Hola Everyone.
I sure hope you all are doing absolutely amazing. I just want to let you all know, as always, what a blessing it is to be a missionary in today's times, but also how dang hard it is!! I have continued studying a little bit about the church history these last two weeks and it absolutely amazes me the things that those amazing saints went through so we could have the true and everlasting gospel today!! I'm so dang grateful for those amazing saints that literally risked EVERYTHING so that we could have the opportunity to live with our families through time and all eternity!!
I have been having a little bit of a rough time here in Mexico these past few weeks, but as the scriptures say, and as we know, Heavenly Father sends us these tough times in our lives to try our faith and as the Doctrine and Covenants says, "Many are called but few are chosen." I absolutely love this because we are sent here to gain a body and to be tried and tested so that we can come out on TOP!! Yes, we will make mistakes along the way and that is part of the plan. That's why Heavenly Father sent his only begotten son so that we can be forgiven of our sins!!
We haven't had much happen this week here in Oaxaca, just teaching this amazing Gospel to those that we come in contact with!! I want you all to know how dang grateful I am for this gospel. Goodness, I would be so lost without it!! It's such a dang blessing to be a member of the only true church!! I know that I can and will live with my amazing family again as we continue to repent of our sins and keep the commandments!! I know this church is true. I know that God loved the world so much that he sent his ONLY Begotten Son to die for us so that we could receive forgiveness of our sins!! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and I'm so grateful for the example of him and his brother, Hyrum as well as so many others that sealed their testimonies with their blood!!
We are so blessed to be members of this church and to have the knowledge that we have the plan of happiness!! I know that as we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ we WILL have happiness in our lives!! I love you all so dang much and I'm so dang grateful for all of your examples in my life!! Good heck, yes, I miss sports like crazy, but I'm so grateful to share this amazing gospel!! I love you all so much and have an amazing week!!
ELDER BLAKE (with some cheese on it - haha. I hope you all get that - it's from the movie, The Longest Yard!!)
Jordan
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Week 39
Hola Everyone!
Well everything is going well down here in good ol' Oaxaca. What a blessing it is to be a missionary in these last days!! What an amazing blessing it is to also be members of this true church in the last days!! As so many of the prophets have taught us in this last dispensation, we are ALL missionaries!! I absolutely love reading books about the church, which is weird because I hated reading before my mission. But, I've been reading a lot of books about the church history and it's truly touched my heart. All of the sacrifices that the amazing saints have made over the past years so that we can be where we are right now!! WE ARE TRULY BLESSED!!!!
Anyways, we had quite an awesome crazy week here is Oaxaca!! To start it off, I got super sick on Wednesday and Thursday and could barely walk to some of our appointments. It was a lot of fun, not. But as we say here, no pasa nada!! We had an awesome Home Evening with my favorite family here in our ward on Thursday and we got to watch Ephraim's Rescue - an amazing example of the sacrifices that those awesome pioneers made so we can be where we are today!! Watching movies and videos of the pioneers and our amazing ancestors truly brings such a special spirit and I can't even begin to tell you all how grateful I am for the sacrifices that they made for us!!
To end the week, we had the baptism of Sister Jaquelin. It was so dang awesome!! It was such a blessing to be apart of her baptism. It's so amazing to see what happens when people follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. He does truly change their lives!! She started out as a dang hard investigator to teach and to talk to. And now as we finished teaching her and got closer to her baptism, she is great. She invited us to eat lunch with her and asked members to watch her kids for her and we truly have seen such a change in her!! Clearly all of us still have A LOT of work to do, but what a blessing it is to see changes in people's lives when they apply the teachings of Jesus Christ!!
We are so blessed in these last days to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! My love for the gospel is so strong, even though it doesn't seem like the mission gets any easier and sometimes we get quite the companions, but it's such a blessing to be serving a mission in Oaxaca!!
