11/6/13

me and elder ortega at the temple

Goodbye trio
Hola Hola Hola!!!

Thanks so much to everyone for the emails and birthday wishes! Even here in mexico I felt very loved haha. And mom the halloween package and pictures were just perfect! It sounds like everything is going really great there and I always love to hear that!

This week has been a little bit of a downer.  We have hardly had any time to go and work in the area.  The work in the offices has been a little bit crazy, and then we wasted a day so that Elder Powers could say goodbye to people in the area.  His comp arrived last night, so he is off to another area.  It is just Elder Ortega and I now.  Which I am excited about.  It was fun being in a trio, but it was pretty hard to work.  It made lessons hard, as well as comp study and everything.  The only scary part is now all the financial work falls on me ha.  I don't think that Elder Powers taught me everything that I need to know...oh well good thing I am on the Lord's errand and have his guide :) 

cerro de la silla in the morning!

This week we did have the spirit with us though, and it guided us straight to a new investigators house...in a different way than I have ever experienced haha.  We had just finished a lesson with Sergio and were on our way back to the offices but Elder Ortega really had to use the bathroom haha.  He said that there was no way that he could hold it so he just picked a house to knock on the door and ask to use their bathroom.  The guy came out and called us Elders and let us right in.  We were super weirded out haha. So Elder Ortega went to the bathroom and Powers and I started to talk to the guy.  He said that he went to church for five years in Mexico City and Guadalajara.  And that he always loved going to the Temple visitors center to look at the cristo statue.  We were even more shocked when he said that he had never been baptized haha.  He said that he never felt the need, that he new the book of mormon was true and that joseph smith was a prophet.  He even said that every time he drives past the temple here he gets a feeling inside that he can't explain.  But he said he never got his answer about baptism.  We jumped in and started teaching him all about revelation haha...he understood everything and we have another appointment with him tonight! So we are super excited about him! And on the way out he said, "so that's why you're commanded to preach 2x2" hahaha so ya he has read D&C as well.

That is all that I have for this week, hope you enjoy ha!

Elder Jacobsen

me and elder brown at the zone activity

11/1/13

La Paloma
Hola hola hola!!

I officially made it through my first holiday in the mission ha.  And it was definitely something else! The streets of independencia were even scarier than usualy.  We saw more police and heard more sirens than ever before in my life.  We even saw a crime scene being investigated, they were taking photos and fingerprinting and everything.  But nothing was even as close to as scary as costumes that the women decided to wear...or not wear ha...let's just say that I have a new profound respect for modesty! We had to go back early because it was so bad haha.

Aside from Halloween it has been a very good and productive week!! Right now we have three progressing investigators that have all accepted the baptismal invitation, and we are just waiting on them to fill out the paper and get it done.  Right now we have Sergio, Giraldo, and Adriana.  We found them all by direct inspiration, it is so cool to be able to see the hand of God guide you to where you should be and when you should be there.  Sergio is the only one who has been to church, because we only met the other two this week, so Sergio is the only one who can be baptized by the end of this transfer and we are working really hard with him!

We had a super cool experience with Adriana this week.  She is actually a reference from Sergio.  He told us that he had this friend at work that was going through a tough time and that he told her that we would be coming by.  We got to her house and just started talking and getting to know her, and she just started opening right up. Her husband just recently ran off with another girl and left her to take care of the kids, so we was wondering what she did to deserve it.  We decided to start the lesson there with a hymn.  We sung I need the every hour, and by the end of the opening song she was already in tears! We then taught her all about faith in jesus christ, repentence, and baptism.  And we did a great job of teaching together.  It has been a little hard teaching in a trio, but we were all on the same page and following the guide of the spirit.  And then the coolest thing happened...and the height of the spirit in the lesson, when we were talking about baptism...A dove flew in through the window into the house...No joke a real life dove! We had the spirit there in the form of a dove haha!! And it stayed until the lesson was over and then flew out.  I don't think the spirit gets any stronger than that.  We were able to committ her to baptism and now we are just waiting on a date!

hope that all of you have been great! 

Elder Jacobsen

10/25/13

Everyday is the greatest.
Hola hola hola!!

