Week #49 - 2015 Oct 26 - MIRACLES IN THE NCRM

Hey y'all!

This past week has been really good! One of the better weeks. We have seen so many miracles. Hence the super original subject line. ;)

On Tuesday, we were accounting with our District Leader. (Accounting = once a week we give a report to our district leader about how the work is going....it keeps us accountable for what we do on a weekly basis.) And he chastised us pretty good because we haven't found any new investigators since he's come. (So like 5 weeks.) It's not that we haven't been putting the effort in...we have. But we obviously could have put MORE effort in finding. So we didn't really have a good reason as to why we haven't found anybody in the last few weeks. To make a long story short, that call to repentance was a blessing in disguise because it gave us the motivation we so desperately needed. AND. AND. ANDDDD! WE ENDED UP FINDING THREE NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK!!! WUT?! Yeah. That's a huge deal. Family! As we put our faith in our finding efforts and relied upon the Lord, we were blessed with not only 1 investigator, but 3. One was a referral from the elders, one we tracted into, and then the other one is a part member family. Their 9 year old son hasn't been baptized yet. It's so amazing what comes from working hard. I love it. Trust in the Lord and you won't EVER be disappointed! I can promise y'all this! :) 

First miracle! We taught our investigator that the elders referred us to this past week and it went very well! We first met her on Tuesday, we went to go contact her and as we were walking up to her house, she came right outside! We didn't even have to knock! And I can testify that as long as you have the faith that the Lord will fill your mouth, the words will come. We had no idea what we were going to say. But before we left the car we made sure to say a prayer and ask for the spirit to be with us to lead and guide our words. And then out of nowhere we gave a full on explanation of the Book of Mormon using the pictures in the front and everything! It went so well! And the words just kept on coming! She said she wanted us to come back a couple days later so we did!  We taught her the Restoration and she soaked it all in like a sponge. And she understands it all! We were talking about the great apostasy and she was like, 'Yeah, they were missing something" and we were like yes! Yes they were! So that was awesome. And she is totally cool with the Priesthood only being for the men. Which is a huge deal down here in the south haha. But she is absolutely amazing! And I love her so much already! Her name is Jessica and she's in her mid to late 30's we're pretty sure...haha. 

Our other miracle story was when we were on exchange with the other sisters. I was with Sister Alldredge who serves in the Jacksonville 2nd ward. We were contacted a referral, but to our dismay, the lady we were trying to contact wasn't living there anymore. So we decided to tract around her house. We knock on the first door, we see someone look through the window and then they don't answer the door. Awkward. So we move on to the next door. We knock. This cute lady comes out with her kids (they're 3 and 5, I'm pretty sure.) and we told her we have a unique message that we share with the world and we asked if there was a time she would be willing to listen to it and she said she had time then! So we taught her a 4 minute Restoration and she was totally intrigued. I've never felt the spirit so much on a door approach. It was amazing! And then she told us we could come back and talk to her more! And we're actually going over there tonight! She seems like she'll be good. She's very friendly and nice :) 

And then the part member family is also a miracle! They have been inactive for the last little bit. But for the past few weeks they have been coming back to church. They've come to church and they came to the Halloween party that the ward had this past weekend. They're on the road to becoming totally active again. They want their son to be baptized and so because he's 9 he has to get the lessons. So that will be fun. The mom says that the whole family will benefit from hearing the lessons again. I'm excited to start teaching them. They're a great family. The mom has a super thick southern drawl hahaha it's the best. 

God is SO good! I love being a missionary. I love serving the Lord full time. It's crazy to think that in a little less than a month, I'll be coming up to my year mark. That's insane. It definitely doesn't feel like it's been that long. But at the same time it feels like I've been here forever. It's a weird concept. But I LOVE being here! I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else. Even when the going gets tough...I've learned that you just gotta keep going :) Put one foot in front of the other and take it one step at a time. Keep smiling and keep trusting in the Lord. He's got your back always. 

I hope you all have a fan-freakin-tastic week!!! I love you all a ton. And miss you like crazy! Take care. Be safe. And know that God is with you always. 

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel

xoxoxo <3

Week #48 - 2015 Oct 19 - "Hey, My Name Is Nicholas. And This Is Ridiculous."

Hey family!

