Feliz Navidad!

MONDAY - good pday, we went to the North elders apartment bright and early and did the abs work out of insanity and I just about died! We got back and took the other elders with us so they could do laundry and all that good stuff. We studied a bit and had some waffles when we got back from shopping. We then headed to the library to email. We came back and dropped off the north elders at our apartment and picked up the east elders because it was elder Rodriquezes bday so we all went to Dennys, the other elders just walked and we met them there. We ate and then came back and started our secret santa. I drew Elder Jorgensens name in the hat an I knew I would!!!!! Im stoked, I'm sure he got my name too. We left early to go do this wonderful work. We got to our lesson with Carlos and taught the Restoration and then went into the plan of salvation a bit and it was a really good lesson. One of those lessons where you feel like your Spanish is perfect. We ended our night visiting a few others and picking up the Christmas programs to hand out for the program this Sunday.

TUESDAY - We picked up the North elders from where they were doing service and then headed down to Grand Prairie to drop off a bike for the new elder there. We came back and were late for district meeting. It was good, we practiced the Christmas invitation role play that came from Salt Lake City. Then elder Virrueta and I left to go teach Obidio with Hermano Rangel. It was a wild lesson but we were super bold with him. He was like "So your telling me I cant trust in the bible 100 percent" I said "That's right, its been changed by man, and its translated and interpretated differently in every church!" But he is a bit blind like most people. We went back to the church and Elder Jorgensen and I rode bikes back to our apartment while Elder Virrueta and Elder Henze went with Hermano Rangel to Oak Cliff to drop off invitations. We waited for them to get back, we were stoked for our exchange. We finally got back and biked over to Bishops house to get some discs for an investigator. We knocked some doors for a bit and then we headed to Blockbuster to meet hno Badillo for dinner. It was so good and of course like always Elder Jorgensen and I teased each other the whole time we were there. We left and biked to the two lessons we had, one with the Marez family and another with Luis. We taught the Word of Wisdom to both of them. Then we headed home. We were up pretty late just talking, telling stories. This elder is definitely one of the elders I WILL see after the mission. 

 

    WEDNESDAY - We woke up and for our lunch hour we headed to Best Buy, to Wal-Mart so I could get something for my companion and for elder Jorgensen. Yes me and him are both the worst at secret santa. We both told each other that we have each other. So we both bought the gifts we wanted too haha. We are keeping it from everyone else though. I got my companion the Dark Knight trilogy on blue ray. He is going to freak hahaha. We exchanged back at 2 o clock and went to work. We visited a few people and then went to dinner with the Barrazas and it was really good food and then they wanted us to sing for them haha, I was all for it! I also showed them the chipmunk thing and they freaked out about it. We sang for them and left. All of our appointments canceled and we had a ton. So we didn't teach the rest of the night. 

 

    THURSDAY - We didn't do anything today, my companion woke up pale as a white horse so we were inside all day. The north elders came over to exchange so I could go get him some soup because he was super sick, I also got two packages. One from the fam and also from the Kerrs! THANKS!!!! LOVED THEM! Elder Jorgensen and I went to the office because he wanted all the music on my flash drive and we watched some of the videos as well. They left after and went to dinner and we stayed in the rest of the night. My companion slept all day. 

 

    FRIDAY - Elder Henze hit a year in the mission!! We went and did some service for a member, raked up her leaves. Service always makes my day better. I cant be around Elder Jorgensen for too long before things get out of control. We finished all the leaves and then headed back, it was raining pretty bad. We came back finished studies and then went out inviting all to the activity tonight at the church. We visited some members as well and followed up on there mission plans. We ate some food at the Abarcas house while following up. We then headed to the activity and it was really good. they had menudo there... YUCK! Good nativity play and stuff though. We got out of there at 9:30 and listened to Joshs songs on the way back, the other elders loved them!! Trying to get them out there for you Josh ;) We dropped them off and hit the sack.

 

    SATURDAY - 5 months from today I leave for my home... yuck. SCARY! us and the North elders went to breakfast with hna Arrazola. It was really good! We left quick though and dropped the other elders off and finished studies and went to a lesson with Guadalupe and read out of Mormon 9 and talked about miracles and I shared a few with him. Its just so weird to teach him. Because I don't know how its possible to... not believe in God. Doesn't make sense to me that you can think this is it. We just POOF appeared here and POOF after we will just be gone. We had a lesson with Raul Pacheco after and he is almost there! little more time and he will get baptized. We then went and visited a Part member family and talked with them for a little. We then went and ate with the Erazos. SO GOOD! All our appointments canceled again. SO we went to an interview with the Aguillon family and both of them passed. Ready for baptism. 

 

    SUNDAY - Good Sabbath day. We had this lady we helped yesterday carry her chairs she bought at a yard sale to her house and so she said she would love to come to our church. So we went and picked her up, it was a miracle... in fact her name was miracle hahaha well in Spanish Milagro. She came and really enjoyed it. We went with the north elders to the Ortizes home after for dinner and had some really good food and were watching this really cheesy film about Daniel being tossed in the lions den and we were laughing when we got news that two bikers were hit by our church and so we freaked out and ran over there to find out that it was not any missionaries thank goodness. We helped with the Christmas program and getting it ready and enjoyed the program after. We went and did numbers after and came back and I gave my companion a blessing, he wasn't feeling well. We are going downtown tomorrow to get some good Christmas pics :) I'm so excited.

love you all so much, wont have a blog next week because its Christmas eve!!!! So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! Ill have two blogs the following week. 

 

Elder Aaron Jackson

Modern Day Miracles

MONDAY - Another transfer down, 3 to go :( Today was a wild Pday, we were trying to get everything done. We got up really early and went to do insanity with the other elders and then again went to Dennys after to get breakfast. We ate and then went shopping and came back showered and then went to email a bit. I emailed a bit in the office and then we went to the library and emailed. I got done and elder Jorgensen and I decided to look at some books and some lady was helping us and elder jorgensen pulled a book out and another one came flying out and hit her in the face. I tried so hard not to laugh! At Elder Jorgensen not at her haha, he always seems to do stuff like that haha. Elder Dominguez, Jorgensen and I all went to wal mart to print pics and to get some food at the gas station. Love those two elders! Well I love them all... well for the most part all of them. I wrote two letters when we got back before cutting our day off short to be able to go out and work early. We had a lesson with Obidio and taught about the Book of Mormon and he had a hard time (as most folks do in the bible belt) grasping the truth and the concept of a God of Miracles! We then took the East elders home really quick and ended up tracting into the mom of a girl that ran off with an elder in this ward a while back... History that makes the ward the way it is today. Very skeptical about missionaries. I got a call from Elder Chantry when I got back and I wanted to cry knowing he was going home, love that guy! Had so many good times out east, in Lufkin a year ago. He seems excited to go home and see the family though. Good day today.

