April 16, 2012

Hello Everyone,

 

It was a quick week full of ups and downs and headaches and all else that comes with missionary work and preaching the gospel...There really is not anything new to report than from last Tuesday. We taught our investigator Helen 4 times this past week and she likes to make food for us. It is not healthy food so it does not go well with the Herbal Cleanse I started last week, but I put it down. My companion on the other hand is so fussy he doesn't even eat the crust at people's houses! I told him off for that. You can be a picky eater at your own house, but when you are at someone else's...shove it in your face!

 

He decided to remind me today that it is about 16 and a bit days left...Thanks companion..., but this Transfer like all the others since I was in Wrexham has just flown by...You can't grab hold of time...and there is no use trying. Just keep working and trying to make the most of it. We got to know the ward and the stake better this week. It was Warrington Ward Conference and so we had the Stake officers there and President Marshall is younger, but likes to talk a lot. Sacrament was only 10 minutes over time (last meeting in this ward) which a lot of people were surprised by. =D

 

I was talking with Tanner and asked him what I should be studying now that I finished the Book of Mormon and we/I with his help decided that I would Study Preach My Gospel and read a chapter a day until I finished that and my yearly goals. I am on Chapter 8 now. I read 6 and 7 today. I also finished a Topical Guide Study on Patience and moved on to Forbearance. I think it is Colossians somewhere that makes the point of It is the Lord's Forbearance that leads us to Repentance. I was thinking about that and it is very true. If the Lord was like me or like Peter, as soon as something was done He didn't agree with, BOOM GAME OVER. But because He loves us, He is Forbearing and waits for us to turn it back around, time and time again...

 

I love you all. Keep Strong.

 

Doctrine and Covenants 124:15,20

 

20 "my servant ___________ is without guile, and can be trusted for the integrity of his heart; And for the love which he has to my testimony, I, the Lord, love him."

 

One of my all time favorite scriptures.

 

Elder Blackburn

April 10

Hello everyone,

Sorry I did not email everyone yesterday. It was a bank holiday. My head is trying to catch up with everything and everyone still. I am on exchanges at the moment with my District Leader Elder Cofone from Trinidad. He is a loving caring individual. Completely foreign to me =P no just kidding...kind of. But anyways, I just want to share something uplifting with all of you. A couple things actually.

Saturday we were tracting and we knocked on this nice little ladies house. She is 55 and very talkative and doesn't really know what is going on quite yet. However, we taught her about families and God being our father. She used to be catholic. She came to church with us this Sunday and accepted a date. Since she was a single lady we had to call for permission so she let us call and ask president if we could go inside and he said sure! =D haha

Monday we ended Preparation day early because we were not using an hour to email and would use that today. We ended it early and headed to Liverpool. We took a Less Active Sister and her son Thomas who has Down Syndrome. Thomas and I are best buds. I will try and get a picture with him before the end comes so you all can see him. He is 22 so we are alright together. We took them to see the Osmond brothers who were in town having a Family Night. It was Merril, Jay, and Jimmy. Now I never listened to them but it was great to hear them bear their testimonies and speak from the scriptures and notice the same culture in their family that we have in ours. THere is not 9 of us, but there were only 3 boys up there on stage so it was a good representation and the youngest was the leader. JIMMY. Jimmy is Thomas' favorite of the bunch.

They did not sing any of their famous songs or anything, but that is ok haha. I didn't really like their songs that much anyways! =p

I just want you to know what I know.

I love you

Elder Blackburn

March 22, 2012 Whitewash Training, new zone, new area, new companion...same me =D

Well Hello Family,

 

It has been a great 10-11 days here. Miatta was sustained a member of the Oldham Ward and we went hiking up a great peak at the edge of our area with some members of the Ashton Zone. But all good things come to an end...or at least in mortality they do and the good thing I am speaking of is my time in Oldham...with a car...and with knowledgeable companions...

 

I am now back on foot/bike/bus. We are not really sure. I am emailing you from Widnes which is in the Warrington Ward and the Liverpool Zone. I have never served anywhere in this zone and it is all alien to me. The people speak Scause(sp?) aka Liverpudlian which is a mix of English with extra flem on the c,k, etc...

