Miracle story and bad hair cut! Nov. 18, 2013

Alright so this week was good but i forgot to write about a little miracle story that happened LAST week, so i will start from there :)

We were doing some service at the island with the Elders. We finished, and Elder M and i had some members on the island so we decided to stay and the elders drove home, and we were left with our bikes to skidaddle around on the island. So they left and then i noticed that my bike tire was completely flat. M has a lil bike pump so i used that to fill it up. After about 100 yards of biking, it was flat again.. So we stopped and talked things over. We were originally planning on going north, which was further away from home, but because of my bike we decided to bike south. So, i pumped up the tire and started to ride until it got flat, and repeated the process for a couple hours. I kept praying that it would last a little longer each time. We came upon a less actives home on the way back, but it didnt look like anyone was there. I told M we should try the neighbors house and see if the person we were looking for lived next door, so we did that. A lady answered the door and was like "you're mormons. Im a mormon. i havent seen missionaries around for like 3 years." Turns out that she was the Lady's daughter, and her mom (the one we were looking for) lived next door. So we found her, actually scheduled a dinner appointment the next day with her and her mother. Then, as we left, i noticed my bike tire was full of air! And when i got on it and started riding, it stayed full! The whole rest of the night (and still until this week) the tire hasnt gone flat. isnt that crazy!?!? some miracle tires right there. 

anyways, this week! So thursday i started feeling bad and so we went to walmart. while there, i noticed a little hair-cutting kit for only $15 and was like "ohh nice i want that" so i bought it, went home, and tried it out. it started cutting for like 50 seconds, then it died.. so i tried charging it, but it wouldnt turn on while charging. so i had to wait.. problem was, we had a hand-off lesson with the other elders in 30 minutes. so i cut like 1/2 my hair and left to the lesson, and was so upset because i looked so ridiculous >:( the elders just laughed, and i kinda did too.. Then Elder and I went to the Ward Mission Leaders home, and he cut my hair for me. pretty embarrassing. but afterwards, we came home and the road warriors (traveling AP's) were outside our apartment waiting for us, so we could do an exchange. They came in and started taking pictures of our apartment, and it was kinda messy, especially with my hair still in the sink! I felt so dumb that night..

Also this week we had a talent show for the english ward. it was really fun. We were going to do something for it, but... didnt. 

Getting sick as well. the medicine i bought didnt really help. Mission doctor said i might have some type of respiratory virus? Whatever though, i will be fine. 

That is all for this week!! Love you guys!!

You cant really see how bad the haircut was.. this is right before my WML cut my hair, in his bathroom... adventures. 

I'm still alive! Nov. 12, 2013

hey time a bit short right now. 

but thats okay because i dont have much to write about other than to tell you that im alive and had no severe accidents since last week. No really cool stories, but we had a very good week as far as work goes. Working with both english and spanish is so weird. We did some service this week which was fun. Also made some cupcakes for the sister missionaries. Uh.. Also got some sweet pictures of the beach because the person we did service for lives right off the beach. 

thats about it. This next week is gonna be so goooood!! I love you all! :)

-Elder Jacob James

Happy Halloween! Nov. 4, 2013

my new address is

4085 43rd ave w apt 2

bradenton, FL 34205

Happy Halloween!! This past week was really different since we were working with English and Spanish. We spent a lot of time trying to contact English people and weren't very successful. Most of the week we tried to organize everything in the new apartment and see what work we had to do; and there is a lot! we are going to be very busy. Sundays are way different. we have to be at the church from 8:30 until 4.. sooo long haha! GOOD for us.  Just trying to adjust to the changes and get things settled out. But i nearly got smashed by a truck on Halloween. then 30 seconds later another car nearly hit me. I'm a prime target i suppose.  I'm worried my Spanish will get worse because we wont be speaking as much of it. Just gotta have more effective studies. I've been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and its helped a lot. gettin close to being finished!  aside from that though, there really isn't much to say. sorry this email isn't that great but this next week we are going to be super busy haha I'm so excited!! i love you! have a wonderful week :)  Here is a pic of Elder M, me, Hermana D and B

This next week will be off da chainnnn! Oct. 28, 2013

Hey so a lot happened this week and i forgot my planner so i cant remember all of it but we got transfer calls on Saturday!!!

So this next transfer is going to be crazy and i cant really explain everything.. So elder M and i will be staying together, but we will be moving apartments a little further south. We are going to replace a set of Spanish sisters, and a set of English sisters. We will be taking over both of their area's. We have been made into a "Zebra," which means Elder M and I can now teach in ENGLISH AND SPANISH!! We will also be a part of the Spanish branch, AND the English ward. So Sundays we will be at church for like 8 hours or so with all the meetings for both the branch and the ward. Its going to be kinda crazy trying to work with both of them, and getting to know all the members. We are a little overwhelmed.. we will be moving into the English sisters apartment, and one set of the Spanish sisters will be moving into ours and trying to put a trio here.. There is no way 3 sister missionaries will fit in our apartment! its a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom, and there isn't room for jack squat hahah but hey, they gotta make it work somehow. The entire zone got switched up; Elder M and i are the only ones staying together, but we are still moving. i don't really know if this all makes sense to you guys, but... that's okay i guess i can just explain it when i get home in a while hahah. I'm just really excited to teach in English and be around the culture I'm accustomed to. it'll be weird! anyways i gotta get going. this next will is going to be off da chainnnn.  We are up for the challenge!

love you so much!  The church is TRUE.

-Elder Jacob James

Here is some pics of my favorite people: the S