Hey everyone!
I, for these few weeks, I will be summarizing my areas during my mission.
I had a great start to my mission. Home MTC was a one of a kind experience.
Despite the difficulty of learning Italian online, it was nice to be home for a few weeks because before then, I was off at the academy. I remember it brought a good feeling in the house as well. During this time, I remember going up to Santa Rosa to see my friend run a Half Ironman and go to San Diego with some members of the ward. I was a little bit lost when it came to the language. Online learning can be difficult. It was there when I started to realize what my purpose as a missionary was. Then, just like that, I got reassigned to the place I previously prayed not to go, Utah. Soon thereafter, I was on a plane to Salt Lake City, then a car to Ogen Utah.
I learned many things there from my companions, Elder Blan and Elder Hair. I had to always be ready to teach a principle from Preach My Gospel and use a scripture in every lesson. I found that I LOVED TEACHING it was a chance to help people come closer to Christ by knowledge then application afterward. That short 6 weeks was a perfect time to get adjusted and see what great zone leaders look like.
Then I got transferred from Ogden West to Ogden East Stake, with Elder Christiansen. He had a dry but funny sense of humor. It was a hard transfer. I learned how to work that transfer, and I didn't know how to do anything, I changed a lot, and so did he that transfer, which was really cool to see. I turned 20 that transfer, and it was nice to celebrate it with those I was around. Shortly after I got a call from President Holley that I would be going to the Italy Rome Mission, my visa came through.
A lot of funny things happened during those 2 transfers, but the coolest moments were
• going to Stake leadership meetings
• meeting Elder Christopherson
• Seeing 3 people Baptized
• Meeting cool members
• Giving my first priesthood blessing to an exmember of the church
There are many more cool things that I learned during this period, but this is just a short summary of what I learned and experienced.
-Anziano Blake