Another Beautiful Week

well another beautiful week has gone by. ha, every time i sit down to write you guys it seems like i was just here. the time is really flying.

So we had a good week. Nothing super exciting happened, but i felt that we are really making a difference. We have been having alot of success in finding people, which is always the first step, now we just have to teach and baptize. Elder Tadeo is a good missionary with alot of experience, Its been fun working with him and learning new things. We have three or four people that we hope to baptize in the month of abril, and a bunch more that are at least accepting our visits, so things look posotive for the future of La Grandeza.

This week we had alot of opportunities to serve, which is a real blessing because it seems like the people here dont feel comfortable accepting service. they always give the excuse that they dont want us to get our close dirty, haha, one time we saw a lady get off a bus with a 100 pound bag of corn. we offered to help her carry it and she said know we can get it (referring to herself and her 8 year old daughter) after she made 3 unsuccessful attempts to carry it, elder heywood and i just picked it up and started walking. But we have been praying for chances to serve, and i have really seen how more and more people are willing to accept our help. We got to harvest potatoes, move a pile of rocks, move a pile of dirt and rocks, cut down corn stocks, chop wood, and a bunch of other little tasks. So it was a good week for service.

this week i learned alot about faith and obedience. the more i learn about it the more i realize that all the rules and commandments God gives us are just to help us live happier. I think that when we come to be Gods will be the day that we understand and live all of Gods rules perfectly. Im also realizing more and more about how Faith with action really is power. in one of the conference talks, one of the Apostles says that he is sure that Christ used faith to make the most distant galaxies and the smallest building block of matter. I think if we can master Faith and obedience we will see alot more power and success in our lives.

My spanish is coming along well. The other day i had my first dream in spanish. ha I only remember being in school and the kid sitting in front of me kept talking to me in spanish. when i woke up i thought to myself, "he doesnt speak spanish". Another funny thing that keeps happening is that alot of times in the middle of a sentence i switch from spanish to english unintentionally, and without noticing. I think my brain is having a hard time knowing which is the dominant language. haha crazy.

So I saw the cleats jalen made. I with this computer had inventor so i could see them from all angles, but i guess ill have to wait till i get home to see all the amazing things he has done. I also went back and looked at the pictures of johnnies gymnastics meet. We really have a pretty amazing family. Tell everyone to keep up the good work, or I will send a swarming bee hive of PWN to you.

The news about what happened to Grammy and Grampy is pretty devastating. Its kind of crazy because we always feel like that kind of stuff happens to other people, and never really expect it to happen to our own family. But what a miracle and a blessing that everything is going to be alright. Let them know that i will be sending them my prayers. It will probably be a long difficult recovery, but God sends us challenges to make us stronger and to help us trust Him more.

Well i think thats all for now. Im loving life, and learning a ton here. I cant say that i never miss you guys, but the time is going by fast, and it goes by even faster when i work harder. Next week is General conference, and im super excited about that, and about a month after that ill be making my Mothers day call. So there is alot of really exciting things coming up. I love you all, talk to you next week .

