Weekly Letter: July 13-19th, 2010

This week went.......well, it could have been better. Thanks to conflicts with work, Hermana Zavaleta was unable to be baptized, and Hermano Uriel Orea, wasn´t able to either, because his grandmother was sick. This next sunday looks good though. We´re going to keep better contact with them this week. We had a goal of having three baptisms this week, them and a new investigator that has come to church three times, but up until yesterday after the services, we hadn´t taught her a thing. She contacted us actually and asked where our church was and when we met, and she has gone every sunday since. It´s difficult to get a contact of her because she is often with her grandchildren in another part of DF for most of the week. But we were able to teach her basically all we could at once. We then invited her to be baptized and she accepted to be baptized this Saturday.....only it´s going to be difficult to keep in contact with her this week....I just hope it all pans out.

Oh, and from what I see in the Liahona, there have been a lot of changes in mission presidents in the world. With these changes, we have a few more technical changes that came from the first presidency. One of them is the use of the phrase "desafío a bautizarse" changed to "invitación a bautizarse." Basically, there are no longer baptismal challenges, only invitations. The other changes have to do with Zone Conferences and interviews, but since I´ve only got one complete transfer period in the field, it shouldn´t be hard the adjust, and I don´t exactly know the differences anyway, because they don´t really matter to me.

Anyway, yeah. So with these changes, I hope the work....well, works! I´m sure it will, because these changes came from the first presidency. But I´m really excited to work with these new president. He has a great deal of energy for the work and expresses his love very easily. President Fuentes also loved us deeply, and I came to feel that too, but he expressed it in a different way. Even though I had basically no time with President Fuentes, I have a great admiration for him. That being said, after my interview with President Villarreal, I have absolutely no reserves in serving with him. I´m really excited actually to take everything he´s put in front of us and apply it to the work.

But sometimes work goes slow. It´s funny, our numbers were basically the same as last week (in some areas better), but I felt so much better about how the work was going last week. However, that said, I am really excited about this next week. That´s the thing with missionary work, and I suspect with life, if one week doesn´t go well, I learn from the experiences we had, and apply what we learned to make the next week better. I´m really grateful for my companion Elder Childers. My other companion was a little more reserved and was completely serious during the lessons(in the house and with me, however, that´s another story). It was difficult for me much of the time because I felt awkward because no one was talking many times during the lessons, and without a grasp of the language I had no hope to do anything about it, except offer a few laughs(which was not appropriate in some ocasions).

However, with Elder Childers, I feel that we teach very well together. He has a great grasp of the spanish language, which is invaluable for me. He has a great focus in the work. In fact, whenever people ask how much time he has in the mission, it gives him a great deal of pain to say 22 months, knowing that they´re going to say, "You´re basically done!" I´m really grateful how well this companionship has turned out, I´ve learned so much from him, and I really want to be a lot like him when I´m where he is.

Well, I´m sorry that I couldn´t say more about the week. Really, I think this week was a lesson in patience. It was funny because I realized that in the chapel just before the person giving the talk said, "I´ve decided to talk about patience." I think the Lord was definitely sending me a message saying, "Don´t worry. This is my work, and I will make sure that my children get the opportunity to get what they need. Just be humble, be patient, and let me do my work through you." I think every missionary feels that they can work on that. We´re reminded everyday that our personal efforts are nothing without the Lord´s miracles in the lives of His children. We can try to sell the gospel to people, but that will never work the change of heart that they need to truly accept it in their lives.

Anyway, thank you all for everything you do, for the letters you give, and for the support that I feel through your prayers. Please pray for us. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the church, we need it, and we, as missionaries, need your prayers. Also, please look for opportunities to share and give references to the missionaries. I don´t think you guys realize....at least I didn´t until now....that it really doesn´t matter to us if they aren´t exactly prepared to be baptized right now. That preparation can only come through the workings of the Holy Ghost, and we as missionaries have the calling to teach them how to experience the Spirit more in their lives. I think I speak for all the missionaries when I say that receiving a bunch of references that, may not want the gospel in their lives is better than knocking on doors. At least when someone is referred to the missionaries, they become aware that the gospel isn´t just for us members, but for everyone of God´s children.

