Hermana Bloxham - What a week!

Hey family and friends!

 

The first thing I want to say is that I am so thankful for all of your support, letters and prayers! Second, white washing is HARD. Haha. We have been tracting, looking up formers and looking up less-actives for 2 weeks and had no successes. We found people who were at least nice to us and we could teach them on their porch but we could never get a follow up appointment. So entonces(then), we couldn't find new investigators forever!

 

Finally on Monday, we tried a new area and street that our Sister Training Leader told us to try. And we knocked on a door and a nice Mexican lady answered. We are getting better at our door tracting approach and trying to get a lesson in from the get-go but its hard haha. We finnaly did it and taught her a lesson AND, drumroll please, got a follow up appointment for the next day! So on Tuesday we went over to her house and taught her a real lesson about he Book of Mormon and got to know her religious background and everything. It was an awesome lesson finally!!!

 

The rest of the day yesterday was amazing!!!!!!!! We got 5 lessons! Our first lesson was with our new investigator, then we went and looked for people in a "big brick building" that we had a referal in and came to find that she was actually a member! So we got a lesson with a member! Then we went to look up a less-active and we actually got into her house and taught her a lesson and got to know her and her two adorable sons! Then we had a dinner appointment with a member and had sopes, which is like a homemade corn tortilla thing with beans, lettuce, sour cream and cheese on top, way better than a normal taco haha. So that's another member lesson and then we took the mom with us to another less-actives house and had a lesson with her and with a member! It was like a perfect day for us!

 

I am so thankful for this opportunity to have so many hardships because I can appreciate the good times even more now! I love my new companions! Hermana's Brog and Stringam are awesome! We laugh alllll the time and get lots of good work done while having fun haha. It's amazing what one good day of lessons can do for your faith!

 

Thank you all for everything you are doing for me out here in NY!! I love you all!!

 

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Hey!!!!

Hello family!!! Sorry about not giving you the heads up on Preparation Day being Wednesday instead of Monday, but i didn't know until Sunday! haha thanks for the heads up right? :)

     But anyway, to start it off, we got our transfer calls today and i'm getting transferred! I don't know where yet, but it's somewhere! haha!!!

     This last week has been amazing!!!! We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and i was with Elder Burt! He is so sick!!! We talk about fishing and hunting like the whole time, it's awesome! :) He is from Idaho, and when i get home me and him are going to shoot and fish like it's going outta style!! haha that's what he wants to do with me i guess!! But i mean, thats forever away :) 

     What i have learned this week is Patience, Faith, and Diligence. I gave a talk in church this last sunday and it was Alma 32: 41-43. It was such a fun talk to give and you know what? I learn more preparing the talk then i think the people get out of it! Being patient and allowing the Lord to put people in our path is probably the hardest thing. I think i should do all the work, but all i have to do is get out of the house and start applying myself. God has is elect prepared, we just need to find them! As we diligently talk with everyone, patiently waiting for the elect, then having faith that god will bring them to us, there will be people coming closer to Christ. Sounds like a simple thing, but sometimes god's will isn't aligned with ours... That's where patience plays a huge role. But as i learn and grow, the more patient i become.

     Then i thought about you guys at home. With bad things happening, like that dang boat, as we are patient with that, god fulfills the important blessings. Mission funds, living in the house, and putting food on the table. Those blessings, although we wish it was with everything, are the important ones. As we are diligently preaching the gospel to strangers, neighbors, and friends, miracles will appear. Soon enough this gospel will flood the earth and everybody will be boarding Noah's Arc! It just takes Patience, Diligence, and Faith. 

       I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!

-Elder Bloxham

This is my face while walking last week! it was like 98 we were told!! crazy!

Hermana Bloxham - First week of Westchester!

Wow its been a crazy week! I'm whitewashing this area which means we are both new to the area and don't know anybody and basically we need to just give this area a new fresh start. So we've been tracting.... all day, every day. We have had a few good lessons with the members of our branch. We have probably 30 people who attend our branch every Sunday and its crazy!

Its been a pretty crazy crazy time. We have basically been driving around like everywhere looking for Spanish people and not finding very many. So we are going to stick with White Plains area and just keep looking! It's been a super hard week for me but every day its getting better!

 

Sorry it's so short, I don't really have much to say about this week!

 

I love you guys so much!

 

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

 

 

Oh, and we got a new companion this Monday because her companion went home sick (hopefully she's coming back soon) but we are so excited to have her as a companion! Her name is Hermana Brog and she's super cool! We all 3 have lots of fun together! She's the same age as me in the mission so we're all mission babies haha

ummm... I'm not sure!!

New Apartment in Yonkers. Our area is in White Plains but we live in Yonkers, about 30 minutes away.

Elder Bloxham - Best Week Ever!!!!!!!!!

Ah man I am so excited to finally tell you about my week!!!! Hope your shoes are tied or else this will knock your socks off!! :):)

          So, Elder Martin and I were on exchanges this Wednesday and Thursday. On Wed. we had the greatest finding day ever! We found 3 investigators within 3 hours. I'll tell all about my day here in a bit. :) get ready!

