Pictures! March 10, 2020

Spanish Sign Language March 10, 2020

Family and friends,

This last week was probably our best yet! We had the baptism for Otilio and it was a very touching experience. Many members attended to support, there were over 20! And other family of his also went. They were his mother, his sister, and his cousin. Both his mother and sister are not members. And neither of them are from our mission. But his mother will be in contact with other missionaries from her area! It was very sweet that Otilio's mother attended. After the ordnance, she gave Otilio a big hug while she cried! 

We also scheduled two other baptism dates for this month for Alex and Elvia! They both are very happy.

Subject- So there I was, walking with Elder Molina to an appointment. We had left early after a prompting came that we should do so. It was after last pday and it was already dark. We were walking through 2nd street, I look over across the street and see two men (one in a wheelchair) communicating by Spanish sign language. I had already knew that my companion knew how to communicate using that language and so I said,"Look!" The two men had taken notice of us by then and both gave a thumbs up to signify that they respect us. As we approach, my companion begins to communicate, asking who they were and where they were from. We found out that they are from our area and they are in a family of six! Long story short, they accepted a return appointment and I now can use a bit of this language. Things like introducing myself and asking simple questions. It's a lot easier to learn than any other language! It's different from English sign language because the foundation of Spanish sign language is Spanish itself. So they form the first letter of each word with their hands and make motions accordingly, for the most part. I'm looking forward to this appointment!

That's all I have for this week as far as an update, but I will now send PICTURES!  With no captions though because there are a lot. They will speak for themselves.

Follow the Prophet and Have Faith! March 3, 2020

Family and friends,

It's so wonderful to hear from all of you! I am glad to hear that you are doing great and I also love hearing about all your experiences. 

It's March already and that means only one month away from General Conference! Before I begin with my topic, I will give a quick update! 

This last week we picked up six new investigators and they are incredible! There are a few that struggle, more than usual, with faith. But they are willing to learn, grow, and progress and that is always a good start. There are a couple of our investigators that already have a good grasp on faith. And that came mostly from their experiences. Alejandra and Daniel are a couple that live together. They are both about 60 years old. Alejandra is blind and Daniel can't see very well. It's not that he needs glasses, his vision is just beginning to fail him. We had a very special return appointment with them the other day, and Alejandra's brother was there with us. He is a convert of about two years! Except he lives in a different ward. The three of them were there with us and they shared experiences of how they know the Lord loves them. Alejandra's brother had a serious smoking problem before he was baptized. He received surgery and he now has a large hole, about the size of a quarter, in between his chest and throat. From that, he drinks water and eats soft food by a special technique in which he holds his breath bends over slightly and throws it in. Then sits up straight for it to go down. Because of this problem he has, he speaks very softly and it always sounds like he needs to clear his throat. But by this experience, he explained all the rough patches in his life that led him to his baptism. He says how he has felt the love of our Father in Heaven and His Son so abundantly in his life that he knew becoming baptized is what he needed. He felt like he should give something back to the Savior after everything the Savior has given to him. Alejandra has a special faith and story of her own. But she is in a rough spot at this moment. Daniel goes to work every day except Sunday. He works from 11 in the morning to 11 at night. That leaves Alejandra at home by herself the whole day. She has the same schedule every day, she wakes up, sits at the edge of her bed until she goes back to sleep later that night. She has one path in her small apartment that she knows. And that's the path from the edge of her bed to the bathroom. Daniel comes back once during the day to feed Alejandra during lunch. It's all very heartbreaking to hear. Although, she does know how to function the dvd player that she has so we will be getting the Book of Mormon on audio for her and Daniel. But this is her schedule, day in and day out. And it has been for a long, long time. I am very happy that my companion and I are here to minister to them and help with their needs. 