 

I am white wash training a new missionary who is also from South Africa like Elder Gordon was. He has heard of Elder Gordon but they never met because they were both normally on the computer. They probably battled online sometimes =P. But Elder McLeod (mc-cloud) is his name. He is great. I would send you pictures if I could, but you will see them soon enough anyways. We honestly have no idea what we are doing here with this whole white washing thing. He doesn't know what he is doing here period and I am trying to figure which way is up. IT WILL BE GREAT! =D. But there is a dated investigator here so that is good...Sad thing is that she flogged our appointment last night. So my little friend and I walked an hour there with a member...walked an hour back to town to Morrisons (like walmart...) bought him some really posh sheets that were marked down for clearance, and then walked back home. That was about 3 hours of walking for him. Apparently I walk fast. He slept well, but he is still exhausted. Poor kid. He has a brother on a mission in Minnesota! So Tanner and he are pretty close! His parents are not members and he is has a strong testimony from his grandmother. He was baptised at age 13 but has been to church since he was 3 because his grandmother took him. She passed away 3 years ago so I admire him and his brother for coming and doing what they know is right. They have good solid testimonies.

 

He keeps trying to figure out how long I have been here. I don't have the heart to tell him or talk about it at all...He will find out next week at zone conference. Departing missionaries give their testimonies. That will be a weird one to experience.

 

I was waiting for all the phone calls and rings to start happening last night...but NO ONE CALLED! It was definitely a weird experience being a companionship that no one needs to call. I started to feel a little isolated haha but then realised that that is the reason I always wanted to read the scriptures in my free time. Because I actually HAD free time to do those things.

 

It was mothers day in England this past weekend and it was great being able to think of Mom and all that she does. These next 6 weeks will be very interesting, but I am really looking forward to focusing on my ONE Elder McLeod.

 

One by One,

 

Elder Blackburn

March 12, 2012 No time

Well I was going to upload pictures to you but I have absolutely NO TIME Left. After emailling president Preston and President Fletcher reports...there is not a lot of time for all of you. Sorry! I even extended for 15 mins and only have 2 mins. But here we go.

We had a baptism this week! I have pictures. But can't upload them. Too long. Her name was Miatta Gbouma from Sierra Leone. She will be a strong member of the church here in Oldham and already has members of her family who are strong in the gospel as well so I don't worry too much about her future. She also has Family that lives in Indianapolis and is going to visit them in October! HOW GREAT IS THAT?! haha

REFERRALS! HELLO! HERE WE COME! haha

I love the Lord. He is great. Is he not?!

LOVE YOU!

Elder Blackburn

March 5, 2012 Hello from Sunny Oldham!

Hello everyone!

It was a great week. It was very busy! We had about 20 hours of meetings all together this week and add 10 hours for travel time and set up, but that is ok! I was able to go to my first ever Stake Priesthood Leadership Training and it was great to see how Bishops and WMLs and Wards are held Accountable at these types of meetings. PMG pg 148! We trained the WMLs on what they can do to help their missionaries and investigators in their own specific wards. We tried to help them find places to learn their duties besides the New Red Manuals. We showed them the information chart on page 145? of PMG and how they should know more than us and President Preston about each individual. It was great because Elder Jackson and I had worked with 5 out of the 8 WMLs present due to our past areas and so we were able to smile and hold them accountable and they took it very well. President Fletcher (Stake President of Ashton) was there and he was asking for goals and Oldham ward was the only one that actually knew their baptismal goal out of all of the wards and so at least we were well represented! 

We did not have a lot of finding time due to the meetings...But I worked on something this week I have been wanting to do. It is called MUSLIM Contacting. Considering 50% of the population is Pakistani, Iranian, Iraq, Bangladesh...There are lots areas which are heavily Islam and what I did with this young missionary who is really good, we went into this area and we started tracting in the middle of the day. The key to this kind of contacting is this..."ASK THE WISE MUSLIM MAN." They are very very nice people but the only want to bash with you or are not interested so you quickly tell them what you are doing and simply ask them where the white people are on the street. Honestly, it works! They immediately point at 3-4 doors of white families haha These white people barely ever get spoken to because missionaries and JWs barely ever go into these areas and so they are not as hardened. We set up 4 appointments and got in 1 door =P. It was fantastic. I am definitely doing it again! Elder Jackson was laughing when I told him what I did over the exchange. The new missionary was pleasantly surprised that it actually worked..."oh faithless generation..." =D

