Week 33 June 15, 2015 Dijon is Beautiful

Week 33  June 15, 2015

I really.... Don't know what to think... I am so stressed.... I feel out of place here. I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach like something is wrong and I don't know what it is..... 

So that is where I am mentally. Physically, it is beautiful in Dijon. The town is really old and it is pretty sick to see all of these buildings that have seen so much. The weather here is a lot fresher than down south. Thank goodness. I can walk outside and not be covered in sweat. But it down poured on us today and left us soaking. The apartment is really nice, too. It is a very nice apartment. Big enough for four missionaries.

My new comp is Elder Douglas. We have been getting along just wonderfully. He is a gamer and so we have been talking about games and his sense of humor is a lot like mine. We have had a lot of fun! He is a really good guy!

We taught a really cool friend of the church on Friday. We gave him a blessing and he had a very spiritual experience. So spiritual, that he knows without a shadow of a doubt that he wants to be baptized. He is golden. His name is Pierre and is 16. Keep him in your prayers!

The members here have been very warm and welcoming. On Sunday, I was asked just five minutes before sacrament meeting if I could introduce myself and bear my testimony. That was normal. Then they continued and asked if I could give a little message on a topic of my choosing since one of the speakers didn't show. That caught me by surprise. I didn't know what to share! Elder Douglas said, "Just share what you have been studying!" Well my studies have been in the general conference of April, 1971 and that's not in French haha so I prayed really hard and felt inspired to talk about the family. I felt the Spirit strongly and so did the members. It was good. One member came up to me after sacrament and said that I made him cry and that I am his son now and welcome anytime into his home. That made me happy that I could be used in the Hands of the Lord like that.

So that was kinda my week. I will let you go. Pray for me. Please. I miss you terribly. I love you so much.     Elder Martin

Me and Elder Douglas

These cathedrals are just massive!!!

This is the main road with all the shops and old buildings. It’s really cool.

This is just a side road.

Week 18 March 2, 2015 Nice Stake Conference

 

Monday: I don’t remember what else I did on Monday.... lol

Tuesday: I went on an exchange with Elder Herring down in Toulon!! That was a very fun day!! We bought a 1kg croissant and chocolatine!!! They were huge!!!! The windiest I have ever seen it without there being an accompanying storm haha I went down on my hands and knees on the pier to touch the water, and a giant gust of wind picked up and almost blew me into the water!!!! I had to scramble to get away from the edge but the wind kept pushing and I almost went in haha!! But we taught an ami that was a lot like the baboon from the Lion King! He was really cool! And we visited a less active couple and they made us the best hot chocolate I have ever had!!! It was way better than anything I have drank! It was a force to be reckoned with! I really enjoyed this exchange because Elder Herring is a very down to earth missionary. He is very cool and fun to be around and he has very easy going philosophies on life. He made me feel like a brother and I was joking around with him instantly. He made doing the work fun and I really admire that because this work should be fun! We are spreading happiness for goodness' sake!!! We should be happy!!! haha

Wednesday: I got back from the exchange, did some studies, went to choir, and started another exchange with Elder Walter. This is the first time that I was left in charge of my Ville!! Thankfully, I did not burn Antibes to the ground hahaha the bad thing was that Elder Walters kept talking until midnight.... And this was the third day I had been up late... I wasn't too happy about that.....

Thursday: So I am in charge of the ville. We do our studies and go out to pass a member and a less active. I led the visit for the first time with the member and the LA wasn’t there.... So we went contacting until we had to go! I took Elder Walters exploring and discovered really cool and old sections of town that I must visit on another p-day to get better pictures!! Then we went to Cannes and I met up with my comp (Elder Garside; I don’t remember if you know him), and we went and taught English class!!! Except nobody showed up.... So we went to McDonalds with the Sisters and then went back home. We also house two more equips of elders this night! We were once again up late! They came in for Zone conference. Elders Barnes, Amerjan, Brill and another whose name I remember not....

