Shèngdàn kuàilè!

Hey everyone! Eight down, one to go! I leave for Australia a week from today and I couldn't be more excited. 

In the MTC, we refer to the day we receive our flight plans as Christmas. So, we in the Mandarin Branch, celebrated. The entire floor was bellowing Christmas carols from 6:30 on. We hung socks/stockings in our classroom and drew a tree on the board. We all wore matching red / green ties within companionships. We put treats and other misc. items into each other's stockings. And when they arrived right after lunch, our DL stuck them in the stockings and we anxiously waited class to start. We opened them and there was much rejoicing. 

I love Christmas.

Christmas!  Featuring Scrooge.

Our tree and stockings.

Us deciding that drawing maps is more important than studying Chinese.

So, the flight plans themselves. I report to the MTC Travel Office at 11:50 on Sept. 4. First flight is a couple hours from here to Houston, Texas. Hour and a half layover there. From there, I get on a plane and fly all the way to Auckland, New Zealand. I take off on the 4th and arrive on the 6th. Time zones factored out, close to an 16 hour flight. Three hour layover in Auckland is followed by a short flight over to Melbourne. I should land at about 11 AM on the 6th. 

The hours are counting down. 

Other fun things this week - we had our last district Yoga session. It's kinda sad, all these Elders I've really come close to, we're all about to part ways. Nissen and Campbell and Sowards and Staten and Crimm and Bunn and James...I'm gonna miss them all. 

The other night before our devotional, one of the opening hymns was Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel. Our regular director wasn't there, so some other lady conducted the music. My dear mother, you would have died. She liked to start each line slow, and then slow down further to...emphasize? I'm not sure. It was painful. Please, to all my wards back home. Sing your hymns up to tempo. Feeling the Spirit is easier when you aren't asleep. 

We've also started playing a lot of volleyball in our gym times. I've discovered another talent I don't have. Great fun.

This week was a testament to the power our wills have in determining our destiny. God has given us so much. The blessings are all around. I know that He will help us meet our greatest potential as we put our heads down and work. I've got a lot of work to do, starting next week. I'm eager to dive in. It's going to be rough. But I've got something beautiful to share. I pray He will help me through.

Our Branch President gave us an interesting challenge this week. We just finished a lesson on increasing our faith. He ended it by asking us to, in our prayers every day, ask for the following things:

First, an increase in faith. Ask him to help us more fully rely on him.  After that, ask for trials. Ask for hard things. 

The idea here is that within our trials, we grow and develop our faith. He will help us grow. He will be more than willing to let trials come into our path. Most importantly, He will help us through them. Our relationship with the Savior will grow as we meet the problems that come our way with a willingness to serve and give. I promise you all, if you rely on Him, He will help us through. Every time. Of this, I am sure.

Keep reading the Book of Mormon. It's incredible.

As a last request before I hit the mission field, if any of you have pictures on hand - old memories I'm apart of - I'd love to have a few more with me before I leave. I don't want to ask for much, especially once I'm on the other side of the world (please no one go spending tons to send me packages). But I'd appreciate taking once last bit of home with me before I head out. So please, pictures.   Also, socks are always great. Can't have too many socks.

Love you all! Have a phenomenal week. I appreciate the support from home and everywhere else. Keep up the good work. God loves you all. He also loves the Aussies - can't wait to share it with them.

Jiayou!

Elder Blackhurst

The District.

More pictures of us with Brother and Sister Graf from our Branch Presidency.

Elder Rowe!

Us being us.

Not quite sure how I got this picture, but it's fabulous.

Everything is better in Chinese

Hey everyone! Home stretch of the MTC!

This week was one of the best so far. If I wasn't in the swing of things by this point, I'm definitely pretty settled into the MTC by now. Every day is still lots of work - wake up, eat, Chinese, eat, sleep - but I love it. 

Chinese is still an adventure. Pretty tough - we're kinda hitting the point where we're running out of resources to put onto our flashcards, so it's hard to progress besides just speaking, finding what we don't know, and looking it up. To all you Chinese speakers, advice would be much appreciated. Even with the struggle, it's pretty great. I love the language. It's so much fun, such incredible history.

The MTC is pretty old at this point. We've seen so many Elders and Sisters come and go. The food all tastes the same. I'm looking forward to Aussie fish and chips.

A few fun things this week. 

To those of you who know Elder Keaton Harris, he's on my floor, which is fun. He arrived last week and he leaves the same time I do. Not bitter at all.

