CHARITY IS THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST

This past week I found out about carnival...I found out that meant 3 days locked in our house!  Not to be offensive or sound like I'm making fun of the scriptures, but it was like a glimpse of spirit prison, for it was a rejoicing day of pure doctrine and study.  I learned so much in that time that my heart was happy. Now I know even in that place that people might receive instead of paradise they will be able to feel a portion of the love and the mercy that God gives us and I am certain that they will deny him not.  I received revelation of the importance of having charity for others.  Like it says in Moroni 7:47-48 CHARITY IS THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST  and it endureth forever and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day it shall be well with him....(ILL LET YOU READ THE REST OF THIS)  It hit me hard to have read this at least here on my mission. Charity truly manifests itself in a very different way when you serve Him, who has given all, so that we may have joy here on earth. He fulfills the promise that we should suffer no more for we shall not fear the adversary and the hands of death. Thanks to Him, if we are obedient and follow him, these things will become dull...  I can testify that I will work harder here, that I will give my all to God, even my heart, that I might be able to change the hearts of many I know! Only through knowing that Christ lives that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and that we have the everlasting fruits of the gospel, can we have a real conversion, a conversion that will make enduring to the end a joy!

I love you all!
Elder Blanco

This week was a week of miracles that made me realize this sacred calling is real.

First of all sorry everyone... I found out today that there was an error in the system so what I wrote didn't go through. Another thing that made my heart rejoice was that I got letters from you... Christmas letters!  This made my days much better!  Thank you all!  Since the first time I went to church I have felt the love of all of you and it has truly made me grow so much!

This week was a week of miracles that made me realize this sacred calling is real.  I am really here and I couldn't ask for anything better!  For those that are preparing to serve, know that when you turn in your papers you are actually giving your heart out to God. You are trusting it to him. Knowing that he will mold it and that it will pass trough the refining fires of the world but this He will do so that we can truly understand His love. That Christ's atonement may change you from a weak spirit to a strong spirit, converted to the gospel, being able to fight through anything. I know that its only through pure doctrine that we may be able to endure till the last days, where we will rejoice in knowing that we gave our all, both on a mission and in life.

While I was studying the book of Mormon this week, I came upon the things which Alma saw in the Zoramites who were lost in the false ways of their own. They even denied the Christ and how he suffered. They were so corrupt that he truly prayed for them so that they may have true joy. When he did this he armed his companions with the holy spirit so that they may resist their ways. Doing this, they went out to teach and found this humble people. That's when I found something that changed me. It was in verse 13 and verse 16 of Alma 32 for it says sometimes we have to be compelled to be humble to repent but its when we repent without being compelled to be humble that we truly experience the joys of exercising our faith. I can testify that we can all see the mercy of God, but its only through falling that we are able to look up and see His arm is extended for us to know he hasn't forgotten about the covenant he made with us.

I love you all and I can only say this... give your heart so He can shape it to the point that its perfected even unto being like Him.

Elder Blanco

A week full of rejection!

This week was intense not only because of the sun but it was a hard week! A week full of rejection! It all started the day me and my new companion started preaching to people. We had a great plan, set appointments, and most of all a heart full of joy, till everything started to go wrong! Our appointments failed, many got drunk, and others impossible to get in, for we had no members to help us with single mothers. After many rejections, we walked without direction, feeling sad for this. I thought to myself if I was doing things wrong, if I wasn't praying hard enough, and how I was disappointing not only God but my companion. It was hard knowing that I myself was lost and to think that I had to train this new missionary the next day.  I decided I needed to really give my heart to God and be faithful and something great happened in my studies! I read ALMA 8 verse 13 to 32 and my heart rejoiced! It was like God said, "OK. you learned that with me you are nothing, now here is your answer in this chapter." Alma teaches to this city but the people reject him and throw him out.  As he is grieved by this he walks away, but an angel tells him to turn back and teach to them repentance. When he did he found what he needed. I thought about this and my companion and I went back to all those that had rejected us and the Lord worked on them. I was a little hard on them but I saw the change they made. Even though not all came to church, one of them not only attended church, but went to a baptism! It was a precious gift for us!  So I know family that God has many opportunities awaiting and its only when we fall that we look up and when we do we see him telling us to get up and try again.  I can testify that every day we get to experience JESUS CHRIST"S ATONEMENT and its through him that we can get up over and over!

Elder Blanco

This week was full of blessings.

This week was full of blessings.  We had a live worldwide broadcast to all the missionaries that changed the missionary world. As we applied this in our area the lord blessed us with people to teach, guide, and inspire. It's amazing how God would trust such an important work to such an imperfect person like me. I know that he truly gives us strength to fight on, for it is through him that I have been blessed with this area and that I can lead his people to his everlasting happiness.

We had a ward activity that was called MINI MTC. This was made for the youth so they could see for themselves and prepare for a mission. It had great success for I saw a change in them. They went from doubting in themselves to now preparing to serve! As I served beside these amazing kids, I learned from their desire to share the gospel with others. From this desire we got 14 referrals of people awaiting the gospel! It truly changed me. In a way it prepared me for something that I wasn't even expecting, which was to train this next transfer! I don't feel I am capable of training. Its something that I'm nervous, but at the same time excited for. I will trust in God's decision, for I can't question his wisdom.  I know that as we follow his promptings and are directed by the Holy Ghost, there is no obstacle that we can't surpass!

I love you ALL!
Elder Blanco

This week was amazing, like no other I have realized!

This week was amazing, like no other I have realized!  Something changed how I saw things here. The first day here me and my companion got locked out of the house, so I took my luggage to a members and started to work.  Maybe I have said this before, but there is a point to it, when we started to preach we stopped this couple to talk to them, but then my vision went beyond them and I saw this old man struggling with a wheel barrel. My companion felt my concern, so he said."YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP HIM HUH?" and I said yes.  So we went on and helped him.  As we pushed that thing, we realized it had no wheel and our struggle went on for a few miles. We pushed as we talked to him. We thought it would be a one time deal but to our delight it as been a day by day blessing to help this man. It reminded me of the Mormon Message LIFT, which taught me the importance of transforming the things we see as burdens to see them as opportunities to bless others, as the pure love of Christ takes over us, no matter how big the load or how much time is spent on it. This place has motivated me and has made me see the things Jesus went through and to more fully understand his teachings. For here I have seen the sick, the afflicted and even those in there last moments. Now I know why the Lord would teach them, Now I know why he suffered for them and all of us!

Elder Blanco

A ward family is a huge gift from God!

So this past week was fun!  I had the opportunity to not only celebrate my oldness with my zone but to see the loving bond that a misssionary family creates. I have learned that the only way to grow is to pass through the refining fire.  It's hard sometimes here, not only spiritual but physical as well.

Sometimes I miss all of you back home to the point that I talk to investigators of how a ward family is a huge gift from God and if it wasn't for all of you, I would have been lost. I get strength by knowing that I have obtained spiritual gifts that nothing can take away.   Know that even though I miss all of you, God has promised that if I do my best and give my all to the people here, all the blessings will go back home to my family, which is all of you!  So I'm not worried because knowing this I get strength and my motivation is based on having the promise that all of you will be safe.

Thanks for allowing me to bless every one of your homes!  I can testify that a promise from God makes things so much different!  That having a knowledge of his greatness only brings us closer to one another and by loving him all other things fall in place!

Elder Blanco

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I am sorry that I was so late to tell you all this but things here are so different.  I cant believe how time goes by so fast!  It's scary, but at the same time I have grown so much in learning the gospel and in seeing the people through God's eyes. Sometimes we go through life seeing the shell of people and making decisions based on that but with God's sight we see the sweet fruit that is within all of God's children.  It goes from a dim light to a glorious radiating light that makes us see how blind we have been.  At least that's how I have felt lately as now I see the amazing opportunities that he gives us each day to change people's lives.

Today I found out that one of the missionaries that I was with in the MTC broke down and his anxieties didn't allow him to stay on his mission for the 2nd time.  It broke my heart. I was asking myself WHAT DO I SAY, WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER?  As I broke down in tears, the only thing I knew was to pray, and as the words came to me, I only thanked him for his willingness to fight and get up and try once more and that I would always be here for him, that God had a purpose for him. Sometimes we will face storms that will brake through all our defenses but knowing that Christ gave his life for us so we wouldn't suffer lets me know that when the storm passes and those clouds drift away, his redeeming light will grant us strength and an assurity that we can get up and fight.  I know that all of us can do it and fight through all this and on our journey pick up those souls that might be under all the broken pieces and cant see that light!


I love all of you and keep you in my prayers!
Elder Blanco