Week #40

Hi Mom!

 This week was okay. We didn't have an amazing week this week but it was okay. Just average I guess. We weren't able to meet with Misty again due to her kids' busy schedule. BUMMER! We did, however still get to see her. We went and did some service at her parents' house. For the service project we were burning this huge brush pile! We had to burn it in a small little fire pit so it took forever and we only got maybe a third of the way into it. While we were there, Misty and her whole family came and we got to talk to them for a while. We will hopefully get to meet with them this week and teach them some more. It's been over 2 weeks since we have last seen them.

Rick isn't doing great. He is having a really hard time with keeping commitments so we told him that when we come next week, if he hasn't read or done anything, then we can't continue teaching him. I hope that he reads so that we can keep teaching him. Rick is such a nice guy and I love getting to meet with him. 

Terry is still doing great! We pushed his date back to the 7th of May and hopefully he'll be able to make that. We aren't sure if Terry is going to be able to be baptized as soon as we thought. He'll have to talk with the President Brown and see when he is eligible. He came to church this last Sunday and then came with us to a Mission President fireside which was great! He's really doing amazing with understanding the gospel and acting on the faith that he is quickly developing. 

We have also been teaching a guy named Elden the me and Elder Brewer found. He said that he is a member of the church but we aren't able to find his records. He said that he would be rebaptized if necessary. He definitely needs to make some changes in his life which he recognizes and is willing to change. 

We are teaching this other guy named Brian who has quite a bit of challenges. He has had a pretty rough past and is struggling to find happiness in his life now. He said that he would come to church if we went to a different church service with him so I might be going to a different church in the near future haha. 

Then this last week we had a sort of crazy experience when we were tracting. So we knocked this guy's door and and he answers and starts telling us how he used to have super strong faith in Christ but how he doesn't believe in him anymore. It was really a depressing story actually but anyway it got to a point in our conversation where he was yelling at us telling us to go check out some freaking books and get some freaking experience. The whole time he was talking/yelling at us, I was thinking of how I just felt bad for him and wanted him to be able to accept the gospel and find happiness from it. We shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with him and a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. He said that he would love to read it and learn more so we'll go back and talk to him this week. I still can't decide if it was a successful tract or not haha. Super weird experience.

We also went to a less active member's house and had a funny experience. His name is Justin and he has pretty severe schizophrenia. Anyway, when we got there, there was this random gallon of milk sitting in the middle of his apartment. We asked him how long it had been sitting there and all he said was, "long enough to be spoiled". Then he looks at us and asked "do you dare me to drink it?!" Elder Brewer and I both said that it probably wasn't a good idea but then he picks it up and just started chugging! Haha it was the grossest thing that I had ever seen! Later when he dumped it out, it just came out all chunky! We had to tell him not to drink a lot of other things that would've made him sick but just thought I would share that story since it's so weird.

Thank you so much for sending me that package! I really enjoyed getting a random package! You guys are the best! I'm working on getting a present for you Mom and then I will send a package home this coming week with birthday presents! I might just send Bennett's early and he can have his now so he doesn't feel left out.  

Thanks so much Mom! You're to best! I love all of you guys and hope you're excited to get out of school! Love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Jack

Week #39

So this week was a little bit of a rough one. We faced a lot of rejection and weren't able to meet with the majority of our investigators. Terry is still doing amazing which is all that really matters haha. He is still working towards being baptized on the 30th of this month. It all depends on if he can stay away from smoking. We are no longer teaching anyone from the Janet and Kenneth family. We haven't heard from any of them which is sad. It's okay though. Can't wait to see them accept it later!

Misty and her family are still doing good. We weren't able to meet with them this week though. They have 3 kids and all of them are really active. It is hard to work around their schedules but we are for sure seeing them this week on Thursday which I'm stoked for! They're awesome!

Rick is doing okay. He love talking to us and loves it when we teach him, but he is really struggling with keeping commitments that we leave with him. We met Rick a few weeks back just on the street. He was walking around so we went up and talked to him and he gave us his address and now we're teaching him... Weird how that works haha. 