There was an amazing baptism of two individuals from Namibia in Ashton 1 this past week. One of my old areas. Elder Gianotti (italian) and Schmid (austrian) had asked at the beginning of the transfer where they should go. They asked me because I had already served there. I told them of a lady I may have mentioned to you last June...yeah I know you have no clue. But her name was Sandra. She lived in a tiny flat and worked for another church so never came to ours although she accepted the Book of Mormon as truth. I told them to go to West St. and knock on again. Well they did on Saturday evening. Sandra had moved out. But Harold and Rudolphine Kauvi from Namibia had just moved in Friday evening. They were upset because they did not know how they were going to get to church. They also are asylum seekers because of the fighting in their country. They were told by the British government that they would not be allowed to stay any longer than 3 weeks. Well the Lord knows His Children and their hearts. He sent the Elders there Saturday February 18? and on March 3rd they had already gained a testimony of everything of the Gospel and its Restoration through Joseph Smith. They were divinely prepared and elect "and the elect hear my voice" and they did. It was a great miracle to witness the divine appointment that Elder Giannotti and Elder Schmid were able to make it to. Harold and Rudolphine Kauvi last night were able to speak in front of a group of about 50 of their conversion at a mission home fireside and to testify of the Restoration. Two weeks later on the day they were confirmed members of the church.

Miatta Gbouma is being baptised this Saturday the 10th of March and we are very excited. She has two little girls. A cousin and a niece who are being prepared right now too and it is all because of another cousin from Sierra Leone and she came to get this lady baptised. I have no doubt about it!

They are all so so great!

I love you all!

Elder Blackburn

February 27, 2012

Hello Everyone!

Well, the highlight of today so far was that we are getting more senior couples in the mission, but because of that we are low on cars so they took ours away...but they gave us another one. HOWEVER, the old one was a 2011 brand new automatic meriva...this one seems to be a 2000/1999 MANUAL meriva. So we drove the 30 miles down to swap the car at the office. Then we scooted and bumped our way home as I remembered how to drive a manual again. PS: THE GEARS IN THIS ONE ARE NOT IN THE RIGHT SPOT...Just wanted to throw that out at ya. Also you have to do some crazy lifty thing to get it into reverse, but I managed. I am sure Grandpa is loving the fact that I am driving stick again. Also, when you slam the gas pedal all the way down to the floor...NOTHING happens. It takes a good 30 seconds for it to get from 60 to 70...so the Motorway was a fun place to drive! =D...This is from the Scotland/Ireland mission and this thing is BEAT UP...I mean bad! And our car director was afraid to give us them thinking they were unsafe to drive so he says to have us get it checked out. Well we will have driven a about 150 miles before we have a chance to do that, but it will be good! 

Elder Jackson and I are loving and laughing our lives away at the moment. There are way to many silly things to write/record/remember. Today I had the phone in my pocket which I had actually forgotten about. Then he pulls out his camera (which I thought was a phone) and he acts like he is answering it and talking to someone on his "personal mobile" and it just didn't click on me for awhile, but that is obviously a big no no to have a phone to yourself as a missionary, but those little jokes like that keep us on our toes and having a good time. 

Miatta came to church this past week and brought her two adorable daughters. One is 2 and the other is 3. Maddie (her niece) also came and brought her mom from London with her. We haven't taught Augusta (her mom) yet, but we definitely will try. She said she is coming back next week because she really liked it. Maddie is 17 and a little too cool for her age. She has two little sisters as well. Her mom is moving up to Manchester because it is about 1/2 the size of London and Maddie will stay out of trouble here then.

Everything just turned gray. Sorry if this email is all gray haha. Oh well. Anyways, things are good here. I am trying to work hard and push myself. Where is everyone in their Book of Mormon reading? If you aren't reading the Book of Mormon, you are not as close to God as you could be...

Love,

Elder Blackburn

February 20, 2012

Hiya family,

It was a good'n...aren't they all. The zone had 24 at sacrament which is really good and there are 10 dated throughout. 3 of them are ours and we actually might be seeing Diego and Geraldine get baptised finally instead of continuously pushing their date back. They are living together at the moment and aren't married so they can't be baptised if you didn't know that...

But we have a less active 25 year old who has recently come back to church and who is trying to find a new place. They will hopefully be moved out by this week with our help! We are excited about that. 

People seem to be progressing well. Funke Ogunnaike is back in town and is struggling a bit with her uncle still in Belgium. We got threats from an old african sounding man from London telling us not to visit her again. She knew nothing about it. But she does have an anti-truth uncle living with her upstairs. He has been trying to turn her kids against her and us. They all speak german because that is where they grew up and so we sent around Sister Rothmund (Switzerland) and Sister Mauch (Austrian) and they went in. Helped the kids feel the spirit and they all accepted to be baptised! (Take that mr. uncle!) So we are passing them over obviously to the sisters...

