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 Nineteen: A Week of Firsts

Me with Chris and Stephanie. I love them!

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

Another week, another email. This week marks the end of the transfer, and I guess that the big news of the week is that I am getting transferred! I think that I will miss this area. The people here are really special. More about that later in the letter.

This week has been really interesting. We have talked to a lot of interesting people and done a lot of interesting things. I am still being introduced to the food of the people who I am serving here. It's kind of funny. We were having dinner with one of the members here and we were telling her about all of the food that I haven't tried yet. She asked me why I hadn't and I told her that there weren't a lot of Latino people in Missouri. She told me that I had no excuse because I have been here for almost five months. This week, I tried my first pupusa (I am not sure if that's how you spell it). We went to a dinner with a member and she gave us mangoes for dessert. At that point, I realized that I don't really know how to eat mangoes. It ended up okay. I just looked at Hermana Gonzalez and followed her moves. I end up doing that a lot during dinners when we are eating strange foods, and I think that she has started to notice because she starts giggling when I do it. 

This week, we have been trying to find more quality people to teach. In addition, we don't have a lot of miles to drive on our car, so we have been walking a lot. I officially got my first California sunburn. It wasn't that bad, but I think that it is a bad sign for the times ahead. One morning, we were knocking on doors in an area where we hadn't been before. At one of the houses, a man opened the door just a crack and poked his head out. We asked him how he was doing and he replied, "I'm naked". I guess that he must have seen the strange looks on our faces because he said quickly, "just kidding". We talked to him a little bit, but he wasn't really interested and he kept saying strange things, so we asked him if we could leave him with a card. When he opened the door to grab the card, we could see a little bit more inside the house. That was when we discovered that he wasn't really kidding when he told us that he was naked. Awkward!

This week, we had an exciting event. Before all of the departing missionaries go home, they go down to the Los Angeles temple for the day. The one of the Hermanas from the other side of Palmdale is going home this week, so her companion, Hermana Van der Toolen came over and stayed with us for the day. It was really interesting being in a trio instead of just having one companion. It was really awkward because we didn't know who was going to say what or when we should say it. Trio life is weird.

Later that night, we got our transfer calls. I am leaving and Hermana Gonzalez is staying. The exciting part is that I am not going very far away. I am going to be going to the Esperanza Ward in. . . the other side of Palmdale. I am still going to be in the same zone and the same stake as this transfer. My new companion is going to be Hermana Van der Toolen. I am really excited to be going to a new area and meeting new people, but I am sad that I will not be here with the people who I have met and the members here. I love the people in this area and I feel like I have been learning so much about Spanish and the Gospel here. I will miss the dirt roads and giant pit bulls of Littlerock, but I think that I will be going to a place where I am needed.

Well, that is it for this week. Nothing really big happened, but I bet next week is going to be really interesting. I love being a missionary and getting to love the people in this area. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and for the love of my Heavenly Father. 

I love you all so much. Have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Palmdale Zone Meeting

Week Eighteen: Dog Adventures

A present that a friendly balloon artist gave us when we were out walking the other day.
She was super nice, but she only spoke English sadly. Que triste!

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

Hello, all. This week was super crazy and a lot of interesting things happened, so I will try to remember them all and get them into the letter. The struggle is real when it comes to once-a-week emails!

This week, we have had a lot of adventures out in Littlerock. I love the people in that area and I always feel like I am in a movie while I am walking out there. One of the things that I did not realize about the area is the surprising amount of interesting wildlife. For example, while we were teaching some people at their door this last week, we noticed a lot of giant caterpillars. It was kind of gross, but we were all okay with it. . . until one of the people who we were teaching looked at my foot and told me that one of them had started crawling on me. I immediately jumped up about five feet in the air and freaked out a little bit! For the rest of the contact, I kept looking down at my feet about every 30 seconds to make sure that the caterpillars weren't encroaching on my area.

Something eventful happened this week -- I got bitten by my first dog! It wasn't actually an impressive story. We were walking down the street and we saw a fence that was left open. We thought that that must have been a sign that we should go in and talk to the people inside. When we went to enter the fence, two big dogs came up and started barking at us. We thought that they would be nice because they did not run at us while we were outside the fence, so we continued forward. Suddenly, out of the blue, a little dog ran out from in between the two others and bit me on my ankle. It didn't draw blood and it didn't really hurt my body, but it did hurt my pride.

My dog bite. (It looks pretty bad. The dog was vicious!)

