So we had a great week this week. Of course our numbers could have been better this week, but it was still one of the better weeks I´ve had as far as numbers go. I got to know more of the ward this week, and we found a few new investigators, some of them look really promising for baptism. Two of which are a young couple that are living the house of his Uncle while looking for a new house. The Uncle is a recent convert and absolutely excited about the church. It has truly changed his life. All his life he had had problems with alcohol, and could never stop for the world, even after going to professional help. The missionaries came to his house as when a member in his neighborhood gave the referral. He was baptized about a year ago, and he has been completely clean ever since. Everybody in his family has noticed the change. His cousin who has a son in a similar track has also asked to have the missionaries visit her son, and both of his sons that have moved out to other places have sent their addresses to their father so that he can send the missionaries to their house, and finally, his nephew and his wife have come to live with him and are listening to us. How great difference an example of a member and their enthusiasm can make!
Yeah, so things are looking up right now. Especially, since I more or less know the area and the ward and we can focus more on the investigators and finding new people. My companion had an interesting dilemma the other change. His companion, Elder DeGeorge got hit by a car in the second week of the change and had to go to DF, (he´s fine now, in fact, they gave him a boot and put him in the offices as secretary and he´s now driving the Mission van around in DF!), but after that, the two Zone leaders became Elder Chavez´s companions whenever he couldn´t do split with the members in the ward. And, as zone leaders, he went with them in all their interviews and activities, and had to split their time in their two areas(both of which were big). Anyway, the long story short: he has lost touch with many of his investigators, and I feel like I´m once again opening up an area, like I did in Plateros. Oh well, the fruits will come, but patience first.
I´d also like to talk about General Conference. The President of the Mission encouraged us all to attend all 5---or four for the sister-missionaries----sessions of conference. So we were able to participate in all 5 sessions. It was interesting to see the difference between the English and the Spanish versions. I attended the Spanish General conference for the first four sessions, and I liked it a lot, but when I went to the other room to watch it in English, I realized that there was more power in the way they spoke...not only what they spoke. The translators, although they do a great work, simply cannot do complete justice to the conference. (also, once of them has a Spanish accent that is a little distracting...the Spaniards lisp all the z´s and all the "ce" or "ci" combinations. Pres. Uchtdorf´s talk that constantly talked about the "velocidad" was a little bit hard for me.) So, I decided to watch the other three sessions in English. My companion decided to go with me, since he has really good English and wants to work harder on it so he can go to BYU or BYU Idaho, and he agreed that it was much more powerful from the voice of the prophet.
I was also impressed to see some people I knew in the choirs in the second session (from families in the Draper-Sandy area) and the Priesthood Session (friends from high school and BYU in the MTC Choir.) I actually was able to point out to my companion, who knew Elder Steed in the mission, that brother of the Elder Steed that he knew was in the choir. It´s really weird to think that Elder Douglas Steed is home from the mission, and that Elder Russell Steed has just begun. It´s hard to explain, but I always feel so happy when I hear that people are going on their missions!
Anyway, even though we had a lot fewer hours to work on both Saturday and Sunday, I feel like these talks were just what I needed. I don´t think there is any experience quite like General Conference as a Full-time Missionary! I think it´s because you have been focusing so much on how to help the people in your areas for 6 months, and then the "experts" get to tell in 10 short hours what you can do to make it better! How grateful I am for the Lord´s Servants the profets and apostles.
Well, I´m out of time. Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. Please know that, even if I can´t name all my friends and family specifically, know that my companion and I are praying for all of you. Please continue praying for all the missionaries, you have no idea how much it helps.
Cariños,
Elder Blackham
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