Noah's Rain and An Upcomming Baptism.

MONDAY - We went to the store in the morning with Tim Morris and bought what we needed, the weirdest thing happened. Fernando called us to tell us things were going much better with Gaby and as he called I looked behind us at the milk section and there was Gaby!! It was crazy, we talked to her for a little bit and told her we hoped to see her again soon. We came and emailed and played basketball, I didn't get to email till much later so I was playing ball and ended up breaking a light in the ceiling when I tried to dunk it. We got done with everything and then Hermano Castro picked us up and we went and taught Fernando, he is so solid, progressing so well in the gospel! We taught him the Law of Chastity and then we went and visited the Ortega family and just asked if there was anything we could do for them, then we headed home.

    TUESDAY - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Best mom in the world, I hope she loved my card, I love you so much mom! We had District meeting and then exchanges, so I went with Elder Jorgensen in his area for the day and it was not cool, first of all we go out to our bikes and Elder Reardons (the one I have to use) has a completely popped tire! So we had to call for a ride, then go over to Wal Mart to get a new tube, waste of time, we went and visited a few people then came back to pick up dinner, then it started to sprinkle, here is the thing though, Elder Reardon has been in a car for so long that he has no helmet and no lights, so I was putting my life at risk this night, then it started pouring and I was freezing but was good enough to continue with the work, we got to our appointment and they are solid! Solid family!!!! When we walked outside, the rain had doubled in amount and speed! I was seriously looking for Noah and the arc so I wouldn't be killed in the flood! I was freezing with no lights or a helmet basically swimming in the rivers, with 8 gallons of water in each shoe... then to find out we had gone half a mile in the wrong direction was even more of a test of patience, we finally got done and everything was ruined! luckily my scriptures survived, everything else: soaked! We found a ride and it was Hermano Lama!!! I missed him, he asked about my Spanish and said he missed me, it was good to see him, I got back and was so cold and slept well!

    WEDNESDAY - We went to a recent converts house, Sister Mckanin? and talked with her in the morning and she was talking about why she didn't want to come back or something, We then went to visit a referral that was in the area, Norma Aguirre, she was very interested and we gave her a blessing, and as we left Elder Rodriguez started off fast and said HURRY ELDER JACKSON and I was like what? 3 HUGE dogs, unchained come out from around the house and I just freeze and slowly walk haha it was scary, We then went knocking on doors for a little bit and had dinner with Sister Rodriguez and then went to the temple with the Flores family, well first to the LDS book store and I just want to get all the books in there!!! SO AWESOME and also guess what was there! Davey and Golimere? dont know how to spell it, but My Dad's movie was there haha, I was pretty proud of it, then we went to the temple and were in the back having the most important lesson, that they have to get married in order to get baptized and be able to enter the temple some day, it was so intense, Fernando wants to get baptized no matter what but she isn't sure yet, it was really good, we got pictures and then headed back.

    THURSDAY - We were messing around in studies and I told Elder Rodriguez we have the Book of Mormon so we don't need the Bible so I was kidding and was about to throw it away and my chair broke, we were laughing so hard but it was good, then we got in a argument? not really a bad one but we aren't allowed to teach ladies if they are alone, its a rule and I wanted to follow that and he didn't, so we talked about it and ended up going, I wasn't happy about it cause I'm the senor companion and its a rule, and like it says in D&C, every blessing we receive is through obedience, but we went, Yolanda was her name, kind of interested. We came back and planned, then had a lesson with Fernando that night.

