Week 102

Hola Everyone!

Oh my goodness, what a dang awesome week it has been!!!! We worked hard and we sure did see the blessings and more than anything the MIRACLES!!

So we found "our BOY" as we call Roberto! When we saw him Monday night he had relapsed. We saw him with a beer can in his hand and he said, "Satan tempted me." We almost wanted to laugh because he knew exactly what had happened. But we sat him down and we told him, right there in the middle of the street, that it would be okay. Our Heavenly Father had a plan for him! We met with him again on Thursday and taught him "the need" just like Nephi says. We have to be baptized and confirmed! He understood everything PERFECT! We told him and testified to him that the date he should be baptized was the 3rd of August, just as we had put with him a few weeks before! Anyways, he accepted and on Saturday, the 3rd of August, "our BOY" the "GOAT" was baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!

My goodness, what a dang humbling experience that was! Watching him go into the baptismal waters just perked my ears right back and humbled me! He was confirmed and received the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday!! What a MIRACLE! During his confirmation, right as brother said, "receive the Holy Ghost," you could feel SOOOOOO strongly the Holy Ghost just come over the entire congregation! My companion and I were up blessing the sacrament, so when Brother Daniel finished his prayer and we looked over at Roberto, we could see so clearly with his facial expressions that he felt and KNEW that he had received the Holy Ghost!

I KNOW that God lives and His only begotten son is Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world! This is His church and this is His work! I know that they love us and they want us ALL to be able to return and live with them again. This is only possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! Joseph Smith was a prophet and he did restore the true church on this earth for the last time! The Book of Mormon is true and it teaches us the PURE doctrine of Christ! I know that President Nelson has been called of God and that he leads and guides us in today's world! I sure do love you all so much and I hope that you all have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

Week 101

Hola Everyone!

It's been a good week and it sure did go by fast! I think these have been the fastest, but yet slowest, two years of my life! I'm not sure how that really works, but that's how it's felt, ha!

Well our amazing investigator, Roberto, accepted a baptismal date on Thursday and we were so dang pumped!! He felt the spirit super strongly and without a doubt he will be baptized!! As we know the adversary exists and he wants to destroy us, especially when we know the truth and are doing things right! So Roberto didn't show up on Sunday and we found out that he actually drank again. BUT I know without a doubt that he will get baptized. He's such a dang stud (as we say in America) and I absolutely love him so dang much!!

Anyways, I don't have much else to say other than I have LOVED being here in the mission field and I will enjoy every last second I have here as well! I love the people. I love the gospel. And I definitely love our Savior, Jesus Christ! This is HIS church and we are following HIS way!! Now we just need to ENDURE TO THE END!! I sure do love you all so dang much as well!!!! Have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

Week 100

Hola Everyone!

Well it was a pretty good week. I definitely can't complain at all!! What makes me so dang happy every single week is the investigator that we found. His name is Roberto, but we call him the G.O.A.T (hahaha)!! He's literally the awesomest dude every! And it's so crazy. He's had a drinking problem for about 30 something years now. He's 63 years old and ever since the day we contacted him, when he was sitting under a tree, he hasn't drank!! And he's literally doing all he can to come unto Christ!! We are so dang proud of him! My companion and I really feel that on the 3rd of August he will get baptized. So we are praying really hard and working even harder so that will happen!!

I don't have a whole lot else to say other than I KNOW that this is Jesus Christ's church! He lives and walks just as we do. He sure does love us! This is His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man!! We CAN'T go wrong when we follow Him. Just as it teaches us in Mosiah, when we follow Him, we will be happy and we will have all of the temporal and spiritual blessings that we need!! I love you all so much and I hope you all have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

Week 99

Hola Everyone!

It's been another great week and the Lord sure allowed us to have success this week!! So we had Zone Conference on Friday and that was super crazy because it was my last Zone Conference. President Conde and everyone sure did make it a special one, that's for sure!! President Conde called me in front so many times to do practices, answer his questions, give testimony, and everything. He was like, sorry I can't help it. You're just the missionary with the most time here, haha!

We also played Jeopardy and my team WON!! Our team name was "Los G.O.A.T.s" hahaha! Also, we sang hymn number 88 (not in English Hymns) in Spanish "Placentero nos es Trabejar" (I still remember when Brother Bennett told me that would be my favorite hymn). Anyways, so there's this part where someone's like saying goodbye to everyone in the song and when we were singing that part, the missionaries sitting behind me started patting my back and then the missionaries on my side started waving goodbye! It was a special funny, sad moment for me!!

