Week Seventy-Seven: Sooooo hot!

Area: Delano Ward
Companions: Hermana Galvez and Hermana Ruiz

This week was a really long and really hot, but by the end of it all, I have felt spiritually uplifted and fulfilled. I have been seeing a lot of miracles during the past couple of weeks and this week they continued to come. We have been seeing a lot of progress with our investigators.

I guess to start it all out, I must talk about the heat. This week was insane! I think that it was around 115 degrees every single day for the entire week. I didn't know that it was possible for a human being to handle the extremes of the heat for so long. I don't think that I have sweated as much in my entire life! Luckily, our bishop told us a tip from his mission. If your face is super sweaty before you talk to someone, you can take your name badge off and use it as a squidgy and wipe your face with a handkerchief while you are speaking. That has made us a little more presentable! Even with all of that, I have been trying to take some precautions to stay out of the sun. We dash in between patches of shade to find people who are outside who we can talk to. It is like a game.

This week, we started out with exchanges. They were super fun! We went back down to South Bakersfield in Buena Vista and we were able to work out there. It was super fun being there and seeing the Sister Training Leader's area. I love getting to learn on exchanges. The first person that we talked to on exchanges was a lady sitting in her car. When we went up to her, we asked her how she was doing and she said, "I am fighting with my boyfriend." I heard, "I am finding my boyfriend" and so I said, "That's great!" That lead to a pretty awkward silence. After that, we were able to talk to her about how she can find comfort through Jesus Christ and how the gospel could help her. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she was crying of happiness by the end. It was super sweet. I was glad to have that experience.

This week, we also had interviews with President Layton. It was a really nice experience. I was able to talk to him about some of the things that are going on in our area and about how we can better work with the ward and he gave me some great advice. He was talking to me about how there was a reason that we (Spanish speaking sisters) were put in the ward and about how we can do a lot of good. That really made me think. I feel that we are fulfilling our purpose here in this part of the vineyard.

On Saturday night, we had the pleasure of eating dinner at the house of one of the Filipino members of the ward. They were having a birthday party, so they invited all of the missionaries to come and eat the Filipino food that they had made. I don't think that I have ever eaten food that was more delicious in my entire life! I was so full of rice and shrimp when I left, but I wish that I could have eaten more. Luckily, we were able to take some to-go boxes with some food that we ate today for lunch.

This week at church was really good for us. On Saturday night and Sunday morning, we invited a lot of people to come to church and they all said that they would be there. We thought that it was just like it always is when people say that they will come to church, so we didn't really know what was going to happen. Then, during church, all of the people who said that they would come to church did come! Even the brother-in-law of one of our recent converts came to church. We had met him yesterday and he didn't have time to talk to us, but we asked him if he would come to church and he said that he would. By the time that they were saying the sacrament prayers, we had seven investigators in church. It was a miracle!

We have been seeing the hand for the Lord so much recently and we have been seeing a lot of progress in our investigators. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that we are doing his will as missionaries. I am so glad for this opportunity and I know that the church is true. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Seventy-One: Blast from the Past

Area: Delano Ward
Companion: Hermana Galvez

This week was really good! We were able to see lots of miracles and we had a lot of fun! To top it all off, we got to call home, which always such a joy! I love my family and I love that I can be with them forever!

We started out the week with a surprise. . . facials with a less-active member of the ward. We have been going over to see her for a while and she loves that there are sister missionaries here in Delano. She always calls us the "Mormon Girls" and she told us that she wanted us to feel at home here. She owns a spa in town and she told us to come by last p-day. When we did, she told us that she was going to give us free facials. I guess she saw that our skin was terrible (at least on my part haha). She gave us super intense, hour-long facials and now my skin feels super soft!

On Monday night, we had a nice experience where we were in an area and a couple of our appointments fell through in a row. We were wondering what we should do and we decided to say a prayer and to follow the spirit. When we did, we felt like we needed to go and visit the house of a family that we have been teaching for a while. When we got to the house, it was already 8:45, but we felt like we needed to be there and so we went in. The father of the family started talking to us really openly about all of his doubts and how he wanted to be baptized, but that he wanted to be sure before he took the step. We were able to talk to him and share some scriptures that helped him to work through his feelings an we felt the spirit testify. It was a really nice experience and it helped me to learn that if I follow the promptings of the spirit, I will be led to where I really need to be!

On Tuesday to Wednesday, we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It was super fun! They are now in Buena Vista in my old area, so it was also fun to take a trip down memory lane and visit some my old stomping grounds. :) I was with Hermana Dye. She is super cute and a wonderful missionary. It was a little strange going on an exchange and not being the one leading it, but I really liked it! I was able to get a lot of feedback on my missionary work and some tips about how I can improve. The most exciting part of the exchange happened on Tuesday night. Hermana Dye had planned to visit an family of formers that I had taught when I was there last year. I wasn't sure if they would remember me, but when the mother opened the door, she was super surprised that I was there and gave me a big hug. She invited us in and gave us dinner and dessert! It was really nice to see them again and to get to help them to start learning from the missionaries one more time!

On Monday night, we got a call from a member of the ward saying that her daughter and her daughter's friend had just gotten back from BYU and that they wanted to go out with us. We planned to go out with them on Wednesday night and we had a couple of adventures. We had a lot of appointments, so we planned to go out in splits. I went with Elise, the daughter of the member. It was super fun to go out and work with her. Our appointment for the night wasn't home, so we tried to visit another investigator that we hadn't seen in a little while. We were able to talk to her family. When we were heading back to the car, there was a man watering his lawn while his son was playing with a go-kart in the yard. We talked to the man for a while when we heard a giant crash, a car alarm, and a little kid crying. The dad ran off and we saw him walking back with his son, who had crashed his go-kart into a car. They went off to the hospital. Don't worry, we saw the little kid the next day and he had a little bandage on his eye, but he seemed happy and healthy!

