Week #103

Hi Mom!

Wow so sad that Missy died! Sorry to hear that. I wasn't too attached to her so I was surprised that I was sad when I heard that. Bummer that Tanner is going to miss Cameron. I like both of those guys a lot. I'm glad I have some time to spend with Bennett before he goes.

This week was great. Collin got interviewed for his baptism yesterday. He's all good to go for Saturday. It's going to be a great service! 

Cassidy is pretty much all ready to go as well. We have a couple of lessons we're going to teach her this weekend and then she'll be set for next weekend. She's so ready. Her family is such a great support for her. She's awesome! 

I'm really excited to see you all and meet my Nephew for the first time haha! Love you so much Mom. You're the greatest! 

Love,

Jack

A picture sent to me by Max Demke of his former companion and Jackson.

Week #102

Hi Mom!

This week was the best week of my entire mission! That is not a joke and it is not an exaggeration! It really was the greatest week I've ever had!

Thursday night we got a call from Elder Christiansen, our district leader. He told us some crazy exciting news that almost made my heart stop beating. He told us that we aren't having zone conference this transfer, which means I don't get to give a departing testimony. Bummer right. WRONG! The reason we don't have zone conference is because we're having a surprise mission conference tomorrow! The best part is, President Uchtdorf is going to be there! He's coming here on vacation and decided to come and meet with the Ohio Cleveland Mission. How legit is that! 

Then on Saturday we went to Kirtland with Cassidy. I don't remember if I told you but a few weeks ago, Elder Kitchens and I were sitting in ward coordination meeting and we both had the same prompting to take Cassidy to Kirtland. It was definitely inspired! While we were there, we got to teach the Word of Wisdom to her in the School of the Prophets, where it was originally revealed! SO POWERFUL! Not very many missionaries get the chance to do that! Later on in the tour of the historic sites, we talked about coming to know if the Book of Mormon was true. She immediately started to cry. The spirit was so strong! After that, we went and toured the Kirtland temple. That tour was good, it was more historical than it was spiritual which was a little bit of a bummer. On the drive home, we were planning on setting a baptismal date with Cassidy. Before we got the chance to ask her about it, she turned to us and asked if we would set a date with her! It's not very often that your investigator tells you to set a baptismal date with them! We were planning on inviting her to be baptized on the 12th of August but she is going to be back to college by then. The 5th of August she'll be on vacation so that's out too. We decided to go for the 29th of July, the Saturday after I go home :( I was wishing that I could be there, but I was just excited for her to have a baptismal date! 

Within seconds of setting a baptismal date with Cassidy, we got a text from Head Quarters. It was a referral for a guy named Collin. The text said he met with missionaries in Pennsylvania and that he wants to be baptized "Like ASAP!" Well, sounds good to me! Once we got home from Kirtland, we set up an appointment with Collin for that night. We got to know him a little bit and went over the baptismal interview questions and he nailed every single one! He's so prepared! 

That night, after our lesson with Collin, Elder Kitchens says to me, "Dude do you want to go get a soda? The only thing that is going to make this day any better is a soda." Right after he said that, we get a text from John, Cassidy's brother. He just asked us if we were busy on the 22nd of July. I told him that we didn't have anything planned for that day yet. His response was awesome! I have to quote it because it's so cool! He said, "Okay cool. I think Cass knows she wants to get baptized. She told me she is going to pray about what date she should get baptized on and she was thinking the 22nd or sooner" You can imagine my reaction to this text! I started screaming, I was so excited!!!!!!! I'm going to be here for her baptism! We also set a date for her to go to the temple to do baptisms on the 29th of July! 

Yesterday we met with Collin and set a baptismal date for the 15th of July! No that is not a typo... He's ready so there's no point in waiting! Collin is going through a little bit of a rough time so in our lesson we asked him what goals he has for the next couple years. His goals are as follows:

1. Be baptized

2. Receive the priesthood

3. Serve a mission

4. Go to college

The only 21 year old kids that I know who have those goals are members of the Church! Collin is so dang prepared! Sometimes you have to work hard to find new investigators and sometimes Heavenly Father hooks it up! Oh I forgot to mention! Collin came to church on Sunday! The Bishop got up and turned the time over to the congregation to bear their testimonies. Collin leaned over to Elder Kitchens and asked "Is it cool if I get up there and bear my testimony?" Elder Kitchens said, "I don't see a problem with that." He proceeded to walk up there and give one of the most heartfelt testimonies I have ever heard. He talked about the joy that comes from living the gospel and how he knows that this restored gospel is true! What a boss! I also bore my final testimony in the state of Ohio! Weird...

So All of that good stuff is why it is safe to say this is the best week I've ever had on my mission! Loved it! 