This week was good. Like always. :) Due to some gimps ("I have a bad back." or "I have a bad knee"....) in the district, our district leader has asked that we share our car. So our FULL time car isn't so full time anymore haha. There are 4 sets of missionaries and 3 cars. Us and the other sisters had a full time car and then the 2 sets of elders just shared a car. But not anymore! Basically, he (the DL) worked it out so each of us only have one "no car" week a month. So it's not TOO bad. I bring this up because our "no car" week was this past week haha. And it was rough stuff hahaha. We did get a lot of exchanges and stuff though! So we didn't have to ride our bikes (sorry mom....hahaha). But it was still rough. And when we got the car back, I was so grateful for it! Man, when you don't have something, you REALLY appreciate it once it's back! haha I'm just saying!

So this week!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING last Monday! One of the members (The Murphy's) fed us a really good thanksgiving dinner last Sunday. It was delicious. I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention it last week haha. BUT! Anywho. The Murphy's are literally the best and they have done so much for us and I don't know what we would do without that family haha. 

And the beach activity was a lot of fun! The zone played football. But Sister Park, Elder Tellez (he's in our district), and I threw a frisbee around. It was funny haha. And then we got bored of that...so Elder Tellez went and played with the zone...I think at this point they were playing Ultimate Frisbee. And Sister Park and I just walked along the beach. It was relaxing. And nice. And apparently there's a picture posted somewhere....so if I find it...I'll have to send it over :) 

Tuesday was our Zone Conference. It was SO good. It felt like we were in a heaven on earth. That whole meeting it felt like we were in our own little world and the scary, dark outside world didn't exist. It was a wonderful meeting. :) Very spiritual and uplifting. 

And then! After the meeting, our lives changed.....

They installed...

Black boxes...........

In all of our cars.........

Yeah. 

Now to explain what a little black box is...it's a box that tracks your speed, if you're wearing a seatbelt, your GPS location, and if you take corners too fast or slam on your brakes too hard. Uh yeah. So that's awesome. AND best part is? It talks to us. And it's voice is terrifying haha. To put it in the words of another sister, "It sounds like satan is in the vehicle..." hahaha. #YIKES! So driving back to Jacksonville (it was a 2.5 hour drive) was a trip. Hahaha. Apparently I have more of a speeding problem than I thought... It said "Check your speed." Like 6 times or something. And when it says that you have to slow down within 10 seconds or you get dinged. And there's a monthly report that goes out saying how good of a driver you are. LUCKILY, I slowed down in time and the box didn't actually get me. But dang. That box is something else. Hahaha. It's good though...it keeps us accountable. 

We named our box Nicholas. Because he is ridiculous. (That vine.....hahaha. Hey my name is Nicholas, and this is ridiculous. Got mah gummi money and it is deliciousness. Hahahaha Sarraaaaa you got me ;) haha) 

So yeah. That's an update on mission vehicles! 

On Wednesday, Wesley got interviewed and he passed! Hoorah!!! And then a miracle happened that night as well. We were outside with Wesley's little siblings waiting for our ride to show up and we were just drawing with chalk and stuff. And then a car pulled up and we realized it was Sister Parker (our ride) so we go inside to get our bags. Well Bentley (Wesley's family's dog) got out of the house and then it got out of the yard and made a bolt for it. He was gone. And then we were like awe crap. Andddd to make matters even better! It was getting dark. So we were like oh man.. Well correction. That's what I was like. Sister Park took off after the dog and I was like ha.....I'll be close behind you...but I ain't runnin after a dog. Soooo yeah. Long story short and after MUCH, MUCH prayer. Sister Parker was able to catch the dog and everything was good. Sister Parker was a HUGE tender mercy because she has 6 dogs at home...so she's like a dog whisperer. And if we didn't call her to give us a ride...that dog would have been gone. And that would not have been a good activity. Ha. So crisis averted...we managed to call the right person and she came at the right time. God is good!!!! 

AND THEN. ON SATURDAY! WESLEY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! HALLELUJAH! It was wonderful!!!!! It was such a good day. The Spirit was so strong. And I have never seen a 10 year old so happy. Wesley is the best. I just love him so much. He was so excited the entire day :) The baptismal service was great and the talks were perfect. Everything was just perfect :) I love baptisms. They are so great! Ahhh being a missionary is the best :) 

That was about it for the week! Thank you all for the love and support you show me. I say this all the time...but I really do mean it. Y'all are the greatest. 

