Crashing Bikes for Service November 12, 2019

Family and friends!

I hope you're all doing well! Things just keep getting more exciting! 

To start off, we got another baptism scheduled for Maria, next month! She is very excited and can't wait! And neither can we! We had changes this last weekend but of course, my trainer and I are staying in our area. So I'll be hanging out here for another 6 weeks! Then possibly more after that haha. It depends but it sounds like for sure that my companion will be out of here before Christmas. He has already been here for close to 5 or so months! He thinks that I'm actually gonna be doing training myself for a new missionary after this next cycle, yikes! But I do love the area! I'm not actually in Mexico City though so hopefully I can get into the city sometime in the next two years haha. Elder Gonzales is great though! Although, I'm not quite sure if he gets the concept of 'redneck.' He calls me that at least three times a week and I try explaining to him what that means. He says he knows but then calls me that again later haha. He is a funny guy but I don't think that I'll ever have a companion as hilarious as Elder Xanthos haha. But Elder Gonzales is really trying hard to learn English! Speaking of language, my Spanish has definitely improved tons while being out here and receiving help from the Lord! I can talk to my companion just fine with minor problems when there are words or phrases I don't know yet very well. But for the most part, I have it down pretty well! The people I talk to are surprised when I tell them I only have less than two months out in the field so I guess that's good. My main problem is of course grammar. At least they can understand what I'm trying to say haha. Spelling is also a problem... I don't exactly write a ton of Spanish. Anyway, the language is great, the mission is great! I love the people and culture very much! The children here are especially funny! There is this one little boy, John, who is the son of this family we eat with on occasion close to the house of the other Elders in our district. His mom says that he can speak English pretty well since his dad is from the United States, but I haven't heard any English word from him yet. Or a Spanish word for that matter. We eat outside next to their porch and John just likes to stand next to us and pretend to shoot us for whatever reason. He makes random noises too. Then occasionally he will scream at an empty bowl of soup then cough on my taco and run away, not always in that order though. Then there is a little girl who is of this family we eat with a lot but closer to our house. She always is eating a sucker when we go visit them. But she pretty much just takes whatever she wants. Like one time, I was sitting there at the table eating some noodles, then she comes up and grabs my avocado and walked away with it. I didn't really mind, it was just funny. And Diego who is a little bit older, 11 or 12 maybe, is trying to learn English from me. So I give him a few words to memorize whenever we eat with their family. And then this one little boy who is always riding his bike around likes to stop us and ask where we're going and what we're doing and everything. All these kids are members (of our church) too. Other children aren't always very nice haha. But it's all been great, we've had lots of service opportunities and we got to bless a house(use the priesthood to give a blessing, or dedication, on a house, as requested by the owner). We helped one guy get a bed installed in his home, he wasn't a member (of our church). The house wasn't really all that great, there were clothes and garbage everywhere. It took us a while to actually find the bed frame under everything. But he is a really nice guy and his mother is sick and lives in her bed. So he doesn't have a whole lot so it was nice to do what we could for him. Sundays have been fun and interesting! One time they didn't have any deacons to pass the sacrament so us elders had to go help pass... we were actually called up during the sacrament hymn so I was caught a bit off guard. Then this last Sunday, they had pancakes for the sacrament so that was interesting! We have stake choir every Sunday night and that's always fun! We have stake conference coming up this weekend and President Parry and an Area Seventy (General Authority of our church) are attending that. So pressure is on for the choir!   (A Stake is a large area of people made up of several Wards...smaller congregations of the church split up by geographical regions)

     Now time for some stories haha! 

