November 23, 2015, Endure to the end (missionary style)

Hi mom,

The title just came to mind and I HAD to use it.

This week was SOOOO LONG! but it was worth it!

Naturally we started with a preparation day last Monday. I spent the first 2-2:30 hours washing and packing my clothes and then we did the day. At the end of the day all of our citas fell through, so we ran by the Familia G* and said good bye. I even got some pictures with them.

a family with Elder Michael Blanding

Tuesday was long, we spent all day in meetings getting ready for Transfers. During transfer meeting, president Henrie has us do a "Get to Know the New Missionaries/Their Trainers" for the which he has an elder act like a talk show host and make stupid comments that are sooo funny. This transfer we got only one hermana (sister English) and 15 Elders, so his first comment was (I joke you not) "I bet people in the airport were like 'I thought Polygamy worked the other way around?'" The Chapel burst out laughing at that. We then came back to my new apartment (i'd moved pretty much across the street, so I just put my stuff in there earlier.) and did some quick Daily contact and taught our most promising investigators.

We then spent the rest of the week doing daily contact and trying to teach people, for the which we were invited to a birthday fiesta and had cake and pizza right before a member dinner, and it looks like this week is going to be just as bad.

On Thursday, I found out I'm part of the LAPD (Los Angeles Perfect District) and then we ran to more appointments.

Saturday, we had the Thanksgiving feast and OUR INVESTIGATORS CAME! We invited everyone to church we could and we had 3 investigators show up and 2 of them brought family (same family, but still cool).

Sunday, we had people come to church! It was hemrano G*. He's so cool. After Priesthood, he was detained by the Elders Quorum President for almost all of Prencipios and then after sacrament we set up a cita with them and the Elders quorum President invited himself along. We weren't arguing. This Ward is so fantastic. They fellowship without being asked. We then did knockout and we were a little discouraged. We'd gone all week talking to everyone that moved and couldn't get anyone to listen to us. We had plans for 6:15 in a different part of our area but we wanted to finish strong, so we entered this apartment complex and Elder Jager (my new Companion) walked up the stairs and started knocking. We kept getting the same answers, Not interested or GO AWAY. As we were knocking, we saw this one house where they were watching "La Banda" (Think American Idle, but in Spanish). We had only 5 minutes left, but we knocked the door of La Banda and asked, "Can we share a message about how God's called a new Prophet?" (in Spanish, obviously), and they said YES!!!!?!!!! So we came in. they turned off the T.V. (with out being asked) and we taught the restoration. At the end they said to come back next Sunday and agreed to baptism after they know it's true. MIRACLE 8 NEW INVESTIGATORS! #ENDURETOTHEENDMISSIONARYSTILE. They were our only find this week and they will go all the way to baptism.

That's it for the week

Con amor,

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King.

November 16, 2015, Good bye Redseda, Hello Arleta

hi mom,

This week was really fun. We started it with Operation Gratitude and a hair cut. Both were fun, but I think I enjoyed Operation Gratitude more. You saw the pictures, there was music and I love to dance, so take a guess at what I did. We then had a party for our investigators Birthday that night (Tuesday) and it was really fun.

Wednesday we did more service (actually in my new area... Interesting) we helped move a recent convert (of the hermanas in Reseda) out of her apartment. After that we did an exchange with the District leader. I went with Elder Engle in their area and Elder Flores came here with Elder Weinheimer. We found a super cool new investigator named W* and she said to come back tonight, BAPTISM FOR THE DISTRICT LEADER!

Thursday we had district meeting and then this lovely miracle (KO means knock out, which is a two hour blitz the whole mission that we start with prayer and then we just knock apartment, this means that every missionary is knocking from 4-6 and says a prayer at 3;55 to ask for guidance)

Ko miracle coming your way!!

Got to ko a little late due to district meeting and an exchange and we didn't know exactly where to go, so we just started walking to an apartment we haven't been able to get into before. We couldn't get into it, so we started walking to a part of our area that is more English and found out that some of the apartments in this complex are accessible from the side, so we knocked two doors and found a family of 2 we are now teaching and have accepted baptism when they know the truth. #milagro!#tlpporelespiritu#kobythespirit!!!!

Cool part of that miracle that we didn't send to the mission. The family is from Puebla. One of my dreams is to baptize (or help convert) someone from Puebla, mx. Pray for them please.

Friday was weakly planning (because Tuesday and Wednesday were service and Thursday we had District Meeting) after Planning, we Knocked Out and found another family from Puebla, Also super cool. They had the best Navidad decorations our (we got pictures, and a return appointment on Tuesday) and the cutest baby... the kid was cool to (they had a puppy and a human baby... it's a bad joke... LAUGH!) We also taught Famiia G* (our Fechas)

Saturday, we got HATE and LOVE. We walked the streets for about an hour and a half and we got Hated on HARD. Someone wanted a Bible, another person just hated that we smiled and nodded at her. We then were passed by two skaters that "wanted" to talk about Jesus (they were making fun of us). We then finally started getting some love.  A family from BYU gave us a thumbs up and we found someone who was interested enough to talk. As we were talking a man pulled up to the light (we were at a intersection) and started pumping us up by shouting at us from the window of his car. He then tried to help us in the contact, saying "Listen to them, their message is really important!" which would have been great, but the man didn't speak English, so he didn't understand what was shouted. Next, a bunch of RMs drove by and started cheering and bolstering our spirits, I think one was Hermana Blankenship (she was my first Sister Training Leader in Van Nuys and then trained her last two), so that was cool (don't know for sure). Literally right after the RMs, some man told us to go home.

After that we just started walking home and ran into Crhistmass (please accept his friend request on Facebook, He's super funny and could actually be a helpful person in my career choice). We'd actually met this man two times before and he's still just as crazy, but now we know he's a singer (legit) and he is about to make it big. He said his dead line is the 1st week of May, so I might have just made friends with a 65k-inar... cool.

We then got transfer calls and our minds blown at the same time. I'm leaving (going to where we did service on Wednesday) and Elder Weinheimer's going on 9 month in his first ward (he's also training, which we learned today). He's excited to be here for Christmas, but it might be Christmass, I'm not completely sure. We then ran by Hermana Cabrera (a member from my area in Van Nuys) we shared a quick scripture and then left with a two liter bottle of Sprite... I was happy. We then had dinner with C* (luicitos mom) and Hermano G*. It was good. Then we had another dinner with Hermanita G*, but it wasn't that good, and she didn't have a man, so we took it to go and then got rid of it (don't tell her).

Sunday was normal. We had the primary program, and it was really good. I packed almost everything and we took a lot of pictures. We then did knock out and learned that we have a fee soda place in our area, it kind of sucks that I'm leaving the area, but hay, no temptation. We then had dinner with C* again and after that we'd planed to teach Familia G*, but they canceled, so I don't have any pictures with them. hopefully I can get some to night, but if not, I'll do it at their baptism on the 13th.

This morning I finished packing all that I could and then while e-mailing a man asked us questions about the church, so we gave him our number and the church websites so he can learn more. It was fun. That about it for now.

Con amor,

Elder Michael Blanding.

Called to Serve my King

p.s. Don't worry about how you pray or how long, just the quality of the prayer.

November 9, 2015, "STOP! STOP! DON'T WANT YOU TO GO! STOP" - Luicito

I can't think of a better title then this one for the email, I keep wanting to say/scream/yell this at the clock every time I see time fly by.

Hi mom, (do know i miss you and can't wait to see you again, I just also really love the mission and will miss it)

This week was uneventful at the beginning, but turned into a fun week.

Monday, the Zone tried to do a barbecue, but it rained on us (yes it rains even in the valley, once every millennia), so we just played sports and then worked the rest of the night.

Tuesday, we planed and I called a thousand and one numbers of futoros that other missionaries had found from before I was a missionary. (It was fun and we might have found a investigator.)

Wednesday we did service and then started running by investigators/antiguos.

Thursday, we ran by a lot of antiguos and talked to random people in the street, but nothing really came of it. just a lot of really nice conversations with cool people.