Well another good week down.  And another changed pday ha.  I guess it shifts from friday to saturday quite often here in the offices, but it is supposed to be on friday.  So every week might be a surprise ha!

So right now I'm working in a trio.  And I am not going to lie, it has been a little bit tough.  Elder Powers, the old secratary was supposed to change this monday, but a missionary decieded to go home so all the changes got messed up.  So as of right now it looks like we'll be in a trio for the rest of the change.  The hardest part is that I am the new guy, and the other two have been working together for the past two changes.  They have their ideas of how things should be, and don't really like suggestions.  But I have so many ways that we can improve the way that we are working, so that we are more efficiant and have more success.  I just have to find a way to get them to buy in ha.  They are really good missionaries, but they have the attitude that "it applies to everyone but me." I'm glad that coach hunsaker taught me better than that in all those UVU basketball camps ha.  We need to take every opportunity we have to try to be better and to improve. That is the kind of attitude I am trying to bring here.

Every week here on Monday we have a meeting with all the office missionaries, the assistants, and president and sister swapp.  This week president told us that numbers in the mission are going down, and that they have been the whole year, and that he was thinking about lowering the Goals for the mission.  Everyone seemed to be for sister swapp and I.  They all said that it was too hard to reach the goals and that they had almost never done it. And that just ate at me.  I mean we are in a war right now and from what president said Satan has the upper hand.  We need to do something to change the momentum.  I couldn't help myself, I had to chime in, even being the new one there ha.  I just said that I did not want to lower the goals.  That they were reachable if we really gave it all we could. That we just needed to check ourselves and be better committed.  That Elder Leishman and I had been really close almost every week.  I don't know how the other missionaries took it ha, but President didn't lower the goals :)

So basically I love it out here.  Everyday is just the greatest thing ever.  I hear missionaries everyday complain about how it sucks and they just can't wait for their two years to be up.  I don't get that.  I love everyday, and everyday I want to do better for my savior.  We have a couple investigators that should be coming to church this week, so I will keep you posted!

Love and Miss you all!

Elder Jacobsen

10/19/13

P-day Hike

La Indepe
Hola Hola Hola!!

Well this has been an interesting week to say the least.  I got into the offices on saturday, then the next monday was changes and the new missionaries arrived. So for monday, tuesday, and wednesday we were just shipping missionaries around and giving the capacitations on how the mission works.  I thought it was pretty fun, but it did get a little bit annoying because we couldn't go out to the area.  And then on wednesday the missionaries that are going home came and stayed in our house.  That was kind of a wierd feeling, to see and hear people talk about going home.  

new companion

So I am in a trio right now.  It is me Elder Ortega (he will be my new comp) and then Elder Powers. He is the old secratary that is training me in all the financial stuff.  My new area is Independencia, but everyone calls it La Indepe.  And I thought that my old area was bad ha...this place is nuts! I have officially been in the 2nd and 1st most dangerous areas in the mission now.  I don't know why president has it out for me ;)  But I really like both of my comps.  We have been having a really good time.  Usually the days here we work in the offices until the food at 2, then we are out till 9.  And we still get a lot done in those 7 hours.  Planning has been a little weird with 3 people, especially because the other two know eachother and the area better.  They have had 2 baptisms in the last two changes, so they have done pretty good! But I was really surprised when we did our weekly and daily plans and they didn't set any goals.  They just told me that they never have. So I have already found someway I can help :) We will have la indepe looking like Zion in no time :)

a spider in our house

Today we went and hiked Cerro de la Silla.  It is the mountain that is in like all the pictures of monterrey ha. The one that looks like a saddle a little bit.  And it made our hike in hawaii with the cowleys and farnes look like a cake walk ha.  I went with Elder Powers and Shaw and it took us like 8 hours round trip, and it rained the whole time.  We had looked at the weather all week and it was supposed to be good, but it changed on us.  We got to the top and couldn't see anything but clouds, so it was a little disappointing ha. But it was a lot of fun!

Love you all, thanks for the support!