TUESDAY - We are cutting our studies this month as well so we can get out and work earlier as well. So we got out at 11 and went and had another lesson with Obidio. Again he was just super closed off to the truth. We testified and taught clearly by the Spirit as well. But everyone has their agency. We then went and helped out the North elders by taking them to the bike shop to get a new part for elder jorgensens bike. They are lucky that its Elder Henze and Jorgensen or else I wouldnt want to help them but they are just so awesome. We dropped by Walmart to get some notepads for everyone in the zone because we are going to start a challenge. This months focus is on teaching using visual aids and keeping commitments. So we are going to try and use 560 sheets of notepad paper while teaching and if we do so, president has told me he will sign a certificate for each of us and we can keep it in our binder forever! Saying we reached that goal. We had a lesson with Guadalupe and he doesnt believe in God so... it was a little different than most lessons here in Texas. Very interesting questions that you have to answer using logic instead of scriptures. We then headed to dinner witht he Cruzes and Elder Jorgensen was sitting next to me and of course... he broke the chair so I told him to switch with me haha, I ended up almost falling and breaking it more. We ate and left laughing at the comments made and just each others company. We met the first councelor in the bishopric for the lesson with the Villatoros and it was way saddening. They had a preacher from a baptist church or something come over and anti them. I came to the conclusion that all other churches know the Book of Mormon is true. Why would they not want you to read something if they 'knew" it was false. If they (again I put in quotation marks) "knew" it was false then why are they so afraid to let them read it? They dont want their paycheck to go down thats why. If I knew something was false I would say "go for it! its false so what does it matter" So thats what happened so we had to recover and help them from the swirling pit of confusion and destruction this pastor caused. It ended up being good. They havent read still. Can't say something is false or true until you try it (even though all of texas say the bible is true and most of them havent even read it or only parts of it)haha. 2 nephi 29 "a bible a bible..." Those who dont believe in more scripture believe that God only loves some of his children which makes him imperfect. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We planned our Zone training today and ended up being late haha, the zone leaders late to their own meeting hahaha. It was a really good meeting and we just really stressed our goal and getting 670 this year and pushing for it! Talked about miracles and how God hasn't ceased to preform miracles. We ate lunch there, met the new elders and headed out to work. We headed to Guadalupes again (no idea why) it was a waist of time, he doesnt believe in God and wont act to find out for himself. Very closed off. Good guy but not ready to change yet. We went to pick up dinner and raked some leaves which made my day better! I love service!!! We raked and then ate burritos at home. I got a christmas card from Tim and I didnt even give him my address.. weird. We went back out and went to a lesson with Raul and it was awesome. He read Alma 32 and received an answer it was true. He felt this warm peaceful feeling that told him he needs to be baptized. This church is so true! I wish I had more time to just see these amazing MIRACLES come to pass. We talked about the baptismal questions and he wants to learn more about the Prophet today. After we met up with Hno Magana and headed to contact a family and ended up finding an old investigator super ready to receive us. But... in the other elders area... I hate when that happens. As long as they are being taught the same gospel! :) 

 

THURSDAY - We studied and headed to another lesson with Obidio. Not moving. We taught the Plan of Salvation and like always because he had a doubt we told him the truth, how it is and like every other person I have talked to we had in contradicting everything he said. UGH! The Spirit is so important. People just dont have an open heart, they are just so used to what they have been taught so they just stay that way. In other words. Lazy. But its fun teaching! love trying to help them. We came back to plan and I checked the mail and got a letter from Teauna! THANKS! :) First one. We planned and went to dinner, steak at the Mancias and then went to Grand Prairie. The new elder is way cool! From cali and plays basketball, joined the church a year ago and got kicked out of his house for choosing the right path. We talked a ton and then we headed back and had a lesson with the Dominguez family and I love it because he was telling us all these problems and here we are, 20 year olds sitting there. The Lord puts so much confidence into us, and the message we bring covers all problems. Way good day!

 

FRIDAY - Today was the Stake president report, I love when I get to hang out with president Durrant for a little bit. We got pizza from President Porter and then we had the meeting and President talked about how proud he was of us. We left and went right to work after, we started contacting people and it went by way to fast! We soon were picking up the other elders for the interview with Raul and we went in first while they waited in the car and he wasnt ready yet... said he might get a divorce with his wife. So we didn't get the interview done... we went to eat a quick dinner with the other elders at subway and then dropped them off. We then went and picked up Hermano Escoto and went to a lesson with a girl we found named perla and she was not paying attention but it was a good lesson. We headed home after that. Also got the package from my Grandparents today! FAMOUS COOKIES! they were gone in a few days! Thanks so so so so much Grandma and Grandpa I love you so much for that! 

 

SATURDAY-Lots of appointments set up for today, busy busy busy. We started out by contacting some people down in Grand Prairie and our lesson at 3 canceled. We had a lesson at 1 with Santiago and that was really good. Still he needs to make some steps, we have done all we can to help. Ball is in his court now. We had a lesson with Miguel at 4 and he wasnt there... We then went to dinner with the Maganas and ate and took Brother Mackay out with us as we taught a new familiy we found of 7. Super solid! Way humble and willing to listen to our message. We taught them and then went to Raul's house and watched a bit of the movie about President Monson. We headed back home and as I kneeled to pray in the dark and prayed out loud and I asked the Lord for a miracle at church tomorrow. Just one miracle. 

 

SUNDAY-This is it. Sunday is crunch time, who is coming to church. The Lord answered my prayer with 3 miracles! We had a less active girl who has been really trying to get to church and we have visted her over and over and over and she has never come. She came. MIRACLE! Obidio, we didnt even invite him because we doubted he would come. He shows up and last of all we are sitting in class and one of the Hermanas walks in and says "this lady just came in looking for a church" As soon as she said that I knew it was an answer to my prayer. The Lord still works the same way he did before. MIRACLE. She lives in our area and has a big family. We had dinner at the church and had a few lessons before going to do numbers and we had a lesson with Hno Villatoro and all he did was talk about faith hahaha, thats all he says. We got to the Ortizes house to do numbers and we were watching this cheesy old church movie with Thurl Bailey as Goliath hahaha. Then we headed home. Amazing week. I love this work!

 

Elder Aaron Jackson 

Transfer Day, I'm Staying in Irving.

MONDAY - Great Preparation day today, we went and did all the usual stuff, emailed and I was so happy to sit down and write letters, I was able to send out 5. Shawn, Todd, Teauna, Tasha, and... Jackie. Sorry if I took so long :/. So that's what we did, we wrote and talked and had a good time with all of us over. It was a really good Preparation day, we did the usual and ordered pizza. 10 dollar box from domino's. Yum! We had a lesson with Santiago that night and it was interesting. He was very defensive about the catholic church for some odd reason. We talked about divine authority and also about praying to receive an answer and that he is the only reliable source even though the bible contains the gospel it has been put together, corrupted, changed and breathed upon by apostasy so a lot of the precious truths have been taken out or lost. So God is where you get an answer. We ended our night.

