Week 10

Hola everyone!

It's been another amazing, tough week out here in Mexico. But, I'm just so dang grateful for this opportunity. I probably don't need to put it every week, but the language is tough and it doesn't get easier that is for sure. I can understand more, but I can't speak a whole lot. Although I don't know a lot of Spanish, I actually do a lot more talking in the lessons and I know that will help with the language for sure.

We had another baptism this week and I'm so grateful that another one of our Heavenly Father's children have accepted the Gospel. What an amazing blessing that is. The sister who got baptized is named Adriana. She's 20 years old and she's super awesome. I'm really grateful for her. It's crazy because her brother who baptized her has been a member for about a year now, but her parents don't want anything to do with the church. They didn't even come to her baptism. It's dang tough for people to accept the Gospel here because most of the time their family doesn't want them to.

I'm so dang grateful for my family - especially my parents and them always making me go to church, even when I didn't want to. And always being discouraged when I would do something wrong. Being out here just makes me have so much more respect for my entire family. And so much more love for my family and each one of you.

We got the opportunity to do some service this week. It was pretty awesome. One of the houses got destroyed here from the earthquake and so we got to clean up some of that. And the other service project we did was literally break bricks into tiny pieces with hammers and whatever they had. Then we took a shovel and filled all the holes in this one street. It was crazy. All of the roads here are horrible and every single driver is crazy. You have to be to drive here in the city! Also, there are no laws here what soever. I've already witnessed two crashes! And I also forgot to tell you that there was another small earthquake here about two weeks ago that we felt during a lesson. It was pretty cool.

Anyways everything is good here. The Spanish is tough, but I'm working hard at it and I know that it will come with time, work, and the Lord's help. It's hard to see now that I could possibly be a fluent Spanish speaker, but I know it's possible through the gift of tongues. Have an amazing week and keep up the good work everyone. I love you all so much!

Elder Blake

Week 9

Hola Everyone.

It has been an amazing week but yet another tough week. But, that's alright. The language doesn't get any easier that's for sure. I can understand more and more every week. Little by little I'm learning the language and little by little I'm also developing a lot of patience through this tough process. It's been another good week and we have another baptism set for this Saturday. I'm super excited for that and that another person is coming unto Christ. It literally makes me so happy.

We've had many blessings given to us here and not all blessing are huge and amazing, but you have to find the many tender mercies in life that Heavenly Father gives us. A couple experiences I have had this week. So first we were having a couple of tough days, not teaching many lessons at all and we were knocking on doors for probably two hours - and absolutely nothing. No one would let us in. Then we hit this street and this lady let us in. She was the nicest lady and we gave her family and home a blessing through prayer. She said she wanted to hear more so we are going back to her house again on Wednesday to visit with her.

A couple more little miracles I've received this week. So our investigators have been doing bad at coming to church and that's been really hard because we've really been praying hard for them to progress. And yesterday we had 3 investigators come to church. That was an amazing blessing for us.

One more experience I had that literally happened probably 10 minutes ago. So we were walking down the road to email our families and I ran into a guy who had been in jail for the past 9 years of his life. He happened to speak English, so I was able to talk to him a lot about how my dad had also been in prison. But how amazing of a person he is and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ every person in this world can be forgiven of their sins. I gave him some money after so he could get some food. I'm very grateful for this amazing tender mercy. The man also said how grateful he was for a person like me to leave my family where I live in Utah and come to Mexico to help others. What an awesome experience this was!

I want you all to know that I know this church is true. I know without a doubt that the atonement is real and every single person that truly wants to change and wants to be forgiven of their sins will be through the atonement. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to struggle and be humbled in my life so that I can come closer to our Savior. I'm so grateful for Him and for our Heavenly Father's love for all of His children. I love you all so much. Have an amazing week everyone!

Elder Blake

Forgotten MTC Pictures

Week 8

Hola Everyone.

This week has been awesome, but it's been rough too. That's just how life is and that's just how a mission is as well. The language is so tough, but I'm not going to give up. I know my Heavenly Father will bless me with understanding and speaking the language in his time and not mine. It's helping me learn to be patient a lot. Although it's super tough because there's so many things I want to tell people that I know could help them, but I do my best to share my testimony with the knowledge I have now.

