Land of Desolation

Note:  This post was written Saturday, May 16, 2015
I apologize for the delay--Kristi B.


Good morning!

I am sending this a little earlier than usual since we are headed to Lansing this morning. Elder Blatter is going to the temple to see a family that he baptized go through the temple in Detroit.  I am getting to hang out with Elder Rhodes (one of the APs) in Lansing while both of our companions go to the temple. We also got our transfer calls yesterday and both me and Elder Blatter are staying for another transfer! 

It was a great week. It was a lot different than the earlier weeks in the transfer but it was still a good week. Sunday was Mothers Day and it was great to be able to Skype home and see everyone!! It seemed really short and the hour that we were allowed went really fast but it was really nice to see everyone! After I got done with my Skype call, Elder Blatter called home and I got to do all of our call-ins with our district leaders and get the APs information about all of the areas to prepare for transfer planning. 

Monday we got to teach a few lessons on Facebook and then did some door knocking. Since campus is now deserted and like a land of desolation we are having to door knock off campus now. It was really weird to door knock again since we have just been talking to people on campus for the last month and a half. But I think we are starting to get back into the swing of it. 

Tuesday, we headed to a nearby town that missionaries haven't really gone into that much. We dropped by a referral there, a few less active members, and then also door knocked some more. I don't think that many people have ever seen missionaries because they looked really confused when we showed up at their house and knocked on their door but it was a really good day. We didn't see a lot of success from that town but it was still good to work that area. 

Wednesday, we made the long trek to West Branch to go to their district meeting. It was about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive but it is always good to see some of the country side of Michigan! I wasn't feeling that great and so on the way home I let Elder Blatter drive since I wasn't too sure that it was safe for me to be driving since I was feeling sick. I ended up feeling bad both Wednesday and Thursday but I was able to get some medicine and was still able to go out and work.  We just made sure that we kind of kept it light on those days. 

Thursday, we tried to find more less actives and see if they still live at the addresses that we have for them and also got to teach Ted (our only current investigator that is still in town and that we don't teach on Facebook.) and we had a good lesson about how we can allow our faith to grow. He tends to go off on tangents quite a bit but it was a good lesson! 

Yesterday morning we had transfer calls and after we got our calls we had to call the other areas in our zone that were staying. We then spent the rest of the day driving to pick up some stuff for a baptism that Ithaca is having Sunday and then taking it to them, doing some service for some members in the ward, and door knocking some more before we taught another lesson on Facebook. Today we are headed to Lansing and I get to hang out with Elder Rhodes all day so that will be fun.

There are quite a bit of changes in the zone this transfer but I am excited to see all of the great things that happen this transfer!! Thanks for all of the support and prayers!!

Elder Bloskas

Middle of the Mitten

Greetings from rainy Mt. Pleasant!! It was an interesting week this past week but it was a good week over all! School ended for CMU this week and so now we are going to have to do more work in the town and wont be on campus as much as we usually are. So we are having to shift gears a bit.

Sunday, we had a great Fast and Testimonies meeting. The ward here is so great and we had a few investigators come! We also finished a few videos for the assistants to use in the zone conferences this week and did our normal call-ins. 

Monday, We got to teach several of the people that we have been working with before they leave to go home. We had several great lessons and we are going to continue to teach them via Facebook over the summer. 

Tuesday, I was in Ithica on trade-offs. Me and Elder Carter got to play some racquetball at a small university in Alma (where their apartment is) before having studies and going out for the day. We taught several less actives that they have been working with and a few of them were in St. Louis, MI which is the middle of the mitten!! So I snapped a few photos while I was there! Tuesday night we got to see Shane one last time before he went home for the summer and finished our lesson by playing some basketball on the courts outside his dorm. 

Wednesday, we finished up meeting with the people that we have been meeting with one last time before they went home for the summer. We also got some last minute things worked out before zone conference on Thursday. 

Thursday, we had zone conference all day. Elder Blatter and I had to teach about how to prepare a baptism service and make sure that it flows as smoothly as possible. We also got instructed by President and Sister Jacobsen and the Assistants. There was a guy from SLC that came from the mission department and they installed these driving monitor things on our cars. They track when we are speeding, not wearing our seatbelt, or driving recklessly and reports it to the mission office. Many missionaries were upset about it but I wasn't that worried since I don't feel like I am a terrible driver. It hasn't gone off yet ;) so I think I am doing good! 