Elder Jacobson

Changes

So last wednesday completed my 3rd change here in La Grandeza. I didnt have changes, so ill be here in lagrandeza another 6 weeks. ha but i feel like i did get changed because everyone around me changed. Elder Heywood got sent to the coast to enjoy the blistering heat of summer, i dont think he was too excited about the heat, but he has been in the mountains almost his whole mission, so i think he was ready to go. also the other 2 elders that live with us had changes, so i was the only one that stayed for another. im happy that i stayed, i like it here.
my new companions name is elder Tadeo, he is from El Salvador, and to be honest, i think im going to kill him. actually i know im going to kill him. ha ha for those of you who arent fluent in mission talk that doesnt mean i dont like him. He's cool, and i know im going to learn alot. I said im going to kill him, because this is his final change in the mission before he heads back to his house. Im happy because he's not using it as an excuse to not work. we worked really hard this week, and we are starting to see results, mostly in the ward with less active members. Elder Heywood and i realized a few weeks ago that inviting people back to church may get them to come once or twice, but if they dont gain their own testimony, they will stop coming eventually. so we have been focusing alot of time on teaching the less active members about the restoration, and alot are starting to show up on their own every week.
It was kind of a week of waiting as far as investigators go. We had alot of appts planned that I was excited about, because they were with families that seemed pretty positive. but at almost every appt they said that they had to be somewhere, or that their husband couldnt get off work, but that we could definitely come back next week. It was kind of tough because i was hoping to have alot of success this week, but sometimes i guess we just have to be patient and wait for the timing of the Lord.
My spanish has really improved alot this week. I can express my thoughts alot more fluently because i dont have the option of changing to english when i cant think of how to say something. So im pretty happy about having a Latino companion.
Well what else can i say. It didnt rain this week, but it got super hot. the sun is so strong here and it will burn you in seconds. (just kidding... but seriously). along with the 3 elders that left from my house, 3 others left from my zone, so we got a bunch of new people. im excited, they all seem like really good missionaries.
Well i guess thats all for this week. this last week went by super fast, and im sure it wont be long until im sitting here writing you again. Thanks for your letters and e mails, and everything your doing there for me. Congratulations to johnny and lonica on successful competitions. REPRESENT. I love you guys, keep me posted on the latest . Talk to you next week.

It's Me Again

man im running out of good titles for my e-mails. ha ill have to work on that. But, another week has gone by just like that, and march is like half way over, its crazy how fast the time goes.

its good to hear that everything is going well with work and life, sounds like the jacobson family is as busy as ever. its crazy that youve got your own office now, it sounds like everything is going good with that. and johhny and lonica are both busy with their competitions, I expect to hear about some victories, and giant trophies in the not too distant future.

So things are great here in la grandeza, the work is moving along, and Heavenly Father is continuing to bless us with people to teach. In our zone of san pedro, we have a list of all the past months and the number of baptisms in our zone in that month. our leaders told us that the numbers in the past were always between 0 and 3. last month we broke the record with six, and this month we are scheduled to get almost 15. the only problem is that my companion and i dont have any baptismal dates to contribute to our zone this month. We are both praying and working hard to find someone that is ready. Im sure that with enough faith, we will be able to find someone, and help them make this sacred step in their life.

In other news changes are this week, i have a feeling that im going to stay here in La Grandeza for at least 1 more change, but Elder Heywood is pretty sure that he is going to another area. They say that its rare for a companionship to be together for more than 3 changes, and he has been in the mountains for a long time, so he thinks its his turn to head out. we will see what happens, we are supposed to find out later tonight.

This morning i, and the other 3 elders in our house had a little party, because we think that everyone is going to be heading to different places. We called it pot luck p-day. everyone made a different breakfast food, and we all got to eat everyone else's food. it was pretty fun. I made oat meal and hot chocolate, the hot chocolate was kind of gross, but the oatmeal was pretty good. we also had eggs beans and tortillas, and other assorted things. it wasnt until after everyone had eaten and was super stuffed that we realized that no one in the house had toilet paper. big mistake. but o well i guess you live and learn.

The man that i told you about last week that broke his leg is doing very well. we had more chances to visit him, and it looks like he will start coming back to church when his leg is better. its good news because we think that all his sons will follow suit, and we will have more worthy priesthood holders in church. Another cool experience happened saturday. we had some appts fall, so we went to knock some doors. as we were walking the rain picked up really strong. at the first door that man there told us that he was catholic and didnt want anything. then a big gust of wind blew alot of water into his house, so he said come in and get out of the rain. he let us sit down and we talked a little bit, then we asked if we could share a message with him, and he said yes. we were able to teach him and his family all about the restoration, and Joseph Smith. they understood really well and we were able to make another appt with him.

On tuesday and wednesday i had some classes with the President. I decided to fast both days to help me feel the spirit and learn more. I learned a ton, and really felt the spirit tell me what i could change. It was a great chance to learn from such a powerful man, and now i have a new focus of how i am going to work to have more success. I really enjoyed it alot.

