Week 75

Hola Everyone.

Well, I don't have much to say this week other than I got to interview three people to see if they were ready to be baptized. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see the changes that they all made in their lives to be able to get baptized! I was able to see this week that it is so dang true like it says in Matthew 18:3, "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

As I was interviewing the little girl that is 10 years old, I was able to see the innocence and the cleanness that children truly do have. It was an amazing little experience!

Anyways, today was pretty awesome. We had a super amazing brother that isn't a member that took us up to a waterfall and it was soooooooooooooo dang awesome to be up in the mountains again!!!! He's such a good guy. Yes, we shared the gospel with him, but he just doesn't really have a desire do accept it. It's so sad to know so many AMAZING people that will only be able to enter into the Terrestrial Kingdom because they didn't want to accept the gospel! But we just have to keep on sharing it!

I love you all so much. I hope you all have an amazing week!

ELDER BLAKE

Week 74

Well everyone. It’s been a rougher week this week. We weren’t able to find any investigators to teach, but we have really been working with less actives and they have been helping us out quite a bit with references and everything. So we should have a super duper good week this week!!

Something that was super awesome this last week is that Elder Pino of the 70s came and visited our mission. Goodness, I sure felt the spirit sooooooooo dang strong. It was amazing!! We were talking a lot about our mission calls and what it says and how we get called to the mission and everything. A video by President Eyring hit me so strongly. He was talking about the process of how we are called as missionaries and he said, “It’s not a human decision.” WOW!! Then he warned all of the missionaries there. He said, “ If you guys are thinking whether or not God has called you to this mission, BE CAREFUL.” It was so amazing and the spirit was so extremely strong!!

I know without a shadow of doubt that I’m where I need to be and that as missionaries we are LITERALLY CALLED OF GOD!! We don’t pay a lot of attention to that sometimes, but through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, I’m exactly where I need to be right now!! I love you all so much and KNOW that this church is true!! Keep fighting the good fight!

ELDER BLAKE

Week 73

Hola Everyone!

We had a good week and the work continues to progress here in good Ol Etla. It's such a good place and the members are awesome!! We are struggling a little bit finding new people to teach because we used to have a big ol area. It was actually two areas combined - Etla and Valle de Etla. But then the Mission President decided to open Valle de Etla, so basically all of our investigators and converts that we had in Valle de Etla are now investigators and converts to the new missionaries. Ha ha. But that's how missionary life works!!

Anyways, I had a cool little experience this week with some converts that we are teaching! So we read Alma 37:35 which is such an amazing verse. We talked about how the YOUTH of the church need to step up because there are soooooooo dang many temptations today. Then we asked them, "Why do we keep the commandments?" The father of the family said, "Because life is hard enough as it is and part of why we are here is to be happy. So we shouldn't complicate life by not keeping the commandments." It was just awesome and we felt the spirit so very strong! We finished up by reading Mosiah 2:41!!

I just want to invite you all that we can remember that! What that brother taught us was amazing and so dang true! Keep pressing forward because it will all be worth it in the end! I love you all so much and I hope you all have such an amazing week!!

ELDER BLAKE

Week 72

Hola Everyone!

Wow! What an AMAZING week we had once again. I could describe this last week with two words - MIRACLES BABY!!!! Goodness, the Lord has blessed us beyond belief this week!! To start it out, YES, we had three more baptisms on Saturday. The Soto Gonzalez family was baptized! Anyways, I want to tell you all the story behind their baptism!

So one day, the Gonzalez Lopez family (the family we baptized last week) had to stay with the Soto Gonzalez family because they don't have a house. So anyways, as we were teaching the Gonzalez family, we invited everyone to listen. So sister Rosa and her family listened and then Sunday after we first taught them, they went to church. Well they felt something "so different" they wanted to go again and they wanted to keep listening to us as well! So after they had gone to church 3 times, which is necessary to be baptized, we got a call from our mission leader and he told us "Elders you need to come now. The Soto Gonzalez family doesn't want to be baptized." So I told my companion to just stay calm and the spirit will let us know what we need to tell them! We asked them a few questions and without even asking, Sister Rosa bore her testimony. It was so amazing and the spirit was very strong!!

Anyways, that same night we put a date for their baptismal interview and a date and time for their baptism. And on Saturday they were baptized!!!! It was such a tender mercy and such a MIRACLE for me and my companion to be able to see this amazing family get baptized!! Also I can't forget to mention that we got to watch them take down all their idols (I think that's what they are called in English). In Spanish it's imagenes. It was super awesome!

I know this church is so true. I know that Jesus Christ leads HIS church and that as Moroni says, MIRACLES have NEVER ceased to be!! I know MIRACLES exist because Heavenly Father has allowed me to be apart of many here in the mission. I love you all so much and I hope you all have an amazing week!!

ELDER BLAKE