Hello family, or should I say hello all of my adoring fans? Carrie you are more than welcome to send me a package and yes I do remember you, specifically I remember when I was little and would blow raspberries on the back of your neck, so yeah I you can count yourself as a personal friend! My sister Amy told me about how some random people are reading my blog and I feel really funny, like people are reading my journal or something, but it is funny to me because my journal is super boring and I don´t get why anyone would want to read it. But I hope you are enjoying! Personal shout out to Rochelle, Andrea, and unpersonal shout out to everyone else!
Okay, back to my family, sorry for the interruption family, it is hard being a famous missionary. amy I´m not actually sure on the address but I will find out, I think it is 1167 though. This week was lame and I really have nothing to report. We did have interviews with the president and the hermana and that was fun for the 10 minutes i was with them but the rest of the time the assistents do a big lesson thing and it was super dry. Dreams, Goals, Covenants, yeah yeah baptize baptize. Anyways, I wasn´t going to tell you about this because I don´t think it will happen but since I have nothing else to say I´ll tell you anyway. Hna Sol wasn´t suppossed to tell me this but in her interview i guess the president was asking about me and if I am ready to be a senior companion. A SENIOR WHAT?! I said, did you tell him NO WAY! I´m still not even sure if I want to stay here after my next change, my plan has been give it six months and then split! You can take away my crutch! Well as I said I don´t really think it will happen because I am definitley not ready for that. I guess he was only asking because they are having four new hermanas coming and they don´t really have a ton of older hermanas to handler all of us newer ones, but I think that he can figure out a better solution than using me. I would be just fine with going my whole mission as the junior companion, and let´s not even talk about training. (I am aware that I overdramatized all of that)
Mom and Dad! I am excited for you to go on your trip. make sure that you take a camera-charge it before hand and take the charger with you-and actually use it to take pictures okay! oooh, Frankie Valley and the four seasons just came on the radio in the cyber cafe, you´re just too good to be true! Anyways, that will be a really fun trip I think. Ryan, take good care of Sally! Speaking of Ryan I have a postcard to send you but I do not have stamps so it might be a while. Amy what card did you recently receive? Jennie I have not have received your package yet but a HUGE thank you in advance. Hopefully I will get it tomorrow, and thank you for your email! How was your Yellowstone trip by the way? Has anyone sent me stickers by chance? That would not require a package, just a regular envelope, so I am not going to feel guilty for asking for stickers-they are super useful.
Let´s see, today our pday will be cut short because we are going to a little pueblo where Blanca and Ricardo are getting married. I didn´t tell you much about them because I sent you a letter about them. But they are an awesome family and all 5 of them are getting baptized on Friday. They weren´t married but they immediately understood and accepted our "marriage proposal" and they are getting married today. It is kind of weird and humbling to think that two young american girls showed up at their house one day and told them to get married and they are doing it. It is one of many evidences of how the Lord´s hand is in this work.
My time is up. I am hoping to get lots of emails tomorrow at district (wink wink) and hopefully your letters will arrive. Oh I did get a letter from Melody the other week, Ro if you see her give her a big hug from me. And Amy matt harris is the guy I saw in the airport in buenos aires from my home ward, you can email him if you want and my email and facebook are open access to you and you too jennie, maybe you can have me socially set for when I get home. Feel free to add some juice to my personal ad.
Okay really do gotta go. I miss you and love you. Give sally a scratch for me and hugs to everyone! Hi back to Bishop Workman, and...I think that is everything. Over and out,
Love, Jessica
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Ending the Trip
Hey hey! It was kind of funny and cool today to open my email and have messages from my mom and my sisters, I don´t know why that occurred to me but I just think it´s awesome that we are close and keep in touch so much.
Okay, well the Montevideo temple trip was so much fun. While we emailed you Hermana Heaton let us use her washer and dryer, we had brought all of our garments so that we could wash them. It was so nice to have clean clothes that had been dried in a dryer. It was also fun saturday to be at the mission home because it was the Heaton´s 40th anniversary. Not that we really did anything but still, we got to hang out with them on a really special day. And then when we needed to leave they drove us to the bus station and I was laughing in my head watching President Heaton try to hide his frustration about the traffic. They both make me think a lot of mom and dad, that is probably why I like them so much. I think Hna Sol is getting sick of me talking about how much I love the Heaton´s and how great they are. Anyways it was going to be close for getting on the bus but we got there with 5 minutes to spare, or so we thought, Hna Salisbury had confused the time and it had actually left ten minutes before. Haha. So we ended up having to wait seven hours for the next bus which left at 12:30 in the morning. We probably could have called the president to pick us up but we felt too sheepish. We had to call him last night anyways though to ask a question and he asked us if we made the bus and we told him what happened and i think he felt bad and he said we should have called him. But oh well, it actually ended up being a really fun and productive seven hours and we are both glad for the way it worked out. We got pictures printed for the family and for Carla who was baptized on thursday and I bought a new straightener and some post-it marker things for my scriptures and we got some colored paper. We also wrote letters, I wrote to my converts in Artigas, and we ate at Mcdonalds. The only mcdonalds in uruguay is the one in the terminal in montevideo. It was actually pretty good. Oh and Hermana Heaton sent us with Peanut Butter sandwiches. Mmm..mm!
So yesterday we got home at 6:30. I was really tired all day and it was good to go to sleep last night. Yesterday was a pretty dull sunday. It has been really gloomy and rainy here.
Well out of time. I love you all and I hope the pictures come through!
Love Jessica
ps hna salisbury leaves in about two weeks and i am trying to plan some suprises for her but I am also freaking out and I think I am going to have an emotional relapse when she is gone!
