First Week in the Field

Hola a todos!

Wow, this week has been crazy. I don't think I have much more time to write (decided to start with personal emails today), so here's the lowdown.

(P.s. I'm not sure if my family posted this on the blog they made for me, but I've been re-assigned to the Boise, Idaho Mission while I wait for my visa to Argentina.)

Got up at 3:30am Tuesday morning and drove in a bus to the SLC airport. Called home using an iPhone that a nice lady at the gate let me use. 

We were greeted by President and Sister Winder of the Boise Idaho Mission, and afterward had a wonderful "welcome/orientation" meeting with them and the mission staff. I got my new companion, Elder Shade ("Shaw-day"), originally from Mexico, but most recently from Utah. He is a great companion and helps me a lot with my training and with the language. We are in the Spanish-speaking area of Boise, which covers 3 English stakes. We work mostly in trailer parks, since that's where most of the people who speak Spanish live. And it's great. The first Sunday in our branch was really good, and I was strengthened a lot by the testimonies of the members. They are really good people; very kind, generous, and humble. It's great to be around them every day.

This first week has been very long--probably in part because I haven't had a chance to write normal emails for a week and a half. We study hard in the morning, and then go work hard in the afternoon, and we have dinner with a member just about every night.

I have to tell a really quick, funny story. As we were tracting Elder Shade told me something he heard from another missionary, that if there is an onion on the grill (BBQ), the residents are probably Hispanic. But since we had just been talking about cars, I thought he meant the front grill of a car. I was so confused. Why on earth would anybody--Hispanic or not--put an onion in the grill of their car?! haha, he straightened me out and we had a good laugh.

God bless you all. Thank you for all the good things you are doing. Keep going and never give up! The Lord will always provide.

Les amo muchisimo!

Elder Blake

I'm Alive!

Hola familia! I just have a minute to write you and say that I made it safely to the great state of Idaho. I've met the Mission President (President Winder) and his wife, we've had the big welcome meeting for all the new missionaries, and now we're out doing the work! My trainer is Elder Shade ("Shah-day"), who is Mexican but has lived in Utah for the last 8 years and has 1 year in the mission. We cover the Spanish-speaking part of 3 stakes here in the Boise mission. Honestly, I feel like a deer-in-the-headlights :) I know it will be hard, but I know too that if I give my all, the Lord will support me.

I love you all lots! P-day is Monday. I'll write then.

La Iglesia es verdadera!

Con amor,

Elder Blake

Pictures!

Packing Up

Saying goodbye to Dad

Last goodbye with aunt Jeri 

Entrance day pictures at the Provo temple

My first companion, Elder Murphy from Utah. We haven't heard from him since he had to leave due to serious medical issues, but we still hope and pray as a district that he'll come back sometime, even though it may take several months to get things resolved, as is what often happens with medical concerns.

District Selfie

One of my trio companions, Elder Ward from SLC. He's so much fun, loves outdoor sports, and is a good person to be around.

Me and my other trio companion, Elder Donelley from Alabamy! He is a huge example of diligent effort and Christ-like service. I am very blessed to have him and Elder Ward as companions.

First Devotional on Main Campus

Me and one of my good friends from BYU, Sister Carle (next to me). We were in the same FHE group and two classes. She's going to Budapest, Hungary.

Statue on Main Campus

Two districts from my zone after a Devotional. The outgoing zone leader was my friend from FOL (before BYU).

Playing in the rain

Re-Assignment: WHERE'S A MAP???

Quierido familia,

In light of the fact that my visa for Argentina is taking the scenic route, the Lord has seen fit to send me to a temporary mission. Yep, Kirby-Heyborn-style, I am going to (drumroll por favor)

Boise Idaho!

I'll probably be there for 1-3 transfers while my visa is processed. I hear they'll try to put me in a Spanish-speaking area, if possible (i hope so).

I leave the CCM on Tuesday, Sept 23 from the SLC airport. I believe I'll get to call home while waiting at the SLC airport. I don't know all the details about that, but my plan is to find a payphone and call Mom probably and hour or two before my flight leaves.

That's all I know for now. I'm excited.

Love you all so much. God bless you.

Elder Blake

MTC Final Full Week!

Hola familia y amigos!

It's so great to hear from you all. I love reading about your lives, and your love and support strengthen me. Les amo tanto mucho!

So, a rundown of this week:

Classes every day continue to be challenging and exciting. Our teachers really make it a great experience. Hno. Norton gives fantastic language instruction, and he's super friendly and funny; Hno. Wolfe is like a Jefferey R. Holland just for our class; he's so spiritual and really makes us think about the importance of our callings and how we perform them.

