Week 28 - Weekly Update

Dear Family and Friends:

Well, I just want to start the weekly letter off by saying - just kidding. I'm really not going for the Broncos (in the Superbowl) ha ha. I'm definitely going for the Hawks. But if the Broncos do win, I say props to Payt - and if the Seahawks win, then it's their first Super Bowl ever and props to second year Wilson.

And now on a more serious note . . . This week has been an amazing and really spiritual week. I had two divisions with two super cool elders this week - one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Foleine and the other was the other District Leader, Elder Taylor. They are super amazing kids and we really got the work done. I've been going on a lot of divisions with the leaders because next transfer I'm for sure going to be training. President Tanner and I already talked about it and he was also talking to me about being a District Leader. He said that he wants kids like me to be leaders because I guess that this mission is really going down hill right now. Like kids coming on missions just to come and do stuff and then they are getting sent home. It's not good. So I'm definitely going to be Senior Companion and training next transfer - and maybe get put in as District Leader. I guess we will see what happens in a couple of weeks. (Next transfers should be on the 12th of February.)

So we had an AMAZING Sunday yesterday. So a couple named Expedito and Raimunda are non-members. All of their kids have been members for over 20 years now, and all of them have served missions and everything. They have had the missionaries live under their house for years and they have been taught the gospel for like 20 years, and nothing has happened. But two months ago, when I went to the temple, this guy started talking to me and he gave me the address to his parents house. I was like, alright, we will go and see them. Like at this time two months ago, I didn't speak Portuguese very good, but I remember that the guy at the temple understood me - and I understood him enough to talk to him and tell him what area I was in and I was able to understand enough so he could tell me his parents address.

So, we went there two months ago. We have just been pushing them and inviting them to be baptized and just going over and over and over the gospel principles again and again. And guess what happened Sunday? These wonderful parents were baptized and their family is now complete. And a year from now, they will have the chance to go into the most amazing place on earth and be sealed to their family for time and all eternity!

After they were baptized, they bore their testimonies. Elder Despain and I bore our testimonies first and then they did. They pointed at us with tears in their eyes and they said that we have been taught for years and years and years. But when these two American Elders walked into our house everyday for months, just carrying the spirit with them so strong, and seeing the faith in their eyes, we just knew that we would be baptized. They said the Elders may not know this language perfectly, but we know for a fact that these things are true just from the spirit that we were feeling. Then the Bispo (Bishop) got up and bore his testimony too. He was just saying how thankful he is for missionaries like us. He said he has never had missionaries that he feels the spirit so strongly with in all of his 6 years as being Bispo.

Holy cow - yesterday had to be the most spiritual day of my life. President and Sister Tanner and President's sister and brother-in-law came to the baptism too because President has known this family almost his whole three years of being here. He asked us how we did it. He told us that this was 100% a miracle and that me and Elder Despain had to have been chosen in the life before this one to do this amazing thing that we did. Holy cow!

I just want to say how grateful I am for this wonderful gospel and the happiness that it brings to people's lives. I am so happy to be able to hold the Priesthood and to be able to do these life changing ordinances. Without this one and only true power from God, none of these things would even be possible. I am so grateful to have this gospel in my life and I'm so grateful for changing my life around and coming on a mission. This is that best thing that I have ever done in my whole entire life and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a representative of our one and only Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Cristo (Christ), and all that He did for us. Obviously we all know that none of us are perfect, but through the great Atonement of Jesus Cristo, we know that we can use and apply repentance in our lives and we can be together forever in the end. I'm so grateful for the spirit that I get the chance to feel everyday. It is so amazing and I really hope that you guys feel it too. I pray for all of y'all individually and hope and pray that all of you are doing good!

But other than these amazing miracles that have been happening, I uploaded some pictures. In a couple of them, there is like a broken mirror and a chunk of ceiling that fell down. Ha ha. Like I think that we had an earthquake or something because we got home and all of this stuff happened. It's crazy the things that happen here is Brasil. But, I straight up love it and wouldn't trade it for the world. I added some pics of our beds. We are now sleeping in the tiny entrance to our house. Thank heavens that I love my companion because our beds are pretty much touching each other. Ha ha. Like, I'm really going to miss Elder Despain when I leave this next transfer. He is like one of the kids that I know for sure I will be seeing after the mission. He is such a smooth kid. I just love the dude. Ha ha. Oh yea, and we like getting our workout on so we bought a ton of eggs so we can get our protein on after the workout. Ha ha. (By the way, eggs here are so cheap - it's like $1.80 for 30 eggs, like 4 reais.) So we buy them like they are going out of style. We probably eat like 60 a week. It's awesome. Ha ha.