Friday: Zone conference!!! It was pretty cool. Got to see President Roney! That is always great! We also watched Meet the Mormons! The older missionaries loved that because they had heard so much about it haha then we went to Cannes with the missionaries that were with us and went contacting!!! It was kind of a waste of time though because there weren’t very many people out who were willing to talk at 8pm

Saturday: The Elders left and then I did studies and we went out to go contacting for a while. Then went to Cannes for the adult session of stake conference!! Took up the rest of the night. We met more elders in at the gare so they could stay with us again for the Stake Conference. Elders Fisk and Johnson

Sunday: NICE STAKE CONFERENCE!!!!! It was really cool seeing everyone there!!!! It was like having three wards at the 108 building, not a stake, but it was so great!!!! I saw Julie Hotz!!!!!! She is a cutie and super sweet!!!! She is Julia's friend! When we made eye contact, she smiled so big haha she had been waiting to see me for a while, too!!! Then she took a selfie with me so she could send it to Julia!! Ahhh so sweet!!! We talked for a while (as much as I could with my terrible French) and she is so cool!!! This day made me really really happy :)

Monday: We played tennis today!!! It was so fun, as always! Though I miss not playing with people that know how to play, i.e., Paul, Javan, Jake, etc. We did some shopping so I could get some khaki pants for this hot weather coming up! I love the clearance racks!!!! Haha and that was my week!!!

It is so nice to get to talk to you! I love you!! Send some pictures to me of Lake Chelan: the ones I took with the night sky and the trees and the one with the night sky and the willow that is illuminated! Everyone is dying to see them!!

Talk to you next week! Feel free to send letters too! I appreciate them :) Off to Mysti!!! Bye

Love

Elder Nick Benjamin Martin

PS the picture is me holding half of this giant croissant we bought!! It was awesome!!!!

 

That is a ship made of concrete coming out of the building! It is his favorite spot in all of France! This one is me and Elder Herring!! He is from San Fran!!! so cool!!!!! He is I mean haha

A tower in Cannes.

That's Julie Hotz!! She is a great girl!

Week 7, December 15, 2014 Antibes, France

We spent a lot of time in Lyon before we came down to Antibes. These keyboards are really weird and the letters are mixed up so I am typing extremely slow... But in Lyon we did some contacting and I actually talked to my first person all by myself!! It was scary, but I did it! And now I have a goal to talk to one person and lead that conversation. I know very little about what the people are speaking though so it’s really hard... But I know that this is the way that I will get better and learn the language so I submit myself to the will of the Father.  

We haven’t done much work in our village yet either, so idk when we are going to get to do something... we are going around to the members today so we lose three hours of p-day... we will be taking three hours off of Friday to do some shopping that we missed out on... make sure there is a good amount of money in the account because idk what the things I need will cost... we have an hour and a half for email so that’s nice.

I can’t sleep and it sucks so I’m always extremely tired... not so bad right now... I slept on the floor and got the best sleep since I’ve been here in France... sad, huh?

The area is beautiful though! Everything is old! The apartments lack light though and I am not a fan... one small dangling bulb per room is not adequate light for my liking. And the floors are cold and the walls are plain and everything echoes... I’m going to try to make this place more warm and homely and livable! I cleaned our sink today and you’ll see the picture, but mom would be proud of my cleaning ability. It was gross. I was afraid to use it!! But now it’s nice and white thank goodness!!

We will have to get things in order! Sometimes I feel like the trainer lol :) mom would be proud of me too for making a meal plan for the week so we would know what to cook and what to buy at the store! You two have prepared me well for living on my own! Thanks!

I think the biggest thing I stress about is the language. It’s tough and I’m not good at all... but I know that if I keep working at it, I will get better. The members love us! Our ward mission leader is F. P. and he is the happiest and coolest man here in France and I love him, so much! His son actually just got back from his mission last Thursday and has promised to help us out with lessons as much as he can so that’s just perfect! We do a lot of walking and I am thankful I have my gold bond!! No chaffing!! ha-ha and the good shoes are great :) the only thing that bugs me is my bag... every time I take a step it squeaks and I am about ready to throw it into the sea!! lol

And the food could be... more I guess ha-ha we haven’t eaten at a members’ house yet. Only President Roney's house and that would have been a good meal, but I was so stressed that I couldn’t eat anything... But we have some good meals planned out and some members want to feed us for Christmas so that will be delicious!