    FRIDAY - We had studies and we were picked up at 10 to go back and get our bikes and had a short lesson with Fernando, Norma canceled on us, We did a lot of tracting though today, We found a family the second door we knocked, Way awesome, family Ramirez. Found some crazy people, one girl saying she would rather follow her feelings than Gods ??? She assumed she knew her 10 commandments too but was like way off when reciting them haha it was so funny, While tracting we met a girl named Josafina really sweet girl but didn't quite get the message, and the meaning of what we were teaching, we found a family and they had an awesome door, way cool We then went out to eat with the Ramussens, took us to a small place owned by members called, Scrumbcious bugers, AMAZING they have pie shakes, like they actually put a pie in it and they are so good, and they had fry sauce there too!!!! The price family took us to two appointments, first one with Sister Maldanado, so amazing she went to her church and talked about us to everyone haha she talked about how sweet and humble we are and they all told her we are of the devil! It was a good night, we were laughing with the prices about Napoleon Dynamite, Elder Rod has not seen it!!!

    SATURDAY - We went to visit Hermano Ochoa, found her wife there and she was crying when we testified! We only knocked a little because at 3:30 we went to TEXAS ROADHOUSE!! :) and the guy who took us was companions with the guy who almost bought the rams!!!! so crazy, but he is very wealthy so when we get in there I'm thinking about getting the 6 or 8 oz steak just because of the prices, but no he says "these guys both want the 32 oz steaks" and the waiter just looked like what!!! she never had served them before 35 dollar steak HUGE, so good too, loaded potatoes :) YUMMMM I was happy. We got home and looked at some old records and tried to visit some, ended up going to Fernandos to visit Gaby.

    SUNDAY - Alex called us in the morning saying he would not be able to make it to church, so he came over in the morning and we taught him the rest of the first lecture and a little about temples, he loves it, he dropped us off at our apt and they canceled so we walked home and had lunch, I ate some more of that steak!!! At church Fernando was interviewed and passed, Gaby came as well. So good, we then went to a couple aptmnts after church and headed home I made french toast, then Hno Castro picked us up and we went and set a date with Gaby, Elder Rod is going to baptize Gaby and I will baptize Fernando. GREAT WEEK! thanks followers, Love

Elder Aaron Jackson

The Border Patrol, Grim Reaper, Multiple Maria's and a Ton of Lessons!

MONDAY - I forgot to add this in last weeks blog so I'm going to type it now so I don't forget. Last week we were knocking on doors and some big black guy smoking... something, came up to the door behind us and we asked his name and he said "Shawn Kerr" HAHA I met someone with Shawn's exact name, anyway we did laundry and went to Walmart to get food and everything and we did not get much of a pday today, we had a ton of lessons! We had a lesson with the Flores family and they are awesome, their daughter is so cute and would not stop trying to hold my hand, as we left she blew a kiss to me out, such an awesome family! GOLDEN, hopefully a year from now I can go through the temple with them. We had about an hour to relax and then we took Brother and Sister Price to a lesson we had with someone we found tracting, the Ortega family and found out they are already members with a dead testimony, we testified and then left.

 

TUESDAY - We had district meeting today, really good! I enjoyed it a ton but again we were stuck after trying to find a ride back and ate lunch and then finally got Brother Blocker to come get us, saved! Got back and started to work hard, met some good people, then we had another AWESOME lesson with the Mendez family and the kids all loved it! We had dinner with the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, really good food and had an awesome time with them, really cool family! It was dark and cold so we headed back to the aptmnt for the night but had an overall good day!

 

WEDNESDAY - We did not have a dinner signed on our calender today but we did have a lunch with the Lujan family and they took us out to "Tops Buffet" Chinese place, really good we stuffed ourselves because we had a WHOLE day of knocking on doors ahead of us, we did have one aptmnt at 1 with Tim Morris, it was our lesson where we said we were no longer going to be teaching him as often as we were, but only every 2 weeks or so, because we need to gather Israel! It was such a powerful experience with the spirit working through us, incredible. After we started knocking, met some pretty strange people, like a guy named Delan who was just so strange... and a guy who I wanna say was high when we taught him, named Abraham. Lot of strange people but a good day, we went back to take our 1 hour dinner and we were so beat that we took a quick nap and then Brother Mata came and got us and took us to visit Sister Taylor, we watched the lamb of God with her and then went and visited a referral, as soon as we got to the house they pulled up, perfect timing! Familia Maldanado, we had a lesson with them for about 20 minutes or so, great family! Then we went home and hit the sack early, its so great to go to bed tired knowing you helped someone today, or more than one person!

