July 24, 2017

 Seriously?? The hair again 

Well I am NOT having a change at all!! Same comp same area! I am actually pretty happy about that. So this week we had been working hard with the people that we know and trying to always find new people verdad? So we talked to Neftali. He is the guy who is super poor. He came to Church and said that he will be there every Sunday!!! It was awesome. He said that he felt different and better. Thank you Espiritu Santo!!!!! Chepe is awesome as well. Always is at English classes and came to church for the 2nd time. Also this we are getting kicked out of the house and the MEMBER who is the owner hasn't even talked to us only the Bishop. So that's cool! Then I almost threw some hands with the ward mission leader. All he does is say call me when you want to work and always has a bad excuse why he can't. He even came to the correlation but we didn't do it because he left. We were like what??? Haha but the thing was that while we were in church we were talking to a member who helps us and all but before we got into the first class he told the member he was giving the class when he hasn't given the class in years.... but then the ward mission leader and the member argued a little bit but the mission leader said want to take this to the street. WOW. If I was there and heard what he said I would have dragged his old skinny butt out to the street by his tie to grant his wish. But ya we love the ward they feed us right? ;) haha This week really was great. Love you guys. The pictures are from a volcano where it breaths. A service and A sweet view of the Volcano.

Another week gone. Carson is heading out for trek on Wednesday so we are going to be scrambling to get everything together for him today and tomorrow. I guess if we camped it probably wouldn't be a big deal, but we don't. The biggest thing is the pants. But I guess we will figure it out.Last week is kind of a blur. Monday we didn't really do anything. I went to pick up Easton and Carson from the youth football camp, but I had the time wrong so I ended up going to Lexie Hardy's bridal shower and having dad pick them up. And they went to grandma Lou's to mow the lawn.
Tuesday Carson was supposed to have games at Ben Lomond but the other team didn't show up so that didn't happen. So he hung out with Sean. Dad and I went to Ogden and watched Landen play ball. They won the tournament they were playing in and instead of trophies they got rings. It was pretty funny. Wednesday Carson had YM  they started by helping a new family move some furniture into their house. We took Carson in and dad helped the 3 other men that were there plus Carson. It only took them about 1/2 hour so it wasn't too bad. No idea what we did on Thursday. And Friday we worked and headed for the cabin.
Taylor and Kayla went up earlier in the day so they had the Windows all open and the place cooled off for us when we got there.
We had pizza for dinner and Taylor, Carson and Kayla played games and I went to bed. It wasn't late but I was completely wiped out.
Saturday we went to the Lancaster reunion. It wasn't a very good turnout, kind of sad actually. I'm pretty sure non of Vernon's family was there. A lot of Delsa's family came, some of a couple of the others. Only our family and grandma came from ours. Most of Julia's family came I think. But yeah not a great turn out. I didn't recognize most of the people and we've only missed about 3 times in 26 years. (I went the year that we got married).
We took baseball stuff and got a kick ball but only got a few of the little kids to play for about 15 min.
It was good to visit with those that were there. One of Delsa's granddaughters had scanned a bunch of old pictures and that was pretty cool.
We brought the boat home so hopefully we can go out a few times before school starts.
Austin's farewell was yesterday. He did a good job. Dad recorded most of it. I'm sure he'll send it.
Anyway. How was your week?  Sounds like you are doing great with your new companion. The area sounds like a great place with maybe a few more things to do?  Or just country living kinds of things to do.
I've been thinking about missions and how and why they are a great thing. When we were singing the hymns in sacrament meeting yesterday the words got me all emotional. It said their leader calls be faithful. And that's what you are doing and fighting for the victory. It's pretty amazing actually.
Well, you'll probably be writing shortly so I'll sign off.

Love you
Mom

Mom:  So what's up today?

Jackson:  Just got back from a hot spot by the volcano.

Mom:   Did you get some cool pictures at the volcano?  Can you see like the red hot lava and stuff?

Jackson:  Ha no... It only is a place that shoots out gas... It is kinda like stinky springs...

Mom:  I was just thinking maybe it was like the active volcanoes in Hawaii.  We saw some of the craters and stuff, and we did go to one spot that was like that with the gases.  I can't remember what it was called, but we didn't stay there really long enough to check it out because the wind was blowing so hard that we were getting sandblasted every time someone took a step.
It's pretty cool that you get to stay in the area.  6 weeks really isn't enough time to do much is it?  It sounds like the people for the most part are good to you.  I'm sure it's like that everywhere.  Even here.  Dad went on splits with the missionaries yesterday and they told him he was supposed to make the appointments with the people for them in the ward.  Is that how you do it there?

Jackson:  We make the appointments and they show up to help us. But also they can take us to people that they know and stuff too.

Mom:  That's what we thought.  I guess Dad will have to set them straight.  They figured that he would make the appointments and do all the talking and they were just along for the ride.

Jackson:  No

Mom:  So- what is the experience that stood out the most to you this week?

Jackson:  How I am patient enough that I didn't drop the ward mission leader.

Mom:  That is a good lesson to learn I guess, but not exactly what I was thinking.  He is your Elder and you need to have respect- some times even when they haven't earned it.  You just need to figure out how he works and make it work the best you can for you instead of fighting against him.  You are just spoiled after having Alejandro as your ward mission leader for 6 months.   It's just like everything else in life-- sometimes you get those that work awesome and love their job and want to do their best no matter what and then there's everyone else that just kind of do things half-assed.  You just have to make it work the best you can.  (with a smile too!  of course ;)  )

You are probably out of time-- Have a great week!

Love you

Mom

July 17, 2017 1 Year!!

 What is up with the hair??

The pics are my shirt ripped... When we went to San Salvador at 3 am Salvador del Mundo is the statue. and I think that wall had a past.... and when we burnt the shirts...

