Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The work is going great! We have 5 investigators with baptismal dates now! One of the part members we are working with is set for September, then our friend the pastor has set a date for September 22nd!!!!! and then Emily and Matthew are working for October 6th, and their son who is about to turn 8 really wants to get baptized so we set him with the same day. SO a lot of good things happening here. We got transfer calls yesterday and Elder Chipman is getting transferred this week, but I am not training just getting another companion, It was kind of a relief, because I was pretty nervous to train. Sam is the new Assistant to the President, and he called to let us know about transfers so that was pretty cool. I told him to use his authority and authorize an exchange to come out and work with me in Braun Heights! haha.
The coolest thing that happened this week was definitely setting Stuart with a date. We had a great lesson with him on Tuesday night and he started off the lesson by saying something like this: "So when y'all are teaching someone and they feel they have studied and prayed and find it to be true, how do you go about bringing them into the church or baptizing?" So we were kind of awe struck and just explained that we bring them to church and then we set a date and baptize them. We then taught and committed him to be baptized on the 22nd!!! The member we took with us is the same one that has been working wih Stuart the whole time and he was super excited! Stuart said yes to the invitation to be baptized and then said "Well, i'll need to come to church." and I was just like "yeah you will!" But the bad news is that he didn't come on Sunday! He was so committed and then something must have come up yesterday and he didn't make it! We haven't been able to conact him yet but we are going to stop by tonight and see what happened. I'm still confident that he will be baptized and come to church, but we just have to help him feel comforable coming to church because it is a really big change. He is a great guy though, one of the most Christ-like people I have ever met. That lesson was really just a testimony for me that when people take the promise of the Book of Mormon with an open heart and real intent they will recieve an answer! Every time! It works! So that was really cool to see. Then the other girl we set with a date with was the daughter of a less active member and she was super happy! She really wants to get baptized. And us coming by and teaching has helped her mom come back to church. They are doing great and it is great to see the change in the daughter's life. She is really happy now about the decision that she has made. She has been struggling wih some stuff in her life, but she is really improving and doing great. The Gospel is awesome!
Other than those awesome lessons we found a couple new potential people to teach who were really cool so we will see how that goes this week. But everything is going great! I am loving studying the Atonement and still learning every day. This week I had a light bulb click for me about why works are neccesary for our salvation. We have so many people talk to us about grace and how we lesson the effect of Christ's Atonement by doing good works but it finally made sense to me this week. I was reading 2 Nephi 9 for probably the 5th or 6th time and as I was reading about how our bodies will be delivered from the grave and our spirits from hell and be reunited to be judged it just clicked. Christ's sacrifice unconditionally saves us from the effects of the fall in that we are resurrected and brought to be judged according to our works and desires of our hearts; So physical death is conquered just like that, and then we have our own sins to take care of and Christ gave us the way to "recieve" the gift of grace and forgivness and it is by following his gospel and example. SO an illustration that I made for myself that helped me visualize it, and something I think I have seen before is how we are in a fallen state and Christ's sacrifice is a staircase (some people believe that it is an escalator and there is no requirment of us but to get on) and we have to walk up the staircase by excersizing faith, repenting, being baptized, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, then coninueing in serving others and loving others and repenting as we make mistakes. Then when we are resurrected and brought to be judged we will have "endured the crosses of the world and despised the shame of them" and we will be "saved by grace after all we can do" (2 nephi 25:23) I had heard all these things before but this time it really made sense to me. There is so much more that I wish I could express about how it made sense but I don't have room. Just from reading in 2 nephi 2 and 2 nephi 9 though a lot of things made sense. I love the scriptures, no matter how many times I read something I always grow in understanding and knowledge each time I read it.
I hope y'all have a great week, thanks for the prayers and all that you do to support me. I'm where I should be and i'm loving it! I love you all soooo much!!!!!!
Love Elder Jackman
August 27, 2012
August 24, 2012
August 20th
Hey!
Last P Day was a bummer because Elder Chipman got sick Sunday night and was throwing up all night so on Monday we just took it easy and didn't get to do anything. While we were there I ate some pizza we had in the fridge and then about an hour later I was completely sick and throwing up as well. The pizza had gone bad or something, but we both got food poisoning from it and it was the worst day ever! We are all recovered now and doing well.
This week was great! We had a zone meeting on Wednesday and Elder Chipman and I gave a training on "QGC" (Quality Gospel Conversation). It is a number we record in the mission and it just helps us track how many people we are talking to and testifying to each week. We trained on why we do it and how it helps us fulfill our purpose. It was a fun training and I think we did a good job. We had some people come up and we did some role plays that were funny. I have found as I have been out here that I really love teaching people. Whether it be teaching our investigators the gospel, or like we taught an English class in Riverside, or giving that training. I love teaching people and helping them understand things, it is so great when you can see a lightbulb click on and they get it.
Our investigators are doing great! This week we started teaching 2 part member families and they are both very receptive and really nice. The non members in both familes accepted a baptismal invitation and now we just need to set them with a firm date and continue to teach them. We are having a lot of success in teaching people right now, and we can see that a lot of baptisms are going to be happening in the next couple transfers. It will be really good especially if I get a new missionary because he will start his mission teaching a lot and seeing baptisms! We only have Emily and Matthew (the parents of the boys who were baptized) with a date right now. But are planning on setting dates with our other investigators this week. We keep planning to set people with dates but they keep cancelling lessons, or things come up. That is something that is very hard, because I feel like whenever we find people to teach satan just attacks and puts all these obstacles in our way of teaching them. But as we continue to work hard and push forward we are able to overcome and continue.
At the beginning of this week we had a lot of things come up that held us back. We had a ton of lessons cancelled and reschedule and I got a flat tire, and we were sick... blah blah blah and I was a little down and thinking why is all this happening!? We are being obedient, we are on the Lord's errand and yet we still have all these setbacks! So as I studied it out the obvious answer came that "there must needs be an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11) but I continued to study and just found over and over that the blessing come after the trial of our faith. So I just said Alright just keep going! And then on Sunday we got the blessings! We had 4 lessons, and made some real progress with our investigators and just had a great day. and now we are starting this week with a great attitude and high hopes. I also feel like the setbacks we had last week were a little to humble me as well, because I was thinking "hmm we are doing really well" When really we are just doing the work and the Lord is blessing us.
Some cool stuff this week. Usually with Emily and Matthew we teach their two sons the new member lessons on like Thursday or Friday, then we teach them on Sunday afternoon. SO this week we taught the boys the plan of salvation and we all drew pictures of the plan. We then shared what we drew and why. Emily walked in and said she really liked my picture so that was cool. But then when we came back on Sunday they had put my picture up on the fridge!!! It was great I was so happy, haha I felt like a little kid that got his art work put up! Other cool thing, yesterday for dinner the couple we ate with are super cool. He is just Texan to the bone, and he always tells us about how much he is looking forward to September 1st because dove hunting season starts. He made us jalapeno dove bombers, which are pretty much jalapeno poppers with dove meat. They were so good!! and just hearing him talk about hunting and being tough makes the dinner better haha. OH and I had some trouble with my bike this week but i just fixed it myself! ha! I am learning a thing or two from all the stuff that has happened to it.
I think that is all for this week. I love you all and hope you have a great week! I just have one thing to say to everyone, I think it is my favorite quote I have ever heard.
"The Church is true, the book is blue, what more do you want!"
That is what I want to tell people sometimes :)
Love Elder Jackman
Last P Day was a bummer because Elder Chipman got sick Sunday night and was throwing up all night so on Monday we just took it easy and didn't get to do anything. While we were there I ate some pizza we had in the fridge and then about an hour later I was completely sick and throwing up as well. The pizza had gone bad or something, but we both got food poisoning from it and it was the worst day ever! We are all recovered now and doing well.
This week was great! We had a zone meeting on Wednesday and Elder Chipman and I gave a training on "QGC" (Quality Gospel Conversation). It is a number we record in the mission and it just helps us track how many people we are talking to and testifying to each week. We trained on why we do it and how it helps us fulfill our purpose. It was a fun training and I think we did a good job. We had some people come up and we did some role plays that were funny. I have found as I have been out here that I really love teaching people. Whether it be teaching our investigators the gospel, or like we taught an English class in Riverside, or giving that training. I love teaching people and helping them understand things, it is so great when you can see a lightbulb click on and they get it.
Our investigators are doing great! This week we started teaching 2 part member families and they are both very receptive and really nice. The non members in both familes accepted a baptismal invitation and now we just need to set them with a firm date and continue to teach them. We are having a lot of success in teaching people right now, and we can see that a lot of baptisms are going to be happening in the next couple transfers. It will be really good especially if I get a new missionary because he will start his mission teaching a lot and seeing baptisms! We only have Emily and Matthew (the parents of the boys who were baptized) with a date right now. But are planning on setting dates with our other investigators this week. We keep planning to set people with dates but they keep cancelling lessons, or things come up. That is something that is very hard, because I feel like whenever we find people to teach satan just attacks and puts all these obstacles in our way of teaching them. But as we continue to work hard and push forward we are able to overcome and continue.
At the beginning of this week we had a lot of things come up that held us back. We had a ton of lessons cancelled and reschedule and I got a flat tire, and we were sick... blah blah blah and I was a little down and thinking why is all this happening!? We are being obedient, we are on the Lord's errand and yet we still have all these setbacks! So as I studied it out the obvious answer came that "there must needs be an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11) but I continued to study and just found over and over that the blessing come after the trial of our faith. So I just said Alright just keep going! And then on Sunday we got the blessings! We had 4 lessons, and made some real progress with our investigators and just had a great day. and now we are starting this week with a great attitude and high hopes. I also feel like the setbacks we had last week were a little to humble me as well, because I was thinking "hmm we are doing really well" When really we are just doing the work and the Lord is blessing us.
Some cool stuff this week. Usually with Emily and Matthew we teach their two sons the new member lessons on like Thursday or Friday, then we teach them on Sunday afternoon. SO this week we taught the boys the plan of salvation and we all drew pictures of the plan. We then shared what we drew and why. Emily walked in and said she really liked my picture so that was cool. But then when we came back on Sunday they had put my picture up on the fridge!!! It was great I was so happy, haha I felt like a little kid that got his art work put up! Other cool thing, yesterday for dinner the couple we ate with are super cool. He is just Texan to the bone, and he always tells us about how much he is looking forward to September 1st because dove hunting season starts. He made us jalapeno dove bombers, which are pretty much jalapeno poppers with dove meat. They were so good!! and just hearing him talk about hunting and being tough makes the dinner better haha. OH and I had some trouble with my bike this week but i just fixed it myself! ha! I am learning a thing or two from all the stuff that has happened to it.
I think that is all for this week. I love you all and hope you have a great week! I just have one thing to say to everyone, I think it is my favorite quote I have ever heard.
"The Church is true, the book is blue, what more do you want!"
That is what I want to tell people sometimes :)
Love Elder Jackman
August 13th
Family and Friends!