Friday, we had ZTM, it was super cool. We talked about lighting ourselves on fire! Our mission is going to catch fire as we work together with enthusiasm. After ZTM we ran by some antiguos again (we've been working more with those so we have some motivation to go out and work) and tried by our fechas, but they had to cancel until Saturday. (I also got a English to Tongan missionary vocab book from the sister who gave me her Tongan missionary handbook for the week. I think she's spoiling me... should i be worried;) (it's a joke))

Saturday, we had service, a few potentials (all fell through) and a lesson with our fechas (they're the Familia G* (stress the 'e') if you want to pray for them, the dates the 13 of December (hint, hint)). We had a friend of theirs come who is also a member. We were planning on teaching The Sabbath Day, but they were sick, so we thought it'd be weird to invite them to Church the next day and we decided to back off and teach them about scripture study and why it's important. Good idea, right? WRONG! NEVER GO AGAINST THE SPIRIT, YOU WILL LOSE! Good thing we forgot to tell the hermana that. She got in there and bore them her testimony about church and prayer and by the end she'd practically taught the whole Sabbath day lesson. We're still going to recover a little bit with them, but it was cool. We also ate dinner with C* and C*. It was good. I was the super star student in Luicitos school for his "best friends" (what he calls the missionaries).

Sunday is the really fun one. We didn't have any lessons, but we ran by an antiguo we've actually known since we got in the area last July (has it really been that long?). He's part of a part-member/less-active family who we've taught once or twice before, but we didn't know he wasn't a member and we never really taught the lessons to him. We didn't get a chance to teach him last night, but we did set up an appointment for Thanksgiving with them #GETTINGFATTERBYTHEMEAL).

After this we had dinner with C* and C* (They aren't married or living together, we just need a man to enter and C* likes helping out with this, so they're really good friends). Dinner was very rich (SPANGLISH! LOVE IT), and Luicito (Carmen's 4-year-old boy) was (as always) super energetic. Dinner there is always fun because we learn Spanish from C* and C* and Luicito loves attention and will do anything to get it (sound like someone you know?), so we almost never can hear/talk. This night we some how got on the subject of bullying and how Luicito won't fight back. This led to how no one should touch your body inappropriately, which in turn lead C* to say "I don't like men's public restrooms.They don't have doors on the stalls, how weird! I don't understand it!" Elder Weinheimer and I could not hold it in at this statement. We both were dying laughing. We then took notice of the time and shared a quick spiritual thought and asked Luicito if he would come pray with us. His response was "NO, I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE." So I just started praying in Spanish. This set Luicito off even more. He stood right next to me and started yelling "STOP! STOP! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO! STOP" (I was almost too lazy to copy and paste this from the tittle) in my ear whilst hitting me on the head and arms and any thing he could reach with a little peace of paper/cardboard he'd been playing with. I was doing okay for most of the prayer, but at some point (I think it was about the middle) it got to be too much and I started laughing with Elder Weinheimer (if you don't know how to say this name, just think "Wine" and "Hammer" and you will be close (a latino saying this is doing super good)). I some how managed to finish the prayer and then we left with Luicito hot on our heels trying to keep us there. We'll have to see how he is on Saturday.

Well, this was a long one. Lots of really funny stuff happened at the end of the week.

I love you all

Elder Micheal Blanding

Called to Serve my King

Elder Michael Blanding

November 2, 2015, Feliz Dia De Las Brujas, Conferencia de la estaca, FECHAS!!!!

This was one of our best weeks in Receda 4to

Hi mom,

This week was really good. We had a lot of appointments, and only a few fell through. We taught two new people, and they are really cool. One, we ran by last week. He was there, but we couldn't teach him due to the fact that we didn't have the supplies, so we set it up for the next week (also known as this week) and he was there. We were on exchanges at the time and Elder Flores and I taught him very simply what is the restoration and why it's important.

Right after this, we ran to Familia G*. We planed this lesson out really well. We wanted to invite them to be baptized on the 13th of December, so we planed to teach them Baptism and Conformation. It went PERFECTLY. At the end, everyone committed to baptism on the 13th. I was most worried about I* because he sometimes doesn't seem to take it seriously (I think because God is new to him and he's scared of looking stupid and not being Dad anymore), but he accepted and they're all making progress to baptism. They even read a little of the Book of Mormon this week!

We then had a giant party on Saturday night. Proselyting ended at 6 and then we all went to a church building to watch Joseph Smith; Prophet of the Restoration and eat pizza. (This was on Mission Presidents orders). While we were there, I got a missionary handbook in Tongan from a sister in our zone who's from Tonga. I'm going to try and learn a little Tongan from it during our meal times and hopefully I won't sound like a complete fool.

Sunday was Stake conference and it was really nice. The G* didn't show up because they were in Bakersfield, but both of our menos activos were there, so that was cool. After, we did some knocking and then we went to Dinner at the hemana C* (one of the menos activas) where we taught her friend, A*, the plan of Salvation. She prayed to start the lesson and it was so cool. It was only her second time praying ever and she did it perfectly. We hope that they can come to church this week.

Good news from all of this. All of our investigators made a little progress towards baptism! we know that this will improve as we do what we are asked to by President Henrie and by the Lord.

I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort that knowledge is. I know that Joseph Smith is His prophet of the Restoration and that Thomas S. Monson is his successor to that mantle. I know that that Book of Mormon is true and that it has a power to bring the spirit into your life, no matter what language. I just finished reading it in Spanish for the first time and I felt the spirit guide and teach me things about God and Spanish the whole time I read. Trust the Scriptures and trust the Spirit. They will never lead you wrong (see 2 Nephi 32:3,5) I love this work and all that I've learned about my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and myself. If you are scared to talk to your friends about what you know to be true, I encourage you to plan out a none threatening way to introduce them to the missionaries and then be there with them throughout the long investigation process. They will thank you for it and you will learn and grow with them. I write these things in the name of Jesucristo, Amen.

Con amor

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King.

October 26, 2015, Talking with Everyone!!! Zone Conference You don't know what faith is

Hi mom,

This week we had Zone Conference, and not much else happened.

Monday, we had a really fun activity as a Zone. We played a game called Dragon Breath 3000. It's a mix of LARF, Dodge ball, Capture the Flag and Fencing. It's kind of complicated and I don't think I could explain it very well over e-mail, but it's a game that I think has the name "Ostler" written all over it. I see your brothers loving it and all of us having a good time playing it. Even the little kids can play (there's no limit to the number of participants) and enough stuff is going on that your teams make up doesn't matter so much as the strategy you use. We might want to change the rules a little, make a few more to keep it safe. I kind of got my finger gouged open playing it, but nothing to serious, I had the nurses look at it and they said it's fine.

Tuesday, was boring. We also got dodged by the familia T*:(

Wednesday, we had zone conference. We talked all about faith and what it is and believe me, you don't know faith. I suggest taking this next month or so and just studying it out, you probably still won't know what it is (I don't even fully understand it) but you'll start to scratch the surface a little. We also went over some basics of missionary work and talked about how we do the work and why we're here. That was about it for the day... seriously nothing else happened.

Thursday, we talked to people.

Friday, we talked to more people.

Saturday, we talked to even more people.

Sunday, we did church, had a two hour lesson with an investigator family about the Book of Mormon and at the end they committed themselves to coming to church next Sunday... and we didn't even ask them to come! :D We were going to, but didn't need to. To end the day we taught A*again and she's been reading in the pamphlet! Possibly also the Book of Mormon, but we don't know for sure yet

We also started giving service at this place called Best Friends on Thursday. That's it for the week. Really boring.

Love

Elder Michael Blanding
Called to Serve my King

Elder Michael Blanding's finger. OUCH!

October 19, 2015, Milagros be Fallen on our Heads!!!! Cenas Cada Cia! (and a really cool baptismal story)

Hi mom (and others)

This week was TAN refreshing. As you know, we've been in the same area now for 13 to 14 weeks, we're looking at another 4 to 5 weeks together in this area, and WE HAVE KNOCKED EVERY SINGLE DOOR ALREADY! As you might be able to guess, the two hour mandatory knock out isn't our favorite time right now and we've been finding it REALLY hard to leave the apartment before our alarm goes off at 3:55 to tell us it's time to do Knockout. Discouraged isn't the right word for what we feel and neither is exhausted, it's something in between, I'm going to call it "Disughsted" (2% discouraged 98% exhausted and 100% "this absolutely sucks! we need a change!) Luckily, God knows us and our needs. and we got exactly that, a Change. We have a less active in our area that Loves the missionaries and the sharing the gospel (just won't come to church... figure that?) and she invited us over Wednesday night for a dinner at which we were going to meet and teach her friend (who lives with her) and her friend's cousin. We naturally agreed and BINGO WAS HIS NAME-O we got a two new investigators AND a member present lesson!!! (my first since Van Nuys and Elder Weinheimers first ever), best part, they're really cool.

