Lake City FL Letter #2 October 26, 2009

Why hello there!

This week was pretty, crazy! Elder Taft and I taught over 100 lessons and got like 37 new investigators this week alone. Our mission’s weekly standard is to teach 100 lessons per week, so we hit 100 and kept right on going! So yes, we are busy, busy, busy! I loved the Halloween package it was pretty, sweet! The little white haired lady that screams and has red flashing eyes Elder Taft and me put that in our car, on the dashboard and named her Esmeralda. She screams as we drive! Good times, good times! Lol

Yeah, we are having a blast in Lake City, our area covers the “country side” of Lake City and not so much the city part. It is really nice here, but the homes are really spaced out, far from one another. However, it’s all good. Umm-good news we are not getting lost so much anymore. We are starting to get a feel of the area now. What I enjoy the best so far about this area, is the country feel. It’s not a big city at all. We don't even have a map that shows our full area, cause all the Lake City maps they have to buy, don’t cover all of our boundaries. Our boundaries cover farther then what the map covers, (so we have investigators on streets that are not even on the maps). Man it sure got cold here the last week. I am talking like down in the 60's. We were freezing! 60’s yeah that is right, for Florida that is cold!! Ha-ha everyone in Utah! But we had a good time.

This coming up zone conference (this Wednesday) we are having a 70 (from Salt Lake) coming to talk to us. I think we were told who it is, but I can’t remember his name right now. His talk will be on 2 Nephi 31. So we are studying that chapter like crazy every free minute we have. And I’m tired as usual, lol the work really wears you out. We have really full, busy days from sun up to past sun down, but what’s good about that is it means you know you’re working hard!! Lol. If you don’t hit your pillow and pass out then you have not worked hard enough that day. Ha-ha! We don’t have a gym here, but yeah we are trying to still work out each morning. But man we are so tired every single day, cause we are so focused on trying to get baptism’s so we can help to hit our missions goal of 1050 baptism the year.

Elder Taft is turning into a good missionary. I don't think I am really teaching him too much or doing anything amazing as a trainer, Elder Taft is just doing it himself. But yeah it’s pretty stressful being trainer and senior companion. It is a lot of pressure, knowing you are helping to train a brand new missionary. A powerhouse missionary trained me, and my next companion was a powerhouse and now I have to be the powerhouse. It’s a little scary cause I don’t know what to say all the time. However, it seems like things are going good so far, so that is a good sign, I guess. We have a baptism coming up this Saturday, with a part-member family, which should be sweet; it is a 13-year-old kid. He is the only non-member in his family, but now he has decided to be baptized. He seems like a really, smart kid. The ward here is pretty sweet, they help us out a lot. I am in a ward called the First Ward.

I guess that is the summary of my week. Oh, and the dogs are getting worse in this part of Lake City (there is quite a bit of pit bulls) and sometimes they are not chained up or fenced in. However, no bites yet, so all is good!

Hope all is well with everyone. You guys should be getting snow soon, right? Oh and I did see a few trees down here that had their leaves change color… the only color they changed too was yellow, no orange, or red leaves.

I gotta get going guys, Elder Taft & I have to go shopping now, and then plan a birthday party for an Elder in our district. Thinking of everyone back home, friends, family and ward members. Thanks for always keeping me in your prayers!


Love,
The Elder from the North who is now freezing in the South,
Elder Blair

Lake City, FL Letter #1 October 19, 2009

Hey y’all
Umm… let’s see… You probably want to know where I am now. My new area is Lake City. My address is 685 SW Amberwood Loop #103 Lake City, FL 32025. This is a super nice area. You can send everything right to that address. I am in a pretty, good area so I don't think anything will be stolen, or lost. The people are really nice and will listen to you. Lol. It is a bit more “country” than Fernandina was. However, I like it. We got into the area on Thursday and got settled right into our new apartment.

