Week #74

Hi Mom!

Glad you liked the picture that the Rhodes family sent! They're a super active family in the ward. We are actually skyping from their house. We can shoot for 2:00. We'll be having lunch with Anthony so by then we should be good. If anything changes I'll have Sister Rhodes text you. 

Before I forget, I'm running out of space in my journal, so I need a new one. I would love the same one that I have now. I don't know if you remember what it looks like but it's the leather journal that says called to serve on the front. When you open it up it's a 3 ring binder kinda deal. Could you send me another one of those? Sorry I didn't ask for it before. I didn't think I would need another one for a while but this week I realized it'll be sooner than I thought. 

How funny that you saw Megan's mom! It really is such a small world! So funny. I haven't talked to Megan in forever. I always forget about people back home. Sad... But crazy news! I don't know if you heard but Heather Hatfield is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally not okay! That down right freaks me out. I feel like I'm still in High School! Luckily not too many other of my friends are engaged and hopefully won't be for at least 7 more months!

Enough about that nonsense... This week was great! So it was a pretty average week up until Friday. Friday we went on exchanges with the Cleveland 3rd Elders. Their area is the one where Elders go to get beat up... So we were in their area and I was on a bike. It was decently cold and there was an impressive amount of ice and snow on the ground. For some reason, the roads don't really get plowed in Cleveland. The really busy streets get plowed and salted but the back roads just get driven on so the snow is packed down. Those conditions make for less than safe biking conditions, so I struggled for balance all day which was an adventure! All of our appointments that night canceled so we didn't have a whole lot going on. We were biking down to a potential investigator's house when Elder Rowley, my companion for the day, pulled off to the side and said, "I feel like we shouldn't go do this stop by." I was more than on board to follow that prompting because I know what can happen in that area. He pulled out the phone to see if there was anyone else to go and see. When he looked at the phone, we had a voicemail but no missed call. Sort of strange... He listened to the voicemail and it was the Chaplin at the Cleveland Clinic. She called and said that a member of the Mormon church was in the Hospital and would like a blessing. She continued to explain in her message that the lady was from Ashland! Immediately I told Elder Rowley we were going to visit this person whoever it was! We kept listening the the message and at the very end of the message, she said that it was Claudia Van Meter!!!! Parker's grandmother was in the Hospital and she requested for missionaries to come visit her the one day that I was in the area. If Elder Rowley hadn't listened to the prompting, he wouldn't have checked the phone and we would've had no idea she was there! 

We went directly to the hospital to give her a blessing! As we walked into the room, I threw my hands up and said, "What's up Claudia?!" She just stared at me in disbelief and said, "Oh my gosh it's Jackson!!!!" A day or two before I had left Ashland, I told her my first name and she never again called me Elder Scoresby! It was Jackson from that point on. 

While I was in Ashland, Claudia's kidney was failing so she was on dialysis. It was super hard on her but she pushed through it took care of her 3 grand kids. What had happened was they found a kidney for her and she had it put in this last Thursday! She was doing so good! 

I talked to her for a while about how her family was doing. They are super active in the ward and her kids are loving church! I think Claudia came once maybe twice to church while I was there but she goes every week now! She seems so much happier now! She said that if it weren't for Elder Brewer and I, they wouldn't be where they are now. She recognizes the Lord's hand in her life so much more now than she did. I think that they were the reason I went to Ashland. I love that family and will be so excited to go back and visit them! 

As for our other investigators, they have all been crazy busy this week. We aren't going to be able to see Lauren until the new year. We're eating dinner with Anthony tomorrow and then we're going to his house for a little bit on Christmas. Yvette has been busy with work. We haven't heard from her at all this week. Frank is doing okay. He's struggling with the gospel. He's got some strange ideas. hopefully he can get it figured out.

This is the last full week of the transfer so I find out on Sunday if I am staying her for 6 more weeks or if I am off to a new area. I'll let you know next Tuesday. 

