Week Forty-Five: Elder Bednar Speaks with Fire!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana White

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

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

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

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

On the way to see Elder Bednar

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

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

Hermana Blau

Week Thirty-Seven: Cool Enough to Walk

Area: Buena Vista Ward
Companion: Hermana Zambrano

This week was pretty good. We were able to meet with some pretty interesting people and have some pretty spiritual experiences. The summer is winding down, so things are starting to get pretty interesting around here.

This week, it was a little bit cooler than it has been recently. One day, I was actually able to wear my sweater for the entire day. I don't think that it ever got to be below 75 degrees, but I am still taking everything that I can. One of the benefits of the weather is that we are able to walk around a lot more than we used to. One afternoon this week, we decided to pretend that we didn't have a car, so we walked for hours. We were able to meet some people who were selling fruit and elotes and some hobos sitting in the parking lot. We were also able to meet a really cool old man named Belindo. It was an adventure!

We ate dinner with one of our members named William. We finished up eating and we were about to share a message with him and his Grandmother when we heard a knock on the door. It turned out that it was a traveling salesman. William invited him in to eat a home cooked meal and we were able to share our message with him while he was eating. It turns out that all of his coworkers are Mormon because the company recruits returned missionaries in Utah. It just goes to show that you can make dinners be effective as well.

We have been having a lot of encounters with Punjabi people recently. It is always a little strange when I try to talk to someone and they don't speak English or Spanish. I guess that this area is here just to show me how the English missionaries feel when they try to have a conversation with people in Spanish. It is always super funny when we get referrals of Spanish speaking people from the English missionaries. They will tell us that they are pretty sure that the people are super nice and that they really want to learn from missionaries. When we talk to them, they will tell us that they were really telling us that they wanted the missionaries to go away and that they already have a religion.

Last night, we had a really cool experience. We didn't really have any set plans, so we decided that we wanted to go see one of our former investigators. When we showed up at his house, his son was being picked up by his grandparents. It was a pretty heated situation. After the grandparents had left, we went up to talk to the man, Oscar. He was telling us about how he was just trying to help his son out in this life and that he really wanted to do what was best for him. We were telling him about how we could help him with that. In the end, we asked him if we could say a prayer with him. After we were done, he did a big sigh and told us that he felt a lot of relief. He has a crazy work schedule, but hopefully we can go back and talk to him again.

Last news for the week. I am staying in Buena Vista with Hermana Zambrano this next transfer. She broke my curse of having a different companion every transfer. We are changing apartments, though, so after I am done emailing, we will be going back home and moving our stuff across town to live closer to the area that we work in.

That is pretty much it for this week. Nothing too crazy has happened, but things are just chugging along. Life as a missionary is great and I love the work. I know that the gospel is true and that it really can help families eternally! I hope that y'all have a good day!

Hermana Blau

Week Twenty-Five: Hello, Bakersfield!!

Area: La Cresta Spanish Ward
Companion: Hermana Perry

This week was my first week in Bakersfield and everything is going great! It is super hot, but the people here are super cool and I love being companions with Hermana Perry. She is the greatest. We came out at the exact same time, so we already knew each other a little bit from the first day things. We are the youngest Spanish speaking Hermanas in the mission, so we have been having a great time and working a lot.

This week has been a scorcher! As soon as I got down here, the air conditioning in our apartment broke. It was so bad. The first night, I woke up completely drenched because it was so hot during the night. Weekly planning was almost unbearable because we were inside the apartment for a couple of hours. Luckily, we were able to contact the apartment management and they came by to fix it. I never appreciated the magic of modern technology until I felt that sweet air conditioning again.

This is a great area and we have been working really hard. We are in the La Cresta Spanish ward in East Bakersfield. There are a ton of Spanish speakers here. It is really nice and I have had lots of opportunities to work on the language. It is a little funny because Hermana Perry and I have about the same amount of experience in speaking Spanish, so living with the language barrier has been really fun. One day this week, we were calling one of our investigators to confirm our appointment with her. Towards the end, she said something that neither of us could understand. I thought that she had said, "I love you" which seemed a little weird, but I told Hermana Perry. She responded to Rocio (our investigator) "I love you, too!" She sounded really surprised. That was when we realized that she hadn't actually said I love you. Awkward! Despite that, we have been able to do pretty well with the language together.

