To the youth of the Church -

To all who read this:


If you are a youth in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I plead with you to prepare yourself to serve a mission, it is your duty young men to give these two short years to the Lord who has given us so much. I make a promise that if you serve faithfully and work hard that you will experience miracles, have a mighty change of heart, grow at an incredible rate (spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically), and come closer to the Savior then you have ever been in your life. The only thing that can save peoples lives and help the world become a better place is by you preaching the gospel. There are members, companions, mission presidents, investigators, less actives, that the Lord has in store for you to meet and for you to learn from. There are people out there waiting for the gospel that only you can touch. You can take part in bringing them to our Heavenly Father and watch their conversion. You have a fail-proof message that will continue to be spread until it has "penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear", you can either take part in this great harvest of souls and reap blessings "that you will not have room enough to receive" or watch from the side as the work moves on, which it will with or without you. Change your life and change the world, serve a mission.


Elder Hayden T. Blackburn
Oklahoma Tulsa Mission
March 2012-2014

This is it...final thoughts from the Elder

2 years gone by, they seemed to fly,
at first I thought I'm gonna die,
scared and alone in the MTC,
but hey everyone here is just like me,
the spirit so strong we learned how to teach,
we practiced all day and learned how to preach,
some of us had to learn dignified speech,
we learned about the joy of mail,
and how MTC food leftovers can become rather stale,
excited we waited to leave for the field,
but first we had to learn to His will we yield,
we stepped on the plane our hearts beating fast,
this mission things fun in fact its a blast,
we arrive in Tulsa and meet the President and his wife,
shoot, they are nice, this could be the life!
assigned to a trainer he doesn't seem like a meanie,
well here I am the official new 'greenie',
we study and pray, he shows me the way,
I'm kinda nervous at first, what should I say?
I open my mouth the words seem to flow,
as I invite them to read and pray, then they'll know,
Moroni's promise, the Restoration,
the Book of Mormon, the Plan of Salvation,
this teaching stuffs fun if only they'll listen,
finish the day, exhausted and tired,
wake up in the morning feeling re-fired,
knock on some doors and try to get in,
most slammed in my face good ol' rejection,
dang where's the glory?
Uh, oh I think it's time for another inventory,
I learn to love the people I serve,
the road to baptism sometimes takes a curve,
work through the troubles, the rules obey,
it always gets better with each coming day,
trust in the Lord, in his footsteps tread,
I hope and pray that my investigators read,
sometimes its hard, to the Lord I cry,
and wonder with tears, 'Heavenly Father, why?'
why can't we find a family to teach,
I feel like to the wall that I preach,
I crashed my bike, I got no mail,
I feel like there's no wind in my sails,
But oh there's a person lets talk to that guy,
"Hello we're missionaries, my companion and I,
we have a message for you about the Book of Mormon"
"Well, how 'bout you'ins come on back in the mornin',
I feel something good about what you have to say,
but let me first feed my cows some hay"
he seems promising, that was awesome,
oh! look out...roadkill possum,
the members here are wonderful and kind,
I wonder who the Lord sent me here to find,
you teach a referral and they are ready,
to accept baptism and then stay steady,
there's no greater feeling then testifying,
and know they feel the spirit, and you both start crying,
some family oppose, some trials await,
until their scheduled baptismal date,
the day comes and they are washed clean,
there is no better scene,
after the weeks you count the years,
so many good experiences compensate the tears,
soon the time comes that you are called back to your family,
I can't describe the feeling inside of me,
my hearts been changed, my mind enlightened,
my spirit enlarged my horizon heightened,
all these experiences have helped me grow,
it's crazy how fast these two years go...


Elder Hayden T. Blackburn

Short emails over the past three weeks...everyone is getting excited for Elder Blackburn's return!

The past three weeks:

March 3rd:
Hey this email will be pretty quick...I plan on making the last one nice 'n long. It snowed like 8 inches last night...it was getting so nice but now plunged back into the arctic...


