These are some pictures of Elder Blackham's house that he is in right now. They may be moving soon.
From the outside. Elder Blackham is staring at a chicken.
Inside view of the office area
The kitchen
The bathroom
The bedroom
Sunday, November 25, 2012
November 19, 2012
My Dearest momma!
I've gained a testimony and am ever more grateful for the church leaders that I've been able to grow up with. They are all true examples of Latter day saints. Make sure to help the missionaries out as much as you can! haha.
There's big news out here with missionary work as well! In December we will be recieving 60 new missionaries in our mission!! I'm so excited! The work is truly progressing!
Thats fun to hear about the girls' experience hiking to the temple site :) I remember Ely telling me about how excited she was for that! I'm also stoked for the time when we will be able to all go to the Phoenix temple together!
This week was good! My favorite day of the week is always Sunday. It's a great way to end the week, we were blessed to have 6 investigators come to church! One of them was the Nanay that we started visiting last week! Brother Jay-ar, who has been investigating the church for a while came as well, and is finally taking the steps that will help him become converted to the gospel! We were so excited to see these people at church! We were able to see them walk in because we were sitting on the stand - we both gave talks this week. I was surprised because I was able to speak; often times I wonder if people are able to understand what I'm saying.
There was a Nanay who came and told me that she was impressed with my ability to speak Tagalog, and told me that it was the gift of tongues. I was shocked! I didn't think I spoke that well at all, but I'm so humbled to know that there was one person in the congregation that I was able to speak to. That's the gift of tongues. I'm so surprised everyday at the tender mercies that the Lord sends to us. They come through the people we meet, in the ability to speak, and surround us as we strive to do His work in His way. We were also blessed this week with four new investigators!
It's been kind of hard with Christmas approaching, because I remember all of the traditions that we had that I'll be missing, and it makes me miss you all even more. But I can't think of any better way to spend my Christmas here than to serve my Lord. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here.
The following is Elder Blackham's response when Mom told him we should finish family reading of the Book of Mormon sometime next month.
That is truly the only way that we can stay on the Path that leads to Eternal life. Lehi's vision was so true, and I've seen it. Those who fall away often do because they've let go of the scriptures. Stay strong and steady in that mom :) I know that your lives will continue to be blessed.
Please stay strong and of Good courage. It is my testimony that the Lord, our God is with you, and will be wherever you go.
Love always,
Elder Blackham
I've gained a testimony and am ever more grateful for the church leaders that I've been able to grow up with. They are all true examples of Latter day saints. Make sure to help the missionaries out as much as you can! haha.
There's big news out here with missionary work as well! In December we will be recieving 60 new missionaries in our mission!! I'm so excited! The work is truly progressing!
Thats fun to hear about the girls' experience hiking to the temple site :) I remember Ely telling me about how excited she was for that! I'm also stoked for the time when we will be able to all go to the Phoenix temple together!
This week was good! My favorite day of the week is always Sunday. It's a great way to end the week, we were blessed to have 6 investigators come to church! One of them was the Nanay that we started visiting last week! Brother Jay-ar, who has been investigating the church for a while came as well, and is finally taking the steps that will help him become converted to the gospel! We were so excited to see these people at church! We were able to see them walk in because we were sitting on the stand - we both gave talks this week. I was surprised because I was able to speak; often times I wonder if people are able to understand what I'm saying.
There was a Nanay who came and told me that she was impressed with my ability to speak Tagalog, and told me that it was the gift of tongues. I was shocked! I didn't think I spoke that well at all, but I'm so humbled to know that there was one person in the congregation that I was able to speak to. That's the gift of tongues. I'm so surprised everyday at the tender mercies that the Lord sends to us. They come through the people we meet, in the ability to speak, and surround us as we strive to do His work in His way. We were also blessed this week with four new investigators!
It's been kind of hard with Christmas approaching, because I remember all of the traditions that we had that I'll be missing, and it makes me miss you all even more. But I can't think of any better way to spend my Christmas here than to serve my Lord. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here.
The following is Elder Blackham's response when Mom told him we should finish family reading of the Book of Mormon sometime next month.
That is truly the only way that we can stay on the Path that leads to Eternal life. Lehi's vision was so true, and I've seen it. Those who fall away often do because they've let go of the scriptures. Stay strong and steady in that mom :) I know that your lives will continue to be blessed.
Please stay strong and of Good courage. It is my testimony that the Lord, our God is with you, and will be wherever you go.
Love always,
Elder Blackham
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
November 12, 2012
(This part is in response to a comment from Mom about how much Elder Blackham has moved around)
It's crazy haha. I can barely keep up with myself! But yeah, I miss the ocean a lot. San Clamente is a lot like Lupao as far as the terrain and climate are concerned.No worries mom :) I"m doing great! I sent some pictures of my last companion and me in my last area.
