Sprint To The Finish Line!

April 22-28, 2013

MONDAY - Pretty normal pday. We emailed and then headed right to the church after stopping at McDonad's. We played for about 6 hours!! I was so sore! We got back and showered and got ready for the noche de hogar we had with the serranos and the morales. We ate hot dogs and then the morales gave us a ride home.

TUESDAY - HAPPY BDAY ADAM!!! also the anniversary of my mission president and his wife. 30 years!! We didn't have a district meeting today due to the meeting tomorrow so we went ahead and went to the office to send my bike. It took forever!! We finally got it packed up and sent! DONE! We left and got back just in time to head to dinner with the Ordaz family and it was way good. Elder Trover got sick in the process. We then rode all the way down to the south of our area to teach Jason and it was way good! He is super ready and we bumped his date up to my last weekend in the mission! We then headed to the Cruz family real quick to start a list with them and then headed home beat! 

 

WEDNESDAY - Interviews today!!! President told me not to slow down, to sprint to the finish line! It was a long meeting! Our zone is huge so it took some time. We got done and went back and had a ton of stuff going on. We had a lesson with Jason and just taught a few of the commandments and then Christian came with us to a dinner with Liz who we got to know and just talked about baptism and other questions she had. Way nice girl. We then went and played the "magic chair" with the Montelongo family and they loved it. We are going to do that with my family when I get back for sure! We got dropped off after that.

 

THURSDAY - Planning!!!!!! we got done and headed to dinner with the Ayalas with all 6 of us. We have two new elders who are waiting for their visas to go to Mexico so they are with the other elders now. We had a quick lesson with Alberto and then we had a lesson with the Galdamez family who invited us to a pentacostal family night thing? Then we had English classes which went well. The weather is getting better here, our bike ride home was perfect!

 

FRIDAY - We tried to finish planning today, I've never been so tired in my life!! I have to finish strong though! We taught the Orellana family and she is a girl with a son on his mission but she is super less active so we went in and shared a scripture with her. We had to schedule a late dinner at 7 with the serranos because the Xivir family canceled on us. We headed to have dinner after our lesson and had some good tostadas. Christian puts on the playoffs! UGH!! biggest distraction! We have a prayer and then get out of there to try and get up north again and have a quick lesson with the Figueroas. SOUTH NORTH SOUTH NORTH! lots of biking today.

 

SATURDAY - We had the zls come over in the morning for a bit and then we headed to our coordination meeting at the church at two. We stayed and planned an activity before booking it back down to our appointment to be picked up for dinner. We got picked up by Ramoncito to go eat pupusas and my companion and I ate 4 each. A TON! He was joking around that he is going to come to Utah and marry Aubrey hahaha, he is kind of a weird guy. We had ice cream after and then headed home. We tried to have a lesson with the Soreano family before the night ended and didn't catch them there. 

 

SUNDAY - Good sabbath. We had Jason there at church and he is still solid as ever. We planned a temple trip with him and his girl friend and we are super excited. Its weird when you're sitting there listening to things the branch has planned knowing you will not be there ha. We got out and waited an hour or so for president Gomez to take us to his house to eat dinner where we didn't get back till 7:30. We tried to visit one less active before coming back to do numbers. The south part of our area is sketchy! But we came back alive :) Thanks for following! love,

 

Elder Jackson

I'm Going To Miss Knocking Doors With This Tag On.

April 15 - 21, 2013

MONDAY - Well another awesome pday here in the TDM! We went and played basketball again and it was fun, as always! Never gets old. After we got done I got a hair cut cause I needed one back and then we came back and didn't have much time to do anything tonight.

TUESDAY - We had district meeting today and I taught about the attributes of Christ and the purpose of missionaries. We all shared one attribute we liked and then I did my little smore analogy and we all enjoyed smores after together. Then everyone wanted to go out to Subway to eat as a district because it might be my "last time" So we did and then we were picked up by Dominguez to go do service where we were out in the sun most of the time and were sweating cause it was hot and gross! We came back and changed and then went to dinner with a member who I wont mention the name now cause she is a bit crazy and she tried to keep us there forever and just kept talking and talking and it was just kind of weird. We all felt like there was something wrong. So we left. We finally got out and headed all the way down south to teach Jason. Man he is so worth the ride down there. He is soooo cool! Way solid and just a lot of fun to teach! We then came back up as it got dark and stopped in at the Lopez house and talked to them for a bit and invited the son, who is wanting to go on a mission, to come out with us. Then of course they found out I was leaving and started dropping the questions. What are you going to do? Work? School? Marriage? I just said "well... all three" haha. Its getting to that time though. I watched it with Rouse and my trainer and now its me in those shoes!

 

WEDNESDAY - We didn't go to service today instead we planned ahead a little bit before dinner and knocked a little too. We didn't have a dinner so we just went out and worked instead. We had another lesson with Jason and then one with the Montelongos where we blessed their home and it was awesome. The Spirit felt was wonderful there. I hope they all start coming back to church. We grilled at night to celebrate Elder Trovers one year mark tomorrow and my 23 month mark. Hot dogs! Yum!

 

THURSDAY - Happy 1 year to my companion and 23 months for me! Crazy!!! We planned today and then had dinner with the Ayalas where we had spaghetti and enchiladas. It was good but I couldn't even finish it. We took off and visited a ton of people with Rudy and ended up just going to the church to be at English classes cause no one was there.

 

FRIDAY - We dropped off my dry cleaning and then went to service. I had a short temper due to a certain missionary that was not acting according to his calling and doing stuff that is damaging future opportunities for other missionaries. We came back and had dinner with a family in the other elders area and Dominguez kind of threw off our whole night because he said he would take us and then just left so we had to bike and were half an hour late cause it bumped all our appointments and we didn't teach anyone. Figueroa wasn't there and that was it. 0 for the night. We headed home.

 

SATURDAY - Lots of finding ideas we were trying today. We went to pick up my dry cleaning and it wasn't ready so we went and did some knocking and got in and taught a way cool family. I'm going to miss knocking doors with this tag on... But for now I can still do it. We then went and got my stuff and dropped it off and headed to the michoacana and started handing out free dvds... man this world is gotten so bad that its even hard to give out free dvds of Jesus Christ. We gave a bunch to the management in the store haha they were way cool. Hispanics are a lot more willing to let us do stuff like that. We then biked down to Rudy's for his going away party and it was weird because everyone was like "that's going to be you in about 3 weeks!" Freaked me out a bit. We had some good food and then we left to work. We didn't have much luck that night but we worked hard and were happy with that. 

 

SUNDAY - Church today and a good one. We had 3 at church and we taught the class and showed an old movie haha. Good message but very old! We had dinner with the Gonzales family and had pasta and chicken. We ate and left to try a few more people before heading home to get numbers. We went over to the other elders aptmnt because... again our ac was not working. Good week, half way through the transfer. Thanks!

love,

Elder Jackson

"So.... whats the Lord revealing to yall these days"

April 8 - 14, 2013 

MONDAY - We studied, emailed and got to the church ready to play some ball. We played for almost the whole day and then went back ready to go out and work. We visited the Ortiz family and they weren't there so we walked down the street and knocked a few doors that looked Hispanic. We talked to a few people and then headed up to the north part of our area and visited the Montelongo family. The family was not all there but we shared a quick scripture with the mom and talked about conference and then headed back home for the night. SUPER HOT!!! Humidity is kicking in.

TUESDAY - Last night we laid in our beds sweating and this morning we woke up as ice cubes. The weather dramatically dropped big time. We had a zone meeting that we went to and I had already heard everything in Zone leader council and so it was nothing new for me. Afterwards we ate a pizza together before heading to service with Domi bear. We came back and were picked up by hno Flores and went to have some good pupusas for dinner and then returned back to head over to Jasons for a lesson. He is such a good guy and has lots of great questions and is really interested in the learning more about the true and restored Gospel. Why cant we find more people with an open heart like him? It was dark immediately so we headed back trying a referral the sisters sent us that was fake. Not cool! 

