Buses and Crazy Dogs

the title, doesnt say much. just a little part of my crazy life. Right now im talking to mom and dad via instant message, but i figured i would write something for the family to read.
It was a good week, but a little bit tough again. i remember in high school when we played the game with the stock market. all the graphs always had ups, and downs, Whenever it would drop alot, it would have to bottom out somewhere and start rising again. I think thats kind of the point im in right now. Not to say that my life sucks, its just that about 3 weeks ago we had a ton of people that we were teaching, but little by little we have had to leave them, because they dont want to pray, or read the book of mormon, or come to church. its hard, but we have to look for those who really have a desire to change their lives. so now we are down to about 2 investigators. but the good news is that im faithful that Heavenly Father is going to lead us to people who are ready.
Yesterday in the night i was praying, wondering if there was anyone in this area that really is looking for the truth. Suddenly in my mind flashed the vision of a family that is falling apart that needs something else in their lives. then the words came into my head "there out there, you just need to find them." It was pretty powerful for me. it gives me alot of hope and encouragement to keep looking. I know they are out there, we just have to find them.
ha yesterday i had a lame experience. we were on our way home at the end of the day. i saw a mange dog pass me but it looked calm so i didnt pay attention to it. then suddenly it started barking angrily. I dont know why, but my body, without consent from my brain, started running. ha i only took like 3 steps, but i felt stupid. of course a ton of people saw me because everyone is out in the street at night. they all laughed and yelled "the poor gringo got scared." ha how lame. but it didnt really bug me. just one of the many challenges of having cat like reflexes. I think i understand why spiderman says its a curse.
Well i ran out of time again. but i love you all. enjoy your last week of summer. and work hard this year. Remember that good grades are the key to getting the ladies. good bye for now.
Elder Jacobson

hot weather cold blooded

dear family,
you may be wondering what the subject means. the truth is i dont really know. right now its like 1000 degrees in our internet place so i decided to write hot weather, then i realized that that was a lame title, so i added the last part on to spice things up a bit. heres another riddle for you: whats something that is white, fat, and completes 11 months on the mission today. if you guessed the legendary asian albino elephant, your close but wrong. the answer is me.
hard to believe its been almost a year, its gone way fast on this side, i imagine it is going fast there as well. its gotten hotter here. it doesnt rain as much, and i seem to be sweating all the time. people tell me this is one of the cooler areas, but i have a hard time believing that.
well imma make this one fast because i have to do some other stuff on the computer, but ill tell you one story. we started an activity with all the members of the branch that we are going to start doing every week. the very first one was a success and a bunch of members came, as well as two investigators. at the end of the activity we played a game where we did like a simon says thing, and the people that messed up had to go in front of everyone. once we had 5 people in front (i wasnt one of them) they had to pick someone, and that person had to pick some sort of punishment, or something they had to do. our cook hna Irma picked me, and i couldnt decide what to say, so i said she had to dance. dancing is part of the culture here so no one really thought anything of it. when everyone had their punishment picked out, the person directing the game threw a curve ball, and said that all the people that picked a punishment had to do thier own punishment. ha my stomach dropped as i realized they were going to expect me to dance in front of half the members of the ward. well i went up in front of everyone and they all started yelling dance, dance. ha i didnt know what to do, i didnt even dance in high school prom. I thought about starting a mosh pit, but there was too many children and i didnt want to cause unnecessary casualties to save my own pride. luckily someone put some music on their phone, i decided it would be easiest just to get it over with , so i bounced my head and kind of moved my body in a sorry attempt to dance. ha everyone laughed and cheered with childish delight. i ran off and sat down, and they all said my face turned red. Later that night i talked with my comp and we decided to cancel the activities.. ha just kidding, but seriously.
well the only other news is that hna angela told all her family that she was going to get baptized today. she was super excited. it was sad that we had to explain to her that she has to come to church first, but she understood, and is still just as excited. we well be baptizing her next week. ill send pics.
well thats all for now. as always i love you all. im glad to hear that all is well and that the garden is doing well. I would ask you to send a pic of a big ripe juicy tomato, but my comp might think its weird if he sees me licking the monitor. have a good week. Adios
Elder Jacobson