Elder Jacobsen

10/12/13

We tried some bugs this week

I'm counting pesos. 
Hola hola hola!

Bet you guys weren't expecting to hear from me today ha, but I hope that you are glad either way.  We were doing divisions yesterday when I got a call from President Swapp.  And getting a call from the president is kind of like getting a call from Grandma Dunn ha, you instantly start racking your brains to see if there is something you have done wrong, or if you have forgotten something ha.  But he called and told me that he had a new assignment for me......I'm the new Secreterio de Finaciero! So I'll be working in the offices for the next 6 months most likely.  I'm not to sure how the whole thing works, but I'm super excited about keeping track of everyone´s pesos.  Mostly just because the offices have an air conditioner ha.  I was a little disappointed because I thought I was finally going to end my training and be a real missionary, but now I'm just an office missionary ;)

Our campechana stand

Eduardo is still progressing! We had a pretty fun week with him, he is super funny to teach.  He says that he has received a witness of the book of mormon and of joseph smith, but that he doesn't feel like he needs baptism.  We asked him how he got the answers to his other questions and he told us that it was through prayer.  We were like, "well there you go! have you prayed?" He kind of slumped, and was like nooo....I will do that tonight! So I am super excited about him, but I wont get to see his progress because I got changed :(  We also taught him the word of wisdom, because we knew that he drunk a little.  We committed him to live it and he was like, "yeaahh that is what I have been trying to do since you started teaching me!!" So he has been living the word of wisdom since before we taught it! The biggest roadblock is his inactive family.  They never come to church so he doesn't really see the importance.  It's sad to see that.

Well that is all that I have for you guys this week.  I feel like my letters are getting worse and worse...I hope that you still like them!!

Love, Elder Jacobsen

oh and pday will be friday or saturday now!

me and elder brown

10/7/13

I have family again!

Hola hola hola!

I'm glad that your forgetfulness only lasted one week ;) I got on the email today and there was all of yours waiting as well as one from google saying that the email shut down last week. So all is well ha! 

This week has been a little bit rough.  My companion and I have both been walking around with "la gripa" Mexican for any type of sickness haha.  Which means that all the hermanas in the ward try to feed you their own secret remedies.  So basically we have eaten even more chili and lime this week than usual.  

We had one good investigator last week that we were able to commit to baptism and to come with us to conference, but we went by her house every day during the weekend and she was never there. We weren't sure what was going on, because she seemed really excited about conference and was reading the book of mormon and everything.  Finally we got a hold of one of her neighbors and they told us that she moved ha, just packed up and left without telling anyone.  So needless to say we had to drop her.  We do have a pretty good prospect with a man named Eduardo.  He is the dad in a family where everyone else is members, but he had never read the book of mormon or anything.  We got a chance to talk with him and leave him a book of mormon to read, and we went back the next time and he had read and prayed and said that it was clearly true ha.  So we asked him to be baptized and he said he just didn't feel it yet.  We asked if he had prayed about it and he said no, so we were like well there is your answer! you need to pray about it, and the answer will come just like the book of mormon! So we are just praying that he will receive his answer.  The other problem is that his family is all super negative with him.  Whenever we are in a lesson they say stuff like, "he will never change" or "he can't make it as a member" not sure why they do stuff like that, but I have been close to losing my temper a couple times ha.  

We are hard at work here, but so is the adversary.  We all need to lace up and get in the game.  Conference was such a good oportunity to check our personal progress and then improve! Hope all is well with everyone!

Elder Jacobsen

the sweaty pic is after our basketball game with the bishop after ward council ha.  And then one is of me and mauricio and the playera he gave me haha  

9/30/13

Where is everyone??
Hola hola hola!!

Alright so I guess it was just "don't write elder jacobsen week" ha?  It looks like Eden and Leah are the only ones who care about me ;) It's alright I got your package from Brother Hale and loved all of it! Thanks so much for all the food and thoughts ha.  The cookies are almost gone, and I have already used the new umbrella!  I don't know how much Brother Hale told you about his trip, but I'll try to explain it all.