There are millions of less active members here!!!!!!!! I think there is something like 400 members and less than 100 are active. It's insane. We obviously don't see all of them but there are a few that we see weekly and are working really hard with. It's difficult when people know that the gospel is true, they just aren't willing to act on it. There are a whole lot of people like that here. Sad to see them denying blessings that heavenly father has in store for them.

Me and Elder Brewer are staying together for another Transfer! We're excited to continue to see the work progress here in the Ashland area! We're having a lot of fun together and getting work done! 

I'm going to try and send a small package home today with presents in it for birthdays. Sorry Ben... you're the only one at home not getting one haha. I may not but just know I tried to send a present home in an envelope for Liza but I just got it returned to me yesterday. I love you guys a ton and am glad to hear that everyone is doing great! Can't wait to talk to you guys in just a few weeks!!!!

Love, 

Elder Scoresby

Week #38

This week was a roller coaster for sure. It started off with us going over to see Janet and Kenneth. At the door step, Janet told us that she had finished the Book of Mormon but that she decided they didn't want to change churches. She wasn't able to get over the idea that God and Christ are 2 separate beings. She also said that she loves her sunday school too much to leave them. I was pretty heart broken when she told us this. They are still great friends of mine and I'll miss seeing them regularly. 

We also had another one of our investigators drop us named Andy. He was an 18 year old kid that seemed really interested. He told us this last week, however, that he wasn't going to come to church and he wasn't interested in religion right now. I always feel disappointed when people don't accept this GLAD message. 

On a more positive note, we taught Misty and all of her family! They all seem to be very interested! Steve is Misty's husband. He's a quite guy but just soaked in everything that we taught. Their 3 kids also seemed to pay attention really well! Their oldest, Brent, is 14 years old and is very outgoing just like his mom. He goes to church with his dad (Steve is his step dad) and Misty said that he wouldn't be interested in what we were teaching. But right when we started teaching, Brent came in the room and participated more than anyone else did! The two other kids, Remington and Terryn are 11 and 9 and both totally soaked in what we taught! They are such a great family and want to know if what we teach is true. A couple of weeks ago, we gave the family proclamation to Misty and she loved it. In fact, she loved it so much that she framed it and hung it on her living room wall! I can't wait to see them again this week.

Terry is still doing great! He came to church again this week and is doing really great with understanding all that we teach him. His baptismal date is the end of this month. I would be surprised if he didn't make that date. 

We set a baptismal date with Rick this last week for the 21st of May. He was excited to set a date and work towards that as a goal. Rick has a very limited religious background. We have to explain in detail a lot of things that most people would understand. He's doing a great job with all this new knowledge though. 

Like I said, it was a roller coaster week. Me and Elder Brewer are having a ton of fun together and teaching some amazing people. We've really figured out how each other work and we've been able to get really close in the last couple of weeks. We don't do a whole lot of stuff on preparation day but we still have fun. Something that has made us laugh since being together is the funny experiences we have when we work with less active members. We helped this one crazy guy clean his room which was really weird but super funny! 

We get along really well with all of the members here in ashland but one of the families that really watch out for us is the Crawfords and also the Yates. Oh and the Mathatas family has us over for dinner probably once a week. They have a strong desire to do missionary work which is inspiring. They're amazing people. 

I'm not sure where we are going to be for Mother's day but I will ask if they have google hang out. I'm getting so excited to talk with you guys! I love you so much and hope you all have a great week.

                                         Jackson after walking home through a snow storm!

  

                                              An Amish buggy going past on the street.

                                                             So much for Spring!

Week #37

 This week was great! I loved conference so much!! There were so many great talks that really touched my heart! One of my favorite talks was the one given by Elder Stevenson. He talked about how a car has so much potential but we have to have the keys in order for it to be more than just some metal and plastic. He related that to having priesthood keys and the blessing it is to have them on the earth today. There were so many people that testified and talked about the restoration of the church and it just solidified my love for the prophet Joseph Smith and for the church. I also loved Elder Hallstrom's talk about how god is our loving heavenly father. I realized that I need to be more mindful of the fact that I am a beloved son of God. 