TUESDAY - We did a little bit of studying before heading to pick up the North Elders and going to district meeting. We had a good meeting and then we went to Braums after to get some egg nog and just enjoy what could be and will probably will be our last district meeting together before something changes. We took the North elders home after and headed to a lesson we had with Obidio and taught about the Book of Mormon, again there are so many people out here that are so stuck in tradition that they completely close there mind. I've met so many in my mission, people say they are investigating but really they just continue in their beliefs which is just a big circle of confusion and contradiction. Its tough in the bible belt that's for sure. No one believes that God still preforms miracles today, and that he LIVES! So, he had a hard time grasping the fact that God never changes. But we invited him to come to church and to also read the book and ask God. Before we knew it we were already heading to dinner. We sat in a park and began to plan our training for tomorrows meeting and then went to Hermana Abarca's house for dinner. We had some good food, but I can't eat with Elder Jorgensen without laughing till food comes out my mouth. The kid is so funny, the things he does and we just tease each other all the time. One of those missionaries that reminds me of the Foo's. We visited Hno Campos and then taught the Villatoros, still haven't read at all :( I cooked some spaghetti for tomorrows meeting before bed.

 

WEDNESDAY - Today was the day of the meeting, so poorly planned was our ride situation... we were at the meeting at 6 am! So we were just waiting there forever... finally we get in the super awesome meeting and we talk about our goal of 670 baptisms for the year and how we are a bit behind. So, we talked about God and how he never ceases to be God. He is the same. Called prophets yesterday, established his truth and gospel yesterday, put his power and authority on the earth yesterday and he does it today as well. Again, God is not dead. He lives. We pulled together and talked about how we can get this goal. It was awesome. Spirit was definitely there. We had a good meeting, our training went well. It was way good to see all the old faces. For the first time since the end of my first transfer my whole MTC district was there. We made some commitments to sacrifice more this month to reach the goal. The work is awesome, I love it! We came back and had one lesson with Raul and it was really good, for some reason its family support that is the problem with the most of our investigators.

 

THURSDAY - Today was the day, the day we planned in pencil instead of pen. Due to the fact that we didn't know if were gone or not. We ended up planning till about 5 and then we had an appointment at 5 with this guy Carlos, he was pretty cool. We talked about baptism and a little about our purpose. Then we headed to pick up dinner and head to the North Elder's apartment to eat. we ate and headed out to visit some people. So we visit some less active and then realize we had contacted someone across the street and so we went over there to see if we could get in contact with them. So, we knock on the door and some old lady... super creepy comes up to the glass and looks at us... just stares at us. We wave and she just slowly starts shaking her head. Then we start shouting "Jesus? el vive aqui?" Does Jesus live here? and she just keeps staring. We finally leave and I'm just so creeped out that I run back to the car. Then she opens the door and just keeps staring.... so we take off freaked out. We head home and we get a voice mail out of no where and its just some creepy noise... no number. Freaky! We had a lesson with the Villatoros again and we just answered questions. Lot of doubts we didn't know about. 

 

FRIDAY - Last day of November! Holy cow! We woke up at 5:30 to head to the North Elder's apartment to do some insanity. it was awesome! We were so pooped at the end, great work out. We then headed to Denny's. First time since I was heading to the MTC with my parents... flash back! We ate some heavenly food and then were on our way. We worked on the stake presidents report all day long. We got done in time to go to dinner. We went to get dinner from the Maganas and guess what it is.... Denny's!!!! But we go to the East elder's apartment and elder Adams just eats mine... didn't ask... just does it. Made me so mad. I ended up taking the bike with him and going out to teach some people because elder Dominguez was sick. 

 

SATURDAY - We woke up and headed to the Ayalas for breakfast and for our meeting. It was alright. We dropped off the north elders and went to an appointment with Santiago in the park and did some tracting as well. We got done and headed to visit a few more people before picking up the North elders for dinner at 4:30. We were all eating together and just talking about transfer calls. We had enchiladas, the goooood stuff. It was so good. We finished and took the North elders back and visited a few others before going home. We didn't have much luck this week it feels like. In fact this whole transfer. Then the calls came. Elder Dominguez gone, we are both staying, North Elders are staying which I'm pumped about because we are going to be together for Christmas! Not a lot of changes in the zone. Elder Belnap, the one I was on exchanges with a while ago is reopening Lufkin, where I was a year ago. It was crazy. 

 

SUNDAY - Good sabbath day, no villatoros at church.... Santiago came and also Raul who stayed for all 3 hours! We went to dinner after church. All of us and had tostadas. SO good! We headed to the Villatoros and it was a crazy lesson... they got antied by friends and another church. So they were all saying they didn't want it anymore but we saved them. We testified with much power and conviction. They are willing to read more. Again... so closed minded and not willing to accept a living God. Crazy stuff. We headed to do numbers and then hit the sack. I had a twitch in my arm all day and it was driving me nuts!! But I was able to sleep well. Thanks for following. Sorry for the shortness of the blog.

 

Love you all

Elder Jackson

How Much Turkey Can An Elder Eat?

MONDAY - Today was a really good preparation day! We went and did the usual and got it done quick because we were going to head down to oak cliff to play some basketball. I was super excited to get down there. We got down there and started playing and I was able to renew my beautiful marks on my wrists from the the rim :) I love it, its such a stress reliever. After I found myself playing soccer and I was the only white guy playing. Elder Rodriguez and Dominguez were both on my team against a member, elder Virrueta and the other elder Rodriguez. I had no idea what I was doing but I scored a few goals and it was so fun! I was so sore after though that I didn't play any Frisbee. We headed home and dropped off the other elders. I got a letter from Tasha! It was so good to hear from her again! We headed out to teach and taught Santiago in his home and then went to visit a less active that was so drunk and his kids were out just playing in the streets and it was just so sad. Made me angry. That was our Monday though! :)

TUESDAY - We headed down to the district meeting in Grand Prairie and it was a great meeting, lot of fun stuff and I learned a lot. After we exchanged and Elder Belnap and I went back up to Irving and picked up the North Elders who were also on exchange so Elder Dominguez and Henze and us went to Subway to eat real quick and then we dropped them off and headed to work. We did some tracting and found a way cool guy who let us right in and we got to know him. Obidio is his name and he is from Guatemala. He had a few kids pass away so we talked about the Plan of Salvation a little and then had to leave. We had dinner with the Barraza family and had some really good tacos. We visited a few other people and didn't have any luck before heading to the Villatoros. I love them so much! The hermano Villatoro talks about Faith every time we go over there, he is such a cool guy. We taught out of Alma 32 and talked about the importance of reading because that is what they are not doing right now. They are so ready except they have not read in the Book of Mormon. We set another baptismal date with them and ended our night. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We studied a bit before heading down to Grand Prairie to exchange back. As we headed home we stopped by the post office to send a package (Elder Virrueta) and I had to buy some stamps and get a box. We came back and ate some lunch and went knocking in the same ghetto apartments and got a return appointment with one lady but that was about it. Everyone is getting ready for tomorrow! We ended up seeing Obidio again and just went inside and had a lesson with him and his roommate. We taught the Restoration and his friend was trying to bash with us but he was saying things that didn't even have anything to do with what we were talking about! It was pretty pointless. We finished and invited them both to pray. That's what I love about this church is its all on the table for everyone to get an answer from God. We had some tostadas with the other elders at the Galvans and taught a lesson to Janette. We invited her to be baptized but she didn't accept but that's alright. With time. That was about it for the night. Thanksgiving tomorrow!

