Friday, September 25, 2015
Failed Missionary Fireside
Trafford Center
Specialized Training
July 2015 Letter
Hi Family, July
26, 2015
We want you to know how much we love you and appreciate the
effort you all put into getting together this past week. We know that you all love each other and
treasure the time you can spend together.
Our hearts and minds were with you this past month. It was hard not to be there with you.
Serving a mission has been full of wonderful experiences as
well as difficult times but we know we are doing the right thing by being
here. On difficult days we wonder what
the purpose is for our sacrifices to be here and then we find someone to teach
the gospel to, someone who is struggling that needs our help, someone who is
looking for God and has been prepared to hear about His love for them. We have witnessed many miracles and blessings
through the power of the priesthood and through the power of prayer. We do not doubt that Heavenly Father loves us
all and is helping us to prepare for the second coming.
The world is moving farther away from belief in God as well
as the divine power and ability of God to bless their lives. There is less trust and belief in God’s power
to help us here on earth. We see many
people who do not want to be bothered with God and rely only on themselves. But there is great comfort in knowing that
the priesthood will never again be taken from the earth. That doesn’t mean that
our faith will not be tested. Apostasy
is a great stumbling block for many here in the church. We have seen many members turn to their own
strength and knowledge, or others deceptions.
It breaks our hearts.
We know that when you as a family and individually read your
scriptures daily, pray and hold family home evening you will be strengthened
and supported against the evils of this world.
There are many members who joke about being too churchy or preachy, but
where else can we turn for peace? Where
else are you going to find the security and safety of the gospel? Nothing else in this world or within yourself
can bring you true happiness and peace. We are not ashamed to say that we love
the Savior! We are grateful for his
atonement and we know that through Him we can all be made clean which makes it
possible for us to be together as a family forever and live with our Heavenly
Father.
Dad and I spend 24/7 together. It has been a difficult adjustment. It was hard for me at first to not have my
own phone and car keys and to be so dependent on Dad, and he is dependent on
me. We have had to learn to trust each
other, to work together and to be patient with one another. We are happy to say that we are getting there. It is getting easier. We have both been very independent and have
managed our lives together but separately as we raised our family. On a mission we do EVERYTHING together! Don’t worry!
It is all working out great! We
love each other even more because of our mission. Thanks for supporting us! Thanks for trusting Heavenly Father enough to
let us come to England and to be missionaries.
It was not easy for you either to see us go and to have us so far
away. Our hearts are never far from
you! You are our children and we love
you with all our hearts! We are proud of
you! You make us so happy! We can’t wait to be home again and to see you
and hug you and to spend time with you.
The mission office recently called and asked us to go to the
prison here and meet with 11 members of the church who are incarcerated. If it works out that we can do this,
unfortunately dad will be going by himself.
I will not be able to go with him because the prisoners are sex
offenders and the security clearance is tight.
Women are not allowed there. We
purchased triple combinations for dad to give them. We will let you know how this turns out. Not sure yet.
We are looking into teaching a Book of Mormon class at the
university here. We hope it works
out. We are also going to start teaching
English to a man who speaks Arabic. His
name is Hommad. I think he is from
Jordan? That should be interesting. Heavenly Father must think we can do things
that we ourselves are not sure of. We
will trust in him and see how it goes.
If Heavenly Father is helping us we know it will all work out okay.
We are going to another castle tomorrow and are looking
forward to learning about the local history.
We hear that there are dungeons there that are pretty dark and
scary. Don’t worry, I will hold tight to
dad and we will be okay.
We love you all! Miss
you!
Love, Mom and dad
June 2015 Letter
Dear Family and Friends, June
10, 2015
Serving a mission full of love, sacrifice, hard work,
happiness, friendships, disappointment, tiredness and spiritual experiences
that uplift us as no other opportunity could and it is worth every minute of
it. When we left home we had no idea
what we would be doing or really where we were going. We just knew that we were going to the
England Manchester Mission. We have been
teaching classes, discussion with the Elders and Sisters, institute, and
investigators. We have spoken in many
sacrament meetings and helped with firesides.
We have cooked hundreds of meals, cookies, cakes and bread etc. We have driven our poor little car thousands
of miles. We have spent every dime we
have and then some but we love it all and are so grateful we decided to go on a
mission. It is blessing our lives so
much! We could not have grown in the
gospel any other way as we have on a mission.