It is super hot and still isn't cooling down a bit. The hottest time of the day is at about 5 to 6 o clock. Everything has been just soaking in the heat all day and by that time everything is just emitting heat so it comes from everywhere!
The work is fantastic! The parents of the two boys that were baptized are doing great! They have been reading and doing their part to gain a testimony! And their son got the priesthood and ordained to the office of a teacher yesterday which was awesome! He asked me to do the ordination so that was especially cool. Other than them our other great investigator dropped us this week :( She called me when we were on exchanges on Thursday and said that she read and prayed and decided that it isn't best for her right now, and she wants to stay with her church and Bible study. So that was a dagger to the heart! But our Pastor friend is just the coolest person in the world! We taught him one more time this week and he read the chapter we left him and loved it. We left him with some other really good chapters in Mosiah that he should really like. He has some real potential though. I asked him in the lesson what it would mean to find out that the book of mormon was true to see if he was comprehending everything and he said "Well I would have to leave where I am now and change some of the things that I do and I would probably go do what y'all do. I would have to tell everyone about this other testament!" SO that was amazing! We were super excited. I really think that he will get baptized. With his attitude and his current situation it just looks great. If he got baptized he would definitely bring others. He is just a great guy though. Our other pastor friend is doing well, we haven't taught him again but we stopped by and he said he started reading a little, but didn't have time to talk. We will try back to see how he's doing. That is about all with the work though.
The Atonement study is still awesome! I have found that the more that I study it the more I want to teach it. That is originally why we started this study because Preach My Gospel says that learning about the Atonement will increase our desire to share the gospel. We have been studying some great stuff, and it is amazing and humbling to think about our nothingness and Christ's love to do what he did. This week I have thought a lot about will power. We read in the Bible the parts right before Christ went through his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and he asked 3 times if there was any other way but there wasn't. Then he voluntarily went forward and suffered more than anyone can possibly imagine. It makes me feel like a loser haha because I don't even have the will power to get up and do push ups each morning! But it has definitely made me work harder and try to be better. As we were studying this week Elder Chipman looked at me and said "Man! The Gospel is so true!!" And it is, the more I study the more it works out and proves itself over and over again! It is true!!!!!!!
I hope y'all have a great week and I love you so much! Thank you for your support and love and prayers, they help a lot! Love you!!
Love Elder Jackman
August 8, 2012
August 6th
Dear Family and Friends
This week has been awesome!! We had President interviews last
week and he has really been pushing us to meet mision standards in how
many lessons we teach a week, and how many people we talk to and those
numbers. So this time in interviews he told us that they are no longer
standards but requirements. He told us that he wants every companionship
to accomplish the mission standards on contacts and first lessons. So
Elder Chipman and I worked super hard this week to do that. We had a great
week as a result. We met some new people that we are now beginning to
teach and we made some really good progress with the investigators that
we already have.
With the people that we found there were two pastors!!! The first
one was really nice. We knocked on his door and said hello, and one
thing that we have been doing for door aproaches is inviting others to
allow us to simply come in and offer a prayer to bless them and their
families and thier home. That has been working great so we made the
invitation to him. He answered with a question, "I'm fine with prayer,
but how do y'all pray?". We answered and told him how we pray and that we
do it in the name of Jesus Christ because he is our way to the Father.
So he let us in. We came into his living room and his wife looked
appauled that we were there haha. We sat down and saw that he had about 5
Bibles sitting on the coffee table. We asked him about it and he told
us that he used to be a baptist minister, then he moved to a non
denominational, and now he has a home church, which is pretty much just a
Bible study group. He also told us that he was previously a co-pastor
with John Hagge!! I don't know if y'all know who that is, but he is one
of the biggest Christian Pastors in the world. So Bud (that was this
guys name) starts asking us a few questions and we answer them. We had
thought we were just going to have a prayer, but he continued to ask
questions. So we ended up teaching a great lesson about the Book of
Mormon and what it was and how it doesn't take away from the Bible and
how it fulfills Bible prophecies even! HE loved it. At the end he said
"Well your not going to convert me because I have studied far too much;
but, I will make an exchange with y'all. How about you give me your
book, and i'll give you mine." We agreed and he gave us a book that he
had written with some of his personal ideas, and we gave him a Book of
Mormon which he agreed to read and study with his Bible. SO we will go
back and check up how he is doing in the next couple of weeks. It was
such a cool lesson that the Spirit lead 100% We were prompted in what to
say and what scriptures to quote and look up with him, and we definitely
brought the spirit to him and testified of the Book of Mormon, I hope
he studies it out and continues to feel the spirit.
The next Pastor we met was another door approach where we offered
to say a prayer with him. He agreed and we came in and it turned out
that has gone through some hard stuff and the prayer really helped.
After we prayed Elder Chipman noticed an award on the wall and he asked
what it was. Stuart told us that it was an award for being an
Outstanding Mentor. We asked about it and found out that he was Reverend
Stuart! He had a degree in Religion, and was a co pastor along with
being a child mentor/counselor. We went back a couple days later and had
a great lesson with him and he definitley felt the spirit and is going
to read a chapter we left him in the Book of Mormon. He said he is
excited for when we come back. We are going back tomorrow night. He is a
super great guy and we look forward to teaching him. When he gave us
his number he gave us his Pastor card from his church and said "That is
probably surprising a Pastor giving you his number!" It was great.
Studying the Bible has really payed off because those guys knew it backward and front! But the Spirit helped us out A LOT.
Other than those two experiences we taught our current
investigators and with one we talked about setting a baptismal date and
she agreed. We are meeting with her tomorrow to set that. Then the
parents of the boys that got baptized set a baptismal date as well!!! So
things are really going great in our area. We are having a ton of
success, and I really attribute it all to our hard work. Our mission
president told us to get these numbers and we did so the Lord is
blessing us with people to teach who are ready for the gospel. It is
great.
As well as the success in the work I am learning so much. The
Atonement is amazing it is so much more than any of us even can
understand. In our study program we are doing we are on day 6 today. And
we read a talk by Neal A. Maxwell that was incredible. It was titled
Testifying of the Glorious Atonement. He talked about how in order
to truly repent and have the atonement work in our lives we not only
need to turn away from sin but we need to change our innermost desires
and thoughts. When I thought about this I realized what a big ordeal
repentence actually is. One example: Last week as Elder Chipman and I were working really hard we were doing a lot of knocking and finding in
the hot sun, which as y'all can imagine isn't the funnest thing in the
world. So about halfway through the week we had a member invite us over
for ice cream. Going to a members house to eat ice cream is not a sin,
but we should have been working and we just said to ourselves "well his
family is out of town, and he just wants the company, and we can share a
messege with him, etc..." We were justifying our actions. We went had
the ice cream talked with him and wasted about an hour and a half of our
day. When we left we both looked at each other and said "We aren't
going to do that again." So when we got home that night in our prayers
we repented and asked for forgivness for wasting the Lord's time and
then we thought about what we can do to avoid situations that waste our
time in the future. We decided that we were just going to have to say
no. When we take members to lessons and they fall through and the member
just says "Well just come over and we can have some ice cream" or when
other oppurtunities present themselves where we could justify that we
aren't wasting time but in reality we really are. So since then we have
had a couple oppurtunities to waste time, or to stay at an appointment
for a little longer. And we have really changed that desire. We have
changed that behavior so we have repented of that wrong.
In his talk Elder Maxwell talked about how we first correct
actions to a point when we no longer have the desires to make those
mistaked again. And he talked about how we need to let our belief and
faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement grow into us emulating Jesus
Christ and becoming like him. It was a great talk and I recommend
reading it.
I love the Gospel and I Love this Church. It is true and brings
more happiness into our lives than anything else. I love studying the
scriptures and learning the mysteries of God. I love you all so much and
hope you have a great week. Thank you all for the support and all your
prayers.
Love Elder Jackman
July 30, 2012
July 30th
Hey,
SO sorry still no pictures. Elder Chipman and I will take some this week so y'all can see him and see the area and stuff.. The work is soooooo awesome! We have great investigators that are progressing and keeping commitments so that is wonderful. We are actually teaching a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He only speaks French so we are working with a member that translates for us. We gave him a french Book of Mormon yesterday and he is excited to start reading. I haven't taught him yet but we have a lesson Wednesday night so i'm looking forward to that. We are having a lot of success right now.
As a mission we are starting a study on the Atonement so I am looking forward to that. I'm sure it will make me want to work harder and appreciate my Savior even more. I am loving life right now, I think the only thing I would possibly change is the heat!! It just beats down on those bikes! But I do have an Awesome Farmers tan! So that is pretty cool.
I hope y'all have a great week! Everything is great here for me. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I love You!
Love Elder Jackman
P.S. We have had a lot of flies getting into our apartment so I have been practicing my ninja skills. The count is up to 5. I have caught 5 flies right out of the air with my bare hands. Call it what you want... I'm a ninja. OH and other good news the other elders in our district have a ping pong table in their apartment So that is like the best thing ever! and i'm still champion...
SO sorry still no pictures. Elder Chipman and I will take some this week so y'all can see him and see the area and stuff.. The work is soooooo awesome! We have great investigators that are progressing and keeping commitments so that is wonderful. We are actually teaching a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He only speaks French so we are working with a member that translates for us. We gave him a french Book of Mormon yesterday and he is excited to start reading. I haven't taught him yet but we have a lesson Wednesday night so i'm looking forward to that. We are having a lot of success right now.
As a mission we are starting a study on the Atonement so I am looking forward to that. I'm sure it will make me want to work harder and appreciate my Savior even more. I am loving life right now, I think the only thing I would possibly change is the heat!! It just beats down on those bikes! But I do have an Awesome Farmers tan! So that is pretty cool.
I hope y'all have a great week! Everything is great here for me. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I love You!
Love Elder Jackman
P.S. We have had a lot of flies getting into our apartment so I have been practicing my ninja skills. The count is up to 5. I have caught 5 flies right out of the air with my bare hands. Call it what you want... I'm a ninja. OH and other good news the other elders in our district have a ping pong table in their apartment So that is like the best thing ever! and i'm still champion...
July 23rd
Family and Friends,
My new area is Braun Heights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm down in San Antonio now! I'm in the West part of San Antonio in West Zone. My area is full bike area so that is just my favorite :) Our area is fairly small. I would guess about 10 miles from one side of our area to the other. And it is Suburbia!! It is all just residential neiborhoods and streets. We have a lot of houses to knock. Not apartment complexes like Riverside. My companion is the coolest elder in the mission!!! He is definitely my favorite companion. His name is Brody Chipman he is from Holladay Utah and went to Skyline. He played football and Rugby at Skyline. He is about my same size and we get along great. We would have been good friends in high school. So it is just like hanging out with a good friend all the time! I love it!
So far I really like the area, the ward is awesome. Knocking on doors here people are definitely not as open as they were in Riverside we get a lot more rejection, but we have one family right now that we are teaching who two of their sons were baptized last month, and the parents are still deciding. They are super cool and it will be fun to teach them and help them get there. It's an all English area so I will take a break from the Espanol.
