Jappy New Year

Well, Christmas has come and gone. its hard for me to believe that i left in the summer, and already we are looking at a new year. the time is really flying. it was great to talk to you on saturday, it was really the icing on the cake of a great day. it was sad hanging up because it went so fast, but now we have mothers day to look forward to.

so this week was a really good week for us. i think we beat our record in lessons taught and in the amount of new investigators we found. we found 15 new investigators that let us teach and invited us to come back. out of that number we probably wont baptize them all, only 13 or so, but we truly are being blessed by the Lord, and led to the people who are willing to listen. I cant think of alot of specific events this week, we've been working hard so the days kind of run together but all in all it was a very good week.

my companion told me that one of the traditions here for christmas is to make tons of tomales, and give them to everyone who comes to your house. ha so we have about 12 in our refrigerator right now. last night we contacted a house and the lady there obviously didnt want to talk to us, so we said good night, and were about to leave, but she told us to wait and gave us some tomales. its like trick or treating for food.

yesterday was really good. two different people from the ward leadership told us they really want to work to improve the ward here. so we are going to meet with the bishopric wednesday to talk about how we can improve the missionary effort here. i really think that we are going to make some big changes for the better in these next few weeks. im really excited. also we taught 3 great lessons. the second one was to a lawyer, we left him a book of mormon about 3 weeks ago and hadnt seen him since. but when we found him yesterday he told us he had been reading and made it through 2nd nephi. we explained some of his questions about it, and he promised to keep reading. after that we taught the godinez family. we had a lesson planned, but right at the beginning he asked us two questions that could be explained with the plan of salvation. so we taught him about that, and i could tell his questions were answered. at the end we told him he could pray to know it was true, then we challenged him to be baptized, and he said if he knew it was true he would. so that was a way good lesson. and to finish off the day the mom fed us a way good tomale, and served us this juice drink with chunks of apple pineapple, grapes, and peanuts in it.

So im loving life here. its not always easy but i always know im doing the right thing. i love you all, thanks for a great christmas and for the great blessings you have always been in my life. have a happy new year. ill talk to you next week.

Elder Jacobson.

1 Week Til Christmas

buenes dias otra vez familia. como estan todos. Otra semana se fue como un sueño. la vida aqui is bien hermosa. esta semana tuvimos la actividad de la navidad. la parte mejor de todo fue cundo nos dijeron los regalos de ustedes, pero creo que ustedes podian haber encontradas un foto mejor de yo como niño. (that was a hard sentance, so i dont know if it makes sense) espero que todos estén teniendo un buena navidad.

well thats my spanish, its probly hard to tell if im improving at all, but i really feel like its getting better.

so any way this week went by so fast. its hard to believe, im already done with my first change, and im only about 3 weeks away from having 2 months in the feild, its nuts how fast things are going. this week was pretty awesome. on tuesday we had our christmas activity. it was a good time to be with some old friends, and relax a little. all the zones did little skits, and they passed out the presents you sent. it was a proud moment for me. and everyone was so happy to get them. one of the latin elders come and found me and showed me lonicas letter. ha he couldnt understand it, but i know he was happy to get it. I know everyone was so grateful.

on wednesday we had another conference in malacatan, about 2 hours in bus away. between the christmas activity and that it was alot of travel, but definitely worth it. in the conference they talked about the importance of obedience and agency, and how we gain agency when we obey, and lose it when we take the easy way. also one of the assistants talked about a way to have more success is to always focus on our goals. it made me think about the power of the secret. so my companion and i are going to focus our thoughts on the goals that we have. which is to baptize a family every month, and to have our attendance at the church be over 100 people. It might be tough to do, but i have no doubt that its possible.

thursday was good, i cant remember every thing we did, but at the end of the day we found two families that seem pretty positive to me. One of the families we contacted at the door and introduced ourselves as elders. then he said oh my name is elder. we all laughed till he pulled out his drivers license and showed us his first name was elder. haha. but we taught him a short lesson and made another appt. so that was exciting.

also i forgot to mention that on monday, we met with the family fuentes godinez. (the family that asked about resurrection and atonement) only the three daughters out of the family were there, but we taught them about baptism, and challenged them to baptism on january 8th and they said yes. so that was way exciting. now were going to meet with the whole family tuesday, so im way excited. and hermano armando ( who is trying to stop drinking) is doing good, he came to the stake activity saturday, and we are going to try to meet every day with him to keep teaching and supporting him.

so Im a little low on time, so im not going to tell you the rest of the days, but just know that it went great, and alot of good things are starting to happen. we have alot of good ideas of how to find people and get some of the inactive people more excited about church. i think we will start playing soccer with the youth, and other things like that. we both really think that we can strengthen this area alot, and the members are really willing and looking for ways to help us. so im really excited about the future here in La Grandeza.

its awesome to here that you guys are doing so good on reading the book of mormon, well dad at least, but i imagine the others are doing it too. ive been reading in doctrine and covenants, and Jesus the Christ. i like studying and learning more.

well shoot im out of time again. but know that i love you all and hope everyone is happy and healthy there. just think we´ll be talking in about a week. im going to call you and give you my number then you can call me back. so we will figure a time then i guess. have a good week. Love Elder Jacobson

Translation:

Good day again family. How are you all. Another week went like a dream. The life here is well beautiful. This week we had the activity of Christmas. The part better than all was I propagate the gifts of you told us, but I believe that you could have found a photo better of me as a boy. (That was to hard sentence, I dont know if or makes sense) I expect that all they are having a good one Christmas.

