An Interview with a 70

This week has been crazy!! in a good way tho.. so we have been working really hard in this area for the last two transfers and its been hard to really see the fruits of our labors, I was getting really frustrated for a while but just kept working through the trials. SO this week there was alot of faith building experiences, we found 4 new people to teach, one of them is super awesome!! her name is Brianna we were street contacting at the state university, it was really awesome because we only had 15 min. before we had a another appointment so we thought we would use our 15min as effectively as possible. we talked to one person Nate and the second person we talked to was Brianna, we got her information and after that it was off to the meeting! she came to church the following Sunday and we had a wonderful lesson afterwords. the Spirit really guided us and we were in the right place at the right time! we have another investigator, her name is mindy. she really has a desire to know if the church is true. it has been really stressful for us because she is doing everything we are asking her but she hasnt received an answer. she is a really special person and I know God has a plan for her. it has really built my faith to see the effort and desire people put into the gospel and finding Christ in there lives..

So im pretty sure im having an interview with a general authority tomorrow.. if you had personal time with a general authority for 15min what would you ask him???
his name is Elder Edwards from the 70. he has requested to interview all of the zone leaders in the mission, so i get the opportunity to sit down and talk with him. its really awesome.

My companion is pretty awesome, elder shipley.. we are working really hard. san francisco is CRAZY but i love it.

I really love missionary work!! its the best..

Love, Elder Blandon

Zone Conference

Things are going well. My companion and I only have two or three people to teach right now so we are in super finding mode. We are doing everything we can to find new people to teach. It's really nice when you have lots of people to teach because then you can spend most of the day in peoples home sharing the gospel.. when we dont have people to teach it's all out on the streets talking with people and knocking those doors. I really love missionary work tho - also all the responsibility of being zone leader keeps us really busy. Part of our responsibility is to train the missionaries how to be effective and help them develop their skills.. so I really enjoy the training aspect as well.

Nothing too much to report on this week. I'm just really working hard and trying to stay focused, I'm in the book of Alma now reading in ch.10 and 12.ish.. my studies are going really well. We have a zone conference and a mini zone meeting coming up that I'm preparing for, we have a general authority for the 70 coming to tour our mission.. and guess what! I GET TO HAVE AN INTERVIEW with a general authority, so I'm really looking forward to that experience. Then for the mini zone meeting my companion and I are training on 'revelation through the Book of Mormon' so we are just doing preparation for that for the next few weeks.

Thank you for your testimony. I also have come to really know for my self how important this gospel is in my life.. I'm really grateful for the knowledge that I have.
have a wonderful week.

It's Foggy in San Francisco

I really love scouts. After my mission, I really want to get more involved with scouting. Camping sounds really fun right now!! The lightning storm sounds fun, too. For me it's the fog!! San Francisco is SUPER FOGGY! I thought is was just the season.. nope it's foggy all the time. I had no idea. I'm pretty used to it now. It's perfect temp. mostly all the time.

This weekend we had Myrna Berry's baptism! She is such a wonderful woman!! I have been so blessed to be a part of her life. She asked me to perform the baptism, so that was the first baptism I actually performed. The Spirit was so strong!! Everything turned out really nice! Anyways, I'm sure you will have the chance to meet Sister Berry some day.

Can you believe I have been out almost a year now.. my half way mark is this week.. (not that I'm counting) really most of the time I have no idea what month I'm in or how long I have left :) Just focus on working hard, the best I can.

I have a new companion, his name is Elder Shipley from New Mexico. He is a super cool missionary. We get along well. This transfer we are really looking forward to seeing the success of the zone! Transfers just happened and we have alot of great new missionaries in the zone so we are looking at a great transfer.

Change is Good

Well alot of changes in the last few days, and alot of new things going on. Transfer calls came, I will be staying as a zone leader in the San Francisco West Zone. Both my companions are leaving. I'm really grateful for this last transfer, I have really learned alot about my purpose in helping others. Right now we are teaching a sister, her name is sister Merna Berry. She has made huge changes and sacrifices in her life. She has a testimony of the Restored Gospel and will be Baptised this weekend. I will most likely be performing the Baptism.. so thats exciting!

I just want to say my companion Elder Lin has been a huge influence on my life. I have learned so much about how to really push myself to improve each and everyday. Yesterday I had the opportunity to conduct my first meeting. It was terrifying. The entire meeting under my direction, President Wade was presiding at the meeting so I sat next to him. He kept giving me directions for the meeting and how he wanted to go. It was really neat, but I was super nervous.

I have been thinking about the freedom to choose and how we all make the choice in this life of who we want to be. I'm really trying to focus on having a good and uplifting attitude even when things are the most difficult. I believe that is the attribute of hope. just knowing that there is a better time, a better day, and by enduring through our trials we will gain knowledge and understanding. I have really come to understand the importance of really making CHANGES, really recognizing things that I can DO to change, by setting goals and identifying specific skill and attributes associated with those goals. One choice at a time, I can achieve the goals that I have set. Christ was the ultimate example; our goal should be to become like Him. we must evaluate ourselves continuously! "how did I handle that situation?" "what could I have done better?" "what Christ like attribute could be applied here?" By asking myself these kind of questions and asking others to give me feed back on different situations I can recognize areas I can improve. Writing things down is essential to this process. Setting goals and making plans is vital to our improvement. We choose who we want to be.

I love this Gospel so much. I am so grateful for the direction and guidance my Father in Heaven gives me each and everyday. I am grateful for the sweet loving comfort of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon is the Word of God and testifies of the reality and divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know these things to be true. in the name of Jesus Christ AMEN!