Remember what's most important this week! Good, better, best right?! Always remember to pray and read your scriptures. Praying is how we talk to God and reading our scriptures is how God talks to us. They work together :) Do them both and you'll be so so so much stronger. 

I love you all so much!! And I hope you're doing well :) Take care!!! 

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel

xoxoxo <3

OH! PS! 

My #ponderize scripture for the week is Alma 53:20-21. And I'm substituting the word "men" to "missionary". :) 

I love this challenge!! 

Our little friend, Nick!

Our little friend, Nick!

A pretty sky! I love North Carolina!!!!

And this is what a successful personal study looks like in the world of Sister Blumel.....bahaha. But! I had a super great study this morning!! so yay!

Wesley Ritchie baptism

Wesley Ritchie baptism

Wesley Ritchie baptism

Week #47 - 2015 Oct 12 - {Untitled}

Heyaaaa!

This week was great!! It was kind of a blur...so I'm not really too sure what even happened. (You know...I think I start out like this in like 95% of these weekly reports...I need a new line hahaha)

Anywho. I don't have a lot of time today because apparently we're doing a zone preparation day activity at the beach haha. So this one will be shorter than the rest of them...sorry haha. 

On Tuesday we met with Wesley and went over the baptismal interview questions with him. AND HE NAILED IT. He's so ready for his actual interview AND baptism. I love this kid so much. <3 He's a genius. We asked him what repentance was and he kinda had to give him a hint..all we said was "it's a change..." and then he's like, "Oh yeah! It's a series of steps that we have to take to ask for forgiveness and then be forgiven!" It was perfect. And then he answered a lot of the other questions like that. And then after all the questions were asked, Sister Park and I were like, "what else can we ask you?" And then he proceeded to ask us to ask him a bunch more questions. Like who's Jesus and Heavenly Father, what's the Book of Mormon, who's Moroni, what's the sacrament. And all of those kinda questions. Needless to say our minds were blown. *insert my hands showing that fact that our minds were blown* He's seriously the best. I am so grateful I get to be a part of his conversion! AND his baptism is this Saturday at 1pm!!! I'm so excited!! :D 

On Wednesday, we had a zone training and it was really good. Super spiritual. We usual have these meetings in the gym..but they were doing some sort of renos or something in there...so we had it in the chapel. And it was amazing. It was neat to see all of the trainings that we planned in our Zone Council come to life. It was awesome. I love missionary meetings. They're always super uplifting. 

And then the rest of the week we just worked as hard as we could!! It was great. I'm doing well. I love being a missionary here in the NCRM. We get to witness miracles everyday and I wouldn't have it any other way. I know this is where I need to be and I'm so grateful I have this opportunity to be a representative of Jesus Christ full time :) I know my Savior lives and He's always there for us. When we fall, He's right there to pick us up. When we're not feeling the best, He's there to share His light with us and make everything feel better. When we testify of Him, hearts are changed. 

I hope you all have a great week and I can't wait to hear from y'all next week. You are loved and missed. Andddd! Love is being sent to you from North Carolina. Thank you all for being the best ever. <3

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel

xoxoxo <3

PS - My #ponderize scripture for the week is Mosiah 5:15 :) 

PPS - I couldn't think of any clever subject lines.......#fail. Oh well! C'est le vie!

Week #46 - 2015 Oct 05 - Let the Storm Rage Onnnn, the Rain Never Bothered Me Anywayyy.

Hey you beautiful people!

This past week was good. It was slower. But hey, that's not the worst thing. A lot of awesome things happened though! I'll fill ya in! (That's the purpose of these emails right? hahaha. anywho!)

On Tuesday we had a Zone Council. This was the first one in the NCRM history! It's practically a ward council....but stake level....but on the mission. Ha pretty much all the leadership in the zone got together and we discussed some important stuff that had to do with the mission. Like what were were doing on our zone preparation day. #priorities. Hahah just kidding. That's not ALL we talked about! Although the plan is to go to the beach together and do fun games and stuff...so that'll be good. We're doing that next week :) We were supposed to do it today...but weather and stuff. (I'll talk about that later....) BUT! It'll be good :) And then we talked about zone training and our missionaries and all that fun stuff. It was such a good meeting! It definitely helped us feel more united as leadership in the Wilmington Zone. I LOVE all this unity stuff that's going on! It's bringing a lot more happiness, success stories, and FUN to the mission. And the work is definitely moving forward because we actually feel like a TEAM now. It's amazing!!! So that was good. 

