Hermana Bloxham - Where has the time gone?

Wow, the time is going by so quickly! This transfer ends next week and I feel like we just got here! It's insane! Hermana Stringam and I probably aren't going to stay together for another transfer... so sad! We could possibly get training calls to see if we are going to be training tonight! That would be crazy!

Anyways! Yesterday we had an amazing mission conference! We had an Elder from the 70 come and do a mission tour this week. His name is Elder Bruce R. Carlson and I learned so much!

As you know we have been focused on becoming a Consecrated or Sanctified mission. That starts with each one of us becoming consecrated individually and as companionships. To become consecrated it takes a lot of effort. Elder Carlson gave us 4 things that we can do to become what we want to become. 1. Smile. Be happy. The first thing that people see when they see you is your smile, so let them know that what you have makes you happy! 2. Focus. This enables us to live in this crazy world and still live the Gospel of Jesus Christ daily. For us it means to lock the world out of our minds and completely immerse ourselves in the work. 3. Obedience.  If we are not obedient, we can't receive blessings. So why not be obedient to all of the commandments and rules the Lord has set? 4. Open your mouth. Share the gospel! With EVERYONE! If we want to teach people we have to find them, and if we don't talk to everyone, we wont find them.

I am so thankful that our mission president has pushed us to becoming consecrated because it has allowed me to truly lose myself in the work. That is why time is going by so fast. I can't believe how fast it really is going and I know that it's just going to get faster. I am so thankful, just like Elder Bloxham said this week, for the Book of Mormon. It is central in our message and it should be central in our lives. I can't even put into words how much I love the Book of Mormon and those prophets who are "speaking from the dust" (Testimony of Joseph Smith) and are truly speaking to us today. I love my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ and I know that through the Book of Mormon we can grow to love Him even more. I love you all so much and am so thankful that because of all of you, I can be out here serving the Lord.

I love you so much!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Hello!!

This week has been so awesome! We had an awesome turn out at church yesterday! We had 6 investigators there!! So great! 

     I don't know if I told you, but we split the area to a Dayton North and a Dayton South. Elder Packer and I are in D-Town N. and the other Elders are D-Town S. But, for our area, we had 3 investigators at church, and the one that was the most amazing was Chessani. She is our neighbor at our apartment, and she is absolutely amazing!! It was her first time to church since we've been teaching her, and she did so awesome at church. She loved it and we loved having her. Then for the other Elders, a guy named Tim came. Tim has been getting taught forever. He doesn't want to pray because he thinks he should pray always, not just in times of need. So i guess he just is stubborn... But the Elders watched the Restoration video with him and he was about crying. He loved the video so much, and we think that is why he showed up to church.

      Elder Packer and I had an Intervention. :) He is getting homesick and he feels like he needs to go home, and that is when i had some mean intervene time! We read scriptures, parts of our Patriarchal Blessings, and he was bawling! It was so amazing, because that moment is a deciding factor for his whole mission. He always asks me, "when does it start to get fast?" and i told him, "once you get lost in the work, that is when time disappears." He had an epiphany, which was he wasn't working hard enough. And i compared it to Laman and Nephi. When they went to get the plates from Laban, they had 2 different approaches. Laman was doing it because he had to, Nephi was doing it because he loved the lord, and was doing it for him. Yes they both went in to get the plates, but Nephi diligently went after the plates. So i told Elder Packer to be like Nephi, not Laman, and he just started bawling. He knows he needs to change his perspective, and this was the time that it hit him.

     The Book of Mormon can help us in every aspect of our lives, as long as we apply them. Heavenly Father gave us the Book of Mormon for a reason, we cannot rest them. I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart and it is the heart of my testimony. That is how i know Joseph Smith is a Prophet, and that is how i know that this is the true church on the earth today. Reading from the Book of Mormon will help us in our everyday struggles and i can promise you that!!! :)

     I love you guys so much and i challenge everyone everywhere to read from the Book of Mormon every single day, no matter what and you will receive greater blessings and greater joy in life!

Love,

       -Elder Bloxham

Elder Bloxham and Elder Sunderland

Hermana Bloxham - Nail biting to the end!