esta empezando a aparecer mucho como la navidad

buenas dias familia jacobson. como está todos. aqui todo esta bien bien. esta semana tuvé dos reuniones afuera de mi area entonses no hizé bastante, pero trabajabamos duro y creo que vamos a tener mucho exito temprano. mi español esta mejorando bastante, ja, no sé como es cuando hablo, pero puedo entender casi todo lo que escuchar. no creo qu tenemos solo dos más semanas hasta la navidad, el tiempo se fue tan rapido. y estoy muy emoccionado a hablar con ustedes. les amo mucho.

well thats it for now. i dont know if my subject line was translated correctly, but see if you can figure out what im trying to say there. this week was really awesome. things are really getting a lot easier as we are starting to find people that are ready to hear, and i am understanding better, and know the area alot better. this week wednesday and thursday i had to go to more meetings for the new missionaries. they were way good, i learned a ton about how i can be a better missionary, and at the end we all promised to be the best missionaries this mission has ever seen. with the two meetings in the middle of the week it was hard to get alot done in the field, so im not gonna give you a day by day this week, but it was a great week here.

Exciting news for this week was that one day we talked to a man that has been struggling to quit drinking. but he expressed sincere desire to change. i could tell he really wanted to change so he could be sealed in the temple with his family. so we helped him make a plan to stop, we also took a picture of his family that he could put in his wallet to help him. on sunday we fasted for him, and we are planning on challenging him to be baptized this month. also the family that asked us about resurrection and atonement we met with two more times. we taught them about faith, repentance, and the book of mormon, which they promised to read and pray about. i can really see that they are understanding what we are teaching. today we are going to finish teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and challenge them to baptism next month. i really feel good about it because i think that they really want to know the truth. it really is so awesome being here and helping change peoples lives with the gospel.

Just as a side note its gotten almost unbelievably cold here. nothing like a utah winter, but definitely up there. to make things more interesting our water heater broke so we have been showering in ice water for about a week. its not too bad, just another experience for the journal, but were supposed to get a new one today. also just so you know i am eating very well here. like ive said before we get all 3 meals cooked for us, which is awesome. on top of that we get fed at almost every house we go into, even the complete strangers. everyone gives us some kind of hot drink (not coffee), and bread its pretty great. the people here are so nice, its really incredible

well it sounds like you guys there have about as much exciting news as i do. jalen got a car of his own, and jordan will be driving soon. ha i cant imagine what the gas bill is going to be there. but i have to say that im not happy at all that you told me about the rancheritos. not once have i considered coming home, untill now. but ill be strong and wait, but you guys there better make sure it stays open. on top of all the other good news, christmas is just around the corner, are the kids already out of school. here the kids get off school from october to february, almost half the year. ha but i hope everyone is enjoying the weather and the season. just think we will be talking in like two weeks, how crazy. tomorrow we head out to rayoo for the christmas activity. im way excited to see everyone and enjoy some relaxing time, and more importantly they promised us enough food to kill an elephant ha.

well im just about out of time, but as always i love you all and hope that all is well there. everything is good here, and i cant believe how fast the time is going, im almost done with my first change. enjoy your week, talk to you soon.

Love Elder Jacobson

Translations:

Good days family jacobson, as is all. here everything is well, and this week I has two meetings outside my area entonses not hizé fairly, but worked hard and i think we will have much success early, and my spanish is improving quite, ja, i don't know as is when i speak, but I can understand almost everything you hear, i do not think what we have only two more weeks until Christmas, the time it was so quick, and I am very emoccionado to talk to you, and i love very much.

1 Month

Justin with his companion Elder Heywood

The Christmas packages have arrived.
(I am pretty amazed that they haven't opened the presents Ü)

Es bien loco que he sido en el campo por casi un mes. puedo recordar perfectamente mi tiempo en el mtc y ya casi he cumplido un cambio. todas las cosas aqui son muy buenas. todavia no hemos tenido algunos bautismos, pero estamos trabajando con 3 familias, y 3 otras personas, y creo qu con trabajo vamos a fijar fechas por ellos, talvez por la proxima mes. estoy aprendiendo mucho, y disfrutando cada dia aqui.

Well im going to write in english now because i have a lot to say and not enough time. but this last week was pretty awesome. wednesday i went to a meeting back in retalhelea (i still dont know how to spell that). it was about a 4 hour ride. it was awesome to talk to all my ccm friends. and we got a lot of really good counsel from the president, and other missionaries. it really helped me rededicate myself to work hard. on thursday my companion left for a meeting, so i worked with an elder that came in with me. i liked it because, even though he was a native spanish speaker, i kind of had to step up and teach a little more. spending that whole day with the latin elder really helped my spanish i think. friday i went on splits with one of the assistants. they came to help us invite people to the conference we had this sunday. an area 70 and our mission president spoke so they wanted to have alot of people there. we invited every person we talked to and a lot agreed to come. i don't know how many of the people we invited came, but they said over 600 from our stake came. so that was pretty awesome.

saturday might have been the highlight. in the afternoon we talked with both the families we had been teaching. it was mostly to invite them to the conference, but we taught a little too, and i can see that they are starting to love and trust us more each time. its tough because they arent really making time for themselves to read the book of mormon or go to church. but i think with time their hearts are going to change, and they will see the importance. saturday night we went to an appointment we had made tracting. the family invited us in and we all sat down. we got to know them a little then started teaching. it was amazing how ready they were to learn. usually its like we have to fight to keep the investigators attention, and help them learn, but they were interested and were understanding every thing we taught. at one point one of the sisters said i was reading the pamphlet you gave me and i didnt understand the difference between atonement and resurrection. i know it doesnt sound like much, but i almost fell off my chair. ha it was great to see a family so ready for the gospel. sunday was really good we got to listen to the conference, and then attend the christmas devotional. it was tough to understand all the talks, but the music was incredible, and really lifted my spirits. the only bad part was seeing the lights at temple square. it made me a little homesick. ha but another elder from utah said he started crying.

