Week #19 - 2015 Mar 30 - HEY!

Holaaa!

This week was pretty great! We went to Pinehurst on Tuesday for an emergency exchange, Thursday we volunteered at the Fisher House on post, and on Friday we went to CMLC (combined missionary leadership council) in Raleigh, a baptism on Saturday (she's 8..so not a convert baptism...but we still had to teach her the lessons - parents requested it), and our 10hr church marathon on Sunday! Soo a pretty productive week I would say! Andd of course, teaching the gospel in between all of those crazy things! :) 

Alright. Can we just talk about Pinehurst for 2 seconds? It's flippin GORGEOUS. I'm not sure how well the internet portrays it..but google it. It's BEAUTIFUL. Like wowza. My first impression of NC was Fayetteville...which I mean it's still really pretty! But it's pretty ghetto compared to Pinehurst hahaha. I'm just saying. Anywho, the sisters there (one of them being Sister Ibarra!! So I got to see her again! So fun!), have an investigator-who just found a Book of Mormon in the corner of her school's library and just started reading it and wants to learn more- who is YSA age (she's 18 or 19...I can't remember...). So the sisters wanted us to come out and meet her so that if she ever did  come to YSA she would recognize us. And there was other stuff going down that needed to be taken care of. So on Tuesday, we had to cancel and reschedule all our morning/early afternoon appointments and go to Pinehurst. I went with Sister Zoolakis (we call her Sister Zoo) to Christina's and Sister Webb went with Sister Ibarra to a member who's really struggling right now. Like really struggling. And it turned out to be super great! :) It was fun! 

We had CMLC on Friday. We're Sister Leaders so we had to go..obviously haha. It was a really good meeting. Veryyy uplifting. Just the day before, Sister Webb and I were having a discussion about receiving personal revelation and how recognize it (that's something I'm really studying right now...) and then! The Lord is mindful! Because personal revelation was talked about A LOT during this meeting. Wow. Super inspired. It was also so great seeing President and Sister Bernhisel. I just love them so much. :) 

At the baptism on Saturday afternoon, Sister Webb and I had to speak. Before getting there, we were under the impression that only I was speaking...but then on the program it said we both were...sooo we had to figure out how to make my 1-man talk into a 2-man talk. It was pretty easy. We just did a "let's test Sister Blumel's knowledge on the Holy Ghost" kinda thing and Sister Webb just asked me the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. It was fun hahah. Super simple..but it seemed to work pretty good. 

Oh yeah...on Saturday morning we get a call from President and then he asks to speak to me and I'm like oh no...(haha). And then he proceeds to tell me that he wants me to be a TRAINER next transfer and then he's like would you do that? And I'm like uhhhhh, yeah...yeah I can do that... andd apparently my reaction was funny because Sister Webb busted a gut laughing and then President started to laugh and he's like 'don't worry, you'll do just fine!' and I'm like uhh, i hope so! And he said I will. And then he told me about what I need to do and all that fun stuff. But I was so shocked..oh my goodness. He told me I'll be fine like a thousand times, while kinda chuckling haha. I'VE ONLY BEEN OUT FOR 4 MONTHS. And I'm gonna be training in a week....WHAT THE?! Out of all the sisters in the mission right now, he picks me. There's only 5 sisters coming in...so President only needs 5 sisters to do it....and he calls me! Ahhh. I know he's inspired...so I just gotta trust him. And the Lord. But we'll see what happens...hopefully it's alright. How do you ask for encouragement without asking for encouragement? Hahaha cause I totally need it right now...ahhh. I still can't believe it. 

Ah and the Women's Conference was on Saturday night and it was amazing! I loved it!!! If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I definitely recommend you do that asap!! Sooo uplifting :) 

Also. Today is March 30. Last year on March 30, is when I decided to serve. It's when I received that prompting to go on a mission. This time last year, I was sitting in the Brooks chapel listening to testimonies being born and then all of a sudden I get this thought that goes, wouldn't it be amazing to go around wearing a name tag teaching people about the restored gospel? It wasn't hey, i need to serve a mission! It was something about a name tag! Hahaha, but the Lord knew that's what it was going to take to plant that idea in my head. And voila...it totally worked. Because a year later, I am out in the field, serving the Lord and His people and I wouldn't have it any other way! Crazy how much things change in a year ;) super grateful to be out here though. :) I'm excited for conference this weekend! It's gonna be so good! :D

Today is March 30. That also means --- IT'S MATTY'S BIRTHDAY! Shout out to Matthew! Happy birthday!! Hope it's SUPER great!!! I love you! I'm so grateful you're my broski! Keep being awesome!! And have fun being 11!!!! :D <3 

And a shout out to JON! It was his birthday too! I didn't forget, I thought about him all day on the 27th! Hope you had a good one Jonny Cakes!!! I love you tons and I'm sooo grateful you're my broski too :) I hope you had a great day! I miss you!!