 

THURSDAY - We had 2 lessons today that were a combined time of almost 6 hours crazy day!! we did not plan today, because we wanted to work instead, we went to visit the Flores family, and pulled up on our bikes to see only Fernandos car was there, strange.. we knocked and he answered and let us in, no sign of Gabby or the kids! They got in a fight, and it was pretty bad, so she left to live with her sister, we were there for 3 hours and he told us everything and told us about his past problems and how he prays to the Santa Muerte... not a good thing, that thing is evil and spiritually destructive! So we helped him the best we could, he has such great faith, he is willing to give everything up to be a part of the true church, we showed him temples and he said what everyone says "se mira como un castillo" it looks like a castle! He loved it and I love talking about them and about families being sealed for time and all eternity in these amazing structures and we taught more stuff and 3 and a half hours later we finally got out and were on our way, had dinner with the Lynm family and they are just awesome, we had hamburgers and bluebell ice cream.... best ice cream in the world! makes Texas that much better, cause its only here. I would come live here just for it, think of your favorite ice cream and I bet the worst flavor of blue bell is 121518x better :) We then went to our lesson with the Ortega family and it was a 2 hour bash pretty much, Elder Rodriguez came out of it happy, I didn't feel the spirit at all, all I could think of is Laman and Lemuel, all the times they heard the voice of the Lord and Angels and all the evidence of his divinity and they still murmured and still hardened their hearts! That's the Family Ortega, if Jesus Christ came down himself and said "Join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!" They still would doubt! My stomach was hurting from eating to much ice cream or something like that :) Crazy day!

 

FRIDAY - We had studies then tracting where we found a 6 foot 7 black girl, a crazy girl that wanted to hold our hands, a guy who thought we were border patrol and tried to hide just some crazy people, lot of fun! Had dinner with Sister Rodriguez and I took another Tortilla, Elder Rodriguez got a kick out of it :) We came back to plan and checked mail, Thank you Todd for your letter!!! it made my day dude! Love the letters I get, every one of them!  Planning was long as usual but we got it done, made a ton of progress records for all of our investigatores.

 

SATURDAY - As we went to bed last night we got a call at 12 so technically it counts as today, Fernando asked for a blessing so he came over and we talked for a bit, I couldn't understand everything he said cause I was so tired and my brain can only take so much Spanish before I become exhausted haha, but we gave him a blessing and talked a little, it was intense! Got up and went to Thomasa Diaz at 10, cancel :( she was pulling away as we got up, So we went to Sister Rodriguezes house to get Papusas :D so good, came back had lunch and finished our studies then went at 2 to our appointment with Maria Martinez and she canceled! But then we went to the family Vargus and Jose was sleeping so we went to Velindas house and had an awesome lesson with her, she is 20 or so and has a real interest in what we teach, left a book of mormon and went back to the Varguses and taught their family, they had their bibles out ready to go at it and we just proved everything we taught. Only using the bible! Because we can! It was intense and we just testified at the end, they just were silent, not sure if they are going to read or pray but we will see :) Abraham was not home when we went back so then we went tracting a little bit and found another family, Maria Martinez haha another Maria Martinez, then we went to Fernandos, he gave us everything, so I had this big statue of the Santa Muerte in my backpack, (Pretty much the Grim Reaper with a scythe and with the world in his hands) just really crazy stuff, we went to the dumpster and I broke the thing and walked away thankful to have the priesthood of God!!!! Such a Privilege, don't ever take it for granite! Its so special and real. We had dinner with Amanda Lloyd and Matt Morris, such an awesome family, both like really tough, love them, they are so nice but they talk a lot so we didn't get back till almost 10, good night!