Oh also side note. With all the rule changes and the fact that we can do more with the elders now...we totally car pooled with our District Leader, Elder Davis and the District Leader from Wallace, Elder Kapu. So we drove with elders. It was sooooo different and we thought it would be super awkward. But it was actually a lot of fun! :) {Yes, we got permission from the Zone Leaders haha they're actually the ones who set it up haha}

We taught Wesley this week, of course! We did the Spiritual CPR lesson with him. That's the one where there's 3 cups and 3 knives and you're supposed to position the knives in such a way that the Book of Mormon can balance on top...without moving the cups! (The missionaries did this for us a couple times, familia.) And then we said that each cup represented something that would keep us spiritually alive. Hence the CPR. We have Church, Prayer, and Reading your scriptures. I've totally explained this before....but oh well. Repetition is always good right? Ha. Anywho...if you're doing all those things, you'll be strong and good to go!!! Anywayyy, it was fun. This lesson is always a hit. ESPECIALLY with kids. Wesley's brother and sister spent the rest of the lesson piling books on this foundation and seeing how many it would hold before it fell. And man! It holds a lot more than I thought!!! It was awesome!!! I got a picture of it...so I'll try to remember to send it haha. But Wesley's doing wonderful as usual. We do have to push his date back. He was supposed to get baptized this Saturday...but we missed a couple lessons and we really want to make sure that he is ready. So we're taking a couple more weeks to make sure that he understands everything :) It'll be good. He's such an amazing kid...I'm not worried about him at all. :) 

Hmm, what else happened this week. Well Conference! I LOVE General Conference. Especially on the mission. It's like the superbowl for missionaries. Not even kidding haha. We had a count down going from like August to when Conference was gonna be here...we were STOKED. And we definitely were not disappointed at all! It was one of the best conferences that I've been able to listen to :) It was GREAT. I loved it!!! ALL of it!! I can't pin point my favourite talk...but I really liked Sister Niell F. Marriott's talk and President Russell M. Nelson's talk. I think those were the ones that stood out to me the most. Also. Elder Holland's and President Uchtdorf's were REALLY good as well. It was a good weekend :) 

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Also. On a completely random side note. I've been super bored with my hair since like July/August. And I've been contemplating bangs this whole time. Sooooo, on Friday night, we got home a bit early, I decided to give myself a hair cut. Ha! So I found some scissors and cut my bangs. Sister Park looked terrified...but my mind was pretty set. And once my mind is set...nothing can really change my mind haha. So I just went for it! And bam it worked out pretty good! Can't complain :) Andddd I got the district's stamp of approval. They all say it looks good and they're impressed with my hair cutting skills hahaha. I'm just the best. No big deal or anything ;) Hahaha just kidding. Sister Park helped me cut a little chunk off my right side...cause it was an awkward angle. But she did a good job too :) So yep! Change is good! :) 

Hmm, real quick. We were supposed to have a hurricane....Hurricane Joaquin. So Sister Park and I were all prepared. And not gonna lie, we were pretty excited because it was going to be our first hurricane for the both of us. We made sure we had our 72 hour kits ready to go. We had a suitcase packed with 3 days worth of clothes and stuff. We had water. Man, we were SO prepared!!! Buttttt.....then it decided to shift paths and NC wasn't in the path anymore. DANG IT. So we aren't actually getting a hurricane....just a lot of rain and wind. Because we're like on the VERY VERY VERY outskirts of it. Lame sauce. Maybe next time ;) hahaha. We were all excited to say that we survived Hurricane Joaquin...but now we can't say that. We can only say, we almost got the chance to survive Hurricane Joaquin...but that's not nearly as exciting....Oh well! 

I'll just say #HurricaneJoaquinFAIL. 

Hahaha. Anyway. I hope you all had a great week! I miss you all so so so much. But I know we're all where we're supposed to be :) Just continue to say your prayers, read your scriptures, keep the Sabbath day holy, and choose the right! Oh and smile too. Because smiles are contagious and everyone love smiling :) 

I love y'all a ton! Take care. Make good choices!!!

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel

xoxoxo <3

PS - Also! Almost forgot. My #ponderize scripture for the week is Mosiah 2:41! :D What's yours?!