Oh, speaking about apostles, Elder Richard G. Scott spoke at devotional last night. He taught about prayer (so probably the same talk that Cam and Dana heard a couple days ago). He challenged us to study DyC 6, 8, 9, and 88, because they teach us a lot about the sacred blessing we have to talk to the very God who created all things, and is our Father. One thing he mentioned is that we should learn to turn our prayers from asking for what we want to asking for what He wants. "As you pray," said he, "the Lord will indicate to you the things you need to do to be a successful [missionary/whatever you are]. Write them down, and do them." Answers seldom come directly after or during your prayer, but if you are faithful, God will tell you in the quiet and reverent moments of your day. It was so cool to hear an apostle of a 15-million member church talk about having a personal, intimate relationship with our Father in Heaven. I know that we can all have this kind of relationship, and to truly succeed in life, we need to. I'm working on improving my prayers, and I challenge you to do the same.

Funny story: The other elders in our district keep running out of toilet paper in their apartment. I don't know how it happens, but they go through it like 5 times faster than my comps. and I, and so we've supplied them multiple times. But this week we had only one roll left as well when they came knocking at our door. We had to settle the situation like the mature men that we are. So the obvious method of choice was... Rock-Paper-Scissors. :P I was so scared, but my companionship won! (Sweet victory!)

And now for an interesting piece of good news:

I get to serve the children of God in TWO MISSIONS! Yep, my visa has not yet arrived, so I will be temporarily re-assigned to a mission within the States until it comes. I'll receive my assignment either tomorrow or Friday. I heard a rumor (though I'm not sure it's true), that I'll get to spend 2 minutes on email to notify you of where I'm going. If not, then you'll just have to take guesses :) It would be a lie to say that I'm not bummed, because I truly want to go to Argentina. However, my teacher took me aside and thoughtfully told me that I was called to preach the gospel, and assigned to Argentina. There is a big difference there. I have faith that I will get to wherever I need to be. See DyC 61:3.

Today was fun, being the last P-day in the CCM. The temple was really awesome today, as always. It's the House of the Lord, His Spirit can always be felt there.

I need to go. I'll do my best to answer all of your private emails. If I can't get to you all, know that the Lord loves you and that I love you. He is always aware of your situation, thoughts, trials, needs, and deep desires. He can and will help you as you continually turn to Him through prayer, scripture study, and faithful action. This I know.

May God be with you,

Your faithful missionary,

Elder Blake

Week 4

Buenas Tardes, familia y amigos!

Agh, I felt so bad after my email hour last week because I wrote almost nobody personally. I'm going to do better today. Just know that I love you all, I read your letters, and I love to hear from you.

As for this week, it's continuing to be both hard and great, and great because it is hard. Here's a brief-ish summary:

Our investigators: My companions (Elders Ward and Donnelley) and I have two investigators right now. One is Javier (played by our teacher, Hno. Wolfe). He is a Catholic from Mexico living in the states. At first he wasn't interested in hearing about the Gospel, but we gave him a Libro de Mormon and he began to read it, and he's felt a strong need and desire to change. Last time we talked with him he was afraid he wasn't worthy to be baptized and live the gospel because he had been involved in some kind of sketchy business in Mexico. We couldn't understand him very well, but we think it involves drugs or mafia or something like that. Fun, right? We're not entirely sure how to go about teaching him, but if we prepare the best we can and follow the Spirit, things will turn out right.

Our other investigator is Adrian from Peru. We've tried to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, and he believes it, but he always demands scriptural proof for every question he has. It's good for us because it helps us become more familiar with those sacred books.

Other stuff: Classes are great. We are learning a lot of Spanish and much about missionary skills and attributes. I definitely need lots of practice with all of those things, but with hard work, goals, and the Spirit, they can be done. And my district is great also. Elder Ward's mom sends him enough bagels for the entire district every Friday, so we have "Bagel Night" every night to try to finish them all. It's pretty amazing. One night as we were about to pray, some of the elders weren't paying attention, so our solo sister missionary tried to set the example by kneeling. But she kindof sunk/collapsed to her knees King-Lamoni-style, so everybody thought she had fainted. It was hilarious!

Also, we expect to get our travel plans this Friday! Estoy tan animado (I'm so excited)!

The temple today was awesome. I had a few questions in mind that I really wanted answered. We did an endowment session, and afterward in the Celestial Room I was praying for answers. As I prayed, I felt a calm come over me, telling me that all was right, and even though I'm faaar from being the perfect person, missionary, or district leader (I forgot to mention that new assignment last week), the Lord knows how to help. I testify that prayer works. You can always receive an answer to any question you have. I know that the Temple is the house of God, and in it are the saving ordinances we need. It is a house of peace and comfort. Most of all, I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the restored gospel is real, and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer.

Have a wonderful week! Be safe, be good. I love you all and so does the Lord. 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Blake

MTC Week 3!

Hola familia y amigos! Cómo estan???

This past week has seriously gone by so fast, I can't believe it. In one way I'm glad, because I can't wait to get to Argentina. At the same time, I'm even more anxious because that means I have so little time left to prepare!

Anyway, this week has been great. Plenty of ups and downs, but when I humble myself and rely on the Lord, their is an upside to everything.

We started TRC (Teaching Resource Center) this week. It's basically another investigator that we teach everyday for two weeks who is not our teacher, and possibly not a member (though we don't know for sure). Our TRC investigator is Adrian from Perú. He is super friendly, studies English at BYU, and loves movies/tv shows. We are currently teaching him the Plan of Salvation, although it's kindof hard because I need to be much more familiar with the lessons and with the language.