Yesterday was a rough day. Elder Blatter has been struggling with some health issues and so that was hard yesterday. But we got to eat lunch with Brother Banner (he drove up to take us to lunch) did some door knocking, and then went to an awesome baptism in Ithica!! It was an amazing baptism and the guy who was baptized has been waiting for months because of health issues to get baptized! The spirit was so strong!! 

Today, we played basketball and we were going to go golfing later today but it is raining so I am not sure what we will do the rest of the day! But tomorrow is Mothers Day and I get to Skype home!!

It should be a great week this next week! Friday we get our transfer calls! I know I am not going anywhere but I will let you know next week if Elder Blatter is still here!! Have a great week!!

Elder Bloskas

Future Movie Stars

Happy Saturday!!

It has been a crazy and busy week here in the Midland zone. I feel like me and Elder Blatter have been going constantly but it has been a great week!! The end of the semester is starting to wrap up but we have one more week of students in town before the town becomes desolate. 

Sunday was a great day of church. We had a regional stake conference broadcast that was broadcasted from SLC. There were several speakers.  Elder Kacher of the 70, Sister Reeves from the Relief Society, and Elder Neil L. Andersen and Elder Robert D. Hales both of the quorum of the 12 spoke to us. It was an amazing broadcast and I felt like there was so much that I was able to get out of it. We also did our usual call-ins for the rest of the day where we talked to all of the district leaders and the Assistants about our zone. 

Monday we got to teach several of our lessons and tried to meet with all of our people before we headed to Bay City for the rest of the week.

Tuesday-Thursday we were in Bay City. Tuesday I was with Elder Peterson (who was my zone leader in Grand Rapids and now I am his zone leader) and Elder Anderson (I was his district leader in Grand Rapids) and it was a lot of fun to be able to spend time teaching with them. We taught a few lessons and got to door knock. 

Wednesday we went to Bay City's district meeting and then I was with Elder Anderson and Elder Dorough (who is being trained right now and has only been out for about a month) and we got to teach a few lessons during the afternoon and then they asked me to teach the Bible study that they have at the church in Bay City (since they forgot to prepare for it). I got to teach about Matthew 8-10 and it was a really good study! 

Wednesday night we got a call that Elder Peterson was being emergency transferred to Greenville (which is close to Grand Rapids) and that they were putting another set of sister missionaries in Bay City. So Elder Peterson packed his bags, we drove to Mt. Pleasant to spend the night, and then we had to be in Lansing by 8am to drop him off. Needless to say it was a long and tiring couple of days. 

Thursday after we drove back we went and gave a baptismal interview, and taught 2 lessons on Facebook. Yesterday, we got a call before we went out for the day saying that the new Bay City sisters had been in a car accident the night before (within 2 hours of them being in their new area) and there might be another sister being transferred there in a few weeks if one of the sisters lost her driving privileges. We also taught a few lessons, talked to people on campus, and worked on some stuff for the zone. Today we played basketball, got haircuts, and working on some videos for the zone. We have a lesson tonight with that guy that is in Sigma Chi and then we are spending the rest of the day working on training videos for the zone. 

This should be a great week. We have a lot of people that we are meeting with and we have a zone training on Thursday. They are going to show 2 of our videos to the whole mission during the zone trainings and so we had to shoot a special one this morning for them to use. I am excited for another great week and feel so blessed to be able to doing the Lords work!!

Elder Bloskas

P.S. Here is me thuggin it up near the railroad tracks where we were shooting a video. 

DC Dog Challenge

Happy Saturday!! 

It was another great week here in Mt. Pleasant and I am still loving CMU! I think that I am getting used to being on campus and being so busy with the added responsibilities of being a zone leader and with everything else. We saw a lot of really great things happen this week including teaching 17 lessons (with 2 more tonight) and I am excited for the coming weeks to see how the Lord continues to work in my life.

