Family fun in January 2015

Before Sister Martin left we went to a friend's cabin in the mountains for a weekend getaway with just the family. There was a lake nearby and we went for a short hike.

They actually took off their shoes and waded through a creek, in January, to climb to the top of the waterfall you see in the background. There were pockets of ice on the ground. I think they were prepping her for the great frozen north!

Tyler honored her with a short ride up the hill to the truck at the end of the hike. This is right before they both fell.

MTC Drop Off

Here is our first born leaving us at the MTC drop-off.

She reported on Wed January 21st @ 1:00 pm.

Painful happiness.

Goodbyes stink!

Dear Family and Friends,

Not gonna lie, the MTC is HARD. It is pretty fun at times, I've made a few friends, especially my district, they are awesome. We laugh a lot together but we can also be super spiritual and that is awesome too. The teachers here are amazing. The food however, not so great. Kinda hate it haha. But thank goodness for salad and cereal cause you can't really mess those up. Except the milk does kinda taste funny too. The first morning I grabbed some hard boiled eggs and guess what, they were hot. Eww. Apparently other people like them hot. NASTY. So I was a bit disappointed with that. Another slight problem is that our room always reeks of feet haha. Its pretty gross and the window doesn't open so we don't really get to air it out. I'm pretty sure our room smells worse than any elders room at the moment and that is a shuddering thought. 

So my first day in the MTC my companion didn't show up for about 6 hours. So that kinda sucked. But eventually she came and turns out she's from Canada so she's been giving me the Canadian lowdown so I'll be prepared. 

The next day, my first full day, was pretty difficult. We have 2, 3 hour block classes everyday and dinner is like 4 hours earlier than I'm used to. We got up an hour early to go to a yoga class. It wasn't bad, not really into yoga though. I saw Elder Erik Mullen a few times. I usually see him 4 times a day it seems. It's nice to see a familiar face. Homesickness is hard. I miss my family a lot, I feel like I'm missing everything and I know everyone keeps telling me, "You're not missing a thing, its just boring everyday life here at home." But I am missing it, I love everyday life with them and I'm missing all of that and it's really hard on me. But I'm trying to be happy, faking it till I make it at least.

Friday, I didn't cry the whole day! haha. What an accomplishment. We taught our first investigator lesson today. It was great! She committed to baptism and prayed with us so she's progressing really quickly. I finally saw my cousin Hayden, we still haven't run into each other with our cameras so no pictures yet, sorry Aunt Tami.

Saturday, it didn't feel like Saturday. Just like every other day. Studied, taught, laughed, prayed. So we do these role plays and they have us pray in them and it's kinda weird like a real prayer for a fake person haha. Idk but they do help so whatevs. 

Sunday was a great day. We have combined relief society with all the sisters in the whole MTC. It was really good. Sacrament is weird 'cause it is just our zone so like less than 20 people. But I enjoyed it. My companion and I went to choir practice and that was way fun. The choir director is awesome: super energetic and he tells a lot of great stories and spiritual thoughts throughout practice. We also got to attend devotional, which was wonderful. I don't remember the speaker's name but he was so funny and inspirational. Then after that we all got to pick one of 4 church movies or talks to watch on the big screen like at the theater. It was fun. We watched a talk by Bednar called Character of Christ, but I think it's only available to missionaries. Too bad because its amazing and I think everyone would benefit from it. 

Monday we met with another amazing investigator. She's an atheist but because of her son's death she's been looking for some better answers and so she decided to meet with us. Her name is Patti and she is awesome, I already love her. She's so open and accepting and I think the gospel has given her a lot of peace in learning some answers to her questions. I just love her :)

Well, a few more days have passed, much like the days before and here I am over a week into the MTC and less than a week from going to Canada. Thank goodness, God know me well not to send me anywhere other than English speaking cause he knew I wouldn't be able to handle much longer than 2 weeks in the MTC. It's great and all but I can't wait to get out. I think Taylor would LOVE the MTC. And I think I'm gonna be kinda lonely when I just have my companion and not all my district to hang out and talk with. But I guess we'll see. 

Well I probably won't be able to email again for over a week, till Pday in Canada. 

I love you all and I miss you all. 

Sister Martin

Some pictures from the first emails sent

This is Sister Martin (Center) with her two companions on their walk by the Temple on Sunday, Jan 25th. Sister Miller (Right) is her first companion. A bit later they became a trio with a third companion. Don't know her name yet.

Sister Martin's words, "These are my roommates, the girls in my district. Don't mind the big black spot on my face, its from the filter. awk."

Sister Martin, "All the people in our district going to Winnipeg next week. My face is killer, it was so bright I couldn't keep my face normal and my eyes open haha"