 

THURSDAY - HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What a day, we thought we would plan tomorrow because a lot of people will be home today. So we started visiting people and had no luck HA. It really stinks because so many families are home but they don't want to let us in! We headed to dinner with the Coronas and it was awesome, we all shared what we were grateful for and I just love the spirit it brings. I want to cry every time!! Then we began to feast! This was about 4. We had smoked turkey, potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, banana and pumpkin pie you name it! It was delicious!! Then we headed to the Ayalas and... did it again, huge feast! then.... to the Mancias with the Villatoros! 3 HUGE feasts where they were yelling at us "Coman mas elderes!" EAT MORE! I felt like Pillsbury dough boy after... so stuffed. Could not even stand up straight. What a thanksgiving! :) I'm happy. Hope all of you had a good one as well!

 

FRIDAY - Black Friday! People going nuts over here and everywhere! We go from being grateful to who can spend the most money and spoil our kids the most. Who can get that TV that's half price even if it means killing people to do so. Crazy how it changes haha. I woke up with the worst stomach pains so I slept through studies. We then got invited for pancakes at a members house and we were there in a heartbeat! It was really good. We just took the other elders back to our apartment to do planning. We got it done and headed to dinner with the Abarca family and guess what we had? LEFTOVER TURKEY!!  We choked it down and then headed to the church to see a baptism, and to see sister Corona open her call. It was so intense, I forgot how exciting it is to get your call. Anaheim California! After we ate again.... I'm about to die at this point but I do it anyway, "Why do you keep eating?!" Elder Jorgensen said to me and I replied "Because its a good journal entry" I had ribs and potatoes and a little bit of turkey and surprisingly it helped my stomach. 5 dinners is too much but the 6th helps you :) We headed home and went to bed.

 

SATURDAY - We headed to the meeting we had in the morning at the Ayalas home and had breakfast and all that good stuff. We were there for a while but then headed back. We headed back to those apartments to knock a bit and didn't have any luck, people just weren't interested. We then had a lesson with Santiago in the park, beautiful weather!! We got a call from the other elders to take them to wal mart to get a new tube for the bike. By then it was dinner time!!!! Time is just going to fast.... We went to dinner and it was with the Erazo family and she talked our ear off forever. We finally got out of there and had a lesson with Tony before ending our night.

 

SUNDAY - Good Sabbath day. We had 3 investigators at church. We ate dinner at the church and it wasn't very good. Then we had some really good success! We taught Raul Pacheco and he hasn't smoked at all since we fasted with him. MIRACLE. We then taught Janette a quick lesson then had a lesson on tithing with the Villatoros. We headed to numbers and Hno Ortiz after asking one question about Halo just starts showing me his art book and his new xbox and all this stuff. It didn't really make me lose focus because I know its going to be the same thing when I get back. We got numbers done on time. Sorry for the lameness of the blog this week. In fact this transfer has been really bland. I promise this last week I'll have a miracle for yall. Love,

 

Elder Aaron Jackson

Things Are Going Great As I Head Into My Last 6 Months!

MONDAY - Another crazy Pday, we ran around trying to get everything done and to help the other elders out as well. We finally got back and threw the football some more and ordered pizza and just relaxed before starting the day again. Elder Virrueta and I had a talk after and we just talked it out because things are just not going as we want them to go, we aren't on the same page, we aren't teaching how we want to and I bet its not the last of our talks. We are just two completely different people, nothing wrong with that though. We will figure it out, The kid is great! I love him. We then went and taught a lesson with Tony and set a date with him for just right before Christmas, he loved the lesson and we loved teaching it.

TUESDAY - Today in the morning we had exchanges with Oak Cliff. Unfortunately I didn't get to go with my old companion Elder Rodriguez :( But instead I had a great day with his two companions who are both EXTREMELY new in the mission. One of them played ball for Copper Hills and I knew he looked familiar. We went back and had a study together and they were just asking about how I learned Spanish, what I did in my studies and all that good stuff. It made me feel really old in the mission. We then went and taught this less active member and I just let them do all the talking. I jumped in when they got stuck with the language but they both did a great job. We then went to dinner with the other Oak Cliff Elders and had Chiles de reeno and I just didn't like them at all. We ate and as we were about to leave the dad asked for a blessing and so I had the privilege of giving it. We left and tried to find these 4 Less active members in an apartment complex and had no luck and spent so much time looking for them. It was a very scary apartment complex haha, it was good though. When we got back I got to know them both a little bit better and what they like to do and such and then we hit the sack. 

 

WEDNESDAY - This morning was a great start off for the day... no hot water at all, let alone warm water. Just ice cold waiting for Elder Jackson. So, I was screaming like a little girl as I took a shower in ICE! We headed for the building in Duncanvile and had an awesome meeting! For some reason President talked a lot about romance and love stories and all this non missionary stuff haha, it was really good though. We had some great food and then we had what are called break out sessions where the zone leaders take groups and train them. So we got the hardest subject, the pages in the handbook and we made it really fun and had a lot of good comments and Sister and President Durrant really liked what we did. It was a lot of fun. After we played Jeopardy for the conference talks and there was one question that I knew and Elder Drake said something that the rest of us will always remember. The question was how long had President Monson been an Apostle and I stood up but I was 2nd behind Drake and I knew it was 49 years and then Elder Drake says "Uh.... 84 years?" and we all just start laughing and President told us all to make sure and give him a hard time about that at the mission reunion in 10 years. It was a lot of fun, after we watched the slide show with all the baptism photos on it. Got to see the two we had in Longview up there. We then headed out of there and went to dinner with the North Elders at the Abarcas home and had some really good food. We ate and dropped off the Elders and went back to the apartment to grab stuff for English classes and went to the classes. I got a letter from TDizzy, thanks so much! We taught English classes and then came back and realized I forgot my backpack so we ran back to get it. I was pooped afterwards. 

 

THURSDAY - Planning day. The one thing I will not miss after the mission. But its important, Fail to plan=plan to fail. We planned and had dinner with the Barraza family and they were asking me a bunch of questions about the family and such. I told them about the A's and how I loved basketball and how I wanted to play after because they kept trying to give me sugar drinks and I turned it down a hundred times hahaha. We ate and took off to pick up the Maganas for the 3 awesome lessons we had planned and... all 3 of them canceled within like 5 minutes. So we just started visiting people. We visited Jasmine and had an awesome lesson with them and then to end our night I got my stuff and went to spend the night with my son, Elder Dominguez for an awesome exchange. I was coughing all night though. ALL NIGHT! Didn't sleep at all.

 

FRIDAY - Today was awesome! So we got up and stayed in bed.... what is with Elder Dominguez and when I'm with him we never are healthy. We walked to get lunch and taught one lesson but that was about it. At 2:30 Fernando came and picked us up and we got back to my old stomping grounds in D10, the Grove that's not Pleasant. We got there late because of a crash and a huge fire. It was so good though, we had time to catch up with Fernando and his life. I miss them so much, such an awesome family. We got back and Tim picked us up and took us to Burger Island, what a great guy Tim is! Now he just needs to be baptized! ;) (Because I know your reading Tim) But he took us there and to get Pie Shakes, he is still as awesome as he was before! We got dropped off at the church for the baptism and a rush of memories hit me like a brick wall, times in the Grove. Seeing Sister and Brother Price was amazing and Gaby and the kids!! Elder Drake and all the other elders. We had the wonderful and amazing spiritual baptism. Then about 2 minutes before the confirmation Elder Drake leans back to me "Hey... You want to confirm her? This is your family" So I got to confirm her. It was so amazing. I love the mission. Afterwards she asked why I had to leave and we went to their house for some food before heading back home. We just ended up staying together another night because we didn't get back till way late. What an experience though. I love that family and the opportunity I had to take part in a step they made to get closer to reaching the Celestial Kingdom. Their is no other church that even offers that first step. The Authority has been restored and I testify of that. 

