Pictures with Email #71

Email #71

Hey family,

We had a great week this week. My companion and I were able to fast yesterday for some miracles, and they sure came.

First thing… we went to a cool waterfall place that looks like something from Pirates of the Carribean. I sent some pictures. It was very beautiful.

We found two a mom and her daughter last week that now have baptismal dates. Finally. I haven´t dunked somebody in a while. Seems like I get transferred before I can baptize the people I teach. This lady´s name is Lisbeth, and her daughter´s name is Maria. We set the date for the 28th of December. We set it late for the Christmas and new year´s holiday. They also have a grumpy woman that is staying with them next month that doesn´t like the church. She is leaving before the baptism. We did this to keep some peace in the family.

We are teaching another large Catholic family. They have 3 boys that are very active in their church, and they participate in all the groups. We taught them the first lesson yesterday, and the mom told us that she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet. We told her that she must receive the witness from the holy ghost in order to know, but the family is willing to listen and learn. I think something good will come out of this.

Thanks for the pictures you send, mom. The little girls are very beautiful. They are all growing up too fast. Dad, sounds like you´re the king of cattle for the entire world.

Dinner with the governor? What for?

It seems like every time we fast, something good happens. It´s nice to see that when we push a little farther, and when we give a little more, that´s when the Lord also gives more. He literally pours out His blessing to those who make sacrifices and for those who obey.

Thanks for the help and support.

I love you,

Elder Jacobsen

Pictures with Email #70

Email #70

Hey family,

That´s cool seeing the pictures you snagged with Julie B. Beck. My buddy Elder Williams will be very excited to see those.

The week went well. I can´t figure out what´s going on with C____, this lady we´re baptizing. She says she wants to ask forgiveness from some family members before she´s baptized, but she hasn´t done it yet. She´s in freeze mode. She hasn´t talked to these family members since May. I think she´s scared to do it… We invite all to come to Christ.. There is no pushing or shoving. It´s a great lesson on patience.

The success in the area is just… we have planted the seed… I´ve given it some watering… we´re just waiting for something to happen. There are so many comparisons between fishing and missionary work. Some days you catch a boat-full, and other days you get skunked. We are in skunk mode, but we´re going to change some forms and the way we work in order to get something moving over here.

I´ve been going a little stir-crazy not having action happen. I´m a action person, and when nothing happens… it drives me a little nuts. I feel like us waiting on the members to help us work has produced little fruit. We will keep reminding them to look for friends, but my patience has reached its end! I will now resort to old-school proselyting methods. I´m going in the streets and talking to everybody. That´s what I did in Acajulta, and it seems like it worked very well over there. I´m going to hit the dirt this week and see if we can´t build something out of nothing.

Don´t worry family… I don´t keep depressed or upset… I like taking challenges and overcoming them. I have the “challenge accepted,” attitude, so we´ll see what happens this week.

I did get the Christmas package, thank you for that. I am storing it away until Christmas. Uncle Jon also sent me one.

Remember family, always invite other people to know the church and this gospel. We underestimate what an invitation can do. Some people want to learn more, they just don´t have the courage to speak up. Throw out the invitation! As President Monson said, “You can´t be wrong, by doing right. You can´t be right by doing wrong.” It´s a simple formula. Do something good, invite. I know that people will listen.

Thanks family,

I love you

Elder Jacobsen

Pictures with Email #69

Email #69

Mom, I loved those pictures that you sent of dad. I can’t believe how much we look alike. I literally look just like dad. Every missionary over here thought those were pictures of me.

I´ll stop forwarding president´s email. It´s boring. I get it. You like hearing from me. We had a good week. We had to push Consuelo´s baptismal date one more week. She didn´t go to church, and she said she would like to ask forgiveness from some family members. She wants any baggage gone before her baptism. That makes me happy. It such a sign that she is converted and wants to do this right.

There´s this huge pipe-line project going on in my area. Everybody is digging a pipeline in front of there house as they replace the pipes. (This isn´t happening by my house). It´s funny, as you walk down the street all you see are heads popping out the ground with pick-axes. It reminds me of those gnomes off snow white.

I have a picture of my companion, but if you look carefully there is a beetle flying. This beetle is about the size of a quarter, and it is attached to a string. Kids over here catch these beetles and they fly them around like remote controlled helicopters. Dad, if JP ever asks for a 200 dollar remote heli, just tell me to send him a beetle. That´ll have him going for hours.

