Week #10 - 2015 Jan 26

Hiii!

This week was kinda a weird week, not gonna lie. We had a Zone Conference and that was pretty good. Learned quite a bit and I got to see Sister Ibarra again and chat with her. She seems to be doing well. We have a pretty great zone. And seeing President and Sister Bernhisel is always great. :) 

So...awkward - Sister Mentzer is avoiding us. We haven't seen her since we invited her to be baptized...she won't let us come over to teach her andddd she hasn't come to church in 2 weeks. Ahhhh seriously, she's stressing me out hahah. But right now, all I can do for her is keep her in my prayers and hope for the best! 

Speaking of people avoiding us, all our investigators dropped us this week. So that was awkward. Soooo we have 1 investigator right now (Sister Mentzer) and she's avoiding us right now. We keep praying for more people to teach, and we know the Lord answers prayers in His own time, so we're just making sure we're ready for when those people come along!! But it was a pretty big bummer when we got the texts and all that stuff. Blahh...but here in the NCRM, we love hard days! 

Something I've learned out here on the mission is how important families are. Before the mission I always knew I was going to get married and have kids and all that, but I didn't really have that desire. Ya know what I mean? But now, oh my goodness...that's like all I want hahaha it's ridiculous. But you see families everyday and you see things that you like about their family and you learn what you want in a family and all that. It's pretty crazy stuff. Butttt yeah. Families are important and I can't wait to have one, one day! It'll be exciting. 

I'm continuing in the adventure of Isaiah. I've made it past a couple chapters since last week. But I've learned that you have to take Isaiah super slow. I'm taking it a verse at a time and it's taking foreverrrr. But hey, I'm understanding it, so that's a good sign! Slow and steady wins the race!!

Oh! Yesterday, was Invitation Sunday. I don't think I've mentioned that before...but it's where everyone in the ward invites someone to church. It was pretty great. The preparation that Ft. Bragg did was amazing. The talks leading up to it were so great. The Bishop gave one last week and he was talking about missionary work. He was saying something along the lines of "Look around you, there's someone in the congregation that's missing. Who is it?" And that really made me think! Someone is missing from the congregation every time you go to church...who is it? So I encourage you all to think of who's missing and invite them to church! Pray about it and I know you'll receive inspiration as to who it is. :) But back to Invitation Sunday, we may have found a potential investigator. She's such a sweetheart. I hope we get to teach her cause she seems amazing. :) 

Sorry this email is like all over the place..I don't even know hahah. It was a weird week. 

But I'll send pictures to make up for it! :) 

I love you all and hope you're all doing fan-freakin-tastic!! <3

Much love,

xoxoxo Sister Blumel

PS - Gas down here is 209.9/GALLON. It's SO CHEAP.

Sister Olson, Aly & Sister Blumel

Sister Blumel with some cats!

Week #9 - 2015 Jan 19

Bonjour!! Heya! Hola!