If you're wondering about the subject of this letter, here is why! This happened last night actually. But yesterday morning, I had intensely prayed for a service opportunity for that day. So I was really looking for ways to help anyone throughout the day and not much happened until later that night. But first, on our way to an appointment, we got stopped by the federal police. That was the second time it's happened to me so far. They like to ask where we're going and what we're doing, kind of like the little boy I mentioned earlier. It's hard to hear them though because this is literally right next to the highway. So they ask questions like who we are and where we're from. I'm not exactly sure why they do this, but one of them takes pictures while another is talking to us. Elder Gonzales said it's to send to their office to "show that they are working." Anyway, they took up about 10 minutes of our time so we were almost late to our lesson. That was the lesson that Maria accepted her baptism date for next month! So afterwards, when it was now dark, we're going back to our town where we live to teach our last lesson for the night. We didn't get very far down the highway when all of the sudden I get this feeling to look up (when it's dark we usually look at the ground because we can't see looking up with the cars shining their lights in our eyes). My companion who is a little way ahead of me is heading right for another biker, head on. It all happened at once from when I looked up and then they ran into each other. I instantly had a little panic attack hoping none of them would tumble into the road in front of any cars but thankfully they both fell the other way. My comp caught himself but the other guy fell down completely. Thankfully no one was hurt! It was obvious that Heavenly Father was watching over them. So we stopped and help the guy up and we're apologizing tons and tons. Elder Gonzales is still kind of in shock and so is the other guy. But I'm talking to him, knowing that this was the service opportunity the Lord blessed us with, and I'm trying to offer him anything I could for the trouble. I offered some money to pay for any bike repairs which he didn't take. I offered my tie which he didn't take. But he did accept the Book of Mormon I offered him! He was a very sweet and humble guy. Of course we introduced ourselves and told him who we were. He lives out of our proselytizing area but he did say he might attend church this week so we will see what happens! It is stake conference so maybe it will be extra special for him. Either way, I'm glad I was able to help him and perhaps the biggest act of service that we could offer him at that moment was simply our kindness. Maybe that's all he needed and the Lord knew it. Again, no one was hurt. The real damage was My companion's bike! His front tire was destroyed. So we had to walk our bikes all the way back, it took about two hours. On the way back, we ran into the same officers in the same place! They pretty much just sat there for a couple hours. They asked what happened then they let us continue on our way. But we left our bikes at our apartment and went to our last appointment, which they weren't there. So yesterday was pretty wild. And now we're going around without bikes at the moment haha.     

¡Este mision es muy especial e yo se que estoy aqui a enseñar sobre el evangelio de Jesucristo! Hermanos y hermanas, podemos recibir muchas bendiciones a traves la expiacion y si podemos seguir el ejemplo de nuestro Salvador. ¡Los amo ustedes!

-Elder Markham

Here is Elder Gonzales and I at the temple! As well as an old friend and I! Also our baptism for Arnulfo! 

Here is some food we get to have! The larger plate is of one of my favorite foods here, Huaraches! The other, not quite sure what it's called. We had it at our ward mission leaders house and it had these weird stringy things that had an odd texture. I asked Elder Lopez what they were and he just said, "It's best you don't know."   Then another pic of one of my favorite streets at night. Also a pic of what I'm pretty sure are UFOs. They're definitely not hot air balloons.

Pics of some of the rainy days we have! And a crazy freaky spider I found just outside our apartment!

Parts of our area! 

Pics of some gifts that were given to me by members! The little pumpkin witch one was given to me by a nice member who had me sign her Book of Mormon. 

Sunrises from our apartment

And finally, our lizard friend who visits us every morning around 10am. I haven't named him yet so let me know if any of you have ideas haha.  Also some abandon buildings across the train tracks from us that I thought were cool! 

The Never-Ending Atonement (Nov. 5th, 2019)

Family and friends!

I'm doing well and feeling great! I love the mission so much! 

A quick thing I just wanna mention about the emailing, I'm going to have to cut my personal emails with some of you a bit shorter! I'm really sorry but I take up too much time when I write so much. I just love talking with all of you! But most of my updates will have to come from my group emails. But don't worry, you can still write as much as you want, I just won't be able to write as much. 

This week was another great week! And the week before we had the baptism for Arnulfo, FINALLY! He was one of the two I had asked to be baptized during my first week but they kept missing church so they had to wait. But I got to baptize Arnulfo and I was supposed to baptize Elvia, the other who accepted. But she wants to wait a little longer so we might just have Arnulfo do it! But we also have a new baptism date coming up for Carolina who accepted this week!

