Who is Martica?

March 26, 2014

Martica is the proud mother of Ashley, Julio and Yofrangi. They moved here a little over a year ago from the Dominican Republic. They were introduced to the church by their family who are members in the Boston area. Hermana Hildenbrand took me to see Martica and her family in the first few weeks of my mission. I remember the first lesson that we had with her. Hermana Hildenbrand was talking and then Martica would talk... and I didn't want to say anything. I could understand most of what I was hearing until one of them asked me a question.. At that point I would forget all that I knew about Spanish and would just smile. I remember listening to Hermana Hildenbrand lead up to the baptismal invitation and then she turned to me. I asked Martica if she would want to be baptized and she said yes. Later I asked her again and she wasn't sure. She needed her time and she needed to know for herself the truthfulness of the restored gospel.

Martica is the proud mother of Ashley, Julio and Yofrangi

The day after my birthday, October 27, Martica was baptized. Now she and her family are enjoying the blessings that come from being a member of the Church. She has her own apartment and a job. Her children are adjusting to living here and are learning English!

It was so good to see them all together enjoying a family home evening.We talked about families and why they are important and ordained of God.  There is something different about them. There is hope, there is peace and there is confidence that comes when one puts their trust fully in the Savior. Life isn't easier for them, they still have their struggles, but they are happy with where they are because they know that something better will come and that their faith can sustain them until it does get better.

 

Good news, I will be staying in Cambridge for another 6 weeks, I am not getting transferred. Which is such good news because this area is really starting to pick up. I feel like I saw so many miracles and tender mercies that I don't know where to even start. 

I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to go back to Boston. We were able to have a family home evening with a wonderful family and then a day full of visits. That area has really grown since I was there. It felt like I was home again.

Martica and her family now

Saturday we went to visit the Gomez family. We have been wanting to take their daughter out with us for some time now and we finally decided that the best way to get a hold of her would be to simply catch her at her house. It took a little while to get her ready to go. She had some seminary homework to do and had to finish getting ready for the day, but she was more that happy to go out with us. We decided to go visit some less active young women. At first the visit was a little awkward. The two girls were not very excited to see us, but told us that they were planning on coming to church the next day. It really helped to have Jennifer with us. She was open with the girls and helped them to realize that they really need to come to church. You don't know how happy I was to see those girls at church the next day. We met with their grandma just Monday and she started to tell us how happy she was and how much it meant to her that we would try to help her grandchildren. 

We have been visiting with Graciela, a recent convert, pretty consistently through out the week since we have gotten to the area. Her daughter Patricia is not a member of the church yet and we have been trying to think of ways to help her. She was the one that we made cookies with.I think that the faithful prayers of her mother have been answered and that her heart has been softened. Monday we went over to the house to watch the Testaments with the family. At first she was not in the room with us, but I kept praying that she would come. Not too far into the movie she came! She had a few questions about when and where they were but she was really excited to see Jesus come to the American continent. She left the room at one point to finish her homework but told us to tell her when Jesus was resurrected. A few minutes later she came running back in. After the movie she was full of questions about what we believe. We gave her a few reading assignments and then she asked, "when will I see you again?" I could not believe it! We went back the next day and she came to us with what she had read. She has really opened up to us and is interested about learning more.

We have found a few less active families that are really wanting to come back and have a few non-members that they want to start working with. It is crazy how much work we have to do. Heavenly Father is blessing the people of this area.