Well if there has been any worry about me not eating well, it can stop now. i have had 3 different people on 3 different occasions tell me that it looks like im getting fat. ha i think it might be true, because we get fed almost everywhere we go, and i dont have a whole lot of time to exercise, except 30 min in the morning, and walking. ha ill have to see what i can do. i cant come home fat. i just need to figure out how to stop eating the sweet homemade bread that everyone gives me. Now that will require some faith.

Well thats the main points from this week. it was another good week, and i am learning new things every day. keep us in your prayers, and you will always be in mine. keep working hard, and remember that our trials are to make us stronger, and help us change to be more like Heavenly Father. Have fun this week. ill talk to you next monday. I love you all

Elder Jacobson.

P.S. let me know what is happening with the weather back home, and give me some details on the situation in japan. and be looking in the mail for something from me, i sent you guys something small.

6 Months

well another month has gone by. I just did up the math, and tomorrow will be my cumplimez to complete six months on the mission. Its hard for me to believe that im a fourth done with my mission, i think ill have to make sure to work really hard to make the last three fourths better

so things here are going very well. it was kind of a tough week for us because we had something, basically every day. on tuesday Elder Heywood had to leave for reu again, so another elder and i worked here in la grandeza, but it was tough to get anything done because we had cancelled all of our appts because we didnt think we would be here. On tuesday we also cancelled all of our appts because we thought we would be working in another area for our last area attack. on thursday we had a meeting with President Maravilla. He taught us about agency and how we can use it to free ourselves, or enslave ourselves, it was really awesome, he is a super powerful speaker, and he really loves us. on friday we had interviews with the President. I only got about two minutes to talk to him because there are so many elders. but he taught me about how i can learn to follow the spirit better, i think it will help me alot if i put it in practice. Saturday and sunday were more effective days, and i feel that we got alot done. so all in all our numbers werent super great for this week, but i feel like i learned and grew alot. Bring on another week.

So changes are coming up this wednesday. The other changes didnt make me that nervous, but now ive got a few months here, so im not sure if ill be staying or heading out. Either way ill be happy, but the truth is that i want a few more weeks here to see what we can get done. i think the ward is starting to progress, and we are having alot of success with the less actives, as well as with some investigator families. Like i said, ill be happy wherever the Lord wants me, we´ll just have to see what happens this monday.

So like i already said, not a whole lot happened this week but there were a few highlights. The first was that one of our less active members dropped a bag full of wood on his leg, and now his ankle is the size of a cantaloupe. It may not seem like a highlight, but the Lord works in mysterious ways. the story is that we had tried various times to go find him, but he is never home. his wife says he is living with another women, and he only shows up every now and then. but on saturday we found him in his house, and found that he is unable to leave. We had a good talk with him, and he told us that he has always known that the church is true, but stopped coming because he got offended. we talked to him about how its important to forgive others. the other good news with that is that he has like 6 sons that haven't been coming to church ever since he left, so we think if we can work with him, we will be able to re-activate a cornucopia of people. my companion said that in ten years when he is an active happy member he will look back and see that breaking his leg was the best thing that ever happened to him. I think alot of times our lives are like that, even though we might not be doing anything bad, sometimes or other we are all going to have hard things come up in our lives. I think the problem with us as humans is that we can only see the pain and hardship, without looking at the silver lining. I sometimes wonder what our lives would be like if we were able to only see the good in everything. I bet it would change alot. It kind of reminds me of the story of Alma in Mosiah18-24.

Well another highlight happened last night. we had an appt with a family that didnt seem super positive. but we showed up and starting teaching the 3 daughters that are all 20 something years old. as we taught more and more people came into the room, and we ended up finding 8 new investigators. so it was a good way to finish up the week.

The last highlight happened yesterday as well. In church our recent convert bore his testimony. he talked about how his life wasnt really great before when he was just drinking and playing soccer all the time. but he said, im grateful that Heavenly Father sent the Elders to teach me the gospel, and now my life is alot better. It really made everything worth it, and made me want to find more people to teach the true gospel.

Well thats all for now, im almost out of time. but Just know that i love you all, and that its good to hear how everyone is progressing with their own lives, and how you are progressing as a family. keep doin work. and ill try to do the same. enjoy some tomatoes and rasberries for me. adios for now.