November 30, 2021

Hi again everybody! 

Today is the last P-Day of the transfer! Pretty crazy, I know. It's also the last day of November, which is honestly even weirder. But hey, it's time for Christmas, so I'm not complaining. Christmas is the best holiday, and anyone who says differently can feel free to go read about why they're wrong in literally any scripture you can think about. Nothing is better than a holiday where we get to celebrate Jesus Christ. (Also, food is great, the treats are better, and I'll never be mad about getting presents. But that's besides the point) I'm just really excited for Christmas. Don't mind me.

In other news, this week has been pretty great, we had lots of events going on, a missionary devotional for the youth in our stake, the Lighting of the Lights at the temple, a Zone Council, and just this morning, we got to go to the temple! It's just been a really good week, I've honestly nothing to complain about. (Not that I do that much complaining anyway. Just thought I'd put that out there.)

As for the work, we've been doing better than ever, and our district is absolutely killing it, we met our goal for baptismal dates, and we've got a lot of potential besides. 

And that's gonna have to do it for this week, because we're currently taking the subway across the city to get back from the temple. So I'll talk to you all next week! 

- Elder Blankenbiller

Photos: 

- A bunch of ties that a member gave us. I will never need to buy another tie for the rest of my mission :P 

- Apparently, México makes limited edition currency to celebrate special events. I now have a new hobby. 

- Our stake had a big Youth night, in which they invited all current and recently returned missionaries. We, of course, took a picture with all our name tags on. 

November 23, 2021

Hey everybody! 

It's been quite the week (as per usual), so let's get right into it. We started off the week strong, with Zone Conference. Always a party. One of the big focuses this time around was combining everything we've learned from the pandemic, and applying it going forward, as we move more and more towards normality. 

And after that, things only got more interesting. One of the Elders in my district has a family emergency that requires his presence, so he flew out Sunday night, and will hopefully be back by tomorrow evening. However, it means that my companion and I are currently living with his companion in their apartment. So that's been an adventure. I've been sleeping on the floor for two days now. But on the bright side, we got their apartment all cleaned up, so it's not too bad. I'm sure the sleep deprivation will catch up to me later, but for now, I'm doing alright. 

And as for today, we've been running around doing lots of shopping, and we're going to go cook a bunch of hamburgers for lunch, have a party, and then call it a day and go hole up with phones and computers to call our families. :P

So yeah, since I'm in a bit of a rush, I think I'll call it here. Hope you're all having a fantastic Thanksgiving week! 

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:

- Zone conference 

- Bread is amazing here 

- Trying on suits, because why not? 

November 16, 2021

Well, today is a pretty exciting day. I am now a nine-month-old missionary. So that's cool. Only a hop, skip, and a jump away from one year. And since one year sounds a lot bigger than nine months, I think we'll just leave it as it is until I get there. 

Anyways, on to the meat of the sandwich, what am I doing down here in Mexico? Well. This week has definitely been a week of miracles. After two and a half weeks of calling people, trying to set up meetings, and getting no results, we got a bunch of referrals dumped on us at the same time, and now we've got a week full of meetings, two people on date for baptism, and several more well on their way! Never gets old, seeing the way the Lord's plans come to fruition. 

Since I'm sure that at least three of you asked, yes, we have successfully moved houses. I am now living downstairs. And we've basically got our hands on everything we need, and anything we don't have, we can just ask for. Really convenient, right? 

And now, a funny story. There we are, two young dudes in white shirts, walking back to the chapel from having lunch with a member (Which, quick side note, was amazing. They made this sort of beef and bell pepper mix, with melted cheese on top, which we ate with tortillas and home.ade guacamole), when out of nowhere, this guy starts walking next to us, clearly very drunk, and starts yelling something about how we believe in a fake Jesus, and we're going to burn in Hell for it. Until, of course, being to busy with his drunken tirade, he crashes into a telephone pole, and gets knocked out cold. I swear, I felt like I was in a movie or something. (The guy is fine, but it was hilarious)

And in a brilliant transition to a very related subject that doesn't contrast at all with the previous one, a Spiritual Thought (since I've been slacking off on those recently). Today, our spiritual thought is brought to you by a book of the Old Testament you've probably never bothered reading: Proverbs. Specifically, three verses from proverbs. Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 16:9:) A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps."

I really like these two passages, I think they compliment each other very well. And it paints a very clear picture for us: We must move forward, and trust the Lord to direct us. And we know that we can trust Him. He will never do anything that will not be for our benefit. And, if we still aren't quite there yet, we can pray, and ask Him what His plan is for us! It's that simple. So, my invitation, in closing, is that you should give it a shot. And no matter what, remember to look for the good in every situation you go through. :)

I must be off, I've business in the city. I shall return in half a fortnight. Until then. 

