Back to Peru

 Elder Blazzard will be returning to Perú on April 15th.

Using some Spanish

 Memorable week in Tennessee, lots of fun. Things are moving fast as usual but crazy to think everything that happened was just this past week. We had zone conference an hour away where we studied some graphs about how the mission is doing and learned about how to more effectively invite those we're teaching to church. President had me and my companion do a role play of this in front of everyone and it went well. Expressing your own desire to see the person at church can go a long way. Additionally, his wife Sister Graham taught about automatic negative thoughts(ANTS) and how we can control them because unless you think about your thoughts, they are automatic.

Sadly, a member in the ward passed away this past week but we were able to attend the funeral. Her large family who are not members came into town and we visited them. They are originally from Puerto Rico and I was blessed to be able to speak with them and say a family prayer one night when we swung by to visit them. Truly a special moment I won't forget.

We saw President some more this week while we joined him for dinner since he's in the ward. It was cool to see him relaxed and laugh a bit, and he's addicted to BBQ sauce. The weekend was filled with exchanges where we received a ton of ward names to visit for bishop as well as a baptism which was simple and beautiful. Closing out the week, yesterday we met and taught the first lesson to this Hispanic family. I'm the only Spanish speaker for our trio so I was blessed to share the amazing story myself. It was refreshing and yet another unforgettable experience. Looking for those experiences is important in our lives. Pray to have them and pray to see miracles before your eyes. Chao

Stump up with Service

 Good Monday once again and a quick week it's been! We have been busy like always jumping between wards and balancing the efforts. Great service opportunities this past week as we helped to rip out some stumps and I broke my back moving tons of bricks. Service is the best way to show my love and it's tons of fun. 

Along with that we had a meeting with some senior couple missionaries about what has been going well in the field and what hasn't been. That brought up an interesting idea of inviting our investigators to these service projects. We usual ask people to come to church or read the Book of Mormon but by asking them to serve with us than they can experience the same joy that I easily feel when serving others. Think about what else Christ did while on this Earth and follow Him. He is the example and service is one way many of us can feel Him more. So we plan on trying that out this coming week. 

Teaching has been going well and our friend Natalie is progressing. Her 10th birthday was yesterday and I made her some cookies which her grandmother seemed to appreciate much more. She's funny and we're excited for what's to come. We attended a ward baptism yesterday as well and it is always beautiful to see the service and listen to the music. Reminds me of my baptism and how much it meant to me. 

The bishop spoke of the example the young girl is setting for all of us and the example we all are as members of the true church. Defend it and stand firm on what you know to be true. I study to strengthen that foundation every day. Please do the same and have an awesome week everyone!

Companions Three

 A wild ride over here in Tennessee this past week! We have been all over the place as my companion and I joined with another Elder and became a trio since his comp flew off to Chile. Missionaries are slowing returning to their original assignments and we are adjusting to the changes as they come. 

These past few days we have been covering two wards so along with that comes plenty of work to do. The people here in Farragut are awesome and provide a change up to the lessons that I have taught and I am growing from these changes. In a few lessons this past week I have been able to share personal stories and experiences more. I see a change in spirit for those we teach and I have learned the importance of personalization when teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The members are missionary-minded and heavily evolved in the work whether it be referrals, team ups, or providing meals. Since we are working both areas we have too much food and I never thought that would be an issue while on my mission. Truly we are blessed and doing well. Church is fun knowing that the mission president is sitting a couple rows behind you and a meal appointment/lesson is sure to be interesting. 

We have been teaching a young girl named Natalie who will be baptized in the next month. She was prepared this time last year which of course is when everything shut down. Now that everything is smoothing out a little she's ready to go. Just yesterday I had her read the first vision account herself and it was special. Usually us missionaries would recite it off from memory but I know reading it yourself has an impact as well. I have been studying Christ's ministry in the Americas this past week and love to see His organization of the church be established among them. We read the similar account with an investigator and she wondered what it would have been like to be there, seeing Him and hearing His voice. Imagine that, what would it have been like for you.

🍪 Cookies and the BOM

 This past week was great! I am feeling good about this area and am excited to see it continue to grow both in how many people we teach and how many miracles we witness. We received news from our president that we can now eat in members homes again. Of course we got right to it and have already had a few member lessons following a meal. The ward here was so excited to have missionaries in their homes again and it really made us happy to be able to meet and help them however they need. 

The week was filled with various service opportunities and responsibilities as always. We taught a few great lessons with our new friends, one being Bryan. He received a copy of the Book of Mormon with a heartfelt note from a friend in high school and has had it for a while. We taught the first discussion about the Restoration and he had tons of questions. Sometimes that's a good or a bad thing but nonetheless the spirit was testifying strongly. He is a creative director/DJ at his church so was unfortunately unable to make it yesterday. Meeting with another guy Keith, we talked about his last commitment to read Ether 12. He noticed a lot of similarities to Paul's writing style and has a firm belief in the Bible. He had a few questions as well such as why we don't have the gold plates today. I told him it's simple, it would be too easy to know it's true if the plates were there sitting in front of us, no faith would be required. I hope he can read that chapter over again to solidify the topic of faith. He also asked us what scriptures changed our lives personally, and I was caught off guard because this showed true interest in his desire to change too. I gave him 3 Nephi 11 as I have recently been reading these chapters of Christ's arrival. Knowing of this event has changed me and I know it can affect him too. 

On another note, I made about a billion cookies this past week and brought them to almost every appointment we had scheduled. People seemed to like them so shout out to mom for the oatmeal chocolate chip recipe. Little miracle there as I didn't have any salt so we went over to the neighbors to borrow some. No one was home but next door I recognized a father and daughter outside speaking Spanish. I asked him and he was sure caught for surprise. Talked to his whole fam and they're from Cuba so the accent was wild. Planning on dropping off some cookies to say thanks for the salt, we'll see where it goes. Anyways, go check out the video we made on Finding Christ in Knoxville and share it with someone. 

Keep going and doing, chao!

📍 Pellissippi!

 We are getting things rolling here in Pellissippi! I have moved to the Knoxville/Farragut area and have one of the smallest areas in the mission. No big skyscrapers or anything just some solid Tennesseans and lots of work to be done. Coming into the area there was not much action going on, my comp and I were getting used to each other, and things were a little difficult. To me this is the hard part about the mission and when my limits are truly tested. Thanks to prayer and scripture study everything is looking up and moving forward. I try to remember that uncomfortable situations are an opportunity to learn and grow. Let God help you too.

As for how the week went I said my last goodbyes to my friends in Georgia and got straight to work in the Pellissippi Ward. We visited some great people the last few days and grinded on Facebook. I'm being reminded of the types of discussions I had when I was up in Bristol. The people are religious and prepared to talk bible with you, it's awesome. Did some usual moving for a family, met some members and talked to some recent converts. Since I've come we have been fed every night by the members. They're helpful and a few more ward missionaries were just called so we're set. They also have an increased focus on family history work here. I don't know as much as I should so I'm excited to learn and see it bless the people's lives. 

Something I read from my personal study last week comes from Helaman 13 with Samuel the Lamanite. Sam speaks what comes to his heart because God speaks to His prophets through their hearts. What is President Nelson's profession? Later he speaks of the wickedness of the Nephites and their quickness to reject the prophets until it is too late. The lesson I got from it is don't wait till bad things happen, repent and hear His words. Thanks for your own efforts, I know God sees them. Chao