Family and Friends,
Monday will be pretty busy. We leave the CCM at around 6:20 in the morning and then we go to the mission home which is about an hour and a half away. We will eat, talk, and be interviewed with some instruction while we are there. We also get our new companions! That will be bitter sweet since I will be leaving Elder Xanthos. He has been so awesome! But we at least get to be in the same mission haha. We will be at the mission home a lot of the time. Then when we leave and get settled in at our apartments in our areas, we begin proselyting around 2:30!!! I can't wait!
Today we got to go to the temple again! It was just as great as the first time! The spirit is so strong there. My first week in the mission will be pretty much the best way to begin. Because my first day I will be out looking for people to teach and or going with my trainer to appointments he already has. Then the following day is Tuesday which will be my new pday!!! I'll get that time to take everything in. Then I have the rest of the week to get a lot done and then that weekend is of course GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! It's gonna be awesome! Spanish is pretty good so far. I'm not having too hard of a time but my grammar can definitely improve haha. The language is just strange at times. There are ways of talking that don't exist in the English language so there is a lot that is very new haha. Well there isn't really a lot to share so I will give you all my testimony with these first 6 weeks that I've been in the mission. But first I just want to share a parable with you guys that my branch president shared with a lot of the missionaries this last week...
The Preacher and the Sparrows¨
The Preacher entered the church building one morning with a rusty, old, bent birdcage. He set the birdcage on the pulpit, causing a few raised eyebrows. Then he began to speak; “Yesterday morning I came across a young boy who had three scared birds in a cage shivering from the cold. I asked him, ‘What you got there?’ ‘Just some dumb old birds!’ ‘What you going to do with them?’ ‘Tease ‘em, play with ‘em, and pull out their feathers!’ ‘Then what you going to do with them?’ ‘Feed ‘em to my cat; he likes birds!’ The preacher went silent for a moment, then asked, ‘How much you want for them?’ ‘Oh, you don’t want these, they’re ugly and they can’t even sing.’ ‘How much?’ came the preacher’s definite reply. The boy thought for a moment and then said, ‘Fifty bucks.’ The preacher reached into his pocket and pulled out fifty dollars. The boy took the money and vanished. The preacher picked up the cage, walked to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a small grassy spot. He opened the door and by gently tapping the bars to the cage, coaxed the birds out into the grass. They were free. That explained the birdcage on the pulpit.
Then he proceeded to tell this parable.…“One day Satan and Jesus were walking, and Satan had just come out of the Garden of Eden, he was gloating and boasting. ‘Yes sir, I caught me a whole world of people. Set a trap they just couldn’t resist. Yep, got ‘em all.’ ‘What are you going to do with them?’ came the reply. ‘Gonna have some fun with them; teach them how to hate, hurt, and kill each other.’ ‘Then what are you going to do?’ ‘Oh, then I’ll destroy them and bring them down into my kingdom.’ Jesus paused, “How much do you want for them?” “Oh, you don’t want them. They’ll just hate you, spit on you, mock you, and kill you. They don’t want you.” Jesus paused and looked straight into Satan’s soul, ‘How much?’ Satan looked at Christ and sneered, ‘All your tears... all your blood... all your footsteps... all your strengths...all your life... Jesus said, "I'll pay the price" and he went out to the grove of trees called Gethsemane, bled from every pore for each of us, was crucified on a rugged hill called Calvary, and lives again, opening the cage and letting us go free.
Family and friends, brothers and sisters,
Being out here has given me such a greater understanding and knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no greater feeling in the world to me than knowing that I am out here doing our Heavenly Father's work. This church and everything that goes along with it are true. The Book of Mormon is the most correct book out of any book on the entire planet, as stated by our first latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith. I know that we have been placed here for a divine purpose, each of us have a distinct calling designated for our personal growth as well as the growth of those around us. We were pre ordained in the spirit life we had before mortality and now we are here to fulfill our respected callings as disciples of our Savior and Redeemer. Once the veil is lifted from our eyes, we will remember everything and why we are here. There is a lot to the plan that we may not understand, but through diligence and faith, we can become what our Heavenly Father wants us to become. Faith doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, that's what faith is, not perfect. Our prophets say, even according to the Book of Mormon that faith is not having a perfect knowledge of things. We need to submit our will to the Father's and become an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Through faith we can do many things and through the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. And through the power of the Lord, we can do all things. Faith is one of the most important aspects of effort that we can have especially at this time in our mortality. I know that faith is key to unlocking our full potential. Moroni wrote in Ether as he abridged those records that because of the Brother of Jared's faith, he had such a great knowledge that many of the things beyond the veil could not be kept from him. I know that as we strive to follow that example of faith, we will be blessed accordingly. I know that we have a duty to be an example. In the words of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as he taught his disciples in the New Testament and then taught in 3 Nephi, be thou an example of the believers. Let your light so shine. Don't hide it, don't keep it under a bushel. Don't be afraid. I have a testimony about these things and I know what can and will come of it. We also have such a great gift, which is the Atonement. Through the Atonement there is no way possible that we are out of reach of our Savior. He wants us to repent because He loves us. Brad Wilcox puts it when he spoke about grace, in the time of judgment, he thinks that when we are being sorted in our kingdoms, Christ will be the one begging us to stay with Him, not us begging. It won't be us asking to stay in the presence of the Lord, it will be Him asking us to stay because if we don't hold fast to the iron rod, we will not want to stay and we will not feel worthy. Our brother, Jesus Christ, will be asking us to please stay. I agree with brother Wilcox. And I truly believe that Jesus Christ is right now asking us to please use His Atonement. We have this available, and we are in debt, so far, that it's impossible for us to pay it back. And all our Savior asks of us is that we repent and come unto Him. I can't help but feel whenever I make a mistake, that Jesus had to suffer for that sin. That I only add onto the pain that Christ felt when He had to suffer. I've tried to repent more often then just at the end of the week before Sunday, not only because I need it but in hopes that I can show my loyalty and love for our Savior. I love this work, I love the gospel, and I love my family very much. It is my testimony that if we put what the Lord asks of us first, we will receive more blessings than we can hold. Start counting your blessings and pretty soon you won't be able to count them anymore. I know that every blessing in the life to come far outweighs anything you can achieve that is of the world. Even everything combined. We are told that even the lowest of the kingdoms are a greater happiness than we can comprehend. As I am out here, I am gaining a greater love for God's children. That is also part of one of the five steps to the gift of tongues. The knowledge and blessings I receive out here are consequences of my commitment to the work and I know there is no way I could achieve anything save it be by the influence and power of the Lord and our Heavenly Father. My final part of my testimony that I will leave with you, is that God and Jesus Christ love us. They've loved us from the beginning and they will continue to love us until the end of time. Please pray to know if these things are true. I love and miss you all! You are such a large portion of my motivation and I deeply appreciate your prayers, thoughts, and contributions. These things I leave with each and every single one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
-Elder Markham
Sweater Monday! More pics of Blake with his companion and roommates, and with one of their teachers on their last day in the MTC (CCM)
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