Elder Kitchens and I have been having so much fun! We're just working hard and being chill with people. We've totally figured out how to be real with people so we have a lot of people that tell we can come back. We're killing it! 

Love you so much Mom! Just know your son is pushing hard to the end! Having 2 baptisms in the next 3 weeks! Now that's the American dream. 

Love,

Jack

Jackson wore out his shoes with only a few weeks left, so these are the "Grandpa shoes" he got to replace them.

Goofie Selfie!

Jackson and Elder Kitchens with Cassidy at the Kirtland, Newell K. Whitney Store.

Jackson and Elder Kitchens in front of the Kirtland Temple

The Kirtland Temple

Jackson and Elder Ktchens

Week #101

Hi Mom!

This week was totally wicked! Still having a ton of fun and loving the unity that Elder Kitchens and I have. We're killing it here in Sandusky! That's fun that Bennett had a friend get baptized this last week. I definitely wish that I had been a better missionary when I was in High School. 

Super cool experience this week with Cassidy! She has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it every day! She's doing so good! This last week, we asked if she had a chance to pray about the Book of Mormon. Tears immediately came to her eyes. She then told us that earlier that week, she was having a terrible day. Everything was going wrong and she just felt bad. She went down to the lake, only a few yards from her home, and began to read from 3nephi 19. As she did so, she felt a great deal of peace. There is no doubt that she received an answer to her prayers. We then taught a powerful lesson about the Doctrine of Christ. The spirit was so strong there! At the end of the lesson, we asked if Cassidy and her family wanted to go to Kirtland. They all lit up when we asked! You could tell it was a special place for them. Then, on Sunday, when we asked when they wanted to go, Cassidy said that she feels like she needs to go and she needs to go soon! We're going this Saturday! I can't wait! The spirit will be so strong there! Cassidy also said that she would be comfortable with setting a baptismal date this week. It'll be a big week for Cassidy. So stoked!

None of our other investigators are really moving forward at all. We did find a new investigator named Robert that has some awesome real intent. He said that he's willing to be baptized if he comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true. We found him through contacting. He's dope! He also gives us rootbeer when we go over there, so that's a plus haha. He's way cool though. 

I can't remember anything else that happened this week. All I know is time is going by way fast and I'm having tons of fun! Can't wait to see you guys in a month. Love you mom! You're the best.

Love, 

Jack

Week 100!!!

Hi Mom!

Holy crap Bennett is growing up! I can't believe he has already graduated and has been through the temple! He's such a stud! I definitely remember those days. I look back on it and it seems like it was all a dream. I feel like my life before my mission is all just a fantasy haha. 5 more weeks and my mission will be a fantasy! 

This was such an amazing week for me as well! Elder Kitchens and I get along SO well! I don't know if I have ever laughed harder than I did this week with him. We work so hard and it's a ton of fun. Elder Ellsworth and I worked hard too, but it's different when you're with a missionary who is experienced. I don't have to lead everything out anymore. We're doing really great! Elder Kitchens and I bike pretty much all the time. We both love biking. It makes the day go by faster and you have way more people to talk to than if you're just in the car. We both wheelie a ton haha! Elder Kitchens crashed twice this week on his bike and has to get new handle bars today. I crashed once and broke the reflector off my bike. We get people that honk at us all the time because we pull fat wheelies haha! It's awesome!

This week we taught some bomb lessons! Cassidy is doing good. She's reading and praying everyday. She still doesn't feel that she has received an answer yet though. We asked her how she felt about the 22nd of July and she said that she still doesn't know if she'll be ready by then. Cassidy told us she doesn't want to set a baptismal date yet. She is unsure about when she'll be ready. We'll try again to set one with her. 

Jordan is still not reading. We're most likely going to have to drop him which stinks. He's so cool and would be the coolest Mormon ever! It would be a huge blessing to his family but he just isn't acting on the invitations we give him. When we read the Book of Mormon with him he retains it so well! He seems like he really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true. I hope that he'll start reading.

We picked up a new investigator named Laquanna. She's super nice! We tracted into her. She said that she has never really been involved in religion. Her knowledge of the bible and of Jesus Christ is very limited. She has a great desire to learn. She accepted a copy of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We committed her to read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon and we'll be going back this weekend to follow up.

Elder Kitchens and I are definitely being blessed!  We received a real referral this week! One that didn't pull a gun on us! Her name is Sandi. She has a friend that is a member and she wants to meet with us. She has 3 or 4 kids and is a single mom. We haven't taught her yet but we'll be going over on Saturday to teach her. I'm stoked!

