Um so this week. Was like every other week .__. So i guess that
should include a near death experience, meeting some crazy people,
getting completely rejected, doing something embarrassing in public,
doing service, and yeah.. So here goes:
-Comp drove through a red light. Two actually :) Then almost drilled a
police car on the highway. All in the same night. Woot woot >:] A few
days before we were in the car with the other Elders, and we had to
turn right to get into the MacDonald's parking lot but we were in the
middle lane. Elder (insert name here) just drove right in front of the
car, very sharply and quickly, and nearly took out the front end of
the car. But, we made it safely, and even though that lady was real
mad, my McDouble and spicy McChicken was REAL good.... :)
-We were street contacting down town. Some guy chillin by himself
outside the coffee shop, thinkin' he was safe from talking with
missionaries. SIKE. We see you buddy!!! So we approached him. And
started talking--
OHHH BOY! so remember that guy i told you about like maybe 2 weeks ago
that we ran into downtown that looked like Jesus? Yeah well he just
walked by!!! And we are in the library. What is he doing here? ._.
Anyways, back to the story:
SO we were talking with that guy about the book of Mormon and
everything.. It was alright, but then there was a silence and he was
acting a little weird. So i asked him "is everything alright?.. We can
help you." And he was silent for like 20 seconds and then proceeded to
tell us how he needs an attorney or sheriff guy to look at his case,
because at night he hears voices and small, steady noises and how is
was the government spying on him. My comp and I just looked at each
other.. Then he said the same things over again, about 4 times.
Finally we said sorry that we couldnt help and walked away :l It was
so sad. wish we could be of help!
-As far as getting rejected goes. So many times this week we offered
to give people a card from the church. Just a card, with a website on
it... And they wouldnt take it. Hahaha... I think its funny but you
dont have to.....
-So i was leaving the apartment, singing out loud. I wasnt really
singing though, it was more like trying to make fun of a song in
Spanish because i dont like it, while still having a subtle
beat/melody to it as to appear as if i was actually trying to sing.
When i was getting into the car, i turned around to see our neighbor
(she lives above us) outside her apt just sitting there, smoking. She
was looking at me like a was so dumb... :/ Oh well.
-We managed to give some service. It was fun. We just helped a lady
put a ceiling fan on. (or "in"?) It was fun. I held up the fan at an
angle and felt like i was the monkey that was holding up Mufasa in The
Lion King. It was fun. But yeah... It was fun. :)
We might be moving apartments soon. The Zone Leaders called and made
us go apartment hunting. Thankfully we have a realtor in the English
ward, so he helped us out a bunch. As for now, my address is the same
:)
Gotta go now. If you dont laugh from this or like this email... mmm.
Shame. Love you, hope you have a good week :)
-Elder James <3
PS: The Church is TRUE!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Great Week 12/30/13
Merry Christmas again, and happy NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!! It was so great to be able to talk to the family on Christmas. Only have one more call left before i go home; crazy!
Christmas here was super fun. On the 24th us and a bunch of other Elders went to a members home and had a feast. I ended up opening all my presents that night... I couldnt really wait and one of the misisonaries was just like "open them, open them!" so i gave in. I felt bad because underneath the wraping paper santa put "No peaking until Christmas ;)" but... Whatever, i ripped those bad boys open anyways hahaha yeaaahh!!!!!! The next morning, for Christmas, we had District meeting. We ended up going caroling (uh cant spell) around the neighborhood. I dont think we sounded too bad but we made a bunch of people smile and it was priceless.
Um idk what day this happened but when we were driving to the store, we saw a man that had a bit of a problem. The stuff that was in the bed of his truck fell out, just a bunch of wood planks and cement stuff. We got out and helped him. Yay service :) No one else stopped or did anything, so i was a bit disappointed.. But someone did give us a thumbs up as they drove past. I guess thats good for something :)
....We tried to visit a recent converts home. We pulled up to her house and got out and knocked on the door but didnt get an answer so we called her. She answered and we were like "hey what're you doing?" and she said "...taking a nap." .__. It was like 2pm. We tried to convince her to come out but she was tired... Idk why i felt like writing that. But i hope none of you do that haha. She's 12.
Lately we've been going downtown to talk to people on the street. Its been so legit. We've met some interesting people. A couple of them are crazy and just want to tell us we're wrong. "I really admire what you guys do. You wake up every morning and go and try to preach to people. Thats awesome. But you're still wrong."---Roman Catholic Theologist Homeless Old Man. Thats typically how it goes. But yesterday we actually found a lady that was sincerely interested and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she promised us she would read it. Sweet. Uhh and there is also another guy that usually sits on this bench and he looks like Jesus from the bible videos. Idk if i already told you guys that but.. yeah we havent really talked to him yet. Last time we walked by he was kinda angry lookin :/ We have a great idea though. We are gonna go buy some chalk and draw out the Plan of Salvation with the other Elders at a busy place downtown. Hopefully it'll attract some attention and people will be interested. I can just imagine the conversation already.. "Wow what is that beautiful, super realistic, chalk drawing right here?" I will take some pics for you guys.