Later that same day, we were going to enter a different fence when Hermana Gonzalez told me that she could see a big dog and that we shouldn't go in. I couldn't see the dog that she was talking about, so I decided to go in anyways. Hermana Gonzalez stayed by the fence (I guess she could see what was coming) and I walked up by the door of the house. Right as I was about to knock on it, I saw a giant dog. It started to growl at me. I think that I did the worst possible thing to do in that situation and ran back to the gate. I made it in time, but in my haste to get out, I fell down and scraped my knee. I guess that is what I get for not listening to the advice of my companion.

Later this week, we were in a lesson with a family that we met in Littlerock. I guess that we lost track of time, because by the time that we left, it was already pitch black outside. One of the funny things about Littlerock is that there are not any streetlights. I did not realize how far away we parked our car until we had to walk back in absolute darkness. It was just about the scariest moment of my life.

This week, we had a lesson with Chris and Stephanie again. They are super cool and really want to progress. During the lesson, I realized the power of church in helping people achieve personal conversion. We were talking to Chris, who had previously expressed some doubts about our message and we asked him if he would still like to be baptized. He said that he had had a really spiritual experience at church where he realized that we really do have continuing revelation and a prophet on the earth today. It was super cool. I am positive that they will continue to have positive experiences in church.

It was super fun getting to talk to the family this week. I guess that it just reminded me about why I am out here on my mission. I love my family so much and I know that I would be really depressed if I did not get to talk to them or hang out with them when we get to heaven. I am so glad that we know that we can be together as families forever. I love that I get to share that message with everyone!

I love you all and I hope that you all had a good week. Things are going pretty well here. I know that we will be blessed as we follow the counsel of the Lord in all things that we do. Have a great week!

Hermana Blau

Week Seventeen: An Answer to My Fast

Me with the Jehovah's Witness Umbrella.

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

Missionary life is super strange and sometimes, it is super discouraging, but I have noticed during this week that it can also be really rewarding. I love being a missionary and getting to help the people in this area come closer to Jesus Christ and change to be better people.

This week has been pretty good as far as finding people goes. One of the really cool people who we have started to teach actually talked to us last week. I don't know if you remember the lady who asked us to come back and do more service for her, but we were able to go back and help her out. When we went, we started out by cleaning her kitchen and then she took us to her dining room table. She had a bunch of bills from about the past five years that were all in a pile. She asked us to help her to organize them. The only problem is that I couldn't really understand the way that she was telling us to arrange them because all of the instructions were in Spanish. After sitting around feeling a little useless, I decided to start putting the papers in piles according to year. When I finally got my pile all sorted, I looked around and realized that Hermana Gonzales and Mari (the lady who we were helping) had been sorting them according to company. Oh well. She really appreciated the help and asked us to come back the next day to teach her a lesson. It went super well and she asked a lot of good questions. I guess that service really is a good way to find people to teach! Who would have thought?

The other day, we were knocking on some doors in one of the neighborhoods where we normally go. As we were going down the street, we knocked on the door of a family of Jehovah's Witnesses. The mom came out to talk to us. She asked us what we believed and so we started talking about the Restoration of the Gospel. She stopped us right away and started grilling us for about 30 minutes about the Bible and our beliefs in God. It was super intimidating, especially because it was in English and Hermana Gonzalez doesn't really feel very comfortable talking when we teach in English. That meant that I was pretty much going up against the lady alone. I finally just invited her to pray and ask for her answers about our church that way. Hopefully, her heart will be softened.

That same day, about two doors down, we knocked on another door and a man came to the door. When we introduced ourselves, he told us that he was a Jehovah's Witness and that he wanted us to tell him about our beliefs. I thought that it was going to be just like the lady who we talked to before, but he was actually really nice. While we were talking in him, it started to rain. I don't know why, but I feel like any time it rains here, it pours. The guy let us borrow his umbrella, so we are going to go back and bring it back to him later.

This week, we have been working really hard to get our investigators to come to church. It is always really frustrating when Sunday comes around and the people who we thought were really progressing don't come. Because this Sunday was fast Sunday, I decided to fast for all of our investigators and for their church attendance. When the service started, I looked out into the crowd while I was playing the piano and nobody was there. I felt so let down and I thought that maybe my fast didn't work. After the opening hymn, Chris and Stephanie (the two children who have started coming to church with their mother, but who's father doesn't really want them to go to our church) came. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they were accompanied by their mother AND their father. I don't know if that means that he is 100% supportive, but I think that that is definitely a big step towards him letting them be baptized. It was a miracle and I am positive that it was an answer to my fast. I was just so happy and thankful to the Lord for his help in this work!