Backstory to another miracle, there are a ton of foreign people that come work here in Sandusky for the summer. So on Sunday, we went to church and there was this random chinese guy that spoke very little english. He walked all the way to church! Probably between 2 or 3 miles. His name is Michael. We went over this week to drop his bible off that he left in a member's car and he let us right in. We talked to him about how he found our church and he said that he just typed the name "Jesus" into his maps and found two different churches. He said he prayed to know which one to go to and felt good about going to ours! MIRACLE! We have a member that speaks chinese so we'll try and get her out teaching to him. 

I don't know if you remember Abbagail from a few months back. She's a former investigator. She texted us this last week and asked if we could come over to answer some of her questions! We went over and answered questions that she had for 45 minutes! She rattled off questions left and right. It was really cool! She is moving in about a week. Hopefully we'll be able to send missionaries to her where ever she moves to. 

This week was a total blur! I feel like it went by in 17 seconds. Like I said, Elder Kitchens and I have a lot of fun together. An example of me laughing super this week actually happened this morning. So Elder Kitchens took his handle bars off of his bike so that he can put new ones on today. We decided to try riding it without the bars on. As soon as Elder Kitchens starts going, he heads strait for a tree, and it just so happens that it's rather difficult to turn when you have no handle bars. He connected pretty well with the trunk of the tree! Hahaha it made me fall to the ground laughing! 

Well I love you all so much! Hope you have a killer week! 

Love,

Jack

Jackson and his previous companion, Elder Ellsworth.

Jackson and his new companion, Elder Kitchens, on their bikes all the time.

Jackson says, "How I feel every night, cuz we work so hard!"

Selfie stick pics!

Jackson after riding home in the rain.

Week #99

Hi Mom!

HOLD UP FOR JUST A MINUTE! Please don't get rid of the jeep before I come home! I need that thing to still be around! I have been deprived of driving it for the last 2 years. I've got a connection with that thing! It's been too long since I've been on 2 wheels in a car haha... That's a story for another time. 

This week was beyond busy. We were having trouble seeing all the people that we needed to, mostly because of zone conference. Zone conference was amazing. The spirit was so strong there. There were many times during zone conference that I was fighting back tears. I only have one zone conference left and there is no doubt that I will be crying at that one. President Brown taught about the different kinds of temptations that we have to endure in this life time. He definitely gave some helpful insights. 

Before I forget, we had one of the craziest experiences ever this last week, right after Zone Conference. So we got a media referral. Someone requested a missionary visit and judging by what it said online, they were very interested! We drove to the address which we were given to find a pretty home out in the country. We parked in their driveway knocked on their door. A large man answered and slammed the door right in our faces. Then immediately opened it again and said "that means to leave!" Utterly confused, we slowly turned to begin walking to the car. He came up right behind me and started yelling in my ear to hurry up and get off of his property. He continued to do this all the way down the driveway until we got in our car and started backing out. As we were backing out, he turned around and lifted up his shirt, revealing some kind of a pistol tucked in his pants. We have absolutely no idea why he was so mad or what happened... It was crazy.

On a better note, Cassidy accepted the invitation to be baptized! We invited her to be baptized on the 22nd of July but she said she didn't know if she wanted to go for then. We told her to pray about it. We'll follow up with her this weekend on what she is thinking about the 22nd. She is so prepared! I love teaching her because her family participates so much. I almost feel like we don't do any of the teaching! Her family does such a great job at testifying which invites the spirit so strongly! It's the best!

Jordan is doing really great as well. We have been emphasizing the importance of reading the Book of Mormon so hopefully he'll keep that commitment this week. 

I almost forgot to mention that I'm getting a new companion tomorrow! I didn't think anything was going to happen with our companionship! Elder Ellsworth will be going to Medina and my new companion is Elder Kitchens. He's a transfer behind me so he'll be fun to work with! I have only talked to him once before but I've heard that he is a really fun guy! Should be a fun last transfer. Also, I'm no longer district leader! Our district is getting absorbed into the Lorain district. My district leader will now be Elder Christiansen! So excited to have my former comp as my DL! 

I'm so happy for this last transfer! I'm now realizing how little time I have left. It's crazy! I'm going to work my hardest! Love you so much Mom! You're the bomb! See you soon!

Love,

Jack

Jackson and Elder Ellsworth with Sister Bierce, who takes them to the yacht club!

Jackson having a bonfire with Justin.

Jackson fishing on P-day.

Week #98

Hi Mom!

This week was pretty great! Elder Ellsworth and I have been working really great together and are continuing to find amazing people to teach. We picked up 3 new investigators last week and have already found 2 this week with hopes of picking up another one tonight! We are insanely busy this week. We have a lot of appointments set and also have zone conference for the majority of Friday. I'm excited to learn from my leaders. 