Okay, well the Montevideo temple trip was so much fun. While we emailed you Hermana Heaton let us use her washer and dryer, we had brought all of our garments so that we could wash them. It was so nice to have clean clothes that had been dried in a dryer. It was also fun saturday to be at the mission home because it was the Heaton´s 40th anniversary. Not that we really did anything but still, we got to hang out with them on a really special day. And then when we needed to leave they drove us to the bus station and I was laughing in my head watching President Heaton try to hide his frustration about the traffic. They both make me think a lot of mom and dad, that is probably why I like them so much. I think Hna Sol is getting sick of me talking about how much I love the Heaton´s and how great they are. Anyways it was going to be close for getting on the bus but we got there with 5 minutes to spare, or so we thought, Hna Salisbury had confused the time and it had actually left ten minutes before. Haha. So we ended up having to wait seven hours for the next bus which left at 12:30 in the morning. We probably could have called the president to pick us up but we felt too sheepish. We had to call him last night anyways though to ask a question and he asked us if we made the bus and we told him what happened and i think he felt bad and he said we should have called him. But oh well, it actually ended up being a really fun and productive seven hours and we are both glad for the way it worked out. We got pictures printed for the family and for Carla who was baptized on thursday and I bought a new straightener and some post-it marker things for my scriptures and we got some colored paper. We also wrote letters, I wrote to my converts in Artigas, and we ate at Mcdonalds. The only mcdonalds in uruguay is the one in the terminal in montevideo. It was actually pretty good. Oh and Hermana Heaton sent us with Peanut Butter sandwiches. Mmm..mm!
So yesterday we got home at 6:30. I was really tired all day and it was good to go to sleep last night. Yesterday was a pretty dull sunday. It has been really gloomy and rainy here.
Well out of time. I love you all and I hope the pictures come through!
Love Jessica
ps hna salisbury leaves in about two weeks and i am trying to plan some suprises for her but I am also freaking out and I think I am going to have an emotional relapse when she is gone!
Monday, July 19, 2010
At the temple
Did you think I would ever email you this week? Well i finally am. A lot has happened lately as far as finding another great family to teach and stuff but I sent a really long letter explaing that so I won't go into it now. I tried to make the letter interesting to read and spiritual but I think I overdid it and it is probably just lame. But enjoy! And for the record I am out of stamps so there may be a lull in letter writing until the ones you have sent get here.
I also told you more in my letter about our first sector conference with President and Hermana Heaton. They. are. awesome. I already love them so much and get this, when we got here to montevideo yesterday morning for the sealing of the family galvan, we went to check into the hostel and they said they didn't have a reservation for us. So we called the mission secretary who was going to get us a room and told him there was a problem and he said that there weren't any rooms available so we were going to stay at the mission home! BOO YA! Party with the Heatons! So we came over to the house and the hermana welcomed us in and showed us to our BEAUTIFUL room that had really nice soft beds with fresh sheets and bedding and...the room has a HEATING! It was so comfortable and nice to sleep in a nice bed and a warm room, I forgot what a great thing it is to be able to get out of bed and step onto carpet and not feel a plunge in temperature. So nice. Anyways, there was a Zone Leaders training yesterday too so for a while we helped hna Heaton get breakfast and lunch ready for all of them until it was time to go over to the temple. It was fun to help out in the kitchen and get to know her better. The temple was so good and it was the first time I have ever been to a sealing. What a lovely experience. Do you remember me telling you about the Galvan family and how they are so special? I felt so lucky to have the privelege of seeing them sealed for time and all eternity as husband and wife and then seeing stefani and esteban come in dressed in white to be sealed to their parents. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and the restored gospel.
For the rest of the day we just hang out at the hostel with them playing uno and telling jokes and then we came back to the mission home for dinner (oh and we ate navajo tacos at the mission home for lunch-so good!) and we did our studies and stuff. the president and his wife had to leave to go do something in the evening and it was really kind of funny but nice to just be in the mission home by ourselves. but it was really peaceful and quiet to study. THen when they got back we chatted with them and showed pictures and stuff and ended the night eating brownies and ice cream in our pajamas until we went to bed at 11:00. That's right we broke curfew with the president and the hermana! It was so so so fun though. Today we got up and exercised, took a really nice shower where I did not get cold when i got out, ate breakfast and then went through another session of the temple with another lady from fraybentos. We later brought the galvan's over to meet the president and wife which was really nice and they cried as we sang the first hymn the hna's sang with them. Hna Salisbury had also thought so much about a gift she could give to each of them and ended up giving the wife her coat which is very coveted and I probably have seen 50 women hint that she should leave it for them. It was really sweet to see her give it to mari who was so gracious.
I am now emailing you on the presidents laptop and we will be leaving to get our bus in about an hour. It has been a really fun little trip and today I got to help the Hermana unload and load the dishes in the dishwasher and stuff. It made me think so much of home. I really was missing my family today in the temple, I wonder if I will ever have a whole day with out feeling an ache in my heart for you! I love you so much. Renita, I just want you to know that one day when Hermana Salisbury and I were walking down some train tracks to get to a lesson I told her that in my family there is a famous story about my aunt becky and so when I read your email she was reading with me and we both laughed and i said, i told you it is a big story in my family. And then I got pretty teary eyed which I think is partly from how I was feeling in the temple today.
