Finally in Florida! June 29th, 2020

Family and friends,

   I arrived in Florida last Wednesday so today is day six for me counting the day of arrival. And OH MY GOODNESS the climate here is intense! No one was kidding when they said it was humid here. I nearly suffocated as I stepped off the plane. And not only is it humid, but south Florida is scorching hot! It's been around 95 and it does not drop, even at night. It still is very warm and humid. Obviously the night time is much more tolerable than during the day but we don't work at night...  It's not even the hottest time of the year and I am getting a little scared about that. It's already very hot and the humidity combination makes it at least 100% worse. You are actually able to feel it on your skin. It feels like being surrounded by a warm cloud. Almost as if you were sitting in a sauna but much worse because you don't actually want to feel like that. It is as if a very hot cloud is giving you an uncomfortable hug. I do not know how else to describe it. This is not the first time you will hear about the weather during my time here so keep that in mind.

   Okay, so that's out of the way and now onto the more interesting stuff! My mission president, President Garns, was there with his wife and assistants to greet us at the airport. I arrived with about 10 other missionaries, we were the last group of the day. About 40 new missionaries in total arrived in the mission. There are around 230 missionaries here. The mission boundaries take up all of south Florida, including the keys. It is quite large especially compared to my last mission. My group and I arrived at around 8:30pm so we were taken to the chapel in Plantation. There I received everything I need such as my mission guide, bed sheets, other information, and my hurricane supplies backpack. Hurricanes are rare here but they of course happen often enough where we need something just in case. The last big one they had was back in 2017. Protocol for that is pretty simple. All missionaries just go to a chapel. At the Plantation stake center, I met my new companion, Elder Enz! He is from Indiana and is awesome! Elder Enz has been out for just under a year. He is also the district leader so that makes things a bit easier for me regarding reports and accounting. Him and I are opening up a new area in the Silver Lakes branch. They need to compensate for all the missionaries coming in so many areas are being split. Silver Lakes is a very small branch but each member is pretty active. Also the average age of the branch is around 70 years old. This is also a Spanish branch!! The Florida Fort Lauderdale mission is one of those missions where there are many language assignments. The languages here are English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese. Each call extended assigns a missionary one of those languages. I am on Spanish assignment. So I am very blessed to be able to continue to learn Spanish!!! The culture here is very diverse. There are many people from Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and other Atlantic Islands! It's a shame that we are not able to talk to many of these people though. We are still in quarantine because Florida has a lot of cases. And pretty much all of the hot spots are in our mission. It is also getting worse. On the bright side, Elder Enz and I are locked up in a hotel! We also drive a 2019 Dodge Caravan. It's a rental car and it is very slick. South Florida is pretty dang awesome! It honestly looks like paradise. There are palm trees everywhere, it's hot, the food is great, and there are very expensive buildings and other things everywhere! There are very nice cars all over the place. We've seen lamborghinis a couple of times. People that live around here are either on vacation, retired, or here working. The percentage of people who actually live here is very low. Plus, my area is one of the nicest in the mission. We live in Plantation. It is a bit further into the mainland. Most of where the missionaries work is along the east coast. And a larger portion of the mission is the Everglades. That is a pretty crazy spot. It is a protected area with lots of Alligators, Monitors, and other crazy animals. We went there today and I will try to send some pictures of it! We do see Iguanas very often. They sit along the sides of the canals. They swim pretty fast too! And there are canals everywhere! South Florida has this nickname, Venice, because of how many canals there are. It's a lot like Italy. But there is water everywhere! There are ponds and lakes too! Most of the church buildings have ponds out in front. Our stake center also has a canal running on the other side of the street. 

