Glorious

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." -1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

First off I want to start by apologizing. I'm sorry and realize how late this post is, and I did it mainly so we could maybe get some more answers, so stay tuned... 

I was given the opportunity to really focus this week on my testimony. I want to do something a little different and share my testimony now (I might end up adding more throughout the post) I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I know one day He held me in His arms and told me everything that I would go through in this life, all the happiness and He rejoiced with me. He looked into my eyes and told me I would have hard times but I believe He decided to tell me only to help me become stronger. Im certain He knew I would serve a mission in Mexico, and He knew how much this gospel means to me in my life, and He knew that I would fall in love with the culture, people, and spirit there in Mexico. They are valiant and I hope to return back to them one day soon! I love my Savior Jesus Christ, He has done so much for me, that now my mind set is more of, What can I DO for Him? He is my older brother and He suffered E.V.E.R.Y.   S.I.N.G.L.E. pain, emotion, and did that because He not only loves me, His Father, He loves YOU.   I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Especially in times of loneliness, or when we are unsure or afraid. He is always there and wants us to talk to Him so He can embrace you in His arms and grab your hand and walk the path with you. He answered a 14 year olds prayer, which changed the world. I know living prophets speak to God. I know that if we ever have questions, we can go straight to Him and He will answer. Some things in life we might not understand why they have to happen, but I believe He has a plan for everyone. 

On Sunday I was given the opportunity to teach the primary & young women. For those who don't know me super well, I love teaching (thanks to the mission) and kids make my heart super happy. I helped them understand the importance of covenant making by giving them 1 single starburst, then asking them to promise me to not open or eat it, and I would promise at the end of the lesson to give them something bigger and better (a whole pack). I related it to our baptismal covenants. What we promise & what The Lord promises. Every child obeyed and kept their promise and was able to receive the bigger pack, but I reminded them if they accidentally ate the candy we have the option to repent and try again. Teaching the young women (laurels - 16-18 years) was way different. I could talk openly with them about how important it is to stay true to who they are and do all they can to prepare for making covenants in our temple. The temple has blessed my life in ways I would NEVER have imagined. It is so special and sacred to me. If the world has gone crazy and I need a place that is peaceful, warm, beautiful, and teaches me about the important things in life, the temple is the only place I would go to. I made them a slideshow of the temples in chronological order so they could see where they were built in relation to year. I personally was shocked at how many temples there are in Mexico, all beautiful. The people there are a temple attending people. They understand the importance of the temples. I loved when Sister Reeves came to Mexico and taught us about how the people in Indonesia have 2 stakes. Both stakes had 95% to 99% of the people holding current temple recommends. Even if the people know that they would only be able to go to the temple once in their LIFE. That goes to show how important temples are. 

(If any are interested - ill post my video on Facebook later today!)

I went to the doctors on Wednesday, and the lady who was helping me spoke Spanish. She was from Honduras. She asked me so many questions about why I was in Mexico, for how long, what did you do for fun? She really had no clue about anything about the church or missions. I explained to her my simple testimony that I was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I served the people in every way I could for the 4 months I was there, but I'm hoping to go back and finish my year & half service. I left my friends, school, even my family for that amount of time because this message that we bring has brought me eternal peace and happiness in my life and in the life of my family. Also back to my "what would I DO?" If He suffered and died for me the least I could do is leave everything and go help the people in Mexico understand that He loves them. I was tearing up when she started saying how lovely it is that people my age would do such a thing, and how beautiful we are inside and out. I was reminded of all my wonderful missionary friends that are serving, have a call, putting papers in, or even just preparing. I've never been so proud of all my friends and their influence on me. I know it gets hard on the mission and there are days were we just wanna get home and go to bed hoping it will all go away. But missionaries are strong. We are focused and we are loving. Missionaries have about 8 hours to focus on them, and thats when they are sleeping. From the moment we wake up to the moment we say our nightly prayers and go to sleep we are constantly thinking of ways to help our friends, neighbors, members, companions, investigators, and so much more. Thank you for all you do, and know Im praying for each and every one of y'all out there. 

