October 26, 2021

 Hey everyone! 

It's been a blur of a week, so forgive me if I stop making sense at any point. Anyway. This week, we had transfers. So I am now in a brand new place in the mission, near the airport. Both my area and the zone are named Moctezuma. I'm sure that'll never get confusing for anyone. 

Speaking of confusion, my companion and I are whitewashing the area, so neither of us have any idea who anyone is, or where anything is, either. And the best part, the mission office still hasn't reassigned our missionary accounts to this new area, which means we don't have access to areabook, which has our daily planner, lists of contacts, etc. So until that gets fixed... we've got no idea what we're doing, and no idea who we're supposed to be doing it with. :P

It's definitely going to be an adventure, this cycle. I will try my best to keep you as updated as possible. And since it's a new area and all, we've got a lot of figuring stuff out to go do, so I'm gonna end this here, with a quick spiritual thought. That thought being by way of encouragement: you can do it! Trust me, I understand. Life can be rough sometimes. So for all of you going through something, who feel like you just can't do it, I'm here to reassure you, you can. :) And what's more, you can ask the literal God of everything for help. So stop waiting, and do it! You'll thank me later, I'm sure. ;)

Anyway, I've got to go, the Christmas tree's on fire. (Bonus points if you got that reference)

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos: (Don't have a ton this week, they're all on the other phone)

1: My new companion and I

2: A metric ton of Pan de Muerte, for the Day of the Dead 

October 19, 2021

Hi everyone, welcome back!

So. I've officially made it to eight months. More or less a third of the way through my entire mission. Pretty crazy, that. Still got a ways to go, though, so moving on. 

Lots of exciting news this week! On Wednesday, we got permission from our Mission President to go to the temple on P-Day. And then just yesterday, we got permission to have meals at the homes of members! Things are finally opening up around here, and we're taking full advantage of it. Yesterday, we had lunch and dinner with two different families, and then today, we went to the temple! And it was awesome. It's been far too long since the last time. 

And man, the prophet knows what he's talking about when he tells us to go to the temple. So the obvious advice I have to give is just that. Go to the temple, if you can! And if not, take time to study the covenants that you were able to make there. Like President Nelson said, we need the strengthening power that comes from temple attendance, now more than ever. 

And yeah, just lots of awesome news this week. I couldn't be more excited. :)

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:

1/2 - Temple trip!

3 - The largest street dog we've come across so far 

October 12, 2021

Busy week this time around, so I'll just jump right into it! We had Zone Conference on Friday, which they changed (much to my delight). Instead of sitting around for six hours, they divided us into groups, and cycled us between six different activities. I think I speak for all of the missionaries here when I say, it was easily the best Zone Conference we've had. So that was fun.

And that wasn't the last time we made the trip to the temple; we did it twice more. Once on Sunday, to take Hermana Mariel and her little brother Uriel to the Visitor's Center and then again yesterday morning with a family from our ward. Their dad isn't a member, and we're hoping to help him get baptized. 

Speaking of baptisms, we had a baptism this week! Hermano Alejandro was baptized on Sunday! It was so great, especially given that our area hasn't had any baptisms since January. :P Either way, he's a great guy, he's really eager to learn and improve himself, and he has such gratitude for everything that Christ has done for him. 

And that's my spiritual thought, to wrap up. Gratitude is really important. Christ has given us everything. He created the world, He blesses us, and He gave His own life for us. When you think about all that He has given us, the things He asks in return suddenly seem much smaller. Having an attitude of gratitude can help us see that, and makes it even easier to follow Him! My invitation, then, is to take five minutes, and say a prayer of only things that you are grateful for. Try it! You'll notice the change it makes. 

That's all from me, I've got to go eat lunch. Until next time!

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:

1 - Alejandro's Baptism!

2 - Visitor's Center with Mariel and Uriel 

3 - Visitor's Center again the next day

4 - The temple! (Still hoping we can go soon)

October 5, 2021

 Hey everybody! 

With General Conference and all, it was obviously a great week. But honestly, it would have been amazing even without that. We met a lot of awesome people this week, had many of them watch General Conference, and we've got four people on date to be baptized! Which is honestly really nice, this area has been kinda slow. There actually hasn't been a baptism in either of the Wards I'm serving in since January. So here's hoping we can help people make it all the way! 

A quick funny story. Obviously, having been in quarantine for my entire mission, we don't spend that much time out on the street talking to people. So we miss out on a lot of the normal mission experiences. But the other day, we were picking up our food, and on the way back to the church, a taxi driver pulled over to talk to us. He asked us if we believed in God. We, of course, replied that we do. He then asked us "if you believe in God, why are you wearing face masks?" And then went on a long rant about how Covid is fake, and how the God he believes in doesn't send plagues and destruction, because God loves and protects His children. He then told us thay if we wear masks, we clearly don't believe in God. And drove away. 

My companion and I made it about ten seconds or so before bursting out laughing. Honestly, after eight months of nothing, it was kind of refreshing to encounter that kind of thing. 