 

WEDNESDAY - We decided to skip out on service today to try and get more lessons and it was pouring rain all day long! We had a dinner appointment at 6 with an investigator and she canceled and so we headed to Jasons again and watched the Restoration and invited him to be baptized for the 18th of May... my two year mark! I will not be here. Weird setting up stuff for when I'm not here! The Spirit was powerful and makes me just love the work more and more each time we teach this Gospel. We had another lesson with Lucy and she wanted to come to our English classes and get her son involved in Seminary and so we talked about that a little bit and headed back home. 

 

THURSDAY - My planning days are almost over, crazy crazy crazy! We had dinner with the Fuentes family and then took Rudy out with us for a few appointments like the Ortiz and then the Lopez family where we just talked and shared scriptures. Then we went back got our bikes and rode all the way up to the church to teach the English classes. We first watched the youth play basketball and it was so funny! They were all just yelling at each other and doing crazy stuff haha. English class was with only one person so we just asked her to say any word and we will tell her the English word. Its amazing how much Spanish we know, at the same time how much we dont know ha! 

 

FRIDAY - Today we went and did service. We had pancakes in the morning and then we headed over to the thrift store where we just went through junk all day and sorted it all out. We headed back and got changed and showered and went to the Gomez family where their son just got his call, to Brazil! So exciting to see that. I'm excited to see where my brothers serve. We then went to Golden Corral and Hna Gomez took pics of us eating cotton candy and sent them to all our families. She wanted my moms number but I dont even know it cause I have been out too long! I gave her my dads and everyones moms replied except mine!!! (clearing throat!!!) :( We had fun untill people started freaking out around us because I kept going back for more cotton candy and ate like 4 full things of it haha. It was a fun night. We got back and I almost threw up but I made it through the night. 

 

SATURDAY - HAPPY BDAY APRIL CAKES AND THE BEAST!!! We got up and planned a bit before heading to our coordination meeting which was ok. Then we tried a few people before dinner and headed to dinner with the Morales family. Then we visited the Canales and the Galvan. The south part of our area is super sketchy!!! Some random white guys came up on a roller blades and a bike and were taking pictures of us on their phone. Completely high. They were just like "So.... whats the Lord revealing to yall these days" My companion just says... "that we should pray always" they just agree and then start taking pictures of people walking by and leave singing "I can feel it coming in the air tonight!!" I turned to Trov Daddy and said... lets get out of here! We got back and fixed his bike and started our fast.

 

SUNDAY - Fast and testimony meeting. The whole Gomez family got up and talked about Alex and him getting his mission call. Such an awesome family!!! Church was good, Jason was there and so that made our day. We then went to the other elders apartment and had dinner dropped off to us and then walked back and I got numbers to end the week. Our apartment is getting worse. Our AC is broken so we slept at the others aptmnt cause it was like 95 degrees and our fridge broke. So we went over there to sleep with AC. Thanks for following! :)

Love,

Elder Jackson

Nothing Spices Up A Chicken Like A Few Roaches

April 1 - 7, 2013

MONDAY - Happy bday pops!!!! Today was a good pday, we all went to the church after emailing and played some good basketball before heading to the store to do some shopping. We shopped and decided to get togther with Elder dominguez and Hardy cause they were together for transfers and got some free pizzas and found game fuel too! YUM! We used the rest of the night to plan the week a little, make adjustments.

TUESDAY - We didn't have district meeting today because of transfers so we just had service for an hour before heading to the less active Garcia family for dinner. Pollo again... I'm tired of chicken haha, we have it almost every day! We ate and visited a few appointments we had and all but one canceled. We met with Jason and taught the Restoration in English and it was hard. We struggled to teach in English haha. We got done and he is way solid. Willing to listen, way cool guy too. We headed back in the dark and got rest. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We had district meeting today and I just interviewed everyone and got their goals for this transfer and got a feel for the people they are teaching and what I can do to help them in their goals. After we went back and changed and went and did service again. We finished at 4 came back and changed and got ready to go out to dinner with Nabor. He took us to Griffs at almost 6 so we got back at 7 and it was pouring outside and all our appointments canceled. Again. So we had another poopy night... :(

 

THURSDAY - I was invited to zone leader council so I went with the zone leaders for the 10-4 meeting and it was really good. We will be having an apostle visit our mission in may, right before I go home. We got back late and had dinner with the alvarez family at 6:30... GROSS! on top of having chicken, they were living in a super gross house with cocroaches everywhere... including in my food. But she was poor so I ate the food with the roaches pushed to the side. An experience I'll never forget. Cristina canceled for the third time in a row.

 

FRIDAY - We had our planning session today because of the meeting and planned all day. We had Mcdonalds dropped off for us and the other elders. We ate and then we went tracting together. No luck. We all stayed at the other elders (elder hardys and niebergalls) for conference the next day.

 

SATURDAY - General Conference was awesome! We bought 12 pounds of fajita meat to grill up with salsa, limes and tortillas for lunch in between sessions. It was powerful and uplifting and a resurrance to my heart that no matter the cost I would do anything for this gospel specifically for this one and only true gospel here on the earth. I know that it is true. Nobody can take that from me. We were there all day enjoying the wonderful speakers and we were so tired by the end of the night. 

 

SUNDAY - Another day of wonderful talks today. We still had tons of fajita meat so we grilled again! We had tons of food and of course the branch was telling us to eat more as well of their food. It was way good! We got back and tried a few people and then headed back to get numbers. Not a lot of work this week with all the meetings but conference was so good it made up for it. I love you all and I know that this work is of the Lord. I would deny God himself to say it was not or to even say it was only a partial piece of his work. I love you all. Thanks for your support. 

 

love,

Elder Aaron Jackson

I Will Finish My Mission In Garland Texas!

March 25 - 31, 2013

MONDAY - Today was an okay pday. Elder Trover and I got up and got breakfast and then went and emailed really quick before heading to the church to play some ball. We get there and a bunch of sister missionaries are there and tons of people. They start setting up the volleyball nets and we were mad so we went to lunch. We came back and they weren't even using the nets!!! So we took them down and started playing basketball. We got back and changed and had a family home evening with a part member family and the Fuentes family. We all shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. We then went to Kroger before ending our night to get candy susi for district meeting tomorrow. Good pday!

TUESDAY - We headed to district meeting and we were a bit late cause we had to bike but everyone was waiting and ready. Great meeting I just thanked my district for their hard work this transfer and asked them all to share something they learned this past 6 weeks. Then we ate snacks and watched " "How rare a possession". After we had exchanges, I went with Elder Watrous to G5 and had a pretty crazy day. We had one lesson that turned into a bash so we left picked up dinner and ate. I will not finish this day till I get back. Just ask what happened on March 26 2013 or come to my homecoming to find out ;)

 

WEDNESDAY - Today we did service for a good 4 hours and then we had dinner with the Fuentes family and then came back and tried to visit some people and didnt have much luck. We walked all the way to the very south of our area for an appointment and they werent there. So we walked all the way back and some guy randomly stopped us and gave us 20 dollars and we tried to give it back and he kept shoving it in my hand. I asked what we could to do to serve him and he just gave us both a hug and left. Its so different being a missionary. Its like being in a completely different world. Crazy day.

 

THURSDAY - Planning day! We didnt plan, we had to go do a survey and then we ended up going to Taco Bell with Dominguez cause we had to get an extra planner from him. We started making our new planners and it scared me dating my last one, all the way up to mothers day. We went to the Ayalas for dinner and then had Rudy take us out to teach and his car died so we spend the remainder of the night trying to start it again. 

