Jan. 10, 2012

Dear Family,

First thank you for all of the birthday wishes. I really can't believe it either that I will soon leave the ranks of teenagerdom. A wonderful anniversary indeed. It is good to hear that your lives have started to fall back into place and that some work is actually being done. I was worried that everyone at home had gotten soft. I will have to see if i can schedule a trip to the browns this week, so that the festivities can be done right on Friday. Thanks for everything and I hope that the stars continue to perform better than they have a right to.

Well this past week has been a very interesting one. First things continue to go well with Bryce. He is now scheduled to be baptized on the 14th. A wonderful late birthday present if you ask me. This will be my first baptism where I found, and taught, and baptized the investigator. I am pretty excited. As is Bryce, he continues to just love church and has become a great example to his family it sounds like. We taught him the ten commandments this past week, and at church he reported that they were working on memorizing them as a family and trying to live them. He is a special kid, one with lots of potential. The other good news is that Bubba, is doing amazing. He came to church for the first time last week and loved it. We also taught him the restoration the other day, and had just an amazing lesson. By the end of it, he was bearing his testimony of Joseph Smith, and the peace that he is finding in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a very good moment for us as missionaries. He made the insightful comment that he now understands that he doesn't have to go on his journey alone and how he now understands just what the atonement can mean for him. We are excited for him and it looks like he will be getting baptized at the end of this month.

Now on the not so good news. Bro Lum one of our investigators has ran into a lot of anti literature, which has been putting a lot of strain on his marriage. It has been a tough week, one with a lot of prayers and fasting. I am sure that all of y'alls prayers would be much appreciated, they're a good family and will need a lot of support coming up. Also another one of our investigators Anna, has been struggling to find her answer and will need all the prayers she can get.

We now move on to the exciting and nerve racking news. Elder Snow is getting transferred today, and getting replaced with a brand new missionary. I have been called to be a trainer. Needless to say i am pretty nervous. And yet at the same time, I don't think i have felt so strongly that this work is true, and a commitment to work hard at it. I am not sure what is going to happen, but i feel confident that the Lord is at the head of this work, and will lead us both along. Thanks for all the support. I love you and I love this gospel and hope that I will be a stronger more dedicated servant of the Lord in the coming weeks and months.

Elder Blake