Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Nov. 7, 2016

How was your week?  I need your lds login and password so I can reprint some ordinance cards that we are missing.
We are wondering if you know if you will be able to skype or if you call on Christmas?  Our meeting is at 1130 so we will be home around 1.
Did you pay $5 to get your package? Just wondering. The mission secretary sent us an email this week that you aren't supposed to use the mission funds to get your mail that we have to send $5 to the secretary to pay for any packages we send.
Did you ever get the first package I sent with the mosquito spray and sunscreen?  Did you get the Yellowstone package yet? It was out for delivery to the post office on Friday but I'm not sure how quick the turnaround time for them is.
I went on to lds.org last week looking for something and they had a section that is labeled 'talk of the week'. Last week was elder Nelson's talk about having joy which was my favorite talk of conference. This week's talk is president Oakes talk about joy in sharing the gospel.
He gave 7 things to be successful in sharing the gospel.
1-people learn when they are ready to learn; not when we are ready to teach them.
2-an invitation to learn more about Jesus Christ is preferable to an invitation to learn more about our church
3-be authentic
4-don't limit yourself to your circle of friends and associates
5-bishoprics can plan special sacrament meeting for members to invite others knowing the content of the meeting.
6-many opportunities to share
7-social media is a great tool
Great talk!
We worked on some stuff for your Christmas package tonight. Azalea, Taylor and Kayla, Kristal and the kids, Tonnya and kids and us. Now I just need to figure out the best way to package it to send it.
Tues is voting day. Keep praying for good things to happen.
How's the companion?  Are you getting along?  Kayla said you told her he was a jerk. Is the Spanish coming along?  Tell us about the family that does your laundry and meals?  Did you get to eat your brownies I sent?  Do you have a way to play CDs? Do you have a microwave? Do you do daylight savings?  Just wondering if your time changed?  Just In case we want to send you popcorn or something.
Well our week was just a normal not a lot going on. Wrestling started, and Carson is finishing up football. Going to mesquite this weekend. They play on Thurs night at 1030pm our time 😟.   Hopefully they don't have the early game the next morning.
Well. Have a great week.
Love you
Mom

This week I learned a lot. Some people have different purposes. Like my comp He plants seeds. He hasnt baptized a ton of people but he has told me he is a seed planter. Then my comp told me one of the Assistants is a baptizer. He has like 70 baptisms and like a year in the mission. He also told me there are people who reactivate. And many more. I just need to find what I am good at and do it. He told me he feels like I'm going to train this next change. I'm a little scared but if that is what the Lord and President want then that is what I'm going to do. So here it is hard to get members to work with us. So if I hear one word of you not helping the missionaries I'll straight up come home and beat someone. Next I learned that people really do feed off our energy. People feel the same way as us. We can be sad and they feel the same way. So this coming week I'm going to be so happy. Like the happiest person alive pretty much :) Because I want them to be happy like I'm happy. This gospel is the true happiness. We always tell people why we are so happy. It is because we are Mormons! Be a Mormon and be happy. I love this gospel with all my heart I hope you know. This is true happiness. Go share it!!!! I am liking the comp. He is a jerk. I can speak Spanish just fine. I do all my laundry now and we eat in the market because it is cheaper and my comp is a cheap skate. He knows it I told him. We have a microwave we don't have time to cook the brownies. We can play cds but only mo-tab. No day light savings. 
Jackson

Mom:  So How are you doing your laundry?  all by hand?  I'm sure we don't help the missionaries as much as we should either, but we will try and do better.  We signed up to feed them a few weeks ago when they opportunity came up, but we really don't know anyone to refer them to, so we aren't much help there.  I guess we are stuck in the rut of #4 in Elder Oakes talk that we need to branch out of our circle.  I try to share experiences and different things about what we do with people that I talk to on the phone at work, and that's pretty much my branching out.  And that isn't helping the missionaries here in Brigham City.  
I did forget to tell you that Easton is having surgery on Thurs this week, so remember him in your prayers.  He has a lump in his neck that they are going to remove.  He isn't sick or anything, and the doctors aren't super worried that it is cancer, just that it is a lump and it isn't supposed to be there so they are taking it out. 
Did you get your package today?