That was a Nice change, but we still had the rest of the week, and not a lot of juice to run on, so we dragged ourselves out the door every day and did our best to work with a smile while the same people behind the same doors smiled and slammed the door in or faces again (some even asked, "didn't you knock here a few weeks ago?" before they slammed it in our faces) Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), we were ready for a break on Sunday from the normal routine, and Church was amazing. After church we went home and had lunch and did a little studying (by that I mean I read Ensigns while Elder Weinheimer took a much needed nap) until we heard that in-sufferable alarm go off at 3:55 to do knock out. We dragged ourselves out of the apartment and started knocking doors we'd already seen. We found a little pocket of doors that we'd missed (behind a looked garage door where your timing has to be just right to enter, so we felt okay about not knocking them) and had a little more ganas to knock them, but nothing came of it, so we went back to knocking the same doors over again. From this, we found 2 more investigators!! One even looks super solid and I can't wait to go back on Sunday to teach him (hopefully his wife joins us and we can pick up another investigator). We then had dinner again with the menos activa and her friend. This time we had another member with us and the friend's boyfriend came as well. We read from the Book of Mormon and then left after dinner.

We also were fed at least one dinner every day (not joking, we even had some with two meals). We did exchanges with Elder Engle and Elder Flores on Friday and Elder Engle and I had two dinners with only an hour in between to let one settle and make room for the second.

The baptism wasn't ours, but it was in our district. Elder Wall and Elder Raymond came to church with really interesting news. They are in a different ward, but have the same building (four different wards/branch share the stake center for their building). They told Elder Engle, the district leader, that they'd gotten a call from their investigator saying "Me voy a bautizar hoy, verdad?" (I'm going to get baptized today, right?) The answer was a very firm "CLARO QUE SI!" (OF COURSE!) so they quickly taught him all that he had left to learn (a little of the commandments and all of the laws and ordinances) and then had the interview and baptismal service one right after the other. It took him a total of two hours to finish being taught until he was baptized by one holding priesthood authority.

I'm so grateful for the authority of the priesthood. It is God's way to show he loves us and wants us to come home. I know that this authority was given to Joseph Smith and it is what gives us authority to not only baptize, but to do missionary work and wear His name (Jesus Christ) on our chests, buildings and in our hearts. I know that God loves us and wants us to be with Him again. As we strive to follow His plan for us, we will feel His love for us and His guiding influence in our lives. I love this gospel and all that I have learned and become here on the Lord's errand. I encourage you to read the Book of Mormon. If you haven't done it yet, do it for the first time. If you have, read it again. I know that as we read this Book, God's power will be more fully poured out on us in our lives and we will be guided by his spirit.

Love

Elder Michael Blanding,

Llamado a servir mi Rey

(Called to Serve my King)

October 13, 2015, Long Week, Old Friends, Car Fire

Hi mom,

As I'm sitting here thinking about last week I'm struck with a realization... NOTHING FREAKING HAPPENED!

We started the week by knocking the last door in the area that we hadn't knocked. We have, as of Tuesday, officially knocked EVERY FREAKING DOOR IN OUR LITTLE AREA. Now, we have six (well, now five) weeks to Re-knock doors and have the same people say No to us that said no last time. On the up side. We know that will be the answer, so we have nothing to lose. We might just be in for five weeks of Elder Blanding doing really stupid things just to keep himself (and hopefully his companion) from going crazy.

We also had weekly planning and district meeting flipped, so We did planning on Tuesday and district meeting on Friday (it's supposed to be Thursday, but with the change in the mission set up {bringing the two sides (Spanish and English) together} President Henrie wanted the Zone leaders at all the meeting) At district meeting we got new cell phones and guess what... its the same peace of junk phone I had at home. It's both cool and weird, but mostly it's annoying because it make no since and we don't know how to use it. We also are the manliest district in the mission three companionships and all of them are elders.

Nothing more happened until Monday. It was Columbus day so the libraries were all closed (that's why this is a day late) so we ran to Costco (on the way a car caught on fire.... It wasn't ours, but we did see it and it was pretty cool) and then we went and ate pizza at Elder Wall's and Elder Raymond's apartment. It was taste. Elder Weinheimer and I bought and ate a pizza a piece. YUM.

That really is all that happened this week.

Ops. forgot. Elder Gonzalez and Elder Blakely came back to the mission on Sunday. They were at church and came to say "hi" during sacrament. It was cool. Latter they showed up in our area because Elder Blakely started here and he wanted to say hi to his investigators/member friends. Cool stuff. We also had two more people at dinner with Carmen. Josh Hunter (he's the Elder I was going to be companions with, but he went home before I got here) was back in town so he came to dinner with us and he brought his brother along. His brother didn't speak Spanish, but he does speak German (served in Germany) and Josh does speak Spanish. He's not perfect at it, but he is good. A little practice and some studding and he'd be really good.

Love,

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King

October 5, 2015, CONFERENCE WEEKEND!!!!

Hi Mom,

This was the best weekend ever. The week also is easy to report on. We had meetings and did a lot of knocking. Nothing else happened. Really just a slow and boring week, but it ended with a bang!

I loved conference. Elder Holland has provoked this next sentence 100%. Mom, Thank you for all you've done and for your love. I love you so much.

I don't know if I can say I have a favorite talk, they were all good. I really liked the one given by President Uchtdorf in priesthood. He talked about how people often treat revelation like it should just work and they don't need to do anything to receive it. He compared it to a spotlight that someone unplugs and then blames the spotlight for not working. We can't do this with God. If we want God to show himself and speak to us, we have to search for Him, show Faith in Him and say, "Here I am Lord. I want to know and I will follow thee." He also had a really good description of Daniel in Babylon, I want to study his talk and the story of Daniel together and see what I can learn from the two.

Also, we got Transfer Calls on Saturday (that was fun). Guess what, I'm staying! know what else, Elder Wheinheimer's staying too. That's right, Three with Elder Weinheimer. This is going to be so much fun!!!! They also completely remade the zones and districts in the mission. We now have English and Spanish together (still separate districts) and our districts spread over ward boundaries and split some in half. It's cool, but a little strange. We actually have one ward that is being split between two zones, which I think is weird. Fun side, Elder Deyholos (my trainee that I never got to finish) is a zone leader in North Hollywood. SO COOL.

Love

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve My King

September 28, 2015, Lots of Fun... KNOCKING?

Hi Mom,

Who knew that Knocking could be so much fun (THIS IS NOT SARCASM) I can only imagine the face of Elder Garcia as he reads this email. When I first came to the mission, I HATED knocking doors. I'd talk to people on the street in bad Spanish. I'd try to pay attention and help with lessons that made no sense to me, I'd even offer to read in a language I didn't understand and didn't have anything to do with Spanish (I swear, the MTC doesn't know Spanish), but I would freeze up any time we came near a door. Now I love walking up to strangers doors and knocking them. Some of the best ones are the ones that don't care so they sound like idiots, and the absolute best are when they say "Quieren entrar?" We've been knocking mostly white neighborhoods recently, because we're knocking all our area. We only have a little bit left to knock and then we'll be done with the area.

Sunday was sad. We only got to teach the T* once this week, so they're a lot farther behind in the lessons then we'd like them/they need to be. Their fecha is for the 11th, so we have a lot to teach them in just two weeks and they're really hard to get a hold of. They also can't miss another Sunday, or we'll have to postpone the baptism by another week. Brother T* got called into work all day yesterday, so they didn't go.

