Happy Father's Day

First, I would like to tell grandpa and Russell that i love them. Second, dad, even though we have butted heads alot im glad your my dad and i love you. You and Mom have raised me correctly whether i chose to follow or not you were there. I thought i knew what bad parents were like and i thought i knew how to be a perfect dad. Im still far away to be there but i am a very lucky son and proud to call you my dad. Well, we still have the other 2 missionaries living with us on the floor. We have no clue how long it will be til they get back in the place but it is nice. Mom, i made homemade bread this week. It was actually really good which surprised me. lol. Monday was my comps birthday last week so we celebrated it with a couple members at there houses which was fun. I ate way too much which did not make a fun time but all in all it was good. Tuesday we had a good service project and found an innactive family which was very good. I was got yelled at by an old man which is always fun. I did learn something interesting. I few years ago in Argentina it was in pretty bad shape and some people in a helicopter tried to rob the angel moroni because they thought it was gold...Also, underneath the temple is the CIA. This week i think we gave more blessings then any other moment in my life. We found a new family through a member and the very first thing they wanted was a blessing for there 4 year old son who has some major health problems. They seem like an amazing family and im excited to see them progress. Something really hit me this week. We have an innactive family with a daughter who is 9 and not baptized. It is a large family all in all that lives just outside of the villa. We had a great lesson with them and i felt as if we really touched home with them. They all promised that if we came by to look for them they would come to church with us. Last week we passed by and no one came out. This week i sat at the door and clapped for about 5 minutes. Finally the little girl, Luana, came to the gate and told me she was almost ready. No one else wanted to wake up and come but she told us that she wanted to come withor without them. She had promised me she would do something and did it. As a 9 year old kid she wanted to keep her word to us while the others didnt care at all. It happens very common that people say they will do something and dont. I feel like i learned a little more this week about why Jesus always loved the children. They are much better then most every adult in this world.

Winter is coming!

It got cold this week. It warmed back up a bit but it definately dropped. We are just about ready for winter and it is going to be a very cold one. Its amazing how cold it can get and still not snow, although it did snow this last week in a bunch of areas where it never snows. We had a good first week of the transfer. It is Aquino´s last transfer in the mission and I'm trying to help him finish out strong. I have been with him longer then any other missionary in his mission but its been a good time. We actually had a very good week even though we had a bunch of interruptions. My new district consists of two elders in the other side of Banfield where i am and the assistants to the mission. The other two elders in Banfield on monday lost there electricity because of kids who cut the power lines and took them, so they moved inot our pinch for a time. Its a tight squeeze but it works. We on the spur of the moment did splits in our area and i got fodged by every one while my comp got to eat dinner. We also had a service project where my digging came in handy. I got to dig a big hole for a member here to put a column in for his house. Turns out lots of people here think that the americans are lazy and bad workers, not anymore!!! Friday was an awesome day because we had to once again plan double plans for the day because i had to take two new missionaries with me for the afternoon and Aquino took another one. We ended up finding an innactive member family of 8 and a daughter who wants to get baptized. It went very well and it helped lift my spirits again. That night my comp got the dinner again and i got a bunch af walking but at least i was able to do it with a fellow texan!!!! Saturday was my first day of english classes. We had 5 people show up and we taught the alphabet, pronounciation, and how to say a prayer in english. It went pretty well,but i hope i get better at teaching the poor people. lol. The next week we are expected to have many more people but we will see. Now yesterday, It happened again. Five minutes before church they tell me i have to speak so i hurry and prepare something. Not going to lie I have been excited and anxious to speak in my ward. Well my comp took all of my time so maybe i will get another chance. It seems we are really making a difference here. It is amazing just to look around the room and see all the people. Many of them would not have come if we had not just gone by and seen them. Speaking of that, interesting experience. Wednesday we were walking around(side note, i still dont know exactly how the spirit works or recognize it) and a name of a sister in our ward popped into my head. We decided to pass by and see how she was doing. Turns out she was in bed unnable to walk, eat, and let alone barely talk. I dont know what exaclty was wrong but she was in a lot of pain. We gave her a blessing and left, but it was nice to feel that this day, i was able to help someone. It is an amazing feeling to just think about how youcan be halping someone in there life. This time is flying by but I am enjoying it. Love, Elder Martino

This week flew by. much faster then i expected. It was the last week of transfers and i expected it to go a little slower. First, I would like to share a couple weird/funny experiences. Friday afternoon and saturday morning we did intercambios(cant remember in english) and i got some american time with the only other white missionary in my district. Well, i went to his area and we had a day with alot of walking and clapping houses. We did find an interesting guy. You ever seen the cartoons where a drunk guy cant stop hicupping? Well that was him. He looked exactly what i would picture as a drunk cartoon. We told us over and over they liked us and didnt want to rob us but wanted to make sure no one else robbed us. Another morning Aquino and I were contacting a house and no one came out. Across the street was an elderly lady mowing her yard so we crossed and offered to help. Turns out here name was Marcelo, she is not a she, and he/she/it likes our church but ya we left a pamphlet and continued. Last night, we also came across a big group of pibes in the corner. We pass them pretty often and they know us. One tries to speak english but is usually completely wasted. Well yesterday I was told that one of them liked me, not like a buddy. So for now on we are walking a different route.lol. Its normal for girls to say stuff here but a dude is something that kinda freaks you out. We had a awesome service. My comp cut the grass and i re-did the garden. Well we had many people pass and ask if we could come do there house too. Service for a lesson. She was very happy with our work and tells all of her neighbors. Now for the good part. We had a zone conference this wednesday and it was great, very long but great. Something that mainly hit me was first our word. If i say i will do something then i will do it. There is a quote and i cant remember exactly how it goes but something to the fact of if you put me in a super strong jail with walls 10 feet under ground, I could perhaps find a way out but if you draw a circle around me and tell me not to leave it and i agree, then i will die before i leave that circle. Something else we talked about was the anti-nephi-lehis and want the parents did and we did it ourselves. It seemed like a little kid thing but i wrote down that night the habits or things i wanted to get rid of and then do it. Since then i have felt much better. Many people think you have to let something go little by little. Whether it be tobacco, alcohol, pornography, anger, or impatience, you dont have to slowly let it go. It is much better to just drop it once. Yes, you might turn back and do it again once or twice but you cant give up on yourself or others. It seems right now we have a handful of poeple that cant give up certaine vices. They believe it is impossible but its a lie. You have to learn to over come or body. One of the hardest things in life is to learn that your spirit and body are together but seperate. You have to differentiate between the two and learn to control yourself. Its hard but it brings alot of peace. Love, Elder Martino I sent a picture of my new suit coat. lol. 50 pesos! 12 dollars.