Ahh, I think that's all for this week. I hope you all have a very Happy Easter! Remember the reason behind it! And if you haven't already, watch #BecauseHeLives (helives.mormon.org). It's so good!!! :D I'm so grateful for my Saviour. Without Him, I wouldn't be where I am today. #BecauseHeLives I am able to feel the peace that the Atonement brings. #BecauseHeLives I am able to be with y'all, my fam jam, forever. #BecauseHeLives we can return back to our Father in Heaven. 

Have a fantastic week! I LOVE YOU ALL! And I miss you! Take care. Keep smiling! 

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel

xoxoxo

Week #18 - 2015 Mar 23 - HEYA!

Hola amigos! 

This week was pretty great! I don't even know where the weeks go anymore. They just go by super crazy fast and then it's Monday again. It's insane. 

I had to give a little mini teaching at the last district meeting. It was an LTMM discussion (do you get those?) and I had to lead it. It was about being obedient without asking questions and just doing it. The story about Nephi building the boat came up. The Lord commanded Nephi to go build a boat and instead of being like "uhh..me? You want ME to build a boat? Ohhh I don't think so...you got the wrong guy. I've never built a boat before" he was like "Oh yeah of course, where should I find tools?" Nephi had the faith to trust in the Lord to direct him as to how he should go about building a boat. So what I did for the discussion was this: I had Sister Webb come up and draw a boat. I didn't give her any direction..I just told her to draw it. So she drew a super simple looking boat. And then I got Sister Skokos to come up and told her to draw a boat too. But this time, I gave her step-by-step instructions. And the boat was a lot more complex looking. And then I compared it to: yes, our way of doing things is like the super simple boat that Sister Webb drew...but will that carry us across the ocean? We want the easy way out...but sometimes that isn't always the best way. And when we do follow the Lord's plan, it's a lot more complicated and we have to rely on Him every step of the way. So yes, it will take longer and a lot more effort (most of the time), HOWEVER, the success rate is MUCH higher. :) And then I mentioned how we don't need to look further ahead then we have to. Just look as far as the Lord wants you to and once you have gotten to that point, have that faith that the Lord will direct you from there. :) 

{Hopefully that made sense....That was the quick summarized version...but I'm sure y'all are getting the jist of what it was all about ahah.}

We also went on exchanges this week. Sister Webb stayed in Fayetteville and I went to Pembroke. It was interesting! Almost everyone living in Pembroke is native to Pembroke. They call themselves "Lumbee's". They have some interesting accents. It's like a southern drawl mixed in with an english accent...hahah I loved it. It was fun being there for the time I was able to be there. We were able to teach an investigator and I said the opening prayer. During the prayer the investigator was like "yes, Jesus, yes" after like everything I said...hahaha. It was awesome. See you always hear about that happening, but once it actually happens to you it becomes for reals. That's a real thing and it happens!! Hahah it was great. During the prayer I was like uhh...I'm assuming I just keep going? It was funny. Definitely a southern thing. It was great. 

So a couple weeks ago as we were going on post, the guard asked us if we had a bible that he could have. And unfortunately we didn't have one at that time. So yesterday, the same guard was there and he recognized us and he was like hey! What about my bible?! As we're driving away..(And we were totally prepared this time.) So we slam on the brakes and grab the bible that was sitting in the car door, just waiting for this moment, and we gave it to him! It was awesome!!! Hahah. You see, we're not allowed to proselyte on base...but if they ask for it, game on! All is fair! And he asked for a bible! We didn't talk about the Book of Mormon or anything specifically about the church...but hey. We're planting seeds! :) 

The guards at the gate are really funny. We're almost on a first name basis ahaha not really, but that's how often we see them all haha. It's the best!!

