Funny Missionary Story

Things are going really well here in Texas!  We had another baptism on Saturday for Marcus Means.  It was awesome to see him finally get what he wanted in life from his mom… and from what I hear she’s slowly becoming a little more interested in what he’s doing, so i’m betting sometime before she dies she’ll join the church.

I am going to the Dr. tomorrow so I will let you know what he says.  The diet seems to be helping a little bit but isn’t a solution, but it may just be something that will happen while i’m on my mission due to anxiety even though I don’t feel that way at all.  It’s possible, but oh well.

Tell dad thanks for sending the package, we look forward to whenever mail comes.  We think that the mail people get a kick out of seeing how anxious missionaries get while checking the mail box.

NASA was alot of fun and I took lots of pictures that I will be sending to you.  It was really cool to see all of the different things that NASA has.

So funny missionary story to tell.  And you will have to look up on the internet to see if you can find the picture I am going to tell you about.  It is really cool and I like it alot.  So it was Sunday morning and Elder Bollwinkel was giving a baptismal interview to an investigator.  Me, the two zone leaders (Elder Jarman and Elder Clove), and the two sister missionaries in out district (Sister R and Sister M) were sitting in the Foyer just waiting for the interview to get over and for church to start.  First I need to give background info: Elder Jarman is super funny and was sitting next to me on the couch.  Elder Clove is also really funny but is quiet at the same time, he was sitting opposite of us. Sister R can get very stressed out and was that morning so she wasn’t in the best mood.  Sister M was rummaging through the Zone Leaders stuff and they asked her what she was doing, and she said just looking at the pictures.  She came to the picture that I was talking about.  It has two missionaries in their apartment getting ready for the day.  One is putting his shoes on and the other is looking in the mirror putting his tie on.  In the reflection of the one who was putting his tie on, it shows him dressed in the armor of god with Jesus Christ standing next to him.  Super cool picture.  anywho, Sister M looked at the picture and asked Sister R if she had ever seen it before.  Sister R, in a grumpy voice, said yes they have one for Sister Missionaries as well.  At that very moment, Elder Clove, who was quietly studying, looked up and said with a curious look on his face, asked: “What were they doing, putting their panty-hose on?!”  Elder Jarman, clove and I all burst out laughing and Sister R got mad and said “no they were studying!”  I felt bad afterward but it was still really funny.  It will make more sense if you see the picture.  well that’s all I have time is running out.  Love you lots and can’t wait to hear from you soon!

NASA

Things are going well here.  There is ups and downs to every mission, and I’ve been fortunate enough to not really experience too much of a down yet.

The ward is really great… it takes up the entire city of Pasadena, so it’s not like Utah wards haha.  There are over 500 members in the ward but only about 100-125 are active.  We’re working hard to try and get people reactivated.  Less active people are more of a pain sometimes even more than investigators! haha.  I am excited for transfers to come up.  It will be sad to see Elder Bollwinkel go, but i’m ready to see what the Lord has in store for me!  Plus I won’t be a greenie anymore!  It has been a little bit challenging for me to be on the being taught side at first instead of the Teacher side which is what I usually am on.  But even I needed to be humbled and be taught new things!  It’s going well.  

Guess what!!! I’m going to NASA today!  I’m super excited!  Brother Dimmick is going to take us down there and we’re going to take the tour!  I can’t wait!  I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures so that I can get them to coley so she won’t kill me!
Well, tell everyone that I love them and that I miss them lots! If it gets close to transfers like a week or under, tell people to send letters to the mission home just in case i get transferred (even though I think I’m safe this time).  I will talk to you soon and I love you so much!!!  Can’t wait to get to talk to you in about 3 months!!!

All my love,

Blake

Dry Spell (09/02/2009 letter)

The south is great, i think i am finally getting adjusted to it.  I love the ward that I am serving in (Pasadena 1st) mainly because of the members that are in it like the Dimmicks and their daughter Ginger Blevins.  There is also this really cool couple in the ward named Mike and Clarissa Pofelski and they are actually from Utah, so it’s really cool talking to them because it reminds me of home!  We had dinner over at their house on sunday and again tonight.  Mike just finished Nursing school and was just hired on at a local hospital to be a nurse in the ER, so he’s loving the medical field.  The weather has been super nice here the past week, it’s still hot so don’t get me wrong, but there has been cloud cover and hasn’t been quite as humid as before… but it’s still hot!  I have about 3 1/2 weeks left of this transfer and with Elder Bollwinkel most likely.  Usually they split up the trainer and trainee after 2 transfers so that’s going to be a sad day, but i’m excited to see who my new companion will be.  I can’t believe that everything is already going by so fast! i’ve been out 2 1/2 months already! The weeks fly by super fast so that helps too.

Elder Bollwinkel and I went through a little bit of a dry spell for a week or so, but things have really picked up again which is a relief.  We have 3 more baptisms planned out.  We have one this saturday which is for Hanna Winston (daughter of Ira and Samantha).  They said that since she is ready and they have to wait to get a divorce, to go ahead and let her get baptized and then they will when they can. So That is super exciting!  We have one also on the 12th of September with probably the smartest 11 year old boy i’ve ever met.  His name is Marcus Means and he comes from a Mom that is super super super against Mormons but she knows how much this means to him so she is letting him do it.  He found the church by becoming friends with missionaries that live in his complex, and ever since he knows that it is the only true church and has a super strong testimony.  His mom said she won’t be at the baptism but she has already given in by letting him be baptized after a long wait so we’re hoping that she will be more open to it as well.  The last baptism we have set is for the 26th of September with a 20 yr. old girl we just met named Emily.  We taught her the first lesson and the spirit was so strong that afterwards we extended the baptismal invitation and she said yes and that she has never been baptized before… so it’s good that she is going to start out with one that counts!  haha.  She’s super nice though and is really sincere.  We have some other people who are really close as well so i’ll keep you posted.

Well I love you so much and this week has been tons better, and I know this because of the love and support yall have for me and your faithfulness to the gospel and living the commandments.  Keep it up, please!
Tell everyone I love them lots and lots!