Hermana Bloxham -

Hey everybody!

This week we had a lot of really great break-through lessons with people. We have had amazing experiences with people really learning to trust us as representatives of Jesus Christ. I know that by myself these people would never have the trust and confidence in me that they do, I am just a 21 year old girl! Its amazing to be able to make a difference in peoples lives and I have been given so many opportunities to learn how to trust the Savior! I am so thankful for this learning and teaching opportunity I have in my life right now and for all of the opportunities I have had to learn and grow with Hermana Livingston these last couple weeks! I am so thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for everything in my life! I know that without Him nothing is possible, but with Him, even the impossible is possible! Sorry this one is so short but this week has been amazing!!

I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love, Hermana Bloxham

PS.. Since we are now online proseliting missionaries I would love it if any of you have anyone that you think would need a message about Jesus Christ! I am so thankful for all of your love and support!

Elder Bloxham - Heyy!!!

This week was so awesome!! We had a lot of miracles happen and it was just a fun week! We had zone conference this week, which was awesome, and President Porter gave us a training. Last zone conference he gave us a training on Anti, and this time he gave us a training on stress and how to control it. Well, and missionary work stuff.. But what was funny is last time, when he gave us that training, we had all sorts of anti and losing investigators. This time, it being stress, we were like oh no.. What is going to happen this time. We eventually figured out that we have 2 baptisms in our branch that week, and that one of the investigators getting baptized, Yvonne, was trying way hard to stop smoking and also wasn't answering the other Elders phone. They were so stressed out! Go Figure!!! They call us and tell us all about how President Porter needs to watch what he's training us on because he's foretelling our next week! They finally came in contact with her, and she hadn't been smoking!!! 

             This Saturday we were privileged enough to have 2 baptisms in our wonderful Branch. Yvonne Mudjiono, and Julie McIntyre. The baptismal service went wonderfully, and Elder Klodnicki and I sang at it. Elder Sunderland asked if we would, so we did! I was so charkin nervous!!! Ahh, but we actually did really well :) Then Aubry, Julie's sister, saw her baptism and told us that she wants to get baptized as well. Aubry will be baptized this saturday! :)

              I read the email from Elder Cantwell and it made me so happy! Never in a million years did i think that we would be talking like we do. Elder Cantwell saying that he has never been as happy as he does living the Gospel. I, Elder Nate Bloxham, also say that... I hardly went to church!!! haha and when i did i was walking in late to the sacrament table with sleep still in my hair! Now i can honestly say that church is the greatest time of every week. I think about when i get home and how excited i get to do the missionary work in the Sojo Ward!!! Reading from the Book of Mormon is a hobby of mine now. I love it so much. I can't believe i couldn't figure this out earlier! But i always think this. I wonder if i would have the love I do for the Book of Mormon, if i didn't come to know it was true in the way that i did. I can remember the exact time it was revealed to me! I was sitting in the MTC classroom and i was striving to read and finish the whole thing. When i read 3 Nephi chapter 11, that is when the spirit filled the room and dwelt inside of me allowing me to know that it is true. I am glad i came to know it was true while i was out here because I don't take advantage of it. I can honestly proclaim to anybody that the Book of Mormon can and will change their life. They just have to allow it to.

       I love serving this mission! It brings perfect joy, as well as times of sorrow. The hard work i put in, is relieved as i watch the investigators enter the waters of baptism. :)

     Thank you so much for your love and support :)

Love,

       Elder Bloxham 

Hermana Bloxham - Wow, what a week!

First things first! Brenda has a baptismal date!!! For November 15th! On Thursday we were doing weekly planning and we decided to pray to see what date we would invite her to be baptized on. So, we wrote down all of the Saturdays for the next month or so. Then Sister Livingston started to pray and in my mind I saw a calendar in my head with a day in red. And I thought of the 15th. So after the prayer I looked at the calendar on our phone and the 15th was right where I had seen in my mind. And it was a Friday and not a Saturday which is different. So we were just like, ok so the 15th it is! haha. Then we went over to teach Brenda that night and asked her the baptismal interview questions without her knowing what they were and she answered yes to all of them! And so we asked her to be baptized on November 15th and she said yes!!! She said, "usually I would fight this and say I don't feel ready but I actually feel really good about this!" It's so amazing!! The Lord really knows what He is doing and tells us through the Spirit and we just have to be ready to hear it!