I met an Elder who came in last Wednesday in the other Chinese branch. He's speaking Cantonese (almost as cool. Not quite.) but he's from Melbourne. We sat down and just talked about his home for half an hour - I'm so excited. I can't wait to be there. Best mission in the world.

We got yet another Apostle on Tuesday - Elder Andersen. I swear, his talk was written for me personally. I testify that this is the work of God. I'm eager to go out and share. I'm grateful for men and leaders like him who rekindle that desire to serve - especially after a long couple days. 

We decided, as a District, that for our Sunday night film, we'd go see Testaments - the old LDS historic fiction movie that highlights the Americas around the time when Christ was crucified and goes to minister to them - except it was in Chinese. I haven't laughed so hard since we got here. Not that the movie itself is funny - it really isn't - but in Chinese, it was hysterical. The villains and their cult, oh my gosh. The translations were golden. The fact that the only distinguishable name in the whole film is Jacob, which translates to Yaga - it was great. In hindsight, it probably isn't really that funny to anyone that doesn't speak Chinese, so I apologize. To those of you who do, go watch it and please validate me. It's hysterical. 

On a more serious note, this week was a testament to patience and hope; how important it is for us to endure to the end. This is just the beginning of my mission - haven't even started working with actual investigators - and it's kinda frustrating sometimes when your Chinese isn't as good as you want it or when the investigators don't keep their commitments or when you don't know how or what to study and you hit a rut in the path. But we press forward. God doesn't ask us to be perfect. He just wants us to keep on going. So we go. We keep going. And he'll bless us all the way. 

I've had several requests for mailing addresses - I can be sent mail at the MTC at 2005 N 900 E Unit 202 Provo UT, 84602. When I hit Australia, if you're willing to pay the ridiculous fee for postage, it's 76 Cathies Lane Wantirna South VIC 3152 Australia. So there it is. We love packages.

Thank you so much for all the support. I miss you all lots. Love you all. Keep on keeping on. Romans 8: 35-39. God will take you all the way. 

Elder Blackhurst

Elders Blackhurst and James
(Cafeteria photo courtesy of Kathi Porter.)

Provo Temple, Elders James, Blackhurst,
Staten and Sowards

I have no idea what Elder James is doing.

Elder Ballard (because Elder Bednar wasn't enough)

Elders Brigham Blackhurst and Andrew James study at the newly renovated
Provo Missionary Training Center.  Photo taken for the Deseret News and
published in the Mormon Times August 3, 2017.

Hey everyone! Another week at the MTC. We're approaching the three week mark - I've got one English missionary's stay left before I hit Australia. Another batch of Chinese Elders left this morning and it'd be a lie to say I wasn't jealous. But we're getting close. 

The MTC routine is still great, though starting to get a little old. Food is repeating in the cafeteria. Schedule is still exactly the same. Still very productive, still a lot of work. 

Chinese is still an adventure. I wake up and strap 30 flashcards to my hip and hope and pray (literally, there is a lot of prayer going into this language) that I can use them by the end of the day. My language is definitely improving. Still a long way to go, but it's not so much a struggle now as it was at the beginning. 

I know you have all been patiently awaiting my Chinese humor. Well, here it is, my first real Chinese joke:

Lùshàng yǒuyī zhǐ māo,

chēzi guo lai, 

yǐhou zhǐ yǒu yī zhāng māo.

It's hysterical.

If you don't get it, please don't put it into Google Translate and ask why it doesn't make sense. Ask someone who speaks. 

Speaking of hysterical, I've been informed by my roomates that I talk in my sleep. Sometimes it's mumbling, sometimes it's shouting. This last week was a great milestone because apparently, one of the nights, I was shouting a lesson in Chinese about the importance of families. I'd like to think that means I'm ready to be in the mission field, but something says otherwise. I was also told that the lesson didn't sound like it was going very well, so that doesn't help. I'll stick to flashcards.

So, last night we had the pleasant surprise of hearing that Elder M. Russell Ballard was going to be giving a devotional at the MTC that would be broadcasted to all of the other MTCs in the world. It was incredible. Two apostles in one week...incredible. Fingers crossed for another tomorrow night. 

To my family and to the Johnsons, I thank you kindly for the packages I received. You've claimed the title of My District's Favorites. Keep it up. 

A simple testimony this week: prayer. Such a powerful thing. How important it is that we kneel before our maker regularly. Not once or twice a day, but continually. So many blessings are contingent upon us asking. He's ready to help us and guide us. As we align our will with His, He will take us all the way.