Well how was your week??  Did you do the crazy burn the shirt thing?  As long as it was one that had good taco stains on it no big deal.
I have your package ready to send, I think, so either Monday or Tuesday I'll get it sent.
I started physical therapy on Tuesday and it kind of sucked.
Carson played ball that night. They lost but he played well. He hit well and pitched 3 innings. Jason griffin asked him if he wanted to play in the Tournament of champions on the weekend because they needed another player. He wanted to go so we did. They played Thursday Friday and Saturday. 5 games total. They played well over all but only won one game. Carson hit phenomenal the entire tournament. Jason said he hit 900 for the tournament, so not too shabby. It was fun for him to play with that team again. Then we went to the Bees vs Sacramento Rivercats game on Saturday night. We bought the tickets back in May so it wasn't planned to have such a busy weekend but it was good.
We had our home teaching dinner today too. It was Brandon Bailey's birthday today. The big 17. He will be getting ready to head out on his mission right after you get home next year.   Taylor and Kayla didn't come for dinner and we were missing the Greenes but it's always. Great time. Carson went with Sean after dinner for a while and the. We  went over later and watched a movie called the warrior. It was pretty good.

Well I better send this before you email this morning

Love you
Mom

So this week was just a great week. I have a freaking year in the mission!!!!!!!!!! We had a ton of fun and just worked so hard. We had 7 investigators in church and we are literally killing it. I straight love it. We also went to San Salvador this week for immigration for my comp. But really what I want to talk to you about. I found the poorest man here. I thought that I was living in the dump of the world in my house. I thought I had seen the lowest of the lows but no I found it this week. He was the nicest man I had ever met. He was willing to do anything for us. He about offered his dinner that was half of a small vegetable and other plants in soup... He has problems and he wants to come to Christ. He bawled during the prayer and wants to come to church. I have no idea why, but I love that man. Even with his small home I could stay there in the dirt floor for hours. I love him. Just remember that we are blessed in the states and that you cant take anything for granted... Love you

Mom:  How was your week?  did you do anything fun?

Jackson:  I would say so :)

Mom:  That's awesome that you have that many investigators.  I'm glad that you are seeing the humbleness of the people.

I have to go-- taking Carson for his Sports physical.  so if you're still on when I get to the Dr's office I'll keep emailing.  

If not, have a FANTASTIC week!!  I did get your package sent at lunch so hopefully it won't be too long coming.

Love you

Jackson:  Love you mommy :)

Voice Recording:  

Hey guys, well, it's another week.  It went by pretty fast this week, I'll be honest.  We are in the last week of the change, transfer, so it's like really, really ridiculous.  I don't know how it went by so fast.  

So this week we had some pretty fun stuff to do I guess?  Um, Monday I don't think we did anything to be honest.  Oh, we watched the Saratov Approach it was legit.  And then Tues. we just worked normal, worked hard, tried our best.  Finding people, having fun.  Wed. Are travels started at 2am.  We had to go to San Salvador to immigration for my companion because when you have 1 year and something, 13-14 months, you have to go to immigration to renew your residency because they only give it to us for 1 year.   And then we renew it every year, so I'll be going next change.  AGAIN.  But we went .  Anyway.  

The first bus out of here leaves at 430am and we were supposedly supposed to be there at 830am.  It's a 4  hour bus ride from here to there.  So that wouldn't have given us enough time because we would only have been able to take the the bus that goes from San Miguel to San Salvador at 5am so we would have been late because then we have to take another bus when we're in San Salvador to get to the immigration place.  So we asked a member, hey is it alright , we don't want to make you, but if you could do that, that would be awesome.  So he was like, well, I'm taking people to buy vegetables for their fruit stand in the market at 130am and so we're like all right.  We figured we we're going to stay with the Zone leaders for a little bit and then leave, but what happened was-- we didn't even hear the alarm that went off at 1am so we woke up at 2 the both of us.  We were like man Idon't know if the alarm went off- I don't know.  like it must still be like pretty early and it was like 208am and we both crapped our pants.  And that moment we got up we prayed, after we prayed, Johnny called us.  And he's like hey, I'm about to get there and we're like yeah we're just finishing getting ready.  And we hadn't even started.  We legit got ready in 5 minutes, it was the coolest thing ever.  And then we got there at like 3 something and we took the 1st bus out of here and wow, it went so fast cause it got there at like 6am.  We left  des Vio de Moncagua a little downhill thing that's what a des vio is, it's a hill.  So that's what happened.  It was crazy, we got there at 6am, we ate papusas, we left to go there and got there at 8am because we went to the bathroom and did a bunch of other stuff, so we got there at 8am.  We waited and waited and we didn't even get going til like 10 something, it was ridiculous.  But I saw my old companion, Elder Perez.  He was legit still, he is my favorite one still, I'll be honest.  Not the Perez from Belize, the last Perez that I had.  And then, we took pictures at Salvador del Mundo it was dope.

Then thurs was just a normal day.  We did a bathroom that was 3 meters deep right now and it still needs more.  