Well I got to go but I love you and will email you again on Monday I think. And by the way judy and mom the packages sound really great, thanks a bunch but you shouldn't spoiling me so much! Amy DID YOU GET THE HOUSE! The pictures look really awesome. Besos,
Your missionary hermana, Jessica
I also told you more in my letter about our first sector conference with President and Hermana Heaton. They. are. awesome. I already love them so much and get this, when we got here to montevideo yesterday morning for the sealing of the family galvan, we went to check into the hostel and they said they didn't have a reservation for us. So we called the mission secretary who was going to get us a room and told him there was a problem and he said that there weren't any rooms available so we were going to stay at the mission home! BOO YA! Party with the Heatons! So we came over to the house and the hermana welcomed us in and showed us to our BEAUTIFUL room that had really nice soft beds with fresh sheets and bedding and...the room has a HEATING! It was so comfortable and nice to sleep in a nice bed and a warm room, I forgot what a great thing it is to be able to get out of bed and step onto carpet and not feel a plunge in temperature. So nice. Anyways, there was a Zone Leaders training yesterday too so for a while we helped hna Heaton get breakfast and lunch ready for all of them until it was time to go over to the temple. It was fun to help out in the kitchen and get to know her better. The temple was so good and it was the first time I have ever been to a sealing. What a lovely experience. Do you remember me telling you about the Galvan family and how they are so special? I felt so lucky to have the privelege of seeing them sealed for time and all eternity as husband and wife and then seeing stefani and esteban come in dressed in white to be sealed to their parents. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and the restored gospel.
For the rest of the day we just hang out at the hostel with them playing uno and telling jokes and then we came back to the mission home for dinner (oh and we ate navajo tacos at the mission home for lunch-so good!) and we did our studies and stuff. the president and his wife had to leave to go do something in the evening and it was really kind of funny but nice to just be in the mission home by ourselves. but it was really peaceful and quiet to study. THen when they got back we chatted with them and showed pictures and stuff and ended the night eating brownies and ice cream in our pajamas until we went to bed at 11:00. That's right we broke curfew with the president and the hermana! It was so so so fun though. Today we got up and exercised, took a really nice shower where I did not get cold when i got out, ate breakfast and then went through another session of the temple with another lady from fraybentos. We later brought the galvan's over to meet the president and wife which was really nice and they cried as we sang the first hymn the hna's sang with them. Hna Salisbury had also thought so much about a gift she could give to each of them and ended up giving the wife her coat which is very coveted and I probably have seen 50 women hint that she should leave it for them. It was really sweet to see her give it to mari who was so gracious.
I am now emailing you on the presidents laptop and we will be leaving to get our bus in about an hour. It has been a really fun little trip and today I got to help the Hermana unload and load the dishes in the dishwasher and stuff. It made me think so much of home. I really was missing my family today in the temple, I wonder if I will ever have a whole day with out feeling an ache in my heart for you! I love you so much. Renita, I just want you to know that one day when Hermana Salisbury and I were walking down some train tracks to get to a lesson I told her that in my family there is a famous story about my aunt becky and so when I read your email she was reading with me and we both laughed and i said, i told you it is a big story in my family. And then I got pretty teary eyed which I think is partly from how I was feeling in the temple today.
Well I got to go but I love you and will email you again on Monday I think. And by the way judy and mom the packages sound really great, thanks a bunch but you shouldn't spoiling me so much! Amy DID YOU GET THE HOUSE! The pictures look really awesome. Besos,
Your missionary hermana, Jessica
Thursday, July 8, 2010
MUNDIALLLLL!!! and the chosen one...
Happy fourth of JULY!!! and happy birthday to JENNIE and RYAN!
Well it has been another week. Mark that one off! We actually aren´t going to montevideo until next week on the 15th, they changed it, so I think next week I will be emailing that day. Well Uruguay is crazy excited about the world cup. They did not expect to do so well. The day of the game it was like being in a ghost town and we got nothing done. Finally we went over to the house of Hermano De Los Santos who is a really cool convert and we ended up watching some of the game with him. It was a super good game too. And All of the houses erupt everytime a goal is made, so imagine what it was like when they went to penalty kicks. After the game was over we were walking on the streets and we ran into Martin Conti who is a young married guy and usually pretty business like but I though he was going to cry he was so flabbergasted and he was all sweaty and just kept saying angels must have helped us. It was hilarious but really no good for missionary work. I was not feeling well either so we ended up just going back to the house and I laid down. I have been kind of sick this week. That day I had a fever and then I couldn´t really sleep all night, I was super hot and was having chills and my head hurt worse than it ever has before. I did sleep at first but then I woke up at 1:00 and my had was just killing me and my face was burning up. I got up to get some water to drink and then I just sat and sipped it for a while. I was having nausea too and I even went and got a bowl to keep by my bed but never did throw up. I am mostly better but I have a sore throat and stuffy nose. I haven´t really felt like eating either, so actually really haven´t been eating today which is kind of weird for me. But I think I will be fine in another day or two.
Yesterday for the fourth of july we wore red white and blue and as we walked in the streets we would sing patriotic songs and we even recited the pledge of allegience. It was funny and also kind of sad because we really didn´t do anything fun to celebrate, but we kept the patriotic spirit igual. Oh! and our lunch appointment fell through which isn´t normally a huge deal because we can just buy something instead, but it was sunday. Luckily though, my awesome aunts had sent me some macaroni grill pasta mix that we threw together and made a really good lunch. Thank you again!
