Earthquake

Dear Family

So things are going good here in the mission. First crazy story - well not so crazy but pretty cool, we were in the middle of a lesson and I was teaching then I noticed the church building was creaking.. like a lot!.. we all stopped and sat quietly and we were all wiggling back and forth - it was an earth quake!! it was pretty cool cuz my entire mission I wanted to feel an earth quake! sooo it was pretty cool, different than what I thought it would feel like but still really cool.

Anyways we are teaching some really cool people right now. We invited a few more people to be baptized this week so now we have two baptisms this weekend and two baptisms in November! its pretty awesome.

I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be obedient to the commandments and how that's a choice that we all make. We choose whether or not we want to follow God - something that I have notice is that even though we might make that choice to be obedient, Satan will still tempt us. There are things in my life that I must avoid, thoughts that I can not allow myself to think, places that I cannot let myself go. The world is filled with all types of temptations and I know that I must protect myself. I have really come to know and recognize that the Holy Ghost will give us strength and he will warn us away from sin and guide us to that which is pleasing to the Lord. BUT we must first make the choice - then we must do all that we can to avoid that which tempts us. Here in San Francisco there are temptations all around me everyday, even as a missionary, but I know where I stand. I am aware of my surroundings and I know the Lord will protect me as long as I am willing to do that which the Lord asks of me.

I don't even know what's happening in the news or really much about the challenges that the family might be going through, but the one thing I do know is that God loves us and He will protect us. We will face challenges in this life. We knew that we would face these challenges before we even came to earth. We cannot face these trials on our own. We are not capable of doing so, we need the help of our Savior. We need the lifting power of the Atonement. Obeying the commandments is simple, you just have to do it. I know that as we Repent and renew our covenants each week, read and pray the Holy Ghost will enter into our lives. With the power of the Holy Ghost we will endure.

I have a huge testimony of the Book of Mormon - if you are not reading it everyday I invite you to read it. I have seen the power of the Book of Mormon, it changes lives. - Within these pages God speaks.

Yesterday my companion and I had a lesson with a sister named Mindy Lew - she has been meeting with us for about two months now and she has had a really hard time making the decision to be Baptized. Her lessons were always filled with the Spirit but she didn't trust her self enough to make the decision. We had a really long discussion about many different principles of the Gospel. We wanted Mindy to see that God has given her the answer but that she just needed to act upon that prompting. We invited her to be baptized and she said that she couldn't answer at that time. Sometimes in life we are faced with choices that we are unsure about. Sometimes we really just want God to make the Choice for us - or maybe we will ask a loved one or someone that we trust to tell us what choice we should make. We don't trust ourselves enough to make that choice. In this life we are given the ability to choose for a reason, there is a purpose to agency. God cannot choose for us. When we are worthy and humble and receptive to the promptings, when we place our trust not in ourselves but in God, He will guide us. But we must show our faith and our love for Him through diligent scripture study. Feast upon his words. We must pray ALWAYS and we must repent. My dearest family, I love you all and I want you to have the comfort of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is real. In that lesson we had with Mindy the HolyGhost came upon us. We all felt it. After we helped Mindy recognize that God allows us to make choices for ourselves we invited her to be baptized again and she could not deny the way she felt. Mindy will prepare herself to be baptized on the 12th of November.

I am grateful for all that you do for me. I am really grateful for the blessing of the Gospel that our family enjoys. OUR FAMILY IS FOREVER!! Let's prepare. We are really blessed you guys.. sometimes we forget but there are people in the world that are really suffering. Let us be strong.

Have a wonderful week.

Love Elder Blandon