Feb 24th:
Well, the day is coming soon...I don't know how it keeps coming faster but it does. This week was awesome and I am doing great. I have been reading the "Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister and I highly recommend that book to anyone who would like to learn more on the Atonement. Today we are going "cave-ing" so I'm excited...
Elder Blackburn



Feb 18th:
Hey Family and friends,
So yesterday was Presidents' Day so that's why you didn't receive an email...this past week was sooo good. We are doin' work down here in West Plains and seeing many miracles. I'm just trying to work as hard as I can...but guess what? President just let us know that Elder Callister of the seventy is coming March 14th so I am going to try and see him before coming home...I hope he will either do a little mini-devotional for us missionaries going home (because he'll have to spend the night with us too March 13th) or something because Elder Callister is one of my favorites...
anyways I'm doing great...and feeling old...
Love,
Elder Blackburn

Snow and Ice

Last Monday (Feb 3rd) we did not receive an email from Elder Blackburn - it turns out he was back in Tulsa (probably at a meeting or to pick up other missionaries) plus the weather shut down a lot of the public buildings throughout the mid-west.  We had heard that many families went without the weekly email, but that everyone was safe.  None-the-less, we were very grateful to hear from him today and that everything was okay in the OTM.

32 days left and just figuring things out :)

Hey Everybody,

How are ya? I'm doing great. Just enjoying this new area... last week we weren't able to email because we drove to Tulsa and on the way back it was super icy and snowy, so we stayed and drove home the next day... it's like 7 hours of driving to Tulsa from here...This new area is awesome we live in an old bed and breakfast members own and we live in the servant's quarters or as I say with an english accent (servants qo'tas) its like a small apartment on the roof of this big old house. We had a very cool experience yesterday and I will share it with ya'll when I get back. But as I am reading the scriptures and PMG everything is starting to make sense. The phrase most elders share when they get home of, "Right as you start to get missionary work, they send you home." IS SO TRUE...I was pondering why now at the end of my mission I am starting to truly learn all of these lessons. Why didn't the lessons sink in at the MTC? Why hadn't anyone taught me these lessons or warned me or prepared me? But then I got an answer. Perhaps I had been taught at the MTC these lessons and had been warned and prepared but these lessons can only be learned by experience...the same reason we have the veil, how else can we learn important lessons then by trial and error and by experience. That is why the Savior's Atonement is so crucial, it allows us to learn and grow and become clean, if we couldn't make mistakes we couldn't learn and overcome. No matter how much our spirits were prepped and taught by Heavenly Father in our premortal past, those lessons couldn't be totally understood or learned but by going to earth with no memory of our past and being able to be tested and tried, in turn the holy spirit would help us remember those lessons we once learned by testifying truth to us. The only way we can truly learn about our Savior is by acting as he would, no matter how much we read about Christ, those lessons in the scriptures can only be learned by application. It is so cool that now I am starting to understand everything.


Love,
Elder Blackburn

The last transfer

Well, I got my last transfer calls yesterday night and they are switching the Zone Leader area from Mountain Grove to West Plains so I will be moving down there Thursday...pretty exciting, I knew they were going to do that (since it's central to all the areas). So West Plains Missouri will be my final Mission destination. So with packing this week I will be sending home anything that is not necessary for these last 6 weeks...It is pretty hard to say goodbye to this ward and Elder Holyoak, it has been a wonderful two transfers here and the ward was pretty devastated we were both headed out. Elder Holyoak's going to Ft. Smith, AR.


The thought I'm sharing with the friends I have made here in MG is based off a talk by Elder Ballard:


"Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”
This story illustrates the spiritual truth that Alma taught his son Helaman:

“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. …

“… And by very small means the Lord … bringeth about the salvation of many souls” (Alma 37:6–7).

Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, no matter how much we try to make it complicated. We should strive to keep our lives similarly simple, unencumbered by extraneous influences, focused on those things that matter most.

What are the precious, simple things of the gospel that bring clarity and purpose to our lives? What are the flecks of gospel gold whose patient accumulation over the course of our lifetime will reward us with the ultimate treasure—the precious gift of eternal life?" This lesson changed my mission because at the beginning I, like the young merchant, thought that if I just went out tracting I would find "nuggets"(example of a "nugget": a family that would have had a dream where they met me and their family of 8 people were all ready to join the church)...well, that's not exactly how missionary work goes. It takes patience, endurance, and lots of faith. I realized that while I was searching for those "nugget" experiences I was missing the"tiny flecks of gold" (example of "flecks": handing out a Book of Mormon, testifying to someone, teaching someone, having an investigator come to church, going on exchanges with a member, working with a less-active, making relationships with members) After I learned this I began to cherish each little fleck of gold and now as I near the end of this magnificent journey I have a pouch of flecks that I can reflect upon the rest of my life. I then like to explain that the opportunity to have met them and teach them has been one of those flecks that I will cherish forever. :)


Love all ya'll,


Elder Blackburn

52 days...