We have been working really hard to follow the promptings of the spirit this week. When we get to any area, we pray to see what we should be doing and who we should talk to. We have had a lot of adventures and some really cool experiences.

One day, we were going to go and see one of our potential investigators. When we pulled over to the side of the road to pray, a lady walked out of her house and started looking at us really strangely. We finished praying and she started to walk towards our car, so I rolled down the window. She introduced herself and started talking to us. After a second, she told us that she was going to get into our back seat so that she could talk to us better. Then, before we could say anything, she opened the back door of the car and hopped right in. We were sitting there in shock, but she just kept asking us questions. It was really strange! She told us that she was schizophrenic and bipolar, which explained a little bit about why she would do that. While we were talking, her mom came out, saw that she was in our car, gave us a strange look, and walked back into the house. I wanted to talk to the mom, so I asked the lady in our car if she would go into her house to get us some water. When she got out, I turned to Hermana Perry and told her to grab her stuff, then we just followed the lady into her house. We didn't end up talking to her mom, but we were able to talk to her sister-in-law and we did a little bit of service and helped them to pack up for their move later this week. It was a little strange of an experience, but I think that we were able to meet some people who were prepared.

Another experience where we had an adventure because we followed the spirit. We were walking down a street where we have been a lot this week. One of the houses on the street had a couple of really big and scary looking dogs that were kept on chains. They had looked so scary that we decided that we probably shouldn't try talking to the people in the house. As we were about to get in our car to leave the street, we decided to knock one more house. They weren't home, but from the porch, we could see that one of the scary dogs had gotten loose and that all of the family from that house were outside in the streets. We both felt prompted to go and talk to them. Right before we got up to the house, the dog that had gotten loose started running up towards me. I saw my life flash before my eyes. It sort of jumped on me, and then it ran away. Nothing happened (but I did have some dog slobber on my watch). The dog's owner came out swearing up a storm and apologized so much. We gave her our card and were able to talk to her about our message. Her mother came out and started talking to us to. It turns out that she is actually an extremely less active member. We were able to talk to her a bit and she said that she wants to start coming back to church. We probably wouldn't have been able to find her if we weren't listening to the spirit (even though the prompting didn't make much sense!).

I am super excited for this transfer. It is going to be seven weeks long, but I am sure that we are going to be able to do a lot of good work during this time. I have already seen a lot of miracles during my first week here. I am positive that they are going to just keep on going!

I love being a missionary and seeing the difference that I am able to make in people's lives. I am sure that I am where the Lord wants me to be and I am trying more and more each day to be doing what he wants me to be doing. I love you all and I hope that you have a good week back at home. Keep cool and have fun!

Hermana Blau

Week Twenty: A New Area

Area: Esperanza Ward
Companion: Hermana Van der Toolen

This week has been really busy and I feel like we have been working super hard. It has been a little strange adjusting to a new area and trying to get to know all of the people here. I kind of feel like I am back in the first week of my mission. . . Except this time, I know just a little bit more about everything that is going on, so I am not completely lost. Overall, I really enjoyed this week.

First of all, my new area is super cool. The Esperanza Ward is super big and it has a lot of really cool members. It is really interesting because while I was in the Littlerock area, I used to live in the Esperanza area boundaries. We have actually gone out working down by our old apartments. It is really strange now, though, because everything is different now. In my new area, I work a lot more in neighborhoods in the actual city. It is a good thing, because there are now a lot fewer dogs that wander the streets and the houses are a lot closer together, so we are able to talk to more people. The bad news is that it is a lot harder to find Spanish speaking people in this area. We really have to search for people to teach, but we have still been able to find some.

