Week Sixty-Two: People Are Great!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This was a pretty good week. We have been working hard and seeing success from all of our efforts. It has been starting to heat up here. I must have been spending too much time in the cold because I am getting super uncomfortable in the heat. That is bad news because it is supposed to be in the high eighties this week.

This week has been a good start to the new transfer. Hermana Luquette and I are still together here in Arvin, so we are having a lot of fun down here. I am excited to be able to serve in this part of the Lord's Vineyard for the next couple of weeks. Everyone has been staying outside recently because of the pleasant weather, so we have been able to talk to tons of people.

Early on this week, we were walking down the road when we saw a man standing in his yard. We started talking to him and we noticed right from the start that he was a little strange. We told him that we were missionaries and he asked us if we had ever heard of Asaroth, the Angel of Death. We told him that we hadn't and he said, "Of course you haven't. They don't want you to know about him. But I got a picture of him on my phone." He proceeded to tell us that he stands outside of the retirement home and waits for people to die and then takes pictures of their windows. He showed us the picture that he took and it was just static. We told him that we couldn't see anything and he said that we must not be pure in heart. Awkward. . . Then, he showed us a picture that he took of God. It was another picture of static. After Hermana Luquette saw the picture, she said that even though she hasn't seen God, she knows that He is there. The man then said, "What do you mean that you haven't seen God? You just saw a picture of him!" It was super funny! You see and learn something new every day!

Early one morning, we were parked in an area and got out of the car to talk to people. There was a lady on the phone next to where we were parked, so we asked her if we could just give her our card. She said that we could. As we were writing out our information, we started to notice that there were tire marks all over the yard. The yard was completely destroyed and there was glass and broken car parts all over the yard. We found out that a car had been doing donuts in the street when it lost control and crashed into a parked car. We were able to help out a little bit and later, we were able to take advantage of the fact that everyone had come out to see the rubble in the street.

We were walking down the street on Saturday when we saw a man destroying a plastic rake with a hammer and a chisel. He never made it clear to us why he was doing that. We started talking to us and he started rambling about the Bible. He talked to us nonstop for about ten minutes. While he was talking to us, another man came up and interrupted our conversation. I started talking to that man and Hermana Luquette was left to talk to the man with the rake. While I was talking, I heard the man talking to Hermana Luquette. He said that he was looking for a wife and then he asked her if she would marry him. It was super awkward. We made a quick retreat!

This week, we started teaching a lady named Josephina. She is the friend of a member in the ward and has been to church a lot of times already. She is super sweet! The first time we went over to teach her, she was making lunch. She told us to sit down at the table and made some for us as well. It was sweet. We dined on sauteed cactus and scrambled eggs. Que rico! To top it all off, she gave us a stack of homemade tortillas to take home with us in a beautiful hand-embroidered towel. It was beautiful.

We are still teaching Refugio and he is doing wonderfully. It was nice to see him at church yesterday. We went over and taught him afterwards and he said that he was able to feel a special spirit there and that he knows that going to church is a responsibility and a blessing. He is so cool! I love teaching him.

I love being a missionary! I have been able to see the hand of the Lord in so many ways this week. I know that I am in the place I need to be right now! I love the gospel and I know that it is true! Have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Forty-Three: Happy Halloween!!

That is the reaction picture of me after the dog ate the Book of Mormon.
You can't really see the bites, but they are there!

Area: Buena Vista Spanish Ward

Companion: Hermana Zambrano

First of all, Happy Halloween! Today, we have somewhat of a free day because we have to be inside of our house at six o'clock. It isn't really that exciting because we have been given some talks that we have to study during the time that we are inside. Also, I will be packing because I am going to be transferred tomorrow! I still don't know where I am going to go or who I am going to be with, but I will be leaving good old Buena Vista tomorrow morning, heading for greener pastures. It makes me a little sad, because I really love the members and the area, but it will be good to keep doing the work.

Another exciting thing that happened this week was my birthday. I am officially no longer a teenager. It was a little strange celebrating my birthday on the mission because there wasn't a lot of time to think about it, but everyone made an effort to make me feel loved. The STLs called me and sang Happy Birthday and President and Sister Layton called to wish me a happy birthday as well. Even Sister Ball, one of the missionaries from the office, came over and brought me a cupcake.  Our investigator, Claudia, took us out to dinner. It was all super nice and sweet. I opened the package that I got from home and discovered all of the candy inside. It was a wonderful surprise. Now, the only worry that we have in our apartment is not to get diabetes from all of the sugar that we have inside.