well crap i only have about 5 more minutes. but i have an assignment from my mission president. after the meeting wednesday, he brought me and 2 other elders into his office and told each of us to tell our mothers thank you. his eyes filled with tears as he told us about the gifts they had received and expressed his gratitude for what you had done. he said we can learn a lot from the love that our mothers have. so thanks mom, and everyone who worked so hard to make that possible, you are all so awesome. i also have learned, and have a lot to learn from you.

well thats it for this week. but were only 7 days away from the next e mail. i love you all thanks for everything. enjoy your christmas break and christmas season. keep praying for me. ill talk to you next week.

Translation

It's pretty crazy I've been in the field for nearly a month. I can remember well my time in the MTC and already I have almost completed a change. All things here are very good. we have not even had a few baptisms, but we are working with 3 families and 3 other people, and I qu to work we will set dates for them, perhaps by next month. I'm learning a lot, and enjoying every day here

Semana 3

Well to start out i just thought i would mention that in the internet place we are in there are some kids playing mario kart, and i have to admit that its making me pretty home sick. thinking of all the times i pwnd is making me long for those good old days again. but there will be time for that later.

this week was pretty incredible, and its hard for me to believe that another week has already gone by. I think im almost half way through my first change, and everyone says every change goes faster, if that's true im going to be home next thing i know. but a lot of good things happened this week. wednesday was kind of a challenge for me. my companion had to go to retalhuleu for a meeting, and they didnt have any one for me to be a companion with, so they found a young man in the ward to be my companion for the whole day. in the beginning i told him that my spanish still needs work so he might have to do most of the talking, and he seemed to be ok with that. we knocked on the first door and i did the usual greeting, then i introduced him, hoping he would share a little message like my companion usually does, but he just said his name and then sat silently. we sat there awkwardly for a few seconds, then finally i jumped in and tried to explain, i think i did pretty good (they could understand me at least). well to make a long story short, the rest of the day was pretty much just me talking and not understanding much. we met with a less active member, and i kind of had to keep the lesson and conversation going, because no one was really talking. it was pretty tough for me because im not much of a talker anyway. so all in all it was pretty tough, but the amazing thing is that at the end of the day i felt really good because i had tried my best, and i know that Heavenly Father was helping me and giving me words when i had nothing to say. i guess we dont ever really grow until its tough.

The rest of the week also went very well. we found new investigators, including one yesterday, that we met for the first time, taught him about Joseph Smith, and then challenged him to find out if its true, and if it is, to be baptized, he said he is going to pray a lot, and if its true he would have no problem being baptized. we also have 2 families that were working with , the navaro family and the gardonez family. both are kind of tough because its for the past two weeks they havent done what they said they would. but i think they have felt the spirit. so we are just trying to get them to pray to know if its true. we challenged hermano armando (the husband of the member family) to prepare for baptism. im not sure if i understood everything correctly, but i think he said he is just worried about making a commitment to God then falling into his old habits. which is good, i think, because he understands the importance, so we are going to work with him too.

so other than them, we are always trying to find more people, we have knocked a lot of doors, and it seems that people are letting us in pretty well. on top of that, a returned missionary gave a good talk on sunday of the importance of every member helping in the missionary effort. afterwards about 5 people came and told us they knew people we could teach, so that's pretty awesome too.

i received your Christmas package. thank you so much. you have no idea how it lifted my spirits that day. (i got it wednesday). i haven't unwrapped any of the presents yet, but i did help my self to some much needed sugary candy. I haven't given any of the bouncy balls away yet, but we are constantly being bombarded by groups of kids yelling gringos gringos. so im glad i have something now to throw at them to keep them back. i have the bag in my back pack. so once again thank you so much for sending me that and for helping me to think about others this christmas. here they have already started the christmas celebration. last night we were in a house and heard fireworks and the lady told us they were for christmas, ha i guess its not only in the u.s. so i heard its snowing there, that seems crazy to me. did you guys already go to cali? thats exciting, i bet you caught a lot of lizards because they are always slow in winter. Did dad or ernie win in golf this year? i bet it was my dad because he has been going like 3 or 4 times a week since they played last. ha

well im still loving life here. i guess i can say im a true guatemalan on the days that i eat eggs and beans for breakfast and lunch, i feel myself craving them for dinner. the weather is exactly like i like it, nice and cool, but usually pretty sunny, it hasnt rained more than once or twice. i love the people here, they are all so kind to us. its almost impossible to go into a house without getting some kind of food and drink. my favorite thing they give me is the sweet pan(bread) its just like home made sugary bread, but its so good. the members are awesome, i can tell they really want to help us in our efforts. I didnt start this e mail with spanish because i wanted to hurry, but my spanish is coming along great. in most situations i can understand almost everything, and im helping my companion more and more when we teach. every day i study a different grammar principal, and i can feel myself start to pick out that part of speach when people talk, its pretty amazing.

well its almost christmas and that means i will get to talk to you, that will be so great. except im worried i wont recognize any ones voices. i bet jordans voice has gotten a lot deeper since i left, he is growing up so fast. well im about out of time. but again i just want to tell you that i love you all, and as usual this week ive been so grateful for the things you all taught me and the great help it has been in my life. remember that we grow the most through the hard times, but that everything will always work out .i love you. hasta next week.

