Week 27 - 6 Months Down

Hola Everyone!

To start off, I hope as always, that everyone has had such an amazing week and has had an opportunity to share the gospel with those around us that need it so badly!! I have some awesome experiences this week and I want to share them with you all.

So first, we had Stake Conference this Sunday. The 70 of the area was there. So anyways we got to hear from President and Sister Conde, the President and Matron of the temple here in Oaxaca and the Area 70 and his wife. I can't even tell you what a dang powerful meeting it was. Anyways an absolutely awesome experience that I had was after the Area 70 finished his talk, he asked one of the people in the choir to sing I Know That My Redeemer Lives. I felt the spirit sweep over me and enter in my heart like I can't even explain. I know that was yet another testimony that our Savior lives. He loves each and every single one of us. And as it says in 2 Nephi 27:28 (I think) "His hand is stretched forth ALL the day long." I know without a doubt that this is true and I always know that we need His help every single day and if we will do our part and reach out our hand to grab His, He will lift us up and we will not fall to those temptations that come every single day!!

So the other awesome experience I had this week was the opportunity to run into 3 people from the United States. Today I ran into 2 people from Massachusetts. I had the opportunity to teach them in ENGLISH the Plan of Salvation. Good heck, was that a rough experience. I was literally trying to translate things from Spanish to English in my head!! They asked me where I was from and what I was doing here. So I got to explain that all to them and they couldn't believe that we were sacrificing two years of our lives to be here in Oaxaca teaching the people about Christ. They don't believe in anything after this life, but I had the opportunity to tell them that there is A LOT more. Anyways, something a little funny is when I told them I was from Utah, they didn't believe me because they said my accent wasn't like the people in Utah - so I guess my accent isn't quite as thick as it was before!!

My goodness, aren't we blessed in every single second of our lives to know that there is more, A LOT more! We truly are so blessed to know the gospel and to absolutely know that it is true. I got to tell the people today that I ran into my experience of absolutely knowing that the church is true. Once again the spirit touched my heart, testifying that without a doubt it is true.

We also had the opportunity to watch the video of Joseph Smith. I can't even tell you how dang grateful I am for all the pioneers and people like our Prophet, Joseph Smith, who sacrificed EVERYTHING they had because they knew without a doubt that the church is true. Think about those people every now and then when life gets rough and when you don't think you can handle everything that is thrown at you. They did it because they know it was and still is true. And my question for all of you is do you know for yourself that the church is true? How much are you willing to give to help our Heavenly Father?

I love each and every single one of you so dang much. This life is not easy, but just as Elder Holland said, it's because obtaining salvation is not easy. Keep living the gospel and you will be forever blessed. Have an amazing week everyone.

Elder Blake

Week 26

Hola Everyone.

First I just want to give a shout out to my good buddy, Zach Balch, who had a birthday last week. I hope your birthday was the best. And also to my good ol Brother-in-Law, Lyle, Happy Birthday to you this week. I sure do love you guys and hope you had and will have an amazing day!!

Anyways the earthquake here, I'm pretty sure you have all heard about it, was pretty dang strong. It's kind of funny because it usually takes something major like this to wake the people up and have them remember that there is a God and that we need to respect Him and accept His message. A funny, tiny story so we have a little church that's always open by our apartment for people to enter and pray or whatever. And I've never seen one person in that church praying until after the earthquake.

I had an amazing week this week. We had a bunch of appointments and I was so excited to get to teach this people. Anyways about everyday we had a lot of appointments and every single one got cancelled. Every day. It was super rough but that didn't stop us from working and we started contacting a bunch throughout the week. We were able to find a lot of new people this week.

One experience I want to share that happened yesterday. So literally every single appointment we had planned yesterday fell through. I started praying super hard in my heart that we could be led to those that needed to hear the gospel. Anyways, we started contacting and we found three new investigators! Literally finding three new investigators in one day and teaching three lessons is almost impossible and we also found an inactive member that we were able to talk to for a bit. It was so amazing! When we were walking to our apartment after we finished our day yesterday, my heart was just filled with so much emotion and gratitude. I can't even explain it. Heavenly Father does answer our prayers, but we also have to do our part of the work.

Anyways, I hope that you all have an amazing week and continue to serve our Heavenly Father in whatever way that may be. Good heck. I am grateful to be here and I'm so dang grateful for my family. I got to talk to my parents and brother, Kolar, for about 5 minutes on Saturday to tell them everything was okay and I couldn't help but hold back the tears. When I was home, I usually didn't want to see them and the mission has helped me learn how dang much I love my family and how much they mean to me!!