I've learned a lot while being out here. So here are some things I've had the pleasure of learning about. First, I was able to read the president Thomas S. Monson memoriam (here) on the way back from the Temple one day. I really enjoyed it and it gave me a better understanding of his love he had for all of us and the people he served. It reminded me of a very dear person to me who I respect and admire very much, my mom's dad. My grandpa is a very caring and loving person. He is also a great leader and has had the opportunities to serve in many callings including Stake President (presiding/serving over a large area of church members) and Temple President. He now also serves as a Patriarch (Ordained Melchizedek Priesthood holder who gives special blessings to worthy members of the Church) and I had the blessing and privilege of receiving my Patriarchal blessing from him! As I was reading the Thomas S. Monson memoriam, a certain story came to my mind where my grandpa had exhibited his love and care for others. (My mom can correct this or better tell it if it's not as accurate haha). So, one Christmas season, my grandpa was driving somewhere, probably back home from work. On the way, he noticed a small family on the side of the road selling bundles of wood to make money for Christmas. Well, the weather wasn't all that great and it was raining a lot. And the wood was not that great of quality (green) and it was very damp. Because of that, the family was not able to sell any of it. With compassion and care in his heart, my grandpa pulled over and bought the family's entire pile of wood. They were of course very thankful and it warmed the parents' hearts during this cold and muggy season.  (Mom's addition: when the family arrived to deliver the wood, they were invited inside to enjoy homemade hot cocoa from my Grandma). What I learned from this story and from reading the loving acts of President Monson, is simply how to love better and be able to show it as well. Thomas S. Monson has said, "What is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should just let them know." This is what brings my mission more meaning and more purpose. Everything out here has to do with those around me. It's the difficult things in life that make it worth it for me. Joy comes with in, and happiness is a consequence from it. Charity has always been and always will be the pure love of Christ. For Him, it was always about never shrinking from the opportunity to help someone. This is why Jesus Christ is our perfect example. When we turn outward, we open up ourselves to receiving more blessings, even though the blessings we receive aren't the reason we turn outward. Elder David A. Bednar describes it well when he spoke about the love and service of Christ in an MTC devotional at the Provo MTC. He talked about Christ's final acts in mortality. The way He turned outward. He also mentioned one of His first acts when Jesus had sent angels to minister to John the Baptist when he was in prison. This was AFTER Jesus had suffered from fasting forty days and forty nights and then being directly tempted by Satan. Instead of keeping the angels to minister to Him, Christ sent them to minister to John. Another example of Christ's love is when he was on the cross. When He said to the Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. While He was nailed to the cross in agony, in pain, in sorrow, He thought of the people who had done this to Him in a very tender way. He thought of those Jews that yelled for Him to be crucified, He thought of those Pharisees who mocked Him and spat upon Him and smote Him, He thought of the guards who whipped Him, who nailed Him to the cross, who cast lots for His garments in mockery of fulfilling the prophecy, He thought just how excruciating this will be for them when the day comes that they stand before Him and realize the pain they caused Him and how they will realize, they crucified our beloved Savior. And finally, He thought of His very dear sweet mother, Mary. He asked John to take care of her. I believe that as Jesus was carrying His cross to the hill in Calvary, He was not thinking, "Wow this is miserable." I would think that He thought of all of us, all of us who He suffered for. I think that if anything, He felt relief. Relief to finally have completed the Atonement. That we can finally access this every time we repent. So, it's very important to know that when you feel alone, when you feel forgotten, lost, weak, frustrated, helpless, insignificant, sad, upset, depressed, or pointless, remember that there is one who felt the pains, sicknesses, and afflictions of every person who has lived, is living, and will yet live upon the face of the whole earth. Even all of them combined. This was not just some agony that Jesus felt where it was a single pain that is greater than them all. This was agony filled with different pains and afflictions, agony that allowed Him to understand each and every one of us. Beyond than how we even understand ourselves. The Atonement is something we cannot comprehend because of how great the pain was. But we can at least understand that when we feel the pain of emotion or physical affliction, we can know that our Savior is watching us, trying to comfort us and just thinking how miserable this is for us. He would be thinking this because He knows and is also thinking, "I'm very sorry. I felt that and I understand. I know exactly what it is you are going through and I'm sorry." I believe it still brings Him to tears, every time. Even though death isn't the same to God and Christ as it is for us, He still mourns with us and Christ still feels sorrow for our losses. For those of us that have the blessing of knowing what is after death, it is still difficult to let go of our loved ones that leave mortality, sometimes what seems like too soon. It's not about the idea that we won't ever see them again, we have that blessing to know that we will see them again. It's the idea that we miss them. That we know we will continue to miss them for the rest of our mortal lives until we get to see them again in the next life. So, brothers and sisters, never forget why we are here and where we are going. We are here to serve and grow. We don't get a second chance at mortality, so make careful choices. This mission has taught me love beyond compare to what I had before I left. I love and miss my family so very much and I deeply appreciate every little bit of contribution from all of you, my friends and family. I miss you all and I wish each and every single one of you well! Keep living your best lives and I hope to meet all of you at some point in two years time! 

Love you all!

Love Elder Markham

A Very Special Email Oct. 22, 2019

Family and friends,

I first want to apologize for not sending anything for a while! It's been super busy and I now finally have more time to actually send a full email haha. So this is going to be pretty long, but definitely worth the read! I have some good spiritual stories to share along with lessons learned. 

Quick side note ***I'm not going to really do much self editing on my emails since that takes up too much time haha. So sorry if something is spelled wrong or is messed up or just doesn't make sense!

