Week 24

Dear Family and Friends:

We received transfer calls this morning and I am staying and I am keeping my companion too. He is moving to district leader, so we are like going to be super busy all of the time, but I am super happy to stay in this area because I love it to death.

Since I have skyped you things have been kind of crazy. Ha ha. So remember how I was telling you that our shower went out (no hot water and the water shoots everywhere!). Ya, so we asked the man that owns the house where our power is and he turned it off for us. So we go down to our apartment and I start to take the shower head part off so we can fix it and I start taking 220 volts of power into my body. And for some reason it just wasn't letting me go, so then I fell off my chair right onto my back. It totally sucked. Ha ha. But other than that, it's okay. Ha ha ha. Like right after it happened Elder Despain ran into the room and called the Mission President and he was so worried he drove an hour and a half to our area to see if I was alright (thank goodness someone is there to look after him since I can't be!). It was pretty crazy.

But anyways that's about as much as I have to say this week. I know it's not very long, sorry. Y'all have a good week and I'll have a lot to say next week. It's just I talked to you on Quarta so I don't really have much to say. Ha. Love y'all. Have an amazing week :)!!

Tchou
Love,
Elder Blake

P.S. Sorry I don't have a ton of time today. I will email everyone else back next week.

This is the soccer jersey that Robson and his family gave Dylan for Christmas.

 

I am assuming that this is Robson.

 

Relaxing after a crazy, busy week!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone. Skyping with Dylan was amazing. He looks so great and is doing wonderful. He has the spirit in him and around him, for sure. We got to talk for about an hour on Christmas. When he first came on, I have to say, that I didn't really recognize him right away. He was speaking so fast in Portuguese and his head was turned. Then he looked straight into the camera and I was like, Oh my heck - that's Dylan!

A couple of things that I remember. He said that on Christmas Eve, the people in Brazil open all their presents. An investigator, Robson (said Hobson) and his family invited him to come over. He said that these people are great and they believe the gospel, they just weren't ready to commit to baptism yet. He said that they brought out all these little presents for their kids. They don't really have a lot, but they got their kids presents. And then after the kids opened their, Roson brought out a present for Dylan. And it was a soccer jersey (which is not cheap). He was near tears as he talked to us about the humble circumstances these people live in, yet they were willing to invite him into their home and give him something. How thankful I am that people are willing to make Dylan feel like their family, especially during holidays.

He also said that the hardest thing for missionaries there were to get everyone, but especially girls and women to understand the importance of modesty. It is summer in Brazil and so hot - like 98 degrees and 90% humidity - so people wear as little clothing as possible. He said that young women especially don't really care about their bodies and the things that we know are important.

He said that when there is a special occasion, like Christmas, the Brazilians know how to party (lots of them with alcohol, but some not). He said that Brazilians know how to BBQ so much better than Americans and he hoped that he could take his whole family to Brazil one day.

We all told him how proud we are of him. He is doing amazing things and is right where he is supposed to be. He is such a great example to all of us. He bore his testimony to us in Portuguese and although we couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, we all understood the spirit. There was not a dry eye on either side of the computer!

The amazing thing for me is how great he is speaking Portuguese! We had to remind him on more than one occasion to speak English because he would just start speaking Portuguese. And there were several words that he couldn't remember in English, like investigator and sausage. He would have to try and explain it to us and then we would tell him the word. Funny kid. I am excited to hear how much he has changed by Mother's Day!

The only bad part was missing some important family members. Maquel, Lyle, and baby Porter headed to Salt Lake City so they could be with Lyle's family on Christmas, but Dylan was so sad that he couldn't see and talk to them. He was really looking forward to catching up with his sis and brother-in-law and seeing his nephew for the first time in person. But hopefully they will be able to be with us on Mother's Day.

I hated hanging up, but I did only cry for about an hour. That's a lot better than the days that I cried when we dropped him off. We are all so proud of Elder Blake and I am so thankful that we have the technology to see him on special days like Christmas! It was definitely the best part of the day!!!!!!

