Woohoo New Car! June 24,2013

hello everyone!

we've been doing pretty good lately. yesterday we got to watch the missionary broadcast! and my mission was included during the part where Neil L Anderson spoke. It was super cool seeing missionaries that i knew in the video. When he was here, he told us this was his favorite mission because its where he met his wife or something, and where some of his family is. legit. But the broadcast was awesome and hope all of you get the chance to watch it! 

we also had a specialized training that was good. it is the last time we would see our mission president, because we're getting a new mission president this next transfer. and this next transfer will only be 4 weeks long.. its going to we interesting. during the training president S said a lot of stuff, but one thing really stuck out to me and w as a direct answer to my prayers. i wrote it down and everything, but someone threw my notes away during the lunch break :( i was kinda upset about it. 

Church was good too! we had PAC for the first time this transfer, and the transfer is almost over... it went pretty well. We told them that we are planning on having an activity every day of the week so we can have a little more unity in the branch and offer something for investigators. Monday basketball, Tuesday soccer/volley, Wednesday English class, Thursday bible study, Friday movie, and Saturday is empty... our ward mission leader basically said it was a dumb idea. He also left church on fathers day because he says its a pagan holiday. and he teaches false doctrine during class to investigators. about kolob and stuff... ughh. good thing he is getting released next week. but anyways, church was still good. 

We also finally got a CAR!!! wohoo. no more being on foot. I've been on foot for about 6 weeks now. and with the car, we drove to a bike shop and got it fixed. 2 weeks ago a bought a lovely red bike from Wal-Mart. ended up riding it once, because i decided i was going to take it back.

that's about it though. you guys are awesome, love you all!!

-Elder Jacob James

 Check her out. its Ariel.

And Yet I Love It.. December 4, 2012

 

Mother:

 

Hola!

 

I hope you received my brief letter that i wrote. i received your emails, thanks for the addresses.

 

So far the MTC is awesome. It was nothing like i expected. On day 1, all we heard in class was Spanish, no English at all. We have learned so much Spanish. It is difficult not to write in Spanish because a lot of thoughts are in Spanish now.  We have been teaching our investigator for a couple days now. Her name is K. Trying to communicate with her in a different language is very difficult but we know The Lord is helping us, we can feel it. It is wonderful to see her progress and see her faith in Christ increase; I love the feeling i get after I know i helped the Lord share his message.

My companion, district, and zone are great. My companion is Elder Y. We get along very well, despite our differences. I will send pictures when i can, but our schedule is very strict that we have very little time for ourselves (ie write letters, journals, talk with friends, etc...)

I am happy to hear everything is going well. Don't let me being gone bring you down. The Lord will comfort you, all you need to do is ask.

 

Dad:

 

I know you miss me, and want to hear from me, so don't act like you don't :)

 

I have our picture up in my room, the one of our family when i opened my call. Things are great here, and I've never felt the spirit so frequently and strongly. This is truly a blessing in my life. Thanks you for all the support you have given me in my life, and for being an example. I am proud of you, you are an amazing father to me. Keep our family together, and don't forget your sacred responsibilities as a father and priesthood holder.

 

 

Josh:

 

I miss you. I hope you are progressing with your papers and such. Do not miss me; I am not far away. If you need comfort, I suggest reading one of my favorite scriptures: D&C 50: 44-48. (I cant remember the exact verses but its like the last 6 verses in the chapter). I am proud of you. I want to see you come here because i know you will be happy if you do. Say hi to Daniel for me!

 

 

Brock:

 

Thanks again for the stuff. I have found it to be very useful already. I hope school is coming along well, and that you and my dad are getting along!

 

 

Jill:

 

If you get to read this (mom, forward this to her por favor), i want to say thanks for dropping me off at the MTC. I know it was hard.

Keep your head up. I will be writing you soon, I have a few things to say that i feel will help you.

 

Daniel:

 

I miss my best friend. Stay with Josh, help each other to be able to go on missions. This is so exciting and i love it, i know you will too. Say hi to your family for me.

 

 

 

Showers are terrible. Classes are freakishly long. Some missionaries are weird. Spanish is very hard. Days are long. Family and friends are missed. And yet, I Love it.

