up the area!!

This area is more city, but it's still in the rougher parts of the outskirts of Bakersfield, but I like the rougher parts!! :) 

And on Saturday I saw and got direction from ELDER BEDNAR!!!!! We got to spend 3 hours with him and Elder Arnur (or something like that) from the 70!!! I didn't get to talk to him personally, but we had a question-answer live with him which was pretty darn awesome!! You can just feel the Savior's presence in his presence!! I want to be like that some day - so spiritually in tune that people can feel it when they're with me!! That's the goal!! I learned so much from him about following the Spirit and improving my prayers which is something that I have been working on for a while now. It was very inspired and uplifting!!

That was the high light of my week!! Not really much else happened!! We did get lost though...We parked the car and went walking and tracting Wed morning with the intention of tracting till 1 then going home for lunch. Well, we couldn't find the car... We kept walking and talking to people and asking people we talked to where the street was where we parked the car. One guy typed it in his phone and we were pretty far away... We didn't get back to it until after 3pm!! Good bye lunch!! It was fun though talking to lots of people!! We did talk to one really cool guy who we got a return appointment with and went back and taught him later last week and picked him up as an investigator! And we have an investigator named Jenny who will be baptized on Dec 31!! (she has to wait till she turns 18 on the 28th of Dec for her parents to let her get baptized. She has been coming to church by herself for about 2 years now just waiting to be baptized!! We just started giving her the lessons again to prepare her for her FINAL date!!) But that's about all for Buena Vista!! I'm still getting to know the members but I already love them so much!! My heart is still in Arvin but I am growing another one for Buena Vista <3

In other good news: I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was the end of the 65 day challenge for us (we started Sept 10) and I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was falling pretty far behind.... like 80 pgs behind.... but I have been reading every spare minute at meals and at night and I finally finished on time!!! Holy Cow I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!!!!! It is so incredible!!!! <3 I have learned SO MUCH about repentance and faith and how they are connected and both necessary. I have loved this challenge so much and my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is stronger than I ever though it would be!!! I KNOW IT IS TRUE!!! It has to be!!! It only makes sense!!!! I love it so much and I love my Savior. I love it because it helps me get closer to my Savior <3 I KNOW He lives. I KNOW this is His true gospel!!! And I love it!!!! I am so blessed to be a part of it and to be a part of bringing it forth to the world of South Bakersfield!!! <3 

I love you all so much and I hope you all study the scriptures daily and feast on the words of Christ <3 It only brings blessing!!! <3

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau

Also tell Merissa and Kaeson 10000000 thank you's for the present!!!!!

It really helped last night when Hna Zambrano was having a difficult day. We colored donkeys until 2 am when she felt better :) So that present was literally a blessing to help heal a broken heart and help Hermana Martineau go to bed :) <3 And I love the bracelet!!

WEEK 50!!! BUENA VISTA, HERMANA ZAMBRANO

My new companion, the amazing Hermana Zambrano!!!

Meagan Martineau	Nov 7 (2 days ago)

HELLO FROM BUENA VISTA!!!!

So I am officially in Buena Vista in South Bakersfield with Hna Zambrano!!! It is a blast!! It is very different from Arvin but I love it a lot!! It is just in the South part of Bakersfield about 15 minutes from Lamont which is about 10 minutes from Arvin!! I am living in the same apartment complex I lived in with Sisters Alderman and Holmstead for a week while our apartment was fumigated!!

This area is very different from Arvin but I like it!! There are a lot of white people but there are a LOT of hispanics too!! I am in a Spanish WARD!! A lot different from a group!! I really miss Arvin a lot and I would have liked to stay but I am glad to have a change. I do miss being an STL but it is good to have a break from the stress! But I will miss exchanges and MLC!!

I am so sorry I don't have hardly any time to write this week... It was a good week, had transfers on Tuesday and the rest of the week has been normal, nothing exciting. But on Saturday we got to go to the famous "La Cresta Fiesta Latina" where the ward members do different dances and celebrate different Latino cultures. It was really fun!! I got to see Arvin group people dance too!! It was really fun!! And today we had a zone activity and that's why I am late emailing.. But it was a good week, just a little stressful getting to know a new area and new companion :) And I'm the senior companion and so I am in charge now. As STLs you are both equal (but Hna White always took more charge) but now I have to take charge and I have to make decisions and it's hard because I don't know the area! But I will get to know it soon and I already love the members and I love my companion SO MUCH!!! She is so cute!! She is from Ecuador but recently is from LA so she's not too far from home! It's going to be a good transfer!! Good things will happen!! This week has been slow but it will get better!!! Life is good, I have a good companion and area, Christ has redeemed us, the gospel is true!! What more could I ask for?? :)

I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a great time this week!!!

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau

P.S.