We also set a fecha with Brother G* (the antiguo of elder McKinney) but his wife didn't want to set one. She could be slower to get baptized because her mom is really trying to pull her away from the church. I wish sometimes that people would just take a stand for their beliefs. They both know it's true, but they haven't come to church because of family since we found them. We also have a Menos Activa/Conversa Reciente that is doing the same thing. She knows it's true, or at least wants her son to be in the church, but because of her family she doesn't come to church and we don't know how to help her (ideas for helping people como asi are welcome)

That was pretty much the whole week. Kind of frustrating, but also really fun. I did learn that God knows exactly who we are and what we need because he always puts that person in our path when we need to talk to them and never puts anyone in our path when we need to get somewhere quickly. Lesson from this, TALK TO EVERYONE and "let the Holy Spirit guide" when doing God's work. He's not only prepared people, but he's prepared the day so you can find those people. That's why as missionaries we plan our days and stick to what is planned. When we do this, we give God the knowledge of where we will be and He then shows us where we should be, who we should talk to, and how we should get there.

I know that God lives and loves us. He is our Heavenly Father and will guide us safely back home if we let Him. He sent His son, Jesus Christ, into the world to prepare and show us the way back to heaven. He (Jesus) is the Christ, or Messiah, or Savior of the world and He loves us. I know that He will come again and that He HAS restored His church on the earth with His authority. I know this because the Holy Ghost has born witness to my soul that it is true. He did it many times. At Grandma Ostler's and Grandpa Blanding's funerals, during Built on the Rock (both years) and the other amazing youth conferences I've had in Redmond, while I sang hymns in choirs, while I've listened to/read talks from general conference, while I've sought God through scripture study and prayer, and while I've listened to my companions bear fervent, honest, heartfelt testimony of this divine truth. The most important times I've felt the Holy Ghost bear witness of these truths where the quite ones, where I asked a simple Question and received a simple, but powerful response. If you don't know for yourself, or if you are struggling with what you do or don't know, I would urge (or "exhort" to use scripture words) you to think back on all your experiences, the good and the bad, and then "ask of God." I promise that as you do this, God will open the windows of heaven and you will feel His love and know that it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Lots of Love

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to serve my King.

September 21, 2015, CHURCH!!!!!!!!!! (oh, and we're now wanted by the law)

THIS WEEK WAS SOOOOOO COOL.

We spent most/all of this week knocking all the vecindarios in our area, and MAN they are [WHITE]. We had some cool moments from this, like a random member meal with an hemana in our vario that had bone cancer and now has anima from the operation and the random Armenian man who just wanted to talk to us so bad and now is probably reading through Alma in the Book of Mormon, but more often then not it was a door slam or (my favorite) "GO AWAY!" through the door (English work really is that different from Spanish work... almost like [White] vs. Black).

We also found the house of Charlie Chaplin. We got to take pictures of a stone with his hand prints and those of his family. A really nice man lives there who write music for his church and is not at all interested in our message, but he had help from the Mormon missionaries 20 years ago (apparently one even had my face) building a staircase, so maybe we could get some service with him.

Now, the fun part is that his next door neighbor (literally the next house over) is anything but nice. Elder Weinheimer and I have a little "competition" going on about who can find the most coins on their mission. He's already won, but I still play because it's good practice for observance and I need every cent I can get for Collage (I know it's chicken feed compared to tuition, but every little bit helps, Dad). Anyway, that was just relevant background to the story. So we knocked the door of this nice man's neighbor and we hear through the door, "GO AWAY! WE'RE NOT INTERESTED!" so we leave. As we turn to leave, Elder Weinheimer, with his eagle eyes, finds a penny sitting on a table, so he picks it up and we just keep walking away. We knock for a little bit more and then walked back to the street to continue knocking (we had two more houses across the way to knock). We turn the corner and this man come STEAMING out of his house, guns a blazing (there wasn't any actual gun. If there was, we'd probably both be dead or in the hospital) anyway, he's got himself worked up into a right good rage about how we knocked his door and said/shouted (I will not quote him directly, he used a lot of short adult language) "What did you take from the table? You're on camera you idiot!" Elder Weinheimer replied (cool as a cucumber) "A penny. Do you want it back?" as he said this he held out the penny. The man told him to shove it up his butt, so we took it as him telling us we could have it. He then demanded to see ID, which Elder Weinheimer doesn't carry on him, so he said he was going to call the cops. Elder Weinheimer said, "ok, we'll call our lawyers." And then asked me to call President Henrie, who told us to just leave, so, we did. On the phone with the cops, the man was trying so hard to make us look like really bad men, when he was worked up into such a frenzy that he couldn't make heads or tales of anything.

After that, nothing really stood out from our week... until the weekend. We took all of Saturday to just go knocking (we want to knock the whole area by the end of the transfer, we're doing really good at this). Didn't find anyone, but I learned that "Aloe" is actually really tasty (it's a drink that is supper good). After knocking, we went and did a "church run" where we went by all our investigators that we expected at church. We only were able to talk to Familia T*, but that was just fine. They have a fecha for the 11th of October (set it this Tuesday with them. PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM AND THIS DATE) and they said "We'll be there" so we went home and prayed that they could make it.

Sunday comes, and we wait outside for them. Nothing. We go to class a little upset. What more could we have done. We did every thing for them we could. We even explained that they're fecha had to be changed because they didn't make it to church last Sunday and we need to teach them a lot, so we need to come by more often (we only got to teach them once this week). We started walking to the Prencipios del Evangelio when in walks Hermano R* P* de Van Nuys  followed by Hermano Jesus T*, OUR INVESTIGATOR!!!!!! We collected the rest of his family and helped them find their classes and then we went to Prencipios with the parents. It was the perfect lesson this week, La Eterna Familia. The dad was really into the lesson and was super attentive, he even answered a question and was reading along in the scriptures. After Prencipios we went to collect his kids from primary, but they'd been helped to the chapel already, so we just walked over there. On the way, S* found me and we talked for a little bit. Apparently, I wrote her on her birthday awhile ago (Can you say "Spirit Inspired"?) and so she really wanted to know my birthday. I told her it had passed and she was a little up set. Anyway. After Sacrament, we gave Familia T* a quick tour of the chapel and we were so happy. This ended a mission long streak of 0 at church for Elder Weinheimer and a 6 month long one for me (after I left Van Nuys S* wasn't my investigator busting that number weekly). the members were really good at welcoming them as well. We need to thank them for their support and openness to our investigators.

That really is the best parts of my week

RETURN AND REPORT

Weight loss: 175 Lbs,

Spanish 7/7 (I still have some work to do on all day, but I'm getting there)

Love for my investigators; UN MEASURABLE

Con Amor

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King.

September 14, 2015, Week of Fun, week of Dispointment NEW FRIENDS!!!

Hi mom,

first, TELL THE KIDS TO SHAPE UP AND STOP STRESSING YOU OUT MORE THEN IS NEEDED!!

Ok, good. This week was really fun. We got fed nearly every day and we also had a stake wide activity, so I got to see some of my friends from Van Nuys (Sadly I didn't see Sylvia, but she's just in the other side of the building on Sundays, so maybe one Sunday I'll just walk over there.) We also had some really fun service.

Here we do service at the arsenal (armory) for a non-profit organization called "Operation Gratitude" What they do is they make little care packages for the new USA troops. They also really love the LDS missionaries. It's really fun even if it can sometimes be really hot and grueling work. Wednesday we made little medallion cards for the loved ones of the troops and as we were leaving we got ordered to take a box of Girl Scout cookies, and they mean a BOX. They have boxes of 190 SLEEVES of cookies that they were ordering us to take with us. Naturally I skipped right to the good stuff, Thin Mints. They actually wanted us to take more then one box a piece, but we told them that we only needed the one this week. So now we have about 6000 Thin Mint cookies in our freezer just BEGGING to be eaten. I've put myself on a strict diet of 1 sleeve a week starting this week and I already ate mine for this week last Wednesday, so I don't get one this week.

