Hey Howdy Hey! (Week 73)

Hey family!

It was another great week on the mission.  Where do I start?  One of the things that I love the most about the mission is the personal growth that you get.  It is also one of the hardest parts of the mission, but one of the most rewarding.  I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity that I have to become a better, stronger person because of my experiences on the mission.  Sometimes it is hard to have love or patience with crazy people that want to prove to you why you are wrong, sometimes you are tired and don´t know how you can keep going on, but the thing that I have learned from this week is that challenges bring growth - it wasn´t supposed to be easy! And we will keep going! The work of the Lord will keep going! 

We had a really cool story this week. Zelandia was baptized.  She was dating a less active who brought her to church one time.  Her whole family is from another church that really doesn´t like the Church of Jesus Christ but she read the Book of Mormon and received a witness that it is true.  The best part was that she followed that witnessed and decided to be baptized! She stopped dating her boyfriend to keep the law of Chastity (she isn´t legally divorced yet) and she is really happy, even though her family is giving her a lot of grief.  We are going to work so that her 3 kids will be baptized this Sunday.  She really is a blessing from the Lord and it strengthened my faith a lot to help her. When we taught her the Plan of Salvation and about eternal families, she said, "I know that is true! I always thought how annoying it would be to just live in heaven and sing all the time without knowing your children or parents or spouse!" She said that was one of the things that helped her the most - to know that as she follows this path, she can have an eternal family.  That is a great reminder to all of us too. :)

Elder Wensel is a great missionary and is helping me a lot. He is a realy smart guy and we are getting along well.  It is always hard to get used to a new companion but things are rolling better now.  :)

I am happy and healthy and doing well.  I know that the Church is true and the Book of Mormon is true.  I know that the Priesthood was restored. Keep the commandments, say honest sincere prayers and study sincerely the scriptures! That is the way to be guided in your life.

I love you all!

Elder Jacob