It has been a really good week here in Eugene. We have been having a
lot of fun! We found some awesome investigators!

The zone this week has been focusing a ton on baptismal invites and as
a zone we have invited 26 people to be baptized!! It's been awesome.
Not everyone is on date yet but it looks like Eugene is picking up. We
went on exchanges this week. I went with Elder Fowers who is easily
one of my favorite in the mission great great time working hard on our
exchange. He has been trying to convince me to go to BYU Hawaii with
him. I told him if he pays for it I sure will. Anyway we had a great
time on Campus talking with everyone we saw. We taught a guy named
Mason the Plan of Salvation. Correction, he taught us the Plan of
Salvation. He knew so much about our eternal happiness and it was
incredible to be with him.

We had a great district meeting this week. While that was going on we
had zone iPad checks and a lot of missionaries got iPads taken. It was
pretty hard to see a lot of people being disobedient with their iPads.
Most the Elders in my district got their iPads taken so they are
having to use paper for everything.

Church yesterday was awesome. Also the First Presidency devotional was
so inspiring! I love it so much. #Lighttheworld has been such a
delight to share with people! It's great to see so many people serving
each other.

We found a few new people this week! That was such a positive thing
since last week was a little tough. It's the last week of the transfer
so we are going to go hard and find some more people. Two of our new
investigators are Scott and Derry. They are some great guys who love
the
Lord. We got to talk with them a lot about the Book of Mormon and what
it means. Derry knew quite a bit about it which was neat. Great guys
to teach and we are seeing them again this week.

Anyway great week with a ton of great people. Last week of the
transfer and then we will see if I stay in Eugene! Till next time
Folks!!!

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

Went on Exchanges with Elder Thompson

Hey there everyone! It has been a pretty good week this week! W have
been working on contacting a lot of people which has been fun.
Basically same thing we usually do.

We had specialized training this week. It was pretty dang good.
President Russell shared a lot of really good stuff. After that
meeting Elder Lance and I were inspired so we went hard finding folks.
We found a super dope Black dude named Donte. That was pretty fun.
Manuel and Lydia dropped us this week. Well not really they just said
they needed some time. Luckily they have great fellowshippers who are
going to invite them to the Ward Christmas Party.

Besides all this not much exciting happened. Elder Lance had an
interview with President in the Mission Home last night so I just kind
of got to chill in the mission home. Anyway great week! Things are
good. Excited for the holidays! Have a great week!


~Elder S. Jackson Martin

No letter today because of transfers. Elder Martin is getting a new companion, Elder Lance.

Dad

This week was pretty awesome we got a lot done this week! We started
teaching a couple with two young kids ages 5 and 3. It has been pretty
awesome. His name is Manuel and his wife is Lydia. They want to raise
their kids with religion and but he is a really heavy thinker and
doesn't understand spiritual things as much so it's been a little
tough. But it's a great opportunity to teach a family.

We were walking down the street another day and I randomly saw one of
my neighbors from back home! It was nuts to see someone from home! She
graduated then came out to live in Eugene with some friends but that
was her last day in Eugene if I hadn't bumped into her that day I
probably wouldn't have ever seen her. That was pretty cool.

Anyway besides all that not a ton is going down. We are working hard
and kicking butt. Transfers next week and it sounds like Elder Wheldon
might be leaving me. He's been a great companion and I hope he gets to
stay.

Thanks for all your prayers! Love you all!


~Elder S. Jackson Martin

We've had a pretty good week this week. The weather got a little bit crazy and we were supposed to have hurricane force winds but instead we just had a few ugly storms. The streets of Eugene were a bit flooded but we still went out and worked through it regardless. We were very blessed that the weather wasn't worse so we could still get work done. 

Things are still a bit slow in Eugene third but Elder Wheldon and I have been working super hard to build up a teaching pool. At the beginning of the week we went and replaced a radiator for this lady named Candy. She had gotten a refurbished one and we told her that we could take the old one out and put the new one in no problem at all. So with a really cheap tool kit we got to work and replaced it in no time at all. It was pretty fun to work on a car. Kind of made me thing I shouldn't have taken for granted all of the times that I had the opportunity to help fix cars at my dad's shop back home. 