On Friday, we did and "assembly day" where we threw together all the boxes we'd been preparing from the get go, and I made one of my best friends on the mission this week, all over a stupid thing from home. We were putting the boxes together and it's rather fast passed work. I was helping with camisas and it was kind of hard, because you have to be fast AND efficient (with time and space) so all the camisas had to be folded just right. They usually were folded right in the box I was pulling them out of, but sometimes I'd grab two or one and a half, so I'd mess up a camisa and have to re fold it. If the boxes weren't flying by, that's not a problem, but with the boxes whizzing by as fast as they can, I don't have time to grab a new box of perfect camisas let alone fold ones I've messed up. I was talking about how when I found time I'd refold the camisa when an English elder joined in and made one of the best sentences I've ever heard. It was something about "Wibali-Wabali Timey-whimy... stuff." AT LAST A NOTHER WHOVIAN! We started talking about Doctor Who and Sherlock every time he went by with the boxes and it was one of the best times of my life. Sad part is he's on English work, so we probably won't be companions. Happy part, we're getting rid of segregation, so pretty soon we'll be one mission, The San Fernando California mission, and not two, the Spanish and Everything else (I might learn Korean on my mission), and we might serve in the same Zone.

Saturday was the activity. It was like the word cultural feast that our ward does every year when every family is assigned a country to represent and then you go around the world while never leaving the gymnasium of the church (put that way it sounds like Epcot, Disney World), only it's called Dia de Hispanidad. It actualy falls on a Hispanic holiday called Pico de Gallo. Basically the stake gave every ward a country to represent from south and central America and they all brought food and information about said country. The cool part is cada pais that was there has people in the stake that are from that country, so it was authentic everything. We even have and hermano from Brazil, so there was a brasilano station with food from Brazil. It was really good, possibly the best that I ate there, It was like your black beans and chicken, only they didn't have chicken, so it was like Hot Dogs. Not as good, but still tasty. They also had this drink from Brazil called "Tamarino". It was good too, but I kind of wish they had that one soda from Brazil that Dad loves so much (I can't remember what it's called, Dad, help). After dinner, we had the Hispanic bailes. All the wards had prepared a dance from on of the countries and most where really good. I started being critical of some, but I enjoyed all and it was just fun to criticize and learn how to be more of an entertainer from what I saw. It's also just really fun to talk to Elder Engle about random things.

Sunday was very disappointing, No one came to church and most of our lessons fell through. Cool thing, we found a really cool man for the English elders to teach. He's ready to make a change in his life and we had a really good lesson with him on the restoration. After, we went to dinner at Hermana Corderos and talked about how our words are important and we need to watch them (Mosiah 4:30) because we compared how English and Spanish differ in that Spanish is super direct and blunt (saying "little fat one" or "fat one" is actually acceptable) and English is a much more harsh language in that we can rephrase a sentence and completely change the meaning of what is said while still saying EXACTLY the same thing.

I've learned a lot in my time on the mission. I've learned what I really love. Yes it's acting andentertaining, I always will love those things, but more importantly I've learned WHO I love. I love my Padre Celestial (deal with Spanglish, I can't spell in ingles) and His son, Jesus Christ, and I love my fellow man. From this I've learned that I love COMMUNICATING with them, that's why I love acting and writing and things like that. NEVER PASS UP A MISSION. Do all you can to prepare and GIVE UP THE T.V. if necessary! It will be for two years and you will love every minute of it. I really know that it's a scary decision to make, I remember when I was about to leave and I nearly froze and said "JK, I don't really want to go on a mission, Ha, ha" but I didn't and I now know that any form of fear that debilitates or bullies you into doing or not doing something is OF THE DEVIL. If you just work to take the first step, you will find a way to improve and find that even the difficult is possible, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S GOD ASKING YOU TO DO IT! Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of fear still in me, I'm still scared of not preforming, but I know I'm God's best shot here in the mission to reach and save his kids, so I try, and every time I try, I manage to do what I thought was impossible. I can speak Spanish now, I can freaking play the piano in a sacrament meeting and I know that God's pleased with the decision I've made to serve Him here.

RETURN AND REPORT

weight loss: 178lbs

Spanish: 7/7 (it's harder for me to focus on Spanish when I spend the first part of the day speaking English. learned that from the service at the armory, because I can't talk to English elders in Spanish)

With Love,

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King

September 7, 2015, Cold, Miracles come from Obedience (who knew?)

Hi Mom,

I know it's been sooooooo long since the last time I emailed, sorry, we've been really busy ;)

Now on a more serious note, we really have been busy. Last Wednesday, we got the AC fixed and so it's now really cold in the apartment (I'm going to die back home and if I don't, Idaho will surely kill me.) We didn't do much after emailing. Ran to a guitar center and I nearly bought a used base to send home, but didn't. Please don't sell mine. We also went bowling and then ran to dinner, coordination, and then home because we didn't have anything else to do.

Elder Michael Blanding second from the left in back.

Thursday we had ZTM and because we're running low on cars in our zone, we were at the stake center for a little bit waiting for a ride home. Then we ran to lessons, but they all fell through.

On Friday we found a new family that started investigating the church. They're really cool. We talked for an hour, during which time we shared the restoration in 15-25 minutes and got to know them really well, we're meeting with them again this Friday. We found them because President Henrie asked us to knock around less active members during knock out, and we followed his council, got into an apartment we've never been able to enter, found like 60 futuros and the family. We then finally got to teach a family we've been trying to teach for a few weeks now. They're really cool and are antiguos so we're hopping that we can help them progress to baptism quickly. Se llama la familia G* after that we had dinner from a member and it was tamales estila guatalteca. They were good.

Saturday, we took out the bikes and rode to the farthest street of our area to run by a member. We didn't find the member, but we did find a new investigator! He's cool, I hope he proves to be good. He works building parts for airplanes, so that's cool. After that we found a house that has a moat. The family that lives there isn't interested, but the house if really cool. We then had dinner planned with hermana Cordero, but hermano Guancin (who usually helps with these dinners) couldn't help, so we just took the meal home. Then we finally had a second lesson with familia T*, who we teach in spanglish because we talk to them in los dos idiomas. It's always a fun lesson. This was just our second lesson, but we set a fecha for the 27th of septembre and they also said they'd be at church.

But when Sunday came, they didn't show. The dad was called into work. Please pray that they can make it to church from now until the 27th so they can be baptized. They really are that cool, just hard to get together with. I guess pray that they can find more time to meet with us. I also played the piano for sacrament. I actually did pretty good. Still just melody lines, but still it was good. We also had President and Sister Henrie in our sacrament, which just added to the stress, but I felt comfortable so I played rather well. After, we did some visits with members of the consejo del barrio to menos activos. It was fun, but because it was fast Sunday, we were hungry and thirsty all day. We had a member meal with Hermana Cordero and Hermano Guacin to end our fast and then we walked home to do studies. all in all, it was a good week.

new metas, I want to have a six pack at the end of this month and I want to be able to play la primera navidad with both hands. I've also recommitted to only speaking Spanish, so from now on, unless it's necessary that I speak English, I'm speaking Spanish. Pray for this goal

RETURN AND REPORT

weight loss; 176lds

spanish days; 5/5

Con amor,

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King

September 2, 2015, HOT! Member of the 70 Mission Conference. LONG week. not much else

HI Mom,

This was a really hot week. Our AC brock down sometime in the night between last Wednesday and Thursday, so it's been like an oven in our apartment (the picture tells a story, yes it's the actual temperature.)  The start of the week was slow, not much happened.

On Tuesday, we met a joven (young man) who was smoking. His name is I*, and he's 19. We stopped to talk to him, and right away he said he wanted to know how he can be forgiven for his mistakes (his words, but I think I heard 'Sins" a little louder) so we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ (which talks about repentance) and invited him to be baptized when he knows more. He agreed, and we then set up an appointment for Thursday.

Wednesday nothing happened.

Thursday we ran to the lesson (after dying of heat in the apartment during studies and buying new batteries for the AC unit that only allowed the thing to tell us how FREAKING HOT IT WAS!) and we half expected nothing to come from the appointment, and even if he was there we didn't expect him to remember much. But we went, and he was there! So we asked him what he remembered. He'd remembered a lot and we were shocked to hear he had done what we'd asked him to. So we taught the Restoration and this Kid is smart! He understood everything really well. So we invited him to be baptized in three weeks, and HE ACCEPTED! Unfortunately, we have to reset the date, because he didn't come to church.

Friday we didn't do much, just walked, talked and died of heat exhaustion (Not really).