Elder Jacobson

Para Mi Familia

Otra semana ha pasado como un sueño otra vez. Esta loco como cada semana siente más rapido que la semana pasada. esta semana trabajamos duro para encontrar personas para enseñar. mi español esta mejorando y estoy participando en los lecciones más y más. ayer era domingo y tuvimos un ivestigador ir a la iglesia con su familia quienes son miembros. y tambien creo que encontramos un familia de oro. esta familia fue bien listo para escuchar a nuestro mensaje y les enseñamos sobre José Smith y la resuaracion. cundo les compartimos la historia de la primer vision, senté el espiritu bien fuerte y pienso que ellos lo sentieron tambien. in final esta semana fue muy bien.

so any way this week has been way good and went by crazy fast. its like I wake up, and next thing i know im going to bed. this week we worked hard to find people to teach because we really dont have that many investigators. we walked a lot and knocked a lot of doors. the people are very friendly and they usually accepted a return apt. even though i dont know if they really wanted to, ha but they wont be sad they did.

this area isnt a place for the faint of heart or weak of legs. the entire area is on the side of a big hill, with little hills dispersed throughout it. so basically if were not walking up hill we are walking down hill, and we will be walking uphill to get back. the other day we went with an investigator, he was going to show us where some members and others lived. we started walking and walked for about forty five minutes straight uphill ha i couldnt believe how far we went. but it turned out to be a great experience in meeting a member who hasnt been able to come to church for a while. she promised to do everything she could to be there next week. but the lack of flatness is made up for by the lack of hotness. the weather here for me is perfect. its usually pretty cool in the mornings, but i love it.

in church yesterday an investigator came who is the husband of a family of members. i think his wife wants really bad for him to get baptized, and we told her in our time here we are going to baptize him. so it was really exciting to see him there, and i think he liked the time with his family. on top of that yesterday we went to a return apt. with a family we had taught once before, but i couldnt tell if they were really interested. we were a little late because the lesson before went long. and when we got there the dad said, we were worried you wouldnt come. then we taught them about joseph smith and i think they felt the spirit, they promised to pray about it and we are going back next week. our mission president said we should focus on families, because only as families can the people experience the full joys of the temple. it makes me so excited to think that maybe these families that we are working with will one day be in the temple.

well its hard to believe its almost christmas. i dont know what it will be like here other than that we will eat a lot. but im excited for you guys. just thinking about snow and all the family together makes me excited. I hope that you all can find a way to enjoy it even if im not there, just hire someone to tell stupid jokes and it will be like i never left.

well im sorry but the timers going off which means its time to go. i wish i could write more but thats all for now. I love you all so much. and like when i left before, i dont feel overly home sick. but i definitely appreciate the time we spent together a whole lot more. im already excited for our first time together again. but that will come fast so i dont have time to think about that. I love you all , work hard until next week, be happy its almost christmas. till next week love

Elder Jacobson

Another week has passed like a dream again. This crazy as every week feels faster than last week. This week we worked hard to find people to teach. my Spanish is improving and I am participating in lessons and more. Yesterday was Sunday and we had a investigator go to church with his family who are members. and also I think we found a family of gold. this family was well ready to hear our message and teach them about Joseph Smith and resurrection. When did we share the story of the first vision, feel the spirit very strong and I think they sat down too. final in this week went very well.

premera semana en el campo

Justin and his Trainer in La Grandeza

Elder Heywood and Elder Jacobson

(looks like the tie trading has begun. I don't remember him packing this green tie! Ü)

yo attatched algo fotos de mi experiencia misional. tengo mucho más, pero el computador toma 5 minutos cada foto, entonses solo les dio 5. mi primer semana en el campo ha sido muy bien. esta muy differente del ccm, y me gusta mucho. mi compañero se llama Elder Heywood. el teine como 14 meses en el campo, y El es bien calidad, puedo ver que el esta listo para trabajar, y yo sé que peudo aprender mucho de el. nuestra area se llama lagrandesa, y tambien esta muy bien. estamos los dos nuevos en esta area, entonses no sabemos casi nada, pero estamos aprendiendo cada dia. mi español no es perfecto, pero puedo entender mucho de la genta aqui. Dijo Elder Heywood que despues uno cambio, voy a entender casi todo. veremos.

well thats all my spanish for this week. ha i hope all that made sense to you, because im not sure if it even makes sense to me. so like i said my new companions name is Elder Heywood. He is awesome. he has a year plus a few months in the field, and im his second son. i can tell he likes to work hard and that i can learn a lot from him, and i think that we are going to get a lot done with our time together. our area is called la grandeza. its up in the mountains like i was hoping for, and it is living up to its reputation of being nice and cold, its been real nice for me. our area just got split from another so in a way we are kind of opening the area, so thats way cool. Its been some work because we dont know anything about the area or the people. luckily there is one elder here that has been in the area about 3 months, so he kind of is showing us the ropes, and introducing us to the people. we met the bishop and his counselors, a bunch of members and 1 investigator named hermana monica. we also found 2 people and taught them lessons, and we have appointments to return and teach again. on sunday the attendance was 59 which is pretty good for our little area, but the member roster has like 300 plus, so alot of work is going to be reactivating. elder heywood says it will be a lot of work, but i have a good feeling that we are going to strengthen this area a lot, i think that we can work miracles here.

the people are awesome. the area we are in is quiet, and very calm. a lot of members say that other areas are sometimes dangerous, but ours is very calm and tranquilo. we live in a house with 2 other elders, and they are way cool as well. we live in the house of a family of a mom, and her 3 kids, 2 are older then us, and the other one is 15 or 16. on top of those 4 there is a bunch of people always coming and going, i dont know yet who is related and how, its just like a big happy family. they cook all the meals for us, and its always really good, especially they have this drink that is like vanilla hot chocolate, that they always serve on the cold mornings, its so good.

well i dont have a lot of time left, but ill just say that things are great here. sometimes im not really sure whats going on, but i think my spanish is getting better everyday. Im learning alot to trust my Heavenly Father and have patience. Im so grateful for this chance to learn grow and serve. i love you all, and im grateful to have had such a great family. i hope all is going well there, and that everyone is happy and content with life. enjoy your week. until next week. Elder Jacobson.