 

FRIDAY - We had service again for a good 3 to 4 hours and then dinner later with the Canales family with the other elders, we ate really late like at 6:30 and then the zl wanted to take us to chillis for a treat, we happened to catch the end of the michigan kansas game. Weird seeing basketball! We didnt get to do a lot today. Service hours going up has really made it harder to teach during the day. 

 

SATURDAY - Transfer calls!!!! We tried to plan today and get that all done for next week and then we went to dinner with the Morales family and had fajitas! Finally the streak of stinking boiled chicken is broken. I swear we have had that for 25 days straight. We finished and started walking back and got picked up by Dominguez and waited for calls to come. Dominguez got a call and will be training someone else. Im old. My trainey is training. Im a grandpa in the mission. We didnt get a call. I'll finish my mission here in Garland with Trover! Im super happy! 

 

SUNDAY - Church was good. Easter Sunday is always good. We had a packed gospel principles class. I love being a teacher of the Gospel because the teacher for the class got released during sacrament and so our ward mission leader threw it on us at the last second to teach the class and so elder Trover and I taught a packed class of new people. It was a lot of fun, I love teaching about the only true and Restored Gospel! :) After we ate at President Gomezs house and then went to work. We set a date with Cristina from Uraguay and it was way good! The heat is coming. We left our windows open cause our AC doesnt work and everything was all stickey in the morning so elder trover and I hung out out side and it cooled down. Good week. Last transfer begins with my dads bday! :) thanks for following!

 

Elder Jackson

 

22 Months In The Mission

March 18 - 24, 2013

MONDAY - 22 months in the mission! Also today was elder trovers 11 month mark in the mission so we had a bbq at the park with all the other missionaries, played some horse and played football and frisbee. Ate some brats and just had a good time in the sun. We finished late and got back at 6:30 and got dressed but didnt have any lessons unfortunately.

TUESDAY - No district meeting today because of the meeting on Friday. Not a lot happened in the day but Rudy came out with us at night and we went to visit a few people having no luck again! We headed to the church and I interviewed little Francisco for baptism and after we were just with the zone leaders till the end of the night. 

 

WEDNESDAY - Bball in the morning and my team did very well! It really stunk though because I went up for a shot and elder Falk tried to block it and we bounced off each other in the air and he fell and really hurt his ankle. Not a good thing! We had came back and elder Trover wasnt feeling to hot so we didnt go out. We had dinner with the de leon family and took pictures with their little huskies! So next week I'll have pics of me and the other missionaries. Me flashing Htown signs ;) She told us her story and we didnt get out till late. There was 2 non members there though so that was good. 

 

THURSDAY - Planning all day today until dinner at the Ayalas where we all ate enchilatas and then we visited the Montelongos and talked to the hermano but he was leaving so we headed to the church to teach English classes. That was our night.

 

FRIDAY - We got picked up early for the meeting in Casa linda and it was a good meeting. Good to see everyone again. We had to wait a long time after because I had to get another temple recommend interview. It was good to sit down with President. It was most scary when they sang "God be with us til we meet again" to the missionaries leaving. (they do it every meeting) and knowing that I'm next. Next meeting they will sing to me and witbeck and crosby etc. . . crazy stuff. we didnt get back till late. Tim out of his kindness took us out to eat and we really enjoyed the time we spent with him. Elder Trover still doesnt feel good though.

 

SATURDAY - Bball today I played ok. Im getting a little tired of the kids that don't know how to play so they just hack the snot out of you! No wonder people keep getting hurt. Our team won 4 straight though. We came back and stayed in again and my ankle started to hurt bad. A pain I had never felt before. We went to dinner with the Xivir and had crazy guatamalen tomales. We walked back. I couldnt bike. I iced it the rest of the night.

 

SUNDAY - Good sunday, we had 4 at church :) We were blessed for our patience and for trying. We waited after church to go eat delicious burgers at the gomez home and then we came back and went to work. It felt good to knock doors again. Our first contact is one to remember. We knocked and the guy answered with a big picture of the virgin mary and screaming that he was catholic. I asked if he knew anyone who wanted to learn more about JESUS CHRIST and he shook his head. The people you meet, a mission experience is one you never forget! We got back and did numbers and ended the night. One more week here and our transfer is over. Then I start my last. Its nuts. Next Monday I'll find out what my last area and comp will be for sure. Love you all, thanks for following!

 

Elder Jackson

21 Years Old!

March 11 - 17, 2013

MONDAY - I had a wonderful birthday today! We got up and went and did emailing and then rode our bikes to some different places to look at things to get. We came back and grabbed our grill and were picked up by elder Wirth and Kruger and headed to the church to have a BBQ and play some ball. We got back and hurried up to the Jimenez families to have dinner and cake. We had dinner and they gave me this little cake and I had to leave it to be brought another day cause we had another appointment. We arrived at the Ayalas and there on the table was another cake!! HUGE! and covered in chocolate covered strawberries. We ate AGAIN and then ate more cake... I was about to blow up! Good birthday. thanks to all that wished me a happy bday. :)

TUESDAY - I canceled district meeting due to the transfer that happened and we went and did service with the other elders from 1 to 4 and then elder Trover bought some stuff to make candy susi rolls (which I will be doing after the mission too) and we headed back to head to dinner. Brother Naegle came and got us and we had some more... interesting food. Hispanic american food I dont really like. We came back and tried to visit some people and had no luck. 

 

WEDNESDAY - Really good day today, stayed with Falk and Scott because we had ball in the morning and then we went to district meeting at 10 which was really fun. I just had everyone share their favorite scripture from the book of mormon and talk about dates and such. After we were picked up by Tim, good ol' Tim!!! He took us to Ghengis Grill and it was much needed because I'm going to have to stretch it out the next 2 weeks haha, I have no money left and no food. The packages I sent home killed my mission money. So it was good to eat a big bowl of meat! We headed home and cleaned the apartment a bit and headed to dinner at 5 with Hna Fuentes and then we tracted a bit. It was nice because it was light out and there were people home and it was just easy to do. We contacted 14 people in just the one hour of knocking. Then we taught the Martinez family and the Soreano family and the Aguilera family. Not a bad night! 

 

THURSDAY - Planning day! We planned all day till dinner with the Garcia family where we had chicken. I'm so tired of chicken every night!!! Thats all we have eaten as of late. We headed to the church to sing a musical number for some baptism example thing they did for the primary where they just went through how the service went. Then we taught English classes. Long day.

FRIDAY - We did service again today, from 1 to 4 and then had dinner with hna Figueroa. Most intersting meal on my mission haha. We had chicken noodle soup, then re heated pizza (which was good) then chicken (of course) and mashed potatoes. What a meal. Its nuts how much they feed you. I feel sick after every dinner and about to blow. But havent gained a pound :) We came back and tried finishing planning. That was our night.

 

SATURDAY - bball was good. Falk and Scott didn't come but it was okay. Over 20 people there! I played much better than before. Hitting 3s left and right. We have some good people playing with us. I was satisfied as we won the final game after scoring 10 of my teams 11 points consisting of 3 threes in a row and 4 other shots. Its about time I get something going haha. We had coordination at 2, brother Farb was asking for a kick in the face! We finished and then we tried to plan again. We had dinner with the serranos and taught the daughters boyfriend and ran into a member as we headed to our bikes who asked us to teach his parents. He was English and said it was the first time they accepted missionaires. I testify we were there for that reason. We went in and the Spirit was so strong. We shared a scripture and said a prayer. They were both in tears! They all were just amazed at how we spoke spanish "you mean to tell me you go to an ALL spanish branch?!?" haha, its so weird because its normal to us now. But still crazy to others. Good day.

 

SUNDAY - Good meeting, good church and more chicken for dinner... We ate and headed to visit a few people before heading back to get numbers. Overall good week. Thanks for following!