Anyways, a little experience I had this week is that Heavenly Father helped me know I'm improving little by little. We were in a lesson and I was just able to know some of the things that the brother was saying that we were teaching and I felt super good coming out of that lesson. Then we went to the next lesson and I didn't understand a single thing. It's tough but it is most definitely worth it.

I don't have a whole lot to say this week, because nothing big happened. But, I have seen many miracles in my life. Just one more experience I want to share with everyone. So church on Sunday is always tough because I don't understand much at all. But, I'm focused and I try to understand more every week. So by the time church is over, my head is pounding. Anyways, it was a super tough day yesterday because we taught Sunday School - more like my companion did because I probably said two words the entire time. So it was tough. Anyways, after church we went to our apartment to change out of our suit coats and my companion was going to the bathroom, so I was just sitting there waiting for him. And a thought came to me that I needed to read one of my mom's letters she sent me in the MTC that I had kept. So I picked the first one and read it. And it wasn't just comforting, but it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I'm so dang grateful for that tender mercy.

I'm so grateful for my family and for everyone of you guys. I'm sorry I don't have time to write to everyone. Keep up the good work and know how much I love you all. A mission is tough, but it's amazing and it's worth every single second and every single struggle. Have an amazing week.

Love,
Elder Blake

P.S. If you need some good scriptures to study, look at Psalms 23. It's amazing.

Me and my companion - Elder Sac

These pictures are at Monte Alban in Oaxaca. Last week's p-day. It was so awesome. This is where the Lamanites lived. I bet it was super cool!

For the curious, here are some of Jordan's answers to my questions:

How are you doing? Everything is good.

How are you getting along with your companion? I love my companion. He's an awesome dude and has a lot of patience with me. We work together well.

Are you eating good? Do the members feed you or do you have to cook for yourself? The food here is absolutely amazing. The members feed us way too much - it's insane. We have breakfast and dinner on our own, but they feed us comida (food) or lunch at about 2:00-3:00 every day. It's a really big meal in Mexico.

Week 7 (Week 1 in the Field)

Hola de Oaxaca!

This week has been awesome. Yes there's no doubt at all that it has been one of the most difficult - definitely the most difficult - thing I have ever done in my life. But it's just so amazing. I really don't know how to put it in words. I know that our Heavenly Father needs as many people as possible to help build His kingdom and that's what I'm here in Oaxaca to try my best to do.

The language is different, yes, and I've been laughed at multiple times, but I'm alright with that. I'm just allowing that to make me work even harder. When people somewhat laugh at me because my Spanish isn't great or I can't understand the language I just think of what Heavenly Father is thinking right now and I know he doesn't care. The thing he does care about is how hard we are trying. I also know without a doubt that he didn't send me here to fail!!!!

This week we had our first baptism. It was so dang awesome. Her name is Hermana Xochitl (pronounced Sotchil). It's a very different name that's for sure, but she is so awesome! We had visits with her and she really wants to learn English so I was basically helping her out with everything I knew in Spanish and helping her translate it to English. It was awesome. She was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. What a blessing it was to see that.

Mexico is so dang different though with absolutely everything - like they wait until 15 minutes after 10:00 to even start Sacrament because everyone is late. Like Hermana Xotchil's baptism was at 5:00 and she didn't even show up until 5:30. We were super worried, but she made it.

It's also crazy how much my companion has me participate in the lessons. It's so awesome because it helps me out a lot. Like I thought I'd just kind of listen for the first little bit, but he's pushing me really hard. Most of the time he will just kind of look at me during the lesson and I won't really know what's going on, so I'll just bare my testimony about what we are teaching and how important it is.

Anyways, a couple of funny things this week. So I had two crazy things happen. The first one was we were at Hermana Xochitl's house for dinner and she made stirfry. And you all probably know how bad I hate stirfry. So as she's bringing me the plate, I just happen to notice how much is on that thing. It was literally loaded to the max. I said a prayer in my heart to let me eat this meal so I don't offend Hermana and it was literally the best meal I've had since I've been in Mexico. It was amazing!! It's crazy how much I'm already starting to love vegetables down here - especially cooked onions.