I had the chance to give a talk on Sunday and thinking about the first talk I gave in the mission, I basically had to write it out word for word with the help of my companion. Yesterday, I was able to give about a 10 minute talk in Spanish. As we continue to do what's right (which I know we all fall short sometimes, I fall short ALL the time), I know that Heavenly Father will bless us!! I have seen his hand in my life so dang many times in the last 9 months that I can't even count them! I know that He lives and that He loves each and everyone of us and that's why He sent His son so that we can and will be forgiven of our sins!! I hope you all have such an amazing week and continue to grow in your testimonies!! I love you all so dang much!!!!
ELDER BLAKE
Well everything is going well down here in good ol' Oaxaca. What a blessing it is to be a missionary in these last days!! What an amazing blessing it is to also be members of this true church in the last days!! As so many of the prophets have taught us in this last dispensation, we are ALL missionaries!! I absolutely love reading books about the church, which is weird because I hated reading before my mission. But, I've been reading a lot of books about the church history and it's truly touched my heart. All of the sacrifices that the amazing saints have made over the past years so that we can be where we are right now!! WE ARE TRULY BLESSED!!!!
Anyways, we had quite an awesome crazy week here is Oaxaca!! To start it off, I got super sick on Wednesday and Thursday and could barely walk to some of our appointments. It was a lot of fun, not. But as we say here, no pasa nada!! We had an awesome Home Evening with my favorite family here in our ward on Thursday and we got to watch Ephraim's Rescue - an amazing example of the sacrifices that those awesome pioneers made so we can be where we are today!! Watching movies and videos of the pioneers and our amazing ancestors truly brings such a special spirit and I can't even begin to tell you all how grateful I am for the sacrifices that they made for us!!
To end the week, we had the baptism of Sister Jaquelin. It was so dang awesome!! It was such a blessing to be apart of her baptism. It's so amazing to see what happens when people follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. He does truly change their lives!! She started out as a dang hard investigator to teach and to talk to. And now as we finished teaching her and got closer to her baptism, she is great. She invited us to eat lunch with her and asked members to watch her kids for her and we truly have seen such a change in her!! Clearly all of us still have A LOT of work to do, but what a blessing it is to see changes in people's lives when they apply the teachings of Jesus Christ!!
We are so blessed in these last days to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! My love for the gospel is so strong, even though it doesn't seem like the mission gets any easier and sometimes we get quite the companions, but it's such a blessing to be serving a mission in Oaxaca!!
I had the chance to give a talk on Sunday and thinking about the first talk I gave in the mission, I basically had to write it out word for word with the help of my companion. Yesterday, I was able to give about a 10 minute talk in Spanish. As we continue to do what's right (which I know we all fall short sometimes, I fall short ALL the time), I know that Heavenly Father will bless us!! I have seen his hand in my life so dang many times in the last 9 months that I can't even count them! I know that He lives and that He loves each and everyone of us and that's why He sent His son so that we can and will be forgiven of our sins!! I hope you all have such an amazing week and continue to grow in your testimonies!! I love you all so dang much!!!!
ELDER BLAKE
My birthday presents - 2 months early (yes, he opened them all)!
Over 80,000 teachers were on strike here. It was INSANE!
Monday, May 14, 2018
Week 38
Hola everyone!
We had some success this week in the mission field and I also got to call home, so it doesn't get much better than that!! I sure hope that you all had an amazing week and yet another awesome opportunity to feel the spirit!!
So when we first got here in the new area, my companion and I reopened the area, so there wasn't much here at all. But we have been working really hard (I always know we can work harder) in the area and we have had a lot of success - as in the statistics of the mission. I love one thing our President told us and that is that in every single area, the work of the Lord is different, and it's our job as missionaries to ask our Heavenly Father what the way is we need to work in each of our areas!! So in the last little while, we have found the way the Lord wants us to work in this area and that's with the members!!
