HUNK OF A LETTER

YOU DIDN`T GET THIS HUNK OF A LETTER?!?!  How bout now?

Hey mom! How´s it goin?  I´m alive.  Um, no, the new debit card doesn´t work yet.  My old one still does!  I don't know what´s up with it.  It says it´s blocked or I just can´t take money out of it.  I don´t get it.  Maybe you can figure that out?

Great galloping goose I CANNOT believe you´re still alive.  30 degrees below.  That´s terrible.  Poor Branson.  I hope he doesn´t go into shock or just collapse when he gets off the plane.  But seriously, that sounds miserable.  All I´ve heard of my dear Colorado is that there are wildfires during the summer, hurricane wind during the fall and spring, and near antarctic temperatures during the winter. Oh on top of that, there are random shootings. There´s no place like home.  I love the place, I´m grateful that it helped me grow reasonably sane and healthy, but I gotta find somewhere else to live.

Wow Cambria behind the wheel.... whew.  Maybe we can just go on a road trip to Florida and that´s how she can get all her driving hours.  Win win situation no?

That lesson you taught Sunday sounded awesome!  Wow, if they would have been teaching me like that when I was a wee little lad I´d be kickin trash out here in the mission.  Heck, I´d be kickin trash at 12 years old!  It´s awesome.  The youth will be way more prepared to answer random questions at school and also be much better prepared for the mission.  Revelation rocks.

Well this week was good.  We had zone leaders council, we were all called to repentance.  President Ghent left us, as a council, kneel down and pray to find solutions how we´re gonna help the mission be more obedient.  It was good.  There was a good spirit in the meeting.  We made some good solutions and even better, I feel like the other zone leaders are gonna do their part to actually help.   So that was cool.  Then I had to, in turn, call the zone to repentance in the mini zone conference.  Some people talked with President afterwards and now I think the zone in general feels better.  So now Elder Dearden and I are trying to pick them up, have some fun, and build more unity in the zone.  We had an activity today of playing Signs and Judges, Robbers, and Citizens, and eating grilled cheese sandwiches   So that was good!  

Elder Dearden and I have decided to make the zone motto for the rest of the change, "Burn the Boats."  It comes from a supposed story of Hernando Cortez.  The Aztecs were supposedly hard to beat and so Cortez started pumping up his men.  Then, at the end of his speech  he said "Burn the boats!" They all thought, what?  Then he said, "If we go back to Spain we´re gonna go in their boats!"  So they did.  And they won.  Who knows if it´s a true or not.  But we like the idea of burning our own boats (metaphorically) and moving on to the future.  We´ve repented, we´re worthy, now let´s leave the past behind, move forward, and go to work.  Then share that one scripture of Paul in (I don´t know how to spell it!!!) Filosences??  Chapter 3.  Says pretty much move forward.  Hopefully it goes well.

Oh, some crazy man got out of his car this week, and shouted "HEY YOU!"  We thought he was gonna say, "Hello my friend." or something like they always say when they see us in the streets.

Not so.

He started yelling a bunch of profanities in English such as.....well I´´ll give you the idea

"What are you doing here?!  Go back to Utah Mormons!  Go back to the United States!  "#$##$#%&%$&$%"$# and go away!!"

I said, "Be calm!  Be calm!  Hey, be happy!  Life is beautiful!"  In English.  I have no idea why.  Probably because I was in shock.

So I´m no Joseph Smith who can shout " SILENCE YE FIENDS OF THE INFERNAL PIT!!"  but I can at least get the idea of a Bob Marley song across.  Yeah boy.

haha but that´s pretty much it!  I´m doing good.  Living life.  I need to do better this week, work harder.  Be a better example.  Not be so scared to follow the spirit.  So I´ll be praying and trying my best!  I love you guys, I love what you do, and I´ll see ya next week.  Be happy!  

You Might Get Out Before the Devil Even Knows You`re There‏

Well this week sounded like a series of unfortunate events.  Ty`s knee, Broncos lost, Jo Ann`s dad, and the deep freeze.  I`m so sorry.  That`s rough.  Reminds me of something I was gonna write to you guys.

There`s two kind of surprises in life.  Good and bad ones.

Have you ever been a new freshman on a football team?  You`re eager to do SOMETHING you just don`t know what or how to do it.  So you just watch the guy who has the ball and you run after him as he runs towards the sidelines.  You`re gonna get him, you`re sure of it, you`re making the line of attack then... you hear two footsteps and BAM!  You get slammed in the chin (or the ear if I was a little shorter) and the next thing you know you`re looking at a blue/ green vertical horizon and you think you accidentally ran into a wall.  Blind sided.   BAD SURPRISE.

Have you ever got done with a tiring day of school or work and then walk out to the parking lot to find that you left the keys in the locked car or your battery is dead?  BAD SURPRISE.

But on the other side, have you ever shaken a box of cereal and it feels really light, like it`s empty?  Out of hopeless desperation you pour the cereal in a bowl to find that you have just enough for a good bowl of cereal.  GOOD SURPRISE.