So on Sunday we had Saul's baptism! He's an awesome young little kid and I'm dang proud of him for his decision! As me and him were changing into our white clothes, I was asking him how he felt. Most people about to get baptized say, "I'm super nervous," or something like that. And he was like, "I'm super excited and I feel super ready!" It was so dang awesome!!

Also on Sunday we had 106 in attendance at Sacrament Meeting!! When we first got here to the ward, there was like 60-70 every week. We were able to have nine investigators in church on Sunday too!! The Lord lives and He loves each and every single one of us!!

I love the gospel and everything that it brings in my life! It's such a blessing to be a member of the ONLY TRUE church! I remember the picture that I always saw in my grandma and grandpa Blake's house that says "I NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY, I ONLY SAID IT WOULD BE WORTH IT." Isn't that right!! I hope that we all can do our best here on this earth, because that's all that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ask of us - OUR VERY BEST!! I love you all so much and I hope that you all have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

These are the English lyrics to the hymn Jordan was talking about - keep in mind it's a rough translation and probably aren't exact.

Oh, dear brothers and sisters, farewell,
For the moment to go now impends.
If in God we by faith persevere,
Past the veil we shall still meet again,
Meet again, meet again!
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, farewell!
Meet again, meet again.
With our God in his love we shall dwell.

Week 98

Hola Everyone!

So it's been a great week - a little crazy like always, but super great!! So YES, Lalito did get baptized and it was so dang awesome! It was a super special moment after teaching him and seeing the ups and downs he has had along with the adversary trying to make him not get baptized. But like I would say, I will always put my money on our Heavenly Father and His team!! And yes, we won and that's why Lalito got baptized!!

We also say many miracles working in our area and the area of our companions this week! We saw that as the scriptures say and as Preach My Gospel says that when we work hard and have faith, God will put people in our way that are ready and prepared to receive this amazing message! We had 7 investigators go to church on Sunday and that was a HUGE miracle for us! It was so awesome.

So we saw a man named Roberto as we were walking to an appointment and he was just sitting under a tree drinking a coca or coke of course. So anyways, we decided to talk to him and he accepted another appointment. So we went back to that same spot under the tree and we taught him the restoration! We gave him a Book of Mormon and we invited him to church. We also promised him that if he reads the Book of Mormon and does all he can, that he will be able to overcome his alcohol addiction! And YES, he came to church on Sunday. He is a beast! And we love him so dang much!!!!

I'm so grateful to be here in the mission field. My goodness "the field is white already to harvest" that's for sure! I hope that all of us as members of the church can INVITE our friends, neighbors, companions, or whoever it may be so that they can come to know that this is Jesus Christ's church! And so that they have the HOPE that we all have in our lives!! I love you all so dang much and I hope that you all have an amazing week!!!!

Elder Blake

Week 97

Hola Everyone!

This week has been a little crazy, but super awesome! We sure have seen many miracles and blessings that the Lord has given us the chance to be a part of! So to start off the week, my old companion, Elder Johnson, went home. Then on Tuesday, I traveled to the city of Oaxaca and we had a conference with our Mission President and all the leaders in the mission. That was awesome! The best thing about the trip was I didn't even puke!!!! Anyways, from there I met my companion, Elder Wright, from good ol Sandy, Utah. We headed back to Juchitan - about a 6 and a half hour drive (when they're not blocking the freeway, ha).

So we got back her to Juchitan on Thursday and we got to work. We went with an investigator that's name is Eduardo, but we call him Lalito. He has now gone to church five times with us. He's super awesome, but he's really unsure on if he wants to get baptized or not. So we watched a super awesome video on the Book of Mormon and afterwards we asked him to be baptized. He told us he was still undecided. So we asked him if he would say the prayer and ask our Heavenly Father if he should be baptized on the 6th of July. So he said the prayer and he asked his Heavenly Father if he should be baptized on the 6th of July. We told him after the prayer we were going to keep our eyes closed and pay real close attention to the feelings that came to us. So he finished the prayer and we stayed with our eyes closed and our heads bowed for like a minute. I looked up and he still had his eyes closed and his head bowed. Like 45 seconds later, he opened his eyes and we asked him how he felt. He said, "I want to be baptized!!!!" That was such an amazing moment for me and such a miracle! He told us he realized what we taught him that, "I know I need to be baptized to enter into God's Kingdom." So he will be getting baptized this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!