Yesterday we had a zone conference and learned that we are 1 of 25 missions who are going online! We are officially authorized to use Facebook and Skype to teach lessons, find new investigators, and to confirm and share the gospel! It's so crazy!! So we are probably going to start using it tonight and getting it all ready to be used for missionary work so it'll be soon!!! I'm excited!

I love you all so much and I am so thankful for all of your prayers because I know that I and all of the other missionaries in the world couldn't do this work without all of your support so thank you!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - Last week was the calm, and this week was the "Perfect Storm"

 This week has been so amazing! Gosh, i can't believe the miracles we've had!! I want to start by saying how absolutely wonderful Kelly Wright's Baptism was. I don't think i've ever felt the spirit so strongly as i had there, at that baptism. The Atonement has truly worked within Kelly. She has been through so much in her life, and her being baptized, has given her that spiritual renewal and spiritual confidence, knowing that she will have the member of the Godhead always with her. She is absolutely amazing!

       The missionary work was awesome this week too! We were walking down the street and every single person we talked to was interested in hearing our message. Compared to last week, we talked to everybody, and nobody was interested at all. Last week was the calm, and this week was the Perfect Storm. God had specifically prepared people for us. It was absolutely amazing to see and be a part of.

       Julie McIntyre is most likely going to be baptized this saturday. She is ready and so excited! We are also excited to see her take this step in being baptized. We are hoping that Aubry will see Julie being baptized and will want to as well, but we will only have to see what happens.

        I know that this was all done because of your prayers and support. Heavenly Father has really blessed us so much!! We could be having baptisms every weekend for 3 weeks! I love serving a mission so much, and being a tool in our Saviors hands to bring people unto him. This is a privilege  as i tell everybody who asks. "You HAVE to do this for 2 whole years??" No, we GET to do this for 2 years and it's a privilege to do this work!

        Thank you again for all your love and support!!!

Love,

        Elder Bloxham

Elder Sunderland

Elders Klodnicki, Bloxham, Sunderland

A big rainstorm, view from our apartment

Kelly Wright's Baptism

Hermana Bloxham - Time just keeps on runnin!

Man, I can't believe how fast time is going by! Sister Livingston and
I are already on our 3rd P-Day together! I feel like we just got back
to our apartment on her first day haha. It has been awesome to learn
and teach beside her these last 3 weeks! I am so thankful for the
opportunity to be the trainer here! I just keep remembering my first
few weeks, not being able to understand Spanish, not knowing how to
teach at all, and being completely confused about the area and the
buses! Now, I can just get around wherever I want and I can understand
everything without trying. It's truly amazing that after only 7 months
that I can speak Spanish!! It's such an amazing gift from my Father in
Heaven!

Little up-date on our investigators...

Brenda is doing good. She came to church again but she still has lots
of really deep questions and doesn't fully understand the simple
stuff. So we are working on that slowly but surely haha. She loves
learning about the facts and the in-depth information and really
understands it but can't build her testimony because she doesn't
really have anything to build on.... so we are working on that! We
have taught her everything that we have to teach her before baptism so
now we are just teaching what she needs to progress to that!

Oriana is awesome too! We got to see her like 4 times since last
Wednesday haha. We saw her Friday and Saturday night at Brenda's
house and we got to meet her husband! And actually talk with him and
all of them together. It was awesome! He got to see that we are really
just normal people and not crazies haha. She finally downloaded the
Book of Mormon on her IPod so she can read it easier and we invited
her to read it in Spanish first because we have been teaching her in
English with her daughter but it's always so much easier to understand
in our native language! She is doing awesome though! She even helped
explain some of the things we were teaching to Brenda on Saturday!
It's sweet!!