We had to twin boys get baptized this past weekend, so that was pretty sweet. Yeah our first Sunday at church was great. Sacrament meeting was good; it was the yearly primary program. This ward seems to have a lot of good-hearted people. The baptisms were from a part member family, and the ward had been working with them as well as the other missionaries before they left. We didn’t do much at the baptism; they had us give the talks at their baptism was all. The boys were nine years old. Great way to start our week!
Elder Taft and I got lost a lot, these past few days. We went to go buy some food from Wal mart the first day we got in and we got lost going to Wal mart and also coming back home. HA- HA! We still get lost also going around our area, so what I am going to do is buy a GPS unit to use in the car. Because we only have so many miles left for this month and I hate wasting miles just trying to find a place. Yeah I am pretty tired of not knowing how to get around, or where I am. I have no mountains to know where I am going and which way is North. It took me awhile to get use to Fernandina and where everything was at and once I knew where everything was, I got transferred. Ha-Ha! I did see a Sonic, and a Subway, while we were lost and trying to find our way back home, that’s about all I know of the area for now.

Man I tell you what…it is really stressful being Senior and Trainer now. I am trying to do everything right that I can, but I am still losing hair over it. Ha-Ha Elder Taft is a good companion he tries really hard. He reminds me a lot of Weston back home. Other than being trainer and senior and getting put into a new area, things are still pretty fun. We get a lot done and work really hard. We are in a four-man apt. with two other missionaries. They are Elder Navertil and Elder Taylor. Navertil is from Alberta Canada, and his companion Elder Taylor is from Utah. Elder Navertil has been out the longest, he came out the same time as Elder See. Oh and my companion Elder Taft is from Richfield Utah. He is my first “Utah” companion…usually I get Idaho. lol.

I really miss my last area and my last companion Elder Bowen. We had a lot of good times, but after every transfer, I seem to miss my companions. I think all missionaries do. Yeah it’s all ok though because I will see them again. I sure miss the Fernandina branch members as well. There were some awesome people there! However, we are already starting to meet cool people here as well. I think that is all for now.

Love you guys hope all is well. I will try to get some of these picture CD’s sent out to you guys soon. We are sending this from the college. We went to the Lake City Community College to use their computers today. Hope all keeps going well for everyone and tell everyone thanks for all the cards and letters. I love gong to the mailbox!! I know I can always find myself a smile or two in there.

Love, Elder Amazing Blair

Fernandina Beach, FL Letter #19 Oct. 12, 2009

Hey sorry fam & friends,

I do not have a lot of time for this email. Why you ask? Cause craziness is going on!! Lol I will be transferred this week to a new area. So I am sad to say that I am leaving Fernandina Beach this next week. I got the call this past Saturday, letting me know about the transfer, and today I got a call from the mission president, President Newman letting me know that I will be training a greenie for this next transfer so....Yeah, you guessed it. I am pretty, nervous! I hope I can teach him well, it is a big responsibility. It might be a little rough, since I have only been in Florida 4 ½ months. I guess I will wing it and just do my best, with the Lords help I will be prompted to teach him all he needs to be a successful, top rate missionary! I do not know where I will be, and won’t know until this Thursday at our transfer meeting. Therefore please do not send any packages to me this week. Just wait until I know where I will be going; and my new address. If you want to mail a letter, please do so before this Thursday, but nothing after that.

So yeah, Elder Blair is no LONGER a greenie lol. I will be both a senior companion and a trainer for this next transfer. The way it works; is that every “transfer call” cycle you are notified on Saturday that you will be transferring out of the area or staying… Then on the following Monday the mission president, calls new District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Trainers. So I got my call this morning from President Newman telling me that I will be training a new greenie. He also said that I am “white wash training” which means that my new companion and I will leaving to an area that neither of us knows. Therefore, neither of us will have served in the area where we will be assigned too. So, we have a clean slate to work with. Elder Bowen will remain in Fernandina Beach and carry on with the work here.