So he told us to meet him outisde the mayors office on thursday.  So we got there and saw this big official looking group of americans and were a little scared to go and talk to them, because they looked so professional ha, but Brother Hale saw us and gave me a big hug like always.  It was so weird to see him at first!  Then he said that they hadn't had their meeting with the mayor yet, so we would probably just wait outside until they were done.  But you know how Brother Hale does things ha, next thing we knew we were in the Mayors office sitting around this big boardroom table!  We felt so out of place haha, and we are usually the best dressed and best smelling people in a room, but here we could tell how bad we smelt haha.  And everyone had their ipads out and were talking, so we decided to pull out our books of mormon and just set them on the table.  Then one of the mayors assistants got up and came down to start asking us about it.  We were able to teach her all about it, and committed her to read it! It felt so cool  ha.  But we were waiting in that room for the mayor for about 30 minutes.  And she finally came in and basically it was just small talk and her telling us how great the church was.  Then at the end brother hale introduced us and asked if we could get a picture.  Then on the way out I grabbed her and said that we would like to give her a book of mormon.  We started explaining it and teaching her right there.  It was so cool! She opened it up and started reading too, she turned straight to alma 34:37 and just started nodding her head and was like, "this is really true". So ya now the mayor has a book of mormon thanks to Elder Jacobsen and Elder Leishman...and Brother Hale of course :)  Then we went out to eat and got shakes at johnny rockets haha.  It was such a fun 5 hours!

Other stuff that happened...we sang in the ward choir for ward conference ha....it was bad to say the least.  The stake president commented that while the tune wasn't there, the spirit was haha.  BUt it was still fun!

The pictures are the before and after of our food storage ha.  Then one of our new investigators that is repping his Reams grocery store shirt..not sure how he got a hold of that haha.  I will send the one with the mayor in another email

9/23/13

The power went out one day.

Shoulder to the Wheel
Hola hola hola!

Not quite sure what to say in this email.  Not a lot of exciting things this week.  We are still working hard with the ward, we had ward council for the first time this week which was good.  I almost ruined it though ha, because the 2nd consejero came in a little late and sat by me.  He pulled out his phone and showed me the score from the utes game.  I about jumped out of my seat and then sat there with a huge smile on my face for the rest of the meeting ha.  It's weird i'm all the way down here in mexico and byu fans still try to give me crap ha.

We did have a cool experience with a reference this week named Felipe.  We received a text saying that there was a young man that had been reading the book of mormon in our area.  So we immedieately went to find the address.  It was at the top of the mountain, we were like walking through rainforests to get there.  When we got there and knocked on the door (plywood nailed together) a woman came to the door.  We started talking to her and she said that she knew Felipe so I asked if she was his mom ha, turns out that she was his wife.  So turns out that our reference information was a little off, but after apologizing and laughing a little bit we went into their house to teach.  Felipe and Luz and their two little boys are awesome.  He had been reading the book of mormon for about a week so we started to talk about what his thoughts were.  His first question was "where is the chapel?" they already wanted to go to church! So they came this week and had a really good experience.  We have lessons planned with them for throughout this week and hopefully it will turn into something really special.  

I thought mom came to visit haha

We have been carrying a lot more book of mormons with us this week.  We set a goal to have at least five in our backpack and at least one in our hand.  We have been using it to teach and contact people.  What an awesome experience! The best thing is to testify to people of its truthfulness.  They have never seen it before, but you can see in their eyes that they know it is a special book.  I love the book of mormon! Every word and story in it just hits me right in my heart ha.  My testimony has grown so much. 

Well sorry it was short!

con amor

Elder Jacobsen

So the picture with the ipad case is from walmart, and the advertisement on the box is from the utah vs texas a&m game from 2004! I walked past it on saturday because we went to buy a present for a menos activo and I knew what it was right away! i just started freaking out ha! How does that get to mexico?? 

9/16/13

Zone Conference
Hola hola hola

Happy mexican independence day! It is still raining here.  I haven't had dry clothes or shoes in two weeks ha.  But we are still happy and working hard!  The work here is progressing, and it will be moving even faster after the zone conference that we just had. We had a meeting in the morning with  just elders, then one again at night with ward leaders.