Even if they slam the door in our face, at least they have this seed planted in their heart, and who knows who will see it grow, but while there is that seed, there is that hope. The missionaries don´t mind rejection, they´re used to it. And often the friend´s of members, even if they are interested, will listen to us to not be rude, or simply reject us more politely than other contacts. The family Orea Zavaleta had a bunch of problems when we first met them, following a reference of their friends that are in the ward. And they have turned out to be some of our most golden investigators. It´s true references work, do them. (Here I am near the end of my time on the computer, and I´ve just realized that the term for the word reference is "referral" in English. Oh well, I don´t have the time or patience to go back and change every word, but I don´t think it matters much anyway, it´s basically the same thing.)

Well, time is short, so I will say goodbye. But I hope each of you take an initiative and work in sharing the gospel with all the world wherever you guys are. Thank you so much for your faithfulness and support.

Cariños,

Elder Blackham

Weekly Letter: June 15-21

So, another week in Mexico. Wow! They really pass by! What really weirded me out was realizing that we have changes again in a week! Our President Fuentes leaves with this change, and we´re going to welcome President Villareal. I´m sorry to see Presidente Fuentes leave, but I´m also excited to see what this new president will bring to this mission. I´m also concerned about the changes because I don´t want to be changed, I want to stay, it looks like I probably will stay where I am....with the new mission president, he won´t make many changes unless they´re necessary(like someone who´s leaving or coming into the mission), but who knows! I will know for sure this Monday, I really hope that I get to stay in Plateros, we´re just barely starting to enjoy the fruits of labors of these two changes. It looks like Irene is only going to be the start of our investigators that are going to take a baptism.


Speaking of Irene, she´s still going strong. Her brother lives in Orange County, CA, close to the Newport Beach Temple. He was already baptized and is really strong in the gospel When we ate with her this last Sunday, he called her, and talked to each of us individually. He thanked both of us for helping his sister take a baptism. We also took her and Bety Ábrego to Visitor´s Center by the Mexico City Temple. Both of them really enjoyed the experience. Irene is already talking about going again to buy more stuff from the Distribution Center.


Her daughter really really wants to hear the message....which is one of the biggest miracles I´ve ever seen. I´ve never seen someone change like this. She wanted to come with us to the Visitor´s Center, but couldn´t because she already had family commitments. But we´re planning another trip in the coming weeks. She has to work slowly so that her husband doesn´t cut her off. He is Cristiano(I have no idea what that means other than another type of sect of Christian), and he doesn´t want her to change religions. We don´t know exactly to do, but we´re going to work little by little until her husband will allow the missionaries to visit them in their house in Puerta Grande(the neighboring area), but right now we´re just teaching her in the house of her mother, Irene.


The family Orea Zavaleta. Due to a misunderstanding between them, we weren´t able to visit them as much as we wanted to. He was a little more than annoyed with her, and wanted to put the blame on the church. We did visit him alone on Thursday, and he was really polite, he looked for opportunities to avoid listening to us, but when he actually sat down and listened to our message, he was really attentive and still wanted to be baptized. Also his grandmother´s health is improving dramatically. She actually sat in on our message, she told us she wanted to be baptized too, but wanted to learn more about our Church first. We were going to have Family night with them and the ward mission leader, but we weren´t able to pass by. I think he´s afraid of the members of the ward, but we´re working with Jorge Montes, his long-time friend who is a member of this ward, to set-up a family night with them this week. I just hope that we can work with them little by little until they can both be baptized. Unfortunately due to this difficulty, we may have to postpone their baptisms, but if all goes as previously planned, they will be baptized this Sunday with Bety Ábrego and Rebeca Sánchez.


Rebeca is the daughter of an eternal investigator. Her mother wants to get baptized but has something against this ward...and the bishop. She loves listening to us and always says she will get baptized in Mixcoac or in Las Aguilas, but in Plateros no. We´ve already taught her about the doctrine about why she needs to attend the ward that she lives in, that the bishop in Mixcoac, even though is a bishop called of God, doesn´t have the right to receive revelation for her and her family. However, she doesn´t seem to be progressing. We hope that her daughter Rebeca(who already has made friends in Plateros and wants to be baptized there) will be a help for her, and also be a stepping stone for Graciela(the mother) and Mauricio(the son of Graciela) to also take this step.


Jesús Islas also is turning out to be quite the golden investigator. He has told us that his life has visibly improved upon starting to listen to us. At first, when we started teaching him, he was uncomfortable praying, but right now his prayers our powerful. It really is something specially to hear an investigator thanking God for the missionaries. He really is feasting on the introduction and the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. At first he was a little concerned about it because it wasn´t the Bible. He told us that he felt it was good, but felt that without the Bible, something was missing. We explained that the Book of Mormon was merely another testament of Jesus Christ a complement to the Bible, not a substitute. He seemed to understand really well, and I think it resolved his concerns.