The following email was sent Jan 21st - due to the MLK holiday, he was unable to get to a public computer.

Hey just a quick email on Tuesday, yesterday we spent all day "logging"...we had a woodcut for people in the ward who are low on wood so us and 4 other guys spent from 12 - 5 cutting up wood, splitting, rolling logs, etc. we were both wasted and crashed when we got home after unloading at about 8...tough work, that's for sure. Then like zombies we arose this morning and went and milked the cows ha ha...it feels great though to be tired because that means you're doing something, plus it makes falling asleep a snap.
I received a portion of my "trunky papers" and part of it I had to write almost an essay of "My most memorable spiritual experience" and then send it back to the mission office for President. I pretty much just said that my mission has been my life's most memorable spiritual experience and without it I know I would have had a very hard time in life...I can't imagine my life without my mission for now I feel like I have finally found myself...Christ's statement: Matt. 16:25 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." I think that's why the Lord allows us 18-19 year olds be full-time representatives for two years. We learn who we are and in this state of heightened righteousness we make goals for our future and have a desire to be the best we can be the rest of our lives. I also wrote how one of the most important lessons I've learned while being on my mission is that the Lord KNOWS me. He actually knows me...and hears me. I have wondered oft times why in the world I was sent to this mission...and I've learned that the members out here, the mission president, the companions, the people I've met...have all be placed in my path because Heavenly Father knew they would influence me the best and shape me and point me in the direction to achieve my highest potential. I am so grateful to have such a loving Heavenly Father and family, and to have a testimony of the true gospel, and have this priceless opportunity to serve for two years our Savior Jesus Christ and help brings souls to him. I entered the MTC a boy with a testimony and now will leave the mission field a man converted.


Elder Blackburn

This email came on Jan 13th - 

Well, looks like Austin J. made it home okay! That is crazy...I can't believe were all going home now...he's probably already up at USU, back doing school work...that was fast. I'm just enjoying these last months and have had a good week. Not much to report other than last week was MLC so we drove to Tulsa and it was like -6 without the wind chill factored in. MLC was great, we watched "Ephraim's Rescue" <---which I highly recommend, and learned a lot from President Shumway as usual. Yesterday evening we met with the Stake President and his counselor and a member of our Mission Presidency and discussed how the zone is doing, it was a lot of fun and we have great men in the Stake Presidency. I love working in the Church, there is nothing like it and it is so great to serve amongst such high caliber people.


Love,
Elder Blackburn
p.s. short and sweet today

Christmas call and counting down the days...

Sorry for not getting an update on here sooner...

First off, Christmas day was great - we thought the call would come in early afternoon but he didn't get to a computer until 5:45PM.  His excuse..."I had to help milk 170 head of cows".

So apparently he has learned the valuable lesson that farmers never get a day off as the missionaries help a local dairy once a week (and on holidays).

The best news was that they had a baptism the day after Christmas!

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Since the Skype-call, we have been talking with the OTM mission home because his release date is Friday March 14th.  Not counting today, that leaves 64 days until we see him in person.  This is very exciting - he already has several friends that have returned home and one flying in from Washington D.C. today.  Time truly flies by the last six months or so - we are sure proud of what Elder Blackburn has accomplished and he has discovered his farmer DNA.

Today his email was mainly going over travel plans and such - but he did have one very interesting comment:

Hey btw I've successfully castrated --a ram and a calf with a pocketknife and my bare hands and so I'm pretty much a Wayne county sheepherder now.

How many missionaries can say that?  Wow.

More critters...

Last week, Elder Blackburn just sent a short note - he was very busy and said they had received up to 8" of snow and since that is unusual, no one knows how to drive in it, so a lot of business and other places were closed.  They are preparing for a baptism on Dec 21st.

