Blog #2

Heisann Friends and Family,

I just wanted to start off by saying I am so proud of my brother Erik!! I love and miss my family every day but am so glad to hear that the Lord is blessing each and every one of you while I am gone! I pray every day that you will feel of my love for you and will continue to be cared for and watched over during these next 18 months. 

It's crazy how quickly the weeks are going by here at the good old MTC! The Finns have left us, and by this point are out in various parts of Finland bringing this glad message to Finnish people everywhere. We were sad to see them go, but are so happy that they are finally able to go and do what they have been called and set apart to do. We also received some new Finnish Elders and Sisters yesterday and are so excited to get to know them and help them out as much as we can. We love our zone so much and have been blessed with such amazing leaders and we can't wait for the new Finns to feel at home in the zone. 

Every Sunday here at the MTC we are able to sit back for an hour and just enjoy watching what we call "films" or "movies" but what people outside the MTC would just call conference talks or MTC Devotionals. This Sunday we all decided to go and watch Elder Holland's MTC address entitled, "Open Your Mouth." Wow, what a spiritual man Elder Holland is and how grateful I am to be able to reap the benefits of his inspired words. My favorite quote from the film though had to be when he was talking about his experience as presiding over the Scandinavian countries. While he was up in that part of Europe he traveled to none other than Norway and went to the mission at the very top of the country where there are few people and lots of cold weather. He eventually got into contact with some sister missionaries serving up there and asked them how they were able to stay positive in such a difficult part of the country. Their response was, "We just like to think that every time we knock on a door in Norway, someone is being baptized in Chile." How cool is that?? I loved that so much because one of my best friends Kayla Moon is serving in Chile, so now I can think to myself when times are hard and it seems like I'm having no progress, when I try and open my mouth and get shut down at least Kayla is having a baptism in Chile. I love it! 

Alright, lets talk about week 2 at the MTC! It has been super fun and super exhausting all at the same time. We participated in a service activity on Wednesday where I not only learned how to clean a toilet but also cleaned at least 50 on floors 1-5 of building 18. Yes, that includes both men and women restrooms. It was a lot of bathrooms for one day but I was glad for the opportunity to serve. Service brings much happiness, but Chick-fil-a does as well. Let me just tell you of the miracle of week 2. On Monday during lunch I was really craving some Chick-fil-a. I told my companion about this desire to have some Chick-fil-a and it soon spread down the whole table how great Chick-fil-a is and how much we all wanted it. We left lunch praying that someday soon we would be able to have Chick-fil-a again. Well turns out that class following lunch was one of the hardest classes of my experience here at the MTC. By the end I was just physically, emotionally, and mentally drained and thought to myself that dinner could not come soon enough. Finally, class was over and we were headed back to the cafeteria for dinner. I was just excited to be able to go and get some food and promptly ignored the menu on the door, when my companion yells out, "Søster Blankmeyer, look what they are serving tonight!" I turn around and see the wonderful Chick-fil-a sign on the menu. It was an MTC miracle! Basically, the Lord hears and answers our prayers and is watching out for us always. Another miracle this week was receiving a package from the amazing Rachel Hillyard and family. I was also having a pretty tough afternoon that day and actually received the cute little pink slips that tell you to come and pick up a package! I thought to myself, "Who could it be from?" I was so blessed to read the Hillyard name on that box. I love all of my friends so much and am so grateful that I have friends that care enough to write me or send me packages. I can feel of your love for me and I hope you can feel of my love for you all as well. Also another highlight of the week that I just wanted to throw in here was we had a door decorating contest with the Swedes (obviously we won) but we have such a cute door now that includes pictures of my lovely cat and every time we are at our residence we hear people outside our door comment on how cute and how awesome the cat pictures are. #blessed. 

Just wanted to touch on one other portion of a talk we listened to in class this week before signing out. Elder Bednar was recounting an experience he had had with Elder Packer back when Elder Bednar was serving his mission in Germany. He had been assigned the task of picking Elder Packer and his wife up and watching over them for a day before helping them get on their way to Berlin. As an obedient Elder, Elder Bednar and his companion picked up the Packers and took them to the apartment where they would stay for a majority of the day. At this point in his mission, Elder Bednar was really trying to be a "good boy" as he puts it. As he took the Packers to the train that morning he decided that they might get hungry and fearing that they wouldn't have any German currency, he gave them 20 Marks. It wasn't until many years later that Elder Bednar was told of the miracle of those 20 Marks. For the most part, that train ride was fine and the Packers were on their way to Berlin. At that time Western and Eastern Germany were not on good terms and before crossing over from Eastern to Western Germany the trains would be stopped to check for passports. Well, Elder Packer's passport was fine but his wife had a 3 year passport that had been extended to a 5 year passport. The Eastern Germany guard was having a hard time accepting her passport and the situation began to escalate quickly. Fearing they would soon be escorting his wife off the train, Elder Packer reached into his pocket and grabbed the 20 marks. He put the 20 marks in his passport and then handed his passport and his wife's passport to the guard. The guard left the train and after a small amount of time had passed, returned to the train and delivered the passports back to the Packers. The 20 marks was gone and they were back on their way to Berlin. Once in Berlin they were picked up by a member of the church who worked for, I believe it was the CIA. Rather nonchalantly Elder Packer relayed their experience on the train to this member, not realizing the severity of the situation he had been in. The member quickly told the Packers that it was a miracle they had made it to Berlin. The Eastern German government had stopped accepting the 3 year extended passports and were pulling people off the trains and leaving them in Eastern Germany. Elder Packer quickly realized how important those 20 marks had been. Now fast forward to the year 2015. Elder Bednar is just now hearing this story for the first time and how his 20 marks had allowed the Packers to stay together and make it to Berlin. He said and stressed to us that if he had not been obedient and had not been trying his best to be a "good boy" he would not have felt the propting or been given the idea to supply the Packers with 20 marks. What a miracle it was that Elder Bednar was at a place in his life where he could hear the Spirit tell him that this appostle of the Lord would need his 20 marks. I hope and pray that we can all strive to be at this point in our lives as well. I know that the Spirit can help not only ourselves but others as well and that if we are worthy to have the Spirit as our constant companion we can be the Lord's hands here on the Earth. 

Love you all and can't wait to talk to you all next week!

Love always,

Søster Blankmeyer