Week 49

Hola Everyone!

Well this week my new companion got here and his name is Elder Espana or Elder Spain in English. I love introducing him to all of our investigators and members here because I get to tell them that my companion is Elder Spain from Mexico. Ha ha!! He's a dang good dude and has a lot of desire to work hard. He's a convert too, just like my other companion. He has only been in the church for two years, so he still doesn't know a lot, but we are both learning a lot being together!!

Anyways, we had a really tough situation this week that I can't really talk about much because there are just certain things we can't write about here. But we are working super, super, super, super hard with a family so that they can get baptized and we're doing all we can to help them. So yesterday they were telling us the problem that they are facing as a family, and as I was listening it was very tough. I almost started crying, but at the same time, I was pleasing with my Heavenly Father to allow me to help them. Two things came into my head. The first was that they needed to have a family council starting and ending with prayer and the second was that they needed to fast and we would fast with them. It was an amazing experience because out of nowhere, the spirit hit me with these two things. It was such a small impression that I had, but so dang powerful as well.

I know that as we listen to the still small voice, we will be guided and directed by the spirit. I love being a missionary and I hope with ALL my heart that we can find a way to help this amazing family. I love each and every one of you and I'm so grateful for you all!! Have an amazing week everyone.

ELDER BLAKE

Week 48

Hola Everyone.

I hope as always that you’ve all had such an amazing week and that the spirit has continued touching your hearts!! I really don’t have much to say this week, but I’ll tell you all a little bit about what is happening with changes (transfers)!!

So tomorrow we are having changes (transfers) and I’m going to train again!! Good heck I’m so dang excited. My companion (or son) is going to get here on Wednesday at like 7:00 in the morning. I still have no ide if he’s an American or Latino, but I do know that I’m very grateful for this opportunity to train another missionary and for the confidence that the Lord and our Mission President have shown me!! I know that many, many, many, many times in life we confront challenges and many hard things in our life, but I know with help of the Lord, we can do ALL things!!

I’m continuing to learn and grown here in the mission field and I’m truly blessed every single week to be able to be here in Mexico with my brothers and sisters. We are so blessed to be members of the ONLY true church!! I know that this church is true and I’m so certain that as we hold FAST to the iron rod, we WILL reach ever lasting life and we will become as our Father in Heaven is!! I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for the joy and hope that this gospel brings to our DAILY lives!!

ELDER BLAKE

Week 47 - A Day Late

Hola Everyone!

Sorry this is a day late. After playing soccer for 4 hours in the heat yesterday, I got so sick I couldn't get out of bed.

I sure hope you've all had such an amazing week and that you've been able to feel the spirit in your every day lives!! Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes!! What an amazing blessing it is to be here in the mission. I'm constantly learning and especially learning from my mistakes!! I love what the Book of Mormon teaches us about happiness - that if we never felt misery or grief we wouldn't be able to feel joy and happiness!! How true that surely is.

This week not much happened, but I just want to share one short experience with you all. So we've been struggling with our investigators here and we haven't really had any that have been progressing. So anyways, I've been thinking so much on how we can find new people here so that we can bring others to this amazing gospel! So anyways, I was studying and the thought came to me that we have to contact old investigators.

So we looked at the contacts in our phone and we had a bunch of older investigators that we haven't contacted yet, so we called ALL of them. We made appointments with three of them and only one of them ended up working out! So we got to the house of this old investigator and we taught her about prayer and then we felt that we should talk about baptism. So we started teaching about baptism and why it's necessary and she accepted to be baptized!!!! So now we have four baptisms planned in the next two weeks. I'm super grateful for this amazing experience that we had.

I know this gospel is so dang true and that aw we live it, we WILL be happy in our lives. I know that God loves us and that He is always, always there for us. We just have to humbly ask sometimes to receive his help!! Have an amazing week and know how dang much I love you all!!!!

ELDER BLAKE

I received a random Facebook message from Sandro Emanuel Lovera Juarez. He sent a whole bunch of pictures and videos of Jordan. Him and his wife had Jordan over for his birthday. So grateful for members who make moments like this happen. Tender mercies for sure!

These are back from the end of June at Zone Conference in Puerto Escondido his first week.

Week 46

Hola Everyone!

What an awesome week we had here in good ole paradise!! I hope you all had such an amazing week and once again were able to feel the spirit in your daily lives. Because I know that's the ONLY way we can be happy!!