Saturday was more of the same.

Sunday, I gave a talk in church on Service and I might have talked too long (Ops.) We then ran by some appointments, but they all fell through, so we had dinner with Elder Engle (rimes with Pringle, and he's District leader) and Elder Flores before going to a fireside with Elder James Hamula of the 70. (P.s. Jason, talves le conoce a su hijo. El esta serviendo en Puebla, Mixico norte y va a regresar esta marzo, pienso. Tiene el mismo apallido)

We then had a mission conference with Elder James Hamula (ham-mula) of the 70 on Monday. It was really good and we learned a lot about having faith in the work and working with faith. After the conference we went by some investigators. We ran by Familia T* and THEY WERE THERE!!! We got in the door again and asked how things were going. Every things good and we set up a return appointment for tomorrow at7:30 and hopefully the bishop will be able to help with the lesson, he's in the same line of business, plumbing.

Tuesday we knocked a very white neighborhood, got in the door for the second time with an investigator, and ran into a really sweet potential we'd planed (with them) to teach later, but she said to come by on Friday for a better time.

That's my LONG week in review. Not much happened but it was fun.

Write you again in a couple of days, This week will be so quick

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King.

August 24, 2015, Not Much to Report

This has been a rather slow week.

Hi mom,

We honestly didn't have much work to do, but we did work. We talked to almost 250 people (even for me this can get to be kind of tiring) and pretty much everyone we talked to said, "GO AWAY!" some a little more elegant then others, I honestly prefer "GO AWAY!" to "Otro dia" because then at least they're being honest about their desires and not lying to me and wasting my time.

 We did find two investigators, but their solidity is questionable (I've become rather critical here on the mission), I hope they do good,

Good news. We got in touch with Familia T* (Our most solid investigators) and they didn't ignore us last week. They where busy Sunday (like everyone else), and then they where out on a date when we ran by and the babysitter didn't answer. As far as I'm concerned that's a 100% answer rate when they are home.

Bad new. We also got in touch with J*. He's still really cool, but his mom's not down for his Baptism. He's only 8 so we need perinatal permission to teach and baptize, We have it to teach, but not to baptize. Maybe he'll be like Elder Joiner (my 3rd companion) and be converted years before his baptism. He's already got a good start. He's read and prayed in the Book of Mormon and knows it's true.

Fun story. We had two exchanges this week with the District Leader (because we got a new one last week and this was the last week of the transfer p.s. I'm staying). The first one nothing amazing happened. just a lot of fun talking with Elder Engle (the District Leader) and teaching a lesson on the street to a girl who was walking by. She lives in another district in our zone, so I don't know what happed to her. The second one has the fun story. We ran by a potential that has a lot of potential (ha, I didn't mean to do that) and set up a return appointment. We'd talked with him and his wife earlier in the week and they already know a lot. They're both antiguos of Elder McKinney (the last District Leader) when he was in Arleta, and as such they know everything, have his old scriptures, and already know it's true. As we got to know them better (this was the 1st time we met the wife, also, this is with Elder Weinheimer, my companion, not Elder Flores, the companion of the District Leader with him we just set up the appointment for this week coming up) anyway, she told us that she'd actually listened to the missionaries when she was a young girl and so every time they come by she invites them in. She also wantsto be baptized, but doesn't want to offend her mom, so we won't do it. :( (sometimes I hate moms... No offense) Any way, back to the story with Elder Flores. We set up the appointment and started walking home because they live on the farthest part of the area we work in. We walked maybe a block, probably less, when we ran into a member who lives just south of our Mission. Elder Flores is from Valencia, CA (if you look it up on a map, it's just south of the mission as well) so they started swapping names and seeing who they knew in common. We kept walking and then she pulled up next to us and offered us a ride. There was a man in the car to, so we gladly accepted, (see attachment for photo).

Spiritual Thought: I've been relearning the piano (Sorry I didn't practice more at home Mom). As such, I offer to help with the music whenever I can (I've also gotten some comments from other missionaries that aren't the nicest, but I keep doing it). This week in Gospel Principles, they asked me to play a hymn that I'd never seen before. I know what it is in English, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't know the song, only made it easier to know up or down or when a key was wrong (sometimes it doesn't even help with that.) I sat down at the piano and started picking it out before the meeting and managed to paly it one time before it started. The time came to play and I managed to make it through three times without a lot of mistakes (almost perfect). Now I just need to get more then the melody line and it will be even better for the congregations. (looks like I lied)

RERUN AND REPORT

Weight Loss: 178 libs

Spanish days; 6/7.

Love Elder Michael Blanding

Elder Flores & Elder Michael Blanding

"I know that My Redeemer Lives" I've felt the comfort of that sentence over and over again in my life, especially this last year, and I've also had the privilege of watching that truth work miracles in the lives of God's children. I love this work and the Spanish language. I love all that I've learned and all that I will learn. I love my God and my savior. I know this is God's church and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and there for Thomas S. Monson is a prophet and we have God's authority on the earth today. I've also gained a very deep love and appreciation for the scriptures and I love the hour I have every day to read, study and ponder their words.

August 17, 2015, Long week, Lots of talking, no teaching ended with disappointment

Hi mom,

This week was very different from the others. We spent all week walking around the area and talking to everyone. When we totaled the number of people we invited to come unto Christ on the street it was 222, and I think we might have even talked to more, sometimes we forget someone here and there.

We didn't do much else. We only taught one man. He was an investigator so we didn't do anything other then try and learn where he was and help him recognize the Spirit, He was an investigator when we got here, but we'd never taught him again. He's pretty cool, but he wants to be 100% sure before he commits to baptism, so this could take awhile.

We also had a miracle Cena. We where walking around the area on Thursday, looking for futoros and referencias that we'd received/found earlier (fun fact, learned on Friday that all our referencias have already been dropped, so yah) and we got the literal edge of our zone. Our area shares two borders with differentdistricts and one's my old district in Van Nuys, which is a different Zone, and we walked to that exact corner. As we turned to keep working in our area, someone started calling to us and waving us over. It was a member from Tonga who wanted to get us food. The thing is, all the fast food restaurants are out side of our area. The one he wanted to take us to was actually in the other zone, so we said we couldn't go, so he said "stay there, I'll go buy it for you." and thus, we got a meal for free and saved a little money. I also learned how to make papusas, I just need to practice it.

We also had an exchange on Friday with the Zone Leaders (You might recognize the names) Elder Gutierrez and Elder Gamble-Thompson. It was really fun. The area is actually Elder Gamble-Thompson's old area so he came here with me and we learned more about what's around us and who we can stop trying by.

Sunday was rather disappointing. Even though we got a lesson on Sunday, we had 4 investigators say they were going to come to Church, but in the end, none showed. Three of them are the Familia T*, who's been supper solid, they even went to a baptism last week that we didn't go to. Every time we've knocked their door and they were home, they answered, except this last time. I don't know what happened, but we're going to find out and work more with them. I know they're ready, they just might not know that yet.

That's really about all. Just...

RETURN AND REPOT

Weight loss; 180

Spanish days: 6/7

Love,

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to serve my King

[this came about 30 minutes after the above]

I JUST HAD THE COOLEST MIRACLE EVER!!!!!

I had to go to the bathroom just now, and while I was there I started talking to an older man (a trick I picked up from Elder Tyus). It was a normal conversation in which I asked why he was here (in the library) and what was his work. He said he is retired and was here because he wanted to do some research on his union so he could get back to work. I asked him what he did and he said that he was an actor, which naturally got me soooooooooo excited with my dreams. We talked a little about the acting business and how I could get in, (he didn't tell me anything against what I'd already heard, so plans will probably stay the same for a while) and he said this about the acting business. "It's not the business I came out here to be a part of.... It's too vulgar now.... I can't even watch T.V. it's so bad." I was so excited, I felt, no, heard the Spirit say, "Talk to him about the Law of Chastity," so I shared a little and told him that I was a missionary (it hadn't [surfaced] yet in the conversation) and gave him a Mormon.org card and invited him to look at some of the videos we have. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST CONVERSATIONS I'VE EVER HAD!