   We do all our work through technology right now. We have smartphones which is very different from what I was used to and there is this church owned app just for missionaries that is the area book and it is awesome! I will have to go more in depth with that next week. We have to find new people through Facebook. I am not very savvy with that so I have a lot to learn. But the tech sister missionaries are in our district and they are the only ones in the mission so we get that huge advantage! And we are also able to contact lots of former friends (here they call them friends instead of investigators). It took a while to get everything in order for our area, Elder Enz is also new to this area. We had been assigned to draw out boundaries for our area so we talked that over with the sisters in our branch. We share the branch with sister missionaries! After we did the boundaries they sent us all the info we needed. They have been here a while longer. But this is the first time that this branch has ever had elders! So that is very exciting! In our district there are eight of us. There are four sister missionaries and four of us elders. We have been in contact with two new friends, Cheska and Arnaldo, so we are hoping to get lessons going with them soon. Other than that things are moving quite slow but that is pretty expected with our situation at the moment. We have faith that the Lord will guide us accordingly! 

   The food has been great so far!!! I ate Alligator today but sadly the picture of it was deleted due to my lack of attention as I was going through extra photos I took on my camera, sorry! But I will send the rest of the pictures from the little exhibit we were able to visit! A member also fed us mission BBQ which was so great! It was only a bit cold since we had to bring the sisters their portion. But it was still incredible! 

I think that is it for now. A lot is happening despite not being able to go out much so I hope that I didn't miss anything.

Take care, I miss you all!

-Elder Markham

Here are some pictures I took today. You can see in one of them just how flat Florida is!

Some more pics of the exhibit we visited! There is a Monitor, a massive Alligator, and some tortoises!

Baby Alligators with turtles!! Also a bird we found with one foot. The birds always follow people around with their mouths open asking for food haha

New Assignment! May 13, 2020

Family and friends,

   I finally received my new assignment to serve! I have been called to go to the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission!!! 

   That's pretty much all that I know as of right now other than my estimated leave date, which is the 24th of June. I am supposed to receive official details at any time. I am very excited to get back out and continue! This mission takes up the entire southern tip of Florida as well as the key which stretches into its islands. I am pretty sure that the mission is English-speaking but I have been told that I will have many opportunities to use Spanish. It will be interesting to adapt to a new mission-like environment. I expect it to be quite different from Mexico City. I will send one last email before I go back out and after that I will be a missionary again!!! 

   This quick message that I will share with all of you regards the love of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that they do love us! Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that He gave us the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. Our Heavenly Father has also given us the ability to choose for ourselves. He gives us direction through His faithful prophets and apostles. He has blessed us with the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon. That and the Bible are very useful tools on our path back to the Father! We can learn more of the scattering and gathering of Israel as we read the Book of Mormon and Bible in harmony. The Bible shares the wonderful information about the House of Israel and the different tribes. We can find our purpose in the scriptures by reading about our responsibilities as members of the tribes of Israel. Many of us share the responsibilities of the gathering of Israel! And what a responsibility that is!!! Our Heavenly Father has given to us our bodies, that we may come here to gain experience and progress to become like our Heavenly Father and our Savior. There are countless examples of our Heavenly Father's love manifested towards us. The greatest example of love is our Heavenly Father's and our Savior's sacrifice. We have been given the Atonement. We may use that gift to better our lives and look for comfort. Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son to atone for all of our sins. That is how we can know that we are loved by our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They work in perfect harmony for the welfare of us! They are selfless and full of charity. They are the examples that we should strive to follow. Always remember to look for advice and counsel from prophets and from the Lord! Please stay away from things of the world that can lead you away from the truth. Stay away and aware of the things that will create negative feelings such as sadness, drama, anger, jealousy, lust, vengeful thinking, or anything of that sort. Do not value the world's advice over the advice of our own prophets and apostles. Turn to them and the scriptures and prayer when you find yourself full of doubt, fear, and anguish. Find support from your family and friends! We have people in our lives for specific reasons. Our Father in Heaven made us so that we interact. And by His perfect design, He has placed loved ones into our lives for situations that He knew we would have to face. And when you think no one understands you, just remember that the Savior always will because of what He did for us. There are too many negative assumptions about people or situations. Please stay away from those and do not be involved with gossip or evil behavior that is not in harmony with the standards of the Lord's church. Always look for the good and be hopeful of the future! People are good. The light of Christ dwells in any individual who is alive, because that is what actually gives life! It is in all things and round about all things. So if someone is still living here on the earth, then there is still hope for them! It is often obvious that the light of Christ may be buried further in some individuals, but as the light of Christ remains in them, that is Heavenly Father giving them opportunity after opportunity to change and become better. Love and the Atonement are the cure for all things! As we access and seek the special Spirit on our own time, we can better feel the Savior's comfort and His love. Above all, remember to love others as the Savior would. Often, words and the special bonds you create go farther than actions. Have that pure love of Christ which is charity. Bless them that curse you and do good to them that hate you. There is never a reason to be unforgiving, vengeful, bitter, full of lust for others' possessions, prideful, or jealous of others. I know that becoming like our Savior is not easy. It's not supposed to be easy. But it is possible! Otherwise we wouldn't be here. We are here for a purpose and that is to become like our Heavenly Father and His Son. We can do so as we love as they would. So always remember where we should put our trust! Always remember how much our Father in Heaven and His Son love us. Take care and never forget who you are!! I love hearing about how each of you are doing! We will talk soon!