I always love to start with a funny experience, so I will talk to you all a little bit about the branch here. They ALL are insane and a little bit crazy. I think they all preach more the apostasy than the truth. It's kind of funny the things they are teaching and I just have to shake my head. So during the baptism we had last week, the leader of the Priest's Quorum was conducting and he's about 65 years old or something like that. The baptism was for a 10 year old kid. So anyways, the President of the Priest's Quorum started by welcoming everyone to the baptism, especially Xavi the kid who was going to be baptized. He looked right at Xavi and said, "I'm so glad you've made the decision to be baptized. I just want you to know that it's something very serious and should be taken seriously because God will forgive your since only ONCE and after your baptism, he won't forgive you again. Good heck, I looked at my companion and was like, what is happening?! Unfortunately it's something really normal here so we will be working together with our Mission President to help the Branch out!! Hahaha - it's not funny, but it kind of is!

Goodness, I had one of the most powerful experiences that I've had in my entire mission that past week and I would LOVE to share it with you all!! So on Wednesday a brother from the church called us and asked us if we could give his four your old kid a blessing! His kid had an EXTREMELY high fever and so as parents they were really, really worried. So we went Wednesday morning and gave him the blessing. Brother Javier asked me to give the blessing so it was a pleasure for me to do it. Anyways, we didn't think much of it because it's something really normal to give a blessing here in the mission.

On Friday, we ate lunch with the same family and Brother Javier started telling us what happened with his kid. So about 10 minutes after we gave the blessing, his kid still had an extremely high fever so they took him to the hospital. As they were in the waiting for the doctor, the fever completely left him. Anyways, the doctor talked with the family and told them that their kid was going to have diarrhea really bad and a few other sick things, but the family went home and the kid was completely normal. He ate a bunch of food and was healed from his sickness. I remember some of the words that I said. I said, "We bless you that you will be healed this day." I know that the Priesthood is the power and authority of God and that when we have faith, using this power, we will see miracles!! I know that their kid was able to be healed because they had faith in asking for a Priesthood blessing and I'm so grateful I was able to be an instrument in the hands of God and that he allowed me to have this experience!

Anyways, I don't have much else to say other then I love you all so dang much and I hope you all have an amazing week. I know that this church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that God lives as does Jesus Christ and that they love us so much that they gave us the opportunity to repent and continue doing what's right. I have seen the Atonement work in my life and other's lives millions of times and I know that He will ALWAYS forgive us if we humbly come unto him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And I know that the ONLY way we can and will find happiness in this life and the life to come is when we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I'm so blessed to be a member of this church and to be serving a mission in these times. I love you all so much!

ELDER BLAKE

Week 45

Hola Everyone!

Well as always, I hope you all had such an amazing week and that you absolutely have an amazing time on the 4th of July!! It hurts quite a bit knowing that I can't play in the Midnight Madness Tournament and the 3-on-3 or volleyball, but hey, you got to do what you got to do!!

Anyways to start the week out, I had quite a funny experience!! So we have to be in bed here by 10:30, that's a mission rule and so I'm usually always in bed by 10:30. So I think it was Tuesday night and it was about 10:25. I saw that my companion's bathroom light was on so I knew he was showering like he always does right at 10:30. Anyways, I shut the front door and locked it and headed to bed. So at about 11:15, my companion opens the screen door that was by my bed which is never locked and he was like, "Why did you lock the front door. I've been throwing fruit at your window for like the last 30 minutes!" Hahaha!! So it happens to be that he was outside washing his clothes at 11 at night which no one does and so he literally had to ask the neighbors for a ladder to climb up to the balcony where the screen door is to get in the house!! It was hilarious!!!

Anyways on the more serious side of things, we had an awesome lesson with a family this week. So we were teaching them that families can be together forever and they really liked that part a lot, so toward the end of the lesson we asked them if they were willing to put their faith in God and be baptized on the 14th of July. The son in the family looked at us and said, "Why can't I be baptized on June 30th?" Good heck, it was awesome. He's just 10 years old and his dad's a member and served a mission, but his mom is not a member yet and he's such an example to his family!! After Sunday School on Sunday his parents went to ask him if he wanted to stay or leave because they were leaving and he said, "I can't leave. I'm a member now!!"

It's such a blessing, as always, to be here in the mission. Yes, it is tough, but it's so worth it!! To end I just want to give a special shoutout to my dad and Carver. FELIZ CUMPLEANOS!!! I sure do love you guys all so dang much and hope that you have such an amazing 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELDER BLAKE