Sunday was a great day at church. The talks that were given were focused towards conversion and how we can continue to grow in our spiritual lives. We also shot a new video for our zone Facebook page. We have posted several trainings and tips to the other missionaries in the mission and we have posted them in a closed group for the missionaries here. It is just another amazing tool that we have been able to use. 

Sunday night we spent several hours doing our regular call in reports and talking with all of the district leaders and the assistants on how all of the missionaries are doing. Monday, we got to teach several lessons including one to a girl and her roommate that we met on campus. They weren't super open but were pretty nice to us and asked great questions. 

Monday night the assistants were in town to trade-off with us and they came into town to see Elder Blatter attempt the DC Dog Challenge. It was 3 foot-long hot dogs, several onion rings, a bed of fries (probably like 5 pounds of fires), and a 20oz drink in 25 mins. He started out strong and had the dogs down in less than 5 minutes but the fries were too much for him. He is planning on attempting it again in the near future. 

Tuesday, I was with Elder Norton, one of the assistants. He was my district leader whenever I was in Holt and now he was just called to be an assistant. We taught several lessons including a lesson with an older guy named Ted. He has a friend that is a member of our ward and has been wanting to learn more for a while. 

Wednesday, we went to Midland for their district meeting and then headed up north a little bit to West Branch for tradeoffs. So I got to spend Wednesday in West Branch with Elder Isaacson and we got to teach several lessons and do some door knocking. 

Thursday we got to talk to people on campus and also teach several more lessons. We got to teach Shane several times earlier in the week and Thursday he said that he wanted to be taught everything as soon as possible so that he could be baptized and so we have been meeting with him everyday this week and will hopefully see him baptized next week!! 

Yesterday, we had several lessons fall through and so we got to spend quite a bit of time walking around campus talking to people. We met awesome people, including a few that will be here over the summer and we will be able to meet with them once the semester ends in a few weeks. I also got to meet a guy that was pledging Sigma Chi (the fraternity that I was in at ENMU) and told him that I was a member back home. He was really excited to talk to me and later that evening one of the members of the fraternity invited me to the initiation today but unfortunately as missionaries we aren't able to do that... Lol  but I am hoping that I will be able to use my connection to hopefully start to teach a few of the guys here. 

This morning we got to play basketball, and today we are planning on going bowling again with several of the YSAs here. It should be a great day and a great week. We will not be in Mt. Pleasant almost all week since we will be in Bay City Monday night-Thursday on a blitz there working with the Elders there. But I am excited for this next week and all of the exciting things that are happening!! I love campus so much and I am really enjoying CMU/Mt.Pleasant!!

Thanks for all of the continued prayers, support, and love! I am thankful for all that you do!!

Elder Bloskas

P.S. Here is Elder Blatter attempting the DC Dog Challenge! And a picture mentioned in last weeks blog that did not get included.    

Fire Up Chips

Well it has been another wonderful week in Michigan! I am loving Mt. Pleasant and serving on a college campus! CMU is so great and I have loved it so much. This week has FLOWN by and I feel like so much has happened this week!

I have really enjoyed having my p-day on Saturday! Last Saturday was probably one of the most relaxing p-days that I think I have had on my mission. We got to go do a "service project" with a bunch of the YSAs (young single adults) at a nature preserve. It was really relaxing because we pretty much just hiked on a trail and moved any limbs or branches that were on the trail.  We made sure that there was nothing that we needed to move to clear up the trail! I will include pictures. One of them is me in a tree stand that was on one of the trails that overlooked a small lake! We also finished our p-day by eating at Olive Garden so it was an overall good day. 

Sunday, we went to church and then worked on some zone stuff, including talking to all of the district leaders about the members of their district and then reporting to the assistants on how our zone was doing. 

Monday, we had several lessons with people we have been meeting with, including Calie, who has been meeting with missionaries for a while. She is pretty much a Mormon she just is waiting to be baptized. She wants to be baptized on her birthday and so we have just been reading with her from the Book of Mormon and answering all of her questions as she reads. We also prepared for MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) on Tuesday. 

Tuesday, we drove to Lansing for MLC and were there all day talking about things in the mission and talking about how we can best help all of the missionaries and what we need to focus our trainings on this transfer. Tuesday night we played General Conference Jeopardy with the YSAs and me and Elder Blatter killed them in it! 