Leaving Riverside was hard, but I told everyone I would come back and visit after the mission and I will so it's all good. The change is awesome. Me and Elder Chipman are going to do great together. We will probably only be together for this transfer because this is his 4th transfer here. He was trained then here for one more now he is here with me for another. So if I follow the mission trend I will probably be with him this transfer and then train a new missionary next two transfers. But who knows that is just what usually happens. But this is going to be a great transfer I am super excited. The work is going well so far! I hope y'all have a great week. Love you!!
Love Elder Jackman
My new area is Braun Heights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm down in San Antonio now! I'm in the West part of San Antonio in West Zone. My area is full bike area so that is just my favorite :) Our area is fairly small. I would guess about 10 miles from one side of our area to the other. And it is Suburbia!! It is all just residential neiborhoods and streets. We have a lot of houses to knock. Not apartment complexes like Riverside. My companion is the coolest elder in the mission!!! He is definitely my favorite companion. His name is Brody Chipman he is from Holladay Utah and went to Skyline. He played football and Rugby at Skyline. He is about my same size and we get along great. We would have been good friends in high school. So it is just like hanging out with a good friend all the time! I love it!
So far I really like the area, the ward is awesome. Knocking on doors here people are definitely not as open as they were in Riverside we get a lot more rejection, but we have one family right now that we are teaching who two of their sons were baptized last month, and the parents are still deciding. They are super cool and it will be fun to teach them and help them get there. It's an all English area so I will take a break from the Espanol.
Leaving Riverside was hard, but I told everyone I would come back and visit after the mission and I will so it's all good. The change is awesome. Me and Elder Chipman are going to do great together. We will probably only be together for this transfer because this is his 4th transfer here. He was trained then here for one more now he is here with me for another. So if I follow the mission trend I will probably be with him this transfer and then train a new missionary next two transfers. But who knows that is just what usually happens. But this is going to be a great transfer I am super excited. The work is going well so far! I hope y'all have a great week. Love you!!
Love Elder Jackman
July 16th
I am getting transferred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I am going senior companion wherever I am going. I will find out where I am going on Thursday at transfer meeting.
This week has been good, we are teaching a lot of lessons but we just can't seem to get people to come to church! They say they will come we have people ready to pick them up, we call them to help wake them up in the morning and we even go knock on their door. Then they tell us.. "I slept in..." It is pretty rough. We just have to keep teaching them and help them gain a testimony of the truthfulness of it all so they will have their own desire to come to church. They are all reading the chapters we leave them with so they are moving forward that way. They just need to make that decision to come to church!
I have really grown to love the people here in the ward, and our investigators so it is going to be hard to leave. I will be doing the same work somewhere else. Change is fun and I always look forward to it.
The weather here has been a little cooler this week just because we have had a lot of rain. Yesterday we were caught in a flash flood on bikes! We had to come home as fast as we could. And on the way up the hill to our apartment a little river formed and it started pushing us back down the hill!!!! so we had to cross to the other side of the street and continue up! It was intense!
Everything is going well though! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!! and i'll send my new address and everything next week. Have a good one!
Love Elder Jackman
These are some pictures of the district and then some from when we took a zone picture at a meeting we had...
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This week has been good, we are teaching a lot of lessons but we just can't seem to get people to come to church! They say they will come we have people ready to pick them up, we call them to help wake them up in the morning and we even go knock on their door. Then they tell us.. "I slept in..." It is pretty rough. We just have to keep teaching them and help them gain a testimony of the truthfulness of it all so they will have their own desire to come to church. They are all reading the chapters we leave them with so they are moving forward that way. They just need to make that decision to come to church!
I have really grown to love the people here in the ward, and our investigators so it is going to be hard to leave. I will be doing the same work somewhere else. Change is fun and I always look forward to it.
The weather here has been a little cooler this week just because we have had a lot of rain. Yesterday we were caught in a flash flood on bikes! We had to come home as fast as we could. And on the way up the hill to our apartment a little river formed and it started pushing us back down the hill!!!! so we had to cross to the other side of the street and continue up! It was intense!
Everything is going well though! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!! and i'll send my new address and everything next week. Have a good one!
Love Elder Jackman
These are some pictures of the district and then some from when we took a zone picture at a meeting we had...
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July 2nd
Hello,
Alright so a couple stories for the week:
First, when we went to the capital we also went to the institute building and they have a ping pong table. One other Elder told me that he was pretty good and that he played a lot in college. I dominated :) You know how I do. I think he scored like 5 points. Then a little later I was looking at their board and they have a rank list for ping pong and at #1 there was 'Bro. Johnson' so I told Elder Foster "I bet I could beat him." Then about 5 mins later a teacher walked in and I looked at him and said "Are you Bro. Johnson?" He said yes. Then I pointed at the rank list and he said "You want to play?" So we played and I dominated :) We played 4 games, I won the first 2 by quite a bit. Then the third game he beat me by 2 points so just barely. Then the last game I beat him by 12. So I am now the best ping pong player at the institute building in Austin. So that was pretty cool. Elder Foster was kind of upset because he wanted me to lose. I had been telling him all week how much I played ping pong and stuff and he didn't believe that I was that good. I told him that I wasn't going to lose, so he wanted me to be wrong. It was a ton of fun though, ping pong is the best sport.
The other story is even better because it has to do with the work. At the beginning of this transfer (3 weeks ago) Our new district leader that just got transferred set a district baptism goal with us for this transfer. That goal was 5 baptisms for each companionship in the district. We were suprised how high it was but agreed. Later he told us that President had e-mailed him and told him to set the goal. Now just last Thursday Elder Foster and I had to call President to ask him about going to the temple with one of Elder Fosters converts from last year. President is allowing us to go on the 10th of July but he asked "How are you planning to make up for all the lost time?" And Elder Foster said that we had a plan that involved a lot of biking to make sure we don't go over miles and that we would work hard. President responded "I don't care about biking, what about baptisms? What is your goal for baptisms?" and Elder Foster was kind of speachless. Then President said "How about 5, 5 baptisms for July?" So obviously we agreed and he said that he knows we can do it.
So after the phone call we had weekly planning we figured out how we are going to get the baptisms and what we are going to have to do. Because to get that many in this short of time is hard. The investigators have to come to church 3 times before we can baptize them, and we have to teach them everything. The goal was set by us first as a district and then confirmed with President. We know the goal is from God so we know we are going to accomplish it. We still don't know how but we are just doing everything in our power to get those baptisms and to work as hard as we possibly can. We are giving it all we have and we will do it. Just on Saturday our ward mission leader told us that he had been inspired to fast on Sunday for more baptisms and he invited each of us to do the same. So the Lord is definitely telling us that we can do it and that we are going to do it. Right now Elder Foster and I have about 15 names of poeple we are teaching and have the potential to be baptized, and other than that we are frantically trying to find more people. We would definitely appreciate your prayers. We know we can do it and we are going to do it. We are working really hard and doing everything we can to accomplish the goal the Lord has set for us.
The work this week was hard. It reached 110 on Tuesday and we were on bikes :) It was great. Our investigators didn't come to chruch even though we talked to all of them the day before and they all promised that they would be there without a doubt. But it is ok we are being patient and we will accomplish our goal. This goal lit a fire inside of Elder Foster and I and we are working like I haven't worked before, it is fantastic.
Thank you for all of your support please keep us in your prayers this month I know it will help. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!
Elder Jackman
Alright so a couple stories for the week:
First, when we went to the capital we also went to the institute building and they have a ping pong table. One other Elder told me that he was pretty good and that he played a lot in college. I dominated :) You know how I do. I think he scored like 5 points. Then a little later I was looking at their board and they have a rank list for ping pong and at #1 there was 'Bro. Johnson' so I told Elder Foster "I bet I could beat him." Then about 5 mins later a teacher walked in and I looked at him and said "Are you Bro. Johnson?" He said yes. Then I pointed at the rank list and he said "You want to play?" So we played and I dominated :) We played 4 games, I won the first 2 by quite a bit. Then the third game he beat me by 2 points so just barely. Then the last game I beat him by 12. So I am now the best ping pong player at the institute building in Austin. So that was pretty cool. Elder Foster was kind of upset because he wanted me to lose. I had been telling him all week how much I played ping pong and stuff and he didn't believe that I was that good. I told him that I wasn't going to lose, so he wanted me to be wrong. It was a ton of fun though, ping pong is the best sport.
The other story is even better because it has to do with the work. At the beginning of this transfer (3 weeks ago) Our new district leader that just got transferred set a district baptism goal with us for this transfer. That goal was 5 baptisms for each companionship in the district. We were suprised how high it was but agreed. Later he told us that President had e-mailed him and told him to set the goal. Now just last Thursday Elder Foster and I had to call President to ask him about going to the temple with one of Elder Fosters converts from last year. President is allowing us to go on the 10th of July but he asked "How are you planning to make up for all the lost time?" And Elder Foster said that we had a plan that involved a lot of biking to make sure we don't go over miles and that we would work hard. President responded "I don't care about biking, what about baptisms? What is your goal for baptisms?" and Elder Foster was kind of speachless. Then President said "How about 5, 5 baptisms for July?" So obviously we agreed and he said that he knows we can do it.
So after the phone call we had weekly planning we figured out how we are going to get the baptisms and what we are going to have to do. Because to get that many in this short of time is hard. The investigators have to come to church 3 times before we can baptize them, and we have to teach them everything. The goal was set by us first as a district and then confirmed with President. We know the goal is from God so we know we are going to accomplish it. We still don't know how but we are just doing everything in our power to get those baptisms and to work as hard as we possibly can. We are giving it all we have and we will do it. Just on Saturday our ward mission leader told us that he had been inspired to fast on Sunday for more baptisms and he invited each of us to do the same. So the Lord is definitely telling us that we can do it and that we are going to do it. Right now Elder Foster and I have about 15 names of poeple we are teaching and have the potential to be baptized, and other than that we are frantically trying to find more people. We would definitely appreciate your prayers. We know we can do it and we are going to do it. We are working really hard and doing everything we can to accomplish the goal the Lord has set for us.
The work this week was hard. It reached 110 on Tuesday and we were on bikes :) It was great. Our investigators didn't come to chruch even though we talked to all of them the day before and they all promised that they would be there without a doubt. But it is ok we are being patient and we will accomplish our goal. This goal lit a fire inside of Elder Foster and I and we are working like I haven't worked before, it is fantastic.
Thank you for all of your support please keep us in your prayers this month I know it will help. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!
Elder Jackman
June 25th
Family and Friends!
