Arrival in Argentina

Here are some pictures of Elder Blake's arrival in Argentina

Last night in mission home in Idaho 

At the temple with President and Sister Robertson

Awesomeness in Argentina//Week Something or Other

¡Hola queridos familia y amigos!

This week has been awesome, and hard, and some more awesome, and some more hard. But it´s always the work of the Lord. I have no doubt of that. He is there, He is God. We are His children and because of His infinite love for each and every person on this planet He has given us a message - a gospel - of hope, knowledge, and love. But unfortunately, not everybody knows about it. Some desperately seek it, not knowing where to find it; some search without even knowing; and some have accepted it and forgotten how sweet it was to them. That´s why I´m here. To bring to everyone this inexplicable light. That is my privilege and duty, and I must obey. (See también the last verse of 2nd Nephi).

Interesting activities for this week:

-Played fútbol with a bunch of boys. We saw them in the street and started to talk about gospel stuff, but they interrupted us and said, ¨When are you going to play fútbol with us?" "Why not now?" we responded :) We played for like 20-30 minutes, which was fun for us and also helped us gain their confidence, and then taught them about the Restoration. We´re hoping it planted a few seeds and we´re going to follow up with them this week.

-Hmm, what else. Oh yeah, we talked with a bandista family (i.e. nature/spirit worshippers). That was interesting. One of the guys there was super funny, joking about the U.S. and imitating a yankee accent.

We´ve also been praying and working "a fúl" ("really hard") to find new people to teach and helping progress those we already visit. We´ve been blessed to find some really great people and families. It´s a powerful feeling  to be part of a lesson, sharing this message with somebody, and then afterwards asking them, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority of God?" There is power of the Spirit in that question, and that´s what we have to have every day. Honestly, there´s nothing I´d rather do right now than this work.

I love you all muchísimo. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on my behalf. I pray that God will be with you in everything that you all do.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Blake

Week of Awesomeness and Miracles

¡Hola familia y amigos amados!

Wow, what a week. My compañero, Elder Jetsel, and I stay busy working with investigators and menos activos.One big lesson that I´ve finally sarted to notice that faith, without works, surely is dead. A missionary can pray and pray and pray for a baptism, a Christ-like attribute, or whatever, but unless he is truly "anxiously engaged in a good cause, choosing many good things of his own free will," and not expecting for blessings to be handed to him on a silver platter, he´s never going to accomplish anything meaningful. I hope and pray (and now work :) that I will continue to apply this in every moment of my mission, my stewardship here in Argentina. The Lord deserves it of me, and so I´m going to do it.

So, for a miracle. It´s been almost 5 months since this area has had a bautismo, and we were super bothered about this. We were trying to learn what we could from that trial, and just continued working and praying. Then, Tuesday night we got a call from the bishop telling us he had just talked to one of our investigators (who hasn´t progressed since he was found 5 years ago), and that he wanted to be baptized! We immediately ran over to his house, and saw a significant change in his appearance and countenance from what the older missionaries tell me: shaven, shorter hair, and a real desire to change his life. The Lord works in mysterious ways and in His own time, and we are grateful for the opportunity to help His child make covenants to bring him to Christ. We continue teaching him, trying to prepare him for his baptism, which is set for the 29 de Noviembre!

Also, we had a 2-mission conference this Saturday. All of the missionaries from the Buenos Aires West and North missions met and listened to none other than D. Todd Christofferson of the 12. Wow. That is something I will never ever forget. You could feel the Spirit as he walked into the room (literally 2 feet from my comp and I!), and his talk was amazing. Then he opened the time for some questions. It was there that I really felt the Spirit teaching me the lesson I mentioned above. I know that we have modern day apostles and prophets. They have indeed been called of God to lead and guide His true church for the benefit of all of His children.

It´s been a great week, and "because I have been given much, I too must give." I´ve got a lot to learn still, and a lot of work to do. Thank you all soo so much for your prayers and examples for me. I love you all very much and hope you have a wonderful week.

Con amor,

Elder Blake

A Different Part of the Same Vineyard// Greetings from Argentina

¡Hola familia y amigos!

Wow, what a week. I can´t believe how much has happened, and how much I have learned already. This week has probably been one of the most stressful of my life. But although it´s like that--bueno, BECAUSE it´s like that, how grateful I am, because it gives me the opportunity to push harder, exercise more faith, and through sacrifice become a better and hopefully more worthy servant of God to help bring about His work in this other part of the vinyard.

Last Sunday I was given the opportunity to bear my testimony in my Spanish branch in Boise. I love them so much, and many came up to me to wish me goodbye. That night I had a brief interview with President Winder. And the next day I flew out! In my travels on Monday (which were long, but not bad) I met a group of other MTC missionaries and visa-waiters all going to Argentina, including the three other visa-waiters from my MTC district! It was a sweet reunion. We all got there, met the assistants and President and Sister Robertson. Tuesday they took us to a park called Tercer de Febrero (3rd of February), where Elder Melvin J. Ballard dedicated the land of South America for the preaching of the gospel. So cool! 

After that we had a bunch of trainings, and then got our assignments and compañeros. I am with Elder Jetsel, a stud from nowhere other than Boise Idaho, and we are in a city called Marcos Paz, about an hour and a half south-west-ish from the capital. There are so many good people here, and we are working hard to bring as many of them as possible to the knowledge of the gospel that has made us so happy. With the help of the Lord, good things are coming to pass.

A few important acontecimientos (events) of my first week:

-The most dirt and mud I´ve ever walked through. I hardly care anymore.

-Gaining trust with a young investigadora and her friends. They call me "Flaquito (Skinny)". Yep, that´s fun I guess, but very true. I´ll roll with it.

-Some of the best food I´ve ever eaten, including yogurt from a bag, cookies for breakfast (that´s kindof how Argentinos roll), asado (ribs), and milanesa.

-Gotten sworn at for being American.

-Gotten yelled at by a drunk guy with a hammer.

-Given a talk in sacrament meeting about the work of salvation.

-But most importantly, having the opportunity to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ all day, every day. There is nothing I´d rather do right now, because I know it´s true. I know it´s true.

Love you all so much! I think about you and pray for you. I want you all to remember that whenever you´re having a bad day, just say a little prayer, think something good about yourself, and then do something good for somebody else. Always works :)

Así se empieza en Argentina.

Con muchisimo amor para todos,

Elder Blake

Off to Argentina!

Elder Blake left Boise early Monday morning for Buenos Aires (via Salt Lake and Atlanta). He had the opportunity to call his parents for a brief moment and all is well! He should have landed by now and we look forward to hearing from him soon!

To make up for the lack of news, here are some pictures he sent last week!

The family with whom I had my first dinner in Boise

My early Christmas package from my family