We finally got back in contact with KJ! We have planned to see him this evening. He's an awesome guy, the only problem is, he just goes with the flow. So even if we have an appointment set with him, he tends to be out with his buddies or at the store or something. He has tons of potential though! 

Not only did we reconnect with KJ, we met back up with Dustin!!!! We drove past each other, heading opposite directions and when we saw that it was Dustin, we flipped a quick U and chased him down. We set an appointment for that night and helped him organize his shed. We ended the night by helping him burn a couch in his fire pit in the back yard. It's been a long time since I've been to a bonfire! That family is great! They're going to be out of town for the next couple weeks so we'll catch up with them when they get back in town. I love that family! I think we'll at least get them to church before I go home! 

Jordan is having a little bit of a hard time right now. He is still struggling with the word of wisdom which is putting a great deal of stress on his marriage. We're going to have a have a little heart to heart chat with him this week. We asked him if his wife would be interested in joining us for our lessons but he said that she's not for the whole religion thing. I think we'll be able to start teaching her though. She definitely doesn't understand the blessing that faith is in life. 

Boo is one of our new investigators. No, that is not a typo... When we asked for his name he said, "they call me Boo." So that's what we call him. He's definitely on the hood side but he's a really deep thinker! After we taught him the Restoration, he told us that the Book of Mormon might be the missing piece to the puzzle! He's way prepared! I love teaching him. We're having a church tour this weekend, where we will hopefully have a few non-member families come and tour the church. It's not a big event but hopefully we can get a few of our investigators there and help them have a desire to come on Sunday. 

Funny story, while we were teaching Boo, one of his daughter's hamsters got out and ran outside! Elder Ellsworth and I spent the next 10 minutes chasing the dang thing! We got it to go back inside but man that thing was fast! I finally cornered it and got it back in the cage. Boo couldn't help us because he's blind. We're going to try and figure out how to get him the Book of Mormon on disc so that he can listen to it. 

Cassidy is doing great! She felt the spirit so strong in our lesson! She cried as we talked about the importance of prayer and the holy ghost. We invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon this week so we'll follow up with that and see how she is feeling in our next lesson. She came to church on Sunday which was great for her! She's been coming for the past month. We're going to try and set a baptismal date with her this week. She's awesome!!!!

I love it here in Sandusky! I'll be so sad if I have to leave for my last transfer. I think you're guess is right Mom. I would be very surprised if I didn't end here with Elder Ellsworth as my companion. I love this work and I love this area! I also love my family and can't wait to see you guys soon! You're my favorite Mom! I hope you have a good week! Tell Bennett Happy Birthday for me! I love that little sucker! Hope he's safe at Lake Powell. I love that place. Love you Mom!

Love,

Jacky Boy

Week #97

Hey Mom!

I can't believe it's already time for Bennett to go on a mission! I love that kid! I know he'll be an amazing missionary! I think Argentina would be a cool place to live for 2 years. I think even more so it will be an amazing place to teach the gospel. 

It sounds like you guys are crazy busy right now! I remember vividly graduation and how fun that was. Mom I can't believe you've had 3 kids graduate high school now! And all your kids are out of elementary school?! That's nuts. I feel like just yesterday we were living over on E Nance Circle. Back in the good old days, when life was simple. Climbing trees, kick the can, sandboxes. That's all I can remember from that house haha! 

Back to the present, this week was great! We have been working super hard to find new investigators and re-establish contact with some other investigators. We haven't been able to contact KJ. We stopped by a few days ago to try and see him but he wasn't home. His sister said that she hasn't seen him in like a week or so. No one really knows where he went. He basically fell off the planet. Bummer cuz he was awesome!

Jordan is doing good. We haven't set a baptismal date with him yet. He is struggling with reading right now so we need to get that to the top of his priority list. We're going to try and set a baptismal date with him this weekend hopefully. He's great! Love him and his family.

We didn't get to eat with Dave this last week but we're planning on eating with him this weekend. 

We had a couple miracles happen this week that I'm stoked about! 

First, we are going to start teaching Brother Baer's grand daughter! Backstory: Treena, Brother Baer's Daughter, and Hannah, Treena's daughter, got baptized at the beginning of this year. Cassidy, Treena's other daughter, the one we're going to start teaching, was up in Tiffan, Ohio for college. She didn't take the lessons but she has been coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. Cassidy's family is very excited about the gospel so we didn't want to pressure her on top of what her family is dishing to her. So, we asked John, her  brother that joined the church out in Idaho last December, to invite her to take the lessons from the missionaries. She told him that she would pray about it. Her answer was YES!!! I'm so excited to start teaching her! She will be a great investigator and a wonderful member of the church. She already comes to church every Sunday. Huge miracle! I'll let you know next week how that goes.

