Wow! The Dallas area has had record breaking snowfall! Adam is so disappointed that he can't be there to make a snowman. Oh well, he did get the day off of school here and will get Monday off as well for President's day. Diane Litt (our next door neighbor in Plano), called last night to tell us it was snowing. She has pictures she will send. I hear that 49 of the 50 states have snow within their boundaries. Several of our missionaries have never seen snow. One, who is a native of Mexico and is serving in Ridgecrest, California was so excited to get to go to the Bishop, California area and experience snow for the first time in his life. I think it has since snowed in Ridgecrest.
Kindra, Neil and family in Georgia are getting lots of snow. "I moved to Georgia to avoid snow," said Kindra in exasperation. She says she will stop worrying about global warming and start worrying about a new "ice age" instead. None of her kids have snowsuits, boots, insulated gloves, etc. She was asking me how long it is safe to let the kids play in the snow with regular clothes and shoes and a winter coat. I can't remember it has been so long. Maybe some of you friends or relatives who have "real" winters can give us a clue. Brooklyn (almost 6) was very disappointed to find out there was no school this morning. She was all ready to celebrate her first Valentine school party with her Kindergarten class. She went to bed thinking school would still go on. Kindra and Neil slept in because they found out before they went to bed that the schools (and nearly everything else) would be closed. They were awakened by Brooklyn who was all dressed for school (and the Valentine party), and excited to go. Big disappointment! I don't know if they will make up the party or not. They get all of next week off for a winter break. Brooklyn (and Kindra) had even made treats for all her teacher's. Hopefully it won't snow out the party next year.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The California San Fernando Mission
Don't faint! I have finally posted a picture on our blog!Here are all our missionaries with us at the Los Angeles Temple in December. We have had a new group of 19 arrive and only one leave since this picture was taken. Thank you President Garns (our former Stake President and a professional photographer) for shooting this picture. Thank you Alyssa for talking me through how to get this picture onto the post.
We are feeling like we have become the Washington Seattle mission this past week. It has rained for almost four days. Adam is glad Mrs. Claus got a raincoat for him for Christmas. He went the first day with no coat. He thought if there was rain, it would be warm. (In Texas, the gulf air which usually accompanies the steady rains like this is does not make it cold like the Pacific air does here.) He now has the sniffles, but is wearing his coat.
Happy Birthday Kindra! She is 29 years young today!!! They are expecting a baby boy in May. That will make 2 girls and 2 boys for the Ronér family. It will also make 11 grandchildren for Jerry and I!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Happy New Year!
Well, it is January 7th already! We are happy to report that Alyssa and her three children accompanied by Jerry (our son), made it safely across seven states to their new temporary home in Utah with Jenae and Brett and their two daughters. Everything is going fine with them. Ryan will be starting school soon. The cousins play together very well. Our little Marin (Alyssa's youngest) will turn 3 on Sunday.
Adam got all four wisdom teeth extracted on the 28th of December. He has done well. He was so funny. He drooled all over his shirt because he couldn't feel the water going over his chin. I have pictures but do not know how to get them from my camera to this post. I need Alyssa or Jenae to come and train me. Adam is back to eating regular food. Tonight he is playing a church basketball game. Go Adam. Camie and Ben are there to watch him. I am tending Joshua.
We are gearing up to welcome 19 new missionaries in less than a week. We are only sending one home so it will be a transfer of great growth for us. This means a lot of apartments with the capacity for four missionaries, will now have four instead of two. We will need to add only two new apartments.
Joshua just woke up. You are therefore saved from the normal novel I usually write.
Happy New Year!
Adam got all four wisdom teeth extracted on the 28th of December. He has done well. He was so funny. He drooled all over his shirt because he couldn't feel the water going over his chin. I have pictures but do not know how to get them from my camera to this post. I need Alyssa or Jenae to come and train me. Adam is back to eating regular food. Tonight he is playing a church basketball game. Go Adam. Camie and Ben are there to watch him. I am tending Joshua.
We are gearing up to welcome 19 new missionaries in less than a week. We are only sending one home so it will be a transfer of great growth for us. This means a lot of apartments with the capacity for four missionaries, will now have four instead of two. We will need to add only two new apartments.