Have you ever stressed out about a test only to find that they moved it to another day?  GOOD SURPRISE.

And that`s how my week went too.  A bunch of good and bads.

We went to some member`s house to eat lunch on Tuesday only to find that they weren`t there because that morning they had been trying to deposit money in the bank only to be assaulted!  There were a few shots fired between the robbers and a guard and the husband got hit over the head and passed out and the wife got pieces of a broken window in her eye.  But they didn`t steal the money!!  Bad surprise.  But it shows that there are many things more important than money.

Tuesday night we got home only to find that we had no water.  Bad surprise.  We woke up Wednesday to find a receipt saying that I haven`t paid the water for 2 months so they cut the water.  Woops.  So we payed on Thursday, (Wednesday we showered in the bishop`s house, Thursday we washed ourselves in the church sink) and then we attached the hose of the bishops water tank and carried it up to our bathroom window on the 3rd floor.  Good surprise.  I bathed myself in a cold bucket of water on Friday morning.  Que rico.  Then we waited for an 1 and 20 minutes to get a taxi to take the two new elders to the embassy so that they could go to Mexico.  

But then we found a new investigator and she seems really interested.  Good surprise!  

We had a few problems with some missionaries in the zone.  But we helped them repent.  Bitter sweet surprise.

Some members took Elder Dearden and I to Subway to eat some sandwiches.  It`s been a loooong time since I ate sweet onion chicken teryaki.  Good surprise.

And thus the week has gone on.  It was pretty good overall.  Just some ups and downs but I`m happy enough. 

 I know that none of the stuff I`ve mentioned can compare to the passing away of JoAnn's dad or Ty`s knee.  Tell them I`m sorry.  How`s Kyle doing?  How are they all doing?

That`s awesome that Branson`s back and that he had a great mission.  I`m proud of him.  And you can tell him que estoy bien, dandole!  And that`s about all I can say.

But how`s the family?  Cold?  That`s miserable.  I`m thinking I`ll be living in southern California or maybe down south.  I enjoy Colorado summer but the other three seasons are rough.

Um do you know anything else about the new card?  Tell me if you get this letter.  Help me know what I need to do better and give me a kick in the rear.  I love you guys!  Have a great week!

Where oh Where has Elder Jackson Gone?

We didn't hear from Brett this past week.  Hopefully we will hear what has become of him tomorrow.  It has been a long two weeks.........

Elder Fuzz Head

It´s The End of My World As I Know It‏

Hey mom!  I´m sorry I always write you last.  Next week I promise you´ll be first.  I just don´t have a lot of time.  Only 30 minutes today!  I gotta be in the house at 4.  

It´s New Year´s eve and that means everyone is in the street with music and partying like mad men.  The tradition here is to burn the "año viejo" to simbolize the burning of the old year and burning all the bad that happened.  That also means that the "viudas" are in the street asking for money.  The viudas are men dressed up as woman (sometimes skankily) who just do this a tradition every new year.  WEEEELCOME TO EEEECUADOR!!

But I didn´t really do anything for Christmas, just visit some investigators and ate some turkey.  It was good.  Just chilled in the house and wrote letters and cleaned the house.  Kinda what I´m gonna do today!  So that´ll be fun.  I don´t mind.  I´m a tranquilo little bugger.

But I had a baptism last week.  Luis Jarrin!  He´s a good guy.  I´ll be excited to keep helping him.  

I gotta go!!  Sorry.  I love you.  Tell Dad felicidades and that I said hi.

Thanks!

Hello family!  I´m really sorry I haven´t written any of you for months or sent you any Ecuadorian bananas, but someday I´ll try to.  I just wanted to thank you for your support on my mission.  The Lord´s really blessed me with a great family and I´m thankful for that.  

We´re just lucky I´m not there present with my mom or she´d be making me try to give the money back in the potato chips bag, leaving it on your car seats, or giving it to your small children who know no better. (haha(sorry mom I had to)

But seriously, thank you so much and thank you for all you do for me.  I know the Lord will bless your homes for the faith you have in His work.  And if there´s anything you need from me, just tell me and I´ll do my best!  Tell everyone I said hi!  I love you!

Elder Jackson

Livin on the edge

Naw the volcano is by Ambato and everything, about 2-3 hours away from here.  So no volocanos.....bummer.  All I get as dangers are drunk men and fungus..... Livin on the edge.

What is Cantata??  Hakuna cantata....what a wonderful phrase! Hakuna cantata, drives dad inna craaaazeee

NOOOOOO 26 degrees below zero?!?!  THAT´S IT!  THAT´S THE FINAL STRAW!!!  I´M NEVER LIVIN THERE!!! NEVAAAAH!!!  Ya gotta be crazy to put up with that.  Start looking on the internet for beach houses in Cali, I´m out.

Well I guess we can talk more tomorrow.  11 in the morning, tomorrow.  That´s what we´ll do.  I´ll do a quick call to see if it´s okay with you guys.

Well, see ya tomorrow!  Love ya