Yesterday we had a really good lesson with Elisabeth. I don´t know if I have told you about her but she is a miracle for sure. One day we left church to go find someone that hadn´t come, we never did find them but when we were coming back into the church there was a lady going in at the same time and we didn´t recognize her. We started to talk and it turns out she is a member and was going for a long time and her son even served a mission but then she stopped going but wants to come back. So she even invited us over for lunch. When we went during the week her sister Elisabeth happened to be visiting from Paysandu. She has been praying and searching to find the right church. She has gone to many but feels that none of them have the truth. She also had a lot of questions that we were able to answer and she finally understood things that she had not been able to understand. She is so awesome and it is a miracle how we found her. We stopped by them on Saturday night and they were having a party for Vilma (the sister who is a member) and her husband´s anniversary. They gave us cake and empanadas but we didn´t have a lot of time so when we started to say we needed to go Elisabeth was like, oh no don´t go, stay! It was so cute! and they just worry so much about us and for some reason seem to think I am like a little helpless child dependent on my companion and so they are really worried about me for when hna Salisbury leaves, they said I should come stay with them to wait for me new companion! They are so funny. But yesterday we had to teach her the ten commandments so we were reading them in mosiah 13 and when we go to the one that says thou shalt not steal we were going to include tithing and so hna salisbury asked, how do we rob God? And without a seconds hesitation Elisabeth said, in tithes and offerings but I paid my tithing to the bishop today! WHAT!! It was only her second time at church, we hadn´t even taught her tithing and she already paid it!!!! What does Heavenly Father need ME here for? These people teach themselves! She has also read almost all of 1 nephi and when we got there she was reading teachings of the prophets. She lives in Paysandu but in the outskirts because her husband has some sort of blueberry plantation, but it is closer for them to come to Salto then to get the the city part of Paysandu so they come here on a bus every week and Elisabeth wants us to come to her house some day and we really want to go but we are going to have to get special permission. She and Vilma are now planning a goodbye party for Hna Salisbury too. THey are easily some of my favorite people we have met. I can´t wait for her baptism on the 16th. Also they have an almacen so they sometimes give us cookie packages or other treats. DREAM investigator.
Last pday I made a white cake with vanilla frosting and put strawberries on top and it we shared it with Miriam and Javier. I must say it was DELICIOUS. We also put half of it in another pan and I made chocolate frosting and we took that to a Noche de Hogar (fhe) with the familia De los Santos, they really liked it and they were baptized when hna Flores was here, so you know they are awesome.
Anyways, so it has been a busy week but actually kind of a tough one. We did divisions three times which probably absolutley my least favorite thing to do and then being sick was no fun, plus when I´m sick all I want to do is just be home and so I sat up all night thinking about home and how mom baby´s me when I´m sick and I was really missing some good old motherly tlc. I know you have said that 4 months seems to have gone by really fast but honestly to me it is crawling and I still have 14 months left...ugh. But I am trying to count my blessings because we are having success and I have a great companion so I really shouldn´t complain. Tomorrow we have district so I will look forward to getting your letters, Jennie send an email to the mission email and tell me about your 4th and birthdays! And on Wednesday we have conference with the new president. So next week I should have a lot to tell you too. I´m out of time though, so bye for now, I love you
Love Jessica
(*Note - the first few photos were stolen from Hermana Salisbury's blog)
Well it has been another week. Mark that one off! We actually aren´t going to montevideo until next week on the 15th, they changed it, so I think next week I will be emailing that day. Well Uruguay is crazy excited about the world cup. They did not expect to do so well. The day of the game it was like being in a ghost town and we got nothing done. Finally we went over to the house of Hermano De Los Santos who is a really cool convert and we ended up watching some of the game with him. It was a super good game too. And All of the houses erupt everytime a goal is made, so imagine what it was like when they went to penalty kicks. After the game was over we were walking on the streets and we ran into Martin Conti who is a young married guy and usually pretty business like but I though he was going to cry he was so flabbergasted and he was all sweaty and just kept saying angels must have helped us. It was hilarious but really no good for missionary work. I was not feeling well either so we ended up just going back to the house and I laid down. I have been kind of sick this week. That day I had a fever and then I couldn´t really sleep all night, I was super hot and was having chills and my head hurt worse than it ever has before. I did sleep at first but then I woke up at 1:00 and my had was just killing me and my face was burning up. I got up to get some water to drink and then I just sat and sipped it for a while. I was having nausea too and I even went and got a bowl to keep by my bed but never did throw up. I am mostly better but I have a sore throat and stuffy nose. I haven´t really felt like eating either, so actually really haven´t been eating today which is kind of weird for me. But I think I will be fine in another day or two.
Yesterday for the fourth of july we wore red white and blue and as we walked in the streets we would sing patriotic songs and we even recited the pledge of allegience. It was funny and also kind of sad because we really didn´t do anything fun to celebrate, but we kept the patriotic spirit igual. Oh! and our lunch appointment fell through which isn´t normally a huge deal because we can just buy something instead, but it was sunday. Luckily though, my awesome aunts had sent me some macaroni grill pasta mix that we threw together and made a really good lunch. Thank you again!