Joshua just woke up. You are therefore saved from the normal novel I usually write.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Merry Christmas from Santa Clarita
What a busy time in the mission! This week Adam had finals. It was also Zone conferences. The mission is currently divided into six zones. The missionaries come to zone conferences to receive training on how to be more effective at teaching the gospel and to get their testimonies strengthened. They also come to associate with each other and get a welcome seven hour break from their normal daily routine. Sister Martin felt so bad to miss all of the conferences this week except a few minutes of the Santa Valencia zone. I was trying to accomodate Adam's schedule. I am first a wife and mother, then a missionary.
We want to notify all of you that you can send mail to us via the Mission Office for the next year.
Send to:
President Jerald (or Sister Gemie, or Adam) Martin
23504 Lyons Ave. Suite 107
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
If you have already sent us a Christmas card which we did not receive, it will eventually get to us. We will have mail forwarded to us. Thanks for your patience with us and our mailing address changes.
Yesterday Jerry arrived for Christmas vacation. He looks great! He will be with us until the 28th when he flies out to Louisville, Kentucky where Alyssa will pick him up and they will drive to Utah where Alyssa and her three children are moving. What a great brother to give up part of his vacation to help drive his sister and her children to their new home. Of course, it could be a vacation to drive half way across the country with three children under seven--or not.
For those of you who do not know, Alyssa was divorced last year. She has a job with Richards Labs waiting for her back in Utah. She has an interview in January with a pharmacy school also in Utah. We are praying that she will be accepted to their program for the Fall of 2010. She scored very high on the PCAT and has been getting A's in the prerequisite classes she has been taking in Kentucky. Alyssa, you go girl!!! It will be nice for us because we are hoping they will be able to come visit us while we are serving here as missionaries.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and (from Adam--who kept the faith), "How 'bout them Cowboys?"
We want to notify all of you that you can send mail to us via the Mission Office for the next year.
Send to:
President Jerald (or Sister Gemie, or Adam) Martin
23504 Lyons Ave. Suite 107
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
If you have already sent us a Christmas card which we did not receive, it will eventually get to us. We will have mail forwarded to us. Thanks for your patience with us and our mailing address changes.
Yesterday Jerry arrived for Christmas vacation. He looks great! He will be with us until the 28th when he flies out to Louisville, Kentucky where Alyssa will pick him up and they will drive to Utah where Alyssa and her three children are moving. What a great brother to give up part of his vacation to help drive his sister and her children to their new home. Of course, it could be a vacation to drive half way across the country with three children under seven--or not.
For those of you who do not know, Alyssa was divorced last year. She has a job with Richards Labs waiting for her back in Utah. She has an interview in January with a pharmacy school also in Utah. We are praying that she will be accepted to their program for the Fall of 2010. She scored very high on the PCAT and has been getting A's in the prerequisite classes she has been taking in Kentucky. Alyssa, you go girl!!! It will be nice for us because we are hoping they will be able to come visit us while we are serving here as missionaries.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and (from Adam--who kept the faith), "How 'bout them Cowboys?"
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Fall Update!
Alyssa tells me she keeps looking for new posts. I keep thinking I will post some new posts when I know how to put pictures on. I will learn in a few weeks when Jerry, Justin, and Kara come for Thanksgiving. Camie, Spencer, Benjamin and Joshua will also come over from Orange.
President Martin was asked to perform his first baptism. A young man named Alex Torres was taught in our home. He was a golden contact. He asked Adam to speak at his babtism (which he did). He was baptized about two weeks ago and confirmed last Sunday in Sacrament meeting. When I do post pictures, I will put one of President Martin and him on this site.
It goes without saying that we have been very busy. We just finished the Zone Conferences for this transfer period. A transfer is every 6 weeks. If you ask any of our missionaries they can tell you which week of the transfer we are in. (I have to ask them to know). Months do not matter any more. If you ask them how long they have been out on the mission, they will tell you in transfers. The same thing if you ask them how long they have been in an area or with a particular companion.