We are still working with our investigators and we have been making breakthroughs with a couple of them. We have been working with a couple who is only needs to get married so that they can be baptized. We have been having good lessons with them and they are just about to get the marriage license. We don't know if they will be married right now because they only have a week or two before they temporarily move up north to work in the strawberries, but they are working on it!

I love being a missionary and being here on my mission! I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Sixty-Six: Time is Flying!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was a blur! I feel like time has been flying the past couple of weeks and I can hardly remember what has been going on, but I will do my best to give you the highlights! Things are going well for us here in Arvin.

One of the biggest events of the week was that we finished out all of our exchanges for the transfer! We had our last exchanges with the Hermanas from Experanza (Hermana Badger and Hermana Perry). I was with Hermana Perry and we had a blast! It was so fun to be back together with Hermana Perry and to work in Arvin. We taught a couple of our investigators during the night time. The next day, we were walking down the street and we met the cutest old man in the world. He was 92 years old and he told us about all of his stories of fighting in World War II (turns out he goes to the Veteran's Post where we have our church on Sundays). He was super nice and had lived a really interesting life. I want to be able to have such wonderful stories when I am as old as he was!

We closed out our exchanges by eating dinner with Julio. It is always an adventure to eat with him. He takes a lot of pride in the fact that his new apartment has a full kitchen, so he always makes us food, but he is almost blind. He is going to get surgery to fix his eyes soon, but in the meantime, he makes us the strangest food that I have ever eaten. This week, he gave us full chickens that he had bought from the corner store and fried up himself. All of his food is as salty as the Dead Sea and cooked just enough so that is can't be called raw. I love Julio so much, though, and it is always a pleasure to hear him tell us his stories of living in Chiapas and working as a bus driver through Mexico and Central America.

After exchanges ended, things got back to normal. It has been nice being able to work full-time with Hermana Luquette. I really love her and she is so fun to serve with. I feel like during exchange season, we barely even see each other, but she is a good friend!

This week, we had Mission Leadership Conference and Zone Training Meeting. It was wonderful. We focused mostly on President Monson's Conference talk about the Book of Mormon and how it is our most powerful tool for conversion in our lives. We learned new ways that we can help people to learn how to read in the Book of Mormon and how we can better apply the power of the Book of Mormon in our own personal lives. I really love reading the Book of Mormon and I know that it is true. I have learned so much in my mission the power that the Book of Mormon has and I know that it has shaped me a lot during the past couple of months. I am glad to be a missionary so I can help other people to learn about that same power.

This week, we had breakfast with one of the recent converts in Arvin, Hermana Sigala. She is a super cute old lady and she loves to tell us all about her experiences that she has had with ghosts and spirits. When we went over for breakfast, she made us a traditional Mexican meal that people eat around Easter, cactus and shrimp cakes. It was a little strange, but overall it was really enjoyable. I never had tried cactus before my mission, but people eat it down here all the time and I actually really like it!

Hermana Luquette curled my hair one day. 

This week, we witnessed the cutest event that I have ever seen in my life. There is a less active family here in Arvin that joined the church in Idaho and have only been to the church here in California a couple of times. We go over to visit them pretty often, but they do not have a lot of contact with the ward. The mother of the family is really pregnant and she is due to have her baby in a couple of weeks. When the hermanas in the group heard about the pregnancy, they decided to have a surprise baby shower. It was the sweetest thing ever to see when Hermana Moreno walked in to the room when the baby shower was happening and started crying from happiness to see all of the decorations and gifts. It made her feel more ready for her baby to come and it was so cute to see everyone come together to help her out. I love all of the members here in the Arvin group! It was so cute to see all of the people from the group playing baby shower games. I was fed jello by another hermana and Hermana Luquette had to race to drink a baby bottle filled with soda. It was the most precious thing that I have ever seen in my life!

That is about it for the week! I love being here on the mission and I have really felt the hand of the Lord every day. I love being able to be here and to serve the people with all that I can and I have seen so many blessings through it. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

[In response to Mom's question about Easter traditions there] 

Easter traditions in Mexico are hardcore. We were actually talking to Refugio about it the other night. I guess that they choose from a couple of people who volunteer and they take them into the center of the town. Then they scourge the volunteer and parade him through the town, carrying his cross. When they get to the end of the walk, they literally crucify him in the public square. I guess that they take them down before they actually die, but it sounded pretty intense. After Refugio told us about his traditions, we told him that we look for colored eggs full of candy. There was a bit of a contrast! :) I don't think that I would want to do the Mexican version of any of the holidays that Catholics celebrate. They are pretty hard core!

Week Sixty-Five: Conference is the Best!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was pretty fun! I can't even really remember what happened because it all went by so fast. We did some more exchanges and had General Conference. It was so nice to be able to listen to the words of the living prophets. It really strengthened my testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

We started out this week with another session of back-to-back exchanges. That is always a fun time! We started out the week with the Hermanas who are serving in Buena Vista, Hermanas Torres and Arceo. I went with Hermana Arceo and I had a ton of fun! During the night time, we had a lot of appointments set up, but they all ended up falling through. As a backup, we had planned to go and see a less active that we hadn't seen for a long time. We went to the apartment complex where he lived and I realized that I didn't really know which apartment he lived in. We decided to go by the Spirit to find the apartment. I knocked on the door where I thought it was and a lady opened the door. It turned out that the less active man didn't live there, but a lady who used to listen to the missionaries a couple of years ago and who had recently moved did. We were able to teach her.

The next day with Hermana Arceo, we spent some time talking to people in the streets and had some good time to meet people. Right as we were finishing up exchanges with them, the Hermanas from Little Rock came down for their exchanges with us. I was with Hermana Latimer. She is a really purpose driven missionary and it was super fun to go around with her. During the day, we spent a lot of time walking around in the sun. The summer has finally started to arrive here in Arvin (right when spring normally comes around in other parts of the country), so it was hot and sunny. I am starting to get a little tan from my shoes! We were able to talk to some cool people and to contact some referrals, so it was a pretty productive day.