The second funny experience I had was I was at another members house and the plate she brought out was just loaded. I was super hungry so I was excited and I took the first bite and it was absolutely horrible. My tongue died when I tasted it. So I said another prayer asking Heavenly Father if he could help me finish that place and literally, by His grace, I was able to put it down!!

One more super short experience. So Sunday was Fast Sunday and everyone was sharing their testimonies just like normal and I got the prompting to share mine. I was just kind of like my Spanish is not good. How am I going to do that? But then the thought came to my head and it was basically this: How is Heavenly Father going to bless me with the ability to speak Spanish if I don't even have the courage to share my testimony. So I got up and I shared my testimony. It was very short, but I'm extremely grateful for that prompting and thought that came to me. I know a lot of times things may be tough, especially sharing the gospel, but we HAVE to be courageous!!

There's so much to talk about but I don't have a lot of time, ever. I just want you all to know how dang much I love you and how truly grateful I am for this opportunity to serve. Have an amazing week, everyone!

Love,
Elder Blake

Outside and inside my apartment and my neighborhood.

My washing machine - yep, this is where I get to wash my clothes.

And my dryer - new experience for sure.

Sister Xochitl outside the church. Me with my companion and the Bishop.

Week 6 - Part 2

Hola Everyone.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to email much yesterday, but they let us email today for an hour since we couldn't really email yesterday. Anyway, this change has been quite the change. So yesterday we made it to the airport where the Mission President met us. After that, we drove to the mission home, ate breakfast, and then we got to take about a two and a half hour nap because we had to wake up at 2:00 am to get to the airport on time. So the nap was much needed. After the nap we got up and they basically gave us all the mission rules and told us a bunch of stuff. After that we just kind of sat around while the President interviewed a few people. Then he interviewed me and introduced me to my companion.

My new companion is Elder Sac. He's from Guatemala so he's a full native to the language. He doesn't know any English - like at all - so already this past day has been pretty tough because I still can't understand Spanish. I know it will take a while for sure, but I'm very grateful for him and I know he's the companion that I need right now!! As far as I know, he will be training me for the next three months and I have very much faith that I will learn a lot in these next three months.

We literally have like 5 lessons to teach today and we are going to invite one of the investigators to be baptized. We already have two set baptisms so that is so cool. I hope they keep doing what's right so they can get baptized.

Anyways, it's so crazy how they live down here. I'm in the city and my area is called Marquesado. It's in the city and they have it super rough. The living conditions in the nicest house here are probably the same living conditions in the worst house in the United States. Our apartment is good, but I don't have any sheets or anything, so I just slept on the mattress last night. I'll have to be getting some soon.

I'm so grateful for this experience already. It has completely humbled me so much with the language and culture and everything. I'm so grateful for conference. It was so amazing and through conference I was able to receive a lot of personal revelation.

Despite the language, I'm fired up and ready to serve the people of Oaxaca. I want to let as many people as possible know that the Savior loves them beyond their imagination. And that every person who is willing to come unto Christ can be saved. Through Christ we can become cleansed from our sins no matter how deep we think we are. I love you all so much. Have an amazing week.

Vale La Pena (Worth It)
Elder Blake

Week 6

Today has been awesome! We made it to Oaxaca so no worries. I tried a million different phones in the airport and none of them worked. I was pretty mad.

We have met the President and we find out in just a little bit where we are going and who our companions will be. We might even leave tonight! It's so awesome!

I was able to talk to the lady next to me on our flight. She knew Spanish and English and she helped me a lot with my Spanish. I was able to talk to her a lot about our religion and everything, but I'm so mad because I didn't even have a Book of Mormon to give her.

But anyways, I'm super sorry about the call. I wish I could've been able to talk to you guys but believe me, I tried for sure. I don't think I'll be able to email until next week now. This is going to be one awesome, crazy week that is for sure.

Let everyone know I made it. I love you all so much. And wasn't conference just so amazing. What a blessing it is to be able to have prophets and apostles that lead and guide us today.

Have an amazing week everyone. I love you all so much!

Elder Blake

Last picture from the MTC - Loved my District!

"The Boys." That's what all the boys called each other in our District.

My teacher, Hermano Hernandez

First pictures from Oaxaca

And some more pictures were posted on Tuesday. You gotta love Facebook - especially when your missionary is so far away!