Happy Halloween!!

Hey! 

This week was epic! 

Monday, we made arrowheads at a members house. They live out in Big Water which is in Utah, but they are still in our ward. We chipped the arrowheads out of glass and a few cuts later we were successful! Brother Brewer made them into necklaces for us, but they are really sharp so it is hard to wear. 

Also, this week we had zone conference in Tuba City. President Batt and his wife are AWESOME. I love them so much! I am so happy to be in this mission. I will miss it so much when I have to go. The people are just so great. Anyway, I learned a lot about teaching simply and using the pictures in the pamphlets to teach the lessons. The pictures say so much and teach so much more than I had ever thought before. When we first meet with people, we talk about the picture on the front of the restoration pamphlet with Christ holding the sheep. It totally sets up the restoration and brings the Spirit when we talk about it. We usually ask what they see in the picture then how they feel about it. Those answers help us to know their relationship with God and it just perfectly leads into the message of God is our loving heavenly father. 

Also at zone conference, I met my Sister Training Leader Sister Ferrell. She is awesome! She came back to Page with us to go on exchanges, so I got to spend a lot of time with her. She also brought her two other companions so we had 6 sisters in our apartment but it was so nice because we went on splits and got so much work done! 

That night, we taught tons of lessons and made our way to the chili cook-off for 3rd ward. I don't know if I mentioned this yet but we have 2 wards that we are over so we are always busy. Anyway, right before the cook-off I went to go invite a part-member family (Lavinia and Nate- I talk about them a lot because they make me so happy). They came and the ward totally welcomed them and it was awesome. 

One of the members, Brother Tubman also brought two non-members to the cookoff. He basically went tracting by himself the night before because he was handing out fliers for the cookoff and invited these two girls. They came and they want to meet with the missionaries! So member missionary work WORKS! You never know who wants to hear about the gospel until you ask!

Also, one of the amazing experiences was with Lavinia this week. We had asked her to pray aloud at the end of the lesson and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. She said, "This sounds funny but the sisters asked me to ask you if the Book of Mormon is true... Is the Book of Mormon true?" She couldn't even wait for an answer. Right after that, she said, "I know it is true." We were all crying because the Spirit was so strong. She reads the Book of Mormon all of the time, and I know that she has a testimony of it. She said that she doesn't even enjoy watching TV anymore when she is overwhelmed or is sad because she would rather read the scriptures. She has so much faith! She also reads with her 4 kids/babies every morning and night. She is such an example to me. I know that I was supposed to be here so I could meet her. She came to church this Sunday and, after 3 hours, she said that she didn't want to leave. The gospel has changed her life so much and the life of her family. Her boyfriend Nate came to church too; it was epic because he is less active and she is the example for him. I also felt like a proud mom because the ward was awesome and tons of people welcomed them to church and took them to the meetings. 

Overall, I love Page. Mostly because I already love the people so much. The members are so good to us and the people that we work with have so much faith. Being a missionary is hard work but it is the most rewarding work in the world! I promise. 

Hopefully, some of our investigators will be able to resolve their legal issues so they can get baptized! 

Love, 

Sister Bledsoe

Sister hansen! (old pic from the MTC)

 saw my friend Bryce at the MTC when Vocal Point came for a devotional!

 all the sisters in 2 of the zones with Sister Batt

 awkward family photo #2

Só Milagres

OI Family! How are you all?! I miss you and think about you all the time! Thank you for all of your emails and letters. I don't have much time to respond to them all but I appreciate them so much!

 

This week has been filled with more awesomeness! Where do I start...

 

Zone training was awesome this week! We talked about how as missionaries we need to be setting people up to succeed. We talked about how a lot of the time we set people up to fail if our commitments for them are impossible for them to do. For example, giving them huge reading assignments or difficult scriptures especially when the language of the scriptures is foreign to them--that is setting them up to fail. Also, inviting them to church but not making sure that they have a ride to get to church. Or teaching way deep doctrine or teaching way too fast. Or teaching about the Word of Wisdom but not taking their alcohol out of their home. Or failing to get them a fellowshipper/friendshipper. Or baptizing them when they never went to church or only went once. We just need to be careful when we give commitments and make sure that we are setting them up so they CAN actually keep the commitments and progress. It was eye-opening for me because I don't want to fail these people. I love them so much already!

 

Also, this week we have been meeting with a lot of less active families. If they aren't home, we have left them with a  copy of the talk "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. Thanks dad for introducing me to that talk a million years ago! It has been a blessing to many people here!

