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

WEEK 66!!! ALL-HERMANA P-DAY, FIRST "SICK" DAY AND FIESTAS!!!

Meagan Martineau	Feb 27 (1 day ago)

Hello Everyone!!!

This week has been a good week!!! I will just go through my week like a list, cuz not too much happened, you'll see why, haha! :)

Monday - we had an all-Hermana p-day!!! All us Hermanas in the whole mission got together in Tehachapi and had a fun day!! That is the only time that has ever happened and probably will ever happen!! Right now in the mission there are the most Hermanas than there have ever been since I've been here!! There are 15 of us in total. We are few in number but fuerte! We just ate food, talked, and made shirts!! It was so fun!!

Tuesday - did some service for our investigator Grace

Wednesday - Had interviews with President Layton, had dinner with Hna. Ruiz, came home at 9pm, threw up 4 times... then at 9:30 a few more times... then at 10pm a few more times... and then from 11pm-1:30am I was in the bathroom throwing up every 5-10 minutes and in between throwing up it was coming out the other end very rapidly. I slept in the bathroom that night.. around 3:30amI went to bed :) 

Thursday - we...took a sick day :) My only sick day my whole mission!! But I couldn't eat anything, I couldn't do anything, I was so weak. After a priesthood blessing, lots of sleep, some saltines and sprite, we went to the ward volleyball game that we have every other Thur. (that's when Hna Ruiz told you I was sick). I got a narly case of food poisoning but it wasn't Hna Ruiz' food because the other 3 Hnas that ate there didn't get it.

Friday - stayed in for a couple hours while I was still regaining strength. I started eating a little bit again, then we went out to work.

Saturday - FIESTAS!! We were invited by Hna Zavala to lunch, we show up and it's a birthday party for her 3 year old! That was fun! Then we went to a baby shower of a less-active family that invited us, then had some more food with a member after that! (good thing I emptied all out on Wednesday!! ;) )

Sunday - A normal day in the work of the Lord :) Carlos came to church again! And we found out that a member - Hna Cruz - isn't actually a member!!! She was an investigator a year ago but couldn't get baptized for whatever reason but never stopped coming to church!! She told the bishop that she wants to get baptized and she is in our area!!! We visited her and she told us she wants to get baptized in April! So now we just need to teach her the lessons and she's good to go!! What a blessing and miracle!!! <3

That was our week this week!! Exciting, but not too much happened!! It was a good week though!! I learned that it's important to take care of yourself, but when you are taken care of to get up, get going, and turn outward. Turning outward is key. If we turn inward and think about what we need all the time and what we want, we will never reach our full potential. Christ always turned outward. He never neglected Himself, He was healthy and strong, but He spent His time and attention helping others. That is what matters <3 If we follow His perfect example, we will be just fine :)

Well that is my little life-lesson for the week :) I hope you all have a great week!! I love you so much!!!

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau :)

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

WEEK 64!!! ZONE CONFERENCE, CARLOS #1, #2, #3, CHINESE BUFFET, AND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!!!

These pictures were taken by Sister Ball when they went to pick up Hna Arceo's birthday present. I don't like that they cannot send pictures on those computers anymore. I hope someone can get the virus removed soon! 

Meagan Martineau	12:04 PM (7 hours ago)

Well Folks,

I honestly don't really remember what happened this week!! This happens about every week, but I usually remember something!! This will be kind of hard because I really don't remember much, but I'll do my best!!

So on Wednesday we had a combined Zone Conference with Bakersfield East Zone (I'm in Bakersfield South Zone). It was so much fun because I spent 9 months of my mission in the East Zone and I got to see old missionary friends and get some updates on some people from La Cresta ward and Arvin group!! It was so fun!! Also, Zone Conference is always super spiritual and I learn so much!! :)

Then on Friday after district meeting we had a surprise birthday lunch with a less-active member Hna. Zavala and the other Hnas in our district, Hnas Wright and Melendez! Hna. Zavala and I set it up and it was a surprise for Hna. Arceo!! She made a yummy lunch, gave her a cake, we sang, and she gave her a scarf and made us all special bookmarks!!! She is so cute!! I love her so much!! <3 And she came to church again yesterday with her 2 young kids which was awesome!!! (Now it's just getting her hard-headed husband on board and get him baptized so they can be sealed!!)

