This last Tuesday we went on visits with
a member named Carlos. He is this pretty cool member that is twenty-years old
and he is actually getting his mission papers ready right now, hasn’t been able
to go yet because of knee problems. It is cool to do visits with him because he
is really smart and a good teacher and helps out a lot.
We took him to visit
the investigator Nicha. She was going to get baptized but she was really
nervous because she is afraid of water. But we got her excited for her baptism
and reassured her that everything would be alright. Got everything set up with
her to get her over to the church. The baptism went well the only thing that
sucked is that the water was cold. Carlos baptized her because he is strong and
could baptize her with ease without dropping her.
Also during lunch on Tuesday we ate
some crab at the bishop’s house. It was in the form of like a salsa thing. It
had cucumbers, pineapple, and crab all diced up together. We dipped tortilla
chips into it and ate it with a side of rice. It actually wasn’t too bad.
On Wednesday we had a zone meeting. What
happens is that the leaders of the zone go and have a meeting with the
president of the mission and the assistants and then they share with us what
they said.
We got taught about proactivity. They
started off by sharing D&C 58:27-28 where it says always be engaged in a
good cause based on your own free will. Proactivity is an attitude where
someone takes complete control of the personal conduct and their actions. It doesn’t
just mean taking initiative but taking the responsibility and making sure for yourself
that a job gets done. I liked a quote they shared it goes like this a good
leader makes it so his leaders don’t have to worry.
They started off by talking a bit
about some different generations:
Baby boomers (those who were born
after all the men came back from the war), generation x, and generation y (that
is our generation) this generation likes the technology, likes to learn, and is
curious, and likes to ask `y` or why. They then talked about the importance of
the why. They showed a video from YouTube on Kevin Durant it was a motivational
pump up video with some black gangster voice.
Kevin Durant is a famous basketball
player that wears the number 35 on his jersey. He does that because his coach
died at thirty five years old. Before and after every game he pounds the number
on his chest. He’s got a why his coach is his why. When he scores he doesn’t do
it to gloat, he doesn’t do it to show he is better than other basketball
players, to make others look bad, he does it for his coach. If you don’t give
120% in a game it’s because you don’t have a why. What is your why? Why do you
get up in the morning? Why do you put on the jersey? If you don’t have a why
you are nothing. It was a really cool
lesson about our whys about the vision we have.
Later that same day we went with a
less active and her two daughters who aren’t members. We had a cool lesson with
them and got them to commit to coming to church.
On Thursday we went on some
divisions. I went with my zone leader Elder Meyer because my comp went with his
to the offices to get a cake. The Sister Chavez makes cakes for all of the
missionaries on their birthdays. While they went Elder Meyer went to help a
member out with her English class. We helped give the final, which just
included us reading off some questions some were pretty funny. Stuff like where
you live. Or have you ever invented something. What kind of music do you like? Where
do you want to go and vacation? Stuff like that. It was pretty funny because
this one kid kept relating everting to sandwiches. I don’t know if it was
because his vocabulary was limited or because he liked sandwiches. It was a
pretty fun experience. The only part that sucked was that we had to pick out
the person we thought spoke the best. That sucked.
Later that day I went to interview
this guy named Alex. He has been going to seminary or institute for like three
years. It was cool to talk with him he was really smart. He only had one problem
and that was his job, because he is a bar tender. It is bad because he has to
try the alcohol that he mixes before he sells it. I told him he was completely
ready but he wouldn’t be able to if he still had that job and drank. He said he
had no desire to drink he just did it for work. I explained to him how the lord
asks for sacrifices, and how the bigger the sacrifices the bigger the blessings
and how sometimes we need to take that step of faith before we can get the
blessings. I gave him some scriptural examples and he was really cool and
willing to take the steps and do what it took.
The other day we were on our way to
lunch and we were really far away walking on a dirt road by a railroad track. It
was crazy hot and I said it would be nice if a car pulled up offering a ride. I
said it jokingly because we were on a road that cars never used and that was
always empty. But then a few seconds later out of nowhere a car pulled up and
offered us a ride. It was a cool little miracle. We couldn’t go with them
because they weren’t members and we can only take rides from members, looks
like I need to be more specific next time ha-ha.
Also later we were having a lesson
with Nicha about the holy ghost and we were telling her about how the holy
ghost helps you out and lets you know what to say when you need to, helps you
find answers to questions, and I went to share a scripture that popped up into
my mind that is found in the bible. I opened them up and I forgot the reference
or how to get there. I then looked and saw the scripture right there on the
page and I had been guided right to it. It was a cool little example for her.
Then we had a lesson from President Chavez
about the three kingdoms of glory. 1. Celestial, 2. Terrestrial and 3.Telestial.
The last glory Telestial is for those who don’t obey the Ten Commandments, Terrestrial
is for those who live the Ten Commandments and the Celestial glory is for those
that obey the Ten Commandments and the higher law doing all of the necessary
ordinances here on the earth. He pointed out that a lot of people qualify for
the Celestial and it isn’t that hard. but then he pointed out that if you do
everything you need to qualify for it and on Sunday you go to church and
magnify your calling there and everything but then you go home and flip on the
football game you fall all the way to the last kingdom of glory because you
broke one of the ten commandments. I just remember thinking that would suck to
do everything you need to and lose it all to that.
The work here has been great we have
been so busy this last week. Also I got another companionship added to my
district some sisters. Sister Suniga from Puebla I think and Sister Obergozo
from Mexico City.
I looked at the forecast just barely
because on my missionary portal it has got a forecaster thing and I can put in
the zip code and I checked and the weather here and where you guys are is about
the same. I think that the only difference is that here the sun is really
direct so if feels a lot worse than it is. Maybe it’s not that different than
what I remember I am just thrown off because I was always in air conditioned
places.
Best of luck to you guys with
everyone home for summer break ha-ha.
Love Elder Blanchard
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