Jackson;  Thank you. I love you. We do our laundry by hand it is easy. I paid 2.50 for the package. Oh I got the package finally. Thank you for everything. 

Sorry I only have 3 photos this week. One is a jeep that I was so mad when I saw it. Just look close. At everything. I want to but something like Christ is watching. Then the other two are in a members house because we were soaking wet and my umbrella broke. So we were just messing around being goof balls.



Mom:  You got the first package with the mosquito spray and stuff?
Love you have a great week!

Jackson:  We aren't done Typing!!!! Talk to me a la vida!!! 

Mom: so did you get the first package with the mosquito spray and stuff then or not?  or you just got the one with the Yellowstone stuff?

Jackson:  No I got the first one with the mosquito spray.

Mom:  Cool.  So I guess now we know it takes almost 3 months to get a package to you regular mail.   Do you have anything fun planned for Pday today?  Are there any sights to see or anything like that you could do?  So what made you decide not to use the family for cooking an laundry anymore? 
Just curious if the package was intact and everything was still in it?  What was in it?  I honestly can't remember what I sent.

Jackson:  Everything was in it. It was safe. Because my comp said something that pissed her off and her food is a little expensive. Didn't bug me but whatever right?

Mom:  So she quit?

Jackson:  Kinda. If I stay she will probably let me come back. but not him
Hey I have to go I love you Have A great week!!!

Mom:  You too!
Love you

Voice Recording:  I still haven't figured out how to just attach the mp3 file :(  Enjoy and disclaimer, some of the stuff he says in Spanish I have no clue how to write it or really what he is saying so it is probably completely wrong-- don't judge too harshly  :)
Hello, How are you?  Anyways, this week, was an ok week.  It wasn't that great I'll be honest.  Um. . . my last pday, not today.  We got a call at 635am from  the Zone Leaders and they said you need to come to San Vicente.  We need to have a meeting.  I was furious, I was mad .  And we went and I was kind of bugged, but um. . . I decided I was going to grow up because I want to be a leader and I want to be a great missionary out here and so I'm going to grow up and work hard.
Tues. we were just like  success, popping up everywhere, boom boom boom.  Woah what the heck is going on.  I actually taught a guy in English, well I contacted him in English and we are supposed to teach him this week, but We aren't sure if he was actually interested in our message or if he just wanted to practice his English, but  who knows.  The 2 little girls were like, "hey why haven't you been over to teach us."  We were like  "What?!" - They were all "Why haven't you come and taught us? You guys are the missionaries right? Why haven't you taught us? "  So we took them to a members house that was super close and started teaching them.  They are going to get baptized this month.  So I was like alright!
Tues. we had a like a marriage counseling meeting.  I seriously felt like Dr. Phil or something like that.  (Laughing)  It was pretty cool.  I took coffee, cigarettes, stuff like that and ripped them up  stomped them into the ground, all sorts of stuff.
Oh, we met someone that lives super close like 3 houses from us and they got money and they want to be our friends. I was like ALRIGHT!!  That is OK with me!
And then Wednesday rolled around and  it was called the dia de defuntos.  The Day of the Dead pretty much.  We sat in the cemetery all day and got 102 contacts. We talked about the plan of salvation and family history. It was really good.  That's all we did on Wed. really.
Thurs. honestly it rained soo hard and we were soaked it sucked, I hated it.  But then At the end of the day we found one person.  It wasn't a very good day, but well, I just hope my future wife is getting hotter and hotter because I am working hard in the rain.  (Laughing)
Let's see. . . Fri. we worked with some former missionaries, well one, his name is Samuel. He went to Mexico   He's a pretty cool guy.  One thing he told us his first interview with his president.  He said "Elder diga me sus Malditos precados." He was like Woah!   Malditos is like damn  it's strong here. but in Mexico it means nothing.  And the President told him that word means nothing here. Just so you know.  He was like oh, ok?  I could just see his eyes huge when his president would say that.    OH man, I would laugh so hard.
And this girl, she didn't think I understood Spanish, And she took a shot at me and I was like Oh-  I fired right back and she was like oh uh I promise it's just a joke, it's just a joke and was like yah, ok Yep that's what I thought.
Um Sat was a 7out of 10 day. we worked hard, but not a ton of success. We had a district meeting it was alright and we talked about obedience and I'm with the district leader so obviously I'm freaking obedient because he's obedient  too and we work hard.  But today, I would teach something and he would reteach it and I was kind of bugged about that and that frustrated me but it's ok.  It would bug me, but I need to not worry about that kind of stuff and get over it. We were also fasting, we started our fast so I understand that he could probably be a little grumpy without food but he was just kind of a dick today.  But whatever.  It's not a big deal, but Sunday it was solid.  It was Fast Sunday so it was fast and testimony meeting. We also had a meeting with the Ward Mission leader after.  In Sacrament meeting I was like Wow, the spirit is so strong, just  listening to testimonies I was like wow.  Before my Mission I was like man, do you really know that's true?  But right now, I'm like wow, that is so true. And it just makes me feel so much better about myself  when I'm teaching, because other people,  it's not just me, it's not just a kid from Utah where Mormons are from, it's people in El Salvador they know it's true and I just LOVE that.  Then our meeting with the ward Mission Leader he was like Hey, so what's going on?  Because he just saw that we were sad, we're not happy, and it was hard and we were just sad and we didn't look like we were having a good time.  He just told us, you know what,  because we had people just,  Every time we ask for references they are always less actives, never new ones and we have trouble with people working with us.  and so he's just like hey give your excitement for this gospel show your excitement and when you're happy and everyone will ask why you're happy and we will tell them it's because the gospel makes me happy.  I was like wow, why haven't we been doing this?  I'm normally happy and everyone's like why are you so happy and I'm like I don't know, it's because I'm a missionary and I'm just happy.  So that was nice to take and then we found a family, it was really cool.  They had a bunch of questions. and I was like oh, ok, alright.  That's cool.  Then we uh taught what did we teach, we just taught normal and when I was done, I was like wow, that was good.  he was like wow, I felt that, I felt your teachings, and I was like wow, thanks man.  and he's like wow, you really are ready to train and I was like woah woah woah.  crazy man and so that was all for this week. It's all I got so, I'll talk to you next week I guess heh heh  Feliz Semana!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