 

 

I miss you guys very much. I am happy to be where i am, i know the Lord is happy too.

:)

 

Sincerely,

Elder Jacob James

NEW COMPANION JUNE 3, 2013

Hey everyone. Not much happened this past week. gotta new companion, Elder R. we get along good, he's been serving for a while and already knows Spanish anyways. the past 2 weeks we've gotten zero's, but we've had some success in other ways. we are really focusing on getting the members working together. there isn't much unity in our branch; we really don't want it to get dissolved. its frustrating when we report our numbers and they are pretty weak, and the zone leaders ask what's up.. gotta stay positive though. success isn't really based off of numbers anyways. other than that, I cant say much.. sorry this isn't the best email :\ have a wonderful week! love you all :)

 

Sincerely,

Elder Jacob James

COUCH THIEVES April 29th, 2013

hey everyone

soo things aren't quite looking our way here but here are some things anyways: the English speaking elders live down the street a little ways. they stole our couch that we got from the sister missionaries.. we liked that couch because our apartment has basically no furniture. So.. in the morning we broke into their house while they were gone. We found our couch upstairs and started to take it back, but then I asked, "why are we taking this? there is a huge couch downstairs..." haha so we dropped our small couch and went for the big one. we left, and headed our way back home, carrying the couch in the street. we got a lot of funny looks, but one car stopped and asked if we were missionaries. the lady driving was about 50 years old or so, and the passenger was actually a member, a returned missionary. he got here the day before, and was looking for members to help him figure our what church he should be going to and stuff. she said she loves hearing the word of God, but isn't LDS. we haven't been able to come in contact with them yet, but sometimes stealing a couch is what you're supposed to be doing! maybe.

also, we contacted a dropped investigator. Elder E. and his prior companion dropped him because he didn't want to change or progress.. well we visited him. he said he had a question for us. he said that the day before, he had a feeling to open the book of Mormon, for the first time. he opened to Moroni 8 (of all the places in the book of Mormon..) and started reading. He read how children don't need to be baptized. So he asked why we believed that. We explained the best we could but he was pretty stubborn.. ironically, he was going to baptize his children a few days after (this past Sunday). He was pretty upset with that chapter.. we haven't contacted him again to see how he's doing but it was cool to see how that all worked out.

Other small side notes: we met an ex-marine from ghost recon, and he was in a sniper squad of 6. he was drunk so we didn't want to teach him but he told us all about himself so it was kinda cool.

And our water smells really bad. Apparently this whole city gets its water from a nasty lake or something. Either way, showering and brushing my teeth have become more of a pain than a relief.

Also, little Hispanic kids were messing around and knocked our bikes over.. both of our rear brakes on our bikes no longer work haha

 

Well this isn't much of a letter/email and I'm sorry for that. We had very little success this past week and its quite miserable to be honest.  But this is where I have to push forward with faith and keep trying.  Pride just ruins this whole thing, and I'm tired of being selfish and want to lose myself in this work. But desires are only half the battle. All will be well here though :) I know I can do this with His help!

 

I hope all is well for everyone though. I'm super glad to hear from all of you, and keep you in my prayers.

 

Sincerely,

Elder Jacob James

ANOTHER RAINY DAY IN HAINES CITY APRIL 22,2013

Hey everyone, lots going on lately. so I'm in Loma Verde now, or Haines city. I'm with Elder E. now and he's really awesome. We have a lot in common. We both love all the same things pretty much, except music, but that's no problem haha. So far I've had companions that i love and really get along with, so I've been blessed a lot already.  This place has been dead from what I've heard, and what little I've experienced. Here's the rundown: no baptisms in like a year, the whole area has been knocked by missionaries at least twice, our branch is super small and the members don't give referrals, we only have 2 people that can come with us for member-present lessons and they are almost always busy. we had to change our schedule from 6:30am-10:30pm to 7:30am-11:30pm because all the Hispanics don't get home until late. So the work here is pretty slow.. oh, and its called Loma Verde for a reason: this whole area is hills pretty much, and we cant use the car, so biking is terrible haha. also, our apartment is pretty much empty and has very little in it haha its pretty funny. But we have beds and study desks. the small things that we take for granted.. its been super fun though. I haven't gotten any good pictures of this area or anything, so next week I can probably send some.