So in essence, things are great! The Lord has blessed me so much during the past three weeks. I love and pray for you all.

I'm going to spend most of my time trying to upload pictures today, since I didn't get to it last week or the week before.

Les amo!

Elder Andrew Blake

MTC Week 2

Hola familia y amigos!

This week went by so much faster than the first. People said it would, and I was a tad skeptical, but it's totally true! Anyway, so about this week:

We have 3-hr class blocks three times per day, with meals/exercise in between. We use one of them for personal, companionship, and language study to prepare for our investigators. During another we teach and investigator and study more. And at least one full period is a "class" taught by a teacher (who will only speak Spanish). One of our teachers, Hermano Stallings, plays the role of investigator for us. Last week he was Miguel Angel (and at the time we didn't know he was our teacher too; we were all at least partially mind-blown when he came into class with a shirt and tie and introduced who he really was), and this week he is Calisto.

It's really fun to be immersed in the language, but sometimes your brain just begs for English :) It's awesome though, and I know I couldn't have learned as much as I have without the help of the Lord. Our teachers remind us that every missionary learns "poco a poco" (little by little). 

Since Dad told me that he and Liz went swimming the other day, here's a joke for you all:

Q: "Qué hace un pez todo el día? (What does a fish do all day?)"

A: "Nada." (look it up if you don't know :)

It really is a privilege to be here on a mission. I am constantly strengthened by the testimonies of my district, leaders, teachers, and devotional speakers. It's easy to think "This is hard. Why am I here?" We are here to share the message of Jesus Christ; the message that no matter what life throws at us, we can be happy and hopeful; the message that no matter what mistakes we make or what weaknesses we have, they can be cleansed or made strong through His Atoning grace. This is a message of hope and joy to all nations. Cool note: "Gospel" in English means "good news." "Evangelio" in espanol means "good news brought by angles." (Evangelio). I love the verse in DyC: "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause?" (DyC 128:22).

I know this is God's true church restored again on the earth. We are God's children. Christ is our Savior and Brother. I love Him.

Allmyfriends: Keep being awesome! Love you all.

Thank you for your love and your letters. It's so good to hear from you all. Keep writing me what you're doing in life/school/work/etc.

Te amo,

Elder Blake

First Week in the MTC

Hola, familia y amigos!

   Well, I'm still alive :) Wednesday is my P-day and Temple day, fyi. The CCM (MTC) has been a very wonderful, challenging, and fun experience so far. THANK YOU ALL so much for your prayers and your letters to me, I know I'm being uplifted by you all, even from afar. I love you all so mucho!

   So after we said our goodbyes at the curb I was whisked off with all the other newbies through the MTC's main campus, where we got all of our study supplies, gospel materials en espanol, apartment keys, etc. Then a huge (and actually quite comfortable) bus took all of the Spanish-speaking missionaries to the West Campus, which is at BYU's Wyview housing. We only had time to dump our stuff in the apartment before walking to class across the street, where I met my new district. And then--SPANISH. 

   Our teacher, Hermano Norton, teaches the language and missionary teaching principles only in Spanish, except for a few words to clarify. It's so awesome. It's hard and fun at the same time. Rosetta Stone definitely helped me at least become familiar with what the language was like, but I think I've learned more here in a week than I have in the summer. And yes, we do already teach in our mission language. AHHHHHHHHHH! It's crazy, I am so terrible, but if you're humble, do your preparation, and have the Spirit, you can somehow muddle through. Seriously, the Spirit is so important. I know this is God's work because in no other thing have I felt the need for the Spirit more.

   My first companion, Elder Murphy, was and is such an awesome person. Very humble and also has a good start on the language. We in the district are all super sad that he had to go home temporarily for medical issues. But we pray that he'll be able to come back out as soon as possible. So now I'm in a trio with the other two Elders in my apartment. Their names are Elder Donelley (from Alabama) and Elder Ward (from SLC). They are fantastic, very friendly, and great examples to me. I'm truly blessed to have them.

   Other interesting things about the CCM:

The food is good. We have exercise activities in large inflatable buildings, used because of the recent influx of missionaries. If your name-tag somehow gets crooked, it's because "someone's thinking about you" :). Devotionals on Sunday and Tuesday are amazing. Sunday we heard from Jenny Oaks Baker and her family, and they played some amazingly spiritual musical numbers to go along with her talk. Afterwards we watched a recorded MTC devotional by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ". Seriously, go find it and watch it if you can. It will change the way you think and work every day. I've seen so many friends here, including Hermana Bowler. It's been wonderful.

   I forgot my camera at the classroom, so I'll have to send pictures next week. I'll try to answer everybody's personal emails today. I am blessed with so many! Thank you again for your love and support. I love you all.

   Yo se que el evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero. Yo se que el Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios. Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios en estos últimos dias. Y Jesucristo es el Salvador de el mundo--nuestro Salvador. Mediante Su expiación, familias puede ser eterna.

  Te amo ustedes todos!

Elder Blake