June 29, 2021

Hi everybody!

It's been another awesome week, so let's get right into this, shall we? First up, we've got a new Elder in town, brand new, as it happens. He's fresh out of the MTC, and as far as I can tell, he's having a great time here so far. Plus, he's American, so it's nice to have someone to chat with in English. Much as I enjoy speaking two languages, given the lack of other English speakers, it sometimes feels like I only speak one. :P So that's been really fun. I suppose on some level, everyone enjoys not being the newest person around. It did make me stop for a second, though, and realize that I've already been here in Mexico for three months. Crazy. I've been enjoying it so much, though. It's still so cool to me, actually being here, instead of just hearing about other people on their missions, or travels. I always try to express my gratitude to God for the opportunity to be here, helping people.

Speaking of, we had the pleasure of bringing one of the families we're teaching to take a tour of the Visitor's Center! It's always a great day when we get to go see the temple, and it's even better when we're bringing investigators with us! Even better, after the tour was over, we extended the invitation to be baptized, and they accepted! So the current date set for their family is the 24th of July. We couldn't be more excited for them, and we can hardly wait! It definitely makes you realize, even though the baptisms don't measure your success as a missionary, they sure as heck feel awesome. That's another thing I'm very grateful for. As I'm sure anyone will tell you, helping people feels good, and I won't tell you any different. Still wish we could go do, like, actual service projects, or maybe meet with people in their homes, but until then, we'll make do with what we've got. And what
we've got is still quite a bit, honestly. We've been able to meet people that we most likely never would have found if we were still
just out on the streets. It's proof to me that God is driving this work, and it won't stop for anything. It's very encouraging, and I'm
just happy to be a part of it. :)

As far as food goes, I've been learning to make as many different Mexican dishes as I can, including but not limited to: Chiles Rellenas (as mentioned previously), Enchiladas Verdes, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Tamales, Oaxaqueños, and Huevos Rancheros. So no need to worry about me starving down here. If anything, I might finally gain a pound or two. :P

And lastly, a spiritual thought, as a reward for your avid reading of my emails. ;) One of the things that has stuck out to me this week from my personal study is the power of the Atonement in our everyday lives. As I'm sure you all remember from even way back in Primary, the Atonement is the ultimate gift to man, given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and it is the only means by which our sins can be forgiven, and we can make it back to live with our Father in Heaven. Now, basics aside, the Apostles and Prophets often talk about how they use the Atonement every day in their lives, and we mere mortals are often left confused as to how we can do the same. Well, I'm a big fan of sharing the secrets to success, so here's my two
cents on the matter. The Atonement is not just for our sins. We should not look at it as the last resort, when we feel bad about having failed, and oh man, now we have to repent, how embarrassing. That's not the point of the Atonement. When our goal is set on returning to heaven, and we are constantly working towards it, the Atonement is what drives us forward, moving past mistakes, helping us pick ourselves up after falling back. That's the real power of the Atonement. It helps us to change, to grow, to reach the potential that God knows we have, and to feel good about ourselves, even in the midst of adversity, and a world that tells us we are never good enough. From a talk by Neal A. Maxwell - "While so striving daily, we will fall short. Hence the avoidance of discouragement is so vital. So where is the oft and much needed resilience to be found? Once again, in the glorious Atonement! - Furthermore, by applying the Atonement we can continue to access the other nurturing gifts of the Holy Ghost, which will comfort us and reassure us. The burdens not lifted from us, He will help us to bear. After all, the Father and the Son truly and constantly desire our everlasting happiness."

I also testify that our Heavenly Father loves us, perfectly and infinitely, and truly desires our happiness, both in this life, and in
the Kingdom of Heaven where we will return. I promise that as you take advantage of the amazing gift of the Atonement, even if you can only improve on one single thing every week, you will see a powerful difference in your life, and the Holy Ghost will help you feel an increase in hope, and strength to endure the trials you face every day.

And thanks for listening! Sorry for waxing a bit long-winded there, but who am I to argue with what I feel like I need to say? I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you on the other side of it!