The tower!!!!! Don't mind the blurry half naked kids in the back....baahahah
 Wesley's siblings are hardly ever dressed completely....

the Before picture! #awkwardselfiesbeawkward

The AFTER pictures! Bam bangs are back!!

After a year of growing them out....I cut them again. Bahaha. Oh well!

Week #45 - 2015 Sep 28 - All You Need Is Love

Hey y'all! 

This week was pretty good. Like real good. We went to the temple on Wednesday, had district meeting on Wednesday with our new district, Leadership Training on Friday, General Women's Broadcast  on Saturday evening, and church on Sunday!! It was a super uplifting week that's for sure. :) 

The temple was, of course, WONDERFUL!! I LOVE the temple so, so, so much. I've said this before, but I'll say it again - I'm literally gonna hang out at the temple ALL the time when I get home. And it's gonna be fantastic. I just love how peaceful it is. The second I step into the temple, all my worries, concerns, daily stresses are taken off my back for a time. That never ceases to amaze me. We went to the temple as a zone. So that was neat! It was kinda weird going with the elders since the previous mission president would NEVER allow that. He was very strict on elder/sister relationships to the point where we couldn't really even talk to the elders. But at the MLC meeting I talked about a couple weeks ago, our Mission President said that he didn't like the fact that we didn't know how to work with each other. So we are now allowed to do things together on Preparation Days and talk to each other and actually communicate like normal human beings. So that's fun. Haha it creates a new dynamic. We actually feel unified now as missionaries. Instead of the "elder vs sisters" competition thing that was going on. It's good. But anyway! We went to the temple as the Wilmington Zone and it was so great. It was great to go to the temple with all of the people that we work with :) And! The Mission President and his wife surprised us - at least Sister Park and I - by being there with us. It was a special experience going to the temple with my Mission President and his wife. :) I seriously love them so much. 

Our district is awesome. All of the companionship's got changed except for ours. So we have 2 new elders and a new sister. One of the elders - Elder Eyere - came out with me! So it's fun having him in the district! :) He's serving in the Jacksonville 2nd ward. And the other one is Elder Davis and he's serving in our ward and he's the district leader. We're like the same...sass level anyway so we'll see how this works. We've had a couple "dominance/power" things already....our pride levels are pretty equal...ha we're both too stubborn to accept defeat...that's all. Hahaha. It'll be a fun time though! :) And the new sisters name is Sister Alldredge and she is wonderful!! I love her already. This district might end up being one of my favourites on the mission so far! :) 

Leadership Training was good. Like really good. All the trainings taught were all about becoming a better leader. So it was wonderful. We constantly need help in that department haha! And then a bunch of other little rules changed. Like the passenger in the car can use the phone now (before that wasn't allowed), we don't have suit/cardigan season anymore. Suit season used to go from Oct 1 to April 1 and we all had to wear suit jackets/cardigans everyday. So that's out. THANK GOODNESS. Cause it's still super hot here in October...ha. And then I can't remember what the other ones were...but it was great. We're pretty much just going by what the White Handbook says. So that's nice. I didn't realize how many rules the previous mission president put in place until now..ha. But it's okay! :) We're still striving to be exactly obedient and listening to the Mission President to a tee! 

After the meeting we stayed back and chatted with the James. President James wanted to talk to Sister Park so I stayed and talked with Sister James. Oh man she's just the cutest, sweetest lady ever. I love her so much. She knows how to make you feel important and loved and it's wonderful. It was fun getting to know her better! And then when President came out, we talked with him for a little bit too. So it was great! 

The Women's Broadcast was AMAZING! Definitely needed to hear all that was said. I loved every second of it. Especially President Uchtdorf's message. It was EXACTLY what I needed. Love. 

Sunday was great. We had a good lesson with one of our members. We had an appointment and she had her friends over. Apparently she tried cancelling, but our phone never got the message. So we went and afterwards she said that we needed to be there for her friends. Her friends asked a lot of really good questions and they're really curious about the church! We witnessed our member giving her friend, Rhonda, a Book of Mormon and it was amazing!! They don't live in our ward boundaries, but I really hope the missionaries will find them. They're golden :) 

And then afterwards we had a lesson with our member and it was such a spiritual experience. It was pretty much us all expressing our love to one another. And she stated the fact that she is amazed by us because we always come with something she needs to hear. And then she told us that she would LOVE to be our investigator because we're so understanding and she doesn't feel judged around us and we are so full of the spirit. She said we would be able to convert her ;) hahaha. She's such a sweetheart. I love when people tell us that...it makes me feel like I'm doing SOMETHING right ha. It's a good refresher.