Also, Saul - a super awesome little kid that's just 10 years old - will be getting baptized on the 13th of July!! Goodness, I know that the Lord loves us and blesses us as we keep His commandments. I love you all so dang much and I hope you all have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

Week 96

Hola Everyone!

It's been a great week here in good ol' Juchitan, Oaxaca. You gotta love it!! No, we didn't see any baptisms this change, but my companion and I were talking about the last six weeks we've had and really how many miracles we've seen here together. It's been such an amazing ride - it really has!! We've also been working sooooo hard and helping to prepare so many to be baptized. I will finish up my mission here in this awesome area, so I sure hope we can see the fruits of our labors these next six week and see many people enter into the waters of baptism!!

This week one of the biggest miracles we saw after working hard the entire week was we were able to have four investigators come to church on Sunday! My goodness, you guys should have seen our faces as they came through the doors. My companion and I were just smiling like crazy!! Three of the four that went to church are ready to be baptized - they just have to make the right decision and be baptized!!

As you know we definitely don't obligate the people here to be baptized. But we invite them as Jesus Christ himself would invite them! But as you also know, when Jesus Christ himself was here teaching the people, there were many who didn't accept his teachings. Goodness, it sure does hurt so bad to see so many AMAZING people that could be awesome members of the church when they don't accept the gospel in their lives. Through my mission I have come to know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every single one of His children and his time is PERFECT!!

I have also come to know that even as a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ I am FAR from perfect. But I know without a doubt that He sees when we are striving to do what's right and to be better people and He blesses us because of that!! I've come to learn that He doesn't expect any more out of us than our very BEST!! This is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is the leader! and He speaks to President Nelson face to face!! I know that He lives and that He loves us and that if WE as FAMILIES do ALL we can in this life, we WILL return to live with him again!! Just remember like President Nelson taught us, "Salvation is a personal matter. Exaltation is a FAMILY matter!"

I love you all so dang much. I'm so grateful to be here teaching our brothers and sisters "the Lamanites" in Oaxaca. WHAT A BLESSING!! Have an amazing week everyone!!!!

Elder Blake

Week 95

Hola Everyone!

It's been a pretty disappointing week, I guess I could say! We've been working super hard out here and we've done just about everything to try and get our investigators motivated to be baptized and to try and get them to church! And we had 0 investigators that went to church this week, so that's why it was pretty disappointing!

But, we had some great experiences this week as well! I'd probably say that my greatest experience was a little contact that I did in a taxi! So we went to a super small colony that has like maybe 20 houses and it's in the middle of Juchitan and Union Hidalgo. So anyways, we were heading back in a taxi and you know we had 6 people crammed in that baby - ha! So I started talking to the lady that was sitting next to me and I just got to know her a little bit. She told me she was going to pick her kid up from school. Just before she got out, I just simply asked her if we could visit her one day and she told me YES!!

So on Saturday we had a few appointments fall through and I told my companion that we needed to go visit Karina! Anyways, we went and right as we got there, her husband arrived home from work as well, so it turned out perfect! We taught them the restoration and we invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! Then we asked the sister to say the closing prayer and her husband was like, "No. I will say it." So we told him to go ahead and say the prayer. So he said this in his prayer, "We ask thee to know if these things are true and if they're not may things go bad for these missionaries (que les vaya mal)!" We were laughing a lot about his prayer. It was super funny! It doesn't make as much sense in English, but in Spanish it was hilarious!

So something super funny. About a week ago, my companion told me I wish I would've bore my testimony in sacrament meeting last fast and testimony meeting because that would've been my last time sharing my testimony in sacrament here in Oaxaca (he goes home next week). I was like, hey, don't worry about it. You'll get your chance! So to top off the week, we got a text on Saturday about 11:45 at night. And you know it was from the 1st Counselor asking us to give a talk on Sunday! So we had a solid 30 minutes on Sunday to plan our talks, but that's the awesome thing about studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ every day - you can usually throw a talk together pretty fast! Everything turned out well and we were so thankful to be able to talk!