This week, I have seen the hand of the Lord in the work and the way that he is able to help us in our righteous endeavors. I love being a missionary and being able to bring the Gospel to others. I hope that I can become a better instrument in the hands of the Lord and that I will be able to find those people who are prepared!

I love you all at home and I hope that everything goes well for you this week. I am praying for you and I can feel your prayers for me being answered as well. Thanks for everything!

Hermana Blau

Week Sixteen: Do you have to bang on the door like that?

A drawing that one of the primary girls from my branch made. I think she captured me pretty well.

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch

Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

This week has been really short, but all of the individual days have been super long. I guess that that is one of the strange things about missionary service. The time is always flying past. I realized that next week, I will have been out on my mission for four months. Things are crazy!

I think that one of the reasons that the days have been so long this week is because we have been spending a lot of time walking. Because our area is so big, we go through the miles that we are given each month very quickly. It doesn't help that we have had to go to Lancaster (a city about 25 minutes away) three or four times this month. As a result of that, we have been driving to the areas where we are working and spending as much time as possible in each area when we don't have any set appointments. It is super interesting because we get to meet a lot of interesting people and knock on a lot of doors. The other day, Hermana Gonzalez looked at me and said, "You make me exercise more than any other companion that I have ever had!" The month ends this week, so hopefully we won't go over our mile limit too far. After that, we can go back to driving from house to house.

The other day, we parked our car and started walking around. We had been walking for about two hours when it was time to go home for the night. At that point, we realized that we had no idea how to get back to our car. We knew which street we had parked on, but we had no idea how to get to that street. We started walking, but we just got more and more hopelessly confused. We decided to try and ask someone for directions, but it was getting dark and everyone was inside their houses. We finally found a little boy who was out riding his bike. He told us to make a couple of turns and then we would find the road. When we got to where he said that the road would be, it wasn't there. Then the little boy rode up on his bike and said that he was mistaken and that the actually road where we had parked was really far away. Eventually, we were able to find our car and make it home.

I have recently become a little self-conscious about my door knocking. I guess that I knock a little to loud for the tastes of some people. A couple of the people who answered the doors to us recently have told us that it sounded like the police were coming to arrest them. The other day, a lady came out and said, "Do you have to bang on the door like that?" I guess that people don't appreciate that I want to give them every opportunity possible to accept the message of the restored gospel!

We have met a couple of really cool people this week. We met one lady who was cleaning her garage when we passed by. We asked if she needed any help (because we always ask everyone that). Normally, people say that they are fine, but she said that she would really appreciate it. It was super cool, because we were able to teach her a lesson and talk to her a little more than the people who we normally meet. She had some really good questions and seemed like she was really interested in learning more. We are going back to help her some more on Wednesday, so hopefully, we will be able to have success through service!

This week, we have continued teaching lessons to Jenny and her family. We got up to the lesson about the ten commandments. When we started teaching, I realized that I don't really have any idea what the order of the ten commandments are. When we started introducing them, I had no idea which commandment came next. Luckily, Hermana Gonzalez knows them a little better than I do. The lesson went really well and I think that Jenny really wanted to work on following all of the commandments. 

We have been doing well here. The work continues to move onward. I have really been noticing lately that the Lord puts us in the path of people who are prepared to listen to our message. I am so glad that I am able to be a missionary and to share the message of the gospel with all people in this area of the world.

Thank you for all of your prayers and for the thoughts that you are sending my way. I love to think that I have so much support. I love you all!

Hermana Blau

Week Fifteen: A Week of Stretching

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

This week was strangely long and probably one of the weeks that has stretched me the most so far on my mission, but I feel like I have come out of it a better person and more able to share the gospel with everyone!

This week, I had my first Zone Conference. It was super good. I love listening to President and Sister Wilson. They are both so inspired and I can feel the spirit so strongly when I listen to them. I feel like every time that we speak, I want to be a better missionary. During the Conference, we received a talk about having the faith to reap. It talked about how we need to have more than the faith to try and the faith to start doing something. We need to have the faith that the lord will help us to accomplish all of our righteous goals when it is something that we need in our lives. I really liked the talk and it has helped me to improve.

One of the other things that happened at the Zone Conference was that all of the mission cars received the infamous TiWi units. They are little devices that are attached to the windshield and monitor anything and everything that we do when we are driving. We are not allowed to stop too  fast or make sharp turns or speed. I am generally a super cautious driver, so none of those things really affected me that much, but the thought of the TiWi has made me even more of a granny driver. The day after we had them installed, I found myself going 35 mph in a 55 mph zone because I was so afraid of speeding. Nothing has happened so far, so hopefully I will be able to go back to being my normal terrible driving self soon.