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Dear Friends and Family,


So we got out of a lesson and saw this huge possum (at least 30 lbs.) eating out of a cat dish and so I cornered it and it was hissing and growling but we just picked it up from the tail and held it and petted it...man they have strong little arms and hands and a way strong tail, I gained a lot of respect for those little critters, they're pretty fearless and have pretty big teeth. Pretty cute though, I'd have one as a pet, they'd be a lot of fun, I wish Vito and Lilly could've seen him and sniffed him.

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we are not sure where the bunny came from...Elder Blackburn likes animals, so we are pretty sure this one just jumped right in his lap!

Slowing down time...

Hey crew...well I'm enjoying my time here in this ol' town. Not a whole lot going on here in Mt. Grove I feel like I'm in 1998 or earlier sometimes ha ha. Time goes slower here that's for sure...a person we are teaching recently turned to Moroni 10:3-5 and as they were reading, began to cry and I just sat there and thought, "Wow, it's happening, the Spirit is working on her right in front of me!" It was so neat to sit there and let the Spirit teach. The more and more I teach the more and more I realize that it's all about the Spirit, getting the Spirit to accompany you and be present while you teach, you don't need to be a scholar or have the scriptures all memorized you just need to keep the mission rules, study everyday, and work hard and as you present the lesson the Spirit will teach them what they need to know otherwise you are just teaching to yourself. I guess a proper formula could be this:


Obedience(preparation) + Gospel Knowledge(you need a well for the Spirit to draw from) + Charity(have to love the people) + Spirit(key component can't work without it) = Faith in the person you are teaching and if they act on the commitments then a testimony can begin to grow.



We also had a nice Thanksgiving with some members the Millers, they are a nice couple who are in their 70's. They also had some of their family over so it was fun.


I'm just trying to figure out how to make these last couple months slow down...I'll let you know when I figure that out...seriously it's going by faster each day... cherishing my time out here that's for sure trying to improve those shining moments.


Love,
Elder Blackburn

Winter arrives in MO

Hello! Brrr...it's cold. It's currently raining frozen rain outside. This week went by quickly, we had lots to do. This weekend was the official stake split where West Plains Stake was split from the St. Roberts Stake. Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy came and gave some great talks. Here are some notes of what he said:
He used a quote by Elder Uchtdorf to be the basis of his talk, "As the world grows darker and
darker, the opportunity for personal revelation will grow greater and greater." Elaborating on that he talked about how we need to make sure we have the spirit with us always so that we can be ready for those moments when personal revelation will come. He then discussed how the wording of the confirmation is "..receive the Holy Ghost..." it shows agency, it is not forced upon you because you can be confirmed a member and have lands laid on your head and still not "receive the Holy Ghost", he said are there places, thoughts, environments, media you know that will make it so you can't receive of the Holy Ghost? Stay away from them.... he then said a statement that I have been really pondering about, "The purpose of life is the Temple." It is so true! The whole reason we are down here is to overcome the flesh and become saints through the Atonement of Christ and the way we do that is by repenting and making covenants with Heavenly Father, but some covenants are so sacred they must be done in Houses of God and without the Temple we could not make those covenants...Moroni when appearing to Joseph Smith told him:

Section 2:
"1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming."


Without the work that goes on in the Temple the earth would be "utterly wasted at his coming." So who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart and let him go and do Temple work and save his kindred dead and create a link from himself back to Adam. Families are meant to be forever, that scripture confirms that.


Elder Southward (the area authority) told a funny story:
He talked about how he heard on the radio a professional turkey chef was answering questions about how to cook a turkey and someone called in and said, "Is it safe to cook a turkey that's been in the freezer for 26 years?" Caught a little off guard by the question the chef answered, "Well, it probably is okay to eat however it won't taste as good nor have very much nutritional value." They then said, "Well, that's what we figured ourselves so we gave it to the church."


He then used that story to say, do we give the Lord our left overs? or do we give him the best that we got? We need to give him our first fruits our best lamb.


Anyways, the work here is a little slow but it's picking up...we are just so spread out that we go through miles like crazy if we don't have any exchanges.