But anyways, other than that I just got some pics of the baptism and random stuff. And mom, when I get home I'll have to fix the blog a little or maybe just comment because some of the pics you said are like investigators are like members and stuff (I am always just guessing!). Ha ha. I love y'all and I hope that you have an amazing week. Y'all are in my prayers and I hope y'all have a wonderful, spiritual week.

 

Tchau,

Elder Blake

 

Week 27 - What Up from Brasil

Ohhhhh Beleza (Beautiful):

How y'all been doing. As usual it is amazing down here in Basil. We have an amazing family that is completely prepared for baptism this week. They are both in their 60s and they are so amazing. I love them to death.

But, I just got back from a place here called "Vinte Cinco de Marco" in Brasil. It is just a huge place just jam packed with people. It is awesome and crazy at the same time. I needed to go there to buy some pants, because everything in Bernardo is too expensive. Of course they didn't have any my size, so I just bought some futebol (yes that is how it is spelled in Portuguese) jerseys, ha ha. But the place is crazy - you all need to look it up on google (it's kind of like Chinatown with lots of shops and markets set up on the street and everything is super cheap).

But anyways this last week has been a little slower because it was raining like crazy. It was also my 6 month mark! Me and Elder Despain went and ordered some candy pizza. It is the only pizza I will eat here in Brasil - all the other pizzas are nasty. Ha ha ha. And I had a super, super, super bad migraine and was throwing up, so that wasn't very good. But does anyone know how P-Bill (Dylan's really good friend who he baptized before going on his mission) is doing? I haven't heard from that kid my whole mission.

But holy cow, it's almost time that I need to be going. I know that this is a super pitiful message for the week, but with everything we did, I just don't have much time to do anything. I want to tell you all that Nephi is straight up the man. I think that we should all follow his example and just be the strong person he was and is and will forever be. I mean we obviously can't all be him, but we can have the faith that he had.

Y'all are amazing and I hope that y'all have an amazing week.

Love y'all
Elder Blake

 

 

Belated Merry Christmas

Dear Families of Missionaries:

We are sending a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year note to you, along with some photos of the Christmas Conferences we had the week before Christmas.

We had missionary training, a scriptural Christmas program with amazing musical talent, a delicious lunch and other yummy treats, and a service project. It was a joy to be with these delightful missionaries. We always marvel at their great abilities, their many talents, their willingness and diligence in this work, and the goodness of their lives.

We love this sacred season when we remember the birth of our Savior, our hearts are filled with gratitude to be able to serve together with your sons and daughters, sharing our testimonies of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His gospel to the earth.

We hope you have had a special Christmas and that you will have a wonderful new year. We pray constantly for our missionaries and for you, their families.

With love and gratitude,
President and Sister Tanner

Dylan is on the very back row, right in the middle.

This must be a separate group, because I don't see Dylan in this one.

Facebook

So on Monday, Dylan emailed me and asked me to go onto his Facebook and accept all of his friend requests. He had some people in Brasil that wanted to friend him. I went on and did what he asked, and pretty soon he had a message. So, of course, I checked his messages. Here is what it said.

Hi, this is Diogo Vieira. Thank you for accepting my request!

I'm Elder Blake's ward leader missionary. I'm a convert and the only member of the church in my family. My parents really like Elder Blake! My dad thinks he is so funny and likes Elder Blake - it means a lot because my dad doesn't like the church at all! And my mom, she likes him so much! She is always giving him something to eat every time he show up at home, like this afternoon. Elder Blake is a great missionary. We are very glad to have Elder Blake in our ward!

I am so thankful that people will contact me and let me know more about how Dylan is doing and accept him into their lives. It truly means a lot to me and made my entire week!

Week 26 - Only 534 Days Left!

Olaaaaaaaaaaa Family and Friends:

Well, I'm going to start the letter off this week with a miracle and a half! So it goes like this . . . We were working one day and just appointment after appointment after appointment fell through, and really like we had nothing to do. So we started contacting on the street and nothing was working. But there was this one family in particular that I really felt the spirit about. But, really they weren't acting interested, but I really felt an impression to introduce the Book of Mormon to them. I already had one with my testimony wrote in it because I love handing them out with my testimony in them. I just really felt like I needed to give them one, and so I did. I invited them to church, and they were like - ya, we don't have time for that - and it ended at that.

I way pretty bummed. But then come Sunday, we get to church and this family is already there with the Book of Mormon I gave them. They said that they got home and read my testimony and the part I marked for them (the introduction), and then they prayed about it. They said that they have NEVER felt the spirit that strong before, so they came to church. Well, they LOVED church to death and so we made an appointment to go see them a little later. So we went to their house with a member and we taught them. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted!!! It was super cool and super spiritual. But ya, that's my miracle for the week!

