Week 3

Jennifer - I got your story about Luke and I LOVE it! I can't wait to see the next installment! It sounds like you are having a blast with the Skankeys in Florida! Boy am I jealous! Disney Quest sounds so fun! I love you so much and I hope that you continue to have a great vacation! what kind of wand did you get? you should tell mom to get me a sweet universal T shirt!

Cameron - Harry Potter World sounds so much fun! But you got a wand?! what kind is it?! But those rides you told me about sound great and "Sheesh Kabob" AHAHAhA that's hilarious! There is an Elder in my district named Elder Walton and he has a little brother who loves the Muppets, so we quote from Muppet treasure island all the time!  I got a pass down from some Elders that left and it was a stick that they called a wand. Guess what they named it!? THE ELDER WAND! GET IT! haha The Atlantis ride sounded awesome and it reminded me that my dorm is a lot like the Hermes tent from Percy Jackson! The elders who only speak German or Japanese are going to Germany or japan and live in the Germany or japan dorms but those that are speaking Spanish go all over the place, so in my dorm is just like the Hermes dorm. I think so anyways

Mom - I'm way impressed that you were able to wake up so early and get your test done! way to go! =] I think Universal is a great reward for it too! Those sound great and the butterbeer sounds delicious! mmm! and way to be brave on all the rides! Isn't going to Orlando a great tradition I started?!?! ;p  Oh yes, i got your package with the razor and also the letter from Grandma, wow it was amazing!  and the razor cuts my getting ready time by a lot! so thanks so much!  I love you so much  and thanks for your daily letters! hopefully I'll be in Spain soon, right when i get my visa i leave, maybe even the day of, they want me out of here, and shoot, I don't mind that at all! again, I love you so much and I wish I had more than 30 minutes to write, I'm seriously power writing right now!

I love all of you so much! and have a great time in Florida, eat a funnel cake for me!

here is my week

I think that every single prayer in the Church includes the following phrase: "Please bless the missionaries and the Prophet".  I can feel those blessing in my life in all that I do here in the CCM.  I have been so blessed while I have been here.

This week has gone by so fast! I've learned so much!  I can now speak in past, present, and future (in-door plumbing, it's gonna be big).  Now I'm working on mastering those tenses and increasing my vocabulary.  It amazes me how easily I pick things up.  I remember in HS having the hardest time with grammar rules but here, we just talk about it and I've basically got it!  This truly is the Lord's work and me learning a langue is his will and is a miracle to me.

This past week I focused on mastering the past tense ( In Spanish there are two ways of doing it)  so Elder Walton and I tell each other stories.  They started as real stories from our childhoods, but the more we told them, the more they sounded like movie plots.  One time Elder Walton was at an opera but he changed into a Phantom and cut the rope that held up the chandelier.(Phantom of the Opera) and one time I was climbing a mountain and I saw a hairy monster and he was crying because he couldn't walk.  So i sang to him (in Spanish) "put one foot in front of the other". (the Kris Kringle Claymation movie)  It is so fun to tell each other stories because we can't say all the things we want to so we sorta act it out as we go and it is just hilarious.

I had a great experience in the TRC this week.  My comp, Elder Geest) and I were teaching a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. Right after I had testified about a specific part in the lesson, I had a thought come to my mind "It's time to talk about baptism" but baptism had nothing to do with what we had just been talking about, but because I testified, i had passed the baton to my comp. so it was his turn to speak.  But then He started talking about baptism! We started spitting out both Spanish and English that we hadn't planned on! I wanted to jump for joy because we had the spirit with us! it was incredible!

This past Monday the elders going to Spain in my district went to the travel office to check on our visas.  They said mine would be here today (Thursday) or Friday so I should have my travel plans real soon! But my comp didn't get his stuff turned in or the FBI didn't do his clearance so they said he would have a minimum of a 3 month wait for his visa, its a real bummer.

D&C says that the lords work will hasten in it's own time and i am so lucky to get to witness it!  On April 26, they are changing the training program so the missionaries are more effective.  I'm actually kinda jealous that I won't get the new training.  They also have some new workout program for missionaries that they said was "Intense" but it was cake.  ( remember, my humility is a 6)  At gym they asked for volunteers for an "intense" new workout so I raised my hand.  It was basically P90X for missionaries.  I am actually in surprisingly good shape.  The gym hour 5 days a week is the only chance to really move around so I work hard in that hour!  I started with 200 sit ups a day and each week I added 100.  So this week I'm supposed to be doing 500 sit ups a day.  again. cake. haha.

The snow on the mountains melted this week so you can see the Giant Y on the face.  It is hard not to look at it and get distracted, but I don't want to end up like Lot's wife and turn to salt, so it hasn't been to big of a temptation.

It is so weird how the days seem to last for eternity but then you blink and its been a week! I wish I had more fun/funny stories to share but all i really do here is study, so I hope what I send was somewhat entertaining/interesting.

Thank you so much for your letters and your support! This is an amazing opportunity and I'm so glad that I am part of the Lord's work.

Paz and gozo, (Peace and Joy)

Jason