My companion and I were thinking about what we can do to have more baptisms here and how we could help more people come to know the truth. We couldn't figure out why our investigators weren't progressing like they should when we've been trying to do all we can to help them! Anyways, we were talking to a member of the church about this and he told us the people have their agency too! And that just hit me so hard. But I also know without a doubt that if we try as hard as we can, the Lord will bless us! Just like Elder Holland said, "We are the Church of Jesus Christ. This is the TRUTH. Why would we think this would be easy when it was NEVER easy for HIM!" I absolutely love that talk and I know that to be true!!

I love you all so dang much and I hope you all had an amazing week. Also, I want to wish you all a VERY Happy Father's Day, especially to my dad - the BEST father a son could ask for! Thank you so much for all you guys do for us!!

Elder Blake

Week 94

Hola Everyone!

Well, I don't have a whole lot to say this week. It's actually been a bit of a rough week for sure! But, we were still able to see a miracle!!

So anyways, this week on Tuesday, we had divisions and I went to the famous "septima" here in Juchitan. It's just the 7th seccion (section) - literally where the people here tell us that "they kill for free there." It was super awesome. We got to know a lot of less actives and invite them all to church on Sunday.

But finishing up the day, we went to go eat a little dinner and I ate a Tlayuda (kind of like a Navajo taco, but on a fried tortilla) - probably my favorite food ever here!! So on Friday, I absolutely felt like I was dying. I couldn't even leave the house because I was puking and going to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so. It was probably thee best day of my life - haha! Despite all of that, Elder Arce gave me a blessing and I was good the next day!

The miracle that we saw this week was the baptism of Felipe - a super great kid from Union Hidalgo. He's 16 years old and has a lot of desires to do good! I know a lot of times that our Heavenly Father gives us challenges so that we can come out being better people and learn from every one of our challenges!!

I love you all so dang much and hope you all have such an amazing week!!

Elder Blake

Week 93

Hola Everyone!

I’d have to say that it’s been a week of MILAGROS (MIRACLES)!! Because my goodness, we sure have seen so dang many that is for sure!!

So to start it out, about two months ago my companion, Elder Ixmata and I went to a place called La Colonia Simona Robles. Anyway in this colony, there are about 20 houses and it’s basically in the middle of nowhere . . . kind of like Blanding haha! But we found out that there are a lot of members there, but they are less active and have family members that aren’t members of the church. So we went by their houses and talked to them for a bit.

Now two months later and my companion and I are having difficulties finding new people to teach. As we were planning the day, the Holy Ghost whispered to me that we need to go back to that colony. So we went back and we visited two families - Sister Elizabeth and her family and Sister Abigail and her family. Their husbands and kids aren’t members yet! So we invited Sister Elizabeth to church because we visited her on Saturday. We didn’t visit Sister Abigail until Sunday. Anyways with a single INVITATION they went to church! They as in Sister Elizabeth and her three kids. And she hadn’t been to church in 8 years!!! And soon we hope that 10 year old son Saul will be getting baptized!! WHAT A MIRACLE!!!

Anyways, so there’s one miracle and here goes the second!! So after church on Sunday we went home before we ate, basically just to fill up my little bottle with more consecrated oil because it was about running out. So I took it out of my bag and put it on the table and the spirit immediately told me to put it back in my bag. So I obeyed and we couldn’t even find any more oil. So we went to eat with our missionary leader, a super cool dude named Melvin. He’s super straight forward about everything! Anyway, we finish up with him and every Sunday at 4 we help a sister give English connect classes - and they got cancelled for the very first time in the 4 months since I’ve been here! So we were walking back to an appointment we had as a backup plan and we had to pass by the hospital to get there. So as we pass by the hospital, a recently returned missionary stopped us and asked if we had consecrated oil with us!! We gladly responded yes and he told us that his mom was going into surgery and he wanted to give her a blessing before but he forgot his oil at his house!! We weren’t just able to give him the oil, but we were able to help give his mom a blessing!!!

It is so amazing how our Heavenly Father works with us!! It was so amazing to see how everything had to fail or go bad at first so that the miracle could take place! I know that miracles still do exist and if we have faith, we will see so many miracles in our lives!! I didn’t see angels or Jesus Christ himself. But I sure did see a lot of miracles this week - even if they might have been small things, they are still miracles!!

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!

Elder Blake