Meagan could not get her sd card to work, so no new pictures this week except for one of her new companion, Hermana Zambrano standing by the Ecuador Flag. So, I included a few pictures from the last days of her second area. :)

WEEK 49!!! I'M LEAVING ARVIN!!!!!!!! :( :( I KNOW I AM GOING WHERE THE LORD NEEDS ME!! :) LAST EXCHANGE AS AN STL.

La familia Navarro

Our new cat friend at our apartment complex!! He's just like Stormy, but lazy and chill like Fuzzy <3 le llamamos "amigo gato"

Recent converts - La familia Cortez

Less active family - La familia Moreno

La Familia Salinas de Lamont

Hno Villegas and Brenda Lopez

Left: new inv Lucas who came to church after only ONE LESSON!!, red shirt: Filipe Escamilla - recent convert from Tehachapi, white shirt behind: Efrian Cardona from Tehachapi who is no longer less active!!, blue: Diana next to me: Hna Gomez, little girl: Brenda Lopez from Lamont

Our old man friend investigator Julio who comes to church!!

Juanita. I love this girl so much. I love her!!

Exchanges!!!

OUR DISTRICT!!!

Meagan Martineau

Dear Everyone:

I'M LEAVING ARVIN!!!!!!! :( :(

But that's ok. :) I know I am going where the Lord needs me!! Where that is I don't exactly know yet... President Layton started a new thing where know one knows where they're going or who with until the day we go there!!! So when we get calls now we are just told if we are staying or leaving. I am leaving and Hermana White is staying. But thankfully there are only so many Hermanas and so many Hna areas that based on who is staying and leaving we pretty much have it figured out. I will most likely be going to Buena Vista in south Bakersfield with Hna Zambrano!! That's not a for sure though. The only other options are to go back to La Cresta 2 w/ Hna Perry or to LC5 with Hna Luquette, but we are pretty sure that won't happen. Also based on the logistics, Hna Blau will most likely be the new STL!!!! She is going to do AWESOME!!!! So ya, I'm really really sad to leave Arvin, but all is well :) I am going where I am needed at this time :) But HOLY COW have we seen miracles in Arvin!!! It is a magical place!!!!

Our investigator Daniel went to the church in Bakersfield with a member from Arvin because his sister Monse now has a restraining order against her friend Juanita who referred them to us!! (that's a long story but basically one didn't say hi to the other at school and they almost fought, so now they have a restraining order...) So if we want them to come to church they will have to go in Bakersfield so Juanita and her family can come here. But nevertheless, Daniel went to church and loved it so much that afterward he texted us and asked us to come over to teach him more!!! His baptism will be Nov 26!!! I'm so excited for him!!! He is a future missionary!! 

And sad news....Jessy Bueno - tattoo man - ....dropped us. He is going through something right now and Satan is attacking him and blinding him. He is now suddenly very confused about the truth and texted us saying he thinks it's better that we don't meet for now. But he'll come around one day I hope!! Also Frida as of today is basically homeless because she had to move out of her friend's house. She will probably be at her mom's for 2 weeks but if the manager doesn't let her live there she will be homeless until the housing authority people help her with an apartment...we fasted for her yesterday. I hope it all works out for her, the poor thing. Plus at church yesterday she was throwing up sick and had to go home, just to top the cake. :/ But the Lord is on her side so it will all work out!!

Back to good new!! We had exchanges with Hnas Van der Toolen and Badger!! (little did I know it was my last exchange as an STL...) I was with Hna Badger and it was pretty good!! On the exchange we met a guy that told us that he felt a peace when he talked to us that he's never felt before. However he wouldn't give us his address or phone number because he has trust issues, but he told us if we wanted to learn he would come to church. Well yesterday he walked in during the sacrament hymn because he wanted to feel that peace again. He left right after church ended so we couldn't get his information but we ran into him again at the grocery store this morning and he is going to come to an activity this Saturday! We are so excited! We have really seen the work double!! And we had a Book of Mormon miracle when a man saw the Book of Mormon in our hands and told us he's read it before. He let us teach him, then he showed up to church on Sunday as well! His name is Lucas. Also our old man friend Julio came to church again for the 3rd time!! The work is hastening!! So many miracles are happening everywhere!!! That's why I don't want to leave Arvin!! There is so much happening that I want to be a part of!! I will miss it and miss the people there, but the work will hasten either way, which is the most important thing!!! I am just so glad I get to be a part of the work at all!! It is such a cool thing to see miracles happen every day and see people change their lives right before our eyes!! It is truly a blessing!! <3

I know the Lord's hand has really been in the work and has been in our lives so much. I have grown closer to Him in ways I never thought possible <3 These past 11 months have truly blessed my life so much!! I hope to make the next 7 even better!! I am so grateful for my Savior and all that he's done for me!! And thank you for all that you have all done for me too!! <3 I love you!!! Have a great week!!!

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau