Week Seventy-Seven: Sooooo hot!

Area: Delano Ward
Companions: Hermana Galvez and Hermana Ruiz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

Week Sixty-Five: Conference is the Best!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana Luquette

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

Week Sixty-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 Sixty-One: Fourteen Months Down!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was busy. We have been teaching a lot of people recently and we have been having back to back lessons most days. It is really fun to have so many people that we are working with and to be able to see everyone progress in their own little ways. Things have been going well and we have been seeing miracles everyday.

One of the people that we are teaching is named Luis. He is a young man and he works in the fields. He told us that his New Year's resolution this year was to hold down a job and that he felt like we have been helping him with that, so we are always excited to ask him how work is going. The other night, we had just gotten out of dinner when Luis sent us a text asking us to pray for him to get a new job. We assumed that he had lost his old job, so we told him that we would go over to his house and pray for him. When we got to his house, he opened the door and we said, "We are sorry to hear about what happened." Then he looked really confused and asked us what we were talking about. After some initial confusion, we discovered that he hadn't lost his old job, he was just looking for a better job working with the honey bees. We were able to say a prayer with him and he told us in our lesson yesterday that he got the job! Prayer works.

We also have started to teach another man named Ricardo. He likes to sit around his house and whittle old table legs into baseball bats. He also has about a million chickens. The other day, he let us hold a couple of his newly hatched chicks. So cute! We have been teaching him for about a week and a half and he has a real desire to learn about Jesus Christ and to change his life. The other night, we went over for our lesson and a lot of his friends were also sitting outside of his house. We started talking to the group, but a couple of the people were wanting to Bible Bash. We were trying to bear our testimonies and Ricardo started bearing his testimony as well and quoting from the parts of the Book of Mormon that he had read to answer his friends' questions. It was neat  to see!

Also, we started teaching a woman named Maria this week. The other week, I wrote about receiving a phone call from someone that wanted us to come over and about how we couldn't find their house. We thought that it was just a fluke and that the house didn't exist. Later, I was looking down at what I had written in my agenda and I found the address for Maria. It turned out that we had been looking for the wrong house all along. When we went over to her real address, we found Maria at home. She had a stroke a couple of years ago and as a result, she hasn't been able to walk for a long time. We went over and were able to share some scriptures with her that helped her to find a little bit of comfort.

Things have also been going well in teaching Refugio. He gave us dinner the other day. He doesn't have a lot of cooking skills, so he took us out to eat at the local Mexican Restaurant. It was super nice. He told us during the dinner that about his wife and children who are still down in Mexico. I guess he came here to the United States to make money and that after a couple of years, they will be able to come up here and join him. Then he told us about how we helped him to find peace and that we helped him to feel better about being away from his family. It was sweet!

We had Mission Leadership Conference, Zone Training Meeting, and Stake Conference this week. That all added up to be a lot of time in meetings, but it was nice to be able to learn from the spirit and to receive direction about the things that we need to be doing in our area of the mission and in life in general. I love this gospel and all of the things that it gives me. I know that I have so much happiness now because of the things that I have learned and the ways that I have come closer to Christ! I love being a missionary!

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

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Seven: Julio Got Baptized!!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

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

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

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

At Julio's makeshift table eating rice and mole.

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

At the Mission Leadership Council.

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

with Hermana Wright

with Hermana Perdoma

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

Hermana Blau

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

Week Fifty-Six: #juliohunt2017

A fishtail braid Hermana Luquette did for me. My hair is getting long!

 Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was busy and I felt like everything has been changing. I feel like missionary work has been revolutionized, and I am right on the ground floor. We have also seen GIANT miracles throughout the entire week. The rain has finally ended this week. That means that the flooding is down and everyone is getting back to work and things are getting back to normal.

We got a ton of new hermanas in the mission this past week. It has been really fun to get to know all of them. All of the other hermanas in the mission are either training or in training, so it has been interesting to get to watch over all of them. It is really exciting that there is so much new blood in the mission. It brings a fire to the work that allows the spirit to work strongly in the work!

Hermana Luquette and me with Hermana Weaver who just came in the mission and is the trainee of Hermana Zambrano. That makes me a mission grandma!

One of the strangest changes of the week has been to the missionary schedule. We no longer plan at night and we are allowed to do our studies at the time of the day that works best for us. It is really liberating and we have been able to sleep more than I have in the past year. I feel a lot more peaceful in my missionary work now, and we have been doing everything with a lot more energy now!

One of the biggest things that happened this week involved Julio. We knew that he was going to be moving to Lamont, and he told us a little bit about where he was going, but he didn't know his address before he left. We had phone contact with him several times before he left on Tuesday and when we called that day, he told us that he was in the process of leaving and that he would call us after he got to Lamont. After that, we weren't able to contact him. We tried calling several times and he never picked up. We suspect that he lost his phone while he was moving. We were starting to get a little worried, so we went over to his old house. He used to live in a little shed beside a bigger house, so we knocked on the door of the big house and inquired about Julio. The old lady who lived there told us that he is currently in Mexico. We refused to believe that, so we went back to the house later and talked to the son of the owner of the house and he told us that Julio was in Lamont but that he had no idea where he was. After consulting with the Zone Leaders, we decided to team up with the elders in Lamont and go on a Julio hunt #juliohunt2017. After district meeting, we had one hour to go to Lamont and look for Julio. We only knew that he was behind a restaurant called La Mina. When we got there, we discovered that there were approximately 10,000 people there and we were in for a long search. We said a prayer and asked for the direction of the spirit and set out. I felt like Nephi when he went into Jerusalem being led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand what he would do. We started asking people in their houses if they had seen a strange old man named Julio, and nobody was able to point us in his direction. Anytime we saw an old person on the street we chased them down and discovered to our disappointment that it was not him. The hour that we had for our Julio hunt was going by really quickly, and we only had a few minutes left. In a last ditch effort, we decided to go to the restaurant and ask them if they had seen him there. The people behind the counter said that they didn't know any Julios, so we were out of luck. Hermana Luquette had to go to the restroom, so we took a little break right before we started heading back to Arvin. While she was in the restroom, my heart was full of prayer that we would see a miracle and that we would be able to find Julio. Hermana Luquette was also praying in the restroom. When she was done, we walked out of the back corner of the restaurant and JULIO WAS STANDING RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE!!! I am sure that everyone in the place must have thought that we were crazy because we started freaking out and asking him all sort of questions. He showed us to where he was living and gave us some sodas (just like old times!). It was such a miracle to me. He was living a long way away from where we were looking and it was in bit of a hidden place. I really don't know how we ever would have found him in all of the town if it weren't for the hand of the Lord right at that moment. Because he wasn't able to have any preparation this week, we decided to postpone the baptism for another week or so, but I am just so happy to know that Heavenly Father is looking out for all of his children and that he wants for everyone to have the gospel.

The two of me with the dog are with a little dog named Fifi who belongs to one of the recent converts in our area, Hermana Sigala. 

Hermana Luquette and I with Hermana Sigala.

This week has been such a witness to me that Heavenly Father loves us so much and that he is personally involved in our lives. I know that he is looking out for us and that he really does answer our prayers. I have such a testimony of the truthfulness of the work. I am so happy to be a missionary! I hope that you all have a good week and that everything goes well for you!

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Five: Goodbye Julio!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was packed full of fun events, miracles, and rainy days. I think that it has rained more this last month than it has rained at any other time on my mission so far. We have been making it through, though. I found some boots that I forgot that I packed when I left home, so I am living the high life out here!

The week started out with a bang. We went over to Julio's house this week for our lesson. He is planning on getting baptized this coming Saturday, so we were planning on teaching a normal-type lesson to him. We started out the lesson and he was telling us of a dream about angels, just like he always does. Then, out of the blue, he told us that he was going to move to Lamont at the end of the week. Lamont is about 10 minutes outside of Arvin and is the area of our district leader. He will still be going to the Arvin group, but our hearts sank when he told us. I was doing a pretty good time holding myself together until Julio said the opening prayer for the lesson. In his prayer, he thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to teach him and for helping him to change his life. After that, Hermana Luquette and I were a total mess for the entire lesson. Julio tried to comfort us by giving us sodas and telling us that we could come and visit him when he moves back to Mexico. It was so sad. We had his baptismal interview the next day and he passed, but we were sad because we thought it would be the last time we would be able to teach him. Then, the next day, we got permission to keep teaching him down in Lamont for the last week before his baptism. It made me so happy that we will be able to help him during his last week of preparation for his baptism. Even though his is a really strange old man, I love him so much!

We had a combined Zone Conference this week with all of the missionaries on this side of the mission. It is always fun to get together with all the other missionaries from my old areas. We talked about the blessings that come to our families that come from us serving missions. I hope that really is true. I know that I am constantly praying for you all at home and I hope that my mission is helping you all as well!

Our district right now is really small. There are only three companionships: us, the elders in Lamont, and the set of hermanas that is serving in La Cresta. This week, the La Cresta hermanas were sick on the day of district meeting, so it was just us and the elders. It was strange to have such a small district meeting, but it was a pretty spiritual meeting. Afterwards, we went out and bought some ice cream to take to the sick hermanas. One of them was Hermana Zambrano. We were able to talk to her for a while. I was really happy to see all of the progress and growth that she has been making.

Well, that is just about it for the week. It has been fun to be able to work with all of missionaries. Transfers are coming this week and there are a lot of new Spanish speaking sisters coming in. Literally every companionship except for Hermana Luquette and I will be training. It is going to be a crazy transfer, but I am sure that it will help the mission to grow stronger. I am super excited for the next transfer to come and I hope that all goes well. I am so glad for the chance that I have to serve a mission right now and I know that it is shaping me every day. I know that the church is true and that the path of Christ leads to happiness! I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Four: Keeping Busy

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was full of fun, excitement, and cold rain. We had a lot of appointments and we spent a lot of time rushing from place to place, but it was a very fulfilling week.

We started out the week with an appointment right after p day finished out. Hermana Luquette and Hermana Perry found a man to teach on exchanges. He is pretty cool and we have had a couple of lessons with him this week. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and has a pretty spiritual background. Also, he sells Amway for a living. He is pretty excited about it. Every time that we have come over, he talks it up to us. We invited one of our members to come with us to a lesson with him. After we were done teaching, he asked us if we had five minutes. We did, so he went back into his house. To our surprise, he came out with a whiteboard and his Amway supplies and spent the next fifteen minutes trying to get us to buy in. The miracle of the night is that we made it out with our wallets intact!

One day this week, we were going to contact a referral when we passed by the parking lot of the local store. A old lady was standing outside picking up bags from her cart to carry them all the way to her house. We asked her if she needed help and she let us carry all of her groceries back to her house a couple of streets away. When we got there, she invited us in, showed us her family photos, and told us about all of her grandchildren. We were able to talk to her about the Plan of Salvation and tell her about how she could be with her late husband again. It was pretty sweet. As we left, she gave us some of the cutest cookies I have ever seen in my life. It was nice to be able to help out just a little bit.

On Tuesday this week, we had straight appointments from eleven o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night. We didn't have a time for lunch, so we set it for a backup plan to one of our less solid lessons. When we got there, it turned out that the lady we were supposed to teach was there. She was super sweet and was very happy to listen to us. It was nice because we were able to teach her, but it was a little sad because we were hungry until dinner.

That same day, we had a lesson with Julio. We decided to go over the Restoration with him. He actually remembered almost everything. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he knew that the church of Jesus Christ had been restored and he told us that he had finally gotten an answer to his prayers and that he knew that it had. It made me super happy. It has been really fun to be able to see the progression in him from the beginning until now.

