Blacker, Dekan

     I think I've finally cooled off of my extreme spiritual high, but that's ok, even expected. Really the only reason I say that is because my motivation to do the work fell off a cliff for a couple of days. Thankfully, my companion was there to tell me, "Dude, you've been in bed for way too long, let's go," and we did and the rest of the day went really really well. Even though the spiritual high has rescinded I'm still doing really well mentally and at least at the moment depression and anxiety hasn't been an issue.        Somebody told me one time that the biggest thing they learned on their mission is that motivation is not something that you can lean on, even a little bit, and that what it's really all about is discipline. Discipline is something I would say that I've never really been that good at, but I'm also getting better. There was that one day that my companion had to give me a bit of motivation, but outside of that I've d...

      Sorry, this email is for the previous week. I'll send another one for the most recent week.       This week has been great and it's gone by so fast. I'm still doing fantastic and I've been excited to be doing the work.        I don't exactly know what to say so I'd like to tell you guys a little bit about who I'm teaching. Saige got baptized this week, which was exciting and now we have a lot of people who at least to me seem to be ready for baptism but for one reason or another won't commit to baptism right now. It's not like my opinion should just be discounted either, I've been a part of quite a few baptismal interviews and have seen the people we're teaching grow beyond the level of some of the people that did get baptized. Ultimately though it's not actually my opinion that matters. Only their opinion and how they feel should really be considered and I know that, but still.        Jeff is doing fantastic. H...

     This was a fantastic week for me, I'm riding this spiritual high from the temple and things are going great. How could they not? I got In-N-Out and bought another stuffed duck along with an Oregon Ducks shirt.       I'm also realizing just how much personal revelation that I've been getting through this. Looking back, wow, I can't believe how cool it is that Christ whispered to be through the Holy Ghost that I bring him more joy than the pain he took upon himself for me and I now realize how that's possible. During gospel scholarship they were talking to us and they said something fascinating. They told us that if we desire more joy our Heavenly Father will help us get it, but that we have to understand that in order to have the capacity to feel more joy we're going to have to experience pain and suffering (John 15). Wow. I'd never considered that because Christ experienced more pain than I can comprehend in the Garden of Gethsemane that he can now exp...

      If you haven't read the first email I sent out this week, I recommend you read that first. Anyways, I did attend the temple and I did take the question of if I need to go home or not and this is how the temple trip went.       So, if you're not familiar with the temple, the way it works is: you go through this 80ish minute session which at the end of it you're brought to the Celestial Room. The Celestial Room is awesome because it's where the Spirit of the Lord resides. The Celestial Room is the best place to receive personal revelation, at least for me, and it's why I decided to bring this question to the temple because I knew that whatever I was feeling in that room would be what God wanted for me. I didn't even make it to the Celestial Room, I didn't even make it to the session, in fact. Before the session, there's a waiting room that's similar to a chapel. There's a big picture of Christ, there's some soft hymns in the background, t...

     I learned a lot this week about mental health, which I'll share with you guys, but I also keep hitting new lows and it's worrisome for me. Going home has been on my mind quite frequently because while I wouldn't say I want to come home, my depression has gotten to the point that I'm wondering if that's what would be best for me. I'm going to the temple on Tuesday and I'm taking that question with me and honestly I wouldn't be surprised with either answer. The only thing that would be surprising is if I didn't get an answer because I know the power that comes with making and keeping covenants and I know that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father don't want to leave us in darkness.        We had success this week doing the work. We found 4 new people to teach, we had 4 of our friends come to church, and we put somebody, Saige, on date to be baptized for November 12th. Saige is an 11 year old girl who's rather shy, though she's gotten mo...