Stories for the week:
The Random homeless lady: So on Tuesday Elder Foster and I took a lunch brake and bought a couple cheap sandwiches at a gas station. We were sitting at a Sonic and eating when along comes a homeless lady. Ok some background on the homeless people: There is a 'tribe'/'group' of homeless people that call themselves "The tree people" because they live in the trees and then come out and beg for money. There is about 15-20 of them. They all know us, we have several nicknames that they call us; bible bikers, Jesus brothers, the mormons, etc. some of them are really cool. But pretty much all of them are a little crazy. So anyways along comes this lady and she sits down by us at the table. And the first thing she says was "Ok I can't sit and talk to you while y'all are eating sanwiches and I'm starving" So we gave her the rest of our sandwiches (They were almost gone anyway, and we figured she probably was hungry) So she starts eating these sandwiches like an animal, and she just threw the buns over her head and said "here you go birds!" So then she goes on to say that she wanted to pray with us. So we said "ok we can say a prayer with you" and she said "no I want to teach you how to pray" So we were both thinking. "This lady is crazy!! This lady is crazy!" But we couldn't really get up and leave or she would've gotten mad and caused a scene. So we said ok let's say a prayer. She grabbed our hands and started a VERY ANIMATED prayer. We just sat and endured. Then she grabbed our heads and blessed us both that beautful princesses were waiting for us (So that was pretty awesome) but then she went on to say some wierd stuff. Then she got up and gave us a hug. Yes I took a shower when we got home. But while she had been going off in the prayer Elder Foster made eye contact with a manager and gave her the "help us" look. She laughed and came out after the lady hugged us. She saved us, because then the lady started being crazy to the manager. We said thank you and got out of there. So moral of the story: That lady was crazy! There are beautiful princesses waiting for Elder Foster and I :) and Sonic is Awesome!
Next story:
We were drving down a back street to do some knocking and about 100 meters up the street there was a big aggressive pit bull. So as we were driving by it started barking and running at the car. It started trying to bite and attack the car!! So Elder Foster as it was running along side the car opened his door and hit it right in the face as hard as he could! It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! The dog just stopped looked around for second and then walked away and sat down wondering what just happend! Haha now there is a big slobber mark on the side of our door! But other than that dogs have been a big deal. I have a dog stick that I carry around in my backpack because dogs seem to love attacking us.
The work is going a lot better this week. We met with all of our investigators and picked up a couple more from our English class that we teach. And one of the couples that we are teaching came to church and loved it!!! So that was awesome! Everything is great! Thank you for all your support! I love you all! have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
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Stories for the week:
The Random homeless lady: So on Tuesday Elder Foster and I took a lunch brake and bought a couple cheap sandwiches at a gas station. We were sitting at a Sonic and eating when along comes a homeless lady. Ok some background on the homeless people: There is a 'tribe'/'group' of homeless people that call themselves "The tree people" because they live in the trees and then come out and beg for money. There is about 15-20 of them. They all know us, we have several nicknames that they call us; bible bikers, Jesus brothers, the mormons, etc. some of them are really cool. But pretty much all of them are a little crazy. So anyways along comes this lady and she sits down by us at the table. And the first thing she says was "Ok I can't sit and talk to you while y'all are eating sanwiches and I'm starving" So we gave her the rest of our sandwiches (They were almost gone anyway, and we figured she probably was hungry) So she starts eating these sandwiches like an animal, and she just threw the buns over her head and said "here you go birds!" So then she goes on to say that she wanted to pray with us. So we said "ok we can say a prayer with you" and she said "no I want to teach you how to pray" So we were both thinking. "This lady is crazy!! This lady is crazy!" But we couldn't really get up and leave or she would've gotten mad and caused a scene. So we said ok let's say a prayer. She grabbed our hands and started a VERY ANIMATED prayer. We just sat and endured. Then she grabbed our heads and blessed us both that beautful princesses were waiting for us (So that was pretty awesome) but then she went on to say some wierd stuff. Then she got up and gave us a hug. Yes I took a shower when we got home. But while she had been going off in the prayer Elder Foster made eye contact with a manager and gave her the "help us" look. She laughed and came out after the lady hugged us. She saved us, because then the lady started being crazy to the manager. We said thank you and got out of there. So moral of the story: That lady was crazy! There are beautiful princesses waiting for Elder Foster and I :) and Sonic is Awesome!
Next story:
We were drving down a back street to do some knocking and about 100 meters up the street there was a big aggressive pit bull. So as we were driving by it started barking and running at the car. It started trying to bite and attack the car!! So Elder Foster as it was running along side the car opened his door and hit it right in the face as hard as he could! It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! The dog just stopped looked around for second and then walked away and sat down wondering what just happend! Haha now there is a big slobber mark on the side of our door! But other than that dogs have been a big deal. I have a dog stick that I carry around in my backpack because dogs seem to love attacking us.
The work is going a lot better this week. We met with all of our investigators and picked up a couple more from our English class that we teach. And one of the couples that we are teaching came to church and loved it!!! So that was awesome! Everything is great! Thank you for all your support! I love you all! have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
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June 19, 2012
Dear Everyone,
This week was a little disappointing. Both of our families dropped us and decided they don't want to investigate anymore :( They had been missing appointments and just avoiding us but then Julieta left a note on the door when we had an appointment that said "We are not here, we will call you when you can come over" We haven't seen her or heard from her. Hopefully in the future they can meet with us again or other missionaries, but for now they are not interested. We have several other investigators right now that are doing well. They were supposed to come to church but they didn't! We will help them out thought.
Other than that we had some bike troubles this week again. Luckily it wasn't my bike though! My bike works great but my helmet got stolen! So I bought a new one today and it is soooooo cool. Elder Foster's chain decided to stop working and his bike is getting tuned up and fixed, and Elder Salas' chain broke so that was a set back.
This week has been a little discouraging, but there is no point in putting my head down. Elder Turner said a really good quote that I liked, he said: "This work is 80% mental, so if you go out with your head down you are only doing 20% of the work." And it is so true. I know that keeping a postive attitude is necessary so I make it a priority to be postitive and keep myself and companion happy. It has just been hard with people telling us that they will do things and then they don't do them and think nothing of it. I don't know why we have bad things happen to us but I know that they are for a reason and they will help us in some way that God knows we need.
I have a very strong testimony that the trials that we go through are to help us become the people God needs us to be. Also I have seen more and more as I am working with these people how God feels about me and about all of his children. We know that this gospel is going to help these people and we do everything we can to help them understand that but ultimately it is up to them and their agency to decide if they are going to act on our messege. God does the same for us. He knows what is going to help us and knows what is bad for us, he does everything he can to help us avoid harmful things and stay on a positive track but ultimately we have our agency and many times we make mistakes and i'm sure God is frustrated but he loves us unconditionally and never gives up on us. That is something I have learned by going through this disappointment and this hard time. We keep working hard though every day. Because we are doing what is right, we are on the Lord's errand and we will be successful in the way the Lord has planned. I learn so much out here on my mission. I love it. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all so much!!!
Love Elder Jackman
This week was a little disappointing. Both of our families dropped us and decided they don't want to investigate anymore :( They had been missing appointments and just avoiding us but then Julieta left a note on the door when we had an appointment that said "We are not here, we will call you when you can come over" We haven't seen her or heard from her. Hopefully in the future they can meet with us again or other missionaries, but for now they are not interested. We have several other investigators right now that are doing well. They were supposed to come to church but they didn't! We will help them out thought.
Other than that we had some bike troubles this week again. Luckily it wasn't my bike though! My bike works great but my helmet got stolen! So I bought a new one today and it is soooooo cool. Elder Foster's chain decided to stop working and his bike is getting tuned up and fixed, and Elder Salas' chain broke so that was a set back.
This week has been a little discouraging, but there is no point in putting my head down. Elder Turner said a really good quote that I liked, he said: "This work is 80% mental, so if you go out with your head down you are only doing 20% of the work." And it is so true. I know that keeping a postive attitude is necessary so I make it a priority to be postitive and keep myself and companion happy. It has just been hard with people telling us that they will do things and then they don't do them and think nothing of it. I don't know why we have bad things happen to us but I know that they are for a reason and they will help us in some way that God knows we need.
I have a very strong testimony that the trials that we go through are to help us become the people God needs us to be. Also I have seen more and more as I am working with these people how God feels about me and about all of his children. We know that this gospel is going to help these people and we do everything we can to help them understand that but ultimately it is up to them and their agency to decide if they are going to act on our messege. God does the same for us. He knows what is going to help us and knows what is bad for us, he does everything he can to help us avoid harmful things and stay on a positive track but ultimately we have our agency and many times we make mistakes and i'm sure God is frustrated but he loves us unconditionally and never gives up on us. That is something I have learned by going through this disappointment and this hard time. We keep working hard though every day. Because we are doing what is right, we are on the Lord's errand and we will be successful in the way the Lord has planned. I learn so much out here on my mission. I love it. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all so much!!!
Love Elder Jackman
June 12, 2012
Hello familly and friends!!!!!!
Transfers were this past week and I got a new companion! His name is Spencer Foster he is from Davenport Washington. He is really cool and we get along great. We are going to have a great time serving together.
The work is fantastic! We had another family of 6 in church yesterday!!!!!!! Now we owe candy to all the kids for behaving... but that is ok they came to church! The two big families we are teaching are actually sister-in-laws, they married brothers and one has 7 kids and the other has 6. They are both awesome and are starting to come to church. The other families we are teaching are awesome too. One of them have two sons ages 21 and 19 but we haven't taught the sons yet, but the parents are awesome. Then the other family have two young sons ages 6 and 2.
We are still working very hard and the temperatures are getting up there! We broke 100 this last week, and we were on bikes :( But the bikes aren't all bad, some of the plus sides are: I have never had stronger legs in my life, I have lost a little weight and am in great shape, and...wait for it... I have a six pack :) One of my life dreams accomplished. I'm pretty stoked about it.
I am loving the mission every day! The longer I am here the more I like it. I just feel so great every day to be on the Lords errand. To know that the Lord is backing me and helping me to find his children is amazing. I love this church because it just gives me the wonderful hope every day that i'm on the right track and everyting is going to be ok. I love you all! have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
The first picture is me and Elder foster (under the tree) Then there is one of me and Elder Turner.
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Transfers were this past week and I got a new companion! His name is Spencer Foster he is from Davenport Washington. He is really cool and we get along great. We are going to have a great time serving together.
The work is fantastic! We had another family of 6 in church yesterday!!!!!!! Now we owe candy to all the kids for behaving... but that is ok they came to church! The two big families we are teaching are actually sister-in-laws, they married brothers and one has 7 kids and the other has 6. They are both awesome and are starting to come to church. The other families we are teaching are awesome too. One of them have two sons ages 21 and 19 but we haven't taught the sons yet, but the parents are awesome. Then the other family have two young sons ages 6 and 2.
We are still working very hard and the temperatures are getting up there! We broke 100 this last week, and we were on bikes :( But the bikes aren't all bad, some of the plus sides are: I have never had stronger legs in my life, I have lost a little weight and am in great shape, and...wait for it... I have a six pack :) One of my life dreams accomplished. I'm pretty stoked about it.
