Bonne Année! Letter 12/30/2013

Goodbye, 2013! I can't believe that it's already over. It has rushed by me so quickly, it's a little terrifying haha. I'm about to enter what they call the "Blackout Year", the full year, 365 days, on the Mission. I'm so excited! I'll try not to party too hard haha. We're eating dinner with an awesome recent convert from our Ward but we have to be home by 10:00. So, we'll ring in the New Year together in our apartment!

Skype was so cool! I'm so glad that I got to see all of you guys! That was an awesome experience. Like you said, it went by really fast. Don't worry, you gave me plenty of time to talk, I was happy to listen to you guys and answer your questions! Oh, and if it helps at all, I don't feel old enough to be 19 either! I haven't gotten a chance to finish the videos yet, unfortunately :( I have both cards, and I'm almost done with the first one.

I didn't really say much about Elder Smith because we only got a chance to talk for like 30 seconds haha. But he was a really cool guy. Grandma and Grandpa Martin are in my prayers, especially in getting ready for this surgery. I never could think of what it was that I needed, sorry! BTW, whenever you send a package, send it to the Mission Office while I'm here in Belgium. Packages tend to get lost a lot more, so it's safer to send them there until I get back to France. I'll let you know if there's anything I need, but I probably won't need anything for a while. If you can find a way to bottle self control and get it here before Soldes starts, that would be great! ;) There are lots of things that I want to buy, but I need to control myself haha. I'm trying to limit myself to just a new proselyting bag and maybe a pair of Sunday shoes. I promise I'll restrain myself haha. 

I'm so excited for you guys to go to Martin's Cove! Also, you never told me that you guys were Ma and Pa!  How cool!  All 5 of you will be there together! I'm so jealous haha. It's going to be an amazing experience, guys. It really will change your lives and strengthen your testimonies. I think you guys will do amazing! You're already the best Ma and Pa ever, so it should be a cake walk for you! If you could get Linds a flower from me that would be amazing! I really hope she'll appreciate that! 

This week we taught our ami, Phil, who is actually American. He has severe Scoliosis and can barely walk, so he relies on the Government right now for an allocation. He told us that he applied three weeks ago and it takes about 3 months to get approved. He was really worried about paying his rent and everything till then, because he can't work with his disability. He read in the Book of Mormon about Nephi praying for his brothers hearts to be softened and said 'I can try that!' He prayed that the decision committee's hearts would be softened. Then, after only a 3 week wait, he received a call, saying that his allocation had been approved in record time! He has a lot of questions and has told the missionaries before that he won't be baptized, he's just studying to know what we're all about. But this week he told us that he has been praying that God will show him the path to follow and what to do in his life to follow Christ. More and more, I think that the Spirit is witnessing to him that this is true. He already told us that, logically speaking, he knows that the Book of Mormon must be true. So we challenged him to pray about it so that the Spirit can tell him the same thing. That's one thing that I've learned as a missionary; you have to learn how to be bold and loving in giving people commitments. We know how important this is, and we can't mess around with people. If we don't invite them to do things and change, they never will. 

I know that this work is moving forward, and we're beginning to see miracles! I'm so grateful for the chance to give two years to the Lord, and I'm starting to realize just how short that really is! Love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Martin

 

 Random huge traffic cone!

 

We found a metro station named after a Book of Mormon prophet!

First Christmas! Skype Call 12/15/13

Elder Martin was able to call us from Belgium bright and early this Christmas morning.  It was incredible to visit for an hour and actually see his face and hear his voice.  He is doing incredibly well!  Be bore his testimony in French.  He told us all about his first Birthday and Christmas in the Mission Field.  What an amazing experience.  We are thankful for modern technology.  Here are a few pictures:

Joyeaux Noel - Letter 12/23/13

Hello!

Thank you so much! I can't believe I'm going to be such an old man tomorrow haha. 19!!! That is pretty intense. Elder Christensen and I bought a cake and some Kinder eggs to celebrate haha, and we're having a Raclette party at a member's house tomorrow night. (Ask dad what a Raclette is, he probably knows. It's a cool Swiss tradition). I'll get lots of pictures and everything!  (Raclette sounds basically like our version of Fondue.  They melt a big slab of cheese and scrape the melted part onto a plate and eat it with potatoes, meat, and vegetables.  Once the melted part is scraped, the cheese is put by the heat again to start to melt.)

