Don't Hate

hey your probly gonna kill me, but im way out of time today.  what basically happened was that they told me i had to send pic-chus to make a slide show for the fools that are finish-un their missions.  well basically i  accidentally took way to much tiempo pick-un out pic-chus and then all of a sudden i realized i have no time.  but it was a good week.  we workin hard and having some success.  i had my first baptism in the area after 7 months here in pueblo nuevo.  it was an 8 year old boy.  technically it should only count for the branch, but they're feelin bad for me, so they let us teach him.  but i felt happy and the members were all happy.  hopefully we can use that baptism to find other ones.
   im not really thinkin alot about home still.  in the whole district we are kind of down.  we dont have a lot of investigators or people to baptize.  so there is a ton ton ton to do.  i like it though because i dont have a lot of time to think about other things.
   i had two pretty cool experiences this week that helped me alot.  first was in my interview with president.  i expressed my concerns that i felt like i had my faith very low because it had been so long without a baptism.  he talked about abinadi and asked how many baptisms he had.  i said zero.  then he told me that i had done alot of things that i may never even know. he talked about my old comp elder velasques and how when he got home he imidiately asked for a calling and wanted to work.  and other things like that. i cant really explain it but he really made me feel that i had accomplished more than i thought.
  the other one was last night.  a family invited us to dinner, so we went. (obviously)  after we ate we were talking.  we all laughed alot then later the mom said oh how we are going to miss elder jacob when he leaves.  it was kind of a sad moment, but i really felt the love of the family, and that i have been something special for them.  so i feel good.  i hope that i have accomplished Gods purpose for me here and helped change someones life.  who knows.  maybe the kid we baptized will grow up to be the first guatemalan prophet.  ha.  well im super out of time.  i love you all have a good first week of school.  talk to you later
          Elder Jacobson

Burned Like a Christmas Chicken

every time we play soccer on p day i get so burned. i dont know why i
dont learn to put on sunblock. so basically right now im burning hot,
and my shirt collar hurts my neck. but i enjoyed myself and it was
totaly worth it.

well as you probably all know im down to like 3 weeks. its so hard
to beleive. its like it hasnt really hit me yet. i try hard not to
get trunky, or baggy as they say here. but its hard sometimes.
sometimes without even wanting to i find myself making plans for what
i will do when im home. speaking of which. would it be possible for
you guys to record all of the "whos line is it any way" episodes. i
think that will be on the top of the list. ha

im happy though because only ocasionaly do i think about things like
that. theres alot to do here, and im staying focused still. we are
really trying to find alot of investigators. a few weeks ago we had
to drop some people because they wouldnt progress. so we basically
wound up with like 1 or 2 investigators. it would stink to leave the
area with no one. so we are talking to everyone and asking for
references from everyone we talk to. its paying off. this week we
found 3 posotive families. its funny how regardless of how many times
ive found a family that doesnt progress. i always get excited when we
find a new one. its like something inside me never stops saying.
"this will be the one" we keep working hard and i havent lost hope of
baptizing someone here.

on saturday we did a cool activity. it was the easiest thing in the
world we just planned like 5 games and bought a piñata and had some
members bake and decorate a cake. we told everyone it would start at
2, planning on starting at 3. at 3 30 there was still no one there.
i got kind of nervouse. but then slowly but surely people starting
showing up. in the end we only had like 20 people there. but 1 of
them was an ivestigator 3 were less actives and 3 were recent
converts. so in the end i felt good about it. when we got the cake
out one of the members started saying. didnt everyone know its elder
jacobsons birthday. everyone got all exited and told me to go by the
cake. i didnt want to break their hearts so i just pretended it was
my birthday. so they all sang to me and shouted happy birthday. the
tradicion here is that whoever is having their birthday has to take a
bite out of the cake with no hands. what always happens is that
someone from behind pushes thier face into the cake. after they sang
they all shouted bite it bite it. so before any one could get close i
took a bite. they all said. that doesnt count do it again. then
like the whole branch stood behind me. i had no other choice so i bit
it again. (how funny that it wasnt even my birthday) as soon as i was
close i felt like 8 hands smash my face into the cake. it was every
where, even on my neck and in my hair. ha we all laughed. it was
fun. but i will have my vengance.. in this life or the next.

well what else to say. on thursday elder platero came from el salvador
to see the baptism of the daughter of the family we baptised. the
next day he came up to my area. ha it was good to see him and we just
laughed at old stories. i get along well with my comp. sometimes i
have to put him in his place. but generally we dont have any
problems. i love the members and the work and plan to keep going till
the end.

i think it would be awesome to go study with the bros in byu idaho.
you guys must have been prompted by the spirit because i had been
having similar thoughts lately. look it up and tell me whats going
down. i think its a great idea

well thats all i have time for. i love you all. enjoy your final
weeks of summer, and keep working hard. remember that the church is
true and that all the keys to happiness and in the scriptures and in
church. talk to you later
Elder Jacobson

The Final Countdown

well theres good news and theres bad news. the good news is that my computer is a spanish speaker, so every single word i write appears with a red underline. you may be wondering if that was supposed to be the bad news. but lets just say that that is about the best thing that has happened to me all day. the bad news is that i woke up this morning to find a dog marking his terretory on my bed. in a furiouse rage of anger i shouted to my compañon. KILL DOG NOW. he responded with the same emphatical force I NO ESPIKIN INGLISH. Thats when i happened to round house kick the poor little guy in his ugly snout. afterwards i realized that i should have kicked the dog instead of my companion. but i guess thats one of lifes priceless little lessons.

later we went to rhetaluleaue. to buy food. i was hangin off the side of the bus as usual. everyone was makin fun of me for being a white guy hangin off the side of the bus. so i decide to do something cool to shut up their dumb mouths. when it was our place to get off i stuck my leg out to jump off while the bus is in motion. thats what all the native experienced bus riders do. the bad news is that right as i jumped the bus driver hitted the breaks. therefor the bus stopped faster than i did. thats when suddenly my knee went rammun into the side of the bus. i screamed out in pain. and all the riders including my companion started chanting "GRINGO ESTUPID, GRINGO ESTUPID"

i limped off having taken a serious blow to my knee and my pride.

the other good news is that our zone did really well and had a lot of success in july. so any way the mission let us go to an amusement park called xetulul. we went there once before. it was way fun. mostly went on bumper cars. other missionaries and i would gang up and smash little kids into the wall. bwahahaha ill show them gringo stupid. i had a lot of fun. the coolest part was to see macedonio. the man that we baptized in san sebastian. his wife was there too. they said that he has been blessing the sacrament every week, and that he is going to baptize his daughter next week. he also asked if it would be possible for me to go see their sealing in october. i told him i would have to see, but that i would do everything i could to be there. what do you guys think about me coming back in october. we can talk about it later.

in other news. we have been working for a long time with an investigator named Luis. he has never really considered baptism before, but my comp went while i was at the park, and he accepted a baptismal date for the 25 of august. we will have to work hard with him because he hasnt come to church yet. but i really feel like it will happen. ill let you know.

for like a year i have been playing the harmonica. ive gotten pretty good. i can play pretty much any hymn by ear. my comp told some members and they all said taht i have to present my tallent in a family home evening tonight. my comp also says that i have to do it in a branch activiy this saturday. i dont know about that but ill think about it.

well thats like all i have time for. just so you know only like 34 % of the first part i wrote was true. no one called me gringo stupid. ha but i love you all. the weeks are flying by. just four more. how crazy. have a good week. talk to you soon.