I sure am so grateful for each and everyone of you and your examples to me. This church is so dang true and we are in the last days. We all need to prepare now to live with our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ again as well as our families!! Have an amazing week. Sure do love you guys!!

Elder Blake

Letter from Mission President

Mexico Oaxaca Mission

Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca

Dear Blake Family:

Through this letter we inform you that your son, Elder Jordan Blake has been called to serve as a Trainer in the Mexico Oaxaca Mission. He'll have a deep and lasting influence in the development of the attitudes, habits and capabilities of his companion. The instructions the new missionary receives from him will strengthen him during his mission and I trust that your son will be an example to him.

There are high expectations for your son in this new assignment. A Trainer must be an example in every aspect; for example, by helping his companion to understand and to live the missionary principles in a way that he helps many people to come unto Christ.

I'm sure that your son will inspire his companion by following the Lord and rising to the high standards and expectations that He expects from them as his representatives.

I congratulate you for having raised a responsible son and I thank you for sending us a missionary with great attributes. I ask you to continue praying for him so that he can fulfill his new assignment in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Your son has all of my confidence, love and support while he continues his progress as a servant of the Lord.

Warm Regards,

Presidente Felix Conde Beltran

Mexico Oaxaca Mission

Week 25

Hola Everyone!

This week has been awesome, long, and a little crazy!! So I got a call from the assistants on Monday. We had transfers on Tuesday, which wasn't normal at all and they told me I'm changing areas again. So now I'm actually in an area called Ixcotel. It's probably one of the richest places in Oaxaca, I was hoping for the coast or the Istmo, but I'm so glad that I'm here!!

My new companion is Elder Ahuanari. He's from Peru and he's a convert to the church. He's only been a member for a year and a half. It's so awesome that he's out here serving a mission!!

Anyways to start off the week, we got here to our area and we met with the Bishop. He showed us a little bit of the area. Then we went and visited some members. We had Zone Conference on Thursday and on our way to the church, the bus we were in crashed pretty hard into the side of a Taxi. I'm surprised the Taxi driver didn't die. It was an awesome experience to have my first crash in Oaxaca and definitely not my last!! In our Zone Conference we got to watch the new movie Coco and it was such an awesome movie!!

We found a lot of new investigators and we have been working really hard in this area. It's pretty tough reopening an area because we literally don't know where anything is. But we started to figure it out! We were about to find three new investigators this week which is absolutely a blessing. It was so amazing being able to teach them. I can't think of anything greater than the opportunity we have to share the Gospel and this amazing plan with other people that know absolutely nothing about it. What a blessing we all have to be members of the church and to have the knowledge that we have!

My Spanish is coming along, but the accent I don't think will ever change. Everyone makes fun of the accent, including me, but I sure have been blessed with the gift of tongues our here. Coming from my first lesson, about two months in the mission, I couldn't even understand a single word. Now I'm teaching basically the whole lesson! I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every single one of us and I know that He is always here for us in our tough times and good times!!

I have seen so many miracles on my mission and I have learned so many things in just my first five and a half months here. I have also learned how truly weak I am and how many things I need to work on and continue to strengthen. However, my testimony of the Atonement is so strong. I know without a shadow of a doubt that we can and will be forgiven of our sins if we use the Atonement correctly. I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be perfect in this life, but thanks to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity to be perfect after this life.

Ether 12:27 is such a strong scripture and i know it to be true. Just as Elder Holland has taught us, "No one can fall lower than the light of Christ shines. That is impossible." I also know that to be true. If you are having a tough time right now in your life, DO NOT give up. Continue pressing forward and allow the Atonement to work in your life. You guys are all awesome and I'm so extremely grateful for each and everyone of your examples in my life!! Have an amazing week. I love you all so much.

Elder Blake

Christmas Letter - A Little Late

Jordan emailed us a Christmas Letter and we received it a couple of weeks ago. I thought I would type it up for anyone that wanted to read it. Here's his letter.


Read to the whole family at Grandpa and Grandma's house. I would've wrote one just to the family, but I know I get to talk to you guys so this is to everyone.

November 26, 2017

To the Family:

I just thought I would write a letter you all could read to the whole family. Hopefully you get this letter before Christmas. I have just a few things I want to say to all of you that I have learned on my mission and will continue to learn.

Life is tough. Sometimes in life we get things thrown at us and it's tough. That's just part of life and everyone goes through trials. The AMAZING thing that I've learned is Heavenly Father is ALWAYS here for us. You hear people say this all the time, but it's such a beautiful and amazing thing when you experience it for yourself.

