Monday, November 24, 2014

11/10/14 - My Search for Light


Hey everyone!! This week was very awesome and very rewarding. My whole mission had been a blessing and the most meaningfull experience up to this time in my life. I have tried really hard to do my best and humble myself so that the Lord can use me in his work according to his will. I am not perfect, but the Atonement of Christ and his saving grace has helped me a lot in my earthly life to complete with my process of perfection. JEsus is the Christ. HE lives. That is one of the greatest truths that I know. Now on with the week :D:

Tuesday: I had a division with an Elder named Elder Riboldi, he is super awesome and I learned the importance and the esiness of just getting to know people. He said that in one of his old areas, they put goals to talk with 25 people or more in the street everyday. They said that in one month, they had talked to almost over 700 people. TO me, that is incredible. A lot of time we are afraid to talk to people because we dont know them or we are afraid what they will think of us, but when we see them as our brothers and sisters, which they are, it is a lot easier to talk to them and testify of the truths of the gospel so that they can recieve the gifts and blessing of God that are waiting for them. The division was very uplifting.

Wednesday: I dont remember what happened because I didnt write it down.... Sorry haha. 

Thursday: We had a Capacitación de Zona. That is when the zone gets together and the Zone Leaders give a presentation according to what we learned from the mission president in the Mission Leader Meeting. We watched the general conferance talk by Elder Robbins, when he taught us about which way we face. We cant lower the standards of the Lord to be content with our own disobidience or unwillingness to follow the Lord. We must raise our standards so that they are also the Lords standards. It was an excellent Zone meeting. I learned the importance of repitition and how that helps us be perfect. We go to church every week so that I can be perfect one day, I read the scriptures everyday so that I can be perfected and cleaned, I pray daily and often to strengthen my relationship with the Lrod so that he can change me according to his will, regular temple attendance helps me raise my spirituality and helps me become more in tune with God and his desires. I am trying hard to do that. It is posible to be perfect, it just takes a lot of work, a lot of repition and a lot of perseverance. Through the Atonement I can do it and so can you!!




My Zone

Friday: I had another division with Elder Cisneros. We learned about the importance of sharing the gospel with EVERYONE that we can. The importance of inviting everyone to repent and be baptized. It is the primordial interest of the church, the salvation of souls!! 3 people accepted a baptism date and we are super excited to keep sharing the gospel with all who will hear.

Saturday: We hit a lot of doors. A lot of people didnt recieve us and the appointments that we had all fell because people were not home. IT was an awesome day though. I read in my studies that day of the importance of the Atonement of Christ and how that will strenghten my desires to share the gospel with others!! My desire to share the gospel is high and I am extremely grateful that I can share it in order to help others recieve it and so that I can become more converted and that my testimony can keep growing.

Sunday: 4 people came to church!!! One named Hma. Miñaro, the other Hugo, another Micaela, and the last Julieta. Thay are all aweomse and are progressing a lot. I learend this day the importance of having a strong testimony that is based in the Lord Jesus Christ. Something that I annoted from General Conference is that every leader of the church ends thier talk with a testimony of Jesus Christ. That he lives and that he loves us. I have that testimony, but I know that my testmony can strenghten until the day that I can see him face to face and have that testimony become perfect. I love my Savior and I hope to be like him one day.

I love the mission. Words do not described the feelings that I feel. The love that I feel for all of these people. I am trying to develop a perfect love, a charity for all the people that are here. I know that the church is true. I know that God lives and restored his church the the Earth when he called Joseph Smith to be a prophet. I know that the spirit guides us to choose the right once we decide to do our part. The Lord will never force us to do anything against our will. My will must be his will. My thoughts must be his thoughts, my love must be his love, my acts must be his. I must one day be like him and I am grateful for the Atonement that helps me in every step I take towards his presence. I invite everyone to apply the scripture in the Book of Mormon in Ether 12:41. It has blessed me tremendously.

I love you. Thankyou for the prayers and support.

Elder Jessop

11-3-14 November!

Hey everyone!!! I am in the cyber and I am having an emotional shock because my mission has flashed before my eyes. It has been a wild ride and a very enriching experience that I will never forget and I have loved every second. This week was very fulfilling. I did 3 divisions, there was a baptism, we had our district activity, mission leader meeting, and church was awesome.

Luz Maria: There is a family in our area that we are trying to reactivate that hasn't been to church for over a year. They went to church on Sunday and their daughter got baptized on Saturday. I had the privilege to baptize her and it was a lovely experience. It is the Centron Family, we are trying really hard to help them with their family prayer and scripture study and help them develop that habit as a family so that they can take bigger steps and make church attendance a habit and have a temple marriage as one of their goals. 


We also had our district activity. It was Hermana Boley´s birthday (the blond with straight hair) and we celebrated playing soccer, ultimate frisbee and eating cake as a district. It was very fun and a good stress reliever for us as missionaries. 



I did 3 divisions this week to. One with our district leader, Elder MacDonald from Washington. Every thinks that he owns the McDonalds here in Paraguay. I also had one with the assistant, Elder Oscco, from good ol´Provo Utah, and then I had one with an Elder named, Elder Ward, from Idaho. HE ate three potatoes on the division haha.  The divisions are a good way to edify and encourage missionaries. I have done over 60 divisions in my mission with a ton of Elders here in this mission and I have learned a ton from every one of them. 