I can't wait to Skype the you guys! Time is flying by, the last few weeks especially. I feel like we should still have at least a month until Christmas! I won't complain. I love you so much and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Jack

Jackson and Elder Christianson

Week #73

Hey Mom!

I'm so excited to skype with you guys too! I miss the family so much! Way less than last year though. Christmas last year was a little bit rough, but this year I feel like I'm kind of over the fact that I'm away from home. I obviously would much rather be in Arizona with the family if I wasn't on a mission. I definitely wouldn't be as happy as I am now if I were at home.

I'm glad to hear that Nana is doing better! I bet she's more than happy to be home! Hopefully she can keep improving. Glad you're back home too! Things are never the same when Mom isn't home. 

I did get all the Christmas decorations which are AWESOME! We had this little crappy Christmas tree we found in the apartment but the one you sent is probably 34 times better than that one! I decorated the Christmas tree the day after I got it and hung the lights up around the apartment the night I got the packages! I almost forgot how much I love Christmas! I'm so pumped! 

Today we're going up to Kirtland to meet up with other missionaries and make gingerbread houses! I'll send you pictures next week of the master piece Elder Christiansen and I create! 

This week we got some gnarly snow! Kirtland, which is 30 minutes from where we live, got over 30 inches of snow! We got maybe a total of 6 in a couple of days. I'm not terrible at driving in snow, considering that the first time I did was a year ago! I think I took a picture of the snow, so I'll send that to you.

Our Core 4 investigators are still doing awesome! We weren't able to meet with Anthony because he had to go out of town randomly. Still not entirely sure where he went, but we're planning to see him later this week. 

Yvette is doing great! We read the Book of Mormon this week with her and she is just eating it up! She usually closes our meetings with prayer and every time she does, she says that she believes what she's reading is true! She wasn't able to come to church this week. We're trying to get her there so that we can show her the baptismal font and then really focus in on getting her a baptismal date! 

Franks doing well. We're still got some kinks to work out. He just doesn't understand some things that we've taught him and we want to be sure he's got a solid understanding before we baptize him. He's really got some interesting ideas that don't necessarily coincide with the gospel but he's got an amazing testimony of the Book of Mormon. The strength of his testimony is amazing!

Lauren is really doing great! She's understanding the gospel so well! We talked to her about church this week and she said she loved it! The relief society president in our ward is awesome! She got up and bore a powerful testimony last sunday. Lauren was impressed with her testimony and how open people are. She also loved Sunday school! She loves the participation! It made me grateful for all the years I've been in Sunday School and the knowledge that has come from that. 

One answer to prayer that I received lately was just to know how to find love for the people we teach and talk to each day. As I read in Preach My Gospel this morning, in chapter 9, it says that we're all part of God's family. As I sat and pondered on this etenal truth that has been taught to me ever since I was born, I felt an over whelming amount of love for all of God's children. I applied the thought of how grateful I am to be sealed to my family and want more than anything to live with them for eternity. I should feel that same way towards all my distant brothers and sisters. I love the comfort and power that comes from knowing and living the gospel. Such a blessing to know these truths!

We do have a Christmas conference every year but it will take forever to tell you about over email so remind me when we skype to tell you about it! It's super cool! 

I love you so much Mom! Hope this week is amazing! Miss you and can't wait to talk to you in 13 days! (I've been counting down for the last 2 months...)

Love,

Jack

First snow this year

Jackson, Sister Christianson, and Elder Davis

Elder Lau and Elder Brewer- now companions, were both Jack's previous companions :)

A mural Jack thought was cool, on the side of a church in Cleveland.

Week #72

Hi Mom!

Wow that really is a crazy week! I'm glad that Nana is doing better. That's pretty scary! It's really a bummer not being able to help in anyway over here in Ohio. Glad that I have super woman for a mom though! Otherwise, we could have some issues. You really are the best Mom! You're always so quick to serve and be there for everyone. I love you a whole lot! 