HAPPY LATE PIONEER DAY! Our ward celebrated and had a fun get together with food, music from the primary kids & some outstanding young women (we might have a small youth, but they are A.L.W.A.Y.S. willing to help and you can count on them). We also watched some clips from 17 miracles. Im thankful for the pioneers and for the sacrifice they went through because they knew there was going to be a better life for them and their family. They followed the spirit and trekked. It reminded me of when I went on trek as "Caroline Martin Garr" (one of my ancestors that crossed the plains). She was an outstanding young lady. But it was in the HEAT of summer in Texas, and it felt like we were there for a month. Despite the constant sweating, bugs, and the muddy roads, minus the fact that many got heat stroke and were put into random families with people we didn't know. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat with all those conditions and worse. The spirit I felt during our testimony meeting was strong. I know that they way I felt throughout the whole time is nothing compared to what they went though, but something I will remember for the rest of my life. Theres no explanation that can do it justice. We also had a lot of fun during it too. I also am reminded of when we traveled to Nauvoo and walked the Trail of Tears in the Freezzzinnngggg cold winter. I was bundled up in practically everything winter proof, yet I was still freezing while reading these accounts. Some of us were crying and I realized that they had none of these kinds of warm clothes that have been designed for the winter storms. They had to walk barefoot in the snow, or even get frostbite. The pioneers are my heroes.

Thought y'all would enjoy a pic or two from TREK 5 years ago...

The tests have all come back positive, yet I am still experiencing pain. Im seeing a new doctor and I think when we get to sit down and talk with him we will be getting more answers and hopefully treatment so I can be on the road to Mexico! Thank you all for your loving words, prayers, and thoughts. Im surrounded by loving friends and family. I cannot thank you all enough for your love and support, it truly means the world to me that you read my blog and hopefully enjoy it. I love you all and am sorry again for the lateness of this blog!

Con Amor,
Sophia Blankmeyer 

Happiest place on Earth...

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

         -Matthew 26:41 

The 14th was a special day, IT WAS ELIZAS BIRTHDAYYY! She is now 15.. (C.R.A.Z.Y.) but it was super fun to spend the whole day with her, because we needed her out of the house. Why you ask? We decided to get her a trampoline for her birthday to help her with gymnastics! So Mom & Erik jr helped set it up and Eliza and I went to the mall and shopped, had birthday lunch, and then we let her open her other presents and she went outside to see her trampoline! It was such a fun day. 

I went to another GI this week. She was a lot better than the first one I went to, but my parents couldn't get an appointment until now and decided more than one doctors opinion is better. Although I'm so tired of doctors appointments, I know its the only way for me to figure out whats wrong and how to treat it to get back out to the mission field. I had to get an endoscopy the morning after the doctors visit and that was a long and tiring day, but results came back and everything is fine.  

"If you are lucky enough to live by the ocean... You are lucky enough..." -Unknown 

Our family spent our weekend in California for my dad's high school reunion! (Main reason why this post is late) We landed in LAX (with my dream and my cardigan) We grabbed our rental car, (its peak tourist season y'all) and we were off! We drove to San Diego (La Jolla Shores) so we could stay at my uncles house for a bit. We ate some true mexican food, (Delicioso) and finally arrived! His house is the best because its so close to the ocean. The distance from his house to the beach is around 20 yards. AKA at night when the windows are open, you hear the ocean like surround sound because its right there AND you can even smell the sand and feel the mist. Its perfect! We stayed there for 2 days. The first day we went to walk around the shops and town. We went into a couple stores and found a place to go to lunch. We went to the beach for awhile and then THE. BEST. PLACE. EVER. 

SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA TEMPLE 

THIS IS MY HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, sorry Disneyland 

 Since I was a little girl I have dreamed of getting married in this place and today I would be able to go inside and see how gorgeous it was! It was basically a dream come true. The best part was my mom came with me AND we got to go into a spanish session!

The next morning Dad, Mom, Erik and I went to the beach to walk and take pictures of the sunrise, it was overcast (so no great pictures) but Erik and I had fun walking on the beach and getting stuck in the sand.