We have had some success though, within these past few days of being here. We found 4 new investigators, 1 of which is actually pretty solid. hahah we were super happy afterwards! even the smallest things make our days worth it.

---Story of the week--- Last night we were biking around late at night. it was another rainy night, and it got raining pretty hard so we looked for some place to go. we found a church called "the church of god" and went inside and sat in the back. the pastor (or whatever you want to call him) was up in the front and preaching while a lady played the piano. then he would start singing and they would all join him. there was about 20 or so people there. then the pastor ended and was like "i want all you guys to pray for me" and stuff. then.. some lady said "um can we pray for my friend right now because they need help" so then the pastor asked people to come up to where he was and start praying with him. the prayer was nice and all, but then he started "speaking in tongues" and saying weird things like "ohhh bab ohba tonbabaaohh" and kinda convulsing. i really cant explain what he was saying but it sounded like a child making noises but a bit more intelligently. I couldn't help but laugh a little, as was a lady in the congregation who was a member of their church. then they would just walk away when they were done.. and sing and stuff. after they ended a lot of them came up to us as they were leaving and welcomed us and invited us back. they were really nice. even the pastor caught us while we were leaving and invited us to stay and chat a little bit and wait for the rain to stop. so we did. and we discussed a few things, namely our religions. He found the way we do missionary work to be very intriguing and odd. he said a few things incorrect about our church and we corrected the statements; though in a loving way. it was a nice discussion, to openly talk about beliefs and why they believe in that way. anyways, we exchanged phone numbers and information and went on our way. Very interesting though.

Picture 1) Elder N., me, and J with her mom and dad. She got baptized last Saturday but we couldn't go because we got transferred.. We were all pretty bummed about it, but she will be an awesome member!

Picture 2) the sister live 3 doors down. So Elder E. and I took all the junk from our house and organized it as such in their front yard.

Best time of my life! Apr 15, 2013

hey everyone! :)

this week was solid, we have been really blessed again. we had 2 baptized, and next week we have another baptism! however, we just got transfer calls and both elder n. and i are leaving :( im going to Loma Verde and he's going somewhere to be a zone leader! I will be with Elder E.!  we are bummed that we wont get to see our investigator get baptized. Elder N. served in Loma for about 7 months. from what i hear, its pretty difficult.. not a very successful area as far as baptisms go. So off i go, into the furnace, right? im excited and nervous but itll be okay. We were really sad because the Lord has done all this great work and we were able to be apart of it, but now we have to go.. We are being whitewashed by sister missionaries. I think they will do good, they just need to find a house to stay in haha since they cant live in our apartment because its not very safe. I guess everyone says our apartment is the worst. pretty legit. It was pretty rough saying goodbye to all the friends we've made. A (progressing investigator) started crying when we told him we were leaving. He's young and his mom wont let him get baptized but he wants to. We tried hard to get him baptized but the time wasnt right i guess. one day!! We made our goal of 8 baptized for the month of April, and we got 3.. 8 is a super high goal here, but we felt that we could do it. but now the s
isters gotta take over, and hopefully they can finish our goal! it was just a stressful week trying to do the transfers and baptism. We also found 5 new investigators! Which just makes it hard to say we have to leave them now haha.

I've been pretty well though. Lots of ups and downs... i've learned so much gospel stuff though. its nice to study the gospel each day and learn more. the language is really whats killing me right now. the MTC was super quick to catch on because of the spirit, but on the field its just different. I want to get it down soon, but the best thing is to speak the language. I've never liked failing at things, and with spanish its like everytime i open my mouth it doesnt come out the way i wanted it to. its frustrating and discouraging. time, practice, and prayers is all i've got; but it'll be good. Strange how a mission is the place where i will fail the most, but will be the best time of my life.

I love you all and keep you in my prayers. Let me know if i can help in any way!

Elder Jacob James

 

1) This is A (on the right, 13 years old) and his moms boyfriend R

2)Trying not to laugh because we are just huge hahah

Apr 9th