Hello family

Hey i have had a week packed with learning. I found out a boy I contacted on the way home from church his name is Andy and I referred him to my friend elder Dunn he not only has been coming to all of the youth activities and came to church on Sunday but in two weeks he will be baptised almost exactly one month from the time I meet him. He is so golden I saw that miracle I know that there are truly prepared souls out on the road and I just need to keep talking to people that is my second one I have referred that will be baptised just from talking to everyone. Do you remember that Dan Jones night? the video that they sent you? yeah I had a guy that I referred get baptised from that too. I am just so happy. next week we will be having a baptism for a n investigator named Matt he had a tea issue but he is gradually getting over it and we will keep praying for him. he has been doing great he has amazing English we mostly teach him in English which is weird but I can at least understand everything that is being said. Oh we also have a member referral who has been to church twice and is a really prepared soul. he got in a car crash in 2004 and his arm was severely injured and now he cant really close his hand but he is faithful and he reads and prays and is attending church so all is well there he will keep progressing and he and Matt will be baptised on the same day Saturday next week. The weather over here has been two faced. we had two days where it was raining cats ,dogs, and some other small four legged animals, it was ridiculous I had rain gear on but five minutes and I had my shoes full of water my pants soaked and my shirt soaked ... it was so fun It was like swimming there were huge puddles in the road and the rivers were higher by about 3 feet then after the faucet was on full blast we turned on the sauna, hot, and wow it has been humid I felt like a steamed vegetable. I love it here the work is beautiful and I have just started to see a few of the fruits of my labor and I love my people i am serving.

Love Elder Blackham

PS : do you remember my investigator that dropped out of his baptism twice while i was in wufeng? Zhong chong nan? the dring guy, he had an amazing smoothie he made. anyways I received a letter from my friend in wufeng named Peja he said he is getting baptised this saturday!

Salutations to the best family ever!

Ok so this week was great i learned things everyday I have found the miracles everyday and I am really finding what I love about Taiwan everyday. The joy of the work i have found in the small things the process is where the pleasure comes. I love talking to all of these wonderful people in Taiwan there are things here and people here I would never see in Utah. I am still getting used to the weather last night we were visiting a new member and they were not home so we decided to write a note to them outside of their door in their muggy apartment building well it only took us two minutes before my shirt was soaked from sweat being inside is really hot without AC. Ok so I had an amazingly eventful week my grandpa we have been teaching brother Cai was baptised on Saturday, yeah on Thursday morning we received a call from a member of the bishopric that helped us teach the night before and he had talked to him and he decided to stop procrastinating and do it on Saturday! It was so good! I love our ward it is the newest ward in taizhong and has some really awesome leaders and members. they are all so in tune with the mission effort here. I have an investigator named matt who is great and has a lot of faith he reads everyday and prays but he will not go without tea he drinks two cups a day and says That it is his favorite- I realize we all have favorite sins but guess what they are still sins, sinning is fun but wickedness never was happiness. anyways I will tell you how he goes over the next few weeks he should be baptised soon just stop a drinkin.. oh my grandpa I forgot to tell you on Saturday he was so excited for his baptism he bought me and my companion new belts and then as he gave them to us he said hey i want to make them shinny first then he took them laid them on his porch and spray painted our belts black, spray painted them! I laughed so hard he was just making them shiney for us. we left them there to dry and went to eat at his favorite vegetarian restaurant then to his baptism. my companion E.Rodriguez kept saying "he ruined our belts, spary painted" Sunday was a great fast Sunday I loved the meeting we have afternoon church so our fast is long then our correlation meeting was pushed back from 4:30pm to 6:15 and they kept saying hey in a half an hour we will start then hey after this interview , no after i teach this scripture class to the children for twenty minutes anyways sister Su the first counselers wife gave us a cookie thing and it was great I loved it. god provides for his missionaries even if it is just a cookie,He knows our needs. oh on Monday an District training meeting my companion looked at his shoes that I had freshly shined that morning without telling him and he stated' Wow! my shoes are beautiful!" we laughed so hard. Hey we went and sat next to a fisherman and taught and talked to him it was fun I can see why your brother did it so often on his mission they dont just ride off it is fun kind of casual, but a good atmosphere. I love the work here and This past week at mission conference I really learned what the importance of the title Teacher in Chinese and Taiwanese hearts. they really feel honored to have that title. I thought of my favorite teachers I have a lot but will you do me a favor and just tell Dr.(Uncle Roy)Ellefsen,Ed Staker,Ben Cox,and Angy Daley,Chris Junker and Patty Sego them i love them and am so greatful for the things they have taught me and the person they have helped me become I guess that that is a really big chore but I have no way of telling them but through your help. Mom Dad You know I realize that you love me so much that you will sacrifice for me to help some people you have never meet come to Christ Thank you I love you so much. I hope with all my heart that I may stay worthy all the days of my life that I may live with you in the celestial kingdom. To have eternal happiness and joy. I love you and wish you all well in what you are doing

-Elder Blackham

hello famillia!

that is a lot of news i can barely take that you know life is so precious I can barely even express my love for all of you but I want to say that life is as good as we make it. it we lose everything we have is that a tragedy or a new beginning? life is all how you look at it. i learned a lot this week and today I just want to say that time is like a bank account we are charged with a new deposit everyday it doesn't carry over from day to day you have to magnify your time, every second,minute, hour time is a gift now is the time for men to perform their labors and prepare to meet god. every sickness is a blessing because it makes us appreciate our health every sadness is a blessing because it helps us know our happiness. my companion and I are doing well we work hard and have been blessed I have seen miracles everyday and I am starting to record them to see what God has done for me and for my brotheren. I am teaching a beibei(grandpa) who is about 72 yrs old and he got in a car wreck on Thursday so he said he definately would not be at church . he was really cut up some lady just ran into him on his bicycle with her scooter, he has road rash all up and down his arms and on his knee poor guy. so Sunday morning came and we went and visited him to invite him to church he said no we asked him why he said he was too sore and he just hurt too much. we asked him what he had done that morning and he said oh i just got back from exercising, riding my bike. then we said why cant you come to church and he said I cant wear pants it hurts too bad, his concern wasn't that oh I don't want to go to church it was I have to wear pants. so we said no you can come in your shorts and he said ok I will be there and he came to church. That was a miracle. sometimes the concerns of people are as simple as wearing pants instead of shorts. the miracles came it small things resolving the small concerns increasing understanding. sometimes all you have to do is listen. you have two ears and one mouth use them proportionately.well I hope you know I love you I have had many times here that I wish you could be here with me but I have felt your prayers. the work is sweet because of the bitter trials don't wish them away.your missionary on a little green island

elder blackham

PS: wow Chess Died I loved that man so much! he was so hardworking and loving I really appreciated his help with the city and the youth city council. wow i want to ask you can you go tell Bev i love her I haven't talked or heard from her in forever but will you do that for me? They were always so good to me Bev and Dennis they helped me learn so much.

OOPS :)

Hey everyone this is Emilee again. I just received an email from Brigham and he told me that his mission rules only allow him to receive emails from immediate family members - So he has asked me to have his letters from his friends to be sent to me and then I will forward them to him so that he can read them. Thanks for understanding, my email address is posted on the side bar for you. Thanks so much for supporting him, all of you are really great!