White Christmas!

Well This week was very busy. It was the last week ofthe transfer and wethought for sure Judd was going, but turns out he is staying. I havetalkedtohim about it(sorry the space bar is sticking). I am happy that he is staying because we get along great, theonly bad thing is i just thought id move on from my trainer. I thought id have another missionary come in and have to start taking the lead but after thinking about it, i can still do that. I am excited and i know it is for a reason. We have a goal to baptize 8 people and we will try our best.

Well mon-thursday we got in late every single night....Mon eating with branch president, Tuesday- Stuck out in a far out area and had to wait for the bus, Wednesday sharing a christmas messagewith a couple families all together (and i made brownies for them), and thursday- we had a ward meeting that started at 9..

Let me tell you about tuesday first... Very interesting night.After a choir practice we had for a wardparty we went out to oine of our far out areas. We got stopped by an oldinvestigators daughter who said hermom missed us and wanted us tocome over and say a prayer. Turns out many plans failed and we went over. Theytoldusto come in and sit down in the corner then a bunch of women and there little daughters came in and the daughter of our investigator started to teach them an arabian dance class... Judd and i stared at eachother or the floor or ceiling for 5 minutesthen triedto maske our way out the door. We got outandsomeone followed us out and asked us about what we do. Turns out she had a lot of interest. Not in the Church... We got invited over forfriday to eatpizza and watch a movie. And this was right after they told us they were comng back to the states with us to marry us... Just to let you know, we decided not go. We thought wewould try and avoid thatkindof trouble.

Thursday i had one lesson with Judd at 10 then Neal and i had togo 2 hours toAdrogue for a mneeting for all new missionaries to see how training went. It lasteduntil 6 then 2 and halfhours back. It was really good and i got 2 packages!!

Saturday, us 4 missionaries had 3 baptisms (one wasours) at 6, at 7 was aprimary presentation we sang in. at 8 was a end of the year dinner. That night we found out elder Hurtado wasleaving andalotof members started crying. We hadbeenhere for 7 months. Oh, and the baptism, since the other 3 were baptizing, I had to direct the meeting...I triedmy best. The best part was after the actually the actually baptisms and i was waiting for them to change and come back i thought it would be a good idea to sing christmas songs. Well, lets just say i had a reaaaalllllgood solo to angels we have heard on high... I was sweating like crazy. Sunday i confirmed our Daniela in church, once again i was nervous. Sunday night the other 2 elders and 2 little member kids to baptize and we helped with that.

The week got a little messed up but it allworked out. At times i thought i was thrown in the refiners fire and cameout like the nastiness that comesout whatever its called. We have made achristmas messageand shared it with many people and also watch Joy to The World with alot of people. I am excited for the season. I was a little trunky at first thinking about back home and about cool weather... but the thingis, i could be at home with all ofyall andcelebrating this season, ori could be here sharing this with 100´s of people. Right now thisis the placeforme to be, whether they understand me or not.

I want to wish everyone a merry christmas. But, i also want everyone to remember the first christmas present we all received, the birth of Christ. It has changed absolutleyeverything for our lives and eternity. My challenge issince that was our first gift we recieved, make the firstgiftyou give to christ. Think about what he wants from each and every one of us and give that to him.

Love,
Elder Martino

Mom- Thank you so much for the packages. I got the other 2 this week and they are great. I apolgize but i cheated with the presents :). next time you get an urgetosend one, maybe if you could find some cheap ties :) Sounds like an exciting week yall had and are about to have an even better one. Merry Christmas mom! I loveyou!

dad- Impretty sure you should just talk to president Monson and see if you can start your own byu in texas.Everything else Byu ismoving down. It definately sounds like your busy. Merry Christmas dad! iloveyou!

Everyone is is getting seperate emails.

Time is Flying

Well another week. This week flew by but has been pretty good. But one question. Who in the world is the new president? Wasn´t voting in november.