Translation

I attatched some pictures of my missionary experience. I have a lot more, but the computer takes 5 minutes per photo, entonses only gave them 5. my first week in the field has been very positive. It is very differente from ccm, and I really like it. my companion is Elder Heywood. He has 14 months in the field, and the quality is good, I can see that he is ready to work, and I know that I'll learn a lot from him. La grandeza our area is called, and is also very good. we are both new to this area, entonses know almost nothing, but we are learning every day. My Spanish is not perfect, but I can understand a lot of people here. Elder Heywood said that after a change, I will understand almost everything. we'll see.

with Elder Bassett

With Elder Evans (companion in the Provo MTC)

With the CCM President and His wife (I think)

With Elder Thornley(Companion at the CCM)

With his Class?

ultimo mensaje del ccm

well i think i only have a few minutes, but were supposed to write and say that were leaving the ccm tomorrow. as far as i can tell ill be somewhere deep in the mountains and its very unlikley that e mail, or even regular mail will be available there, so this may be our last communication for some time. haha just kidding. well it may be true, i really have no idea right now. but im excited to go and i think im ready, or at least as ready as ill ever be. its time to go do work i guess. but i love all of you so much. ill be praying for you all. keep working hard and having faith, and ill try to do thesame. well thats all my time for now. ill talk to you when i talk to you. love } Elder Jacobson

Bubbles

If anyone was curios about what Justin was talking about in his last email, here it is. One of our favorite "Whose Line" skits. Enjoy!

The Last Week

hola familia. lo siento que no he escribido mucho o contestando sus
preguntas. es dificil porque no tengo mucho tiempo para escribir.
pero yo sè que puedo hacer mejor entonses tratare a contestar sus
preguntas. ayer aprendé sobre passive voice se, o en otras palabras
passive voice se fue aprendado por me haha mal chiste. en la mañana
asistí el templo. fue muy bonito. este semana mi presidente misional
nos comprometemos a hablar no más ingles toda la semana. es dificil
pero estoy tratando, yo sé que será mejor cuando empezo en el campo.


well thats all the spanish for this week. i cant believe next week
i will be in the field. im not sure im entirely ready, but i guess im
as ready as ill ever be. sorry that my emails havnt been that
informative lately. its weird, there is all these things i could say,
but when its actually time to e mail i have trouble thinking of
things. also we had a fireside, by the local general authority , y el
dijo that as missionaries we need to always be bringing everyone
closer to Christ, including our family. so he said when i write you
guys dont talk about weather and food, but instead talk about the
important gospel things i have been learning.

ha that being said i know i could definately tell you more about my life here, so you all
dont feel so in the dark. ha but now i dont remember what you asked,
and i dont have time to go find the questions. but if your wondering
if an anderoid took over and is writing you, just ask yourself if an
android could say this --- bubles - was- her - name- and - trouble -
was - her- game- fourty - years - old - and - lovely - as - a - dove
- she- floating - on - water - above. well that waisted some time
but i think it is pretty substantial evidence that it is really me.


well to tell you about my life here. its great. we usually have
sports in the morning, shower, breakfast then personal study. in
the morning is when i read the libro de mormon. after that we have
class, my teachers are hermano miranda y hermana rojas, i like them
a lot, we play a game to help us learn like every day. after that we
go to lunch at twelve. regardless of what the food is i cover it with
about a pound of fresh salsa and this spicy green chili sauce. after
that we have about for hours of time where we decide what to do.
usually we do an hour personal, and hour companionship, and an hour of
language, other than that it just depends. then we have dinner.
then class with hermana alvarez y hermana lopez. thats also always
very fun. then my companion and i go lock all the doors. change
brush, write in journal, pray , go to sleep, repeat. ha thats about
it . its not too exciting but the days are always enjoyable.

well im down to about 1 minute so i will say good buy. i love you all so
much, thanks for the emails and letters from everyone, they mean so
much to me. this week i think im going to study more about the
restoration in chapter 3 so you can all follow along if you want.
well 30 seconds now. ill talk to you all next week. hang in there
and know that im praying for you. remember to always be happy

love
elder jacobson

Google Traslation
hello family I feel it that I have not written a lot or answering its questions. it is difficult because I do not have long time to write. but I sèe that I can do entonses better will try to answer his questions. yesterday we learned on passive voice, or in other words passive voice went away aprendado me haha badly joke. in the morning I attended the temple. it was very pretty. this week my missionary president we commit ourselves to speak not English all the week. it is difficult but I am trying, I know that will be better when I begin in the field.

