Answering Kevin's Questions

Dear Kevin,

I am really glad you wrote to me. I love getting letters.

Question one: What is my companion's name?
     Well, I actually have two companions. One is Elder Smith and the other is Elder Jiminez. They are both pretty cool, but not as cool a me. HA HA!

Question two: Is the food good?
     Yes, the food is awesome. But I do miss Mom's cooking. She is a good cook. Eat what she makes! You're gonna miss it someday.

Question three: Have I gained weight?
     Not sure. I'm not eating too much, and I eat LOTS of fruits and veggies.  But, I don't know if I've gained weight. I haven't weighed myself.

Question four: What do I do on P-Day (Preparation Day)?
     I sent a letter about that already, but I mostly relax and take care of what I need to for the week. We go to the temple, do laundry, e-mail, and write letters - that kind of stuff.

Question five: What days can I write?
     Not 100% sure on this exactly. I know I can e-mail on P-day. But as far as writing goes, I don't know. I've been writing in my personal time before bed, but I don't know if I should be or  not.

I love getting letters. Keep writing to me!

Sincerely,

Elder Blomquist

It's Been 2 Weeks Now

Once again P-day and I can email!!

 

Hope everyone's feeling better. Lots of pople in my district are sick, and I've had a little cold the last few days. I also found out they took down the MTC sign, so I cant get a picture with that anymore, sorry = / . I'll be sending home a few pictures, so expect those in the next few days. Just waiting for the prints back then will mail them.

 

Can you believe another week has gone by? It's been 2 weeks now... crazy. It's going by so fast. Nowhere close to 2 years, but it's still gone by pretty fast. This is the last week we are here in the MTC. We leave October 4th for Boise. We are all excited to get out. There are some people in our zone who still have another month+ left. The Mongols have already been here like 6 weeks and the still have about 6 left. I would hate to be here that long.

 

I still love it here, even though I can't wait to get out to the field. I've grown so much, both in knowledge and as a person. There are lessons I've learned here that I either wouldn't have learned or would've taken me years to find out elsewhere. I really am glad I'm here and there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

 

Not really too much to say; nothing's really stuck out too much from the past week. We're still teaching, learning how to teach, and relying on the spirit. It's pretty much the same. We did teach one couple (they were actually workers here, but we didn't know that at the time) who seemed pretty impressed by us. I'm in a tripanionship, and they said that we had really the best unity they've seen in a tripanionship. That was pretty nice to hear. The lesson we taught them was pretty interesting. They had questions about life after death (her brother had passed away and their minister said he was in hell since he didn't believe in Christ), so we taugh them the restoration. Sounds crazy at first, but it makes sense. At first it sounded weird to me, but we taught the restoration of the Book of Mormon and how Joseph Smith translated it. We challeneged them to read and pray about it, then I pointed them to Alma 40-42 where it talks about death and resurection, told them to read it on their own time since we were out of time and pray about it's message. It's interesing to see how we can meet the needs of investigators through different lessons like that. We read their little bio and we thought about teaching plan of salvation, since they had questions about life after death. But I have no doubt it was the spirit who directed us to teach the restoration like we did.

 

Oh, I almsot forgot. We had a General Authority come into class one day this past week. It was Elder Alonso of the Seventy, one of the newly called last spring. He was impressed with us and our testimonies. It was nice hearing that from a Seventy; to hear that we're all gonna be wonderful missionaries. There's a chance he'll speak in conference, and our district has a joke that he's gonna use what we told him in his conference address if he speaks. How cool would that be?

 

Life goes on, my companions and I get along very well. Though we have butted heads a few times on what to teach, we always teach with the spirit and, not to be prideful, I think we're the furthest along with our progressing investigators. That experience last week really changed how I view my mission and what I do.

 

One last thing before I go. On Sunday we had the chance to watch a movie of Joseph Smith. I think this might be another thing that changes my mission. I watched him work wonders, miracles, and even command in the name of Christ, and I had this thought "I have that power". I have no doubt it was the Spirit who put that thought there. The only differecne between Joseph and me is the life experiences we have/had. I hope I dont get imprisoned or tarred and feathered, but I'll have my own struggles. But the important thing is that I have that same power and authority. Once I came to that realization, it made me want to use it, not for myself, to be the star or hero of the mission, but to bring souls unto Christ, that is why I am here.

 

Well, time's about up. I dont know if I'll be able to email nextweek since we leave next Tuesday (Oct 4th), but I think we can call from the airport. So if I can I'll do that. I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

 

Love,

Elder Blomquist

My Days

Hey guys!