Week 22 - Almost Christmas!

Ohhhhh . . . Tudo bem . . . Como voces esta?? (So from what I can find, this means "Okay. How's everything going?")

Ha ha. It's super weird having Christmas come up so fast and not being with y'all and just seeing the weather getting hotter and hotter. Like I sent a picture of my pants one day, and ya, they are just all sweaty. Ha ha. So I think I am going to stick with wearing black so everyone doesn't have to see my sweat. Ha ha. 

But anyways this week has been pretty good. I feel like every week I have less and less to say because I am so busy. I just forget everything that I'm supposed to tell y'all. Ha ha. But it's cool because President Tanner just changed P-Day to Christmas and I can just tell you everything over Skype. But the sad thing is we only get an hour. That's gay, but oh well.

This week at church we had three amazing investigators at church that will hopefully be baptized soon!! I love all of them so much and they tell me they love me too. Ha ha. It's hilarious. But anyways, this week has been good. Every day I learn more and more. And every day I learn just how important this gospel is and how important it is to have it in our lives. Getting to go to the temple here and seeing all of the people there, that just have really nothing and just give everything that they have to the Lord. It's just super humbling. Getting to go to a session in Portuguese was awesome!! Like it really was. It's just awesome being able to completely understand another language like you've known it your whole entire life.

The language is really awesome. I guess I must be doing good because President Tanner wants me to train next transfer. Ha. I don't know if I'm quite ready for that yet. But I guess another good sign is I'm forgetting a lot of words in English. Ha ha. It's hilarious. But I definitely don't know all the words or anything, but I can get my point across. I can understand pretty much everything too. So that's good, I guess.

But like the work is going on day by bay and my testimony is growing day by day. I know for a fact that this church is true!! I truly feel the hand of the Lord in my life day after day after day. It's truly amazing and I truly love it! 

I'm super excited to Skype y'all on Christmas. Sorry for not writing much, but there are just kids all around me playing this game and yelling and it's driving me nuts. So I'm going to leave. Ha ha. Love y'all and have an amazing week!!

Tchou

Love,
Elder Blake

I could have gone his whole mission without seeing these - disgusting!

Junk Food!

Okay, I seriously know why he should NOT wear Khakis anymore!

These two are my favorites - Love them!

Week 21

Dear Family:

I can't believe it - he's here! That just made my whole entire life seeing my little nephew. He is the cutest ever (I would most definitely have to agree with him) and it just made me want to see him so bad. Like I'm missing out on it and I'm sad, but at the same time, this is where I need to be. I'm so happy that everything went fine. I have just been praying my little heart out all week for Mick (Maquel) and Port (Porter) to be okay. I'm so happy that everything was fine. I love you guys so much!!

But anyways, this week has been a crazy week. Me and Elder Despain just always have a good time - I love it, ha ha. But this week on Wednesday we had District meeting and then after we had lunch. And it's this really poor lady who feeds us and it's always a sketchy lunch. So we get to her house and there is just rice and then this stuff in a pot. So I get rice on my dirty plate and then open up the pot and me and Elder Dispain were like, crap. It was chicken heart, liver, and feet - the cheapest stuff you can buy. So we just prayed and started to eat. It was not good at all, especially the liver and feet. Like the heart was gross, but I could eat it, but the feet and liver I just wanted to puke. So I got it all down with the help of the Lord. Then we go out and teach that day, and that night we both wake up just sicker than sick. It sucked, but we are all good now. Ha ha. (It is times like this that I wish I could somehow send him a super delicious, home-cooked meal!)

The I got like 3 of Grandma Balch's letters which was way cool. In one of them she said something about something crazy happening in Blanding that kept Lyle super busy, but she just figured that you told me about it, and you didn't. Ha ha. What happened? Like keep me updated on all this cool stuff! (Yes, I totally forgot to tell him about it. An elementary school in our area, at Montezuma Creek, had a gas leak in it and it sent a whole bunch of kids and teachers to the hospital right before Thanksgiving. It was pretty scary, but no one died.)

