LOVE

Dear Family,

WE GOT TO HEAR FROM AN APOSTLE THIS WEEK! I have been dying to say it, but we were not supposed to. We got a special visit from Elder Quentin L. Cook on Friday. He is actually from the Bay Area and used to be the stake president in the San Francisco stake. So I also got to go to San Francisco side for the day! And our entire mission was all together. It was pouring rain, all almost 300 of us packed into a chapel. The Spirit was so strong during the opening hymn, many were crying, including me.

He first took the time to shake every person's hand. Then we heard from the Meredith's, our area 70 Elder Packer, and the Elder and Sister Cook. Something interesting he shared was that from a study of a focus group, they asked converts and less actives what they remembered from the missionary's visits.90% could only remember 2 things: Joseph Smith's 1st Vision and the Plan of Salvation. That just goes to show it really is all about the Spirit! He also taught us there are 3 reasons missionaries get assigned to the specific mission they do. 1)you will be deeply influenced by the mission president. 2)you are there for the people 3)you will do something there in the future. And they are not afraid to change the assignment if it doesn't feel right. Then he also reminded us that we need to be more loving. We HAVE to love the people, we need to love and respect our companion, love the mission president and his wife and 4)of course, love the Lord. Now is the time to put away foolishness of pointing fingers, and learn from one another's differences. There is a reason a whole chapter is dedicated to Christlike Attributes in Preach My Gospel.

Then he left and testimony and blessing. The testimony was SO POWERFUL. He expressed that he has had experiences that have allowed him to hear the Savior's voice, and he feels comfortable saying he knows He lives. This is His church. He blessed us to open our mouth and we will feel love and warmth for the people.

We added some new investigators this week. One is from Mexico, but he also speaks Polish. He is studying to be a lawyer and is really open. He had read the pamphlet we left him, and had it marked with questions when we came to teach the first lesson. He thought terms like "evidence" was interesting when talking about the Book of Mormon, because he just studied that for the BAR exam. We are meeting him again tonight.

Another miracle this week was visiting a potential investigator (named Bonnie)some other missionaries had written down. I had tried her last transfer with Sister Olsen, but it was on a day she was emotionally distraught because her dad had just passed away 2 days before. We had tried to talk about the Plan of Salvation, but she was crying and so we just left our number. But we tried again this week. She said she remembered me from 5 weeks ago. We had a great discussion, and Sister Goddard was talking about service with her. We have been trying to share/teach from the Book of Mormon more, so I felt prompted to share Mosiah 2, where I had been reading anyways in personal study. I explained a little about the Book of Mormon, and about King Benjamin. She looked at me and said "wait, what? my dad's name was Benjamin!" Coincidence? NO way. Then after I read verse 17, she said "I like that." She is such a faithful woman, and ate up everything we shared! We said we wanted to give her the Book of Mormon, and she said "seriously? I will read this. No I am not even fooling you. I really will." She carefully took it from our hands and we will be back to follow up! The Spirit is the best :)

This week for Valentine's Day watch how God uses love to help us become who He envisions:
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1839005837001

I LOVE you all. Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Martin