Then Friday, we had interchanges.  I was with Elder Womack, he's dying this change.  We found a new guy, and this guy was the poorest man I have ever seen in my life.  You walk in his house and it's like a normal dirt floor house, but he has nothing.  He has a ripped up hammock, he has a plastic chair that's almost broken, he's got trash everywhere, he picks up aluminum cans to make money.  We saw what his dinner was.  Someone gave him one thing of fruit, a type of vegetable, a pipya is what it's called, he was going to eat half of it with a bunch of plants that he found.  He has a dog to like keep him company.  He's like 70 years old, he says he has problems with vitamins in his brain so he has to take injections every so often, but this man was the poorest man I have ever seen in my life.  And honestly he was happy.  He was sad because he was sick, because of his brain, he says he forgets things sometimes.  But he was sick and he told us, I want to change, I want to be healed, I want to do what God wants.  I live on the pure will of God here.  If somebody wants to give me food, they give me food.  If they don't, I find plants to eat, and this guy was happy to live, he was just happy.  And we complain when we don't have hot water, complain when the power goes out.  He has one light in his house that somebody pays for because they are so generous.  He, Oh my, we complain when the food isn't good.  He doesn't complain when he doesn't have food.  Like this man has changed my perspective of life.  I've seen poor people here, but this was rock, rock bottom.  But we all learn everything.

Saturday, we committed a bunch of people to come to church, we had a good time, I thought it was dope.  And Sunday rolled around and we got 7 people to church!  It was awesome and 5 of them were new people.  And these 5 new people that went, they are progressing to be baptized, it was legit, it was awesome.  And so that's what happened and that was my week to be honest.  We visited a bunch of people and it was awesome.  

I Love you guys.  Hope you have a great week!

July 10, 2017

Mom:  Scorpions are poisonous! What the heck are you doing?  I'm pretty sure OFF isn't going to do anything for you if it bites you 😳

Jackson:  We killed it are you kidding me??? We are going to kill an iguana next ;)

 PLAYING IN THE RAIN!

We spent the day snorkeling. We went to 'A' bay first and the water was murky so we only stayed about an hour. Then we went farther down the road to a beach the girls from the dolphin snorkel cruise told us about, Wailiea or beach 69 (because it's between power pole 69 and 70).  It was much better. We saw a ton of colorful fish. We were out for a while and it was getting a little rough. I was with dad and Carson and then I looked up and couldn't see either of them. Which isn't really surprising because without my glasses I can't really see much. Anyway, I was out kind of far and couldn't tell which side of the rocks our stuff was on and I kind of panicked a little. I went toward the shore and stopped on a rock that I could sit on and not get beat up against. I sat there for a little bit and dad and Carson came to find me. The surf was pretty rough so we  decided to get out and have lunch.  Dad and I relaxed on the beach and took a few pictures while Carson dug in the sand and created a wall with rocks. He had a little helper for a while it was pretty funny. 

