July 8, 2012

Hi, this is Elder Blackham's mom.  Sometimes Elder Blackham is responding to a question that I have asked him and his writing may be confusing if you don't know the original comment or statement.  So, in an effort to make this site more understandable, anything in Bold/Italics is me explaining the comment or question to which Elder Blackham is responding.  Sometimes I will also add a clarification for abbreviations he makes that might not be understood.  We hope this blog will help you keep updated on the happenings in his mission and life. 

(This is Eric's response to the news that our Bishop is moving to South Carolina and won't be here when he gets home from his mission)
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!! that really is sad news =\... does he have a job oppening or something? that stinks! Do you think that you could retrieve his address for me? I really need to write him a letter! I've got two from him, they just came last week. By the time I get them out he will have moved though, so maybe it's good that I haven't sent them yet.Bishop was a tender mercy, as was Brother Hassel. I think that because of your faith, the Lord gave us  strong priesthood leaders like Bishop and Brother Hassel, and Poppie.  Wow, we've really been blessed by Bishop McClaws' presence in our ward!  I really love that man.

(This is Eric's response to my questions about the pictures he sent of his apartment)
That was the normal color of the sink.  It's just a "sink" cut out of concrete, but it works :) haha, I'm glad your happy it looks clean - it takes a lot of effort to keep things clean, but it makes it more possible for the spirit to be apart of what we do if everything is clean :) Yeah, that was a water buffalo picture! Here they are called Caribou... I see them all of the time! it's pretty awesome. I usually don't walk through that particular field, but there are others that we walk through; the caribou was chilling on the side of the road so I decided to take a picture! haha. The bed isn't the most comfortable in the world, but it works :) At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter where I sleep-as long as it's a place where I can lay down! I sleep fine at night, my dreams are usually wierd here haha, and I would much rather be up and working than sleeping. Every day is a new opportunity to become more than what you were the previous day, and I"m so grateful for that!   The family is my source of comfort and support when it gets hard. Thank you for everything you've taught me :)

My city covers a large area, but isn't hugely populated. I'm out in the boons haha, but there's plenty of people. It's like a mix between Kanab, Utah and Phoenix, if that makes any sense.... lol but tropical. Most of the people are poor, probably 80 percent of the population is poor and about 50 percent of the people have dirt floors. But the poor are really poor, and there will randomly be a couple massive houses. The people in this ward are great.  Everything is just different out here, like sense of humor and everything so it's a little awkward just becoming able to converse and communicate with people, but the ward here is amazing, The people are way welcoming and we have lots of members work with us. Usually they are the YSA (Young Single Adults in their 20s)  aged people, but they are strong in their faith. Everyone here is a convert, and they know what it's like so they help people, and they love bearing their testimony. It's a real example to me. Rarely do the members feed us... haha, even though we are only poor missionaries, we have more money than the people. In this area, we feed the members, especially the ones that work with us. It's hard to budget that way, but I'm here to serve all the people here in whatever way I can. My area is quite big. Sometimes it takes an hour to walk to appointments in the furthest away areas. Pday is usually used as zone gathering days, like a couple weeks ago we went to a park and just kind of chilled haha, every once in a while we'll use it as a cleaning the house day - they house was in way bad shape when i got here haha but we're cleaning it up good! We've been bowling once, and had another activity. It's hard to have a lot of activities because we are so far away from where the zone leaders live - it's about an hour jeepney ride. But when it happens, they are pretty fun :) We're planning on taking a hike to a waterfall in the next couple weeks!  Today we spent most of the morning cleaning up inside and out around our house haha. It's actually kind of nice, and quite a stress reliever!

This week was a big learning experience for me - we had exchanges on Thursday and I lead the area. It was kind of stressful haha because I've only been to the Barangay we taught at a couple of times and we got lost, but we ran into a lot of people were able to schedule return appointments for this next week. The Lord is in His work, the gospel will continue to be taught, because it's true.  It centered on the Atonement, and families, and will give us peace in this life. Heavenly Father created a plan for us, and intends on being there every step of the way.

Love,
Elder Blackham