Thursday, January 15, 2015

January 2015 letter



Dear Family,                                                                                       January 14, 2015
We have a favor to ask of you.  On the next fast Sunday could you please fast for Joel?  He is having pain again in his leg and Kim and Brad think that he may need to go to a specialist to see what they can do to help Joel.  He is growing very quickly right now which causes him pain in his knee.  The blood vessels that are tangled there are making it hard for him to run and play, although he is a very busy little boy.  He is having his tonsils out today so pray for him today too.  We love you Joel.  Hang in there Kim and Brad.  It is a very hard thing to experience your child going through difficult things that you cannot control.  We love Joel and pray he will be well.  
We loved the Christmas letters that we received from you!  Thank you so much for writing them and expressing your feelings and testimony to all of us.  If you have not written one yet it is not too late.  We look forward to reading your letters but more importantly your children and nieces and nephews will find great strength from them in the future.
We hope that you are all doing well.  We miss you all and think of you all the time.  Even though life is busy, our thoughts of you are never far from our minds and hearts.  You are the reason we are serving now.  To bless and strengthen your life by following what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do.  We all will be better and stronger by obedience and sacrifice for others. 
We have had a busy Christmas season.  It was nice to spend time with the missionaries.  We had them to our home on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  We attended “The Nativities”, went to the Preston Temple with the missionaries, went to a mission Christmas party, had two Christmas parties with the YSA and did service activities for those who are not able to get out to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  The month of December was full of memorable activities focused on the love of our Savior and love for others.  We were not able to teach many lessons because people were very busy but we did pass out  “He Is the Gift” cards to as many people as we could.  We hope to see the fruits of all the missionaries’ labor as the year 2015 progresses.
We have been visiting with a man named David Schallicker.  We have been teaching him the discussions and he has accepted an invitation to be baptized.  The date is set for January 24th.  We are so excited for him and he is happy to know that after his baptism he will be clean and will be able to follow the example of the Savior as he progresses in the knowledge of the gospel.   He is a sweet and simple man.  He has faced many challenges in his life but he trusts in the Lord with all his heart.
Another man that we have been visiting with is David Parr.  He has been a member for over ten years but only attended church for a short time after his baptism.  He had heart problems and stopped going to church then.  When we first went to visit him he had tears in his eyes and welcomed us warmly into his home.  We instantly felt a connection with him because he looks a lot life my dad.  Of course his accent is British but his face is similar to Grandpa Brinkerhoff’s.  He became sick during the Christmas holidays with pneumonia.  His fiancée called and let us know that he was in the hospital and said that he wanted us to come and visit him.  We took a newly baptized member with us to help give David a blessing.  It was a sweet experience.  David told us that after we left he felt a renewed energy and was able to get up and walk around by himself.  The nurses were surprised at his quick recovery.  He was able to go home a few days after the blessing.  We hope that as we visit him that we will be able to teach his fiancée the discussions.
We have been visiting a 19 year old girl named Cassie.  She has severe health problems and can rarely attend church or even leave her home for that matter.  She is on a lot of painkillers and passes out or gets sick to her stomach if she does too much or gets over heated.  She is very delicate.  We check on her often and offer to drive her to church or other activities.  She loves the gospel and is a wonderful example to us of enduring to the end.  She is a spiritual giant inside of a little tiny frail body.
We have been traveling again to many areas of our zone.  The Elders were moved out of a flat that was in bad repair and we went to find them another flat to live in.  We looked at 15 flats in Carlisle and Workington.  The day we traveled to these areas were windy and rainy.  We were able to travel without any difficulties and even had a pleasant day.  When we got home we heard of problems that were caused by the wind but we ourselves were protected throughout the day.  We were on the Lord’s errand and He watched over us.  We also know that many of our loved ones are praying for us which gave us extra support in our work.  Thank you family for your prayers that keep us safe and help us as missionaries.  We know that the angels are on our left and on our right to bear us up as we go about the Lord’s work.  We love you and pray for you also.  Heavenly Father hears our prayers.  He loves all of us and sustains us. 
Serving a mission is a wonderful yet difficult experience.  Our time is full of spiritual moments as well as disappointments and rejection.  It doesn’t matter if someone tells us to go away because we know that we have offered them the chance to hear the gospel and planted a seed.  Maybe someday in the future when they hear the message again they will be better able to accept the promptings of the gospel. 
Please know that we love you!  We are so proud of you and all the hard work that you are doing.  We miss you all and look forward to being together with you again when our mission is finished.  It will be a joyous day when we can hold you in our arms and tell you face to face that we love you.
Keep smiling!  Pray always!  Read your scriptures because that is where you will find answers to all your problems.
Love you!
Mom and Dad
Elder and Sister Blunck

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