When I first came to the area, we had almost literally no one to teach. This week, we have been spending a lot of time finding people. We have been able to have a lot of cool experiences and meet a lot of interesting people. One thing that we have been trying to do is pray specifically for inspiration in places to look and people to talk to. It has actually been really cool. One day, we set aside an hour where we had prayed and felt impressed to go to one particular street. However, when we got there, we weren't having a lot of success finding anyone. Right before we needed to leave, we found a person who was really interested and wanted to learn more. I was really able to see that the Lord will bless us as we follow inspiration.

I think that I told you about how much of a problem miles were in Littlerock. They are even more of a problem in my new area. We had so few miles at the beginning of the week that we had to drive our car to around where we were going to work, park the car, and walk literally everywhere that we needed to go. It was intense! On Tuesday, we walked for literally 7 hours straight. By the end of the day, we were both super tired. It was nice though, because we were able to talk to a lot of people. I actually really like walking because we are able to speak to everyone!

This week, I realized how much my Spanish is improving. I have really started to be able to talk to people about normal things instead of just about the Gospel. My dream is to be able to tell people that I am from Guadalajara and that they will actually believe me. I don't know if that is going to happen while I am on the mission, but I am sure that I can get my Spanish to be really good if I just keep working on it every day and praying for help in the language!

Yesterday, we had a really cool experience. On my first day in the area, we texted the only investigator that was there before we came. Apparently, she was super golden, but when we texted, she started to argue with us through text. She told us that she only believed in the Bible and that she wanted us to accept Jesus in our lives. We told her to have a good day and we were planning on never going back to see her again. Last night, we had a lot of appointments set up with our new investigators, but every single one fell through. At the end of the day, we found ourselves with nothing to do. When we were thinking about all of the people that we could go and see, I felt the impression that we should go and see Adriana (the investigator who we had dropped earlier in the week). I had been feeling a little off about the whole experience the entire week, but I didn't know why. We decided to go, and when we got there, she was super excited to see us and learn more. She asked us why we didn't contact her and hadn't tried to teach her earlier. That was when we figured out that we had texted the wrong number trying to get a hold of her. Adriana is actually super cool. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and she said that she had already been keeping it, but now she knew why. It was super exciting. I really felt the love that the Lord has for all of his children and how he will make sure that the people who are prepared receive the gospel. I also learned that we always need to follow the inspirations that the Lord gives us.

Well, that's about it for this week. It was a super long one, but it was also a good one. I know that I am where I am supposed to be and that I am doing the things that I am supposed to. I love this restored gospel and the opportunity that I have as a missionary to share it with people!

Have a good week at home. I pray for you all everyday!

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 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 Eleven: I love meeting people!

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

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch

Companion: Hermana White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

Week Six/Seven: First Week in the Mission Field

With President and Sister Wilson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hermana Blau

Some pictures from the last week at the MTC:

Week Four: Team Neelau for the Gold!

My MTC District

Area: Mexico MTC
Companion: Hermana Neeleman
Sister Neeleman's Blog Post: Hola!

I feel like no time has passed at all since I have last written home. I guess that is what happens when you only have five days between your P days. Honestly, time here is really strange anyway you look at it. The days always go by so slowly, but the weeks take no time at all. I hardly feel like I have almost been in the CCM for a month. It is really strange because all of the newer missionaries will ask us for advice when I feel like I can't possibly know any more than they do.

Nothing super eventful has happened this week. Mostly I have just been spending a LOT of time studying Spanish and the scriptures. One of the elders in my district probably described it best when he said that reading the Book of Mormon has become as exciting and relaxing to him as watching TV was at home. During this week, I finished Our Search for Happiness and I am already about 300 pages into Jesus the Christ. So fun!

On Friday, our district decided to have an English fast. Because my Spanish skills are what they are, it ended up being more of a speaking fast for me. In the middle of the day, I was starting to feel a little discouraged. Right before personal study, I decided to say a prayer. During the prayer, I asked what I could do to feel better in my progress and to obtain the Gift of Tongues. After I was done praying, I stayed where I was and pondered for a second. Then I felt really clearly the impression that I should go out and help others. That night, I was able to talk to one of the Hermanas in the zone that has really been struggling and share that experience with her. I think that it really helped her to talk about it and I felt better afterwards as well. I am so grateful that prayers are answered for each of us specifically.