Besides that, there isn't much happening!

But, guess what!?!?! It's so awesome haha

We were looking up a potential investigator and she didn't open the
door but her friend did. She is from Colombia and was super nice! We
were just talking a little bit about her friend and about us and our
church and stuff and all the sudden she asks me if I'm from Mexico!
She said, wow, you're Spanish is so good! I thought you were from
Mexico! Then on Monday we were at the mall for lunch with our Zone,
and we know this lady who we are trying to teach as well who works at
the mall. So we were talking to her and she asked me if Spanish was my
first language! haha I about died and thought she was kidding but she
was serious! She said, your Spanish is so good! I can't believe it's
not your first language! Can you believe that! It's soo cool!!

Haha, anyways, thats about all that happened this week! What did you
all think of conference! It was AMAZING!!!

Well, I love you guys so much and I hope you have an amazing week and
I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Elder Bloxham - End of the Transfer

 Man this week has been weiird.... We've been having some trials about ourselves and we don't understand it! We've lost investigators, families, and now we have to re-start. We used to be teaching all the time, and things were going great, but this past week has been the complete opposite.. Lessons falling through, people canceling, and it's getting out of control. There must be something great that is about to happen because satan has a strong hold on the hearts of these people.. But, our heads are held high, and this next week we are going to do awesome!

    So another transfer down, and i'm cruisin' along thats for sure!! it's been 5 transfers i think, i can't really remember, but about 7 1/2 months? haha i don't really know, but whatever the time is, it's been crazy fast. I don't know what it's like for you guys at home, but for me, if the time keeps rollin like this, i'll be coming home before we know it!! But it is good, I just love Dayton!

     Yet again, Elder Packer's tire is flat. We've patched it several times, and yet, he still has to pump it up every time we get out of a lesson... Oh, and he fell off his bike again and almost got hit by a car... Crazy kid!!! I swear, if he keeps doing things like this he'll never make it to Brazil! Trials upon Trials for this kid, i tell you what. He is homesick, his bike keeps falling apart, and to put the cherry on top, he keeps falling off.. haha, but he's keeping his head held high and this next transfer we are going to buckle down and "baptize the hell out of them and give them Heaven" What Elder Irwin says.

     I hope everything is going great for y'all, Jess i love you so much and keep working hard!! I wish i could serve side by side with you and convert the East side of the U.S :) I love you so much and you mean the absolute world to me!!! Byeee!!!

Love,

       Elder Bloxham

Hermana Bloxham - 7 Months down!

Wow, I hit and passed right through my 7 month mark on my mission! I
can't even believe it! The time is going by way too fast! As I was
watching conference this weekend I thought about the last time I
watched it, I was in the MTC! I feel like I just got out here to NY
and it has already been 6 months! But when I look back I feel like its
been ages since I've been away from home! I have learned so much about
the Lord and about myself and it doesn't seem possible that it has
only been a short 7 months.

Something super funny/crazy/sad happened this week and I hope that the
words I try to use can portray the moment haha.

So we were in New Rochelle helping with something called and APF which
is when we all go to one companionships area and help them find people
to teach. So this Friday we had a General Conference APF to try to get
some people to come to conference! So we were walking around knocking
on doors and we knocked on this one door and a lady came out. I said,
Hi were the missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints. She said, I don't have time right now, I just had a death in
my family, ok bye and started walking away into her house and all I
could get in was that I know that our message can bless her family and
life. Then the door was slammed in our faces. I started to walk away
and noticed that Hermana Livingston wasn't behind me.. So I look back
and she said, I can't leave I have to talk to her. I told her that she
was just going to be mad if she knocked on the door again, but she
couldn't leave. So she rang the doorbell again and the lady came back
and Hermana Livingston tried to say something about the Plan of
Salvation but the lady just yelled at us to get off her property or
she would call the cops! And she said, "seriously, get off my property
right now, I'm not kidding. I can't believe you." and slammed the door
in our face again. First shut down for Hermana Livingston haha. It was
actually kind of funny for me but sad for her hahaha

Anyways! Yesterday we had Mission President Interviews and he told me
that in the next couple of transfers we were going to have 26 new
missionaries coming in, 2 of them elders and the rest are sisters! Can
you believe that!?!?! It's so crazy!! He told me to make sure that
Hermana Livingston was ready to train really soon! Ahhh! How crazy is
that!?! Super sweet!