Yesterday we had a really good lesson with Elisabeth. I don´t know if I have told you about her but she is a miracle for sure. One day we left church to go find someone that hadn´t come, we never did find them but when we were coming back into the church there was a lady going in at the same time and we didn´t recognize her. We started to talk and it turns out she is a member and was going for a long time and her son even served a mission but then she stopped going but wants to come back. So she even invited us over for lunch. When we went during the week her sister Elisabeth happened to be visiting from Paysandu. She has been praying and searching to find the right church. She has gone to many but feels that none of them have the truth. She also had a lot of questions that we were able to answer and she finally understood things that she had not been able to understand. She is so awesome and it is a miracle how we found her. We stopped by them on Saturday night and they were having a party for Vilma (the sister who is a member) and her husband´s anniversary. They gave us cake and empanadas but we didn´t have a lot of time so when we started to say we needed to go Elisabeth was like, oh no don´t go, stay! It was so cute! and they just worry so much about us and for some reason seem to think I am like a little helpless child dependent on my companion and so they are really worried about me for when hna Salisbury leaves, they said I should come stay with them to wait for me new companion! They are so funny. But yesterday we had to teach her the ten commandments so we were reading them in mosiah 13 and when we go to the one that says thou shalt not steal we were going to include tithing and so hna salisbury asked, how do we rob God? And without a seconds hesitation Elisabeth said, in tithes and offerings but I paid my tithing to the bishop today! WHAT!! It was only her second time at church, we hadn´t even taught her tithing and she already paid it!!!! What does Heavenly Father need ME here for? These people teach themselves! She has also read almost all of 1 nephi and when we got there she was reading teachings of the prophets. She lives in Paysandu but in the outskirts because her husband has some sort of blueberry plantation, but it is closer for them to come to Salto then to get the the city part of Paysandu so they come here on a bus every week and Elisabeth wants us to come to her house some day and we really want to go but we are going to have to get special permission. She and Vilma are now planning a goodbye party for Hna Salisbury too. THey are easily some of my favorite people we have met. I can´t wait for her baptism on the 16th. Also they have an almacen so they sometimes give us cookie packages or other treats. DREAM investigator.
Last pday I made a white cake with vanilla frosting and put strawberries on top and it we shared it with Miriam and Javier. I must say it was DELICIOUS. We also put half of it in another pan and I made chocolate frosting and we took that to a Noche de Hogar (fhe) with the familia De los Santos, they really liked it and they were baptized when hna Flores was here, so you know they are awesome.
Anyways, so it has been a busy week but actually kind of a tough one. We did divisions three times which probably absolutley my least favorite thing to do and then being sick was no fun, plus when I´m sick all I want to do is just be home and so I sat up all night thinking about home and how mom baby´s me when I´m sick and I was really missing some good old motherly tlc. I know you have said that 4 months seems to have gone by really fast but honestly to me it is crawling and I still have 14 months left...ugh. But I am trying to count my blessings because we are having success and I have a great companion so I really shouldn´t complain. Tomorrow we have district so I will look forward to getting your letters, Jennie send an email to the mission email and tell me about your 4th and birthdays! And on Wednesday we have conference with the new president. So next week I should have a lot to tell you too. I´m out of time though, so bye for now, I love you
Love Jessica
(*Note - the first few photos were stolen from Hermana Salisbury's blog)
Monday, June 28, 2010
Baptisms and such
Hello family! It has been a long and busy week. We had baptisms on Friday for miriam and javier and fernando and a little girl who was a ward baptism. It all went really well and the spirit in the baptism was really strong so we feel really good about it and feel like wse had three really good, solid baptisms and they have been fellowshipped so well so we know they are in good hands.
Last week I on Thursday we got woken up during the night by some loud banging noises. It sounded like our gate was being clanged like someone was shaking it or something. I woke up first at 4:30 to it and I woke up hna salisbury because it really scared me but she was pretty out of it. Then we both woke up to it again at 5:30 and we knew there was something going on, but we just stayed hidden under our covers. Then the next day we found out that our neigbors had been robbed two grafas (the stove things). So I guess we had heard them jumping our gate to get over to the neighbors house. Don´t worry though we have a barred gate right on our door too with three locks. We are safe!
RENITA AND JUDY!!! I got your package this week! Holy smokes, cornbread, MINT oreos, craisins, chocolate chip cookies, and more! Thank you so much! We have been enjoying it very much but I am trying to hold of on the oreos so that I don´t completely ruin our diet goal for this change. But come next change I am going to scarf them down! In the mean time we made the cornbread and it was super good and easy. We only had to add water! That is really nice as a missionary and you really don´t have time or money to go to a lot of extensive cooking. Also, last pday we did make a chocolate cake with rainbow chip frosting and we ate it all ourselves! Delicious.
This week we did divisions. We are suppossed to do them twice a week but we never do because we don´t have a lot of people in our ward that will go with us. But we got some girls from another ward to come with us and they were really excited to do it and want to come back and do it again. I have to admit though I really hate doing divisions. It is just really hard for me because it forces me to be the senior companion and do everything and I still feel like I have no idea what I´m doing. It went fine though but I still didn´t really like it.
While I am thinking about it, the whatever week the 8th of July is in, I will probably not email on that monday, i will email on the 8th, it think. do you remember me saying anything about the familia Galvan from Artigas? Well they were Hna Salisbury´s converts so on the 8th we get to go to the temple with them to see their SEALING!! We are super excited about that but we have to make that our pday so it might mess up email that week and also our sector conference this change is on the 6th I think. So email might not be quite as regular but I will still get one to you each week, just don´t get worried if it doesn´t come on Monday.
On Saturday Uruguay beat Korea in the World Cup, didn´t see the game but all of the sudden all of the houses erupted and there were sounds of fireworks or guns, and people came running out of their houses with flags and jumped on their motos with their flags and all sorts of craziness was going on. I just don´t want to know what happens when they lose!
I tried to get some pictures attached to this email but for some reason it was not working today, so I will try to send another one after this, otherwise you´ll have to wait till next week. But I´m out of time so I gotta finish up. Thank you again for the packages, oh and mom I don´t think I did ever get the second one with knee highs and granola bars, but maybe it will still come. But thank you so much, I love you all and I really miss you! Keep up the letters and emails, I love hearing from you! Dad I haven´t heard from you for a while...But I´ll try and get some letters off to you tomorrow!
