Week 27

So my first week in Illinois! it started off real cold, but it's gotten warmer and today it's even supposed to get to the 60s! YAY

Elder Dudley is great, we mesh pretty well so far!

This area has a ton of people to see it's ridiculous...  But none of them are progressing, well except for this kid named Franky,  He's got a baptismal date and he's really cool.

The ward here is also really good from what I've seen so far, Speaking of which, do any of you guys remember the Joyners? He's the bishop down here and he came from Nampa, and he kinda looks familiar.  He might have been in the high council or something.

I'm gonna miss the Shelbyville ward, but it's also nice to be here though.

There is a TON of Less Actives over here... or rather In-actives .. i think there's about 600 members in the ward and about 130 of them are active..  Silly Illinois.

there's also a lot of rednecks in this town.  Well, i guess it was about the same in lewisburg.

Anyhow, there's a quote that i really like that i'll share with ya'll.

it's by Elder M. Russell Ballard.
"What is most important is what lasts the longest, and Families are forever."
So Enjoy your family!  cause they'll be there forever....

Love ya'll
-Elder Martin

Week 26

Hey there ya'll!  This is your favorite Missionary in Tennessee (for now)! This'll probably be a short email, but i just wanted to let ya'll know that i'm getting transfered.   I'm leaving the humble town of Lewisburg / Shelbyville and i'm going to the Foxcroft Ward!  i don't know the name of the actual town i'm going to be at yet.  Anyhow, the Foxcroft ward is actually in Illinois...  The one place in the mission that covers Illinois and i'm going to it!  What are the odds eh?  it's also the absolute farthest i can get in the mission from where i am now!  it'll be about a 5 or 6 hour drive after Transfer meeting.  It is also the coldest place in the mission, the low for today there is 11 degrees....   So it'll be more like ya'll are having i guess.  I'm going to be closer to Nauvoo then Nashville...

My new companion is going to be  Elder Dudley, which is pretty cool, he's one of the guys i went on a transfer my first month here and i liked him so that's good!  He's from Vernal Utah i think.

Of all the times to leave of course THIS had to be the time...  when all the baptisms are coming up.  we have alot of people about to be baptized here in the Shelbyville ward.  And i doubt i'll be able to come back for them because i'll be so far away.    Oh well...

Well!!! Thats all i have time for so...

Love Ya'll!
-Elder Martin

Week 25

Oh man, sometimes it seems like things just move way to fast.... I've already been out for 6 months...

Anyhow, we didn't have a very busy week this past week.  We saw Barbara (the lady who is on parole) and her sister Fannie, and they expressed that they both want to get baptized! Which is Awesome!  But a recentish convert moved in with barbara and they aren't married so She can't get baptized...  She want's to get married but i guess he doesn't yet... so we need to talk to him about that and tell him to man up and marry her or man up and move out, as he is stopping her from progressing.  

We also got a referral for a part member family in our ward and the guy seems really well prepared, but we can only see him once a week so things might be a bit more difficult. 

So i'll brag about this past week here...  Although it was overcast and rainy for most of it, it was still in the 70s and 60s all week!  So ha!

 But we had a storm yesterday and it dropped back down to the 30's....  but last week was nice!

Hmmm... Oh yeah, two of our other investigator's are also going to probably go to jail, and one of them just got out after like 2 weeks...  Which is why we couldn't ever find him.  Silly ghetto town.  

But yeah transfer's are next week and i'll probably be leaving, unless i pull a jason and just stay forever.  Maybe in my next area everyone i see wont be in jail, soon be going to jail or just got out of jail.

But that's all for now!

Love ya'll!

-Elder Martin

Week 24

Well Hello there family!  How are all o' ya'll? I'm doing great over here!  The sun is shining finally now, it's warmed up a bit, and the wind has died down!

But also let me tell you a story!  This happened two week's ago i think but i forgot to tell you...  It's kinda bad and immature but it was really pretty funny.

So we have this guy we teach who's name is Ron, I may have mentioned him before.  Well as of late we have gotten a strong suspicion that he is gay, it just seems that all sign's point to him being gay.  He hasn't told us and probably thinks we don't know.
Well, we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with him and then discuss it, and he was at Mosiah 17 where Abinadi is put to death by fire and all that jazz, so Elder Bether's is reading at this point and he reads verse 13 "And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and Scourged his skin with faggots, yea, even unto death".... hehe... when he read that it just caught us off guard and he kinda paused for a bit and i almost laughed.  But luckily Ron didn't notice us so all ended well.   But we still very strongly think he's gay.

Anyhow!  Yesterday we had another crazy week at church with 12 investigators!!! 12!!!  with our 14 from two weeks ago! Shoot dang!

In other news, the person we were about to baptize (Donna) may also be going to jail.  It seem's like everyone we teach is either going to jail part time, about to go to jail or has been in jail previously.  Silly Lewisburg  /  Shelbyville...

Hmmm, i don't have much time so I guess i'll say goodbye.

Love ya'll!
-Elder Martin