I started the Book of Mormon over again this last week. Aside from other personal studies, I'm going to read it through four times before I get back from Australia. If I can do four, I challenge all of you to do it once. Beat me through, I dare you all. Read it and see what you find. The blessings and lessons contained will change your life - let it. 

Love you all! Keep the emails and pictures coming. Miss you lots. To all my friends who just started school, jiayou. Keep it up. God loves you. I love you. 

Elder Blackhurst

My badges. I'm practically an official Asian at this point.

Farewell to Elder Passey. Good luck out there!

 The zone. Love these Elders.

Elder Bast and Elder Rindlisbaker - headed to Brisbane and Leeds. Two good friends.

GUESS WHO SAW ELDER BEDNAR

So I had every intention of titling this email "Guess who saw Elder Bednar" all week long and then was going to make the first line something among the lines of "If you guessed me, you'd be wrong". Except then he showed up last night and kinda spoiled the joke but it's fine because Elder Bednar. More about that later on. 

Hello everybody! Still hanging in there. We hit halfway yesterday. I can't believe I've been here for 4 1/2 weeks already. I can't believe I'm only 4 1/2 weeks away from Australia. I'm more excited with every passing day. MTC life is same as always. But I'm still loving every minute of it. We decided as a district that, really, we only have four real days left of work...because if you think about it, you've got Friday, which is the beginning of the weekend, so it doesn't count, then Saturday AKA Yoga day, which doesn't count, then Sunday, which is beautiful and a break and doesn't count, and then Monday which is P Day and therefore doesn't count, and then Tuesday is devotional night (doesn't count), and then Wednesday which is halfway through the week and we get to go out to the field for exercise, so it doesn't count. All in all, we've only got four days left until the mission field. The rest is just fun work. We love it here. 

A few fun stories. At the end of last week, one of the Elders in my district made a comment about us not having to worry about our investigator being a smoker because we couldn't smell cigarette smoke in the room. We all laughed and our teacher, who also poses as our investigator, smiled. Come Monday's lesson, we go in, and lo and behold, he's got a rolled up piece of paper resembling a cigarette that he's pretending to smoke throughout the lesson. Here we were, supposed to be role-playing, and we could barely contain from laughing. 

One of the beautiful perks of the cafeteria at the MTC is the unlimited ice cream. Often after a meal, I'll treat myself to an orange Creamsicle. No harm in that. The other day, I decided that it would be a good idea to stick my tongue flat up against Creamsicle that was particularly frozen. (All of my non-Arizona friends are probably laughing at me.) I had an A Christmas Story light pole moment. My companion had to tear it off. Didn't taste much for the rest the day. Good times. 

We also came to the consensus that, after attempting to get through 2nd Nephi, it'll probably be easier to learn Chinese and read the translation instead of crawling through Isaiah in English. So that was fun. 

As far as Chinese, I'm really starting to get into the swing of things. I pick up 20 to 30 words off of flashcards a day. Everyone talks about finding "the thing that works for you" as far as learning a language. I found that as I attach stupid pictures or stories to the sounds in the pinyin, it'll stick. The number of puns I've come up with in the last week is pretty ridiculous. But hey – if it helps me learn Chinese, so be it. I'm sure both my father and Miles would be proud. 

More often than not, I'll find two or three words in Chinese that, in English, would be captured by a single word. I've only found one example that goes the other way: the Chinese word 問題 "wenti", which translates to both "problem" and  "question". This bothered me at first. Sometimes I want to say problem, and sometimes I want to say question, and there's a pretty solid difference between the two in my mind. And then I stopped to think about it. How often we look at our lives and identify the problems we have. We are so quick to point out the things we want and the things we need; we forget to look at the innumerable blessings we've already been given. What a beautiful lesson there is within this simple Chinese word: sometimes, things are put in our path that are meant to try us, to challenge us, to make us struggle. Perhaps if we think about our "problems" instead as "questions" to take to God - a way to learn and improve ourselves - we might find ourselves thanking Him for letting us grow instead of complaining to Him why things are difficult. I know he will guide us as we take our questions to him. We are His children and He loves us. We are never alone. He will he us through. We simply need ask. 

May we all strive to find the blessings in the hard moments of our lives.

