Distance Runners

well there goes another week, and another change. its hard to believe how fast the time is going here. I feel like im living in the song writtin by the legeandary tim mcgraw called "Dont Blink". this week was a good one, but unfortunately the work was brought abruptly to a complete stop by the catholic holiday oñf semana santa. it was a pretty cool holiday. remember when i told you that on christmas everyone gave us tamales, for this holliday every gives away bread. at first i liked it because the bread is really good, but i kind of got bored of it because we ate so much. Lets just say i literally vomited bread all over my companion and his bed while he was sleeping. things have been pretty rough between us since then.
some of the other traditions that they do for semana santa are, they go out with these things they make and dress up and call judas, after the judas that betrayed Christ. the judas are basicaly like piñatas of people. but what they do is get in big groups of people, dress up in holoween costumes and go around town beating drums and noise makers, and asking for bread or money. its kind of like a cross between Halloween, new years, and st patricks day. after that they go hang thier judas in the trees in the park, and on saturday they burn them
Unfortunately we didnt get to be part of all the festivities. President didnt really want us taking pictures or going around in the processions so i didnt see alot of went on. the other unfortunate thing was that the people didnt really want to listen about the gospel for this whole week, so i felt kind of bad because it was hard to get things done and our numbers for the week were super bad. but we are going to keep going forward and doin work.
friday and saturday were fun days, President didnt want us outside so we met as a zone in the church both days. the first day we studied preach my gospel, which was awesome, and the second day we read from the book of mormon. we also got fed lunch, and played sports in between the studying. so it they were both really fun days.
To answer the questions, the name of my area is Central. its right in the center of the city san felipe in Reu. In the baptism of hermanita diana it was me who got to baptize her. I asked my comp and he said he would like me to do it because i just got here, so i had the privilege of baptizing her. it was awesome. ha crap i cant remember what the other questions were. but its tight here. we can get just about everything we need, and were close to reu which is a big city that has everything.
so as you may already know its cambios (changes) again. We dont find out until tomorrow if we go or stay, but im pretty sure im going to stay here, i just barely got here and i dont think that they will take me out after just 3 weeks. my companion on the other hand is 99.999 percent sure that he is gone. he has almost a year to be in this zone, and he doubts that they will keep him here again. but who knows. i guess we wont know until next week.
by the way, i got the package you sent. thank you so much for everthing, it was really a booster. i think i picked up on your "O" theme. Ohs, yOyO juevOs, diariO, and skittles. ha i dont know if you were going for that, but thanks for everything.
well im low on time, but ill just end by saying thanks for everything. sorry if my emails dont say that much stuff that you want to here, but i just can never think of what to say when i get here. ha but most importantly i love you and im doing good here. good luck with the garden and with everything else thats going on there. talk to you next week. love you.
love elder jacobson

HOLY WEEK

here is a riddle for you that is sure to warp your craniums. What has four legs, two eyes, one tail, is fifty percent fur, fifty percent rotting flesh and reeks of death. any guesses ... well if anyone guessed the dog with the horrible skin disease that lives outside of my house then you got it right.

This week is semana santa, or the Holy week. It is the week that the catholics celebrate the week that Jesus completed the Atonement. Every day they do parades in the street. on Friday they celebrate the death of Christ, and on saturday of glory they celebrate the ressurection. it should be pretty cool and interesting. except i think that on friday and saturday we are going to spend the whole day in the church studying things because President doesnt want us taking pictures and disturbing the celebrations of other religions.
this last week was good. we had some disappointments because we were supposed to baptize 4 people on saturday, but 2 of them said they dont know if they want to and the other 2 are going to wait a little while before making their decision. so it was kind of sad, but we know that good things will come from it if we keep working.
Our ward mission leaders name is luis visoni. he is an old man of about 80 years, and he is freakin hilarious. He always carries around 2 sets of glasses, his normal reading glasses, and some super dark sunglasses like the ones the terminator would wear. my companion told me that sometimes on fast sunday he goes to bear his testimony, and while he is walking up to the pulpit he switches from his normal glasses to his sunglasses. ha he is so awesome. i told you about him, because he has been teaching a family of 5, the missionary lessons, he says they are going great. once i asked if we could visit with them, and he said he wanted to wait a little so that we only had to show up to baptize them. ha, the members are awesome here.
yesterday my companion and i sang a intermediate hymn in sacrament meeting. ha im sure your all laughing thinking about me singing. we sang with one of the families in our ward to give us more volume. it would have been perfect, except the daughter of the family missed her soprano solo, so i had to fill in, i nailed it of course, but we still had to give the daughter a scolding for not steppin up to the plate.
ha after sacrament meeting i had to give a lesson in the principles of the gospel class. it was on the preisthood. there was only like 4 in the class, so it wasnt a huge deal, but i think it went pretty well. I sang another solo.
Well im low on time, and i still have to write to the president. but just know that things are going great here and i am loving my life. i learn so much everyday, and i know that my testimony is growing alot. I love you all. keep up the good work. until next week adios
Elder Jacobson

Cambios de emejencia

this week will be one that i will probly never forget. there is good news, bad news, suprising news, and good and suprising news. the good news is that i have alot more room in my backpack because i dont have to carry around my sweater. the bad news is that its freakin hot here. ha the suprising news is that on tuesday we got a call from the zone leaders at about 9 30 at night, telling me that i was getting emergency changed, and had to be on the bus to reu at 9 00 the next morning. I was way suprised, and part of me didnt want to leave, but i was excited to go to a new area, to meet new people, and learn new things.

as soon as i arrived in my new area i started sweating, and i have been sweating ever since. i take two cold showers a day, and sleep with the fan on and no covers. but the members here say that this is the hottest month of the year, and that it will cool down in may. my new compañon is tight. he is super relaxed, and he likes to work hard. our personalities go along well. The members are awesome too. my companion told me that we never pay for food here, but that the members feed us lunch and dinner for free. at first i felt bad taking their food like that, but then i saw how happy it made them to feed us, and i dont feel quite as bad, im just super greatful. on top of feeding us they are way helpful with the missionary work. in La Grandeza almost all the people we found by knocking doors. but my companion (his name is Elder Platero by the way) says that here, almost everyone we teach is the friend or family of a member, it makes the work alot easier and more effective.