Cool experience that happened earlier today. We were at walmart, just grocery shopping and as soon as we walk in the door, the walmart greeter noticed Sister Webb's name tag and he's like Hey! And then he started asking all these questions. He asked if we had a website that he could go to to check out the church, so we gave him a pass along card. And then he was saying how he loved his job because he loves people and how we're so lucky that we get to go around and talk to people all the time. We asked him if he had a church he goes to and he's like 'yeah i do, but there's nothing wrong with visiting other ones and learning more about them! And then we invited him to church and he said he would love to check it out one day. He told us he didn't want to take up too much of our time so he told us to make sure that we talked to him before we left. So we did our shopping, checked out, and he was still there so we said goodbye to him and got his contact information. His name is Larry. Turns out that he's not actually in our area, he lives in a different area...but he said he was super interested in learning more about the church from the elders. He kept saying "bless your hearts! You have such a blessed job!" It was amazing. I hope the elders in his area get up with him. He sounds like he would progress so fast. He's got such strong faith already!! I love experiences like this! It makes being a missionary so worth it! :D

That's about all that happened this week :) Thanks for everything y'all do for me!! I love you all soo so sooooo much! And I hope you're all doing well! Miss you like crazy! Keep smiling! And remember the church is true!

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel 

xoxoxox

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

There's popcorn trees here!! IT'S AWESOME!

Mama Ang. She's from Pembroke - and she looks after the sisters there!

I saw Sis Ibarra last Monday! MTC comps 4eva!!!

Week #17 - 2015 Mar 16 - :D HEY!

Hey y'all!

(So quick background story on the y'all thing cause I'm sure you're all like oohhh the south got to her already...hahha which yes it has. But we're also not allowed to say "guys" because it's not dignified language...howeva! We are allowed to say "y'all" so we say it all the time. Hahah it's kinda funny. So that's why it gets thrown in there...I don't even realize it anymore. Ha!)

This week was really good! It was a service week...Least that's what it felt like. Hahah it felt like we were always doing service. Which is definitely not a bad thing at all! It's good! So good :)

On Tuesdays we do a study group with the Ft. Bragg ward. It's open to everyone in Fayetteville really, but only the Ft. Bragg sisters come. So we usually have a little group of like 4-6 sisters that come. We discuss past conference talks! This past Tuesday it was reallyyy inspired. Oh my word. I was having a rough morning..it was just one of those days and so honestly I wasn't looking forward to study group because I felt like I had nothing to say..or nothing to lead discussions with. But then I felt impressed to just read the talk and discuss it while we read it. (because usually, the sisters read the talk before hand and then we just spend an hour talking about it) The talk was, Eternal Life - to Know Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. So that's what we ended up doing. We all just took a paragraph and went around the circle reading it and then when anyone felt impressed to say something, we would stop and discuss things for however long necessary. Wow. The spirit was really strong. At some point we all just started talking about our conversion stories. And stories that helped us recognize the Lord's love for all of us. I shared the story about that one time at YW's camp that me and Kristin almost drowned in that river. But because of the power of prayer and faith, that tree was perfectly placed right when I needed it and all was well! And the other sisters bore testimony of when they felt His love as well. There were tears and you could cut through the spirit with a knife...it was that strong. Needless to say, I am super grateful that I just sucked it up, got over myself, and decided that yes, study group is where we needed to be. Because it was exactly where I needed to be. 

Another neat experience that happened this week was we were able to meet up with Ceresa again! Not sure if I mentioned her before. But Sister Olson and I had an appointment with her sister, Tymesha, but when we got to their house, Tymesha wasn't home, but Ceresa was. So we took advantage of the situation and shared a door step message with her about the Book of Mormon! We also set up a return appointment, but when we went over for it a couple days later, she wasn't home. So long story short - we hadn't been able to get up with her for like a month. And then on Saturday we decided to just stop by her house with Andi (one of the YSA members) and SHE WAS HOME! AND SHE LET US IN HER HOUSE! It was great! I mean the lesson...wasn't really lesson...it was kinda all over the place and we were kinda just getting to know her. But it obviously wasn't TOO awful because we invited her to church and SHE CAME!!! And she said that she really enjoyed it. So YAY! I'm excited to keep working with her. She has a lot of potential I think :) Huzzahhh, miracles! Miracles are real!! The Lord's hand is over this work! 

We weren't able to have a lesson with Mercedes this week, but we were able to see her at church and catch her for a few minutes and just talk to her :) I just love her so much. She's ALWAYS smiling and she just has such a bright light about her. I'm so grateful that we were able to start teaching her and that I get to be a part of her story. 

Life is going well. The work is hastening. There's not enough time in the day. We are always doing something. BUT! I wouldn't have it any other way! The Lord is mindful of us and He is blessing us with investigators and people to teach. Thank you all for your prayers...some days I can literally feel them lifting me up :) I appreciate all of your love and all of your support. 

