Hermana Bloxham - General Conference!

Hey everybody!

Well, just like Nate, I had Leadership Council and got to listen to
General Conference this week! It has been am amazing week of learning
and growing in the spirit. Which means it was a very tiring week! Who
knew the spirit was so draining? Haha. It's awesome though!

In leadership council they introduced the monthly focus of our
district meetings which is going to be the Book of Mormon! My favorite
thing to study about! This book is amazing! There is so much power
within the pages of the Book of Mormon. Whenever we are studying about
it during district meeting, it helps all of us to be able to focus on
it with our investigators and less actives as well! I have a goal to
finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish before I come home! I'm pretty
sure I'll get it done! I'm in Helaman 5 right now! It's been a great
experience for me! I have learned a lot as I have been studying it in
Spanish! It's amazing how you can feel the spirit so strongly just by
reading a book! I know that there is a spirit found in the Book of
Mormon that cannot be found anywhere else. No matter how many times we
read it, it will give us new knowledge and we will be happier and
filled with the spirit and love of God. I challenge all of you to make
a habit of reading from the Book of Mormon daily! I know it will take
away the stresses of life and you will be able to put up a wall
between you and the adversary!

We had a huge miracle this week! We had a couple appointments cancel,
and we decided to go look up a less active and former investigator
that lived on the same street. As we were walking down the street, a
guy from inside a barber shop waved at us and asked us to come in!
Now, usually this is sketchy. It's usually full of black guys or
Dominican guys who just want to hit on you... But for some reason I
felt comfortable stopping and going in! Come to find out that the guy
who stopped us is a less active we have been looking for and our
bishop was asking us to find! His name is Carlos Silver. He is super
awesome! He has such strong desires to come back to church and to read
the Book of Mormon. He told us that he remembers liking the Book of
Mormon but just got busy with college and didn't keep going to church.
We are so excited that we got to find him! We had a our first lesson
with him yesterday and he wants his whole family to start coming back
to church and his dad to get baptized! So we have a new potential
investigator as well! Super sweet!

Wow, conference was amazing! I felt like every single talk was so
inspired and meant for me! I got to go to the last session of
conference in Spanish! It was really good! It's nothing like listening
in your native language, but I thought, hey, this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity, so why not do it!? I learned a lot, I think it
helped me to pay attention to the spirit and the promptings I was
receiving more than the words the prophets were speaking. It was
really cool. I wanted to share a couple of my notes I took during
conference from some of my favorite talks.


Elder Holland:
"As we are mocked, we only join the groups of prophets and leaders
who we look up to. If they could do it, why can't we? How bad do I
want it?"
"Being a disciple of Christ means being like him in all ways. The
good and the bad will come with it, but we will have more happiness
than we can imagine if we become his disciples."
"Be strong. Love the gospel. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and
with compassion, but defend them."
Linda S Reeves:
"Take responsibly for your own spiritual well being."
"Be strong in your beliefs and don't be afraid to stand up for what
you believe in."
Neil L Anderson:
With trust in God, our faith can become stronger through our trials.
We are capable of being strong even against the strongest winds of satan.
As we build our foundation on the Rock of Christ, the temptations
will have no power over us. (Helaman 5:12)
The Book of Mormon can be a shield against the temptations of the adversary
President Uchtdorf:
We should have an Overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.
We see gratitude as a way of life. That stands independent of our
current situation. We should try to be thankful In our circumstances
more than things we are grateful for.
The choice is ours. We can look at the things we lack, or we can be
like Nephi, and say, I did look unto my God and I did praise him all
the day long.
Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, then Stand
still and watch the arm of God do His work.
Be grateful in times of distress does not mean we are pleased with
our circumstances, but that we look beyond our problems with faith in
God.
President Monson:
Love is the very essence of the Gospel.
Kindness, patience, selflessness make evident the love in our hearts.
Recognize someone's need and respond.

I know that these men and woman are prophets and servants of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that they have been called of God to
teach us how we can return to love with him again. I love Him with all
of my heart and know, just as President Monson said, "Charity is the
life love of Christ, and whosoever shall be found possessed of it in
the last day, it shall be well with him.". I know that as we love Him,
we will love our neighbor. The pure love of Christ cannot be taken
away by Satan. It is too powerful. So, with the prophet, I invite all
of you to love one another. Think of others more than yourself and you
will see your life change for the better. I love you all so much and I
know that only through this a Gospel can we have true joy in this
life.

I love you!

Hermana Jessica Bloxham