 

Love,

Elder Jackson

 

 

Many Martinez's

March 4 - 10, 2013

MONDAY - A good pday, we got everything done and didn't have to shop. We headed to the office to get a new dvd player and then headed to the Museum downtown. It was pretty sweet! I got some good pictures and such, after we went to eat at Wingstop and then we headed back. We got to the apartment and got a call from a member saying her husband was going in for surgery and needed a blessing. The Martinez family haha so I quickly glance at the address and its 521. We get on our bikes and hurry down there and elder Trover asks me what number it is and I say "121..?" So we knock on the door sweating and breathing hard and say "we are here to give the blessing" hahaha, of course its a really pretty girl and she just giggles and says "what?" So I say, "is this the Martinez family?" and she replied yes! hahaha it just so happened to be another Martinez family, she let us right in and she went to talk to her parents and came back and said no one had called for a blessing haha. So we just stood there awkwardly and then apologized and left and gave the blessing to hermano Martinez. :)

TUESDAY - Today we had our zone meeting from 9 to 12 and then went to Cicis pizza... not a good idea! We were all starving though! We went and ate, I got a call from the mission office and they said to go to the dmv asap. So we got back and I was not feeling too hot, so we layed down till dinner at 5 with the serranos. It was a crazy trail there, through grass, rocks, and bumps. By the time we got to dinner elder Trover had 11 goat heads in his tire... elder Witbecks beach bike? Invincible. After dinner we came out to find both his tires completely flat. We got a ride to our appointment which canceled and then elder Dominguez came and got us and we went to wal mart to get some tires.

WEDNESDAY - Elder Trover thought he bought two tires but only bought one haha so we had to go back in the morning to get another one. We came back and went to work and then the zls came by to get some pencils and after we tried one more and then had an early dinner. We spoiled ourselves and cooked fajitas and had Mexican Cokes! most amazing meats ever!!! We also went to the library to sign up for justserve.org and find service places. We dropped cookies off to the Martinez family we barged in on haha and then went and visited hno Martinez who was in pain! We then visited a part member family and taught a little bit of the plan of salvation.

THURSDAY - We planned all day. Took a break for dinner and then went to English classes where no one showed up!

FRIDAY - We kept planning, we called a food pantry and I asked for service and the girl started freaking out saying she couldn't let us come do service because we didn't believe in Christ and that she would be denying God and she said she would pray I would find the right path. Really rude. Some baptist church, I just said we wanted to help, I didn't discuss religion. But she proved she had developed very strongly the attributes of Christ. I also spent all day trying to get a stinking photo id! It was a joke. We did have a sweet lesson with another part member family.

SATURDAY - Basketball in the morning was good. I had a streak where I scored 8 straight points and there was nothing anyone could do about it. But then I missed a lot as well haha. We went up by 5 every game or 6 but then stopped. It was fun though. I was drop step dunking it so I'm just glad thats still there. We came back and visited a few families and then had dinner at pollo regio. Then we went out in the rain and it felt way good, it was just kind of misty and warm. We visited a few people before calling it a night.

SUNDAY - Good sabbath. We had to ride to the church in our suits for a meeting and then had to wait after sacrament for president Gomez to have fajitas at his house. we got back way late though and just got numbers and hit the sack.

Week 2 in Garland

February 25 - March 3, 2013

MONDAY - Week 2 already!! Good pday, we went and played ball after studies at 10:30 and had over 20 people there. Some how, I kept ending up on Elder Chappells team! It didnt help that i missed almost every shot i put up. Its the age in the mission! I just havent played in so long. in and out, in and out, in and out! Every shot! Email was good, things are getting better. But looks I still need to continue spend time on my knees praying for whats to come and to push through these last weeks here in the field. We relaxed and at night I just planned my district meeting for tomorrow.

TUESDAY - Good thing I planned a good meeting because President Durrant and his wife came to my district meeting and sat in on it. It was a good training on planning. I talked about being accountable with the leaders and with the Lord in every goal and plan we set. President ended my meeting with some words and interviewed a few people. We ended and went to Mcdonalds to eat before heading to get a haircut for Elder Trover. Then we went straight to work! We knocked a bit and found our first new investigator. Then we headed to dinner with the Ordaz family and had some good chicken fried steak. Rudy came and got us and we took him to a few lessons with us. First, we went to Normas house and taught the Plan of Salvation and extended a baptismal date, our first date! Things are progressing! Then we went to visit the Canales family but the son wasnt there, who isnt a member, so we gave blessings to both the daughters at the moms request. It was a very successful night.

 

WEDNESDAY - Happy bday elder Chappy! We had another day full of work today, We went knocking and saw very little success but we did it, the Lord knows we are working. This isnt easy work, few will accept and be the elect and will follow in the strait and narrow path. Interesting how the scriptures put it that way. Strait not straight. Its not easy being a member of the Lord's one and only true church. We visited a few less active members before heading to dinner at the Fuentes house. Then we rode all the way to the top of our area and made a list with our ward mission leader and ended our night going to Albertos and dropping him because he just wants to be a punk haha. He wants proof only temporaly and not spiritually. As Elder Ballard said, if the priests and pastors of the world were to see the actual golden plates, they would still be as laman and lemuel after seeing an angel. They would not believe. The Spirit is the key, even though we could prove every doctrine in our church right... only using the bible and none other could, but thats not how the Lord's work is to be done. We headed home for the night. 

 

THURSDAY - Planning days are even more brutal then before. We did get paid though so during our lunch hour we went and bought groceries with the Rowlet elders. We came back and planned and didnt even get close to done. So much to plan! We had dinner with the Montelongo family and it was really good, fajitas! Then he took us to the church to get picked up by Hno Jimenez and go teach hno Reyes, an old investigator. Then we went to English classes at 8 and ended our night on that note, Elder Witbeck's convert gave us a ride home.

 

FRIDAY - We got up and continued planning and still not finishing it. Lots to do and plan. Lot of people to plan to meet and teach and ask referrals too. We had an appointment at 4 with Ed. Nice guy! Has crazy dreams of future events. He told us to watch the news cause soon an event will occur where women get trapped in a church and die trying to get out and take out the soilders guarding them in Mexico... pretty crazy! We left and canceled dinner and went and did an interview for Falk and Scott. I interviewed a 13 year old whose dad was from Jerusalem and her mom from Honduras! First time and probably the last time I'll meet someone like that. She passed easily. Elder Falk and Scott are sick. We went to Braums on the way back and then stayed up late talking before hitting the sack for bball tomorrow. 

 

SATURDAY - I played a lot better today, I felt my defense was better than it ever has been. I was a captain and some how got Elder Scott and Falk on my team. We won the first two games and barely lost the last cause Chappy nailed a three to seal the win for his team. I played a lot better though. After we went to get breakfast and then went on exchanges for a while. Elder Falk and Trover went and did service while Elder Scott and I stayed at our aprtmnt to wait till 2 for coorelation meeting. Elder Wirth and Hardy came over and our aprtmnt got trashed by them. I hate that! I was so pooped though I just sat there. They almost ate all our food too. We exchanged back and headed to an awkward dinner with a white fam in the ward. We had, for the first time since home, american enchiladas. Yuck! Barely any chicken and just full of sour cream. I didnt like them. We came back and finished planning. We also grilled up some burgers. 

 

SUNDAY - Sabbath, PEC meeting wasn't that bad. We had Ed at church! We handed him off to the other elders though because he prefers English. We had dinner with the Gomez family and ate some good Mexican food before heading back to finalize our plans and get numbers from the district. Week 3 starts tomorrow... nuts! Thanks for following!

 

Elder Jackson

PICS!

Arriving In Garland Texas . . . My Last Area.

February 18 - 24, 2013

MONDAY - Good pday today, we got everything done and then went to Walmart to get a few things and then I took my bike for a spin and the crank within seconds was lose. Going to be about 200 to repair so Witbeck just let me use his bike instead. Much easier. I got pictures with everyone and then they all took off and we tried to catch a few members and get pictures and had no luck. Hno Villatoro didn't get that I was leaving. We went to the norths apartment to get my helmet and ended up just staying and talking about the white wonder and how crazy it was that we are all so old!! Good last Pday.