I love the mission. Words cant describe it. Every day I feel happier and happier. I have felt complete joy that I know can be even more fuller haha. I love this feeling of peace and I am afraid of losing it. I don't have a lot of time left and I am loving every second. The days are like minutes and the weeks days and the months are like weeks and before you know it, it´s done. In our mission leader meeting today with President Aggazani I learned the importance of giving everything you got and being consistent, diligent, and obedient in doing so. I love missionary work and it is not only something that missionaries can do, but also every member of the church. 

Happy Birthday to my Grandpa Jessop, my dad, and my best friend Cody turns 21. All three of them this Saturday. Hope that you all have a great birthday. Thinking of you Cody. You are turning 21 bro!! That is crazy. 

Love you all have a great week and thank you very much for your prayers and support.
Elder Jessop

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

10-27-14 - I Cant Think of a Creative Title for this E-mail

Well Hello my family and great friends! I hope that all is well. I just got a haircut and I feel like the Fresh Missionary of Paraguay. A lot of people see my companion and I here in Paraguay and they look at us very weirdly because we are both kinda tall, BLONDE, BLUE EYES, WHITE and dress in missionary attire. It is super fun to talk to them and invite them to get baptized and have a better life. I feel a ton of joy and peace when I do it with love and when the Holy Spirit is with me. 
The first thing that happened this week is that it is Watermelon season here in Paraguay and it turns out they love Watermelon just like I do!!! Something super cool happened. Here in Paraguay there are people that go house to house selling stuff, the thing is we are almost never home so we never have the opportunity to buy anything from everyone that comes to our house, but then there was Thursday. At about 12:30 in the afternoon (we had Weekly Planning) is when I heard the words leave from the mouth of a man with a microphone, a house, and a carriage full of watermelons say, "Sandia Sandia!! a 5 mil!". I sat for a second, looked to see if I had 5 mil guaranies, ran outside and bought a watermelon. It was a great day and that was my dinner a couple days later. So that's all for the watermelon story.


This week was very awesome!! We had interviews with our mission president this last Friday. The interview was very great and I learned the importance of sharing the gospel with everyone that I can so that they can get baptized and accept the restored gospel. Then on Sunday we had 5 investigators in church. I need to talk more often about our investigators haha. Here is one:
1. Luz Marina and Hugo: This is a mom and a son that we met contacting in the street and they have just moved in the area 8 months ago. They are very religious and are really interested in coming to church because they have been to a lot of churches but haven't found the peace they look for. I am grateful that the Lord led us to their house. The first thing we shared with them was the Restauración and the Book of Mormon. They love the Book of Mormon and went to church on Sunday. We are helping them to progress and they should be getting baptized 
2. Hermana Miñaro: She loves the Book of Mormon!! She reads it everyday and we are trying to help her get baptized, she just needs a little more support from the ward and from her family. She went to church on Sunday too.
3. Familia Centron: This is a family of members that we are trying to reactivate. They have some problems in their marriage and the gospel will bless them with everything that they need. They just need to augment their faith and go to church. They are an awesome family and we are working hard with them.
We have other investigators, but I am running out of time haha.
I have learned so much here in the mission and I'm so grateful to be here and learn, grow, and help others. I have learned the importance of service. Serving others so that I can serve my Lord. I am doing one of the biggest service projects of my life right now in being a missionary. I love it here and I love my God. I know that he lives and I know that he has established his church on the earth again. 
Love you all!!Have a great week.
Elder Jessop

Monday, November 3, 2014

10-20-14 The Weeks Go By Faster. Faster... and Even Faster...‏

I'm here.....Elder Jessop, sitting here at my computer screen and I have no clue what I did this week. Have you ever had just one of those weeks where you don't have a clue what happened. That happened this week. It was an awesome week because I feel super happy, but I don't remember a lot of it. Good thing that there are journals. I have been writing it in my journal so I will always remember it.

I wrote my title for this week about the weeks going by super fast. It is almost November and I'm not going to lie, sometimes I have freak outs because the time is going by so fast hahaha. I cant explain the fun I have and the joy I feel by being here in the mission, but it is going by fast. They say the the mission is the MTC (man training center) for life. I think I need another year or 2 to prepare me for my life, but I am very grateful for the mission. I'm grateful that I'm here and I am grateful for all the things I have learned, people I have meet, friends that will not only be earthly friends, but eternal friends as well. 

I love my God, I know that he lives and I know that he loves each and every one of us. I know that he answers prayers and that he does it in his own time so that we can learn, grow and progress in this earthly life. I know that Jesus is the Christ. That he is the savior of mankind. He gave his life for you and me. I know that through him our sins can be forgiven. If there is one thing I have learned here in Paraguay, it is the knowledge and certainty that Jesus Christ is my Savior and no one can return to the Father except through him. I strive daily to be more like him. It is kinda funny, today in my personal study I read in 2nd Nephi chapter 4. Nephi was a prophet in the Americas in the Book of Mormon and in this chapter he is saddened by the weaknesses of his own body. How the desires of his natural man makes him want to stray from the way of God, but his heart wants to do Gods will and his body wont let him. It is interesting. It says in the scriptures that we are less than the dirt and soil because even they obey, when Gods greatest creation, mankind, refuses to obey him. I am trying hard to obey my God, even though I cant do it the way I want too like Nephi. I'm very grateful for Jesus Christ who will lift me and help me every time I fall. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church of God. I am certain. My testimony of these things is something that I have gained for myself and therefore, I know that it is true. 

I'm happy, I'm doing great, I'm learning, I'm healthy, I'm having fun with Elder Hampton, I'm meeting tons of people, and I'm living the best two years of my life.

Elder Jessop