-the church is true!!

I love you all and miss you dearly.
Love.
Elder Blandon

The New Area

So I love my new area. I really love my new area a lot. I love being in the city, we talk to so many people everyday. The work is non-stop. I have to be careful to not over exert myself. I'm living the mission dream right now. I have progressed so much just in the past few months. It's so wonderful how God works and how he helps us grow in life. About a month ago I was struggling pretty hard. The Lord needed me to learn how to rely on Him and I still need to rely on Him and I'm still learning how. But once I made the choice that I would be submissive and I would do what the Lord asked He really gave me opportunities to exercise my faith.

This area is thriving with people to teach and work to do. we don't even have time to think. We literally are running from one appointment to another. Exact obedience is a blessing. Not just being obedient because I don't want to get in trouble but exact obedience because I love my Father in Heaven.

One thing that I have come to love and understand more fully here on my mission is; the Gift of Free Agency. We are given the ability to freely choose for our self in this life. What wonderful opportunities we are given to learn and grow and progress in this life. However, sometimes the choices of others bring grief and sorrow in this life. But that's why we have a Savior. Through Christ we can be free of the feelings of guilt and shame and our pains and sorrows can be washed away. In order for us to be forgiven we must forgive others. Here is a talk that I want you to read.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/what-manner-of-men-and-women-ought-ye-to-be?lang=eng

My companion taught me how to apply the doctrines that we learn here. To motivate others we need to praise their righteous attributes. Elder Jensen from the 70 told us something once. "Our faith will never over-ride some one's free agency." People are going to be free to choose no matter how much Faith we have.

Following the prophets is real. When the things we learn are applied, when we are submissive to what the Lord teaches us, things will happen.


Love
Elder Blandon

Transferred... Already?

So Martinez was short lived. I wasn't ready to leave. I feel like I never quite had the momentum that I wanted in this area. I really wanted to find some solid investigators before I left but it looks like God has other things in store for me. I have learned a great deal about my self and my relationship with the Savior these last few months. At times I struggled pretty hard and I know that the challenges ahead of me are going to be even greater, but I feel like my attitude towards the work has really changed. I always felt frustrated with the responsibilities I have been given, not because I don't want to work but because I don't want to fail. I have the type of personality that if I do something I have to be good at it. And if i'm not good at it, I don't want to do it. So when I fall short of greatness I become pretty distraught... but that's the point. Of course we are inadequate; of course there is no way we can do all that we have been asked. We are in a fallen state, imperfect creatures full of mistakes. That's why we need the Savior so much. That's why we need to be obedient in keeping all the commandments so that we can have the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost in our lives and partake of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that after all that I can do Christ will make up for the rest. He is my Redeemer. I have to look at every challenge with enthusiasm and look for ways to Improve. This has proven to be pretty difficult.

Anyways, so as of tomorrow I will be serving in the San Francisco West zone covering the Sunset Singles Ward and the San Francisco 1st Ward. It's going to be a lot different than any of my other areas. I have been praying a lot and I will need your prayers as I take on these new responsibilities in my new area.

Thanks for everything!!

I know this Work is the Lords work. This mission has been great to me. I think it's blessing me even more than I realize. I'm grateful for the lives I have been able to be a part of but most of all I'm grateful for our Father in Heaven and for the sacrifice of Christ that makes all things possible. I'm very grateful to you mom and the rest of the family for all your love and support. have a wonderful week! thanks!!

Love Elder Blandon

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I hope you all are having a wonderful summer. It's been very hot here.. but there is a nice cool breeze off the water most of the time so that's really nice.

My companion is from Tonga. It's interesting having companions from third world countries. He can open a can of tuna with a big knife! It's awesome! We are very different tho and I think he feels lonely...I feel really bad sometimes. I feel like this life style of America really takes away from his roots and the ways of the islands.. they are a simple loving people and California is so opposite of that. As the Senior companion I try to be as obedient as possible. ..exactly obedient.. so he gets frustrated sometimes cuz he doesn't understand the rules. He told me he's gonna try not to beat me up (260 pound Tongan) so that's comforting knowing that he is exercising self control. lol

For the 4th of July we set up a booth in downtown Martinez. We had a big display we got from the mission home. It says in big letters "I'm a Mormon" and it has three big pictures and testimonies of people that live in the Bay area. We passed out like 5 copies of the Book of Mormon and a bunch of DVD's and pamphlets and we talked with a few really cool people. We had some members with us down at the booth that were helping us talk to people so it was fun. Martinez is a small town tho, just a about the size of Spanish Fork, but their 4th of July celebration is weak compared to any of the Utah towns. We went to a big birthday party, (the Clelands) they had a bounce house and BBQ and sister Cleland set up a picture taking-booth with tons of dress up stuff for the the kids and such. At the end of the day we were going to meet up with our ward mission leader and head up to his mom's house (Less Active) but we ended up talking to guy named Mike just down the way from the house. He's not sure where he was born, super smart guy - just not sure what direction to take in life and ended up with out a home.

Anyways I hope all is well, I hope you got those pictures sister Cleland made. Make sure you give her a thank you letter! I have like three or four CD's full of mission pictures I need to send home...... but i will only send them home on two conditions..1) if they don't get lost 2) you have to send me printed copies of pictures of all the family activities that have been happening....... cuz I need more pictures to look at when I'm at the apartment.. i got nothin..