   Alright! There is a lot to catch up on! So first, I would like to give more detail about my mission and area. My area is one of the largest in the mission (second or third I think) and so we have to travel on bikes when we don't use any other public transportation. So far I've used about pretty much any kind of transportation by vehicle. It takes anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour to get to some other villages or towns on bikes in our area to either contact or teach lessons. We don't have enough money to always use buses so we have bikes haha. By the way, most of the buses here are just vans with all the seats turned inwards. There are also speed bumps EVERYWHERE. That gets pretty annoying. Our church building is about 30 to 35 minutes of travel time including walking if we take a *van* and over an hour on bikes. But we rarely travel on bikes to the church. My area is in kind of the north west part of the mission and so it takes anywhere from two to three hours with public transportation to get to the temple which is south in our mission. My area is called Tecamac. There are all kinds of living in my area. Sometimes we spend time in the larger parts of towns with better houses, teaching and contacting on the streets. But for the most part, there is a lot of country to cover out in the middle of no where. Those places aren't as good. The houses are basically just concrete forts with dirt floors and blankets to cover the doorways. But these people are so kind and thoughtful! The food is great and literally everything has some sort of spice level to it haha. So far the weirdest things I've eaten are grasshoppers and locusts (which I really like a lot!) and maggots... yep, maggots! They actually aren't that bad but I still have mixed feelings about them just because of what they are. They actually harvest them here! They have what are actually maggot farms! And the grasshoppers and locusts are everywhere so they aren't hard to find. We practically live with them since they're always in our house haha. There are also a lot of rainstorms sometimes. Like HEAVY rain storms with thunder and lightning. Which leads me into a spiritual story that hasn't ended yet!   

    About three weeks ago, after traveling about 40 minutes to an area to contact, my trainer (Elder Gonzales) and I were getting ready to find people to teach. He then wanted me to say a quick prayer for inspiration on where to go and who to find. So I did and almost immediately, I received the impression to find a blue door with bars on the side. So I told my companion and we began to search. Not even 10 min later, we found it! I knocked and the father of this family of 3 answered. He and his wife have just one daughter. But we found out that his wife is a member but he isn't. He then proceeded to tell us how he is not at all interested in the church. Although, he is a very nice man. I felt prompted to share my testimony with him and give him a Book of Mormon. So just before leaving, I did. And he accepted the Book of Mormon! Shortly after departing, I then received the impression to return in two weeks. So my companion and I set a time to do so, but they didn't know that. That day of going back was probably one of the roughest days though! It began with going to the temple to get a tour of the visitors center in the morning (in which I got to reunite with my buddies from the CCM which was awesome!) and then after the journey back from the temple, we had to quickly go teach a lesson first. The rough part was, there was a rain/thunderstorm going on. Nevertheless, we pushed through and continued. As we were leaving the area we live in, the nastiest experience of my life occurred! A quick explanation of what happens sometimes when it rains a lot, the sewage in the middle of the streets burst out of the ground through the caps! I didn't know this before. So we were biking really slowly through the streets so we didn't kick any gross water up even though we were already soaked. And the water reached about half way up the wheels of our bikes in some parts. As we were biking through, I noticed a lot of small pieces of trash floating through the small river that we were biking through. Things like toilet paper and wrappers. I thought it was very unusual but I didn't think much of it. I mean, it's Mexico, a lot of weird things happen. Then all of the sudden, this awful smell nearly explodes my nose! I then hear my companion call out, in his best English possible, "This is poop!" I look up and see one of the caps bursting with sewage! It looked exactly like a fountain of some sort. Going about 2 to 3 feet high. I think the amount of rain changes pressure somehow so the sewage just empties into the streets. The only option was to bike through it since we couldn't go around. It was tricky because we couldn't see the bottom so there was no way to tell if we would hit a pothole or something and accidentally kick sewage up. But that idea was basically shattered when all of the sudden, a car comes zooming right past us and splashes sewage all over us!!! So we go the rest of the day with human waste, and whatever else people flush down the toilets here, all over us. There was no time to go all the way back and change. Either way, we continued with faith and hope for the rest of the day. We had a good lesson regardless of how I looked and smelled. Then finally, the time came to return to the family I had received revelation for. So it's another half hour biking in the rain but I was able to leave my bike outside to get washed in the rain during our previous lesson. So it no longer had mud and poop on it. But we get to that area and we spend about a half hour looking for the house and trying to remember the street. It was getting dark and we soon had to get to a dinner appointment with a member. But I was prepared to stay and look long past dinner. Luckily we found it early enough and we said a quick prayer before knocking. Then we knocked. And the wife answered this time. We asked her about her family and got to know them a bit more. Though, we found out that she is a less active member. But she was interested in our message for her and her family. We also found out that her husband works from early in the morning to late at night! And he is only at home during lunch in the day for about an hour. So the Lord had timed our arrival the first time perfectly! After sharing some things with her, she accepted a return appointment! Which was yesterday! And that lesson was very special. The father was at work of course so we sat outside with the mother and daughter teaching them. We also found out that the daughter is 8 years old! We will be working with them to get the father and daughter baptized! But the mother does struggle with her faith and trust in the Lord. She has been sick for quick some time and she has felt abandoned. But Elder Gonzales and I are doing the best we can to show her that Heavenly Father has sent help for her! The mother has not been to church in a long time. She doesn't know much about the gospel. But she accepted another appointment for later! I cannot wait to see the blessings unfold in their lives. So after the lesson, Elder Gonzales and I gave her a blessing of health. We are now trying to figure out how to get the father involved with the lessons. Regardless of what happens, the Lord has remembered them and has not forgotten them. They are deeply loved and it's time for them to come unto Christ. I just wish I knew more Spanish to express my love for them better and explain more things! I can't wait to share with all of you the following experiences of what happens in the future! I will try to share more next week!!! I miss you all and I appreciate all of your prayers and support! 