Saturday, of course, was Hna. Arceo's birthday!!! It was so much fun!! We got special permission from Pres, Layton to have lunch with the district at a Chinese buffet!!! It was so much fun!! I even tried raw mussel, with all it's organs visibly inside and all.. it was gross. I will never try it again, but hey I got to keep the shell!! And I tried crab straight from the shell. Same story. Never going back. But then they brought out a cake and we all sang to her, shoved her face in it, found out it was coffee cake, haha, awkward, then headed out to work. We had another little party with Hna. Ruiz with another cake (cake #3), it was hilarious!! I just love being a missionary!! People are just so nice and so caring!! I love it!! <3

Yesterday we had an investigator Carlos #2 come to church!! (the #2 is because we are teaching 3 Carlos' so we have them numbered 1,2,and3) He had to ask his wife for permission, but this week he got the ok so he came!! He really enjoyed it and just kept saying how much better it was than his wife's church and the JW church he used to go to!! He loved how it felt like a family!! <3 And our other investigator Jose came again just for sacrament meeting. He came about a month ago and finally made it back. He is going through a LOT and we've been trying to help him through it. Then last night we tried by Carlos and Verenice again. We haven't had luck with them because their phone hasn't been working and they work a lot and are hard to catch home. Verenice answered the door and said they had company and couldn't talk. It was night time and we try not to walk around in the dark much because it's dangerous, but we felt the need to stay in the area. About 20 minutes laterCarlos texted us and said the visitors left and if we were still in the area we could come back!! So we ran back to their house and had a good lesson with them!! They are so cute!! I love them so much!! I love all of our investigators!!! They give me reason to stay strong on my mission because I just want more than anything for them to have the gospel!!!

I am SO grateful for the gospel in my life!! I have NO IDEA what I would do without it!!! I would be lost, that's for sure!! :) I truly love everything it teaches and everything it does for us. I know it truly helps so much because it is the gospel of Jesus Christ - His teachings, His power, His blessings, His love. For that I am eternally grateful. I love being a missionary and serving Him!! I will truly be sad to see it end! 

I love you all so much and i hope you have a wonderful week!!! Sorry this wasn't super informative, I really don't remember last week very well, haha!! Well have a great week!!! <3 I love you all so much!!! <3

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau <3

WEEK 63!!! A TON OF APPOINTMENTS!!! BOOK OF MORMON TESTIMONY!!!

No Pictures Again This Week, Computer Still Has a Virus. These are pictures were taken by Hermana Ruiz who Meagan eats with almost every week.

Meagan Martineau	11:38 AM (8 hours ago)

To answer questions before I forget :p 

--About your feeling, I am just fine! Last night at 8:30 we were on the street with a male member talking to 2 guys. Actually one was one of those Atheists we talked to in that week of Atheists! We were talking to them for about an hour and at some point while talking to them I turned around and saw 3 hooligans walking the street and for a second I felt a little scared, but we were with 2 guys and with a male member and nothing happened!! Maybe something would have happened if we were alone, but we were just fine! Nothing happened at all! All safe and sound :) I'm glad the family is all ok though!! 

--I did get my papers, I sent them in saying that I will fly into SLC on May 31, I also took a pic with them but I can't send it, and I want to get home, spend a week or two home with you all and catch up, then go back and visit everyone!! :) I can't wait for you to all meet the amazing people here!! And absolutely I want to go back to Oregon!! <3 I hope Grandma got my letter, did she? :)

--I do like the new car, but it's a little too high tech for me!! I like my '97 Dodge Caravan :) Although, I do like the remote keys so I don't have to get the keys out, ever! I can just push buttons!! And the reason we got a new car is because whenever a car reaches over 50,000 miles they sell it and get a new one, ours was over, so we got a new car :)

--I like the new schedule a lot because I can actually finish my journal entries at night, rather than starting and finishing in the morning because it's so late! I also like how we have more time in the mornings so I go into studies relaxed and ready, rather than rushed and running, so I focus better! It is very nice and very inspired!! It's a little tricky sometimes planning studies sometimes because we've had lots of appointments so we've had to get creative with when and what to study to get everything done!!