About the subject of this email- First I want to share a message about faith! We have a couple of investigators who struggle with this principle. They think that faith is only hope and a desire. But it is not only that. Faith is so much more. There are many that believe that faith is simply putting trust in the Lord and hoping that He will do everything for you. The doctrine in D&C 58:26-29 says otherwise. Faith is first the desire, and then we need to act. For example, we have an investigator who knows a lot about the Book of Mormon. He has this great knowledge, this great gift! He has read the Book of Mormon many times over from cover to cover, and yet, he doesn't seem convinced that the church is true. But he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He lays in confusion regarding what is true and what is not. It might be hard to think why this person, who has read the Book of Mormon many times, still struggles with feeling if the church is the right one or not. After all, the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to convince everyone that Jesus is the Christ and give light to all those who read it, right? Yes, of course it is it! But there's more! He has the faith that the Book of Mormon is true. The thing that he is missing is that he is not showing this faith. He doesn't want to sacrifice his time to go to church, he doesn't show that he has this faith by being receptive, he wants everything to be proven to him. In a sense, he is fulfilling what it talks about in Alma 12:9-11. About those who harden their hearts are dragged down to outer darkness. He has hardened his heart to many of the things we say because he expects it to be proven. And still, Alma 32:21 says that faith is a hope of things not seen. We have heard it said many times that if we were given proof, that would not change if we believe or not. The belief needs to come before the proof. We don't have answers to everything yet. Elder M. Russel Ballard is an incredible example with his faith among many others. As he spoke to a number of ministers in other religions while he was a mission president, a minister there made a comment about how they would all believe if Elder Ballard simply put the golden plates on the table in front of them. Elder Ballard quickly felt prompted to say something along the lines of ''You are a minister of your religion. You should know that that is not how faith works. If I put the golden plates on the table in front of you, you would not know if the Book of Mormon is true any more than you know now." And that is exactly right. Faith doesn't work like that. We can know this because we have proof all around us; proof that there is a God, proof that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church, proof that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and so much more! We live in this world, this world is proof. If you want more proof, then something to do would be to watch the talk given by Tad R. Callister called "Witness of the Book of Mormon". I will say that if someone does not have faith in Christ, watching that talk will do nothing for if you know that this is the true church of our Savior. But if your faith is pure, nothing wavering, your testimony will grow immensely by the Spirit whispering to you that the words are true. We know that in order to receive more, we have to do more. It's like it says in D&C 82:10, we have no promise when we don't keep the commandments. But when we do keep the commandments, the Lord is bound by His own celestial law, and we are blessed. People who are not first willing to show their faith cannot receive more. They are stuck in confusion and they are brought down. Remember, we do not need all the answers right now. It is impossible to know everything at this moment. But continue in faith, and we will learn little by little as the answers are shown unto us in the Lord's time. In review, faith is first the desire to learn and know, then the desire to act, and then the part in actually taking action in whatever form the Spirit directs. We must first be willing to give before we receive. Joseph Smith teaches that we must first live the celestial laws/commandments in order to enter into the Lord's kingdom. We cannot start doing it after. Hence the reason Alma teaches this in Alma chapter 34. This is a time of repentance and progression. It is NOT a time of procrastination. We cannot expect the Lord's atonement to save us in our sins at the end of our time. The Savior's atonement saves us from our sins. The atonement is all powerful, but we cannot access that power unless we let it.