October 30, 2016 Happy Halloween!!

How was your week?  Any fun experiences you want to share?  You need to share some experiences. I know you are having them but for whatever reason you don't tell us. I will say you aren't as short as Taylor's, but close. You don't need to protect my feelings or whatever. You can tell us what is going on.  I don't know, Maybe you are telling us what's going on and how things are going.
We sent you a Yellowstone shirt and some postcards last week. No idea when they will get there.
I've been trying to figure out what to send for Christmas since you really don't need a lot but I kind of want to send you something fun. This sucks -since it's so expensive to mail anything. It is ridiculous!!
This week was pretty low key. Carson has been sick all week. He has bronchitis and I think I'm coming down with it now too and he doesn't seem to be getting any better. I think if he's still coughing tomorrow I'm going to take him back to the dr. For an antibiotic shot before he has full blown pneumonia.
We went to the wrestling parent meeting and I don't think Riley was too impressed with me. I told everyone that fundraisers suck and that if we were going to do one we need to have a purpose. What are we fundraising for?  I'm not going to ask for money if I don't have something in mind. - I was kind of ornery about it but I didn't say anything everyone else was thinking just too afraid to say out loud 😬. I guess in getting old and mean.
We really didn't do anything this week. Just laid around and tried to get everyone healthy. Even Saturday was a super lazy day. Carson and I read and watched Netflix. Dad went to work and did some stuff but we were pretty much worthless. πŸ˜•
Carson and I stayed home from church today and pretty much the same as yesterday. Hopefully we can all get feeling better soon.
We did listen to pres. Nelson's conference talk on having joy again. It just reaffirms and we are here to have joy. Not just be happy or float or even be sad. We will experience all of those things. But we can be joyful ALL the time.