This week, we also had interviews with President Layton. The talk in General Conference about beholding and loving people really reminded me of him. Every time I see him, he shakes my hand and stares into my soul. He is a wonderful mission president and I love being able to serve with him. He always inspires me to do my best!

We have still been teaching Guadalupe and Rafael. She is super sweet and loves to learn about Jesus Christ. Every time that we go over to teach her, her husband waits for us in the parking lot of the apartment complex and they give us giant bags of fruit. This week, they gave us a ton of oranges and cantaloupe. The perks of living in a place with so much produce!

On Friday morning, we got a call from our District Leader. Hermana Galvez, one of the hermanas who works in La Cresta, sprained her ankle on Friday morning and so the other hermanas were not able to make it to the District Meeting. Normally, we have District Meeting in Bakersfield, but both us and the District Leader's companionship live in Arvin. We decided to stay in Arvin for the meeting instead of driving into Bakersfield, but there wasn't any building where we could meet. We ended up meeting in the park next to our apartments. We actually had a pretty good District Meeting, even though we were surrounded by drunk men playing cards and cool kids at the skate park.

The highlight of the week was definitely General Conference. I always love listening to the words of the prophets, especially here on the mission. I was able to go into Conference with a lot of questions that I had and I was able to receive some specific answers. It was the best! I love the church and I know that it is true. I am so glad that I get to be here on a mission. I love you all and I hope that you have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Sixty-Four: Refugio!

These are pictures of the baptism. We didn't get any while he was in his suit. (They all came out super strange too. He looks like we just told him to go to his execution instead of his baptism). He was happy, I swear!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was pretty fun! We were able to see a lot of cool things. We had a couple of exchanges, the Women's Conference, and a baptism! Things are going well in the area and we have been seeing miracles!

This week started out with exchanges! Due to the fact that we had our baptism on Friday night and the Woman's Conference on Saturday, we weren't able to have exchanges over the weekend. Instead, we chose to do back-to-back exchanges from Monday night until Wednesday night! I had never done exchanges that way, but it was a lot of fun. We started out with the other Hermanas in our district who work down in La Cresta: Hermana Zambrano, Hermana Weaver, and Hermana Galvez. I was with Hermana Zambrano and Hermana Weaver. It was a reunion of three mission generations. We were able to find a couple of people to teach and we were able to teach a couple of our investigators. Also, Hermana Galvez knows how to thread eyebrows, so she threaded our eyebrows when we came in for night. Now, they are on fleek!

Right as the Hermanas from La Cresta were leaving, we started our exchanges with the Hermanas from Buena Vista, Hermana Melendez and Hermana Wright. I was with Hermana Melendez. It was a little bit of a miracle when they came over because we were a little out of food after our last exchanges. When the Hermanas walked in, they told us that they had some food that they wanted to give to us. We didn't starve this week! Exchanges with Hermana Melendez were really fun! I don't know why, but every person that we talked to was someone that I had already met before. It was strange. . . I guess that is what happens when you work in such a small place. Halfway through the exchange, it got really cold. It had been really warm and sunny, then we started talking to a man on the street (who I had met a couple of weeks ago :) ). Halfway through our five minute conversation, the temperature rapidly dropped 10 degrees. It was freezing. Then, it started to rain. Neither of us had brought a jacket and we didn't have any solid plans. We tried to visit a couple of less actives and recent converts, but they were either busy or not home. We spent a couple of miserable hours in the rain, but we were able to be led by the spirit and I felt like it was a good experience. Hermana Melendez told me that she wanted to work on being more persistent during the exchange, so I think that we were blessed with rain to help us to learn. We were able to talk to some cool people and we have gone back to visit a couple of them.

This week, we spent a lot of time working with Refugio to prepare him for his baptism. It was really fun to be able to see how excited he was for everything. Now that he knows about the church, he wants to share it with all of his friends. He lives in a house with a couple of his family members and other people from Guerrero that he has met here in California. He started inviting them to come and sit in with us. One of them, Filemon, has been listening almost every night and told us that he would like to be baptized as well. He told us that he would like to come to Refugio's baptism and that he would drive them both there in his car.

On the day of the baptism, we decided to meet up with Refugio and Filemon at their house and drive them into Bakersfield to show them where the church building was. We went over about and hour before the baptism was scheduled to start so that there would be enough time for us to drive thirty minutes to Bakersfield and give him time to change before the baptism started. When we got to his house, however, Refugio told us that he had had to work a late at his job that afternoon and that he had just gotten home. Filemon wasn't even there yet. We ended up heading out about thirty minutes late and we got to Bakersfield about ten minutes after the baptism was scheduled to start. There were three baptisms happening in the ward on the same day, so we had a big group baptism scheduled and we were worried that everyone there would be a little mad that we were holding everything up. However, when we walked in, everyone was sitting quietly and waiting for Refugio. It was sweet. It was a great service and Refugio was so excited and happy to be baptized. He has been such a joy to teach!

He really was happy. Really!

On Saturday night, we went down to the General Woman's Broadcast. It was great! I love the fact that we are able to listen to the words of the living prophets and the general authorities twice a year. What a blessing! I felt the spirit so much and everyone was speaking.

Church was great this week, too. We started teaching a lady named Guadalupe and her husband, Rafael. We went over for a quick lesson with them before church started and they came to church. The group members here in Arvin are great at fellowshipping and they said that they really liked it. Also, Refugio was able to be confirmed. He was a little late coming the meeting because he got called in last minute to work that morning, but he came in about 15 minutes late and they were able to do the confirmation.

This week was really nice. It strengthened my testimony that we are here for a specific reason and that the Lord directs this missionary work. I love the gospel and I love being a missionary. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ! I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau 

Week Sixty-Three: Where I Need to Be

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week has been good. We have been able to work a lot with our investigators and we have been able to see a lot of miracles in the work. Exchanges have started up again this week and it has been great to be able to learn from the other Hermanas in the mission. Things have been going great!

