WEEK 55!!! LA TEMPLE WITH THE ARVIN GROUP!!! STAKE CHRISTMAS CONCERT!!! TRANSFERS....READY?!?!?!

Hna White and I <3

Hna Ocampo and Roberta <3

The Arvin Group <3

Familia Navarro <3

Hna Ocampo and her daughter Jazmin, who's getting married on the 28th!!!

Hna Gomez and I <3

Some of the people from church!! Jenny, far left; Elder Hettinger; Evalyn; the bald guy is a non-member that's been coming to our ward and I translated for him in church (his Spanish isn't super good) and he is switching to English ward so he wanted a pic with all of us; Audrey, front middle; Elder Martin back by me :)

(sorry this is a pic when we weren't all ready but it's the only one I have :)

You know you're a missionary when..

(you can't really tell from the lighting but my knees are bruised :) )

#onyourknees

Decorating Jenny's Christmas tree!!

LA temple <3

Meagan Martineau	2:53 PM (5 hours ago)

CASI NAVIDAD!!

I am now just realizing that it's the 12th and there is only one more Pday before Christmas!! We have been talking with the members and trying to get a place to go. It's hard because there are 4 companionships that need a place, but next week for sure I will let you know and I will do it as late as I can!! 

So this week I got to go to the Los Angeles temple with the Arvin group and Hna White!! It was just like old times!! All that went were Ada and her husband (who's not a member) and her 2 daughters Roberta and Paloma!!! Roberta got to go in the temple and do baptisms!!! And la familia Navarro came and Berto got to do baptisms!! And Hno Rodier, Hna Gomez, Hna Ocampo, and Jazmin all came!! It was SO GOOD to see everyone again!! <3 I love those people so much!!! But I really love the Buena Vista ward too!! But anyways, we got to go and watch them do baptisms and look around the visitor's center a bit! There are so many beautiful Christmas trees!! <3 It was so fun to see the baptistry and feel the wonderful Spirit of the temple. What an incredible place to receive divine revelation from our dear Heavenly Father and perform sacred ordinances in behalf of those who have already passed on. <3 What a blessing this gospel is and what joy it brings to my life!!! I gotta say, seeing two recent converts enter into the temple and do baptisms for their ancestors is one of the most incredible miracles I have ever seen in my life. The Spirit was so strong and I just didn't want to leave!! The temple truly is such a special place <3

I also want to say that I am so grateful to everyone that wrote their testimonies for me <3 And thank you Mom and Dad for making that possible for me <3 It has truly meant a lot to me and is one of the greatest presents I ever could have gotten (besides seeing you all and being together <3). I will treasure these precious letters forever. They have truly strengthened my testimony and I have a lot more to read still!! I really appreciate all of it!! <3

This week we did a little more service for that English family cleaning up their yard again. Unfortunately they didn't want to hear about the gospel now, but one day they will :) We also got to help our investigator Jenny (the teenage who is getting baptized on the 31st) and her family set up and decorate their Christmas tree!! That was super fun!! Then we showed them the Christmas video #lighttheworld and the Spirit was very strong. It was such a sweet moment because her whole family was together talking to the missionaries!! Her parents still aren't fans of the church but I think we gained more of their trust :) It's just been hard to teach Jenny because every time we have an appointment her parents take them out of town so we can't... but she still comes to church and everything, so that's good!!

We also got to see Connie's family and had a Noche de Hogar with them, and Norma even came by surprise!! And oh man did Satan work HARD on preventing that lesson from happening between technical difficulties (we were trying to show them the restoration video), no sound, screaming kids, EVERYTHING!! But we finally watched it with hardly no sound so we explained it as it went. Despite all the distractions the Spirit was still strong! But both Connie's mom and Norma had surgeries too this week so they'll need a little recuperation time :)

Then yesterday, Sunday, we got to go to the Stake Christmas concert!! Each ward prepared a song and we all performed last night! It was SO FUN!! We sang "En la Judea". At the end of the concert all the wards came up together and we sang the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah!! It was SO MUCH FUN and made me feel like I was in choir again in high school!! It brought back good memories <3 It also reminded me of your Choir concerts which I miss and can't wait to hear again!!

Now transfer news... Ready???

So this week also we had interviews with President Layton and he told me at the end of my interview, "Buckle your seatbelt. This next week is gonna be crazy."

Now I know what he meant.

I am staying in Buena Vista

Hna Zambrano is leaving to La Cresta with Hna Badger

I AM TRAINING

I AM ALSO IN A TRIO

So basically one missionary is new that I am training and there will be a 3rd companion, Hna Latimer! And she will just kinda be around while I train my new companion!! So it will be very interesting!! I am really nervous but super excited though!!

I just want to finish with my testimony to all of you that I KNOW that my Redeemer lives. I know that Christ is my Redeemer and He makes it possible for me and for everyone to be clean from sin. He is the perfect filter. He is the Best Example there ever was and ever will be. I am so grateful for Him and all that He does for us. I can never thank Him enough for His Infinite Atoning Sacrifice <3

I love you all so much!!!