This week we were able to have a lesson with one of our investigator's Sister Mentzer. A little background on her: She's been investigating the church for 6-7 years now. Her husband was excommunicated (we're not sure why), and she's prayed about the Book of Mormon and the Church and her answer is that she's in the right place and that there's truth there. But she still wants to learn more and get a more "for sure" answer. So. When we were planning the lesson for her, we decided that we were going to invite her to be baptized and get a baptismal date. We were praying about it and I was pretty confident that that's what was going to happen. Before going into her house, we said another prayer and then Sister Olson was like, "You're inviting her right?" And I was like "heck yeah I am and it's gonna be awesome" hahah I was a little excited. We visited with her and read Moroni 10 with her. She made a comment about how she's not ready to be a member yet. And I was like ahhh....crap. Do I still invite her or not... So i was freaking out the remainder of the lesson haha. And then we were talking about the Book of Mormon and church doctrine and she's like I just don't want to be led astray. And then that led into another discussion and then it got quiet and the Spirit was like "DO IT NOW." Ahaha so I'm like "Sister Mentzer, we love you a lot, and we want you to know that we would never lead you astray. As representatives of Jesus Christ, our purpose to invite and help people come closer to Christ. Part of coming closer unto Him, includes following his example and being baptized. So willl you, Sister mentzer, follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by the proper priesthood authority of God?" The Spirit was super strong and then and then....She bursts out laughing. Like hysterically. Talk about awkward...hahaha. I was like oh shoot...I messed it up. So I got kinda quiet. Luckily Sister Olson, had my back (thank goodness for companions) and after Sister Mentzer composed herself she brought the Spirit back. Haha and then we started talking about a date and all that and then Sister Mentzer got really quiet and said "I like your shoes...i really like them!" and then she went on talking about shopping and clothes and how much clothes did we have to bring here and are we allowed to get more clothes..and all that. Sister Olson and I are convinced that she was feeling the Spirit and she was trying to distract herself. But once she got herself on track, she asked this: "What would I have to do to prepare for that day?" Totally an inspired question. And so we told her that she needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and pray about the church and come to church. She's like, well I'm already doing all of that, so that's easy enough. Soooo, all in all, we have a baptismal date with Sister Mentzer. It was an interesting experience to say the least haha. But I'll keep you posted on her :) she's great. I love her a lot and visiting with her is always the best - never a dull moment! 

Although she didn't come to church yesterday...so that's awkward... But she had a whole bunch of family come down this weekend to visit her..sooo I guess I'll give her a little bit of slack..not too much though hahah. Oh well! "Thy will, O Lord, be done." 

I'm re-reading the Book of Mormon and I'm in 2 Nephi now. I reached the Isaiah chapters this week and I was trying to prepare myself for them. I learned that you can't really prepare yourself for Isaiah hahaha. BUT! I've been praying lots and asking for help from the Spirit and I'm actually understanding a lot of it. WEIRD. And I have this huge desire right now to understand every word...so it's been going great. I've been reading it with the Bible opened to the actual Isaiah chapter that is referred to in the Book of Mormon, and that's been a huge help because footnotes are amazing. Who woulda thought. Hahah. Seriously though. It's amazing. Isaiah is actually pretty interesting...there's some really good stuff in there! :) I invite you all to have that desire to read Isaiah and understand it! It's a scary thought..but just get yourself in there and feast on the words that he says. It's pretty cool!!!

Overall, this week has been pretty good! I've been thinking about you lots and praying for you all a ton. Hope you're all doing well! :) 

Love youuuuu and miss you! 

xoxoxo Sister Blumel. 

Week #8 - 2015 Jan 12

Holaaa!

This week was so good! Two of our investigators got baptized on Saturday. Aly & James. It was such an amazing experience. I'm gonna fill you in on their story. 

Before I came to the area, the sisters were already teaching Aly. they were teaching her at the church because her mom didn't like the idea of her daughter taking the lessons. she wouldn't even look the sisters in the eye when they passed her in the hallway at church and said hi to her. eventually, she let them teach Aly in their home. but there was always a spirit of contention. 

When I got to the area in December, I remember the first lesson that I was a part of and it was terrifying because her mom would sit in on the lessons but she wouldn't participate. she would just sit there and supervise. so it was like walking on broken glass and trying not to bleed. it was scary. It's been a little over a month since then and we are now going over there twice a week and they're feeding us dinner. the spirit is already in the home before we get there and the mom is always super excited to see us. whenever she opens the door to let us in, it's always with open arms and a smile on her face. we've seen this family do a complete 180 towards us and towards the gospel. we've seen miracles in this home. miracles and tender mercies. the baptism was a complete surprise for Aly because she wanted to wait a year for her grandma (her grandma had back surgery and couldn't travel for 6 months and by the time she could travel, Aly's dad was going to be in training for the military...so it was going to turn out to be a year.) and grandpa to come. well! Grandma was recovering really well and so she went to the doctor and the doctor approved her for travel. so they started driving from UTAH to make it for the baptism. The baptism was supposed to happen tomorrow, but it ended up working out for Saturday. Aly & James didn't know that their grandparents were coming. So we had to plan a baptism for them without them finding out! Haha and then her mom wanted them to be a part of making the program, which makes total sense, so we had to wait for the grandparents to get there. They ended up making it here on Thursday night and so we were able to plan for the baptism on Friday night. We planned the entire baptism the night before it happened. But it worked out! And the family is so much closer and there's love at home and the parents have the desire to become better examples to their kids and become active in the gospel again. They have the spirit in their lives and it's been incredible to witness all this. This is like the short and sweet version of their story. It's amazing and the Lord's hand was definitely in all of this. But yeah, that's what happened - super amazing and I hope that all makes sense because it's kinda the speedy version. I'll write it better when I have time. But that's the overall jist of it. It was just amazing to see all the miracles that have taken place in order for these 2 to get baptized. I love that family :) they're incredible. <3