On Saturday night, we had an appointment planned for 8 o'clock (a happy occurrence because it was chilly, dark, and lightly drizzling). Right before the hour, the appointment fell through and we found ourselves without anything planned and with no one to try and see. We both felt that we should go and talk to a man that we had met a couple of weeks ago, but we weren't positive that he would be there or that he would let us into his house. When we got to the apartment complex where he lives, we said a prayer before we got out of the car that we would be able to find someone that would let us into their apartment and out of the rain and that we would be able to have another lesson with them the next night. Literally, the first people who we talked to after we got out of the car was a cute little family who let us teach them in their house. After our lesson, we asked for a return appointment and they said that we could come back the next night. We went back and taught a really good lesson with them. It was such a tender mercy from the Lord.

That is just about it for this week. We are keeping busy down here in Arvin and we are seeing miracles every day! I love serving the Lord and being able to serve the people of this part of the world. I love having the chance to share my testimony of the gospel every day! I hope that you all have a good week.

Hermana Blau

Week Fifty-Three: One Year Down!

My zone after our training meeting.

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week has been pretty good. It has been raining almost every day, so we have been doing our best to stay dry. We were able to find a lot of cool people to speak to. Lots of cool things are happening up here in Arvin.

We went over to have dinner with one of our members this week and she told us to keep some time free for afterwards. We were a little confused about what was going on, but we did. When we got there, it turned out that the member had brought her neighbor friend over to eat with us. She recently moved here to the United States from Honduras and feels a little lonely because she doesn't have any family here with her. We were able to talk to her and to share the message of the Restoration after dinner. It was a really good show of member missionary work and we are super excited to keep teaching her!

It has been raining SO MUCH this week. I swear that it didn't rain a single drop during the entire summer that I spent in Bakersfield, but suddenly the rains came down and the floods came up. Arvin is built on a flood plain, so anytime it rains, all of the roads start to flood and the city comes in to shut them down. Normally, it is just the roads that lead from Arvin to Bakersfield, but on Thursday night the rain started to rain super hard and the roads in the middle of the town started to close. We had dinner with a member family that lived about five minutes away from our apartments. We left on time, but we discovered to our surprise that one of the roads that led to their house was closed. I have been building up my knowledge of the streets of Arvin, so I decided to take another route. I thought that I had tricked all of the flooding, but right before we arrived at her house, the road was closed and I was forced to take another detour. At that point, I was all turned around, so the town of Arvin was turned into a big maze. In the end, we were about thirty minutes late to dinner because we were so turned about.

We had exchanges with Hermana Perry and Hermana Wright this week. I went with Hermana Wright. They were super fun. She is still in training, but she is super excited to do missionary work, so it was nice to spend some time with her. We were able to teach and talk to a lot of people. 

During the night of exchanges, we had planned to go see one of our investigators. We we got to her street, I remembered that we wouldn't be able to meet with her because she worked the night shift and that she sleeps during the day. We were already there, so we decided to get out and see. A couple of weeks ago, we got a referral for a man and his family whose wife recently passed away. We had tried and tried to see him, but we were never able to find him at home. When we got out of the car, we saw them getting into their car. We were able to stop them and talk to them, which was pretty cool. Afterwards, we went to go see our investigator who we planned in. It turns out that she just recently was changed to the day shift, so we were able to talk to her and to answer some concerns about the Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool and I felt that it was the spirit that led us there.

That is pretty much it for the week. On Friday, my year mark came and went without much notice. It is strange to think about how much I have changed, but I am super glad that I have had the chance to be out here and to share the gospel with the people of California. My testimony of the gospel has grown so much and I love sharing it with the people. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that it is the way to find true happiness in this life. I hope that you all have a good week!

Hermana Blau

The pictures below are of the Hispanic straw bottle carrier that is meant to be used to carry drinks around. It was a late Christmas joke gift from Dad and Spencer, who found it at a local thrift store. I'm pretty sure I won't me using it all that often, but here it is ... 