But that is ok. We are plenty busy trying to solve the issues of the missionaries and with our other investigators.

Things are good here. It hasn't been too cold. The wind has been the worst part. The car is pretty nice in keeping us dry haha! Hopefully you got some of those pictures last week...

Love you all,

Elder Blackburn

February 9, 2012

Hello!

Well this is the first time I am staying in the Ashton Zone for more
than 2 transfers at a time. I am staying put here in Oldham for #3.
Elder Smart was made the assistant and my new companion is Elder
Jackson from Sacramento,California! So I am stuck with one of your
lot. =D But he is great. Really he is. He is 6'8" haha. I have
nicknamed him "subwoofer" when he sings. He is definitely a bass.

I just feel like I have been thrown in a tumble dryer for the past
week. I honestly have no idea how I got here. Went on exchanges with
Elder Miranda in Bolton. Then planned to go on exchanges with Elder
Sandor in Oldham and as we go to Bolton to exchange we get the "red
letter" call. Meaning, come to the office you are an assistant (to my
companion, not me) =D. It is in my journal. Then from there we pass
from Ashton 2 to Elder Cunningham. Oldham ward cancels church. I go to
church in YSA ward with Elder Cunningham. Then back to Ashton 2. Elder
Schmid in Ashton 2 needed to go to Preston 50 miles away for a doctors
appointment and the Sat Nav took us somewhere else and we almost drove
out of the mission boundaries but don't worry I TOTALLY knew where we
were...sort of...Then we went back to Bolton, had lunch with Elder
Sandor and Jenei and then took Elder Sandor to the MTC in Chorley
where he was meant to talk to a missionary going to the Leeds mission
where there is a Slovak branch because that is 99% where this
missionary will be serving and there are some problems he needed to
know about and so we spent an hour there and I got a sneak peek at the
new missionaries and how crazy they really are! Transfers comes and we
are asked to pick up the new missionaries but instead of that, we get
treated to lunch cooked by the wonderful one and only Sister Preston,
do role plays with the new missionaries who are so excited to be here!
Transfers was great. I felt the spirit and as we sang the last song I
felt like crying while looking over at the departing missionaries.
They have been there for my whole mission (obviously), well not the
sisters, but I was in each one of those missionaries districts,
including the sisters. Every single one, I know and love, and have a
connection with. I will also miss Elder Smart and how much he was able
to teach me. It was a traumatic week.

I hardly feel like a missionary this past week. I just felt like a
driver. We have a monthly mileage of 1300 miles and it is only the 9th
and we are over 700. Can you say Mileage extension anyone?! I hope
President Preston can. I am sure he will understand when I explain it
all to him. I need to renew my temple reccomend on Friday at Zone
Leader Council. Can you believe it has already almost been 2 years
since I got my Temple Reccommend?! CRAZY!

It will be definitely an experience this transfer, but there are not
any problem children in the zone this transfer that I know of so I am
really happy about that!

I love you all!

Elder Blackburn

PS; Oh yeah,...I got THE CALL this week talking about which airport
and it will be Indianapolis, Indiana on May 3rd/4th depending the
hours I land. They do not know the exact details...but yeah...done
talking about that now, but y'all have been asking about it so there
it is. Do with the info how you please.

January 30, 2012 Hello Family!

Hello everyone!

It has been a weird week. A lot has happened, but it doesn't seem to
have been too long since I was emailing you all. I have one scripture
I learned this morning in 1 Thessalonians 1:5
 "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake."

Is this not what we promise investigators in every lesson and in every
prayer earnestly offered to our Heavenly Father that they will not
simply receive our Words, but that they will feel power and assurance
from the Holy Ghost, so that they may know what manner of men we are
coming to preach the gospel to them. That is our promise and I love to
know what company we as missionaries and members of The Church of
Jesus Christ are in when we make such a promise. The Apostles of old
had to rely on such power and if men of their standing needed it, how
much more do we need it?

I learned a lot from that short scripture. That is why we need to be
worthy so that our words can enter with power, the Holy Ghost does not
testify through us if He can't enter into us. What can't go in, can't
go through. It is like a tunnel.

But, I love you all, England is cold, wet, rainy, snowy...should a
mission be any other way?

Love you,

Elder Blackburn

January 23, 2012 Oldham

This was another quick week here in Oldham. Went on another exchange.
Had fun with my companion. We took our two investigators to the Temple
in Chorley and walked around it. They really like it and the family
history center. Diego got himself a new quad from the distribution
center and then they drove home.