One funny story from the week: We talked to a lady who was sitting in her garage while we were walking down the street. She said that we could come back and share a little bit more, so we planned to come back another day. Right before we left, I saw a couple of little dogs in her yard and made sure to ask her if she had any big dogs. She told us that she didn't, so we foolishly thought that we were safe. Flash forward to a couple of days ago. We went back for our return appointment and we noticed that the little dogs were a little vicious, especially one little white one that started biting at the chain link fence when we walked past. We waited a little bit and the dog started to calm down, so we thought that it would be safe to walk inside the gate. I walked in and told Hermana Zambrano to stay outside (I just read the scripture where the Savior said that the greatest love is that one lays down his life for his friends. I thought that would apply to companions as well). I made it all the way inside the gate and decided that it would be a good idea to try and pet the vicious dog to make sure that it knew that we weren't going to kill it. No sooner did I touch the head of the dog but it started making moves to bite me. I put the Book of Mormon I had in my hand close to the dog so it would bite the book instead of my hand. It latched on to the book, but I was able to escape through the gate and yank the book out of the dogs mouth. Now, I have a souvenir  Book of Mormon with teeth marks all the way through to Alma!

We had a pretty cool experience with one of our less active families this week. We started working in an area and I felt like we needed to be somewhere else. We decided to try and see a sister who we knew from our records but who we had never met before. We had previously tried knocking on her door, but no one ever answered. We got to the sister's house and she opened the door and invited us in. I guess that she had a really bad day at work and she prayed for comfort. Right after she prayed, we knocked on the door. It was a witness that the spirit really does guide the work.

Right now, we are working with a really cool family. We have taught them a couple of time and they really want to learn more. The other week, we invited them to come to church, but it was Stake Conference, so they got lost looking for the Stake Center and ended going home. This week, we invited them again to come to church. We confirmed 30 minutes before, but as the meeting was starting, they still weren't there. We called them again and it turned out that they were lost again. We were able to guide them over the phone and they made it just in time for church. Everyday is an adventure!

Well, it has been another week and another transfer. I am sad to leave this area because I really love the people here, but I am excited to see what comes ahead. I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. I hope that you all have a Happy Halloween!

Hermana Blau

Hermana Zambrano is all trained up!!!

Week Twenty-Two: Yo Estaba Muy Cerca a una Cerca

Area: Esperanza Ward
Companion: Hermana Van der Toolen

This week has been kind of slow, but we have really been seeing miracles! I think that I have learned more about how the Lord will always help us in this work this week than I have during any other week so far.

The most eventful thing that happened during the beginning of this week was that we finally won the victory over the miles! All of the walking and biking worked out and we were able to finish out the month of May with exactly 1100.4 miles. It was pretty impressive (if I do say so myself). The only problem is that the temperature has finally started to resemble what I imagined California summers would be like. During the days, it is 100 degrees or more with no clouds in the sky. When the wind blows, it feels like a blow-dryer! I can't remember if I shared this last week, but I have finally started to get sunburned. The difference here as opposed to Missouri is that my sunburns are turning into tans. It is the strangest thing.

One funny story. We were walking along the street the other day and I got really close to a fence. It turned out that the top of the fence was made of something sharp, so I cut my arm up. It wasn't super bad, but it started to bleed a little bit. Instead of taking one of Hermana Van der Toolen's band-aids, I decided that it would be a good talking point. We knocked on a door and I showed the lady my bleeding arm and asked if she would give me a band-aid. While she was helping me out, we were able to talk to her. She wasn't super interested, but I was able to tell her that I got cut because "yo estaba muy cerca a una cerca". [Translation: I was very close to a fence. (In Spanish the words for  "close" and "fence" are the same.)] That made me chuckle for the rest of the day.

Because it is so hot during the day, we have been trying to set up visits with less active members. It has actually been working out pretty well. We get to come in from the heat and the sun and we also get to teach people. There are a lot of people in the Esperanza ward who haven't been contacted for a long time, so it has been good to be able to see them. Hopefully, we will be able to start helping them to come back to church.