We kind of got in contact with Jani, the awesome first lesson we had a
long time ago with the Dominican lady, and we just said hi and got a
return appointment for tonight, so hopefully we can teach her tonight!

Brenda is doing amazing! We had an awesome lesson with her and she is
praying about baptism again and said that she feels like she is
talking to a best friend when she is praying and that she loves the
Book of Mormon. She is so close, I know it! I am so excited for her!!

Besides that, conference was amazing of course! I had a few questions
that I wanted to have answered and every single one was answered so
perfectly! I loved the talk by Elder McConkie about teaching. It was
so perfect for missionaries and for members who serve in teaching
callings. The conference had something for everyone I know it and I am
so thankful that we have living prophets today to lead and guide us in
our lives. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the prophet who
recieves revelation for each of us in the church and I am so thankful
to Joseph Smith to start this dispensation. I love this Gospel so much
and I love all of you! Thank you for all of your love, support and
prayers!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Ohio Plates!!

Creepy head prank

At the temple

Central Park

FAO Shwartz

With the Ward Mission Leader before he went to the DR

 

The girls in our zone

Sister Richey from St George, she was ready to go home

Elder Hurst and Meek and me with Hermana Stringam

Hermana Stringam and all her companions and me with Hermana Livingston

 

 

Elder Bloxham - Conference!!!!

 Oh my gosh, Conference was absolutely amazing!!! Every single talk was so inspiring, and answered so many questions that i had going into it! It's amazing to look back over your notes and realize what things they said and were inspired to instruct us on. Elder Uchtdorf never ceases to impress, but the talk that i thought was so amazing was Elder Bednar's talk on Tithing. The whole talk was absolutely amazing and he is an absolute Stallion with his word placing and emphasis. Then just to top it off, at the end of his talk he tells everyone who isn't paying a full and honest tithe, must repent and change their ways. Ahh, it's so amazing that he is able to stand as a witness and rebuke the members who have become lax. The spirit that is felt while watching it is unforgettable. I couldn't even imagine what it is like being there with them live and listening to the amazing tabernacle. Then, President Monson says, "I am going to go back tonight and write in my journal that this has been the most spiritual session of General Conference he has been a part of." and you have to remember, he has been in the quorum of the 12 and presidency for 50 years. That is pretty special.

     The missionary work goes on! It has been raining like crazy, and the river is filling up and up!! The rain here is just so crazy! It just keeps on going forever!! It started raining at 7 in the morning one of the days and didn't stop until 3 in the afternoon! (It's kinda crazy that i'm up that early in the day to know when it had started :) ) But it's out of control. And it's not just a light rain, oh no, it's a downpour the whole time. I love it!! We have 3 kids lined up for baptism this weekend, Julie, Aubrey, and Marcus McIntyre. We baptized their mom and she wanted the kids to find it for themself, and we think they have. Julie wants to be baptized so she can go with the branch on a temple trip, and she wants to go inside rather than just looking at the outside. She's awesome! Keep this family in your prayers that it will carry onward and they will be able to enter the waters of baptism and make these sacred covenants with our Father in Heaven.

     I love you guys so much and hope you have a 'blessed' day! (Says all the black ladies in our apartment)

Godspeed!

-Elder Bloxham

Hermana Bloxham - What a week!

I have had a crazy week. Full of stress, worry and successes. We saw a
huge miracle yesterday while we were getting ready for Sister Stringam
to be transferred. I had text one of our investigators that morning
but I didn't expect to receive anything back because we hadn't been
able to contact her for about a week and a half. But to our amazing
surprise, we got a call and a message from her! We called her back and
were able to go visit her and say good-bye for Sister Stringam. We
hadn't seen her in a week and a half and she was still awesome! She
told us that her phone hadn't been working and that she wondered where
we were! That is just a testimony of how we should always try harder
to get in contact with those who we seem to  have lost for a little
bit. It was such an amazing miracle to see her again after that long
and be able to help her to feel of the spirit again!

