Thursday, September 29, 2016

Week #62

Hey Mom!

I love hearing about the family! I miss them so much! I wouldn't be upset if you sent me pictures of you guys! I don't need anything fancy... just take random pictures of the kids! I have some funny ones of the family I'll have to send you hehe! 

So we are having a little trouble with Frank. He doesn't want to meet with us until the new year or maybe later. He said that he wants to wait until he moves to a new apartment. I'm really hoping that we can convince him otherwise. He is so golden! He loved church and really wants to come back! I want to teach him again so bad!

Anthony does have a baptismal date. He is so amazing! Everything we teach him he accepts and knows it to be true! He is probably the first person that I have taught that made the connection that if the Book of Mormon is true, then so is everything else in this church. He's progressing really well and is doing great at being a missionary himself! He pretty much lets everyone know that he's going to be a Mormon. He's getting a lot of persecution for it. He has had people come up to him while he's been reading the Book of Mormon somewhere and tell him that he isn't Christian and that he shouldn't be reading that book. He tell us jokingly that he wants to beat them up. He has such a firm testimony, I don't think anything or anyone can shake him! His new baptismal date is for the 15th of October. I'm hoping we don't have to push it back any more. 

Pam doesn't have a baptismal date yet. She is having a really hard time right now financially. She is super stressed so it's hard to get her to slow down and feel the spirit in our lessons. Hopefully we'll get to set a date with her this week. I love to see the spirit touch her. She always tells us that she feels better after our lessons. I'm hoping she can find time to read and make it a priority in her life to progress in the gospel. She's awesome!

Lauren is doing AMAZING as well! She is strong in her Catholic faith but she is loving the Book of Mormon right now! She's coming to church next week! We still haven't set a baptismal date with her but we're getting close. She is improving so much its crazy! I love teaching people the gospel!

This week was a rough one with finding new investigators and with meeting with all of our investigators. I just feel like there isn't enough time in the day to do everything! It's crazy. I'm not sure if this week will be a whole lot better because we have Mission Leadership council on Tuesday, which doesn't get over until about 4:00, and then we have to travel back, which takes us to about 5:00. Then we have to plan for zone training meeting, and then we have zone training meeting on Thursday, so it might be a little crazy. It will all work out though. 

Oh and I didn't even know Ansley got married!!!! That's insane!!!!!!! 

Love you so much! Have a good week!

Love,

Jack

The title of Liberty Jackson and Elder Davis made for training on Jackson's pillowcase.


Jackson in the new ties we sent him. :)
Jackson took a bunch of pictures of Cleveland.












Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Week #61

Wazzzuppppp!!!! 

Hi Mom!

Had a good week this week! So if there are any letters that should be capitalized that aren't, just ignore it. This keyboard that I'm using has a terrible shift key and it's driving me crazy. 

We totally got to take Lauren to Kirtland which was AWESOME!!!!! She loved it! The spirit was so strong there, like it always is, and I think she was able to feel it. We meet with her every Tuesday, so we'll see her tomorrow and answer questions she has. She's doing so great! 

Pam is doing really well too! She's been sick, so we haven't been able to see her in the last week.  She didn't come to church, but we plan to see her in the next couple of days. I think the fact that her sister is a member is a huge motivator for her to continue learning about the church. She is really wanting to improve the quality of her life and come closer to God as well. We're hoping to set a baptismal date with Pam this week.

Yvette didn't come to church either. She had to work yesterday, which is what really prevented her from coming. She still isn't sure if she wants to join the church or not. She keeps telling us that what we teach her seems right and seems like the will of the Lord. All she wants to do is what the Lord wants her to do. Hopefully we can get her to church this coming Sunday.

Anthony is still doing well! He is crazy busy, but we're meeting with him this Wednesday. We are going to reset his baptismal date for some time in October. He was at church yesterday and loved it like usual. He's been there 4 or 5 times now!

Zone leader responsibilities are going well! We had zone conference just this last week and gave a discussion on finding. Zone conferences come every 3 months and those are easy to prepare for. We have zone training meeting (ztm) every month and that requires more planning. For ztm, the zone leaders meet with all the missionaries in their zone and relay lessons/info down that we get from President Brown, at mission leadership council (mlc) which takes place every last Tuesday of the month. The reason those ones require more planning is because we do all of the teaching. Still really fun. For our last ztm, Elder Davis and I made a Title of Liberty for our zone on my pillow case! We didn't have anything else to write it on so we figured that would do! I'll have to send you a picture next week! It's pretty hilarious!

Exchanges are good. They're fun, I just don't like having to be out of my area for a day. Other than that, I love them!

Okay now I have a miraculous miracle! 

On Saturday, we were doing some service for a lady, helping her move a ton of stuff she didn't want out of her house, that was less clean than I would have preferred. While we were doing that, we got a phone call from a random number. I answered, and on the other end was a man with a deep voice. He told us that his name was Frank and that he needed a copy of the Book of Mormon. When we asked how he had heard of the Book of Mormon, he said that back in 1999 missionaries came and gave him a copy. He had since then read it and given it away to someone else that wanted to read it. When we went over and visited Frank, he showed us a little address book that had the missionaries' names down and their phone number back in 1999! He was so excited to get another copy of the Book of Mormon! We invited him to church which was the following day and he accepted. He just needed a ride to church. Sunday morning we were scrambling to find someone that could take him! We were barely able to get a member to pick him up. We did get Frank to church though! He's so great! Love that man! We are having a little trouble trying to set a return appointment with him, but we'll get there!