Things are super busy here, but I know that the work that I am doing is super good. It is really strange because nothing that we do is extremely physically taxing, but every night that we get home, I am absolutely exhausted. 

I don't know if Hermana Gonzalez has a blog, but I don't think that she does. Hermana Gonzalez says that she doesn't have a facebook, but she is cool. Funny story. When we introduce ourselves and say where we are from, she always says Mexico and when people ask what part, she says del D. F. (said como el de efe). For about a week, I thought that she was saying that she from de jefe. I thought that it was super weird that Mexicans called their capital the boss, but I didn't question it until a little bit ago. Then I realized that she was saying that she was from the Districto Federal. We have been laughing about that for a couple of days.

This week, we stopped at a Starbucks because Hermana Gonzalez had to use the bathroom. It all went well (we didn't buy any coffee!) and we went to walk out. When we were on the way to our car, this lady stopped us. She asked us, "Are you Mormons? Can you give my one of your Mormon books?" We told her that we could definitely give her one of our books. After we gave her one, she started talking to us about how she used to be homeless and how she just recently got a house off of the streets. It was super nice. I just realized how much the Lord directs his work. We got her information and gave it to the English missionaries. I don't know how much she will progress (I'm pretty sure she has schizophrenia. She kept talking to us about voices that she hears and that she is a prophet.), but I am sure that the missionaries can help her out, at least a little. I am convinced that there are no coincidences!

The Sister Training Leader came over to our area and did exchanges with us this week. I went out with Hermana Cartwright. It was super fun. She is super nice and supportive! While we were out, we were talking to this lady who had already talked to the missionaries before. Her one problem with the Book of Mormon was that it was not a part of the Bible. She kept telling us that she couldn't believe in the Book of Mormon because it was not in the same physical book as the Bible, it was always separate. We kept trying to tell her that you can buy copies of the scriptures with the Book of Mormon and the Bible included, but that we didn't carry them because they are more expensive and heavier, but she would not listen to us at all. We must have tried to explain at least 15 times, but we finally just invited her to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it.

Things are going well here. We have investigators who are progressing and moving forward. I have faith that the work will progress because the Lord wants it to. Nothing can stop the work of the Lord! I love missionary work and I feel like it has been helping me to become a better person each day.

It is kind of hard to believe that spring is just coming in some places in the world. Here, it is starting to get REALLY hot. Every day it is over 80 degrees. People are really nice though, and everyone always gives us bottled water even if they don't really want to listen to what we have to say. The trees had just lost their leaves when I came in February and they grew back about two weeks later. This is a really strange place. This week, I saw someone watering a cactus.

Thank you all for your support and your prayers. I can feel the difference that it makes and I love being able to know that I am receiving support and help from the home front. I pray for you all as well! Have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Fourteen: A New Companion

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

This week has been crazy! I feel like everything has changed in the last couple of days, but I think that I am getting the hang of our new transfer. Everything is different now, but we are still having good experiences and growing a lot.

First of all, I have my new companion. Hermana Gonzalez is originally from Mexico City, but for the last three years on her mission, she lived in California (only about an hour and a half away from our area). With that being said, she speaks perfect Spanish and really good English. That is a good thing for me because she is able to help me with Spanish so much. I feel like I have become a lot better in speaking and understanding in this last week alone. Hopefully, I will be able to speak much better Spanish by the end of this transfer. 

We have been doing well this week going around and getting to know the area better. At the beginning of the week, we talked to a couple of really outspoken Jehovah's Witnesses. The first one only spoke English and he kept wanting us to show us scriptures in the Bible. We kept telling him that we only had scriptures in Spanish, but he wouldn't let up. Eventually, we were able to finish sharing our message and leave. Talking to people like that really makes me reflect on the way that I am teaching people. I don't want to be the kind of person who makes people uncomfortable and is confronting. Hopefully, I am not!

We talked to one really awesome lady this week named Hortencia. We found her while we were going through our area book and decided to try and see her again. She used to be an investigator, but she was always too sick to go to church because she had cancer, so the missionaries dropped her. When we went to see her, she told us that she loved talking to the missionaries and that she really like the messages that we shared. She even had pictures up in her house of the missionaries who had first taught her. We have started to teach her again. The best news is that she only has three more weeks of radiation therapy until she is officially in remission and is hopefully on the upswing. She has a super cool relationship with God and I hope that she will start to come to church. I am super excited to start teaching her again!