Well. Have a great week! We love you. Work hard.
Love
Mom

Well this week I cant say much about it. It was just a week of work. I am sorry that I don't have much to say. It is hard to always have experiences. I am trying my best but it just isn't happening right away. Anyways this week really was boring. But I did learn about many things. One in the Bible in Ecles. 12:13  It says that the will of man is to fear God and to keep his commandments. I read that and was like what the heck... When people down here are always like oh God first and never go to church and they all say that they pray but when we ask them to pray they are in like shock. I get frustrated really easy with them. But Maybe that is why I am here. To learn patience because I know that I don't have any. I also read Alma 5:62. It says that baptism is the First step in partaking the tree of life. I just want to ask hey would you like to partake of the tree of life? Then be baptized!!! Haha anyways I just read those two things and wanted to share them with you. Also I was talking to the zone leader and told him I was a little scared to talk to the people. I know really weird huh.... Haha laugh all you want. No but he told me that he had the same problem when he came to the mission. Then one day he thought this and he told me, "I am a member of the true church. I have the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have the Priesthood. I have an endowment. I have a tag that shows people I am a representative of Jesus Christ. What do I have to be afraid of? So I am going to live by that. Well that is my experience. I love you!!!!I hope you and Carson get better.

Mom:  I don't mean all spiritual experiences. Like what happened at your zone meetings or district meetings or who you met. What do you talk about at dinner with your host family. Do you eat with them. What do you and your comp talk about. Do you have anything in common. It sounds like you get along with the zone leaders. What do you talk about. Where are they from????  Details of what you are doing, what you see?

Jackson:  Well first lets get this package thing down. I want that journal with the Elephant and socks. Some ties. Some candy. And whatever you think will be something that I would like. Is that okay?

Mom: Yes. I've got most of that done. I was thinking more Christmassy stuff😊.  I will still need to get the journal because I wasn't sure if you were still wanting that.  But we got it. I just wish it wasn't so expensive so I could send you stuff more often. 

Jackson:  Ya me too. What do you guys want for Christmas. I'll send a package. I have something for dad and Carson I just want to know if you want anything.

Mom: I'm good. I don't need anything. Just a super detailed letter of everything you have been doing the last by then 5 months. 😊. If you're sending stuff You should send something for Taylor and Kayla. That would mean a lot to them. 

Jackson:  What the freak should I get?!! Haha I don't know. Mom why am I so worried right now? It isn't about you or anyone at home. It is about everyone here. In El Salvador. I want all of them to come to church and I am heart broken when they don't. I want them to keep the Word of Wisdom and when they say I'm sorry I drank coffee today I want to cry.. Why...?

Mom: It's not a bad thing. It's because you want the best for them. But it's like we have always said. You can't make people do what you want. All you can do is be their friend and example and love them. They have to make the choice because it's something that they want. 

You can't worry. But you can care about them.
I'm guessing you are probably out of time. DON'T WORRY. We love you. Work hard. Til next week😊
Love
Mom

Voice Transcription:  This week was a good week.  We had some success in finding new people, but not very many people came to church  We are having a struggle with people coming to church, but we had a district meeting this week and it was about the Holy Ghost.  I learned some good stuff that if we teach with the Holy ghost. it can be pretty good.  One of the Zone leaders taught me a pretty good lesson and I'll never forget it.  I told him that I was kind of scared to talk to people.  I know weird huh, you think that's pretty funny, but he told me yeah, me too, but then I thought, I have the priesthood, I have the Holy Ghost, I'm a member of the church, I have an endowment, and I have a tag that has the Church name and Jesus Christ's name on it.  What is there to be afraid of?  I've got everything.  I was like wow!  Alright!  So I'm not going to be afraid ever again.
Then, the next day the Zone Leaders came to our house and started checking our clothes and I was like what the heck!  But it's alright.  They took some of my ties away, well they didn't take them away but they told me to put them away because they were too skinny.  They were all gifts, so I wasn't mad.    What else, well, we went to work.  ya ...we did some tracting the next day.  Contacting we got like 20 contacts, it was pretty cool.  I'm being a missionary, that's why.  The next day we had a struggle inviting people to come to church because people just don't want to come.  And then Sunday came and we only got 2 people to church.  That kind of sucks but you know, I don't have much to say about this week.  That was my week.  I Love you!
 Shelling Casheews.
 Mom:  How much do they Cost?
Jackson:  Like 15 pounds for $20
 Mom:  How many did you eat?
Jackson:  Only like 10.
Mom:  Not as good as roasted and salted eh?