Weekly Email

This week has been crazy busy! Lots of teaching and lots of fun with my companions. Last week for TRC we taught two return sister missionaries a lesson about becoming more like Christ. The Spirit was very present in that lesson. And I realized it wasn't because of anything we did. The focus was on the Savior, and that's where it should be. Our whole purpose is to help people come closer to Jesus Christ. And ultimately, that is the purpose of this life! Our companionships got switched around a little bit again, just for health reasons. SIster Nyberg is now with two other sisters and Sister Kindt and I are a comanionship by ourselves. I've learned a lot about hard work from Sister Kindt. She is the sister that got mono, so she feels very behind in the language. We set goals together, and speak Armenian together and pray together any chance we get. I really love that when we work hard and show our gratitude to the Lord, He takes over and provides us with miracles to help us improve. This week we started 100% SYL (Speak Your Language) in class... That's a milestone I never thought I would hit! It's pretty difficult, but we've improved so much! We had some very faith-promoting moments this week. One of our elders going to Madagascar, Elder Iata, is from a small island called Vanuatu. Last Saturday, we got the news that a huge cyclone had destroyed the island. We had no details as to his family's safety, and we still don't actually. I can't even imagine being in his situation. Saturday night, our branch president gave him a priesthood blessing that was very powerful and brought much comfort to everyone. Elder Iata said he knew that Heavenly Father was watching over his family. I learned a lot from this humble elder. God is aware of us and He has ultimate control in our lives. If you turn ourselves over to Him, He will care for all of our needs and shower us with blessings. Elder Iata and his companion left Monday for country, along with our two elders going to Greece! Crazy! It makes me way more eager to leave. I am ready to get out there and serve the people! We also got 4 new elders in our zone. 3 from Australia and 1 from New Zealand. They are so much fun! I love everyone in our zone! I have very inspiring examples all around me. I think that has been a very big part of why I love the MTC. We had another wonderful devotional this week by Elder Ron Clarke from the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was definitely an answer to my prayers. He talked about how missionaries are on the Lord's time, and we should not waste it. I need to continue working hard to fulfill my calling. Then I can trust that God will lead me to where I need to be. And if I am obedient, He will trust me. He also talked about how the the salvation of a soul is worth anything! Every person on this earth is precious to God. We are all brothers and sisters and I can't wait to help my family in Armenia find their way back to His presence. Yesterday we skyped with an old man in Yerevan! He was excited to help us with our language, which is such a blessing because I need all the help I can get. I bet I sound like a two year old to them! We taught about prayer and receiving answers to prayers. It was a very cool experience, because it turns out we found out afterward that he wasn't even a member of the church! haha So we just had our first real discussion! I love this Gospel and I love my calling. I trust that God will take care of me and my loved ones as I do everything I can to be obedient unto Him. I love you all! Have a great week! Love, Sister Blanchard