But anyways we don't have much time to email today because today isn't our p-day. Tomorrow is because we are going to the TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha. I'm so excited. But since I don't have much time and I have like a million people to email back I'll just tell you a couple of crazy experiences that happened yesterday.

So yesterday was super busy and we had like meetings with the Bishop and with our ward mission leader and a bunch of other things. But, we went and had a lesson after all of this at like 7:00 last night. It was just a contact that we made in the street that was just in a hurry that said, ya, this is my address and like come to my house this day at this time. So we kinda felt like there was going to be no one there. But we went anyways and we get there and he remembered us and he was like I'm glad that you remember that I told you to come to our house. Then he let us in and he had a family. We did a 24 hour fast from Saturday after lunch to Sunday lunch for the mission that each dupla (duo, set) would find a family. And we did. And they let us in and gave us drink and food. We taught them and they understood and were super happy. They said that they would come to church and they accepted to be baptized and said that they knew it was true. It was just awesome that that happened.

 But anyways, from their house in Quimcios it's like an hour long walk home and we only had like 40 minutes until 9:00 (curfew) so we were walking super fast and this ambulance like flew by us. We were getting closer to our house and we were like, I wonder what happened. So we just kept walking and we saw this guy like just yelling and cussing and a bunch of stuff like screaming this isn't my fault and all this stuff. Then we just see this motorcycle in the road all jacked up and then this guy laying in the middle of the road with blood all over. The guys helmet was just shredded to pieces and then we see that like he's not moving or anything. The we see them cut the pants off of the guy and his femur is just snapped in half and sticking out of his leg. Like it was crazy. Then some people came up to us because they saw that we were wearing white shirts and ties and they asked us if we would say a prayer for him and his family. So we did and it was just super amazing. I don't know what happened to him, but I just have a feeling that he is okay.

Anyways, that's my stories for this week. I love all of you guys and just hope that you are all doing amazing. Y'all are the best. Love you and have a good week.

Tchou (Bye)
Te amo (Love you)
Elder Blake 


The best thing about Mega (the picture website we are sharing photos through) is that I get a bunch of pictures, instead of just one or two. The worst thing about it is I have no captions. So take your guess on what these pictures are all about. I'm just glad that he looks so happy!

Week 20

Dear Family and Friends:

I really thought baby Porter (his sister's baby) would be here by now. Ha. But that's okay. I will get to see pictures of him next week.

So this week was good. I got a new companion and stuff. He is an American and so we just have the time of our lives and just laugh and have a good time. You have no idea how much this kid reminds me of Stubbie. Ha ha. This kid is straight up Chase Richmond in the flesh. Ha ha. I call him Stubbs all of the time and he's like, "Why do you call me that?" and I'm like, "Oops! I keep forgetting that you're not really Stubbs." Ha ha. The funny thing is he played center for his football team too. Ha ha.

So this week has been pretty rough at times too because this Elder doesn't know the area so everything relies on me. It's pretty stressful when appointments fall through, but I guess that is just part of life. And it's hard to learn Portuguese because he is still learning too, so it's super tough. For like lessons and such, I have to teach about half because his Portuguese runs out and I have to start. Ha ha. But anyways, it's super good that I have an American companion. I like it a lot and I think that President Tanner is doing this to me because next transfers we are getting a lot of new missionaries and he wants me to train, so I am pretty nervous for that. Ha. I don't really feel like my Portuguese is good enough to do that yet.

Julio, one of our investigators has been coming to church for like the last three weeks and being taught and everything. He just hasn't gotten an answer yet, so last night I suggested to my companion that we should do the prayer circle - pretty much I pray, then Elder Despain prays, and then Julio does. And it just keeps going on and on until he feels like he received an answer or he just doesn't want to pray anymore. So we had the prayer circle and about the 3rd time around he started crying when he was praying and said that he was really feeling the spirit and he knows that this is the true church on Earth. And he said that he would think about baptism and we would talk to him about it again on Thursday when we go back. So that was my miracle for the week!