We have also been teaching Brenda still! She had a really hard week
last week and we thought we were about to lose her but we finally had
her open up to us and we figured out what her real worries were, so
now we have the opportunity to truly help her with what she needs. She
is still doing amazing and is still really interested in learning and
I am so excited to see where she can go from here!

Oriana is doing good as well! We got to go visit her and we met her
Sister In-Law Candi who is a less-active and she told us that she
wants us to come by and teach her as well! So we just found someone
who we didn't even know existed! It's so crazy how the Lord works and
prepares people for His missionaries! Oriana has a desire to learn and
to do everything but her husband doesn't want her to come to church
and she has a really hard time understanding the Book of Mormon. So,
we are trying really hard to think of ways we can help her understand
better!

Some crazy news is that I'm training a new missionary! Her name is
Sister Livingston and she is from Lindon, UT! She seems really
awesome! Hard worker and ready to help these people and just hit the
ground running! I am so excited to learn and grow with her in these
next 12 weeks!!

I just want you all to know that I know this church is true and that
we are all here because we chose to follow God's plan. We are all
entitled to live forever but it is our choice HOW we want to live
forever. All of our choices have been given to us by God and I know
that He is here for us in every step of the way! I love Him and I know
that He loves each and every one of us perfectly! I love you all and I
am so thankful for all of your prayers in my behalf!

Love, Hermana Bloxham :)

Gonzalez's were able to get permission from the Mission President to pay Hermana Bloxham a visit in White Plains!!

The Gonzalez Clan with Jess

Twins and Jess - Best Friends and room mates at Snow

Hermana Bloxham and Stringam

Jess and Amber

Elder Bloxham - Some crazy stories....

  I guess there has to be opposition in all things right? Yeah, you're right... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the most and greatest Anti than any other church. We are constantly being persecuted, ridiculed, and accused of false doctrine. When we are the only church that has the fullness of the most correct Doctrine of any church, and that is why people try to prove us wrong, day in and day out. On two separate occasions this week we have been accused of believing that Jesus Christ isn't the Son of God. Which is completely wrong. He is the Son of God, and the one leading and running our church. I don't know how people can confuse that?

     Garryon and Tanesha got a hold of anti. They told us that they shouldn't even let us inside their house because of the abominations we believe in. No matter what we told them, they denied it. No matter how many times I testified, they would deny the Holy Ghost. Garryon thinks that the reason we came in contact with him in the first place is because HE had to convert US because we will go to hell if we keep believing in the "Mormon". I don't understand... We have higher standards. We believe that the only way is in and through Jesus Christ, and matter of fact, so do they?.... Satan has a hold of many of the people's hearts, and the only way he will become pried off of their heart is by reading the Book of Mormon. This is my testimony. The Book of Mormon has more power in it that any other thing ever. There is more power in the Book of Mormon, than if you were to get struck in the head with lightning, you still would feel the uttering power of the Book of Mormon. God has all the power, and has given us this book to show that. They threw out the book. They said they wanted to burn the book at the stake because of it's blasphemy. But, that is why we bear testimony. The testimony will be recorded by the Angels to stand as a witness. I know these things. I am rooted to the ground and, like you said mom, i am steadfast and IMMOVABLE. (Alma 1:25) Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be saved. A very common misconception is that we can be "saved" already. False. We cannot be saved until Jesus himself says we are. Satan is the author of confusion, and has a hold on the minds of many... Bear testimony, live the gospel, and dare to be a Mormon!

      We will receive Anti, because satan know's the truth. We know the truth, so stand by it!

 

I have a testimony of this Gospel. I have a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. Without these things, you will be lost, but with these things, you will find complete and everlasting happiness!!

 

Much love,

 

-Elder Bloxham