Talk to ya'll later,
love,
Elder Blackburn

Missouri

Well, I'm 240 miles away from Tulsa...It is crazy. I hope ya'll are doing good back home! This week was hectic...we had MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) in Tulsa so we had to drive all the way there Monday had meetings then slept at the mission home and then drove all the way back Tuesday night. I am excited to tell you though that a lady we were teaching in Pryor was baptized and a guy from Tulsa that I taught was baptized on Saturday! So awesome! And guess what?! President is allowing us to go to the temple now! YAHOO! We can go with a recent convert and do baptisms once per recent convert. We have one in this area so that means I'll get to go soon, we are in the St. Louis Temple District so I'll be able to go to the St. Louis Temple! I am so excited, I have gone 20 months without the temple so it will be a wonderful thing to enter into that Holy House of the Lord. The work is a little slow...it is a process but with diligence, obedience, and member support the work can greatly improve in a matter of a couple weeks. While being interviewed by President Shumway he asked me what my favorite scripture is at the moment (because it changes so much) I shared with him Ether 6:5:


5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a afurious wind blow upon the face of the waters, btowards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.


The reason I chose this scripture because as I read it I understood it to mean that our Heavenly Father allows us to be tested and tried by challenges, our trials and challenges are like those "furious winds" that aren't there to discourage us or stop us but if endured well actually push us to our individual "promised lands" (i.e they help shape us into the being God designed us to be)


At MLC Sister Shumway talked a lot about strengthening our prayers and really praying with "full energy of heart" it made me evaluate my prayers and see what I need to do to make them more sincere. She said prayer does four things:


1. Gratitude--helps us be thankful for our blessings and see God's hand
2. Guidance--Holy Ghost can help us, "lead us not into temptation..."
3. Confidence--prayer strengthens us, when Christ was atoning in agony he prayed more earnestly
4. Inspiration--way we learn of spiritual truths, revelation


So I encourage ya'll to evaluate your prayers (preach my gospel pg. 95 "personal activity") do your prayers include the following? What can you work on?


a) strong faith
b) full of thanks
c) mind focused on improving
d) actions fulfill prayers
e) focus on today's needs (not repetitious)
f) edifying, refreshing
g) focus on pure thoughts
h) mindful of others
i) Specific
j) the spirit guides the prayer
k)confident that God will answer you


President Shumway talked a lot about being exactly obedient and how if you are willing to keep the small seemingly "stupid" commandments (for us missionaries: keeping the part in our hair, texting out of zone to other missionaries, listening to unapproved music, etc.---for people at home: girls having one piercing in the ear, listening to uplifting music, having Family Home Evening, etc.) then you will be the ones who follow the big commandments when the time comes. "In preparation of the Lord asking you to do the big things, do the little things today."


Love ya'll,
Elder Blackburn

Transferred! Opening up a new Zone

Well the day has come! I am going to the state of Missouri! The "refiner's fire" of the early saints. I have been assigned to open a new zone/stake and will be the first zone leader of this zone the West Plains Zone which comes from the St. Louis Mission.


This transfer was awesome I learned a lot and am excited for this new challenge. Over the weekend we had stake conference and Elder Nash of the Seventy came and attended and spoke. He was so good and he knew his scriptures...wow, he just like poured the spirit upon us all. One of the things he most emphatically stated was that families
1) Have daily morning and night prayer as a family
2) Have daily scripture study from the Book of Mormon
3) Have Family Home Evening every Monday night




My new address:

1101 Long Apt. B7
Mountain Grove, MO
65711

138 Days

Hello Family and Friends!

So since yesterday marked my 138 days left, I have begun to read the Doctrine and Covenants backwards (a common practice among missionaries when soon departing), so today I read section 137. I can't really fathom where the time went...but it went and it went fast. I mean this transfer alone has flown by and we have transfer calls on Saturday. As a Zone Leader here in Tulsa we are constantly running errands or doing some sort of duty, so I have been pretty tired these last couple of weeks.

We have been teaching two Golden families, oh my goodness it has been so much fun to teach them and watch them progress. One family found lds.org/mormon.org and started learning about it and asked for the missionaries to bring by a book of Mormon... not only have they read most of the Book of Mormon but also books from Deseret Book and watched most of the videos on Lds.org including all of "The District" and "Prophet of the Restoration"...another part-member family we are teaching is looking forward to a baptism on November 16th!