 

SUNDAY - Me and Elder Rodriguez do some crazy stuff haha, We have this little play ball like in the play pins they have at Chuckie Cheese and stuff, and we have tennis rackets, but what we do is how many times we can hit it with the handle haha its pretty fun, so we were doing that while waiting for our ride to church, so fun! By the end of the night we were doing it with my basketball hahaha! Anyway we got to church and a sister came up to us who has us for dinner this next Saturday and said she is taking us to Texas Roadhouse!!!!!!!! SO STOKED!!!! and we had a friend of the bishops daughter come, he is 20 and his name is Alex, so we taught him after Sacrament and he loves everything, Fernando came of course, so solid. We went back to his house after and had a short lesson and got our bikes went back to the aptmnt to eat really quick and get out to work, no luck, the world is so different at night, we had some drunk black people yell at us some.. not very nice names... :) and tell us to go home, so we decided not to tract but to see if we could maybe visit some people, no luck there, then we were about 3 miles from home and Elder Rodriguez made me ride his bike home, ITS A PIECE OF JUNK!!! i barely made it home with out wanting to chuck it in the dump! He laughed as he enjoyed my 25 lb smooth bike, wonderful week we had, almost 30 other lessons!! Thanks for following, love you all a ton :)

Elder Aaron Jackson

Some Great Success.

LUNES - We finished laundry early in the morning after going to family dollar to do our shopping and to also get money for laundry :/ then we headed to the church in the POURING rain, emailed and of course played some basketball. It wasnt as serious as I like it but it was a lot of fun! We then had an appointment at 3, I feel that im receiving more blessings for doing that, someone says they can only do it on a monday and we usually would schedule it for another day because its preperation day but we didnt, we went and had an amazing lesson with them! We got out and rode home and got even more soaked and were cold! We chilled for a little bit, I was just sitting in my snuggie eating grilled cheese for an hour or so! it was amazing :) then we were picked up by Brother Price and Sister Price to go to a lesson with Lori and it was a really good one, I shared the cross story with them and then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and then headed home for the night.

MARTES - We had District meeting and we got up and had a little bit of studies and then rode all the way to the Mesquite Elders Apt, long bike ride, and cold. We then got a ride to District Meeting by someone who just barely got back from his mission, San Jose, mission. District meeting was great! All in spanish and some really good Role plays I enjoyed. We headed back to the Mesquite Elders Apt and ate lunch, they were being really rude to my companion, calling him disrespectful names and we got out of there as soon as we could. We only had a little bit to tract but in less than an hour we found 3 New Investigators (our total number for week one) and had 3 other lessons too. We then went and had dinner with Hna Castro and we were sitting there and I kept complimenting the tortillas and Elder Rodriguez told me to just put one in my pocket, he was just joking around and I just looked him in the eyes and said watch me and I did and he was laughing so hard and after I kept telling them about their awesome tortillas and Elder Rodriguez was trying not to laugh during the scripture! We then went back to the Apt to call Brother Allen, guy who works on bikes and he said he is coming tomorrow!

MIERCOLES - We went over to have a lesson with Samuel and AGAIN the Jehovah Witnesses were over there, SAME ONES!!! He canceled because of work though, so we just started knocking on doors some people were just so irresponsive today, it was interesting, we then went to Tim Morrises to have our lesson with him and finish raking the leaves for his aunt, it was a powerful lesson, we showed him 7 or 8 scriptures in the bible that testify about the Book of Mormon, we raked the leaves and put more stuff in the Garage and we got compliments from his aunt but not only me, but my mom and dad, she talked about how we were raised right ;) good work Mom and Dad. We knocked more after and had a few more lessons as well, one with a man named Jose Solis and the Tristen family. We then headed back had dinner then waited for Brother Allen, but he was not able to come over and look at my bike but tomorrow he said he will be here!