Second, Elder Ellsworth and I were out tracting and contacting, handing out free bible cards and talking to people about the Book of Mormon. We gave this couple a card and told them that we would come visit them this week. They seemed pretty excited. About 10 minutes later, we got a referral for someone that wanted a bible and a Book of Mormon. It was the brother of the couple we talked to. He had never read the Book of Mormon and was very excited to start reading it! His name is Earnest. He's the coolest gangster out there! Then later we were tracting this apartment complex and this guy was super drunk. He really wanted a bible so we told him to call the number and continued knocking doors. On our way out of the building we walked past his door and he bolted out of his apartment and gave me the phone. It was a sister missionary that spoke broken english. I was assuming that he couldn't understand her so I ordered him a bible haha! I told the girl that I was a missionary but she didn't understand what I was saying so I pretended I was Eric, the guy we were calling for. Such a weird experience haha. 

This week was great! Love you guys and hope you have a fun week!

Love,

Jack

Jackson with a mouth full of goldfish crackers (some things never change!)

Jackson sent these pictures of a nest with eggs and a baby bird, to Eliza, because he knows she loves all things animals!

Week #96

Hey Mom!

This week was pretty good! We found 2 new investigators this last weekend which was awesome! We have been doing some great finding, whether it be tracting or contacting. Now that the weather has really warmed up, down town Sandusky is hopping! This week is going to be bike week. That's where a bunch of bikers come into Sandusky and basically just go crazy. We're going to have to stay out of down town. Just not the greatest environment if you know what I mean. 

Another plus of this week is that we had a great lesson with our investigator Jordan. We invited him to be baptized when he came to know the Book of Mormon was true! Without hesitation he said yes. We're going to set a date with him this week. 

We didn't get to meet with KJ this week but we're going to stop by today and see if we can catch him there. Our goal is to set a baptismal date with him as well. That will give him a little more motivation to keep appointments and commitments. 

Almost forgot! Last night while we were tracting we had a cool but weird experience. It was 8:30, nearly time to go home. We decided to knock a few more houses before we had to go in. There was this house that had it's front door open but the screen door was closed. We knocked and the guy inside yells for us to come in. We wanted to make sure he really knew who was there so we said it was the missionaries. Then he just called back again for us to come in. We stepped inside of this small run down house. Dave, the guy who called for us to come in, was in the back room of his house. An arm kind of poked around the corner and waved us back. Well to make a long story short, after talking with him for a while, he told us that he wanted to buy us dinner. We set an appointment to meet with him this weekend at a restaurant. He's met with missionaries before but it's been years. He might finally be prepared. Not sure though. I was catching weird vibes from him. Haha nothing scary but just weird.

Wow that's a short email but I can't think of much else to say. We have interviews tomorrow so that's cool... Welp, Love you guys! Hope all is well! 

Love,

Jack

P.S. you're the best mother in the world! 

Week #95

Hi Mom!

I loved talking to you guys on Sunday! It reminded me of how much I love you guys! I can't wait to see you all in 2 months! Hopefully these next 2 months will go by just as fast as the last 2! I'm definitely going to work hard until the end! I have worked too hard my whole mission to just give up now. Plus, there are people to be taught here in Sandusky! 

Elder Ellsworth is doing pretty good after his call home! I feel like he got back into the groove of things a lot faster than I did. He seemed happier after talking to them and was more energized for the work. He's awesome! Hopefully we'll get to stay together another transfer! I don't want to have to adjust to a new area or a new companion! 

I remember that 6th grade field trip! That was so much fun! I'm sure Liza will love it, especially since you're going to be there with her! I'll be excited to hear how it goes! I'll also be excited to hear where Bennett is going on his mission! I wonder what the deal is with that???? Hopefully he gets it soon! 

This week, we got to talk with Jordan some more. He's doing pretty good! Yesterday we got to talk to him a little bit more about our purpose. He was telling us that earlier this week he was pondering on what it would be like to become a mormon and raise his family as such. He told us that it scared him to death, especially to think of himself as a clean cut, non-swearing man. It was very cool to hear that he is actually thinking about it. He recognizes something special about what we're teaching but he definitely hasn't figured out what it is yet. He just needs to read the Book of Mormon to find out for himself! He's doing so good! We're also going to start the 12 step ARP program with him this week! I think that will help him to strengthen his testimony of the Word of Wisdom before we even teach it! 

Yesterday we found out that Robert died. We stopped by to see if we could catch him at home but he wasn't there. We talked to a guy that was outside of Robert's house and asked him if he knew anything about Robert. That was when he told us that Robert passed away last week. He didn't know how he passed. Robert was struggling with a lot! It's comforting to know that he is no longer struggling with the health problems or addictions that he had. So grateful for the Plan of Salvation!