Just wanted to write and tell you how I am doing.  Well, I am on a spiritual high right now.  After that lesson I had on Monday that I told you about, my mission experience has changed dramatically.  My teacher, Brother Wright, is an amazing guy.  I have to say, out of all of the teachers I've ever had (Sunday school, seminary, etc.) he has been my favorite by far.  He gets really into the lesson.  One time he got so excited he slammed his pen on the ground.  I love that guy.

So you asked how a normal day is for me here at the MTC.  Well, the schedule changes from day to day, but this is the outline.  We always start with breakfast at 8.  After that is varies from day to day.  Every day we have 6 hours of classroom instruction time where we learn better how to study and really about how to be a missionary.  I have learned and improved so much from our instruction here.  Our teachers are so amazing.  We also have Sister Cutler as our teacher, but I like Brother Wright better.  We have an hour of zone teaching where we get together with other missionaries in our zone.  We just do different activities to learn from each other.  Our zone teaching today was about helping investigators overcome problems.  We would extend the baptism invitation and they would decline with a specific reason and we would help work them through that.  I just dominated on that.  The Spirit was so strong and I felt guided in what I should say.  We also have 50 minutes for PE.  We've been playing softball as a district, and I'm not doing that bad as a pitcher.  My old skills are coming back :)  There's also lunch and dinner, which are about 45 minutes each.  And then we just picked up some new investigators that we teach for about half an hour.  Then on Tuesdays, we have a special devotional where General Authorities usually come speak.  Yesterday we had Elder Russel M Nelson come.  It was a phenomenal experience.  We didn't make it to the room so we had to watch from the overflow, but it was still a great experience.  Sundays we have lots of personal study time and then a special fireside where MTC people speak. Another great experience.  Although I told you about that already in  my e-mail.

So that's a typical day here at the MTC.  Now, I want to describe this spiritual high I feel.  I told you about my experience on Monday, well, that experience carried on till this day even.  We taught another investigator, Mary Willis (Sis. Cutler role playing) and had a similar experience as with Russel; Griechen (Bro. Wright role playing).  Although I wasn't about to collapse at that one.  I also did today's zone teaching I told you about, which was another spiritual experience.  We also got a new investigator today, George Cepull, who is just absolutely amazing.  He's an amputee and he just divulged his whole story to us.  The Spirit told all three of us (me and my companions) to listen, and we did.  I feel the Spirit so close, and I feel like it's been guiding me with what to say.  I'm on a spiritual high right now.  I just love missionary work!

Also, I forgot that on Tuesdays we get to go to the Provo temple.  Last Tuesday we did an endowment session and it was wonderful.  They do it all in one room though and that was interesting.  But it was still a wonderful experience.

Well, it's almost bedtime so I should wrap it up.  I hope everyone's feeling better.  (At least one of us has been sick at our house since Ricky left.)  I really appreciate all the letters.  I love hearing how everyone is doing.  Tell everyone else to write as well.  I want to know how everyone is doing.  There's kind of a contest going on to see who can get the most letters, and I think I am winning.  Keep it up!

Love you guys,

Elder Blomquist

Shoes

We got our first letter from Elder Blomquist informing us that he had left his shoes at home and needed us to send them to him.  His next letter home begged us to save his feet from the too small pair he was borrowing from someone. 



This is the sad, old pair of shoes he left at home. They are pretty beat up and starting to rip.

We bought him a new pair and sent them out.  Hope they fit.

The MTC is Amazing

Hey guys,

How's everyone doing? My P-day is on Tuesday, so that's when you'll get emails from me. I sent a letter home last Wednesday, not sure if you got it yet, but I’ll just tell everything.

The MTC is so amazing. I just love it. The Spirit is so strong here and there's just so much I’ve learned. I’ve seen a lot of miracles in the week I’ve been here.

Saturday was by far the worst day so far. I had companion troubles up to that point and I was struggling. Missionary work really is hard; something I’ve never really grasped before. All last week I was praying for help with one of my companions (I’m in a trio), and Saturday night when I was at my worst he came to me and asked if I had any problems with him. We talked it over and we were able to come to a resolution that has made everything better.

On Sunday we had a MTC devotional. It was absolutely amazing. I don’t really remember who was speaking (although I think it was Bro. and Sis. Wilkins, a district presidency here), and I don’t really remember specifics of what they said, but I remember the Spirit that I felt and a few things that pertained to me. They talked about missionary work, and how we need to be willing to do hard things, and to look as problems as opportunities rather than problems. It really was inspirational for me and something that I think I needed to hear. It was just a wonderful amazing experience.