So that was great. 

The title of the email is All You Need Is Love. And  I just want to say that the last few weeks a huge emphasis has been put on LOVE. It is such a simple concept, but a hard one to master. But I would just like to invite all of you to love a little more and be a little kinder and understand that everyone is fighting their own battles and it isn't our place to judge them. But it is a commandment to love them. So just spread the love and do something each day this next week that shows your love for someone. It's those little acts of kindness that mean the most :) 

Thank you for all the love and support that y'all constantly show me. I can't express my gratitude enough. It means everything to me. I love you all so much. 

I hope you have a great week! And I can't wait to hear from y'all next week! Take care! And Be safe. Always remember to smile :) 

ALSO HUGE SHOUT OUT TO SARA!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHICKA! YOU'RE THE BEST AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOUR DAY IS AMAZING JUST LIKE YOU!!!! 

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel 

xoxoxo <3

Week #44 - 2015 Sep 21 - The Things That Matter Most Last Forever.

Hey y'all, 

This week my report will be a little different. I just want to take a minute and share my testimony with you all. I'm going to very simply share what means the most to me and I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide my words in such a way that you too will feel the spirit and I will be able touch at least someone's heart. 

Throughout this last week, I've had a lot of time to ponder. Due to some unforeseen circumstances and some very tragic news - this past week has been rough physically, but mostly emotionally. But with all that mentioned, it's been a very spiritually moving week. I've never felt Heavenly Father's love so strong before. I know that Heavenly Father loves me. He loves you. He knows my circumstances, as well as He knows yours. He is a mighty God. He is a God of miracles. He is a loving God. He loves us all more than we can even comprehend. His love is perfect. Unconditional. Eternal. 

He has a plan for all of us. Sometimes it's hard to accept His plan, but that's where faith comes in. Faith in God includes faith in His timing. This past week, my companion had to receive some very hard news about her family. The way she handled it has been inspiring for me. Sister Park is one of the strongest people that I have ever met. Her testimony and her love of God and of Jesus Christ is unwavering. 

In Mosiah 18 it talks about what we promise when we are baptized. Verses 8 and 9 say:

 8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his  people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn;yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of  the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

Those words have been on repeat in my mind this entire week. I never fully understood what it meant to "mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" until coming on the mission. As a missionary you have the opportunity to be other people's support. Other people rely on you to help them through their trials. And never before have I wanted to take burdens off people's backs and put them on my own to relieve them from their challenges. During a visit, if they confide in us with what they are struggling with and when they shed tears, I find myself hurting because I wish there was more that I could do for them. But all we can do is weep with them and assure them of God's love for them. 

This week I have gained an even deeper understanding of this scripture and what exactly I promised when I was baptized at eight years old. As my companion is going through this trial I have wanted nothing more than to take it off her back and put it on my own. I know this isn't possible but I wish it was. You know, on the mission they always talk about being united with your companion. Being one with each other. You don't realize how united you are until the other one is hurting and you're feeling what they are. I can't say that I know what Sister Park has been going through and I can't say that I even understand. But I do know that my heart has been aching for her and her family. I'm on the outside looking in and even though I don't know exactly how bad this hurts, I hurt really bad for them. I am literally mourning with those that mourn. I'm not sure why this had to happen. And why this had to happen at this time. But I do know that it happened and the Lord has a plan. He's looking out for us. Sister Park and I were meant to be companions. The Lord chose me to be the one to be by her side as she is going through this. And I feel so inadequate. I feel almost unworthy to be the one to comfort His beloved daughter. Although, I can promise you that as I have knelt down to the Lord and pleaded for His help and guidance, He has given it to me. I have said things that I would not have even imagined coming out of my own mouth. And I know they aren't from me. Those words have come to me from the Spirit, from the Lord. I am the Lord's mouthpiece. I am the Lord's instrument. And I am striving to fulfill the promises I made at baptism and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort." 