Starting with something a little mundane: Last Monday, we discovered a hidden treasure of the East Bakersfield Zone -- Mercado Latino. We heard a couple of months ago that there was a place here in the city that you could buy a ton of Mexican things. We had been asking and asking people all around if they knew where the Mercado Latino was and they said that they didn't. Finally, the other week, one of our investigators was able to tell us where it was (and also told us that he could take us there for dinner at a future point!). Last Monday, we were finally able to go. It was magical. One of my dreams when I heard that I was coming to this mission was to get a poncho and it was finally realized!

On Wednesday, we had a combined Zone Conference with the South Bakersfield Zone. It was really spiritual and I was able to find new direction for our area. It was also really fun to be able to see all of the other Hermanas on this side of the mission. I love all of the people that I am serving around right now! We learned about spiritual power and how we can be better channels of the spirit in the work. I am so excited that we are able to share the gospel with everyone and to help them to change their lives.

Speaking of helping people to change their lives, we have still been teaching Refugio and he is so excited to be learning about the gospel and coming to church. Every time we go over to talk to him, he is always so excited about reading in the Book of Mormon and all of the things that he is learning. He passed his baptismal interview and he should have his baptism on Friday, with all luck. It has been a pleasure to be able to help him through the learning process. Whenever we go over, he always tells us about all of his friends that he knows and how much he wants to share about the Book of Mormon with them. He has already given us the names of a couple of friends that he has and he wants us to teach all of his family that is in town. He is the cutest man! He is going to be a great member of the Arvin group!

This week, we started exchanges! Due to the Zone Conference on in the middle of the week, we were only able to have exchanges with one set of hermanas. On Friday, we started our exchanges with the hermanas from Lancaster, Hermana Martineau and Hermana Perdomo. I was with Hermana Martineau. It was a fun time and we were both able to learn a lot from each other. She is a wonderful missionary and we went out and worked hard! It is finally starting to get a little hotter outside and we spent a little bit of time walking in the morning, so I am starting to get a little bit of a tan and my freckles are getting a little darker. The winter has made me such a baby. It was only 85 degrees outside and I was starting to sweat. I thought I would leave the mission before the summer came back, but I think that I am still going to experience the most of it!

We went over to see out investigator, Luis, on Tuesday night. When we went over for the lesson, we were talking to him a little bit about his life and everything that was going on. He recently started working as a bee keeper and has been pretty excited about that job. As we were talking, he told us that he was going to be leaving in the morning for two months to go work on a bee farm in Missouri. We were so sad that he was going to be away for such a long time, but we left him with a pretty good lesson and we told him to text us when he got to where he was going so we could send missionaries by his house. I was secretly hoping that he was going to move to Waynesville and go to church with my family. We didn't hear from him for a couple of days and we thought that he was avoiding us when we got a text from him on Friday during exchanges. He told us that they hadn't actually sent him out of town and that he was still at his house. It was a pleasant surprise!

That is pretty much it for the week! I love being a missionary and being able to share the gospel with the world. I know that I am where I need to be and I am doing what I need to be doing. Teaching the people is so rewarding. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Nine: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was really good. We have been working hard down here in Arvin and we have been seeing lots of miracles through it all. I feel like everything has been going pretty well for us and we have been able to see some of our investigators really start to progress. Life is good!

This week was the last of our exchanges with the Hermanas. They are all really fun and I have been able to learn so much! Early on in this week, we went on exchanges with Hermana Martineau and Hermana Arceo. I was with Hermana Arceo, who is just finishing up with training. It was really fun to work with her and to spend some time talking to the people on the streets. We didn't really have very many plans for the last half of the exchanges, so we decided to head out and see what happened. In the morning, we knocked a couple of doors before we knocked on the door of a really old lady. She wasn't very interested in listening to us and said that she was busy. We offered to help her out with anything that she needed and she accepted. We ended up helping her to organize some things for a garage sale that she was having the next day. While we were working, she told us that her husband of fifty years had just passed away and that she was moving out of the house where she had lived for most of her married life to be closer to her children. After we finished helping her, we offered to share a message with her and she accepted. It was really nice to see how service softens the hearts of the people. We were able to talk with her and help her to find Heavenly Father's comfort. Charity really is the true love of Christ! Also, she let us pick out anything she wanted from her garage sale, so I got a sweet proselyting bag out of it! :)

Later, while I was still with Hermana Arceo, we went to go visit a couple that we had talked to a couple of weeks ago. We had a couple of hours, so we decided to park a couple of streets away so we could talk to the people who we met on the streets. We started out walking and working our way towards our original purpose, but we kept meeting people who were walking. They told us that we could talk to them while they were walking, so we would follow them all the way across town. We were able to meet a couple of cool people that way. It was really fun. We started walking up an alley to get back to the main road and we discovered that the alley was full of houses as well. We found whole neighborhoods that we had never seen before. Arvin is always full of surprises. I think that I could walk around for three years and not talk to all of the people who live here!

It has been raining a ton! I never thought that I would have to deal with quite so much rain when I learned that I was going to Bakersfield. Everyone on the streets tells us that all of the dams in California are breaking. Here in Arvin, there is a ton of flooding. The other night, we had an appointment with someone that we met on the street. We parked next to where we thought her house was and prepared ourselves to get out of the car. It was raining as hard as I have ever seen it rain out here and it was really cold. We figured that we would run to her house and run back to the car, so we got up the courage and got out of the car. When we started looking for her house number, we realized that we were on the wrong street. I figured that it wouldn't be that far of a walk, so we decided to start walking instead of getting back in the car. It turns out that it was a little ways away from where we were. It wouldn't have been that bad if we hadn't have been trudging through the rain. When we got to the lady's house, she told us that she was getting ready to get in the shower and that she couldn't meet with us. We thought that it was all for nothing that we got all wet and we started walking back to the car. On our way back, one of the people who works in the Subway that we go to all the time pulled up beside us in her car and offered us a ride. We were close to our car by that point, so we told her that we were fine, but we took a little time to share a little bit of the message and to give her our card. She told us that she had met with missionaries before and that we could come by her house. We went back to the apartment cold, but happy!