Another person who we started teaching this week is named Juan. He actually used to learn from the missionaries before as well, but was always too scared to come to church. Early this week, he called us and asked us to come over and share a message with him. He said that he has felt like he is missing something in his life and that he wants to gain a closer relationship with God. We told him that that was perfect and that we could definitely help with that! He is super cool. Normally, people try to avoid us, they don't ask us to come over and teach them. I have high hopes for him.

Hermana Gonzalez got sick this week. One day, she was feeling really bad, so we had stayed home for a while. We had appointments that night, so I went out with Michelle (one of the young women in our branch) and Hermana Gonzalez stayed with Michelle's mom. It was super intimidating and I felt a little scared to go out and teach a lesson in Spanish without my safety net, but I feel like I was strengthened by the Lord and I was able to receive a lot of help. The lesson went pretty well and we got a return appointment, so I counted the night as a success.

On Saturday, we had dinner at a ward party. The party was for a couple who had gone to the temple that day to get sealed. It was so beautiful and super fun. The family was so happy that they were able to go to the temple and be joined together for all time and eternity. I am so happy that I get to share that message with others during my time on the mission. I hope that I can make many other families happy like that.

This week has been a time of great growth for me spiritually. I feel like I have never been closer to Heavenly Father than right now. I am just so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission and to be a representative of the Lord. I am becoming so much better and I feel like I am able to help other people become better at the same time. What a blessing!

Thank you so much for all of your support and for all of your prayers. I can definitely feel them and I really appreciate it. I love you all! Sorry that this letter was so lame. We didn't really do much this week. Next week will be better!

Hermana Blau

Week Thirteen: Exploration and Adventure

My district. I'm the only one left after transfers!

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White

This week was super crazy! General Conference, transfers, getting lost in the mountains, and bomb rocking lessons. This week has been strange!

Starting with last Monday, after we emailed, our entire district went out into the mountains to go hiking and kite flying. I thought that our entire area was just dirt and Joshua trees, but the ride up to Devil's Punch bowl was so beautiful! The entire time, I was just in awe. I will send some pictures. While we were on the hike, we decided to go off trail and follow a little creek. It was okay until we had to get back up to the trail. Hermana White had decided to wear flats instead of tennis shoes, so it was a little hard for her to go straight up the hills. Eventually, we made it up to the top. It was so windy while we were up there, I was a little afraid that I was going to fall off the cliffs. Everything ended up being okay.

On the road to our mountain adventure.

The mountains are so pretty!

Later Monday night, we were knocking on some doors. At one of the doors, we started talking to this lady who was wearing pajamas and slippers. That night, it was only 45 degrees, so I guess that we were looking a little cold. After about three minutes, the lady stopped us and said, "I don't want to be rude, but it is really cold and dark outside . . . and I am sure that you would much rather be home . . . so . . . I'm just . . . going to close the door now." She looked so nervous and awkward. After that, she just closed the door. We stood there for a couple of seconds before we started laughing and we left.

On Monday night, we were looking at our area and we learned that there are actually three or four little towns in our area that we have never even been to. We thought that there must be people who need the gospel in Llano (about 15 miles outside of Littlerock), so we went thereon Tuesday night. It turns out that in Llano there are only old, retired golfers who already have their religion, so we decided to go to Pearblossom instead. There, we found a lot of really cool people who seemed prepared to hear the message of the gospel.

What had prompted our journey to the farther reaches of our area was the fact that we received a referral for a man who lives in a little town called Juniper Hills. In reality, he doesn't really live in Juniper Hills. He lives about five miles from Juniper Hills in the heart of the mountains. None of the roads that go to his house showed up on the GPS when we tried to go there, so we took directions from Google Maps and decided to try and see him during the week. It turns out that the only roads that lead to his house are something akin to four-wheeler paths that wind and twist through the mountains with cliffs on either side. We got about one mile into the path before we decided that we couldn't do it in the mission vehicle. We still have to contact our referral, so I don't know exactly what is going to happen.

The night that we went on our mountain adventure, we got our transfer calls. I am staying in Littlerock, but I am literally the only person in the entire district who is. Hermana White is going to Bakersfield. It is super sad ...

... especially because we are finally starting to see a lot of our investigators progress. Hopefully, it will turn out okay!

The Salgado Family (Chris, Kate, Jenny, and Mia) 

A member family ... The Lopez Family

General Conference was so good. I feel like I appreciate it so much more as a missionary than I did before the mission. I was so sad when it was over. We got to watch it in English. I feel like every talk was really good. I came to Conference with a lot of questions that I have been pondering for some time, and I feel like every single question that I had was answered in a really specific way. One of the impressions that I was feeling really strongly during the Conference was the need to do service. I feel like I am so much happier on my mission than I was before, and I think that at least one of the reasons for that is that I am constantly serving people. I think that the value of service is one of the biggest things that I have learned during my small time on the mission.