- Elder Blankenbiller

Photos:
1: Rooftop dining
2: Epic hat
3: Just chilling
4: Trip to the temple with Gabriela and Regina
5: Street crepes

June 22, 2021

Hello again everyone!

First and foremost this week, we had transfers! And since I'm sure everyone is just dying to know, I'll be sure to tell you... at the end of the email. ;) 

So before we get into that, let's talk about how the work is going. We're actually teaching four different families right now, and they're all amazing. We've got Gabriela and her daughters, Abigail and her kids, Johnny and his family, and Yazmin and Carlos. All super awesome, and they love having us teach them. It's been so cool to see them all grow closer as families while learning more about the Gospel. It also makes our weekly numbers look absolutely amazing, since they're all families of four or so. It adds up pretty quick when we're trying to contact everyone every day. So as far as numbers go, I'm quite the missionary. :P But as I'm sure you know, that's not the real measurement for how well a missionary is doing. The focus is, and should always be, on the people, and how they are progressing along the covenant path. 

And that leads into my spiritual thought for this week. I was recently reading the talk President Nelson gave in April, 2019, where he talks about the Savior's invitation to all to follow Him, and to make and keep sacred covenants. President Nelson powerfully invited us to do the following:

"Pour out your heart to God. Ask Him if these things are true. Make time to study His words. Really study! If you truly love your family and if you desire to be exalted with them throughout eternity, pay the price now—through serious study and fervent prayer—to know these eternal truths and then to abide by them."

I bear testimony of the words of our prophet, and invite you all to accept his promise. Take time to study and pray, and you will have truth revealed to you. I have seen it happening for me already, as I have dedicated time to searching and pondering the words of the prophets. I promise you that as you do the same, you will feel the love God has for you and your family more powerfully, and understand how much He wants you to return to live with Him. When we understand that simple truth, all of our challenges and struggles in life are put into perspective, and made that much easier. Believe me, it is so worth it. 

And lastly, food! This week, as usual, was not lacking in delicious food. A personal favorite of mine was chiles rellenas, which is essentially the Mexican version of stuffed peppers. And man, they're good. Also on the menu, homemade mango ice cream, which I'm proud to say went very well. Even better, fresh fruit is really easy to come by down here, I got about a kilo of mangos for 24 pesos, or a little more than a dollar. Good times. 

Oh yeah, and transfers. Nothing much, me and my companion are sticking around for this one. So that was quite the relief. And yeah, that's all from me everybody. See you next time!

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Pictures:

1: Chiles rellenas 

2: Elder Muñoz and I about to brave the rain 

3: Mango ice cream

June 15, 2021

Hey there everyone! 

If you've been following along with your calendars at home, you already know that a week has gone by! And, of course, that means it's time for a missionary email! Since I've completely diverged from maintaining any kind of organization in my emails, let's start with the food, why not? On this weeks menu: Chicken sandwiches, Tortas, Carnitas, and more of my new favorite fruit, mangoes. Delicious. I've decided to buy a bunch of fruit and freeze it to make smoothies, because they don't have very good smoothies here. They normally just toss some powder into water and milk, and call it a day. Very disappointing. So that's my new mission in the food department.

As for the Spiritual department, things are going really well. We've currently got three families, the Pinzons, the Villanuevas, and the Britos. They're all super awesome, and we're planning on inviting them all to be baptized this week! So definitely wish us luck with that! I've also really been enjoying my study of the Bible. There's so much amazing historical context that adds a ton to the scriptures themselves. If you ever feel like studying it, I highly recommend using the Seminary and Institute manuals that are on the church's website to help you study. Obviously, the Book of Mormon is still the most important to be studying constantly, but it's been such a cool experience learning about the context behind a lot of the teachings and events. Like the Law of Moses, the Israelites, and all the prophecies of Christ that have been given since the beginning of the world. Super cool.