The second part of this email is follow the prophet!!! Isn't it great to have prophets and apostles here on this earth?! Revelation is given to President Russel M. Nelson to assist the savior in directing His church. Let's remember the changes we had quite some time ago about making families more centered on gospel learning. We had the time change to two hour Sundays at church, and an extra hour given to learning in the home. What a wonderful example of revelation that was! Many acted and the Lord responded in blessing us. But now, we see how sickness is impacting the world wide church. Many families in the church are now suffering in many ways. Buildings are closing and now church members are FORCED to stay in their homes. Wasn't that a merciful gift from our Heavenly Father that He gave counsel to the prophet with many reasons among this one? I think it was. Heavenly Father knew this was going to happen. On His time, He gave counsel to president Nelson. It was time. President Nelson was given revelation to have time at church changed. And for those who took that counsel to heart are now being blessed because they were prepared! Instead of being as many others who are scrambling around trying to figure out how to keep a Christ centered home when they forsook the counsel given by our prophet. Many members in the east are starting their learning now about how to make a Christ centered home. That is difficult. There have been many that have relied on church meetings to make their home more Christ centered. But that is not how it works. The prophecies given by prophets and Jesus Christ Himself will come to pass regardless if we're prepared or not. In the words of our Savior, "For behold, I come quickly." The end is drawing near! Stay close to the counsel of our prophets and they will not lead us astray! Make your homes more Christ-centered before it's too late! The prophet's counsel is for our own spiritual well-being and at many times, our physical well-being. The family is the center in the Lord's purpose of the plan of salvation. Keep this scripture in mind! D&C 1:37-38.

Take care everyone! I miss you all! I finally got a new cable for my camera, so pictures to come next week!

-Elder Markham

It's been a while! Feb. 18th, 2020

Family and friends,

I apologize for how long it's been since I have given an update! And I need to respond to personal emails next week in order to write to everyone this week! 

  But wow, it's truly been fantastic! These last few weeks were great! This week we had our zone conference and that was definitely a highlight. We talked lots about the Restoration in order to prepare for this upcoming general conference. Spiritual eyes were opened wider and hearts became a little softer! It's always a joy to feel the pure love of our Father in Heaven by the Spirit. I also got to see a handful of the elders that were with me in the CCM! As much as these guys have changed, Elder Xanthos still has his humor that will crack anyone up, Elder Lundquist continues to blow me away with his learning abilities, especially with Spanish, Elder Bingham is still that leader that I have always seen him as, and Elder Bates is still the light of the group!!! 

   The work continues to roll forth! Blessings have been poured out here in Pantitlan. One of the first that I noticed was of course Elder Molina. What a help that he has been! Things are going a lot better and feelings are become sweeter and sweeter because of the continuing guidance of the Spirit! From the beginning of the cycle to now, we have six strong new investigators, nine in total, four of five that were invited attended sacrament meeting this past Sunday, one has a baptism date for March 7th and he is right on course, and a few more are about ready for a baptism date!   

   I don't have enough time to share any stories this week, but trust me, I have interesting experiences very often. 

   I love the mission very much and I am surprised every day! Learning by experience is perhaps the best and most effective way to learn. With that being said, this mission has already taught me more than I ever could have imagined! As missionaries, we are supposed to be out here helping people change their lives but I can feel my life being changed after each person accepts any invitation. I feel that because there is always a new peace when we know that the person we are talking with wants to repent. By that, we are fulfilling our purpose as missionaries. Because we are out here to teach repentance, not other strange or hard to understand doctrine. Alma 12: 9-11 and Alma 26: 22 have helped me a lot while being out here. I suggest each of you read and ponder it! 

  Thank you all for your support! More updates will come next week! 

-Elder Markham

New Start! February 4th, 2020

Family and Friends,

Many crazy things have taken place! These last few weeks have been a struggle and a blessing. We just had changes and so now this chaos of going back and forth is finally over. I learned a lot especially with being more organized because of how crazy it was. It was a nice experience to have a really tough challenge but now, we can work hard in our designated areas.

All the missionaries in my house got changes except for me. I get to stay here and help Pantitlan. My new companion is incredible! He is Elder Molina and he just finished being trained. His trainers were awesome! One of his zone leaders was Elder Salas who is very in tune with the spirit and knows very well when to chastise the other missionaries and when to show more love. And of course when to do both because the Lord chastens those He loves. Elder Salas was actually my zone leader when I was in Tecamac! Elder Molina told me how he sat down with Elder Salas at the visitors center and Elder Salas gave him some strict talking. He told him how Pantitlan is in desperate need of help because of all the things that have been going on. So now Elder Molina is here with me, ready to help change everything around. The other two Elders are Elders that I actually know! They are both from Tecamac and one of them was my district leader. I am so looking forward to the rest of the time here! It's a new district which means new opportunities to learn and serve! 