JUEVES - HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY!!! LOVE YOU A TON!!! Incredible lesson with the Flores Family, Gabby and Fernando. Taught the Plan of Salvation and they loved it, he had a lot of questions that we just answered with bold love, and he understood it all, we did such a good job of explaining it. After the lesson we committed them to be baptized on the 4th of Feb and they said yes they would do it, the spirit was so strong!!! I just started thinking about coming back in a year and going through the temple with them! What an oportunity that would be to see them be sealed for all time and eternity as a family. There is no other greater blessing! Then Gabby had to leave to pick of the kids and Fernando said he needed help to change and stay on the path to prepare for baptism, so we explained how we can give blessings, so we started to give him one and Gabby got back haha probably freaked her out walking in seeing us with our hands on his head giving a blessing, after we explained and then I gave her a blessing too. We headed back just in spiritual shock, how successful we were and how we are working hard and seeing the blessings, we started planning then Brother Allen came over to look at my bike and gave me a new bolt and fixed it for free, nice guy, knows a ton about bikes and told us we could fix it ourselves instead of taking it to a bike shop and waisting tons of money. So I plan to. Also told us to keep track of our miles so you can show your kids some day what it takes to serve a mission, so im going to do that. Then Brother Blocker came and picked us up for dinner, big sports fan so he gave me a whole update on the National Championship. Love the guy, love his wifes cooking better though :) Big fat juicy steak with french fries, oh baby! it was goooooood! After we went to Coordination meeting and headed back home for the night pooped and happy!

VIERNES - Little did i know it was friday the 13th until we got back home this night, yet for us it was the exact oppisite of bad luck, first we had lunch with Tim Morris and he bought burger island I believe? huge burgers, me and Elder Rodriguez refuesed to eat it without Avacado so we got those as well, after he said he is going to read the B.O.M all the way through before getting baptized so we are kinda dropping him, but we got back, hopped on our bikes and then went to work for 4 hours, of knocking and teaching as a result we doubled both our goals for New Investigators and other lessons! We then headed to dinner really quick papusas :) love them too! so good, sister Rodriguez knows how to cook them too. We then went and taught some of the Tristen family, so solid but always busy on sunday, we are going to see what we can do with them though, we then went and supported the Mesquite Sisters at their Baptism.

SABADO - Today was really good, the Zone Leaders came over for studies and helped us a lot, Elder Solis knows what he is doing he is so good at teaching hence he baptized 13 in 3 weeks last transfer, Elder Field is really good too! so it was really good to learn from them on how we can improve, they saw our numbers and said we are on fire and that we both have bright futures. We then just went to work, tracted for about 3 hours found some more people and had more lessons! Then we came back ate a quick bite and headed to the church to start filling the font for the baptism of Lori Holland, I kind of walked in on this baptism so I wouldnt really count it as mine but she is really cool and solid. Elder Beatty came down to do the baptism and it was so good to see him and talk more with him, love that kid, first TDM missionary I met first day in the MTC! The Baptism was so good and I shared Alma 7:11-13 and shared my root canal expierence, then we had cookies and milk after and just talked it was really good and exciting! We were so tired after though, so headed home and sacked out.

DOMINGO - Had church and Elder Rodriguez did the confirmation and we were waiting for the Flores Family to come and they were having car problems, satan does everything he can to stop golden investigators, but they made it to the last hour of church and said they loved it and will be coming again next sunday, its so exciting! We then biked in the crazy wind to the 2 apoinments we had but both canceled. So we went back home and were picked up by Bro Price for dinner, steaks again! We also, during dinner, looked up the meanings of our names hahahaha one of the meanings for mine was hilarious it said "Aaron- means his parents were to lazy to look past the first name in the book" But the next one said "Tall, sweet, handsome and very athletic, simply the best name ever" :) I like that one, the third one was very inappropriate! We got done and headed to talk to Jose Solis again, teach the second part of the Restoration, so powerful but cant get them all, he had doubts, but who knows maybe some time down the road. I am loving it here, soon I will be at my 1/3 mark which scares me, but time flies when your busy and having a blast, those in which I am doing both. Love all you followers! Love this church and the many blessings it brings me and my family.
Elder Aaron Jackson

Back in Dallas!