Wow, this week has been amazing! We have taught Brenda probably 5 times since last Wednesday and she is doing amazing! We have only about 2-3 more lessons that we have to teach before she can get baptized and she is praying to see if this is really something she wants to do. We can already see such a change in her from 2 1/2 weeks ago to now. Before we started teaching her she was Atheist and wasn't happy at all. Now she tells us how happy she is and she is reading and praying every day. It's honestly amazing!

We have another investigator named Rosa Carpinteyo. We met her because one of the members brought her to church 2 weeks ago! We started visiting her and her 3 daughters, Maria, Zeta, and Zula. They are all so awesome! Rosa was studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses and her kids told her that they don't like them so she decided to come to church with her friend to ours! She really liked it and we have taught her 3 times since then! We actually got her to invite us over for lunch yesterday which is always a good sign! If they want to cook for you, your in hahahaha

But we have really loved teaching these investigators in this area. We have been working really hard to find the one who will be ready to be baptised this month, but we're just praying really hard and working as hard as we can and just hoping for the promises of the Lord to pull us through! Its getting close! We only have 2 Saturdays left for this month!

Please pray for all of us out here in NY NY North Mission!

I love you all so much and that you so much for all of your support!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Miracles happening in D-Town!

 We have had such an amazing week! Elder Packer getting settled into the missionary life; falling off his bike, hating his bike, and hardly any sleep. But he is doing great! It's fun to watch him change and grow as he gets better and better with the lessons we teach and the people we contact on the streets. So Elder Sunderland and I had an amazing epiphany the other day. Elder Packer IS Kramer on Sienfeld. He acts exactly like him, and is like right in your face about everything and is so intense about everything he does! I get a kick out of it! haha!!

     The miracle that happened this week is finding Garryon. We were walking home from the church at 8:00 and adam (a member) wanted us to walk him home. So we reluctantly walked him to the corner of his street and then made our way home. As we were about to our house, we saw this guy that had a big garbage bag and poles sticking out of it, and he was trying to ride his bike while holding it... So we ran over to him and asked if he needed help carrying anything, and he said "man, i've been moving everything to my new house all by my bike." He had spent 3 days hauling everything from his old house to his new house all by his darn bicycle!! So we offered to help him out but he said if he needs anything he'll give us a call. So we go up to the apartment and get our planning done and then we get a text from Garryon that says "You guys are a blessing, i hope you have a blessed night." So we text him back saying thanks, and we were happy we were able to see him that night. All night i had a thought in my mind to call him and ask him if he needed help moving. I called him the next day and asked if he needed any help and he said that would be greatly appreciated. He had a big refrigerator that he needed a truck to move it, so we got that figured out and met him at his house. ok, so we get all of the moving done, that's not the miracle part, But it's what happened the next day. We went over and taught him and his family the message of the Restoration. As i was saying the first vision, (this has never ever happened before) they stopped me and said "NO WAY! Garryon had that same experience" I was like wait a minute i'm not done... hahahah!!! But then i asked if he'd share that experience with us. When he was 6 years old, he wanted to go to church, but didn't know how to go about any of it. His mom was crazy, he didn't have any family to take him, and he was scared. One night, 2 people appeared to him. He said it was the brightest thing he has ever seen, and it was brighter than the sun. He said if it was anything else it would have hurt his eyes, but it didn't hurt his eyes. He told us that he couldn't see their faces, but he knew who they were. He couldn't see their mouths, but he saw them talking to him. God, and Jesus Christ came to him and told him that everything was going to be alright, and he will soon be going to church. He said the same thing that Joseph said, "I knew it, and i knew that God knew it, and i couldn't deny it." He doesn't tell people that story anymore because people don't believe him. He told his mom, and his mom thinks he's crazy. I felt the spirit when he was telling us, and the spirit testifies of truth. Garryon has been prepared. He has been given 4 different copies of the Book of Mormon, but he hasn't known what to do with them. He knows that we are in his life for a reason, and i know that we are in his life for a reason.

     When i was seeing all this happen, i felt like ammon when he was converting King Lamoni. He started by serving. Then he allowed the spirit to testify. It's amazing what God does, and it's amazing to be a messenger for him!!