I had an awesome experience today. So it was a tough day. I love to be able to express myself and right now I can't say a whole lot. I understand a decent amount, but I can't say much. Anyways, it gets tough sometimes. Satan is always trying to get you down and every time I feel this way I always pray. Today in my prayer I said, "Heavenly Father. Please let me know why I'm here. I can't hardly communicate or teach these people. Please let me know why I'm here."

Anyways, for comida or lunch today we ate with a sister that I absolutely love. She's so awesome. Her name is Maria Eugenia. So after lunch she walked with us to the bus stop and we had to wait for the bus, so I just started asking her a bunch of random questions. And we were laughing and having the best time. It was awesome. For some reason this sister really likes me and it happened to be the day I was feeling down and needed that love that we had lunch with her. Heavenly Father answered my prayer and allowed me to see why I'm here. I was able to feel so much peach, love, joy, and energy to share the Gospel. Through this experience I have also gained a much greater love for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon, New Testament, and Jesus the Christ every day and I have learned so much. It just blows me away the love our Savior has for EVERY single one of His children. He knew people would reject His Gospel, reject His plan. He knew people would mock Him and His followers, yet He literally laid down His life for EVERY single person - good and bad. In Jesus the Christ it says, "Born of a mortal mother He inherited the capacity to die; begotten by an immortal sire, He possessed as a heritage the power to withstand death indefinitely. He literally gave up His life."

That hit me so hard when I read it. I know without a doubt the Atonement is real and I know that because I have felt the power of the Atonement so strongly in my life. What an amazing opportunity we have to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ at this time every year, especially with our families. NEVER forget how real the Atonement is and the power that it contains.

I want to end by sharing a scripture I came across in Psalms that is amazing. The scripture is Psalms Chapter 23, the whole chapter, but especially verse 4. It says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and they staff they comfort me." I love this scripture so much. Yes there is so much bad in the world, but if you're doing what's right, you have no need to fear. Lift up your voices. Every time you get the chance to share your testimony, do it! EVERY single member of the church is a missionary. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ need our help in letting every nation, kindred, tongue, and people hear their word.

I love the traditions we have as a family at Christmas. It's so amazing. I can hear Grandpa reading the birth of Jesus in the scriptures and I can see Grandma, my mom, Kristy, and Sheri all crying. You guys are so awesome. I love and miss you all so much. I hope the Spirit touches your heart through this letter. Keep doing it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

P.S. I can also see Grandma, Kristy, and especially my mom taking way too many pictures! Also, thank you all so much for your letters, your love, and your prayers. I love you all so much.

Week 24

Hola Everyone.

I hope you've all had an amazing week and that you've had many opportunities to serve those around you and to feel the spirit. I have some crazy, exciting news I want to share with you all. So I'm changing areas tomorrow! I'm going to still be in the city. The place is called Mitla and my area is La Hacienda. I'm also going to be training!!! Good heck, I'm quite nervous. I've only been in the mission field for three transfers now and I'll be training a new missionary starting tomorrow. It's a huge step for me, especially with the language. My Spanish is definitely not great, but thanks to the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father, I've improved so much here in this first four months in the mission field.

We've had some awesome things happen in this area and it's really starting to open up. I'm excited to see what happens in the future. This area has been so dang hard, but I've learned so much. I know that through our struggles and tough times in our lives, Heavenly Father can teach us so many things!! I've had quite the experience reading and studying the Book of Mormon every day in the mission field. I've absolutely learned to LOVE to read the Book of Mormon. What a blessing it is in our life. It is so powerful and I know that we can receive so much strength through it if we truly read and study it.

We had an investigator come to church with us this week which was really a huge blessing in our areas. And we have two or three inactive members that we've been working so hard with that have came to church three Sundays consistently now. What a miracle that has been for us! I know we haven't had a million baptisms and we've struggled a lot in this area, but we've always continued to work hard.

I know that I'm very weak and that I have so many weaknesses, but just like the scripture says in Ether 12:27 - if we humbly come unto him he will make weak things become strong!! We all have weaknesses that we fight everyday. But like Elder Holland said, "NO ONE can fall lower than the light of Christ shines. That is IMPOSSIBLE."

The Atonement is so real. I have seen the atoning power of Jesus Christ work so many times in my life and I have to continually use it on a daily basis. But thanks to the atonement, we ALWAYS have HOPE! I love you all so much and I hope you all have an amazing week. Keep serving, keep loving, and keep trying!!

Elder Blake

Saying goodbye to my Ward Family