I remember in my first area when we had one investigator in sacrament. We were super happy and we accomplished our goal. Yesterday we had seven investigators in sacrament! We talked about it afterwards and we basically said good heck that's awesome we had 7 investigators in sacrament but we need and should have more!! I know when we include our Heavenly Father in our every day lives we will absolutely be blessed EVERY single day. There's no doubt about it!! I also know that life is hard and that we all fall short from time to time, but we are not here to kick each other down, but to help those around us up. Good heck. I'm sure not a perfect missionary - not even close - but I know that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS helping me out, despite the fact that I usually fall short!!
I love you all so dang much and I hope that life is going amazing for each and every single one of you. I had the chance to see my two nieces for the first time and my whole family on Sunday. What a blessing it truly was to be able to see my amazing family again!! I know that this church is true and I know that one of the biggest parts of Heavenly Father's plan is families!! The atonement is real and we can and will be forgiven of our sins as we humbly come unto him!! Have an amazing week and please help those around you that need your loving care!!
ELDER BLAKE
We had some success this week in the mission field and I also got to call home, so it doesn't get much better than that!! I sure hope that you all had an amazing week and yet another awesome opportunity to feel the spirit!!
So when we first got here in the new area, my companion and I reopened the area, so there wasn't much here at all. But we have been working really hard (I always know we can work harder) in the area and we have had a lot of success - as in the statistics of the mission. I love one thing our President told us and that is that in every single area, the work of the Lord is different, and it's our job as missionaries to ask our Heavenly Father what the way is we need to work in each of our areas!! So in the last little while, we have found the way the Lord wants us to work in this area and that's with the members!!
I remember in my first area when we had one investigator in sacrament. We were super happy and we accomplished our goal. Yesterday we had seven investigators in sacrament! We talked about it afterwards and we basically said good heck that's awesome we had 7 investigators in sacrament but we need and should have more!! I know when we include our Heavenly Father in our every day lives we will absolutely be blessed EVERY single day. There's no doubt about it!! I also know that life is hard and that we all fall short from time to time, but we are not here to kick each other down, but to help those around us up. Good heck. I'm sure not a perfect missionary - not even close - but I know that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS helping me out, despite the fact that I usually fall short!!
I love you all so dang much and I hope that life is going amazing for each and every single one of you. I had the chance to see my two nieces for the first time and my whole family on Sunday. What a blessing it truly was to be able to see my amazing family again!! I know that this church is true and I know that one of the biggest parts of Heavenly Father's plan is families!! The atonement is real and we can and will be forgiven of our sins as we humbly come unto him!! Have an amazing week and please help those around you that need your loving care!!
ELDER BLAKE
Mother's Day was AWESOME!!
Monday, May 7, 2018
Week 37
Hola Everyone!!
I hope you all had such an amazing week and that you're all continuing to have experiences sharing the gospel and feeling the amazing spirit that comes from doing so!! Me and my companion had an amazing experience this week that strengthened both of us a lot and especially me for myself!!
Anyways, so yesterday we ate lunch with a part member family. So we are working with two of them to be baptized and they're going to church every week, but they're planning on having their baptism in July. I hate that they're putting it off, but that's what they decided to do. Anyways, after we ate the family started talking to us about some Book of Mormon that they found online that had horrible things inside of it - I don't even want to mention what it was. So we told them that there are people constantly doing things like that to try to destroy the church and that we absolutely shouldn't believe those types of things. So then the sister started basically bashing missionaries and she said how there are a lot of gay missionaries. Anyways, if you know me, you know I was definitely defending the church with all my heart at that point and I was so mad that this sister had told us those things.
So we left the house and me and my companion started talking and we were both super frustrated and very mad as well. So we got back to the apartment later that night and I just sat there and thought about what she said. So through this experience, Heavenly Father allowed me to feel that yes, I am working hard out here, but that there's a lot more that I can do and there's a lot more we can do as a companionship.
So we talked about that and we both said that yes, we were working hard, but Heavenly Father wanted us to know that we could be working harder. I then promised my companion from this day forward, I will work as hard as I can. But I also told him I will need his help because there will be days where we won't want to work hard and that's when we need the help of our Heavenly Father or of our companion. It was an amazing experience and we were able to strengthen our companionship through it as well.