 

SATURDAY - Even more sick this morning. I felt absolutely terrible!! Elder Adams and Virrueta just stayed together for the lessons we had all day and we exchanged back at 9. I learned how to solve a Rubik cube. That should tell you the capability I had. We finally switched back and headed home.

 

SUNDAY - Another good sabbath day. We got to church and only had 2 investigators there but it was a good day in church. We all had dinner together after and it was so good. Italian/Argentinian... food. It was amazing. We ate and then dropped the elders off and went to a few lessons. We had one with Vanessa and we just talked about Thanksgiving and the things we are grateful for. Then we taught this new girl and as we were teaching this HUGE cockroach is just chillin on the wall. HUGE!!! Size of a mouse i would say, then half way through the lesson.. ANOTHER ONE!!! Right by my foot!!! Other than that, it was a good lesson :) Spanish feels good for being out 18 months. We went to do numbers and the unthinkable happened. Right as we were going to send them in the computer crashes.... this is why you don't by PC's! So the numbers that were due at 10:30 were turned in.... at midnight! We finally got it off the computer and sent in. The guy who does them was not happy. We returned home to find the east elders asleep in our beds!! and that ended our night!!! :) I'm officially a 4th quarter missionary, 18 months in the mission and 6 to go. Time flies. I love yall and I love the mission!

 

Elder Aaron Jackson <3

Tostada Burgers?

MONDAY - A very good Pday today but a lot of driving around. We took the east elders to the library and then shopping and then to sports authority to get something for Elder Virruetas brother for his birthday. We finally got back with just a little bit of time to relax and talk and throw the old pig skin around a bit. We had a lesson with Santiago and taught him about tithing and I flipped out on my companion a bit because I would have to interrupt to teach and then I would teach and he would just re-explain everything that I just said and then just act as if I wasn't even there! UGH! I told him after and we went and visited Hna Barraza and we didn't talk the rest of the night. So off key, which is terrible. Not on the same page at all. Gotta love the mission.

TUESDAY - Yes a certain game did come out today but we aren't going to talk about that. We had a multi-district meeting in Oak cliff. It was really good to see the whole zone together for the first time. The meeting was really good. Afterwards I ate probably the biggest burger I have ever seen in my life at one of the best places ever! Burguesa burger... yum! The thing was huge! Avocado, tomato, tostada, ham, 2 patties, beans, cheese, lettuce etc. Thank goodness for my fast metabolism ;) Still haven't gained a pound on the mission. We got stranded in Oak Cliff trying to find a ride for the other elders and finally found one. We talked as we waited about a set of missionaries that got beat up by several people and how crazy it was. I'm thankful I have been safe. We then went and ate with a RM that just got back from Utah a few days prior, he said he served in Midvale and loved it! I asked him about Hillcrest and he said he remembers the school very well hahaha, so crazy to meet someone who served there. We then went out and he still has the fire. He contacted everyone he saw before we could even try haha. We got 2 referrals out of the 1 hour with him. It was great, such a good guy. Said his mission president talked only about marriage in his exit interview and gave him 8 weeks to be married :/ is that really what's next on the list after the mission? haha scary stuff. We got done and headed to the lesson with the Villatoros and they are just awesome! We taught he second part of the plan of salvation and headed home.... president decided "4 more years of debt" 

 

WEDNESDAY - We spent 4 hours in the Chevy dealership this morning trying to get a sensor put on our car and a new battery, we checked out the vettes and they are just so sweet! The zo6 b e a utiful. We sat in the waiting room... waiting haha and finally got the car back. we ran back the the apt and ate some food and made the genius ward mission plan and picked up the papusas from hna escotos house... papusas are so good! I love Mexican food! (I want to go back and count how many times I have said that in my emails) haha, we ate at the Alfaros and headed with Hno Alfaro to Raul's house and talked about fasting and we gave him a blessing so he can stop smoking. I was privileged to give the blessing. It was one of those awesome lessons that you go in about to teach something and the Spirit just takes you a whole other way hahaha, its amazing! church is true. We then went to the church where we taught English classes to end our night.

 

THURSDAY - Planning! yay... NOT. Orlando called and canceled so we didn't end till dinner. We headed to the Mancias and Hna Mancia is sick so Brian takes us to... da da da da! the all famous Cicis pizza. All you can eat garbage! We ate as much as we could to feel grateful for the money they spent on us but that was it. We then had another lesson with Santiago, really short and then went to the Villatoros again and talked more about the Plan of Salvation and I love Brayan! He is so cool!! He is so smart for being 11. He is going to be an awesome missionary. 

 

FRIDAY - Crazy day! So we went to the East elders apt to eat pizza with them during lunch hour and then we went tracting till about 3 and headed to the Temple. Hna Almazan in the Casa Linda ward got sealed so we were invited. We got there and guess who was there.... all the way from Idaho married and all. My trainer!! Elder Olsen!! It was nuts to see him! We talked a bit but then headed back home. We ran into Wal Mart and got a bottle and went back and ate and boiled an egg for the egg lesson with the Villatoros. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and It felt good to teach again. They loved it, I invited their daughter to be baptized and I love that feeling too! No sweat now! She has excuses but give her time. We ended our night fasting for Raul.

 

SATURDAY - We fasted with Raul and again my head hurt waking up, I slept it off though and was up and ready to leave, very low energy but ready to go. We left and taught Raul at 1 and visited some people until we went and picked up dinner at 5 and ate it at the North elders apt. We also found a new family in Grand Prairie while tracting down there. After dinner we visited some people trying to get more lessons. Started to get cold here.

 

SUNDAY - I love the Sabbath day, its so nice! Its even better when there is a primary program!!! we had a lot of investigators today at church and they all enjoyed the service. We had a talk with bishop and some things going on in the ward with the missionaries and they need to be changed. Just another mess that needs cleaning up. I'm not complaining though, that's why we are here, to help others come unto Christ, including ourselves. We ate dinner with the Arrazola family and Hna Arrazola told me she was talking to Elder Rouse on Facebook and he said to say hi haha, he served here a very long time as well. We ate and left, we went with Ismael their son to some teaching appointments, he was teaching us Portuguese, he said the prayer in Portuguese and I understood almost everything, its really cool. we ended our night doing numbers and with a sore throat. yuck. Love you all!