-Blake Markham      

Waiting! April 23, 2020

Family and friends,

Here is my quick update and message!

   I have been home for almost a month now! The more steps I take down the path that the Lord has prepared for me, the more I can see what He wants me to do and how He wants me to do it. Things become more clear as we continue to do what the Lord asks of us! We have so many blessings, even more than we can count. And now, we can look to D&C 82:3 which mentions, "For of him unto whom much is given much is required." We each have so many blessings and so, we have many challenges. I think it's important to note that by our Heavenly Father's design, we have been placed here on earth to go through these very challenging times which means that in the pre-mortal life, we gained our Heavenly Father's trust to help the work of the Lord go forth at this moment. He chose those who He knew can lead nations and groups in times such as this. And He chose those members of these nations and groups to be stewards of their own responsibilities. Those responsibilities take many forms even at the youth level. Because choices we make now affect our very future. Sacrifices are, at many times, necessary for the well-being of our families now, or our future families. It makes it difficult to have the expectation that we would be different or be better when the time comes to take on such a great responsibility such as being a father or mother of a family. It is important to keep in mind that each individual is the sum of everything that they have seen, heard, said, and done. And so, we cannot expect to be better than we really are when what we have done is not in harmony with who we want to become. We attend church, fulfill our callings, read our scriptures, say our prayers, minister to others, teach, expound, exhort, fast, walk in the path of righteousness, and love our Heavenly Father so that we can do all of that in the time to come and so that our posterity may take on that same example of being a follower of Christ. We build habits now in order to allow them to be part of our nature later. I share this with each of you now because of the situations that we are all in. What goes on now impacts each person differently. That is because we have different paths prepared. I want all of you to know that Heavenly Father loves each of you! He is well aware of everything going on and He wants everyone to know that it will be alright. Whatever challenge or opposition we may face, it is important to remember the scripture, D&C 122:8 which says, "The Son of Man hath descended below them all." I love that scripture because it helps me to understand that there is a mountain that can only be measured by eternity between my problems and the depth that our Savior had to go to in order to understand and help each of us. My message to all of you at this time is to hold on! There are many that maybe aren't suffering through what is going on now, but in contrast, there are many who are struggling to see the light at the end of this. And keep in mind what Joseph Smith has said- "Everything that has a beginning must have an end." Thus, all our problems, worries, afflictions and trials will have an end. What we can achieve is greater than we can now comprehend, and that is the wonderful gift of eternal life which will bring eternal happiness. 