Love, Jessica
Last week I on Thursday we got woken up during the night by some loud banging noises. It sounded like our gate was being clanged like someone was shaking it or something. I woke up first at 4:30 to it and I woke up hna salisbury because it really scared me but she was pretty out of it. Then we both woke up to it again at 5:30 and we knew there was something going on, but we just stayed hidden under our covers. Then the next day we found out that our neigbors had been robbed two grafas (the stove things). So I guess we had heard them jumping our gate to get over to the neighbors house. Don´t worry though we have a barred gate right on our door too with three locks. We are safe!
RENITA AND JUDY!!! I got your package this week! Holy smokes, cornbread, MINT oreos, craisins, chocolate chip cookies, and more! Thank you so much! We have been enjoying it very much but I am trying to hold of on the oreos so that I don´t completely ruin our diet goal for this change. But come next change I am going to scarf them down! In the mean time we made the cornbread and it was super good and easy. We only had to add water! That is really nice as a missionary and you really don´t have time or money to go to a lot of extensive cooking. Also, last pday we did make a chocolate cake with rainbow chip frosting and we ate it all ourselves! Delicious.
This week we did divisions. We are suppossed to do them twice a week but we never do because we don´t have a lot of people in our ward that will go with us. But we got some girls from another ward to come with us and they were really excited to do it and want to come back and do it again. I have to admit though I really hate doing divisions. It is just really hard for me because it forces me to be the senior companion and do everything and I still feel like I have no idea what I´m doing. It went fine though but I still didn´t really like it.
While I am thinking about it, the whatever week the 8th of July is in, I will probably not email on that monday, i will email on the 8th, it think. do you remember me saying anything about the familia Galvan from Artigas? Well they were Hna Salisbury´s converts so on the 8th we get to go to the temple with them to see their SEALING!! We are super excited about that but we have to make that our pday so it might mess up email that week and also our sector conference this change is on the 6th I think. So email might not be quite as regular but I will still get one to you each week, just don´t get worried if it doesn´t come on Monday.
On Saturday Uruguay beat Korea in the World Cup, didn´t see the game but all of the sudden all of the houses erupted and there were sounds of fireworks or guns, and people came running out of their houses with flags and jumped on their motos with their flags and all sorts of craziness was going on. I just don´t want to know what happens when they lose!
I tried to get some pictures attached to this email but for some reason it was not working today, so I will try to send another one after this, otherwise you´ll have to wait till next week. But I´m out of time so I gotta finish up. Thank you again for the packages, oh and mom I don´t think I did ever get the second one with knee highs and granola bars, but maybe it will still come. But thank you so much, I love you all and I really miss you! Keep up the letters and emails, I love hearing from you! Dad I haven´t heard from you for a while...But I´ll try and get some letters off to you tomorrow!
Love, Jessica
Monday, June 21, 2010
Holy PACKAGE
Hi mom and everyone! Mom, last week I got your cake-pan package! WHOA BABY! Twix, reeses, cakes, soups, RAINBOW CHIP FROSTING and more!! THank you so so much it was awesome! And really you don´t need to send a package this week unless you really want to, but of course I will be thrilled to get one if you do. Whatever you send I´m sure will be fabulous be if you want some ideas, craft stuff is always good. Like stickers, paper, markers etc. We make a lot of stuff like that for members and to make bday cards and stuff. Speaking of birthday cards I sent one to Paul but I accidently wrote happy 30th birthday instead of 29 and I am really embarrassed, sorry. also I made one for renita but it will be getting there late because I left it at the house last week so I couldnt send it and won´t be able to until thursday. I will also be sending bday cards to ryan and jennie so you can watch for those.
Sorry i didn´t email yesterday, I had forgotten to tell you that this week is changes so pday gets moved to tuesday so those who change will travel on that day. Hna Salisbury and i are staying here together! Yay! It will be her last change so I will ¨kill her¨as the mission saying goes.
I think Uruguay is playing in the World Cup today because there are some really excited people in here watching soccer and they just erupted a second ago and it is a little difficult to concentrate.
Well the conference. It was so great. I got to see hna crofts and smith and talked to them a lot and we got to pretty much just hang out at the church the whole day. The conference was really good too, it was the last one for our mission president, the new one will be coming in soon. For lunch they had some ice cream place come to the church and give out big ice cream waffle cones to all of us, it was super yummy. I think that hna crofts and hna smith have each had some normal missionary hardships this last change and it was nice for us all to be able to talk about things and listen to one another. Really good conference.
We have our baptism program this friday and we are excited about that. We have some really cool investigators that will be getting baptized. One of them is a man named fernando. He and his wife were taking the discussions but she hasnt been able to be there the last several times. We found out last night that there is another man and she is deciding whether of not she wants to stay with her husband. As he explained all of this to us he was so calm and peaceful and not even a little bit bitter. He said that he still loves her and that the gospel has given him so much strength to deal with this trial and he wants to continue with it whether she does or not. His faith is so impressive and it is really humbling to be teaching him.
Today being our last pday in this change we are going to make a chocolate cake with rainbowchip frosting and eat the whole thing ourselves!! And then next change we are giving up all sweet treats so that hna salisbury can go home skinny. Haha we´ll see how that goes.
Amy I just skimmed a little bit through your email. DARK HAIR?! Ahh, pictures puh-lease. What else is going on with everyone? Everyone doing good? Happy Father´s day to dad and Grandpa! I love you and I am out of time but I hope you like the pictures and I will send another email to attach more.
Love, Jessica
Sorry i didn´t email yesterday, I had forgotten to tell you that this week is changes so pday gets moved to tuesday so those who change will travel on that day. Hna Salisbury and i are staying here together! Yay! It will be her last change so I will ¨kill her¨as the mission saying goes.
I think Uruguay is playing in the World Cup today because there are some really excited people in here watching soccer and they just erupted a second ago and it is a little difficult to concentrate.