Hasta luego

 

Elder Aaron Jackson

Week 2 in Shady Grove

MONDAY - Today was a great preparation day, we didn't get JP so we didn't really shop but we did go get stuff for a little Halloween party we wanted to have as a district. I love the district here. Elder Jorgensen and Henze, Dominguez and Adams... Cant wait for Christmas with them. We went to email and I had to call Elder Chappell and Crosby out East to get his library card number. We had a great conversation. Elder Chappell is so awesome and so is Elder Crosby. He is definitely in the running for my favorite companion of all time. The library has a touch table top screen thing with chess so as we waited for the rest of the elders to get done I smoked my son (Dominguez) in a game of chess and checkers :) we then went and got the stuff at the store to make smores and we threw the football a little bit and played a hot potato game that was so fun! We talked about skating and laughed at good times we had. I love these elders! We finished Preparation day and we headed to visit a less active member that the bishop assigned us to visit. Hna Barraza, her non member 25 year old son, Tony was there and so we got to know him. Incredible artist!! He showed us one of his sketches and it seriously looked like it was a snap shot from a camera! He was way cool, very humble and willing to learn. Good way to start off the week.

TUESDAY - We had a good district meeting today and after we enjoyed some very delicious pumpkin pie with blue bell ice cream! SO GOOD! We then headed to the store so that I could buy some food for the week because we had no money yesterday and we didnt have any today but my oh so sweet peruvian companion payed for me and I'll just pay him back when I get money. Yes I bought some Mountain Dew for the first time in a while only because Master Chief was on the cover. We then went to an apartment complex called Kirkwood Apartments. Ha. Visited a few people there and visited the relief society president there as well. We had dinner at her house (Abarca family) and we had my favorite! Authentic tacos. I could eat a million of them I tell you! estuvieron bien ricos! we ate and discussed the presidential campaign a little and then we were on our way. We had a lesson with Vanessa and Kimberly and talked about eternal families and also baptism. We reset their dates for November 17. I love the Plan of Salvation, I love talking about families, especially my family! It is my favorite thing to teach by far! We committed them to read one verse from the Book of Mormon every day. I apologize of some of these things are lacking details, I was 4 days behind in my journal and thats what I use to type my blogs. Just know it was another amazing day in the mission :)

 

WEDNESDAY - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! (^^) We had a meeting in meandering way, Zone Leader Council. Great meeting from 10 to 4. We learned a lot and talked about the holidays coming up and what was going to happen. President Durrant wants to have another talent show, so looks like I will be able to show case my dunk one last time in the TDM. I will probably prepare weeks before, training in the mornings. I want to do something I havent before. Maybe an under the legs or a crazy oop. Not sure yet. The meeting was good and time flew, I loved seeing all the old missionary friends especially my main man Elder Chappell! We got done with the meeting and went to a 7/11 to get gas, I had to get money off my card to get a new Preach my Gospel in Spanish. Ive wanted one of the mini ones since day one in the mission and they finally have them again. So I went in and they had it there in the fridge.... GAMEFUEL!!!! I had to get it! It was so good! we went to the mission office and I got my new mini Preach my Gospel aka (The best manual in the world!) I love it. Its a manual for life. We then headed to the Mancias for dinner, it was just us and the North elders there so we talked and had a good time and ate. Then I found out that Elder Henze has a Christmas tradition similar to ours... Christmas Vacation!!! So we were laughing so hard as we brought back those memories. I love the holidays, such a great time. We got done and dropped by Vanessas and Kimberlies house to see their haunted house and it was awesome!!! I got pictures but I will have to send them next week because I forgot my camera! But it was a way cool, I got pics of me next to this guy with this HUGE clown mask haha, then we headed to the church to support the ward in its Trunk or Treat activity and it was a lot of fun! It was a good Halloween. Last one in the mission! :O

 

THURSDAY - Today was a long day, we finally got money on our cards so of course us being the only ones with a car were asked by the north elders to go shopping. We took them and they took forever!! So we didn't get back to plan untill like 3. We planned for an hour and a half and then headed to Bishops house for dinner. We had some amazing Carne asada which we all ate like pigs! Then Bishop and his two councilers all came out with us to our appointments. We went with el Obispo (bishop) and visited first Raul Pacheco and taught about prophets and the Book of Mormon as well. Bishop is such a boss, he knows when to talk and when he does he always says something awesome. We then went to teach Santiago and we taught the 10 commandments and also the Sabbath Day. He is ready, he just needs to tell his parents and he will be good to go!

 

FRIDAY - Today we had the Stake President Report, President Porter bought us and the English Zone Leaders both our own 10 dollar box from Pizza Hut in which we devoured within minutes like Voltures (as my dad would say) We had the meeting with President Porter and Durrant and talked about the Stake. Its so exciting because we set a new mission goal on Wednesday of 670 Baptisms for this year and we are at 532 or something and so we are also about to hit the stake goal, the wards goals and my personal goal of 25! Im so excited!!! We could baptize a lot here, we have so many great people! The meeting was great and it was good to talk to President after as well. We then went tracting and ran into this crazy Catholic girl who pointed to her neighbors (who just got out of jail) and said "Now I'm not christian when it comes to them over there, a few years ago their house was on fire and we called the fire apartment and I regret it! I should have just let it burn!" hahahaha, we got a few return appiontments and headed to dinner with the Ayala family and had chili dogs! It was really good, all 6 of us were there and enjoying each others company. We then went and taught the Villatoros and talked about the Book of Mormon. They are just such a solid family. We will baptize at least 3 of them and maybe even 5! So thats going to be a great day! We ended our night on that note.

 

SATURDAY - Today we went back to the Ayalas house to have a coordination meeting where we talked about the work and I brought up some of the ideas we did out in Longview and we are going to put them into practice. Im excited! We ate breakfast with them and had ham and eggs and cheese and hot chocolate and it was really good! Hno Ayala showed us some pics of missionaries that went home... including one of my past Zone Leaders (Elder Solis) who got married with a Sister missionary that was here too!!! They were engaged while they were both still on the mission. Elder Solis baptized a ton but I lost a lot of respect for him after that. But it was weird to see Elder Feild too, I miss that kid. We then took off and got some stuff at Staples for our ideas for the ward. We dropped off the North elders and headed to our lesson with Raul and taught the law of chastity and he is almost ready for baptism too! Just needs to stop smoking and he will be good to go! After that we had to take the car in to get the brakes checked and then we did some more tracting before dinner with the Erazo family, it was really good chicken but we were there for too long. I hate getting to members house when we should be eating and waiting 15 minutes till its done cooking and then just being there over an hour. Its a waste of time. I love the members but ugh! So we had time to go and teach Kimberly and Vanessa and invite them to church. Tonight the clocks went back!!! EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP!!! Couldnt ask for a better gift on a mission. 

 

SUNDAY - Today was a good Sunday, there were some changes in the bishopric but also in the meeting with the leaders before church we were told members have been complaining that we flirt with the young women and that we don't ask the members to turn off the TVs and Radios when we get into their homes... UGH!! Its not us I know that, I stay away from girls at all costs and I have never had a problem like that before. So a great situation to walk into... Now we have to regain the trust of the members (which is one of if not the most important things) gotta love the mission. We will do it though, its not really a big thing but we will change that. Church ended and we went to eat dinner, we had meat loaf with the Ortiz family. I think that's a first for me, meat loaf on the mission. It was so good! You never eat better than on a mission I tell you. We finished and headed to our appointment with the Villatoros and taught my favorite lesson El Plan de Salvacion! It went really well and they are doing so good. We met their daughter for the first time and we are still trying to get their rebellious 12 year old involved but with time. We finished and headed to do numbers. I was so tired, because my body was telling me it was 10:30 when really it was only 9:30. What a good week though. Thanks for reading and I love y'all.