11 meses

well the truth is that i wont complete 11 months untill next week, but its the beginning of august so i figure im close enough. this week was a little bit tougher, but the things that dont make us stronger kill us.
it started out well. we started out with 2 baptismal dates planned. 1 was with hemanita sury, and the other was with an older ladie named angela. we went to visit them every day to make sure they were ready and excited, and everything was going well. the only thing that worried me was that the family of hna angela was very against her baptism. they told her she was playing with God and that it is a great sin to be baptized twice. but she told us she knew it was true and that she planned on going through with it. on thursday we couldnt find her in her house, and all friday we were looking for her. we went to her house on friday night and found a pastor from her other church. we think that she was there, but they wouldnt let us talk to her. so we went back saturday morning, and finally found her in her house. she told us that the knew she needed to be baptized, but was afraid of her family, so we decided to wait a week. I was pretty bumbed because her husband died about a month ago, and she really needs the gospel in her life. We could tell that satan was really working hard against her. but we are going to work with her this week and make sure it goes through.
Hna sury was baptized and everything went through beautifully. we had a little bit of difficulty getting her to church for her confirmation, because her dad tried to break up a fight and got his leg smashed, and her mom was really sick. she said she didnt feel well and didnt want to go to church. but we got alot of support from one of the member families, and in the end everything worked out perfect. Just goes to show that satan is always working against us. but in the end, he really has no power, the right will always prevail.
other than that the week went well. we are finding alot of investigators. the only problem is that usually they want to listen to us when we just teach, but when we try to help them make commitments to improve their lives, they decide that its too hard and stop listening to us. my comp and i are working on figuring out how to get the members to start working with investigators to help them keep commitments and progress. i think it will be alot more work, but yield much greater results.
on thursday we went to visit a member family. we talked to them a little and the dad told us that he had been without work for more than a month. i was impressed to talk about tithing, so we taught a pretty powerful lesson about how paying a full tithe will bless their lives. I think it helped alot, and on sunday i saw the mom take out a tithing slip. its cool to me how my testimony is always growing here. in my farewell talk i said that i didnt really have a testimony of tithing because i have never had to sacrifice to pay it. but from teaching about it and promising that everything will be better when they pay, i have really felt my testimony grow.
ive been studying, and thinking alot about character lately. Pres. Maravilla talks alot about how our character is who we are. It made me think alot about me personally, if i am someone strong, faithfull, and full of love, or someone selfish, prideful and always worying. i think that we can always improve our character by focusing on becoming more like Christ. When we can say that we are truly doing our best to be like him, we wont have to wonder what type of person we are.
well its time to go. like i said it was a tough week, but im hopeful for the future. things are looking bright, and we are going to work hard. Happy anniversary to mom and dad. You two have been married a long time. its weird, but every year that goes by i have a harder time remembering your wedding. SHOUT OUT to the siblings: Jordub Jalub johnub and lonicub. enjoy your last weeks of summer. have a good week. enjoy some fresh garden produce for me, and i will continue scarfing down rambotanes at every opportunity. I love you all talk to you soon.
Elder Jacobson

oh and by the way the razor is gillet, its the one with like five razors. and who ever gives the report of me in priesthood, you can tell them that im usually soaking wet all the time, because im either sweating, or its raining, its hard to find common ground. another interesting thing is that im getting fat again, i dont know what the deal is but im always gaining or losing weight, maybe it depends on who my cook is. ha i love you, good bye until next week.

Changes

proof that the chupacabra has migrated to san pedro


well like it said in the title changes were this week. sure enough i stayed here in San Pablo, but my comp elder altamirano got sent to another area. i was sad to see him go because we got along pretty well, but i guess it was time. my new comps name is elder matute, he is from honduras. since elder heywood i have had 2 comps from el salvador, 2 from nicaragua and now one from hoduras. hes cool, i can tell he is a missionary that will get out and get things done. i think ill be able to learn alot from him, because sometime i have good ideas, but i dont follow through, so this will be a good chance to learn something new that will help me be a more affective person.
we are coming up on our final week of the month. President says if we are working effectively we should never go more than a month without a baptism. and so far we dont have any, but the good news is that we have alot of people that are ready. we have 5 investigators that could possibly be baptized this saturday, i think it will just require alot of work and a lot of faith, but we are going to do it.
on friday the branch held a funeral service for a member that recently passed away. we went to the funeral to give support, and when we showed up one of the members asked if we could share a talk about the plan of salvation as part of the service. my comp was quick to volunteer me, by saying that i had more time in the area than him, so it would be better if i spoke. haha it wasnt a very good excuse, but i agreed. i had a few minutes to prepare, and i wrote a few things in my agenda, but when igot up to speak i forgot everything i was going to say. I basically just read the scripture out of alma 40 12 that talks about spirit paradise and bore my testimony, i dont know if i spoke that well , but hopefully something i said helped the family.

