Week 46: "That is the whitest name I have ever heard"

 大家好！


Since I just got transferred into my new area, the English branch, we were doing some calls and introducing me to the friends in the area. One of them was having a hard time getting my name over the phone, so we texted it to him and he said "BLANKENBILLER, that is the WHITEST name I have EVER HEARD." So that's a new reaction to my name 😂 

Highlights:
- Holy crap this new area is so different to my last one haha. In my last area my biggest challenge was finding interested people, getting them to church, scheduling them, etc. It was a find grind. I got to this new area and we have SOOOOOO MUCH to do haha, it's nuts. We have a crazy amount of friends we're working with and trying to help, as well as members we're working with, less actives, recent converts, and also all the Zone Leader responsibilities Elder Smith and I have. So it's been really chaotic and a little bit overwhelming. But also so much fun at the same time, just very tiring haha. 
- Got to go to the Mission Leadership Council meeting which was super cool! It's where all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders meet together with our Mission President, his wife, and the APs to discuss how to help the mission and the missionaries to improve and progress. It was super spiritual and there were so many good insights into what we can do next. It was a really good example of how everyone receives little bits of revelation, so when we come together and share we can all learn from each other
- Had to try to explain the word pneumonia and how to pronounce it to a bunch of people who barely speak English. Fun times

Spiritual thought:
One to the things that was emphasized in MLC was faith, and specifically what faith really looks like in action. We discussed how when you have real faith, it includes patient confidence that promised blessings will come, but that they will come according to the Lord's timing. To have faith includes being willing to show up every day and do all the things the Lord asks, even if some days the blessings are a long time coming. It means trusting that the Lord will bless you according to His plan and His time. It's sometimes really hard because you wish the blessings would just come right away. But if we trust Heavenly Father, He will give us exactly the right blessings at exactly the right time!

Love you all!
Elder Blankenbiller

Google Photos

Pictures
1. Elder Cheng had a long day
2. Last time teaching our friend Tesla
3. Black sesame ice cream





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