Elder Jacobson

Big Changes

 Elder Heywood comes back.  This was Justin's "Dad" or trainer.  He is back for a visit.

well its official.  the end of the begining.  the last change has started.  i think ive said this like 1000 times, but its so weird how fast the time goes.  it seems like i just got to this area, and i already have a half of a year here. 
   changes were cool.  they put on a special presentation for the group of people that were leaving to their houses.  it brought back a ton of memories because a bunch were from the group that came in with me and a lot were some of my best freinds in the mission.  imma miss those guys alot, but im planning on finding them after.  we already planned a trip to the snake river.  when i first got off the bus at the change meeting someone came up to me and said "Elder Jacobson, Heywood is here"  ha i dropped everything and ran inside, only to see my mission dad run up and give me a big bear hug.  it was so good to see him.  he left almost a year ago.  we talked for a while and after i wrote down my info to stay in contact.  then he walked away and came back with his hands full of candy and goody from the states.  hes such a good guy. 
   i had kind of a cool experience with the changes.  with elder velasquez i got along great, but he was ready to go home, and it was hard to really stay focused and work hard with him.  i was hoping they would send me a really hard working diligent missionary to help me end my mission well.  when they announced the changes i was a little worried.  my new companion is elder ortega.  he kind of has a reputation of being a lazy elder that doesnt really like to work.  i dont really like to listen to what others say about the missionaries, but i can say that i was thinking, how am i going to finish strong if my companion doesnt even want to work.  we said good bye to everyone and headed home.  in the house he was unpacking his stuff and i saw a jesus the christ book on the floor.  i picked it up and opened it.  by "coincidence" it opened up to a part that i had read before one time when it talks about the time when jesus walks on water.  i started reading.  it talked about how the apostles had been in the boat all night fighting with the storm,  they were exhausted and scared when christ showed up walking on water.  many were afraid and thought it was a ghost.  but christ calmed their fear with the words "fear not, it is I" (i think thats how it goes) but the cool thing is that the author explains that sometimes when we have worked hard for a long period of time (like i have here) when the help finally comes we think it is something bad, or something to be afraid of.  i thought that that could maybe apply whith my new companion.  i decided to trust the Lords descision and give it a try.
   its been cool because since then my comp has been helping me a ton.  something that i have lacked for a while is just really pushing hard and being bold enough to help people change thier lives.  and boldness is definately one of the strong suits of my new companion.  i love it because hes not afraid to tell any one to listen to our message and to be baptized in our church.  i have seen, and will continue to see how Gods ways are higher than ours.  He knew exactly what he was doing. 
   yesterday we saw a miracle.  we went to invit a member to church.  his wife isnt a member.  the member said he was going to go and bring his wife.  i almost didnt even want to beleive because he has been saying that for the past 4 months, and has never gone.  but sure enough about half way through sacrament meeting he walked in with his wife.  later we went and challenged her to baptism.  she said she wanted to, but not yet.  we will have to work a ton to make it happen, but i truly have faith.  ittl happen.
   well, what else to say.  when we went to go say good bye with elder velasquez to some of the members i told a lady that i was going to leave as well.  she imidiately started sobbing uncontrollably.  even when i told her it was a joke she wouldnt stop.  so we left her in her house alone crying.... i hope shes alright.  well that didnt really happen but you can imagine how cool it would be right.  i think its gonna be sad to leave.  i really love the members here.  who knows.  ittl probly be me sobbing uncontrollably.
   well i think ill finish up with that.  there is a ton of people waiting to use computers so imma go.  but i love you all.  enjoy the last of summer break.  remember only 5 weeks and isle be home.  im going to work my hardest untill the end and end it with no regrets.  have a great week.  talk to you later
         Elder Jacobson

Chill'n at the Beach

well how can i start.  today in the morning they took us to the beach.  supposedly we were going to play soccer and volleyball but it was too hot so we just hung out and took pictures.  the beach is so cool.  looking out at the vast expanse is like looking into eternity.  i tried to catch sand crabs but i didnt find any.

   saturday was really cool.  i dont know if i told you but for the past like 2 weeks all the elders in our zone have been practicing a tongan dance to perform in a stake talent show we did as an activity to find more investigadores.  ha it was tight.  we all made grass skirts.  they say like 1000 people showed up.  that might be an exaggeration but it was at least 600.  when we started dancing they all screamed.  it was a cool dance too.  someone recorded it ill try to get a copy.  after the activity we came home in a bus with all the members in our branch.  they all said "Elder Jacobson you lied to us"  they were referring to the times when i had told them i cant dance. its pretty common question i get because dancing is a big part of the culture here. the people who cant dance are considered like kind of the outcast of society.  so they all think its weird when i say that i , a bright tallented, athletic, fairly good looking young man, cant dance.  they all think that i mean here in the mission but i always say that if they had gone to my high school prom they would know that i honestly cant dance.  ha i guess that was kind of a tangent, but long story short, i had fun and the activity was a success.  

   changes are this week.  i already told all the members that i dont have changes.  which could be bad news if i do.  the truth is that it could go either way.  but i have a feeling i will stay.  either way ill be happy and will work as hard as i can till the end.  speaking of the end.  hard to believe that i am on my last change.  its like every month just goes by like a dream.  how crazy.  my companion elder velasquez finishes his mission tomorrow.  its been a fun three months with him.  ive learned a ton, and i really love him.  its gonna be hard to see him go.  but i imagine we will be in contact.  i still write elder platero almost every week and he is giving me advice to finish the mission.  its been cool to get to know so many people.  the mission is such a great experience.  

    well sorry but im out of time.  its late, im covered in sand, and we gotta get back to our area.  i love you all.  enjoy the snake river.  see you soon.

         Elder Jacobson

Work'n

well. i dont have much to say. other than that is was the worst week of my life. hahah just kidding.
it acutally wasnt that bad of a week. but at the same time it wasnt that great either.
basically it went down like this.
sometime in the last week my comp and i were talking, and we realized that we werent working very effectively. the problem was (is) that we are constantly teaching and inviting people to be baptized, but that its always the same people, that have said no or that they want to wait like 50 times. what happens is that we are like in a comfort zone because its alot easier to just visit the same people that we already know then it is to try to find new people who will listen to us. so we basically went cold turkey and decided not to visit any of the regulars for a while. sometimes that helps alot, because the people recognize that they dont feel the spirit as much when we dont come, that way when we come back they are more willing to listen and keep commitments. so we pretty much just spent a week knocking on doors and asking for references from the members. but theres not that many memberrs and we have already asked them for references alot, so we didnt really find any one that way. knocking doors went about the same. alot of people just said no. its funny though because i dont feel really bad. i guess if people dont want to hear or accept that is there choice, we can only invite. i think that sometimes Heavenly Father feels the same way. like He is constantly inviting us to do things that will just make us happier. and sometimes we just ignore or reject the invitation. but if He can be patient with someone as stubborn and hard headed as me. who am i to lose my patients with others. "who am i to judge another when i walk imperfectly"
well on a little bit lighter note, i bought a nice hammock. ha it was pretty funny. i was out of milk and eggs (which is pretty sad because my two main meals are milk and cereal and beans and eggs) so i decided i would buy some while we were out working. i put 100 quetzales en my wallet. right as we got around the corner a salesmen came running up and asked me if i wanted to buy a hammock. before i could respod he already had pulled out a nice big hammock. it looked like nice quality so i asked how much it cost. he said usually it costs 350 to 375 (they always say stuff like that) but that he wanted to sell his whole supply by the end of the day so he was willing to drop to 225. i told him i didnt have that much. he asked how much i had. i reached in my wallet and pulled out the 100 bill. without saying a word he stuffed the hammock in a black garbage bag. tied it shut. grabbed my bill and walked away. we sat there for a few seconds wondering what had just happened. then my comp looked over at me and said. "well that was weird" so later we hung it up in our house. i like it. i was thinking about buying one any way so i guess it all worked out.
it still rains alot. in our district we have baptized 5 people and 2 families. i fell pretty good but i wish i could contribute a little more. but ill keep working as hard as i can. changes are next week. who knows what will happen.
well im out of time. i love you all. enjoy the cornacopia of events that are coming up. enjoy the river for me. have a good week. talk to you en 8 days
Elder Jacobson

