Elder Bednar and Baptisms

This week flew by pretty fast. We worked pretty hard and we got stuff done. On Saturday we had the baptism of Karol. 

Jackson, Karol and Elder Bittencourt

There was some miscommunication on the time of her baptism so not a lot of people came, only like 5, but it was one of the more spiritual baptisms that I have been too. The spirit was super strong and it was just cool. Karol's parents are of different religions and they were very against her getting baptized but she decided to get baptized. It was just super cool to see how strong her testimony is. 

With Maria, we were finally able to have her baptism. 

Maria on her baptism date.

Maria used to live in front of the church but her and her two kids decided to move up the valley where the other 2 elders of our ward are and where she had some of her own land. On Saturday we went to her house to help them move and to do some service, and it was kind of sad to see. Their house was just a small wood shack and her son's bed was just outside with a piece of wood over it, kind of like a shelter with some blankets. But we were able to help them move out a lot of trash, dirt and rocks. Its just very humbling to see the conditions of some of the people that live here. 

Right now we have William, Saif, Kati, and Alexander. Alexander is an old investigator from Venezuela that came back to church and after we went and taught him and he accepted to be baptized the 22 of June. He has to travel 3 hours everyday for his work and sometimes it's hard to have lessons with him so please pray that he can find work that is closer to his house. William is doing super good and progressing. His baptism might be for this Saturday so pray that he can continue progressing! Kati and Saif didn't come this Sunday because they slept in. Their mom didn't come because she decided to work, and we talked to her about being a good example for her kids so please pray for them that they can come to church. 

This week on Friday, Elder Bednar is coming to talk to all the missions in Lima, and I am super hyped! Elder Bednar is my favorite apostle so I can't wait to hear from him. So I'll let everyone know how that goes. Que tengan una buena semana!.

The Mission

Well the mission is going good. I am learning a lot of stuff and changing a lot. Going on a mission is interesting. It's something that completely changes you and there's stuff that you just don't understand unless you go on a mission. I encourage anyone that is debating on going on a mission to go because, honestly, it is something that will change you forever. 

So right now we are teaching William, Karol, Sair, Kati, Diana and Maria. Maria and Karol should get baptized this Saturday, so that's good. My comp and I are just chilling. He's a good guy. I hope everyone back at home is doing good! 

Preaching in Zarahemla

Things have been pretty good this week. Elder Bitencourt is my new companion, and he is awesome! He is from Brazil, and he is a very hard working, consecrated missionary. He's pretty chill so we get along great. 

Elder Bittencourt and Jackson

Right now we have 5 people with a baptismal date and it's going great right now down here. Just being able to serve my mission down here in Peru makes me so happy. Right now reading the stories of Alma and the 4 four sons of Mosiah just makes me think of where I am because we are literally teaching descendants of some of the Lamanites, and we could literally be preaching where they preached, so it's just really cool to be down here at this time of my life. I am very happy right now. The mission is hard but it teaches you good things. 

I am also very thankful for Jesus Christ as my Savior.  

His Atonement is something very sacred that is very hard for us to comprehend but it was an act of pure love for us and I can't be more grateful for what He did. 

I hope everyone has a good week. I'll send some more photos next week.

Transfers!

Well transfers came again and I'm going to an area called Chaclacayo! It's hills and dirt! Haha, I'm super excited and I can't wait for what's going to happen. My new companion is Elder Bittencourt and he's from Brazil so maybe I'll learn a little bit of Portuguese. Last week was good. Adolfo went to church and is progressing very well. Victoria is moving to another part of Peru but we sent her info to the missionaries down there. Well I hope everyone has a great week. I'll update everyone next week on what happens next.

Elder Burley and Jackson at Zacateca. They make amazing popsicles.

Jackson's Zone

¡Milagros!

Last week was a very rewarding week. Elder Burley and I had been working in our area for a while without success, and it was getting rough but we were able to pray and fast and work through the adversity, and we were able to find 2 really chosen people. One of them is Adolfo, and he is an older man that has no kids or a wife and he has been looking for the true church his whole life. We contacted him and he said he wanted to come closer to Jesus Christ, and then after that he started going off on some other church that he had gone too, and I thought he was crazy just because there are quite a few crazy old people that get mad at us, haha, but I felt prompted to ask him if wanted to get baptized. So I did and he said yes and then I asked him the same question 3 more times and he kept saying yes haha. I just thought he was kind of crazy  but we took out a lesson with him, and well he accepted to be baptized the first of June. He said that he had just been looking for a church that he felt good in and that when he first saw us in the street he felt peace. 

So last Friday we went to the temple and it was good, and we went to Rodizios and all. After when we went out to work, we got a reference from a member. It was a 60-year-old widow named Victoria and her husband died last August in a car crash and in the lesson she started crying and it was super sad. She lives by herself and she has to wake up at 4 in the morning to go work. Both of them came to church yesterday and it was the best ever. The members took them in and loved them. It was a very rewarding week. 

Well, I hope everyone has a great week!

English, Swiss and a Kiss

Sorry for not writing these past couple of weeks. Just not a lot happened. But anyway this week was quite an interesting week. First off, the area that I am in has part of Miraflores, which is a rich part, where a lot of tourists come through. We run into quite a few white people, mostly Europeans. It's just so weird to run into another person that speaks English on the street because as a missionary you're just so used to contacting in Spanish you can't even talk in English when they try and talk with you. 

Last Tuesday, Elder Burley and I ran into like 4 different people from Switzerland and 4 other people that had visited Salt Lake. There was one street where Elder Burley and I contacted more people in English than in Spanish. 

So an update on our people, sadly Flor, the week of her baptism, decided that she didn't want to be baptized because she said her other baptism was valid. We talked to her for a while but in the end we told her that when she would be ready to call us. 

We also decided to talk with Jose B again, and we had a lesson with him and his Venezuelan roommate, and he told us that he's ready to change but we´ll see. Yesterday Jose B went to church, but he is the most ADD guy you have ever seen, haha. He just can't sit still and his attention span is 2 minutes. We tried to show him the 1st vision and he had to go get something to eat, then something to drink, then someone called him, then he kept asking questions and we told him that the video would answer his questions if he would just be quiet and watch it, haha. His roommate, Luis, is pretty cool as well, but when we went to go and pick them up, he was still sleeping and so he didn't go to church. So we are going to keep working with Jose B to help him out. 

So here in the mission, there are 3 things that are destined to happen to you. You get bit by a dog, you crap your pants, and you get kissed by a girl. Sadly 2 of those things have already happened to me. One day last week we were contacting this older lady and she was talking to us about her son and how he was going through some problems and all this stuff. Here in Peru the cultural thing to do to greet women is you both give each other a kiss on the cheek and after we finished the conversation, she tried to do that to me but I tried to tell her that as missionaries we can't do that but she just yanked me in and kissed my cheek. 

Well I hope everyone has a great week!

We found a nice place in our area that makes wings!

Transfers

Another transfer is here. Elder Burley and I stayed together, as we expected, which is going to be awesome. Elder Burley is a hard worker, and I like him as my companion. 

Yesterday was a little depressing as Natalia texted us in the morning and told us that she was sick and couldn't go to church so she won't be able to be baptized this Saturday, sadly, but she will still get baptized. However Flor came and she's doing good. She used to go to an Evangelist church so she has a lot of questions, and we have to use a lot of scriptures to help her understand certain doctrine. She has really good desires to keep learning and coming to church so that is good. I hope everyone has a great week!

Jackson called on Matt's Birthday, Monday.