Me with Mia Salgado. She is six (almost seven) and just about the
cutest little girl ever. When we taught her family about the First Vision
she said that she wanted to try seeing God the next time she prayed. 

This week, we have had a lot of really spiritual lessons. The part member family that we have been teaching lately is really progressing. While we were in the lesson, we asked Stephanie if she would like to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She said that she already knew that it was. She told us that she had read and prayed to know, just like we had told her. We were shocked! Nobody does that after the first lesson. They are super prepared and I am so happy that they are progressing.

Everything is going well here. The work continues to press forward. I know that the Lord directs this work because it is so important for the happiness of everyone. I love being a missionary and being able to share the gospel with everyone I meet. 

Until next week,

Hermana Blau

Week Twelve: Missions are such a blessing!

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White

This week has been good and we have been able to teach lots of people who are really prepared. I am super excited for the work to move forward and for the people who we are teaching to continue to progress.

It is starting to turn into summer here. It feels strange because it is only March, but I think that everything will turn out fine. Hopefully I don't die. Apparently it is a lot cooler here in Palmdale than it is in Bakersfield, so hopefully I don't get transferred there. My first transfer in the mission is seven weeks long because they are trying to balance out the change in the MTC training schedule for the native language missionaries. Transfers are next week, so we will see what happens. There are only fourteen Hermanas in the mission, so it is not actually that hard to guess where everyone will end up.

One of the interesting things that has started to happen with the warming weather is that all of the families come out and sit in their lawns together in the evenings. A lot of people will bring out their charcoal grills and cook pollo and carne. A lot of times, we will come by and teach the entire group. They won't really accept the message, but they will give us some of their food. When we walk down the streets, there is constantly loud Mexican music playing. It feels like we are sharing the gospel with a soundtrack!

This week, we started teaching a really cool family. The mother is a less active member who hadn't been to church in like 20 years. One day, she just showed up to church with her two children. She said that she wants the church back in her life and she wants to help her children get baptized. They are super prepared. They have already been to church three times, even though we have only taught them once. I am super excited to teach them!

Both Hermana White and I got sick this week (although Hermana White was much worse than I was). We were out talking to someone on the streets and Hermana White was telling him about the First Vision. About halfway through, she started looking sick and almost passed out. At the same time, I was feeling sick to my stomach and was thinking about leaving to find a place to throw up. Luckily, we made it to the end of the contact. Afterwards, we kept on talking to people and nothing bad happened. We are better now. 

This week, we got to watch the General Women's Conference. That means that conference is almost here! I don't think that I have ever appreciated Conference as much as I am now. I feel so blessed to be able to listen to the words of the living prophets. The Women's Conference was so cool. I feel like I should be serving people so much more. I love that I have the opportunity to serve others literally all day long. Missions are such a blessing!

Easter was this week as well. It was super strange being here on a mission during a holiday. It felt just the same as any other day. I guess that this is how all holidays should feel when we are really focusing on the reason for them. Still, it was strange seeing other people celebrating with their families. Despite that, I am so glad for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and for the fact that I can live through him. I love that I am able to come out and share the message of the Atonement and Resurrection with others.

I love being here on a mission and being able to teach everyone about the truths that I love. I know that the work that I am doing is good. I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life every day.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. 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 Ten: Strange Things Happen in Mission Life

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White

This week has been really interesting and strange. I love the mission life!

I guess to start out, one of the biggest things that has happened during this week is that I am now the designated driver in our companionship. This Thursday, Hermana White and I went to the gas station to fill up our car. All of the gas stations here are always super full, so it was a struggle to find a parking spot. I was outside the car directing Hermana White as she backed out and she started to get super close to the car right behind us. I tried to signal for her to stop, but I guess she could not see me. Long story short, we got into a small accident. Nothing really happened to either car, but mission rules say that you aren't allowed to drive mission vehicles if you have gotten into a preventable accident. So, I am now the driver. I feel so bad because I am a really bad one. I am 100 percent positive that we are more likely to get into an accident with me at the wheel than Hermana White. Oh, well!

The "massive" damage done in our accident

The weather here is going crazy. Some days it is super sunny and really hot. Other days, it rains super hard and is really cold. I thought that I was serving in the desert! I guess that they need all the rain that they can get here. The roads are not really designed for water drainage, so when it rains, the roads turn into giant lakes and rivers. It is a struggle (especially since I am the driver now).