   And now a special shout out to my best friend who is now on his mission! He is preparing in the Provo MTC right now and getting ready to speak the Korean language to serve in Seoul South Korea! He's always been a great friend and a great brother to me! He has always been a good example and I appreciate his support through these years! Love ya Elder Beatty!!!  

 

I will try to get pictures sent if I can!

-Elder Markham 

Best Two Years of My Life! Oct. 8, 2019

Family and Friends, 

This last week was great! Full of spiritual experiences. General conference was especially spiritual! I can't wait for next conference. These next six months will be crazy full of the Book of Mormon. 

Before I go on to sharing a story, I'll give a quick update. This last week was very moving. I love the people of Mexico very much! They are some of the nicest people in the whole earth. That also means that they aren't very stubborn so they accept the gospel pretty well compared to other places. Like just this last week, we got 4 new baptism dates scheduled! I was really nervous for the first one because my trainer had me offer the invitation to be baptized. So after I talked about one of the points to a lesson, enduring to the end, I asked if they would be baptized. After that, it seemed like they were more nervous than I was haha. But they accepted! I'm really happy for them and I hope they have a wonderful experience. It ended up not being too bad because my trainer and his companion before me had already been teaching them for a while. 

I'm out of time now so I will need to share the story next week!

-Elder Markham

Into the Field! October 1, 2019

Family and friends!

Today is my second day in the field! It's been great so far! The first day I got to have some really good food. I'm not sure what it's called but it's really good. It's actually my companion's favorite. I also got a new companion! His name is Elder Gonzales and he is from Santa Cruz. He doesn't really speak English but that's alright. I prefer it that way cause it helps me learn Spanish faster! I will be with him in my area for about 12 weeks. My first area is called Tecamac. It's one of the largest in my mission so we have to ride to bikes. I would rather walk but this is fine haha. Mexico City is crazy busy!  Yesterday we were teaching after 2:30. It's really hard to get people to teach but if they don't want to listen then it's at least preparing them for the next missionaries they meet! I love the mission so much and I'm having the best time of my life! I'll send more next week! 

-Elder Markham

Here are a couple pics! Me outside our apartment and a pic of where we live. I'll try to send more next week! 

He Made it! October 1, 2019

Dear family of Elder Markham,

I send you Greetings from Mexico City! I would like you to know that Elder Markham arrived safely in the field this morning. The group left the MTC early this morning and arrived at the mission home at 8:00 am. They had a good breakfast where they got to know President and Sister Parry a little better.

After breakfast, the President had a personal interview with each missionary in the group, where he was assigned his new area and his trainer. Elder Markham will be serving in the Tecámac 2 Ward in the Tecámac Stake.

His new companion will be Elder Gonzales from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, one of the finest missionaries in the field.

His preparation day will be on Tuesdays, starting tomorrow, at which time he will be contacting you.

I am attaching some photos to this email that include a photo of the whole group that arrived this morning and a photo of Elder Markham, President and Sister Parry.

Please know that all is well and Elder Markham is very happy to begin his mission.

Sincerely,

Secretary of the Mission

 Hna. Augustus

Blake and his Mission Pres. Parry and Sister Parry

¡Yo Se Que a Traves Jesucristo y Su Expiacion Nosotros Podemos Regresar Con Su y Nuestro Padre Celestial! September 27, 2019

Family and Friends,

Wow! Already over a month! This is crazy! I leave on Monday for the field and I cannot be more excited! 

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)