Anyways, this week has been good. It's just been the usual Sao Paulo - raining and lightning and thundering every single day. Ha ha. And I still don't have an umbrella or rain coat (I have told him to buy one, but he doesn't want to spend money on things like that), but oh well. But really, like going to Canada that one time and living in Georgia for a couple of months, I really thought I knew what rain was. But ya, I don't. No one knows what rain is until they get here to Brasil in Sao Paulo. The rain is so crazy and the lightning is so crazy and pretty and the thunder is so loud it's not even funny. Like the thunder shakes the houses and that's not even a joke. Ha ha.

Me and my companion, Elder Despain just love each other to death. It's going to be a sad day when I have to get a new companion. But, it's okay I guess. But I really love the kid and I feel the spirit like crazy with him. Yesterday after one of our lessons, the member that was with us told me, "Elder Blake, you are just a Spiritual Powerhouse - the second that you start to talk, I just feel the spirit crashing down on us!" He also told me that I'm the type of missionary that's going to have success in life.

It's super cool hearing stuff like that, because looking at my past, I wasn't the type of kid that was super spiritual or the type of kid that was just a good kid. I was always getting in trouble and doing stupid things (don't let him fool you - he was a GREAT kid!). So it's super awesome when people tell me that they see a change in me - because, believe me, I definitely feel a change in myself! It's super awesome.

But to end this email, I was reading in 2 Nephi chapter 4 this week and it's when Lehi dies and when Nephi swears to always follow our Heavenly Father. I challenge all y'all to read that chapter and really look how Nephi prays. I feel like each and every one of us can be closer with our Heavenly Father if we can pray like Nephi - because that dude is just a boss, ha ha.

I love all y'all to death and I hope that you have a good week. Love you all and god bless!

Tchou,
Elder Blake

Seriously, gross!

Apparently they did some heavy duty cleaning!

Service Project

Week 25

Dear Family and Friends:

Well this week has been awesome. To start it off, we have a family that we have been teaching. The husband is Espedido and the wife is Rimunda and we have been teaching them for a long time now. We have really been hitting on baptism like super hard because we know that they are ready. So during one of the lessons, I just feel the spirit really strong and it is just telling me to invite them to be baptized on the 19th of the month. So I do this and Irma (sister) Rimunda is like I want to pick my date. So I was like okay, you can. We just want to set a goal for you because we know that you are ready. And she is like I want to baptized on the 18th, which is a Saturday - so that was super cool. Like we really see the spirit working with us every single day and it is so awesome. It truly is a testimony builder.

Anyways, at transfers I got to see Elder Tagg. It was so awesome. I was so pumped, ha ha. We were so excited and I went and I like tackled him, and Mom, remember that tie clip that you and dad gave me for Christmas with Moroni on it. Ya, it broke, ha ha. We like tackled each other too hard. I was pretty sad, but it was awesome to see him.

I still haven't received any other packages, other than my mom and dad's Christmas package. I hope I get them on Wednesday. That would be nice. And hopefully someone sent peanut butter (can you tell what his favorite food was back home!). Ha ha. I am dying. :( Ha ha, just kidding, but I really want some like super bad!

Anyways, this week we found a really awesome family which has invited us over for dinner already like two times and bought us flip flops and things like that. It's super awesome. This family will be baptized, I just know it. It's that family that I sent a picture of and we are sitting at the table. The dad's name is Allisson, the mom is Rafaela, and the daughter is Ana Beatriz. The family is just amazing. I love them a lot already. I just love all the people here in general. It is super awesome.

But anyways, another awesome thing that has happened this week is I have a ton of people telling me how good my Portuguese is. It is really making me more confident than I already am, ha. Like I'm already confident, and then when people tell me that I have good Portuguese, then I get even more confident. I love it. Ha ha. So pretty much I just talk to every. It's sweet!

This week has just been pretty dang awesome and I have just been doing the work like crazy - getting sun burned and all that good stuff. Oh, and the pictures like at night time (he didn't send any pictures at night time - maybe next week) are of New Year's Eve because we stayed up and waited and took pics and watched fire works and all that good stuff. It was crazy here in Brazil. It was like a party and a half. Like so many drunk people and stuff - super crazy.

I hope that y'all have an awesome week and y'all feel the spirit in your lives. I love all of you guys and I'll talk to you again next week.

Tchou
Love,
Elder Blake

Fun P-day playing ball.

Cool hat - jealous, Jordan? Ha ha.

Sun burned

Chapel

Me and Elder Tagg!

This is what we eat every day - in one form or another.

Our new investigators.