Parker - February 27

Hey Everybody!

So yeah, this week hasn`t been too terribly interesting. We`ve mostly been trying to find new investigators. Which means we could do some tracting in some areas we`re not too familiar with, or start combing through the mountain of former investigators we have. We chose the paper work, which actually led to a funny discovery of an Elder with absolutely terrible handwriting. We could barely interpret his lettering, Elder L did most of it, though he says that he wishes that he had had a Urim and Thummin in order to decipher it. It was kind of funny. It also showed us the importance of accent marks, because ``A su mama le gusto´´ has a different meaning entirely from ´´A su mamá le gustó.´´ But it has yielded fruit, we found Seven new investigators this week, and many have some potential. I also started doing something that I should have started doing a long time ago, and started marking up my scriptures, color-coded and everything, I have a different color for each of the five points of the Doctrine of Christ (Fe, Arrepentimiento, Bautismo, El Don del Espíritu Santo, y Perseverar Hasta el Fin) and one for La Obra Misional. We also had a zone conference with president last week, and we talked a lot about how many times we skip over Repentance and head straight to Baptism after the people begin showing faith. And a problem actually has to do with the language, because the verb Repent, ´´Arrepentirse´´ also means ´´to regret.´´ So many people think that repentance just means feeling bad for what you`ve done and completely miss the part about changing who you are. But it does incude a change, a change in behavior and in how you think. The mission really does change you. The six months before my mission, I barely changed at all, but now, six months into the mission, I have changed a ton, but I don`t feel like I am losing who I am, I feel like I am finding out who I really am. That`s what Repentance really is, finding out who you really are. Espero que todos de ustedes puedan realmente arrepentirse y encontrar quienes son ustedes. Les amo a todos.

Elder Blaylock

Brock - February 27

Hey everybody!

So this week Elder and Sister B´s daughters came into town. They were asked to bear their testimonies during church on Sunday, so I had to translate for them. I did pretty good until one of them mentioned that they were a "therapist". We got everyone laughing over the confusion of what I should translate that word into. By the way, Elder and Sister B are the best. Their daughters brought me the item pictured in the attatched file below. 

So in other news, my companion´s been having a rough time this past week. He´s passing through that "climbing the hill, almost one year" point, and he´s thinking a lot about going home. I´ve been talking to him all week, because I know a lot of what he´s goiing through. Last night, not knowing what else to do, I took him down to Elder B´s apartment, and they had a good long chat. He seems to be doing better now. But still, I´m just a little stressed out. I just want to finish out my mission strong and have some good companions that are more capable than I am. Anyway.

I love you guys, hope this letter isn´t too short or a bummer or anything. I´m doing fine. I´ve hit the "last six months exercise program" so I´m really going to town with my exercises now. My hands shake and I´m sweating like crazy when I´m done. 

Love 

Elder Blaylock

Parker - February 20

This week was rather boring.

We have had a couple days of weird weather. For two days in a row, it was swelteringly hot in the morning and we had torrential rain in the afternoon. But now things are a little bit cooler and refreshing. It`s been hard to work cuz its the last two weeks of summer vacation here, so people are going out and having fun so almost nobody´s home. We did splits with the zone leaders satudray so Elder L could do their baptismal interviews, and while I was with Elder M, we were waiting in the bus station to get some baptismal clothes from the other zone, I saw my trainer! It was weird, apparently he`s zone leader now, it`s pretty funny because he always said that he would have hated being zone leader. And yeah, other than that, a missionary returned home to this ward from his mission in Buenos Aires, and the family invited us over for lunch on Sunday, it was a little awkward and a little trunky, but he was cool, so it was fine. (By the way mom and dad, DO NOT INVITE MISSIONARIES OVER TO EAT THE WEEK I GET BACK). But yeah, other than that, not much has happened, this week we`re going to have a zone conference with the mission president, so something is going to happen this next week. I love you all.

Elder Blaylock

Brock - February 20

Can I just say that the most wonderful thing in the world is getting a call from the senior missionaries at 7:30 Saturday evening letting us know that the daylight savings time will end we´ll get an extra hour of sleep? So glorious.

So my companion´s name is Elder L. He´s from Rio de Janeiro, the countryside. He has eight months in the mission, and, as the picture that I´ll send will prove, he is also a fan of Captain America. So that´s cool. 

So this week was more door-knocking, but we finally were able to visit an English school, because they only just now got off from holidays. Unfortunately, we were only able to visit real quick, and the follow-up visit we marked they pushed forward another week. But, they were so excited to have us, which is great, considering that the other places we went to didn´t seem that excited. C´mon, people, free American here! How often are you going to have access to a native-English speaker? Anyway.