I am excited for Christmas here in France! No snow.... :(  but I'll live! I wear my short sleeve in the middle of winter and am comfortable! It’s great!! Can’t wait to skype everyone! Should be awesome!!!

Well I gotta run! Talk to you soon!!  Love your son,   Elder Nick Benjamin Martin

PS. I still want your testimony please!! I haven’t forgotten and I hope you haven’t either! Love ya!!

 

District Selfies

Selfie in front of Lyon

Selfie with the famous Elder TJ Haws!! Haha I asked him for his autograph and his face went beet red!! He is Elder Landry's trainer

 

Selfie with my "father" Elder Garside when we went caroling in Lyon. It's way colder in Lyon than Antibes

A cool shot I got walking home from church. Needs improvement, but I thought it was cool!

Looking out our apartment. You can see Nice and you can see the Alps on a good day. Each room has a set of doors that lead out to the balcony and the shutters are amazing! We be gettin some when I get home!

I just wanted to show off my amazing cleaning skills! the sink mostly! it was lost but now is found ;) haha looks brand new!!

December 11, 2014 First Companion-Address

Dear Family of Elder Martin,

Elder Martin will be serving in Antibes with Elder Garside.  Their address is 5 avenue pasteur, Palais de France  06600 Antibes.

I am attaching a photo below.

Sister Clark

France Lyon Mission Secretary

Only four new missionaries arrived.

Elder Garside and Elder Martin, First Mission Companion

December 9, 2014 Arrived in Lyon, France

Dear Family of Elder Martin,

 

This is just a quick note and photo to inform you that YOUR MISSIONARY HAS ARRIVED IN LYON FRANCE! We are so excited to have them in this mission. We love them and we view them with the same care and concern as we would our own children.  They looked pretty good even though they were surely very tired. They will be doing some legal work for their visa and some training and interviewing. By their preparation day (Monday) they will be able to tell you their companion’s name and where they live. Thank you so much for sharing your missionary with The Lord and with this mission. In many ways, this is truly the most wonderful mission in the world and they will make it even better.

 

Thank you,

President and Sister Roney

France Lyon Mission

President Roney, Elder Martin and Sister Roney

 

Week 6, December 6, 2014 D-Day, My Invasion Of France Begins

D-Day is this Tuesday! That's when my invasion of France begins! I touch down at 11:10 local time! It's my last P-Day here at the MTC and I was given time to email and pack and such. So yeah!

I'm really scared... And nervous and I have anxiety and my stomach hurts and I'm losing hair and the hair I have is turning silver.... I'm super stressed... But I know God will take care of me. I know I have nothing to worry about.

This week I gave a blessing to our investigator, H. First let me say that they have been the perfect investigators and have committed to being baptized by the missionaries in the Spanish Branch they have been attending recently. They were so touched by our lessons and our love and care for them that on our last day with them, they gave us each little boxes of candy and chocolate with a little note on the inside that made me cry even more! But the blessing I gave to H was.... Powerful... It was a blessing that doesn't happen every day for sure... But I can't really give out details because it was personal... Maybe when it's not so real for me will I talk about it.That was the second blessing I've ever given and both have been so amazing that mighty miracles were performed. 

Well I hope the game is going great! Make sure you tell me what the score was! You know I'm still apart of the team!!

I love you a lot! Talk to you in the airport this Monday and hopefully Tuesday!! I will probably buy a messenger bag when I land in London so just a heads up if there is a transaction there lol :)

I love you so much!! Talk to you soon!!

Love,  Elder Nick Martin :)



I am a giant!

This is my district pointing at where they are going to go! The Mexican sister is Sister Matos. The other sister with dark hair is Sister Higgins from New Zealand. The red head is Sister Chisolm. The last is Sister Ulrich. On the far left is Elder Bracken and to the right of him is Elder Carman. On the far right is Elder Brown and to the other side of me is Elder Landry.

This is my favorite teacher here at the MTC!! Brother Adams!! He is the most awesome person here in the MTC! He has gotten me more motivated than anyone else in the whole campus!!

This is my district! I love this photo! The tall sister is Sister Worsham and she was our other teacher! Jk... She wasn't in that photo.... But the other sister is Sister Hafen and she was the sweetest thing in the world!!