I am loving the mission every day! The longer I am here the more I like it. I just feel so great every day to be on the Lords errand. To know that the Lord is backing me and helping me to find his children is amazing. I love this church because it just gives me the wonderful hope every day that i'm on the right track and everyting is going to be ok. I love you all! have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
The first picture is me and Elder foster (under the tree) Then there is one of me and Elder Turner.
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June 6, 2012
The work is going fantastic!! This week is transfers and Elder Turner is getting transferred so hopefully I get someone as hard working as him, and someone that I get along with so well too. It has been fun working with him and I have learned a lot. Whoever my next companion is better be ready to work hard!
None of our investigators made it to church yesterday :( But we are going to teach all of them agian this week and we can overcome their concerns and help them attend next week! We finally have some investigators that are keeping appointments and doing things so that is nice. We still do a lot of finding and knocking doors.
The studies are going great and I learn new things every day! I love you all and hope you have a great week!! I know this church is true, and that by living this gospel you will have more happiness in your life then every before. I love the hope that I have every day when I wake up that I can think. "Well I know i'm on the right track" It is a great feeling. We were talking to some of our investigators yesterday about our purpose and it finally clicked in their head that we are here to help them get on the right track, it was a great lesson. The mission is great!!!
Love Elder Jackman
P.S. Elder Turner and I recieved a package last saturday the 26th of May, but we just got a slip that said we had a package in the office. When we went to pick it up they didn't have one for us, so we asked the mail man and he said there was a temp that day so he didn't know. So if anyone sent me a package that would have gotten here on the 26th I am terribly sorry I didn't get it :( Feel free to resend! :)
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None of our investigators made it to church yesterday :( But we are going to teach all of them agian this week and we can overcome their concerns and help them attend next week! We finally have some investigators that are keeping appointments and doing things so that is nice. We still do a lot of finding and knocking doors.
The studies are going great and I learn new things every day! I love you all and hope you have a great week!! I know this church is true, and that by living this gospel you will have more happiness in your life then every before. I love the hope that I have every day when I wake up that I can think. "Well I know i'm on the right track" It is a great feeling. We were talking to some of our investigators yesterday about our purpose and it finally clicked in their head that we are here to help them get on the right track, it was a great lesson. The mission is great!!!
Love Elder Jackman
P.S. Elder Turner and I recieved a package last saturday the 26th of May, but we just got a slip that said we had a package in the office. When we went to pick it up they didn't have one for us, so we asked the mail man and he said there was a temp that day so he didn't know. So if anyone sent me a package that would have gotten here on the 26th I am terribly sorry I didn't get it :( Feel free to resend! :)
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Marcus and members from his district at a district meeting
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A picture that Elder Turner took of me when we
got home one night. We always are completely dead when we get home.
We live on top of a hill then we have to carry our bikes up to the 3rd
floor, all of this in 95 degree humid weather... we get really sweaty
and tired.
got home one night. We always are completely dead when we get home.
We live on top of a hill then we have to carry our bikes up to the 3rd
floor, all of this in 95 degree humid weather... we get really sweaty
and tired.
May 29, 2012
WE HAD A FAMILY OF 7 COME TO
CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh boy it was great! It is a lady that we have contacted several times, we have knocked on her door a lot and she always says "Es que estoy muy ocupada" she is very busy. And we always set up times to come back but she isn't there. This time it worked out and we taught her with a member on Saturday and she came to church on Sunday. Her main intrest was that we have classes for the kids and she came and stayed in primary with the kids and said after that they liked it, and the kids made some friends and they are coming next week! The lesson with them was pretty crazy haha the two youngest were just hitting everyone and causing distractions. The kids range from 12 down to 1, and she has 4 more in Mexico! They are really great though and we are teaching them again on Tuesday, we have a fun object lesson planned, it will be great!
Our Cuban investigators kind of fell off the map. We had a lesson with them and planned on it and went pretty far away and picked up some members and they came then we knocked on the door and they weren't there :( We have gone back a couple of times and called but they aren't responding... But we are still finding new people.
We still have our investigators from Guatemala. They are still meeting with us. Cindy was supposed to come to church on Sunday but we went with the member to pick her up 15 minutes before church and she wasn't there :( The work is going well. We had a hard week and did a lot of knocking but we are feeling that we are having success in the way the Lord would have it. We are still finding people and helping people where they are. Maybe they aren't ready for Baptism, but they may be ready to learn about Prayer or something else, and we are giving them those oppurtunities.
My studies have been great! I decided to read Jacob 5 on Saturday and see if I could understand it. And it was just so clear! I have read it several times before but just didnt get it. But with my studies of Isaiah I was able to understand clearly. I am going back through it now verse by verse and taking out more information and I love it. I have never understood the scattering and gathering of the house of Isreal, why the Lord did that or why it was important, but now it just makes so much more sense and I have more incentive to read the old testiment. I love the scriptures!!! The mission is great I love you all so much and thank you for your support. Everything is fine with my wrist and bike, it all worked out, it was just a sprain and is pretty much all the way better now. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love Elder Jackman
CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh boy it was great! It is a lady that we have contacted several times, we have knocked on her door a lot and she always says "Es que estoy muy ocupada" she is very busy. And we always set up times to come back but she isn't there. This time it worked out and we taught her with a member on Saturday and she came to church on Sunday. Her main intrest was that we have classes for the kids and she came and stayed in primary with the kids and said after that they liked it, and the kids made some friends and they are coming next week! The lesson with them was pretty crazy haha the two youngest were just hitting everyone and causing distractions. The kids range from 12 down to 1, and she has 4 more in Mexico! They are really great though and we are teaching them again on Tuesday, we have a fun object lesson planned, it will be great!
Our Cuban investigators kind of fell off the map. We had a lesson with them and planned on it and went pretty far away and picked up some members and they came then we knocked on the door and they weren't there :( We have gone back a couple of times and called but they aren't responding... But we are still finding new people.
We still have our investigators from Guatemala. They are still meeting with us. Cindy was supposed to come to church on Sunday but we went with the member to pick her up 15 minutes before church and she wasn't there :( The work is going well. We had a hard week and did a lot of knocking but we are feeling that we are having success in the way the Lord would have it. We are still finding people and helping people where they are. Maybe they aren't ready for Baptism, but they may be ready to learn about Prayer or something else, and we are giving them those oppurtunities.
My studies have been great! I decided to read Jacob 5 on Saturday and see if I could understand it. And it was just so clear! I have read it several times before but just didnt get it. But with my studies of Isaiah I was able to understand clearly. I am going back through it now verse by verse and taking out more information and I love it. I have never understood the scattering and gathering of the house of Isreal, why the Lord did that or why it was important, but now it just makes so much more sense and I have more incentive to read the old testiment. I love the scriptures!!! The mission is great I love you all so much and thank you for your support. Everything is fine with my wrist and bike, it all worked out, it was just a sprain and is pretty much all the way better now. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love Elder Jackman
May 24, 2012
Oh man a lot has happened!
So this week I learned a lot of things the hard way. Let me share: I learned that there are two kinds of wheels on bikes ones that work for "V brakes" and ones that work for "Disc brakes"... I got the wrong one. I learned that there are two other features that differentiate wheels; the valves that put air into the tubes. Presta valves and Shrader valves... I got the wrong one. I learned that when you have a presta valve you have to have a presta pump to put air in it.... I had the wrong one. Let's just say that we took more than a couple trips to the bike store this week.
The reason I needed to fix the bike was because last saturday I got hit by a car!! I was crossing the intersection riding in the crosswalk. At this light when the red hand appears to stop pedestrians the traffic has a green light to turn left so they are still supposed to yield. I entered the crosswalk when the hand was flashing. The car came completely obilvious to anything and turned way to fast and by the time they saw me they didn't have enough space to brake so they hit me and ran over my front wheel so I had to buy a new one. The driver then said "That was not my fault!" and gave me a rude look. Then the passenger asked if I was ok and I felt fine, just a couple bruises. I told them not to worry about it and that I didn't need to go to the hospital. I didn't get their information and they drove off, so no big deal. Then a couple days later my wrist started hurting really bad, and it was the wrist I had landed on. I figured it was just a sprain or a bruise or something. But it just kept hurting more and more and I couldn't move it very well so I went into an urgent care and they X rayed it and said it wasn't broken but it is definitely sprained and there is a possiblity that I tore this wierd triangular cartilage thing so they sent the X ray to a radiologist and they will call me today to let me know what's up. They gave me some stupid brace to wear and I feel like a fool wearing it. So hopefully the call and it is just a sprain because that will heal on it's own. But I'll let you know how that turns out next week.
Needless to say we had a lot of setbacks and things happen this week that weren't planned for. But we worked really hard. We had a ton of success last week but this week it slowed down A LOT. We had so many people miss appointments, so we did a lot of knocking. By the end of the week we found some great people though and taught some good lessons. We met some Cubans yesterday and they are great! Their names are Caridad and Ismariy. Caridad told us as we were talking that she needs to be baptized but is just looking for the true church. We taught a great lesson and have a return appointment. She is also going to come to the english classes that we are teaching We didn't have any investigators at church :( But the sisters have started teaching a woman in our area that is just more comfortable with women, and she is getting baptized on June 16!!!!! So that is great! We are really excited for her we have gotten to know her a bit just because she is in our area. She has been an investigator for awhile and is finally ready!
Other event: we had a talent show in the ward last Friday and that was super fun. Everything is great though in the mission! I am learning a ton still! (mostly about bikes this week ) but I am growing in my testimony and knowledge of the gospel. I know this church is true and that I am where I need to be. Elder Turner and I have determined not to get discouraged no matter what! I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thank you for all the support!
Love Elder Jackman
So this week I learned a lot of things the hard way. Let me share: I learned that there are two kinds of wheels on bikes ones that work for "V brakes" and ones that work for "Disc brakes"... I got the wrong one. I learned that there are two other features that differentiate wheels; the valves that put air into the tubes. Presta valves and Shrader valves... I got the wrong one. I learned that when you have a presta valve you have to have a presta pump to put air in it.... I had the wrong one. Let's just say that we took more than a couple trips to the bike store this week.
The reason I needed to fix the bike was because last saturday I got hit by a car!! I was crossing the intersection riding in the crosswalk. At this light when the red hand appears to stop pedestrians the traffic has a green light to turn left so they are still supposed to yield. I entered the crosswalk when the hand was flashing. The car came completely obilvious to anything and turned way to fast and by the time they saw me they didn't have enough space to brake so they hit me and ran over my front wheel so I had to buy a new one. The driver then said "That was not my fault!" and gave me a rude look. Then the passenger asked if I was ok and I felt fine, just a couple bruises. I told them not to worry about it and that I didn't need to go to the hospital. I didn't get their information and they drove off, so no big deal. Then a couple days later my wrist started hurting really bad, and it was the wrist I had landed on. I figured it was just a sprain or a bruise or something. But it just kept hurting more and more and I couldn't move it very well so I went into an urgent care and they X rayed it and said it wasn't broken but it is definitely sprained and there is a possiblity that I tore this wierd triangular cartilage thing so they sent the X ray to a radiologist and they will call me today to let me know what's up. They gave me some stupid brace to wear and I feel like a fool wearing it. So hopefully the call and it is just a sprain because that will heal on it's own. But I'll let you know how that turns out next week.