So it´s pretty weird because the sisters from my group went home last week. Time goes by really fast here. 

One of the things thatI have learned here is the answer to one of the greatest "loss-of-faith" questions of all time--or, at least, one of the answers--the question being, "How can a loving God allow terrible things to happen?"

After the year and a half here, seeing poverty and struggle, passing through my own tribulations, and hearing of wars, rumors of wars,and disasters in far-off places, slowly but surely I have come to the realization. What God aims to build among us is charity. Or, pure love. The pure love of his Son, manifest in us. I have seen and participated in this love, as a result of the afflictions of others. If we had no afflictions, we would have less opportunities to grow and show this love. In every terrible thing that happens, hundreds of thousands rise to the call to "love thy neighbor", whether it be a large-scale natural disaster or terrorist attack or emotional or financial needs or family trouble at home. We are blessed to live in a world where the conditions of the world cause us have our hearts yearn and feel for our fellow man. It is truly an incredible and bewildering sensation that simply has to be felt to begin to be understood. I love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Blaylock

(Why, oh why can't people focus a camera?!? - Jenny)

Parker - February 13

BAPTISM!!!

So Yeah, we had a baptism on Saturday, it was pretty cool, not a whole lot of people went, but there was still enough there to make it nice. Her cousin, who is the Bishop`s first counselor, performed the baptism, which was a cool experience for them both. Other than that, we had a fairly interesting week. We were passing the chapel one day and this one lady started yelling at us, cuz she saw that there were dogs in there and thought that they were ``locked up`` (they literally go in and out as they please, they are so malnourished that they fit easily through the bars) but it was just so funny cuz she was just getting angry for absolutely no reason. Anyway, other news to do with the baptism, we did exhanges the morning of the baptism so the zone leaders could do the interview. So I went with Elder M. to his area...on bike....it was ok, it just murdered by rear end. But Elder M is cool, he`s Mexican, and I like Mexicans because they speak so clearly and in understandable spanish, as opposed to ``Tucumano Básico`` which is what people speak here. ``Paque Eso?`` instead of ``Para qué es eso?`` and ``Ya te dicho`` instead of ``Ya te he dicho.`` But I`m getting better at understanding it. Anyway, also, after the confirmation of A. on Sunday, I had to give a talk...about baptism! It was honestly really easy. Also, about pdays, last pday, we tried to make some dipping foods, the nacho cheese was a disaster, literally it just hardened like a rock. But Afterwards we made dipping chocolate which was amazing, I sent some photos of that, and then today, guess what we made?

Wait for it............

Scones!!!!!!!

Yeah! and they turned out delicious too, the only problem is we may have eaten too much.....

But other than that, that was my week. About transfers, I know that they won`t be coming up for a while, but I am just now realizing that it is very well possible that after this transfer, I could become senior companion, district leader, AND train. Because first of all, with both of my companions that has happened to them, all three at once, and I noticed that people are becoming senior companions earlier now. If that is what the Lord wants me to do, I`ll do it, but I`m not sure how well I`d do. But anyway, that`s all I have this week, I love you all.

Elder Blaylock

Brock - February 13

Hey everybody! So we got the transfer news on Saturday night. I´ll be staying here with Elder L  and Elder J will go...(drumroll please)...to Salto! Yep, that´s right. Elder J is going to the area I just left from. So that will be interesting. 

This week was normal. Lots of knocking at doors. On my birthday we accidentally ate really nice steak. Long story. We received money for lunch on Thursday, and Elder J gave me all the responsibility for choosing what we would eat, because "after all, it´s your birthday." I´m sure you guys know by now that I´m pretty indecisive. After wandering around for a very long time, we accidentally ended up in an expenive "bistro" with poorly written French and English all over the walls and menu. I nearly choked when I saw the prices. Everything was like, over a hundred reais. The waiter who attended us (very closely), however, had mentioned a "beef and potato" option, if we desired, and I asked him how much it was with the full intention of leaving. It was only R$ 20. I thought, "Well, it´s probably just a scrappy little cut of meat and some cheap fries," and so I agreed to this plate. To our great surprise, we received the plate pictured below. We also had brownies and ice cream that night. 

So, after yet another mighty struggle, we ended up not having anyone at church but we did baptize S. Now, has had her baptism date since Elder J first found her five months ago, and due to marriage bureaucracy here in Tatuí, she only got married last Saturday. Normally, I wouldn´t credit myself with I having had done anything to help her be baptized, but how we have labored this transfer to get her to quit smoking! Last Monday she took her last puff of a cigarette and hasn´t smoked since. So that´s done.

Love you guys, have a great week!