Week Fifty-Two: Happy New Year!

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

 Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

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

Week Fifty-One: Baptisms and Temple

Lucas's Baptism

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was a doozy. Christmas was the best and we really did see a TON of miracles during the course of the week. The spirit of the Christmas really does exist!

We started out this week without a P day because we went to the temple on Tuesday. We spent that time trying to contact some referrals that we had been trying to see for a while. One of the referrals was for a couple of old ladies that a random man on the street told us to go and talk to. When we got to the door, we started talking to the lady and she wasn't super interested because she and her sister were about to have dinner. She was about to tell us to come back another time when her sister came up to the door and invited us in to eat. We weren't about to turn down a free meal, so we agreed. They actually ended up giving us some pretty yummy lentils and egg tacos and we were able to share about the Restoration afterwards. They invited us back last night. We went after our Christmas dinner with a member, but we discovered that they had prepared us an entire dinner for our visit. We tried to tell them that we just ate, but they told us to just eat one taco. That led to us each eating three tacos and some tamales. It was fun!

On Tuesday, we went down to the temple in Los Angeles. It was super fun going down there and seeing all of the hermanas from around the mission. I love the temple so much and it was a super spiritual experience. I am so grateful for all of the blessings in my life that come from the temples that we have!

At the Los Angeles Temple

It was a little swished in the back seat on our way to the temple.

Right after the temple trip, we went on exchanges with Hermana Zambrano and Hermana Badger. I was with Hermana Zambrano again! I always love going with her and getting to talk and work with her again. It is super fun seeing all of the ways that she has grown over the time that we haven't been together. She is super sweet. While we were out, we decided to go see one of our recent converts. When we went over to her house, she had some company over but she let us in. She invited her friend to listen to us, so we started sharing about the Restoration with her friend. It turns out that she already knew about all about it because our recent convert had already told her everything. She was already planning to come to church. It was super cool to see the member missionary work!

Friday was probably the biggest day of the week. In the beginning, we had a morningside with the Laytons. When we got there, we all had a big breakfast. Afterwards, we sat down and watched It's A Wonderful Life as a mission. It was so good. It was really strange watching a worldly movie for a little bit, but it is one of my favorite movies of all time, so it was a wonderful Christmas treat. Afterwards, we did a gift exchange. During the whole time, I felt so happy. It was nice to know that Christmas is a happy time, no matter where you are!

The hermanas at the morningside.

On Friday night, we had the baptisms of our investigators Jesse and Lucas. It was super cool. I was so happy that I was able to be a part of teaching them and helping them to progress to the point where they could enter into that covenant. We have been working with Jesse for a while to help him to overcome his doubts and his fears, so it was super special to see him get baptized. His mother is a member of the church, so he has heard about the gospel for a long time, but he was finally able to see all the ways that it could bless his family, so he decided to take the step of baptism. Lucas was super prepared right from the beginning and he has been super excited about baptism for a long time. Being able to teach him really let me see the way that the Lord has been preparing people. There were a ton of events that were leading him to the gospel before we ever talked to him. I felt really blessed to be able to teach them and to watch their baptisms and confirmations!

Jesse's baptism with Hermano Rodier, who performed the baptism.

Saturday was a super interesting day. We were walking around outside during the day because we didn't have a ton of appointments. It was cold and people were not acting super interested, so we were feeling a little discouraged. Our one hope was that we could convince someone to watch Joy to the World with us. It is about 45 minutes long, so we thought that we could combine a good teaching experience with an opportunity to get out of the cold. Before we left the car, we prayed that someone would let us watch the movie, but everyone we talked to was semi-rude to us. While we were talking to a group of men fixing their car, it started to hail. We thought that it was just the cherry on the ice cream to our day. Right after that, we saw a lady unloading groceries from her car. We offered to help her and she let us. After we brought in a couple of things, she asked us to share a scripture. We did and then offered to share the movie with her and her family. To our surprise, she said that we could. We were able to talk to the family until our next appointment and they were super nice. It was a Christmas miracle.