TUESDAY - We got to meandering way and then got our new companions. Im super glad I'm with Elder Trover, I may just end the mission with no Utah companions. He is from Atlanta Georgia and is way sweet! We all went to Panda and then we dropped off all our stuff and went shopping with Elder Scott and Falk and they showed us our area on their map. Then we spent the rest of the day unpacking and went to one lesson with a part member family, with Alberto and Juan. Thats all we have right now. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We had district meeting and its weird to be a district leader again. I did interviews with everyone and just got their goals for this transfer and what they want to accomplish and the things I can do to help. After we went out to eat again. I didnt buy anything because I'm sick of it haha, We are starting a weight loss competion so everyone wanted to eat a lot for the weigh-in. My companion bought me food and of course, I weighed... 165 the same I always have hahaha. We got back and tried to visit some less actives and ate dinner at the Serranos. Good family haha, very funny. Good food too. We went and had another lesson with Juan and Alberto, they have a lot of questions. Elder Trover is a newer missionary but he has way good spanish so I'm happy about that, he was able to tackle a lot of the questions without my help. 

 

THURSDAY - Well seeing how we got torn apart by a 70 about planning, we took 7 or 8 hours and planned out everything! We did not leave til about 8 to go to English classes and of course a group of youth come out and first thing they say to me "I heard you can dunk!!!" hahaha, I just denied it and went to the class. We learned some Dentist stuff. Then we headed back. 

 

FRIDAY - Full day of work, we knocked a ton! No success whatsoever. One return appointment, but that is it. We had an interesting dinner hahaha... the sister said she invited 2 more people to eat with us and it was their daughter and her friend and it was like all fancy and seemed like a date. I don't even know what to talk to girls about anymore... not that I knew before... "So... how about that book of mormon?" I forgot what you even say haha, the family wants me to come back because the dad's bday is on the 11th as well so they want to have a party. After leaving elder Trover and I joked about how we were going to marry them haha. We had another lesson with Juan and Alberto, the questions continue to flow and be answered just as smooth as they were asked. Not sure if they are REALLY interested. Dominguez and Latham stayed the night for bball in the morning. 

 

SATURDAY - Bball!! Elder Falk and I were on a team and I came out red hot, I hit my first 2 threes like nothing, hand in my face? it don't matter. We won the first game but the second? 0 for 18 from three point land  ice cold.... I could not make a layup either. We went down 7 to 13 to 14. Then we made a solid comback to tie at 14 only to be downed by my main man Elder Chappells deadly shot from the arc to end it, I played solid defense though! Probably had a triple double with blocks, steals and rebounds. We went to breakfast after and I said no again but again someone offered to pay for me. It was real cheap and good. Falk and I and the rest of the gang were just chattering it up about going home. It just blows my mind how much time we have. We got back and I could hardly move!!! I was so sore!!!! I slept for a while and then we had coorelation at the church with the ward mission leader. We tried some more peeps and no luck, dinner was sketchy. We had tomales but from Guatamala, instead of a corn husk it was some big jungle leaf. My stomache did not like it. We visited some members to end our saturday night. 

 

SUNDAY - Interesting Sunday, Elder Trover left to go to a baptism in Oak Cliff and I stayed with the other elders and went to church with them. Elder Wirth and Hardy. Elder Hardy, Trover and I were all supposed to be talking but since Elder Trover left we had extra time. I felt bad because Elder Hardy has been out 20 months, 6 weeks less than me and he got up and spoke for 9 minutes and I spoke for 20+ and after everyone told me I had really good spanish and asked him if he was new. I'm very blessed to know the language as well as I know it. I still have a lot to learn obviously but I'm very blessed. Church was good, we went back and changed and headed to dinner. Then after we went to a Less active member and they had a 19 year old daughter and again!!! Trying to hook her up with us!!! We were just cracking jokes and we set up a dinner with them and I told them no menudo we were joking around a lot, the mission is so great. We went back and I got numbers and we hit the sack!!! 

 

Elder Jackson

Transfer! I'm Off to Garland!

February 11 - 17, 2013

MONDAY - Pretty normal pday. Got everything done and just went to lunch and shopped. Nothing new. Then we had a few appointments. We had an awesome lesson with this girl we found and we went and she just left her kids in the house while she went to some guys apartment. Sick world we live in! Then we had a really good noche de hogar with Santiago and with the De la Cruz family and also the Arrazolas. We watched the John Tanner story and then just talked after. Way spiritual!

TUESDAY - We had our studies and then we went to do service at the thrift store. Really not as good the first time haha. Was not enjoyable but we did help them and that is what counts. Also bought a shirt for Elder Chappell. Bulls Derrik Rose shirt for $1. SWOOP! We left and were going to knock but didnt have a lot of time so we went back changed and went to dinner with the Part member family, Jimenez family. Flautas! So good. Then we had a sweet lesson with this new girl who is the friend of la hermana Mackay. We taught the Restoration and it went really well. She understood it very well! Then we visited the Villatoros and Villanuevas.

 

WEDNESDAY - We did some knocking today and talked to a bunch of people. We had a lesson with the Rivera family and it was sweet we gave the mom a blessing too. They kept telling us they were never come back and that doesnt matter who comes. We were some of thousands of missionaries that have tried and tried again. But she said she was ready to come back. We had an amazing lesson and then we set up a family home evening and hopefully we can talk to the dad. We then went to dinner and ate some amazing tortas with the Mancia family. SO GOOD! Im going to miss this food. We then taught Raul with hno Magana who is a boss! Then we gave a blessing to hna Jasimine Coronas son who was sick. Then we headed home for the night. 

 

THURSDAY - We are on the verge of reaching standards so we just skipped planning today and went knocking. We didnt have much success so we went and got lunch and had pupusas and contacted the waitress. We then went to the church to help set up for the wedding and the baptism. It was a way good wedding. I said the opening prayer and then they were married and then we had the wedding. Hno Cruz is crazy! He wanted to do all this stuff against the manual for baptism and so he was mad when we told him no. So we did it, it was so long! Then we ate... not very good food for a wedding. We went to braums to eat ice cream on the way back. Crazy day. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

     

FRIDAY - Today we were chewed out by a 70. Elder Audikitais came and got on our case about our planning and everything that we do. But oh my goodness, it was the most I've learned in a meeting in a while. It was from 9 to 5. Long time but I got a lot out of it and I plan to set goals to baptize every week the last 6 weeks of my mission. Long meeting but amazing. I'll show notes after my mission to those who care to see. We had dinner with the Abarca family after and visited some people. We found a really solid girl who wants to come to church and learn more. We planned to end our night after getting chewed out haha. Got to get better. Thats for sure. 

 

SATURDAY - Another crazy day! Baptism of Santiago was awesome!! Super good service! We then went out and contacted people and then went to dinner with the Coronas and had more flautas. Then we went back after visiting hna Barraza... the call came. My 7th and final area. Garland 6, getting doubled in. Elder Trover is my new companion. 

 

SUNDAY - Conference today so it was weird not being able to say to everyone I'm leaving. So after dinner with the Ayalas I went and said good bye to a few people. Got pics with the Aguillon, Ayala, Santiago, Raul. So sad I'm leaving. Im going to miss this ward. Santiago came with us and invited Rauls wife to church! So boss already! Love the kid. I packed the rest of the night. Also in the morning we had our solid investigator at conference as we chased her little kid around the gym. So we didnt get to see much of it but that's ok. We went to the english one and it started out in spanish hahaha the english members were kind of freaking out. The message applied EXACTLY to our investigator... church is true. Love you all, off to Garland!