I never got the SD card that Grandma sent, but Elder Stucki gave me the one that you sent, it got to Épinal after I left. I can't play it on my camera, but I should be able to get to a computer at the church where I can play it today or tomorrow. For the suitcase handle there's nothing to really do, I'm going to make it last as long as possible, then I'll probably buy a new one during summer Soldes, when it will be super cheap. It's not super bad. I honestly haven't had any time to get my finger checked, and I probably won't this week either. It never got swollen or anything, it just hurts super bad to bend it and it has just gotten worse over the past 2 months. It's only a little crooked though haha.

Belgium is super cool! The members are awesome too. Of all of our appointments for tomorrow and Wednesday, everyone speaks English except for the parents of the family I'll be Skyping from haha. BTW, I'll be doing that sometime after 6am Christmas morning for you guys. Sorry I don't have a super specific time, but the family didn't give us one and we don't know if we're eating or Skyping first. 

Christmas Conference was awesome! I got to spend the whole day with Ben (Anderson), which was one of the best Christmas presents ever haha. We had an awesome day together, and we just kept getting super excited about the fact that we were together for (almost) Christmas. Our comps were actually comps in the MTC, so we think it means that we have to serve together before he leaves in order to complete the circle haha. Elder Stucki is doing so well, they have got the Saitovics progressing at lightning speed right now, they overcame some hidden worries and now they're doing 10 times better! :) His bleu is really cool, I sat with the two of them on the train between Paris and Versailles. I also did see Elder Smith, which was way cool! He is serving in a ville called Namur, which is actually in the other Belgium zone. Thank you for the Christmas letters, they were awesome! 

I'm so excited to Skype on Wednesday! The holidays really do mean something entirely different to me now, and it's super cool. It's tough, that's for sure. But, it's worth it. We should get about an hour to Skype. If you want to invite Grandma and Grandpa that sounds great to me! :) I'd love to see them before they leave on their mission! If they're still there for Mother's day, tant mieux! Also, I really can't believe it's been 6 months. It is freaking me out! Honestly, some days when I think about it it makes me a little sick to my stomach. I'm not one of the babies of the mission anymore! I'm still relatively young, but with as young as our mission is right now, I'm starting to get up there haha. It's terrifying! 

Tristan's party looks so fun! I'm glad he had so many friends there, and he is looking so good! What a skinny kid! haha. I'm still jealous that you guys are going to Martin's Cove, it is such a great experience! Honestly, one of the best things I have ever done. I don't know that my testimony really started developing into my own until I had that experience, and it has shaped my whole life since. Take advantage of every second of it, and tell the boys to keep journals! (For the trek and for right now. I wish I had a better journal of my teenage years up till my Mission to look back on.) I love you all sooooo much and I can't wait to see you on Wednesday! Joyeux Noël!

Love,

Elder Martin

New temple recommend holder, my Christmas present from the Poznanskis! Super cool!

(This is what the Paris Temple will look like when it is completed.  It is under construction right now)

Bruxelles!!! Letter 12/16/13

Hey!

Don't worry about transfers, everything went smoothly! Well, the handle on my suitcase broke, but I've got a few months to figure that out! I wasn't by myself this time because my Zone Leader, Elder Pilling, came to Belgium as well haha.

So about Bruxelles! It is a huge adjustment from Épinal. I feel a little lost all the time. But Elder Christensen knows the ville pretty well. He's been here for one transfer already. So far I know how to get to one of our amis houses and the church and the gare, so that's a start! Like you said, our neighborhood is interesting haha. The church, Altitude 100, is actually for sale haha but the whole neighborhood is built around it. it's interesting looking out the window at a giant white cross during studies every day. It is super European, which I sadly didn't even notice because I'm so used to it by now haha. I'm pretty sure that the picture is our apartment, and we live at the very top. It's a huge apartment compared to Épinal, if they ever split the Ward here we'll probably get another équipe in our apartment. It used to be the sister missionary apartment, so it's funny because one of my MTC teachers used to live there and told us stories about that apartment. But, the spiders aren't nearly as big as she said they are haha.

On Wednesday we have Christmas conference in Versailles, just south of Paris, so I get to spend a day back in France! Even better, Elder McKechnie, Elder Stucki, and Elder Anderson will all be there! Ahh! I am so pumped! 

It feels weird knowing that someone else is in my bed and my desk in Épinal, serving with Elder Stucki. The past 12 weeks, him and I have become super good friends, and it was really tough saying goodbye. He influenced the way I work so much, and he really is an amazing example to me. 

I could have sworn I told you about the doctor at the MTC! When I cut my hair I found another spot that he removed and put like 2 stitches in. He took them out the day I left the MTC. It started to heal really well, but then it came back. It's not bad, so I'm just going to wait till I get home. I may have broken one of my fingers a couple weeks ago, but I'm not sure. I'll try and get it checked out this week, but the mission will pay for it. Don't worry, everything is good! Love you!

So Elder Christensen is awesome! He is super funny and laid back, but he's also a super hard working missionary. He is in the same transfer as Elder Stucki, so he's been out almost 9 months. He is from Cedar City, UT.

I LOVE Belgium! It is so cool here, and I love the people. They are so kind and open and willing to at least stop and listen, even if they aren't super interested. I guess last transfer for this équipe was really tough, and they didn't find any new amis. But, we will change that! We've found lots of potentials, and we'll be passing by and teaching a ton this week. I'm serving in one of two wards in Bruxelles, and we're the southern ward. We had a ward party Saturday, which was awesome! The ward is way bigger than my branch in Épinal, and SUPER international. I've heard so many different languages already haha. The thing with Bruxelles is lots of people speak English. LOTS. I've spoken more English this week than I have in 4 months haha. But, it's pretty fun all around.

We went and saw a few things today, including Mannequin Pis! I'll send the picture haha, I'm not sure why it's so famous but apparently it is a huge deal here. Have Tristan tell Mr. Swanson I saw it, he'll think that it's hilarious. Also, have him find the exchange student from Strasbourg, France, and tell him I was in Épinal! I saw the kids picture in that Trojanier you sent me, and his hometown is like 45 minutes from my last ville! I've got some friends serving there right now. 

For Skype we have a place set up and everything, next week I'll get you a for sure time and everything. It may be kind of early but we're shooting to do it as late as possible. I'm pretty sure I call you but I'll let you know that too. I'd still like to have Linds there, if she can :) 

Sounds like a crazy week at home! It's that time of year! It feels weird not to be going to Big Judd's with you guys and the Spains, but I guess that's just the tip of the iceberg of weird things this Christmas haha. 

Tristan is so old! Tell him Happy Birthday for me and give him a huge hug! We're working on getting a member for Christmas Eve right now, because Président wants us to be eating with members for the 24, the 25, the 31 and the 1st. I'm not sure if I'll tell them it's my Birthday or not haha, I don't want it to get too crazy :) But we'll see! I can't believe I'm almost 19! My last birthday feels like it was last month!

Tell Grandpa thank you from the bottom of my heart. That is such an amazing thing for him to do! I am so grateful for everything he has done for me, he really has made it possible for me to be where I am right now. I'll send him a letter this week.

Also, Elder Smith is in the other Bruxelles district, but he was in Elder Christensen's MTC district. I'll see him Wednesday as well, we'll have to talk about this connection! That is so cool!  (My brother, Jared, was doing Family History last week and found a name of a distant relative on the Smith side.  The name was flagged for temple work by an Elder Smith, who is serving in Bruxelles right now.  Tyler is probably serving with a distant relative right now...how cool is that??)

(E-mail from Jared this morning... I just heard back from Elder Smith and him and Tyler are 4th cousins.  They share the same great-great-great grandmother - Agnes Wark (this
is our Grandpa Smith's grandmother). He's the first direct descendent
of Agnes and George that I've connected with. I'm going to e-mail his
parents and see if I can get some more info.)

I love you all so much, have a great week preparing for Christmas! 

Love, 

Elder Martin

Elder Christensen and Elder Martin

 Apartment in Bruxelles (Forest)

Me in front of the tree in Épinal on my last day!

 Mannequin Pis!