Monday was another amazing day. We’re already teaching investigators (although they're just our teachers role playing people from their mission; I’m treating it real). I had struggled in the previous lesson cuz I was too shy and quiet to really say anything, so I prayed and asked for a miracle. I wanted to be able to open my mouth and speak with the voice of angels. I prayed "according to the faith which is in me, let me open my mouth and speak with the voice of angels" with all confidence that God would answer my prayer. We get to the lesson, and right away I know what it is I need to say. Like it says in the bible, in the very hour it shall be given you what ye shall say. I really feel that my prayer was answered. Within the first few minutes of the lesson, I felt the Spirit so strong, and I almost got the investigator to cry, I almost started crying, and the Spirit was just so strong there. We committed him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if it's true, and when he gets that confirmation (he said if, but if he does it I know he will receive it) that he would be baptized. After the lesson we were walking back the classroom and I had to sit down. I was so happy and so filled with the Spirit that I was literally shaking. I was afraid I would fall over. I felt almost like Ammon who completely lost his strength from the joy he felt. I felt that spirit to a degree, although I didn’t collapse, I almost did.

I love it here in the MTC. It is a wonderful place. The food is good, the people are nice, and I just love my district. There’s 10 other guys going to Boise, and I love every singles one of them. We really have built a sense of camaraderie here between us all that bring us all together. One of our members is having a hard time and having a lot of stress and anxiety to such a high degree that the MTC just doesn’t have the means to help him. He’s having a hard time distinguishing between what's reality and what's not. He was also talking suicide. He almost went home, but his family said he can’t come back (because of financial reasons). It really made our whole district sad to think of him leaving. Last night we had a district prayer and just prayed that he would be ok. Not sure if he is gonna be going home or not, but we just prayed that he would be ok no matter where this problem took him. It takes a lot to make me cry, but I shed tears for him. It really made me sad to see one of our brothers go home. He’s still here, but we'll see what happens with him. Either way, I wish him the best.

I can testify that God does answer prayers; He's already answered a bunch of mine here. I’m learning so much, and I know what I’m teaching is the truth. Missionary work is hard, and I don’t think that's something I really grasped or understood before. It so much more than what I thought it would be. I love it thought. It really is a blessing.

Well, almost out of time (only 30 minutes on the computer), so I better close. Hope everyone's doing okay. And thanks for the letters, missionaries really do love letters. Oh, and give me Pop's address. I don’t have his and want to write him. Also, I need my tennis shoes sent to me. Luckily someone in my district has a spare pair of shoes I can use till you send mine, but I need mine ASAP. The ones he lent are about a size too small, so it kinda hurts my feet. Save me! Send my shoes!

There should be a letter arriving any day if it hasn’t already. Just check the mail

Love you guys!

Elder Blomquist

Made it to the MTC

Any comments in red are Mom and Dad's explainations or clarifications.

Hey Guys!

So I made it to the MTC safe and sound (we dropped him off at the Burbank Airport and had one of his best friends and his mom pick him up and take him instead of taking him to the MTC ourselves), and I love it here. But it has only been one day.  We'll see if that changes. The estimated departure date is October 4th, so it should be around 3 weeks that I'm here.

The Spirit is so strong here. I just love it. I think I need to work on acting on my promptings though. We did a role play with investigators (not sure if they were members of real investigators, but it doesn't matter), and I kind of felt like I should have said something, but I kept quiet.  Later, the things I was thinking ended up seeming like key factors for that investigator. I think I thought of it first, and was just to shy too say anything. We were in a group of around 30 or so missionaries.

My companionship is a trio. I have Elder Smith and Elder Jiminez. Only the first day so I'm not sure how I feel about them yet. I don't exactly approve of all their decisions. But like I said, it's only the first day and I'm determined to love them. I can definitely see how companion unity is a must. We haven't really done anything as just a companionship yet, but I can see how important it is.

Now, down to business ... I completely forgot to pack my tennis shoes. Was planning on it, but forgot. It's kinda funny, my zone leader did the same exact thing. I do need them for gym time and P-day. There are some shoe boxes in my room you can send them in. Please and thank you! Oh, and don't be too harsh in your criticism over this. We just had to laugh over him forgetting his shoes because this is at least the third time he has gone on a long trip and forgotten his shoes. At least that's all I forgot, I think. I need them sent ASAP!

I really do feel like this is where I'm supposed to be now. The Spirit is strong here. I really hope everyone is doing ok with me being gone.

Love you guys!

Elder Blomquist

P.S. SEND MY SHOES!!!