        We had a training in Muncie all morning so we got back to Winchester at about 4 O'clock (Me and Elder Martin) Then took an hour lunch break till 5, then headed out to find! We started walking to Randy's house which is on the corner of Winchester which is good because we talk to everyone on the way to his house. We talked with this guy names Tim for about 30 minutes about the gospel and just his crazy life. He was a little interested, but said to come back in a week or so. He was just the start of our success that night. He lit the fuse :) We go see Randy, he wasn't home so we started heading back towards our house because we needed our Branch President to sign a paper for us, but on the way some guy pulled up next to us in his car and said who are you guys!? We told him our shpeal, and he said ahh your the Mormons!! Do you do this all the time? We said yeah we do this every day from 10 in the morning to 9 at night. He said, well then, I was saved about 5 months ago, but i still want to learn more from you guys! Funny that he is "saved" but it is what it is :) But it was crazy that he stopped in his car and talked with us, and we got a potential out of it! 

         Then we got about 4 houses down from our house and these 2 girls were on the porch, so we started chattin with them and they were way awesome! We told them who we are and what we teach and they were way interested!! So we asked them, "well would you mind if you teach you right now?" They were like yeah go right ahead! So we taught them the whole Restoration right then and there and got a return appointment, which again, hardly ever happens. Hardly ever. Ever. Then we go back and grab the paper that needed to get signed and we head over and get it signed. We walk out of his house and we were like uhh should we just drop this at the car? So we did and as we put it in the car, our neighbor started talking with us. So we were talking with him and his wife and daughter for about 10 minutes, then come to find out, their daughter was going through a divorce and wanted a change in her life. Thats when the Gospel comes in :):) We told her how it can help us through our trials and she wanted us to come back the next day and teach her about it. It was so amazing how that all happened within minutes!!! haha

          So Thursday we go to her house and teach her and then committed her to baptism. She said yes and then we set up a date of September 7th!! :) Her name is Brittany, and she is so amazing!!!

         The spirit of being obedient is key to success! Take Lehi for example!! 1Nephi 2:1-4 is when Lehi takes his family and heads out to the wilderness, not even knowing where he is going, but just goes. He was obedient and look at the miracles that happened! WHFTRACTP is so true dad, it's such a trend. Once we work hard, we follow the rules. Then when that happens, the spirit converts the people. Amazing.

I have a testimony of working hard and receiving blessings for it. Not only in missionary work, but in everything!! if we are diligently working hard, and following the rules, we will be blessed!!

Love you all so very much!!

-Elder Bloxham

So Connie's family moved just down the street to a cheaper house and it had a huge Bee infestation, come to find out, there is this massive beehive in the basement!!!! check this crap out!! I was so itchy from those creepy bees man.. You know i'm terrified of bees!!!!

This is my district

Me and Elder Barfuss in the car hahaha!!!

Hermana Bloxham - Wow, 3rd transfer!

Hey guys!

 

I'm just going to start this off with saying that I got transfered to another area today! Its upstate and I'm in a car! Crazy! This apartment has carpet and installed air conditioners and I haven't heard a single siren or train for all day!.... super weird haha.

 

Also, our area got closed down or actually another sister in our district is combining her area right now with ours so basically were getting white-washed! So we went to say goodbye to all of our "most importants".. aka. Mercedes of course ;)

 

We taught her a lesson and it went ok, we haven't seen her for like 2-3 weeks so she was kind of unfocused again which was sad... But then we told her we were leaving and that Sister Jensen would be taking over for us, and she said that this is a sign that this is the end of the road for me. I won't take lessons from anyone else but you two and the spirit is telling me that this is what i should be doing....... proabably the saddest experience ever!!!

 

Anyways, I got sent to Westchester with Hermana Stringham who is the same age in the mission as Hermana Cole, so only 1 cycle more than me, and she is so cool! Hermana Cole and I were bawling today when we said goodbye and that was soooooo hard and sad but now I'm on to a new adventure. I'm also white-washing this area, which means that they took out both of the old missionaries and put two new ones in who don't know anything about the area! So, its going to be a lot of tracting and finding! Crazy!

 

I feel like this letter is super all over the place but thats how I feel right now so its perfect haha

 

I know that the Lord puts us where we are supposed to be and no matter how hard life gets, He will be there to carry us through. I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you next week!

 

So for this week if you want to send me a letter, send it to the mission office! Because I don't know the address here yet!!

 

I love you guys so much!

 

Hermana Bloxham :)

Zone Meeting

Me and my new companion Hermana Stringham

Elder Bloxham - :) Hello Family!!

 I just finished reading those crazy stories from Bear Lake, and I tell you what, I thought it was just hilarious that you (mom) were hiding behind the truck and saw a pile of Puke!!! That's just par for the course!! Without fail!! Gosh that just gets me!! But i'm glad, all in all, that the trip was fun!