On Saturday night, all of the people in our district were talking to our teacher about how we can't get through our nightly prayers without laughing. Then, they all blamed me for it! They said that my keeping my eyes open during prayers makes them giggly. After that, our teacher gave us a little lecture on how we should be reverent and examples for the younger missionaries. Afterwards, he asked us what we could do to have more reverent prayers. Someone suggested that we turn out the lights and turn so that no one is facing each other while we pray. That idea didn't end up being accepted. Instead, I have just decided to close my eyes (even though it has never been a problem before). [Mom note: Savannah has never closed her eyes during prayers. She always explained to us that the purpose of closing your eyes is to eliminate outside distractions and focus inward on your feelings and thoughts. She just felt like she was able to block out distractions even when her eyes were open. That seems to have carried through into the MTC ... until now].

Sundays are always my favorite days in the CCM. The classes are super spiritual and sacrament meeting is always nice (I didn't have to speak this week). Sundays are also the best because we have movie night. This week, we watched The Testaments. I don't know if I have ever seen a movie that is more quotable. I think that I was able to realize just what the environment at the CCM does to people because when the couple in the movie kissed, everyone was freaking out.

This afternoon, our district decided to have the first ever CCM Companionship Olympics. I think that it entails feats of strength and "Newlywed Game" type questions. I don't know exactly what is going to happen -- the elders are the ones who are writing the questions -- but I do know that team Neelau is going to take gold!

I am sorry that there was not much to talk about this week. Hopefully, I will be able to share more exciting news next week on my last P day in the CCM!

Hermana Blau

 what the climate has been doing to my legs. I have had a couple of people
come up to me and ask me what is wrong. I don't really know why,
but my legs have just started to scab up.
It's still better than being up in the snow and cold.

Week Three: Halfway Through ... the MTC!

My district (and Hermano Gomez) at the temple.

Area: Mexico MTC
Companion: Hermana Katie Neeleman
Hermana Neeleman's Blog Post: Week Three

This week has felt super strange. It feels like it has been forever since I have written home (probably because our p-day was switched from Tuesday to Thursday. More on that later). Anyway, life is good here at the CCM. I'm starting to feel like I am getting the hang of things here. We'll have to see how things turn out when I get to the mission field.

On Wednesday, we watched a big world-wide missionary devotional. Lots of apostles and other general authorities spoke, and I feel like I really learned more about what I should be doing to better teach the people that I have been called to serve. Right before the meeting started, they were going up and down the aisles asking if anyone knew how to play the piano and Hermana Neeleman volunteered me. I got her back by volunteering her to lead the music. Anyhow, they asked us to go up and lead all the missionaries in two songs. We both thought that one would be the opening song and the next would be the closing song, so after we finished the first song we went back to our seats. It turned out that there were two opening songs, so everyone was looking around to tell us to come back up. That was an awkward walk back up the aisle.

After the meeting, our branch president, Presidente Machado, pulled me and Hermana Neeleman aside. He asked us if we wanted to be the new Sister Training Leaders. Now, we have been trying to get to know the other Hermanas in our zone. Hopefully, we will be able to help them make it through the MTC.

I know that I have been talking a lot about how nice the weather is here. There is one downside to this, and I will tell you in the form of a story. Sometimes, during the afternoon, we will go outside to do our group Book of Mormon study. This week, when we were outside, I noticed something on the side of my scriptures. I thought that it was the gooey grass that you get when you mow the lawn, so I wiped it off with my hand and wiped my hand on the grass. It took the gold paint off the sides of my Spanish scriptures. I didn't think about it anymore. . . until I got back in the room. Hermana Leslie looked at me and said, "I am sorry that a bird pooped on your scriptures." I was so grossed out, I thought that I would throw up. Even thinking back on the moment, I start to feel a little sick. I washed my hands so many times that day!

