The overcast has set in, and from what I've heard from the natives and any missionary who's lived through the winter, it won't go away till summer...so I am in the process of getting ready for the ride. I've been blessed enough to have had a completely sunny summer, so that at least was really nice. And plus I do like the rain so for a while it won't get to me as bad as it does to literally all of Seattle. We went down there yesterday to find, and everyone was just so offset for no reason. We had gone two days previously when it was sunny and it was of course still depressing cause it's Seattle, but once the cloud covers over...everyone just jumps off a cliff into depression, the switch is insane. But this is exactly why these people need the Gospel! I truly can testify of the comforting strength of this gospel, of His gospel. Anytime I'm offset by something I'll pray and be able to be comforted. How cool is that??
The real trick is finding all the Hispanics...cause they don't like the cold really so they'll stay inside which makes finding crazy hard especially while we're trying to created a group down here. We did give away a Bible to this guy named Carlos, had a great study of Matthew 25, invited him to church and he was so down about everything...but then he hasn't responded to any of our texts. I got faith tho, we'll get our man back.
Our friend that we have on date, Marcelo, is progressing phenomonally. He used to be pretty involved with alcohol and all this stuff but we had a bomb word of sabiduria lesson with him and he sent us a text a couple days later saying how he felt the spirit so strong during that lesson and needed God in his life so he never falls back! He's come to church two weeks in a row which is awesome cause he works literally right after church but he makes it the full two hours. Rad.
On a sad note, my trainee got his flight plans to Bolivia, so I've only got 3 weeks left with him. I considered just not showing him the text from president so he never found out...but here we are. I'm excited for the guy, just bummed I won't get to see the guy for the rest of my mission. No es justo.
I'd like to end this email with something I've been studying as of late. I've been deep diving into the Book of Mormon. I restarted it at the beginning of last transfer, so 2.5 months ago, and I've only made it to 2nd Nephi 2 so far. But as I have been studying so closely this set of scriptures, I had a great testimony of the Book of Mormon, one that I thought was pretty solid, unshakable. But the amount it has grown just during these last weeks is incredible. I know without a doubt that this is the most correct book on the earth today. One of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon, is 2 Nephi 2:24. Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy. Such a simple, short scripture, but one that speaks volumes. I love this scripture so much, it just shows how merciful God is to us, that he put us here so that we could experience joy, so that we can love just as he does. We've been given such an amazing opportunity on this earth to grow and become more. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Sigue adelante, hasta la victoria.
Elder Blankenbiller
Nature
Not nature
Bacon