 

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

 

-Elder Bloxham 

Hermana Bloxham - Taking steps into the fog...

This week has been really good! We have truly been seeing the blessings of the September Baptism goal and we are feeling more trusted from the Lord. We had the baptism of the Rodriguez family from Elders Hurst and Meek (the elders that work in our branch with us) this last weekend and it went amazing! We had Brenda come and she really liked it! We had the opportunity to teach her 4 times last week which was amazing! She is really progressing and she wants to learn. We have been amazingly blessed to be able to have the spirit with us while we are teaching her and He has put His words into our mouths more times than I can even count. 

I have learned on my mission about the importance of baptism. Before my mission I think that I just thought it was what happened when we were 8 and that's it. But now I think that I can truly understand the real significance of the opportunity we have had to be baptized into this amazing Gospel. Baptism is truly just the first of many covenants we make to show our love to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. It is the door or gate to the path toward Eternal Life and we have the chance to have the "Iron Rod" or the Word of God to guide us through our hard times. 

This morning I was studying about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are going to be teaching that today, and I received so much new knowledge and it's so amazing that even as we study just the basic beliefs of our church, we can learn so much. One of my favorite scriptures I read today was in Ether 12:6 which says  "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

It's like we are walking in a really foggy day. We can see right around us but its scary to keep moving because we can't see very far ahead, but as we walk forward, with faith, we are able to see more and see things that we didn't even know were there. As we go through this foggy life, we have to make lots of wrong turns but as we take steps into the darkness or into the fog we will be able to see a much bigger picture of life and be able to see the hand of the Lord in our lives.

I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to be a missionary in this time of spiritual fog, and I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who is always right beside me leading me through the darkness. I love The Savior with all my heart and I know that He lives and that without Him, we would be nothing. Thank you all for everything you do for me out here on my mission and all of your support! I love you all so much!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Week 1... of the next transfer :)

Oh my gosh this week has gone by so fast! I say this every time, but seriously it just gets faster!! I have some missionary information to start off! So i am now training Elder Packer, he is from Fort Worth Texas and he is a visa waiter.... So do you know what that means? I get to learn Portuguese!!! Elder Packer has his mission call to Brazil, and is lucky enough to get to serve in Dayton, which is way better than Brazil! (We tell them that every day :) ) But it is awesome serving with him, and he has so much energy and life in him, it makes the work so fun! Also, this transfer i was called as District Leader, and little did i know, that means i'll not be sleeping as much as my poor body needs! But i guess there is no turning back now! But it has been fun, and what is cool is Elder Elquist and I talk every night, sending in numbers and such, so it's just like Winchester! But it's great, and i love it so much!

     So funny story, we went to the Pawn Shop to check out bikes for the new missionaries, and as we were riding them around, seeing how they felt, Elder Packer jumps on and is all wobbly, and the guy who owned the store said, "What is it your first time riding a bike?" haha, but once he got going he was fine.... We then had an appointment that we got to ride our bikes to, so we head out for the first bike ride! We were riding along and i look back to make sure he is close by, and he was like way back there! I was like oh crap i gotta wait. He eventually rides up and was like sorry... I crashed... I was like what!? hahaha how did you crash? We were just on the sidewalk!? And he said i was trying to catch up and my pant leg got stuck and then the next thing i know i was on my stomach!.... Haha, he was fine, but i wish i could have seen him in action! He's getting better, i'm teaching him how to shift into different gears :)

     There is so much going on here in Dayton, and i love every second of it! I  learn so many new things every single day, and my testimony grows so much as well! I love being a missionary, i love serving in Dayton, i love my Companion, and i love serving the Lord! it's an amazing privilege to be able to be out as a representative of Christ, and knowing that i can bring this Gospel into other peoples lives just makes me that much happier!

I love you so much!!!

         -Elder Bloxham

Hermana Bloxham- What a week!