This week we had another lesson with Adriana. I don't know if you remember her, but she is the one that we almost dropped because we thought that she was Bible bashing us through text message. It turns out that she is super prepared. She loves learning about the Gospel and reading in the scriptures and she always keeps all of her commitments, which is a breath of fresh air. Her biggest problem at this moment is with coming to church. She works in a hotel as a maid and works pretty much all the time. We went over to teach her about the importance of the Sabbath day. When we asked her if she thought that her boss would give her Sundays off, she said that she didn't think so. Apparently, her boss is a bit of a jerk and doesn't like changing people's schedules. It is also hard because Adriana really needs to work to help to support her family. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7 with her and talked with her a little bit about faith and the importance of church. Afterwards, we asked her if she would be willing to go in and talk to her boss, and she said that she definitely would because going to church is so important and she wants to know the truth. It was super cool. She has so much faith. I think that my experience with Adriana has really gone to show me that God is always going to make sure that his prepared children receive the Gospel!

We received the biggest surprise of this week yesterday. There is a family that the Hermanas in this area have been teaching for a really long time named the Liconas. They have had all the lessons and have been coming to church regularly for a long time and all of them really want to be baptized. The only problem is that the parents aren't married. For a long time, they weren't able to get married because of a lack of money to buy the marriage license and some relationship problems. Recently, they haven't been able to get the license because they can never get time off of work to go to buy the license during the week. Yesterday, we texted the father to ask if we could come over on Sunday night to teach a lesson with them and he said that we should come over on Monday night because he got a day off of work. It turns out that they are going to go and get their marriage license today! After that, there is nothing stopping them from getting baptized. We have been fasting and praying for them to be able to get the license for a long time, and it looks like it is finally going to happen!

This week has been a little bit interesting, but I have definitely been able to see the hand of the Lord in this work. I am so glad that I am a missionary and am able to see all of the positive changes that the Gospel brings to people's lives. I love this church!

I love you all and I am hope that everything is going well at home. Keep cool and have fun at home!

Hermana Blau

Week Twenty-One: Girl on a Bike on a Mission

Area: Esperanza Ward
Companion: Hermana Van der Toolen

This week has been crazy! I guess that I will just start from the beginning.

We have been working really hard to find more people to teach right now. It is a little bit harder to find Spanish speaking people who want to hear the message here than it was in Littlerock. Because of that, we have been trying to get creative in our finding methods. We called up all the mortuaries and hospitals in this area to get on their list of clergy. We have been talking about family history. It has been going a little slowly, but we have been getting more interested investigators!

Funny story for this week. We had found an old Catholic man last week and set up a time for a return appointment. When we went by for the appointment, we were saying a prayer in the car right before we went up to the door. Right before we got out of the car, the man who we were coming to visit walked out of his door to smoke. He saw us and we saw him and we made awkward eye contact for about ten seconds before we started to get out of the car. Between the time that we saw each other and the time that we made it out of the car, he had disappeared. We went to see if he was by his door, but when he wasn't there, we decided to go to our next plans. As we were getting back in the car, we found the man. He was crouching beside his car, trying to hide from us. It was so awkward. We talked to him for just a second and then got into the car. He could see us through the windows, so we had to keep our composure until we made it around the corner. Then Hermana Vander Toolen and I burst out laughing. We were laughing about how awkward the situation was all night long.

[Translation: WARNING ... The driver will disappear in the Rapture]

This week is the end of the month and Hermana Vander Toolen has been a little stressed out about miles. We are a little close to our limit, so we decided to become BIKING MISSIONARIES! That's right, I have been on a bike for the last couple of days. If you think that sister missionaries biking in skirts sounds a little silly, let me be the first one to tell you that it certainly is. We were on exchanges this week (With our new Sister Training Leaders, Hermana Martineau and Hermana White) and Hermana White and I were back together. The Dream Team. We started out biking on the first day and it was actually really fun. We were able to talk to a lot of people and we could actually get around pretty well. The second day, it was not as fun. We had decided to go to an area that is a little bit farther away than the first area that we biked in. That was problem number one. Problem number two was that we were biking in a pretty mountainous and deserty area. At one point, we realized that we had been going the wrong way and that we had to turn around and walk the bikes through the desert. When we got to an area where we could start to bike again, we realized that we had a third problem. Hermana White's bike tires were full of goat heads. I can't remember if I have already written home about them, but goat heads are little thorns that are all over the place. They stick in your shoes and are super sharp! Because of the goat heads, both of the bike tires popped and we had to wait until someone could come and rescue us from the desert. Eventually, we were able to make it home and get back in the car.

