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!