ANDDD! HUGE SHOUT OUT TO BEN! CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! That's soooo exciting!!! :D :D :D I was thinking about you all day and I couldn't help but smile because I was so proud! You're the best, Benny! Keep making those great choices :) and remember, the church is true! And if you build your foundation on Christ, nothing will ever tear you down! (Helaman 5:12!) Also, remember the golden 3: 1. Prayer 2. Scripture Study and 3. Going to church. If you're doing all those 3 things, you'll be continually building on that foundation and making it super strong :) It's great! And one more thing - ALWAYS remember that I love you like crazy!! 

Anywho, I think that's all I have to report this week. I hope you're all doing great and keep smiling! I love you all so much! <3

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel 

xoxoxo

Week #16 - 2015 Mar 09 - Another week another dollar! Except for just another week...cuz we don't get paid. Hahah :)

HEY!!!!

So this week has been super duper BUSY. Oh my word. It's been insane. Like so much happened last week it didn't feel like just one week...it felt like 4. When I think about last week I think it happened like forever ago and then I remember...oh. It really was just last week. hahah. But enough rambling. It was a good week. 

On Monday we were driving home from whatever we were doing (I think we just went grocery shopping), and there was a dead squirrel on the side of the road and it was beautiful and full and there was no blood ahah it was great. Now I don't know if you remember this but Sister Olson's and I Plan A had something to do with a dead animal. So I took some grocery bags from the back and I picked that sucker up! Hahaha. It was ridiculous. And then when we got back to the apartment, we first put it into a bucket with a lid and then I was like 'mmm, maybe not. that's gonna smell bad soon' soo then we decided to put it in the freezer....Yeah that happened. And yes, we had a dead squirrel just chillin in our freezer (Ha...literally...did you see what I did there? HA i'm hilarious.). We left it in there for a few hours because we had to go teach some people about Jesus. Ya know...missionary work and things. But meanwhile we were trying to think of a way that we could prank the elders without getting the other elders involved (because they didn't give us credit for the last prank we did). So long story short, we took the frozen dead squirrel out of the freezer and we put it under their car. Behind their back tire, in the hopes that while they were backing out to leave the next morning, they would squish it and there would be dead squirrel guts all over the road. Hahah. Yes we're ridiculous. But fun needs to happen on the mission or else you go crazy. But yeah, it didn't end up working. Because apparently there's a lot of dogs in the area and we're thinking that a dog took it because we drove by to see if it worked and there was no squirrel guts or anything anywhere...it was clean. So we asked the elders where they put it and they had no idea what we were talking about ---so that was awkward. Haha. But they thought we were pretty awesome for attempting it. So that happened! Hahaha lol. 

Onto the more spiritual things that were able to happen this week. Well we were able to teach Mercedes (our YSA investigator) and it went awesome. She is amazing. The last couple times we've taught her she's just expressed to us the desire that she has to feel 'full' and she's noticed how happy all the families look at church. And that's what she wants. She wants to feel that happiness and joy that she sees in others. And we're like yesss! The gospel can bring you exactly that! :) It was really good. And yesterday we were able to teach her about the holy ghost and the feelings that you get when the spirit is there. And she was like I feel this warmth and peace a lot, especially when I'm here at the church and during the lessons, but I do feel it a lot, and I didn't know that was the spirit until now! She said it a lot better than that, but it was amazing to hear her say that. Now that she's able to recognize the spirit, she'll progress even further. Although she is already reading the Book of Mormon every day and praying all the time and coming to church every week. She's on the right path! Ahh it's so exciting to see the progress in the people that we get to work with. Just the glow that comes off of her is inspiring and a testimony builder. The church is true, the spirit is real, and this gospel has the effect to change lives :)  Don't forget that! Mercedes is such a sweetheart and so ready for gospel. Heavenly Father prepared her so much for this church and I'm excited and so grateful to be a part of her story :) 

During this past week I have developed the perfect study routine! Haha well not perfect...but it's pretty dang good. So I read a chapter of the Book of Mormon first and then I read and interpret 3 verses of the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi and then I read a chapter out of the New Testament. So far it's working out fantastically. :) I really want to get to know the bible more. (Especially because the bible is such a big thing down here.) So I'm trying to get the most out of it. I'm also using that card you got me, mama, the one that has a reading schedule for the New Testament. So it'll be good. I'm excited to study Christ's life. I'm only in Matthew 6 right now, but my testimony on the Saviour is already growing like crazy. I am so grateful for Him and everything that He was able to accomplish on this earth, especially the Atonement. Without the Atonement I would not be where I am right now. I have such a strong testimony of that - I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Atonement is real. It has the power to {and it will} change your life if you let it. 