Hermanas Blau, Van der Toolen, White, and Martineau

Before we started the exchanges, we were praying to find people and listening to the impressions of the spirit to see what kind of investigators that we would find. Two of us were feeling pretty strongly that we were supposed to find a single man while the other two were feeling that we were supposed to find a family. While Hermana Vander Toolen and Hermana Martineau were out on exchanges, they ran into some people who fulfilled both of the requirements. Carlos, who we have started to teach, is a single man who's wife died a couple of years ago. He has one son and lives with his brother and sister-in-law and their children. It turns out that he had received a copy of the Book of Mormon from one of his relatives and that he had been reading it for over two years. He said that he had been waiting for missionaries to come up to his house and talk to him. When they told him where the church was, he was super excited that it was so close. I guess that he has always wanted to come to one of our services.

Before church started, we called Carlos to see if he was going to come and he said that he would. Sacrament meeting started, but he still wasn't there. We texted him and he said that he was on the way. When the sacrament hymn started, he texted us and said that he was outside and that he didn't know how to come in. We ran out side and did a lap around the church building until we were able to find him. Eventually, we were saw him and we all quickly, but reverently, walked into the chapel right in time for the sacrament to start. It was super cool! Last night, we were able to go over and teach him about the restoration. It was a super good lesson. He has a lot of questions and I think that he really has a sincere desire to learn more. Hopefully, he will continue to come to church and make commitments. He is really cool!

Well, that is about all for this week. We are starting to teach some people who are really interested and who have a sincere desire to learn and to change. We are already starting to see a lot of success in this area. We are doing pretty well here and I have felt my faith grow each day! I love being a missionary. Keep up the good work at home! I love you all.

Hermana Blau

Week Eleven: I love meeting people!

This was a bad week for pictures. This is about the best that I have. I'll do better next week.

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch

Companion: Hermana White

This week, we have been having a lot of really cool experiences and have been meeting a lot of really cool people. The work is really coming along here!

It is super strange serving in the Spanish Branch. I think that one of the strangest things about serving Spanish speaking in the United States is that we speak Spanish to the adults and English to the youth. The youth groups and classes for the Spanish Branch and the English Ward are combined. Sometimes, it gets a little confusing, but I think that it is super cool. I wish that I was able to speak two different languages from such a young age.

About piano playing, I sure do get lots of opportunities to play. There isn't anyone in the ward who knows how to play the piano, so I play in every meeting that we are at. It is super cool. I love listening to all of the members sing here. They sure do sing with all of their heart and soul.

Recently, Hermana White and I have been trying to work with our members more. For the past couple of weeks we have been finding like crazy, but most of the people that we have been finding are not really all that interested in the message. This week, we decided to change up our approach. Instead of doing pure street and door to door contacting, we have started working more with our less active and part member families. This has the double impact of helping us to strengthen the ward and letting us find more solid investigators.

One of the part member families that we have really been working with is the Salgados. Our two investigators, Jenny and Kate, are in their teens. Their brother, Chris, is older and has recently moved back into the house. While he was living away from home, he met with the missionaries and was baptized and now that he is living at home again, he has asked us to meet with his sisters. They are super cool and really friendly. For the past couple of weeks, we have been trying really hard to get them to come to church. Last week, we even went to their house before church started, but they would not wake up. This week, a miracle happened. Jenny came to church with Chris! We were so happy because she had been feeling nervous about attending. After the sacrament, she said that she really liked it and that she would like to come back. Hopefully, she really will. 

Just because we are doing less street contacting doesn't mean that we have stopped meeting our share of interesting and strange people. For example, we met a lady yesterday who was super friendly. She was open to the message of the gospel and the Restoration and she asked lots of questions. She was one of those "student-of-the-universe" kind of people, but she was really kind. We were making small talk and she started talking about how she loved going to music festivals and raves. Then she invited us to go to one. We told her that we would love to go, but that we couldn't right now. After that, she told us that we needed to watch some movie on Netflix. We told her that we didn't have Netflix right now and she told us that she would give us her account information. She invited us into her house while she wrote it down, but as we entered, she said, "Don't mind the smell, I was just smoking weed. Next time you come, I will clean up first". She gave us her Netflix (the paper with her information is currently residing in my journal). In the closing prayer that she offered, she called us her "new friends". I hope that she really wants us to meet with her!

Last night, we went to visit one of our investigators who lives in a trailer park in Littlerock (actually that same trailer park where we were visiting when someone threw Barbecue sauce at our car). He lives in the very last trailer, so when we go in we always talk to everyone on our way to see him. Last night, we met this old man who was sitting outside his trailer. He was very hard of hearing, but he kept trying to trip us up by asking questions and not understanding our responses. For example, he asked us "Who is Jesus?" and we replied, "The Son of God". Then he said, really loud, "Huh?!". We had to repeat our response about 7 times before he finally understood us. Then he asked us how many scriptures were in the Old Testament. We were kind of confused. Then he said, "There are [how ever many books are in the Old Testament] books in the Old Testament. Go back to school, baby." We gave him a confused look and finished sharing our message. As we were walking away, the man started making this witch cackle. I always know that when we start walking into that trailer park, we are going to come out with an interesting story.

