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