I want to promise you something mom, it's a promise that I give to almost everyone that I meet, it's the promise of the gospel. The Gospel gives us the promise of the rainbow after rain, the "calm" after the storm. More than that, the Savior has promised to guide us through our personal storms. The promise that I want to give is that it will be worth it, and the Lord will be with you to guide and protect you.
Thank you for what you said to me about having wise optimism. That is something that I'm going to apply in my missionary working in being real in all of my aspirations and goals for myself and for those I serve.
The work for us this week was good. Our strength in San Clamente is working with less actives, and we were able to find even more this week. Through using the Branch roster on our daily trips we were able to find 15 less active individuals. Hopefully we can find good home teachers for all of them, so that we can hand them off safely to the hands of the ward. Visit from the people are so so so important!
I'm also way excited about the 4 new investigators that we found! One of them was a former investigator who moved to Manila for a while, but is back for good now and is super excited for us to teach her. She's the nanay of a less active member and she feels that our message is true; she is excited with every new thing that we teach her. Another one that I feel really strongly about was a referral from a member. This guy's way nice and studies in the bible frequently.
We also met a family this week, the Bo family. Yeah, their last name is Bo! THey are so awesome! As we met, he introduced me to what he believed. He totally believed in the word of wisdom and pretty much described the
beliefs of an active member of the church. I'm so excited to go back and explain to him why everything he talked about was true, and the message of the restored gospel.
beliefs of an active member of the church. I'm so excited to go back and explain to him why everything he talked about was true, and the message of the restored gospel.
It's awesome how things always work out.
Love,
Elder Blackham
Monday, November 5, 2012
November 5, 1012
I'm doing well. I've been transferred already to a new area. It's kind of sad because I was only in my last area for 6 weeks, and I was excited for everything going on there. But I'm equally excited for the chance that I've been given to work here. My new area is in the Camiling Zone, and I work in San Clamente. It's on the edge of our mission. All of my areas have been on the outskirts of the Angeles Mission. haha. But It's cool. I'm excited for the opportunity to be a part of this work in my new area. I'm looking forward to working with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.
I am so excited to be here in the Camiling Zone, especially to be working so closely with the members of the San Clamente Branch. There has obviously been a lot of progression in this branch and I hope that I'll be humble and ready to continue the work that has been started here. I'm so excited for the progress that I can be a part of
as I serve here in San Clamente.
The Lord is so aware of us and all that we do.
Love,
Elder Blackham
I am so excited to be here in the Camiling Zone, especially to be working so closely with the members of the San Clamente Branch. There has obviously been a lot of progression in this branch and I hope that I'll be humble and ready to continue the work that has been started here. I'm so excited for the progress that I can be a part of
as I serve here in San Clamente.
The highlight of my week was Sunday; it was neat to see how the branch worked. This is the first area that I've been in that has enough active priesthood holders to fill the important leadership callings and it is so neat to see a functioning working unit. I'm reminded of President Uchtdorf's talk about the two different types of airplanes. This is definitately a newer model and I'm excited to see how the missionary work can progress in such a unit.
On Saturday night we were able to meet with a young man who was deciding whether or not he wanted to go on a mission. It was such a spiritual experience. On Sunday he met with the branch president and began his paper work. It's also been neat to work with some of the recent converts, and less actives here. I'm so excited about the work here!
I'm healthy and everything. My new companion is Elder Oroceo, we've met briefly before and he is a funny and hard working elder. We're going to have a great transfer together, I know it!
Thanks for what you said about charity, it's given me a greater understanding of how I can love these people even more. That's the only thing that will make me a sucessful emissary of our Savior... I hope that I can be worthy to share His love with everyone that I meet.
Huwag ninyo makalimutan na mahal kita.
I'm healthy and everything. My new companion is Elder Oroceo, we've met briefly before and he is a funny and hard working elder. We're going to have a great transfer together, I know it!
Thanks for what you said about charity, it's given me a greater understanding of how I can love these people even more. That's the only thing that will make me a sucessful emissary of our Savior... I hope that I can be worthy to share His love with everyone that I meet.
Huwag ninyo makalimutan na mahal kita.
The Lord is so aware of us and all that we do.
Love,
Elder Blackham
P.S. I got Sister Buell's email! I've got a little bit more responsibility now as far as reporting and stuff so my time on the internet is going to be a little bit more limited. Please let her know how much I love her and am so grateful for everything that she taught me. I'm so grateful that you have a friend like her. It's part of the reason I'm not so worried about you.
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