The Lord Will Srenghten You in Your Time of Need

December 31, 2012

It was good to talk to you too. I’m glad to hear everyone is doing well! I was surprised when Ryan said he wanted to be a doctor! That’ll be so awesome! Ya it started to get really cold here too, its 29 outside right now!! Yes I got grandmas card, and grandma and grandpas too. I just haven’t sent out Christmas cards still. I like that clock, it looks good. Oh so as soon as I leave you get all the nice stuff? Well this was a weird week. The first couple days were Christmas so the work was slow, then Elder Segundo got sick so we didn’t do much either. We had three lessons though, that I had to teach with an elder from the other ward. I pretty much taught the whole thing because he was shy, that was a growing experience for me! It’s amazing how the lord will strengthen you in your time of need. But other than that it was just a good Christmas, surprisingly I’m not homesick at all. I’m really enjoying the work and the ward and just everything about my mission so far. I can’t believe I’ve already been out for over 2 months!! Well I love you all and I’ll talk to you next week.

Jordan

Another Missionary Miracle!

December 17, 2012

OH yay! I can’t wait to get the package, thank you so much! I sent you a Christmas card today, you’ll laugh. We will just call on Christmas from our cell phone. I don't know if we will get the chance to email next week, but if I do I do. It’s pretty cold.... I miss the desert. It’s been raining the past couple of days, like crazy hard, it’s weird that everything is cold and gray and wet... but I still love it here so don't worry! It hasn't snowed here in 2 years, but everyone keeps hoping for snow. I’m not getting transferred this time so I get Christmas with the most amazing ward! The family that gave me the greenie breakfast invited us over Christmas Morning for breakfast so I’ll have a good Christmas! Tyler is hilarious! That’s so cool that he’s going! I’m gonna miss all the family Christmas stuff, but I shouldn't be homesick in this ward, they all treat us like sons. I’m getting so fat with all the food that I’m eating here, the members feed us every night! I’m not so picky anymore. I’ve eaten salad, apple pie, all kinds of pasta, I never thought I could do it. Another missionary miracle! The work has been a little slow this week every one is out of town or busy with family and I was sick Wednesday and Thursday, I had a 24 hour flu thingy. Three elders in my district had the same thing. I’m better now though. Our one investigator who is the 13 year old has been going to church and to mutual and is loving the ward. We teach her on Friday and plan on inviting her to be baptized. Her less active uncle she is living with has been coming back too! We have been doing lots of less active work and sacrament attendance has really gone up. I love it out here and I love serving the lord! I hope y’all remember what Christmas is all about and really keep this season focused on Christ. Talk you y’all soon!

Jordan

I'm Loving It!

December 10, 2012

Your Jordan is still here, he’s just gotten a little more awesome! Ya that family is super nice, they are the ones we helped do insulation and dry wall for. It’s just my companion and I in our apartment, but our district lives really close. We have two wards in our building and each ward is an area. I am in the Goldsboro 1st ward and the other companionship is Goldsboro 2nd ward. We also have a set of spanish elders that serve in both wards. They open the spanish serving area in Goldsboro the same transfer I came out. Their goal is to make a spanish branch.  The Christmas tree, lights and stockings were just in our closet so we thru it up to be festive. It’s good to hear everyone getting ready to go and serve. Apparently this next transfer is going to be full of missionaries! This is the last week of this transfer. They shortened it because of Christmas. But since I’m being trained, it’s very unlikely for me to be transferred. President gave us permission to get our Christmas package sent to the apartment so they aren’t flooded with packages at the mission home. That Christmas ornament is awesome! Our one investigator who I said had pneumonia, I guess he almost died. He went to get the anesthesia before surgery and something went wrong and he had like a 2% chance of surviving. We haven’t got to teach him yet but he is recovering. Everything is going great out here and I’m loving it! Not much has happened, but hopefully soon big things will happen. Love ya, talk to ya next week.

Jordan

I'm Surprising Myself

December 3, 2012

 This week has been kind of slow. We taught 2 of our 5 investigators this week. The other three were sick. The one that’s grandmas age has health problems and canceled. The older gentleman had shoulder surgery and had complications with the anesthesia and got chemical pneumonia. And his daughter had her tonsils taken out. So not much teaching has happened. We did some more service for people in the ward and helped that less active man finish his deck. I’ve eaten more stuff that will blow your mind, I had chicken pot pie, vegetables and all. Then a family in our ward who is the coolest family invited us over for breakfast. And since I’m a "greenie" they died my entire breakfast green. I ate eggs, grits, sausage, bacon, everything. I’m surprising myself. This ward is awesome, and I’m having a great time.

Jordan

"Greenie" Breakfast

"Christmas in the life of a missionary in Goldsboro NC."

I'm Pretty Much a Celebrity in the Ward Now

November 26, 2012

First off Happy Birthday mom!!! Sorry it’s late... Broccoli was alright, but I have definitely eaten things I never would have back in Az. We had a lunch appointment for Thanksgiving; we just had the normal turkey and junk. I saw the pictures, thank you. I got the Wal-Mart brand zyrtek and I’m fine now. I haven’t had problems this week.  My bike is working good, but we were so busy doing service that we didn’t ride much this week. One day we helped a member move, the next day we helped another member frame and insulate an addition to his house, then the next day we helped a less active member fall trees, cut them up, haul them to his parents’ house, split and stack wood for their fire place, and finally the next day we helped a member build a deck and porch. I’m feeling pretty sore from all of this hard labor. And on top of that we played football with the ward on Thanksgiving so I’m sore. I’m pretty much a celebrity in the ward now. Between how amazing I am at football and my last name, everyone loves me. We eat so much here! We had two dinner appointments last night! The lady we were going to teach canceled cause she was sick. But we have four new investigators. One is the husband of a less active and they both really want us over and love learning. They are feeding us Saturday and we are teaching them too. The other is a niece of a less active who loves reading and loves God, so that’s promising, we teach her Friday. The other two are an older man and his daughter. He is a recovering gambling addict who works with special needs adults and the Special Olympics and things. He is interested in repentance and change and loves hearing our message. I’ll let you know how everything goes. I love being a missionary, I feel so great and I love everything about serving the lord. I’m gonna love these next 2 years! Put more than just mo tab on the iPod. Like the Sheri Call CD’s from your car and stuff like that is approved by president. So any kind of gospely music that talks of God or church or anything I would love. Doesn’t have to be Mormon music, can be Christian as long as there is a good message. Thanks so much. Before my 12 weeks is up with my trainer I will need to buy a GPS. There is no other way to find your way around out here. When I buy it I’ll tell you and you can take from my savings account. I’ll need this all mission and after so it’s a good investment. I’m buying a good one so it’ll last and have good maps. Wal-Mart has one for $100. This won’t be for a while though, just a heads up. Love yall talk to you next week!

Jordan