Week #30

Hi everyone! 

We had an awesome week this week! It was colder than crap, but we got through it. This area is still exploding which is so cool to see! We are having so much success with tracting right now. In my first area, we rarely ever did tracting and I was convinced that it was the biggest waste of time! But ever since I've been in this area, I have really seen how effective it is to tract! We focus on sharing a message of Christ and on helping people to strengthen their faith in him. There are still people that just slam the door in your face which is actually funny sometimes. Me and Elder Bowcut just laugh at the adversity. Makes life a little more enjoyable. We also have some great success stories from tracting this week! This last Saturday, we had been tracting for over an hour with very little success. We came to a house where a middle aged woman answered and said that her whole family was asleep but that she would love to have us come back the next day. So we went back there yesterday and she told us to come in, so we taught her the restoration.  She said she was really looking for a way to strengthen her faith in Christ. The lesson went really well and she is now a new investigator! I love finding people to teach! It is always so cool to be the one that brings people to the knowledge of the gospel!

Nothing really big happened this last week other than some great finding efforts. Me and Elder Bowcut are having a baptism this Saturday though!!! Carleigh, a nine year old daughter of a less active member of the ward is getting baptized! I will send pictures and will let you know next week how it goes! Hope you're all keeping warm in the promised land! (Arizona)

Love,

Elder Scoresby

Week #29

Hey Everyone!

So the family of four that we were hoping to teach on Sunday weren't interested which was a little sad. The Family that was trying to share the gospel with them were pretty upset about it too so we went over there and told them that everything was okay and that just because they chose not to accept doesn't mean they did anything wrong. We do have some other investigators that we are really excited about! We have a little girl that we're teaching named Carleigh. She's 9 and her mom is a member but is a returning less active. She is on schedule to be baptized this month on the 20th. We have this elderly couple, Janet and Kenneth, that we are teaching as well that are very actively engaged in the Pentecostal church that they are attending right now. They are working on reading the book of mormon and trying to come to know if it is true. I asked them this last week what it would mean if the Book of Mormon was true and Janet responded with "well I guess I would have to come to your church!" Me and Elder Bowcut were both so excited when we heard her say that! Those are our most solid investigators as of now but I will let you know next week what happens with all of our potential investigators and new investigators. 

There's only 4 elders in our district including me and Bowcut so it has been pretty easy to get to know everyone. My District leader, Elder Hutzler, Is from Mesa!! I think he went to Red mountain High School so we just talk to each other about how awesome mesa is! The other Elder in our district is from the Philippines! He's really funny but sometimes hard to understand. His english is way better than Elder Lau's though. I'm still a little worried for Lau taking over the area. I hope that he's doing okay. I don't know if I told you this but I'm in the same zone as I was in Massillon so I still get to see Lau each transfer which is fun! We haven't done any fun activities with our district though. We live like 30 or 40 minutes away and have a limited amount of miles each month so it really doesn't work out. 

I'm glad to hear everyone is doing good! Thanks so much for all of the presents! My favorite gift was the picture book! That thing is awesome! I also love the soft heart blanket!  It's funny though that a birthday on the mission just feels like a normal day which was kind of weird. Me and Elder Bowcut are doing really well though! We have a lot of fun together and give each other a hard time! It's great. 

I love you guys a ton! Here are some pictures!

                                                                 Jackson and Isaac in Massillon

                                                           Jackson and the Varners in Massillon

                                                                            Jackson and John

                                                     Jackson and Elder Lau and the Mullins kids

                                                            Jackson, Elder Lau, and the Mullins

                                                                 Jackson and Elder Bowcut

 

Jackson, the Mullins family, John, and Stacy

Week #28

*One of the families in Jackson's new area, the Yates, invited Jackson and his companion over for dinner Sunday night.  They surprised Jackson by also inviting Kevin Scoresby's family (Jackson's uncle that lives 15 minutes away).  We sent Jackson's birthday package to them and they hand delivered it to him Sunday at dinner.


Hi!

I can't believe that Kevin and Marianne came to visit me! I was totally shocked when I saw William walk in the door! I just about screamed! It was so fun to get to see them and talk with them. Such a great birthday surprise! 