We also went on exchanges with Hermana Zambrano and Hermana Weaver during the later part of the week. I was with Hermana Weaver, who is just starting out on her mission. It was really nice to be able to work with her. She is a super sweet hermana and she likes to work hard. We were able to teach a couple of our investigators and we had a really good time!

The other day, we got a call from a random number. It was a lady who told us that she had learned from missionaries before and that she wanted us to come by. We didn't know her, but we decided that it couldn't hurt. We were a little late and we were having a hard time finding her house, but we finally found the address that she had told us. We knocked on the door and a woman answered. She told us to come in and she gathered all of the family around. We asked her how long ago it was that she learned from missionaries and she told us that she had never seen missionaries before. It turned out that it wasn't the person that we had talked to on the phone and that no one with that name lived in that house. The lady was super nice and pretty interested. Later, we tried to call the person who called us and she never answered us back.

Things have been going well for us here and I have been able to see many miracles. I know that the Lord is in charge of this work and that he leads us to where we need to be. I am so glad that I am able to be here on a mission! I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ! I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Seven: Julio Got Baptized!!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

Hello! This week was pretty good. We have been seeing a TON of miracles and the work is really progressing down here in Arvin. The Lord has been blessing us a lot and we are living the life.

Biggest news of the week: Julio got baptized! I never would have expected him to have gotten baptized when we first started teaching him. At the beginning of the week, we went over to Julio's house to talk to him about baptism again. He told us that he was finally done waiting and that he wanted to go through with it. The entire time leading up to the day was full of miracles. From the very beginning attempts of trying to set Julio with a day to be baptized, he always told us that he didn't want to be baptized when it was cold outside. He made it a little hard for us, but we told him that if he set a date to be baptized in January or February, he would see a miracle with that. As we started this week, the weather was beautiful. It has been raining pretty much nonstop for the last couple of weeks and it has been cold and miserable outside, but on the day of the baptism, it was unseasonably warm and the sun was shining. The spirit was so special at Julio's baptism and you could tell that he felt excited (even though he was trying to hide it) We asked him how he felt after he was baptized and he told us that he just felt warm. It was so sweet!

We went over for one of our last lessons with Julio before he got baptized. Despite looking for one of the sisters from the group to come with us, we couldn't find anyone. We ended up just going, knowing that we wouldn't be able to go inside his apartment. When we got there, Julio invited us to go inside and we told him that we couldn't because of the mission rules. He got super sad and told us that he had gone to Bakersfield to buy pots and plates and then had walked all over Lamont to buy groceries in order to make us mole. He was sad because he thought that we wouldn't be able to eat it with him because there wasn't a table. In a sudden moment of creativity, we decided to turn over a couple of cardboard boxes form a table and we ate the food there. It was the cutest lunch/dinner ever!

At Julio's makeshift table eating rice and mole.

Speaking of our investigators, we started teaching a person named Luis. He is young man who recently returned from serving a mission for the Catholic church. We started talking to him after we saw a dove in a cage on his porch and he let us hold it. We have had a couple of lessons with him and he really liked reading in the Book of Mormon. This Sunday, we invited him to come to church, but we didn't really expect that he would come. Imagine our surprise when he walked into the church building right after it started! He was wearing a giant cowboy hat and told us that he had walked all the way to the church building. He also was friends with one of the members and her nonmember brother who we are also currently teaching. We went over for a lesson after church and he said that he really liked it. He tried to pay to take one of the Gospel Principles books home so that he could study it, but they ended up giving it to him for free. 

At the Mission Leadership Council.

This week, we started the exchange season again. We had two different exchanges, but both with new missionaries. Our first exchanges were with Hermana Wright and Hermana Melendez and I went with Hermana Wright. She is such a good missionary and has a strong testimony. We were able to teach some good lessons and find some cool people to start teaching. Later this week, we went on exchanges with Hermana Latimer and Hermana Perdomo. I was with Hermana Perdomo. She is from Honduras and has been living in the United States for the last couple of years. It was super fun to be able to practice my Spanish with her. Plus, both she and Hermana Melendez knew Laney from the MTC, so we talked a little bit about her. That was really strange, but it was fun to be able to talk to them!

with Hermana Wright

with Hermana Perdoma

That is just about it for the week. We have been seeing the Lord's hand in the work and I am more and more grateful everyday for the chance that I have to be a missionary here. I love that I get to study and teach about the Doctrine of Christ every day of my mission and that I have the opportunity to truly change people's lives. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Frozen yogurt we got during some extra time on P-day.

Week Fifty-Two: Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve. We look like crazy people!

 Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was fun. We spent a lot of time on exchanges with the different hermanas from the mission and we were able to do a lot of working out here in good old Arvin, so all was good!

We have been working a lot with our investigator Julio and we have been seeing a lot of progress during this last week. We had been having a hard time knowing how to help him to progress, so we didn't really know what we were going to do going into the lesson. When we got there, we started talking to him and he told us that he had a dream where someone told him not to get baptized or to join our church. We asked him if that made him have any doubts and he informed us that it only strengthened his resolve to get baptized and to learn more about what we teach. I don't really know how, but it certainly was a miracle of sorts! He is super fun to teach.