I think that I had the saddest experience of my life this week -- p day was moved back. One of the Elders in my district is staying in Mexico, so he had to go to the consulate today so that he could remain here legally. However, that meant that we all had to have our p day on Thursday instead of on Tuesday. We learned this on Monday. That morning, Hermana Neeleman and I had just been talking about how much we were looking forward to p day and how it would make the entire week go by faster. When we heard the news, we were heartbroken. I felt like it was Christmas Eve and someone came and told me that Christmas had been moved to February. In the end, it turned out fine. 

My gross knuckles. I don't know if you can see it very well in the picture,
but my knuckles have been drying out and cracking like crazy.
Maybe it is payback for all the times that I have talked
about how nice the weather is down here.

I think that I have realized that my experience on my mission has just been one awkward experience after another. For example, we are teaching two "investigators" right now, Mario and Rodrigo (really Hermano Hernandez and Hermano Gomez). We teach one each day, and normally the lessons go fairly well. Both of them have agreed to be baptized! Anyway, the other day, we were teaching Rodrigo. Right before we went in to go to the lesson, Hermana Neeleman asked me to confirm the name of who we were teaching. I laughed at her a little, so I guess what happened next was karma. During the lesson, I said the opening prayer. However, instead of praying for Rodrigo, I started praying for Mario. After the prayer was over, Hermano Gomez looked at me and asked, "Who is Mario?" That would have been embarrassing enough, but later in the lesson, I was trying to be serious and get a point across, so I looked "Rodrigo" right in the eyes and called him Mario again! Hermana Neeleman and Hermano Gomez made fun of me all day long for that.

Later that same day, we were sitting next to some Latina sisters during the devotional. I made some polite conversation with them before the meeting started. During the meeting, I glanced over and saw that the Hermana who was sitting next to me had really nice handwriting. Then she saw me looking at her notebook. I wanted to assure her that I was not trying to peep at what she had written, so I tried to tell her that she had beautiful handwriting. However, I think that what I ended up communicating was that I thought that what she had written was beautiful. She gave me a weird look, and we didn't say anything else after that.

I have been feeling pretty good about my life lately. Yesterday, I realized just how far I have come in Spanish. We were helping the incoming missionaries and one of them asked me how learning the language was coming. I told her that I came in with almost no Spanish and that now I am able to go into my lessons without having to write down a script of things to say. I just take in my Spanish scriptures and a outline in English. I know that my Spanish is not even close to perfect, but I do feel like I have been progressing. I am so happy to be here and I am even more excited to be able to go out soon and to serve the people in California. I am so grateful for the influence that the Gospel has had in my life and I hope that I will be able to spread that influence with others.

I love you all and I hope that you are all doing well.

Hermana Blau

Week Two: Time is Flying!

The hermanas in our zone right before Hermana Adair and Hermana Taylor left to go to Oklahoma City.

Area: Mexico MTC
Companion: Hermana Katie Neeleman
Hermana Neeleman's Blog Post: Week Two

This week has actually gone by really fast! After last week, I thought that my time in the CCM would be really long, but by it was already Sunday before I knew it. I am loving my stay in the most beautiful campus I have ever been in. Seriously, I am so glad that I am here instead of in frozen Missouri! For the last couple of days, me and Hermana Neeleman have been going outside to do our study instead of staying inside the classroom. She sits in the sun and I sit in the shade and we both have a really good time.

The days have all started to sort of blend together. Every day, we start with personal study. Then we go to breakfast and prepare for our first "investigator". After that, we do a lot of language study and more reading the scriptures. At some point during that time, we go to gym and eat lunch and dinner. By the end of the day, I am always so tired! But it is the good kind of tired. I am happy in my work.

I think that all of the time that we have spent reading the scriptures has really been getting to me. At night, we read the Book of Mormon in Spanish as a district and we all follow along in English. We just barely got through the story of Nephi getting the brass plates, but every night I start to think of funny backstories for all of the people in the stories and I start to get giggly. I don't know how long that will continue, but I don't know if it is a bad thing.