I am excited but yes, it is very hard to leave this wonderful area. It is so beautiful (even if the weather is not always in my favor) and I have grown so much here. The people here that I have met are wonderful both in and outside the church. They will always have a special place in my heart and in my memories. I am very sad to leave this fantastic branch. Everyone here has been so amazing! I know that I will be back to visit each of them again after my mission for sure! Lol this week (before transfers) I must say goodbye to all the wonderful people I have met during this time working in this part of the Jacksonville vineyard. It will be a mixture of sadness, happiness and nervousness this week and next!

I think that is it, well I know that is the big news this week! I hope all of you guys are well. Well I gotta get running and help some of these members here with some service, so I gotta go now. I love you guys a lot and I will let you know where I am at as soon as I know.

Love (the no longer” green”) Elder Blair

Fernandina Beach, FL Letter #18 Oct. 5, 2009

Hey fam & friends!

Wow wasn’t conference wonderful this past weekend? !! I really enjoyed each speaker, and especially glad to hear another Temple location being added to the great state of Florida!! And of course the additional temple in my home state of Utah!! Woot!! I think I enjoyed Elder Holland’s talk the best, his comments really seemed to stick with me.

Things have gone slow this week, seems like that happens more than we would like it too. We had to drop all three of our baptism dates, which we had set for this week, because none of them showed up to conference. On the other hand we have not as of yet, dropped them as investigators. Seems like many here have a rough time trying to keep commitments, sometimes I think they are just lazy and it is hard for them to make changes in their lifestyles. Elder Bowen and I are praying daily that they will shape up and keep commitments. Uggh it is very frustrating, at times. You can feel the spirit, and you know that they can feel the spirit and they know it, but they just cannot seem to follow through.

Anyways it has cooled down a lot here- 70's and 60's some days, which is a welcomed change! Still hot but not boiling…hehehe! Elder Bowen and I have been playing detective this past week …that is we are always trying to find wayward members that are attempting to remain in hiding or something and get them to come back out to church. HA-HA!!

We did receive some fantastic news this past week!! It looks like Jason is going to be baptized in about 6 months, he received his letter from the Church Offices in Salt Lake this past week! We are so pumped to hear that bit of good news! In case you forgot, Elder See and I baptized his wife Debbie, and we were waiting and hoping that Jason would get clearance to be baptized as well. At last, that news came through!! We were able to go back to the Orlando temple again a few weeks ago, I love being in the temple, it is just so peaceful there. That is one place you can focus on your spiritual side, forget the frustrations of the world, and just feel the spirit wash over you.

But wow conference was amazing, like I said, I really liked Elder Holland’s talk but anyways, I really cannot think of anything else to add this week. The days here just seem to blend together a lot but I love my mission, it is totally amazing. I am learning so much here, sometimes it is just hard to put into words when I write you each week. I just cannot seem to find the right words to express the growth I am feeling as I serve my Heavenly Father.

I hope you all are doing well and being safe. Anyways, I need to go. We had a dinner appointment earlier today with a part-member family, so that was nice. I will talk to everyone next week!

Love,
Your favorite Elder in the South, cooling down now with 60-70 degrees daily…Elder Blair

Fernandina Beach, FL Letter #17 September 28, 2009

Hello Everyone,

Well people this week was very interesting!! The main things that happened this week was that we biked a lot! More than we normally do in one week’s time. Even better news than that; is the fact… that I am keeping a pace of 15 miles per hour now on my bike yeah! Lol. We leave our apartment at 10:00 am each day and return each evening at 9:00 pm. We have 1,000 miles allotted for our car so we will drive to the areas further away and normally bike 2-3 days each week. This week we did a lot more biking than normal. Our normal routine is that we will bike to a certain street, lock up our bikes and tract the street, then bike again to another area and lock up our bikes and begin again with tracting.

Let’s see... we did meet with some of our new investigators again this week. It is sad to see that some of them took three steps backwards from where they were last week or when we met with them last. But, such is the life of a missionary. Missionary work has its ups and downs, especially when you are working with new investigators. Elder Bowen and I just keep positive and supportive and know that it is all in the Lords plan.