I want to invite all of you to do something right now. This week, every day, I invite you to go out of your way to help someone. Do something that you normally wouldn't do for someone else. Maybe that means taking to someone, or taking out the trash with out being asked. Just one small act of kindness and then, if the situation presents itself, testify of Jesus to the person. As a missionary this is easy, because it's my job to testify, therefore I always have the opportunity to testify. As a member it's easy to, we just have to look and know that God wants to save everyone, we're all brothers and sisters and we love our family and want the best for them, that's why we share the truth that we have with our closest and dearest friends, because we love them. And if you make it clear that's why you're doing what you're doing, they'll love you all the more for it.

Elder Michael Blanding (back far left)

August 10, 2015, Long week, Lots of work, no news

Hi mom,

The title really does sum it all up.

We spent all week walking around our area talking with everyone who would stop and offering cards to those who wouldn't. I'm still trying to get a hang of the Spanish language and I think that I've officially entered the danger phase of language learning of understandable and comfortable in my abilities but not quite mastered it. It scares me because Jason's probably got it mastered and knows it inside and out and I don't but really really want to be that good. I understand people pretty good and I can make myself understood, but I still have blanks in my abilities and moments of complete stupidity. (Jason, if you have any secrets or ideas or suggestions on language study, SEND THEM TO ME!!!!!)

We honestly didn't do much, we found a Less-Active member who lives in our area. She's from El Salvador, which means that she knows how to make Papusas, the best food on the planet. We've planned a dinner with her on Saturday and she's going to teach us how to make them. I'll have to take notes and practice so I can make you some when I get home (remind me if I forget). The Hermanas also had a baptism on Sunday and one of the families we're teaching (the one who didn't want to open the door at first) went. We were on exchanges and I forgot our phone in my suit jacket, which I left in the other elders' car, so we didn't go. I don't really want to talk about it, so don't ask me.

I also learned a cool way to teach your kids Spanish from the get go. I just need to marry a Hispanic woman and then I'll have bilingual kids. Here's hoping it works (not going to judge or choice my eternal mate based off of this).

That's it for the week, all that's left is

RETURN AND REPORT

weight loss: 180 libs, that's 5 lbs and my record that I can keep steadily! no where to go now but down

Spanish Days; 2/4. Recommitted to this and I will be speaking like a native when I get home. I need more native companions.

Os amo muchisimo

Elder Michael Blanding

Llamado a servir mi rey

August 3, 2015, Milagros!!!!! Finding and Talking to EVERYONE

Hi mom,

This was a really good week for us.

Monday was normal, we had some lessons set up, but they didn't happen. We did eat a cena with a Recent Convert, less-active member, but that's about it.

Tuesday we had district meeting and a few lessons planed. Nothing came of it, but we did find a family. We taught them the restoration and set up a return appointment for the next day so we could teach everyone. They have 3 kids and the oldest is 8, so we taught the dad and the 8 year old and hoped to teach the mom with them on Wednesday.

On Wednesday we had an exchange with Elder McKinney and Elder Florez. I went stayed Elder Florez here and Elder Weinheimer left with Elder McKinney. We talked to everyone that passed by us, but no one wanted to learn. We did, however find a man who wants to learn, but he can't meet until the 20th of August, so we'll see how solid he is. Elder Flores invited everyone to church as well, so we had a lot of calls to make on Saturday night. We also went back to teach that family we found on Tuesday. The dad wasn't there, but the mom was... and wasn't interested, we also learned that they aren't married. The 8 year old kid came to the door while we were there and said that he still wanted to learn, so we got his mom's permission and then sat down on the steps and taught him the restoration over again. We did that partially because Elder Flores didn't know that we'd already taught him that and partially because he understands better in English and we'd taught him in Spanish. We then ran to coordination and ended the day.

Thursday was fun. We had service in the morning and then we were going to do lunch and Weekly Planning, but I started updating the area book (something we should have been doing the whole time, but hadn't) and so we took two hours to do that and then had to leave to go to work. We didn't find any miracles that day (or at least none I can remember,) but we talked to everyone.

Friday was a fun day. We still needed to do weekly planning, so we took the morning to do that. We then went out to work and ran by some potentials in the area. One lives in J* (the 8 year old)'s apartment. She wasn't there, but J* walked by while we were there and said, "See you on Monday" (our return appointment). SO SOLIDDDDDDDDD! We then went and knocked an apartment building we'd walked passed many times, but didn't know was an apartment complex until we knocked a different building in the area this week. It's really cool to see how the Lord works, because we didn't see a lot of success in the first complex (only a potential and a new family (J*'s)). But, from this, we found a new building and two more investigators.

We then went and walked WAY down our area. We've knocked all of the complexes we can get into in the near proximity to our apartment (because we've been walking all the time) and found this other really small apartment complex, and I mean small. The complex was pretty small, and the apartments were tinny. They're called studios and it's like living in a room about the size of a recoding studio. We started knocking and ran into J* R*. She's a 20-year-old foster child who's taking care of her 21-year-old friends. We taught her the restoration and then tried to get a return appointment, but she's planning on moving soon, so we said we can come back and help out with the move. She will be a really good referral for English.

We then continued knocking the complex, but we were running short on time. We had dinner up by our apartment in almost twenty minutes, so we decided we'd finish the complex and then head to dinner. We hadn't knocked more then two doors after Sister Rose when the door opened and we were invited in to teach the Familia T* (I think that's how it's spelled, I'll have to check and get back to you). It was such a good lesson. At the end, Hermano T* said the prayer and it was so powerful. They told us after the prayer that at first they didn't want to open the door, but M* said, "We should at least hear what they have to say," so we picked up three more really solid investigators. It's a family of five but only three are over eight. We also found a familia that we are going to teach in our actual mission language, Spanglish. They were comfortable in English, but for church things they were more comfortable in Spanish, so every other sentence was English and the rest was Spanish. We'd actually started in English and then ended in Spanish. Is was so much fun. We then ran to cena and finished the day.

Saturday was cool. We ran by potentials and investigators all day. We finally found one of our potentials who has a lot of interest, but we couldn't teach her right there because she was getting ready to run. We did meet her friend. She lives in Van Nuys and has listened to missionaries before. Not just missionaries, but ones I know! She was listening to missionaries when I started my mission and I knew the missionaries who taught her as they were teaching her. It was kind of cool. Other then that, not much happened. We made the calls and ran by an investigator whose mom started listening, but I don't think that she had much potential. As it is the investigator has no drive, he just sits around all day playing video games, but we'll keep going by until we find out they don't want it

Sunday we had church and then a day full of lessons, that didn't happen. We had back ups to them and so we ran by the back ups, and they also didn't happen. We did manage to teach one man, he's pretty cool, but likes to talk, so we'll have to find a way to control the lessons. We also ran by an investigator we've been trying to get in touch with for a while. We finally got to talk to her again and she said that her dad doesn't want her taking the lessons any more. She turns 18 in October, so hopefully we'll be in teaching her again soon.

That's about it for the week. Let me know if you want more details.

Ops, nearly forgot to

RETURN AND REPORT

Weight loss: 185 libs. Mi pansita (my belly) is almost gone

Con amor

Elder Michael Robert Blanding

Called to Serve My King

July 27, 2015, Weekly Madness, Two Exchanges and Skin Stealing

Hi mom.

This week was fun, but nothing crazy happened.

We started with interviews with President Henrie and an exchange on Wednesday with the Assistants, Elder Weinheimer went to Santa Clarita with Elder Stern and Elder Page came down here with me. Interviews were really good. I wanted to focus on teaching simply, by the spirit, and using the pamphlets. It was super cool, we found four new investigators that day and a lot of potentials. I'll be honest, I kind of wanted to go back up to Santa Clarita, but it was better that I stayed here.

Next we did weekly planning and I showed Elder Weinheimer the picture book of my family. He thinks that of all the kids, I'm the only one who stole your skin (meaning Mom).