We then left San Diego and headed for Mission Viejo to my aunts house! It was so nice to go and see her and my uncle and to spend some time for them! We talked and played with their cats & dogs. Spending time with family is time well spent. We went to the hotel where we would be staying that was close to my dads high school reunion. 

It was so fun to have all the kids together. MANY new inside jokes came out of that hotel and the hours we spent bonding together. We got to watch some movies and wind down from our many travels. Sunday came around and we visited the La Mirada Ward and sang some of my favorite hymns, and heard some awesome speakers. One was a returned missionary of 3 weeks from MEXICO CITY WEST! He didn't speak any spanish while up there (which he probably could have and people would be able to understand) but his talk was on Finding Faith in Christ through our Weaknesses. I loved it because he talked about the mission and the fears he had there and how he was able to pray to The Father and gain strength and make his weak things strong. I have a strong testimony about Heavenly Father being with us every step of the way, its our job to pray for Him to be there and recognize when He is reaching out to us, whether it be by a friend, or in my case, better health. We saw some people my dad knew, which was pretty cool. 

We went to East L.A. It really made me homesick for Mexico. Erik had to stop and use the restroom so we went into a market place and everything was authentic and from Mexico. I asked a worker where the bathroom was and she looked surprised that a white girl like me could speak spanish! We went around an alleyway and saw some graffiti it really reminded me of mexico because its not your typical kind. Its actually talent. 

Afterwards we went to China town & Olivera Street. It was THE BEST to be in a place where everybody and everything was from Mexico. I really loved it because it was like being home. It is really hard to explain but when you live there for a while you become apart of it, you love the people, culture, food, and language more than your real home sometimes. We ate at a yummy mexican restaurant on Olivera Street and it tasted so right. We also visited a place called Philippe's a famous place and a restaurant my mom ate with her family a ton. (She even told us that it was the place where my grandpa got his car stolen...TWICE!) 

We decided to end off the right way by visiting the Pier. We did a lot of things this trip that we hadn't visited before so it was really neat. It was so cool to see the sunset on the pier. I loved it. It was breathtaking. It was fun and we took a TON of photos, (well abby and the parents did) 

Beach Volleyball anyone?

So that was this week! Oh and before I forget there we are taking pictures, some normal some not so normal, and we noticed there was a little girl staring at us like she didn't know how to blink, so naturally Abby took a picture of her...

Here are some more photos (THANKS ABBY) and I hope all is well, remember you are loved, and I am here with whatever you need. 

Con Amor California,

Sophia Blankmeyer 

Discoveries and our Destiny

"We make our own destiny...We can satisfy ourselves with mediocrity. We can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless, or we can so channel our lives to be clean, vibrant, progressive, colorful, and rich."-Spencer W. Kimball

This week I was able to go out with the hermanas. And we went to go find new people for them to teach. We went to see if the lady they had scheduled for was there but turns out she wasn't, so we continued talking to people on the street, and around where she lived. It was super hot outside so we really wanted people to teach so that we could focus on that rather than the heat. We went to help an elderly lady pay her bills through her phone. She is leaving this week for Mexico but has a strong testimony of the church. The hermanas kept telling her how amazing she is and how she needs to reach out to the missionaries in Mexico so she can continue learning. She is wonderful and super amazing. I had a love for her too just in the 20ish minutes we spent with her. I hope she arrives safely in Mexico and everything goes well.

I had a meeting with my stake president. He and I figured out what I want to do while I wait for the doctors advice. We decided I would be working in the temple, bishops storehouse, Dallas Texas mission office, and then whatever time I have left over I'll be with the hermanas teaching. I'm really excited to be working as a volunteer and continue to do service for others while I'm here. I love helping others so if anyone needs anything, I'M HERE TO SERVE YOU!

My mom and I went to the doctors on Thursday morning. I had to get an ultrasound so they could try to see if there was anything they could pick up from it, I had one done in Mexico but I don't think they actually took the photos, so we had to redo it here. After the ultrasound was completed we took the notes and went to see my doctor . When we sat in his office, I was a little confused when the doctor shut the door and asked my mom, "Do you know how big it is?" I thought he was kidding, then my mom replied saying she took a picture of the notes with the dimensions. I was so confused because I can't make anything out from a sonogram and the lady doing the ultrasound didn't tell me anything about what it was. My doctor then told me I have a tennis ball sized complex mass in my uterus.  He gave me some medicine that should help shrink it down, but he needs to check on it in a month.  So I will be here for at least another month while we wait to see if it shrinks down.

Sunday I was able to go to the Spanish Branch before my ward, and it was awesome! The talks were on the Word of Wisdom, Service and Sacrifice. I sat next to one of the Hermanas recent converts, who I had actually met before my mission when I was with Hermana Munyer and Cattich! I knew she looked familiar, but at that time she knew very little about the church, and here she is now baptized and helping in the church! I talked to some more of the people we visited before I left. I really miss Mexico and speaking in Spanish daily. I miss the humble people and the wonderful spirit I always felt there. Then I came to my ward. I was a little early and so I sat in the pew and started to read my scriptures, the ward choir was starting to practice and I continued reading. Then they started to practice the song, Praise to the Man, (which is my favorite hymn) and I figured now I know I'll be here for another month, I might as well sing in the choir and help out! I also helped with primary! I was able to play the piano for them for a little bit, and I got to interview some of the kids for an object lesson! It was super fun. I love helping out in Primary and being with the little kids. Again, if anyone needs any help I'll gladly be here for it!

Thank you all for the MANY prayers, and concerns I have received. You all are amazing and I love everyone of you! Thanks for helping me in whatever I need during this time. I feel my Saviors love when I pray and ask for help and strength. There are days were I feel okay, and others were it really is painful but you all really do inspire me and keep me moving forward with your sweet words of inspiration! I'm super excited for all the mission calls I've heard of people getting since I've been home. You are all still in my prayers, and especially those who have missionaries in the field. They will be protected and given the guidance on where to go and what to say to have the most success.

AGAIN IF ANYONE NEEDS SERVICE OR ANYTHING I'M HERE TO HELP YOU! 

Con Amor,
Sophia Blankmeyer

...OOPS

So.... I really am terrible at remembering to update my blog.... OOPS... but I really am committed to updating it more frequently before I have to turn it over to a missionary email blog (which is only in 37 days!)

 So heres an update for everything thats happened since:

OCTOBER:

-Went to the BYU vs USU football game (GO AGGIES)

-Watched General Conference at my grandparents home & had to opportunity to attend the Sunday morning session 

- Big/ Little week in KD (I got the BEST BIG EVER)

-Watched USU vs BSU football 

-Extra Credit Opportunities (wahoo...)

-Fall break in Salt Lake 

-Devotional in the Spectrum 

-FHE at my bishops house (banana splits & seeing his cows)

-MISSION CALLLLLLLLL IUHGFKJ (Veracruz, Mexico)

-Seeing my family & having my friends there was beyond special to me

-The Howl (BEST. PARTY. EVER.)

-KD new member exam 

-Halloween 

NOVEMBER:

-2nd Degree for KD

-White Rose Weekend

(Walking from the KD house to my dorm in the FREEZING cold with snow with my two sisters was actually so fun)

-HAWAII!!

-Watched the USU vs UNLV football game while in hawaii

-International Girls Day! (#youcan)

-USU vs Colorado State 

-THANKSGIVING IN TEXAS

DECEMBER:

-More extra credit (...yay...)

-FINALS WEEK

-Mom's birthday & spending it in salt lake with my parents & grandparents going through the SLC Temple

-Moved back to texas

-Sister's birthday

-Date night! (Christmas lights & gingerbread houses)

-Christmas Parties

-CHRISTMAS!!

JANUARY:

-NEW YEARS! (2014 wahoo!)

-My birthday (19?! whaaaa)

-Family Portraits 

-Babysitting the CUTEST boy in the world

Sooo thats pretty much my life all summed up right now. Just counting down the days & keeping my self busy until Mexico! I'm thankful for all my friends and family and for the opportunity to meet some AMAZING people in college and I wish everyone the best year ever! 

until next time,

xoxo --Sophie B--