May 21, 2012

Things are pretty crazy here but I love it so much! This past week has been interesting we had L Tom Perry come and speak to us and it was so incredible! It is crazy being able to hear from apostles on a regular basis! Loco! I am going to apologize now if my spelling is terrible because I am hurrying and I am forgetting how to spell in English so this is a problem! The Spanish is coming a lot faster than I thought!  I am learning so much and I love it! I love being a missionary! It is a lot of fun! I get along with my companion well and I have made some awesome friends in my district! Their definitely are some Elders that I will be friends with after! It is crazy I have been gone for over a month and I leave the country 4 weeks from today which is exciting and nerve racking at the same time! It is awesome being a missionary in the MTC but I cant wait to get out into the field and actually have real investigators that need the gospel! I cant wait to have real experiences and I want to help the people so bad! I just got back from the temple this morning and I am so grateful to be a member of this church because we have temples that seal our families for eternities!  I am so grateful for temples! We had the Temple President from the Provo temple speak with us last night and it was incredible! It was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have had since I have been here it really touched my heart.

May 14, 2012

Things are going so awesome.  It is pretty crazy with everything going on.  Last Tuesday D Todd Christofferson came and spoke and it was incredible.  It was just like a giant family scripture study; he asked for input - it was amazing!  It was definitely one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had here.  The Spanish is coming along.  I have definitely been blessed and I am picking it up really well.  I have an awesome zone!  I get along with basically everyone and we have a lot of fun!  It is so hard to study all that I want and all that I need to for my "investigators"!  It is insane!  I love the work so much!

May 7, 2012

The food is eatable! I am used to eating nice home cooked meals that are always delicious here the food is questionable at times so it kind of sucks but that is ok! I wont turn down food! The spanish is coming  I have learned so much spanish just in the time I have been here! I am definitely seeing the hand in the lord in my life so it is crazy! I love it! I love being a missionary there is no other place I would rather be! Missionary work is incredible! it is crazy being so busy all the time but I love it a lot!
I loved the missionary newsletter! That was awesome to see about everyone! Crazy! All these kids here get a laugh when I talk about Morgan and how I lived with a bunch of Mormons! They laugh it is kind of funny! Life is good just crazy busy! I love it though! The days go by pretty fast which is nice!
All the devotionals have been awesome!  I love being busy here! it is great! The spirit is incredible!  One thing I have realized here that I am learning a lot is that my talk about love wasn't a coincidence! I am realizing everything in missionary work and life is based on love! If you love the people around you then the spirit is there and life is better! I love missionary work and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else!

April 30, 2012

This past week has been super awesome! We have had awesome firesides every time that we have had them! Russell M Nelson came and spoke to us last Tuesday and it was amazing! He is an amazing apostle of God! The spirit is amazing! The spanish is coming slowly but surely! I am having a blast!  I love getting packages and goodies! A quote from yesterday from our Fireside that I loved! ""If you stay happy you will have the right kind of fun, if you have the right kind of fun you will be good, If you be good you will do good!"" I thought that was awesome and that I should share that with you! Yesterday was awesome though! After the fireside we had what is called Hasta Ver which is from the song god be with you till we meet again in spanish! It was basically just a goodbye party for our zone leaders and their district! We got new Zone Leaders and it is Kade Dearden'''s Cousing Elder Zemcik I think that is how you spell it and Elder Newman the kid I wrestled my freshman year! It is crazy I have almost been here for two weeks the time is flying and I am having fun! I am still getting along well with my companion and my district for the most part!

April 23, 2012

Looks like my P-Day is actually going to be on Mondays now. We got here and had one schedule and then yesterday everything changed. It is so awesome here nd the spirit is so powerful. My companion and I get along really well and we have a lot of fun. Our district is pretty good too. I get along with everyone in it. I have seen a couple missionaries here from Morgan. It was really good to see Zaine here and have a familiar face to see. It is crazy how much seeing a familiar face was so uplifting. Spanish is hard but I will just keep working my hardest and it will come eventually. I probably should have done more spanish studying at home so when I got here I could actually understand a little bit. I am learning more and more each day though so that is good. I love being here in the MTC it is great. It is for sure there is no place that I would rather be than here in the MTC. I know for sure now why I was called to serve a mission speaking Spanish. I know if the Lord would have sent me somewhere English Speaking that the MTC would have been more of a breeze for me. The spanish is making me stretch and work harder than I ever have had to before. It is crazy. THings are good though. My companion is Elder Steenhoek. He is from Texas. There is a kid in my zone from Bear RIver his name is Elder Newman. We found out the other day that we wrestled each other our Freshman year. Small world. It is crazy how small the word is and how I keep running into people that I share something or someone in common with. I am so grateful to be here and to be learning so much.

April 22,2012

Things are awesome.  I love it here at the MTC.  Spanish is a challenge for me but I will figure it out.  I am so fired up about serving the Lord.  My companion is from Texas and he is awesome.  I feel comfortable with the gospel but spanish is kicking my butt.  The Elders in my district are crazy but they are all awesome.  Our Branch Presidency is awesome; they are all really nice and Old.

MTC Drop-off

The big day was finally here - April 18, 2012 - and time to report to the Mission Training Center for the next nine weeks.  When you get to the MTC you just drop at the curb and there really isn't time for a lot of pictures so we stopped at the Provo Temple to get a few pictures.

 Jenni, Jackson, Mom and Dad

 Jackson, Mom and Dad

Jackson

 Jackson and Jenni

 Jackson contemplating this adventure

 We arrived at the MTC, unloaded the luggage and then it was a quick good-bye, first with Mom . .

 then Dad . . .

 and he is off . . .

with no looking back.