Funke Ogunnaike was supposed to be baptised this week, but she is the
legal guardian over her uncle who has a brain tumor. He lives in
Belgium and before he could be operated on she had to sign papers so
she took the 8-9 hour Eurobus trip from here through France to the
french half of Belgium and signed the papers for him. She is still
there at the moment, but was devastated that she couldn't get baptised
this weekend. She will be when she comes back, we are just not sure
when that will be. Hopefully soon because she has two 12 year olds and
one 11 year old here at home living with another uncle who is not the
nicest man in the world to be around with if you are a member of the
church.

So besides that, everything else is same old same old. Oh ya...I got
sick this past week...Threw up for about 2 hours or so...give or take
some time. That was fun, but I wasn't alone. 5 or 6 other
companionships in the zone were sick as well or still are. But After
those 2 hours I had a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner although my
stomach was killing me haha.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Love,

Elder Blackburn

Isaiah 22:23-it should help you remember the temple...LOVE YOU

December 29, 2011 Transfers

Well, Elder Hughes who I was calling with on Sunday is now in Newcastle Zone with Elder Ericksen. My new companion is Elder Smart from Sandy, UT. He came out one after me and is great with the scriptures. We are excited to be together because we have never ever been in the same zone or even close at that! SO, it is good to get to know the missionaries you do not know. Elder Sandor is still in Bolton. Elder Gordon got sent up north to Blackpool or aka the Las Vegas of Great Britain. Poor fragile mind in those conditions...I can't think what he is going to learn there! But the baptism in Wrexham has not gone through yet, but that is because Mary has introduced her friend to the church and she wants to be baptised together this weekend! YAY! =D

 

We have 2 really good investigators and a 3rd who wants to bring her 3 kids to church this coming week.

 

I love you all

 

Elder Blackburn

December 19, 2011 Calling

Well because I am about 6-7 hours ahead of all of you. My companion and I will be making our calls from 6-9 or somewhere in between there. We do not know exactly where we will be or who will be calling first. He will probably call right at 7 so I will probably call at 6 or 8...I am not to fussed and because I have so many people to call and only an hour to do it am doubly not fussed because I can break it up. You all are just a distraction anyway haha. BUT I may be trying to call grandpa's home phone. So if you could have that ready for me mom because I do not have his number. I do not know if he will be at church or not or one of the other numbers. If Anna or someone else wants to talk they can pass their numbers to mom and I will try and give them a few minutes. I have 60 mins talk time. PERIOD. That is it. I will cut you off mid sentence if I am going over time. Why?

 

Obedience is the first law of heaven.

 

I love you all, but I love God more. Try to obey his servants.

 

Elder Blackburn

December 12, 2011 Hello Family

So I am not frozen solid yet. Oldham is in the "Mountains" here more like high rolling hills and so there is snow on the tops of the Pennines here. But once again...I LOVE having a car. NO thinking I have to cut my toes off this year hopefully!

 

I was out of my area mostly this week. Went on exchanges with Elder Skibbe from Berlin and Elder Boswell from SLC, UT who is one of our Assistants. Learned a lot from both Elder Skibbe is experienced and goes home next week and was able to get back on track this transfer to finish strong. Elder Boswell is a mini mission president. Fireball from the start. Our area though had a great week. (maybe because I was gone...) BUT  when I was here we got back in contact with a couple of people we have taught once and they now seem to be really excited. Something just clicked this week as we taught them the importance of 1) our calling as missionaries, 2) our message, 3)commitment and uniting with The Church of Jesus Christ. Many accepted baptism dates and return appointments and church attendance. We will see 2 of them tonight. We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

 

On a more worldly note, I lost 8lbs this week on the Herbal Cleanse and Elder Hughes really liked it as well. Could have been better but I had 2 tea appointments in the middle of the week. The rest I was eating chicken, eggs, salmon, cod, and haddock (random fish I never heard of)...and peppers, assorted veggies, and multiple jars/cans of Salsa!!! WOOP WOOP go me.

 

I love you all,

 

Elder Blackburn III or the Foreign one, Good Looking one, ...dare I say it...old one...EEEEESH

December 5, 2011 This week in 2 mins.

Well it has been a great week. As you see I only have 2 mins before the computer kicks me off.

 

1. I went to Bolton again to see Marianna and Jozseph Horvatt. They were baptised last year. We helped them begin to start goals on going to the temple before May. They want me to go with them.