Exchanges with Hermana Zambrano

Christmas day was super nice. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice that he made for us. I am so happy that we can have happiness in this world through Christ and I am so grateful for this gospel in my life. I love you all and I hope that you have a happy last week of the year!

Hermana Blau

Christmas skyping with the family!

Week Fifty: Christmas Tamales

Me supporting Dad's Mizzou graduation

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was crazy and a lot happened. It is still getting a little colder every day, but I am sure it is nowhere close to what you are experiencing in other parts of the world. Things are really going well down here and we have been seeing lots of miracles!

Goodbye Hermana White

I guess that the biggest difference of this week is that Hermana White left for home and that I am now companions with Hermana Luquette. It was super strange saying goodbye to Hermana White. She and I had some really good times together and it is really strange to think that she isn't in the mission anymore, but I am sure that she is going to be doing good things. The night that she left, I spent a couple of hours working with some English sisters whose companions also were leaving. It was super strange being in English work for just a little bit, but it was fun! The next day, got together with Hermana Luquette. She is the nicest person that I have ever met and she really loves being a missionary. She was recently baptized, so she brings a really special spirit to the work and she has a really sweet testimony of the gospel. I really love working with her!

Hello Hermana Luquette!

This week, I realized just how close we are to Christmas. I don't think that I really noticed that the holidays were upon us until planning day. Christmas is next week! I am so excited. We have been trying to focus our contacts on the Christmas spirit. We have started opening all of our door contacts with caroling. The first time that we did that, the door we knocked on opened and the lady inside started telling us that she wasn't interested and that we should go away. When we started singing, she listened to us and was super nice to us. We were able to share a little bit with her. I think that the spirit really speaks to people through song.

We have been able to teach a lot of really interesting people this week. One of the coolest new people that we found belonged to a less active/part member family. We recently found the husband who is a member and we thought that the wife was also a member. We went over one day and found that she wasn't. We started talking to her and she was super receptive. She told us that she felt the spirit when we were talking and that she wanted to find a new church that would make her feel the peace of God. We were able to teach her about the Restoration and she was super excited. She told us that she would be reading the Book of Mormon right after we left her house.

We have been teaching a lot of lessons this week. One of our investigators, Julio, is just a little strange. He has been coming to church and progressing pretty well, but is an odd old man. We were in a lesson with him the other day and we asked him to say the prayer. He stood up and moved over to the wall of his house. Then he scratched his back against the wall for a straight minute while he was keeping straight eye contact with us. After that, he said a really beautiful prayer. In another lesson that we had with him, he gave us hot chocolate and told us to put baby formula in it. I don't know if he knew what it was, so that is the story of how I drank baby formula for the first time in 19 years. He is a card.

This week, we had our ward Christmas party. It was super fun. We ate a ton of tamales and drank atole. It is really interesting being able to see the holidays from the perspective of a different culture. I am so exited for Christmas!!

On Sunday, we were going around doing visits to get our investigators to come to church. While we were walking down the street, we started talking to a man. I guess we talked to him a couple of weeks ago, but he told us that he would be coming to church. We didn't really believe him, but we invited him anyway. When we got to church, he was sitting there and talking to all of the members. He said that he really liked it and that he wants to come back next week. The people here in Arvin are super cool!

That is just about it for this week. I am super excited for Christmas (I don't know if you all could tell) and I am sure that the Holidays will be a great time for everyone. I hope that you all have a very merry Christmas and that you remember the reason for the season!

Hermana Blau

Week Forty:Nine: A Little Winter Wonderland

Hermana White and I with our investigator, Julio

Area: Arvin Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

The packing tornado of Hermana White

Week Forty-Eight: Following Christ

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana White

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

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

The Navarro Family. They are super cute!

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

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

Our district. It's a little hermana heavy!

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

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

Hermana Blau

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

Week Forty-Six: Spontaneous Service Opportunities

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

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

Hermana Luquette's reaction to our cookies.