time is short

well, you guys will probly kill me, but i only have like 166 seconds to write you. baisically i wrote a long letter to my president. and on top of that i took some time to organize the fotos en my memory so that they are more organized (go figure right) but long story short im low on time. but ill try to fill you in on the good the bad and the ugly.
weve been having some success with a new thing we started in our area. we wanted to have more help teaching lessons with the members. usually its better to go out with priesthood holders, but theres only like 3 in our branch and they can only help us like once a week, so we enlisted the help of the releif society. we did a little game where each time they came out with us they got a point. when they reach a certain amount of points we give them a prize. little things like pictures of jesus or church videos. almost everyday this week we had visits with members. and i think it is helping everyone to get excited about misionery work.
i told you about the family that we are teaching. on saturday we taught them and they said they would go to church again and they seemed realy close to baptism. yesterday we went to visit them again, and the husband said that he had found work on the other side of the country adn that he would be out of town for a month. man what a heart breaker. i felt so bad after, but i read some scriptures. ( the last part of jacob 5) and i felt better. i think we just gotta work a little harder, or a little better to see some real success.
so thats some of the good and the bad. i think i already showed you some of the ugly in the pictures i sent last week. the other ugly is that somehow i aquired a skin disease in my hand. basically what happens is that out of no where a bunch of tiny blister filled with fluid apear on my hand. usualy i pop them all because they look so gross, then once they are all popped my skin in that area dies and starts falling off. i think its leoprasy. but im trying to controll it with some creams from the witchdoctor down the street. but its all good.
life is good and im still working hard. sorry im out of time and my companions want to go. i love you all. keep it real . do wrok, and work
Elder Jacobson

Happy 17 years jay dayg

this week was a week of crazy creatures

pic 1 this little guy was crawlen in case your wonderun jay dayg i didnt only learn the español here. i also learned to speak the language of Coach Z. in his language your name is jay dayg.

well just wantud to tell yuh happy birthday. seems like only yesterday i was pawnun yuh little 5 year old butt. now ill be pawnun yuh 17 year old butt. but i hope your enjoying your big day.
by the way in case yuh wonderun i rote you a little poem by me. i know you will admire it forever. it is this

j dawg j dawg you do work
you pawn butt and
you do work

j dawg day jog you pawn butt
you doowon work and
you pawn butt

thats the whole thing. it actually sucks pretty bad. thats because i just barely wrote it in won second.

but any ways happy birthday jalen . i love you alot. youve always been a good little brother and example to everyone. i hope you have a good day.
Adios

(this is me:  Jalen actually turned 18 and Justin knew it.  He is just weird that way)

 

pics

this week was a week of crazy creatures

pic 1 this little guy was crawlen around our house.
pic 2 so i killed it

later we found another creature in my bed

pic 3 so we killed that one too

doowon work

well here we are in pueblo nuebo. workin like some fools with our pants on the groung with some gold in our mouth and hat to the side. ha just kiddin. but we really are working pretty hard. weave made some new plans and goals and they are working out for us. baisically what happens is alot of times weave got plans to visit family x and when we get there the family isnt home. sometimes we have a good back up plan, but sometimes we have nothing to do and we just end up waisting time. so the gaol we made is that when an appt falls we have to knock doors like crazy until someone lets us in to teach. sometimes its not that effective because people just let us in because we dont take no for an answere, and they have no desire to hear us. but we have found 2 really posotive families and its always good to be teaching the whole day instead of just walkin like fools.
one of the families we found came to church yesterday. when we went to pick them up they were all changed and ready to go. after church we talked to them and they said they really liked it and want to come next week. we challenged them to baptism and they said that they wanted a little more time, but that they would pray. its funny how sometimes i get desperate because of lack of success and start trying to force people to feel the spirit and keep commitments and accept baptism. but when we find someone that has been prepared they do things because they want to and not because we make them.
the weather is nice as always here. its alot like utah spring weather. is just hotter, and sometimes rains a little more. when i say a little more i mean that in 10 minutes it rains more here than it has in the last 10 years in the behive state. but you get used to wet feet and constantly beeing sick with a nose bleeding cold slash sinus infection. hahahahahaha i wish i was joking.
today was the birthday of one of the sisters in our branch. she is always way nice to us and takes care of us in whatever she can. so we decided to do something nice for her. the tradicion here is that when someone is having a birthday you have to go light off fireworks at like 6 in the morning. we talked to her daughter and she said that her mom gets up at like 5 30, so we went at like 5. turns out she was already awake. ha but we litted off the fireworks any way and she was happy that we remembered her. then she made us breakfast. ha ironic right.
by the way i forgot to tell you that the package came. i liked the pickle theme. i made the pudding and gave some to my comp. he spit it in my face and started saying swear words. i think thats the guatemalan way of saying he liked it. but i was happy with everything. i took the ring to the guy who wanted to give it to his "future wife". ha turnes out they ended things a few days ago. so basically the ring was like salt in his wound. ha, but he bought it any way and gave it to his mom. alls well that ends well i guess.
Well other than that not much to say. life is good. we are working hard and doing well. i love you all
adios
Elder Jacobson

Bright Future

Well in case any one is wondering i got punched in the face on the bus this morning. but i guess thats what i should expect when i go around slappin some fools in the face every time they talk fast. the good news is a black eye never killed anyone. the bad news is that the medicine that they make people take when they have black eyes contains peacock urine, which has been proven fatal for humans. so whats the moral of the whole story. NEVER drink peacock urine.
well things are lookin good here in pueblito nuevo. Our family came to church again. they are super close to accepting baptism, they just have a few doubts they cant get over. i think mainly its because they have already been baptized once. i can understand that it would be super hard to overcome a doubt like that, especially because they say that their baptism was something super special for them. sometimes i imagine what i would say if someone told me i had to be baptized again. i imagine i would just start throwing together a long string of profanity. ha but they have felt the spirit and know that what we say is true. we just gotta keep working with them and praying.
i learned a good lesson this week. lately i have felt a little bit stressed out. sometimes its hard to go so long without much success, especially since we havent really had success in the whole district and suposedly its partly my responsability to help everyone baptize. but last night i was thinking about what has been going on in these areas and i realized that things are actually looking really good. in that instant my mind was illuminated and i was taken to a high mountain. ha well not really like that. but i just decided to see things more with an eye of faith rather than with doubt. after that i noticed that i had been living really pesimisticly these past few days, or weeks maybe. i havent been joking around with my comp or with the members. ive been basically only focusing on the few bad things and not noticing all the good. so since then ive been trying to see the good in everything, and it feels great. its like i lifted a weight off my shoulders that i was carrying just because i wanted to. so maybe that will help in life. if we feel really stressed out, just try to see things from an eternal perspective and know that all will be well in the end.
on thursday we had a way good conference with Presidente Maravilla. he talked about faith, then he talked about the atonement. it was such a powerful teaching. its crazy how we always talk about how important the atonement is, but i think we dont even really understand what it is. but it was a good conference, i came out with more animo to keep working and to do better in my area. my comp is getting a little bit ready to be in his house. its kind of hard, but also kind of good because it makes it so i cant get lazy. we are both working hard and enjoying our work. im learning alot. life is good what more can i say.
i love you all. hope you enjoy the final days of summer. just think a long cold winter is right around the corner. bwahahaha. have a good week and do work. good buy. or as they say here in "guate" Adios to you mi amigo
Elder Jacobson

bye the way, i spelled buy rong on purpose to make you all laugf. im not as stupid as i make you all think