Oh my what a wonderful thing it is to help people come unto God and learn of true doctrines that are sweet above all that is sweet! I am so grateful to have a testimony of this church and this gospel and to know that Jesus Christ leads this church. It makes me so sad that people can't see how plain and precious are gospel is...All one must do is read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if this is Christ's true church. It is fail-proof, if they ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, they will know by the spirit that this is the true church. To say I am grateful to be a member of this Church and to have been born into it would not begin to explain express my feelings. I am happy beyond measure, what did I do in the premortal realms to be born to such wonderful parents into such a wonderful family, to be born where I was born, to have the talents that I have, to be born into the true and living church? God has blessed me so much! What is so wonderful is that these blessings are not limited to me! They are free for EVERYONE, the parable of the laborers by Jesus shows that it is not a matter of when you get there but IF you get there. All those blessings mentioned above will avail me no good if I am not faithful to my covenants, they will have been a waste if I do not keep my promises to God and obey his commandments, thus someone less fortunate than I can reach higher that myself if I do not do my part. Many of the poor and humble will be exalted above the wealthy, popular, powerful people of this life because they chose to accept the Gospel and live the commandments. Thus the first shall be last and the last shall be first. So many blessings await us in the next life if we are but faithful! Reconcile yourselves to the will of God, 2 Nephi 10:24.

We are here in Mortality to learn that wickedness is not happiness and that God's way is the way to life, truth, happiness, joy, and peace. Alma 34:32.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Love,
Elder Blackburn

A short note...

Wow, that was a fast week...each week seems to be going faster and faster...so last Preparation day was super fun we went to the Tulsa Zoo, we watched a chimpanzee throw dirt at the zookeeper and saw many other fun animals...the only downside was that it was pouring rain the whole time so we mostly stayed in the indoor exhibits which were fun...so this week I had to go down and exchange with the Henryetta Elders, it's about an hour and a half drive down there and as I was with them we went to a visit people and had a great time...

Love,

Elder Blackburn

*Elder Blackburn has met several people who share our last name so we are going to do some genealogy to see if we are related...

 

 

 

Good times in Tulsa

Well this week was awesome! We had MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) at the mission home and it was amazing. There's nothing like sitting at the feet of your mission president and feel the powerful spirit that he has. He spoke on many things but mostly on how we need to make sure we have the basic doctrines down and how we need to look, listen, and feel the spirit (he gave some scriptures describing those points but I don't have my notebook with me...We had a baptism on Saturday as well and it went great! Also we had a good Zone Training Meeting and Elder Tauteoli gave a farewell/last words of advice, talk to the Zone (he leaves at the end of this transfer) and he said to remember these three things always...

1) Don't push away the ones that love you most.
He then talked about the people of Ammon and how they had to bury their weapons and how we need to ask ourselves if we are still holding some weapons of war, whether it be disobedience, bad characteristics that halt our spiritual progress, etc.
2) Faith Precedes the Miracle
We've got to believe that we are the Lord's representatives because we are and that anything our President says is as if the Lord is speaking it.
And we do everything because of the Atonement ---> Matt. 26:36-39
3) We were meant to swim in "deep waters"
D&C 127:2
We were built for our challenges and struggles.

After hearing his final words it made me reflect on what I would share when I was near the end or what words of advice I would leave with future missionaries, members, etc.

1) I have learned a great lesson of what matters most in life, and that is the gospel and family. If we are constantly choosing the right and making the gospel the center of our lives we will never go astray and I wish in High School/College I would have spent more time with the family than worrying about trying to go at every spare moment and "hang-out". Although friends are fun and good memories are sometimes made...most of the time it is just a waste...spend time with the people you are sealed to for eternity! I think Heavenly Father cares more about the strength of our relationship and the time we spend with our parents and siblings than the strength of our relationship and time spent with our friends.

2) Do not take sacred things for granted. As soon as I entered the MTC and the gravity of going on a mission hit me I realized quickly that I had taken much---if not all---of what I had for granted, before my mission scriptures, church, temples, prophets, were all normal things to me and were part of everyday life <---they should never become "normal" or "usual" to us. We should revere and cherish the scriptures studying from them everyday! What strength and protection come from reading the words of the prophets! Church each Sunday is not to be instructed, to be entertained, etc. it is a time of worship where we go to partake of the sacrament and pay our devotions to the Most High. I look back and I often did not keep it holy...playing video games, watching tv, watching pg-13 movies, doing homework...I have much to make up for, for my lack of reverence. Temples are so sacred, so precious, I have been without one for 19 months and I yearn for the first chance to go to the Holy House of God...What power and blessings are given to us as we work for the salvation of others as well as for ourselves!