LUNES - There was no where open to email so we had to drive all the way up to Nacadoges to do emailing and all the way back to hurry and drive to Lindale, what a day. I got an awesome penguin snuggie and some other things before leaving Lufkin for now, it took forever to cram and pack everything in the car so we were an hour late!!!!! Elder Peniston was not very happy, we went to a bbq on the way to Dallas and then the 2 hour drive began, me and Elder Chantry. We saw a Ferrari on the way in and drove past Casa Linda West, its good to be back in the city. We were staying with Zone Leaders and of course I went with ELDER LEE!!! It was so good to see him again, him and elder Hansen are now Zone Leaders in Plano, we talked all night about our experiences and then hit the sack.

    MARTES - We met at the church and I got to see everyone but Elder Crosby, it was so good to see them all, all of us are well on our way to progressing in our missions and we are now all the old ones in the companionships, time flies I tell you. I was picked up by Elder Chapman and Elder Rodriguez and they both are absolutely amazing people, I'm excited to work with this elder! We got back to the apartment and unpacked my stuff fixed my bike and headed out to knock doors and visit people, right to work. I love it. This elder is awesome! I love him to death and he doesnt speak much English so its a great opportunity to have him so I can learn the language even faster. We knocked on doors and then we went to Wal Mart to by food for the week with Tim Morris who is an awesome investigator that we have, he helps us out with everything. Great first day in the Area.

    MIERCOLES - We had interviews today, we had some awesome trainings from Elder Solis and Elder Field and the district leaders. In my interview with President Durrant he gave me some clues as to where I might go next transfer, it was a good interview, I told him I was so grateful for the chance I have to serve with a native and he said "enjoy it because its not going to last long, you are one of those elders who has 'leader' written all over you" so it was... a good interview! I learned a lot and I'm glad we are back to doing it all in spanish, everything! So awesome, after we were stranded, one thing I'm not happy to be back in... always looking for rides. We were at the church for 2 hours, finally we went into a room, got down on our knees and prayed for help, 3 minutes after we picked up the phone and called a random member, Hermano Cano. He said he could pick us up AND that we're lucky cause he got off work an hour early so he could do it. Miracle. When we ask for help we receive it, knock and it shall be opened unto you! We got back and were picked up by Brother Kubosumi and had dinner at their house.. it was very strange. Because they had a son just leave on his mission to Mexico and his name is Aaron so they talked about him a lot and it made me think of my family. We then went to the church to have coordination meeting with Brother and Sister Price, they are so awesome!!!!!! Got a future to look forward too.

    JUEVES - Awesome studies and then the Gamanga family canceled on us, so many weird names in the ward... anyway we had 2 lessons, one with Samuel, who of course when we were testifying of the Book of Mormon the Jehovah Witnesses knocked on the door! I think the Lord wants me to learn patience with these false witnesses! We still had a really good lesson and then went to Gabby and Fernandos for another lesson and once again did such a good job at leaving Cliff hangers and commitments and the spirit. We headed back to the Apt and had Lunch and then started planning for the next week, solid planning session and then the Lloyds brought dinner for us and we talked for a little but then had to leave to the church for the baptismal interview with Lori Holland and I got to tell you, Elder Beatty was here before me and sometimes its hard moving wards because she loved elder Beatty and so she was asking if he could come and it was awkward, I completely understand but everyone that meets me shakes my hand and then turns to Elder Rodriguez and asks "wheres Elder Beatty" But with time, it will get better I hope. The interview was really good and then we went back and my bike... se rompio otra vez. it broke. But ill fix it, back to the bike problems :) we finished planning and are just getting along perfectly!

    VIERNES - We got to teach the Gamangas and it was good, watched the restoration video and then went and visited Richard Byerly and his mom just got baptized before I came and then got mad at the church and refused to meet me.. :( but we still went over there and I met Richard her son and it was good, he is really cool, on the way back I had to pee really bad and my crank was broken so I was riding up up hill using only my right leg with my bladder about to explode! Then we were picked up by Tim Morris and we went to his house to clean out his Garage helping her aunt and raked leaves and then we got pizza and headed out to dinner with the Prices, I love them they are so cool, she is from Mexico and he is American and they are awesome, we had some good chicken and rice and then watched the Joseph Smith movie with them, it was so good, great night. Busy too!