Hello Familia

muy bien semana esta semana. estoy aprendiendo muchas cosas. siento
que mi espanol esta improviendo cada dia. a cerca de trec dias pasado,
2 elderes benga a mi para preguntar una pregunta, uno fue north
american y el otra, latino. ellos preguntaron a mi donde les
necesitan ir. en mal español yo explicè a el latino y explicè en
ingles a el otro, haha soy un bi-lingual. pues no hay mucho tiempo
por mas español, tengo que usar 10 minutos cada oracion entonses
escribire en ingles.

well any way things are great here. im counting the days
till i head to the field, im pretty nervous but very excited. this
past week i studied about recognizing the spirit, and charity. its
crazy reading about charity. Corinthians 13 talks a lot about how
everything will pass away, except charity which never faileth. ive
been trying a lot harder to see everyone as children of God, and give
them the love they deserve. one day as i was falling asleep i was
feeling kind of bad because i felt like i had accomplished very little
that day. as i prayed i realized i felt that way because i had not
shown one person sincere love that day. im grateful that the gospel
allows us to change and become something better tomorrow than we are
today.

the A.P. life isn't too much different from
normal. besides the small army of servants at my command, and this
guy who keeps following me around and fanning me with a big leaf, really
not a lot has changed. ha but it has been fun to get to know more people
as they come to my companion and i for help and to ask questions. the
other day a latino elder came to me and was talking to me, but i
couldn't understand a word he said. out of 3 or 4 sentences i only
picked out the words- donde - and- compro -, which mean - where - and
- i buy -. ha i think i had the gift of tongues because i realized
that he didnt have something and he was trying to figure out how to
get it. i said que necesita? and he said champoo, and soap(which i
cant remember the word for). so we went and got him some. ha ha i
guess its not that cool, but i thought it was pretty great.

this week i think i will study chapter 2 effective study, in preach my
gospel, so all the future missionaries at home should take a look at
that one, if you want.

well i have three minutes so i will finish by telling you all
i love you . sometimes things are way busy here, but every time i slow
down for a second i feel your love for me. the other day an elder
started singing a bar j wrangler song and it was the first time i felt
home sick since i got here. ha well hang in there for another week
and i will do the same. im so grateful to be here, and i hope its
blessing your lives as much as mine. hasta proximo semana adios de
elder jacobson

Google Translation

This week has been a very good week. I'm learning a lot. I feel my
Spanish is improving every day. about 3 days ago
2 Elders began to ask me a question, one was north
American and other Latino. they asked me where I
needed to go. in broken Spanish I explained to the Latino and
English to the other, haha I'm a bi-lingual. there is not much time
for more Spanish, I have 10-minutes left to write in English.

Hello Again Family

hola familia, pues, no aprendí mucho esta semana. actualmente yo
aprendí mucho, pero no son cosas que verá en mi e mail. esta semana
fue fantastico. mi compañero y yo enseñamos 3 lecciónes y estoy
estudiando sobre roconocer el espiritu, preguntas de alma, y paciencia
en my estudiar personal. a noche recibiremos un nuevo grupo de
misionaros en el ccm, porque los antiguos salieron esta mañana. y
tambien yo soy el nuevo assistant to the president. haha no se porque
pero estoy animado por la opportunidad a servir y aprender más. mañana
más nuevo latino misioneros estara aqui.

well thats all the spanish i have for today, i dont know how much sense it makes. i just read my spanish part from last week and i couldn't really tell what i was trying to say.

well this week has been pretty exciting. it was sad today because a large group of the friends i made here left for the field. it was tough because i know that i will probably never see them again. especially the natives. but im excited for them and for their adventure.

so with the leaving of that group, brought the leaving of our assistants to the president. ha so my companion and i got called. i don't think its a huge calling but its pretty exciting for me. we will see how that goes.

also today we got to go to the market and purchase anything our little elder hearts desired. ha well almost anything. it was awesome. i bought a beanie with strings coming down the side and out of the top. ha i think that's number 4 for me. it was quite an adventure. we got to practice bartering for the stuff we bought. but i think i wasn't very good because i always felt bad trying to say i would only pay 6 dollars for something they wanted 8 for. especially when i was saying it to someone with so much less then myself. ha, but it was way fun, and i think after every exchange both them and i left thinking we got the better deal.

so like i said i haven't learned a whole lot that you will be able to tell, but i am learning a ton. i think soon enough i will see if i can go a whole day with no english, but it will probably be in a few weeks. well other than that there isn't much to say except that i love you all, and im absolutely loving my time here. today when i was in the market bartering for piñas in español i thought, i cant believe im here. its really incredible to me.

i hope everything at home with work and school and the miriadanal cornocopia of other nutritional things that are filling your metaphorical plate of life are well. i pray for you all every night and ask my Heavenly Father to send you my love. keep working hard and i will do the same. hasta proximo semana, adios from elder jacobson

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

**hello family, then, did not learn much this week. I currently
I learned a lot, but there are things you see on my e mail. this week
was fantastic. My partner and I taught 3 lessons and I'm learning about the spirit, soul questions and patience in my personal study. tonight we receive a new group missionaries in the ccm, because the old left this morning. and also I'm the new assistant to the president. haha do not know why but I am encouraged by the Opportunity to serve and learn more. In the morning Newest Latin missionaries will be here.

53399248-d373-4fda-9831-db6c9b25df07

1.03.01

Justin and his Beanies

It was funny, but not unexpected, hearing that one of Justin's first purchases was a beanie with the braids hanging down. This was a picture of him in the hat he wore pretty much his ENTIRE Junior year. What a goof!



Here is another sweet story. These are pictures of Justin holding my sister's new little son in the hospital. Baby Calan's birth mother had one request.....that Justin pass down his beanie to Cal as he got older. It's a promise I know he plans on keeping!