 

Elder Jackson

New Area, New Companion, New Investigators.

MONDAY - Well we had our last pday together, Elder Chappell and I and I wanted to cry so many times! I'm going to miss this area SO much. We got everything done, everything packed and emailed to give us some time to go play some ball with Gilmer and with the other Longview elders. It was a lot of fun. We shot for teams and a couple times I ended up on Elder Chappells teams and we just dominated haha. We played, went back and showered and headed to meet brother Sellers to head to Lindale to swap missionaries. We got there and only 5 of us were going back but a whole lot came out. We drove back into Dallas and Elder Witbeck and I sat in the back of the big van and looked at pictures from the MTC laughing and enjoying the past experiences we had. Elder Williams wanted to take us out to eat so we decided on In-N-Out my first time at this "Place of the burger gods" in which everyone claimed it to be (mostly the prideful peeps from California :)) I have one word to explain my thoughts on my first time there. OVERRATED!!!!!!!! It tasted like any other burger in fact five guys is SO SO SO SO SO much better. I was disappointed. We went to the church and met up with Elder Lee and Elder Browning and went and stayed the night there. I slept (if you can call it that) on the hard floor.

TUESDAY - We got up showered and headed to Meandering way to get our new companions. It was, as it always is, amazing to see all the familiar faces from past times. Elder Drake, Rodriguez, Scott, Falk, Willman, Beatty (New assistant) and many more. We waited quite some time before the member came to pick up Elder Virrueta, Jorgensen, Henze and I to head back to Irving. We got back and spent almost  the rest of the day unpacking and getting the area explained to me. We had dinner with la familia Barraza. It was good! We then headed to visit a few more people but didn't have a whole lot of luck with that. Not a lot today. I also gave my companion a blessing tonight. Love the Priesthood.

 

WEDNESDAY - Today we had district meeting, I got to see Elder Dominguez again! Yeah I'm so stoked he is in the same ward as me! 6 of us in one ward! We had a good meeting and went back and my companion was really sick. We had to wait for everyone to get their commissary orders which took forever!!!! We waited till about 4 to do it and then had to go fax them! By the time we got done we headed out to dinner. Dinner was good, seems really tex mexy here though! We had BBQ chicken with rice and beans haha. It was good! Afterwards we went to the church for a baptism and I met the wonderful family that was just referred to us by a member the day after transfer calls... this is where my testimony of revelation comes in and that we really are called to our missions and the areas in our missions for specific reasons. So President Durrant has a saying. "If something is good, I'm not going to change it. UNLESS the Spirit tells me" So Elder Chappell and I were in the highest baptizing zone in the entire mission. A zone that used to be despised and no one wanted to go out there! We changed it around and baptized in the incredibly difficult East Texas area. So why would President "change something that's good" well, because the Spirit told him. So transfer calls were on Saturday and on Sunday Elder Crosby and Virrueta received this referral of this family and I met them this night and I saw the wife and I swear to you I have seen her somewhere. It was the strangest thing! I feel like I have talked to her somewhere. My solution is that it was before this life and that I was preordained and chosen to teach her and her family the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is true, I know without a doubt and I love this work! Anyways the baptism was great! I got to meet the 300 members and their names that I now have to remember and memorize and know their likes and dislikes and how they can best help us, gotta love the mission! The first week in a new area is always a brain blower. I always have a head ache trying to remember everything that's been said to me. But I'm excited, this is my 6th time doing it so I should be good :)

 

THURSDAY - Today was yet ANOTHER day spent inside as we planned and talked more about the investigators we have and again by the time we finished we were heading to dinner. We had dinner with the... uh oh I'm already forgetting names! We had ribs with beans and rice hahahaha, TEX MEX! We ate and then went to our lesson with the Villatoro family (the awesome referral we got) and we had an amazing lesson with them. They are so prepared and we talked about the Restoration and had to rush out the door to head to Oak Cliff. It was crazy to see the bright lights of downtown Dallas again! We went and did an interview for a young boy named Erik being taught by the one and only Elder Rodriguez! Its going to be great to be around him again! Love that kid! We did the interview and headed to drop them off. We stayed and talked for a bit and headed home getting home at exactly 10:30. Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

 

FRIDAY - 4 days in a row of having to do something till dinner and we finally got out and worked today!!!......jk we had to do stake presidents report! Inside all day again! But we had some time before dinner to knock some doors! It was good! There are some... haha very ghetto apartments here. We went to dinner and had enchiladas. SO SO SO GOOD!!! I love Mexican food! I want a Mexican wife! hahaha. We then went and visited a less active member and he was leaving so we visited Orlando and only got in for a bit but it was good to meet him. He will probably be baptized when I'm here. We ended our night talking to Hector, a big cowboys fan, and if your wondering anyone out there the only think that really hasn't changed in me is the burning passion of hatred I have for the stinking cowboys :) So don't get your hopes up Davis family ;) We talked a lot about Jordan and the Mavs and sports just so I could easily get on common grounds with him. Elder Virrueta over here didn't even know who Michael Jordan was... But after we got into church and had a very good talk with him about his future and things like that and then we headed home, not a lot happening haha we also gave a blessing to somebody in his family that was deathly ill, Jasmine. 

 

SATURDAY - Today was our first day to really get out and work. We quickly emailed the SPR off and went to work. We had a lesson with Raul and talked about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it. There are a lot of great investigators here! We headed to some Laundry mats and left some pamphlets and did some knocking before going to dinner. One of the first doors we knock was so funny, I love being part of the true church because no matter what they doubt there is a scripture to back it up! Its so funny how we love the Book of Mormon and we share it, not because we put it above the Bible, but because it is what makes us different and yet we follow the bible more than ANY other religion yet they all claim they do haha, the world is full of pride and greedy people that think religion is a business. I guess pastors need some kind of income to pay for their BMW's and mansions huh? Why not the tithing of all the poor people that THINK its going for a good cause. Okay I went a little too far there :/ There are so many great religions out there I just wish they could see the truth! We talked to a guy that at first was arguing with us and I backed up every doubt with a scripture... In the Bible. By the end of the contact he accepted a Book of Mormon cause he realized that his beliefs were nothing but a big circle of contradicting confusion and apostasy that formed after the death of the Son of God himself. It was really good. That's why I love this work! I don't mean to offend anyone by all means. I love everyone I meet! So many amazing people out here and they all have just such great faith in Jesus Christ, all we want to do is add to that, so please don't take it that way. We headed to dinner and had some amazing pasta with the Errazo family and had a lesson with the Villanueva and Villatoro families. They both canceled though so we had a boss lesson with a young man named Santiago. We taught the word of wisdom and Law of Chastity. We ended our night and my companion is still sick! 