3) Small things have great impacts, often unseen. We might think that it is okay to watch a movie even though it "only has a few bad parts" or listen to profane music because it is considered "edited" or "clean" yet still gets the message of the song across, but those things and that type of thinking can lead us to forbidden paths and can be detrimental. Only view and listen to edfying things, if it is bad then turn it off! Music that is vulgar profane, or unedifying in anyway; Movies that are indecent, crude, innapropriate, etc....they just have no part in the gospel of Jesus Christ and they slow down our spiritual progression. Take a serious inventory of the Pg-13 movies you possess and ask yourself: if the Savior was here would he watch it with you? Does the movie leave you with greater faith? Should Pg-13 movies hold a part in the life of a Latter-Day Saint? Does this song invite the spirit? Does it run the spirit away? What am I thinking as I listen to this song? What does it make me want to do, serve or sin? <---all questions to be asked. I encourage you to do so. (video games included...)

4) The small and simple things of the gospel are the most important.
Daily Prayer
Daily Scripture Study
Daily Acts of Service
Daily Temple Worthiness
Paying Tithing
Going to Church
*if these things are done you will find strength, happiness, and more blessings than you have room for. Don't believe me? It's in the scriptures!

I have learned so many wonderful valuable lessons, and those are just a start to some of them. I have loved serving so much because my eyes have been opened and I now see. I am so thankful that I get 2 whole years of intense spiritual growth and service. It is shaping me and setting the foundation for the rest of my life!

Love,
Elder Blackburn

Thoughts on General Conference and other items

A note from the parents: after the morning session of General Conference on Saturday, we received a text that included the picture below - typical Hayden, hanging out with the little kids...they seem to love him no matter the area!

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It is crazy how fast the days are ticking by...when missionaries get to day 138 the tradition is to begin to read the Doctrine and Covenants backwards until section 1 while they are on the plane ride home, so that will be fun to start. Only five more fast sundays until I'm home....weird. That's fun Henry went to Homecoming! Are ya'll doing anything fun for his birthday today? ---besides buying the prince whatever he wants ha ha. How is Hallie doing with tennis? Is Rosarito very sketchy? You know, with all the drug gangs and stuff? My last companion Elder White he is from Escondito, CA and said he would go down for the day in Mexico to watch american movies and eat food for super cheap. Conference was pretty good! We watched most of the sessions at member's homes and just the Sunday morning session at the church...I absolutely LOVED the morning session on Sunday, the spirit was so strong and President Monson's talk just made me cry the whole time...We spend quite a bit of the time with other missionaries but we still get to do missionary work in our area...when I moved apartments there was like no food in this one so until I could buy food I had a meal that consisted of: Hot chocolate, instant pistachio pudding, and canned peach halves....thought you might get a kick out of me eating like a homeless person...ha ha today we have MLC Missionary Leadership Conference at the Mission Home, it's where all the zone leaders and sister training leaders come together at President's house and have one big two day meeting, should be pretty fun.

Good times in the mission field

That is great that you enjoyed (Gen Womens) Conference. I LOVE conference, absolutely the best two days. Tulsa is a really cool city, I like it a lot. Lots of fun things to do and has everything you want/need. 