Most of the week was spent contacting formers and potential investigators in our areabook. It was pretty intense and we just went hard at it all week. We met a guy name Chaka who was baptized a few years back. He is from Zimbabwe and loved getting baptized and even had pictures of his baptism in his home. He had been really busy lately and couldn't make it to church so we invited him and got him a ride. He came yesterday and everyone was so happy to see him. We could tell he was grateful that he came. 

After district meeting this week we went on exchanges with the Chinese Elders that serve on campus. I went with Elder Kung who is on his last transfer and is a hilarious guy. Elder Wheldon went with Elder Chiu who is super awesome but doesn't speak very good english. Elder Kung and I taught a few lessons that day... well actually he taught them. Haha it was so weird just sitting there being useless. I hadn't been in that situation since I went on a Spanish exchange like 8 months ago. In one lesson they were talking and I had an amazing experience where I couldn't understand them but there was a spirit that entered the room and I knew that they were talking about prayer. Elder Kung turned to me mid lesson and asked, "Do you feel that?" And when I said yes he told them that even though I didn't understand I still could understand the spirit and how it speaks. It was a neat experience. 

We also taught a less active who spoke pretty good english so Elder Kung kept trying to get her to speak english but she kept saying that she was too embarrassed because I would think her english was bad. It was pretty funny but after a bit she started speaking English and she was really good at it. We talked about the importance of church and scripture study and committed her to do those things. Then she asked us to help her with her English study for a bit haha so that was interesting. After the Lesson she told me that I was the whitest person she ever met so that made me feel great. That night one of the Chinese Recent Converts took us out to Buffalo Wild Wings and we ate a ton of food. Afterward Elder Kung and I went to the institute to do some more stuff and then walked through a crazy storm to get back to the apartment. Elder Kung for some reason had Harry Potter robes and a wand that he had gotten from an investigator for no reason so I lounged around in those all night. Elder Kung told me a bit about Hong Kong and tried to teach me how to play a little bit on the piano because they have a keyboard in their apartment. 

The next day for lunch a member took us to an Asian market and bought a bunch of stuff to make hot pot. Now if you don't know what hot pot is you must try it. Basically we boiled some broth and had it on the table and then you take your chop sticks and dip dumplings, beef, fish balls, pork, whatever it may be and it cooks it! It was crazy good! Y'all should look it up! 

We exchanged back and Elder Wheldon and I hit the streets again and tried to contact people. Elder Wheldon said it was neat because him and Elder Chiu had randomly run into some Chinese people and Elder Chiu talked to them about the Gospel. It was neat. Yesterday was great as well. Elder Wheldon and I felt prompted at one point to go visit an investigator so we went to see her and she wasn't home. We left a note on the door and got a text last night saying that she got the note and she thanked us for coming by and it made her night. That made us feel pretty good. 

Yep it's been a great week. Good times in the hood and they are getting better! We will keep working hard out here! Love y'all 

~Elder S. Jackson Martin

This week has been absolutely wonderful! I am now in Eugene 3rd Ward
and I am loving it! There is a ton of great members here and I have a
great companion; Elder Wheldon. This area is very nice because we have
the Mission Office in our ward boundaries so if we ever need anything
we can just stop on by and they will let us know when our mail arrives
within the hour. It's a good deal. Also in our area is part of the U
of O campus. It is cool to see people our age but since there are YSA
Elders, anytime there is anyone between 18-31 years old that we find
then we have to give them over to them to teach.

My first day here we went and saw a less active member. He was a super
nice guy and it was good to meet him. It was interesting to hear his
story. He came from California when his wife had told him that she
didn't love him anymore and wanted a divorce. He came to Eugene with
almost nothing and felt betrayed. He still loves the Lord and the
Church but feels that without his family he doesn't know where he fits
in the Church. I couldn't help but cry with him when he told us about
his situation. We encouraged him to keep talking with the Lord and
read his scriptures. He said that he would but didn't feel ready to
return to church. We invited him to come out on a teaching visit with
us sometime and we were surprised when he said that in a couple months
he would be happy to. We hope we can help spark somethings in him and
help him feel the same joy in the gospel that he once experienced. He
said he would watch conference so I hope he did.

Besides that we just worked hard and found a few new people. It was
real fun. I loved conference. It felt so good to be so well fed
spiritually. Yep good stuff! This week will be grand! Love you all!



~Elder S. Jackson Martin