Letter from "Momma Stucki" - Elder Stucki's Mom

Thank you so much for your email. I sincerely apologize for not replying sooner. I am currently in school and finals are coming...ugh! Anyway, I didn't want to wait another minute to tell you how amazing your son is. 

Tyler was truly heaven sent. Before Tyler and Tanner were companions, Tanner had been in the mission field for only three transfers and had three different companions. It would be a serious understatement to say that Tanner felt overwhelmed when he was transferred to Epinal and was assigned to complete Tyler's training. But Tyler was the perfect missionary to assist Tanner through the transition. Your son's testimony, his commitment to the Lord and his willingness to work hard was evident in each of Tanner's emails. I want to thank you for raising such a wonderfully faith-filled son.  

Even though we knew transfers were coming, we all were still hoping that Tyler and Tanner would be together for Christmas. They were a great companionship and I'm sure they will be great friends for a long time. Please keep me posted on how Elder Martin is doing in Belgium.

Merry Christmas! (We missionary moms know the true meaning of Skype-love!)

My Best,

Holly

It's Never a Good Time to Say Goodbye! Letter 12/09/13

Hey!

This week has been super solid! We haven't had a lot of big things going on, but it's just been a nice week. We taught the least amount of lessons this week out of any week in my whole mission, so that was a little rough. But, they have been super quality lessons, so it is worth it. We had our last exchange of the transfer with the Elders from Toul, and it was super bittersweet. Elder Davis is the same transfer as me, but he was fast tracked in the MTC because he is a champ at French. So I didn't meet him until we came to the field, but we've become awesome friends being in the same district for 3 transfers. He is definitely leaving this week though, so I'm not sure when I'll see him again. But we decided that we'll be serving together someday haha :)

Also, Saturday was Jour de Saint-Nicholas! First things first, my entire childhood has been a lie. Saint Nicholas and Santa are not the same person at all. AT ALL! The Saint Nicholas story is actually kind of weird and really creepy haha. But it's only here in the East that they really celebrate a day for him, so it was pretty cool. We had a huge parade in town, it literally shut down everything. No buses, streets were all closed, couldn't really go anywhere haha. After the parade there was a sick fireworks show over the river. One of the coolest memories of my life! These are the things that you never forget from your mission! We've spent some time at the Christmas Marché, which is super fun. It's not nearly as cool as the ones in Germany, but it's cool! We missed the lanterns on Friday because of a lesson, so I don't have any pictures :( I have one or two videos from the week before, but that's it. 

So, Elder Stucki got a phone call from the Assistants last night, which can only mean one thing. I'm leaving! :( Elder Stucki is gonna get a little bleu! I'm super pumped for him. Épinal needs some bleu fire right now, and it's time for me to see the rest of the mission haha. I won't know where I'm going until this afternoon, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out. I'm super nervous, but also really excited! Adventure is Out There!

Answer Time!

I have not been able to send anything for Boston :( I checked the shipping stuff and it's out of control, I won't be able to really send stuff home while I'm out here. Sorry! Could you send him a gift? I did not get the letter yet, but it should be there today. I'll probably send back a response video after Christmas or something :) I got the three packages, and WOW! I filled my entire carry on suitcase with presents haha. But, I have plenty of room in my other two bags, so no worries :)

I'm keeping the Lear family in my prayers! They are so amazing and I miss those little boys so much! Also, tell Tristan "Il faut faire attention, frère! c'est ma voiture!" ;) haha. I am digging the nickname of hyper diaper. It's super accurate. Take care out there, we're enjoying sunshine and a slight chill in Épinal today haha. 

I love you all so much! and I can't believe that we Skype in 16 days! We had something all set up with our members here, but now I'm leaving, Hopefully wherever I'm going they have something set up already, that's how it should be. Keep Elder Stucki and his bleu in your prayers too! Have a great week, and enjoy this holiday season! It's so weird not being home for it! Love you!

Love,

Elder Martin

Email sent later on this morning: 

BELGIUM!!

106, ave. Marechal Joffre 1190 Forest

I'm going to serve in Bruxelles! This is my address, and my comps name is Elder Christensen! Wooh! Elder Stucki served in Belgium, he says it's awesome!

Love you!

 

 

Squid!