Yesterday, I was really struggling. Everything that I did seemed to be really embarrassing. As an example, we went to a member's house to pick up some food. As we were getting ready to leave, we were giving all of the hermanas hugs. When I was hugging the last hermana, I don't really know what happened, I guess I didn't turn my head or something, but her nose ended up in my mouth. I didn't know what to say, so we just laughed and left the house. I think that I laughed about that for 20 minutes.

A typical road in Littlerock

Also, we were driving down a long dirt road in Littlerock. We were leaving the area when we saw a man walking to his car. He was old and we thought that he would be super cute, so we decided to stop and talk to him. He ended up being super strange. We were talking about the Restoration and he kept interrupting us and telling stories about his life. Then he stopped us and started telling us about an experience that he had. I will paraphrase it as following:

Jesus came to me and took me by the arm. Then he took me down to Hell. When I got there, I saw an angel. He tried to give me some food, by I know that they don't have any food in Hell (not even salsa). That was when I knew that he was a dirty angel. Then I saw all of the people there. They were crying and screaming and they were NAKED! There was a man and he had a long stick and he was hitting them with it. And my cousins were there. I went to Hell that day.

All during that conversation, Hermana White and I had to keep a straight face. Hermana White had tears coming down from her face and I was sitting there saying, "Oh, really!" and "Wow". We were dying, but he would not let us leave. We talked to that man for about 30 minutes and he kept saying things like that. In the end, we invited him to visit church and told him to read the Book of Mormon. He told us that we needed to accept Jesus in our life. Just normal everyday in Littlerock. What a strange town!

Strange things happen in mission life, but I think it is so fun. I love all of the people that we get to meet and all of the things that we get to do. I also love the spirit that I feel all the time. I know that the church is true and that we can all find true happiness through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary. I am so glad that I can share the message of the Gospel with individuals and families everyday!

I love all of you back home. I hope that you are all doing okay and that things are going well for you. Keep up your good work!

Hermana Blau

Week Nine: We Can Do All Things Through Jesus Christ

At the Indian Outpost

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch

Companion: Hermana White

What a week. I can't believe that I have already hit my two month mark. Time really does fly by in a molasses kind of way. Every day seems really long, but I get to the end of the week and can't believe that so much time has passed.

This week, the weather has been really strange. It started out being really hot and miserable. Luckily, the people that we meet when we knock doors will give us water even if they do not want to listen to our message. That keeps us from dying in the streets. Right now, on the other hand, it is constantly drizzling and kind of cold. I have to remind myself to be grateful for the rain in this desert.

This week has been really interesting, as far as what we have been doing. Last P-day, after we were done emailing, we went to an Indian Trading Post on the outskirts of Littlerock. They had all sorts of trinkets and strange things. I eventually settled on a clay ocarina shaped like a face and a machine woven Indian pattern blanket. There are actually a whole lot of strange stores like that in Littlerock, so I don't doubt that I will be able to pick up a lot of strange souvenirs.

The work here is really going and we are finding like crazy. One day, we were able to find 11 people! Hermana White has no fear of going into parties and sharing the message of the Restoration to everybody. The day that we found 11 people, we went up to a gazebo outside of a house and there were five teenagers sitting and playing the guitar. It turned out that they all spoke Spanish and wanted to learn more, so we picked them all up as investigators. It ended up being a good thing, but while we were there, it was a little awkward.

We always end up going to people's houses while they are throwing parties. One night this week, we went to an investigators house for an appointment. He didn't answer the door, but one of his party guests did. While we were teaching about the Restoration, the music was super loud and it sounded like a crazy party was going on. At one point while we were teaching, the biggest, most muscular man I have ever seen in my life came out, pointed at us, and said in a deep and scary voice, "You're Mormons?". I thought that he was going to kill us or kick us out of the door, but he just said, "I'm Catholic, but I respect what you are doing" and then he left.

We had a Zone Training Meeting this week and we learned about asking inspired questions. That day, we decided to start asking more inspired questions during out street contacts and door approaches. As soon as we started doing that, I could feel the spirit so strongly while we talked to everyone. The first lady that we talked to told us about how her husband was really sick and needed a transplant. We were able to tell her about how we can all find comfort through Jesus Christ and she started to cry. The spirit was really strong!