When Carson got tired of building his wall we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up and go down and watch the parade and fireworks. Parades are all the same. LAME!!  We watched for a while and then we walked down the street and stopped in a couple shops and got a couple things. And then found a place by a big palm tree to sit and watch the fireworks over the bay. After we walked back and got an ice cream and headed for the condo. We got things cleaned up and ready for our trip to the green sand beach in he morning and went to bed.
July 3 Monday (going backwards)
Today was our big excursion day. We were pretty excited about snorkeling with dolphins. We had to check in at 730am so we were up early and ready to go. We got all checked in and filled out our permission forms. One of the questions or restrictions was have you had recent surgery ...  I put my initials on and when I turned in my form told her that I was good to go. (I tried out snorkeling on Saturday to make sure I could do it ok).  We all boarded the boat we were in a group of 11. One guy didn't get in the water because he couldn't swim. Which was kind of sad but we still saw quite a bit from the surface. We went north out of Keahou Bay looking for dolphins and went for a bit but found them by the fish farm. We got our snorkel gear on and bailed in the water. I'm not sure how long we were in the water, but over an hour. It was awesome!  We saw at least a couple different schools of dolphins, tons of fish, AND a manta ray. That was so cool. When we were deciding what to do while we were here the manta ray night snorkel was once we considered, but that freaked me out a little. Feeding things with spotlights at night--Hmmm-- screams start to a scary shark movie to me😳.  So we went with the dolphin snorkeling. Would definitely recommend it as a favorite thing to do. And the group we went with was awesome. Very knowledgeable and fun.We had some snacks after to get the salt taste out of our mouths and then went to another spot to snorkel for a bit. Dad saw an octopus. Carson and I were too far away. But another great spot. Then we headed back to the dock. About 1230 so a good day.When we got back to the condo we all showered and had lunch and then I was exhausted and took a nap. I guess I was super tired because I slept for like 3 hours. When I woke up we went to the park so Carson could throw for a bit and then went and got a few things for dinner. We had leftover steaks from Sunday so we got chips and salsa and had tacos. I actually made a steak quesadilla. It was yummy. I guess the only thing we haven't done is check out the different restaurants and food here. But it's been nice to just fix what we like and eat when we want instead of wasting a bunch of time waiting for someone else to make it for us.
Wed. July 5th
We got up about 6am and got ready to go to the green sand beach. It rained pretty good last night so maybe it won't be as hot while we hike today. It's about 1 1/2 hour drive and then a 5 mile hike (round trip). But there are only 2 green sand beaches -I think they said in the US--   But pretty rare so we figured it would be worth it. And we brought our stuff so we can snorkel at one of the beaches on our way back. We are leaving tomorrow so we want to get as much in today as we can. We don't fly out Til 9pm so we have all day tomorrow, but we have to check out of the condo at 10am so we won't have anywhere to shower and get cleaned up if we went snorkeling in the morning. So we have a few things we still want to see and get pictures of so we'll do that tomorrow.
The hike was really great. It cleared off so it was pretty hot but the waves were awesome crashing against the rocks and just listening to them was awesome too. We had been walking a little ways and seriously, I hadn't drank hardly anything and man I had to pee!!  You know I don't do peeing in the woods and there were NOT even very many rocks and ZERO trees. I went as long as I could and we were not even 1/4 of the way done so behind a rock it was. Good thing we were the first people out on the trail for the day or that could have been SUPER embarrassing!!  Anyway, we got to the beach and the stuff we read said we would have to scale the cliff to get to the beach and I wasn't really up for scaling anything with one arm. But luckily there were a set of stairs and sort of steps to get down to the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL!  There weren't any footprints in the sand when we got there either which made it even cooler. The surf was pretty rough so there was no way we were getting in. We hadn't planned on it anyway because we didn't want to walk back all wet and chaffing😂. But it was definitely worth the 5 mile walk. A few minutes after we got down to the beach, people started coming by the truckload. (There was a group that would give you a ride to the beach for $10/person-we still opted to walk).
When we first got there we figured it must not be that popular of a place because there wasn't anyone else there. But that assumption was false. By the time we got back to the car, the parking lot was pretty full and we had passed over 100 people headed out to the green sand. We were so glad we got up early and missed ALL the people.
When we got back to the car, we headed to find a spot to eat lunch and then go back to the historic park-place of refuge- that we went to on the 2nd day to snorkel. Carson fell asleep, so we just went to the beach for lunch and then Changed and snorkeled for a few hours. We definitely saved the best beach for last. Not intentionally, but it was great.  We had watched Finding Nemo the night before, and as we were heading out around the rocks, dad stopped and said, "There's a drop off here. "  I was a little bit freaked out and felt like Marlin telling Nemo to stay away from the drop off. It was awesome. We saw TONS of different colorful fish. I don't remember the names of them, but schools and schools of bright yellow ones, yellow tang -I think, rainbow fish, black and white striped ones black ones, ....... Just lots. The coolest part of the day was the big green sea turtle that swam right under us. Carson and dad were able to get it on the go pros. AWESOME!
We stayed out in the water Til Carson was tired and ready to go. It was an awesome day. We went back to the condo and showered and started packing and cleaning up. We decided on KFC for dinner. (I know that's totally breaking the vacation rule of eating chain restaurants-but we actually only ate out a few times- Domino's the first night we got there, subway for lunch the next day, a little bar/restaurant in Hilo -that didn't break the rules- and then KFC. The rest of the time, we made sandwiches and cooked at the condo. It worked out pretty good.
July 6. Last day😢
We finished up the laundry and vacuumed. And were ready to go a little before 10am. We went to the post office to get stamps to send our post cards- we sent a couple to you. Then over to the Kona Temple to take a few pictures. Dad wanted to get a tiki statue to take home-but not a cheap Walmart knockoff, so we went downtown to the farmers market-- we got some apple bananas, and a white pineapple that we ate for lunch. Sooooo good. We also went through the rest of the booths and hit the jackpot. There was a guy that was carving stuff in his booth. We got a couple tikis there and he carved the year and Kona in the bottom right there for us. After we had walked the historic downtown, took pictures and everything, we were getting pretty tired. It had been about 5 hours. So we went back to the car and went to find some lunch. We ate at a Hawaiian bbq. It was pretty good. Carson just got a cheeseburger and fries but the fries were really good. We got ice cream at the baskin Robbins and then went to Costco to get gas. We went out to one more beach to check it out and take a few pictures before we left.
We checked the car in and headed for the airport. What a great trip.
The flights both sucked. So uncomfortable😕. So when we finally go home at 1030am Friday morning I was the only one that had tried to sleep at all so everyone was super tired. I went to my Dr Appt and then we got some lunch and went home and took a nap. Then got a call from the missionaries wondering who was feeding them for the next 3 days. 😳. Dad thought he had Mon-Wed. Oops. So dad ran to the store and we hurried and put dinner together in an hour. It was good. We had rotisserie chicken and homemade mac n cheese. And dad got Saturday and Sunday covered too. He got officially released from ward clerk and called as the ward mission leader on Sunday so I guess it's all switched over now. I'm still all the same but added ward missionary to my list. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do really so I guess it's all good.
Carson and I slept pretty much all day Saturday. Dad got up and did some yard work. But I was still exhausted. Sunday we came home and had dinner and all took a nap too. I think this morning I'm ready to tackle life again. Super glad we planned our trip with a couple days to recover and get back to the right time zone 😊.
I hope you have had a great week and things are going well. Follow the promptings that come and keep an open mind and heart as you seek those that are searching for something more in their lives.
Love
Mom

So this week was just another week you know!!! We were just trying to get all of our investigators to church but you know like that didn't happen haha just a normal mission life right??? Well this week was the 4th of July but we really didn't do anything in fact I'm a little sick but don't worry mommy there always is Pepto right? Well we have been teaching a dad who is about 35 and his name is Jose Portillo. He is amazing. He has 2 children 1 is a baby and the other is 8 years old. We taught him this week and we taught the Restoration. He is trying to take everything we say in and analyze it and he understands everything which is awesome. But we hadn't even talked about baptism or anything and he says "Hey! I have a question. If I go to church and then am baptized what is next? Like what do I have to do?" So we told him endure until the end right? We talked about callings and stuff like that which is super cool. Also this week I started to give English classes! Hahah only like 5 people showed up but Jose and his son were 2 of them!!!! Wow he is just a killer right??? Well that was my week to be honest and the pictures are of us hunting for scorpions and we killed one. The other is the Volcano of San Miguel and when there isn't a basket ball so you use a coconut. Love you guys have a great week!!!!

July 4, 2017

 What is up with the weird faces??  

Just killing a bat before dinner.  

How was your week?  Any cool new stuff?  Did you get your birthday package?  Were you able to do anything fun for pday?  How's the new companion?  Ward?  Any prospects?  Are you keeping in touch with Alejandro?  Let us know how things are going.  

Carson played ball with the JV AND VARSITY on Monday and then both games on Tuesday with the freshmen. He played well. On Tuesday he played 3rd and he pitched, I want to say one inning, but at least a part of one to end the game. And then he played 3rd and caught the end of the second game. He did pretty good. For jv he played right field and varsity he played 1st base. He's doing well and having fun. 

Vacation. 25th anniversary trip. 

Day 1 Wednesday. We left home about 1145am and stopped at chick fil a for lunch in Centerville. Grandma took us and is going to pick us up. I thought maybe we would just park in long term parking but it was $100 so I didn't really want to waste that much money on parking. 

So we got there and started making our way through security. Dad was freaking out about taking off his belt and his shoes etc like he always does and saying he felt violated. I couldn't go through the body scanner because I can't lift my right arm from the surgery so I had to wait and they used the wand and patted me down instead. Because that was way less invasive😕. It's sad that people can't be trusted and we have to go to such measures to keep us safe.   So we made it through security but mine and Carson's bags got stopped so we waited here for them to search our bags. Carson put in aloe Vera gel (which I didn't know about) and my tube of toothpaste was too big. So they wasted 1/2 hour searching our bags for that while some crazy person probably figured out how to get his bomb past all that security.  We only ended up waiting for about 40 minutes when we finally got through all that, so it's a good thing we were there the 2 hours early. 

Our flight from Salt  Lake to LAX was pretty rough. Luckily it wasn't too long. Kind of weird really because the weather was good. Not overcast or anything. We were about 5 minutes late flying in and then we sat on the runway for another 20+ minutes and our connecting flight started boarding before we were even hooked up to the jetway to get off. They kept saying that we would need to rush to make the connection. 😕. We only had an hour if we would have been on time. I was more than a little worried we weren't going to make it. Luckily there was a minor girl that was in the care of delta that was also making the connecting flight to Kona and we attached ourselves to her and followed the flight attendant to make the connecting flight. Which was still boarding when we got to the gate and then had a problem with the auxiliary power unit and that took about 20-30 minutes.  We only ended up 5 minutes late on landing in Kona so that was pretty good. 

The flight was about 6 hours from LA to Kona. And my arm was throbbing and my back was hurting and holy crap it was hot in there. Carson watched 3 movies and I watched 2. I think dad watched 2 also. I read for a while too because the headphones hurt my ears-- I can't wear the earbuds for whatever reason they just kill my ears. 

So we landed and got off the plane on the air stairs on the runway and not a jetway which was kind of cool. Just like when we were in Kona 18 years ago. The humidity was crazy as we got off the plane. But we got our bags and caught the shuttle bus to the rental car place. We were there for over an hour because they only had 2 people working. So we finally got out car and dad was driving like he'd never driven before and I can't drive with my arm all jacked up. And we were all hungry and tired because it was like 2 in the morning our time and we didn't sleep on the plane and just had snacks. So dad was yelling at me for criticizing his driving skills and - well you know. Anyway- we stopped at Walmart to get breakfast stuff and bathroom stuff since we didn't check a bag with all that stuff and got a pizza from dominos. After a couple tries to find our condo we got it figured out and got our stuff brought in, ate our pizza and went to bed about 4am. 

Day 2

Well, I got up about 630am Hawaii time. 10 our time. Carson and dad were still sound asleep but my arm was hurting and I needed a shower so I just got up and going. 

We decided to go to the volcano national park because our pass expires on the 30th. So we definitely got our money's worth on that national parks pass. (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Zions, Captiol Reef, Volcano national park Hawaii, and Pu'uhonau o Honaunau National Historic Site) not too shabby. 

The volcano park was pretty cool. We saw huge craters, the massive lava flows, walked through the lava tube, saw a sea arch which was super cool and could see the steam coming off the ocean where the lava is currently flowing into the ocean. You can walk out to it but it's a 10 milk hike over the lava rock and we didn't get there Til like 3pm and they said it's like a 5-6 hour hike. So we didn't do it. The wind was blowing super hard that day too. It seriously about blew me over a bunch of times. It would catch my foot when I would pick it up to step. Kind of crazy. We stopped in Hilo at a little place for dinner. It was pretty good. And then headed back to the condo. We got back there about 10pm. So everyone just crashed. I figured I would be able to sleep the second night but I still struggled. And got up about 6am again. 

Day 3 Friday 

Today Carson got up shortly after me and we got ready and walked down to the historic downtown (like 3 blocks) and got donuts for breakfast. They were enormous. But really good. We took a picture of them. We ate them for breakfast for 2 days.  Our condo is only a few blocks from the beach. It's pretty cool. 

We went to the black sand beach we saw turtles and walked through some of the tide pools and then went to Pu'uhonau o Honaunau National Historic Site. It was pretty interesting of how the Hawaiian people started and the kings and their strict laws between the Ali'i (Chiefs) and their people. Basically they thought they were gods and the people needed to lick the dirt off their feet or die. (It's amazing that any people ever survived to have a civilization now). The tiki statues and canoes and the grass huts were pretty awesome. They also built a  wall for protection the was 950' long, 12' tall and 18' wide. (Not really sure why so wide but it is pretty big). 

We had our picnic by the ocean and then walked through the tide pools again. And then headed back to change for the luau. They had entertainment, a Hawaiian band, and hula dancers and dinner. It was all actually pretty good. We were a little wary after Aaron said once you've been to the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau you will just be disappointed. But it was good. The fire dancer guy did a great job. I seriously don't know what would possess a person to even think about swallowing a big ball of fire, but I guess to each his own. 

We just walked to the luau from the condo because it was down in the historic district on the water it was about 3/4 mile. It was a nice walk along the ocean. When we got back we all crashed again. We'll be adjusted to the time change when it's time to go home. 

