I can’t believe it’s preparation day once again and that the transfer is already half over! In the words of President Thomas S. Monson, “When we’re busy, time seems to fly by far too quickly, and the past six months have been no exception for me.”

This week, we struggled to find a new investigator until we finally picked one up on Sunday after church. His girlfriend just passed away and he’s been looking to find answers about life and being able to see his loved ones again in the future.

Brad is doing much better. He’s been sober for about a week now and he actually came to church yesterday! We’re trying all we can to help him stay busy so he doesn’t pick his addiction up again. We’ll be meeting with him tomorrow.

We haven’t been able to make contact with Wendell yet, but we will continue in the efforts of trying.

We had zone conferences this week. The spirit was strong there and I enjoyed being instructed on how to be better missionaries. Another cool thing was being asked to play the organ (despite being asked to play from the pulpit as soon as the meeting started), there happens to be a PIPE organ there. I even discovered how to gain access to the pipe chamber. I can’t wait to learn more about the building of these wonderful musical instruments/music making machines.

This afternoon for zone preparation day activities, we’ll be carving pumpkins. I’m excited!

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

So not a whole lot of success again this week, but we’re just chugging along.

We met with Brad again this week. He’s struggling again, he lost his job again and was drunk when we met with him. It’s hard seeing him (and others) who we meet see the benefit of meeting with us and then stop and say the blessings from God stopped and blame Him even though it wasn’t God’s fault.

We found a few potential investigators this week, but after meeting them again found out they were not interested.  I’m at the point in my mission now that I’m not as excited about potentials as I was during my first week out. I assumed that everybody who told us to come back was truly interested, but it’s quite the contrary.

Oh yeah…I got a new companion again this week. His name is Elder Justin Clark. He hails from the state famous for space sightings: New Mexico, specifically Albuquerque.

I’m driving this transfer. We’re still listening to talks a lot to help us feel the spirit, however trying to understand the talks and drive at the same time is extremely difficult, so I don’t get as much out of it as I was when I wasn’t driving. It is nice to be able to review talks from this past conference so soon.

The following is a letter sent to the Blodgett family by two sister missionaries, who are serving in an area close enough that they would be in the same meeting at least once every six weeks or so.
Dearest Mama & Papa Blodgett,
     YOU HAVE AN AMAZING SON!  We just want you to know that you did a fabulous job raising one of the hardest working Elders we know.  He is an example of Christ here and all can see it.
     I love how we don’t have to ask him to do anything.  He will see something that needs to be done and then he’ll do it. No questions asked!
     Today and yesterday we decided to do a crepe breakfast for the missionaries in the zone and all who we invited (new members, less actives, and investigators).  It was just gonna be crepes, but Elder Blodgett, being the awesome missionary that he is, BROUGHT BACON BOTH DAYS!  and then! He did the dishes!  both days!  without us having to ask.  All the other elders in the zone wre sooo lazy and just stood there… WE had to ask them to help.  You raised an amazing son and we love him and the example he is.  

            ♥         Sister Maxfield and Sister Bosshardt

Elder Allen Blodgett
Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
California San Fernando Mission

I guess it will not come as a surprise that I’m staying in Chatsworth again this transfer. That said, I’ll backtrack a little. On Tuesday night, Elder Midgley was dropped off at the mission home. I then went into a trio with the Elders in the Tarzana Ward (Elders Evans and Long). I have been called to finish up training of a new missionary (Elder Clark) and will meet him tomorrow. I’m excited!

When we went to the mission home on Tuesday, Sister Henrie (the mission president’s wife) invited us in to watch the General Women’s Meeting (my favorite session). From then on, I could not stop thinking about General Conference.

It’s been fun being in a trio again. We got a lot of work done and taught a few people. That was a nice change. We stopped by our investigator Brad from Chatsworth. He committed to coming to Conference, unfortunately however, we never saw him. He seems to be doing better.

Before the morning sessions of conference this past weekend, our zone put on a breakfast for all of our investigators. We made crepes and I made over 4 pounds of bacon for this event! I think I should be an apron model…

I loved General Conference! It was sad again to see President Monson struggling. One thing is for certain: I sustain him as a Prophet, as a Seer, and as a Revelator. He is the Lord’s chosen spokesman for Him. If we follow President Monson’s counsel, we will be blessed abundantly. I tried guessing who the new apostles would be. I was accurate in guessing Elder Rasband, partially correct for Elder Renlund (I guessed we would have a nobody[so to speak]), but I did not see a member of the presiding bishopric being called.

This morning, we went to a place called “The Rock.” We went as a district for personal and companionship studies. For companionship study, we had a testimony meeting. It was a lot of fun. We were able to see the ocean from this place (the only area of the mission that you can “legally” see the ocean) and also a wonderful view of the San Fernando Valley.

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Ocean1–The ocean from the Rock
the valley–A cool view of the San Fernando Valley
IMG_1262–A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead
IMG_1233–All the Elders in the zone
IMG_1248–I should be an apron model!
IMG_1255–Our zone after breakfast and before conference

It’s been yet another slow week in Chatsworth. We found a few potential investigators this week, but after visiting with them later in the week, they were not at all interested. In fact one of them told us that he would call the cops the next time we step foot on his property.

We stopped by Brad again who is struggling. He admitted he was drunk, but still let us in to talk to him. We gave him a priesthood blessing to help him prepare for his new job which starts today.

At long last, President Henrie did let us go on exchanges…with the Assistants. I went with Elder Sharp and his companion went with Elder Midgley. Nothing too exciting happened with that.

This morning we played baseball and then went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch.