53399248-d373-4fda-9831-db6c9b25df07

1.03.01

Hola Hola Hola

hola familia. leó sus otra e mails y it took como viente minutos a traducir la carta de dayne. entoses solo tengo a cerca cinco más minutos a escribir mi carta a ustedes. esta semana estuvó muy bien. ensenó trec lecciones en espaniol, y cada meal yo hablo solo español a los latinos. escribé un discurso todo en español y solo buscé como dos palabras in el diccionario. apprendo mas cada dia sobre español, y mas importante sobre el evangelio y las obras del espiritu. me les amo aprender. (ha i dont know if that is correct, we learned direct object pronouns ayer). pues eso es todo puedo decir en español entoses, hasta proximo semana. *

well that was my spanish for the week. you should be impressed because I dont even have anything with me, that was all out of my head. i dont know if it was all correcto, but i think it was close. well another week goes by, its hard to believe that ive been here two weeks now. it went by like a dream. i leave the ccm in 4 weeks and then my practice time is over. but i think i will get better. on saturday we got to go to the temple and talk to the members there. i was pleasantly surprised because i could understand about 60 percent of what was said to me. but i think they talked slow to help me out. tomorrow we get to go to the central park and contact, and try to place books of mormon. im so excited, well see how it goes.

i got your dear elder letters last night that was really great to hear from you all. those and your e-mails make me feel closer to you all. i love you all so much, thank you for your love and support. in general conference elder holland spoke of how he didn’t feel he had given his parents enough gratitude for the things they did for him, and i feel to some extent the same way. im not much of a talker, but i hope all of you back home know of my gratitude. every day i realize how great my childhood and youth was, and its all because of those who always loved and supported me. so thanks to everyone for every thing.

well ive got about 8 minutes left, so what else can i say. ha its hard i dont reall know what to say. right now i can look out and see the spires of the temple, its small but very beautiful. on sunday i had to give the prayer in spanish, it was short but i think i didnt say anything crude or offensive, that’s always a plus. at lunch one time i was trying to ask one of the latinos if it was bad manners or not to eat something with my fingers but instead i said ¿esta bien yo como con mi pedos? ha they laughed at me. well thats my time for this week . keep praying for me, and i will for you. i love you all so much and im excited to hear from you. thanks for all love Elder Hawk+obson


* I went to google translate for the beginning of Justin’s letter
hello family. I read your other e-mails and it took like twenty minutes to translate the letter from Dayne. I have only about five more minutes to write my letter to you. This week was great. I taught three lessons in spanish, and every meal I speak only Spanish to Latinos. I wrote a speech all in Spanish and only looked up like two words in the dictionary. I understand more spanish every day, and most important about the gospel and the work of the spirit. I love learning them. (Ha i dont know if that is correct, we learned direct object pronouns yesterday). Well, that is all I can say in Spanish, until next week.

Another Week

well another week has flown by. its so weird being here. its like a dream. well its hard to even know where to start. my teachers names are hermano cuque and hermana chacon. they are incredibly awesome, they teach in basically only spanish, even though they speak english well. but they always make it so we can understand the point they are trying to get across. since last time i wrote, the latino elders have come to the ccm. they have become some of my best friends, despite the language barrier. mostly we just talk about tortuga ninjas (ninja turtles), and the whole conversation is noises and hand motions, but its great. im getting along with my companion very well, he likes to work and he took 4 years of spanish so he is helping me learn.

its hard to even put into words how much i am enjoying my time here. the hours pass like seconds, it seems like i never have enough time to study and learn. everyone here is so friendly, and to top it all off i get to play futbol every morning. the latins are ballers, one of them told me that -mi corozon es una pelota- or my heart is a soccer ball (i think) ha i don't know what else more to say! i need to start writing all the cool stuff down so i can remember them when p-day comes.

today we go to the temple, im so excited. i bought my first souvenirs, a wool bag that says guatemala on it, and some colorful scripture cases for my spanish scriptures. on friday we are going to try to teach on of our practice investigators about prophets, the apostasy, and the restoration all in spanish, so wish me luck. im trying to get good pictures, its crazy when i look out the window, there is a mountain of trees, with buildings poking out, its like something you would see on a post card. the weather has been unbelievably nice, the latins are always saying estoy frio in the mornings, but i love it. the rain clouds cover the sun most of the day, so its only gotten hot once or twice. there is 8 people in my district and they are all great. but i don't really have time to write all there names, but there is a trio of hermanas which makes the class way different from when it was only elders, its fun.

well thats about all the time i have for today ill write some letters. right now im going to email lester the man i met on the plane on the way here, and ask if he has found a book of mormon, im going to try to figure out a way to send one to him. well as always i love you all thanks to everyone for the prayers and support, and sorry to any one who has sent me a letter or package and i havent responded, its just hard to find a whole lot of time, they keep us busy. me ama ustedes mucho y estoy animado escuchar para/por ustedes. ha i don't know if that made any sense. but i love you all hasta luego. Elder Jacobson

Hello From Guatemala

hello family sorry i don't know how to push enter on this key board, and i don't think i have a lot of time. but i got here fine the plane ride was good, we went over the gulf of mexico, it was so cool. i sat next to a man named lester, he had a minor in theology and like talking about the bible. i told him about the book of mormon, and he said he wanted to read it and gave me his e mail to tell him how im doing . it was awesome. its awesome here it hasn't been hot because its been raining the whole time. my new companions name is elder thortan from las vegas he is way cool i think we will get along well. this morning i played soccer on a concrete court with a goal at the end . it was just like the nike soccer videos of street soccer. they feed us a fresh made authentic guatemalan meal every meal .. i love it . im not fluent yet, but i think it will only be a few more days. well it was great talking to everyone yesterday . i hope everyone is enjoying their lives. im having a great time here. i love you all. i dont know when i will send the next letter, and by the way they said dont send packages because i have to pay taxes on everything i get so its better for me to buy it here . well thats it for now sorry its so short and not that detailed but i think there trying to get like a hundred people through so everyone knows their family made it safe. again i love you guys and pray for you. i ll talk to you when i can . love elder jacobson