 

Elder Jackson

A Week of Service

February 4 - 10, 2013

MONDAY - A good pday, we got everything done as fast as we could and then we went to the National scouting museum. It was pretty sweet, really cool but for the national one I expected a bit more than that. We started our exchange with the assistants and I stayed here with elder Beatty and Witbeck went with Weatherford. We got back at 6 and we were both really hungry and so we went to Taco Bell due to time crunch, we talked about how we were almost done and he asked me what I wanted to do after. I told him BYU was top of my list of schools and he was trying to get it out of me but in reality I have no idea what I want to do. I don't know what I want to study. After we visited some families and headed back for the night.
 

TUESDAY - This week was a bit different because we needed to start finding service. So we did, we went from church to church on my GPS which is thousands!!! and asked for service. We even went to a Buddhist temple... so crazy! Nothing. We were on our way to a food bank when we decided to stop at a thrift store and see if they had something for us to do. Sure enough they let us sort stuff, pull stuff and a bunch of other stuff. Way good service! We did 3 hours and got a lot of questions about the church and such, it was a lot of fun. We got done and headed to switch back. We had dinner with the Cruz family and were 45 minutes late, it was ok food. We then went to our appointments with hno Cruz and he is just crazy! We visited Raul and he was just going into all this deep doctrine and stuff. Luckily he is just a boss and is one of the most faithful and solid investigators I have had in my mission and will be baptized. Then with Santiago the same, we just wanted to go over the interview questions to get him ready for his interview and stuff. Hno Cruz just was a bit crazy. We ended our night. The east elders had our car and they came over and spent the night with us so they could head to the meeting with us tomorrow.

 

WEDNESDAY - We had our zone meeting and talked about baptizing 115 in March. Everyone was on board and it was good, we have an awesome zone that's for sure! President came to interview a few people, Elder Chappell might go assistant. We will see what happens with transfers, going to be crazy. After the meeting we wanted to go get lunch at Burguesa Burger, the best place in the world but we lally-gagged so we didn't have time. We ate at pollo regio before doing service at the north Texas food bank. Where we boxed up cans and organized them while... listening to Michael Jackson and Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Metallica. NUTS! Its been a long time since I last heard that kind of music. We finished after 4 hours and headed back to Irving to go to dinner with the North elders at hna Abarcas house. It was pretty good, we had only one scheduled appointment that canceled and we didn't have much luck the rest of the day.

 

THURSDAY - More service! from 10 to 1 we went to "Irving Cares" and helped unbox and shelf what we boxed yesterday haha, it was a lot of fun. But very draining. We got done and went to lunch with the North elders and did some planning and cleaned till dinner at 5. We picked up some pizza from hna Cardona and went to the east elders apartment to eat with them and start a small exchange with them to do the interview for Santiago. Elder Chappell came with me to interview Santiago and he passed. Again much talk about school and BYU and such, Elder Chappell is a boss. One of my favorite comps for sure, him and Elder Witbeck are probably top two. So good. We visited a few people before getting some game fuel at the seven eleven by their house and exchanging back.

 

FRIDAY - We had lunch with the Alfaros at 1 and tried to teach their daughter that just got here from El Salvador. but she wasn't very interested. But it was a good talk and after we came back to plan and finish cleaning the apartment. We made plans to reach standards this coming week and to work real hard. For it could be our last week together believe it or not. We went to the church at 7 to meet a referral and eat dinner and found out that it was a valentines dance!!! No way!! Did not look good for us to be there. So we got the food and got out. It was gross! So bad! So we decided to go to IHOP cause we had no other dinner. We saw a new orange Lambo and a yellow Ferrari right next to each other in the parking lot of on the border. So sick! We ate and headed home. 

 

SATURDAY - We started knocking right off the bat and it is amazing when you can tell when someone is actually interested in hearing your message. We ran into this girl named Rosio who had 4 kids and was having problems with the dad it seemed. Super sweet girl and interested. We have an appointment with her soon and I'm excited for that. We knocked a lot and we didn't have dinner and we didn't want to drive all the way back to the apartment so we went to Chillies to start our fast. We knocked some more and ran into some crazy evangelist guy who really wanted to bash. I could have destroyed everything he came up with, with the tons of scriptures going through my mind that just staple my testimony and the truthfulness of this church together. But, we didn't. We left because there was contention. We visited hno Villanueva last of all and he said for the first time that he will be at church!! Exciting stuff!

 

SUNDAY - Good sabbath, hno Villanueva came!! Raul and Santiago as well. Fasting was tough but we went to the north's after and broke it with some left over pizza. We finally finished cleaning the apartment and finished right before dinner at the Arrazolas. It was good, chicken is kind of getting old though for me. We have had it so much! We ate and dropped off north and went to work. Visited the Campos family and the Corona. Then a surprise call from Elder Solis, well brother Solis now came in. He has a kid on the way in 4 months! So crazy!!! It was okay to talk to him, crazy how long he has been gone. We finished our night by doing numbers and hitting the sack hard. Long week. Lots of service. Even longer week ahead! love,

 

Elder Jackson

Second Place Just Wont Do. We Need to Be #1!

January 28 - February 3

MONDAY - I hope my blog isn't really bad because I have been behind in my journal this whole week! Busy busy busy. Finally got all the photos sent to my pops. Hope they will be on facebook soon or whatever. We got everything done that we needed to get done. We had an awesome day planned! Dinner with the Alfaros and we were going to teach their daughter who is not a member who just got here from El Salvador, but they canceled and gave us dinner... then we were going to have a noche de hogar with Santiago and the Familia de la Cruz but they canceled too. We even tried to visit a member that was leaving on her mission and just say good bye and they were not there either! Everything fell through. We went and visited Jasmine and had a really good lesson. She says she is going to fast with her sister in law and read in the Book of Mormon. We just got her excited about that and headed home to put the groceries back that we forgot about!

TUESDAY - We had district meeting today and were stupid after. We went to a restaurant after where a member works and she gave us free food last time and this time she couldn't... and none of us had money haha so Elder Chappell and Witbeck had to cover for us. It was really good, but really dumb. We headed to the library to work on the stake president report and were there waiting for the other elders almost all day!! The weather has just been crazy here the last few days!!! It was raining really really hard as we left for dinner with the Mackays. We had some good food with them and then blessed their new home they bought and were on our way. Didn't have a lot of luck that night. We need to find new people that's for sure. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We finished the SPR and headed back to the apartment because my head was killing me! So I came back and rested all day untill dinner with the Escotos. We had spaghetti but it was really watery... kind of gross. But okay. We tried to visit some old investigators and talked to this guy whose life just really wasnt going well! His familiy is in Mexico and he doesnt have money to pay for bills and he is really sick and had no money to go to the doctors, just really really sad. I was kind of out of it cause I had been sleeping all day. We went to the church and talked to some youth and then got some ice cream at braums before heading back to the apartment.

 

THURSDAY - I didn't get up today till late but the head ache is getting better. The North elders took us to dennys for breakfast and it was way good! Then elder Witbeck wasnt feeling good so he sacked out for a while I kind of planned. We checked mail and my streak continues... like 3 weeks without mail. longest in the mission! haha, must be that time. We had chicken at the Romans house, again. We always do! Which is fine, it was really good. We had a lesson with Santiago at the park, talked about temples and baptisms for the dead. That doctrine is clear as can be, a child could understand it. We then taught the Restoration to the Campos family and they really liked it a lot. Feels good to be out teaching after being stuck inside or doing reports all day! We got back and I read some of my spanish notes from the MTC and we laughed pretty hard. Its amazing to see the improvements! 