That's all I have for this week. I will have more next week, promise! 

-Elder Markham

Special Changes Coming Up January 21, 2020

Family and friends,

It's been pretty crazy these past couple weeks! Sorry I haven't been able to write in a while but here is the newest update!

And really quickly, I will be responding to personal emails next week! I went to the Temple this morning, which was absolutely incredible, so I haven't had much time for things today so I'm sorry! But I appreciate hearing from everyone!

I'll get right into it! It's been crazy for many reasons. But first, we are getting ready for special changes and that's been happening for the past week now. There is a missionary in our district that is lacking a companion at the moment so Elder Mendez and I have been going back and forth every other night to fill in and work there. And we don't know for sure yet when it's going to end. We got word from President Parry the other night about how we may have to wait until after interviews, which are Thursday, or just until the end of this cycle which is at the end of next week. So I am in a trio of missionaries half of the time and then working in a different area for the other half. It has been very chaotic but I do enjoy the difficulty! It always makes everything worth it. And on a lighter note, I did get to help with a baptism last Saturday! That leads me into a quick story...

So Elder Mendez and I ( this Elder Mendez is actually in the other area. Both him and my companion have the same name) we get to the chapel to get everything ready for the baptism and we make a horrifying discovery! There was no water going through the building! Absolutely none! It was just the two of us and we are running around trying to see if there was a problem we could fix. The baptism was in two hours from the time we arrived so we knew that we at least had some time. We of course called the bishop and told him what was going on. He said he couldn't be there for another half hour to 40 minutes. So in that time, Elder Mendez and I are looking around to see if there were problems. This was all AFTER going outside to figure out how to get the gas on. It's weird because every other building has a different way that the gas works for warm water. But anyway, the water for the building never ends up coming back on. By the time things were really getting intense, a member had shown up with his family because his son was being baptized along with our baptism, who has the name America by the way. Then not long after, the bishop arrived. We had less than an hour and a half until the baptism started. Thankfully, here in Mexico, people show up to events only 5 minutes before or 30 minutes after they start. So we were in luck because that gave us more comfort time. But time was still on the line. There was no way we could reschedule this baptism because we had invited at least 15 people to attend and they all said they could make it. Including an investigator! So we were going to fill that font somehow. Then the bishop had an idea! He knew of a rope that was stored away that he went to go grab. Then we got some buckets! The water tank sits outside this chapel, in the ground. So he throws open the cap, ties the rope to a bucket to fill others, and we start filling the baptism font with buckets of water by him lowering the bucket he had on the rope to collect the water and pour it in our buckets. We had this system going pretty well. Eventually it started raining too. So we were getting drenched. But we were eventually able to get the font filled just in time! And there ended up being nearly 40 people at the baptism! Most of them there for America, the others that were there for the little boy being baptized were only 5 others. So that was a nice miracle to see so much support for a new convert! Then Pantitlan also had a baptism that night as well. 

   Many blessings unfolded that weekend and they continue to do so! And now, that investigator who attended the baptism has her baptism scheduled for February 15th! Which is actually her birthday! Then tomorrow in the other area, I get to visit a reference that we sent to that area. I met him and talked to him for a while before we sent the reference. He actually knows pretty good English! So I'm looking forward to that. Amongst all the chaos, I'm able to find a very sweet peace through this service and I appreciate each and every moment! The Lord continues to bless us with trials to strengthen us. I am more than happy to take each and every one of them that He sends my way. This is what the mission is about! Having a good attitude while doing the will of the Lord!