 

SUNDAY - CHURCH ALREADY! can you believe its already been a week! I'm stoked for church, we went to the meetings before hand and got to know everyone, I'm super excited to be here. All Spanish baby! We sat down in Sacrament and had all our progressing investigators (7) at church! The place was packed with pure Hispanics and I just was soaking it up with a big smile on my face! Time flied and before you knew it we were heading out to dinner after church. Dinner was good, we had Chicken and rice and green beans and yum yum yum! We ate and had a lesson with Vannessa and Kimberly and set dates with them. We drove to do numbers and ended our week. Thanks for following, my new address should be up if you want to write me! Thanks,

 

love,

Elder Aaron Jackson

(")> Penguins rule!

Transfer: The Longview Days Are Over

MONDAY - Today was a pretty average preparation day thats for sure. We did the usual, emailed, laundry, etc. We played some taps at the church with the other elders. I love playing ball! We then came back and got showered and dressed and headed to the hospital with Hno Flores to give a blessing to the father of the lady in whom we are teaching the English classes. Then we went to Charles house and taught him the remainder of the commandments and set up a time for his interview.

TUESDAY - Today was an awesome day, interviews with the President. We got up and headed straight to Sulpher Springs. We got there a bit early and set up for our training and talked about a few things with the zone. Elder Chappell and I stressed obedience and then we turned the time over to Sister Durrant to give her training so we could go into interviews. Elder Chappell went in first and was in there for a good 15-20 minutes! Then it was my turn. I walked in and he said "Elder Jackson, the Hillcrest Husky legend! come on down!" We sat down and asked what I wanted to talk about and I told him I really didn't have anything and that things were all going super well. He said "Well keep going, seems like you don't even need me. I'm super proud of all your doing. Don't let up at all. I'll try and stay out of your way" that was it. I couldn't believe it. I tried to stay in there as long as I could but my interview was for like 1 minute. We got done and jumped right into the role playing that Sister Durrant had everyone doing and then we finished the meeting by giving our training as well. President came in and talked to us and got on all our cases saying we have to act more like adults, but he did this all out of love. He really wants to help us out a lot. We finished the meeting and headed on our long journey home. We stopped at Braums to get some ice cream and then got home with just enough time to drop the other elders off and head to the Eastwoods for dinner. We had nachos! Really good. We had a very awesome lesson afterwards as well, talked about the Fall of Adam and Eve. He had a lot of questions about it that we were able to clear up very well. It was a very good lesson. We did some contacting at the Monterrey for a while and then bought Marlenys picture from her baptism. What an awesome gift! We ended our night like that.

 

WEDNESDAY - We had a pretty long day today because we decided to do our planning today because tomorrow we were heading up to Gilmer to mand a boothe at the all-famous East Texas Yamboree. This event is huge!!! They close down all the stores and kids get out of school, I mean huge! So we are excited to go up there. We planned and then went down to Kilgore to do some tracting and got into one house but didnt have a lot of time so we left him and his family with a pamphlet and headed to our lesson with Celia and Lupe. We just talked about church attendance and invited them to come and then we went to the Flores' house for some dinner. They always feed us good. 6 gorditas with rice and a big bowl of blue bell ice cream.... YUM! We also got some fruit for the road. We ran over to the church for coordination meeting with Bro Sellers and Andy and had a good meeting and split up. Bro Sellers and I visited the Alexanders and also the Nelsons. Bro Sellers was talking about how when I get home all the 18 year old boys will have left there girl friends for me to come and pluck hahaha, I cant believe how close I really am to that point. Time never goes slow when your having a blast! We got back to the church and helped clean it and headed home for the night.

 

THURSDAY - YAMBOREE!! 17 MONTHS IN THE MISSION! We got up and had personal study and then headed out the door to Gilmer. We got up there and started manding the booth and it wasnt as crowded as we thought. We got some dinner after and then went to the square where everything was and that was where it was just crazy!!!! People everywhere! A lot of members as well. We went around contacting, I gave a card to a black kid and his teenage friends and he wouldnt take it because it was "white Jesus" but I got him to take it in the end. It was a crazy experience. We had a lot of fun there but it was way to worldly. Music, lights, rides....GIRLS! So it was way weird. It was a lot of fun though. We did the interview for the Gilmer elders and then we headed home after a long day. 

 

FRIDAY - Today was interesting. We received a referral for the aparments acrossed the street and it didnt have the apt numbers so we decided to pray and write down the numbers that came to mind. 63 came to mine and 65 to Elder Chappells. So we tracted all the 60's and 63 didnt answer or wasn't there, and 65 opened and shut the door right away. At least we tried. We then started our long day of drop bys. Today was a drop by day. We visited some old, and potential investigators and then did some tracting as well. We had dinner at 5 with the Grizzles and it was soup, super good soup! So delicious. I tell you it doesnt matter where you go on you mission you will always eat good! Unless its really poor place and dead birds is a delicacey... ouch! We did some contacting, tried ot have a lesson with the Ramirez family and then we went and taught English classes. Charles was interviewed and he passed! Tomorrow is the day!

 

SATURDAY - TRANSFER CALLS! Today is the big day! We went out tracting and ran into some crazy people, one lady invited us in and she was nuts and her house was full of flies and it was just gross and she wanted to anoint us with oil... it was nuts. We kept tracting and found a hispanic lady who had a lot of questions that we were able to answer and set up a return appointment. We headed to pick up Hno Flores who we actually went to a lesson this morning as well that canceled on us, well we got there and he was leaving. Anyway we went to Marlenys and started the new member lessons with her and then dropped off Hno Flores after and went to Genghis Grill to meet a member who bought us dinner. We sat and enjoyed a huge bowl of steak, chicken, rice, noodles, bbq sauce, shrimp, crab, beef all mixed together. So good! We then went to the Ramirez family's house and they were not there. First they blow us off last night and tell us to come back the next night and they arent even there? If your going to make a commitment keep it! We did some contacting at the Monterrey before heading home thinking we were staying together here in Longview for another transfer. Nope. Elder Beatty called (New AP) and told me I was going to Shady Grove South as a Zone Leader with Elder Virrueta. I hate the mission because of good byes... 

I didn't sleep well tonight!

 

 

SUNDAY - Incredible day! We had Spanish branch and I got some pics with Hno Flores and Hno Plascencia. My two favorites in the branch. We would always have this joke that every time we would call him we would say "hermano el mundo se va a acabar!" (the world is going to end) and we just had a lot of good times. So in the pics on my right is Hno Flores and left is Plascencia. We left the branch and it was weird like i will probably never see that place again. If I do it wont be for a long time. We went to English and I told the bishop I was leaving and they cleared a spot for me to share my testimony at the beginning and it was hard not to cry. I love this area and the ward and branch. So many amazing people here. I got some good pictures with some of my favorites. I wanted to get pictures with everyone but it was to hard. Sister Whitman gave me a hug! Haha, I'm going to miss everyone here! We had some great classes and then we had Rylands baptism after and it was amazing! My throat was hurting from trying to hold back the tears. I don't want to leave but I have to. Ryland is so awesome and her family as well! So supportive. It was the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to in my entire life. I will never forget that day. Not in this life or the life to come. We had cake after and said our good byes and went back so I could start packing and then we headed to the Johnstons for numbers. I got a picture with them as well. So there you have it. The Longview days are over. I am now heading to my 6th are and getting my 10th companion and I STILL haven't had one from Utah!!!!! I'm excited and thanks for all the support, love you all!

 

Elder Jackson