Work'n

well i think i will start out this e mail with a riddle and its this. what is the difference between an ant-eater and me. answer. i dont have a long snout. other than that, there really is no difference. you see this past monday i decided to splurge a little, and bought a box of lucky charms. it wasnt really in my budget, but i thought id treat myself, to some magical deliciousness. well one time i left the bag open and forgeted to roll it like normal. thats when out of nowhere the next day i find the whole thing full of little critters that were little ants. but i was just a little bit T.O.-ed because i didnt want to waist a lot of pisto (as they say here in guate) so i made a final descision and eat the luck charms any way only by carefully desciphering the little ugly creatures and then removing them.
so thats the bad news that i probly ate a bunch of ants. but other than that things are good here. on monday night like at 11 they told us the changes. turns out that i will be killing elder velasquez here in pueblo nuevo. im pretty happy. i like it alot here. and
we have some people preparing for baptism. yesterday we had the same 3 young men come to church for the third time. they say they are really liking it. the older of the two, kevin, told us that before he had alot of problems in his life, but then we came and invited him to church and that its been helping alot. there good kids, we will see if they are ready for july. also the family that we have been teaching continues progressing. they havent come to church again, but were pushing for this sunday. the ward is not really progressing alot. the hard thing is that there is alot of talk about doing things, but not alot gets done. its not really anyones fault. the branch president has a calling in the stake, works in the temple, and is having some pretty serious financial problems right now. the rest of the branch is like the same. its hard, but im really greatful that i dont have anything to think about besides working and sharing the gospel. sometimes alot of the weight of the work falls solely on the shoulders of the missionaries, but its really been a growing experience, and ive been able to really love and get to know the members here. how awesome is the mission. never a dull moment.
well what else can i tell you. pretty nuts that my travel iteneraery already came eh. its so wierd, i really feel like the whole thing is just like a dream. sometimes i imagine myself on the plane coming home, looking out the window (seat 24A if your wondering) and just wondering where the last two years went. the thought helps me to keep working hard. sometimes i feel tired and weak. but i realize that theres no time to slow down. despite their exhuastion the good runners give a double effort in the final meters of the race. id like to do the same.
today we were playing soccer and the sister missionaries were playing. i was goaly and there was a corner kick. the ball came in and i stuck my foot out. the ball jumped off my foot and hit a sister missionary ( who happened to be on my team) square in the face then went directly into the goal. ha every one looked at me like "Elder Jacobson what a jerk" i felt like a ding bat. ha just another learning experience i guess. but it was fun. i like our zone and my new district alot. we have fun and are working hard.
well life is good. im pretty lost in the work. or maybe im just lost and working. but any way you say it im doing my best here. i think i fail at alot of things, but i think Heavenly Father doesnt expect perfection just a willing heart and mind. i get along well with my comp. we are like brothers. im not sick. i eat well. im studying and praying. thats about it.
have a great week. enjoy your summer and dont make fun of me at the snake river this year. i love you all. keep it real.
Elder Jacobson

changes eminent

well yesterday was the last day of the change. how crazy how fast things have gone. it seems like elder velasquez just got here. come to think of it it seems like i just got here. but i wont know till tonight if i have chenges or not. i actually feel like i will stay one more time here. we have some good things going in the district and President wants july to be a great month, so maybe he´ll leave me here because i already know the areas and the investigators and all that jazz. but who knows.
it was a pretty good week. in the mission they want us to focus on baptizing, but at the same time on retaining the members. its a challenge because alot of people get baptized and are super excited but then the challenges come. alot of time the members dont really know how to help so they inactivate quickly. so this week we focused alot on the less actives and recent converts. we even did a class with the members to try to teach them how to retain the people that are baptized. we had a little bucket and put three holes in it at different levels in the bucket. we then explained how sometimes there is baptisms, but as the people get baptized they come in one door and go out the other. we visualized this by pooring water in and watching it fall out the holes. then we watched a video of when pres hinckley explains that ever member needs a freind an assignment and to be noureshced by the good word. as we explained each one we stopped the hole with some clay and showed how each time the number of members continued going up. i think it will help. poco a poco.
what else can i say. we found out that some of the young women that are recent converts arent coming to church because they feel bad that they dont have dresses to wear and they dont like coming in jeans. so we talked to some of the members and rounded up som church cloths for them. on saturday we went with some of the young women and a leader to give it to them. only one was in the house when we got there, but her and her mom seemed really greatful, i think it will help. later the lady that we took with us to deliver the clothes invited us to lunch in her house. while we were waiting for lunch i saw a lizard and tried to catch it but it got away. then i told everyone there that i hade been raised by lizards and could communicate with them. i put my hands on my mouth and started saying keee ke kee key. every one laughed, untill the lizard jumped into my hands, then they were just suprised. ha just kidding about the last part, but i really did do that. one of the cool things about not being from around here is that i can do whatever i want without being made fun of because they just think thats the way things are.
in church yesterday we had two young men come. it was there second week in a row. i think they will get baptized soon. they look really posotive. the family we are teaching continues to progress. i feel the spirit there every time we teach. we challenged them to baptism again and they said yes. we just have to get them to come to church a little more. but things are moving along.
im really happy. i have loved this area and the people alot. if feel like i have learned alot of things that will really help me in my life. i hope all is well there. if i ever cant understand any one i will just slap them in the face. ha have a good week. i love you all. talk to you later
Elder Jacobson
ps i got my flight plans today. how crazy

The week without rain

When i wrote that this was the week without rain it was a lie. ha its been raining so hard here. when we first got here all the members told us that we werent going to beleive how hard it rains in these parts, and they were right. sometimes we cant even leave the house. one day we moved our beds out side, well not really out side, we have like a patio that has a roof, but no walls. so any way we moved them out there to sleep because it was cooler. the next day we didnt take the time to move them back in, and we left to work. about an hour later a tropical rain storm from the burmuda triangle came rolling through. needless to say our beds were soaked. we didnt let it get us down though. in the rooms downstairs there is a bunch of fans from the old church. the only problem is that they dont have plugs, because the were wall fans. so using our guatemalen enguinuity we jammed the loose wires into the outlet until they turned on, then we put our electric stove in front of them and turned them on high. it probly wasnt very intelligent, or even really safe, but our beds dried out.

our investigators are looking good. a bunch didnt come to church. the main dissapointment was the family that came last week said they were really excited to come this week, but on saturday a cousin of the dad came to their house, there was a big fight, and in the end he got drunk and they whole family didnt come. but if anything that just encourages me. ive seen a bunch of times how whenever someone wants to do the right thing, satan sends whatever he can to bring them down. i think that it might even help because they will all realize how important the gospel is. its funny how when satan convinced adam and eve to eat the fruit he thought he was frustrating Gods plan. but in the end he only helped it. maybe something similar will happen. in church yesterday we had two suprises. one was the cousins of a memeber. they are like 3 young men that have never really wanted to listen to missionaries before, but they have been listening to us, and came to church. the other suprise was Presidente Maravilla. he was in the zone and wanted to go to talk in a sacrament meeting, so he came to ours to see the new church. he spoke about alot of cool things and helped the branch alot. after it was over and he was leaving he just looked at me and said ¨theres alot of work to do¨

yesterday night my comp and i were doing our planing for today, we were almost done, and were just deciding who else we should visit. i put my head against my wall to think and my comp did the same. that was like at 9 00. next thing i knew i woke up and it was 9 45, we had both fallen asleep. this past week we worked so hard. we are never in the house. we just get up and study and leave, to work, take an hour for lunch and keep working. we get in at 9 00 plan for the next day, talk to the zone leaders, pray and sleep. i feel like we spend every hour we have just looking for someone who wants to talk to us. and i feel like we are really being blessed for our efforts. the days seem to pass like a dream.