     This week has consisted of finding, finding, and more finding! It's been rough!! Tracting.is.not.my.friend. at all!!! We got rocked one of the days. To start it off it was raining, but we were like, eh, it will just pass. It didn't... But we tracted the corner of Winchester and it was terrible. We knocked on probably 30 houses, and out of them all, one lady talked with us, but didn't accept anything, and justified everything... Sooo, no success.. That made me just hate tracting. Forever. Haha, well not really, because we did it later that day!! haha, oh gosh.. But we have been having success. Hard work pays off!!! We have found a lot of people interested, and we are doing some pretty good teaching. It's been such a fast week!! I feel like yesterday I was e mailing you guys haha!! But, i am glad that it's preparation day and i can relax! But then, back to the grindstone!!

      It's amazing how hearing other peoples testimony builds yours. There was a guy from Muncie 2nd Ward that came to church yesterday (35 people baby!!) and he bore the most powerful testimony i think I've ever heard. He is originally from Australia, so he had a sick accent, but it sounded like i was listening to Uchtdorf speak to us. Not the same kind of accent, but i reminded me of him because of the accent of course, but the persuasive assurity that he had for this gospel enlightened my spirit immensely! He told us a story that hit home for me about the story i told about Hope a couple times ago. He was in Nauvoo (i dont know if thats how you spell it) and it was bitter cold. He was standing by the statue of Joseph smith and Hyrum smith on their horses as they took the ride to Carthage. He said he has never felt that warm sensation of the spirit, in that bitter cold day, than ever before. It reminded me of when i felt the spirit warming my soul after helping Hope. He said that he has never felt more sure that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is the true and only perfect book on the earth today. It's amazing to hear relatable experiences like that!

I love you so much!!!

     -Elder Bloxham

Hermana Bloxham - Almost the end of another transfer!

Wow, this week has FLOWN by! So fast that I didn't even write in my journal, so i'm not really sure what I'm going to write in this email. haha. All I know is that it has been soooo humid! Like I am honestly perma-sweaty! It's not even that hot but just so wet and muggy. Sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe because the air is so thick! Pretty crazy! But I love it haha

This week we actually had an investigator come to church! His name is Elido and he was a former investigator of other missionaries from about 2 years ago. He was dropped by them because he wasn't progressing and his whole family had lots of health problems. We have been teaching him and his family off and on for the whole time I've been here and its been really difficult to teach them because they are all on completely different levels of understanding and knowledge. But we went to visit them on a back-up plan and we had a member with us. Elido was home alone and we could go in and teach him because we had another female member with us! How inspired was that!? We finally got to actually teach him a lesson and find out how prepared he has been by the previous missionaries! He is so close to ready to be baptized but we just need to finish all of the teaching we need to do. He came to church this week for the first time! He was even there 30 minutes early! He told us that he has read the whole Book of Mormon and believes that it's true and he started reading it again for the second time recently! That's so amazing! 

It's so cool to be the missionaries who get to cultivate the seed that others have planted. And those missionaries don't even know the impact they had on him and how much they have helped us. That just gives me hope that even if we don't baptize anyone, we have planted seeds that others will be able to gather later on when the person is truly ready. 

I am so excited for all of the new focus on Member Missionary Work and I challenge all of you to help the missionaries out in your area and find them people to teach!

I love you all so much and I hope you can feel the love of God in your lives always!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

PS - I forgot to tell you guys this but in our meeting on Sunday morning with the bishop and other people I was called on to say the prayer, like always haha and he told me that I spoke completely without a gringo accent! sweet right?!  

Elder Bloxham - Cincinnati, Ohio Mission!!!!!!

 Starting today, i am now part of the Cincinnati, Ohio Mission! :) President Collins and Sister Collins are home now, and President Cleveland has owned up to the ropes!! President Porter is also in the building over in Cinci :) We get to meet him and the other missionaries from the other mission that will soon be part of this mission this Wednesday

! It's a two hour drive to Cincinnati from here... But hey, it is what it is!

       I can't even begin to tell you how amazing the Baptism was. Being able to put on my white pants, white tie, and white shirt. Walking into the waters of Baptism, escorting a daughter of God into the font and watching her new life begin as I raise my right hand. It's amazing the spirit that is felt when God knows his children are devoting their lives to serve him. Knowing that Connie is now a member of this church and can for the rest of her life, serve our Eternal Father in Heaven. The warm water hardly felt warm to the feeling i got while inside the presence of the Holy Ghost. Making that sacred covenant with our Heavenly Father not only changes Connie's life, but also mine. I can't wait until Hope gets to have that same experience.

       I can't wait to bring more people unto our Savior, and to have the presence of the Holy Ghost. It really has changed my life, and from the deepest part of my soul, I want others to feel that as well!! :) 

       

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for the constant support :)

Love,

       Elder Bloxham

This one is my sweaty face!! it was bloody hot!! 

This is how tall the corn is! it's only supposed to be knee high on the 4th of July, but it's like head tall!! haha

   

First Baptism!

Awesome, but dirty river! With awesome trees! When it rains a heavy rain the river gets way dirty!!