So this week we had a TON of appointments which was awesome!!! We were able to see a lot of our investigators and a lot of them are reading between appointments, which doesn't happen often, so that was awesome!! No one made it to church though, but next week a new  investigator we have named Carlos will be coming! He was going to come this week but his wife is VERY Catholic and he said he wants the week to lightly let her down that he is going to our church next week! He has read all the way to 1 Ne 12 in the Book of Mormon and he prayed with us on the first visit, which was a big deal because after he prayed he told us that his whole life from all the different religions that have tried to get him to pray, he never has until now! We have high hopes for him!! 

As for Elisabeth.. she is a little punk (aka a 22 year old) and went out with a friend late Saturday night and slept in and missed church.. And we started teaching her grandma too!! She is a cute little old lady named Isabel :) 

As for Carlos and Verenice, we were FINALLY able to see them last night with a member and teach them!! (well just Verenice because Carlos was showering). It's been a pretty good week but really not that much happened!! 

We did get to do some service helping someone set up for a birthday party! We knocked a door, the lady answered and said she's talked to several missionaries, had them come in and teach them, she wasn't interested and super busy. We asked if we could help with anything and she said sure! So she let us in and we helped her set up for her daughter's birthday party and her and her husband asked us all sorts of questions about what we do as missionaries, because they've talked to a bunch before but don't know what we really do. I feel like it was a good visit and that even thought they are English not Spanish, we were able to help them and open another door for them and who knows, maybe the English missionaries will run into them and they will take the lessons again for real this time :) 

I just wanted to share a little bit of my Book of Mormon reading. So I am reading it now with a focus on virtue and trust in the Lord. I am learning so much about really how strong Nephi was!! Whenever he wasn't sure about something, what to do, where to go, he always always asked Heavenly Father in prayer. That's exactly what we need to do too, no matter our question or concern, we can always find answers in prayer! It really impresses me too how whenever Laman and Lemuel repent they are always forgiven. That just shows how merciful and loving our Heavenly Father is! I just love that we can be forgiven because of the selfless sacrifice of our Savior. I cannot even begin to imagine how much love He has for us to have gone through all that. What a blessing to have Him in our lives and what a greater blessing to have His true gospel. It truly is the gospel of peace. I am SO grateful to have it in my life and there is NO WAY I can go back from here. I am so grateful for this mission experience to help me learn that :)

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!! <3

Love siempre,
Hermana Martineau :)

WEEK 62!!! ANOTHER BAPTISM ON THE HORIZON!

Hermana Martineau did not send any pictures again this week due to a virus on the computer that eats pictures, so I decided to put pictures with each of her companions and areas! Enjoy!