Yesterday, we talked to a couple of Seventh-Day Adventists. It was actually really interesting. I love learning about what other people believe and being able to share with them our beliefs as well. Anyway, one of the people that we talked to was in college and we talked for a while about religion. In the end, we asked her to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and she told us that she would as long as we would read a couple of pages from her Bible study guide.Then she told us to come back in and hour and a half. When we got to the car, we had a crisis of conscience because it says in the missionary rule book that we are not allowed to read books that are not approved, so we had to go back and tell her that we couldn't read her book. She told us that she wouldn't read the Book of Mormon. In the end, we convinced her to keep the copy of the Book of Mormon and she let us keep the copy of the Bible Study Guide. #MissionProblems

I am so happy to hear about everything that is going on at home and about all of the things that you are doing. I love to hear from you and to know what is going on in real life. Spanish is coming along, but I know that we can do all things through Jesus Christ.

Hermana Blau

Hermana White and me with a picture that one of our members painted. He is a crazy painter, and there are tons
of paintings all over his house. So jealous!

Week Eight: Progressing Much Faster Than Normal

Us with the Sister Training Leaders

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch

Companion: Hermana White

Hello everyone. I have been having a great time and learning so much during this week. I always feel like I am learning so much every day and that I progress so much faster than is normal. I know that I have been receiving help from the Lord.

Life is good here in California. Even though everyone says that the Bakersfield area is the armpit of California, there are still plenty of things to love about it. For example, the weather is pretty much perfect every day (for now, at least). When I tell people that it is a little hot outside, they always laugh and tell me that I am going to die in the summer. I believe it. This morning, I took off my watch and found out that I have a watch tan! Right now, I am enjoying the weather that we have and trying to avoid thinking about what the weather is going to be like next month.

This week, I went on my first exchange with the Hermana Training Leaders. There are not very many hermanas in the mission (only about 14). It was super interesting. Hermana Aguilar, who I went with, is a native Spanish speaker, so it was really strange to hear her talk to others and learn more about teaching. We taught one of their recent converts about the plan of salvation, but we didn't end up making it to the end of the lesson because he started talking about all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories. Because it was in Spanish, I wasn't able to follow much, but I think that he said that some planet is going to mess up the magnetic poles of the Earth and that we are all going to burn. It was good to know.

I think the thing that I have noticed the most during this week is that the people that we teach either haven't really read the Bible at all or they have read the Bible and can quote it forwards and backwards. For example, we met a man outside of his house late yesterday. We started teaching him the message of the Restoration and he started to share his experiences with religion and the Bible. Then he brought his Bible out of his car and started to share scriptures with us about the nature of God. He told us that he went out and knocked on doors like us and that he was super impressed with how we (mostly Hermana White) could speak Spanish. So he invited us in to talk with the leader of the church that he went to. We went and talked to them about the church for about an hour. By the end, they were super excited to read the Book of Mormon and wanted to learn more.

A really angry chihuahua that one of our investigators owns.
She followed us around for about 10 minutes after we left.

... but this is her cute puppy. :)
There are three more. I'm beginning to see why some people don't like dogs.
They are all over the place here, and most of them don't like missionaries.

I really love the people that we get to meet out here. I think that when I go home, I am going to have to go around on weekends and knock on the doors of random people just to hear their stories. The other night, we met this couple who work as chefs for celebrities and run a skate shop. When we met them, they were super drunk. The entire time that we were talking to them, the lady kept saying over and over again that she loved our message so much and that she wanted to be baptized. Then she told us that we were beautiful and that Hermana White looked like Kiera Knightly and that I looked like Kate Winslet. The entire time that she was talking, she was swaying back and forth and dropping the things that she was holding. We are going back to see them tomorrow. Hopefully, they will be just as accepting of our message when they are sober.

We met the coolest family ever this week. We had been teaching one of their family members and we went to see him one day. When we went there, his nephew came up to us and told us that he had been baptized and went to a YSA ward in a different part of California and that he wanted us to teach his sisters and so he invited us to dinner. When we came over, he asked us if we liked pizza. When we told him that we did, he said that we weren't going to have pizza -- we were going to have pizza pasta. He just took pizza ingredients and added pasta to it. When we started eating, he said, "to be honest I also added just a little bit of cinnamon." You could really taste the cinnamon, but it was so nice to eat with them. We were able to share a message about prayer and I think that they really were listening.

I love this work and I am so happy to be serving as a missionary right now. I love getting to talk to people and being able to see people learn and grow. I feel like as I do this, I am able to learn and grow as well. That is really the reason that we all are here. I know that this church is the restored church of Jesus Christ and that it can lead to true happiness. 

I love you all at home. Thank you for all of your prayers. They really help!

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: