Email:
tyler.blanchard@myldsmail.net


Address:

Julio Velazquez-Elder Tyler Blanchard
Po. Box 1486
Presidio, TX 79845

Friday, December 26, 2014

Week 19 (Anáhuac, Mexico)



This week we took a picture as a zone and the zone leaders took us all out to eat. We went to some chicken place that was really good. It was like barbequed or something and they served them with tortillas. That was the day I got the package from you guys.


I did get the package and the stuff was great with all of the candy canes ha-ha. The chocolate oranges and chocolate sticks are going to be great. Thanks for the pillow cases that will be nice to have and the soccer ball and pump were perfect. I was actually thinking of going out and buying one. Lately i have been juggling in the morning just a bit so I don't lose it all. I liked the missionary prep tools that you sent those were cool and the little packet with the cards of paintings was cool. 

My comp is great and he is really cool. I also forgot to tell you he has 13 months in the mission. He is a great missionary and i have learned a lot. we get along really well.



We also had the meeting with the president; he gave a lesson on 'who we are'. He went through the lineage from Adam and Eve down to us and went into some deep doctrine.

Everyone always talks about how smart he is about all of the doctrine and stuff how profound all of his lessons are and how they all intertwine. Everyone thinks he will be a member of the seventy. I can’t wait until I can understand him completely. I understand him pretty well but sometimes it is too fast or he uses a word I don’t know and I get lost. 


We have actually found quite a few new people, it is still tough to find them in their houses especially now because everyone has left to be with their families. This last week we found these two little girls and both of their parents are deaf and mute. They cant read or write either. It was cool to teach them though, and they seemed pretty open so we will see. We found someone the other day who was really open but she isn't married to her husband and can't for the next two months because he is gone for El Paso or something for work. 

The way they choose the missionary companions and where they serve is done by two missionaries who are assistants to the president. They arrange everything and present it to the president then he prays and lets them know which ones work and don't and they keep trying till the president feels good with it.
 




The other day we were walking to the ward mission meeting and my comp got kicked by some guy. We were walking and the other guy was walking in the other direction and my comp said buenos noches, and the guy just kept walking. He walked passed us then turned around and kicked my comp, then walked away. We were not scared one because my comp is crazy strong and could have taken him easily and two because it was more funny than anything.



(This is the picture of the guys from the MTC. From the left it goes Elder St. Pierre, Elder Parker, Elder Brown and me.)


One morning my companion and I were talking about the food we were craving, because we had eaten caldo like every day (caldo is just a soup with vegetables and like a leg of chicken or steak in it, it isn’t bad but it gets old). I was saying that just a simple bean and cheese burrito would be nice, and my comp said he loves spaghetti and hadn’t had it since he has been in the mission. Later that day during lunch, we were served those foods. It was a cool little miracle.

Not much else different this week. Sorry I caught you guys off guard and wrote so early. It is just with the new comp and with a washing machine it is just a bit different timing wise. It might be the same next week but I don’t know. I have so much candy right now it is crazy I will need to take a picture of my suitcase and show you guys, so whatever you do no more candy ha-ha.


For our mission Christmas party, we listened to talks from bishops from around the mission, listened to the choir, and to some missionaries sing solos, play guitars, saxaphones, bongos in between talks. after that we ate and talked.

 



 

Merry Christmas to everyone and see you later until Christmas day.



Monday, December 22, 2014

Week 18 (Anáhuac, Mexico)



This week I got a new companion his name is Elder Hansen. We are both in Anahuac in my same area. He is from Logan, Utah. His nickname is Thor because he is huge like Thor and also looks like him, especially before the mission because he had almost the same hair. I knew him before the changes because he was in CuauhtĂ©moc and in my zone. Elder Maldonado went to Parral and is now a zone leader. There were no other changes within Anahuac…there were a few more changes within the zone but not much is different.

 
This week while in Chihuahua for the changes I saw Elder Parker, he was an elder that was in my district in the MTC. He had to serve in Las Vegas or Reno, Nevada for a month while waiting for some immigration papers. It was cool to see him again and I was glad to see that he made it here.

This week working with Elder Hansen went well we just had problems finding members to help us out with lessons because they have all been busy, but we have been doing really well. We have been doing lots of contacts because lots of the people weren’t home this week for lessons. 

I talked to a recent convert this last week and she was telling me that before her baptism she was having lots of problems with her leg because of diabetes but now after the baptism her leg has been doing a lot better and not hurting her. 

The ward in Anahuac is growing really fast. The youth of the ward have been inviting their non-member friends to church and helping convert them, the situation reminds me a lot of one of the Mormon messages. It talks of a ward in Africa and how there was one priesthood boy in the ward and he didn’t like being the only one so he invited a friend who invited a friend that started a whole domino effect.

This last Sunday five minutes before church I was asked to give a talk in church because the person who was supposed to didn’t show up. It wasn’t too bad, well for me. I think it was probably worse for those in the congregation that had to listen ha-ha.

This next week on Saturday is the Christmas dinner in Chihuahua. All of the missionaries in Chihuahua go to the city and we all eat together. Sounds like they are going to have some restaurants catering, the members will be making some food, and there will be tons of desserts. There will also be a dinner in the ward of Anahuac but I don’t know many of the details yet. 

This Christmas time has been great and I haven’t been feeling down or bad at all. It has been a cool experience. Everyone says that they love Christmas' on the mission and so far I agree, it has been great.

That is a good idea to make drawings of Jesus for those that are lonely or just for investigators in general. I just have to find the time, and then maybe I can do a couple.


The picture of the houses is of the fog that we saw last week in Anahuac. It was a lot thicker than it looks in the picture. It was really cool to see. I think I took this on Wednesday. It hasn’t snowed at all but everyone says it should be snowing soon. So I guess we will see.  


The picture with the green background in of me in the theatre. We were going to be showing the Christmas devotional and Christmas videos and be inviting people off of the street to enter and watch. A lot like we did the other week. But since we had been working so hard and having so much success they rewarded us by letting us watch the Christmas devotional.

 
And then I took that picture of my comp just barely while we were here at the cyber writing because I knew you guys would kill me if I didn’t have at least one picture of him.

The zone leaders just came into the cyber and they brought my package, thanks so much. I will be sure to take some pictures tonight when I get back to Anahuac. 

Love Elder Blanchard