We are working with this wonderful woman right now. She is preparing to be baptized, but she has been raised catholic and so currently she is not exactly sure she wants to be Mormon “just yet” lol. However, we just keep finding these amazing people and then other times we find the weird and then sometimes we find the ugly. Lol. This branch here is super friendly and very nice. They are always so willing to help our new investigators. They are always offering to help out in anyway, like giving our investigators rides and such.

But yeah, the Spiderman Elder in the pictures I sent home would be Elder Olsen. Elder Olsen arrived in Florida the same time I did. We were in the MTC together, so he came out with me from Utah on the same plane. Elder Olsen was in my district until this last transfer.

I am pretty excited for General Conference this year because we will watch it at the branch building with the entire branch. Everyone comes to the ward building and the branch members have a huge potluck meal. Everyone will bring food and it will be so much fun-watching conference with lots of people all gathered together! I can’t wait until next weekend!

Some of you asked about Ron. No, we have not gotten in contact with Ron lately. However, one of our branch members will be going to Jacksonville soon to visit him. They are going to see if he would like us to come by and visit him, but we are not going to go down there if it is going to cause a scene or cause him to feel upset or bad. We will wait until we hear from the branch member and see how Ron is feeling.

Our Jacksonville Mission has set a goal to have 1,050 baptisms by the end of the year. It is their 2009 mission baptism goal. Everyone is really focused on doing all they can to help hit that number. I don’t have any idea where we are currently as a total mission, but I have no doubt that we can make it by the end of December!! So Elder Bowen and I just gotta keep working hard and hope we will get some baptisms’ soon to help out the mission with their goal. That is what we are focused on each and every day.

On a side note, I would like you to get me some magazines called Solar Physics or Astrophysical Journal if you can find them. I would like to read some articles and see if that’s what I want to go into for my career or not. I am still not sure about what I want to do for a living and it keeps pestering me in the back of my mind from time to time. Don't worry I don't let it affect my work; I am totally focused on serving the Lord and working in this part of his vineyard. It will all work itself out when it is time. I get to teach our investigators class again this Wednesday, Elder Bowen and I take turns each week. I really like teaching the class, it is an awesome experience!!

Guess what I have decided to be for Halloween this year? Bet you will never be able to guess this one!! This year for Halloween, I am going to dress up like a missionary!! Yeah lol it will be fun!! I have a feeling I will be able to play this part really well!

Oh adding on to my wish list; is a Utah Ute’s flag. Not one of those small-sized car flags but a full sized flag. I just have an urge to stick it to these Florida fans…hehehe Go Utah!!! Yes, I know I like to live dangerously, but we will see… muhaha (evil laugh). This is just another idea; I don't need it anytime soon. Just adding to my wish list (in case anyone is looking for weird and abnormal things to send to their favorite elder in the south)!

I am loving it here so much. There are tons of fruit stands everywhere you go with a huge variety of different fruits. And by the way, despite what others say, it does not rain like clockwork every day, nor does it rain every day here. There are so many awesome things that I love about Florida. To many things to name them all; but a few that stick out are the branch members first and foremost. They are really helpful to missionaries and missionary work; they are very friendly, open, and welcome everyone. It is amazing to see their outpouring of compassion for others. The branch is a great mixture of members, young, and old, short, tall, with all of them enjoying the fact that football season has started again. HA-HA!! Second is that the state of Florida is always green which is good (and bad) cause I do miss the change in the fall colors but having everything so green everywhere is such a boost! But the rain is the most amazing thing ever!! There is nothing like it anywhere else. It is hard to describe, you have to experience it to know what I am trying to put into words. Florida rainstorms are indescribable.

Love,
The amazing Elder Blair (who keeps pace at 15 mph with his incredible peddle power!!)