The flu is starting to go around down here. I am having missionaries call on a daily basis reporting fever, headache, sore throat, etc. Don't know if it is the H1N1 (Swine Flu) or just the regular flu. I tell them to stay home, but they do not obey me. They also for the most part do not even have a thermometer. We acquired the Germ Pro, hand sanitizers for the mission. This is a product that stays on the hand killing germs for three to four hours after you put it on. The alcohol sanitizers kill germs, but after the alcohol has evaporated, they don't work any more. They also dry the hands out as apposed to the Germ Pro lotion type.
The dedication and commitment of our missionaries continues to amaze me. We hear daily of the miracles that happen on the mission. We love our work here. Adam is doing great and for the most part is a happy camper!
Alyssa tells me she keeps looking for new posts. I keep thinking I will post some new posts when I know how to put pictures on. I will learn in a few weeks when Jerry, Justin, and Kara come for Thanksgiving. Camie, Spencer, Benjamin and Joshua will also come over from Orange.
President Martin was asked to perform his first baptism. A young man named Alex Torres was taught in our home. He was a golden contact. He asked Adam to speak at his babtism (which he did). He was baptized about two weeks ago and confirmed last Sunday in Sacrament meeting. When I do post pictures, I will put one of President Martin and him on this site.
It goes without saying that we have been very busy. We just finished the Zone Conferences for this transfer period. A transfer is every 6 weeks. If you ask any of our missionaries they can tell you which week of the transfer we are in. (I have to ask them to know). Months do not matter any more. If you ask them how long they have been out on the mission, they will tell you in transfers. The same thing if you ask them how long they have been in an area or with a particular companion.
The flu is starting to go around down here. I am having missionaries call on a daily basis reporting fever, headache, sore throat, etc. Don't know if it is the H1N1 (Swine Flu) or just the regular flu. I tell them to stay home, but they do not obey me. They also for the most part do not even have a thermometer. We acquired the Germ Pro, hand sanitizers for the mission. This is a product that stays on the hand killing germs for three to four hours after you put it on. The alcohol sanitizers kill germs, but after the alcohol has evaporated, they don't work any more. They also dry the hands out as apposed to the Germ Pro lotion type.
The dedication and commitment of our missionaries continues to amaze me. We hear daily of the miracles that happen on the mission. We love our work here. Adam is doing great and for the most part is a happy camper!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
More Adam News!
Today Adam was the youth speaker at Church. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that he had said "yes" to that assignment. He finished helping with the Sacrament and came to his seat beside me. I had been sitting there wondering if he knew his name was on the program. I quickly pointed it out to him. He had forgotten. I told him he could just give his testimony. I was proud of him that he would march up to the front of the Chapel and take his seat beside the other speakers. He was the first speaker. He explained that he had forgotten he was to speak. He then proceeded to give a wonderful extemporaneous talk on the assigned subject of forgiveness. He told a story of how a young Nazi prison camp survivor was able to forgive one of her tormenters. He then bore his testimony. I was so proud of him!!! I was getting a lot of compliments about him throughout the rest of the three-hour block of meetings.
Today Adam was the youth speaker at Church. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that he had said "yes" to that assignment. He finished helping with the Sacrament and came to his seat beside me. I had been sitting there wondering if he knew his name was on the program. I quickly pointed it out to him. He had forgotten. I told him he could just give his testimony. I was proud of him that he would march up to the front of the Chapel and take his seat beside the other speakers. He was the first speaker. He explained that he had forgotten he was to speak. He then proceeded to give a wonderful extemporaneous talk on the assigned subject of forgiveness. He told a story of how a young Nazi prison camp survivor was able to forgive one of her tormenters. He then bore his testimony. I was so proud of him!!! I was getting a lot of compliments about him throughout the rest of the three-hour block of meetings.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hello family and friends. We are still alive and kickin' out here in Southern California! President Martin (Jerry) and I just returned from a mission president seminar in Newport Beach. It was wonderful!! We learned from many of our Church leaders (Elder Christofferson one of the 12 Apostles, President Clayton, and Elder Arnold of the Seventy, and Brother Allen who heads the missionary department) how to be better leaders of our mission. Our testimonies have grown and we are excited to implement our training.