The picutre of me smiling with the other guy pointing is Elder Williams and I. Elder Williams is the nephew of Julie B. Beck. You can show that picture to her when she comes and visits.

Also included is the zone picture. There will be changes this week. I believe I´m staying, but I´ll probably have a new companion. You´ll know for sure next week. Changes are on Wednesday.

I´d like to address a common concern among missionaries as well as something that weighs heavily on my mind. This mission has been very important to me, and I live everyday to my best trying to serve God with all my soul. Sometimes the question crosses the mind, could I have done more? Of course, we can always do more, but we shouldn´t get down on ourselves. There is always room for improvement, yet the gospel doesn´t demand that we become perfect in one day. The master Himself stated, “what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily verily, I say unto you, even as I Am.” We are commanded to be perfect, even as the savior. Yet, this is more than a life long journey. It takes much time. When I feel like I haven´t done enough, I ask God if I am giving Him an acceptable sacrifice, and He always sends me His holy messenger, the Holy Ghost, which fills me with a righteous assurance. I know that God lives. This is His work. He doesn´t demand that we be perfect, yet He would have us improve little by little every day, until that great and perfect day.

I love you family,

Take care

Elder Jacobsen

Pictures with Email #68

Email #68

Good morning President,

“Thanks for the advice in the multizone as well as in the leaders meeting. The graph with my work as a missionary was a great eye-opener and has helped me see my strengths and weaknesses as a missionary. I plan on increasing the number of lessons we teach, and keep teaching in the house of member in order to follow the advice of the prophet.

The zone had a good week. We brought 37 people to church, and we plan to keep continuing. I knew that if we contacted with members and found so many news, we would see the results in the weeks to come. The results are coming. My concern is that the lack of diligence in the missionaries will cause the zone to decrease harvest in the weeks to come. We´ll keep putting emphasis on contacting with members as well as finding news. We must increase the amount of lessons in house of member. Not all the areas are doing this, there are only a select few that contribute to the total. For example, manantiales 2 taught 9 lessons in the house of member, and there were about 3 areas that only taught 1. I will talk with the areas that aren´t contributing, and we will see the outcome this weekend.

As a zone we have 2 baptized and 9 investigators with a baptismal date. We were able to raise 4 dates since the leaders´meeting. We will continue raising baptismal dates this week with the new investigators that came this past Sunday.

In our area we brought 3 people, and we have the possibility of putting 5 dates in the area. There are all member references, and have a good group of support within the ward. This Tuesday we will go with them to help them accept a baptismal date.

We have asked the stake President for the list of RM´s in the zone, and are waiting on that. We have talked to bishop and his family to try and see the video of the “obra de salvacion” together, but hasn´t given us the time yet. We will see it together this week to come.

Sister C is doing very well. We asked her why she was never baptized before, and she said “Perhaps God was saving me to listen to you two.” That made me feel very appreciative. She is a special person, and will be a very good convert within the church.

Thank you for your work. We will increase the level of work in the area as well as the zone.”

Dear family, perhaps I will use the president´s letter as my history book, and will tell the spritual side in my personal letters.

I feel like now is the time that members and missionaries need to unite together. Too many times we find ourselves without anything to do. Ideally speaking, the members are to go, prepare the minds of their friends, and when they are ready to take the discussions, that member calls the missionaries and then the entire process begins.

Sadly, this does not happen very often. Usually it is the job of the missionary to find, teach and baptize. However, when the only friend of the recent convert is the missionary, when the missionary leaves, that person goes inactive. Parents, please pray together with the family for missionary opportunities. I know you´re baptizing left and right over there, but you have got to keep looking. Now that we´ve learned God´s will, we need to continue to help everyone.

Mom, if you´re wondering I´m doing fine. I am happy, well, things are going as they should.

Dad, I bet Chile was an interesting experience. I bet it is similar to el salvador. One day we´ll come over to el salvador and check it out together.

If I haven´t answered your questions… sorry. Sometimes I take a picture of the letter you send, then read it after I write. If you have a specific question, send it as a single email so I can read it quick and respond.

I´ll send some cool pictures. We set up a table during a national holiday and passed out pamphlets and books of mormon. It was a fun experience.

Love you, Elder Jacobsen