Week #51

Hi Everyone! 

We had a crazy week this week! So it started off with exchanges but instead of having one set of missionaries in Ashland and the other set in Wooster, we both stayed in Wooster for the day and did a lot of great work there. Then on Wednesday, Elder Brewer had to go to a meeting up in Kirtland so we were gone for most of Wednesday too! Once we finally got back into our area, we felt super behind. It worked out though because Thursday we worked our tails off and were packed every minute of the day so we were able to get caught up here. Friday we did a lot of service for a member of the ward. We were helping her and her non member mom with getting a garage sale set up, so that was a ton of fun. Saturday was a pretty normal day. We did get a great referral from a member over in Cleveland. They are an older couple named Terry and Shelley who are super open to learning about the gospel. They had neighbors that were members of the church which planted the seed. I'll be excited to see where they go. I'm sure they'll be great investigators. Then Sunday came. I said goodbye to most of the members in the Ashland ward there which was sad. I'm really going to miss these people. The craziest part of Sunday though was when I got a phone call from President Brown asking me to serve as a Zone Leader in Kirtland!!!! I'm super stoked to get to serve there! Elder Bowcut served part of his mission there and said that it was super fun! I'm shaking in my shoes at the thought of taking leadership in this mission but I'm willing to accept the calling. I'll be leaving tomorrow to go to Kirtland and will be meeting my companion there. His name is Elder Davis, but that's all I know about him. So that's my week in a nut shell.

Now for our investigators.

Bob is doing super good! We had an awesome lesson with him last night with the Crawfords. They bore powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and of the Book of Mormon. At the conclusion of the lesson, we told Bob that his next step is to come to church and so he said to us "I promise you that I will be at church this Sunday!" I don't think I have ever had anyone promise me with that kind of determination in their voice. Sorta bummed that I'm not going to be here. I'll be zone leading in Kirtland by then. 

Parker is doing pretty good. He has been out of town for the last while which isn't great but he is really serious about getting baptized. His grandma is being very supportive and really pushing him to keep commandments which is super helpful. He is planning to get baptized in August at some point and he told me that he would email me pictures of his baptism. 

Those are our two most progressing investigators but next week I will be emailing you about all the new people that I get to meet in Kirtland! I took a lot of pictures this week too so I'll send those. I'm just having a blast out here in Ohio and am really glad that I got called to serve where and when I did. It is such a blessing to be in full service mode all the time for the Lord. I'm sure that I will never experience anything like this ever again. Time is definitely going by way too fast! I'm almost half way done. Anyway, I'll let you know how Kirtland is next week! Love you! Hope you guys have an awesome week!

Love, Jack

Ps. There's an elder in my district right now from Mesa, Arizona and he goes home on Thursday so I told him to go and visit you. I gave him your address. Don't expect him right away but he will probably come visit you guys soon. His name is James Hutzler. This is a picture of me and him.

Jackson and Elder Hutzler from Mesa, AZ!

Jackson and Terry

Jackson and Dave

Jack and Eldon

Jackson and the Cullers

Jackson in a cornfield

Sunset