Remember

This week is pretty good. I think these last two transfers have been some of the hardest for me both mentally and spiritually. I have come to realize a very important lesson tho.. I think back at all the times in my mission that I have been frustrated or discouraged or depressed and It all goes back to one word 'REMEMBER' 
 Anytime that I forget my purpose or forget that I have felt the Spirit, when I forget about all that has happened in my life to bring me where I am today, when I forget - that is when I become prideful, that is when I begin to fall away from the path I'm supposed to travel. when we become distracted we lose sight of the plan that God has for us. this reminds me of a story in the bible -
 
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Peter was a man of great faith. For a moment he walked on water! But when Peter turned away and saw the winds and the waves before him he was afraid. Fear is the opposite of faith. We must not loose sight of Christ. He is the light and the life of the world and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Every day I meet people who are afraid and unsure of the future. We are so blessed to have the knowledge that God lives and that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world that we my be saved. We need not fear in this life. 

 This last week I came to a realization. I must not forget. I can not forget or else I must perish in unbelief. the Lord has given us many ways to remember the things that are of most importance in our lives. 

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

 So these are the lessons that the Lord is helping me to learn. I am grateful for the Gospel in my life. I am grateful for the leaders of this church and the fact that they dedicate their lives to this to God and His glorious kingdom.

I know this church is true. I know God lives and He loves me. I pray for everyone and I hope all is well

Love Elder Blandon

Robbie's Link

 

 Things are going well. This last week we met a woman named Mimi. She is AWESOME. She is what you call a 'golden investigator.' She is so happy and loving and the Lord has really prepared her for the Gospel. We met her on a Friday and she came to church that first Sunday. She always makes jokes. The best part is that she always laughs at her own jokes! It's really funny. Anyways she has alot of love for people and those around her. It's amazing to see how God reaches out to His children. She is seeking for truth, she is looking for what feels right, she is a very spiritual person and as she has prayed and the Spirit has prompted her, she met us! It's a beautiful thing. I LOVE this gospel. It's people like Mimi that make this all worth it. I am super excited for Mimi.

 

Hey check out my link http://mormon.org/me/90QD/Robert

 

 I am grateful for the Gospel. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the direction it has given me in my life. I know that this work is the work of the Lord. and that this is the restored gospel established on the earth today. I love you all

Where in the fog is Pacifica?

Yup, San Francisco is awesome! I really love it a lot. The ward here is really cool too. Things are going well. My new companion is from Spanish Fork. He lives next to the RRR Ranch in the river bottoms so that is kinda fun. 

 We are teaching a few cool people and we are really working hard to find new people to teach. I cover a city called Pacifica! It is really awesome! You should Google it "Pacifica California" I feel like I'm in it a town from a movie or something. It's really nice. I love it because i get to see the ocean everyday!  It's pretty much cool everyday, jacket and sweater weather pretty much all of the time. And it's really super foggy 75% of the time so some people wouldn't be able to take all the fog. There is a funny saying "Where in the fog is Pacifica!?" It's kinda funny but true.

 The members here are awesome! I really love all the people i have met on my mission. I have been so blessed to meet so many great people.

Anyways have a wonderful week!

Love,

 Elder Blandon

Life Goes On

Dear Family

 These last few months have been really great. I can not begin to express the gratitude I have for the many wonderful people who I have associated with these last few transfers. Things have been hard but also really awesome at the same time. I remember when I first came into this area I was confused and lost.. I had so many wonderful things happening in San Fransico and I really didn't want to leave. Going from the fast paced city to the quiet streets of Oakley/Brentwood was a hard transition for me. Some of the blessings I have been able to receive in this area has most definitely been the families that I have gotten to know. As a missionary we have the unique opportunity of spending time in peoples' homes and sharing spiritual experiences together as a family. I have seen so many wonderful examples of loving families, as I have spent time in these peoples' homes. I have really come to know that the gospel truly blesses families.

 

 All good things must come to an end. On Saturday morning I was doing my usual routine of showering and getting ready for the day. I knew that transfers would be coming up soon but I wasn't even thinking about leaving Antioch. I was in the bathroom and I had just finished shaving when my companion came to the door and said " It's for you " as he held up the phone. It still hadn't crossed my mind that Pres.Wade would be calling me. With a puzzled look on my face I said " Who is it!? " Elder Jones replied " Pres.Wade. " At that point I really didn't know what to think. Pres.Wade went on to tell me that I am released as a zone leader. He thanked me for all that I have done for the Lord and for the mission. We talked a little bit about my service and the areas I have been the last few transfers. My new assignment is to serve as senior companion in the South City San Francisco area. So it looks like its back to San Francisco for me! After President released me from zone leader I just thought about all that responsibility I had been given and how it just left me. I really loved the assignment I was given, and the experiences that I have had during those 11 and a half months have shaped who I am. 