I feel like I have already learned so much more than I knew before. I am still not fluent and I can only understand about half of what everybody says, but I am so happy that I am not totally lost in everything. In our lesson yesterday, I didn't even look down at my paper once for hints on how to say things (I can't guarantee that this means I was saying my words totally right, I was just able to be understood). I am excited for a time that I will really be able to speak the language. Right now, I feel like I am losing my English way faster than I am gaining Spanish. I make so many spelling and grammar mistakes when I write my letters. Oh well.

On Wednesday nights, we go as a district and do our service project. Guess what we get to do every week!? Greet the new missionaries and help them to get to their casas. It was so fun to be able to see all of the new missionaries coming in and to talk to them about their flights and their lives. The only thing that was a little stressful about the experience was that the people who were helping were not supposed to speak English to each other. That basically meant that I could not speak unless I was helping out the new missionaries, but it was okay in the end. By the time that we started helping them take the luggage to their casas, we started to speak in English to each other.

This Sunday was super fun and really spiritual. I don't remember if I told you this in my last e-mail, but we have to write a five minute talk in Spanish each Sacrament Meeting and when we get there, we are randomly called on to give the talk. It is a little stressful, especially because the Spanish I do have is very broken. Anyway, I was called on this week to give my talk in front of the entire zone. It ended up being better than I thought it would be. I am just glad that I prepared even though I thought that I would be exempt because I was playing the piano :). Later that night, we went in to Sunday Movie Night. There was an extremely odd selection of movies that were shown: The John Tanner Story, an old movie about the Crucifixion, and the informational video about temple clothing. I was still glad for the break from classes and Spanish.

Hermana Neeleman and me outside the Mexico City Temple.

This morning, we got to go to the Mexico City Temple (which is why I am writing to you so late in the day). It was so nice. It was a little strange going through a Spanish session only knowing a little Spanish, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to go. I don't know when I will next be able to go to the temple, but I am grateful for every opportunity that I get to go to the house of the Lord.

I think that my biggest revelation that I had this week is that the CCM is a little bit like a prison. There are tall walls around the perimeter that have barbed wire on the tops, the time is very scheduled, and we can only communicate with the outside once a week. Despite the similarities, I have been feeling very content in my life lately. Every day, I feel the spirit so strongly. All of my teachers are so good (although one had been nicknamed Hermano Rapido because he speaks so fast). I am so excited to be a missionary and I feel constantly that this is the right place for me to be. I am really excited to be out in the mission field, but I am happy to spend a couple more weeks in the CCM.

Hermana Blau

The parrots that hang out on the palm trees here in Mexico.

Week One: What a week!

Area: Mexico CCM
Companion: Hermana Katie Neeleman
Hermana Neeleman's Blog Post: Week One

Phew! What a week! Right now I am writing from one of the computers in the labs where we learn Spanish grammar every day after attempting to use about every computer in the place. Oh well. This week has been one of the craziest that I have ever had.

When I left the family at security, I was a total mess. The ladies that were checking me through stopped to ask me if I was okay and where I was going. When I got to the terminal, I was doing a little better until Laney came through. At that point, I fell apart again. As soon as I got on the plane, however, I started to feel a little more excited about what was going to happen. The plane from Springfield to Dallas was just about the smallest plane I think I have been on in my entire life. There were only three seats in each row, so I didn't even have to sit next to anybody.When I got to Dallas, I was expecting to see at least one missionary who was also going to Mexico City, but there was no one. Instead, there was a group of about 90 Catholic missionaries who were going down to Mexico City for a weeklong workshop. On the way down to Mexico, I sat next to a man who was in training to become a priest and one of his friends from the missionary program. It was actually super interesting. He offered to let me join in his morning prayer and he taught me all about the different kinds of Catholics that there are. In the end, he asked me to bear my testimony and offered to give me a book about different kinds of prayer. Very fun.