This is my testimony that God lives. He is our Eternal Father. The feelings of love and peace that we receive through the Holy Ghost are things never to be forgotten. Those are signs that He does live and that He does love us. Listen carefully and you will hear the sweet whisperings of the Spirit testifying to you that God is there. For that is how I know that my Heavenly Father and Savior love me. That is how I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. All things have an order and a law. All things were created, and so, there must be a creator. Nothing can create itself. I testify of the power of the Atonement. It has played a significant role in my life and I have watched it play a significant role in the lives of others. The sweet people who I came in contact with are some of my most favorite people! I respect them so much for doing things that I never could. The faith they have is an inspiration. I will never forget the faith shown forth from investigators battling cancer, others going through divorce, some struggling with addictions, many with disabilities both physically and mentally, and sometimes people with all of those problems. And perhaps one that stands out to me the most was the example of two investigators that I had in my second area just before I was transferred. The sister was blind and she lived a very rough life. For many years she has had the same routine each day. Each day except for Sunday, her husband was gone early in the morning at about 9:00am until late that night after 12:00am. He would either leave food out for her to eat or a friend would come assist her. Each of those days she spent too much time alone with no one. She would wake up and sit at the edge of the bed until it was time for her to go back to sleep. She knew how to function a disc player that they had but it just didn't work very well. She knew one path in their apartment which was to the bathroom and back. Her husband was nearly blind so he didn't have a car. If there was anyone out there who needed the gospel and the love of the Savior the most, it was them. The sister had already grown up with a rough childhood and she knew the meaning of suffering better than anyone else I came in contact with. As bad enough as everything was, they lived in a very small, two room, one bathroom, apartment which was very overdue for cleaning. It was a joy and heartbreak to receive this reference from their friend. I'm only glad that we were able to visit with them for a time before the husband decided that the gospel wasn't what he wanted for himself or his wife. In the end, we can only hope that they at least felt the love of God and that He had a couple of representatives to manifest that love to them. Even if the husband only accepted us for a short time, their faith that they showed to learn and progress was a greater example than words can describe. I leave my testimony here that the love of God stretches out to all who will receive it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church here today. Priesthood power has been restored to bless the lives of others. Scriptures have come forth by the hand of the Lord through His appointed servants. We have prophets and apostles that direct the work here on earth according to the Lord's will. Families can be together forever and they are the central purpose in the plan of salvation.

I testify of these things, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Blake Markham      

Letter From Home March 31, 2020

Family and friends,

   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 

He's coming Home! March 27th, 2020

We found out earlier today that our Elder Blake Markham will be coming home tomorrow night due to the world-wide Coved-19 epidemic.  Our church has taken measures to keep our missionaries safe, as well as those they serve and their families.  They are bringing all foreign missionaries back to their home countries.  Elders who have served for 18 months will be released from their duties early.  Sister Missionaries will also have time cut short if they are close to being released as well.  Those who still have time, will be given other assignments as soon as possible.  Right now, the world seems to be under quarantine, so it will be a while until we know for sure what Blake's new assignment will be.

Mike and I will pick him up from the airport tomorrow night, then he will quarantine himself for 14 days.  We will be informed of his next assignment later.  He will still serve under mission rules while he is living in our house.  We will try and keep everyone posted as soon as we are given instruction.

Blake was very sad to be leaving the Mexico, Mexico City East Mission, the mission he has grown to love so much.  But he knows that Heavenly Father is in charge and will lead him to where He wants Blake to be.  He will go wherever he is called!  His testimony has always been this strong.

But Momma is especially happy to be getting him back....even if for a short while.

Love,
Momma Markham

Transferred to a New Area March 17, 2020

Hello Momma,

It sounds like the United States is having more problems than here. I hope everyone is being safe! Keep washing your hands! And shower three times a day, sometimes four.


....I am now in a new area called Mirador! I was moved into a county called Ecatepec. The stake is also called Ecatepec. It is a huge place! I am hoping to get pictures soon. There is this very large hill, almost a mountain, that looks over Ecatepec. Which is why my area is called Mirador. In Spanish it means watcher. Our house is at the base of this mountain. The top of it is around 700 to 900 ft, from where we are living. We went close to the top yesterday to eat with a member. That is when we got to overlook the city. We could see the temple from it! And we're about an hour away. My new companion is Elder Wynn from California! He just finished being trained so I was called to be senior companion again. It was sad leaving my last area. Otilio's wife gave me a stuffed animal bunny she made for over 7 months! She found out I was leaving so she wanted to give that to me to thank me for helping Otilio. I'll take a picture of it to send next week!  

I hope all continues to go well! I miss you all! I saw the pictures and they are wonderful! I like the turtle's name, haha! It is so tiny!! 

I love you!!

Love Elder Blake Markham

More Pictures! March 10, 2020