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

no photos sent this week

This week many of our scheduled lessons fell through and many of our investigators are struggling with gaining their testimonies. Despite these challenges, we are still working hard to try to find new people to teach and not let Satan try to bring us down.

I think I may have failed to mention that Elder Midgley served half of his mission in Sierra Leone, West Africa! He was reassigned here to San Fernando after the Ebola outbreak started. He has some interesting stories to tell from Africa and they make me appreciate more fully serving/living here (although having 20 lessons and 3-4 baptisms each week would be nice).

The weather has been nice around here. It was hot a couple days, but the temperatures have been quite moderate as of late. It even sprinkled this morning!

Elder Midgley and I have been listening to a lot of talks lately. A great one from this past week is Elder Tad R. Callister’s CES devotional “What is the Blueprint of Christ’s Church?” He speaks so powerfully about the setting up of Christ’s primitive church, how the apostasy occurred, and how the church was restored according to Christ’s blueprint. I highly recommend all listen to this talk. (You can read it here: https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2014/01/what-is-the-blueprint-of-christs-church?lang=eng)

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

IMG_1156–Got a Bacon Doughnut today!
IMG_1155–We found a weight bar tha t fits our weight bench in our apartment!

Not much to report on this week, but we had a few of our investigators at church. That was a small miracle witnessing to the fact that it really pays off to keep in frequent contact with investigators (also home teachees and visiting teachees who may be less active and inviting them to church).

On Saturday, we had an hour before needing to return to the apartment for the night. We decided to go visit a less active family. They come to church occasionally, and when they do they arrive after the sacrament is passed. At the conclusion of our brief visit, I invited them to come to church the next day. They did and they came before the sacrament! There is power in inviting them on Saturdays when the invitations are fresh in their minds.

We met with a few of our investigators who both seem to be understanding and enjoying the messages we have been sharing with them. We haven’t been picking up many investigators as of late, so we’ve been focusing a lot of our time on finding. We talked with 151 people this past week, most of whom weren’t interested, but at least seeds were planted for future missionaries to visit.

Thank you for getting me Thom’s email address. Again, I’m so excited for him to be out. He’s going to be a great missionary.

My thought for today comes from the lyrics of a Broadway show:

If one person can beat a drum,
And one person can blow a horn,
If one person can hold a torch,
Then one person can change the world!

IMG_1151–Standing at the foot of a rocket
IMG_1152–Dedicated 14 years to the date prior to my birthday (ie 10 years after man on the moon day)
A little online research showed the rocket photo and plaque were taken in Chatsworth, the city Allen has been and is still serving in at this time. It is the current home of Rocketdyne, who built the rocket engine for the moon landing.

This week we had a mission tour with Elder James J. Hamula of the First Quorum of the Seventy (https://www.lds.org/church/leader/james-j-hamula?lang=eng). He spoke at a investigator/new member/less active member fireside on Sunday night and at our mission conference on Monday (which is why preparation day is today being Wednesday).

Elder Hamula is a master teacher who is well versed in the scriptures (surprisingly so in the Bible) and taught primarily out of them. (This should not be a surprise to anyone in the church as we know the Bible is the word of God.  Every 4 years in Sunday School we study the Old Testament for a full year and the New Testament for a full year, and should be studying it often at home every year.)  He taught simply, yet powerfully. I strive to teach like the General Authorities teach. They teach like the Savior. No man may ever in this life teach like the Savior Jesus Christ, but, we can at least teach like General Authorities.

We had an investigator come to church this past Sunday! He seems to still be interested in meeting with us despite a somewhat crazy church meeting. We had a singimony and some of the hymn selections were kind of crazy and lackluster in meaning. I guess if he wasn’t scared off by that, then maybe he’s more prepared than we thought. He now wants a copy of the Doctrine and Covenants, so we’re going to bring him that tomorrow when we meet with him.

A spiritual thought today comes from something I found yesterday while cleaning out the area book. It actually comes from something that the LA Temple Visitor’s Center gives to us while we prepare to bring investigators there for a lesson. Most of us are born with five senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, hearing). God purposely gave them to us to learn about everything he has given us. It didn’t actually say the following, but I realized that God has given us these five senses to also learn about the gospel. We need to taste the sacrament. We need to touch our scriptures. We need to read our scriptures. We need to smell what it is like to be clean from our transgressions. We need to hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost and what our church leaders tell us.

I was looking through the church directory and saw that Thom is on a mission. Do you have an email for him? Thanks.

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

On Saturday, we received transfer calls. The news is that Elder Sharp is leaving and he’s becoming an assistant on his last transfer of his mission. My new companion will be Elder Midgley and this will be his last transfer as well. At this point it will look like that I will be spending two more transfers in the Chatsworth ward, but time will surely tell.

This week has been rough for us. Many people ask us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if we believe in Satan. We do believe that he is real and that he is the origin of all evil. We have felt the influence of him this week as we have tried to persist in the work. It’s been hard to get work done as there have been many distractions in the work this week.

This week we went on transfers with the Zone Leaders. Elder Lee went with Elder Sharp and I went with Elder Cumming in to his area. Temporarily, they have a third member of their companionship, Elder Grant is with them as his companion went home at mid-transfer departures.

The past few days, I’ve been studying the words from this past general conference. I’m beginning to use some of the phrases spoken by the prophets and apostles while contacting. It hasn’t helped yet to get them interested, but I know that it will soon.

There is not much else to report on this week. Thank you for your wonderful words of (financial) counsel in your email today and also your powerful testimonies that you mailed to me last week.

Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints