Blake's Letter September 26th 2013. The spiritual growth is amazing in such a short time!

that sucks that the clouds have already started to come in. it is till sunny and beautiful here. I can't lie though I am missing the fall weather. yeah I think you forget that everyone still plays sports so I don't think much is going to happen to the house. haha kinda how it's always been huh.

 

yeah the MTC Pres take picks all the time.  hopefully I can send some of mine. I have a ton of them from the Madrid stadium that Cole would love. yeah my clothes are wearing good. I did have to sew up one of my shirt pocket because we were playing some stupid game before bed and it got ripped. the Danskos of so comfy I am actually wearing them right now and they don't hurt at all anymore. i love everything that I brought with me.

 

finally the tigers won something. and the Seahawks better go to the super bowl this year. it sounds like they are headed that way. everyone here misses sports the most. we are always talking about it. it seems to be the topic of choice. that and girls. we all have the worst missionary goggles. every girl we see we think is cute. till w e get a better look.

 

I am glad that Kenzie is doing good. sounds like she is shining out there and trying to make herself known for varsity. hopefully everyone else is good in sports. I know that it has been a year but my ankle still is messed up every time I run it kills me. and it is still swollen a little. oh well everyone here has some sports injury to show off.

 

yeah we are doing are fake investigator lessons all the time. and are learning slowly how to teach with the spirit. it is amazing how the simplest things bring in the strongest spirit. I can't lie it is probably the hardest thing to do especially when you are trying to do it in another language. I am having a pretty tuff time but it's worth it. in my scripture study this week I found the best scripture. I think it might be my new favorite. Galatians 2:20 it is he best scripture I think for a missionary. it is so crazy how much I have learned in such a short time as far as the gospel. the Spanish is coming just very slowly. but I think my testimony was strapped to a rocket or something because it just grow like crazy.

 

 

I haven't gotten a package yet but some of the guys said that there packages took like 10 days so I am hoping tomorrow or Monday. I will let you know if I got it. I think today we have a free p day with no field trips.  there is a dominos and I think we are all going to go for pizza. we all miss nasty greasy food. speaking of food guess how much I weigh right now. 194! the MTC food has not been kind to me. potatoes and more potatoes. guess I have to cut back. i need to go get my hair cut and then get some stamps. oh yeah I sent a letter to Cole so hopefully he gets it

 

I will try and send some pics tonight.

 

 

love Blake

Pictures of Blake sent to us by MTC President Sitterud

 

Here is Blake doing mock investigator scenarios preparing to go to the park in Madrid.

 

        This one is showing Blake singing in the park with the other missionaries.                                     "YES SINGING"

If you look close he is the first Elder there on the end.

 



September 19, 2013 MTC

 

 hey Mom and Dad

 

so my tipical day is so freaking long. wake up at 6 30. then breakfeast. after breakfeast we have personal study, but on tuesdays we have a devotional. then grammer class. after that i teacch a progressing investigator lesson then gosple study. aftetr that more grammer and then luch which is the big meal here in spain. after lunch i teach another fake investigator and then more gospel study. after that i have mor language study. then i get to go play soccer for an hour then shower and eat dinner at 6 30. after dinner i teach again and then have lnguage study agin. one feakin long day. lights are suppose to be off ant 10 30 but it never is befor 11.

 

i got a new companion. they seithced things up with all the knew guys that showed up. wndsday is laudry day for me. thursday is  p day and temple day. thursday is park day. last saturday i had no success in the park. last saturday early in the morning i got to hear elder ballard speak.saturday early in the morning i got to shake his hand. i guess he was here to train people and then fly to rome to organize a new stake. i met my mission pres to because he was here for that.  we all took pictures with him and his wife. i don´t know but it might be on the blog.  elder ballard pretty much told us to have a desire to sever and be the best missionarys the church has had becouse things are going to get worse in the world. he also told us that we will probably be called to do things most missionarys don´t do till they are towrads the end of there mission because of the growing number of missionarys. he says that we are still at the beginging of it. apperently my mission will be at the max missionary number befor june next year. after are temple session today we got to tour the temple. the madrid temple is so beuatiful.

 

in the park we just make contacts and get refearals. this week i had lamb rivbs for lucnh. freaking bomb.there are definitly people here you just want to deck but you have to hold it in. we have everyone here from hick to rich.  earlier this week we but like 4 alarm clocks in this groups room for like half hour incraments. everyone in the room thought it was funny except one. i guess he told on us.  no one likes him now cause the whole group was in on it. 

 

don´t tell cole but the soccer is making me sore. sometimes we get to play with the neighborhhod kis. they are freaking boss.  its crazy that i am about halfway done at the mtc.