No other updates for this week. Love you so much! Have fun on the California trip!

Love,

Jack

Boy band cover photo.

A random car Jack though was cool.

This is what it looks like when you get home and your too tire to fold your laundry!

Jackson with Bro. Baer, the ward mission leader.

Jackson realized after he got home that at some point during the day he had split out his pants!

Week #94

Hi Mom! 

Before I forget to tell you, I'll be skyping at either 3:00 or 3:30 on Sunday. Hopefully that will work. If it doesn't then let me know. That's so fun that you got to see Allie! I'm jealous! I miss her a lot. I CAN'T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU AND THE FAMILY!!!! I miss you guys a lot! I think this last skype will give me just enough of a boost to get me through to July. I love you all so much! 

This week was a little bit challenging. I feel like most of the people we're working with are a little stagnant. None of them really want to act on what we are teaching them. The only major ray of light that we had this week was KJ. Cool story about KJ, so we contacted him on the streets a couple of weeks ago. He seemed sincere when we contacted him. He was with a large group of friends so we really couldn't get return information with him. So we just gave him a card and told him to order a Book of Mormon. Well this last week, we got a text from the Bishop telling us that our ward mission leader was in the hospital and that he needed a blessing. We immediately went to do so. We had the wrong room number for him so it took a long time to find him. Anyway, the reason that's important is because without all of these things happening, we wouldn't have gotten back in contact with KJ. As we walked out of the hospital, I heard someone yell "Hey!" from the other side of the parking lot. There was KJ, walking towards us. He had ordered a Book of Mormon but didn't receive one. We just set up an appointment with him for that evening to bring him the Book. He was so excited to get the book! When we taught him the Restoration, it made so much sense to him! He asked some great questions and really desires to learn more. He is so sincere! I love teaching him. 

The best part of our lesson with KJ was when we asked him to read a paragraph for us. Prior to this, he told us of a stroke he had a couple of years ago that has caused him a lot of problems. So, with our invitation, he looked up at me and with the straightest face I've ever seen says "I can't read" It was so believable but luckily he was joking. I wish I could have had a picture of his face when he said that. Hahaha it was awesome! 

We really didn't get to teach anyone else this week so no other updates. We do hangout with the other elders in our district quite a bit. We have a lot of fun with them. We hang out a decent amount with the sisters as well. We're going to down town sandusky this today to check out some of the shops there. Jordan is doing okay and we're great friends with him, he just doesn't seem super interested in learning much about what we have to teach. 

Love you so much mom! Can't wait to skype this week!

Love,

Jack

Go Cavs!

Sandusky Elders after helping Sister Walters with some yard work.

Sandusky Elders - Elder Ellsworth and Scoresby in the middle.

Week #93

Hi Mom!

Oh my gosh I can't believe that Bennett's papers are in! That freaks me out. It doesn't feel real that I'll be coming home and he'll be leaving. I must say that I'm excited to come home. Not trunky though! There is definitely a difference. Trunky is when you lose motivation and that isn't going to happen. Like I was telling Dad, I've worked way too hard to give up now. This area reminds me of Ashland. That area was hard to get rolling but once we did, it took off! I'm thinking that is what will happen here in Sandusky! At least I'm hoping. We were able to pick up 2 new investigators this week which was a step in the right direction. One of those investigators was Jordan. His throat is doing a lot better. He hasn't gotten the stitches out yet but it's getting there. He has a cute little family. He's married with 2 little girls and another baby girl on the way! I would love to teach his whole family! His wife is insanely shy though. We'll get there. Jordan committed to read the Book of Mormon this week and we'll see him tomorrow to follow up on that. He will be a solid convert. He has a great understanding of living a Christ centered life. It was so nice, he said that the other day, when it was raining really hard, he drove around Sandusky looking for us so that he could give us a ride. Such a nice guy! Unfortunately he didn't find us so we got dumped on! I'll get to that story in a second haha.

Caroline is doing okay. She's still slowly getting better. We're going to try and focus on getting her to church this week to help her feel the spirit more abundantly in her life. That will no doubt help her through this trial. 

We'll be seeing Dustin and his family tonight. They are so awesome! I'm stoked to teach them more and help them accept the gospel. This week we helped Dustin in his crawl space under his house and it was so muddy under there! I was covered in mud! It felt so good to get dirty though! I never get to do that!

An awesome miracle that happened yesterday! So Elder Ellsworth and I were stopping by former investigators, trying to see if any of them were interested again. We went by one and the guy we were looking for had moved. A little kid answered the door so we just gave him a card for a free DVD about Jesus Christ. About 10 minutes later, we got a text telling us that a little kid on the street that we were just at ordered a DVD! It was awesome! I love it when people order stuff! Referrals are the best! 

Now for my story about getting caught in the rain... This last Sunday, we were out tracting on a street that was about a mile and a half from home. We had walked there so we could save some miles (and work on getting more holes in my shoes). We finished one side of the street we were on and were planning on going on to the other side. That was when we saw them... the clouds coming in from the West! They were quite possibly the darkest clouds that I have ever beheld. There was nothing we could do to avoid this storm. Those clouds were moving at the speed of light. We began the long walk of shame back to our apartment. About 60 seconds after we began our retreat back to the comfort of our home, the rain hit. I would say that within half a minute I was soaked to the bone. It felt as though I had jumped into a pool! We had no umbrella. All I had was a windbreaker that does a great job at attracting and retaining water... Not ideal for rain storms. I have never been that wet my entire mission. Despite the seemingly tragic circumstances, Elder Ellsworth and I were both laughing as we walked through the rain. As we walked down the street which had transformed almost instantly into a river, we saw Kevin, an investigator we picked up earlier that day. He stood in his garage nice and dry and waved us over. He looked at us with a slight grin. We talked with him for a little bit under his dry roof and then, once again, walked along the bank of the river (the side walk). By the time we got home, we were dripping wet. The only dry spot on my entire body was my back pocket, which had my wallet! MIRACLE! Everything else, literally everything, even the contents of my bag, were soaked haha! Good times. 

I don't know when I'll be skyping. I'll let you know when I find out.

Happy Birthday Mom and Cooper!!!!! Can't believe Coop is already 15! That is so old! Miss you guys a ton! Love you Mom! You're the greatest!

Love,

Jack

Jackson and Elder Ellsworth after getting caught in a massive downpour.

                                              

Week #92

Hi Mom!!!!!

This was kind of an interesting week. So I told you last week about all those people that we met and had appointments set up with. Well it turns out, they are all super flakey! All of them flamed us and one of them blocked our number haha! The tough life as a missionary. We have been doing so much tracting and contacting it's crazy! There will most definitely be holes in the bottoms of my shoes by the time I'm done with this area! The only struggle is turning these people into investigators now. No one can seem to keep a solid appointment! Last week we called a potential to make sure we were still good to come for our lesson which was less than 30 minutes from that time. She said it was still going to work for her. Sure enough, when we got there, she wasn't home. Such a struggle! Only if people would be strait up with us. 

We did meet this really cool guy that is willing to have us come back though. His name is Jordan and he's the only one that had a legit excuse to not being able to meet with us this week. While he was at work, he some how cut his throat open way bad but told us to come back soon. Awesome guy.

All of our investigators, besides Caroline, are really struggling right now. Robert is just having a horrible time with his Dad. His dad is in the hospital and it doesn't appear that he's going to get any better. He still wants to meet, just not right now. 

We dropped Denitra and Lauren. They kept giving us really lame excuses so we decided we need to give them a break. I think they'll be prepared down the road though. 

Another super cool thing that happened this week was with Dustin, a Less Active member of the ward. So we have been trying really hard to meet with Dustin for the past 2 months. We have finally gotten back in contact with him. We set up a family home evening lesson with them, which we had yesterday and it was AWESOME!!!!! Out of his 5 kids and his Fiance, Dustin is the only member. None of them really have a solid background with religion but they all seem to be interested in it. Dustin knows that the gospel will bless not only him but his family as well. He's so awesome! They're a great family! Slightly crazy, but who isn't haha! 

We're working hard, Lots and lots of tracting! Hopefully next week I'll get to tell you about all the new investigators we got! But if not, that's okay too... I love you a bunch! 

Congrats Bennett for putting  your papers in! It feels like I did that yesterday! Love you Mom! Have a great week!

Love,

Jack

Week #91

Hi Mom!

This week was a lot better than the last! We didn't see a whole lot happen last week but this week we have started to see some miracles. Last week was the phase we had to make it through in order to receive great blessings in the weeks to come. I found great peace at the temple and it helped me to be able to gain a little bit of motivation. It was a great experience!

Training is going okay. The trainer trainee relationship is one of the most difficult relationships. We have struggles sometimes but we are very open with each other and can resolve any conflicts that we have almost instantly. We'll for sure stay together for at least one more transfer but I have a feeling that Elder Ellsworth is going to be my last companion. I hope that I don't have to get a new companion and have to readjust. I told President Brown in interviews that I would prefer to end my mission here in Sandusky but also that I am willing to have a one transfer area at the very end if he needed me to. I would be pretty bummed if that happened but it's all good. 

The district is going pretty well. One of the Elders here I came out with. His name is Elder Miller. He's awesome! We get along really well and have a ton of fun together. Our district is slowly growing in unity. We're all friends but the sisters aren't as close with us this transfer as they were the last one. 

We haven't been able to meet with Heather again. She has been sick the last week and is still getting over it. When we called her, she said she still really wants to meet with us. She's earnestly seeking truth so it will be a blast to teach her. Yesterday, Elder Ellsworth and I walked a crap ton of miles, doing some tracting and contacting. We found some amazing people! On one street we found 3 families that were all interested and we have return appointments for later this week. We also found a Less Active member that just moved here and wants to get back into church and we found a guy that is really struggling right now. He's going through some pretty major trials right now and really needs God in his life. He recognized us as servants of God and was stoked to meet with us. Hopefully we'll be able to turn these potentials into investigators this week. We've been hurting on finding new investigators.

A sad yet powerful experience this week came when we visited with Caroline. We went by to see her last Saturday and I can't remember if I mentioned before or not but her mom lives in the same nursing home as her. Caroline's mother has struggled with her health ever since I have been here in Sandusky. Before we got down to Caroline's room on Saturday, a nurse stopped us and told us that her mother had passed away earlier in the day. I knew that Caroline was going to be taking it pretty hard. As soon as she saw us she started to cry. As I came up close to her, I dropped to my knees next to her wheelchair and gave her a hug. She clung to me and cried for close to 10 minutes. As this went on, all I could feel was peace. I knew that it was going to be okay. Since then, we've been visiting Caroline often to keep her spirits high. She's doing pretty well. She's a positive person so I'm sure she'll be fine.

All of our other investigators keep flamming or canceling on us which is super frustrating. It was a huge blessing to find so many amazing people yesterday though. 

I can't think of much else to mention. I wish I could call you and tell you everything! I guess I'll just have to wait a couple of weeks! I love you tons and thanks SO MUCH for the Easter package! Those quarters are awesome! You're the best mom!!!!! Have a great week!

Love,

Jack

Week #90

Hi Mom!!!

So sorry that I'm emailing you before you get to email me. I won't have any time to email tomorrow so we decided to today. 

This week was full of walking! We've been working hard to find new investigators and luckily the weather has been fairly cooperative. However, on Thursday it just rained all day long! Elder Ellsworth and I had been walking in it for hours, doing stop bys and trying to talk to people. We were going to take dinner at 8pm and just work all day long. It had been one of those days that drags on SO long! Well it was 7 pm, close to dinner time, and we had planned to go tracting. I was dreading it, not wanting to be wet anymore. I decided after knocking on the first door that I was going to try and lighten up the mood. Both of us were just about ready to call it quits. I saw this monster of a puddle so without taking time to think about the consequences, I jumped as high as I could and planted both feet firm in the center of the puddle. I probably sent a 6 foot radius of water in all directions. Elder Ellsworth and I almost fell over we laughed so hard! We continued to tract even though we were soaking wet! I made sure to jump in every single puddle I could on the walk home! Then we decided that we needed to take the edge off by going to get some buffalo wild wings for dinner. Good times! That's how we turn a crappy day into a memorable experience!

We picked up a new investigator this week which was great! Her name is Abbagail, unfortunately, today she sort of dropped us. She is still willing to meet, but only to hear what we believe, not out of the intention of joining. Hopefully she will change her mind. 

We also have a great potential investigator named Heather. I can't remember if I told you about her already or not but we found her through tracting. I saw this street called vine street, and back in Ashland there was a street called vine street. The only thing I remember about Vine Street in Ashland was that every single person we talked to on the street was either super angry or completely ignored us. I wanted to see if all vine streets were that way. So that's how we decided to tract vine street in Sandusky. Heather, the mother of I think 7 or 8 kids is so prepared! She has been searching for truth but hasn't been satisfied by what she has seen in other religions. She has turned to her own study of the bible. She was pumped when we told her about the Book of Mormon. She has some hang ups on "the whole Joseph Smith thing" but is willing to read and pray. We were going to teach her last weekend but she got way sick so we are planning to see her this weekend if she is feeling better. 

Like I said, tomorrow we're going to the temple. I'm so excited to have some time to soak up the spirit. It is much needed right now. I'm feeling a little beaten down and the temple is what I need to recharge my batteries! We're going to the 11 am session and the 1 pm session. So excited! 

In closing, a wise joke from my companion....

- What did the buffalo say to his son when he went to college?

"Bison"

HAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!

Love you Mom! ! I can't believe April is almost half way over! I feel like its still March. That just means that I'll get to talk to you before I know it! Have a great week!

Love,

Jack