Day 4 Saturday 

We got up and ate our donuts for breakfast and got sun screened up, gathered the snorkel gear and beach towels and headed to the beach. Carson was scared to death to get in the water and I was a little worried I would fall on the rocks on the way out. But once we got in it was great. We wen my to the same beach that we snorkeled at when we came in 1999 Kahaluu beach. There were tons of people but it was still a great place. Dad and Carson both got bitten by the same fish. Apparently it was hungry. I heard another lady saying she had just gotten bit by a fish too. 

We went back to the condo and had lunch and then we went to Costco to get a set of snorkel gear because the one set that was at the condo leaked and the other set the lens fell out and is now on the bottom of the ocean somewhere. We found a couple swim shirts for dad and Carson there too so they were happy. 

Then we heard out to check out the white sand beach, Hapuna beach. It was a lot nicer to walk out on the sand instead of the rocks but it wasn't great for snorkeling. Carson had fun on the boogie board. I couldn't do one so I just hung out in the water. I was a little sunburned so I got out before everyone and got a shirt on. I had suncreen on the whole day, but I guess I needed to reapply more than I did. Oh well, it's not too bad. After we got done swimming and building sand castles that kept getting washed away by the surf, we headed to the petroglyphs at Waikoloa resort. We saw them when we were here before too, but everything has changed and grown so much since then it's crazy. They were really good petroglyphs compared to some we've seen in different places.  

We went back and had baked ziti for dinner with a salad and garlic bread. Still one of the best and easiest dinners ever. 

Day 5 Sunday

Today-  we were planning on going to church, but I didn't sleep very well at all. I woke up in the night with my arm just throbbing and I went to sleep on the couch and was dreaming that I had a snake around my neck and I was pulling it of slowly and it just kept coming and coming and I freaked out and threw it over my head. Well that woke me up and I had grabbed the neck strap on my sling and threw it off my neck, but had jerked my arm up in the process so that made it hurt even more. Not good. It's been hurting a little bit more today than it has been. I'm guessing the snake throwing off thing has something to do with that. 😕. Anyway, needless to say, I slept through the start of church so we all just got ready and headed for the Akaka falls state park. We stopped at a lava tube that is just off the highway and took some pictures. They have signs that have pictures of donkeys 😂. I guess they have wild donkeys that cross the road. We didn't see any, but so funny. We drove all the way to the end of the road to the original King Kamehameha statue and then out to the Waipio Valley overlook. It was gorgeous. Dad said its one of the views they use in movies a lot.  We stopped and had lunch at a park in Waimea and on to the falls. We saw the waterfall there and then went to rainbow falls, the boiling pots, PeePee falls (pay a pay a) and drove the scenic old Mamalahoa highway.  

And the sun just set and we are almost back to the condo. We are fixing steaks and baked potatoes for dinner. And going to bed before too long. We have to be at the dock to meet our dolphin snorkel cruise for the day at 730am. I'm a little nervous every and excited about it. They are supposed to teach us how to snorkel the right way and hopefully the surf is pretty calm tomorrow so my arm isn't getting beat around. I have some water proof pads and tape for my shoulder. It worked good when we snorkeled the other day. So hopefully it will work for the dolphin snorkeling adventure. 

We will try and catch you in the morning when you email, but if it's around 9. That's like 5am here😳. So don't be too disappointed if we miss you. At 730-1 we will be out on the boat and snorkeling so. We will keep watching for you to email if you don't email early again. 

I'll send some pictures too. 

Love You!

Love

Mom

Well this week was a good week I mean we are working hard and everything but I don't know why but we really struggle to have success. It is really tough but we are working and finding the miracles everyday. It is amazing. If you look for the miracles you'll find them. It is the same with the crap. If you are focused on it you'll definitely find it because Satan is looking to throw a elephant turd on you if you let him. Hahah well this week we found a guy whose name is Luis. He was deported because he was an alcoholic. And a lot of things happened so they sent him here but you know he is the kindest man ever. And we found him when he wanted to change his life. He told us he needs God's help and we are the way he will find it. I was so happy to meet him and I know how great of a man he can be if he stops his addiction. I saw for a moment and my companion too what Christ sees him as and wow I never want to look at someone bad again. Because if Christ sees people that way I need to do it as well. Well that was my week!!!  Love you!!!!

 Jackson:  Well you guys are just chilling in Hawaii and probably wont see this but Have a freaking great time!!!

Mom:  We are havin a blast!! Wish you were here but life goes on and things happen without you. It's all part of being an adult. I remember when dad and I first got married and my whole family except for us went on a trip to Disneyland. I still think we got hosed. 😉

Jackson:  Me too ;) hahah no its cool I will just have to get home and work hard so I can go places with you guys because I ain't gettin married anytime soon!!!!

Mom:  We saw a ton of dolphins and a rare manta ray. It was freaking awesome!!  I love snorkeling even with a bum arm it's great.

Jackson:  That is super super cool I hope the bum arm doesn't ruin much.

Mom:  I guess since you've already had rabies shots bats are ok to play with?

Jackson:  Ya I mean it's all good ?? Jajaja

Mom:  I guess??  That's super disgusting.  Did you enjoy your birthday package??

Jackson:  Yes, a lot thank you for the g bards those are my favorite in the whole world.

Mom:  I have more to send in your hump day package but i didn't get it done before we left on our trip. The broken shoulder put me at least a week behind on things I needed to get done before we left.  So you'll be probably at least a month past your halfway point before it gets to you.  But it will have to work.

Jackson:  It's cool.  Just light off some fireworks one of these days for me... I miss THEM.

Mom:  We are planning on walking down to the shore tomorrow and watching the fireworks for there somewhere.  They are showing they have a big shoe down there somewhere.  And it gets dark at 8pm here so it's not even late at night.

Jackson:  It gets dark here at 630... But have fun on your vacation!!! and I love you but gotta go!! Keep chillen like villans!!!

