New Mission President

June 30, 2014

Hey Mom and Dad,

 Sorry this is coming late again, we were ice skating this week. Fun stuff. I only "ate it" twice. This week was stake conference and we got to hear some outstanding talks. One of them that I really enjoyed was about temples and how important they are. We're so blessed to live in a place where we have easy access to temples on a regular basis.

Also, at stake conference there was a special missionary segment where they basically told all the members that we need more referrals and that tracting is quote: "a waste of time".  Thank you stake conference! Hopefully we get some more help from the members in the near future.

We also got a truck to use this week which is pretty cool. Our car is in having some body work done for a few days.

We found a new investigator this week. He said he'd read the Book of Mormon in his free time. Hopefully he follows through. We'll go see him again this week. This Sunday is transfer calls. I feel like having a change of scenery but there may still be work to do here for me, so we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, our other investigator has stopped drinking once and for all and says he's committed to coming to church. We had a lesson in the Bishop's house this week and he cooked us honey-glazed Dutch oven ribs for dinner. They were incredible. Our investigator accepted a commitment to be baptized. Hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks here.

I forgot to tell you that we had a goodbye meeting with President Weston by the way. He flies home tomorrow. As of today, President Marston is officially in the mission as mission president.

 Mom, something that really helped me improve my accent was reading aloud in Spanish and trying to imitate the accents I'd heard. That was probably the biggest thing.

That's all the big stuff that happened this week.  

Well, my second year has begun.  It’s gone by so fast!

Anyways, love you guys!

Jake

 

23 June, 2014

Hey mom and Dad! Sorry this is coming in late. We were having a war with PVC pipe nerf blowguns. It was sweet.

First things first, my eye is fine. We were playing soccer and I took a shot to the face. Afterwards my vision was blurry and I couldn't see very well around the bottom edge. I thought it was just my contact but then I took it out and it was still there. So at that point I figured I should probably call the nurse. She told me to go to the urgent care center and they referred me to the optometrist. The next day it was better, but nurse Dwyer still wanted me to go just to be sure. The optometrist dilated my eye to clear it up and said sometimes cells in your eye can get knocked loose and cloud your vision for awhile but it clears up. So that's the long and boring story that was part of a long and boring week.

The highlight of this week was that we got to drive back up to Orland/Chico for a baptism of elder Tepox's.  It was a fun experience and I got to see Elder van Leeuwen again. He's doing great.

Nothing very interesting happened this week. Just business as usual.

I'm sure the funeral was hard on everyone. That can't be an easy thing. I'm glad to hear the Tingeys are taking it so well though.

Glad you got my letter dad. It's good to hear that you haven't gone soft on me ;)

Plus now you have a century bike ride t shirt. Street cred!

This week we have zone conference, which should be cool. I'm wondering if we won't meet our new mission president there. I don't know though.

I don't know if I've ever told you but we get to eat with a family in our ward almost every Sunday.  The mom is an amazing cook. Her burritos with french fries in them are legendary.

That's about all.  Sorry this email was pretty dry. It's a reflection of California in general.

Love

Jake

Day after Father's Day

 

Que tal Pa!

Happy Father's Day! You're the best dad ever. Thanks for being my wingman, for staying cool under fire, for being my eye in the sky. The trail has been rough sometimes, but I know I can always count on you to watch my six for tangos in the brush.

I sent you a letter, but it'll probably get there late. Sorry about that. So for now just know that I appreciate you.

Well, the number one most exciting thing that happened this whole week was that on Saturday our investigator family got baptized! The son asked me to baptize him, so that was really cool. That was the first time I've ever actually baptized a person before. It was a great experience. Hopefully the dad will be able to come to church and follow suit in  a few weeks here. It was awesome to finally see some of the fruits of our labor here after two hard transfers. I'm so glad I got to have that experience. I'll send some pictures as soon as I can.

In other news, later that same day we had to drive an elder to the ER because he ran his head into a low-hanging roof so hard that he gave himself a pretty serious concussion. The kid is like 6'6". Anyways, he was pretty much out of it. Couldn't even walk straight. So we got to sit around for a few hours there while they tried to figure out if his brains had been scrambled or not. Luckily, he'll make a full recovery. Sister Dwyer, the mission nurse, arrived on the scene to do the important task of supervising our sitting around doing nothing. Elder Gentry was complaining about having sinus problems, and she immediately recommended something called a "nasal spritz" which apparently offers a plethora of health benefits besides clear sinuses. I recommended that she buy a subscription to Prevention Magazine. Seems like the kind of thing mission nurses would enjoy.

La Copa Mundial is going right now, so that's all our members are talking about. It's kind of cool to see a bunch of people get so excited over the same thing. Like the Olympics minus events like curling and handball. Plus it's soccer. So it's awesome. I heard the US is up against Ghana, Germany, and Portugal for the prelims so we'll probably be lucky if we advance to the next round.

