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

I Have The Gift of Tongues!

November 19, 2012

Mom I have the gift of tongues! I ate broccoli the other day. And I’m pretty much in love with chicken now. There hasn’t been a day yet that I haven’t had a meal appointment, and we have meal appointments set up for the next pretty much ever in this area. The area is very rural and there are a lot of farms. The downtown area reminds me of like Globe and Miami. The accent out here is weird and the people are a little strange, but they are super nice and I love it here. This past week I’ve felt like I’m going to die. My allergies are so bad out here it’s ridiculous! I’m getting allergy medicine today so hopefully it’ll help. I taught my first real investigator on Saturday! It’s a lady around grandma’s age from Finland. She really loves the gospel and hopefully we will have her committed to baptism by the end of the week!! My area is only one ward so we work closely with the bishop and ward leaders and have been teaching a lot of less actives and a few recent converts. There are no mountains here... at all. Just lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of trees. The roads are super narrow here and it reminds me of driving thru flagstaff.  My trainer is Elder Segundo. He is originally from Brazil, but is from Atlanta. He’s awesome, we are getting along really well and we are thinking we will spend 3 to 4 transfers together. He’s been out 20 months. We have thanksgiving lunch and dinner! This ward loves missionaries! I love it here, and I’m looking forward to serving. We share a car with elders in the area next to us so sometimes we don’t have to bike. But they got in an accident so the car has to be fixed so we will be full time bike for a while. I’m using the debit card today at a bike shop to get the gears and brakes adjusted so it’s not going to kill me or anything. The picture is from the MTC and my district and such. I’ll send NC pictures next week. Oh ya my toe nail fell off. Oh and we got to go thru the Provo Temple twice at the MTC. Love ya, talk to you next week.

Jordan

Email from another missionary mom!

November 13, 2012

I received a sweet email from a missionary mom that lives in Raleigh, NC.

Hi Kerri,
   I'm a member of the Missionary Moms e-mail group (my son is serving in Colorado Springs, but I joined the local group where I live here in Raleigh, too).   Your e-mail yesterday saying that your son had left the MTC and was on the way to Raleigh was so sweet and reminded me of just how I felt the day my son left the MTC for Colorado Springs last March.

   Today, I happened to be in the Raleigh stake center while the missionary transfer meeting was going on.  I slipped in and sat quietly in the back and I got to hear where all of the missionaries are being transferred, but the list was so long I can't remember everything I heard!   But, I do remember where they said your son is going, and after the meeting I even got to meet your sweet missionary!   He is being assigned to Goldsboro, and is on his way there right now.

   I really enjoyed meeting him, and I happened to have my camera with me, so I snapped a picture to send to you later today.   I'm on my way out and it may be late tonight before I have time to do it ( and, I'm slow on the computer ), but I promise that before I go to bed tonight I will send you a picture of your son here in Raleigh today!

   I'm not sure when you'll get to hear from him, but they may let the missionaries send e-mails home today.  If not, maybe tomorrow.   But, you'll definitely get to hear from him on his regular P- Day, on Monday!  Until then, know that he is well and happy, and you'll get to see that for yourself as soon as I get the time to e-mail the photo to you!  

        ...  Susan Evans

In Less Than A Week I Guess I'm A Real Missionary

November 7, 2012

 I leave Monday for North Carolina. My flight is at 7:20am so I have to wake up crazy early again. We fly to Atlanta, switch planes and fly to Raleigh. So in less than a week I guess I’m a real missionary. The other day my companion and I were teaching a role play lesson and everything just clicked and we taught so unified and the spirit was so strong, that was the first time I’ve truly felt like a missionary. There is an elder Buckner, Wheatly, Draper, Weatherston, Johnson, and Mendez-Nelson. I’m learning a lot and I really feel like I have grown over these past two weeks, both spiritually and in maturity. My toe nail is going to fall off. I’m betting it will be off before I leave the MTC. I’ll mail it home so you can have it. And I’ll update you with pictures so you can see it heal. Ya my companion knows that elder, I guess he said he knew me like the day we got here and he found out that I was Elder Dewey’s companion. I’m trying new foods, and I’ve liked most of them. There has been something to eat at every meal so I haven’t starved yet. I’ve tried milk a little and it hasn’t done anything yet, I think I was just stressed and nervous. It’s not too cold, it’s actually really nice. The leaves actually change colors here it’s weird. But I feel like I’ve learned so much here. It is very humbling for me, because I’m usually really good at things, but I am not a very good teacher. I’ve realized that this isn’t about me. This isn’t my mission. It’s about the investigators and this is the Lord’s mission. I have felt the spirit here every day and I have seen God bless my life in extraordinary ways. There hasn’t been a day where I haven’t received some kind of personal revelation. It’s awesome. I’m getting used to teaching but it’s still a little hard, but practice makes perfect. Could you get me a CTR ring? The have cool ones at Deseret book. Get a size 11. Try and find a nice sliver one that is unique looking. If you can’t decide take pictures and I’ll help you choose. Thank you. Well I love you all talk to you soon. I’ll call you around 5:30 am or 6:00am on Monday. I bought a phone card already so I’m all set. I’ll call your cellphone mom.

Jordan