We recognize the many miracles that have taken place and we will
continue to watch the Lord’s hand as He hastens His work here on the
earth. We are teaching and helping
others to prepare for the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. We pray more people will listen to our
message of the restoration and the plan of salvation. The love of our family and all of our
brothers and sisters motivate us to work harder. There is so much work to do and not enough
time to do it in. But we know that our
Savior can and will accomplish this work on a one by one basis. Each and every one of us matter. We are His children and He loves us with a
perfect love.
The most exciting change to our mission is street displays
used in contacting people. The Elders
and Sisters set up posters and tables in a busy area and then they all go out
into the street and talk with every person that goes by. It has been very successful as it helps us in
giving out many Books of Mormon (61 the first week) and in finding people who
will listen to our message. The
interesting thing is that people come to us and want to know more. The Lord has prepared them and when they see
that we are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the
“Mormons” they ask if they can have missionaries teach them more about the
gospel. Some have even said “How do I
get baptized into your church?” Elder
Blunck is fearless and bold in street contacting. It is fun to watch him talk and joke with
people. Everyone loves him. He is a good man and has a strong testimony. I love to watch him and listen to his message. I am so proud of him. It is such a blessing to serve together.
The missionaries taught and baptized a friend of ours. His name is Arjun, he is 21 and is from
India. His mother was happy when he
decided to be baptized because she said that he has always loved Jesus Christ
and that it seemed right that he should follow him. Arjun is on fire in the gospel. We were able to go to the Preston Temple with
him and walk around the outside and sit in the waiting room and teach him. He said that getting baptized was so
important to him and he cannot wait to go further into the Temple, not just in
the waiting room. He does not know much
about his family and said that India does not keep good records, but he is
excited to find information that he can take to the Temple soon and do baptisms. He reads the Book of Mormon two hours every
day and has begun telling his friends about it.
He comes to our Book of Mormon Class and goes to institute every
week. We are grateful for him and his
example.
We taught a Chinese girl last week. She asked Elder Blunck to baptize her. Unfortunately she has had some people telling
her anti Mormon things and she is confused.
She has returned to China for the summer and said that she will find the
church there and go to sacrament meeting.
We pray that she will find the truth for herself. We love her so much.
Time is going fast and but also slow, depending on how you
look at it. I know that sounds funny but
I think you know what I mean. Home is
never far from our hearts and thoughts.
We look forward to the day when we can be with you again.
We love you all and miss you!
Love,
Mom and Dad
May 2015 Letter
Hi Family!
This has been such a busy month! We have driven hundreds of miles and met
hundreds of people. We truly are leaving
the ninety and nine and going out to find the one sheep that is missing and
bring him back to the fold. The Branch
Presidents or Bishop’s have been giving us ward lists which we divide up by
post codes, drive to each individual home to talk with them and invite them
back to church. Out of twenty homes
visited in a day we actually talk to maybe three families. We have seen success and we know that this is
Heavenly Father’s work because we have seen many miracles through the small
efforts made.
There are so many
experiences to share but one of the highlights has been traveling with the
other senior missionaries and visiting the church history sites from the early
years of missionary work and conversion here in England. We visited the River Ribble where the first
baptisms occurred, went to Downham where the town was converted and followed
the missionaries and sang as they walked out of town. They loved the missionaries and were so
grateful to be taught the gospel. We
visited the missionary flat of President Hinckley where his dad told him to
“foget himself and get to work”, and also the flat where evil spirits attacked
the missionaries and they literally had to defend themselves from their
attacks. The power of the priesthood
protected them from evil forces. It was
the poverty and lack of employment that brought the people from England to
America. Their courage and testimony
strengthened the church in its early beginnings.
Many people here
in England don’t want to be bothered with religion. Many are atheist. It is sad to see how many people reject the
Savior. If they only knew how much they
need Him and understood that He loves them with a perfect love and was
sacrificed for them. The whole purpose
of a Savior is to redeem every one of us.
The earth would be utterly wasted if we did not have a Savior. “Now is the time for us to prepare to meet
God.”
We love serving
with the Elders and Sisters serving here.
We love going to district meetings, zone meetings, temple sessions,
church meetings, FHE, Book of Mormon classes, investigators homes to help
teach, activities, transfers and Mission wide Conferences with all of
them. The energy and love among the
missionaries is wonderful to experience.
Serving a mission is truly a blessing in our lives and in our family’s
lives. No one ever regrets serving a
mission.
We love you all!
Love Mom and Dad
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Windemere Hike
David and Prudence Find Family Names
Dinner at Elder and Sister Blunck's House
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