Anyway, to conclude, a spiritual thought. From conference, because conference was amazing. Main points - Nelson told us to go to the temple. Especially now that a lot of the temples are reopening, we have the opportunity to go and receive those powerful blessings again. So go do it. Another great one was Elder Nash, who encouraged us all to hold up the Gospel Light, and share it with others. We know that the Second Coming is only getting closer. We can't say we'll do it tomorrow. So do it today! Go share the gospel. :)

Thanks for listening, that's all from me this week! 

- Elder Blankenbiller

craig.blankenbiller@missionary.org 

Photos:

1 - A castle

2 - A fun tie I found

3 - Visitors Center trip! 

September 28, 2021

¡Buen día amigos! 

Hope you're all doing well. If you aren't, I'm sorry to hear that, I'll keep you in my prayers. If you're somewhere in the middle, just keep on moving forward, and you'll figure it out. Anyway. I had a pretty great week! I'm proud to report that we've got three people on date for Baptism! Alejandro on the 10th, and on the 23rd, Dominic and Gabriela (Who we set the date with yesterday). They're all super awesome, and we're really excited to be able to help them progress towards this important covenant with God. We're especially excited because this area hasn't had a single baptism since January. So it's been a little while, to say the least. Also, our mission has a goal of 70 baptisms for the month of October, so we're trying our best to do our part. 

Other things: We started giving English Classes, as well as some piano lessons as well. It's a nice trade off, Elder Gutierrez plays the piano better than I do, but I speak better English. So we switch off who works with what skill level, and it all works out great in the end. We actually had quite the turn out for the English classes as well. We had over twenty people, and only half of them were members! Hopefully we can make something out of that. I'm also super excited because the ward asked us to help host a ward activity, and have me teach them how to make Chinese food. I can't wait for that, it's going to be a blast. 

So yeah, long story short, things are going pretty good around here. To conclude, a spiritual thought of which I have thought spiritually. The other morning while making breakfast, we were listening to some conference talks, and it really stuck out to me how incredible it is that we really are a church lead by living prophets. It's so important that we listen to their words, and do our best to live by them. And would you look at that, General Conference is this week! Sounds like a perfect opportunity! So, I expect you'll be watching. :) 

Hasta luego,

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:

1 - A curiously shaped potato

2 - Some amazing food the members brought on Sunday

3 - Trying to up our book sales 

September 21, 2021

 Hey everybody!

Today was crazy busy, so I'm gonna have to keep this one short. Actually, this whole last week has been crazy busy. :P We've been trying to have as many lessons as we can fit in with members and less actives to try to get people to actually come to church. Our wards here only had about 20 - 30 people showing up on Sunday. I think we're doing a pretty good job, though, because we managed to get fifty people to come in one of our wards. Still a work in progress, but the work is progressing, so that's good.

Other than that, not too much to report on, really. (Or at least, not that I have time to write about) Hopefully I can get a better email in next week. :P

See you all then!

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:
1, 3, 4 - Lots of great lessons with members 
2 - A cool mural we found 

September 14, 2021

 Hey everybody!

Honestly, after the flooding and the earthquake, not much actually went on this past week. Which I suppose is good, more earthquakes probably would have knocked the city to pieces from what I've seen. Fortunately, everyone around here was spared from that, and with the exception of the still very flooded Walmart, most of the stores are back in business as well. 

To be fair though, most of the people we've been teaching were a bit busy trying to clean and dry their houses to pick up the phone, so for the most part, we were working through Facebook and such. Another lucky break - our chapel didn't flood! So we were able to have church on Sunday no problem. 

And Monday was the last day of the cycle, so as per usual, we had transfers! I have remained where I am, but I've got a new companion, Elder Gutierrez. He's from San Luis Potosí, a city more or less dead center in Mexico, and he's about 18 months into his mission. And he speaks Spanish! So I no longer have to carry the lessons as hard. And honestly, I'm just glad to be speaking Spanish all the time again. (To be fair, he does actually speak a lot of English, but I've only been speaking Spanish) So yeah, I'm hoping to both improve my Spanish and just have another great cycle in general! 

And to wrap things up, a spiritual thought. This past Sunday, I had to give a last minute talk, because someone didn't show up to church. Always a fun assignment, especially in a foreign language. But you know, I did pretty well, thanks to two things. One, constant study. And two, having the spirit with me. So my message is, even if you aren't learning another language, that pattern still applies, whether it be studying the scriptures, for school, or anything. The key to understanding is constant study, and the spirit. So next time you want to learn something, say a quick prayer before you start! Trust me, it makes all the difference. :)

And that's all I've got for you this week. See you in the next one!

- Elder Blankenbiller 

Photos:

1 - Last picture as a Zone before transfers 

2 - My new companion and I 

3 - A lesson with an awesome member family who live right behind the church and sneak us food sometimes 

4 - Me, because someone asked me to prove I was actually in Mexico, and not just stealing other people's pictures and pretending I was there :P