 

2. Went to the temple as a misson. obviously split into two days and two sessions a day, but it was great. I really enjoyed seeing the zone together and actually knowing all the faces now! haha.

 

3. besides that everything is great.

 

4. I finished Jesus the Christ. Not enough time.

 

I love you all!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Elder Blackburn the Elder

November 28, 2011

Hello Family!

 

Well this week was THANKSGIVING!! WOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo....right? it was wasn't it? o...I am in England...where...they don't...show gratitude...I guess...darn......siiiiigh.

 

Well It shouldn't surprise me. Last year we had a sports day so it distracts us, because we are still playing a turkey ball of sorts, but with more rules and not as exciting. This year though we had an extra 30 mins for tea! WOOP WOOP! I enjoyed it. Except my companion has been having some really bad headaches that basically make him pass out for a couple hours so I didn't get to much out of it. He is a hard worker. He is extremely intune with the Spirit. But we basically were disabled besides trying by potentials and lessons this last week after Thursday.

 

I have been reading Jesus the Christ again and I am up to page 410 or so and have really been refreshing my mind on what it is that Faith can do in unlocking the power that Christ desires to bless us with.

 

I gave a talk on Hope this week to introduce myself to the ward. It was specifically on "How do we react when our Hopes are not Realized"...I thought it was pretty fitting for Bishop Walsh to give me that. The ward seemed to enjoy it. It wasn't my best, but it was ok. I am enjoying the car and the absence of the bike, but my leg muscles are starting to turn back into mush already.

 

We went back to Bolton which is about 25 miles away for a baptismal interview of the District Leader there and as Elder Hughes went to go with him, I stayed behind with his companion. I wanted to stop by Marianna and Joseph Horvatt from last year. They were the couple that got baptised with Elder Merl and I. So as I knocked on the door, Marianna opens and just sees a missionary in the dark. Joseph hears me say hello and from the other room yells, "Blackburn?!" thump thump thump, pops his head around the corner and lets us in. It just showed to me the importance of staying in contact. We did not have a lot of member support at the time while meeting with them last year and so after Elder Merl and I left, they had Marianna's family and that is about to help them out. There was no spiritual anchor. They have been coming off and on and still want to be married in the temple, but I told them and they understood that it takes work and they need to start preparing now so they can do it. They are techinically allowed because they have been married and members more than a year, but they need to be fully active and obedient before going. I hope last Thursday and this exchange in Bolton this week will be able to set goals and make plans on the day they can go to the temple so they have something to work towards just like a baptismal date. I want to get Bishop Knights approval for this as well, so hopefully we can work quickly this week. I will let y'all know how it goes.

 

Sometimes, being here in England I like to put on a nice thick southern draaaaaawwwwwwllll to help get the point across that I am from America. I enjoy seeing people's reactions to it. I hope you are all doing well.

 

I love you, Take care.

 

Elder Blackburn

November 21, 2011

Hello Family!

It has been an interesting couple of days. Today is the first time I have seen the sun since I emailed you last. I was asked to sing as a solo/quartet/choir yesterday without practicing and without a voice in the Ashton Stake Conference. It went ok. I was singing a lot with Elder Gordon the music that Hermana Blackburn sent me last Christmas because he can play the Piano really well and we were wanting to sing some new songs for our members. It was good, but I think with the singing practice and what not during our extra companionship study time the last two days of the transfer and the cold/wet/wind I got sick. Didn't stop working, but it wasn't pretty. We set up 30 appointments this week here in Oldham so we were still effective, but it still wasn't pretty. Elder Hughes got a little sick as well. Elder Hughes is from Oklahoma. He is an OSU Cowboy. His family is from the Polynesian/Phillipino Islands somewhere long back, but he can understand Tagalog a little. He can't speak it though. We are really happy to be working together. Or at least I am happy to be working with him. =P Oldham ward is a great ward from all aspects I can tell with missionary work. I will miss the people in Wrexham. (Basically had my Christmas mapped out already, but OH WELL)...I got a car and so I won't get hypothermia this year! WOOHOO. The thing about Oldham is that it is in the "Mountains" here too. You can't really call them mountains, but think of a tiny rock and if it has a hill right next to the sea and the wind/snow/sleet/everything comes, what is it going to hit? The Hill...And we are on the Ocean side, not the warm side like the Leeds Mission. But No complaints here!

I love you all. I am excited for Tanner. I am out of time. =/

LOVE YOU!