Other Spiritual things, we had a whole bunch of meetings this week, with a Zone Conference on Friday, a special fireside with Elder Pingree, the Area Seventy who's finishing his service here at the end of the month, and an awesome District Council yesterday with the Zone Leaders yesterday. Zone Conference was unsuprisingly much more interesting when you can understand what is being said. :P It was definitely much better than the last one, at any rate. We talked a lot about how we can better use the Book of Mormon in teaching, which is obviously crucial to our message, as it's really the thing that sets us apart from other religions. The fireside with Elder Pingree was similarly awesome, the message I took from it was that we need to dedicate ourselves to the work, and remember that we aren't here on our time, we're here on the Lord's. And finally, the District Council, where we talked more about the big picture ideas, like why we chose to serve, why we're still here, and what we want to become by the time we finish. It was really nice to take some time to step back, and remember why I'm here.

And that's gonna lead right into my Spiritual thought for you guys this week. Having a purpose is super important in all aspects of life. We need to have something to focus on and remember, something that motivates us, and keeps us going. Especially when things get hard, like on a mission, or when the world shuts down, times like those. All the feelings of being lost, alone, or wandering can all be made that much easier when we have a 'why' behind what we do. I've felt that especially during the hard days down here in Mexico. When I focus on why I'm here, everything is so much better than when I am only thinking about myself. So my challenge to you this week is to take some time and think about your own 'why'. Write it down, put it somewhere you'll see it often, and try to remember it when you're having a bad day.

And that's a wrap folks! I will see you all here again this time next week! 

- Elder Blankenbiller

Pictures

1: Chicken sandwiches

2: Special meeting with Elder Pingree

3: Tortas - Only $2.50!

4: The Louis Vuitton x Nike collab everyone's been waiting for

5: And some more off brand stuff for your entertainment

June 8, 2021

Hey everybody!

I know how much you all look forward to this part of the week, so rest assured, I'm here to entertain and enlighten, as per usual. But first, the all important question: what did I eat this week? First and foremost, it's lychee season here, and for those of you who don't know what those are, you're missing out. Imagine a very large, very flavorful grape hiding inside a tough skin. They're delicious, the season is very short, and I'm eating them every chance I get. Also on this week's menu: Steak omelettes (just when you thought they couldn't get any better), homemade enchiladas verdes, a whole lot more horchata, and to top it all off, a member brought us some ice cream one day when it was really hot. If that doesn't prove that the people down here are amazing, I don't know what will. 

Speaking of amazing people, we're teaching a couple of families at the moment, one of three girls, Gabriela, Regina, and Valentina Pinzon, and another of Abigail and her three daughters, and let me tell you, it has been one of the best teaching experiences I've had thus far. They're all so eager to learn, and there's something so powerful and special about seeing families grow closer together as they read the scriptures, pray together, and feel the Spirit in their own homes. There's really nothing quite like it. I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone who's interested in that sort of thing. :) Coming up this week, we're hoping to take two of the families on tours of the temple Visitors Center, and invite them to be baptized! I'll let you know how that goes, but in the meantime, any prayers you can send our way are greatly appreciated! There are always a lot of challenging things in life, and that's especially true when we're trying to follow the Lord's commandments. But even though it's hard, I know that they, and we, can all be blessed for our efforts as we turn our hearts to Him who is mighty to save. So keep a positive attitude, and keep on keeping on!  

In other news this week, we're finally working our way into the rainy season, which of course means that we often end up drenched by the time we get home, as seen below. So that's added a bit of fun to the day, trying to dash home as fast as possible as soon as the rain lessens slightly. The puddles stay around forever, though. The drainage systems aren't the best here, so the water tends to just sit wherever the lowest point is, and that's often just in the middle of the street somewhere. Across from our church building, actually, there's a big road that has had absolutely terrible traffic for the last week or so, because there's sort of a pond that has formed for a few hundred feet. That slows the flow of traffic right down, but it's kind of entertaining to see all the little cars trying to make their way through the flood. That's just Mexico, I guess.