Right after that, we had exchanges with the hermanas down in Little Rock. We decided to meet up halfway in a little town called Mojave. On the drive through the mountains that we took to get up there, I saw snow for the first time in a year. It was a little bizarre! When we got to Mojave, it was super strange. It is just a little old town out in the middle of the desert. I don't know if we caught it on a bad day or what, but everyone was staring at us like we were a couple of aliens who hopped out of our UFO. It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone! We met up with the hermanas and I headed back to Arvin with one of the Hermanas who just got out on her mission, Hermana Dye. She is super fun and SUPER tall. I think that she said that she was 6' 3" or something like that. I felt like a midget next to her, but it was super fun to go on exchanges with her.

While we were on exchanges, we were able to talk to the son of one of our recent converts. It was a really cool experience. The whole time that Jesse was learning before his baptism, he told us that he was doing it so that he could be a better person for his children. It was nice to be able to teach his son a little bit and to hopefully be able to make a difference in the entire family.

On Thursday, we went on exchanges with the Hermanas that are in Buena Vista now. It was a blast. They are currently in a trio, so I was able to go and third wheel with Hermana Martineau and with Hermana Latimer. It was super fun. I love working in Arvin, but Buena Vista still has a little piece of my heart! While we were down there, we knocked on the house of a ton of Punjabi speaking truck drivers. One of them spoke english pretty well, so we were talking to him and he was translating for all of his friends. Hermana Martineau asked them how we can say "Can I give you our card?" in Punjabi, so he wrote it out on a card. He took a video of Hermana Martineau saying it and put it on Snap Chat. Who knows, maybe Hermana Martineau will soon become famous in the some sort of Punjabi social realm.

This week, it was raining a lot. It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of a desert-ish climate. I feel like it hasn't rained for months, but it sure is pouring now! Being in the rain makes me feel like more of an actual missionary. It is an adventure.

New Years was fun here in Arvin. At the beginning of the week, we were told to go in and to do planning at 6 o'clock on New Years Eve instead of going out and working. The entire time that we were inside, we heard giant fireworks going on outside. At midnight, a lot of people go outside and fire their guns up into the air, so that was fun!

The new year has allowed me to feel a lot of introspection. I feel like I have grown so much since the beginning of the year. It is hard to believe that I am going to be hitting my one year mark in just a little bit. I don't think that I am the same person at all that I was just a while ago. I can't remember what my resolutions were at this time last year, but I am sure that I was able to accomplish them :) I am excited to see what this year has in store for me!

I hope that you all have a good week at home and that you are able to do good wherever you are! I love you all!

Hermana Blau

Hermana Luquette and me in the Arvin Group building after church.

Week Forty:Nine: A Little Winter Wonderland

Hermana White and I with our investigator, Julio

Area: Arvin Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White

This week has been a crazy one. It was the last week of Hermana White, so we were working extra hard to squeeze every little bit of the time and energy that we had to make the most of it. We saw a lot of miracles and we were able to see the hand of the Lord.

One day this week, we went out to go work before having lunch. We were talking to everyone and sharing with all with such intensity that we didn't realize that we hadn't eaten lunch until almost 3. We went home and ate a relatively large lunch rather quickly because we had a four o'clock appointment with our investigator Julio. When we got there, we discovered that he had bought us a TON of tacos and hot chocolate (he recently gave up coffee when we taught about the Word of Wisdom :)). We ate a ton there and taught him a little bit. After that, we continued on to our dinner that a member was giving to us. After that, I was feeling more than a little full, but we continued on to a lesson that we were having with a recent convert. When we got there, we discovered that he had bought pizza. I feel like I have never eaten more food in my entire life! Missionary struggles!

Arvin is a little winter wonderland! Most of the people around town keep their lights up all year long, but now that the Christmas time has come, all of the lights are up and it is absolutely stunning! As we drive down the street, I can't help but look at all of the beautiful houses and the Christmas cheer!

This week, Hermana White and Hermana Martineau went down to the temple with a couple of their recent converts who were taking their own family names with them. While it was going on, Hermana Zambrano and I were left to be companions again. We didn't have our normal P-day to do normal P-day things (except for emails), so Hermana Zambrano and I were on mini-exchanges for our P-day. It was really fun to be with Hermana Zambrano again and to go around Bakersfield running errands.

Last night, we decided to follow the spirit and let it guide us to the places that we needed to be for the last couple of hours of Hermana White's missionary service. We started out by stopping the car when Hermana White saw someone that she wanted to talk to. When we talked to him, he wasn't really interested, but he was able to refer us to his Aunt who was really cool. We finished talking to her and we went to go visit a part member/less active family that we met a couple of days ago. We weren't able to talk to the member father, but we did talk to the son, who was actually super cool. On the way out of the apartment complex, we saw a man sitting on his second floor balcony. We called up to him and shared a little with him while he was looking down on us. He actually had been through some really tough things and we were able to help him to find some peace in his situation. After that, we went to a trailer park and started talking to the people there. We were able to pick up a really cool investigator who was sitting with his girlfriend outside. That was the last moment of the night before we had to go home and do planning. It was a night full of miracles!

This upcoming transfer, I am going to be staying in Arvin with Hermana Luquette. I am super excited to be able to be companions with her. She is pretty much the nicest person that I have ever met and I am sure that we are going to have a blast this upcoming transfer! 

I hope that you are all having a good time at home and that you are able to appreciate the spirit of Christmas. I think that the Light the World campaign is so cool. I love how we can be like the Savior in that. We can't all make as big of a sacrifice as He did, but we can help all the world in our own little ways. I hope that you all are able to find service opportunities during this special time of the year!

I love you all and I hope that you have a good week!

Hermana Blau

The packing tornado of Hermana White

Week Forty-Eight: Following Christ

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana White

This week has been really good. We have been working hard down here in Arvin and teaching everyone that we see. It has been really fun getting ready for Christmas during these past couple of weeks. I feel like I have been seeing the influence of Christ during this last little bit in great abundance!