So Elder Leishman and I had to get there early and we got to make the metro which was a lot of fun! But I had my interview with Elder Salinas right before the conference started.  We sat down and the whole thing was in spanish.  I was A little nervous at first, but then the words just started flowing out.  He even asked me how long I had been out, because my spanish sounded so good! Which was really good to hear ha.  Then he just asked me questions about stuff that was hard in the mission, and if I had any questions for him.  He said that he was going to use my questions to base his talk.  I asked him how we could better work with the ward.  He got a serious look on his face and said that he was going to answer my question right away, but that he would in the later meeting.  And boy did he answer it! So all the ward leaders were there from the stake. The bishops, counselors, ward mission leaders, and everyone.  Well we just had our bishop because we don't have a word mission leader.  But Elder Salinas gave a 2 hour talk about how the wards have basically left the missionaries out to dry.  And gave them a list of things that is required of every ward member.  He said that Missionary Work is for the members, and that the missionaries are the experts in teaching the gospel.  He said that his message was straight from the first presidency and that missionaris really should just be teaching every hour of the day.  They want the ward members to find, teach with us, and even baptize the converts.  He said that the ward mission leader should fill out the schedule of the week for the missionaries! He also made a big deal about ward councils that we should be having every week.  Our ward is going to have a lot to change, because we don't have a ward mission leader, and we have never had ward council.

The meeting was really cool because it shows how urgent this work is.  The lord is hastening his work for the last time, and we all need to be enlisted.  That is one thing that Elder Salinas said, that missionary work is for the salvation of others, but that our salvation depends on doing the work.  We all need to work!  He aslo said that Missionary work is that same work as that of the father son and holy ghost.  What a great opportunity we all have to take a part in it.

I hope that you are great, all of you! Love and Miss you!

Elder Jacobsen

9/11/13

Rain Rain Go Away
Hola hola hola!

Sorry again for the email delay.  I promise that I don't like it anymore than you guys do.  We always find out about it on sunday night that we are going to change pday.  This week was to go to the temple again which was amazing as always!  But ya maybe they should just change pday to wednesday permanately ha.

Well this week it has rained. And rained. And rained.  We have been soaking wet all day every day.  It's not my favorite thing in the world ha, I really liked it when it was hot and sunny.  One night we were at a menos activos house that lived in a sketchy area.  We felt like we should start heading home.  We looked out at the sky and could tell that it was going to rain, but we felt like we should go anyway.  The second we got out of the house it just started pouring! Like it was raining harder than I have ever seen.  Mom the waterproof bag you got me has really come in handy haha.  But we just getting drenched so we found some cover under an old tarp but it didn't really help.  So me and Elder Leishman looked at eachother and had the same idea...just run for home.  We took off and we were litterally running through rivers in the streets.  Some of the water was like mid shin level.  And then the lighting started...It was soo close to us that it lit up the street we were running on.  And the thunder was so loud it hurt our ears.  Elder Leishman started belting "I hope they call me on a mission" at the top of his lungs haha.  We made it back to the apartment finally and found that it had flooded, but that didn't matter, we were having too much fun!  It's weird how that works here. Something, like the rain, in any other moment would be disheartening, but on the mission it's fun!  I have a new favorite quote, "adversity becomes and adventure in the service of the Lord" M Russel Ballard.  It's so true! 

The adversity here causes you to be more motivated and more creative, and that is exactly what the lord wants from us.  We have been doing everything possible to have success here, but we have'nt had a baptism yet.  So last week we decided to fast.  That very day we found a man that couldn't have been more ready for the gospel! We have also been planning new activities and lessons to share and we have seen the results.  The Lord blesses us when we make the effort! And it causes us to learn and grow.

Next monday is independence day here, so we might have pday on wednesday again, just so you know.  And tomorrow is zone conference! And guess what, there is a 70 coming to speak to us, anndd I'm having an interview with him ha! Not sure why, but the zone leaders told me that I have to be there early to meet with him! So I will let you know how that goes.

One of the pictures is with Mauricio, he is a menos activo that we got to come to stake conference with us! He is awesome!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Jacobsen

9/2/13

La Iglesia
Hola hola hola!

