Hey there! It's been a great week. Andrew got baptized and it was so
awesome. His nonmember parents came and they loved it. His dad seemed
really touched. His mom drove from Susanville or something just to
come see him be baptized. The only member in Andrew's family is his
Grandma and she loved being able to see him be baptized. Andrew was
baptized by a Brother in the Ward who Andrew has always looked up to
named Brother Hagge. It was a great baptism and I'm so glad I got to
be there for it. The next day we confirmed him and he asked me to be
voice for it. I was nervous because it had been a while but once it
started I remembered that I didn't need to be nervous because the
spirit would let me know what to say.

Friday we had ZTM so we had to drive up to Oregon. It's so weird to
say that being in California and all. It was a great meeting but there
is so much flooding going on that we had to drive through a couple
rivers just to get up to Klamath Falls. I love the Zone we have here
and I wish we got to see them more. It's always a treat to be with
them all. This Friday we have interviews with President and we are
excited for that.

Besides that we have just been working hard. We found a new
investigator named Dane who seems really interested. He said he'd come
to church but got sick and called the church phone to let us know. It
was very nice of him. Mark is making his way toward baptism. He's
regaining the trust of his Wife and son since he is sober now for
about a month. If he can just keep off everything and stay away from
the chew he's going to make it. Brandi is struggling. I knew that when
Elder Willits left she would struggle. She loved him a ton and after
he left she got pretty sad. We are working with her but had to take
her off date until she is ready to commit. She is such a good gal and
we hope we can help her.

Great week and fun times. Elder Ross is a great comp. he's so funny.
Anyway have a great week!!!

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

Well Elder Ross is my new companion and he's great. He's from
Roosevelt, UT and has been out six months. We have a lot of fun
together and are just super happy to be working hard.

This week was pretty good. We had to push back Andrew to this weekend
for baptism but we had his interview and he is ready to go. Brandi who
is on for February 25 is not doing so well. We kept telling her she
couldn't smoke and she said she would quit but still hasn't so we will
have to push her date back. She's having a hard time without Elder
Willits. She really liked him and she always said I was too hard on
her. I try to be as loving as I can but I'm also trying to be bold
because she has to understand how serious it is. Anyway I'm kind of
torn up about that because she was making great progress. Mark is
doing awesome. He has quit drinking and tobacco and is on track for
March. We are working hard with all of our other people so we are
hoping they can commit. In missionary work I've found we can only do
so much and once we've done our job it's between the investigator and
the spirit. Too many investigators don't read or pray so they don't
have the spirit with them. It's hard to make it when your not letting
the Lord in.

Besides that we had stake Conference. It was great and President
Russell and Sister Russell spoke. Sister Russell cried when she told
everyone that they were going home in June. I wanted to cry too.
Andrew went up for Stake Conference while most the Branch stayed here
and had it broadcast. I was so pleased to hear when the Zone Leaders
Called us and said that he was there and seemed like he was just
excited as can be. He looked like one of the members is what they
said, soon enough that will be true.

Anyway we are having some good times. Last transfer we tracted like
all the the streets so now we are looking for other ways to keep busy.
Anyway more to come next week! Love you all

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

From 1/30/2017
Today is super busy. I got a new companion. His name is Elder Ross
from Roosevelt Utah. He is a way cool guy! Sorry short on time but
I'll email better next week! Love you all!!!

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

From 1/23/2017
We had a great week with a lot of great stuff getting done. We have
been working hard on our investigators on date to make sure they make
it. The people that we are focusing on the hardest are; Brandi, Mark,
and Andrew. They all have dates for baptism in February so we are
praying that they will make it happen. They all seem solid and
committed but sometimes when it gets close I get nervous because of in
Oakridge when someone backed out of baptism a couple days before. I
want them to feel prepared and ready so hopefully the spirit continues
to work with them and they don't give into Satan's garbage.

Friday we had another meeting in Klamath Falls. It was Zone Conference
and I really enjoyed it. That night we went on an exchange with the
Zone Leaders. They changed the way we do exchanges so now instead of
one person from each companionship going to each area now you all just
go to the leader's area. It was kind of interesting but not as much
awesome as the old way. I feel like an old man sometimes because I
tell young missionaries, "Back when I came out..." anyway back to the
exchange! We had some good times and I went out with Elder Thibault.
He has to be one of the best missionaries out here in the Oregon
Eugene Mission and I've always looked up to him. Elder Willits went
with Elder Borden who is a big buff Hawaiian with a football
scholarship to the University of Hawaii. We all went to dinner at this
house with and older couple who were watching the news from the
inauguration and wouldn't turn it off. The lady kept screaming,
"THAT'S RIGHT HILARY BITE YOUR TONGUE!!! IT'S TRUMP TIME BABY WOOT
WOOT!!" We kept trying to talk about the Gospel but haha they were
kind of interested in other things. Great dinner though, we had steak.
The rest of the night Elder Thibault and I did some tracting and we
got yelled at a lot. Not a lot of people like you knocking at 8:00
i've learned but whatever you just have to fear no man.

Saturday we went shopping in KF and then headed to Lakeview so Elder
Willits could give the Sisters' investigator a Baptismal Interview. He
was so happy and I was glad that he had an uplifting experience.
Sounds like he might be getting transferred Monday. We don't know for
sure but President hinted at it. I was also made designated driver
this morning for the last week of the transfer so it will probably
happen. I'm excited for Elder Willits because his whole mission so far
he has been down here in isolation and hasn't gotten to know many
people in the mission. I'm also worried about it because he is one of
the best missionaries I've worked with and I'm worried a lot of
Missionaries will try to put him down for being so obedient and hard
working. But he can take it.