On Friday we had another exchange, this time with the District Leader. I went with Elder McKinney (the District Leader) and Elder Florez and Elder Weinheimer stayed here. It was fun, but I think dinner was the most memorable. We had a lesson with a less active member that turned into a random member cena. Near the end, we were sharing the spiritual thought and I mentioned that I was Home Schooled. The hermana thought it was the weirdest thing. She went on about it for like five solid minutes, about how only homicidal and stupid kids were homeschooled in her country. She then started admiring my hair and saying it look really nice. (I promise, this whole admiration of how I look isn't going to my head, It's just weird that it's happened. I think that's the 20th time someone's admired my hair). It then turned into a bash on the Book of Mormon by her husband as we testified of it's truth (He's not a member).

We then did service on Saturday to finish the exchange and then we went out and worked for a little bit, but nothing much happened.

On Sunday we had church and knocked a few doors. The first door we knocked invited us in and we talked for an hour about the church. Not a new investigator because we didn't pray or teach him anything (He just wanted to ask us questions and combat our beliefs with the Bible). We probably could have used time better, but we'd talked to him before and he seemed solid, so we thought we'd try again. Fun part was he was watching soccer, Puebla contra algun otro equipo. Puebla gana! (PUEBLA WON! YEH JASON!) That's kind of how it ended.

Oh, I forgot. On Tuesday, we ran into this white man named P*. He didn't seem interested at all. He actually started the conversation by saying "My daughter's Mormon, but I'm defiantly not." Elder Weinheimer's from Denver and he said his daughter lived there for a little bit. When we heard that Elder Weinheimer said, "I'm form Denver." He said to wait for him to take out the trash and then we talked for an hour, found out he was a personal chef. He gave us some cooking tips and then invited us back (sort of) some other day and he'd cook us a dinner we picked out at like noon and we'd work all day and report to him how we did. I'm thinking we have to take him up on that offer. Non threatening way to talk about the gospel and easy way to have a gourmet meal cooked for us.

RETURN AND REPORT/ANSWERS

Weight 188 lbs, going to start trying to lose weight again.

Yes, I get to see the people from Van Nuys every now and then. We share a chapel, so I have the chance to see them every Wednesday and Sunday.

Elder Weinheimer and I have been getting along fantastic. We both like to sing and he's really good at it, so we just need to learn a song together and then we'd be able to sing together. I'm thinking "Glorious" would be a good song to learn (Wink Wink) ;)

I think that's all. If I forgot anything let me know, you have more then an hour to respond

Con Amor

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve my King

Elder Michael Blanding and Elder Weinheimer

July 20, 2015, New Area, Same Work

Hi mom,

This has been a fun week. To start off we had TRANSFERS. Things are going to be really different with President Henrrie. He made a game show out of putting trainers and trainees together and it was really fun to watch and listen to all the different ways that the trainers were described. Before transfer meeting started, Elder Stern, on of the Spanish Assistants, sat down next to me and told me that my companion that I was supposed to receive that day had gone home early from his mission. He left the Monday before transfers, so I got a different companion. Elder Weinheimer (it's a germen name). Because my intended companion went home early, both me and Elder Weinheimer are brand new to the area, though not to the ward, (Elder Weinheimer was going to go into a tio with the district leader but instead was put with me so he knows the ward). Because were both new to the area, we've been spending most of our time walking the area trying to learn where everything is. The area is so small that we probably won't be using bikes to much ):

We really didn't have any fun adventures. I walked into a tree and scrapped up my face just below my eye on Wednesday and we spent all of Sunday in the apartment because Elder Weinheimer didn't feel good. I loved the weather on Saturday, RAIN!!! It was so nice. I got to go home for the day and Elder Weinheimer has a really cool picture of me in the rain. I also made the cake on Sunday. It was so tasty, but I think I've destroyed my ability to eat sweets, because I felt so sick after a few bites and I'm thinking of giving it to the district leader because I can't eat any more. I'll work on building up my ability to eat sweets again after I get home.

Elder Weinheimer is so cool. He also likes to sing and We've been getting to know each other a little bit through out the week. I can't wait to find out if more about him, but singing Disney songs is really fun with him, because he has a fantastic voice. I've also almost finished Jesus the Christ. I LOVE THAT BOOK.

That's about all for the week

RETURN AND REPORT

weight loss 190lbs, I blame the cake and probably walked it off today looking for the laundry mat

Con Amor

Elder Michael Blanding

Called to Serve My King

July 6, 2015, Week in Review

Hi mom,

This week was super busy. We don't really have any investigators we're working with right now, but there are some members that the Wards asked us to help with, so we spent some time doing that, but it was really hard to plan them in, so for the most part we just walked around our area and talked to a lot of people.

We actually got to go on two exchanges this week. On Tuesday we had one with Elder Elder and Elder Gonzalez. Elder Elder came here and Elder Tyus went over there. It was super cool. We ran by to jovens (teenagers) in the ward and asked them if they could help us with the work. One was from an active family who just moved in. His dad was a bishop in their old ward, so we thought this was going to be an easy yes, but he said "no" without even a thought and I'm pretty sure he didn't even give it a second thought after. The other is a less active member who we've been working with as a companionship for a while. I didn't have to much hope, but he was totally down and even asked us if he could come out with us on Thursday. It was so SWEET. God knows more then we do.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders, Elder Houmand came here and Elder Tyus went over there with Elder Wall. It was a pretty sweet exchange. We didn't teach anything, but we picked up some cool Referrals for the English sisters. At the end of the exchange, Elder Houmand lost his pin of Insulin, so we ran to their apartment in Pacoima and then went home to finish the day with planning. Also, by this day, Elder Tyus and Elder Deyholos had managed to eat everyone of the starbursts you sent me.

Thursday was sweet. We did weakly planning, which is boring and yet cool at the same time. We got so much revelation from that it's not even funny. We started by praying and asking for guidance and then God took over and we knew what He wanted for our area this week. We then had dinner with a Less Active Family who moved into the branch last December, but we didn't know about them until this last week. After dinner, we went down to the Family History Center in Valencia to have a Family History Night. No one showed up for it, but I got to talk to an actor about how [to] become one, I learned a lot from him and I hope to put it all into practice here soon, but I can wait until I get home and out of College. Let's just say I have notes on the conversation. We then went to teach an English class in the Peach Land building (that's where the other branch in the district meets). It was fantastic.

Friday we had Zone Conference. It was so cool. The best part was that it reinforced that we're doing God's will in our area. We then ran to the apartment to take care of some medical needs and then we went to an apartment complex and started knocking around. It was cool, We found a lot of potential investigators and will be focused on knocking the whole complex. There's a lot of doors to knock.

Elder Blanding third from the right

Saturday was the 4th of July!! We spent all day in the complex we knocked on Friday and at a party some English members threw for the day. It was a good party, but we were only there for an hour before we left to knock some more. EVERYONE, if you go to a ward activity, find someone you don't know (Especially if you know all the members in your ward) and TALK TO THEM. Get to know them and be their friend. There was this one investigator who's on the point of baptism and if we hadn't been there, he probably would have left because NO ONE ELSE TALKED WITH HIM. I think five people asked who he was, heard he was an investigator who was going to be baptized and then left him alone to talk to there friends. Please don't do this, it's not good and doesn't help anyone, especially the investigator.

Sunday was very humbling for me. I learned that God is in the details of our lives. We were in Gospel Principles and Elder Tuys got the impression to check up on the Hermanas B*and S*. So we left and gave them a call. They didn't answer, so we started for their apartment to make sure everything was good. We got there and Hermana S* asks us for a blessing and so we gave her one. I thought the branch had asked me to play the hymns for sacrament, so I was pretty nervous, and I got mixed up with the time and, I'm ashamed to say, rather abruptly said we had to go. I was a whole hour early and when we got there found out that the branch had actually asked a English member to play, and she could play the Organ as well, so I wasn't needed. Needless to say, I felt really bad and couldn't help but beat my self up a little for how quick I was to leave.

After that we ran around and got food for the hermanas and then some dinner for ourselves and then we called it a night so Elder Tyus could make his calls to the other companionships and be ready for the Zone Leaders. It was a fun week.

RETURN AND REPORT,

weight loss, 185 lbs or nothing! at least I didn't gain

Spanish, I've stopped counting, It really depends on the day.

With Love,

Elder Michael Blanding.

P.s. please keep our finding in your prayers. We're trying to send Elder Tyus off with a bang of 400 conversations in his last week on the mission.

"Go big, then go home" -me on Thursday.