 

FRIDAY - We did the SPR today and the english elders.... they are a little cooky in the head. This is a very important report and they scheduled an exchange for the day and so they were late and they didnt fill out the report right. It was a disaster. But the pizza was good and President Porter is just so awesome! Exciting year for the Dallas stake. We then went and knocked for hours and hours and hours and found a few semi solid people. Its tough finding new people but your still blessed a ton for working. We had dinner with the Barrazas and had chicken with rice. Then we taught Raul and had an interesting lesson about the 12 tribes of Israel. We had a meeting in the morning so after heading back we decided to do P90x because we werent going to have time in the morning due to the meeting we had. HAHA! of couse its kenpox which is the fighting one and you kind of look dumb when you do it. So we looked to see if the weight room was empty and sure enough it was! So we go up there and start doing it and it is just weird, and sure enough this beautiful girl comes up to run and sees us doing the weirdest stretches and such hahaha, so we decided to keep going and it gets worse AND more people come so we finally stop and just run on the machines. So funny!

 

SATURDAY - Really sweet meeting today. We got up and went there and found out that it was not president Durrant that called that meeting, but the assistants. We got together and talked about how there was ANOTHER miscount on the baptisms in December and we really had 96. So we reached our goal! BUT! that is only the second highest in mission history. Second?! What the heck!? Being an athlete and amongst many others we talked it over and said we do not want to go home with the second highest. We want number 1. So we set a goal to baptize 115 in March. It was such a good meeting! We wrote down more sacrifices we are going to make. We also found out that our mission is one of the best in the USA. All the southern states together average about 25 baptisms a month. We double that and almost tripple it averaging almost 60 a month. They did a check on the mission and Salt Lake loves what President Durrant is doing out here. But coming from yet another athlete his response was "yes, but we can do better" So we got fired up about this new goal. Most of the leaders are old like me so we all talked about how we dont want to go home second best. In fact my whole district have all been zone leaders. Elder Beatty is the assistant right now, and 4 of the other 5 of us were there. So amazing. We headed out pumped! We got some lunch at raisin canes. I got letters from Shawn and Nate also. We headed back and knocked all day again. Had pizza with the maganas and helped them move a matress. We taught the Dominguez family to end our night. Way good lesson. Thats what happens when you have two old missionaries with 42 months of experience combined.

 

SUNDAY - Pretty good Sunday, we had a mission fast for our new goal of 115  So that was good. We had Raul and Santiago there at church and it was a great service. We went back after and broke our fast and cleaned up a bit and had dinner at 5 where we ate some strange pasole. Elder Witbeck ended up throwing it all up after before heading to a lesson with the Jimenez family. Hna Jimenez just never breathes. She talks and talks and talks and talks. We did numbers and went to bed super tired. Good week!

love,

Elder Jackson

P90X!

January 21-27, 2013

MONDAY - So not much of a pday today because we had stinking meetings all day again. We got up and headed to meandering way to have a meeting from 8-12. Then we had subs there at the church and headed to the office to pick up mail, you know your getting old when there is never anything for you hahaha, but thats okay with me. We then headed back home and the assistants came down cause we were going to go to the scout museum, we are talking the headquarters of scouting is here in Irving or something HUGE. But it was to late so we went out to eat at on the border with them. Talked about the mission and how everything is going. Its crazy how powerful our MTC district has become and how much we have learned. We all have been zone leaders and trainers. We went to some random apartments at night and gave a blessing to a guy who was having adiction problems. It was crazy cause elder Witbeck felt inspired to go to those apartments and I felt inspired to offer a blessing to this guy. Small miracle of the day. We got some groceries real quick since we were close and headed home.

TUESDAY - P90X is great! We did it today before headed to email. We took the east elders shopping and then emailed. We had dinner with Hna Abarca and had some pretty amazing tacos! So so so good! We ate and as I was sharing the scriptures the north elders came in and we left to teach Santiago, pretty sloppy lesson haha, all over the place. But he liked it a lot. Then we taught Raul and reviewed the interview questions with him and then headed back. Hopefully things go well with his interview tomorrow.

 

WEDNESDAY - We had our zone meeting today and it was in Grand Prairie this time. It was really good, I think the zone really likes us. We spent a lot of time talking about the new mission cards we got and also Just Serve. Im excited for Just serve, it stinks I wont be here when it really starts to roll but its exciting. Service is my favorite. We ate lunch afterwards because we didnt have time to run back to the house. Chick-fil-a is so good! We knocked for a bit and then before we knew it, it was time to go to dinner. We all met up at the carrillos and had some good pasole. We dropped off the north elders and headed to the church for Rauls interview. It went well, hopefully he can be baptized but he is going to talk to president about it. 

 

THURSDAY - P90X was good today, but the people below were not happy haha, stomping at 6 am. I am so sore though! But its good stuff. We ended up spending a lot of time on the Stake president report today and didnt get to plan at all. oh well haha. We did some knocking before eating steaks at the Mancias house and talking with Bryan about his mission, he leaves very soon. We had another lesson with Santiago in the park and it was really good. Still very solid. 

 

FRIDAY - HAPPY BDAY MOM!!!! The best mom in the world had a birthday today. Im grateful for everything she has done and does for me. We are so so so sore haha, I couldnt even bend down to grab my shoes. Hahaha kind of funny, but really good. Great work outs! We did some knocking by this part member family and it was funny because we decided to stop by at the same time the Jehovah witnesses did and it was just really weird to be in a lesson with them. Great people, just only with part of the truth. But they are very dedicated and they get out and knock so thats good. Just not as much as us ;) We ate an early dinner at pollo regio and then went to our lesson with Raul and followed up on the interview. We still didnt have an answer yet... but he is super good. I love this guy and its for people like him that you come on a mission. He is willing and is growing in the gospel and is just great. We then went to drop in on an old investigator that let us right in and we had hot chocolate and talked about the benefits of church and such. It was a really good talk. I love Spanish!

 

SATURDAY - We dropped in on a lot of less actives today and knocked some apartments as well. But we didnt have any luck. we are going to start looking for service now. We feel that would be better. We had dinner with the Coronas at 6:30 and had the best enchiladas ever!!! I told them how my familiy loves mexican food and they said I have to bring my mom and dad back. They are so awesome!!! We then had a lesson with Hilarie and with Jasmine and it was crazy! We talked about the Book of Mormon and then I started to talk about families and I felt the Spirit like never before. My feet started to get really hot and I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace as I talked about the temples that have been placed on earth so we can have eternal families throught the authority of God. Who wouldnt want that? How could someone believe that we wont have our families after? Thats just dumb. It was one of the most powerful lessons I have had on my mission and Hilarie just started to cry and Jasmine too. It was crazy, they are just such wonderful people and sensitive to the Spirit as apose to denying it. It was way good. 

 

SUNDAY - Good sabbath day. We got the call that Raul has to wait till May :( Santiago and him both came though. We then went to eat at the Arrazolas and it was a lot of fun. We were cracking jokes the whole time, I was making fun of elder Jorgensen because I've been in a car for the last 9 months and he has been on a bike hahaha. It was good. We then left and we were so tired that after trying a few people we went back to change and just passed out for like 2 hours. So exhausted. We then went and talked to Raul to let him know about the news and he gets off probation May 13 which is a Monday and usually baptisms are on Saturdays... which means I will not be here. I'll be home. I told him that and he said he wants to do it on that Tuesday and he wants me to baptize him. So what a gift that is, a great way to go out to. Baptize one of the most humble men I have ever met and then head home with honor. I love this work and our zone is doing so good! I testify that this is the true work of God. There is no other work that brings more joy and peace.

 

Elder Jackson

Sometimes You Just Have to Have Meetings.

January 14-20, 2013

MONDAY - Good pday, sad about the email :( I couldnt do my blog last week because my companion. Oh well, im doing it now. Im so glad he is going though! We ran all over the place, from best buy, to ross, to the post office, to walmart. We got back and Virrueta started packing more and I cleaned. We went to Josues to say good bye and came back. Elder Virrueta stressed that we needed to be over at easts by 8. I knew we would be late for sure.