Tuesday...Im not going to lie, i was very nervous. We had exchanges and I went out with a kid who is just as new as me and speaks and understands much less.(not being rude or prideful, i still dont understand much and talk even less). We went out to one of my areas that is about 5 miles away and is this governemnt housing complex. We get out there and its super hot. We are both dying and everyone is failing us. We decided to go say a prayer and ask for help. Well we got in houses but not really the ones i wanted... First was Erika and she is a great investigator and we taught her and her 2 daughters. It was an interesting lesson because she has been taught everything and i kind of bounced around the place but both of us and her thought it went very well. She ended up telling us on thursday that she had recieved her answer, now it is just a matter of changing. Then we taught Zulma, an old investigator that ended up yelling at me and was so mad she cried, well we were walking by her house and her marido called us over and asked us to come in. Well we went in and he sat us down and started talking church with us. She sat across from me and i felt as if i was being looked at with a magnfying glass. We he asked us to share a message and i did. I asked her to read and she said no. She looked very upset the entire time. Well we left then as we were walking to teach an innactive member these pibes that always stop us stopped ua and we decided we would actually talk to them. Hey, we are looking for more young men in the branch so it was worth a try. I gave them folletos and talked for a minute and told them if they read it and have questions then i will stp by another day a buy a coke and sit a talk with them. We walked back that night and got some contacts. Pretty succesful day i would say. At least now i know i can make my way around for the most part when i dont have anyone to rely on.

Yesterday was dissappointing at church. We had 8 baptismal dates at the beggining of church and by the end we had 2... Happy news is those 2 are this next saturday and sunday. This is the last week in this transfer. My trainer is most likely leaving and i will be here for a while proboblamente. It sucks a little because i will have to spend chrsitmas with a new kid when we are stuck inside. There are going to be a lot of borachos in the street and we wont be allowed out though.

I heard there was a big wind storm that hit Utah and someone mentioned something about a big storm in Texas but who knows.

We worked hard this week. We have been trying to make our numbers better but its hard. I understand the numbers are something to measure us by but the numbers miss alot of things we do. Service, fix problems, talking in the street, and much more. But we worked really hard this week and we are trying to get better everyday.

Love Elder Martino

December 5

This was an interesting week for sure. It has cooled down a little and nights its perfect now. Well let me tell you a little about this week.

Starting Tuesday we had no water. All of the water was shut down. It came back on Saturday. Well we did shower once in between there before Elder Aidukaitis came to us. I cant tell you how though. It wasnt illegal or bad but i cant say. All i can say is we found a way to shower. Thursday we woke up at 5 to shower and get to the meeting with Elder Aidukaitis on time. We made it, but we were exausted. It was a really good meeting and he definately dropped the cane on us. Pretty much we should be having a baptism every week he said and if not then we dont have enough faith. lol. We are trying to get better now and correct things everyday.

Friday we woke up at 5 again because Judd had to be in capital by 8. I met up with a kid in my district in the mtc and stayed with him while our companions left. Turns out he was sick and i was stuck from 7am til 3 studying. Needless to say i did take a nap but i also got plenty of studying in.

Here is the interesting story of the week. A new investigator we found named Anna. Age 68. She is very interested but thought i was too. You have to understand i still dont understand everything and so i have to listen really hard and pay close attention. So we are in a lesson with her and we invite her to be baptized. She looks alright at first, a little hesitant but thinking about it. Out of no where she looks at me, ¨YOU DONT WANT ME TO BE BAPTIZED. YOU DONT WANT ME IN THE CHURCH. OHHH, YOU WANT TOO MUCH OF ME. I SEE THE WAY YOU ARE STARING INTO MY SOUL. YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW ME BETTER!!¨ Needless to say i was in shock. i wanted to say, ¨alright woman, look here. I dont speak this language. Im looking at you so i can stay in the conversation and understand what you are saying. If i didnt want you in the church i wouldnt ask you.¨I ended up just being nice and saying no. As we left the lesson she kissed my hand goodbye. Lets just say it was weird, but hey she did come to church.

Yesterday we went to a birthday party. They cooked an Asado and we brought the chicken. One of the older daughters had been to utah before and brought us cans of rootbeer! That is unknown here and most people think it tastes nasty. She also brought out a baseball and bat. Curtis, you would be proud of me. I taught them all how to throw hit and play. Then i hit it and it went about 3 houses over...Probobly should be a little more careful. The food was great though.

We have 2 baptisms this Sunday which is exciting and we have about 5 for the Christmas Eve planned so far. We are excited and working hard. This week i got a package mom. Thank you! I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa! All in all it was a rough but good week.

Also for anybody who wants. Mike and Kristi maybe, but im wondering if anybody would send me church things in spanish. Dhildrens hymns on cd in spanidh. Books, Whatever anybody can. Thank you!

Mom- thank you for the package. I am waiting for the others.

dad- Sounds like a busy week. Ill try to figure out about calling in.

samye and D- I got your letter too! Thank you for the pictures. Everytime people look at the pictures they ask about miles and whats on his face or who is that really tall bald guy!

Love, Elder Martino