 

 

lvoe blake

 

 

Second letter of the day

 

thanks mom and dad. i rushed back to the mtc to get my second email session today.  \i will get some stamps eventually to wright cole and bria mack.  i might be able to buy some of the mtc presidency it sounds like.  we were able to go to the real madrid stadium and take a tour today.  it is so freaking awesome. i took tons of pictures but i don't think i can send them till the end of my stay here. don't worry i will.  i will send this pamplete in the letter with coles so he can see what i did. i saw the evolution of soccder cleats and balls and jersys. the stadium is so freaking big. we got to sit in the players box and in the locker room wich is crazy. thank you for sending the bag. i know it won't be cheap.  I love you mom and dad. we had to get on a metro train which is an underground train. all by ourselves to get back and write emails  there was an elder that started dry heaving so the teachers had to stay back with him. that was an adventure. lucky for me i can barly read spanish so i knew when to switch metros.  my spanish is still no bueno but it's coming along. i can say basic prayers and stuff. the lessons we teach are a big struggle still. they say that by the end we will be able to do alright but we won't be able to actually really speak for another 4 months. they say that we will then be able to say almost anything we want without even thinking. wish i could do that now.

 

love blake

2nd Letter September 12, 2013

hey

 the food hear isn´t bad but the teachers say the food in the field is better. we only have like 40 to 50 missionarys here right now but i guess the last group they had was like 100 they said. and it´s not a very big place.the temple isn´t huge and yes the templle is freaking awesome inside.  i have been able to go 2 times now.  every saturday we go to the park to make contacts and i was able to place a book of mormon and get the guys refferal info.  lucky for me he knew how to speak english. soryy if my email sucks, these computers are messed up. doing laundry sucks here. it´s kinda weird being here. it´s still kinda unreal. today we did get to go out into the heart of madrid because it was p day.  there are so many shops.  the archutecture is crazy. there is a bunch of french missionarys here and they are freakin awesome. I can.t believe that i have been here for a week. i am so tired all the time. i wish there was just one day i could sleep in till like 9. it took me about 4 days to adjust to the time difference. everyone was falling asleep in class and in devotionals. i just had dinner so its really weird for me to think that its like 10 or 11 in the morning there. hope everyone is doing good. love and miss you all.  how is bria

 

love 

 

elder billingsley

 

 

ps  they only give us like a half hour to write

1st P-Day Letter September 12, 2013: Looks like it will take some time for him to get used to the Spanish keyboard.

hey dad

 

sorry if my writing sucks but the computers here are messed up. i finally adjusted th the time difference after about 4 or 5 days. all those meeting s we had i fell asleep in every single one. the temple here is buetiful. i just got back form it this morning and i really needed it because i was draging the last 2 days.  if you guys ever make it over here you have to go. it´s awesome to wake up and go to bed seeing the temple. well the food here isn´t horribble but it is till mtc food. it´s all traditional spanish food but the teachers say we will eat much better food out in the field. <i can´t wait. 

 

that stinker stealing my bed. he had already started laying down in it before i left.  hoopefully he learns some spanish. that way i can write him back the very little espannol i know. i can say the most basic prayer in spanish and say short phrases. it´s a good thing my companion took 6 years of it groning up.  otherwise id be lost.  his name is elder ward or elder barrio as we like to call him.  he was a convert to the church at 13. and like most of the missionarys here he is form utah. ther are only4 of us that arent, we just got 10 eldcers and a sisster show up from provo. they just got their visaas

 

oh yea i forgot i have been eating tons of potatos.  are first saturday here we went to this park to do are thing. and i could not understand a single pearson.  lucky for me the companion the paired me up with for that could speak. we get anew compainoin every time we do that. however i was able to find a guy that spoke english. i was able to give him a book of mormon and get his contact info to refferal him to the elders in the area.  it was the biggest growing experianc ever.

 

there is so much to say but they only give us like a half hour at a time and i get another half hour tonight. although it will still be morning there. honestly though my smanish suck right now and we are doing those mock investigagors. oh boy they are freaking hard.  i miss and love everyone. im so glad that cole said he wants to go on a mission. so far it has been a trip. <i feel like we are in prson most of the time here, but the little of spain i have seen is buetiful. madrid is awsome.

 

the previous mtc president told us that we were here to suffer not to convert. he was a pretty good speaker. he goes, you gus arent that good at teaching. you are not here to teach the gosple you are here to learn about it. you guys better keep reaking it,s muy importante. and no i am still trying to fingish my reading up. that plane ride sucked. i miss and love all you. guys.

oh yeah laudry sucks with all thesed missiarys

 

 

love

 

elder billingslñey

 

He made it September 4th, 2013 Madrid Spain MTC

Hey mom and dad,

 

I don´t think I have slept at all since I left. pretty much all I can say about the flights was that the food sucked. The first flight was not to bad, but I had to sit in atlanta for like two hours by myself and then a couple of elders showed up from dallas and san diego. they are the only two out of all 22 of us that arent from utah. I have been up for ever it feels like and have som crazy jet lag.  they are telling us not to sleep at all till 10 30 or 11 tonight so i pretty much havent slept for two days. 

 

I don´t understand most of what everyone is saying and no one can pronounce my name. I think i have herd about 100 different ways to say it.  anyways I love you guys. oh and I get to go to the temple at 7 30 tomorrow morning. can´t wait

 

love

blake




Family picture after being set apart as a full time missionary.

Last hugs and good-byes from the brother and sisters.