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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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
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