I want you all to know that I have a STRONG testimony that families are forever. When sealed in the Holy Temple of God, families are for eternity. That binding is eternal. And how amazing is it, that we have this knowledge. How great is it that the fullness of the gospel has been restored and the sealing power is back on the earth today. How incredible is that we have temples and we can do the work for those who have passed on. How wonderful it is that those that didn't have the chance to hear the gospel on the earth, have that opportunity in the spirit world. This is why temple work is so important. This is why temples are on the earth. Temples are here to bind families for time and for all eternity. This is our ultimate goal. The temple should always be our goal. It is my promise to you, that as long as your eyes are on the the temple, you are never lost. I hope that we can all make the temple a priority in our lives and not only seal our own families for time and all eternity but those that didn't get the chance to here on earth. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's church on the earth today. It contains the fullness of the gospel and the fullness of the truth. I know with all my heart, mind, and soul that this IS the true church. I have received witness of this time and time again. I know that Joseph Smith restored the church and I know he saw what he saw. I know he was the first prophet called of God in this dispensation. I know that it's through him that God was able to bring back His church. I know that the Priesthood power is real. I am so grateful that the Priesthood is on the earth again. I was able to receive a blessing from the Mission President this past week and things were mentioned that I hadn't told anyone else but God. Those were things that I had only talked about with my Father in Heaven and yet, those concerns were addressed in this blessing. My Heavenly Father was talking to me through a worthy Priesthood holder. I cannot deny what I have felt in this church. I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is through the Plan of Salvation that we will feel peace and true joy. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. And I know that He died for each and every one of us. He went through everything so that we would understand perfectly. He wants to be there for us and He knows exactly what we're going through because He's been there. We can always turn to Him and He won't ever let us down. All we have to do is let Him in. And once we do, we will realize that He will take the weight right off our backs. Just like how it says in Mosiah 24:14-15. So even though I cannot take the weight off of Sister Park's back or her families' backs, I know that the only one who can, is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that gives me comfort. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ, will help them and comfort them and help them feel at peace. I know this because He went through everything. Unlike me, He KNOWS exactly what they are feeling. We all just have to trust Him. And I know that this is the case with EVERYONE. No matter what you are going through, Jesus Christ is there for you. Let Him in. 

Mom, Dad, Jon, Sara, Matthew, and Ben. I want you ALL to know that I love you more than anything else in this world. You all mean everything to me and I hope you all know that and never forget it. I am so grateful that mama and pops lived worthy lives and were able to be married for time and all eternity in the Holy Temple of God. It is because of them, that we are an eternal family. I hope that one day I, too, can enter into the temple and marry a worthy priesthood holder for time and all eternity and raise a family on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ and the gospel, just like the one I grew up in. I love you all so much and I am sending HUGE loves and hugs to you all from North Carolina. Give each other vicarious hugs for me. :) I can't express enough how much y'all mean to me. So just know that there aren't even enough words for me to adequately describe my love to all of you. <3 <3 <3

I have so much more to say...but unfortunately I don't have the time to say it all. I hope that all made sense...I don't have to time to double check it.

I hope you all had a great week and know that my prayers are with all of you always. 

You are Loved. 

Take care. Be safe and choose the right. 

Much Love,

Sister Amy Blumel 

xoxoxo <3

Week #43 - 2015 Sep 14 - The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways.

Heyaaa!

So this past week was really good. It was kinda a slower week. But it was good. :) 

We saw Wesley a couple times this week and he is doing WONDERFUL. He's just the best and I love him to pieces. We taught him the 10 Commandments and Following the Prophet and he loved our hand signs for all 10 commandments. AND! Best part? He still remembers them. So. Our 10 year old investigator knows all 10 Commandments.. IN ORDER! Can you say that about yourself? Hahaha. I know I couldn't before I was taught the hand signs. They're pretty fun :) (shout out to Sister Webb for teaching me that!) And we were also able to watch a little bit of Meet the Mormons with him as well. Ever since the first time we went and visited him, he's been DYING to watch a movie with us. Ranging from the Lego Movie, to other disney movies, and you know all that sorta stuff. And then we explain that we're missionaries so we can't watch those movies. So we told him that we would watch Meet the Mormons with him and he was super excited. So we did that! We'll watch the other half sometime this upcoming week I think. If not this week, we'll be doing it at some point. :) But other than that, he's doing great! 