SO yeah, my week has been WONDERFUL. 

I love the mission! You experience so many things out here it's crazy. So many miracles and tender mercies. Yes, it's really hard...probably the hardest thing I've had to do and I don't expect it to get any easier...but it's also one of the most amazing things I've ever had the opportunity to do. I feel really blessed that I've gotten this opportunity to be a part of the great and marvelous work that was prophesied in the Book of Mormon. I know this church is true and I love that I get to tell people that on a daily basis. 

I hope you're all doing well :) I love you and miss you a ton. But y'all keep smiling! God loves you more than anything!! Read your scriptures and pray everyday! 

Much love,

Sister Amy Blumel <3<3<3

Sisters Blumel & Olson with the Borabora & Iseman boys

Sister Blumel and Anthony

Sister Blumel and Nichas - Rock on!!

Sister Blumel, Aly, James and Sister Olson

Sister Blumel, Nichas and Sister Olson

Week #7 - 2015 Jan 05

Bonjour!

(Haha so funny sidenote, I like to think I know french, so the 3 french words I do know, i say them all the time hahah. --Cause I'm from canada and people think I know french. It's hilarious.) 

(Also, I'm gonna try this thing where I don't use like any capitals and stuff because it takes too much time and effort ahah sooo yeah.)

This week was a week full of miracles. it was new years! and we had a little party with the other sisters, we ordered pizza and stuff and played some scripture apples to apples (you just use the green cards and then you find a scripture that best fits the card. it's fun. but maybe it's one of those games that only missionaries find fun hahaha) and then we just talked about life. it was a good time! we didn't get to stay up till midnight, but it's all good. 2015 still came! So all is well. I hope you all had an awesome new years :) 

on tuesday, we had our first transfer training. so that was with everyone that came out last transfer. SO MY MTC DISTRICT. So i got to see everyone! it was so amazing. I love them all so much. it was a really great meeting and lots of super sweet teachings. #NCRM4eva! (north carolina raleigh mission) I love this mission so much :)

so on friday, we drove around and knocked on all our inactive members that we haven't met yet. no one answered their door except for the one. it was super awkward because her husband answered it and we asked if she lived there and he said she did and then we explained that we were also members of the church and he's like what? my wife is not mormon. how did you find our address? and we were like uhh, she's on the roster, which means she got baptized and all that good stuff. and he was like no. she's not baptized into the mormon church. no no no. and it was like uhh well this is awkward cause we have her records. haha sooo we just said sorry for bothering him and told him to have a wonderful day :) hahah it was weird. I bet that was an awkward convo at dinner -- 'hey honey, you didn't tell me you were mormon...' ahhh hahaha hopefully nothing terrible came from that...

but miracles! everyone we saw this week, CAME TO CHURCH. All the less active or inactive people that we saw this week, we invited them to come to church and they ALL came. it was amazing. we were there in the chapel greeting people and then someone would come in and we're like oh my goodness they came! that's so awesome! and then we would turn our head and realize another family came and repeat that a couple times. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Like I was so happy my eyes were all teary hahah it was such a good day. Like I can't even tell you. And the best part is that majority of those people were like 'yeahh, if i get around to it. i've been pretty busy lately. so i dont know if i'll be able to make it or not' you know the typical answer when we invited them to come. buttttt they all came. Seriously it was the best. God is good. Miracles are real. And the church is true. I love the mission life ahah it's the best. 