I know that the mission is one of the hardest dang things, but I've also received some of the greatest blessing and feelings that I've ever had in my life here in the mission field. Just as I bore my testimony yesterday I want you all to know that I KNOW that our Savior lives and that I truly can feel His presence in my life. I KNOW that He loves each and every one of us and I also KNOW that I've never been happier in my life then when I truly have followed His teachings. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. We can and will be able to live with Him again as we do all that we can here in this life. Yes, it is hard. But that's definitely not a good excuse. He literally felt every single one of our pains and sufferings. And He did that so that we can live with Him again. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to be here on the earth working together so that we can live with our families again.
I love you all so much and I'm so dang grateful and blessed to have the true gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Have an amazing week and a Happy Mother's day to ALL the amazing mothers out there. I'm truly grateful for my mom as well as my grandmas and sister and sister-in-law and aunts and all the other amazing mothers that I know!! I know that every single one of the women in the church are such a strength to us all. I also know that I couldn't have asked for a better mom then my Heavenly Father has given me!! Also, happy birthday to my amazing brother, Dylan. I sure do love you man and I sure do love you all so much. Have an amazing week!!!!!!
ELDER BLAKE
I hope you all had such an amazing week and that you're all continuing to have experiences sharing the gospel and feeling the amazing spirit that comes from doing so!! Me and my companion had an amazing experience this week that strengthened both of us a lot and especially me for myself!!
Anyways, so yesterday we ate lunch with a part member family. So we are working with two of them to be baptized and they're going to church every week, but they're planning on having their baptism in July. I hate that they're putting it off, but that's what they decided to do. Anyways, after we ate the family started talking to us about some Book of Mormon that they found online that had horrible things inside of it - I don't even want to mention what it was. So we told them that there are people constantly doing things like that to try to destroy the church and that we absolutely shouldn't believe those types of things. So then the sister started basically bashing missionaries and she said how there are a lot of gay missionaries. Anyways, if you know me, you know I was definitely defending the church with all my heart at that point and I was so mad that this sister had told us those things.
So we left the house and me and my companion started talking and we were both super frustrated and very mad as well. So we got back to the apartment later that night and I just sat there and thought about what she said. So through this experience, Heavenly Father allowed me to feel that yes, I am working hard out here, but that there's a lot more that I can do and there's a lot more we can do as a companionship.
So we talked about that and we both said that yes, we were working hard, but Heavenly Father wanted us to know that we could be working harder. I then promised my companion from this day forward, I will work as hard as I can. But I also told him I will need his help because there will be days where we won't want to work hard and that's when we need the help of our Heavenly Father or of our companion. It was an amazing experience and we were able to strengthen our companionship through it as well.
I know that the mission is one of the hardest dang things, but I've also received some of the greatest blessing and feelings that I've ever had in my life here in the mission field. Just as I bore my testimony yesterday I want you all to know that I KNOW that our Savior lives and that I truly can feel His presence in my life. I KNOW that He loves each and every one of us and I also KNOW that I've never been happier in my life then when I truly have followed His teachings. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. We can and will be able to live with Him again as we do all that we can here in this life. Yes, it is hard. But that's definitely not a good excuse. He literally felt every single one of our pains and sufferings. And He did that so that we can live with Him again. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to be here on the earth working together so that we can live with our families again.
I love you all so much and I'm so dang grateful and blessed to have the true gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Have an amazing week and a Happy Mother's day to ALL the amazing mothers out there. I'm truly grateful for my mom as well as my grandmas and sister and sister-in-law and aunts and all the other amazing mothers that I know!! I know that every single one of the women in the church are such a strength to us all. I also know that I couldn't have asked for a better mom then my Heavenly Father has given me!! Also, happy birthday to my amazing brother, Dylan. I sure do love you man and I sure do love you all so much. Have an amazing week!!!!!!
ELDER BLAKE
Zone Conference - Thanks, Facebook!
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