Oct. 12, 2015

Hi Fam,

This Week has had its ups and downs. Monday was good… I got a haircut from a member in our Ward - she works at a beauty salon. Honestly Mom I like your haircuts better. Also I had to go on exchanges with Elder Denny. He is in the other companionship in our ward. His companion, Elder Weller, wrecked on his bike and hurt his hand so he couldn't bike. Elder Weller went with Elder Sevilla in our area. It was cool to learn from another Elder and see how he was able to talk to people. Anyways…in the past week the other Elders have wrecked four times. I'm just glad I haven't had an accident. On Tuesday we went tracking and met a couple people. One was a family from Iraq and what was interesting was that even though they were Muslim they were pretty interested in Christianity. Also we had a lesson with one of our investigators S. It was good - I just hope she will keep the commitments she made. Wednesday’s are rough because we don't have time to find people because we have service midday and then our meetings with the ward mission leader that evening. Thursday was good - we had zone meeting, which was helpful learning different ways to be more effective. We also meet a man from India. He owns a small online company from his home and he actually wanted to give us job interviews - it was pretty funny. Friday was a little disappointing. We had been trying to get in contact with her but we couldn't until we finally dropped by her house. When she opened the door we talked to her for a minute and then she said she wanted to give the Book of Mormon we gave her back. We said she could keep it but she said she wasn't going to read it. It was a disappointing experience but we knew Lord was with us, because as we left the apartment we met a young man named S who was pretty interested and from what he told us about himself he really needed the gospel. I think Heavenly Father gives us those experiences to help lift us up and give us that hope because there are so many people out there that need the gospel we just have to find them. Saturday was fun because I was on exchanges. It ended up that I was on exchanges with another new missionary Elder Metcalfe. He had a back injury that stimulated a joint disorder, so he struggles going up stairs and his joints hurt in the cold, but his desire is definitely there and he pushes himself. I also got to drive which was a little weird because it’s been over a month without driving. Sunday we taught a man from Nepal - it’s difficult because he speak barely any English. Anyways the work is moving on and it is great. This week I have been ponderizing a scripture in 2 Ne 4:19 "And when I desire to rejoice my heart groaneth because of my sins nevertheless I know in whom I have trusted" I love this scripture because I trust my Savior and because of his Atonement I can let go of my mistakes through faith and repentance. It truly is the Miracle of the Atonement.

 

So the food situation is tricky right now because the ward made a real push to schedule meals for us and so we actually have a bunch of meals scheduled now but, the problem is they are with the other companionship in our ward, which isn't allowed by mission president mainly because he doesn't want the sets of Elders to talk to each other instead of the members. The thing is the stake president says its fine for the members to have meals with more than one set of missionaries. So we don't really know how it’s going to work out. But some of the members do drop by with some groceries which are fine. There is a member in the neighbor ward that collects food from food banks that the food banks were going to throw out and gives the food to all the missionaries from the stake. That's why we have a lot of canned food and our Cupboards are full with food.

 

Oct. 19, 2015

Hi Fam,

Monday- So I sent my shoes to a cobbler in our area and it only cost 10 dollars to fix them. We cleaned up our apartment, but for some reason it always gets messy in the middle of the week. We also taught a lesson today with the L’s. Sister L is a less active member but is trying to get back to church. Her daughter is 14 and wants to be baptized which is great so we've been teaching her daughter the discussions. This lesson we wanted to emphasize the importance of reading the Book of Mormon so we read 3 Nephi Chapter 11. I could feel the spirit very strongly as we read but it was difficult helping them recognize the spirit.

 

Tuesday- Today was my first Zone Conference It was a great experience and the theme of it was “character.” I have been working on changing my own character myself. Lately I have been working on Charity. As I am working on it I can see how important it is as a missionary to not worry about myself but worrying about others. It was also great to hear the departing missionaries’ testimonies. The interesting thing was there was a difference between the missionaries that had really worked hard during their missions and didn't want to leave their mission and some of the missionaries that were more disobedient who said that their mission was a great experience. One of our AP's loved his mission so much he had convinced himself he wasn't going home at the end of this transfer. It made me realize how much opportunity I have in front of me and made me have an even stronger desire to work harder.

 

Wednesday- We were very busy today. We found two new investigators, and we taught two part member families. For one of the part member families we taught from the “Family a Proclamation.” It was a great lesson and was great to see that this family really agreed with the principles.

 

Thursday- Elder Sevilla was dying to eat at a Pho? Restaurant so we ate there for lunch. We ate dinner at a member’s home. It was interesting because we found out they were both blind. But they are very faithful and have really great conversion stories.

 

Sunday- After church we had a lesson scheduled with a new investigator S. It was a really good lesson and she is interested in finding out for herself the truth. The only problem is that she doesn't understand the Book of Mormon.

 

I hope y’all are doing great. I just want to leave my testimony that missionary work is so great. I learned that even if people we talk to aren't very receptive our message sticks in their mind. We talked to a man we had seen a couple weeks ago and he said he had been thinking about us lately. I think that is so cool.

 

My Ponderize Scripture this week was Moroni Chapter 7:45  “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Blackham