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos: (Not too many this week, I've been busy :P )

1 - District Council photoshoot 

2 - Me, I guess 

November 9, 2021

 Well, I think I've got about fifteen minutes to write this, so here we go. We're in the middle of moving, kind of. For the past two weeks, we've been living in the top half of our apartment with our Zone Leaders, and they just finished remodeling the downstairs, which is where I will be soon. Should be fun, once we get all of the dust, dried paint, and broken furniture cleaned out, and all of our stuff moved in. :P And that's what we've been doing so far today - making the place inhabitable, and arranging furniture, all that fun stuff. The best part, though, is that since it's a new house as far as the mission is concerned, we're getting all the new house perks, namely: New refrigerator, microwave, cooking utensils, tables, chairs, fans, bedding, cleaning supplies, etc. If only getting a new home was always this easy. I imagine it'll take a bit more work after my mission than just buying a house, cleaning it up, and calling president to give me a bunch of furniture and such. Oh well. We can deal with that when we get there.

Anyway, enough about what I'm doing right now, let's talk about what I've been doing this week. The answer is, a whole lot, and nothing at all. Nothing at all in that we haven't found any new people to teach, nobody came with us to sacrament meeting, and we've got zero people on date in this area. And a whole lot in that we've completely cleaned out our Areabook of all the people who weren't progressing, met a bunch of members, got a bunch of meetings with people set for this week, had interviews with our mission president, attended a Stake Conference, had a Zone Council in which we all went and contacted people in the street for half an hour in the same area, went to a Mission Leadership Council, and ate an unhealthy amount of amazing food with members. That, plus all the hours of trying to talk to people, and have meetings, and you add up to a pretty busy time. Which is great, I mean Christmas is only a couple weeks away now, and I started this whole merry-go-round ride in February. So hey, it's been a while, about time I got busy, right? ;)

Anyway, long story short, we're busy, and I couldn't be happier about it. I'll keep you updated with any exciting developments in the work, but for now I think I'll just share a quick spiritual thought, and go finish helping with the house-moving project. 

I was listening to a talk by Elder Holland that he gave at BYU, about the Liberty Jail experience. And I thought it was amazing, you should definitely look it up if you have a minute. (Or if you're lazy, like me, here's a link: Elder Holland - Lessons from Liberty Jail) In it, he talks about how harrowing the experience was for Joseph Smith, and how we can feel his pain in Doctrine and Covenants 121, in which he cries out to God, begging to know why he has been forsaken. However, the Lord gives him one of the most powerful answers in all of scripture. And from it, we learn a very valuable lesson. The worst situations can be the best of teachers if we will let them. And that's the key, isn't it. We have to be willing to learn, even though it's hard. So. Be willing to learn, and you'll be able to overcome anything the world can throw at you. Trust me, and if not me, Elder Holland has a pretty good idea of what he's talking about, I think. ;)

Anyway, that's enough out of me. See ya!

- Elder Blankenbiller

Photos:

1 - Mission Leadership Council, we grabbed a photo with an hermana who was in my companions MTC district 

2 - A very tasty lunch

3 - American money - strange the things you miss

4 - Christmas donuts. Don't yell at me, Thanksgiving doesn't exist here. It's the Holiday Season down here 

November 2, 2021

 Hello again, it's me.

And boy do I have some stories to tell this week. So. As mentioned previously, I'm whitewashing an area with my new companion. So we would have been spending lots of time trying to get to know the members through Zoom calls, and stuff like that. However, we also got news from our mission president that we're now allowed to contact people in the street, have lessons in people's homes, use public transit, basically just totally open as a mission now. So... we've been running around nearly constantly since then. I can barely even remember when one day ends and the next one begins. But honestly, it's been so nice to actually be able to meet the people we're teaching, and form better relationships with more of the members. 

The only downside to all this... is that the members never seem to get tired of feeding us. I had dinner three times on Sunday. Pozole, Enchiladas Verdes, and lastly, several dozen Tacos Dorados. Now, I can't complain, because it's all been delicious, but I am also beginning to understand how people can put on a few pounds during their missions.

Anyway, other things that have been going on: We had Halloween and Día de los Muertos back to back, which was awesome. Tons of people dressing up, all of the traditional foods and decorations, and an unhealthy amount of Pan de Muertos with Hot Chocolate. It was delicious. We also had the opportunity to go to the center of Mexico City, Zócalo, which has the National Palace, a bunch of museums, and is currently absolutely decked out for the Day of the Dead. It was awesome. And on the theme of being busy, I've just been informed we've got things to do, so I'll see you all here next week!

- Elder Blankenbiller

Photos:

1- My brand new metro pass (or as I like to call it, my city boy license)

2 - The massive Catholic Cathedral in the center of the city 

3 - The inside of said Cathedral 

4 - Me doing a Coco cosplay 

5 - These are all made out of sand

6 - Riding the metro as a squad