Another week down here in Monterrey.  Actually I just finished my first transfer in Mexico! The time really is flying.  A lot faster here than the Mtc haha.  First off is there some sort of war going on with the US or something? Because everyone here is telling us that it is the start of world war 3 ha.  I'm not sure how accurate the mexican news is, if it is like everything else here than there is probably no truth to it ha.

We had a pretty good week with people at church!  We have been working really hard with the less actives in the word this week.  Because it is one of the mission goals to have at least 15 lessons with both less actives and actives.  We decided to issue a challenge to the less actives that we visit frequently.  We asked them to start reading the book of mormon from the begining and read at least a chapter every day.  Some of them have really done a great job, and the ones who did came to church.  We had four of them that came that hadn't been in like 6 months!  That was good to see them there feeling the spirit again.  It is amazing the power that the book of mormon has.  We went into one house that had been keeping our commitment, and I could feel a change in the spirit of their house just because they had been reading the book of mormon.  I have been promising people like Dad always did to me, "If you read the book of mormon everyday you will never doubt your faith."  It is so true.  The spirit and testimony that come from reading the book of mormon and the other scriptures can't be matched.

We also had Antonio at church.  He came with his youngest son and said that his wife and two other kids went to the market to sell.  So it was kind of bitter sweet ha.  But the little one loved the primary! He got treats and got to draw a picture, so I know that he will tell his brothers that it was fun.  We took antonio to priesthood with us, and the lesson was... alright ha.  They spent the whole hour talking about a new plan to pass the sacrament.  one where the deacon (yes one) hands it off at the end of the row instead of passing to each person individually.  They thought that it was some new idea haha.  They also talked a lot about a seating arrangement that would make it easier for the moms who had little kids to take them out to the bathroom.  So I'm not quite sure what antonio got out of it, but I hope he felt the spirit!

We are still out here working hard to bring salvation to the people of monterrey! Love and miss you all!

con amor,

Elder Jacobsen

A couple pictures for your enjoyment.  I would love to get some in return sometime!  The baseball game takes place here every sunday.  It is quite the show hahaha

8/28/13

MORONI

Hola hola hola!

Sorry againg for not writing on monday this week.  The zone leaders called on sunday night and said that we were doing an activity and that we would have to change pday to today. We went to grutas de garcia.  They were caverns up in the mountain.  It was pretty cool, and i'm going to attatch some pictures of it!

It's been a good hard week of work down here in monterrey.  We focused really hard on setting goals this week and planning.  And it really helped! We were able to meet all of the mission goals except for one...the baptism...we are still looking for that first one, but it will be coming here soon.  We have a great family right now that is so close to being baptized.  I don't know if I have written about them before, but The dad is Antonio, and then there is Veronica, Mark (13) Brandon (10) and Tonio (6).  We have been teaching them for a while and they have followed most of the committments.  The 2 big things for them are not working in the markets on sunday, and they have to get married ha.  But they came to the ward activity friday, and they loved it! So we went by yesterday, and they said that they are for sure coming to church this week! We taught them a lesson on temples and eternal families, and they really loved it.  We challenged them to set a goal for marriage for september 26, and I'm pretty sure that they are going to do it!! They are an awesome family, and one that I have come to care for a ton.

We got to teach a lesson in English this week too! It's a kid named gerald he is 14 and his family just moved from texas.  So he speaks spanish and then english with a really strong texas accent.  We asked him what he wanted us to teach in, and he said english.  It was so much fun! I felt like my vocabulary was multiplied by 1000xs.  I forgot how much easier it is to explain stuff in english ha.  But the lesson went really well too.  We left him the challenge to read and pray and we went back the next time and he had, but he said that he didn't have an answer yet.  We promised him that If he keeps it up he will get an answer.  And he said that when he gets one he will be baptized!