I just wanted to start off telling you guys about a goal we have as a mission! Our mission president has extended a goal for all of the companionships in the mission to have a baptism in September! It's a crazy goal and we have been working really hard for it! But we know that we can't do it by ourselves, so I just wanted to get it out there and ask all of you guys to pray for us, Hermana Stringam and I, and us as a mission! It's an amazing goal that is completely Faith driven and I know that with all of your help we can do it! 

We have seen miracles this week already as a result of this goal! Wow. This week has been amazing! We have 4 legit investigators now and they are actually progressing! We had 2 of them come to church this week! One is named Rosa and she was a member referal, I don't remember if I told you guys about her or not, but she's from El Salvador and she is Evangelical...  I think that's what it is in English haha. She reminds me a lot of Mercedes from Olmstead! But she came to church and has a lot of potential! She loves the lessons we have been teaching her and we extended a Baptism invitation to her last lesson and she said she still needs to learn more but that she definitely likes what we are teaching and wants to learn more!

The other investigator we had at church is named Brenda. She's 14 and is a member referal also! She came to church with one of our favorite members and she's her niece.. she's legit. We extended a baptism invitation to her as well but she said no..... haha but she said that she isn't ready and doesn't want to do anything until she is ready, which is exactly what we want! 

I know we shouldn't have favorite investigators but I do haha her name is Oriana! She has a daughter named Ariel. She's only 7 but she is amazing! We are teaching them together and last week we taught the Plan of Salvation. I have always been nervous teaching the Plan of Salvation because it is so hard to simplify it when there is so much you know? But we have been working on it this week and we have really been blessed with the ability to teach it in the way that the people need it. We asked Oriana and Ariel if they would want to be baptised and follow the example of Jesus Christ and they both said they would but that Oriana is not ready yet. It's so amazing how the Lord has been preparing these people for us and we just had to wait for our time to teach them. 

I know that the Lord can give us anything we need, if we just ask. We have been given the ability to choose, and with that comes tons of obstacles, but the Savior is always right there waiting for us to ask for his help. I am so thankful for the Power of Prayer and the ability we have to use it whenever we need it!

I love you guys so much!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Great Week!!!

This week has been so amazing!! We have been having so much success and so many humbled nice people here in Dayton! I love it so much!

     So we got transfer calls this morning and..... I'm staying in Dayton with Elder Sunderland... AND, we are both training new missionaries!!!!!!!!!! So we will be staying in our apartment with 4 Elders, and 2 of them will be fresh off the cargo!! Man, this is so amazing!! I also believe i am going to be the District Leader, I will find outtomorrow in transfer meeting. But it is so amazing!

      President Porter asked us how many baptisms we were expecting to have this month and we told him 3. He told us that he wants us to spit out 8 this month.... WHAT!? I think he has some faith in the 4 of us don't you? But we have one coming up this weekend, Aubrey McIntyre, she is Kelly McIntyre's daughter, she is 11 years old. Then we are working with this kid named TJ. He smokes, and loves his coffee, but he is already changing. He used to smoke about 2 packs a day, now he smokes 1 pack every 3 days. He is doing so awesome!!!! He's 20 years old, and has been smoking since he was like 14. But we had an amazing experience with him yesterday! :)

       We went over to TJ's house yesterday and we wanted to read from the Book of Mormon with him. He can't read because his eyes are so bad that he can't see the words! haha, so we got him the Book of Mormon on tape and we listened to it with him. We were sitting in his room because his roommate was playing xbox in the other room and was loud. But, we listened to Ether 12, which is all about faith. We throw it in and start listening to it. We were on verse 4 which talks about how Christ is our Anchor, and he had the remote for the t.v and he paused it and said "Wow, do you guys feel that? I feel like the Holy Ghost is in here with us, RIGHT. NOW..." As he was saying that all i could do was look at him and smile because i was feeling the same thing. He said, "I have never felt like this before? How can i feel this all the time??" We told him that when he is baptized, he will feel that again, and can always feel that. It was such an amazing experience because he is going through such a hard time right now and for him to calm his mind and to feel the Holy Ghost like he did, has changed his demeanor. He wants to be baptized, like right now. But we won't do it until he is perfectly ready for it!

       Amazing things are happening here in Dayton, and I am so privileged to be a part of it!!

Love,

       -Elder Bloxham