Elder Bednar. So, every Sunday evening there are a few "movie" options - most of which are just re-runs of old devotionals. The most popular is The Character of Christ by Elder David A. Bednar. I highly recommend you go find it (I think he gave a similar talk at BYUI a few years ago). Anyway, they invited all of the missionaries to watch it last night. At the conclusion of the video, the MTC president invited us to remain in our seats because Elder Bednar himself was there to do a Q&A session with the missionaries. It was incredible. He came in and answered questions and bore testimony and you could feel the power in his witness of Christ. It's an inspired work I'm part of. And I'm grateful for examples like him to remind me to focus on what really matters. 

A big thanks to my aunt Charisse for the package she sent halfway through last week. She is now officially the favorite of every Elder in my district. We love packages. And food. Combinations thereof, especially so. 

I'd like to try something for the bulk of my email next week. Send me any questions you have about missionary life: schedule, scriptures, my roommates, Chinese, the stupid things we do on P-Day… anything and everything. I'll amass them and send them all out to you next week in a Q and A sort of format. Any questions you have I will be happy to answer. There's always so much to share, and I'm never quite sure what you all want to hear. So. Let me know. 

I love you all. I think about you a lot. I miss all of your wonderful examples. But I know I'm where I meant to be. The Lord has big plans for me. He has big plans for you. As we are faithful, He will help us become what He wants us to be. Have a fantastic week.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Elder Blackhurst

Another photo from Jonathan Hooper - studying.

Surprise MTC tourists - The Hulls, Lachelle, Alissa, Malialani, Miles and Grandpa Hull

More surprise MTC tourists - Sister Hall, Cardston & Cosette.

Elder Lincoln Merrill from Mesa and our matching ties.

Missionaries doing laundry.

Elders Sowards and Staten.

Wo xihuan ni de lingdai

Hey everyone! Week 4 and a half or something like that. We kinda lose track of time over here. Every day is still lots of work. Workout to classes to meals to more classes. But the progress and growth in every aspect of my day compared to the beginning of my time here is staggering. Today compared to the beginning is definitely much better. 

...and after writing that sentence, I'm realizing how much Chinese grammar is starting to take a toll on my English. Forgive me.

As far as Chinese goes, we're getting decently proficient at teaching. I can go into a lesson without anything prepared and kinda crash through it. I did ask one of our investigators What is mother was, in opposed to How she was doing. That was kinda awkward. I also forgot how to tell one investigator that I had been at the MTC for four weeks and had five left, so I picked the best word I knew and told her "women kefu le si ge xingxi", with respective tones. You Chinese speakers out there will get a kick out of that. Those of you who don't will probably be frustrated with me. Enjoy. 

I'm starting to really love the language, though. I love it. And with every passing day, I'm more and more excited to go and teach in Australia. I've got the most incredible truth, most indescribable joy. I get to share it. Just have to get through August first. 

Music was a big part of my week. An Elder in my district - Elder Pinnock - asked me to help him with a musical number in sacrament meeting. We sang Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy, him mostly on the melody and me jumping from harmony to harmony. Very fun. And then for choir, the song we're preparing for next Sunday is the MCO Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer. Hands down one of the most beautifully powerful pieces I've ever been able to sing. It really brought some comfort after a long day. 

MTC food is starting to get old. To all of the missionaries coming out soon, I promise it's good. Just...only so long. I envy all the English speakers. Even though we generally just make fun of them all. It's lots of fun.

Speaking of English speakers, fun story. I could not, for the life of me, remember the word "xihuan". So I decided to use it every time I pass someone. I've taken to saying, "wo xihuan ni de lingdai," which roughly translates to "I think you English speakers smell funny", every time I pass someone between classes and then laugh at their confused faces. 

Causing a little harmless confusion is great fun.

We got to the temple for the first time today since we arrived. Absolutely beautiful. God has a plan for us. I'm so very grateful to be part of it. I'm also so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the restoration. Truly is an inspired work - the most inspired work - no other text in the world will bring us closer to Christ. I challenge you all to open it this week and take a look at Moroni 10:4-5. The promises enclosed were such a blessing to me this week. Spent a lot of time in there.

Also, I was supposed to have it memorized in Chinese by yesterday. Only got about two lines in.

Oops. Zao Gao.

Anyway! I love you all. Your emails and letters and packages make me smile every day. I feel your love and your support and it means the world. I love seeing pictures, keep them coming. I'll send some of my own out this afternoon, along with any other letters. For those of you who get annoyed when I take too long to respond *cough* Eliza *cough* I'll happily remind you that I do have other things to do today besides email. But I'll do my best. 

