Seven months ago, I never would have guessed that I would be sitting here in my house at this moment. It's strange for many reasons. I always had that idea in mind of what a mission is; that I would leave for two years, serve faithfully, and return home to continue down the path that the Lord had prepared for me. I guess my idea of what the Lord prepared for me wasn't all that accurate.
I made it home safely! There was almost nobody at the airports. On our flights, we had about 20 other people with us. My first flight consisted of three other elders and I, along with about 15 to 20 other people. My second flight was only Elder Xanthos and I, along with those 20 other people. It felt very eerie, like a ghost town or something. It was like the airports were abandoned due to an apocalypse. I left Mexico City on March 28 at about 12:50pm, and arrived in Oregon later that night around 8:00pm. It was wonderful to greet the rest of my family at home! I am now in self-isolation, away from people, for two weeks. Afterwhich, I will continue my service in a mission here in the United States. I do not know when and where yet, I am still waiting on that. Hopefully I will know by next week to let you all know by next Tuesday. I am feeling great and healthy! I am excited to see what the Lord has in my path.
Sunday after I returned home, I received a very warm welcome surprise from my ward family and other friends! Here is what happened- I had just finished walking around the trails outside with some of my family, and afterwards, my mom told me to go get my suit on because we were going to take pictures. I did so and we got in the car and left. I didn't know where we were going because I had asked my mom and she told me not to worry about it. Soon after, we arrived at our church building to see the parking lot packed with cars in a line. Much of my ward family and other friends had planned a surprise for me there!! They all stayed in their cars while I walked out in front waving to them and thanking them. It warmed my heart very much. That was very special to me and a wonderful welcome home! It was hard to not be able to hug them or anything, because they definitely deserved a hug. I have a wonder ward family and wonderful friends! It was great catching up with Liam Marks and Jacob Beatty. Jacob Beatty has been reassigned to serve in the Arkansas Little Rock mission and Liam Marks received his call to serve in the West Virginia Charleston mission!
I cannot wait to see where the Lord will send me. I will do whatever is asked, and I will do it with a cheerful heart! This is a wonderful time to participate in the work.
Right now, I will wait in quarantine until further notice. I will let you all know as soon as I can about my reassignment! Thank you for all your support, it means a lot! Take care and stay safe!
-Elder Markham
UPDATE:
Hello! Here is a quick update of what is going on. I have been released as a missionary and I am waiting to receive my new calling. We were given two options to choose from. The first consisted of being sent out as soon as possible with ending on the original end date given. The second option would have had me wait 12 to 18 months for a new calling, with a new end date. I chose the first. So I should be back out on the mission next month. I am grateful for the time I will have here with my family. I look forward to watching general conference with them tomorrow and Sunday, it will be exciting! I encourage everyone to focus on the theme for this conference which is the first vision, which lead to the restoration of the church.
I am not sure how long I will be here. But I am excited to get back out to continue my service for the Lord!
-Blake Markham