I know from miracles like these, that this is the Lord's work. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. I know that I'm meant to be here, and am eternally grateful for the experiences I'm having. I love the work!

I love you Mom! Great job in the dive meet Ben! I am going to need some videos of his meets! That would make me super happy! Hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Jack

Monday, September 12, 2016

Week #60

Hi Mom!

I can't believe Mitch is going to Cambodia! That's insane! I love him so much! He is going to be such a good missionary! 

I'm glad Cooper is doing good in XC! That's so fun! I miss those races! Good times in cross country. 

I have no idea where I want to go. I'm thinking that I want to go to UVU. Not totally sure yet but I think that's what I'm leaning towards. I have put zero thought into where I want to go but most of my friends will be at UVU so I'll probably go there. 

This week was a pretty good one! So we had the hardest time getting in contact with Anthony! He fell off the face of the earth for about a week and a half which was a bummer. We finally got a call from him on Friday telling us that he was just super busy with work. We were able to meet with him and have a powerful Word of Wisdom lesson. We had to push back his baptismal date. Not sure yet when we are going to set it for but most likely some time in October. We have some solid other investigators I haven't told you a ton about. 

So we've been teaching a lady named Lauren since I got here but she wasn't interested in joining the church at all when we started. She was just getting back into Catholicism and had just barely joined one of the local Catholic churches. She just wanted to know what we believed and what the Book of Mormon was all about. Well, we probably should've warned her that the Book of Mormon tends to change lives.Lauren is currently reading in 3 Nephi right now and is loving it! It's amazing to see how much her spirituality has grown in just a few weeks! This last week we committed her to pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it's true. Depending on if she recognizes her answer or not, we'll try to set a baptismal date with her. Oh and this Saturday we have planned to take her to Kirtland! Can't wait!

Pam is another investigator we have. We found her 2 weeks ago or so and she's amazing! Pam is a middle aged woman that has a true desire to improve the quality of her life. She is reading the book of Mormon like crazy right now! She wasn't able to come to church this last Sunday but she plans to this coming Sunday. We tracted into her and when she answered the door she told us she was super interested and that her sister is a member of the church! Pam is so cool and prepared! 

Yvette is another investigator that is doing great! She told us that she is really considering joining the church! This last week she went to a relief society activity and had some great fellowship. She really enjoyed it and it was a huge step forward for her. We plan to have her at church this coming Sunday as well. 

That was most of the progress we made this week. I'm not sure why this area has been more difficult to get people to engage. I have seen the work progress a lot more with taking members out with us though. We had a promise from President Brown. He said, "If we do missionary work the Lord's way (taking members out teaching with us) then the Lord will provide a way for us to do his work". In other words he was saying that we are going to be way more successful if we take members out teaching with us. 

I'm loving it here in Shaker Heights! The area is great and the members are trying to do missionary work! I love you all so much! Only 3 1/2 more months until I get to Skype with you! Have a good rest of your week!!!

Love,

Jack

Monday, September 5, 2016

Week #59

Hi Mom! 

I LOVED the packages you sent me this week! You're so awesome! I loved all the ties that you guys picked out for me! Made me so happy that I don't have to wear those same ties that I've been wearing for the last year! You all rock!

So Anthony has been SUPER busy! He spent this last summer preparing all his lesson for teaching 6th grade but at last minute, he was switched to teach 8th grade and had to redo all of his lesson plans. We're hoping to meet with him this week and really crack down on teaching the lessons. 

Orlando is kind of the same way. We haven't been able to meet with him because he keeps working double shifts when people cancel. He really wants to go to Kirtland with us which would be so awesome for him! We're hoping to get him to Kirtland this week and church as well. 

Yvette is doing awesome! She told us that she is really considering joining the church and that it all depends on what the Lord tells her to do. That's exactly what we want her to do! We have a bible study every week on Thursday and Yvette is planning on coming to that this week. We're teaching her at a pretty slow rate so that she can understand it all. She's so prepared! Can't wait for her to come to the church for bible study.

We've been doing a lot of yard work for non members which has been awesome! We had a member tell us that her friend, Velvet, needs help with yard work. We went over and cleaned up her yard. We offered to teach her more about the Book of Mormon and she was way excited about it! We set up a time to meet with Velvet and bring the member family that introduced us to her! We taught a very powerful restoration lesson and she committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We'll try to meet with her this week and let you know what she has thought about the Book of Mormon thus far. 

I said this to Dad already but Cooper looks so much older in the picture I saw of him running! I'm glad he's keeping the Scoresby running Legacy going! GO COOPER!!!!!

Love you guys so much and thanks again for the ties! You're my favorite!

Love,

Jack

Jackson and Elder Davis