I've noticed that my Spanish is getting a lot better, which is really cool. I had to translate Sacrament Meeting the week before last, and it went a lot better than it ever had before. I definitely believe in the gift of tongues, and like you said in your letter Ma, everything runs on faith. I've noticed that when I just speak it as much as I can - even if I mess up - I get better. It's all about having confidence that Heavenly Father will help me.

I'll upload those photos as soon as I can.

Love you all!

Jake

The Good, The Bad and the Elderly

Dear Mom and Dad,

 Well, the craziest thing that happened this week was that I had to

 call 911 for the first time in my life on Friday.

 But before I get to that I'll talk about all of the less interesting

 stuff first. This week was pretty slow, unfortunately. We didn't get

 to have many lessons, and we didn't get around to see everyone on our

 list. I guess it just happens sometimes, but it still stinks. We went

 to Costa Vida to eat, and you'll be interested to know that we're now

 4 for 5 with people paying for us. There are SO many Mormons who

 aggregate there. Probably because Costa got started in Utah. But yeah.

 We've discovered that all you have to do is go there in pross and

 there will almost always be someone there who will come up and talk to

 you.

 Yesterday (Saturday) we went and helped someone move in 104 degree

 weather. It wasn't much fun.

On Thursday we rode our bikes out of the mission to go to the

 Sacramento Temple. That was also a great experience. I love visiting

 the temple. After almost a year, I realized there was a lot I'd

 forgotten, and I felt the spirit really strongly there. I didn't mess

 up nearly as much as a I thought I would during the session. It was

 great. We took a bunch of pictures that I'll send later if the bullion

 year old computer here work. I might as well use an abacus to send

 emails.

 Anyways, now on to Friday. So we were sitting in the church weekly

 planning and all of the sudden one of the guys who was mowing the lawn

 outside runs up and starts pounding on the glass door. We open it up

 and the first thing he says is: "Guys there's a huge fire going back

 there, someone should probably call the fire department."

 Sure enough, there were flames coming out of a dry creek bed running

 behind the church, tall enough for me to see them coming up over the

 edge of the creek bed from about 50 yards away. So I called 911 and

 told them where we were. Then I ran down there with two other guys who

 had been cleaning up around the church and started beating the flames

 back with some green tree branches dipped in water/trying to kick dirt

 over the fire. One of them grabbed a water cooler from their truck and

 started hauling water over from a spigot by the church building. Then

 firemen showed up about 10 minutes later and doused the flames with

 some kind of water/chemical mix that left big patches of foam down in

 the creek bed. Everything ended well minus the fact that my shoes got

 covered in ash and I smelled like a campfire the rest of the day. But

 yeah. That's the story of the time I got to be a firefighter on my

 mission. I rewarded myself with a Sangrita Blast Mountain Dew from

 Taco Bell. It's like Baja Blast but raspberry-flavored. It's also Taco

 Bell's only redeeming feature.

 So far we haven't got many new investigators. We talked to one lady

 who seemed really interested only to come back the next day and find

 out she'd gone in for an emergency operation on her appendix a few

 hours after we talked to her and is going to be in the hospital for

 awhile. Another interesting story: so we were talking to her friend

 outside her house (in Spanish). Her friend was in a car with another

 older lady who was driving, and clearly did not speak Spanish. We were

 asking her friend if there was anything we could do when this old

 white lady just snaps and butts in with: "I don't have time for this.

 Get out of here. Goodbye." I was pretty much lost for words. I tried

 to explain that we were asking if we could do anything for this lady

 in the hospital, but she wouldn't hear it. She just kept saying

 "Goodbye".

 So that was the time we got kicked off of somebody else's property by

 some old grandma. Maybe because she thought we were insulting her in

 Spanish? I'll never know. Maybe she just needs to drink more prune

 juice.

 Anyways, I'm on the downhill side, and it feels great. Our investigator

 family came to church yesterday minus the dad again, so the plan for

 now is to have the mom and the kids get baptized this Saturday because

 they really want to. The dad does too, and he know he needs to get

 to church, but they're basically living paycheck to paycheck right now

 and he has to work Sundays just to get by. He's a sincere guy, and I

 know he has a desire to be baptized. He also told us that when he's

 baptized he doesn't want to just do it and then go inactive because of

 his work. He wants to go all the way. So his plan is to work like

 crazy for another few weeks and save up some more cash so he can

 afford to not work on Sundays.

 So yeah. Things are good here in California, other than the fact that

 it's over 100 degrees every day.

 But yeah

 Love you all!

 Jake

Dear Mom and Dad,

A couple of days ago we went out to eat with Elder Gentry and Johnson. I had been down all day because this week has been unusually slow. So we were sitting here eating and this super catchy song came on the radio, the chorus of which goes "I'm only gonna be an optimist about this". I'd never heard it before, and I don't know who it's by or even what it's called, but that phrase has been stuck in my head this whole week. Seems like it always starts up again whenever it's 100+ degrees out and we're trying to knock doors or somebody's making fun us. The words pop into my head and before I know it I start humming along. Never gets old. So my thought for the week is that I shouldn't let the circumstances determine my attitude. So we have a rough area. So what? I'm only gonna be an optimist about this mission. 