Wednesday, we went to Caro's district meeting and then we had trade-offs with them. I got to be with Elder Schetselaar, who was in my district in the MTC! It was a lot of fun! I got to see a rabbit that is house trained! I kid you not. He uses a litter-box and just roams around the house. He was some type of rabbit that looked like a lion. We also got to spend a lot of time door knocking and teaching a few lessons. I also got to show Elder Schetselaar how to teach a lesson on Facebook! 

Thursday, we met with several people that we are working with including Shane. Shane is the super solid guy that I mentioned last week. He has had a rough week but he is really relying on the gospel to help him. I can't wait to see all of the great things that he does! Thursday night we did a presentation for the stake presidency and all of the ward mission leaders in the stake on how we, as missionaries, are using Facebook to teach and communicate with investigators. 

Friday, we were on trade-offs with Midland. I got to be with Elder Carper here at CMU. We got to teach a few lessons but mainly walked around campus and talked to people. We were really successful and talked to several people that were interested in learning more! 

This morning we played Ultimate Frisbee with some people in the ward (my team beat Elder Blatter's team but it was a close game) and shopped. This afternoon we are going to go to the campus bookstore, go bowling with one of our investigators, and just relax. We have another busy week planned this week and will be on a few more trade-offs! This zone leader business sure is keeping me busy but I love it! I love serving on CMU campus so much and have gotten to meet so many awesome people!!

Well I hope that you all have a great week!! 

Elder Bloskas

#FireUpChips #CMU

#ZoneLeaderLife

Well it seemed like a short week since my P-Days are now on Saturday because that is a less productive time to do missionary work on a college campus. But I feel like I have been going nonstop for the past several days. Needless to day, being a zone leader is not what I expected, I am constantly doing something and half of the time I am on the road! But I love it and I love being on campus and serving with college students!

We had a great week here in Mt. Pleasant. Monday night we did a lot of things that we needed to do for the zone including figuring out our calendar for the transfer and figuring out when we will do trade-offs with the district leaders and which district meetings we are going to be visiting.

Tuesday, we hit the ground running with several appointments with students that have been meeting with missionaries for a while. We did teach a new guy named Shane and we had an awesome lesson with him. I was really able to relate to him and he is a SOLID guy that I know is loving the things we are teaching him. We also did a lot of work on Facebook and worked on a few presentations/trainings that we have to do this next week. Elder Blatter is like the Facebook expert of the mission and since I took several classes in college about effectively using social media we are doing several trainings on how missionaries can use it more effectively! We have been working hard on it and I am excited for this next week to be able to give the trainings. 

Wednesday, we had more meetings and planning, we also taught 3 more lessons. Since college students are more flexible we are able to teach them several times a week and so it has been great being able to teach several of them a few times this week and really get to know them better. We also found out Wednesday morning that one of the missionaries in Bay City that was going to train a new missionary wasn't going to anymore because the missionary who was going to come was waiting on his visa and he ended up getting it. So instead of 2 missionaries training only one of them was and then the other was going to be in a trio with them this transfer. Since there is a lot of great work being done there we decided that we would go and help them Friday so that they would get a jump start to the transfer. 

Thursday, I felt like all we did was drive and since it was my day to drive I did most of the driving. We started out by driving to Caro (which is in the thumb of the Michigan mitten) doing a baptismal interview for an 11 year old who is being baptized today. Then we drove to Saginaw to give another baptismal interview for an older lady that is also being baptized today. We drove back to Mt. Pleasant and were able to teach Shane again. It was an awesome lesson. He has really been receiving a lot of persecution from friends and family members and it was really hard for him. I shared my experience of some of the reactions that a few of my friends had when I joined the church and then we read out of the Book of Mormon with him. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson and I think it really helped him! We taught 2 more lessons on Thursday, grabbed dinner and then drove to Bay City to do a blitz in their area (a blitz is where both me and Elder Blatter work in the area with the missionaries instead of a trade-off is when one of the missionaries comes with up back to our area at CMU) It was a lot of fun seeing those missionaries (one of the missionaries was in my district back in Grand Rapids 2 transfers ago, the other one had been my zone leader for the past 3 transfers, and then we got to meet the new missionaries.) So we drove close to 30 miles on Thursday including teaching several lessons. 