On Tuesday night, all of the appointments that we had set up cancelled. There is nothing stranger than walking around the streets at night looking for people to teach. That night, we found this man walking the biggest German Shepard I have ever seen in my life. When we stopped him to share the message of the Restoration, we asked him if he believed in God. He said, "I believe in aliens. So I guess that I believe that God is the alien that put us here." We asked him if he prayed, and he said, "I pray that they stop abducting me." When we started talking about Joseph Smith, he said, "Oh, I know about him. He is the one who was given the Book of Mormon by an alien." This entire time, he was straight faced and didn't even smile. I love meeting people!

This week has been a good one. I feel like the work is really moving forward. When we work with the members, I have noticed a special spirit enter into the work. We work with their friends and family, so it makes sense that the only way that we can really be successful is through helping them. I love the members in our area. They are so kind and they always willing to help. I am so happy to be serving a mission and to be in this area. I know that I am supposed to be here at this time. The Lord directs his work!

Thank you so much for all that you do and for all of the time you spend thinking about me and the prayers that you send my way. I am so happy for you guys and I hope that everything goes well for you!

Hermana Blau

Week Six/Seven: First Week in the Mission Field

With President and Sister Wilson

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White
Hermana White's blog: February 22

I don't even know what to say because so many things have happened this week. It is all super crazy, but hopefully I will be able to write about it in a way that makes sense.

First off, I am in California now. I am serving in the Littlerock Spanish Branch and we cover the area in Littlerock and part of Palmdale. It is really interesting because the two different cities are only ten minutes away, but they are so different. Palmdale is a biggish city (about the size of Springfield). There are a lot of Hispanic people, but it feels relatively familiar. Littlerock, on the other hand, is more like a little Mexico. Everything is dirt and there are cactus and palm trees all over the place. There have been a couple of times that I have had to get out of the car and pull tumbleweeds off of the road.It is super strange, but I really like it.

With Hermana White.She's from Kansas City.
How crazy is that?

My trainer is Hermana White. She is a crazy good missionary and is super bold. For almost every person that we encounter, we end up with a return visit and they have a baptism date. I'm not kidding. Last week we had 28 new investigators. Not every single one of them continues to listen, but it is crazy how much we talk to people.

Speaking of talking to people, it is super strange teaching the gospel in Spanish in the United States. We are allowed to teach people as long as they are fluent in Spanish, but that means that sometimes we end up teaching totally in Spanish, other times totally in English, sometimes we switch from English to Spanish halfway through the lesson. I feel like my Spanish has really been improving during this week. Hermana White makes sure that I teach just about half of every lesson. I am positive that someday I will be able to speak Spanish well.

The weather here is strange. During the days, it is super hot and sunny. I make frequent use of the sun block that I got for Christmas. I really don't want to get sunburned. During the night, on the other hand, it gets kind of cold. Not really cold, just kind of. On the first night that we were out, it started to rain as well. That was a crazy night. Everyone that we talked to was kind of rude, but we were eventually able to teach a lesson to someone and they invited us into their home.

I think that my favorite part of being in the field is that we get to meet lots of interesting people. For example, we went into the home of a part member and less active family. The wife was Hispanic and only spoke Spanish, but the husband (who isn't a member of the church) is Persian and only spoke broken English and Spanish. We ended up teaching the message of the Restoration in Spanglish and we helped him to find the Book of Mormon in Persian on his phone. At the end of the lesson, he asked us what our names were. When I said mine, he thought that Blau was an interesting name and Hermana White said that it was German. I think that he thought that she said that I was German, because for the rest of the lesson, he would say something in English, then say it's Persian equivalent, and then ask me how to say it in German. I am glad that I knew just a little German, but if we go back, I think that I will have to crush his dreams.

Late at night, we met one person and started to teach him about the Restoration. He was interested intellectually, but he kept interrupting us and telling us all of these crazy conspiracy theories. He kept telling us about equality and about how he was part of an activist group. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he had any questions for us. He told us that along with sharing messages about Jesus, we should also share messages about equality at the same time. During the entire lesson, I was biting my tongue so that I wouldn't laugh, but once we got into the car, Hermana White and I burst out laughing.