Mom:   Dad and Carson both had go pros so we should have some cool pictures of the dolphins and manta ray to send for next week.  We are at the snorkel spot for the 2nd stop.
Keep working hard.  And looking for the good in everyone.  Great things will keep happening!
We love you and hope you had a great birthday and the 4th tomorrow.  Have an awesome week!
Love Mom, Dad and Carson

Voice Recording:
Well, so another week went by, we did a lot of service this week.  We made 2 giant holes for a bathroom.  Well, I'm a little tired because of that to be honest because wow, it was hard work.  Our mission leader came with us and everything, he said he was helping us and stuff but he was just - no you need to do it like this way and this way.  I was like dud, I'm making a hole, it's not that hard.  You don't have to do it a certain way, but that's just how it is right??..
This week we struggled to have a lot of lessons because we are always traveling. It's kind of difficult, but you know, we're going to find a way to get it done this week.
We found a -- like the highlight  of the week is that one day we were contacting someone that we had already contacted so we were seeing if we could recontact him.  And his son was sitting outside the house, his son is like 40 or 50 or something like that.  Like the guy's old.  So, we talked to his son, and he said, Oh well, you can come in and share with me. And we got in and the lesson was wow, powerful and the spirit was there for sure and he pretty much told us he was in the states and he's an alcoholic.  and they deported him for that and a lot of stuff happened and he said he's still an alcoholic but he's trying to fix it.  He was going to talk to us but then we decided to talk to him and we told him that it was the spirit telling him that he should fix some things.  He didn't come to church this Sunday, but I hope that he does next week.  It will be really good if he goes to church.
Let's see, we did an interview for the sisters.  Our district is just sisters to be honest.  It's funny that our district is just sisters and the zone leaders.
I bought a cake too, So we can eat it on Wed. because that's the only time we can get together besides Monday and we already ate lunch and we were full.  I bought a big cake, I shared with the whole zone.  I thought it was cool.
Yeah, wow, the week went by.  4th of July is tomorrow which is dope, but we can't have fireworks.  It's RIDICULOUS!    But we will have some fun.  I'm going to use my American flag tie and they're gonna kill me here, but it'll be dope.  But that's all I've got to say.  That's my jam this week, so.  I'm outta here.  Love you guys!  Salud!

June 26, 2017 Happy Birthday! (Yesterday!)

 Happy Birthday to ME!

 Service

 Old Friends

 New Mission President I think?  or the Old one??

New Companion  Elder Arias from Guatemala

Wearing his shoes out in the service of our Heavenly Father!!

I Love it! 

Shoes--
Jackson:  Wow never thought this would happen...

Mom:  That's awesome! You are walking a lot looks like.

Jackson:   But I am still fat...

Mom:  Whatever. I wish I was as fat as you.

Jackson:  I am getting a little belly...

My comp too so we are going to run this week :) hey did you send mountain dew?

Well, hopefully you got your birthday package. But if not I guess it will get there eventually.
How's the new area? Companion?  Who are your new contacts? How's the ward mission leader?
I'm sure all is good.
What was your week like?
Our week was extremely hectic and out of the norm. Monday I found an orthopedic Dr that would see me about my shoulder. I went to AOS. I sent you the X-ray already so you know what it looks like. They scheduled surgery for Wednesday at noon. A hooked Plate and screws to suck it all back together. It hurts like crazy and looks terrible. I go to the Dr at 930 tomorrow morning to check in. I've only took the narcotic pain meds the first 2 days and cut back to ibuprofen and Tylenol. It seems to work ok unless I let it go too long. And I've cut back to 1/2 of what I was taking of that yesterday and today. I took a little more in the night but I think it's on the mend. I'm a little concerned about what I'm going to do with it in Hawaii but I guess we'll just have to play it by ear. We leave on Wednesday afternoon.
Tuesday dad and I went to SLC to accept a safety award from workers compensation. It was pretty cool. We were 1 out of 21 that received the award out of 22000 companies.
Then Wednesday dad took Carson to Pocatello to Western regional duals and I had my surgery. Grandma took me. Dad and Carson got home around 830 and I was at grandmas hanging in the recliner with my completely numb arm.  When I got up and came home it must have made me sick because I threw up after. But that was the only time so I guess I did ok.
Thursday and Friday I stayed home from work and slept most of the day and took pain meds I haven't even read anything because too much medication to focus I guess. Carson played ball Thursday and Friday. I didn't go because I needed to stay by my ice machine.
Saturday I needed to get out of the house so I went with dad to Ogden and we got the transmission on the jimmy checked for its 1 yr check. And did a little shopping. By the time we got back I was hurting and Jenni Adams called and asked if she could drop off a pizza for lunch. It was a lifesaver.
Latisha came and visited on wed when I got home. Marci and Kelli Olson stopped by Thursday after no. To visit and  Marci and Paula Kluss brought dinner Thursday. Lisa brought dinner on Friday and she washed my hair and curled it for me Saturday afternoon.
Kristal has braided and washed my hair for me all week. I don't know what I'm going to do in Hawaii about my hair😳.
Carson is having fun playing ball and doing pretty well so hopefully it all goes good.
Well hopefully you are doing well. Follow the promptings you receive and good things will happen. I know you are where you are supposed to be even though sometimes it's super hard.
Love you more than you know!!
Love
Mom

So this week was fun and all. I never really have much to write because I just am doing the same. Working hard and having fun at the same time. I am still getting to know my area and all the things in it. But you know it is huge and dope. I love my district too. Hahha it is just us and Sisters and the ZLs but you know that's just how it is. They are funny, well some of them... Two are whiners and the other two are super cool. My mission leader is crazy. He says he has revelations and stuff so it is really funny... The ward is alright. But I am having fun and thanks for all the Happy Birthdays. I will eat some cake today just for all of you guys ;) Love you!!!