 

One of the Elders in my district had a baptism this week. Well actually it was a triple baptism because it was a mom and her 2 kids. At the end, she bore her testimony and thanked Elder Tanner for not giving up on her. She had let her kids talk with the missionaries for a couple months and as the elders taught the kids, they never gave up on the mom. They constantly invited her to join and checked up on her even when she said no time and time again. She cried as she expressed her thanks for Elder Tanner because she knew that she wasn't fine every time that she told him "I'm fine." She said that it was because he didn't give up that she was baptized. I was inspired because we can never give up on people. Even if they say they are okay and fine without the gospel, we can't give up on them because Christ wouldn't give up on them so we shouldn't either.

 

Random stuff:

-we play ultimate football (basically ultimate Frisbee but with a football) most mornings with our district. it's way fun! I'm basically Drew Bledsoe status now. --Also a couple of the members of the ward give me a hard time because of my last name. Bro Knight teases me about it all the time because he thinks Drew Bledsoe is a cry baby. It's funny. Most people can't pronounce or remember my name, so I'm usually just "sister."

-We volunteer at the Food Bank every week. Another church is in charge but it is cool to help. There is a ton of need here so our help is much appreciated.

-We taught Relief Society last week. It was on missionary work- shocker! lol. It was great though and I think the members trust us more. The members are so great! I am over 2 wards and they are both full of amazing examples. I think that meeting them is one of the reasons why I am here in Page. Some of the greatest people I have ever met with the most incredible stories. Also they give us really REALLY good food and treats :)

 

I love you so much!

Enjoy your week!

Tchua, Tchau

Love, Sister Bledsoe

 

Also here is my email to my mission prez.

 

hey President!

This week has been really good. Still lots of learning. I am constantly being humbled but I am coming to love the people so much! Missionary work is hard but so rewarding!

Emotionally, I have been doing well. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I try to count my blessings and remember why I came out on a mission. I remember the people that I am teaching and how much I love them, and then things don't seem as hard. Physically, I am doing well and staying healthy. I need to work on ways to stay awake during planning at night though, but I know that if I have a good attitude about it then I will be able to finish the work quicker and more efficiently.
Spiritually, I have been doing really well. Some days and in some lessons it is really easy to feel the Spirit. I feel like the Spirit is constantly strengthening and teaching me. I would not be able to be out here without the Spirit and the daily tender mercies of the Lord.

12 week has been going well. I have enjoyed role playing with my companions and it has really helped especially with tracting and teaching people when we first meet them. It is nice to have two awesome trainers as well! They are great!

One of my favorite moments this week happened on Tuesday in a lesson with Lavinia, a progressing investigator. We brought a member to the lesson, Sister Moody and she was awesome! She followed promptings throughout the whole lesson and taught Lavinia many important lessons about strengthening family as a mother and a wife. As missionaries, we couldn't give that kind of counsel, advice, or testimony. Sister Moody bore powerful testimony to Lavinia about the importance of marriage and a strong relationship with a spouse when Lavinia said that sometimes she thinks that things would be easier without her boyfriend Nate. Lavinia started crying as she realized the importance of a mother and a father in families. The Spirit was so strong. Since that lesson, Lavinia has been reading the Book of Mormon with her 4 young kids in the morning AND at night. She also prays with them and is setting a great example for Nate.  The work is working!

-Sister Bledsoe

on the way to Tuba City for Zone conference!

My New Address

400  W. Apache Street
Farmington, NM, 87401

Page, AZ !

Hello Family and Friends!

I am doing so well! I am in Page, AZ. It is a really small town by Lake Powell. Most of the people in Page are Navajo because the reservation ("the rez") is so close. About half of our investigators are Navajo; they are so humble and awesome! I love them already!

My trainers are Sister May and Askren--yes, I am in a trio. I love it but it has its challenges too. We feel like the mafia showing up to someone's porch when we go tracting because it feels like there are so many of us but I know that we are blessed with the opportunity for 3 hearts to receive revelation for our investigators and others that we meet.

Funny story about my first door that I tracted-- the lady was not very nice at all and told me that she had her religion and I have mine. Then she shut the door quite angrily. BUT other than that I have had a lot of success with tracting so far. We have TTI-ed (teach/testify/invite) over 20 people since I have been here on Tuesday. We also have gotten 3 potential investigators from it, so it had been really good. I have come to love talking to strangers and inviting them to hear our message because it is so challenging but so fun! Each contact experience is so different, so it is a challenge to speak through the Spirit each time. Also, sometimes I can't find my words because I want to be speaking Portuguese! My English grammar is somewhat atrocious now, but the Lord uses the weak and simple to preach his word (D&C 1:23) so I know that I will be blessed even for trying. That is a huge lesson that I learned this week. All I need is the courage and love for God and his children to open my mouth and trust that it will be filled. A lot of the time I don't say the anything close to perfect but I know that most of the time the words don't matter.

Anyway, Portuguese is still on my brain even though I teach in English now. But my companions are learning Navajo in case they get called to serve on the rez. Most sisters don't serve actually on the rez because it isn't super safe, but since I am learning Portuguese they use that hour to learn Navajo and MAN is that language difficult!