TUESDAY - We were 1 hour and half late... I asked 4 times if Virrueta was completely packed and he said yes. Then when I was ready to walk out the door? He was running and packing stuff! Hno Rangel was really late to pick us up. We then went and got the other elders. Witbeck and Chappell to the Shady Grove with me. Pinch me I'm dreaming! So awesome. We took them shopping and then we took the others shopping as well. We got back, I talked about the area and he unpacked a bit. We picked up dinner from Barraza and taught Santiago, who is just solid as a rock, then Raul, who finally got an answer! Ready for baptism!!! Oh things are going well! We came back and started to dig through old records to find some possible people to teach. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We had district meeting today and ate some Chick-fil-a and then took the east elders to get a new tire. We went knocking and it was great! We got in some doors and it was great! We had dinner with a less active pm family with the east elders and after chappell and I played there kids 2 on 2 and just messed around, throwing oops to each other and such. It was fun! We visited some old investigators and part member families and had no luck. 

 

THURSDAY - Planning was good today, we made some plans to what we want to do this transfer and how we are going to find and baptize. We had some good chicken at Romans house and did some knocking after and found a new family. 

 

FRIDAY - 20 MONTHS IN THE MISSION! So nuts! less than 4 to go :/ We did some more visits before dinner and didnt have much luck, we ate with the Maganas and taught Raul after and found out his baptism might have to wait a bit. We have to get another interview due to probation. No biggy though, still he will be baptized for sure! So awesome! The new families we found we tried and they all said no, Tomas said no as well and we were left with a pretty crumby night.

 

SATURDAY - We went to the temple today and it was amazing! The spirit you feel as you do the things in there can not be found anywhere else on this planet. It is of God and I know it! After we went to Spring Creek. Witbeck paid for me because I'm out of money, it was really good! We feel a lot better now that we went, ready to push it these last weeks of our mission. We got back and made a progress record before dinner. After dinner we had a weird coordination meeting that was kind of pointless. We taught a few lessons before the night ended. Sorry for the shortness of the blog. My journal doesnt have a lot because I was playing catch up. These days I am VERY tired. 

 

SUNDAY - UGH!!!! talk about meeting after meeting after meeting! We had a meeting at 8, then we had our block of churh which was great! loved it a lot! Both Raul and Santiago came, then we had another meeting after. Then we went to lunch before heading to another 6 hour meeting. We picked up the District leaders and headed to Casa Linda! Where I started!! We had a rollout meeting for "Just Serve" from 3-5. It was cool! I'm excited about this new pilot program, its only in 1 other mission and now its coming here, way way way good idea for service! Then we broke for dinner and from 6-7 we had another meeting about Just serve and then from 7-9 we had a zone leader meeting that by the end of it I was just dead, absolutely beat! We had to do numbers after that too!!! we stayed with the Richardson ZL's and talked about how crazy it is that we are so close. More meetings tomorrow... from 4-8! Love you all, thanks for following, write me if you can I really enjoy all your letters.

 

Elder Jackson

The Return of Elder Whitbeck!

MONDAY - Good pday today, we helped out the other elders because elder Jorgy Porgy was a little sick. So we went to the library to email and then went to the store to get food and dropped them off. We got back and I started cutting my hair and my stupid clippers ripped my hair! so I had to cut it super super super short! I knew President would get on my case the next day at interviews. More crazy changes in Oak Cliff we had to sort out which was not fun at all! We went to visit the Garcias and found only the daughter and her friend there so we got out of there quick. We tried another appointment we had and went back to plan the meeting we had. INTERVIEWS!

TUESDAY - We had interviews and of course whenever we are on a schedule elder virrueta is late! We barely got to the train in time to go to Oak Cliff for interviews. We got there and interviews were really good! Sister Durrant trained our zone while we went in for interviews and all President Durrant and I talked about was my family. He said he doesnt have to worry about me, that he can always trust in me. We then trained for about 2 hours or less. Our zone is crazy! We have 5 natives. Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Vasquez, Virrueta and Trujillo! Thats unheard of! We then left and we had to wait for the next train about an hour and we were downtown so we just went to subway to eat because we hadnt had lunch yet. It was foggy so it was crazy to see the buildings disappear in the clouds. HUGE! haha, crazy to me at least. When we got back finally, it was time for dinner. We ate with the Mancias, Elder Witbeck randomly called just to talk to me haha, miss that kid a lot. We had a lesson with Raul and had a very good talk, we were with Hno Ayala and we also taught Augistina... crazy old lady but really nice. 

 

WEDNESDAY - We had exchanges today! After studies I went with Elder Adams in the rain... on a bike...  and it was very very wet. We did some tracting and found some pretty interesting people. Someone who told us his church has the entire bible. All the writings of the apostles as far as the gospels. Crazy old guy but fun to talk to. I love the people you meet out here. We had dinner with the familia Angeles and the hermano went out with us afterwards to teach a few families. It was really fun. 

 

THURSDAY - We exchanged back and we did weekly planning. Elder virrueta and I had a good talk about the zone and such. He is going to get transfered though. Im happy too! Not that he is a bad kid, he just is very selfish sometimes and I can deal with about anything out here and be fine. But we are not working in unity at all. So its just a waste of time. We went to dinner with the Cruzes for dinner, all of us! It was really good, but had a bit of the taste of menudo  so gross! We taught Santiago at the park with Josue and we just got to keep helping him. His mom and sister are not supportive at all because they judge us by what they have seen and heard from other faiths maybe? or the internet? Who knows... bottom line is unfortunetly people would sometimes rather take the most unreliable source as a valid answer. Instead of going right to it to see what it is. By their fruits ye shall know them... Read the Book of Mormon! It has God, Jesus, the Spirit, Redeemer, Saviour, Lord, Etc. on EVERY page. How is that a bad fruit? We taught the Garcia family the Plan of Salvation using both scriptures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I love them both, both have such good scriptures that talk of this plan. But Reimunda didnt want to change. Which is fine. Sad. But theats the beauty of our message is that is not an obligation, it is an invitation. 

 

FRIDAY - We had a great morning and headed to visit Martin who was not there. We then went knocking and talked to a guy from el Salvador who was gardening outside. We got in and taught him and his wife and headed to a store real quick so I could get my sis a bday card :) and so virrueta could use the bathroom. We had pizza at hno Ortizs with the north elders and we just laughed and laughed about the funny sleepovers we had. They were dying at some of the ones I shared with Shawn and Josh. So funny!!! We then expected Raul to have an answer but he wasnt ready... so we talked more in depth as to why. He has stopped smoking after 6 years of smoking a pack a day and has felt the spirit while reading the BOM and has had dreams! So crazy he hasnt quite got it yet. We talked about prophets and I explained the pattern of apostasy and dispensation. It was a good good lesson but not there yet. We ended our night teaching Tomas and it was an ok lesson. Devotional tomorrow! 

 

SATURDAY - HAPPY BDAY AUBS!!! Also today is transfer calls! We headed to Plano to the devotional with the north elders and it was sweet. Brad Wilcox talked about how President Durrant is such a good leader and spoke in General Conference when he was 22!!! So nuts. He also taught about the gathering of the 12 tribes of Israel and cool stuff like that. After Elder Witbeck arrived with the assistants and ran up and hugged me saying "youll never guess what I know!" "were going to be companions!" I was freaking out cause he knew a lot of the transfers! And President was telling people too! So strange... but I'm stoked! We got back and ate fajitas with Raul and his family and the east elders... it was so good! Then we got back and awaited the calls... sure enought Witbeck is coming here with me! We are also the oldest companionship in the mission!!! Elder Chappell is coming to Shady Grove East too!!!!! SO AWESOME!!!

 

SUNDAY - Good sabbath day, I only went to sacrament because elder Rodriguez was sick and so I went back with him so he could rest. We ate with the Ayalas after and stopped by some members and did some packing as well. 

 

 Elder Jackson

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