well the rainy season has kind of stopped for a while. since my new comp showed up it has been super hot here. but its nice to have a break from the rain. we still eat tons of rambotan every day, i think its the only serving of fruit i get every day, so i have to take advantage of it. if your wondering i havent gotten sick my whole mission, except a little cold in san pedro. Ive truly been blessed, because alot of missionaries have to work with sicknesses, but ive been doing well. although i if you want it never hurts to have a box of emergency. speaking of things you could send me, im out of razor heads. ive been using the same one for like a month and a half, now it basically just rubs my hair away, like shaving with sandpaper. i think if you sent me a box of 12 it would last till the end of my mish.
well it sounds like you guys are already at the river. its hard to believe that the last time we went i already had my call. times going by fast. thats cool about the room downstairs im excited to see pictures. and good choice on the colors, i approve.
well i think im gonna finish up there, ive been wanting to write some people from my other areas, so i think imma finish up early today. but i love you all. its good to hear that everyone is happy and healthy. enjoy whats left of your summer, and keep doo-won work. have a good week and send me some pictures. adios
Elder Jacobson

Change 6

well another change has passed by. hard to believe that i have been here in san pablo for 6 weeks already. Its been a fun change, and i feel like i have learned alot. its cool to me how i get to know and love every area that im in. ha they are going to tell us about changes today in the afternoon. im pretty sure that i will be staying here for another six weeks, but thats what i thought about san felipe as well. ha who knows, im not really worried about it, ill be happy either way.

it was kind of a tough week. these past few weeks we have found alot of investigators. many of whom seemed very positive to me. but lately they have kind of been falling, or in other words, they are choosing not to progress. before they seemed really excited when we would come, and they were excited to go to church, and change their lives, but almost none of our investigators came to church yesterday. my comp and i came to the realization that it is probably time to stop focusing so much time on them, and go to look for others. its sad to me, because many of them know that what we teach is true, and will make their lives better, but they choose not to act on what they are learning. I guess that must be how Heavenly Father feels. He is constantly teaching us things that well make us happier, but alot of times we choose not to act, or change, or repent to be better. Im sure He could take away our agency, and force us to do things, but His love is such that He allows us to struggle and suffer because He understands that we will only progress when we learn to make our own choices to follow HIm. Ha, its amazing to me how great the Plan of salvation really is. Especially when i think that the final result of it all is that we will be Gods like Him.

The good news is that Im sure that we will find more people to teach. our goal for this month is 3 families baptized. it would truly be a miracle, but i know that Heavenly Father works miracles according to our faith, so im going to try to not doubt, and put all my trust in Him. Get ready for a miracle.

saturday night was pretty cool, we have alot of young men in our branch that are of the age to go on a mission, but are having trouble deciding. we wanted to do something to get them excited, and to get to know them better, so we got permission to invite them to dinner. like 4 of them came to our house, and they all brought something to eat. my comp cooked fish, and they were playing soccer with a little plastic ball. while all this was going on i mixed up a cake mix that was left in the house, and started cooking little cakes in a waffle maker that my papa elder heywood gave me. ha it all came out pretty good, and we had alot of fun. All 4 of them came to church yesterday, and i think the stake is working with them to fill out their papers.

Well im still enjoying life. i discovered a know fruit that i am addicted to . its called rambotan. the best way to describe it is its like a grape, but as big as a kiwi. its super juicy and super sweet, and they sell like 15 for 3 quetz. ha i live on rambotan.

well crap i didnt realize, but im out of time. but i love you all. have fun with everything. keep working hard. talk to you next week

Elder Jacobson

Feliz cumpleaños al perro

Directly translated, the subject means "happy birth day to the dog" . but what it should say is happy birthday to the dawg. hard to believe jolling is already more than 71 years old. i know hes gettin the ladies. haha just kidding, but happy birthday jalen. i hope you had a good day and are still doin work.

well this week was good, and we worked very hard. we have been blessed these last 2 weeks to find alot of new investigators, so we have had alot of work to make sure we can get back to visit all of the people, to make sure they can progress. saturday night and sunday night reminded me of the first few weeks of basic training, when i would stagger to my bed, start my night time prayer, and the next thing i know i wake up to the sound of my alarm. ha its tough, but its a good feeling to know that im giving my all, and we are starting to see results.