So my time in Ashland is spent with a lot of stop bys which means we just stop by people's homes to try and talk to them whether they are potential investigators or if they are less active members. We also do a lot of tracting and street contacting. In my last area, I was convinced that tracting was a complete waste of time and that I should never do it. But I learned here in Ashland that it can be effective. We find most of our investigators through tracting. We have a few great potential investigators that we are going to try and make investigators this week. We also had a member text us yesterday and tell us that he has a family of 4 coming over for dinner this coming sunday and he said that he wants us to teach them. He has already given them a Book of Mormon. I can't wait to get to know them and to teach them about the restored gospel. 

The ward here is tiny! However, they are some of the nicest people! I really love all of the members here and I am slowly but surely getting to know all of them.

Me and Elder Bowlcut (Bowcut) are getting along really well! He is teaching me a lot! He is such a good teacher and is so great at teaching simply and with power! He is doing great with not being trunky which I think would be hard. We are working really well together, teaching some great lessons. 

Hope you have a great week.

Love, Jack

     Jackson and Elder Bowcut having dinner at the Yates.

      Jackson, Elder Bowcut with Kevin, Marianne, Matthew, Miriam, and William Scoresby

                                                        Jackson got his birthday box!

Week #27

January 25, 2016

Wow this week was a lot of fun! My new area is much less populated than my last but there are a lot of good people here. Me and Elder Bowcut get along super well which is a ton of fun and we work really hard together! He is from Spanish Fork utah and went to a year of school before and worked for a year before he came on his mission. He is almost 22 now which is insane! I'm working with an adult here haha. I am learning how to teach simply and effectively from Elder Bowcut. For the most part, my new area is really spread out but the people here are super nice, for the most part. We met a few not nice people this week haha. We don't havea a whole lot of investigators here that are too solid but I will let you know when I get to know everyone. I am definitely freezing all the time and no we haven't gotten much snow at all! There was supposed to be a huge snow storm this last week but it missed us and got southern Ohio. It's gonna be like 40 degrees today.

I HAVE THE MOST INSANE NEWS TO TELL YOU!!!!! So I went to a family's home the night that I got to Ashland and their name is the Yates. They are an elderly couple that served a service mission with the danville group of Amish people! They recognized my last name and said that they know the Kevin Scoresby Family!! When we were at their house they told me that I was only a 15 minute drive from the Scoresby's house! I couldn't believe it! Everywhere I go I meet people that know the Scoresby's. But we met the Weaver family, one of the Amish families that joined the church, on Sunday at the Yates home, and they have such strong testimonies! They're some of the nicest people that I've ever met. They don't live in our ward boundries but they were visiting the Yates and we were invited to meet them for lunch. 

I don't know where my cord is for my camera to upload pictures so I might have to buy one at walmart so I can send more pictures home. There is one thing that I really need and that is a study journal so I can write thoughts as I read the scriptures and pmg. I want one of the ones that has a strap that closes it. I saw them at walmart but they are 20 bucks so I couldn't bring myself to spend money on it. That's really all I can think of. Thanks mom I love you so much! Ps will you resend Ben's pictures because I can't view them on that website. Also I hope that Liza gets better soon! 

Love, Jack

My new address is 325 A Hillcrest Dr. Ashland, Ohio 44805

Week #26

Jackson transferred this week, so we didn't get a real letter, but here is part of his letter to Hannah and some great photos- finally!

Yeah its pretty freaking cold here man. I didn't realize how cold it was until my pen froze so I couldn't write peoples names down haha! Other than that, its awesome! 

 I am getting TRANSFERRED!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to go to a new area and find out what its like in other parts of Ohio. I like this area, but I'm ready to try something new.  I will be serving in Ashland with a missionary named Elder Bowcut (I think is how you spell it). He is super experienced, and I'm sure I will learn a lot from him.  I'll give you more details next week. 

Love you,

Jackson

Elder J. Scoresby and Elder Lau

     Elder Lau, Stacy, and Elder J. Scoresby at Stacy's baptism

 Elder Scoresby and the Hildebrands, who have loved and cared for Jackson in Canton.

 Jackson in front of his apartment.

 Jackson loves Brother Dennis so much!

Week #25

Hey Everyone!