Elder Blackburn

November 16, 2011

Hello Everyone,

It was transfers this week and so I got moved...again...the transfer of Christmas...It was heart wrenching but my companion and I have both served in Wrexham and his name is Elder Hughes. He is from Oklahoma and has been out since 3 months after me. He is my Senior companion now and we are in a Car. This is my third time back in the Ashton Zone, but with a little more responsibility than the previous times.

The sisters I came out with go home today which is a really weird thought. Both Sister R. and T. Kullick were there and it was great to see how happy they were. Sister T. Kullick went to the scotland ireland mission. She got a little taste of what it is like to have a REALLY good mission today =D. My MTC companion is the Assistant up there now. I wrote him last week. He is a great missionary. Our Scottish Assistant goes home today after serving here for 9 months. We will miss the thick accent.

Mary (Tan Mungroe) was crushed that I was leaving...along with a lot of the members which started over the past 2 weeks to really open up to me FINALLY. But I think we have completely dissolved a missionaries name who destroyed the missionary work here just over a year ago. My new companion was the first on the scene to clean it up and I think I helped finish it. Elder Gordon's new companion is.....CHINESE so Mary is not that sad. She is excited to have a Chinese speaking missionary. I am grateful for revelation and common sense that the Lord gives our leaders. We have recently set a goal of how many baptisms we want before the end of the year. We added them up and last week for sports day we got the total. I guessed a high number of about 165. Well the goal is 281. CRAZY. I was shocked because we have only baptised about 250 this year all together. So we are really hoping for a white christmas. It will be here in Ashton for sure!

We had an amazing last week. For a ward who has not trusted missionaries a lot this past year because of a bad tater last winter, Wrexham Ward has warmed up nicely to us. We had 3 lessons in members homes this past week and 2 at the chapel. Mary is doing SO GOOD. I am so proud of her and the trust she has in us and the love the members have shown her. But I want to share a story that happened last night. Alex is turning 16 next month, Jess is his sister and is 19. They both joined the church about 4 years ago with their mom and brother. Jess is less active now, but last night she brought a friend named Vikki who is 17. We taught them at the chapel the Restoration. We did the Spirit Formula and by the end you could feel the spirit so strong. Jess and Vikki were both in tears and although we were teaching Vikki, Jess says, "I need to change. I know I need to change and put things right. I know from that (First Vision) right there that I need to get everything in order." Vikki then says, "I know it's true. I know I need to follow it. I need to talk to my mom and put my foot down." I am greatful for how Heavenly Father backs up His Prophets and testifies of the truth.

There is a lot more to say but no time today. I got transferred though so everyone wants to send their packages for me to the mission office ok!? =P I say everyone because I am hoping it is more than just mom =P

I LOVE YOU

Elder Blackburn

November 7, 2011 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!​!! WOOOOOOOOO​OOO

Hello Family! Nie hau ma? (thats chineseish)

This was a good week. We are making progress with our Chinese investigator who has had no background to God whatsoever. She is starting to see how prayer will help her create a belief/ find a relationship that is there with Heavenly Father and help her believe in Jesus Christ. She is still nervous about coming to church though. After sifting through almost a whole entire university looking for one investigator to stick, I THINK WE HAVE ONE! After about 50-100 new investigators we have some hope because she is actually keeping some commitments! WOO! YAY! Her name is Mary in English or at least that is the one she picked, but it is Tan Mongroe in chinese. Next Wednesday is transfers and this wednesday is sports day. It is weird to think that the sisters I came out with are going home this next week...CRAZY! They are both good missionaries.

Anyways, moving on from that though HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER LOGAN! 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23!!!
LOVE YOU BIG DOG!

Something I thought would be good to review the lost purse talk from last general conference. I really liked it besides the fact that it was entertaining. I enjoyed it because it helps us understand how people get to know us. Besides of what we say and do, but what we carry around with us? Spiritually and Physically. What are we carrying around with us.

https://lds.org/youth/video/the-lost-purse?lang=eng

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Blackburn

October 31, 2011 Pres. Kopischke

This was a great week because after Stake Conference with President Teixera we had Zone Conference with President Kopischke and I think they are a lot more open with missionaries than they are in general audience stake conference. What we got from that was a bunch of things but here I have got two things.

1) Alma 32:27-29 Faith Cycle
----all about desires
2) Mosiah 4:9-10 B.C.D.
-----Believe. Change. Do.