I give thanks to each and every one of you for all the love and support you share! You all play a part in this gathering going on in Mexico because of the examples you have been to me so I hope you all know that! It's a blessing to work with so many wonderful missionaries out here and to also have a wonderful mission president. And his wife is just as wonderful with her love and support. These are very noble and honorable missionaries that I get to work side by side with! So many humble and kind missionaries make it all that much better! I will share more next week! 

-Elder Markham

A Final Testimony of 2019

Family and friends,

This week was a blast! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was great! After waking up, the Elders in the house and I went to do a small service for some members that live behind our block. We swept up, pulled weeds, and painted lamp posts! Afterwards they invited us in for a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast! Later, we had lunch with some incredible members and I got to talk to my family which was awesome! I think that was the first time I got to talk to all of them at once since being out here haha. 

Well now we have 2020 coming up and I'm excited! We were invited by two different families to join them for dinner tonight so I'm looking forward to that! But now I would like to share a special testimony. It's the end of 2019 and we are entering into the year of the 200th anniversary of the first vision which lead to the restoration of the church and the fullness of the gospel! I know this next year will be amazing! Just recently in an email, our mission president's wife shared how that 20/20 vision means perfect vision. She explained how we can apply that to this upcoming year with it being 2020. As we become more acquainted with the church and its true doctrine in this next year, especially with it being the 200th anniversary of the moment Joseph Smith conversed with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, we can have a better vision of ourselves and the truth! So now, I would like to talk about some things and share part of my testimony, specifically of the Book of Mormon. What I want to do in the upcoming year is share my testimony more often of the Book of Mormon so now is a good start to do that.     

   I would like to begin by explaining that a testimony and knowledge of the Book of Mormon always begins very small. And yet, that doesn't mean it's insignificant by any means. Because that small seed that is planted in your heart is the very core of your foundation of your testimony and where it all began. Whether it began by learning of the incredible stories of Captain Moroni's army and the cunning strategy that Teancum used to bring down the kings of the Lamanites, or the incredible journey of Lehi and his family to the promised land, or Jacob's articulate allegory of the olive tree, or the fulfilled words of the prophet Ether who prophesied the destruction of millions of the Jaredites, or the sweetness of the story of Jesus Christ in the presence of the Nephites, or even the testimonies of the eleven witnesses, this can all bring about a wonderful beginning for each individual. Every one of these stories brings about profound testimonies. One recognizable one is that of President Joseph Fielding Smith's, who had already read the Book of Mormon twice from cover to cover by the age of ten! His testimony and knowledge of the Book of Mormon is incredible! The Book of Mormon is incomparable to any book for numberless reasons. One of which is because it is the only book that has the power to touch the hearts of the children of men the way it does. No other book has its sealing power and no other book contains the love of our Savior that we can feel which has the intensity to bring any person who reads it close to tears. I testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I also echo the promise of so many prophets that have testified that those who read the Book of Mormon completely and with a fullness of heart will come to the truth and know for a surety that Jesus is the Christ and our Savior. That is the purpose of the Book of Mormon, to convince the Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is truly our Lord and Savior and that He will come again. Remember the teachings of Alma! If you read the Book of Mormon with real intent, if you pray to know of its surety, you can know that it's true by what you feel. The feeling is exactly like a seed. And if you feel good inside, if you feel the purity of the book and of its works, you will know that it is good. Like Alma said, if this seed brings about good things, then you may know that this is good. By that, you may know that the Book of Mormon is true. Never forget, every piece of knowledge is gained little by little. Just as 2 Nephi 28:30 teaches. We learn precept upon precept. It's not everything all at once and that is a reason why we are told to read the Book of Mormon many times over. We won't learn it all after reading it once, nor will we learn it all in this mortality. 2 Nephi 28:30 also teaches that if we think we know enough then we lose what we already had, we get our knowledge taken away. If you can take anything from what I have written, I would ask you to know of my everlasting testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know it's true and I will constantly testify of that. It's also our promise to read and pray and then the mysteries of God will be unfolded to us. I promise that the Book of Mormon is true and I lovingly testify of it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Markham