Dec. 13, 2011

Dear Family,

I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well, and that stake conference is over. For mom, i have seen Amy Browns parents a couple of times, and the next time i see them i will be sure to extend a personal hello from y'all. That is cool that you invited all the missionaries in the zone over for breakfast. We actually did the exact same thing over here. The stake president tries to do it every transfer, so it has become quite the tradition over here. What does our zone consist of, and where do the different missionaries serve. Just curious to see how things are going over there. I will see when i can send more pictures home. I am still not sure about Christmas yet, but my educated guess will be that we will be calling about two or three here, so five or six there. I will try to have more details next week, and then have the person that we will be calling from contact you to give you the specifics and what you should watch out for and such.

Tell Brother Anderson congratulations by the way, and that i am still disappointed that I didn't get to take seminary from him. Oh well, all things happen for a reason. Also fill me in on who the next councilor in the bishopric is.

Things here in Temecula continue to roll along. We were able to get Denise confirmed on Sunday. It almost killed her to get up in front of the whole ward but she was able to do it like a champ. We have also started teaching a couple of new people. The first is Anna, she is a friend of Nico and Naomi and has started coming to church with them. She is extremely smart, and loves to ask questions that are intended to trip you up. I really like it, it is like the dinner table with Malan all over again. Don't worry there is an element of the spirit in the teaching and is not all contention based. It really does go well, and she is reading the Book of Mormon. It feels sincere. We have also started teaching a lady named Alisha lee. She is the daughter of a member in the ward. She went less active but is now returning. Her husband is not a member is currently deployed in Afghanistan. She wants to have him take the lessons when he gets back though and so we are giving her a run through before we do that. Just as a side note, she has a little brother named Robert E. Lee. Take that how you will. Everyone else here continues to go well. Bryce is just as excited as ever. And the ward seems to be getting behind the work as well.

So just for humor sakes, i guess it is time to fill you in on some of the funny events that have happened here. So this past Sunday was a missionary farewell, for a kid in the ward, and for some reason, the entire stake presidency decided to show up to sacrament meeting. During the midst of this guys talk he tells a story from N. Eldon Tanner, and prefaces it by saying "I would like to tell a story by some guy names N. Eldon Tanner, I guess he was in the first presidency like a really long time ago or something." I have never seen a stake presidency laugh so hard. Well I love you all, and i know this gospel is true, it is such a privilege to be playing a small part in this great work. I grow more and more grateful for the gospel in my life everyday and for the people who played such a big role in teaching it to me. Love you and good luck with all the holiday craziness.

Love Elder Blake