changes are coming up. i dont know what will happen. but ill be happy either way. i like it here alot, but ill go wherever im sent, and work as hard as i can.

i love you all. keep doin work and enjoying your lives. thanks for the pics they mean alot to me. talk to you later

Elder Jacobson

ode to imperfection

Well ive been trying for the last 15 minutes to write a powerful ode, but i couldnt even figure out where to start. come to think of it i wouldnt even know the difference between an ode and a love sonnet. i guess in the end its all poetry, and poetry is for sissy´s. hate to tell ya edgar, but you should have picked a more manly profession. like lumberjack for instance. or deep sea welder.
Any way. another week has passed. things are looking good here in the new people (pueblo nuevo). my comp and i have fallen into a good rythm. we study and plan together daily and i feel like we are working effectively. right now we are teaching 3 families that could be pretty posotive. on saturday we taught one of them about the sabath day and they all said they would come to church. its pretty common for people to say that then not go when we go to get them. but when we got to their house they were all ready and happy to go. we were in an area far from the church so we all had to mount in a tuc tuc, which is a tiny cart like the pit stop vehicle in the movie cars. there was like 8 of us. so that was cool, we had a whole family in church, and alot of people are starting to look posotive. we havent seen too much success yet, but it wont be long. we just have to pass the tryal of our faith.
on sunday i helped a member with his english homework and i kept not being albe to remember how words should be. ha it was just with the perfect tense. for example i was supposed to write a sentence like i have ran to the park. but it kept coming out like i has runned to the park, or i haved ranned to the park. or the worst one was when i said WHERE MY HAT IS AT. ha
what else can i say. today i almost wrote president asking him to leave me in my area, just because of all the things that are going on right now. ive never asked for anything in the mish before and i thought i deserved it by now. but when i thought about it the president receives the revelation from the lord of where im supposed to be. so obviously he will know better if i need to stay or go. honestly i would like to say, but ill go where im sent.
well i hate to say it but im out of time. for some reason my letters to president are getting longer each week. so sometimes i run out of time fast. but thanks for your support and prayers. congradulations to everyone for another school year complete. and to jordan for his new job, which no one has said what it is yet. have a good relaxing week. and thanks for the pictures. i love you all. have a good week
Elder Jacobson

rain rain go away

well its raining... thats about all i have to say about that.
but other than that life is good. the works drives on whether it be sun or rain or snow (i wish). we had a really good week this week. elder velasquez and i have been going hard. sometimes we come home from lunch just to rest for a little while. then when its time to go out and work again we just look at eachother with exausted looks as if to say here we go again, then we get up and go out. we are slowly starting to see results for our diligence. we found two families this week and a bunch of other investigators that could be posotive. also we are starting to get help from the members. more and more poeple are inviting us to their house to eat. its either a sign that we are getting more confidence with them, or that they are planning to start putting poisen in the food little by little to finish us off once and for all. If you get a call from my Mission President saying i died of "natural causes" dont believe any of it.
yesterday was the dedication of our new church. it was way exciting for everyone. alot of trears were shed, but mainly just because i jamed my finger in the door and it hurt really bad. but more than the tears i just remember that everyone was so happy. in one of the talkes a lady, one of the first converts here, spoke of what the members had gone through in this area. they have been had their meeting house in like 10 different houses, and when they finaly had a building it wasnt secure and people always got in to steal stuff. but finally they have somewhere of their own. how cool right.
i have been studying alot about how to get a prayer anwered. i read in helaman 10 when the Lord gives nefi power that whatever he asks for he will recieve. i think one of the secrets is that nefi had already shown that he had so much faith that he would do whatever the lord told him. i think alot of times we know what we are supposed to do, but because of fear or whatever other thing we ignore the prompting and just wait for it to pass. they say the President Monson does what most people just think about doing. so ive been trying to learn to just do the things i feel like doing without thinking about it so much that i eventually miss the chance to do it. its sometimes way hard and awkward to stop a family in the middle of the road in front of a buch of people watching us like weirdos, but in the end who cares right. ha so im making some changes and doing some things. i love life. its hard, but i guess thats the point right.
well im out of time. i love you all. have a good graduation and start of summer break. while your all soaking up sun i will just be soaking. ha have a good week. talk to you later.
Elder jacboson

Some Pice of me and my Comp

Open House

well this week was exciting. the chapel was finaly good to go. the only thing was that the stake presidency said that we couldnt didicate the building until we did an open house. the our branch president said he didnt really know how it needed to be done, so he kind of put me and my comp in charge. i figured it wouldnt be too hard, i would just do the same thing i did the last time i planned an open house a new chapel. Oh wait now i remember, ive never done one either. ha he basicaly told us to talk to our mision president and ask how its supposed to be done. so thats what we did. we made invitations that fit 4 on a page. we were told to make about 120 to start. on tuesday i did divisions with another elder, and told my comp to print 120 invitations. funny story he went and printed 120 pages, AKA 480 invitations. en the end it worked out better that way, because we used them all and invited everyone and their dog.
the open house was kind of funny to me because my branch president sat up in front of the pulpit and started reading the scriptures. as people came through he would every now and then look up and ask me and the other misionerys why we wernt working harder. afterwords we all laughed about it. it went really well though. about 140 people came. alot less than we expected, and of those we have a list of about 40 people who said they would like to know more. it was a success.
it continues to rain alot. my feet are pretty much constantly wet. i bought a fungus spray for my feet because recently this black growth has appeared between my toes and when i try to rip it out the skin breaks and bleeds and itches like crazy. haha just kidding, but you can imagine right.
my comp and i get around really well. he is a joker, but i like how he works. always with alot of faith, even when we dont have one single investigator he always says that we will have at least one baptisme this month, and three in the next. it really motivates me. i feel like the things we have done to gain the confidence with the members is really paying off. more and more are starting to give us references, i think it has to do alot with the fact that they know they can trust their friends with us. i know i always say it, but i think success is right around the corner.
well im low on time. thanks for the updates and the pictures. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAD. i hope that the fruit continues to flourish for when i get home. I love you all. have a great week and finish the school year strong.
best wishes
Elder Jacobson

Happy Mother's Day

I know its a little late to be saying happy mothers day, i wish i could have told you yesterday... oh ya now i remember, i did. ha but i guess its good to have it written as well. so happy birthday mom. i hope all your wildest dreams come true.
well alot happened in the last week. we finished another change in Pueblo nuevo. i knew that either elder jack or myself would probly be leaving, i just didnt know who it would be. but in the end we found out the elder jack was the chosen. its funny because whenever people joke about where an elder is going to go they always say they will go to a place called champerico because suposedly its like the hottest place in the world. ha im sure elder jack was excited when they announced that he was being changed to champerico. ha poor guy. but it will be a good expericence for him.
the My new companion is a guatemalan named elder velasquez. hes a stud. i really have liked working with him. its cool because he can relate alot more with the people than any of my other comps have been able to. he can talk about locas sports teams and places they have been and other stuff like that. this week we found 2 families that seem to be posotive, i think there is success coming.
here they celebrate mothers day on the 10, which was thursday. so my comp and i bought roses for all the moms in the branch. we had a little mothers day activity and we gave them all their roses. they all shed tears of joy and grattitude, and hoisted us on their shoulders and paraded us around town like returning war heros. ha not really but they were all happy and greatful. its funny, one of the things ive learned is that when you take time to do little nice things for others you generaly feel better about yourself. i think alot of gospel priniciples seem contradictary to the natural mind. but Gods ways are higher than our ways i guess. maybe one day we will understand it all.
well i hate to say it, but i gotta go. i gotta write some poeple and we gotta make invitations for the open house of the new church. ill let you know how it goes.
Once again happy mothers day. i love you all. have a good week and finish the school year strong. If at first you dont succeed. DO WORK.
Adios
Elder Jacobson