Okay so attatched is a picture of Moroni.  He is an extremely goofy member in our ward.  We got and visit him about twice a week and have found out that he is a dreamer...litterally...he has dreams like every night.  They are super weird and he says that they all symbolize numbers. For example he dreamt of bread, which means jesus, which means the number 33.  And then guess what he does with the number...takes it and buys lottery tickets haha.  We have been working with him to stop, he just doesn't believe that its bad yet, but we will get him.  The last time we went to his house there was this shirtless guy walking around.  We figured that it was a guy doing constuction or something, but then he started putting away moroni's clothes, and doing the dishes.  So it turns out that he got himself a male maid hahah!  When I put it all together I burst out laughing in his house.  I couldn't help it.  Then we got the perfect timed picture after we had him play a hymn for us on his keyboard :) I think you can see the joy on my face haha.

Well thats all I got this week. Of course there is more, but I can't write it.  Hope you all are great!! 

Con amor,

Elder Jacobsen

oh and Go Utes!!!

8/19/13

WORK
Hola hola hola

Missonary work is work. A lot of work.  There are so many people here that need the gospel in their lives, but satan has a grip on a lt of their hearts.  Not a lot has progressed this week with our investigators, but we have still been out in the streets contacting everyone we can to get new ones.  We have also been spending a lot of time trying to get the inactivos and menos activos to come to church.  It always amazes me the excuses they come up with. I don't see how some of the things should stop them from coming to church.  It is hard to help them see that they aren't just hurting the ward by not showing up, they are hurting their eternal salvation.  

This week I have learned that a little more.  Missionary work is about saving peoples souls for eternity.  It is hard to explain to people that that is the level we are talking about, but when you really love the people, you try to do everything you can to help them feel that.  It's amazing how at night I can feel love for my investigators to the point that it hurts when they don't follow commitments.  I pray with all my heart for them, because I know that they need what we can give them.  The best feeling is when you can see the spirit touch someones heart or home for the first time.  The trick is keeping it their after you leave ha.

It is really great to feel the love of the members here as well.  We have a family that lives a street away from our house, The Cabreras.  They have been so awesome to us since we gave them a family night and gained their trust.  Whenever we pass by on our way home at night they invite us in for a drink or a quick snack.  But thats not even the cool part.  The cool part is that you can really feel a difference when you enter their house, and I know that that difference is the spirit.  They are a family that has kept their covenants and has a spirit of love in their home.  It hit me last night when we were eating there that it felt like my house and my friends houses in utah.  And It was because they followed the teaching of Jesus Christ.  

Sorry this email was a little random and hard to follow, but it's all I could come up with haha.

The pictures are from the Centro.  We got to go there today for pday!

Elder Jacobsen

8/14/13

Pablito
Hola!

So first off sorry for not telling you that pday would be on wednesday this week. We got to go to the temple! It was pretty interesting going through in spanish haha.  I thought that there was a chance that I wouldn't make it, but my gringo accent passed!  The temple is extremely beautiful inside and out though.  We get to go once a transfer!

The work here is picking up.  We had three investigators at church this week! Pedro his wife and their two twins (3 years old, and completely insane) and Victor.  Pedro's wife didn't even get to take the sacrament because she had to be in the hall with the kids from the time they walked in.  But she said that she really like how she felt when she could here the talks.  Victor loved it! He is catholic, but he agreed to try it out.  And by the end he was sad that it was over.  He said that he was going straight home to read more of that book that we left him ha.  

It is amazing how the Lord is answering our prayers here.  We pray to have more investigators every day, and we get blessed every day.  We are teaching three families now! We have one family that we have taught almost every lesson to.  They have been awesome in starting to pray and read as a family and keeping all our commitments.  The only one that they have left before baptism is....Marriage! So we are helping them find a judge and everything. Two of our three families aren´t married, so we might have to marry everyone of our investigators ha, but it's just an extra blessing that we get to bring them!

We had an awesome experience with a member of our ward this week.  Everyone calls him Pablito! He is a little handicap, but he absolutely loves the church.  He asked us to come by his house this week, not really knowing what to expect, but it was amazing! He litterally took us and introduced us to everyone one on his street! We met a ton of new referals, and got like three return appointments! If every member would be like Pablito we would never run out of people to teach!

I hope you are all great!! 

Elder Jacobsen

oh and we had some rain one day this week