Shout out to mama and pops on your wedding anniversary! you two are the best and i love you both so much. best parents i could ever have asked for. thanks for all that you have done for me. i appreciate you both so much and i look up to you a ton! <3 

I think that's all the fun stuff that went down this week. remember to keep a smile on your face! attitude is everything! :) i love you all!!

have a fan-freakin-tastic week!

much love,

Sister Blumel xoxox

Week #6 - 2014 Dec 29

Heyyyy! 

What's uppp?!

This week was really great. I LOVE the Christmas season because everyone is just so happy and full of love! It's amazing :) AND, I got to facetime you all! So much fun! Geez, I was doing so well with not being homesick, and then I see all of you and I'm like mannn I miss you all more than I thought I did! But don't worry, all is well, my head is back in the game and my focus is on the people in Ft. Bragg. :) It was just sooooo EXCITING to see the people i love the most!! You all looked amazing. And I love Matty's haircut. Hehe it looks super good. 

But yeah, Christmas was really fun. We spent it with members. We went to the Horn's first and they're amazing. We got to watch their kids open their presents and it was so much fun to see their reactions. Loved it! And then we ate this amazing breakfast that Sister Horn made. AND THEN. We jumped on their trampoline that they got for Christmas. SOO much fun. Hahah it was awesome. And I've never jumped on a trampoline on Christmas day. So that was exciting news. It was such a beautiful day. Like, we were working up a sweat jumping on that thing. I love the sun ahah so Christmas day was perfect! It felt like May up in Canada. It was great. And then I got to facetime home! So awesome. Not enough time of course, but this is an exact obedience mission! And it's hard to break the rules when your trainer is always there. Anyway, I kept it right on time because she was like right across from me probably watching the time for me hahah. But all is well! Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles! Voila! And I've seen that happen, and we need all the miracles we can get, so exact obedience is good. Anywho, y'all filled me up with so much love, i was so happy go lucky after talking to you all! <3 :D

Then we went over to the May's house. We went for a walk to a field where the kids played. It was super relaxing and the sun was shining. Ahh it was so good. And then we went back to the house for food! Lots of food :) That family is like borderline perfect. I want a family like the May family one day :)

The highlight of the week was definitely Christmas. But one of our investigators, Aly, is probably getting baptized at the end of January! YAY. So amazing. I'm so excited. She's so ready for baptism and the only thing holding her back was her mom, and now we have permission from her mom. Now it's just on her to pick a day that works best for who she wants there and such. But we're hoping to get a day picked out tonight when we see them for dinner. It's gonna be good! I'm excited for that family. Miracles...I'm telling ya...nothing but miracles in that home. :) 

Hmm, what else happened this week. It was a pretty laidback week because of Christmas. OH YEAH. On Christmas Eve, we got a text and it was like 'hey Sister Blumel, it's kind of short notice but can you give a talk on Sunday?' haha so of course I said yes. So I spoke yesterday in church! Everyone said it was good..but they could just be saying that to be nice haha. I talked about having Christ-centered goals for the New Year. :) 

Oh TODAY. We had a dance party with the Horn's. We being, me and Sis Olson and the others sisters that live across the street from us (the work with the other ward that goes to our building). IT WAS AWESOME. It was approved music, don't worry hahaha. We're obedient remember! Haha but seriously it was so much fun. Definitely needed that. I miss dance parties hahah cause me and Sara would have them all the time. So it was good to just let go for a little bit! Haha loved it. 

I think that's all the exciting stuff for the week. Just want to let you all know that I know Christ is the best gift that we have ever received. Christ is our Saviour, I know that. He loves us more than we can even comprehend. And He has given us a way back to our Father in Heaven. He has literally saved us. He did this through the Atonement and we need to make that a part of our lives. It's never too late to come unto Christ :) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all and I miss you! Have a wonderful New Years and stay up till midnight and party extra hard for me!! ;) Haha. 

