Week 15: We had a baptism! (not clickbait)

 Okay I lied it's clickbait. But I did attend a baptism this week, some elders in my Zone had a baptism, and we invited two of our friends we're teaching to go with us, and one of them came! His name is Jack, we've been teaching him for a while but going pretty slow cause he's from mainland and has absolutely zero Christian background. But after the baptism Elder Chuy asked him what he thought and he said "洗禮好好，我想接受洗禮" or: "Baptism is very good. I want to receive baptism." Which is crazy!! So Elder Chuy and I are gonna keep teaching him, but we're hoping to extend a baptismal invitation in a week or so!!!


Other highlights:
- My Zone has put 4 people on baptismal date this week, which is crazy for the mission!
- Elder Zhao and I, who are both still in training, went on exchanges. It was super fun though, we did pretty well with it!
- Tried Vietnamese Pho for the first time and absolutely loved it, but also forgot to take any pictures of it. I apologize to my dad and to Jeremiah, both of whom I know are big pho enthusiasts. 
- We had our new friend Charles come to church with us yesterday. He actually has a strong Christian background, and during Sacrament meeting we could tell that he was kinda freaking out because of all the new information the speakers were dropping. We talked to him about it afterwards and he was still pretty concerned, but we went to the YSA class and he started talking to them and they all were super nice and friendly to him, and then they all went to a YSA activity and after that we talked to him again about things, and he seemed super ready to hear our message! Super big miracle and super thankful to the awesome YSA here for helping him feel welcome
- We finished our 40 scripture sharing challenge, on the last day there was an added challenge that no one could send their scripture shares in the chat until the end of the day, so we had no idea where we were at until the end of the day. At the end of the day we found out we shared over 60 scriptures! Super cool
- We got transfer news on Saturday night and found out that Elder Chuy and I are staying together for another transfer! Super fire. But Elder Smith will be leaving, which is super sad. 

Spiritual thought:
This week I've been reflecting a lot about my first transfer so far, Elder Chuy has asked me a lot about what I feel like I've learned so far. I've been thinking back on how it's been so far, and honestly I'm so thankful for so many things! I've had an awesome trainer, awesome apartment, awesome district and zone, and I've seen so many miracles happen! But there has also been a lot of challenges, a lot of them relating to the language haha. I think that focusing on the things we're thankful for is so important because it really helps you put things in perspective and remember how many things Heavenly Father has blessed us with. No matter how tough things might get, there's always so many things to be thankful for.

Love you all!
Elder Blankenbiller


Google Photos link:


Picture highlights:
1. Elder Zhao and I on exchanges
2. This guy started bashing us and calling us a cult like two messages after this 
3. Conrad, our recent convert, and Brother Wong from our ward







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