Which brings me to the next subject, the news that is good and suprising mentioned in paragraph 1. when i got here on wednesday, my comp told me that we had a baptism planned for this saturday, (two days ago). He told me that we were going to baptize a little girl, whose mom died when she was younger. but what was more suprising was that he told me that the little girl was introduced to the church by her friend, and that her friend had basically done everything, even set a baptismal date. ha it was incredible, all we had to do was show up, teach, and then baptize her. It was a great experience to teach her about how her Heavenly Father loves her and wants her to be happy. she learned about the gospel and the restoration super fast, and on saturday Diana yuseli vasquez aragon was baptized. she recieved the Holy Ghost the next day. it was awesome.

so thats about all the exciting news for this week. Im loving life here and the future looks promising in the work.

It sounds like everything is going well at home. Good work in your competition johnson and keep up the good work. I love you all and i am always praying for you. keep working hard and enjoying your lives. Ill talk to you next week. Adios

Elder Jacobson

La conferencia general (heneral)

Another week has passed by here in the sunny mountains of northern Guatemala. I had a really awesome week that started with a semi-large earthquake, and finished off with a beautiful general conference.

Last tuesday our zone leaders told us that listening to the prophets can be something that changes an investigators life and helps them progress towards baptism, they encouraged us to bring as many people as we could, and asked us what our goal was on how many investigators could be there. My companion and i decided on a goal of fifteen people. It seemed like alot because we have never had more than 3 in a sacrament meeting, but we made the goal and decided we would do whatever we could to achieve it. That afternoon we printed off about 200 invitations that we made, and for the rest of the week the majority of our time was spent inviting people to the conference. We worked hard to get the goal, walking to almost every place in our area (which isnt called La Grandeza for no reason). At the end of each day I was way tired, but content knowing that we had worked our hardest that day.

Well i know your all expecting to hear that 15 or even more people came. haha but to make a long story short only 4 people came. At first i was kind of disappointed, thinking that we had done everything we could, and I wondered why Heavenly Father didnt help us out to make the goal. But the more i think about it the more i realize that i was expecting Him to answer our prayers in my way and my time. but when it comes down to it I guess i just need to be patient and wait for Him to reward our labors in His way. On top of that i realized that the 4 investigators that came are probably the most positive for baptism, and that the messages were exactly what many of them needed to hear. For example there is one investigadora that wants to get baptized, but is living with an inactive member, and they arent married. She was in the session when one of the apostoles talked about how great it is to be married. Another wont get baptized because he thinks he isnt ready. he was in the session when Elder Bednar talked about how we receive revelation line upon line.

For me as well there were many things said that i think were intended especially for me. It was interesting in Elder Hollands talk how he mentioned how it was a miracle that among all the things said, there is always something, even multiple things, that are perfect for every individual. We got to listen to it in English. 3 other missionaries were in a room with me and they had the english broadcast playing. I was really grateful, i think the words mean more when they are in your own language. we watched it at the church both days. on saturday between sessions we went to a Chinese restaurant to eat. I ordered a huge plate of rice and ham. after i was done ( I always finish first ha) i saw the other elders start laughing, and they asked if i wanted to finish their food. something was weird so i said no, then they pointed, and sure enough, by the door to the kitchen was a little black rat running around on the floor. haha i lost my apetite after that, but luckily i had already finished. I havent felt any negative side affects yet. ill keep you posted on that.

Tell Lonica happy birthday, its hard to believe shes already 10 years old. they grow up so fast. And isnt it awesome that she had her birthday on her very first day of school. haha I love you blondica, happy birthday.

Well what more can i say. Im glad you got my package, i was a little nervous that it wouldnt get there, but the lady seemed like she knew what she was doing. ha its funny that the most expensive things in there were the black shoes, and they cost about 150 Quetz. about 20 dollars. ha I hope you all enjoy. On the subject of packages... ha Im not expecting one any time soon, and this isnt a hint to send one, ha but there is something i need that i dont want to forget. my blue journal that ive had for a while is almost full, and ide like to have another one like that so i could have a nice set of journals that are all the same. its the blue one that just says journal on the front that we all got in like 2005. I write in it every monday, and ive probably got about 2 or three months left in it before its full.

So i guess that takes care of all the important stuff. maybe ill try to answer some questions. my companions name is pronounced Tadeo -tah day oh-. He told me once he talked to a pastor, and the pastor made him feel stupid because the pastor knew so much more of the Bible than he did. So he said from that day on he would learn the bible so it wouldnt happen again. so from him i am learning a ton about the Bible. sometimes its just hard to remember all the references, but at least i know more of whats in there. Another thing he is teaching me is to do the RubixCube tm. I can get all the way the the last 2 or three steps before i forget. but sure enough before the end of this change i will be able to do it.

Well shoot i wanted to say more but im almost out of time and i still have to write the president. But P-day will becoming soon enough again. I love you all and am glad to hear that everyone is happy and healthy, and that the family jacobson is still PWNing. talk to you next week.

Love Elder Jacobson

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.