I went to this store called "Burlington's" and was looking at dress shoes (because I didn't want to wear my normal church shoes to meetings) and I came across some nice ones and as I was checking them out I noticed the tongue had been ripped (but I knew I could fix it with some duct tape) so I went to the front desk and they let me have them for 9$! They were originally like 30$ marked down from 70$ so I am pretty pleased with myself...you can't even tell. And I had to go get another ingrown toenail fixed...I keep getting them and they are super annoying...my companion Elder Rupp is a cool kid I knew him before my mission surprisingly enough so we joke it is destiny that we are together. You see, he was in my "Mission Prep" class at USU and we got to know each other a little bit...so I remember when he got his call and announced to the class "Tulsa, Oklahoma Spanish speaking" and then I got my call we wondered if we'd see each other/serve together and here we are 2 years later ha ha. He is from Boise, ID. We get along great. I was pretty bummed to leave Pryor though...The Lord really knows where to send you and I came to the realization that the Lord sends us where certain members, companions, mission president, are going to influence us the most and I can truly testify that, that is so true. I have met so many wonderful members that have had a very deep impact on me, I see many good examples and it motivates me to want to be like them when I am older and how I want my family to be or how I want to better serve. In Pryor there was this family within the in the ward boundaries that I grew close to and taught several of their family members....they say I could be part of their family because of my dark skin (The Grandpa is 3/4 Cherokee) He is a big bear, 6 foot 3 and shoulders broad as a door...and as I said goodbye to him he just teared up and said, "Elder Blackburn, thank you for all that you have done for my family, I will never forget you, and when you go home you can tell people of the good work you have done for my family." As I gave them both big hugs and waved goodbye from the car and drove off I went home and just cried! I realized how grateful I am to be in this mission and to be here, now at this time, and the great work that I get to help in. I just had a moment where I knew everything was right, Heavenly Father is there and he knows me. He knows me and what I need. And that has been the greatest lesson I think that I have learned as a missionary. We truly are all brothers and sisters of God and I get the privilege to help them come back to him. I never knew I had so much family out here :) so now I am in Tulsa and the journey continues.

Love,
Elder Blackburn

Transferred to Tulsa!

Elder Blackburn sent us a quick note today - it looks like he is being transferred into the city.  About an hour after receiving the short email below Todd received a call from an OK area code.  It was Elder Gallegos who has been in the trio with Hayden for the past month or so.  Elder Gallegos received his visa and is headed to Brazil.  He and Hayden became good friends and plan on visiting each other when they are both home.

Hey I'm getting transferred to Mingo Valley Ward in Tulsa, OK I will be a zone leader! So I'm pretty excited, here's my new address:

9714 E 73rd St apt. 211
Tulsa, OK
74133

Six months to go!

Hello Everybody! Well, Saturday marked 18 months. It is incredible how fast time has gone by, I'm sure that is one statement missionaries make all the time because it is true! Time is speeding up and I just received an Email from my buddy Nick Smith who just got home. It was great, he emailed me some pictures and told me what he's up to. I remember being at his farewell and telling him he'd be home in no time! ... I have loved every minute out here and it is shocking to think that some of my friends have finished their two years already! Life never slows down.


Jacob 7:26

26 "And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream..."


This week we decided that instead of teaching a lot of lessons to people that weren't really interested in progressing, we would instead hunt out the elect. So we tracted and visited old potentials and stopped by less-actives that we had yet to meet. It proved successful and we found a lot of new contacts that we are excited to work with. We drove wayyyy out to a small town called Locust Grove and tried finding some people and at one address we had took us to this old trailer house (there are lots of these around this area) that was disheveled and when we approached the door the guy living there got to the door faster than we did and told us promptly to, "Leave Now!" So we just turned around and got back into the car. We have also been teaching this investigator who is married to a member, the members parents and two other brothers live in the ward as well and one of the sons was recently activated and sealed to his wife who was baptized in 2011 and they are such a good example to the investigator and her husband. And yesterday the investigator and husband (who's a less-active member) came to church with their family and it was just so wonderful to see how happy the rest of their family was, it was so heart-warming! I love when less-actives come back to church and when investigators come! Best feeling! Elder Gallegos got his visa so he heads off to Brazil next Monday :(... We have transfer calls this Saturday so I will let you know if I'm staying or leaving.
As we were driving around yesterday I saw a white German shepherd and told Elder Gallegos, "Look a wolf!" and Elder White said, "Ya, Elder Gallegos that's a Oklahoma desert wolf they're super rare." and so Elder Gallegos was like, "No way let me take a picture of it with my camera." So as he was taking a picture the dog started coming over to the car and Elder Gallegos was scared and was like "Go!Go!Go!" and then we told him that it was just a dog ha ha. It was funny. This ward is very small but has great potential so we are really just trying to bring people back to church and building it up and making it what Heavenly Father intended it to be. The few members that come are excellent but we have a lot of less-actives in the area that need a loving nudge to come back to the fold.


Love,
Elder Blackburn