Week 10 - The Reason I'm in Georgia!

This was a super rainy/foggy day and we had to ride our bikes like 15 miles to Flovilla to an appointment in the pouring rain. Then we get there, and the kid wasn't even there. So we had to turn around and go all the way back. Finally home after miles and miles of rain! It legitimately rained the whole way there and the whole way back! The top of my head isn't as wet because I was wearing a helmet, but I didn't want it in the picture because I look like a clown with it on. Ha.


Dear the Bestest Family Ever!!

So this week has been a good week. On Wednesday, we had a combined activity with the youth and the missionaries were invited. So me and Elder Barraclough and the Sister Missionaries decided to go!! The activity was Capture the Flag flour wars. So pretty much, they took pantyhose and they cut it up into pieces and then they took flour and put it in there and tied it off - pretty much it's like paintball, but with flour and you have to throw it at people. If you get hit, you have to go back to your base.

So I had my Jordan's on (his nice shoes) and I didn't want to get flour all over them (man, who does that sound like!). So me and Elder Barraclough went around the house and into the woods for a sneak attack. In the process of being in the woods, we didn't want them to see us as they were hiding their flag back there, I was hiding behind a tree. Come to find out there were ants all over the tree and I didn't know. They climbed all up in my shorts and all over my legs and arms and stuff. They just starting biting me left and right. So me and Elder Barraclough take off and I run out to the front lawn and just start rolling around and hitting myself. I take my shirt off and finally I don't feel them biting me anymore, so I quit rolling around and put my shirt back on.

We go back into the back and start playing again - and we won both games. I got the flag both games, because I am just beast (really good) like that. Ha. But anyways, we get home and we count the bites just on my legs and I have over 30! So I go to sleep that night and I guess I was itching my legs in my sleep because I wake up and all of the bites were all bloody and my sheets were too. Ha ha. Not a good situation, but good memories of the mission, I guess. Ha ha.

So Elder Barraclough gave me a Scottish tie because he gives all of his companions ties and it is like the smoothest thing ever! It is an inch in width and it's 100% wool. Ha ha. It's hilarious - I love it!

So one of the miracles for the week was we went and we were teaching one of our investigators - Ann Owens. She smokes and drinks coffee and stuff. But during our lesson, I got this feeling to ask her to be baptized, and I kind of blew it off because I'm not the senior companion and I wasn't sure if Elder Barraclough would be mad or something. I didn't know what he was planning for that lesson, because his companion before me asked her to be baptized two times before I got there and she said no - like wouldn't even budge at all. So I just let the lesson keep going and I read the scripture to her about "you can't run faster than you have strength to" and I got the feeling to ask her to be baptized again. But I blew it off again.

We kept the lesson going, and this time I felt the spirit like it was a huge fat punch in the stomach - like I wanted to throw up almost, like it was just burning within me to ask her. And so finally it just had to come out because it wasn't letting me blow it off again. So I kind of just butted in to the lesson and I said, "ANN. I GOT THE SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEMS. YOU WANT TO QUIT SMOKING AND DRINKING COFFEE AND DOING THOSE THINGS THAT YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO DO. AND YOU WANT SOMETHING TO PUSH YOU TO STOP, THEN I HAVE THE PERFECT SOLUTION. WILL YOU FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST BY BEING BAPTIZED BY SOMEONE HOLDING THE PROPER PRIESTHOOD OF GOD?"

She looked at me, and I could tell that the spirit just punched her in the face. She just looks at me for a second, and she wants to say something, but I jump back in and I say, "LET'S SET A DATE, SO THAT THAT CAN BE PUSHING YOU TO QUIT THOSE THINGS." And the oh, so sweet words she said back were, "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA, ELDER BLAKE."

So, Elder Barraclough looks at me and he is just in shock, because by then I have just taken over the lesson. And he knew that I was just feeling the spirit so strong, so he just let me keep going. And so we talked about a lot of different dates, but we didn't have a baptismal calendar with us there, so I challenged her to pray about it and when we come back on Tuesday, we can set up the calender with her. So she says okay and we end the lesson. I challenge her to read Ether 12, and then I ask if we can leave her with a prayer. She says, "Before you do that, could you give me a priesthood blessing, Elder Blake." And with the BIGGEST smile on my face I said, "Sure I can!"

So I gave her a blessing and she felt the spirit and her friend that was there felt the spirit, and our team that came with us to the lesson (Brother Niles) felt the spirit. All of us did. It was just an amazing moment for me!! And just a great miracle. I also learned from now on to NEVER blow off the spirit.

