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

Getting Hot! Thanksgiving

Its been an interesting but slow week this week. Let me tell you it is getting hot here. Its about 33celsius every day and very very humid. I am loving it though.

Lets see...Tuesday and wednesday were slow. It was hot and slow. Not many people were home at any of there houses, although we did have a good lesson with Erika and her daughters. Turns out the daughters sit and listen now and sometimes participate. When we first went there they did not like us at all. They didnt want a thing to do with us, but now they like us!! It was a good lesson though and now we are just waiting for them to get married. hopefully soon.

Now i know i said those days were slow, but they dont compare to thursday. Thursday morning we biked around trying to find a place to pay our gas bill that was late. No one would accept it. So we went back ate lunch then headed out for the day. Plus for the day it was super hot, no one was home, everything failed and numbers for the day were flat 0...We had a good day of being persecuted for a Savior we love so much. Not even close to paying him back and it sucked.

Friday morning we had to go to Quilmes to pay the bill. Hour and half bus ride. It was a nice little vacation though. We got to see some more big city which was nice. Oh and the bill cost 2 centados more... thats half a penny....and it was very late... We got back and hurried to a lunch we had then hurried over to El Pato(third area in our section) and taught Erika and once again everything else failed.. Cool thing is, from our pench to the bus stop in takes 30 mins to get there then 10 mins on the bus to El Pato. On the way over the husband (non member) of an innactive woman picked us up and drove us all the waay to the area! Once we had seen evrybody we could we decided to walk back and do some contacting. We talked to alot but no promising. Oh and to finish it off we stopped and got ice cream. My comp got a flovor called sambayon. We kept telling me it tasted like cookie dough but then we remebered someone told us it had alcohol. Turns out it did and we threw the rest away. lol

Saturday was a day of service. We shoveled sand outside a yard and wheel barrowed it in for one family before lunch. After lunch we did almost the same thing.. Except we had to wheel barrow each one for 3 blocks (about 1/6 of a mile) to the ladys house and do that over and over and over. it was actually pretty fun although the elder i was working with kept stopping because ¨his hands were sweaty...¨ha it was much better with my comp. After the services we went and taught a lesson then came in for the night.

Sunday we had 130 at the beggining of sacrament! We dont know what was going on but at the end we had 70... It was good though. Then we had a birthday party then two lessons.

I have been trying to send letters off but i can only do it on mondays and last monday we were in capitol and didnt have time and today is a holiday here and everything is closed. So everyone i promise im writing back. To most of you :)

Grandma this is for you. We have a great bread shop right across from our apartment and every morning i go over anf get some fresh bread and eat bread.yogurt, and milk mixed together every morning.

Sounds like yall had a good holiday and we celebrated it too sort off. mashed potatoes and a chicken. This computer wont send pictures but ill try next week!

Oh and guess what else i found out...President is going to start keeping us elders in areas for around 9 months... Im going to get to know this area very well i have a feeling...

Dad-It wasnt a too succesful week but we are going to try and do our best this next week.

Mom- Could you send me a brownie recipe without shortening..No such thing here.. It sounds like yall all had fun even if your almost all crippled.

Samye- Hope D had a blast with my bodypillow and you had enough of my shirts to last ya :) Sounds like it was a nice get away.

Nicki- Hope ya had fun

Whoo Hoo!

Well should i start with our pench almost burned down or i thought i broke my back one day? lol. Not completely serious but almost! We got a new stove last week and hooked it up. It worked just fin except for the next day when i was heating up water the hose broke and Elder Judd looked in the kitchen and the stove was shooting out flames out the back! The knos melted off and we need a new hose but thats about it i think :). The back was just that apparently the time i get on the pull up bar to work out the door frame decides to break and i land with the middle of my back on a 2 inch ledge. Just a big bruise and sore but all good :) Sometimes i wonder if Tannon is getting sick of having to watch out for me!

Well today we had to go to capital so Elder Judd could do some work for his visa papers. Took a couple pictures and we went to McDonalds!! Super Expensive though. It was a nice little sight seeing tour and ive gotten to the point i can mostly talk to people on my own.(I dont understand everything, but i just nod my head and smile and it works). I talked to people on the subways and trains and buses and got quiet a few contacts but none live in my area.

This week wasnt our best week as far as the numbers go, but we tried. All of our baptismal dates fell through, although the couple that fell through becasue they need to get married have decided they are going to get married and get it all done!! We have had some really good lessons and found new investigators which will help us alot in our work. Thursday we spent the day with a new member family doing a service project. Lee, if youd like i can come back and do some Argenntine style construction for you if youd like :). I learned how to do alll that and we had a really good discussion about faith and the scriptures. They seem like they are doing well except for the coming to church part...They along with many other members just dont see the importance of coming to church.

Good news is we maintained 120 at church this week. We had the stake presidency there, received a new branch president, and the primay program. One thing that doesnt change around the world is the primary program. Its just as funny all around the world. The kids are amazing and crazy but you can still feel a calmness and peace. Our investigator came with her 2 daughters and the daughters actually participated in the program and seemed to enjoy it. Quick little side note. A couple weeks ago we had testimony meeting. There was a member in our branch who got up and talked about the ¨end of the world¨ next year...It was a little embarrassing but he funny thing is there are alot of people here who believe it. Who knows it could be it for all i know but it shouldnt make a difference if its tommorow, next December, or 50 years from now. All i know is being here next december is going to be crazy and very interesting.

Oh, and this week Elder Aiducatis (sp) comes. The 70 over our area. Supposably last time we was here he made elders cry. We are doing our best to stay in tip-top shape to be ready for him.

Little interesting story i keep forgetting to write and tell you. Turns out one of my zone leaders was supposed to be my comp in the MTC the first time. Kind of crazy. He leaves next transfer and i still get to spend more time here. It gets hard here and super frustrating at times. I want to lay down in the AC and watch a movie on a comfy couch, but i know right now isnt the time for that. Right now is my time to change who i am and change those around me. I have something i have had my whole life but never realized how special it is untill here. Something i can give to other people to change there lives and make the time here on earth a wonderful time.

dad- I am a little trunky about thanksgiving coming up and the food and family time and what not but i think i can give 2 years of it up. There will be plenty of food and family there when i get back. Like always yall sound busy and sound like life is great!

mom- I still havent gotten the package but maybe soon. My singulair is doing fine. Tell grandma and grandpa and jean and russell hi for me. Thank you for getting a little gift for alex for me and just remember, one of those banana cream pies is for me!!! Have fun cooking!

Samye- Thank you for the letter and pictures! Im trying to put them on my camera and what not.

Nicki- Keep pushing through school and enjoying every minute of it!

Alex- I have recieved 4 letters. My problem is writing back but im trying! Keep emailing too! its easier!