My week was actually really great! So Stacey wasn't able to come to church to be confirmed yesterday so we are going to have to do the confirmation next week. The ward is doing a pretty good job of reaching out. We are trying to get members to come teaching with us for fellowship. We are still working with John but he is a little back and forth on the idea of baptism. We are really working with him to understand the restoration and the plan of salvation. He is really struggling with those two topics. We have had trouble getting in contact with Eric. He hasn't returned our texts or calls which is sad. We are going to stop by his work and hopefully see him there. He has so much real intent, I am hoping and praying that he is okay. We are finally going to see Kathy and Wyatt again this coming sunday! Kathy was sick yesterday so we couldn't see them but we also got back in contact with Issac! I can't remember if I told you about Issac or not but he is doing okay. He was pretty sad this last week when we met with him so we'll see how he is this week after reading the Book of Mormon. We do have a new investigator that I am STOKED about! His name is Tyler. He has a pretty rough life right now. He's 22 turning 23 this week. He lives in a house with just him and his 2 younger brothers. His dad is in prison and Tyler is struggling with drugs right now. He is trying really hard to get off and is making some serious progress! He told us yesterday that his dad keeps telling him to stay away from drugs and turn to god. He realized that we showed up at his door during the same time that his dad told him to find God. I can tell that he is going to make progress pretty quick if wants to. 

Today, Lau and I are going to Amish country with the Hildebrands. We are going to see how they live and eat some Amish food. I love the Hildebrands! We will be sure to take pictures with them today to send home. Pam told us some really sad news last Monday. She has been fighting cancer for a few months now which has been hard on her. She found out 2 weeks ago that the Cancer has spread to the Lymph nodes and her lugs. They don't know how much longer she has to live so they are going to California this week to see her kids and tell them the bad news. No one knows that it has gotten that bad except for me and Lau. She told me this and I was holding back tears because I have developed such a close relationship with them. 

I will probably have to send some stuff home this week because I don't have enough room in my suitcases for everything. Oh ya I forgot to tell you. We have transfers on the 20th of January which is not this Sunday but the next and I am probably going to get transferred. I'm quite ready for a change of scenery. It has almost been 6 MONTHS!!! Time is going by so fast for me here! I can't believe it. I'll let you know next Tuesday if I am going to a new area or not. 

I really miss you guys but I'm already 1/4 of the way done!! Only 18 more months!

Love, Jackson

Week #24

Hi Everyone!

Stacey's baptism went so great! We had the baptism right after church and had probably 20 members there. I feel like the men in this ward are pretty good at being welcoming but the women stay in there own groups and don't branch out a lot so I'm hoping that stacey will feel welcomed. 

I was reading this week in PMG and came across a sentence in there that said, "when investigators are baptized they become candidates for the Celestial Kingdom. I had never thought about that before. By no means are they going to receive Celestial Glory unless they continue on serving the Lord with all their heart might mind and strength. Stacey is one that I know has such a great capability of serving the Lord faithfully. She is so kind and loving and loves to develop a strong relationship with her Savior. She was more than prepared when she was first taught and is doing amazing now.

Funny story about fish, I bought one last monday and put it in the Hildebrands fish tank! It was awesome! We are going there today to see if it is still alive or if he got eaten by the others. By the way, I'm sorry about your fish Liza, that's sad. Its okay though because he will have an awesome new body in the resurrection! 

Coop, That's a good goal to stop saying chicken haha even though it was funny sometimes. And ben, I'm sorry you can't drive. I was allowed to drive when I got my ticket but I wasn't when mom and dad got a call from the cops and told them that I had just destroyed some guys windshield with a waterballoon. Still can't believe I broke that guys windshield... Poor decisions definitely teach us the most. 

It finally snowed today! I walked outside this morning and there was just enough snow to scrape up into a snowball and I threw it right at elder Lau's back haha and he didn't even look back. He just kept walking. I have been waiting to throw a snowball at him since the beginning of December! I also drifted the mission car this morning haha. I came around a turn just a tad too fast and threw a nice fish tail. I straightened out fine and me and Lau just laughed if off like we weren't terrified haha.

This week was awesome and I miss you guys! I love hearing from you and how you're doing. If you ever want to send me pictures in the mail of the family, Arizona, and my jeep, feel free. 

By the way mom I don't need stain stick because I already have some. I put it on my pants and the stain came right out. I have gotten a couple of my pairs of pants caught in the chain on my bike though. That makes me mad but hey its missionary life. I love you guys. 

Love, Jscores

  

Jack is clearly excited about the first snow of the season! I love his enthusiasm!!!