 Fulfilling our Week 6 Chinese food tradition!

 

Wok!

This place has an all you can eat Chinese buffet with an all you can eat wok grill! Yeah!

 

Zone Conference and Thanksgiving

Nancy Zone

Elder Martin and Elder Stucki

Companionships who are teaching families. It is very interesting to see that 2 months ago only 25 % were teaching families. Since we have this goal (bring a family unto Christ for Christmas) 85 - 90 % of the mission are teaching families !!! (From the Mission Facebook Page)

"I Go Back to December All the Time" Letter 12/02/13

Howdy!

I can't believe that it's already December! Didn't you drop me off at the MTC in June like last week? We'll be Skyping super soon! If I stay in Épinal, we got invited over for my birthday and Christmas to 2 different members, and our branch president is giving us a big package. I'm super excited! But, the chances are pretty high that I'll leave. But that's ok!

So this week was just kind of crazy. We met with Marian, and as soon as we sat down he started arguing about the same old problems and wouldn't listen to what we said at all. So, at the end of the leçon we said a prayer, stood up, and walked out. We told him that we loved him and we'd be praying for him, but we both understood that we weren't going to be coming back. That was one of the saddest moments of my life, but I knew that it was necessary. The Lord is preparing us for something! 

So after that on Wednesday we had interviews with Président, which is always awesome! I love the Poznanskis so much! Soeur Poznanski asked how dad is doing with his foot and his heart and how everyone else at home is doing with school and work. She really is the mission mom! You can tell that she loves us and wants to be to us what she hopes her daughter's mission president and his wife are for her. Then Président Poznanski talked about the great progress we're seeing in Épinal and said that Elder Stucki and I make an amazing équipe! (Companionship) We aren't sure if that means that he wants to keep us together next transfer, or if it's an explanation for why he kept us together this transfer haha. We'll see next week! 

The next day, on Thanksgiving day, we had a conference in Nancy. After all of our training, we had 4 hours for Thanksgiving dinner! We couldn't find turkey, but we had TONS of chicken and mashed potatoes and salad! There should be pictures of it on the Facebook page :)

The rest of the week was just finding! We taught a tons of leçons this week, especially with the Saitovics. They are really progressing, but haven't set a specific date yet. Bata keeps saying in April or May, but we want to push him for an earlier time. We'll see what happens. 

OH! I almost forgot, they turned on the lights! I haven't found tons of good pics yet, but this town is beautiful at night. The Christmas Marché smells soooo good every day when we walk past, we're going to go explore it today. Also, every Friday night during December, they set off huge lanterns across the river, like in Tangled! I'm pretty sure this is where they got the inspiration for that movie. So cool! Next week we're going to set off our own, so we'll get some pictures! (Elder Stucki and I definitely sang the Rapunzel/Flynn Rider song while we watched the lanterns haha). 

Right now we're just going crazy trying to see everything before next week, in case I leave. Elder Stucki is pretty sure that I'm going to train somewhere, but whitewash training isn't super common, especially with a 4th transfer trainer. So I'm pretty sure that that isn't going to happen haha. I already told him that Ben and I are going to go whitewash somewhere next transfer :)

I'm excited to see that video! I double checked that it's ok with Président Poznanski, and he said that there was no problem as long as it isn't an every week thing. Of course, that may be because he just got a video from his daughter last week ;) Parents are awesome! I love them haha!

The Chrismas music worked for the most part, there's some that didn't but that's ok. I should get those packages sometime between now and thursday, so I'll keep an eye out for them. 

I've learned a lot these past few weeks, and spent lots of time on my knees. The cool thing is, it started as asking for blessings during this really hard time. But, the most humbling blessing is that soon those prayers turned into gratitude for the things that I DO have, not just asking for things I don't. That really made all the difference in the world for me.

Have a great week, I love you all so much! You're in my prayers and thoughts every day! Soyez sage, et Joyeux Noël!

Love, 

Elder Martin

 

 C'est Moi!

Super cool hat store we found in Centre Ville!

Le Sapin de Noel!

Not a great pic, but this is one of our streets that leads to the Christmas marché and the Christmas tree!

 

 Your Friendly, Neighborhood Missionaries!

Our Advent Calendar!