    SABADO - We had really good studies too, i learned a lot, President Durrant gave us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in spanish and count how many times it refers to the Godhead and says the word Heart, so im working on that right now. We got a log of referrals and we tried to visit all of them and also did some knocking. We locked up our bikes at a Baptist church or something like that and they had a court outside and elder Rodriguez doubted I could touch the rim, I went up and... grabbed it with both hands and broke the back board we were dying laughing, we went and watched Mountain of the Lord with Tim Morris and it was good. Love that movie. We had dinner with the Lieb Family and their daughter Brooke drew us pictures and then we went out with him and visited a less active, sister Taylor and watched a movie with her as well, it was another really good night. We are working hard and together just fine.

    DOMINGO - First Sunday! We had P.E.C meeting and I got to know the leaders of the ward a little better and met the Bishop as well, he is a really good guy. We had fast and testimony meeting today so I got to hear all the wonderful testimonies of the ward members today. We taught the gospel principles class in spanish and then last hour there was a lot of setting apart ordinations so we didnt do much for class, only read a little. We then waited for the bishop to get done with his meetings and then headed to his house for dinner, really really good, he actually just barely got back from Utah so he was telling about the Salt Lake Temple and stuff, it was a really good dinner and then shared a scripture and then talked about our plans. We got back and because it was 7:30 and it is to dangerous to go out at night we studied some more and my companion wasnt feeling so good so he went to bed early. Im loving the new area and the new people and my new companion, things are good.

I'm Headed Back To Dallas! The End of a Great Year!

LUNES - We went to academy again and got a few more things then went and played basketball in Nac and had a tournement and it was me and my companion and elder evans and we didnt lose a game it was a lot of fun did laundry and well pretty normal Pday.

    MARTES - Woke up sick... again so I went and stayed with Elder Chantry because he got Pink eye and they all went to district meeting, I didnt do anyting all day because I was so sick.

 

    MIERCOLES - Today I was sickER and continued to sleep and cough my lungs up. We did exchanges and Elder Tolman came and stayed the night.

 

    JUEVES - On top of being sick all day today, I couldn't move!!! Something happened to my back to where I couldn't even touch my chin on my shoulder with out screaming in pain, the coughing didnt help either, felt like someone had a human sized wrench on me and every time I coughed it tightened and my chest and back kill! But I was sick of being inside so we went to Groveton and had a lesson with Zuleika Perez and we started walking because the English elders took our car to visit some people while we were in the lesson and 2 dogs followed us, one looked a lot like zoey. We taugth Ismael Guerrero as well and had another exchange.

 

    VIERNES - We went over to the Bueses and watched the BYU game and what a game that was so cool to see it, after we stayed and help build shelves and put in their new toilet. We left about 7 o clock and ate dinner and I was still feeling sick!

 

    SABADO - No frisbee for me again! We went to Sonic for lunch and waited for Zuleika to come because we were going to give her a tour of the church but she didnt show, so we went and visited some other people and I tell you it feels good to actually work again! Dinner with our selves and then transfer calls come in the middle of a lesson with Alfonso after I get done asking "cuando seria mejor que podemos pasar" and the call comes saying im going to back up training in the city again. So my new companion has only been out 6 weeks!!!!! So I told alfonso... guess someone else will be visiting you!  We did stay up till 12 because I started packing, 2012, a new year and new opportunities, it was 2012 over here before it was there, wierd. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

    DOMINGO - HAPPY NEW YEAR we only had one hour of church today as well, I bore my testimony and told everyone I was leaving and then we headed back and I gave myself a haircut and continued packing. We went to dinner with Laura and Meme and I said goodbye to presidente and all of them. I continued packing and my companion was not feeling good, did laundry and hit the sack, my companion was throwing up all night and I was coughing all night, I love the mission, so much to learn from. Next Stop D10, the heart of Dallas! Thank you all so much and enjoy the new year!