Ther Goes Another Change

hard to believe that another change has gone by. its already been two changes since i got to pueblo nuevo. i cant say that its been super easy, but ive learned a ton, and i feel like we are always making progress.

well what news can i tell you. there is an epidimic in our district. 4 or 5 out of the six of us has some kind of terrible incurable fever, and they are all starting to develope a weird pain in thier chest and a cough. my comp and i are the only ones that have been immune to the sickness. i guess those are the blessings of living the word of wisdom. we are way more riteouse than they are. and humble too. ha just kidding. but its mainly been a week of trying to keep everyone motivated. they are all way good missionaries, so they have all tried to keep working despite the sickness. but sometimes they just cant and they are getting a little frustrated. i perscribed them a heaping doce of D+C 10.4 it should help. but i think we should have medicine today.

yesterday we had an investigator in church. its the x husband of one of the faithful active members. he stayed for all three hours and seemed to like it all. we had never taught him before so we decided we needed to find him, but he doesnt live with the member so we went with her to see what we could find out. in one of the conferences president marravilla had talked about how we sometimes dont see, and or take advantage of the small and simple things that Heavenly father does to bring great miracles to pass. but while we were at her house, he showed up just to visit his daughters. (his name is mario). so we took advantage and inivited him to the family home evening in her house today. he accepted. he seems fairly posotive i think there is a miracle on the way.

another cool thing is that the church is finally in our hands. in sacrament meeting the branch pres took out the keys and there was a huge excitement that came over the whole branch. there is going to be a ton of stuff happening in the misionary effort here.

so they havnt told us about changes yet. but the zls said they talked to the a.p.s and they said they would probly leave me as dl. (get all that) ha just kidding, but i think i will stay here. were like in the middle of getting some things done so hopefully we will be able to finish them and see some fruits. speaking of fruits, how are the trees and berry plants doing.

how crazy that another school year is almost over. i know i always say it, but these months have gone so fast. i sometimes worry that when its done and over i will look back and think that i let it go by too fast. but imma try to do everything i can with the time i have.

well im out of time. i dont know exaclty how the call will work out. we will figure it out though. we could probly just do it monday morning because that is p day any way. but who knows. it will all work out.

i love you all. have a good week. good luck for johnny ill be praying for you. and good luck to everyone else. remember how powerful prayer and revelation are. if your trying to figure out what to do just pray and ask then write down whatever thought comes to your mind. it works like 5 out of 6 times.

Adios

Elder Jacobson

Crazy Week

well needless to say its been a crazy week. it started crazy and ended crazy, and it was pretty much crazy in between.
on tuesday we went to the temple. what a great experience. it seems like there was a ton of stuff i had forgotten. to be honest i think i forgot it all again since last week, ha but i remember that i felt the spirit and that it was just so peacefull and relaxing. i didnt want to leave, i dont think any one did, but in the end we had to go.
on tuesday night we planned the following day. but when i talked to the zone leaders they informed us that we would be having a conference with presidente the next day. so we went to that. it was so good. supposedly it was for all the people that are currently being trained, but im sure that i learned as much, if not more than anyone there. we talked about the doctine of Christ. Faith in Christ, repenting, being obedient to baptismal covenents, and the promptings of the spirit and enduring to the end. i felt like it was all targeted at me to make me finish strong.
on thursday i did divisions with one of the zoneleaders Elder Horne. it was good, we had some good lessons, and at the end he gave me good advice of things i could do to work more affectively . it helped alot. hes a good guy.
on friday we had the second half of the conference with president. once again i learned alot. he gave us alot of good examples of things we can start doing in our area and in the district. i felt way motivated to go do work.
on saturday we had a service project with the branch. we went into a huge tank of water that supplies water to the whole city to clean it out. all i can say is that i will never drink water from the tap again. while the water was draining we swept up, and there was like a foot of mud and sand, and worms and leafs, and all kinds of gross stuff. by the time we were done though it looked really clean. i feel better about the water. for now at least.
so in the end we didnt have a whole lot of time to work in our area. we didnt find a lot of new investigators or teach a ton of lessons, but we are making some progress. the branch is doing well. our attendance went up agian, and the new chappel will be done next week. so alot of good will happen.
well things ended with a bang when i got my plan de relevo. or releif plan. basically that is what they send to the old people who are on thier way out. how nuts for me. but i still have a lot of time left, and alot to do. changes are this week. we will see what happens. i hope they leave us here together so we can see some fruits of our labor. but we will see what happens. the lord knows best.
well thats about all the hightlights and im already out of time. i love you all. thanks for everyting and have a good week . talk to you in 8 days. (thats how they say seven days in spanish)
Elder Jacobson

It's P-day once again

well here i am sentado at the computer pooring out my feelings over the miracle that is E-mail. it was a good week, we continue to work hard and enjoy ourselves.
on tuesday we had another conference with the a member of the quorom of the 70 Elder Gavarret. it was really good. he is one of the heads of the mision department in salt lake. he taught us alot of cool things about how to work effectively and teach. but one of the things i liked most was that he told us that in everything we do we just need to trust the lord. sometimes its hard to get my head around the thought, but when you really think about it we have no controll over anything. as much as i sometimes dont like to beleive it, i dont have any power to touch people hearts, or make them change years of habbits and traditions. regardless of how hard and effective i work, i cant really make a big difference on my own. Heavenly Father on the other hand is in charge of everything. He knows every heart personaly, He doesnt need help in His work, He will do it, and do it perfectly. all i have to do is try my best to be an effective instrument in His hands to do His will. like i said, sometimes i forget or have a hard time understanding, but little by little im changing my thought process. its pretty cool.
well my book of mormon experience continued this week. like i said last week we gained the confidence of the counseler (the servents) but we still needed to win the trust and confidence of the President (the King). in my reading i realized that one of the secrets of both ammon and aarons success was that the spirit of the lord worked in both of the kings to convince them of the power of the misionaries, so i had been praying to have a spiritual experience with the president. on friday he agreed to go out with us. i was hoping to find some investigators to teach with him but no one was home, i thought he might want to go back home but he said lets try a few more, where else can we go. i started thinking and remembered a less active member who had been fighting with an alcohol problem, we heard he was drinking again so i said lets find him. we went there and found him and his wife in the house. we taught with the president and it was such a spiritualy powerful expierence. President carlos talked about when his son died and he wanted to go drink, but he wouldnt do it because he knew no good would come from it. alot of tears were shed (none by me of course). it was crazy. on sunday he couldnt stop talking about it he told everyone about the great experience he had going out with the missionaries, and encouraged everyone to do it. its just like in the book or mormon. how cool huh.
well freak im already out of time. i wrote a long letter to president marravilla today so i only had like 20 minutes to write. but its been a good week. we are trying to focus on opening our mouth and talk to everyone and we are finding alot of people to teach. i feel like more and more i am becoming completely submerged in the mission. tommorrow we go to the temple in xela, im so excited. i love you all. i hope that everyone is good on health, dont be afraid to ask for a preisthood blessing, they work. have a good week. keep working hard and never get discouraged with life. be happy, i know i sure am. ADIOS
Elder Jacobson