Well good luck to you all! Talk to you later! Have fun!!!!!!!


~Elder S. Jackson Martin

I don't have a ton of time to email today unfortunately but I will
include something funny and something awesome.

Something Funny: I tried to fill up my own gas for the first time in
almost a year and a half. In the process I accidentally hit the
handicap HELP button instead of ENTER so I was freaking out because I
forgot hot to fill up gas or something. It was pretty funny. The
cashier thought I was a moron so I just told him I was an Oregonian
and forgot how to pump gas.

Something Awesome: We are going strong with our people on date for
baptism! The closest to baptism, a guy named Andrew is progressing
super well and looks like he will make February 4 as a baptism date!
We are so excited. He says that he believes the Book of Mormon is true
and that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet today. He is coming to church
and loving it. He is a former marine and has PTSD real bad so he has
struggled for a long time to work toward baptism and he is 100%
committed to make it happen. We are so excited for him! Please
remember him in your prayers.

Thanks for all your support and I hope you have a great week! Later!!!

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

This week has been super crazy! We had some pretty interesting times. Since last Tuesday was Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) Elder Willits had to go to Eugene so we drove to Klamath Falls Monday. The plan was for the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and all the District leaders, to drive into Medford Tuesday and have President Cropper of the Mission Presidency drive them the rest of the way to Eugene, all while I stayed in Klamath Falls with Elders Green and Mazyck. We spent the evening with the Zone Leaders, Elders Borden and Thibault, when suddenly they got a call from President. Since the snow was coming down so hard President Russell said they needed to get over the pass and into Medford right away and they would just spend the night there but they had to leave within 20 minutes or just skype into MLC. Considering that skyping into long missionary meetings is really lame, they flew into action. We drove through the snow and met the other District Leaders at a convenience store and I was left there with the missionaries I'd be staying with. We figured it would be safer to drive our truck than it would to drive their little Subaru so I was made the driver for the exchange and we finally got back to Klamath Falls 5th Ward's apartment and spent the night there. 

The next day we were greeted with a good amount of unplowed snow so we headed out and started to help people get out of their drive ways and helped them get unstuck. It was a pretty fun exchange except every lesson they had fell through. So we just helped people out most of the day. Somebody brought us dinner at the Church and it was some pretty good pork chops. We were informed that all of the leaders would spend the night in Medford once again so we spent the night at Elder Mazyck's apartment in Klamath Falls 5th ward. 

The next day there was even more snow! We attempted to get the snow cleared off of the truck so we could go to the Zone Leader's apartment and wait to meet up with them. Little did we know it would take forever for the truck to get heated up and when it did Elder Mazyck suggested that I go up a big hill because it was a "short cut" I went up it and got the truck stuck a few times so we went the other way and found that a whole street was littered with stuck cars with a big U-haul at the front of the chaos. In the back we saw the Zone Leaders Jeep so we hopped out and made a plan with them that we would help as many people as we could and then Elder Willits and I would try to get back to Alturas. Holy cow we helped a lot of people! We were pushing cars, shoveling, and lending aid to anyone we could. Finally Elder Willts and I got out of there around 1:00 and headed home. 

On the highway we saw someone pulled over and we thought about helping them but kind of brushed it off. After a while we felt bad and made a resolve to help anyone we saw. Before long Elder Willits who was driving, dosed off and we went off the road! It was pretty intense and we plowed into a snow bank. we were stuck real good, the snow bank had been very tall and we had sort of bottomed out. I climbed out of the car and surveyed the situation. Elder Willits kept spinning the tires so we got stuck pretty good. He's from St. George so I try not to hold his lack of knowledge driving in the snow against him. Also we aren't allowed to get snow tires or use chains so that stinks. Anyway we were stuck good! Then two young men pulled over and offered to help. We started to try to push it out and we would make some progress but the truck was in there pretty good. Suddenly to our surprise one of our investigators named Tyler drove by. He came and finally helped us get out of the snow and we got out of there. The only damage to the truck was a bent licence plate so we feel lucky we weren't hurt. It was a crazy day. The next day we had a lesson with tire and he is a pretty funny dude so he made fun of us and gave us a lot of crap for getting stuck. We told him it was punishment for not pulling over and helping someone out.

It got down to 20 below 0 this week so we were pretty cold. Our pipes froze so we have been without water again for a bit. Luckily the Branch President's wife manages the Super 8 Hotel here so she let us go there and shower. Right now our pipes are in the process of getting fixed so hope that goes well. It keeps snowing one day and raining the other so there is some flooding going on real bad. 

Besides that our investigators are doing great! We are still teaching quite a bit and people are progressing wonderfully. One of our recent converts just went to the hospital though. It's been tough on her husband, Ron, who we have been teaching and he relapsed and has been drinking a ton. A lot of people in this town have alcohol problems and it is really tough. 

Anyway more next time. Pray for Ron! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder S. Jackson Martin

Oregon Eugene Mission

Yo so good week this week. No time to really write but we have a lot
of good things going. We had interviews today which was great. I love
president Russell. Tomorrow is mlc so we are staying the night in
Klamath Falls. Anyway later!

~Elder S. Jackson Martin