Hermana Wilde and Hermana Martineau - Mexico CCM

Hermana White and Hermana Martineau - Palmdale/Little Rock

Hermana Martineau and Hermana Pincock - La Cresta 2/5

Hermana Martineau and Hermana White - Arvin/STL's

Hermana Martineau and Hermana Zambrano - Buena Vista

Hermanas Martineau, Arceo, and Latimer - Buena Vista

Meagan Martineau Answers to questions first so I don't forget this time ;) --The things I meant are chocolate bars, but those were pretty much the same thing, just a little different!! I love them and it was wonderful! They are a brand new thing :) --The missionary broadcast was amazing as every mission meeting!!! They showed a lot of clips from the broadcast from last year, which was kind of fun!! So I'm sure you know what the changes are, how we just have to be done with things by a certain time, but that's really the only rule with it! This week has been very weird trying to experiment with it! We've tried doing the studies in the morning like usual, but starting later than normal because of the timing they want things now, and we've tried going out in the mornings and coming back for studies. We've decided that it's best to keep studies in the morning then go out and work. It's nice because we have more time to do things in the morning and at night so we can actually get things done that we need to! And that has helped a lot with homesickness because little tasks and things I have to do that used to occupy my mind I now have time for! Then I'm not as stressed and don't long for normal life any more!! It has been amazing! Truly inspired!  --I have thought about extending and I would LOVE to be a missionary longer, but I have also thought that it might be a little harder on me to extend because I would just be more anxious to see you all. I LOVE missionary work and I am SO GRATEFUL for this time I have here and I am so grateful for all that I have learned and am learning!! But I think there's a reason why sisters only serve for 18 months, because this sister misses her family!! :) Also the mission has been very physically demanding on me, especially lately and it would be nice to work hard till time's up, then get some needed chiropractic help :) But I'm really fine, no need to worry at all, I just think my body can handle 18 months :)  --I would love a list of class I can take! Thank you so much for working this out for me Mom! You could either send it in the mail, or email, either way and I will think about it and let you know! I still have ZERO idea of what I want to do. NADA... and it won't distract me. I have been just fine :) The Lord has helped me a TON!! --Yes the rain died down :) I am really sad I am missing the crazy weather in Utah!! I LOVE crazy weather like that!! But hey, I'd rather be in Bakersfield right now, it's the best place on earth!! (well, and Arvin ;) ) (and the font didn't get smaller.. :p ) --I love Hermana Ruiz!! She's been feeding us quite a bit lately! She is such a cutey!! Her son is on a mission in Belgium right now!! Tell her HOLA for me (even though we'll probably see her on Wednesday for dinner :) ) --I hope you get feeling better Dad!! I hope you know my thoughts, prayers, and love are with you always!! You too Mom!! --I want pictures of little Leo!!! Por favor!!! :) --That is crazy about the ward!! Kinda sad, but for a reason :) --Hermana Arceo is doing really well!! Getting a better hang of things I think!! The language is still pretty rough but we're working on it!! So this week was pretty darn good!! I think I mentioned Elisabeth before but just in case I didn't, she is the sister of our former investigator Diego. She is like the rock for her family and has really been wanting to go to church but hasn't liked any churches she's been to before. We've been teaching her for about 2 weeks, and this week we finally set her for a baptismal date for Feb 18!! And it was all set up for her and her other brother Miguel to go to church with Connie (the member that took us to the temple). But then... their family decided to go out of town at 3 in the morning... so she can't get baptized on the 18th because she needs to go to church 3 times... maybe the 25th though!! We are really excited for her!! And we hadn't seen Carlos and Verenice all week!! They didn't make it to church the last two weeks because they keep going to family parties then sleeping in late! :/ but we popped in on them after church yesterday and when we walked in they said (in Spanish of course) "Oh, did you come to get after us for not coming to church..." So they feel bad, which is a good sign!! And they still want to work towards baptism!! And we were able to teach Jose this week, the guy that went to church 2 weeks ago! He said he was coming to church again but he didn't... I guess we'll see what happens!!  But it's been a good week!! A little lonely back down to 2, but not too quiet though, we laugh a lot!! Hna. Arceo is so funny!! I love her so much!!!  I love you all so much!!! Thank you for your prayers and for the updates!!! I just wanted to close by saying that I am reading the Book of Mormon again with the intention to finish before I go home. I am reading it and marking it specific to what I learn about virtue and humility, trusting in God. I am only on 1 Nephi 10 but holy moly, I have learned SO MUCH!!! I invite you all to do the same. Grab a fresh copy of the Book of Mormon and read it with a purpose - whether to learn patience or faith or doctrine of Christ, whatever! I know that it brings miracles because I did it once before on my mission and it was the biggest testimony builder I've ever had. I am excited to see how my testimony grows this time around!! I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Stay strong and remember your Savior!!! Love siempre, Hermana Martineau :) PS "None were with Him" by Jefferey R. Holland, April 2009 is an EXCELLENT talk. Highly recommended :)

Meagan Martineau

Answers to questions first so I don't forget this time ;)

--The things I meant are chocolate bars, but those were pretty much the same thing, just a little different!! I love them and it was wonderful! They are a brand new thing :)

--The missionary broadcast was amazing as every mission meeting!!! They showed a lot of clips from the broadcast from last year, which was kind of fun!! So I'm sure you know what the changes are, how we just have to be done with things by a certain time, but that's really the only rule with it! This week has been very weird trying to experiment with it! We've tried doing the studies in the morning like usual, but starting later than normal because of the timing they want things now, and we've tried going out in the mornings and coming back for studies. We've decided that it's best to keep studies in the morning then go out and work. It's nice because we have more time to do things in the morning and at night so we can actually get things done that we need to! And that has helped a lot with homesickness because little tasks and things I have to do that used to occupy my mind I now have time for! Then I'm not as stressed and don't long for normal life any more!! It has been amazing! Truly inspired! 