Oh, back-up, I also love my mission president and his wife, President and Sister Batt. The mission home is beautiful and they fed us green chili pizza when we first got there- apparently green chiles are huge in New Mexico.

Also, we are working with a few progressing investigators who would totally get baptized but we can't set dates yet because they need to resolve some legal matters first. Being on a mission here has definitely opened my eyes to a lot things that's for sure. My prayer is that everything will workout for them if they continue to read the scriptures, pray, and come to church. (CPR-church, pray, read-restarts the soul!).

Well this email is super random and all over the place, but most of all I am SO HAPPY. Missionary work is challenging but the most rewarding work in the whole world! I love it! I am so close to Christ and the blessings of the companionship of the Holy Ghost are amazing. I am so humbled to be here doing the Lord's work. I promise that missionary work is worth it. It is work because it requires a lot of faith, preparation, and charity (pray for charity! it is a spiritual gift and it is amazing!) but the blessings are INCREDIBLE.

Also I LOVE the children in my wards here and the families of invesitgators. They are my best friends especially Seandriana, Myla, and Lexi. I will get pictures with them soon!

I love you all so much! God loves you! I pray for you everyday!

Tchau, Tchau,

Sister Bledsoe

The other Brazil district with left with us- Sisters hallmark, Ames, hansen, and lou!

 district with one of our teachers Irmao Mummy

I miss them so much! 

 Funny story- we saw the Sisters who were leaving our mission in New Mexico and going to Brazil because they just got their visas. It was awesome to see their excitement and sadness because they loved New Mexico so much.

FARMINGTON

I got my temporary re-assignment today! Until I get my visa to go to Brazil, I will be serving in the Farmington New Mexico Mission! I am so excited!!!!! My mission is the four corners of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico! I leave the MTC on Monday morning at 3:30AM so I will be able to give my family a call when I get to the airport at like 7AM my time. I will try to call mom or dad; I guess whoever is up that early! 

I know a couple of people in other districts that are going with me to New Mexico. My companion Sister Phillips is going to the Long Beach CA mission, and the rest of my district is going to Boston, Richmond Virginia, Maryland Baltimore, and Everett Washington! 

Now I just have two more days at the MTC and it is general conference so it will be great! 

When I get re-assigned I will be speaking English most likely- someone said that we might speak Spanish but that's just a rumor. I also heard that there is an Indian reservation in my mission. Anyways, I will have to keep up my Portuguese on my own most likely. We are making language study plans so we will have good practice in the mornings. I just hope I don't get worse at speaking, so I will try to find someone who knows Portuguese in my mission. 

Okay, so this week was crazy! It started off with singing at General Conference. I heard that I wasn't really on TV but oh well I was there and it was awesome! 

On our way to the Conference Center our bus broke down though. It was weird because none of us knew how serious it was until after we got off the bus in Salt Lake. What happened was the engine had stopped while we were on the freeway because the fan belt broke I think. Then we started going really slow and our bus driver had to move over 4 lanes of traffic between semi-s with no power. At the time, we just thought we were driving really slow but we actually weren't really moving much at all. It was a miracle that we were guided safely to the Conference Center! 

Anyways, singing at conference was unbelievable! The organ was SO loud behind us and the view was amazing. We saw President Monson walk to his seat and got to see the back of his head as he spoke. The Spirit was so strong when he walked in though; I KNEW so strongly that he is a living prophet and God's mouthpiece here on the earth today. Also "More Holiness Give Me" is probably my new favorite song because we felt the Spirit so strongly when we sang that. It was amazing. Basically I just love being a missionary! 

This Tuesday, we had a super great devotional. David S. Baxter spoke to us and it was phenomenal. He is the author of the book A Perfect Brightness of Hope (i think) so you should check it out because he is awesome. Anyways, he talked about Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" He bore testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ and baptism is the only way to be saved. There are 6 billion people in the world that do not know that. And how will they ever know unless we open our mouths. He also said that because we know the truth, many people will persecute us for what we believe. We don't need to be defensive though because IT IS TRUE. It is the FULLNESS of the gospel of Jesus Christ--each and every part is true. It is so beautiful because it makes so much sense to both my heart and my head. Each time I read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, my testimony of their truth and divinity grows. 

Also, two cool things that I heard his week: 

1) "If this isn't true, the missionaries would have figured it our by now." So true. The work and the sacrifices are more than we have ever experienced before. None of us would be here if it wasn't true. We know that it is true without a shadow of a doubt. 

2) "Dare to be consecrated."

Well I love you all so much! Can't wait to hear from you. Keep emailing and writing!

Oh and I don't have my new address for New Mexico yet so emails will be the only way to reach me this week. 

Tchau, Tchau!

Love,
Sister Bledsoe