Another Week Down

Hola mi familia,

Hoy es miercoles y esta mi p-dia, me gusta la(el) MTC, no puedo hablo mucho en espanol pero yo aprendo mas todos dia. la comida es muy bien aqui y mi companero es marravilloso

well that's not very much spanish, and i don't know if im even saying what im trying to say. i think i could probably say more but its taking too long to conjure up the words to say. but the spanish is coming very well. its amazing here, i learn so much every day. in my personal study im reading Jesus the Christ. its so interesting there is so many things that i would have never realized that are being pointed out to me every day. in companionship study we are starting to study lesson two in predicad mi evangelio. its pretty cool to learn about the plan of salvation, and im already getting excited for the day when i can teach people about Gods wonderful plan for our happiness.

so on friday we had a chance to go do a more realistic practice. it kind of reminded me of the trauma lanes at AIT where we would put into practical application the things we had been working on. so it started out that we had to go talk to someone only in spanish, get to know some things about them, share a short message about our church and ask if they would like to hear more. we did that twice with two different people. it went pretty good. i think my companion and i said pretty much everything we wanted to, but i only understood about half the words that the native speakers said to me. sometimes i just smiled and nodded and said si tambien. so after we got to know them we had the chance to teach the first lesson in english. that went well i think, we got to teach a lady that was native to guatemala. it was great teaching, it started a little bit rough , because we had trouble diving into the lesson, but it got less rocky over time. and i think the spirit was there.

since then we have been doing more practicing teaching. we learned more ways to make teaching more comfortable and less complicated. today at 10 thirty we are going to teach one of my friends from high school .. i think the more practice i get at it the better.

well other than that not a whole lot has happened, well out of the ordinary at least. we have class every day, and always have alot of time to study on our own. its a lot different from basic training because at basic they expected the bare minimum from us, and enforced it with iron fists. here they expect us to do everything in our power to be perfect representatives of Christ, but they enforce the rules with love. its sometimes hard to stay focused. some days we have like 4 hours straight to just study, and its easy to let my attention wander. but im trying to work very hard here so that im more prepared when the day comes that i need it.

one exciting thing is my travel plans came this week. we leave tuesday the 28, about 6 days from now. im so excited. i imagine my spanish abilities with grow at unimaginable exponential rates. its going to be cool to finally see the country that will be my home for the next 2 years.

thanks to all friends and family for your letters and prayers. they have helped me so much to remember why im here. all of you have been such great examples to me. i hope i can make you guys proud.

well my time is just about up so ill send this before it kicks me off. again i love you guys and pray for you. have a good week and ill try to. talk to you again in roughly 168 hours. until then, adios

Hola Mi Familia

Dear Family,

Today is Wednesday, exactly one week since i last saw all of you, and so much has happened i don't know if I'll be able to get it in one e-mail. like I said in my letter (which I hope you got) my companion is Elder Shane Evans. He is so cool. We get along really well, and I'm learning a lot from him. There is 9 people in my district, there used to be 10 but 1 had to go home because he was too home sick. I sleep on the top floor in my building, and the top bunk in my room, good thing im not afraid of heights. my companion and i share a room with two elders that have been here about 8 weeks . they are way cool too. its amazing how well people are learning spanish, including myself. Last night i Prayed in spanish, and i could express almost every thought with spanish, (well it was more like spanglish, but i was proud). i can only say that it is the gift of tongues.

I have two teachers, Hermano Mcallaster y Hermano Ortiz, they are both awesome as well. everyone here is just happy to be here, every one smiles and laughs and is looking for ways to help. Well today is P day so its the only day im aloud to write e-mails or letters, its been tough not to write you guys, but im trying to be as obedient as i can, so i can keep the spirit with me.

we have done some things where we role play on teaching people who pretend to be investigators, its hard for me because i have never been that good at talking, but it is awesome to see how it would be to be telling someone the wonderful news of the gospel who had never heard it before. Yesterday we practiced knocking on our classroom door, and our teacher answered and our goal was to try to make an appointment or get in to teach him. I mostly let my companion do the talking, and gave him the old Jacobson stone face, the Dawg will know what im talking about. Next tuesday my companion and I are going to go teach someone the first lesson with just the two of us. i think I wont do that good but we have to practice to get better i guess, and i just thought of it but the tuesday after that i think i will be leaving for guatemala. my teacher says that will be the best thing for my spanish, because i wont be able to keep resorting back to english, it will force me to learn, so im excited.

Well sorry my thoughts are so scattered, but i only have 30 minutes to get it all down, and my time is just about up. thank you all so much for your letters and the wonderful packages, all that candy has made the the most popular elder on the floor, and thanks for the rasberries and peppers, but im sad to say they wouldnt let the salsa through, too bad. in closing i would just like to bear my testimony is spanish, Dayne said to always write some spanish in my letters so we can see how it progresses.

so.. yo quero compartir mi testimonio que, yo se que Jose Smith es el profeta de Dios y el profeta veradero de el restuaracion. yo se que el libro de mormon es la pablara de Dios. yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro salvidor y Dios y Jesucristo nos ama. yo se que tenemos el profeta viviente de Dios. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

ha its pretty short but i think i spelled all the words right, thanks to all my family and friends who have given so much support. I love you all

See you soon enough

Elder Jacobson