Needless to say we had a lot of setbacks and things happen this week that weren't planned for. But we worked really hard. We had a ton of success last week but this week it slowed down A LOT. We had so many people miss appointments, so we did a lot of knocking. By the end of the week we found some great people though and taught some good lessons. We met some Cubans yesterday and they are great! Their names are Caridad and Ismariy. Caridad told us as we were talking that she needs to be baptized but is just looking for the true church. We taught a great lesson and have a return appointment. She is also going to come to the english classes that we are teaching We didn't have any investigators at church :( But the sisters have started teaching a woman in our area that is just more comfortable with women, and she is getting baptized on June 16!!!!! So that is great! We are really excited for her we have gotten to know her a bit just because she is in our area. She has been an investigator for awhile and is finally ready!
Other event: we had a talent show in the ward last Friday and that was super fun. Everything is great though in the mission! I am learning a ton still! (mostly about bikes this week ) but I am growing in my testimony and knowledge of the gospel. I know this church is true and that I am where I need to be. Elder Turner and I have determined not to get discouraged no matter what! I love you all and hope you have a great week. Thank you for all the support!
Love Elder Jackman
May 8, 2012
Another week in the field!
Here is an update on all of our most solid investigators:
Daisy: she is from Guatemala and she works a lot!! She has a daughter that is 11 and they live in the apartments right next to us. We have taught her once and that was about a month ago. We lost contact with her for awhile becuase she missed a couple appointments because of work. We had a really good first lesson with her and she said that she would be baptized, but she has yet to come to church. We have a lesson planned with her on Wednesday night so hopefully she is there so we can teach her again.
Javier: He is from Honduras and lives in the same apartment complex as a couple members. We had a really good first lesson with him too, but his wife isn't really into church a whole lot, so we haven't been able to get back and teach. He has kind of fallen off the map, so hopefully we find him again.
Griselda, and Maria Esperanza: Maria is Griselda's mom and they are from Guatemala. We have taught them twice, but they don't really have any desire to come to church, they just enjoy learning about the scriptures and listening to us. We have a lesson with them tomorrow so hopefully we can help them get to church.
And those are all the people that we are still in contact with. Other than that there are about 20 other people that we have taught a lesson in the past month or so and we just can't find again and they don't answer their phone. So it is really frustrating but we just keep hitting the pavement and knocking and finding more people. Our biggest hope right now is Daisy and her daughter, other than that we are just trying to find some more solid people. The week consisted of a lot of knocking and talking to people. I have a wicked farmers tan! haha But that is the update for this week. I am loving the mission!! It is hard but I am still bettering myself and learning a lot! It is such a great place to be! I hope you all have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
Here is an update on all of our most solid investigators:
Daisy: she is from Guatemala and she works a lot!! She has a daughter that is 11 and they live in the apartments right next to us. We have taught her once and that was about a month ago. We lost contact with her for awhile becuase she missed a couple appointments because of work. We had a really good first lesson with her and she said that she would be baptized, but she has yet to come to church. We have a lesson planned with her on Wednesday night so hopefully she is there so we can teach her again.
Javier: He is from Honduras and lives in the same apartment complex as a couple members. We had a really good first lesson with him too, but his wife isn't really into church a whole lot, so we haven't been able to get back and teach. He has kind of fallen off the map, so hopefully we find him again.
Griselda, and Maria Esperanza: Maria is Griselda's mom and they are from Guatemala. We have taught them twice, but they don't really have any desire to come to church, they just enjoy learning about the scriptures and listening to us. We have a lesson with them tomorrow so hopefully we can help them get to church.
And those are all the people that we are still in contact with. Other than that there are about 20 other people that we have taught a lesson in the past month or so and we just can't find again and they don't answer their phone. So it is really frustrating but we just keep hitting the pavement and knocking and finding more people. Our biggest hope right now is Daisy and her daughter, other than that we are just trying to find some more solid people. The week consisted of a lot of knocking and talking to people. I have a wicked farmers tan! haha But that is the update for this week. I am loving the mission!! It is hard but I am still bettering myself and learning a lot! It is such a great place to be! I hope you all have a great week!
Love Elder Jackman
May 2, 2012
Wazzup!!
This week went by really fast, and was fun
because we had transfers! Elder Turner and I stayed together and will be
here for at least one more transfer. We got an Elder from Spain into
our district he is cool, and we are helping him perfect his English.
Then one of the sisters got transferred, but not too many changes. We
have a zone conference coming up in a couple weeks, and presidents
interviews this week, those are always fun because we get to talk about
our progress as missionaries and ask questions and everything. This week
will be fun!
The work is going about the same. We find lots of people and
teach them first lessons, but then it we just can't get in to teach them
again, it happens so much! Either they just have work all the time, or
they just lose contact with us, or for whatever reason we just lose
contact with them, but we are working with a couple that we still have
contact with. The work is hard but it is worth it.
I am learning a lot about the scriptures every day and my
testimony is strengthened every day. The mission is where i am supposed
to be, and this area is where i am supposed to be right now, I'm doing
my best and know that that is what is important. I love you all and hope
you have a wonderful week! Thanks for all the support!
Love Elder Jackman
The picture is of my district at dinner the night before transfers.
April 17, 2012
So here is rundown of my life:
6:30 alarm goes off, and I think "Boy am I tired"
6:32 out of bed stretching and waking up
6:35 work out (sit ups, stretching, thinking about life's deeper issues haha)
7:00 eat some cereal and read something while companion showers
7:15 shower
8:00 be all ready and start the studies( I love this part of the day!!! right now I am reading Jesus the Christ, and the New Testament) Studies are awesome!
9:00 Comp study!!! (read some preach my gospel, talk about investigators and lessons we have that day, talk about what we studied, good times...)
10:00 Spanish study: We made some sweet catapults and we set up our troops and catapults and read the Book of Mormon in spanish taking turns, and after your turn you shoot the catapult and try to hit the other guys troops. Super fun!)
11:00 lunch we eat a lot of: rice, I make some mean rice, quesadillas, I make some mean quesadillas too. Then like some apples little Debbies treats, oreos haha all the good stuff
12:00 we are off for the day, every other day we get the car so that is sweet, we just go do our knocking and finding and teaching and just all those great things that missionaries do.
7:30 ON the days with the car we go to dinner with the sisters to a members houses on the days on bike we are still working. We have it worked out so when we have the car we also have dinner it is nice.
9:00 or 9:30 come home and catch our breath! then plan and get ready for bed write in journal, write raps, eat candy, make forts, and all kinds of fun stuff!
Then we go to bed at 10:30 and just think "oh man I worked hard today! Another one tomorrow!!" then your out like a rock!
The mission is great I am growing my testimony like I never had before! I love every minute of it. It is extremely hard sometimes but I know that it is worth it. We just keep putting forth our part and Lord takes care of the rest. I love studying the scriptures and learning as much as I can. We are trying to get some solid investigators right now and have found a couple that are proving to do well. We will keep helping them and I will update you on their status. But for now we are just working with a few people that are having a hard time doing anything! Coming to church in the morning on the only day off of work is hard for these people but they are moving forward, They know the gospel is what they need.
This work is great! I love this church and know it is true! I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all!
The pictures: so last week they were of me in a trailor park that we like to knock, and then me getting easter gifts, then a ups note we found on our neighbors door haha, then a fort we built one night. This week is some a member sent to me from Taylor. They were like one of my favortive familys! They were taken the night before I got transfered. Love you all.
Love Elder Jackman
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6:30 alarm goes off, and I think "Boy am I tired"
6:32 out of bed stretching and waking up
6:35 work out (sit ups, stretching, thinking about life's deeper issues haha)
7:00 eat some cereal and read something while companion showers
7:15 shower
8:00 be all ready and start the studies( I love this part of the day!!! right now I am reading Jesus the Christ, and the New Testament) Studies are awesome!
9:00 Comp study!!! (read some preach my gospel, talk about investigators and lessons we have that day, talk about what we studied, good times...)
10:00 Spanish study: We made some sweet catapults and we set up our troops and catapults and read the Book of Mormon in spanish taking turns, and after your turn you shoot the catapult and try to hit the other guys troops. Super fun!)
11:00 lunch we eat a lot of: rice, I make some mean rice, quesadillas, I make some mean quesadillas too. Then like some apples little Debbies treats, oreos haha all the good stuff
12:00 we are off for the day, every other day we get the car so that is sweet, we just go do our knocking and finding and teaching and just all those great things that missionaries do.
7:30 ON the days with the car we go to dinner with the sisters to a members houses on the days on bike we are still working. We have it worked out so when we have the car we also have dinner it is nice.
9:00 or 9:30 come home and catch our breath! then plan and get ready for bed write in journal, write raps, eat candy, make forts, and all kinds of fun stuff!
Then we go to bed at 10:30 and just think "oh man I worked hard today! Another one tomorrow!!" then your out like a rock!
The mission is great I am growing my testimony like I never had before! I love every minute of it. It is extremely hard sometimes but I know that it is worth it. We just keep putting forth our part and Lord takes care of the rest. I love studying the scriptures and learning as much as I can. We are trying to get some solid investigators right now and have found a couple that are proving to do well. We will keep helping them and I will update you on their status. But for now we are just working with a few people that are having a hard time doing anything! Coming to church in the morning on the only day off of work is hard for these people but they are moving forward, They know the gospel is what they need.
This work is great! I love this church and know it is true! I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all!
The pictures: so last week they were of me in a trailor park that we like to knock, and then me getting easter gifts, then a ups note we found on our neighbors door haha, then a fort we built one night. This week is some a member sent to me from Taylor. They were like one of my favortive familys! They were taken the night before I got transfered. Love you all.
Love Elder Jackman
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Building catapults
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The note they came across
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A fort
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Friends from Taylor
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April 12, 2012
Hey Everyone!!!
The mission is great!! We are working extremely hard! We come home every night exhausted, especially on bike days. My upper legs are pretty much like supermans upper legs right now they are pretty dang strong... so yeah that is neat. We got an investigator to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a happy day. I loved it. I have started using my magic tricks to get investigators kids more involved and interested in coming to church, and listening when we teach. I love magic tricks they are the perfect ice breaker to talk to people, if their kids like you they have like 100% more chance of listening to you, yep those are accurate stats. We are playing basketball today with some neighbors that saw us with a basketball last week. They are really cool, and they make raps, and are really good. The other day I stopped at their door because it was open on our way up to our apartment, and asked if they were still coming to play ball today and they said yes. Then I asked "is this Lil Wayne?" (the music they were listening to) and he said "Na man this is me Rappin!" So they are really good at making music, he is going to burn me a CD and i'm going to send it home. That way I will have proof that I knew him before he got famous.