Some of the places that we go to, especially in Littlerock, are a little sketchy. For example, last night, we were going into a trailer park right before we went back to our apartment. The lady who we were meeting with didn't show up for the appointment, but when we went back to the car, someone had thrown Barbecue sauce all over the windows and doors. We left pretty soon after that, but it was super strange.

Evidence of the barbecue sauce. We still have to clean the car.

Going to church yesterday was super interesting. It feels bizarre going to services in Spanish and sitting in gospel classes where the questions and responses are all in a different language. It was kind of like being in a really strange dream. I think that this experience has made me really appreciate how great it is that there are Spanish missionaries in the United States. I know that if I was just learning about the gospel, I would want to be doing it in my own language. That is why I will continue to work hard to learn Spanish, even though it drives me crazy sometimes to not be able to say what I want to.

I love being in the actual field and being able to share the gospel with real people and hear their real questions. I am so happy to be here and I love the work. I love you all at home and I love to hear about you. I pray for you often.

Hermana Blau

Some pictures from the last week at the MTC:

Week Five: Last P-Day in the MTC!

Our zone. The last P-Day that we will all be together!

Area: Mexico MTC

Companion: Hermana Neeleman

Sister Neeleman's Blog: Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe that this is the last time that I will be writing to you from Mexico. I feel like the time has been flying by in a strangely slow way. Every day, I feel like I will never get out of class, but next thing I know, four days have passed. I really only have four more real days in the MTC. While I don't think that I am anywhere near ready to actually be out speaking Spanish and teaching real people, but I am so excited to leave.

One of the elders in our district said that the MTC experience is like the movie Groundhog Day. We do the same thing over and over and over again, getting a little better each time, until we are ready to move on. I think that this is the most accurate description of anything that I have ever heard in my life. It is not a bad thing, but every day is starting to feel like I am living the same weird dream over again.

I know that I told you that a couple of weeks ago we started to go a little crazy in here, but I think that we really have hit the pinnacle. Last night, everyone in the district wrote down their names and put them in a bag. Then we all pulled each other's names from the bag. Then we laughed about who everyone got, put the names back into the bag, and did it over again. This went on for (I'm not kidding) thirty minutes. Even sadder is that we would have kept playing except for the fact that we had to go home. Once we got home, Hermana Leslie put on her mumu sleeping gown and stuffed her dirty clothes underneath to make her look like an old grandma. We laughed at that for another thirty minutes, then we went to bed early. Nothing I would rather do on a Monday night!

This week, I experienced the happiest moment of my entire life. When we first arrived at the MTC, they told us that the wives of the presidency would be coming around periodically to check our casas and make sure that they were kept clean. Then they told us that if our beds were made during the check that we would get chocolate. I never forgot this as I made my bed every morning, but I started to believe that the day would never come. This week, however, we came home and found that there was chocolates on our beds. What was even better was that this morning, I was considering not making my bed because the check had happened earlier that week. I decided to make my bed and when I came back I found chocolate on the bed again! I guess that it just goes to show that we don't know the day or the hour and must be constantly prepared. 

Our zone with the brownies Sis. Neeleman's mother sent to her. They were
super good, but everyone's parents have been sending treats through the
package service.

Last week there was a day where we literally received three dozen donuts.
I feel like I eat so much sugar here!

This week was Fast Sunday at the MTC and it was a really strange experience. The entire campus fasted from after lunch on Saturday to lunch on Sunday. During that time the cafeteria was closed. That meant that instead of dinner that night, we just stayed in our room and continued to study. It was one of the longest nights of my life. I realized that day that I don't even really like meals for the food; they offer a welcome respite from the constant studying and classes. During sacrament meeting, all of the testimonies that were shared were so good. I think that everyone was able to share such powerful testimonies because we are all going through a really difficult time and everyone is struggling, but everyone is also becoming so much closer to the Savior. 

I am sorry that I don't have more to write about. I'm not kidding when I say that every day here feels exactly the same. I am sure that when I get to the field, I will have more stories, but for now, I am content.

I love being here and training for my mission, but I am really excited for the time when I will be able to go out and help real people. I get a little nervous when I think about how much I still have to learn and the fact that I only have a week to learn it, but then I think about how far I have come and what I have been able to learn with the help of the Lord. I think that this whole MTC experience has really taught me about the power of the Atonement. I have almost finished Jesus the Christ and the entire time I have just thought about why the Savior did what he did and how much it is helping me in my immediate and every day life. I love the gospel!

Hermana Blau