I love you all! Y'all are the best. I hope you're doing well and loving life :) Remember, you all have SO much potential and I LOVE YOU a ton, no matter what!

Take care, be safe, and SMILE!

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel xoxox

The dead squirrel

The dead squirrel in the freezer

Strategically placed behind the Elders car

The job is done!

Sister Webb and Sister Blumel

Week #15 - 2015 Mar 02 - Bonjour!

Hey family :) 

This week has been CRAZY. Oh my goodness haha. It started off with transfers on Tuesday. We had to drive up because there was a car situation and communication issues with the assistants. They told us to keep the car in the area and they would come pick it up (because of the areas combining) and then they told us to drive the car up because Sister Olson and another sister had to to go up to transfers, so they told us just to drive it up and then give the keys to them there. And then they found out that the other sisters were sharing their car with the elders and so they told us to just leave the car here so that we could continue having a full-time car. So we figured the last one out the night before transfers and so they told us that if they couldn't find a ride up to transfers they could just drive the car up. Well, that's what we ended up doing. Sister Webb and I weren't planning on going up but then we ended up going because we needed to drive the car back down. OH. And I forgot to mention that it snowed pretty hard core on Monday night. So the roads were a mess. And the people in NC aren't used to snow so they don't know how to drive in winter conditions. There were so many cars in the ditch...yikes. It was pretty bad. Driving up to transfers (which was in Raleigh) was crazy...but luckily Sister Webb is from Utah so she had some winter driving skills. We survived the trip there and back! It was good.

On the way back, we saw the elders (the ones that we serve with in our area) ahead of us. So obviously we had to pass them and drive in front of them. Right? (hahaha) Well turns out they didn't have a GPS so they had no idea how they were going to get home and then we drove in front of them..so they were following us home. HOWEVER. We didn't know this at the time...we only knew that they were following us. So we were testing out their dedication to following us by weaving in and out of traffic and changing lanes spontaneously. And they followed us everywhere we went bahaha. It was so funny. And then once we got back to Fayetteville there was a red light so they pull up beside us and roll their window down and explained the situation. And we're like oohhhh that makes sense. Hahah. So we were their tender mercy for the day..no big deal or anything. lolol. It was hilarious though. 

Let me tell you, combining areas is HARD. It's such a challenge. There is so much work to do. I just wish there was more time in the day to actually get everything we want done, done. I feel like we're going to be dropping the ball on some people because we don't have time to see everyone. It'll be good though. We just have to trust in the Lord and hope for the best! This week is going to be a lot better because our feet are more on the ground and we have more of a schedule. Like our only days open for people are Friday and Saturday and even those are filling up really quickly. And that's SO good, I'm not complaining at all!!! Being busy is the BEST. Especially on the mission. It's great. Life is great right now :) crazy, but so good. I wouldn't want it any other way! 

I also got a new companion! Her name is Sister Webb and she's from Utah. She's so great! I love her a lot. She was serving in Fayetteville 3 and she lived across the street from us before this transfer. So we saw those sisters a lot. So we already know each other really well. So that's helpful! We get along really well and it's always a good time with her. There's a lot of laughing and joking around all that, so it makes it fun. But we are also good at working our tails off. So we have a good balance going. It's so great. I love her a lot! Although! She goes home after this transfer...soooo another one bites the dust.. haha. I'm killing off all my companions! Hahah but it's all good...we'll see who I get next transfer! It'll be good.

It's in the 60's today and all sunshine-y. It's so nice outside. I love it here in NC. I told Sister Webb this week that I would be American for North Carolina. I would totally move back here and live here. It's beautiful here and apparently these are the ugly months. Everyone's telling me I have to wait for spring because it's beyond gorgeous they say. I'm really excited. But seriously NC is so great. I feel so blessed to be serving here. :) 

I'm also super blessed that I'm serving a mission! Thank you all for the support and love that you've shown me, I really appreciate it. I pray for y'all every day! I love you all so much!!! 

Have a GREAT week full of happy moments :) 

MUCH LOVE,

Sister Blumel xoxoxo

PS: Fun story brought to you from the south - on the way up to transfers we passed this church and the little saying that was on the sign said "A fake ID won't get you into heaven." Ahaha I thought that was brilliant. And then a couple days ago we passed another one that said "God loves you, whether you like it or not." Lolol. It was perfect. There are so many churches down here it's the best aha. 

Gotta love the bible belt called the south :) I love that I get to be here!!