That is my cool story for the week. I hope everyone is doing great! I
love you all thanks for the support!
Love Elder Jackman
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The mission is great!! We are working extremely hard! We come home every night exhausted, especially on bike days. My upper legs are pretty much like supermans upper legs right now they are pretty dang strong... so yeah that is neat. We got an investigator to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was a happy day. I loved it. I have started using my magic tricks to get investigators kids more involved and interested in coming to church, and listening when we teach. I love magic tricks they are the perfect ice breaker to talk to people, if their kids like you they have like 100% more chance of listening to you, yep those are accurate stats. We are playing basketball today with some neighbors that saw us with a basketball last week. They are really cool, and they make raps, and are really good. The other day I stopped at their door because it was open on our way up to our apartment, and asked if they were still coming to play ball today and they said yes. Then I asked "is this Lil Wayne?" (the music they were listening to) and he said "Na man this is me Rappin!" So they are really good at making music, he is going to burn me a CD and i'm going to send it home. That way I will have proof that I knew him before he got famous.
That is my cool story for the week. I hope everyone is doing great! I
love you all thanks for the support!
Love Elder Jackman
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Just being a Missionary
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Um, where is the mail?
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Easter package
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Enjoying some candy
April 4, 2012
Hey everybody!!
OK so I haven't explained the pictures I have been sending I just kind of forgot. But the ones 2 weeks ago were first of me and my new companion Elder Turner, then of me on the big hippo in Hutto right before I left, then the last one was of me and my district leader in Taylor, he is a really funny guy and had some random moose so he wanted to take a picture with it. We did apartment cleaning day last Friday and we found pieces of a catapult kit during spring cleaning. We now have completed the catapults and have a lot of fun playing with them haha. But no pictures this week sorry... The area is great though! Nothing super exciting happened this week as far as the work goes. But General Conference was soooooooooo great!! Holy Canoli!!! I loved it so much! Every talk was just amazing. I am definitely going to make some changes in my life. One talk that I really enjoyed was that of Elder Scott. He talked on personal revelation. We had a training on that in the MTC and we watched segments of another talk he had given on the same topic. And then we proceeded to try and recieve some personal revelation of our own. At the beginning of the class we had thought of a question we wanted to ask God. Then we followed the steps that Elder Scott gave and It worked!! Through reading the scriptures, pondering, then praying I recieved an answer to my question. It is the pattern that I now follow and it was great to hear him give more insight on the matter. I also got a lot about the priesthood from conference. We need to magnify our callings better geez! I loved that many apostles and general authorities talked about how we recieve the real power of the priesthood is through following the commandments and righteous living. I just loved conference. I have already set some goals for myself and i'll let you know how the progress goes. That is about all from me this week though. I love you all and thank you for all your support and prayers. This church is true, that is solid in my mind and will never change. Jesus is the Christ and our personal Savior. Joseph Smith was an amazing prophet of God and in all reality did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. He translated the Book of Mormon so that we can have all those plain and precious truths that were lost through corrupt translations of the Bible. Thomas S.Monson is God's prophet on the earth today and his words are for everyone. I am so thankful that we have the wonderful opputunity hearing him every 6 months, it is such a blessing. In the grand scheme of things this life is so very short, and our days and hours even shorter, But this very short time we have effects everything after.THE CHURCH IS TRUE! I hope you all have a wonderful week. Love You!
OK so I haven't explained the pictures I have been sending I just kind of forgot. But the ones 2 weeks ago were first of me and my new companion Elder Turner, then of me on the big hippo in Hutto right before I left, then the last one was of me and my district leader in Taylor, he is a really funny guy and had some random moose so he wanted to take a picture with it. We did apartment cleaning day last Friday and we found pieces of a catapult kit during spring cleaning. We now have completed the catapults and have a lot of fun playing with them haha. But no pictures this week sorry... The area is great though! Nothing super exciting happened this week as far as the work goes. But General Conference was soooooooooo great!! Holy Canoli!!! I loved it so much! Every talk was just amazing. I am definitely going to make some changes in my life. One talk that I really enjoyed was that of Elder Scott. He talked on personal revelation. We had a training on that in the MTC and we watched segments of another talk he had given on the same topic. And then we proceeded to try and recieve some personal revelation of our own. At the beginning of the class we had thought of a question we wanted to ask God. Then we followed the steps that Elder Scott gave and It worked!! Through reading the scriptures, pondering, then praying I recieved an answer to my question. It is the pattern that I now follow and it was great to hear him give more insight on the matter. I also got a lot about the priesthood from conference. We need to magnify our callings better geez! I loved that many apostles and general authorities talked about how we recieve the real power of the priesthood is through following the commandments and righteous living. I just loved conference. I have already set some goals for myself and i'll let you know how the progress goes. That is about all from me this week though. I love you all and thank you for all your support and prayers. This church is true, that is solid in my mind and will never change. Jesus is the Christ and our personal Savior. Joseph Smith was an amazing prophet of God and in all reality did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. He translated the Book of Mormon so that we can have all those plain and precious truths that were lost through corrupt translations of the Bible. Thomas S.Monson is God's prophet on the earth today and his words are for everyone. I am so thankful that we have the wonderful opputunity hearing him every 6 months, it is such a blessing. In the grand scheme of things this life is so very short, and our days and hours even shorter, But this very short time we have effects everything after.THE CHURCH IS TRUE! I hope you all have a wonderful week. Love You!
March 26, 2012
Hey everyone!!
The New Area is great! I am slinging some Espanol so that is great! I love it! Austin is a lot of fun, and definitely a different experience. The work is moving along great. Oh and being on a bike has made my legs quite strong. We live on top of a big hill so every night when we come back we have to bike up it, then we live on the 3rd floor so we have to carry our bikes up the stairs. It is quite a bit of work after a long day. But the good news, my waist has gotten a little smaller :) So none of our investigators came to church yesterday which is really frustrating, and I have been thinking about us not keeping commandments and not doing what we are supposed to and how frustrating that is for our Heavenly Father. Obviously he doesn't really get frustrated but he just is sad when we don't do what we are supposed to and he can't give us blessings. Everything we need is laid out before us and we just have to do it now. I love the quote from Elder Ballard in "Our search for Happiness" He compares our Eternal Lives to a long rope. Extending forever back and forever forward. Then he talks about tying a thread around that huge rope and how small that is compared to the whole rope. That thread is just like our life in comparison to our eternal destiny. That little part of our eternal lives effects everything else. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2: 27-29 We just need to choose the right. Just Do IT!!! That is my thought for the week. I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. hope everyone has a great week.
Love Elder Jackman
The New Area is great! I am slinging some Espanol so that is great! I love it! Austin is a lot of fun, and definitely a different experience. The work is moving along great. Oh and being on a bike has made my legs quite strong. We live on top of a big hill so every night when we come back we have to bike up it, then we live on the 3rd floor so we have to carry our bikes up the stairs. It is quite a bit of work after a long day. But the good news, my waist has gotten a little smaller :) So none of our investigators came to church yesterday which is really frustrating, and I have been thinking about us not keeping commandments and not doing what we are supposed to and how frustrating that is for our Heavenly Father. Obviously he doesn't really get frustrated but he just is sad when we don't do what we are supposed to and he can't give us blessings. Everything we need is laid out before us and we just have to do it now. I love the quote from Elder Ballard in "Our search for Happiness" He compares our Eternal Lives to a long rope. Extending forever back and forever forward. Then he talks about tying a thread around that huge rope and how small that is compared to the whole rope. That thread is just like our life in comparison to our eternal destiny. That little part of our eternal lives effects everything else. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2: 27-29 We just need to choose the right. Just Do IT!!! That is my thought for the week. I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. hope everyone has a great week.
Love Elder Jackman
March 19, 2012
Hello Everyone!!!!
I got transferred! Where am I?????.... I am in South Austin! Riverside ward. It is an all spanish ward in the Oak Hills stake. We are one companionship out of 3 that cover the ward. It is great, and I know that all of you want my address so you can write me every day so here it is:
2425 Cromwell Circle #209
Austin, TX 78741
The ward is great and the first couple of days here has been great as well. My companion is awesome. He was actually originally called to the Dominican Republic and was serving in the mission where I lived!!! But then he came to this mission after 7 months for health reasons. So we talk about the Dominican Replublic all the time. My companion Elder Alec Turner is great he is an obedient missionary and we get along well. We will work very well together in this area. Oh something cool. He doesn't like to drive so I get to drive this transfer, that is fun. The mission is so great I am loving it!! Back in Taylor our one investigator is actually getting baptized this week. some other things came up for the other two but they are still on their way. Everything is going great here though, I am learning soooooooo much from the scriptures I love them! This gospel is true that is all there is too it. Nothing that anybody ever says or does will turn me away from this faith! It is all true! If anyone ever has any doubts or concerns just live the teachings of the gospel and see for yourself how great it is, and pray about the book of mormon! I love this church, I love the gospel, I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon and all other standard works. There is so much in there that we don't get. I love you all and thank you all for the support. I hope everyone has a great week, and I am excited to get all the letters you are all going to send me ;)
Love Elder Jackman
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I got transferred! Where am I?????.... I am in South Austin! Riverside ward. It is an all spanish ward in the Oak Hills stake. We are one companionship out of 3 that cover the ward. It is great, and I know that all of you want my address so you can write me every day so here it is:
2425 Cromwell Circle #209
Austin, TX 78741
The ward is great and the first couple of days here has been great as well. My companion is awesome. He was actually originally called to the Dominican Republic and was serving in the mission where I lived!!! But then he came to this mission after 7 months for health reasons. So we talk about the Dominican Replublic all the time. My companion Elder Alec Turner is great he is an obedient missionary and we get along well. We will work very well together in this area. Oh something cool. He doesn't like to drive so I get to drive this transfer, that is fun. The mission is so great I am loving it!! Back in Taylor our one investigator is actually getting baptized this week. some other things came up for the other two but they are still on their way. Everything is going great here though, I am learning soooooooo much from the scriptures I love them! This gospel is true that is all there is too it. Nothing that anybody ever says or does will turn me away from this faith! It is all true! If anyone ever has any doubts or concerns just live the teachings of the gospel and see for yourself how great it is, and pray about the book of mormon! I love this church, I love the gospel, I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon and all other standard works. There is so much in there that we don't get. I love you all and thank you all for the support. I hope everyone has a great week, and I am excited to get all the letters you are all going to send me ;)
Love Elder Jackman
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March 12, 2012
Howdy Y'all!
Everything is great in the mission field. Our investigator moved his baptism to this coming Saturday so that the bishop can be there to baptize him. I am excited for him to be baptized. He is great! And our other investigator is still on her way she is wonderful, she always makes us cookies and they are awesome! We have been doing A LOT of knocking the past week. We are trying to focus on finding people so we are keeping track of the contacts we make to try and increase the number of new investigators we have. Knocking is fun! and I have actually really come to enjoy when someone see's us and says oh I have some questions for you and they try to prove us wrong. And my favorite thing to say is "Let me see YOUR Bible, and i'll show you why we believe that." Ha! We always leave them with nothing to say and then invite them to let us teach them more. Usually they just get frustrated and slam the door, but we definitely clear up any concerns they have. It is also super great when we are knocking and we meet just a really nice person that gives us some water, or cookies, or German chocolates. That is pretty great too.