The faith cycle starts with a desire to believe, give place, don't cast out by unbelief. THat is our part of showing our faith by our action and then God will show his Power by the result. It will swell within us, increase our faith, then our knowledge will be perfect in that thing and our faith will be dormant.

Hence the quote from Pres. Benson. "The Gospel is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable" Because if we are comfortable it is probably because we already know the answers to the situtations we are being placed and placing ourselves in. We have to CHANGE IT up.

"If we are too content, then maybe a divine dose of discontent will be needed" to shake us back to progress.

If our Action of Faith is Dormant then we are not going to see God's power.

#2 is talking about how we can keep good feelings with us after spiritual meetings and experiences. Then we need to apply B.C.D. Believe what you heard. Change too be in line with that spirit you felt and then DO what you learned.

I love you all

Elder Blackburn

October 24, 2011 There are LOTS of Mountains in Wrexham

The only good story I have for you is that my companion and I were trying to do a "small act of kindness for our bishop who lives at the top of a mountain outside Wrexham. I sorta remembered where someone said he lived and I had been driven there twice both different ways and so I said, Ok lets go we got the time. Well We start riding and we get up on top of the mountain about an hour later and then I say...."hmmm, Elder this doesn't look like the place..." He just stares at me..."Yupp, we went up the wrong mountain Elder..." Well then we rode down and just to let you know the return trip in the pitch black dark at about I would guess 30-40mph took only about 5-10 minutes. Elder Gordon got scared though and hit his brakes so I had to stop and wait for him at a couple places. But let me tell you, I haven't had an adrenaline rush like that for about 3 years or so. It felt a little like Splash Mountain...Too bad it wasn't raining then it would have been exactly the same! We went up to Bishop's mountain a couple days later and it was not as tall nor as fun on the way back...it flattened out at some points which just made it like a normal road...LAME! Wales and its back roads are beautiful though...

Anyways, We have been finding new and filtering through the old investigators we have and trying to figure out which one God wants us to focus on. We will see what we can do for the work here. There is only so many first lessons you can teach before one of them sticks and at the moment we are about 40-1/0 and so we have been evaluating the lessons and trying to figure out where we are going wrong, but the people commit, they have calendars, another time to see, the spirit is there. We are trying to follow up and so that is where we are going to put a lot of our emphasis this week. We have ZC with President Kophishke of the European Area Presidency. There is also another meeting I have to go to in Manchester this friday and with exchanges, I may not be in my area until Saturday. So we shall see how that goes!

There was Stake Conference yesterday. The stake presidency was released. Elder Teixera, 2nd counselor in the Area Presidency, was there with Elder Wright of the Seventy. He mentioned something about his family. And a thought came to my mind. Underdog. Now I am not talking about the movie about a flying superhero dog with a red cape and a yellow U. I am not talking about the underdog of a BYU sports team when Dad was watching them. But I am thinking about the swing set. Specifically in Pennsylvania. I hadn't thought about that for years. I hadn't though about Dad besides talking about the Plan of Salvation on the street. I hadn't thought about him all day really, but rarely a day goes by without something reminding me. But it was only 10 in the morning and nothing had really happened yet. So there I was sitting and this though and the images of the swing sets in Pennsylvania came into my mind. I thought of the word Underdog and how I could hear it as he ran underneath me and us. Again and again and again. I spaced out for awhile thinking about it and then another thought came. This was something I have thought about a lot. Something I knew I would always remember right when it happened.

Dad was in the grey recliner, unconcious from the medicine, he had been there for a couple days. To prevent bed soars, he needed to be moved. Mom was there. Dana was there. Michael was on his way over. Mom asked me to see if I could move him from the chair to the bed. I can feel him in my arms right now, like I just did it. Mom held his head. Dana held the equipment and I slid my arms around him and as gently as we could moved him to the bed. I never knew how much agony he was in or how concious he was until then, but the groan from that lift was not from me, but him. I did it and can remember it because I love him so much. I lifted him who once lifted me. The scriptures that tie this in is this:


3 Nephi 27:14
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
Luke 22:42-44
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, aremove this cup from me: nevertheless not my bwill, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an aangel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an aagony he prayed more earnestly: band his sweat was as it were great drops of cblood falling down to the ground.
I am grateful for the example he set. Mosiah 24:16. He endured with Patience and Faith and submitted cheerfully to the biggest task ever asked of him. He was delivered from the enemy which held him bound. His spirit had to leave because his spirit had out grown the frail frame. The resurrection is not yet, but when it is, he will be there.
I love you all,
Elder Blackburn