After I got to Mexico City, I made it through customs (I didn't even have to have my bags searched) and met up with my driver. Because I was the only missionary who made it in until the next hour when the flight from Salt Lake came, and I didn't speak Spanish and he didn't speak English, it made for a very long wait. After all the missionaries came through, we got to ride through Mexico City during the middle of the day. I don't think that I have ever been in a bigger or more hectic place in my entire life [Mom note: That's saying a lot coming from a girl who has experienced rush hour in Beijing, China!] . Finally, we made it to the MTC and it was completely calm and absolutely beautiful. I met my companion, Hermana Neeleman. She is super great!

with Hermana Neeleman

Being at the Mexico City MTC is a mixture of being really fun and exciting and being super nerve wracking and stressful. During all of our lessons, the teachers only speak in Spanish, and we are supposed to speak in Spanish to them as well. I am getting better, but I am not to the point where I can converse with people yet or really speak my feelings, but I am sure that I will get there someday!

I am super excited to be here and even more excited to get done so I can really go to the mission field. Hopefully, I will be able to learn Spanish before I go, but I know that I was called to my specific assignment. I am glad that you guys are okay at home, I hope that you continue to have a good winter. I am suffering down here in the warm weather. The other day, it was a little warm, I almost had to take off my sweater. I don't know why everybody says that the food at the Mexico City MTC is so bad, I think that it's fine. One day, though, I did get a burrito for dinner and found out that it was filled with mashed potatoes. Also, I got a mysterious dish for breakfast and found out that it was actually chips that had been hardcore soaked in salsa verde. Other than that, the food has been wonderful. (also, tonight is the end of our P-day and pizza night!)

On our second full day at the MTC, we had to teach our first "investigator" EN ESPAÑOL!!! As you can imagine, it was a total trainwreck. Even though Hermana Neeleman is much better at Spanish than me (she took some during high school), we still did not have any idea what to say. At one point, we told the investigator that prophets were messengers from God. He then asked if we were prophets and we said yes! Later, I was teaching about the Book of Mormon and my nose started to run so bad that I had to stop in the middle of my sentence and get a tissue, then Hermana Neeleman just finished my sentence for me. It was soooo embarrassing. After we got out and learned that we had to teach the same investigator every night for a week, we were mortified.

Sunday at the MTC is so nice. Most days, we spend all of our efforts in attempting to help our investigators to learn about the gospel, but on Sundays, we are able to be spiritually uplifted. Church was so good and I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly. Sundays are also nice because it is movie night! This Sunday, all the non-latino missionaries watched Meet the Mormons. It was a nice break from the non-stop work that we have to do every day.

Our yoga class

On Monday, I had probably one of the best days that I have had at the MTC so far. At the beginning of the day, I was feeling a little discouraged because I felt like I was struggling with the language. Later, we had a presentation about handling stress and I think it actually made me feel a little more stressed about how I was doing. After that, we had to teach our investigator, Sergio, again. He had told us that he was having trouble making decisions in his life and that he would like help with that, so we prepared a lesson about faith, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. When we got in, we were able to be very friendly with Sergio and ask him about his life. Then when we started to teach, the Spirit was so strong! I taught the segment about the Holy Ghost and how it could help him make decisions in his life. Then I shared the story about how I chose to go to BYU. After that, I promised him that if he would recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost and live worthily, he would be able to have help in making his decisions. Right after that, Hermana Neeleman asked him to be baptised and he said yes. The Spirit was so strong in the room. After we finished with the lesson, the Hermano who plays Sergio came up to us and said that our lesson was one of the best he had listened to in a long time. Then he told me that my Spanish was good during the lesson. It really made me feel good after a kind of stressful morning and testified to me of the gift of tongues. I know that Heavenly Father knows us and what we need, when we need it.

Hermana Blau

p.s. While I am at the MTC, you can send me emails and they will print them off that day and put them in my mail box. You just have to send them to letter@MTCMexicocarepackage.com and make the subject Hermana Savannah Blau 12A.

Also, we are only able to take pictures on our P-days, or else I would have sent more. There are palm trees and green parrots everywhere and the mountains all around the MTC are so beautiful!

A view of the mountain outside of the MTC.