Well the conference. It was so great. I got to see hna crofts and smith and talked to them a lot and we got to pretty much just hang out at the church the whole day. The conference was really good too, it was the last one for our mission president, the new one will be coming in soon. For lunch they had some ice cream place come to the church and give out big ice cream waffle cones to all of us, it was super yummy. I think that hna crofts and hna smith have each had some normal missionary hardships this last change and it was nice for us all to be able to talk about things and listen to one another. Really good conference.
We have our baptism program this friday and we are excited about that. We have some really cool investigators that will be getting baptized. One of them is a man named fernando. He and his wife were taking the discussions but she hasnt been able to be there the last several times. We found out last night that there is another man and she is deciding whether of not she wants to stay with her husband. As he explained all of this to us he was so calm and peaceful and not even a little bit bitter. He said that he still loves her and that the gospel has given him so much strength to deal with this trial and he wants to continue with it whether she does or not. His faith is so impressive and it is really humbling to be teaching him.
Today being our last pday in this change we are going to make a chocolate cake with rainbowchip frosting and eat the whole thing ourselves!! And then next change we are giving up all sweet treats so that hna salisbury can go home skinny. Haha we´ll see how that goes.
Amy I just skimmed a little bit through your email. DARK HAIR?! Ahh, pictures puh-lease. What else is going on with everyone? Everyone doing good? Happy Father´s day to dad and Grandpa! I love you and I am out of time but I hope you like the pictures and I will send another email to attach more.
Love, Jessica
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Another Week
Hello hello, thanks for your email mom! Also last week I just printed it the other off at the cyber to read and I´m glad I did because for some reason it didn´t come through from the mission one, so just always make sure that you put my name in the subject line. Same with Amy´s it didn´t come through, so I am going to print it today.
Thanks amy and jennie for getting the pictures sent. I don´t think I really told you why, but I just have seen other missionaries pull out there pictures as time fillers with investigators sometimes and the people always really like it and it helps them get to know you better and see more where you are from. So anything that you think would be good for that will work, but I do think that Mexico and San Francisco pics would be interesting to people so I would like some of those for sure. And mom that cake pan idea is SO GOOD! I am really excited about that. In my letter last week I did put a few ideas of things that you might stick in packages in the future, but nothing big or very important and just to give you an idea of what things I could use for your information. OH! but one thing that i do need to ask you about is contact solution. Here a bottle of contact solution is like $35. So I don´t know if you would be able send me some, if you even can send liquids or what. Maybe you could check into that though, or maybe I will just have to start wearing glasses a lot more. I do still have about a bottle and a half, but I don´t know what I will do after that runs out which won´t be for a while, but I just thought I would give you the heads up.
Things here are going well as far as missionary work goes. I think we will be having some baptisms on the 25th for a couple named Miriam and Javier. They have several children and have come to church twice and are really strong investigators and keep saying that they are getting ready for the 25th, so they seem pretty excited about it. Javier is a really big guy and we call him pica-piedra, or flinstone because he looks like fred flinstone. He is really funny too and for while we weren´t sure if he was even taking us seriously because he always making jokes, but the gospel is really changing him, it is amazing. I really respect him to, his first wife died and left him with two kids and I think he went through a really hard time and really had to open himself up to receive our message. He said he had talked to other missionaries but didnt want to really get into it but with time decided if he had another chance he would really start to listen. Then we came along! As the saying goes, the Lord really does prepare people.
This week we had interviews with the President. It went good and I think they are sad to be leaving but also ready. We half a sector conference this wednesday in Paysandu and that will probably be the last time we see him. I´m really excited for the conference because i will get to see Hermana Crofts AND Hermana Smith. And her birthday is the 19th so I´m going to make her a card and stuff.
How is Sally doing? I haven´t heard much about her lately. It is really weird here because I don´t really like dogs in Uruguay. They always bark at us and run at us like they are going to attack us, I told you how one bit me once. And everytime we knock on houses they just go nuts and bark like crazy. What´s weird though is that people ask us sometimes if we like dogs and you know what my normal response is to that, but here I don´t really like them.
This last week I have been studying in the Pearl of Great Price. It is so awesome. I feel like I have learned so much already just from the hour of study time we get every morning. I read the scriptures before but I really feel like I am rediscovering them now. Personal study is one of my favorite things that we do as missionaries. One thing I thought was really cool was in Moses it talks about how Adam was baptized. Maybe I´m ignorant but I didn´t even know that the scriptures gave an account of his baptism. Amazing. Also Hna Salisbury and I have been reading the Liahona together. Did you read the talk by Elder Bednar about second life and stuff? I remember hearing it when he gave it. Its really interesting.
The world cup started this week so people here are glued to their television sets whenever Uruguay plays. Also we hear the World Cup theme song all the time. Have you heard it? Oh oh whoa oh oh, when I get older I will be stronger, oh oh whoah oh oh! It is getting pretty old.
I didn´t tell you this last week but when I opened my email I was shocked to find an email from Elier! Do you remember who that is? That kid I told you about from Mexico? He is on his mission in some other part of Mexico and I have no idea how he got my email address or anything. It was a pretty normal email though just saying hi, but i didn´t write him back. I thought it was pretty funny though that he emailed me. I´ll copy and paste it and you can have Paul translate it.
que tal hermana casebolt como esta?? espero y me recuerde soy Elier Gamboa el amigo que siempre estaba con Helaman cuando tuviste tu visita en Merida bueno espero y si te acuerdes, que tal como le va en la mision hermana ami la verdad muy bien lo estoy disfrutando grandemente y sabe me siento feliz de servirle al señor, yo estoy en la mision mexico oeste bueno dentro un mes va a ser la noroeste por que se divide mi mision pero aqui estamos, mi area actual es una que esta cerca del benemerito de las americas, es una escuela muy grande en mexico de la iglesia, ya tengo 5 meses aqui jaja se pasa el tiempo muy rapido no lo cree?? bueno hermana cuidese mucho y espero que podamos estar en contacto va?? nos vemos y exito
I´m glad that you were able to find Hna Salisbury´s blog and that her family found mine. Salisbury family, if you are reading this, your daughter/sister is sooooo wonderful! She is a great missionary and a great person and I´m so lucky to be with her! You have a lot to be proud of.