Keep doing good. Do as the Savior did - therein lies happiness. 

Love you all.

Elder Blackhurst

The beloved flag.

A picture.

Our view of BYU.

Elder James playing the piano.

                         The gang. Just being us. Right before a fireside.

          One of the murals. Moses parting the red sea. Absolutely stunning.

Work hard, play hard, but we don't have fun

Just kidding. We totally do.

Nǐmen hǎo！Another fantastic week. MTC life is same as anyways - lots of studying, lots of classwork. I've had a number of requests for my daily routine, so here's kinda what I do everyday:
6:30  Wake up
7:15  Breakfast
7:45  Exercise
9:15  Planning
Following planning is always a large chunk of time - three or so hours. Di yi shi ge ren yan du, di er shi tongban yen du, di san shi Zhongwen yen du.
12:15  Lunch
1:30-4:30  Classroom instruction More study time until dinner.
5:30  Dinner
6:30-9  Classroom instruction
9:30  Zone prayer
10:30  Lights out

So that's my normal day. Schedules vary throughout the week, but that's the bulk of it.

I've mentioned a few times that here at the MTC, we teach
investigators as practice for the mission field. Forgive me for not specifying: these are teachers and actors who are doing their best to embody the personality, language and problems of someone they personally met in the mission field. So everyday, I teach a lesson in Chinese. Having been here for only 20-ish days, it's still a struggle. And as our Chinese improves, our teachers take on more… Let's say, temperamental roles for our mudaoyou. But, we are persevering. I had a nasty incident in a lesson not being able to tell the difference between "four o clock" and "dictionary". It's a struggle. Still. I'm learning to love this language for what is is (and sometimes for what it isn't: namely, English grammar). One of the highlights of this week was something they call TRC. The idea is that they find Chinese or Taiwanese members in the area who speak Mandarin and bring them in to just converse with the missionaries. It's the best thing. My companion and I had the opportunity to teach three middle aged women, and then a 25-year-old man who named himself Teancum after the Book of Mormon hero. It was the most incredible thing. I love this culture and I love these people and I'm so excited to become a part of it. Especially in a place like the land down under.

Speaking of "culture", here's a funny story. The MTC is split up into branches, which are split up into zones, which are split up into districts. All of the elders in our zone are on our floor. Because elders arrive every three weeks, districts leave the MTC at a staggered rate. So, last night, we prepared to send off the nine week missionaries to their respective missions. Branch 2 has a few particular traditions I got to be a part of. They mostly consisted of the old zone leaders passing down the torch to the next two... and by torch, I mean the cardboard banjo, a paper dragon, pink crocs, and a
"dragon scroll" that suspiciously looks like it's a roll of bathroom towels someone stole and started doodling on. But they claim there's a dragon on the inside, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. It kind a looked more like a really bad wedding ceremony than anything else, but I'm not gonna ask questions. It was a lot of fun. And we're going to miss those others a lot. I know my District is eager to step in to the
place they're leaving. It's a fun bunch, and we've got the best zone in the world. Can't wait to introduce the next batch of newbies this Wednesday.

I think this week was a pretty special reminder of how important it is to use your particular gifts and talents and blessings to bless the people around you; I say this, especially to all of my beloved singers back home, who I miss so very dearly. Music is a special thing. Love it. Cherish it. Go record the things you're doing in the music you're
making because those are things you you'll want to hold onto forever. D&C 25:12: For the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads. We've all got some talent. Make someone's day better. (Also, if any of you have any MP3 recordings of the more reverent pieces we've sung in the last several years, I'd love you forever if you sent them to me.)

I love you all. Xiexie for the packages and support and prayers. It's humbling to see and feel the blessings of missionary life. I miss you all lots. Keep doing your best. Keep turning out and serving when pride says turn in. Can't wait to hear from everyone.

Elder Blackhurst

The name tag

TRC Review. For those of you who can read Chinese, there you go. For
those of you who can't read Chinese, there you go.

Our room. Please notice Elder Staten's pants. Que Napoleon Dynamite.

 That's us! District 2-F. Elders Cambell, Nisson, Staten, Sowards,
Bunn, Crimm,Blackhurst and James.

Our classroom. We're all very focused, all the time.

This morning. P Day. Part of our district and part of the district
next to ours.

...I'm not really sure what I'm doing in this picture. But hey, the
temple is lovely. Also, it kinda looks like a cupcake.

The whole zone. Love these elders. Definitely the best zone in the world.