Fernandina Beach, FL Letter # 16 September 21, 2009

Hey there everyone,

First off: Please tell Brother Rasmussen that I will not be in the Jacksonville City area this week when he visits Florida. However, if he wants to get in contact with me, then he can get in touch with the Jacksonville Mission office and ask for the number for the Fernandina Elders, and then yeah, he will be able to get in touch with me that way. Our whole mission got cut down on car miles this last Zone Conference (we were docked down by 100) so Elder Bowen and I have been biking a lot. Which is fine, I do not mind biking all the time, now my bum doesn't hurt as much. I bought a new bike seat, so I’m good with doing a lot more biking.

This last Wednesday for our investigator Convert Class at the branch, I was in charge of teaching the lesson. I taught about how the Book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. We read scriptures in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon about Jesus. It was a pretty, good class, and I love teaching! Then Friday (at least I think it was Friday... days get meshed together in my mind now. lol It’s like they just bleed together) anyway Elder Bowen and I got a phone call about 9 in the morning telling us about this wonderful lady named Barbara and her son David who wanted us to come over and teach them. They had heard from a friend (who is a member) about us. So we went over and had a wonderful lesson. We were not sure what to teach, so we winged it. We were not really prepared with a specific lesson because we didn't know what to expect (basically, we were hoping the Spirit would kick in and help us! And what do you know…it did!!) We had a wonderful teaching lesson for about 2 hours!! And yes, before you ask they did make it to church on Sunday as well!!

We talked to Joseph who couldn't make it to church this past Sunday. It’s hard for him to make it to church because he works from 6pm to 6am every night. So hopefully next week we can get him out to church. We are also teaching this lady named Sam who is really, funny. She was concerned about Joseph Smith, so we showed her a movie about him and his life. We also read the Joseph Smith history and she like…loves him now! Lol. She was like "that’s not fair to him that they don't have his full story online" and we replied “Yeah that’s Satan for you. He makes good things and good people seem bad, so it will blind people's minds to the truth” and she totally agreed.

But holy cow we had a rough few weeks a little while ago with almost no one to teach. Now we have a huge teaching pool, which is amazing! Oh and with Dimache and Callen we really have not gotten in contact with them as of yet this week. We are going to keep trying, so we will see how that goes. We have taught Dimache twice thus far, so hopefully we can keep that going and get her ready to understand the truth of our message. So, that is our week in a nutshell!

So yeah um what else did I want to say? I am having fun and I absolutely love Missionary work!! I apologize if my weekly letters seem to jump all over the place, but it is so hard to tell you guys everything cause the whole week seems to run together. We are having an amazing time and Cumberland Island was sweet! I really enjoyed it a lot! You would all love the hiking trails and the beauty of the area. So lush and green. The day was over all too soon. But it will always be a cool memory!

However, the fall here is nothing like the Utah autumn days. Man it is so weird not having the leaves change color at all! I miss the fall lol. I would love it if anyone can send me some pictures this year of Snow and Autumn-ness!... (because I miss that) it would make me very happy! Everything is green here, no yellow, gold, orange or red leaves anywhere. Very different autumn. But it’s all good, not too much down time to look at leaves anyway, unless if they hit the bike tires as you’re peddling along the road..ha ha!

I have been going to the gym with Elder Bowen a lot. When I get to the gym, I jump rope for 30 minutes straight, then run for a full 10 minutes. Then I jump on the workout bike and do that for another full 10 minutes. That is a full hour workout. lol Then I got tracting all most all day, every day, and that is either walking or biking. So yeah, I am getting a lot of exercising done. So watch out, here comes the mighty Elder Blair!! lol.

Be sure to send everyone my love, tell them I am always thinking about them, and wondering what they are up to. I heard that the Blair family is once again planning the Halloween Murder Mystery party. I hope everything goes great this year with the party! Let me know how it goes and be sure to take pictures and send them to me. I want to know who murdered who!! HA-HA!!

Transfer week is still 3 weeks away, so let everyone know they are fine to keep mailing those letters. I love letters!! We have an appointment this afternoon so anyways talk to you dudes and dudetts later.

Love from the most amazing-ness Elder ever, which might be.... why…its
Elder Blair of course!!

Into the eye of the storm!