Well time is up so I´m gonna end now, but I love you all so much! Say hi to the ward for me and everyone and Thomas. Also, can you send me Sharon´s address? Thanks. Ok well i will talk to you on monday.
LOVE, Jessica
Thanks amy and jennie for getting the pictures sent. I don´t think I really told you why, but I just have seen other missionaries pull out there pictures as time fillers with investigators sometimes and the people always really like it and it helps them get to know you better and see more where you are from. So anything that you think would be good for that will work, but I do think that Mexico and San Francisco pics would be interesting to people so I would like some of those for sure. And mom that cake pan idea is SO GOOD! I am really excited about that. In my letter last week I did put a few ideas of things that you might stick in packages in the future, but nothing big or very important and just to give you an idea of what things I could use for your information. OH! but one thing that i do need to ask you about is contact solution. Here a bottle of contact solution is like $35. So I don´t know if you would be able send me some, if you even can send liquids or what. Maybe you could check into that though, or maybe I will just have to start wearing glasses a lot more. I do still have about a bottle and a half, but I don´t know what I will do after that runs out which won´t be for a while, but I just thought I would give you the heads up.
Things here are going well as far as missionary work goes. I think we will be having some baptisms on the 25th for a couple named Miriam and Javier. They have several children and have come to church twice and are really strong investigators and keep saying that they are getting ready for the 25th, so they seem pretty excited about it. Javier is a really big guy and we call him pica-piedra, or flinstone because he looks like fred flinstone. He is really funny too and for while we weren´t sure if he was even taking us seriously because he always making jokes, but the gospel is really changing him, it is amazing. I really respect him to, his first wife died and left him with two kids and I think he went through a really hard time and really had to open himself up to receive our message. He said he had talked to other missionaries but didnt want to really get into it but with time decided if he had another chance he would really start to listen. Then we came along! As the saying goes, the Lord really does prepare people.
This week we had interviews with the President. It went good and I think they are sad to be leaving but also ready. We half a sector conference this wednesday in Paysandu and that will probably be the last time we see him. I´m really excited for the conference because i will get to see Hermana Crofts AND Hermana Smith. And her birthday is the 19th so I´m going to make her a card and stuff.
How is Sally doing? I haven´t heard much about her lately. It is really weird here because I don´t really like dogs in Uruguay. They always bark at us and run at us like they are going to attack us, I told you how one bit me once. And everytime we knock on houses they just go nuts and bark like crazy. What´s weird though is that people ask us sometimes if we like dogs and you know what my normal response is to that, but here I don´t really like them.
This last week I have been studying in the Pearl of Great Price. It is so awesome. I feel like I have learned so much already just from the hour of study time we get every morning. I read the scriptures before but I really feel like I am rediscovering them now. Personal study is one of my favorite things that we do as missionaries. One thing I thought was really cool was in Moses it talks about how Adam was baptized. Maybe I´m ignorant but I didn´t even know that the scriptures gave an account of his baptism. Amazing. Also Hna Salisbury and I have been reading the Liahona together. Did you read the talk by Elder Bednar about second life and stuff? I remember hearing it when he gave it. Its really interesting.
The world cup started this week so people here are glued to their television sets whenever Uruguay plays. Also we hear the World Cup theme song all the time. Have you heard it? Oh oh whoa oh oh, when I get older I will be stronger, oh oh whoah oh oh! It is getting pretty old.
I didn´t tell you this last week but when I opened my email I was shocked to find an email from Elier! Do you remember who that is? That kid I told you about from Mexico? He is on his mission in some other part of Mexico and I have no idea how he got my email address or anything. It was a pretty normal email though just saying hi, but i didn´t write him back. I thought it was pretty funny though that he emailed me. I´ll copy and paste it and you can have Paul translate it.
que tal hermana casebolt como esta?? espero y me recuerde soy Elier Gamboa el amigo que siempre estaba con Helaman cuando tuviste tu visita en Merida bueno espero y si te acuerdes, que tal como le va en la mision hermana ami la verdad muy bien lo estoy disfrutando grandemente y sabe me siento feliz de servirle al señor, yo estoy en la mision mexico oeste bueno dentro un mes va a ser la noroeste por que se divide mi mision pero aqui estamos, mi area actual es una que esta cerca del benemerito de las americas, es una escuela muy grande en mexico de la iglesia, ya tengo 5 meses aqui jaja se pasa el tiempo muy rapido no lo cree?? bueno hermana cuidese mucho y espero que podamos estar en contacto va?? nos vemos y exito
I´m glad that you were able to find Hna Salisbury´s blog and that her family found mine. Salisbury family, if you are reading this, your daughter/sister is sooooo wonderful! She is a great missionary and a great person and I´m so lucky to be with her! You have a lot to be proud of.
Well time is up so I´m gonna end now, but I love you all so much! Say hi to the ward for me and everyone and Thomas. Also, can you send me Sharon´s address? Thanks. Ok well i will talk to you on monday.
LOVE, Jessica
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