Friday, we spent the whole day in Bay City with the missionaries there since they now are going to be working both areas with the 3 of them.  We dropped by several of the people that they were working with to set up appointments and to help them kind of weed out those that aren't as interested in learning (since the sister missionaries were in the area and now they put elders there) 

This morning we got to play basketball and we are giving a church tour to Shane, going to a service project with several of the CMU students that go to our church, and then just hanging out the rest of our p-day! I am excited for this week and for all of the great things that are happening in Mt. Pleasant!!! I love being on campus and Mt. Pleasant so much!! I think that is it for the week!! I am sure I will have another crazy week and will be able to update you!!

Thanks for all of the support and prayers! I hope y'all have a great week!!

Elder Bloskas

Greetings from Mt Pleasant!

Well it has been a crazy and stressful last few days. I have been transferred to Mount Pleasant to be a Zone Leader for the Midland zone here in the mission and will be serving on the campus of Central Michigan University!! I had no clue that I was going to be getting transferred and the last few days have been crazy with trying to pack and say good bye to all of the people in Grand Rapids. I didn't want to leave Grand Rapids since I loved it so much but I am excited to be serving as a zone leader and to be on CMU campus! My companion is Elder Blatter, from Northern California. I don't have a lot of time to email today but I will give you an update on my week and try not to forget anything important:

Tuesday we had lunch at Olive Garden with Brother and Sister Banner and then went to several lessons. We have several awesome people that we have been working with and I am excited to hear about how they do with the new missionaries. 

Wednesday, I taught my last district meeting and then we had district lunch. I am going to include a picture of my district. It was an honor serving with and being the district leader for so many awesome missionaries! After district meeting we taught several other lessons including one to Jerry, who we have been struggling to meet with! We got to talk to lots of people downtown and met a lot of awesome people. Wednesday night, me and Elder Schultz got to teach the priest (16-18 year olds) in the ward about how to effectively prepare for their missions and then we got to go eat pizza with them afterwards. 

Thursday is when the madness of busyness began.. We taught back to back lessons all day until the evening. In the evening we were going to have dinner around 8 but we found out that a little girl that we had given a blessing to a few months ago was back in the hospital. We went and saw her in the hospital and even got to play a few games with her before heading back to the apartment. On the way back to the apartment we stopped by Subway to finally eat (it was about 9:30 by this point) and while we were ordering President Jacobsen called to give us our Transfer Calls a night early. So me and Elder Dunn were passing the phone back and forth while one of us was talking to President and then once he wanted to talk to the other one of us the other one would talk while one of us ordered. It was chaos... But the people there were patient with us and we were able to get our food. 

Friday we had to do a little bit of packing and cleaning and then headed to Rockford where we dropped of a Bible to a lady, ate lunch, helped the Grand Rapids Zone Leaders get a couch out of an apartment, and then headed back to Grand Rapids for several lessons. We taught lessons all day, had dinner with the other missionaries serving in Grand Rapids, and then had another lesson Friday night. 

Saturday we had a little bit of time to pack and clean before having a lesson, General Conference, another lesson, and then the second session of General Conference and then the Priesthood Session of GC. 

Yesterday we spent watching General Conference, visiting members and saying good bye, and had Easter dinner before finishing up packing and cleaning... This morning we had breakfast with Brother Banner (I am including a photo) and then I got on the transfer van at 10am, drove to Lansing and picked up other missionaries and arrived here in Mt. Pleasant around 2. We had to drive a set of missionaries to their apartment and are just now getting to email and shop. 

It has been super crazy busy but I guess I should get used to this since I will be super busy as a zone leader. I have 6 districts in my zone and we will be doing trade-offs with several of the areas. I am super excited for this latest adventure and I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me!! My new mailing address is:

Elder Cale Bloskas

1612 Flynn Ln. Apt. D

Mount Pleasant, MI 48858

Thanks for all of the love and support!! I will continue to keep you updated on my crazy missionary adventures! Have a great week!!

Elder Bloskas

P.S. Since I am on a college campus now and the weekends are less productive my P-days are now going to be on Saturdays! So expect to see emails from me on Saturdays while I am in this new area!!