Elder Aaron Jackson

My First Christmas Away From Home

LUNES - One of the funnest Pdays I have had, we emailed and I wanna thank my ward for the money, we did some Christmas shopping and I also got my package today as well, I guessed all the presents haha except Ambers. We played some basketball at the church I got an awesome shirt and shorts from academy, Nike Texas shorts and shirt.

    MARTES - I was so tired today but finally feeling a little better from last weeks plague, we didn't do a lot today because we were still feeling dizzy and sick but we had dinner with Juan and Rosa and then after visited the Torres family and did the Popsicle stick lesson. I love all the lessons that we teach with them, I'm writing them all down so I can use them in family home evening or home teaching when I get back, we then slept at the English Elders because the show down of show downs is tomorrow!

 

     MIERCOLES - Our alarm didn't go off. So we were a bit late to the training but we got there and everyone was playing ball, everyone (of course) wanted me to dunk it and the first one I got was during Tornado, I got the ball and threw it down and almost got the elder out. I was feeling good. President Durrant was running a 5k at this point but when he got back he came up to me and said "Where is my Christmas dunk Elder Jackson" I then had my companion throw one off the back board and I threw it down like nothing. Afterwards I went up on the left side and reversed it on the right side. I was flying and president Durrant didn't say a word. Just came up and gave me a double high five. The training was awesome, we went to a place called Sam's and then came back and President Durrant read a poem and passed out some announcements, we watched a movie, 17 miracles really good! We got back about 8 o clock just tired. It was a lot of fun though.

 

    JUEVES - We got up and we drove all the way to Groveton for our appointment and she wasn't there, it was a hit because its a 45 minute drive so it wasted a lot of time. We headed back and stopped by Jose Ana and Mayras and visited a few other people before heading to the church to get dinner, we did some crazy trick shots in the gym during our lunch hour which I got on video haha. We were talking about how excited we were to call home.

 

     VIERNES - We went to Wingstop and of course they had NBA stuff on, we visited some people and not a whole lot happened but we then went to dinner and visited Alfonso afterwards then we went to Wal Mart to get something really fast and it was nuts! so packed we got out of there so fast! We went to visit Synthia Zamora and she invited us to come over for dinner tomorrow and then we went to the English Elders apartment and asked if they wanted to stay the night at our place and they refused so I stole Elder Tolmans bed and we took off haha Fun night.

 

    SABADO - Christmas Eve, I called my dad and spoke Spanish and just called to clarify timing for Christmas and such and my mom was there too, miss them a ton. Also Elder Chantry landed on my elbow last night so my elbow was sore all day! We tried to tract but everyone is gone or cooking, we had ultimate Frisbee but I didn't go me and Elder Tolman stayed and they brought us breakfast. We had hot cocoa with candy cane kisses and that is the best thing EVER!!!!! We went over to Jose Ana and Mayras again and gave them their presents. We then found out Tolman did not get his Christmas package.. sucks so bad so we went and bought him some candy and stuff to cheer him up, we visited Jose and Mariela and they already had all their presents opened!!!! We went to Synthias for dinner and they just gave it to us to go so we shared a scripture and left, I got more comments on my Spanish which made me happy but I still have so much to learn. We headed home and hopped in our new PJs :)

 

    DOMINGO - MERRY CHRISTMAS we only had one hour of sacrament and we were so antsy to get out and head to the Bueses because we were Skyping there, we went and Skyped there, it was amazing to see my family I'm sure they enjoyed seeing me too, good to see my Grandpa and Grandma as well I miss them all a ton. We went to dinner and came back about 5 and I napped I was so burned out from all the excitement and I woke up and called home and talked to the amigos, man it was so good to hear from yall!!! Thanks for coming over to my house, I love and miss you all a ton, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and thanks for following my blog for this long, love

Elder Jackson