We were going to plan on having the Assistants bring their van to Plateros this Saturday or Sunday, so that Jesús, los Orea Zavalet, Graciela and her children, and Marí-Tere(the daughter of Irene) could go to the Visitors Center. But with the Changes this Tuesday, the Assistants are going to be busy, especially since one of them goes home this Monday. So, hopefully we will be able to do it, if not this week, in the weeks to come. All of them really want to make the trip, it´s just a matter of transportation. We can´t pay for the bus fare for all of them(and we don´t want them to pay for themselves), and we can´t all fit in the Hno. Zepeda´s SUV like we did this other time. But the Assistants aren´t going to be able to do it, I don´t think, so it looks like we´re going to have to wait....but I´m way excited!


I haven´t come even close to doing justice to this week, but everything has its time, and this time is almost done! Thank you, like always for your prayers and support. I hope that you all will receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for you by living His gospel!


Con amor,


Elder Thomas Blackham

Weekly Letter: April 13-19 (In Mexico)

Para todos ustedes:

Well, this is me, ¡En México! It´s been a great experience so far. My mission president, Presidente Fuentes speaks very little English. When he first walked in to welcome us new elders, he apologized because his English wasn´t good, but was quick to add that our Spanish wasn´t too hot either. He laughed and promised us that if we were faithful that Spanish would come.

My trainer is Elder Javier, from Southern Mexico. I can´t remember exactly what city he´s from because he talks way too fast when I ask him. The name of the city is pretty long, but it has Azul and Cruz in the name... (anyone want to send me a dearelder to help me?) I met him late Friday night, and he has apparently been waiting for a companion as long as I had been waiting on my visa.

Anyway, so the Spanish I learned in the MTC amounts to very little more than just a small background here in the field. You pick up about half the words they say and you end up getting about half of the meaning that was intended. It is getting better, though. I´ve already been blessed to see the gift of tongues working in my life. First of all, people seem to understand me when I do start talking in Spanish, and in Church yesterday, I actually understood a lot of the talks that were given.

That being said, I still need your prayers because I can barely teach a thing in the language, and whenever I ask a question and they answer....I´m not even sure what they just said. Things are a little difficult right now, since Elder Javier and I are reopening an area called Plateros that had no missionaries in it since last transfer about two months ago, so we kind of have to start over from scratch. Yesterday we went through the entire area book and picked out a few investigators to begin teaching again. So we´ll start trying to contact those people.

I did teach a couple lessons on Saturday while on a split with the Zone Leader in his area. I was not able to teach much, but it felt good talking about the gospel...which is the only thing in Spanish that I feel remotely confident in speaking.

We also had dinner at the home of the Ward Mission leader of the Plateros Ward. His name is Hermano Zepeda and he served in Veracruz Mexico on his mission. It was great to hear that. I then asked him if he knew an Elder Jensen that served there. (Hermano Jensen is a teacher in the MTC that really helped our district the last week in the MTC.) I knew it was a long shot, since I had no idea how long it had been since either one of them served missions. So I was pleasantly surprised when Hermano Zepeda brightened and went on a stream of rapid Spanish about how good of an Elder he was (and that is about all I was able to pick out). So I felt pretty happy that I had been part of the conversation during dinner, and even happier that I was able to make that connection on my first meeting with the Ward Mission Leader in my first area.

Anyway, everything is cool here. The city is HUGE. It was a little daunting when I first saw it from the window of the airplane, but it´s all good. I like it, there are a lot of people to talk to....as soon as I can talk to them, that is. I was going to attach some photos of the MTC and also some of the city, but the USB cord isn´t working and the memory card isn´t registering on this computer, but I´ll probably get it to work on another computer next week, since I just helped Elder Javier do the same thing on his computer, and it worked fine there. But look forward to getting a whole bunch of MTC and DF pics next week!

Love you all and I´m so thankful for your prayers, they really have helped.

I've got to go now to a Zone meeting (which will include playing a little soccer!), so I guess I better go and start speaking Spanish, which will be all the harder now that I´ve been thinking solely in English this last half'-an-hour.

¡Nos Vemos!

Con Amor,

Elder Thomas Blackham