And finally, a Spiritual Thought for you all, since you've been so patient. From the Old Testament again, because I think that's a rather untapped well of knowledge. Deuteronomy 16:11, 14-15. This chapter talks about all of the different feasts and holidays that the People of Israel were commanded to observe. The main purpose of these holidays was to help them to always remember the Lord, and to give thanks to Him. Actually, that was basically the purpose of all of the commandments given to the Israelites. But specifically in these verses, we are told specifically that we are to rejoice. Rejoice with our friends, rejoice with our families, and rejoice with all those that we know, because of how great the blessings of the Lord have been in our lives. So this week, I want to give you an excuse to throw a party! (Circumstances permitting, of course, beats me what the whole lockdown situation is like in the U.S. right now :P ) But seriously, get some friends together, have a dinner party, play games together, just enjoy being together as friends and family! After all, it's a commandment from God; life is meant to be enjoyed. :)

Anyway, I've no time for parties, so it's back to work for me, but I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll be here for the next one, don't you worry. 

- Elder Blankenbiller

Pictures:
1: Field trip to the mall

2: Lychees!

3: Elder Kreutz and I on exchanges, having just ridden through the worst part of the storm 

4: Steak omelettes, and fresh bread from the bakery

June 1, 2021

 Hi again!

(Insert comment about how fast time is going by here)

First and most importantly, we had an amazing baptism on Saturday; Hugo and Patricia are now members of the church, and we couldn't be happier for them! It was such a special experience, and you could just see the happiness radiating from them as they left the water. The Spirit was so powerful in that room. I can only imagine how they must have felt. It's something I think we tend to forget, those of us who are born into the church. We're kind of used to feeling the Spirit, what with going to Sacrament Meeting every Sunday, opportunities to serve in our communities and in the temple, we get quite accustomed to having the spirit with us. But just think for a moment about the people in the world who haven't had that experience. This is the most powerfully they have felt the influence of the Spirit in their entire lives! It's a testament to me, how important it is to strive to be worthy of always having the Spirit to be with us. 

I've always been pretty great with words, but if it was just me speaking, nobody would actually listen. It is only through our efforts, combined with the Spirit, that the work of the Lord can progress. Hence, my challenge to all of you: Take a few moments in the morning to say a prayer, and ask that you may be more receptive and open to the Spirit, and that you will be able to recognize and act on the impressions you receive. I know that when we are making a consistent, conscious effort to invite the Spirit into our hearts, we will be blessed with increased capacity in everything that we are doing during the day, from the important to the mundane. It is more than worth it, I promise.

=÷= Food Section =÷=

That's right, it's time for that part! This week had no shortage of amazing food. I decided to master making omlettes, and since eggs are cheap here, it's a great way to have a cheap, easy to make breakfast! The best part is, they're super variable, you can add pretty much whatever you like, cheese, onions, ham, chicken, steak, potatoes, all sorts! Plus, there's always plenty of hot sauce down here, if that's your thing.

Speaking of hot, I had probably the spiciest food I've ever tasted this week. We made Chilaquiles, which are... sort of like nachos? If nachos actually tasted, you know, good, and had a sauce with apparently not one, not two, but three whole jalapeños? Yeah, so I loved it, but my mouth did not appreciate me. Fortunately, we have Horchata, the ultimate weapon against spice. Good times.

Moving on from food, I'd like to wrap up with a few quick stories. First up, an Elder in our district, Elder Jarvis, had a birthday this week. So of course, we went out for tacos, which were delicious. Campechanos are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. They're a mix of Pastor and Chorizo, and they're delicious. Definitely would recommend. 

Actually moving on from food (yeah, my bad), we met the coolest guy the other night! On the way home from tacos, we bumped into someone who had been referred to us, but was actually already a member before the pandemic. His name is Victor, he's 16, and he's an absolute legend. He can skateboard, beatbox, speak English and at least some Japanese, and do card magic. Yeah. He's awesome. And he's in our ward, so we get dibs! ;) 

In other news, the Mexcio City temple has moved to Phase 2! That's all live ordinances, which means a lot of recent converts will be able to start attending soon! Very exciting opportunity, and it looks like things will only keep improving from here! Fingers crossed, maybe soon we'll actually be able to eat with members again or something! I know, crazy, but you can't blame a guy for hoping. :P

According to my word counter, this is now long enough to be entertaining, but not boring, so I'll call it there before I overstay my welcome. I'll be here next week!

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:
1: A cool restaurant made out of a plane 
2: Omlettes and pancakes with Horchata
3: Birthday tacos for Elder Jarvis
4: Baptism of Hugo and Patricia