October 15, 2012

I'm glad you liked the pics, and yep I really ate a fish head. Kind of salty;I'd rather eat the meat from the body, haha. Nope, the cooking part of our oven doesn't work, just the stove-top. The apartment is nice, it's got tiled floor and a water heater. It's one of the nicest apartments in the mission, I'm so lucky to be in this area!  We are on the second floor, there is a top floor but we don't go up stairs very much. The bed is pretty much a bed frame with a foam pad. I miss my bed, but I'm so tired by the time we get home that I could fall asleep without a pad! HaHa.

The biggest difference in this area is that I'm washing my own clothes now. It's not too hard, just kind of time
consuming because you have to scrub each piece of clothing individually. I've become a lot more conservative and aware about keeping my clothes clean. That's big news!

We do use a phone but it's only for missionary purposes for calling in reports and contacting and confirming appointments.

(The next part is an answer to Mom's question about what he wants for Christmas) The people here start celebrating Christmas in the beginning of October. It's awesome, I love hearing Christmas songs! I don't know what I want for Christmas... Just a nice card and maybe some new music if you've got any ;) New music is a huge blessings for a missionary. If I think of anything I'll be sure to let you know!

Be sure to let me know when Ryan Fenner gets his mission call!

Conference was sooo tight! I loved everything that I heard, we were only able to listen to priesthood and the Sunday morning session but I felt so inspired from the talks given. I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity to hear from modern day apostles. It was a huge blessing to feel God's love for us through them.

I learned about the need to serve in the way that we are needed. I learned that what is right is not always easy. I learned from President Monson that men can change; that is the great news of the gospel, we can become more. We can be more unified, we can be more pure, we can be more happy because of what the Savior did for us. I love that.

The work this past week in our area is progressing.  There are many families that are getting ready for baptism; it's kind of discouraging when little things get in the way; but the Lord has timing and a reason for everything. I've gained a testimony of that this week especially. 

I have a lot of hope for Sister Veneracion and her family; as we have invited her son to join in the lessons he's started to become interested in the fact that God has a plan for Him. That is so true! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us; at the root of His plan, sometimes called the gospel is His desire for our
eternal happiness.

The Espiriti Family is one that we've been working with for a while and they have a testimony of everything that we've been teaching, and the lessons go so well; there's just little things that come up that prevent them from being able to go to church. But I know that with patience and diligence all things will work out for
them.  This gospel is so true, and I've already seen the change that it's made in their lives.

The VillaNueva family is another family we've been working with who is progressing in the lessons.  We're also coordinating with the branch presidencey in hopes of organizing a branch temple trip; that'll enable all of the people we've been working with as less actives to recieve the covenants and blessings of the temple!

Tagalog is still kind of hard; people tell me that I'm good for only being in the field for 5 months, but there is still so much that I have to learn; I'm working on gaining confidence in what I say.  I'm still amazed that the people understand me sometimes, and know that it's only because the spirit is there.

I learn everyday the truthfulness of the restored gospel and all of the blessings that were restored to the children of men because of it.

That's tight that Bret is in the Philippines! I hope he's having fun.

Love,
Elder Blackham

p.s. Yep, it's the same time in all of the Philippines. haha, it's a small island.