That's not to say it isn't tough sometimes. But it's getting easier every day. I guess the fastest way to move on from a bad area is to hurry up and learn the lesson I'm supposed to learn from all of this. Either way my attitude will improve, and I'll do better overall.

Well, our investigator family (who was going to be baptized on the 31^st, but weren’t) came to church - minus the dad. He had asked somebody to finish fixing a car for him that the owner was coming to pick up today (Monday) so that he could go to church. But the guy was a no-show, so he had to stay home yet again and fix this car. Pretty lame. But on the bright side the mom is now willing to be baptized - even if the baptism has to be pushed back another week so they can all be baptized together. 

So... Yeah. Lots of stress and stress-relief this week. Seems like there's always ups and downs. That's just how it goes. 

Getting to see Elder Gentry was sweet. I've missed him since I left Chico. He's had a pretty rough couple of transfers with some really lame companions. He's district leader now. 

Our new mission president, President Marston, come is a couple of weeks.  Speaking of which, President has been cleaning house like crazy in preparation for the change of hands. 8 missionaries have been sent home early in the last 3 weeks. It's crazy. Or maybe the mission is just going through a rough patch, I don't know.

Interesting anecdote: I ate two habanero peppers today. Stuff is HOT. I talked elder Johnson into eating one and he threw it up... Haha felt a little bit bad after that 

Anyways, that was my week. It was great to hear how you're all doing!

Love

Jake

p.s.

And now for your entertainment, a video of me trying to cut flying fruit with a machete after district meeting. I got a solid 3 hits in. 

I'm guessing a baseball career is not in my future. 

 

25 May, 2014

        Well hey guys, how's it going? Things are okay here. This was week 6
of the transfer. I'm not going anywhere. Here in C Heights for another
one.
Seems like it's gone by in the blink of an eye, but slow at the same
time. We managed to find a total of 4 new investigators so far, and
have lost two of them. That's just how it goes. I guess we just
haven't found that elect person yet. We'll keep working on it.
Yesterday should have been a great day, but wasn't because the
our investigator family didn't come to church. So no baptism this week. It's a
real kick in the teeth after two transfers of work. We'll stick with
them though. You know how it goes Dad. The ward is as "meh" as ever.
Got any tips for getting more member support? We told the ward council
yesterday we needed a lot of help with the our investigator family and their
collective response was basically "Yeah". Period. That's it.

  In other less discouraging news, I ate a baby octopus on Friday. We
went to a Dim Sum and they had some pretty freaky stuff there. The
octopus wasn't that bad though. Kind of just chewy and salty. I
couldn't bring myself to cut it open and see if the brain was still
inside, so I just forked it into my mouth whole. Yum.
After having written that, I'm not entirely sure what the encouraging
message is there... Try new things maybe? Every octopus has a silver
lining? Either way, it didn't come back to life in my stomach and
start swimming around, so I figure I'm good.
        Elder Huaman goes home in two days! How crazy is that? Another dead
companion. It's sad, but at the same time it always reminds me that
missions don't last forever. I sure admire Elder Huaman's work ethic
though. He's one of the best missionaries I've ever met.
        Right now I'm in the process of "plateau busting" with my Spanish.
President told me not to be content with mediocrity because I'm a
"brilliant language learner". He might just be blowing sunshine at me,
to borrow one of Dad's metaphors, (out of which end does the sunshine
metaphorically blow, by the way?) but it motivated me to work harder.
So I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone with exciting new
vocabulary like "ledge" (repisa) and "duck" (agachar). That's the verb
duck, not the waterfowl. Exciting.
         One of the English elders brought us all Baja Blast today, so
that's a good start to the week!
Anyways, I'm doing great. Love you guys!
Jake

Mother's Day

12 May, 2014

Hey everyone!

                Well the highlight of this week was getting to talk to all of you (obviously). It's great to see how everyone is growing up. I think Kate and Jess seem the most different so far.

That gave me a good recharge and a desire to do better on my mission. Thank you all for being the awesome family that you are and always encouraging me to do my best. The other highlight was that we got our investigator and his entire family on date for the 31 of this month. It was really great to finally see some success here, and to see their family beginning to progress again. Other than that, this week has been pretty slow, if more productive than usual. We didn't find anyone new, but we did have a lot more lessons than usual.

Tomorrow is Zone Conference, so that will be a good experience. I always like going to Zone Conference because it helps me to feel more enthusiastic about the work - kind of like being in the MTC where nearly everyone is happy to be there and focused on the same goal.

        I wanted to share a scripture with you that I found this morning during personal study. It's in Omni, verse 26:

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

        The phrase "offer your whole souls" really stuck out to me. That's something I need to work on- offering my whole soul to The Lord while I'm in His service, and letting Him work out all the details/concerns for me. That's my goal for the second year of my mission.

Thanks for everything you guys do!

Love

Jake