I did promise that most of this blog would be about Adam. He seems to be doing great!!! While we were gone Camie and her two boys (Benjamin and Joshua) came over to stay with Adam and get him to Seminary and school. He loves his little nephews.
On a typical day Adam gets up at 6:10 and gets ready for seminary and school. He goes to Seminary at 6:30. From Seminary we take him to Hart High School. He stays in school until 3:00 p.m. when we pick him us (unless he walks). He has a sweet job filming the football games from the end zone. He is considered part of the coaching staff. I will learn to attach pictures so you can see him in his staff shirt. There is generally one game/week. He travels to some of the games. Adam also takes a video productions class. Get his autograph now--he may be a big director or producer one day.
On weekends Adam enjoys doing things with his Dad or the missionaries. He keeps up with a lot of friends on Facebook. Adam's favorite fast food is In N Out Burger. He loves his burgers "animal style." ("Animal style" means the burger is covered in sauteed onions.) He likes steaks. They are probably his favorite food. Almost every day Adam goes swimming in the community pool which is about 5 or 6 houses down. Occasionally he plays basketball with his Dad and has even won a game of one-on-one with him. (He is the only child to accomplish this--Jerry has tied his dad.)
Adam is not impressed with the dessert. He does not like going North of our valley (through the Joshua trees) to Palmdale, Lancaster or Ridgecrest. He can't understand why anyone would live there. It even makes Moab, Utah look good to him. Adam much prefers the city and suburb areas.
One great story on Adam. We had Elder and Sister Hafen doing a mission tour with us last week. We had just finished a debriefing session with the Hafens where they complimented us on the things we were doing well and gave some helpful suggestions on what we could do to make things better. Both the Hafens and Martins were exhausted from a long day. We said goodnight to each other and went into our separate bedrooms when we heard Adam's bedroom door burst open. "Aren't we going to read the Book of Mormon tonight? Adam queried. Talk about being called to repentance by a 17 year old. We read one chapter. We wonder what we will do in two years when we no longer have Adam here to keep us on the "straight and narrow."
I did promise that most of this blog would be about Adam. He seems to be doing great!!! While we were gone Camie and her two boys (Benjamin and Joshua) came over to stay with Adam and get him to Seminary and school. He loves his little nephews.
On a typical day Adam gets up at 6:10 and gets ready for seminary and school. He goes to Seminary at 6:30. From Seminary we take him to Hart High School. He stays in school until 3:00 p.m. when we pick him us (unless he walks). He has a sweet job filming the football games from the end zone. He is considered part of the coaching staff. I will learn to attach pictures so you can see him in his staff shirt. There is generally one game/week. He travels to some of the games. Adam also takes a video productions class. Get his autograph now--he may be a big director or producer one day.
On weekends Adam enjoys doing things with his Dad or the missionaries. He keeps up with a lot of friends on Facebook. Adam's favorite fast food is In N Out Burger. He loves his burgers "animal style." ("Animal style" means the burger is covered in sauteed onions.) He likes steaks. They are probably his favorite food. Almost every day Adam goes swimming in the community pool which is about 5 or 6 houses down. Occasionally he plays basketball with his Dad and has even won a game of one-on-one with him. (He is the only child to accomplish this--Jerry has tied his dad.)
Adam is not impressed with the dessert. He does not like going North of our valley (through the Joshua trees) to Palmdale, Lancaster or Ridgecrest. He can't understand why anyone would live there. It even makes Moab, Utah look good to him. Adam much prefers the city and suburb areas.
One great story on Adam. We had Elder and Sister Hafen doing a mission tour with us last week. We had just finished a debriefing session with the Hafens where they complimented us on the things we were doing well and gave some helpful suggestions on what we could do to make things better. Both the Hafens and Martins were exhausted from a long day. We said goodnight to each other and went into our separate bedrooms when we heard Adam's bedroom door burst open. "Aren't we going to read the Book of Mormon tonight? Adam queried. Talk about being called to repentance by a 17 year old. We read one chapter. We wonder what we will do in two years when we no longer have Adam here to keep us on the "straight and narrow."
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