The wheel in the sky keeps on turnin

i think i write this in every email, but how crazy that another week has already passed. i dont know how it happens. i feel like the more i want time to slow down the faster it goes. its crazy because i feel like im in the area where im supposed to be. like every day i have like 5 ideas of things that we could do in the branch to really get things moving. but sometimes i worry that i havent been diligent enough in going and doing them. in three weeks are changes again. its never sure, but generally when someone is training they are together two changes, then the trainer leaves. it scares me that i will leave here without doing what i was supposed to do. i guess in the end thoughts like those are just satan trying to convince me that there isnt enough time, but i still tend to worry. nevertheless i had a cool Book of mormon experience. i read of the success of ammon and the sons of mosiah, and i was trying to figure out what made them so successful. i found a key in the part where the king of all the lamanites sends a proclamation to everyone saying that they couldnt touch the nefites and basically that they had to listen to them. i compared that to my situation here, and with the leaders of the branch. like i said i have like 100 ideas of things i want to do, but sometimes when we say them to the president he says its better if we wait or do something else. i remembered that what started it all was when ammon chopped the arms off. i thought, i need some kind of opportunity like that to show the leaders that we can be good effective leaders. the opportunity came yesterday, despite our work to bring up the attendance, it fell again to an all time low of 28 people. after church was over everyone had left except the counseler (who basically is the president because the president has a stake calling and is never there) after everyone left he sat down and said "we went down again" he put his face in his hands obviously stressed out, and just said "what more can we do" ha its funny that in the book of mormon when all of the servents of the king are crying, ammon was happy for an opportunity. i felt the same way. i saw my opportunity, and started blasting him with all the things i thought we should do. we talked for a long time and came to a conclusion. when we were done he was smiling and obviously full of ANIMO. ha its cool how the book of mormon will always apply to us. there is only like 50 stories in there, but some how or other they always unlock the window to revelation. how cool.
in other news we found a posotive family last night. they dont go to any church, but the husband freddy has already been baptized. his wife marta hasnt. they were accepting and expressed their desire to have the whole family together in a church. were gonna give it all weve got with them, and continue looking for others. there is still time to do alot of good things.
well what more can i say. we talked to a man on the streets that was conviced that the united states are about 1000 times better than guatemala. the reason behind his thinking is that everyone in the states only flies airplanes every where they go. hahaha. we tried to tell him that guatemala has alot of good things too. i told him the people were really nice and he asked when someone in guatemala had done something nice for me. i told him that in the last house we were in someone had given me juice to drink. he said juice is nothing. if you were in the states instead of juice someone would have given you an airplane. ha its hard to say how funny it was talking to this guy. its officially rainy season. its really beautiful when it rains. but i hate having wet feet all day. but its inavoidable. the members say that it sometimes rains super hard. we havent seen it too hard yet, but i imagine the worst is yet to come.
i started reading the new testament. its crazy that i had always heard the stories that are in there, but never really read them. its cool to learn about the saviors life and all he did. it really makes me want to be a better person. well i cant wait to talk to you all in about a month. things are going fast. i love you all. have a good week. sorry i cant write alot, but im low on time. talk to you next week

Semana Santa

well there goes another week. it was semana santa. i think i told you about how they celebrate that here. its a holiday of the catholic church. they mainly just do parades with floats that show Jesus´ death and resurection. they sometimes have people dress up like roaman soldiers. sometimes it gets a little crazy. just like last year president didnt want missionairys outside in the festivities, so they had us all go to the church. the plan this year is that we were going to do a reading marithon, and all read the entire book of mormon in 36 hours. that means we would have to not sleep for a night to have time to get through it. i was pretty excited, i had just finished it a few days ago, and thought it would be cool to do it one more time. we started at 3 in the afternoon on thursday. i wont say all the gruesome details, but i will say that it was one of the most physicaly mentaly and emotionaly trying experiences of my life. it started out good, but the night went on and we got powned. everyone was falling asleep. there were casualties all over the place. the worst was taht we didnt read fast enough, so we didnt finish until the following morning, saturday, at like 4 in the morning. ha if you do the math thats about 46 hours without sleeping. haha i laugh every time i think about how miserable it was. but at the same time it was fun and a good experience.

yesterday was cool. we went in the morning to get investigators, but no one wanted to come. i felt bad that another week would pass without any investigators in church. it wasnt untill after that i looked back, and saw a member had brought his wife tahts not a member and a young man had brought his friend. we talked to them both, and have citas (appts) to go teach them this week. i think ive mentioned that our main enfasis has been to get the members to work with us. i feel like we havent done a ton of things. but i think our prayers, and plans are really starting to pay off. more and more people are starting to give references. the branch president even said that ever leader in the church needs to have a name of someone we can work with by next week. things are starting to move.

well what else can i say. Elder Jack and i are continuing to get along well. ive been greatful for his patients and his work ethic. he just has a great attitude that always keeps me posotive and happy to work. the new district is awesome as well. i told them some things that they could try that have worked for us, and they all went and did it and things are starting to get movin in the whole district. i wrote to my president that i feel really good. like we are actually getting some things done. theres alot to do, we need to start baptizing some of the families we have. but it will be alot easier to find and teach as long as the branch keeps working.

im very happy. its not always easy, but i know that Heavenly father is always wilth us, and always proud when we do our best. times going too fast, another month just went by. how crazy. wll im out of time. i love you all. have a good week and do work. finish the school year strong. its like i always say. if you finish stong, its because you are strong. if you finish weak, its because YOU SUCK. haha dont quote me on that one. i love you all

Elder Jacobson

To Lonica

To londica blythe jacocson

well well well. hard to believe you are already about 9 or ten years old. i thought you were just a little baby still. oh wait now i remember you are a little bebe. ha just kidding. but i just wanted to write and tell you HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you. i hope you had a way good birthday even though your number 1 brother wasnt there. just one advice now that you are starting to get a little older. and the advice that i give is this. if any boys come and want to be your boy freind, all you gotta do is give them a fake fone number, then KICKEM to the curb. ALWAYS. ha just kidding. but i just want you to know that i love you so much. even though i have always had to pwn you alot, but you have been a good sister, and a good example to me. just keep doing what your doing, and dont change. be a good cheerleader, adn dont get addicted to faceblook. love you Adios

The First Last

When i was with elder platero, he was always mentioning his last things. like last fast sunday, last baptism, last P-day ect. up until now i have only had a ton of first: first baptism, first time training, first time vomiting blood ect. ha but yesterday marked my last general conference in the mission. it was kind of wierd for me. at the end they announced that the conference would finish until six months later. elder horne (an elder that came in with me) and i just looked at eachother, knowing that when the next general conference came around we would be in our houses. its crazy for me. but since we left the church yesterday i havent realy even thought about anything like that. Honestly there isnt time. another month passed without a baptism, and going into april we only have a few posotive people. so basically we have to get things moving alot more quickly starting now. the thing i feel good about is that we have things set up to succeed. we have been working alot with members and gaining their confidence. and lately we have seen alot of people starting to get more excited about doing missionary work. yesterday we had a good talk to the counseler in our branch and he said we need alot more work in reactivation retention and finding investigators, so we made plans to call five pairs of branch missionaries. today we are going to the office to buy some preach my gospels, and we are going to have them set apart sunday. On top of that the new building should be finished soon (ha this time for real) there was a problem with the pipes, so they are a little late. but once we are there things are going to sky rocket... hopefully.