But Brasil doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. Ha ha. They don't even know what the heck it is. But they definitely know how to party. Everyone is constantly hung over and it's hilarious. Anyways, I get to Skype in like 23 days (I'm so excited!!) so I will be able to see all of y'all. Ha ha. But I really don't have much to say this week. I love you guys. Have a good week. You're all amazing :)!

Tchou
Love,
Elder Blake

 

Me and my new companion - Elder Despain

I am assuming this is his church

Week 19

Dear Family:

This last week has been awesome. Yesterday we had a baptism of this little boy, Ryan, and he is so awesome. Me and Elder Teixeira finished out the transfer with 4 baptisms which is good. President Tanner called this morning and congratulated us and promoted Elder Teixeira to financial secretary. That means I will be getting a new companion and means that I will be at transfers tomorrow. And that means I will get to see ELDER TAGGGGGGGG. Fetch - I'm so excited! Ha. Like y'all have no idea. Elder Tagg is like the most hilarious kid on this planet. Ha ha.

But anyways, when I first got here to Sao Paulo and it was raining and lightening and everything, I took out my camera and I started to record. But now I realize that was stupid of me because it rains every single day, like non-stop. It gets super annoying. So I'm trying to send the rain to Blanding, ha ha. But one bad thing is my shoes are broken (yes, again), and they just let so much water in. And I didn't get a rain coat or an umbrella before I came so I just get soaked, ha ha. But, it puts a little action into my life. Ha ha.

So there are so many people that I have just grown so close with here on the mission that are already going home tomorrow. Listening to them talk about going home and stuff was making me so dang homesick, and I was just thinking about home all of the time. But I've been reading the New Testament a lot and I was in Lucas capitlo 9 (Luke chapter 9) the other day and verse 62 just pounded on me (And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God). Like seriously. Once I read that I was just like that was exactly for me, and I've started working so I can't look back.

Then Elder Garrett told me this quote, and it's a super amazing one. He said, "You have your whole life to look forward to going on a mission, you have the rest of your life to look back on your mission. But, you only have two years to serve your mission." Isn't that just the truth? Like holy cow. When he told me that, it just hit me and just thinking that there has already been over 4 months that have passed. It feels like just yesterday that y'all were dropping me off at the MTC. Like that's crazy! I just need to dedicate all I have these next 19 months to the Lord and then when I look back, I'll be able to say that I have no regrets - and it will be AWESOME!

But fetch, it's so hard to get people to church because our church is like a 20 minute bus ride from our area and a bus costs 3 reais. When people don't have much money, it's hard to get people there. But yesterday, we woke up early to walk about 45 minutes to one of our investigators houses to try and get her to church. And she wasn't even there. So we were kinda bummed and just got onto the bus and went to church. But when we got there, we ended up having 8 investigators show up all by themselves. And on top of that, we had a baptism after church and they all got to see it and they were all excited. So this next transfer is going to be awesome. We're going to have some good baptisms :)!

But anyways, this week has been good. There are a bunch of pictures of Sao Paulo because we went there on p-day and went to Vinte-Cinco de Marco (big shopping district near the heart of Sao Paulo with vendors crowded on the streets) and it was fetching awesome. That building that I took a picture of that has the flag on the top is the tallest building in South America, so that was pretty awesome!! But anyways, I hope y'all have a good week! Love y'all!!

Tchou,
Elder Blake

Ryan's Baptism

 The turkey's mom made for Thanksgiving.

My awesome shoes - thanks for the shoe goo mom!

Sao Paulo

 

Elder Garrett

Elder Iorg

My District

 

Soaking wet!

Blue and Gold - through and through!

Little brother's birthday (Kolar turns 11)!

Te Amo Buddy, Para Bens (I love you, buddy, for real!)

He definitely made up for not sending pictures last week! And I think all of the Elders must do some "tie swapping," because I don't think I have seen him in any of the ties we sent him with! Ha ha.