This week, we had a lesson with one of our investigators about tithing and fasting. It was all going pretty well and he agreed to live both of the laws. When we started explaining about fast offerings, Hermana White accidentally said something about giving away the money that we eat. It wasn't any stranger than any of the other mistakes that we make in Spanish, but Hermana White and I looked at each other and started laughing. Once we started, we couldn't stop for a couple of minutes. I am sure that our investigator and our member thought that we were going crazy, but they were patient while we got ourselves together. In the end, it turned out to be a pretty good lesson.

The Navarro Family. They are super cute!

Things have been winding down to the end of Hermana White's mission. Next week, she will be going home and I will get a new companion. That being said, she went on the departing missionary temple trip last Friday and I went with Hermana Luquette and Hermana Badger to live the trio life for a couple of hours. It was a really strange experience! I think that we spend a lot of time as missionaries working to get ourselves used to life in a two person companionship that when we change to working in something other than that, it totally throws us off. Despite the strangeness, it was really fun. We spent a couple of hours working in their area, which happens to be the only Hermana area in the entire mission that I have not served in. It was super cool to spend some time looking around and talking to people there.

We have been working a lot with our recent converts to try and help them to work on their family history. With one in particular, we have been going over a lot to try and help her to find a name to take to the temple. She was able to find some family information about her grandmother, so we went over to help her to set up an account on family search and to print out the name. When we got there, we discovered that she didn't have a computer, so we had to try and use her phone to set it all up. The screen wasn't big enough to let us see all of the web page and all of the instructions were in Spanish, so we were struggling a little bit. To make it all worse, her birth information was inputted wrong in the church records, so we had to find out how to work with that. About every ten minutes, we would have a break through and get a little bit closer to putting in the name. Finally, after two hours, we were able to get her a name to take to the temple. At the end, she told us that we have to learn how to do things step by step, but sometimes they are the steps of an ant. I am a little worried to have to use technology again someday!

Our district. It's a little hermana heavy!

This week, we have been showing a lot of people the new Christmas video from the church. I have been thinking a lot about the example of Jesus Christ. We can all learn so much from studying the life of Christ and doing the things that he did. I am so grateful for the opportunity to change and become better every day of my life through Jesus Christ and to be able to serve the Lord literally all day long, every day. It is such a blessing to be a missionary!

Well, that is just about it for the week. I hope that you all are doing good things and that Christmas preparations are going well for you. I love you all so much. Have a good week!

Hermana Blau

The dusty air in Arvin every time the weather changes. Scary!

Week Forty-Seven: Happy Thanksgiving!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana White

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you all had a good time and that you were able to think about all of the things that you are thankful for. We were able to see a lot of miracles and to witness many good things in our area, so we definitely have a lot to be thankful for out here. Things are good out here in good old Arvin, California!

A new cold front moved in and it has been raining down here in Arvin and snowing in the surrounding mountains. One cool feature about Arvin is that any time that the weather changes, the wind picks up and all of the dirt from the surrounding fields flies up into the air and moves in an ominous cloud towards the town. It is pretty scary! We were able to make it into the house of a recent convert and so we were safe!

This week, we started things out with an interesting exchange. We went on exchanges with the hermanas who are currently in Little Rock. It was really strange to go back there and see all of the places that I used to go to when I was training. I have been able to go on exchange to all of the areas where I have previously served, but I think that it was definitely the strangest to go there. We went out to a lesson with one of the hermanas's investigators and we took Hermana Lopez (the Relief Society President) as our member present. It was super cool to be able to see some of the members from the branch. The exchanges were super fun and we were able to learn a lot! We only have one exchange left this transfer and then we will be able to rest for a little bit before we start back up again.

This Thanksgiving, we were able to have a lot of fun and to celebrate in style. We started out in weekly planning for a while in the morning. We went out tracting for a while and tried to contact some referrals while all of the families were at home. Then, we had dinner with the Navarros (a family from the group). It was super good, although a little bit different from what I was used to. Instead of eating turkey, we ate posole (so yummy!). Afterwards, we all went around the table and talked about what we were grateful for. It made me think about Thanksgiving at home, but I am super glad that I am out here as a missionary. I love being able to help people change their lives and to come closer to Christ!

On Saturday, we were able to go to the baptism of one of the people that we have been teaching, Daniel. He was taught for a little bit by Hermanas White and Martineau before I got to Arvin, and then I was able to teach him for about three weeks while I was up here. The week before the baptism, we decided to let the English elders start to teach him because he speaks English much better than Spanish and he wanted to go to the English ward. It was a little sad, because he got baptized just a week later, but it was still a really good service and we were able to feel the spirit a lot. We were able to go to the sacrament meeting in the English ward to see the confirmation the next day, as well. It was super cool!

Daniel

This Sunday, we were able to see a lot of our investigators at church. A couple of people that we found on the street and didn't have the opportunity to teach showed up on their own as well. I met one of the guys a couple of weeks ago on exchanges outside of a restaurant when we were about to go to eat. He called us over and said that he had been taught by missionaries a couple of years ago and he had gone to church with them in Bakersfield. He didn't have a phone number and we didn't know his exact address, so we didn't think that we were ever going to be able to talk to him again. Imagine our surprise when we walked into church and saw him there. He said that he just decided to come and he walked there by himself. It turns out that he is friends with one of the members and that he wants to start coming to church every week. It was a Thanksgiving miracle!

Well, that is just about it for the week. We saw a lot of miracles and we were able to give thanks in style. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission and to come closer to Jesus Christ and to help others to do the same. I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the sacrifice of the Atonement. I love all of you at home and I am glad to be out here. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Forty-Six: Spontaneous Service Opportunities

We had a cookie bakeoff for our district activity, and these were our contribution.

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana White

This was a pretty good week. We were able to help and teach a lot of people and I could see the hand of the Lord in our work.

This week, it started to get cold. I am sure that you all would laugh at me back home for being such a wuss when it comes to the temperatures. It gets to be in the fifties during the night time and I start to shiver even though I have my big coat on. I feel like we have been praying all summer for the cold to come and now that it is here, we will start praying for the heat. It does make it easier to feel like the holidays are coming around. Many of the Spanish speaking people down here leave their Christmas lights up on their house year round, but they have finally started to turn them on and Arvin is turning into a little winter wonderland.