We contacted a referral yesterday (Sunday...after church) and it was a miracle story. Wowza. Okay so we got this referral on Saturday and we were told to just "tract into" this lady because the person who referred her didn't want to be known. So we go to the address and we realize that there's a huge "No Soliciting" sign in the apartment complex and we were a little hesitant. But the spirit told us to keep going, so we did. We found her apartment and there was another "no soliciting" sign right on her door. There was also a huge cross on her door. We didn't exactly know how to approach this lady once she answered the door - because of the signs up and everything - so both Sister Park and I were praying for help. And then all of a sudden this dog comes around the corner...with no owner or anything with it. So we're like perfect! We'll just use the dog and ask if it's hers! We tried knocking and ringing the doorbell multiple times but there wasn't an answer and we weren't walking away either. Something told me that we needed to stay. (The Spirit obviously..haha) And we also realized that we had been holding onto this dog and Sister Park being the huge animal lover that she is, didn't want to leave it there (I guess I'm heartless now because I was just ready to go and let it fend for itself hahaha whoops) and so she looked at its tag and wanted to deliver it to whoever's address it belonged to. And it turned out to be the same address as the referral. It WAS her dog! Crazy right?! There was also a phone number so we called it and she answered and we told her we had her dog. Long story short, she came to the front door, turns out she was gardening in the back. And we gave her, her dog back and we were able to transition the conversation from the dog to the cross on the door to asking if she was religious to inviting AND committing her to come to church AND getting a return appointment! It was too good to be true!!! It was such an amazing experience! :) The Lord has perfect timing. And He does have a plan for each of His children. That dog was a HUGE tendery mercy. It's the little things. Just before coming to her house, we stopped by a couple people and they didn't answer their door. And I think that's because if they would have answered, we would have missed this opportunity. So it all worked out! It was one of those moments that timing was huge. If we would have waited a second longer or even got there a second earlier, we would have missed the dog and missed our chance to start up a conversation with her. I mean, it would have worked out another time....but this was it. This was the time we were supposed to see her and I LOVE seeing the Lord's hand in this work. It's just a testimony builder that this IS the Lord's work and He's mindful of all of us. :) 

OH YEAH! And on Friday, we had an MLC (Mission Leadership Council) meeting up in Raleigh area (Knightdale). And then, you wouldn't have guessed what happened. SISTER PETERSON WAS THERE!!! WHATTT?! Okay so MLC meetings are only for the zone leaders and sister training leaders (and the assistants and the Mission President of course) and Sister Peterson is training right now! So that was a COMPLETE surprise! But turns out she was personally invited to come to the meeting and present something to all of us :) It was awesome!!! IT WAS SO GOOD TO SEE HER! I just love her so much. I can't wait to see her off the mission so I can spend as much time as I want with her! Ah maybe we'll be companions again haha. Who knows! All I know is I saw her on Friday and it was amazing. MLC was a super good meeting though. It was great. Lots of good things were discussed and I can say I am SUPER excited to be in the NCRM :D Lots of things are changing, but it's for the best! And I'm stoked to see the outcome :) (I'll talk more about that later hahaha.) 

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! WE WENT TO THE BEACH THIS MORNING! YEAHHH! Okay so back story. When I got my call here I was like I want to serve in Wilmington because it's super close to the coast and then one morning I'm gonna force my companion to wake up super early so that we could watch the sunrise on the coast over the ocean. And then my first area was Fayetteville..no where near the ocean hahaha. But then I got sent to Jacksonville! And it's not Wilmington, but it's still right on the coast! So bam!! And so us sisters decided that we were going to do just that. And that's what we did this morning! It was the best!! Granted we had to wake up at 4am to get there on time....BUT OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!! I looooooovveee the ocean. It's beautiful. We got there just before 6am and we stayed until after 9am. It was so much fun! We took a ton of pictures and enjoyed putting our toesies into the water. Actually we were able to go about ankle deep and the water was SO WARM! It was like bath water. And it's September! Yeah...needless to say that I'm pretty excited about this...still....hahaha. It was the best thing ever. Definitely gonna have to go back soon. I love being right on the coast! <3

That's about it for this week! I hope you all have a great week with lots of fun memories. Remember to say your prayers and read your scriptures and that God loves you! Y'all are the best. 

I love being a missionary. It's the best. I'm so grateful I have this opportunity to serve. 

I love and miss y'all a ton! Take care :)

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Amy Blumel 

xoxoxo <3

Sister Rich, Sister Peterson and I

Me and Sister Peterson!