--I have thought about extending and I would LOVE to be a missionary longer, but I have also thought that it might be a little harder on me to extend because I would just be more anxious to see you all. I LOVE missionary work and I am SO GRATEFUL for this time I have here and I am so grateful for all that I have learned and am learning!! But I think there's a reason why sisters only serve for 18 months, because this sister misses her family!! :) Also the mission has been very physically demanding on me, especially lately and it would be nice to work hard till time's up, then get some needed chiropractic help :) But I'm really fine, no need to worry at all, I just think my body can handle 18 months :) 

--I would love a list of class I can take! Thank you so much for working this out for me Mom! You could either send it in the mail, or email, either way and I will think about it and let you know! I still have ZERO idea of what I want to do. NADA... and it won't distract me. I have been just fine :) The Lord has helped me a TON!!

--Yes the rain died down :) I am really sad I am missing the crazy weather in Utah!! I LOVE crazy weather like that!! But hey, I'd rather be in Bakersfield right now, it's the best place on earth!! (well, and Arvin ;) ) (and the font didn't get smaller.. :p )

--I love Hermana Ruiz!! She's been feeding us quite a bit lately! She is such a cutey!! Her son is on a mission in Belgium right now!! Tell her HOLA for me (even though we'll probably see her on Wednesday for dinner :) )

--I hope you get feeling better Dad!! I hope you know my thoughts, prayers, and love are with you always!! You too Mom!!

--I want pictures of little Leo!!! Por favor!!! :)

--That is crazy about the ward!! Kinda sad, but for a reason :)

--Hermana Arceo is doing really well!! Getting a better hang of things I think!! The language is still pretty rough but we're working on it!!

So this week was pretty darn good!! I think I mentioned Elisabeth before but just in case I didn't, she is the sister of our former investigator Diego. She is like the rock for her family and has really been wanting to go to church but hasn't liked any churches she's been to before. We've been teaching her for about 2 weeks, and this week we finally set her for a baptismal date for Feb 18!! And it was all set up for her and her other brother Miguel to go to church with Connie (the member that took us to the temple). But then... their family decided to go out of town at 3 in the morning... so she can't get baptized on the 18th because she needs to go to church 3 times... maybe the 25th though!! We are really excited for her!! And we hadn't seen Carlos and Verenice all week!! They didn't make it to church the last two weeks because they keep going to family parties then sleeping in late! :/ but we popped in on them after church yesterday and when we walked in they said (in Spanish of course) "Oh, did you come to get after us for not coming to church..." So they feel bad, which is a good sign!! And they still want to work towards baptism!!

And we were able to teach Jose this week, the guy that went to church 2 weeks ago! He said he was coming to church again but he didn't... I guess we'll see what happens!! 

But it's been a good week!! A little lonely back down to 2, but not too quiet though, we laugh a lot!! Hna. Arceo is so funny!! I love her so much!!! 

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for your prayers and for the updates!!! I just wanted to close by saying that I am reading the Book of Mormon again with the intention to finish before I go home. I am reading it and marking it specific to what I learn about virtue and humility, trusting in God. I am only on 1 Nephi 10 but holy moly, I have learned SO MUCH!!! I invite you all to do the same. Grab a fresh copy of the Book of Mormon and read it with a purpose - whether to learn patience or faith or doctrine of Christ, whatever! I know that it brings miracles because I did it once before on my mission and it was the biggest testimony builder I've ever had. I am excited to see how my testimony grows this time around!! I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a fabulous week!! Stay strong and remember your Savior!!!

Love siempre,

Hermana Martineau :)

PS "None were with Him" by Jefferey R. Holland, April 2009 is an EXCELLENT talk. Highly recommended :)

WEEK 61!!! TRANSFERS AND THE TRIO IS BACK TO A COMPANIONSHIP! A GOOD WEEK!