One fun story from Arvin. Because Arvin is just a little town, it is really easy to see a lot of strange things going around. For example: We had just finished praying in our car before leaving for an appointment when we looked up and saw a man on a bicycle making his way in our direction. The closer he got, the more strange he looked. The man was shirtless and covered in tattoos. What we thought was a helmet on his head actually turned out to be a tee shirt wound as a turban. He was holding something in his hand. Right before he passed by our car, we realized that it was a live (and rather surprised) chicken. After he passed, Hermana White and I just stared at each other in shock, trying to process what happened. There is nothing like missionary work to let you see just a little of all of the strange things that people do in their free time.

We had some more exchanges this week. On Tuesday, I was feeling a little bit of dejavu (I don't know how to spell that word, so I hope you can tell what it means! :)) because I went down to Buena Vista again with Hermana Zambrano. It felt like I was coming back from really long exchanges with Hermana White and returning to my actual area. We were able to work in the area and visit a couple of the hermanas's new investigators. It was bizarre!

We have been having a lot of spontaneous service opportunities this week. Last Monday, we were finishing our grocery shopping in Walmart when we met an old lady who was shopping for her Thanksgiving meal. After we were finished paying for our things, we asked if she needed help taking her things out to her car. She said that she did, so we left to help. She didn't really remember where she had parked, so we ran around the parking lot until we were able to locate her car and we put all of her groceries inside. She was super sweet and thanked us. She told us that she was praying that she would find someone nice to help her out. Service is super sweet!

Later this week, we were doing some street contacting in a residential area. We hadn't really talked to anyone that was super cool, so we were about to head back to our car and go somewhere else. Right before we got there, we saw a door and felt like we should knock on it. After we had done so, a lady opened up and started talking to us. She was being a little short with us and was trying to tell us that she wasn't interested when I said, "We felt inspired by God to be in this area and we felt specifically inspired to knock on your door. We don't know what our purpose is here, but we would like to share a message with you." After that, the lady opened up the door and invited us in. She actually ended up being really cool and we were able to teach her the entire Restoration. It was a real testimony builder to me that God really does inspire us and sends us to the people who need to hear from us.

Well, that is just about it for the week. Things are going well down here in Arvin and we are seeing lots of miracles. We are working with lots of cool people and they are progressing really well. It is so amazing to be able to see the Atonement at work in people's lives and to help them to learn about the happiness that comes through Christ. I love being a missionary. I hope that you all have a good week and that you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Hermana Blau

Hermana Luquette's reaction to our cookies.

Week Forty-Five: Elder Bednar Speaks with Fire!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana White

This week was pretty good. It started out with a couple of exchanges with the other hermanas and ended with a couple of conferences with Elder Bednar. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. I was able to feel the spirit really strongly and we have been working hard out here in little old Arvin.

Right now, we are working really hard with one of our investigators. He is a little old man from Chiapas and he is always really nice to us. I guess that Hermana White and Hermana Martineau had been working with him for a while before I came here, but he never seemed to be progressing (although he would always come to church and pray). This past week, we started working really hard on him to get him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. He has problems with his eyes, so it is hard for him to read. We were feeling a little stuck and we didn't know exactly what to do to help him when we had a lesson earlier this week. When we got there, he told us that he had a dream that told him to keep learning from us. We were super excited. When we came back later this week, he told us that he had another dream where an angel told him to read in the Book of Mormon to find answers, even if it was hard. He had been reading the entire morning. It was super cool to see!

Later this week, I was on exchanges and we were trying to talk to one of our potential investigators. Only Hermana White had the address written down and I was positive that I would be able to find the house when I got there. It turned out that I couldn't remember which house it was, so we decided to knock on the couple of houses that looked familiar. On the first one that we knocked on, a young woman opened the door and we started talking to her. We told her that we were looking for someone who was looking for greater happiness and peace. She said that we were probably looking for her and we started teaching her. She was awesome! We were able to teach her about the Restoration and she accepted it all. After we finished talking to her, we were able to find the potential. It showed me that we will always be led to the people who are prepared to listen.

The most exciting part of the week was definitely when we listened to Elder Bednar! All of the missionaries in the entire mission came in to Bakersfield and we had the opportunity to talk to him and listen to him for three hours. It was a surreal experience. The spirit was super strong! It was a little strange because in the moment it didn't feel too much more than a zone conference (except with an Apostle of Jesus Christ!) He told us that we could ask any question that we wanted to and that he was one of the fifteen people in the entire world who could answer them. He talked a lot about the Sacrament and the fact that we are here to act in this world and not to be acted upon. It was indescribable. I loved listening to Elder Bednar and being instructed in such a small group. Elder Bednar was so good. He talks with fire! He talked all about baptism and how we need to teach people like they are people who act and not objects to be acted upon. It was really good! He told us about a couple of false doctrines and how to combat them. He is super funny and really spiritual. I wish we could have listened to him for longer!

On the way to see Elder Bednar

The missionaries in our Zone got the opportunity to hear Elder Bednar again because he came to our stake's conference the next day. It was super cool. We were able to get a couple of our investigators to come and they really liked it! It was like he was speaking to them. Halfway through the meeting, one of the members came up to Hermana White and I and told us to come into a back room with him. There were a limited number of translation headphones, and a couple of people had come late and weren't able to get a set. For the rest of the meeting, Hermana White and I whispered the translation of the talk to a couple of recent converts. It was a testimony to me of the gift of tongues! 

That was pretty much our week. It was full of the spirit and we were able to see a lot of miracles in the work. I am still loving it out here in Arvin and we are seeing a lot of success working with the people. I love this gospel and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to tell the world about how they can find happiness and come closer to God. I am a happy missionary! I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau