Monday, April 25, 2011

Fernandina Beach, Letter #14 April 25, 2011

Well hello to all the people out there who are reading the weekly chronicles of Elder Blair, of Fernandina Florida!

First, we had a pretty neat week! Things here are still kinda slow; however, things are definitely beginning to look up. Elder Parker and I were able to snag a new investigator this last week, and even better than that, he seems very promising! He has been looking for a church “home” for a while now and, no church he has been to seems to match up with the church he reads about in the Bible…until he met us. It was kinda neat how we met him. We were actually looking for his mom (that is a super less active member) and when we went to her house we found out that, she does not live at that house anymore. Instead, it is just him there. The first time we met him, it did not seem to promising. He told us then that he did not want to be a member, however we could come by whenever we wanted and talk about the bible with him. Now this first meeting was actually way back when I was with Elder Johnson. So many months ago. At that time, we (Elder Johnson and I) really didn't feel like he was interested.

Now fast forward to this week: So then, this week we were struggling to find a new investigator and he came into my mind. And you know how I am sometimes…stubborn me… I was like "Really? Come on -that guy is not interested." Then the prompting came again. And still I was like… "You don't know what you’re saying this guy? No way...ok fine, we will give him a shot." We came by later that day and he immediately let us in. We had a super awesome lesson with him and he loved it! Unfortunately, he was out of town this weekend for Easter, but this coming weekend he should be coming to church! We are so stoaked!!

I had a really great Easter, thanks for all the cool stuff!! Unfortunately, the chocolate did melt a bit… but I put it in the fridge and it was perfect! And I loved the blow up “pillow tie” ha-ha!! I told bishop I would be using that next ward council! Ha!! Next thing you know the entire priesthood group will be asking for a pillow tie! Ha!

I will be sending some more stuff home this week, so watch for those things please. Also I did read about the doll Abbie got from the Easter Bunny, tell her those are still really popular here in Florida! I bet not many girls in Utah have a LaLa Loopsie Doll; she can be one of the first!! Let her know that I think that is neat, she got one!

But hey, I gotta get going. I am hungry and we still have to go do our laundry. And oh, we are going to bike up to an old fort here on the island today for the afternoon and do some exploring! Love you guys!! I will be talking to some of you “for real” in a couple weeks, Mother’s day phone calls are coming up! Well, I had better go, not to worry Elder Parker and I will keep moving forward and keep doing our best!

Love, Elder “still learning to listen” Blair

Monday, April 18, 2011

Fernandina Beach, Letter #13 April 18, 2011

Hello to everyone back in Utah!!

Elder Blair reporting in for yet another week in Fernandina!

This week was filled with some good and some bad at the same time. The good was because we had lots of fun and found joy in doing missionary work despite the outcome. The bad because we have not found any new investigators…yet. This past week we went out hard, trying to find new people to teach. We were going through our area book using a microscope dissecting it all. We tried going and seeing former investigators; and even some old potential investigators… and we came up with nothing at all. Not even a nibble.

However, we did have fun trying! My companion and I were running from door to door (yes we literally ran from door to door…it's called “speed tracting”...Ha! at least it’s called that by us). Then on the days we rode our bikes; we were biking super hard and fast...to move quickly. Therefore, there is no question that we were not working hard enough and not doing our part to find someone. However, we may not have been working as “smart” as we could have. Therefore, this week we are going to try again, and see what things we can accomplish combining hard work (as fast as possible) and adding in the addition of being smart about where and when. We will see what happens now!!

As far as our current investigators go, they are all at a standstill at this present time. One of them still needs to get married (the spouse "to be" has some trust issues that they have to work out). The other investigator is wanting and ready to be baptized (but wants some family to come up from Utah to be with them, so they are working out schedules). In addition, our other investigator wants to do some more research about Joseph Smith first before she makes a decision. So hopefully something good will happen soon with one or more of them!

But the Fernandina ward members are doing super well!! They are still trying to work with the less actives and get them coming back to church. In fact, this last week we had several less actives just show up, unexpectedly! These were ones that we have not seen before and some that were not even on the records!! So that was super sweet! We loved that little Sunday bonus! So that is our week in a nutshell.

Oh funny story: My companion tried cutting his hair on his own for the first time this morning and well... let’s just say that there was several big “patches” actually missing from the sides after he was done. So in order to let him go out in public once again...we had to shave both sides of his head to make it look somewhat decent. Yeah, don't worry I took pictures!! Ha, ha it was pretty funny this morning!

I hope everyone back home has a great Easter and be sure to eat something yummy for Easter Breakfast and think of me here with oatmeal and cold cereal!! Ha-ha!! Thanks for the letters everyone! A letter a day keeps the missionary blues away...Anyways I am off to grab some lunch now, love ya'll and have a great Easter! Abbie I hope the bunny finds your house!