NOTE:  She did not send any pictures this week because the computer was eating pictures and she did not want to risk losing any.   BUT HERE ARE SOME PICTURES A MEMBER SENT ME DURING THE WEEK!

Meagan Martineau	Jan 23 (1 day ago)

SOY UNA TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He esperado por este dia por anos!!!! Y finalmente vino el dia!!!! 

1000000 congrats to Ryan and Nicole!!!!!!!! I hope all went well and that our little Leo grows healthy and strong!!!!! Congrats to Mom and Dad for finally being grandparents!!! <3 I am just SO EXCITED to meet Leo!!!!! What a blessing, the little addition to our family!!! <3 Thank you for the pictures and please keep them coming!!! <3 

So transfers... not too exciting, we kind of expected this, but Hna Latimer is leaving us :( She is going to East Lancaster and will be training!!! And Hermana Arceo and I will stay here in the wonderful land of South Bakersfield :) Every single Hermana in the mission is training!! Crazy right!? It'll be fun though!!!

It was a good week this week!!! We got to see Carlos and Verenice for a lesson and they invited us to their son's birthday party so we gave him some left over Christmas candy :) They are super fun and cute!! They did not come to church though.. because Carlos was drinking at the party and..woke up late.. :/ but we will teach them the word of wisdom soon enough :) 

As for the other families they had to cancel appointments for various reasons, but that's missionary life! Hopefully this week we can pop in on them and see how they're doing!! We had a good last week together!!! We found another family from a potential we found last week!! Again, their appointment cancelled.. We also found a lady named Maria who was taught a few years ago by missionaries and then she moved here and hasn't had contact!! She already believes in the restoration, the Book of Mormon and everything!! She VERY happily accepted a baptismal date for Feb 18!!! She expressed her sincere desire to quit smoking and how meeting us was the sign she needed to try and quit again!! She said she'd be at church on Sunday but she wasn't, then wasn't there for our appointment after church.. but maybe something just came up!! It was such a miracle how we found her!! 

Also we found out that last week a POTENTIAL investigator of our went to church!!!! We only talked to him once and he said that he'd go to church. But everyone says that so we didn't think anything of it!! Then the Elders told us after church that some guy named Jose came and pointed to me and said he knew me. Well there's another Jose that I know that's been coming to church but he's being taught by the English Elders (it's a long story) so I thought they were talking about him! Then we decided to go by our potential Jose again and he told us he went to church and liked it!!! We were so shocked!!! He would have come this week too but he got his wisdom teeth taken out and has been in bed. Sometime this week we will go by and teach him and make him an investigator!! What a HUGE miracle that was!!!!

It has been raining SO MUCH here in Bakersfield!!! There were entire days where it just rained and rained and we were on foot all day!!! It was SO FUN!!!!! I LOVE rain and stormy weather so much and it just made me so happy and have so much fun talking to people!!! It really opened people's hearts seeing us out and about even in the rain!! It has been SO PRETTY too!!!! Normally the sky is brown with dirt and pollution here and a lot of times you can't even hardly see the mountains. (It's like if there was so much smog that you couldn't see the mountains from our house. That's how bad the air is here!) But it's been raining so much that all the pollution got rained down and is in the ground now! Not good, but it sure is prettier!! We can clearly see the mountains and there's GREEN on them!!! I have not seen a green mountain my whole mission!! That's how much it's been raining!! It's awesome!!! 

But that's about all for the updates this week!!! I am happy, loving life, and doing well!! I am so grateful for this time I have to serve my Father in Heaven. I feel very proud to carry Christ's name on my chest. I only get that for 4 short more months! :/ I am excited to go home, of course, but I really will miss the mission!! I just want to work my whole heart and soul out these last few months!! I have been thinking about home a lot the last 2 weeks, but it hasn't been so much homesickness. It's more that I want to go home and do member missionary work, I want to go to college and be actively participating in FHE, institute, etc. That excites me! But I know I'll have years of that and I only have this time now as a full-time missionary and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope I can make the most of it! It truly is the best 2 years (18 months) and I know it'll only get better from here :) 

I love you all so much!! I hope you have a great week!! Say hi to Leo for me and that his Tia loves him so so much <3 LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

Hermanita Martineau <3