¡Hola!
Everyone I have made it to WASHINGTON! This past little bit has been absolutely insaaaaaaaane. I finished up my online MTC training and I am now in the field! Oh my goodness, it is so great to be here! I was a bit sad to leave my wonderful district behind and my amazing {}, but I know all of us are off to do great things in each of our missions. Mi {} is actually going to the Yakima, WA mission so I went up here to Kennewick all by myself. Pero no se preocupe.
MY MISSION PRESIDENTS AND MY TRAINER IS AMAZING!!!! So I arrived here last Tuesday, which was a little bit insane. I had to be at the airport at 4:00 a.m. guys, that's so incredibly early! Then I flew to Salt Lake City before catching a connecting flight up to Pasco. Our plane to Pasco was filled with, I kid you not, like 25-30 missionaries. I was one of 45 missionaries coming into this mission at this time. That's so crazy! There were missionaries everywhere! Those that had already served and this was their reassignment, immediately went out and served that day. Thankfully, I got a bit of a break and got to chill at the mission home with my mission presidents for a bit. And then we got to stay in a hotel for that night and then met our trainers in the morning!!!!
First area: PASCO 5TH OESTE!!!!
Guys, there are 12 missionaries in this ward. TWELVE! That's insane! There's so many of us, also this ward is kinda large, but still!!
Mi nueva {} es Hermana Hollingsworth!!!! And guys, I honestly could not ask for a better companion and trainer. She's been so kind and patient with my absolutely awful attempts to speak the language and learn mission rules. It's been a bit of an adjustment and I still goof up all the time, but she'll just kindly correct me when I forget something. She's such a soft-spoken, kind individual, but has the ability to speak Spanish with such clarity and smoothness that I really admire. I hope that kinda makes sense. She's also been so wonderful in letting me do part of the work, since as a trainee I don't have all privileges unlocked yet, she'll hand me the phone and let me struggle through what to text to people in Spanish or have me enter lesson plans into area book. The online area book is a huge blessing and we have already seen several miracles from contacting former investigators this past week. I also live with Hermana Webb and Hermana Bowcut, who are amazing!!
Now, the two cool things that relate to the subject of this email.
Fabian, one of the most incredible people I've ever met, got baptized last week and we've been teaching him retention lessons that have been so wonderful. But, bless his heart, he always brings us so many fresh cherries. And apparently, cherries are a thing here and they are delicious!!!!! Hermana Hollingsworth told me they were called Mount Rainier cherries, and my sleep deprived, starving brain that Wednesday morning we got to the apartment, looked at her and said, "Whaaaaaat? Mount Rainier is a cherry? I thought it was a mountain?" And they just laughed and laughed and laughed. They taste almost like something in between a peach and a cherry. I have almost eaten all of them since getting here and I love them.
Then I read this wonderful talk again for personal study, I've studied it before, but it really applied this week and helped me a lot. It's called, Finishers Wanted, by President Thomas S. Monson. I'll attach the link below because it's sooooooooo good. But one of the qualities he describes of a finisher is the ability to give all of your effort. We had a mission wide devotional last night and that was also another theme that came up a lot. Is giving everything to the Lord, 100% effort, and then a little bit more. There's this quote that he says that I think applies a lot to cherries, a life lesson we can learn from the cherry. Cherries always come in pairs, they're literally stuck together. And because they're stuck together, they grow together faster and easier. President Monson quotes this old poem:
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honor, power, place and praise
Will always come to the one who stays.
“Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life’s victories after a while.”
I hope that as a missionary, I can be like these cherries and do what President Monson says and give all my effort to the Lord. I want to grow to become a better person and the best way to do that is to give the Lord the one thing I can, my agency and my will. I hope that all of you will "stick" to the Lord. I promise that as you do, he will stick to you and help you put in that effort that is required of the gospel.
Have a safe and wonderful week everyone!
Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Blackburn
P.S. If any of you want to send me any letters or packages, here's the mission office address. They'll get them to me from there! I love hearing from all of you! Thanks for the love and support!
Fotos:
1) Dutch Bros before weekly planning! Hermana Bowcut front left, Hermana Webb, front right, and Hermana Hollingsworth and I in the back.
2) Nightly walk
3) Mask up!
4) Pasco! This is a cool view on our walk.
5) Hermana Hollingsworth, me, plus some sheep. (I live in the country now, remember)
6) Last pic with the fam at 4:00 a.m.
7) Picture on the plane.
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