Mom:  Happy birthday yesterday!!  Did you do anything fun!!

Jackson:   No.. Hahah it was Sunday so no just worked.

Mom:  Dad is sending you a picture of the new X-ray. It's kind of scary.

Jackson:  Thats gross.... I am never having surgery....

So can you go to Hawaii?

Mom:  Do you like the new area?

Jackson:  Ya there are tons of chill people. I really love it here. It is a ton better than where I was. I just don't like how it is 10xs hotter....

Mom:  Yes. But I was going one way or another.

Jackson:  Hahah hey guess what I get a new Mission President this week.

Mom:  Where's the new president from?

Jackson:  Honduras and I have to go I love you mommy be safe take lots of meds and have fun love you so much :)

 You guys have to send me a ton of pics from your vacation.

Mom:  We will. Are you out of time?

Love you hope you have an awesome week!!

June 19, 2017 Happy Father's Day

Great sacrament meeting today!!  This returned missionary talked with the high council. She was awesome!!  I wish I would have recorded it for you. I swear you two are made for each other😂😂.  Except she's probably like 5 years older than you. She's been home 2 years.
She is sooooo funny!!
Well, what a week!  Started out headed to Canada with grandma. We didn't make it to see JoAnne before she died. Missed by 10 minutes. I think that was a blessing.
We stayed Tuesday and visited. Then came home on Wednesday. Got home at 11pm.
Thursday Carson played ball. He played in both games. He was the dh in the jv game. Got on 2 out of 3. And got on all 3 times in the fresh/soph game.  So he was pretty excited he go to play.
Friday dad went to Scott's father in laws funeral with grandma and then I met them for lunch after.
Grandma and I took dinner to Bracken Hardy's family - they just had a new baby boy. He is tiny- 6 lbs 14 oz. just 2oz bigger than you were.
Then we went to the cabin. We fixed steak and shrimp for dad's birthday and had French silk pie for dessert.
Saturday we slept in. When we got up we had breakfast and got our bikes loaded up and headed down to the paved road by the pickleville to park and start our ride. We road the bike path down to the state marina and then back. On the way back we were about a mile from the car and Carson decided to stop in front of me and I guess I wasn't paying attention and I crashed into him going 12-15mph my front tire hit and I went flying and landed on my shoulder. As I was flying I thought, "wow, my shoes didn't stay locked in."
Any way. -- we stopped at the garden city clinic and waited 2 hours for them to do nothing. And then went to Logan. They did X-rays and I broke the shoulder off the clavicle. But the just put me in a sling and said to see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday.
So I'm just waiting for someone to call me back and let me know when I can get an appt.
so it wasn't a stellar birthday/Father's Day weekend celebration.
But life will go on.
Hopefully you are enjoying your new area and companion. And things are going well.
Love
Mom

So this week has been dope. I am just chilling like normal. I am in a new area called Moncagua. It is kinda in San Miguel. So it is hot... but it is raining so it isn't too hot now. I am with another Guatemalteco which is number 6 out of 8 companions hahah but I really like the new area and everything but I don't know much it is just really big and that it is the country. It is like Tremonton, Corinne, Honeyville and Bear River all over again.... Hahaha I really feel like I am at home. Well I loved the week and hope the rest of you had a good Fathers day!!!! I love you guys!

Mom:  My shoulder

Jackson:  You need to be more careful. A dog bite is nothing compared to a broken shoulder. Haha and how in the hell are you going to swim now?

Mom:  I guess I'm not ☹. The Dr said I can get in the water but not to get the stitches wet.

Jackson:  Wow legit that blows...

Voice Recording:
Well, this week we have changes.  It was kind of weird to have changes for once in my life.  But what happened was, they shut our area, so the both of us had changes.  So Elder Perez and I, we left.  We said goodbye to everyone which was fun.  It was sad, but fun, but I thought it was a good time to have a change, but you know, that's the mission.

Wed. I got told I was going to Oriente, which is, like San Miguel.  So, I was like, Oh No, I'm going to die of heat stroke.  But I got to San Miguel, got off the bus and saw a few old friends and I was happy to see them.  Then they told me I was going to Moncagua, which is a part that's like- so there's San Miguel which is the big city, well it's not really that big of a city, it's like Ogden/Logan type city; and then I live in like Corinne.  So I live in Chapelteque, the ward is in Moncagua, which is 1/2 hour away from where I live.  haha  And so we take buses EVERYWHERE.  We legit have so many buses to take to get to whatever place that we want to go.  Because, I mean it's all one road, but once you pull off the street there's another road, dirt street, dirt road that you can go in you go in to-----talking to his companion- "say  hello to my family?-- (I hear in the background- no, my English, no) My company is Elder Arias from Guatemala.  He doesn't speak any English so he doesn't know what to say."
So that's my area, and we visited a few members my first few days here, I'm still learning the area because, Phew, it's huge!  It's enormous, but it will be good.  The members are really nice here.  They give us food all the time.  Like we don't pay for dinner anymore.  Which is super sweet.  Because we need to spend all our money on the buses. Well, we put 2 baptismal dates with 2 people this week.  One of them came to church.  It was cool, he's really a good guy.  and then, the other one, she's alright, she's good but I don't know if she's got that big desire to go to church, but we'll see.
We only have the Zone leaders in our district and  the sisters, 2 pairs of sisters and 2 of them are the leaders of the whole mission of the sisters.  So we really don't do anything, it's awesome.  And my companion is the district leader, because he has 13 months- he only has a little bit more time than me, but it's cool.  But this change should be fun, and that was my week.