His first baptism and 9 investigators!

ELDER MARTIN would love to hear from you this holiday season!

Letters require 3 stamps and you can send them to the mission home. Packages should be mailed no later than this week if you want him to receive them by Christmas. Also, packages are less likely to be tampered with if you put Christian stickers on the outside. Thanks!

ELDER KADE MARTIN 

Mexico Pachuca Mission  

Boulevard Miguel Hildago 

Colonia Villas de Pachuca

C.P. 42083                        

PACHUCA HILDAGO    

MEXICO                          

 

Elder Martin at the baptism font.

Elders Martin and Cruz with Martins first baptism: Mario Soto. Pictured with family above, missionaries below. 

Elder Martin sent the above pictures a couple weeks ago and wrote the following.."WEll, we had our first baptism Sunday for Mario Soto, who is 25. His family has recently been reactivated and he had never been baptized. It was a testament to me to see how happy he was Saturday and Sunday to be a member with the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is really the start of a new life and pathway that leads to eternal life. It is the reason we take the Sacrament every week. It is a commitment to God that we will take upon ourselves the name of Christ and follow HIS commandments."
Elder Martin says they work hard all day, pretty much every day. They talk to members and investigators and have 9 investigators with a baptismal date. He says "It is really exciting, but can be very difficult at times, because many of them say yes without realizing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of action, and our purpose is not just to get baptized and never go to church again. WE only have a small branch here in APAN and it's hard to get members involved. (because member involvement is REALLY important-remember that) . WE are lucky to have the Cano's (missionary couple) to help us. A few investigators are really progressing and it is just amazing to see them receive an increase of desire to follow Jesus Christ. And it's amazing to watch them receive strength and confirmations when they do that. There are a few that will be baptized in a couple weeks."
Elder Martin seems to be settling in to Mexico quite well. It's fun to hear how his testimony is growing and hear about his experiences. He says training is going well and he is adjusted to normal missionary life. His letters have been upbeat. He loves his companion, Elder Cruz, whom works very hard and cooks him Peruvian food. His Spanish is coming along slowly he says and doesn't complain about being the only English speaker in his district. He says teaching English is...interesting...:) Here is a list of what he has learned about Mexico so far in his words:

1) The drivers here are crazy. They're even worse than Utah drivers! 
2) Mexicans are in general, super friendly.
3) There are wild dogs everywhere. They literally run the town. 
4) There is such a thing as pre toasted toast and you can buy it.
5) Palm trees still grow at 8200 feet elevation.
6) Pachuca has KRISPY KREME, DOMINOS, CHILI'S, and BURGER KING. I don't live there but it's nice to know.

Elder Martin loves the food there and the fact it is all made from scratch. Here is an excerpt from his most recent letter. "It's been another great week in paradise. I love my area and my comp is awesome. Have I mentioned the Cano's?  They're couple missionaries in our area and the only other missionaries here in APAN. They are the best! They are from Mexico and go with us to some of our appointments and cook for us. They are like my grandparents, except I don't have their traits and I still love my grandparents back home way more. I love the food. Pretty much fresh tortillas with every meal. " He said his bike seat fell off while he was riding it last week."I almost fell off backwards. Maybe I am getting fat because one of the bolts had cracked in half. Anyway, it was quite the adventure".  And here I thought he would lose weight down there!

He goes on to tell about attending his first zone training meeting, how it outlined rules in Mexico like "speed up at the yellow light before it turns red", and how to teach better. He said the meeting was great and 6 missionaries squeezed into a taxi and went back to the bus station. He went on divisions (splits) with a missionary from Leon, Mexico who speaks a lot of English and is "super chill". He talked about getting to teach English to students and investigators who have jobs that require English." I'm so happy he gets to have all these experiences!

Elder Martin ends his letters with some testimony and encourages us to be active in missionary work here. Here is one of my favorites "I send my love to everyone back home and wish you all the best! If there are any of you who don't know the will of God for your life, read James 1:5. If there are members of Christ's church who have the fullness of the Gospel in their lives, remember Luke 12:48. If you read both of them together, you find that it's a repeating cycle and once we receive a testimony of something, we need to share it, and we always have the opportunity to learn more about what God has in store for us."

Thanks for checking in with Elder Martin. There isn't a letter where he doesn't express gratitude for those who are writing to him. WE really appreciate you all!

NEXT POST: some funny stories, including details about this photo leading to an investigator....