Love Elder “Repair Barber” Blair

Monday, April 11, 2011

Fernandina Beach, Letter #12 April 11, 2011

Hey family, friends and fans!
Hey, ya'll!! Well looks like I will be finishing my mission here in Fernandina Beach, which I am super excited for!!! I know that I was sent back to Fernandina for a purpose, to find somebody special. Therefore Elder Parker and I have a goal to find “that someone” and either baptize them or bring them back to church before this transfer is over!! With that focus, we will be working hard, nonstop, until the very end, which is still awhile away, so that is a good thing! It gives me plenty of time to work!

As for our Investigator, he has still been coming to church! His wife accepted a Book of Mormon; which is a way good thing! However, we have received some sad news with that...he and his family will be moving to Ohio in two weeks. He has received a job offer up there, but he says that he will get in contact with the church and missionaries up there; and continue learning about our church! So that gives us a little ray of hope there.

In addition to that news, I got the awesome opportunity to go to Starke this past Friday for a baptism!!! John and Jacob were baptized!! I was so happy to see them finally baptized; man, we had every missionary that had ever taught them at the baptism! Elder Lewis, Elder Bass, Elder Tate, and I. It was way neat! Man oh man!

Then while they were getting changed out of the wet suits; Elder Bass and I were invited to teach the restoration (lesson 1) to take up some time while they were changing. And since there were some non-members, there it was a great opportunity! I was a little nervous at first; since I had not taught with Elder Bass for almost a year now, but it went super smooth! I just kept saying a prayer in my head to ask God to help us teach in unity and it worked! It was if we had never been apart. The spirit was so strong as Elder Bass and I testified together! Oh yeah the "Starke Boys’ saddle up for one last ride!" It was awesome! Afterwards, we had several people come up and thank us for the lesson; and bringing the spirit so well into the room! Awesome time!! It was a night to remember for sure!

Hey I gotta get going now, lots to get done today. Well I love ya’ll!! Thanks so much for the fan mail everyone and take care of each other!! I will talk to everyone next week.

Love Elder Blair (who rides again in Starke, if only for a night!!)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Fernandina Beach, Letter #11 April 4, 2011

Hey there peps, it’s me, Elder Blair!
I had such a good time this week!! Elder Parker and I did a study; we focused on figuring out who or what kind of person we want to be in the next 5 years. The first thing we did was make a list of the character traits we want to posses. Then we listed the good habits that we would like to have as well. For a companion study, we listed things that we were going to change (from that day on) so we could reach our goal. Next we sacrificed a few things; such as smaller animals…like local area birds (ha-ha just kidding)! Nah actually we sacrificed “things that would distract us” from the work; so we could become better missionaries.

I absolutely loved conference this weekend! It was so inspirational and fun. In addition, this week we were able to set a baptismal date with the Akins children! They are scheduled to be baptized this coming weekend, so we will pray that all works out!! Speaking of baptisms-that’s great to hear about the progress in Starke! I thought “Oh yeah nice” when I started reading all of the names of those being baptized recently. To say the least, I got super excited!! I was serving in Starke when Bishop gave me the call to go and teach the two kids; however, I only taught one lesson with them and got them to church once; before I was transferred. So I am super pumped to hear that they stayed with it! Let me know when you hear of anyone else in Starke taking the plunge. All of the Starke news was so great! I am so happy for Tate! He is a fantastic missionary! It’s weird to think he only has one more week left in Florida, man that is crazy! That reminds me yeah, transfers are next Tuesday. We have transfer calls this coming Saturday! So we will see if I stay or go?

Well ya'll sorry but that’s all I will write this week, I know it’s shorter than normal but we gotta get running! Elder Parker and I have a p-day activity scheduled up in Georgia with some other missionaries!

Before I sign off I want to add that was an awesome April fool’s Day prank. When I first got the box, I didn’t even think about it being April 1st. I immediately tore into the top and opened it to look inside. I was pretty excited when I saw the box packed full of Girl Scout cookies!! However.... well...yeah there were no cookies when I actually opened the individual boxes.... oh well I liked the fruit snacks, tuna, and oatmeal. When I saw the letter in the bottom, I thought, "At least I have a huge letter from Drew to read", but yeah once again the letter inside only said April Fools!! Let him know he owes me a letter now, oh yeah!

I hope ya’ll are doing well, love ya all!! I really must go, I got a soccer game to go to in Georgia with some missionaries in our district. So I gotta be leaving now, really I do! I will talk to you more next Monday.

Love Elder Blair (who still dreams of empty girl scout cookie boxes) Ha!!