Much love, 

Sister Blumel xoxox

MTC pictures

Amy's MTC family

The MTC Sisters

Sister Ibarra & Sister Blumel

Having fun with the girls

Being silly at the MTC with Sister Ibarra

Amy at the MTC

The famous MTC map

The MTC sisters all going to North Carolina

Sister Blumel in front of Provo Temple

Sister Ibarra & Sister Blumel

Week #5 - 2014 Dec 22

Heyyya!

This week has been the best yet. It was super busy and the busier the better! On Tuesday, we had our Christmas Zone conference and it was really awesome. Lots of inspiration. And our mission president and his wife are so amazing. I love them a lot :) so it was a great meeting! 

We also had such an amazing lesson with a returning less active. Her name is Catrina and she wants to come back to the church so bad and I'm so excited for her. We taught a lesson that was completely guided by the spirit. It was so amazing. We talked about the Atonement and how it's never too late to come back and how God loves her sooo much. And then we talked about how because she wants to come back and has that desire, Satan's gonna try his best to keep her away, but with the armor of God he won't be able to have any sort of effect on her. And then we talked a lot about that. It was soooo good. I love the spirit so much and the guidance that it brings. 

We also taught this couple who are returning less actives the Plan of Salvation and it went so well! The husband is a Christmas hater so we related almost everything to Christmas...it was super funny. And then when we were explaining the resurrection we told him the GOOD NEWS that if his leg gets blown off during a deployment or whatever he'll be able to get it back as good as new!! Ahahah it was super funny. He's like wow...I'm never gonna forget this lesson. Oh my goodness hahah it was so good. I love them, it's always a blast with them. They're so fun! Overall though, it was really good and we explained the plan of salvation really well and they understood it...so that's always a good thing haha. 

On Friday we had a service day! SO I GOT TO WEAR JEANS. For a couple hours at least. Oh mann it felt so good hahah. It was ridiculous how amazing it was to wear pants. Haha! But yeah we helped clean an investigators house and then we went and helped a sister in the ward make hair bows for her daughter. It was such a fun day. AND THEN. We had such an incredible lesson with one of our investigators. We've just seen miracles in that house. Her mom a couple months ago wouldn't even set foot in the church and make eye contact with the missionaries BUT NOW. She wants us to come over twice a week to teach her kids :) AMAZING. Oh man I can't even begin to explain how happy I am about it. And she's feeding us all the time...so that's a good sign too! She's totally softened her heart and I've never seen the Atonement work like that in someone's life before. It's incredible. Ahh it makes me soo super happy. :):):):) 

So fun fact. You all know about my hate of peanut butter and how I can't stand it...correct? Yeah. Like the smell of it set me off. Okay. Yeah whatever. Except for the fact that I'm craving it now...Ever since like last weekend I've been eating like peanut butter and jam sandwiches like all the time...ALL THE TIME. You don't understand how weirded out I am by myself hahaha. Like if you knew me before the mission you would know that peanut butter and I were on a mutual hate with each other...and now I can't get enough of it. It's so weird. Oh my goodness. I don't even know. 

Also fun fact, every restaurant in the states has a drive thru. Like every one of them. It's strange. Oh yeah, and it costs more to send a letter to Canada than it does to send a letter to Australia. Umm say wut. Hahah I will never understand postage rates. Or America. Hahah but whateva! It's all good!

I think that's all I got for ya this week... But enjoy the pictures!! :D I finally remembered my camera cord and so you get a bunch of MTC pictures :) hoorah! 

Have a great week! As my trainer says, have the best week ever until the next! (or something like that...I'm sure you get the jist of it. hahah) 

I love you all so so so much. AND MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

Much love,

Sister Blumel

PS - Letters are always welcome ;) 

Email my Mom and she'll give you my address - blumel.jana@gmail.com