Have a great week!!!

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau 

WEEK 54!!! SERVICE, MIRACLES, BLESSINGS!!! AND PRAYER ROCKS!!! A PRETTY GREAT WEEK!!!

First time eating Starbucks!!! It's a non-caffeinated chocolate milkshake thing!!

(We got it cuz Hna Zambrano had a REALLY bad day, so we went out for a treat :) )

We found rocks to paint with some recent convert kids that we are teaching the recent convert lessons to. 

We made prayer rocks them :)

Painting prayer rocks with the kids!! SO FUN!!!

Prayer rocks!

Olvidate de ti mismo y ponte a trabajar.

#lametadelamision

Meagan Martineau	2:42 PM (6 hours ago)

Dear Everyone!!

Casi Feliz Navidad!!!

This week was a good one!!! We got to do some service and other fun things and saw lots of tender mercies!! 

So a cool thing that happened is that we got a referral for a less active member that moved from a different part of Bakersfield. We decided to visit her and turns out she was a less-active from the La Cresta ward that I visited with Hna Pincock, and she remembered me from clear back then!!! And turns out her husband and 8 year old daughter are not members, so we will hopefully with time be able to teach them!! But she came to church yesterday so that was cool!! 

We also got to visit one of our member's sisters who is our investigator. We can only see her once a week because her husband is very anti-religion, but she is very interested in learning because her sister was a convert and she has seen the changes in her life. So we are excited about her!! Her name is Norma!! We also got to do some service for her and help her clean her garage :)

Then on Saturday we took out that member to a lesson with a new investigator who wasn't home :( but her 10 year old daughter was home cleaning up tree branches and leaves so we offered to help! We got it all cleaned up, then we saw a man across the street doing the same thing so we went over and helped him too. The miracles with that were 1. he let us help him (we offer service to almost everyone and they all say no) and 2. is a few days ago he found one of our Jesus the Christ cards that we give out on the ground and he told himself that if he picked it up and kept it that he'd get a blessing. Now a few days later, there the missionaries and a member are cleaning up his yard!! We are going to try by him sometime this week and teach him so that we can send him off as a referral!! (he only speaks English) But that was cool!! Then we helped a member make some invitations for a ward party coming up :) So lots of service this week!! It was so much fun!!! I always pictured my mission being full of service, cleaning, raking, etc. but turns out most Californians don't want help, but this week they did!! It was really fun and felt good! It just feels good to serve!!

There were a lot of miracles at church yesterday too because there were a lot of non-members there!! In gospel principles class it was almost all non-members and missionaries which was really cool to see!! Non of our investigators were there and there were some people there that were invited by members that don't live in our area, but that's ok because the ward is seeing success!! Our area is getting there!! We just gotta build it up!! I feel like this week was a building week and that in following weeks we will see things start to actually happen!!

Another super cool miracle that happened is that we were able to teach that same member's parents and pick them up as investigators!! So this wonderful member is Connie and her parents NEVER talked to the missionaries when she was learning. Apparently her mom only started warming up - kind of - to Hna Zambrano and Hna Blau not too long ago. Well Connie told us to go over and pretend like we were looking for her even though she wasn't home and see if we could share something with them. We did and it went well! We talked to her mom then she invited us for Sunday dinner yesterday! After dinner we taught the plan of salvation and how families can be forever through the restored gospel and her mom seemed to really like it. Her dad who is a hard-core Catholic and has never liked the missionaries listened and accepted to learn more too!!! The Spirit was very strong and it was a very special moment!! We are going back tomorrow to teach a FHE :) 

So things are looking up for the area!! And the Christmas cheer is definitely there :) We are getting in the spirit and all is well!! And I did get the package and I really appreciate it so much!! You didn't have to get me that stuff!! You are so sweet!! <3 I love you all so much!! I feel so grateful for all that I have and for all that Heavenly Father gives me. I know that I am so blessed. I am super blessed because I get the opportunity to go to the temple on Saturday with the Arvin group!!! So President Layton made a new rule that the 2 missionaries that had the most influence on a recent convert can go with them to the temple when they go for the first time and if they have family names. On Sat. the Arvin group is going and Berto and Roberta are both going to the temple and I don't know about Roberta, but Berto has family names!! So Hna White and I get to go just before she goes home!! So that will be so fun!!! But it's kind of crazy because we don't get p-day today, Sat. becomes our p-day for the temple, but we still get to email :) It might be a bit longer of a week because we don't get to have a p-day, but then we'll have p-day on Saturday and I will go to the temple with Hna White and then we get another p-day next Monday!! I am so excited!!! :) The Lord is so good to me <3

My new "life motto" that I am using every day in my journal is "I like today" so every day in my journal I write "I like today because..." and it really helps me to look at the good there is throughout the day rather than just feel sad when people are rude. Heavenly Father truly is always there for us.

Isaiah 41:10 <3

I love you all and I hope you have a happy Christmas month!!!!

Les quiero a todos ustedes muchisimo!!! 

Que tengan una buena semana :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Martineau :)

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. :)