Okay so this Sunday we had an investigator come to the church for the 1st time in 3 months and SHE LIKED IT. She's the lady that works at Burlington and fixed up 3 pairs of pants and a suit top for $15. Hook ups. But she's been reading the Book of Mormon and is almost done. Sadly, we havent been able to actually teach her because she works so much, but instead we go into Burlington a couple times a week to see her. Her husband actually told us he wants to attend our church once to see how it is. Before, he actually got into an argument with the Elders who were here before. So they are starting to really be interested, its just taking some time. Woot woot!!
We met the security guard at Burlington. He's a retired marine, who served in the top elite force the US has (Yes, above Delta and the Navy Seals). Long story short, he might come chill with us today for a little and teach us how to fight the way he was taught in the military. He promised not to hit us, but said we will end up on our butts a couple times. So mom and dad, if you get a call today or tomorrow about me getting hurt, just know it was because a special force recon sniper told me to try and hit him :) so excited.
Thats about it for this week i think. I hope you have a good New Years! Sorry, no pics this week... love you :)
-Elder James
Christmas is comomg soon! 12/23/13
Hey :)
So this week was a little bit slow. People are so busy these days... But we still had a great week. We got to go to the beach!! It was super fun, especially since the whole north half of the mission was there.
.Uh so we went carolling last night at an elderly folks home! I dont know what its called .It was fun! we sang in Spanish and the old people didnt know the lyrics but recognized the tune and some started to sing along and dance (kinda) hahahah it was toooo gooood... But i think i can wait until im old.
We had a sweet lesson with a part-member family. The parents arent members (yet) but they know its all true. There are just a few things that need to be resolved. It was so awesome when we told them how much we loved them, even though it was my first time meeting them. The spirit was so strong!! :)
umm.. So! another investigator is doing alright but his girlfriend is really mad at him because she thinks he is cheating on her with his ex that lives in Mexico... I just read that and it didnt make much sense but hopefully you understand. We were talking with him outside his apartment and she came outside to go to the store. He asked her if she would bring him some taki's and she flipped out... She was yelling at him and was like "why dont you ask your other woman? She can do that for you," blah blah... We sat there awkwardly. Poor guy... He came to church this Sunday though!! woot woot.
So the ward members here made like a little missionary package for each of the missionaries and I got a girl one. It was really weird. So i gave it to a sister missionary.
Oh so we have FACE BOOK!!!!!!!!! Yay. Its weird guys... I cant believe i wasted so many hours on that before my mission. But anyways, yeah we have face book and its cool i guess. I cant add any friends from home, just family and people who live over here in Florida, in the area's i've been in.
We walked down a busy street to talk to people and stuff. And we saw a man that looked like Jesus. I was like "Hey, look its Jesus!" and the other missionaries didnt believe me until they saw him. He even had Jesus Sandals on. I kept thinking that if he were to be baptized, he would be in all the video's the church makes. But we didnt talk to him because he was bible bashing with some stranger... contention is of the devil my friends.
Anyways, sorry this was a completely random email. But as for myself, im doing pretty good. Im excited for Christmas!! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well.
-Elder James :)
Pic: Chillin at the beach!
Ps: My addy is 2346 Winkler Ave Apt A104
Ft Myers, Florida 33901
You should send me something
Thanksgiving 12/2/13
Happy thanksgiving! :)
Inbox
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This past week was reaaally slow.. but thanksgiving was great and we got fed a lot of food, and even got some leftovers to take home. We only have one week left before transfers, we will be getting the calls this saturday to see where we are going. i think im leaving the area but i could be wrong. I wouldnt mind staying even though ive been here for about 6 months now.
There wasnt anything spectacular this week. I let a missionary borrow my bike though but when i got it back the next day the tire went flat. Elder M and I spent some good time trying to fix it. Then as we were about to leave he pointed out that neither one of us had our helmets, other missionaries had them.. so we wasted a lot of precious time. umm... We also gave some service this week and helped a family move some furniture. They originally told us that we would only be moving like 2 couches or something but we ended up doing a lot more than that. They live in a 3 story house thats on the island, and its pretty nice. They have 2 elevators, which was really helpful but.. each elevator only went to 2 of the 3 floors, so in order to get something from level 3 to level 2, you had to first take it to level 1, then take it back up to level 2. kinda confusing.. but we actually did a lot, and we were there for 8 hours haha it was good though!
Well, i spoke with my mission president and i feel so much better. After fasting and praying a lot, and then taking the sacrament on Sunday, i felt like a new person (and still do of course). I do love him now, and feel silly for perhaps letting my emotions get the best of me. I dont really know how to explain how i feel, other than saying Im happy! hahah :) i seriously thought i would never get over those feelings, but the Lord really made a drastic change in me.. I know people can change and im so thankful that He's so patient and willing to work with us, even though we walk imperfectly. I love Him, and am so glad I get to serve Him!! :)
I hope you guys had a great thanksgiving and maybe even got some sweet goodies for Black Friday! You are all in my prayers; and I hope you know that I can feel when you pray for me. Prayer is real!! I love you.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
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. 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
Sunday, November 10, 2013
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
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