This week was a pretty great week! We have been taking a lot of members of the ward out with us and I really feel like I'm becoming a part of this ward. It's so much fun to get to be a help in the unit where I serve. I love seeing the work progress here! 

So our investigators are doing so great! We really have been blessed with amazing investigators in this area! All of them (well at least the ones that are progressing) are so solid! It continues to amaze me how much these people love the gospel. Our core 4 investigators are still Anthony, Lauren, Yvette, and Frank. They're all moving forward and keeping all of their commitments! We had planned for all four of them to come to church last week but Frank woke up not feeling great so he wasn't able to make it. Lauren, Yvette, and Anthony all came to church and loved it!!! Lauren was impressed with the women in the ward and how kind they were! She also loved 2nd hour and had to leave after that. Anthony and Yvette could only stay for the first hour because of their work schedules. Great week for church attendance! 

Anthony was out of town for part of last week and when he came back was again crazy busy with work. He's still trying really hard to get all his assignments done so that he can become a teacher. We talked to him about it this last Saturday but he said he's almost for sure just going back to accounting. He's become fairly frustrated with the teaching environment. He's teaching in a lower income area in Cleveland. Most of the problems he's running into come from some sort of problem within the Kids' families. He still wan't to be baptized and knows that the church is true! His testimony continues to grow stronger and stronger. 

Lauren is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy! She always has such great questions about what she reads in the Book of Mormon. We had a lesson all planned out for our meeting this last week with Lauren but she read from 2 Nephi 1 all the way to chapter 14! She had so many questions that we spent an hour just answering all of them and talking about what she read! I think we only made it up to chapter 9! She's so awesome! Like I said, she came to church Sunday and thought that it was great! I was confident that she would enjoy Sunday school because of her love for applying the scriptures and gospel to her life. I can see her desire to progress and become better which she is finding in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yvette's lesson this week was really good! So she told us when we first started to meet with her that she had a learning disability and that we'd have to be patient with her. We didn't know what it was from or how sever it really was. This week, however, we figured out both of those things. We had decided to read that Book of Mormon stories book with her this week to help her grasp a little more what she was reading. She struggled a little bit with the reading, which I didn't think was going to happen, and she told us that she developed this disability when she was 11 years old. She had a very bad seizure and lost a lot of blood, resulting in a stroke. She has had 5 strokes I think is what she said and is still driving! She isn't physically handicapped in any way at least that I can tell. Anyway, the reason her lesson was so great was because when we were reading with her, she was loving the stories in the book! She was applying what we were talking about to her life and was totally grasping similarities with the bible! After we read with her, she prayed and said in that prayer, "I believe what I have read in this book" She's seriously so great! I love teaching her! She soaks the spirit up when we teach her! 

Frank is doing really good! He's having a rough go with sickness right now but other than that he's killing it! He is still reading the Book of Mormon a lot and making some impressive notes so that he can retain the information. He's working really hard to understand the basics. Hopefully he'll be baptized before the end of the year! 

All of our other investigators are having a little bit of a hard time keeping return appointments that we set with them. They aren't super committed which is a little bit of a drag but it's working out! Still finding some great people!

I don't know if I mentioned last letter but it's freaking cold over here! I wish I could stay inside all winter or go back to Arizona. I swear from this point forward to never hate on a snow bird ever again. If I lived anywhere other than Arizona I would totally be a snow bird!

I can't think of anything that I need or want for Christmas. I can make everything that I have last until I go home so no worries.

The Doctor was lame... All she said was that I should wear a brace... Like I said, Lame.

Well I love you lots Mom! Wish I could come and be with the fam. A skype call in 3 weeks will just have to do. Love you so much!

Love,

Jack

Week #71

Hi Mom!

I'm sad to hear about Nana. Let me know when you get updates. I'll for sure keep her in my prayers. 