well what else to tell you. my whole district got changed, except for me and elder Jack. all the new elders that came are tight. they are way excited to work. in all three areas someone is getting trained. i like it like that because it means that in each area there is one elder who has experience, and proved themselve to be a hard worker, and one elder that is fresh out of the mtc with energy and a ton of animo. things are gonna start moving like a chineese magnent train on magnetic ice

the conference was incredible to me. when it began i wrote down a few questions that i have been thinking about. and without exageration every one was answered specificaly. as if they were talking directly to me. i felt the spirit very strong and made some plans of things i will do to improve. how cool is it to be in the one true church that is lead by God through his prophets. i think i had to come here to understand what the apostacy and restoration really are. everywhere i go i see churches where people are screaming and clapping and chanting, without reverence and without the spirit. in others i see people who never come out of poverty because they pay the majority of what they make as an offering to the church, which goes straight to the pastor who lives in the nicest house, and drives the nicest car and who never has to worry about money. its so sad to me. but i am so greatful to be in the truth. on friday we taught a 20 year old girl that has listen to the missionaries alot. after we taught a little she thought a second and said. "i dont think you guys should always talk about how yours is the only true church. alot of people get offended, and more people would listen to you if you just made friends with them and told them about the bible and invited them to see if they like your church." there was alot of things i thought about responding, but in the end we just testified that we know that there is one true church just like there was in Christs day, and that everyone can know the church is true by reading the book of mormon, and praying and asking God. i think whe wanted to argue more, but the spirit was there, and she couldnt deny our testimony. we commited her to read the book of mormon.

well im outta time ( thats spanish for out of time) so ill get going. but i love you all. congradulations for being number 1. Keep working hard until summer, and then you can start working hard in the summer. have a good week and everyone try to do something they talked about in conference. talk to ya later

Elder Jacobson

Tomorrows another day, so bring on the rain

Yes ladies and gentle men. the rainy season has started back up, and let me
tell you, it came with a bang. ha 2 days out of the week it rained hard.
actually it wasnt super hard, but the most ive seen it a while. Elder Jack was
pretty excited to see so much rain. i remember thats how i felt when the rainy
season started last year, i thought it was cool to hear the rain pounding on the
metal roofs, and see rivers running down every road. 3 months later when i had
fungus growing on my skin, and my feet were falling to pieces from being wet
24/7 i wasnt so thrilled about the rain, but i guess its all part of the
experience. so this week was pretty nuts, but pretty good at the same
time. we didnt make a whole lot of progress in our area, but we did alot of
good, and things ended well yesterday. on tuesday we went to work in san
felipe, the area of the zone leaders, because there were two families there
that needed baptismal interviews. i was doing interviews from like 7 till like
10 at night (we got home a little late that night) and into wednesday we had to
finish one more. we spent the night in the zone leaders house because there was
no buses back to our area. thursday was a normal, but then on friday i had to
go to Calahuache to interview another family. we got done like a 7 but at that
time there wasnt any busses again, so we had to sleep in the elders house
there. on saturday we went to the wedding and baptism of the family because
they had invited us. it was awesome. saturday in the afternoon we had our
english class. i kind of didnt want to do it because the only people who show up
are kids who ask for candy. but on while we were waiting one of our neighbors
that we had invited showed up. so we taught him a little and he taught us some
things in kiche. Sunday we talked to the members about a goal of attendance and
used a poster we had made to show the goal and the actual number, it really
motivated alot of people, and i could tell they were all excited to go visit so
more people come. that was phase 1 of 3 that we have planned. things are gonna
start moving, i know it. Things are going well with Elder Jack. we get
along very well . something that has helped alot are the companionship
inventories that we have. its when we talk about the strong points, and the
things that could improve of each other. its helped because if there is anything
that the other does that we dont like we feel open to talk about it, and to find
a solucion. its cool. we do pretty well teaching. sometimes i struggle
because i get in talking mode, and i dont give time to him to say what he
feels. but im trying to get better and listen more and talk less. so
in the end things still arent exactly where i want them to be. i feel like ive
procrastinated alot, and that i should have acted quicker to get things done.
but ive got some high goals to get things done, and the future looks bright.
Tomorrows another day, and im thirsty anyway, so bring on the rain. . . . even
though i hate the rain here. i love you all. enjoy the week and
especially general conference. take good notes and look for personal revelation
to your specific life problems. times going fast. talk to ya´ll next week.
Adios Elder Jacobson

Sad days

well, the days arent really that sad, things are going fairly well in the area,
and in my life. the only sad day has been today, ill tell you why. my zone
this month has done really well, we baptized a ton of familias and things are
looking good. so as a reward they let us play soccer today. i was so pumped.
when the moment finally arrived i tied up my sneaks and ran onto the field.
for a moment i was back in my prime, king of the field, ready for anything. i
took my place on the left wing, the opening kick off, and the game started.
exactly 3 and a half minutes later i was laying on my back gasping for air,
wondering what happened to the good old days. now (4 hours later) my head
hurts, my feet ache and my legs are sore. 3 months without playing soccer and
im like an old man. ha i dont know what has happened to me, but yes indeed, it
has been a sad day.
but other than that things are moving along in the work. we continue
to find, little by little new investigators, and get to know more and more
people. every day i learn new lessons about effective ways to work, and things
that wont bring any results. i sometimes feel that im waisting alot of time.
but i think that the only way we lose time is when we make the mistake of
failing to learn from our incorrect descisiones. (ya i just made that up, but
you can quote me if you want). so that is the goal, to never make the same
mistake twice and to continue to get better from every mistake.
ive recognized in myself one of my strong strengths and one of my big
weaknesses. my strength is that im an idea person. my mind is constantly
going, like a ferris wheel in outer space, not always but fairly often i will
receive inspiration and get an idea that i know will work. its cool for me to
see how i can look at any problem and then think and ponder and pray about it,
and almost always the solution comes. the weakness is that im not a go and
doer. usually i get worried that my ideas will fail, or that people wont like
them, or sometimes i just get lazy, and my ideas wind up ship wrecked on the
rocks of good intent and laziness. i think thats one of the cool things about
training right now. because i have almost always been put with elders that are
go getters. but lately i have had to step up and start doing things. awesome
huh, the mission is a great chance to recognize your weaknesses and be made
stronger.
as far as investigators go we arent doing great, but tampoco horrible.
most of the families we find are hard to get a hold of the next time. either
they hide from us, or we just cant find them. but yesterday a recent convert
took us to his moms house. they fed us dinner (it made me think of the story of
alma and amulek) then we talked to them. they seemed interested and the member
helped us out a ton in teaching them. im fairly sure that they will start
coming to church. Other than that we are working with a couple named Melgin,
and Paola. we can only teach them once a week so the progression has been slow.
we have been battling with them to get them to read the book of mormon, and it
sounds like they are starting. on saturday melgin told us he didnt want to go to
any church because every church he goes to just criticizes and talks bad about
him. i asked if he would go to a church if it wasnt like that and he said yes,
and we committed him to come to church and try it out. he said he would come and
if he liked it he would be baptized.
on sunday right before sacrament meeting the 2nd counceler asked if we
could speak on missionary work. ha the funny thing was that when he announced
it he said elder Jack was gonna speak first. ha so with like 2 minutes of
preparation elder Jack had to give a talk in a language he is still learning.
but he did it like a champ. it was cool to see how the spirit helped him and
me to say things we wouldnt have been able to say otherwise. in the end i was
grateful for an opportunidad to teach and gain the confidence of the members a
little more.. thats what its all about.
well im a little low on time. but how cool that all the family
continues to DOWORK back in utah. i guess you all finally decided to follow my
example. IDOWORK. hey here is a suggestion for you, read "the family a
proclimation to the world" as a family, and hang it up somewhere in the house.
its awesome and talks pretty well against all the crap the goes on in the
world. go do it.
i love you all. keep working hard. finish the school year strong.
continue to pray for me, i always need it. ill keep praying for all you. talk
to you later.
Elder Jacobson