Terry was only able to come to the Sunday morning session but he said that he loved it! We have some hurdles to climb with Terry so his baptism is going to have to be pushed for a now. He is doing really great though. He's been to church 4 weeks in a row and is reading the book of mormon. He's in 2 Nephi, but we aren't sure how well he is understanding it. He's trying really hard to do what is right which is all that matters.

We got to see Misty this week again but we still haven't met with her family. Her kids have pretty busy schedules which makes it hard to schedule a time for us to meet with all of them. We have an appointment set for this coming Thursday so hopefully that works out. 

We got back in contact with Janet and Kenneth!!!! They're finally feeling better so we set up a time to go see them this week. I can't wait for Elder Brewer to meet them and see how awesome they are. We also had Kenneth's son, Gary, call us and let us know that they've been really sick as well and that they haven't been avoiding us (we totally thought they were). He said that he's been reading the Book of Mormon and he loves it! We're expecting a call from them this week to set up a time to meet when his wife isn't working. 

We also found this guy named Elden a few weeks ago while we were out riding our bikes. He said that he was a Member of the church but we haven't been able to find his records. He hasn't been to church since he was like 10 and he's in his 50's now so he remembers just about nothing. We told him that he might have to be re-baptized and he said that if he needed to he would. He needs to completely change his life style but he said he knows the church is true so it shouldn't be to hard for him to change. 

Rick, another guy we found while riding our bikes, is a solid investigator we have. He likes it when we come over and visit with him. He is really open to learning more and is trying to find out if what we are teaching him is true. 

I'm loving this area! We are teaching a ton of great people that I love so much! 

Sorry I didn't email you on your Birthday Eliza! I sent you a letter and I hope that you got it. There was something special in there.

I love you all so much and am super excited for Mother's day! Times is flying by for me out here on the mission! I can't believe that March is already over! I'm sure Mother's day will be here before I know it.

Love,

Jack

 

 Jackson and Elder Brewer

Josh Paul, a recent convert, and Jackson

     

 

Jackson and Justin, a member in the ward.

  

An "awesome rainbow".

 

  

Week #36

We had a great week this week! So Terry is doing amazing but he isn't going to make april 2nd. We want him to have 3 weeks living the Word of Wisdom before he is baptized. He has about 2 weeks clean right now. He has also been to church the last 3 weeks which is amazing!!! He is such a solid investigator! He is always progressing and loving the church. 

Janet and Kenneth are still sick! We called them on the phone this last week and they answered! Janet sounded like she was going to die right then and there! Hopefully they get over this nasty sickness here in the next couple of days so that we can see them again! 

Jennifer has been sick too! Her Daughter was sick 2 weeks ago and then Jennifer caught what her daughter had this last week! There are a bunch of people that have been getting sick recently.

Misty is doing AWESOME! So we went over there this last week to teach her the restoration. She had already read the pamphlet and underlined things she liked or had questions about. She also grabbed a notebook and pen so she could write down what we were saying! Then right as we started teaching, she said "I don't want to be taught without my family. I want me and my kids and my husband to be able to learn together" Me and Elder Brewer both about exploded!!!! Before this lesson, she had said that she doesn't want us coming when her family is home because she didn't think that it was a good idea. We are now going to teach her, her husband, and her 3 kids that are 14, 11, and 10!!!!!!! I can't wait! We have a lesson set with them this coming Wednesday. I don't know if I've ever met anyone that is more prepared than Misty is!

We have a couple of other investigators that aren't really progressing yet but I'll be sure to let you know when they do.

I think we only have one mission wide conference a year and that's the christmas one. However, we have a member of the seventy come every 6 months or so and that is split into 2 different conferences, so almost the whole mission. I get to see the Mission President at least once every 3 months but usually more than that.

I'm glad that youth conference went well! Those are always fun activities! I really miss those testimony meetings and the spirit that can be felt there. 

Hope you all had a great easter and thanks mom for your testimony of the Atonement. I am truly grateful for the atoning sacrifice that Christ gave for me as well. I KNOW that Chist is my savior and that with out him, there would be absolutely no meaning to this life. We are all made alive in Christ. I'm also grateful for the love that I felt from my Father in Heaven as I sat and pondered on the resurrection yesterday. It was a sure sign of his love to us.

I love you all so much! Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Jack