My ankle is doing okay! It doesn't hurt at all when I walk on it or anything, it's just pretty sensitive to touch. I have an appointment next Monday morning so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm not too worried about it, other than the fact that I can make it pop on demand... The doc will most likely just tell me to put a brace on it and take advil. 

I'm sad that I don't get to take a picture with the family again! I hate to say it but I would love to take a family picture! Poking Bennett or Cooper in the side as we take the picture still sounds like a fun time! 

Elder Christiansen and I are still having a fun time together! We just laugh all day long at each other which makes missionary work really enjoyable! Well... missionary work is enjoyable either way. I love it out here! Elder Christiansen grew up in Florida but moved to Utah 2 or 3 years before his mission. He's super musical and a way funny guy! Love him! 

This week, there were a lot of happy moments! One of them was when we were contacting a bible referral. So we get these texts from the church head quarters that tell us when someone orders something. So this guy Byron ordered a bible. Usually when we drop the bible off, the people are pretty well grounded in their own faith and don't really want to talk to a couple of white Mormon boys. However, Byron was ecstatic when we came with his bible! He let us right in to talk with him and his wife Harriet! They're both super nice! They are pretty active in their Baptist church but were more than willing to learn about and read the Book of Mormon! We set an appointment to come back and talk to them more and teach the Restoration, so we did just that. We taught them and they both listened intently and had some great comments! They're a very spiritual couple! I'll let you know how our lesson this week goes with them. 

Frank isn't going to be able to make his baptismal date this Saturday. He isn't giving himself credit for how well he is doing with understanding the Gospel! He's putting in so much effort and does remember a lot but just keeps getting frustrated with himself. I think he wants to remember everything perfectly which is not what needs to happen. He's got to take it one step at a time and recognize the progress that he's making.

Lauren came to church! She's been sick which is why she didn't come last week but she came for sacrament meeting this week and loved it! She texted us afterwards and told us she was impressed with the way that we worship! She's so amazing! I'm loving teaching her! We're still trying to help her set a baptismal date but as of now she doesn't feel ready to be baptized. She feels like she needs to know a lot more and read more of the Book of Mormon. She finished 1 Nephi this week! She is understanding and applying everything she reads. It's SO great!

Yvette is has been busy so we didn't teach her this week. She's still doing good! We're trying to get her to the church so that we can show her the baptismal font. We want to teach her more about baptism so that she can feel more comfortable with the idea of baptism. 

Anthony has been out of town all week so we didn't meet with him either.

We're starting to work with a lot of new people but none of them have really become very solid yet. Hopefully we'll get some new progressing investigators. 

We had some really memorable experiences this week! I wouldn't say that they were necessarily good but they were funny! Thanksgiving night we were going to go over to a potential investigator's house for some food. Her name is Tange, super nice lady that has investigated the church before. When we showed up, the door was open so when Tange saw us walk up, she waved us in. As we stepped through the door, a large and very loud black woman says "Are you Mormons?" She said it in such a way that I wasn't sure if she was interested or worried. However, her following choice of words dispelled any uncertainty on how she was feeling. "Oh NO! Get the _____ Out! We don't need no evil spirits in here!" Tange attempted to calm her friend down but it was all in vain. She was committed to make us leave. We didn't put up much of a fight. Later when we called Tange, she apologized and we set up a time to come back, when there weren't any scary, angry people. 

Another kind of funny moment was when we knocked on a door of a potential investigator we met. No one answered but as we were standing there, we were looking at all these divots in the door frame. After examining closer what it was, I realized there were a bunch of small metal bb's lodged into this metal door frame! This guy had a shot gun blast to the front door! That guy's street cred just went up by 150 points! Good times in Cleveland!

That's all that I can really think of that happened this week. Lots of meetings that took a ton of time but all good things! 

I'm loving the hard top on that jeep Ben! It's sweet! Cooper, congrats on the phone! Liza, I'm jealous you got to camp with dad! I miss you family and am excited to talk to you on Christmas! Have a good week! Love you so much!

Love,

Jack