im getting to know and like my area alot. i get along well with the members, and they like us alot because they can tell that we are missionaries that like to work. the weather has been pretty nice, usually its hot in the morning and rains all afternoon. but the rain keeps it cool, so i cant complain. Im starting to get to know the are really well. in my first area i felt lost for like the first 3 months, but now i think i can find pretty much any where. san pablo is a fairly small town. i live about 5 minutes away from the center. my favorite places in the town are the bread store and the smoothie store, ha i think when i come home i will miss the bread here the most. the people are all really nice and always take time to talk to us in the streets. my spanish is still improving, but not as much as before. but its rare when i cant think of a word to say something, i think now i mainly need to focus on my accent. but i have to say that life is going great for me.

i have been praying alot that we could help some people to commit to baptism (nothing new there). we have alot of people that are ready, and even have testimonies of the truth, but they all seem to have their challenges, the road to salvation will never be easy. but yesterday we had a breakthrough with one of our investigators. we taught her with her boy friend who is a returned missionary. it was a great lesson and she told us that she knew the church was true and that she wanted to get baptized, but just wanted to wait. her boyfriend helped a ton and in the end she said that she wanted to get baptized as soon as we were done teaching the lessons. It was great to see how the spirit worked with us all and in the end she accepted the truth.

well what more can i say. it sounds like the fam is doing good and enjoying their summer. how is the garden and the yard looking. is the bathroom finished yet. its probably almost time to be heading to the river again. ha a few days ago i was in a part of my area with a big river. someone was burning their weeds, and we were in kind of a jungly part. the sound of the river, the smell of smoke and the trees gave me dejavu of the river, ha for a second i couldnt remember where i was. So lonica is secretary eh. well it doesnt surprise me. work hard little loni and make sure all the girls in the bee hives come to church, that is your responsibility. that goes for you as well jalen. i think when i was your age and i had callings i didnt realize that Heavenly Father will hold us responsible for all the people in our quorum. so go find them all and make sure they are all coming to church. you will be blessed, and you will be happy.

well i think its about time again. its crazy that im up to 10 months, i dont really feel the time, i think that when all my thoughts are focused on people, Gods children, it seems like i dont have enough time in the day to do what i want to. But the work is going forward. I love you all, i know that you are all doing well and enjoying life. remember to do all of the basics that help us to have the spirit. Especially Daily prayer, daily study of the Book of Mormon, and weekly church attendance. when we do these things we can be sure that the spirit will always direct us for the better.

Ha i feel like i preached alot today, but have a good week i love you all. Talk to you in 7 days. good bye

Elder Jacobson

El Cuartro de Julio

well the 4th of july has rolled around once again. this morning without even realizing i put on a red white and blue tie. another elder from the states good work on your tie choice. ha i didnt get what he meant until just now.

This week had highs and lows, but all in all it turned out great. on tuesday we had an awesome conference with President, and he talked to us about some things we could do to be more effective, and more successful. I left the conference with alot of determination to go out and start doing the things we learned, knowing that from doing them we would see success. but , like with most things, saying and thinking turned out to be alot easier than actually doing. I kind of got discouraged in the week because we werent having the instantaneous success i was hoping for. I thought, im trying to do what i was told, but its not working. but then i thought about the armies of heleman that were exactly obedient to all of the commands they were given. ha i also thought about remember the titans when the refs are cheating, and the coach says that they are going to BLITZ ALL NIGHT, and that they werent going to let the other team gain one yard. In both cases the leaders tell them what needs to be done to win, but it is up to the soldiers/players to do whatever it takes to follow the instructions of their leaders. One of the greatest parts of the gospel is that we are never going to be commanded in all things. or in other words, we are never going to be given step by step instructions on how to be successful. instead we are given commandments that will bring us joy happiness and success. it is our responsibility to seek revelation from Heavenly Father and then go and do what we are commanded to do. I dont know if my thought sequence made sense, but it was a good lesson that i learned this week.

Yesterday was a great day. we had three investigators and about 7 less active members come to church. It was good to see some fruits of our labors to boost my motivation level. We also taught some really good lessons, and we are working with 5 families. Heavenly Father has helped us to find alot of people to teach, now we just need to really help them feel the spirit so they will be ready to accept baptism.

Well i with i could write more, but im out of time. I love you all so much. keep looking and praying for opportunities to share the gospel. keep enjoying summer and have a great fourth of july. untill next week.