Elder Blaylock

Parker - February 6

Hey everyone, quite an interesting week this week.

So first of all, we had trámites again on Tuesday. I got to see a couple elders from the mtc again, that was pretty cool. I tried mangos for the first time, I think they are gross and they remind me of eating pine needles. We helped a member move a couple blocks, so we had to carry an oven and a fridge for a couple blocks. Iit was hard. On Thursday, the family we had lunch with cancelled on us, so my companion made some pretty good french toast. We didn`t have syrup, but it was still pretty good. We have a baptism this Saturday, so watch out for pictures. It`s A. We haven`t been able to visit her for a while, and when we finally did get at her house, at first she was ranting on about a grammatical error at the end of Our Legacy (Yeah, she`s been reading practically any book written by the church, she was a literature teacher), and then she got quiet and told us that no matter what, she wanted to be baptized because she knows that this is where the salvation is, and where all of the answers are. One thing I have noticed about converts here, one of the reasons why they like our church above others is because we care about the members and we actually teach them and answer their questions. So whenever we`re complaining about a church class, maybe we should take a step back and count our blessings. Other than that, I have had an increase in the amount of nosebleeds over the past few days, I don`t know what happened, but I think I`ve got it under control, it`s just really difficult when you`re walking in the street and then the floodgates open. Other than that, we had transfers, both me and Elder Lutes are staying here for another transfer, so not much has changed. Other than all that, I`m doing great, learning a lot, I love you all!

Elder Blaylock

Brock - February 6

This week was remarkably similar to last week, except without the nice little "miracles" of last week. We swung by the girl´s house probably thirty to thirty-five times or more this week, and they didn´t answer the door once. We actually caught them outside like twice, but they ran inside both times. So we scratched her off the list. And the young man who showed up? Well, he wants to be a missionary--in his church. So it was, once again, a lot of knocking doors and a lot of zeros at the end of every day. So up until now we´ve just got this lady that Elder J has been working with for three transfers now (because they have to be married) for this week. And she isn´t really stopping smoking. But anyway, we´re still going at it. Knocking doors. It´s been pretty hot and then pretty rainy like every day this week. You never know what to expect. We´ve been having a lot of fun though. Elder J has seen a lot of the movies that I have, so whenever no one is in the street to talk to and no one comes to the door we´ll start quoting stuff. Like Goofy Movie and Secondhand Lions. So we´ve been able to keep our spirits up.  So as Dad observed, we will have a transfer next week. I am usually not very good at guessing these things, but if I had to, I would say that Elder J and I stay together for one more, then he leaves and I maybe train for one, and then I move on to my last area for the last two transfers. Like I said, I´m terrible at guessing, but this doesn´t seem too outlandish. What is outlandish is how fast this transfer has gone by, and how I only have four more transfers after this. SO CRAZY! Time moves so fast!  So anyway, I´ve been trying to do a "speed-read" of the Book of Mormon, like what Mom told that the stake basically asked at the end of last year. She said she really saw some things differently by doing it. I first did a speed-read of the Book of Mormon at the CTM. Actually, that was the first time I read the Book of Mormon in its entirety alone. I did it in about a week, and the comprehension I gained from that week has lasted with me the whole mission. On Sunday I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I don´t know if you guys remember this day, but I do. Dad came home early from work that day, saying that he´d had an "epiphany". I asked him what that meant, and he told me that it was like, a sudden understanding of something. I replied (I remember clearly, we were outside on the driveway), "Oh, I think I had one of those." The night before (this was way back when we shared a room, Parker, Jack and I), I was almost asleep when a thought occurred to me. I didn´t know if the Book of Mormon was true. I had to have been eleven or twelve, already baptized and possibly already had the priesthood. I´d been a member all my life and didn´t know. It was a very strange thought to have just come to me; it was a Thursdaynight, I hadn´t studied at all recently, nor was there any apparent reason. Nor did I ponder about how my question might be answered. I didn´t think of Joseph, reading James 1:5, or Moroni 10:3-5, or any other scripture. Without a moment´s hesitation--without even leaving the bed, honestly--I prayed.  The immediate, and overwhelming sensation that I have come to recognize as the Spirit filled me, and I began to cry silently. I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the events of that book had actually taken place! Only years later here in the mission field do I see the true miracle. This entire thing that had happened to me is described in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost." I had no idea I was fulfilling the requisites for revelation. I was guided by the Spirit and came to a knowledge by seeking in prayer. I remember that night and the following day, and will remember, forever. I sincerely hope that all of you have come to this knowledge already, and if you have, that you share it often. I love you guys. Have a great week.  Elder Blaylock

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