 

 We have been working an investigator named Rebecca. She is a single mother with 3 children going through a divorce. She really has great faith! We actually found her through tracting. Even though she has been told not to believe in the Mormon faith she still wanted to listen to what we had to say. Anyways, we really wanted her to begin meeting members of the ward and meet people who could support her and help her through her trials. We had a few really good lessons with her and talked about the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. So these last few weeks we have really been working hard to help her come to church. As we talked with some of the members about rebecca and her situation there was a family that we thought of that we knew would be a great fellowshipper, the Taylor family. They had a great idea to have a BBQ at their house and we could invite Rebecca and her family. So this last Sunday we called Rebecca and invited her to church. We talked about how God loves us and he wants us to be happy and by going to church God is able to bless us. We talked about how Satan wants us to be miserable and how he will do all he can to keep us from going to church. It was a very spiritual conversation and as we would call Rebecca and follow up on her commitment to come we did all we could to strengthen her faith to come to church. We came to an agreement that if we arranged a ride that she would more likely come to church. SO we got a member to help us out. We called and then showed up on Sunday morning to give her a ride and there she was! ready to go! It was such an amazing thing to see someone like Rebecca exercising her faith and coming to church. She came with her 4 year old son, Jonny. All during church Jonny was wiggling around and trying to destroy my scriptures.. and choke me with my tie.. but i didn't even care!! I was so happy to see their family here at church it didn't even matter if Jonny lit my suit on fire.. I was just so happy to be sitting there in church with their family! Anyways after church the Taylors invited Rebecca to a BBQ over at the Taylor's home and she agreed to come. We also came to the BBQ and had a wonderful experience. It was like we were all family. The Taylors are great, too. I have really gotten to know their family well over the last few months. Anyways, at the end of the BBQ I let everyone know that I would be transferred to South City. It was hard to hold back the tears but I couldn't have asked for a better Sunday than that one was. I will keep in touch with Rebecca and I know that the missionaries and the Taylor family will be there to support her.

 

 There are lots of others as well. During these last few weeks my companion and I have found like 14 new investigators. They are all wonderful people and I am really excited for the elders to have so many wonderful people in this area to teach. Anyways yup... that's life. We move on. At least I left this area better than I found it ;)

Love, 

Elder Blandon

 

Life is Amazing!

 

 Life is an amazing thing. I am so grateful for the many blessing I have received in my life. My testimony of the Atonement seems to grow stronger each day. It has been such an amazing experience for me to be a missionary. I have really felt a change within my heart. My desire to do good and the feelings of peace, comfort and love are so much more present in my life. I am grateful that I get serve others, I think about the people we teach all the time and I love these people so much. I think some of the hardest times for me as a missionary is when our investigators are not able to act upon the message we share.

 

 I have been so blessed with the opportunity to of serving other missionaries. I am so grateful for the assignments I have been given. Leadership is such a blessing and it has given me so many opportunities to progress as an individual and as a representative of Jesus Christ. I have been able to develop so many attributes that I know will bless me so much throughout my life. I cherish the moments I have with my companion, my recent converts, my investigators and with the missionaries I serve. I try not to take this time for granted because I know someday I will look back and wish I could be a missionary again. there is nothing in the world like serving the Lord. So I have been doing all I can to serve to the best of my ablity. I know I'm not always perfect and there are many ways I can improve but the Lord is by my side.

 

 I am so excited for the missionaries in the zone. We achived our goals as a zone and as a companionship for Baptisms this month. The missionaries are working hard and many of the missionaries have been able to achive their goals. The Lord is truly blessing the people in this area and I am so excited to see the progress and success of the areas in the Antioch Zone. 

 

 I hope all is well! have a wonderful week!!

 

Love,

 Elder Blandon

Member Missionaries

Thank you for the letter. How did you like conference last week? It was great right!? I am really grateful that God loves us so much that He has called men and women to guide us and direct us on the earth today. This life of mortality can be difficult at times. I know that those men that spoke to us are called of God and that they speak His Gospel and truth. God's kingdom is established on the earth. This Gospel is literally an extension of His kingdom. We had some really cool experiences watching conference last week. I'm really excited for the conference edition Ensign to come out. I love studying the words of the prophets! I also buy the CD set from the distribution center and listen to the talks. It's really awesome!

My companion and I are doing really well. We have a pretty good number of investigators that we are currently teaching. We feel really good about the progress of our investigators. In our area we have been working really well with our members. In fact, all of our investigators are taught in members' homes. We have created relationships where the fellowshipper is the main source of support for our investigators. It has been amazing! Our Members are AWESOME! They have been so supportive in our efforts. Really, it seems like we are just supporting our members in their missionary efforts! They basically set up the appointments and we just go to lessons and teach!

When you first become a missionary that relationship with members is the hardest thing to understand. Naturally, we just want to be friends with the members because they are so awesome! As representatives of Christ and full time missionaries we are here to strengthen the faith of the members and help them share the gospel. It is such an amazing thing to see members bring another one of God's children into the church. Anyways, there are so many wonderful people in this area. I am so grateful to serve here.

This church is so amazing. I really am so grateful to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints, God's kindom on this earth

I love you ALL

Love,

Elder Blandon

A Wonderful Baptism

We had a wonderful Baptism yesterday with Jabari Albert. Everything seemed to go smoothly. Jabari is such a wonderful person. He is very charismatic and after investigating the church for 1 year and 10 months he has made a big impact on the ward and his friends and family. There was a lot of support and the Baptismal service was wonderful.

Elder Killpack and I were giving the presentation during the time that Jabari was changing. It went really well! The Spirit was so strong. When we got to the First Vision I started off with the quote and everything was so quiet and the Spirit witnessed with such power the truthfulness of what we were sharing. As I was quoting Joseph Smith I remember thinking to myself "WHOoo! everything is so peaceful and quiet.." It was truly an incredible feeling... right in the middle of the First Vision, right when the Spirit seemed to be the strongest...RING RING RING!! the peaceful silence of the Spirit was broken by a cell phone!! I couldn't believe it!! The first thing that came to my mind was - the Gospel is true. Time and time again the adversary does all he can to interrupt the Spirit and Revelation. I know God lives and that He loves us and with the help of our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ we can protect ourselves from the adversary.

I miss you all and hope you have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Blandon