But anyways, I just love receiving letters from Charis. It just makes my life. Ha ha. She has to be the sweetest person on the face of this earth!! I just love her so much. Like anything that she says just brightens my life a little bit more. Ha ha. Then I also got a letter from Granny and I love getting her letters. She is awesome and I love her so much, too!! And I got a letter from Grams too and those are always awesome letters!! I love her quotes and everything she always puts with them. This week's was "God gave us two hands - one to help ourselves and one to help others." That's not exactly what it was, I'm sure, but that's just what I remember. But I love getting letters from them! Then I got a package from Kristy and she sent me a Brazil shirt because she heard that I wanted one. Ha ha. It was awesome. She is awesome. I just LOVE our family. It's amazing!!! Let everyone know how thankful I am because I don't have a lot of time to email and stuff. Ha.

So, this is crazy. I have been working out every day since the first day in the MTC and I am just trying to stay in shape and trying to get all buff and stuff, ya know - since it is my dream to have a 6 pack. Ha ha. So I have been like going hard almost everyday, and I'm always biking around. So I'm doing dang good and I'm getting dang good exercise and I can even see my abs and stuff, like I am totally getting there. But since I've been working out and drinking protein stuff for breakfast, I thought for sure that I was loosing weight, but nope. I went and weighed myself on a legit scale and I weigh 191.3!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha. I am so excited!!!!! (I seriously wish I was that excited about putting on weight!) It's like the best feeling ever to know I'm a big dude!! Ha ha. I love it. I just had to share that with you. Ha ha. Maybe I'm just getting fat, though, I don't know. Ha.

So this here is Fred. And this is why I am here.

I know he is the reason that I got sent to Jackson.

He came to church. And by the way, I had to give him those

pants, shirt, and tie! I'm a nice guy, aren't I?

So anyways, the picture that I sent to you of Fred - the black kid that was at church - he is adopted. His mom died when he was little and he got adopted to this baptist family and moved from Cali to Georgia. He was baptized into the church when he was 14 and now he is 18 and he hasn't been to church since he was 14. So, we got talking and stuff and he is really sad about his mom and stuff. He didn't know anything about baptisms for the dead even though he is LDS. So we taught him that and then he really opened up to us and said that him and his girlfriend are super serious. She isn't a Mormon, but wants to be baptized, but her mom won't let her so she has to wait until she is 18 (SHE WAS AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY ALSO :) )

But, they are just getting super serious and he wants to get married in the temple and stuff. But, he also wants to go on a mission and stuff. He just doesn't want to leave his girlfriend. So he asked me if I have a girlfriend and stuff and I had the opportunity to tell him that I did and that I love her so much. I talk to him about the blessings that you receive from going on a mission and I told him that my final goal is to the temple and taking the love of my life there with me so we can be together for time and all eternity. I told him that it is a commandment, pretty much, for every worthy young man to serve a mission. And he was really happy after we had that talk.

Now him and his girlfriend have talked about him serving a mission and everything. It is awesome. I told him that from me going on a mission, I know that my future is in God's hands and that if it's meant to be, it will be. That really hit him, and he took me aside at church yesterday and told me that if it weren't for me, he wouldn't be where he is today and he wouldn't be thinking about a mission or anything. So I am super excited about that and I know that he is one of the many reasons that I came here.

So I don't have much time left, but yesterday we taught Priesthood and blessed the Sacrament. Next week we have to teach Gospel Principles, ha ha. So things are pretty busy! And our branch is really growing. It is amazing to see!!!

I loved to hear all of your insight on Jacob 5! That is awesome! Thanks so much!! Hope all of you have an amazing week!! God bless, and may the spirit be with you!!

Love,
Elder Blake

Pretty old house.

Cool river. Ha ha.

We stopped in this little garden area on the way home,

so we could get out of the rain for a sec. Ha.

Doing some nice poses. (Apparently trying to look like the statues.)

I promise I don't always look like this!

Ha ha. That would be awkward back in the day to poop (his words, not mine) like right across from each other. Ha ha. They had like no privacy. Awkwardddddddddd!

My shoe after dealing with all the exercise and rain!

Yep, it's falling apart.

Brazil shirt from Aunt Kristy!

Tell her thanks so much for the package and shirt!!!

Here is my desk. The whole point of sending this picture

is so you can see that I have all of the flavors of the

Dasani drops and even made one of my own. Ha ha.

I made a bulletin board in church (Capture the Flag activity).