I hope everyone is well at home. Thank you for all the support and love. I hope you all have a great week. Oh I forgot to tell you I am getting transferred!! So don't send any mail this week, just wait until next week and I will send my new address and then I would love to receive mail! :) Well... that is all for me. Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
Everything is great in the mission field. Our investigator moved his baptism to this coming Saturday so that the bishop can be there to baptize him. I am excited for him to be baptized. He is great! And our other investigator is still on her way she is wonderful, she always makes us cookies and they are awesome! We have been doing A LOT of knocking the past week. We are trying to focus on finding people so we are keeping track of the contacts we make to try and increase the number of new investigators we have. Knocking is fun! and I have actually really come to enjoy when someone see's us and says oh I have some questions for you and they try to prove us wrong. And my favorite thing to say is "Let me see YOUR Bible, and i'll show you why we believe that." Ha! We always leave them with nothing to say and then invite them to let us teach them more. Usually they just get frustrated and slam the door, but we definitely clear up any concerns they have. It is also super great when we are knocking and we meet just a really nice person that gives us some water, or cookies, or German chocolates. That is pretty great too.
I hope everyone is well at home. Thank you for all the support and love. I hope you all have a great week. Oh I forgot to tell you I am getting transferred!! So don't send any mail this week, just wait until next week and I will send my new address and then I would love to receive mail! :) Well... that is all for me. Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
A Crazy Story
So we were out knocking and we knocked on this guys door. He came to the door with a videocamera so we thought, "Oh, he was probably making family home videos". No, the camera was for us. he opened the door and didn't say anyting and pointed to a 'no soliciting' sign (while filming us). He said, "you guys don't know what no sliciting mean, your soliciting my time". The he pointed the camera to Elder Fordhams nametag and said, "just what I thought Latterday Saints". And then he said, "i'll give you 10 seconds before I beat the tar out of you". He then patted a gun that he had stuck in his pants. So I said "yes sir" and we walked away. we had one house left and coincedentally we were parked in front of his house! So we knocked on the next door and came bak to our truck to leave and he was waitng on his driveway still filming us and said, "are you gonna stay parked there?" And we said "no we are just leaving" and we told him that we would tell the missionaries not to come back". He said "that's what they all say, only Jesus will save the next ones that knock on my door". So we got out of there and now on our whiteboard in our room we wrote, never go to that house: he will hurt you and has a gun. Super crazy!
Love, Marcus
Love, Marcus
March 6, 2012
Monday March 5
So this week was not as good as the last. We did a lot of knocking had a lot of doors slammed and a lot of people cancel appointments, so we didn't have quite as successful week as we had planned. But we do have a baptism next week! kind of.. Our investigator is 24 and we have been teaching him for about 2 months. And yesterday we told him to go to the singles ward and see if he liked it better, just because he didn't really fit in, in our ward. So he likes it there and is going to get baptized there instead. So technically it isn't our baptism, but he is getting baptized so that is all the matters, I'm super excited for him. Our other great investigator is having troubles with her health and is on her way to baptism and it will be in March but we aren't sure when yet. She is great though. Other than those two though our other investigators are kind of slowly falling out, and we are losing contact with them, which is sad but we will keep trying. But overall i'm doing great! I still am loving the mission and learning a lot from the scriptures and learning a lot about people. I hope you all have a great week.
Love Elder Jackman
Here are some pics from a few weeks ago of one of his investigators that got baptised. So exciting!
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Love Elder Jackman
Here are some pics from a few weeks ago of one of his investigators that got baptised. So exciting!
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Monday Feb. 27
My week was good, our investigators are doing great. They are doing their reading and praying and we had almost all of them at church yesterday. I am becoming a better teacher, and I am able to be more bold with people as I learn the scriptures more and just know more in general. I love being bold and just telling people that "This Gospel is what you need!" haha. I love the mission though, I just learn a ton every day. You learn a lot about people when you are talking to them all day every day. That makes it even more fun to talk to them haha. I don't have a whole lot to say this week
Here is the Hippo pictures for the week!! Oh and you might notice I have some new shoes. Cool story: So a lady in the ward came up to us and said something about my companions shoes and she said do you guys want some shoes and we said "do you have hook ups?" So she said she makes tons of money with shoes. She goes to thrift stores and buys name brand and expensive shoes and restores them to good condition and then sells them for hundreds!! So she was like "give me your sizes." so we did and she gave us each a couple pairs or nice shoes like Italian leather type stuff! It was so cool. I love the members here!! Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
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Here is the Hippo pictures for the week!! Oh and you might notice I have some new shoes. Cool story: So a lady in the ward came up to us and said something about my companions shoes and she said do you guys want some shoes and we said "do you have hook ups?" So she said she makes tons of money with shoes. She goes to thrift stores and buys name brand and expensive shoes and restores them to good condition and then sells them for hundreds!! So she was like "give me your sizes." so we did and she gave us each a couple pairs or nice shoes like Italian leather type stuff! It was so cool. I love the members here!! Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
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February 20, 2012
This week has been pretty normal, we did some knocking, some teaching, and that's about it.We have about 5 really good investigators right now. We knocked on this one house and the lady said she was deep cleaning her house, and we said "do you want some help" and she said "shut up, no way!" and we told her we were serious. So then she came out on the porch and told us that she knows that we were there for a reason, and feels like we could really help her family. So we went in and met her two little sons, and her two brothers that live with her. We ended up cleaning her baseboards which is my favorite thing ever! haha but we are going back tomorrow to teach her more. The work is great though, I am enjoying it and working hard.
Love Elder Jackman
Love Elder Jackman
February 13, 2012
Hello Everyone!!
These past couple weeks have been great! We had a baptism on Saturday!! That was fantastic, she is wonderful lady. Other than her we are teaching several really great investigators and of course doing a lot of knocking.. But I have a funny story that happened last Monday. So my companion and I went out for a run in the morning, we ran for about 2 and half miles and got back. So first of all, my last companion hated running so we never did that, and i'm not a huge fan of running anyway, so I was just dying, because my companion ran fast. So I was completely out of breath ready to go in and take a nice cold shower, and we get to the door and he says it's locked. At first I though he was kidding but sure enough it was locked. For those who don't know we live with some members from the ward, and they had left for work and locked the door before we got back so we were stuck outside at 7 in the morning without a phone or keys. We decided to walk to the gas station (the closest one is about 3 miles away) and as we started our next door neighbor came out of his garage. We told him the situation and he let us use his phone, Thank goodness! But he just had an old Taylor phone book, and most of the members live in Hutto (12 miles away) So we called the few that lived in Taylor and no one answered!! So finally our neighbor said he would give us a ride to Hutto on his way to work. So we accepted and went to Hutto. We had him take us to on of our investigators house's because we knew that he worked from home and would be there. We got there and they were super happy to see us, but all they had was the program from church the previous day. So we called every number on there and finally one of the last people answered and gave us the number to the daughter of the members we live with who lives in Taylor. So we called her and she had a key and said that she could let us in. SO then our investigator drove us back to Taylor and we finally got inside!! It was quite the ordeal! Now when we go running we make sure to take the keys!! haha
This week has been great. We are doing a lot of knocking as usual, and we have come up with a new game to keep us entertained while we knock for long periods of time. In Hutto the city has adopted the High school mascot of the Hippo. So most houses have some sort of Hippo on their porch, so what we do is take pictures with all the different hippos while we are knocking. I sent some of the pics from this week, and there will be a lot more in the coming weeks. It is pretty fun to take pictures with the hippos haha.
Well I hope that everyone has a great week, and again I thank you all for your support and prayers! Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
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These past couple weeks have been great! We had a baptism on Saturday!! That was fantastic, she is wonderful lady. Other than her we are teaching several really great investigators and of course doing a lot of knocking.. But I have a funny story that happened last Monday. So my companion and I went out for a run in the morning, we ran for about 2 and half miles and got back. So first of all, my last companion hated running so we never did that, and i'm not a huge fan of running anyway, so I was just dying, because my companion ran fast. So I was completely out of breath ready to go in and take a nice cold shower, and we get to the door and he says it's locked. At first I though he was kidding but sure enough it was locked. For those who don't know we live with some members from the ward, and they had left for work and locked the door before we got back so we were stuck outside at 7 in the morning without a phone or keys. We decided to walk to the gas station (the closest one is about 3 miles away) and as we started our next door neighbor came out of his garage. We told him the situation and he let us use his phone, Thank goodness! But he just had an old Taylor phone book, and most of the members live in Hutto (12 miles away) So we called the few that lived in Taylor and no one answered!! So finally our neighbor said he would give us a ride to Hutto on his way to work. So we accepted and went to Hutto. We had him take us to on of our investigators house's because we knew that he worked from home and would be there. We got there and they were super happy to see us, but all they had was the program from church the previous day. So we called every number on there and finally one of the last people answered and gave us the number to the daughter of the members we live with who lives in Taylor. So we called her and she had a key and said that she could let us in. SO then our investigator drove us back to Taylor and we finally got inside!! It was quite the ordeal! Now when we go running we make sure to take the keys!! haha
This week has been great. We are doing a lot of knocking as usual, and we have come up with a new game to keep us entertained while we knock for long periods of time. In Hutto the city has adopted the High school mascot of the Hippo. So most houses have some sort of Hippo on their porch, so what we do is take pictures with all the different hippos while we are knocking. I sent some of the pics from this week, and there will be a lot more in the coming weeks. It is pretty fun to take pictures with the hippos haha.
Well I hope that everyone has a great week, and again I thank you all for your support and prayers! Love you all!
Love Elder Jackman
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February 6, 2012
Time seems to fly by, days go by slowly sometimes, but weeks fly by! We had transfers this week and I got a new companion. My trainer Elder Mackay went down to East San Antonio as a zone leader, and a new companion just came up from West San Antonio, his name is Elder Alex Fordham, and he is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a stud and we work really well together. He is way cool, we get along even better than me and Elder Mackay! It is great. I'm looking forward to working with him in the ward. I had my first Baptism on Saturday!!!! So my week was pretty great, we taught some good lessons and of course did a lot of knocking, my favorite, haha. We are having A LOT of success right now, and have several good investigators that we are teaching. I love the mission and am learning more and more about the scriptures and the gospel every day. I love studying. We went back to the house where I did the magic tricks and nobody was home, so we will try back another time. 60 push ups is where I am and today we ran 2.5 miles! Elder Fordham likes to run so that is good we can start doing that, Elder Mackay wouldn't run with me, so now i'll get in shape! That is pretty much the update for me today!
Love Elder Jackman
Love Elder Jackman
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