1-19-15 - The Mission.........

Hello Family and Friends. This week honestly I don't remember very well. I got kind of sick and it has all just become one giant blur, but  luckily there are some significant experiences that I had this week that I would like to tell you all about. I am doing great here. I have become the "old missionary" that I never thought I would become and I am loving life. It is a little weird because my companion and I go home together and everyone asks us when we go home and no missionary wants to answer that question haha. It has been an amazing experience and I am enjoying while it lasts.

Carlos: One of the great men that we met this week is 33 years old and is looking fro spiritual and temporal well being. He has a normal life, not married, no kids, and went to church on Sunday because a member invited him. We read him a scripture in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is really super powerful. It can help someones life in any way. We read him Mosiah 2:41 and explained to him the importance of keeping the commandments so that he can be blessed with the things he is looking for. We are hoping to help him do these things so that he can repent, come unto Christ, and be baptized and in that way he will be able to find what he is looking for. 

Juan David: One of the other great men that we found this week,(usually all the great people we find are women so it was a big surprise). He is 42 and is super great. He is a really good friend of some members and he is always at their house in our area. We had a service project in their house and we cut down a tree and he helped a ton. He played professional soccer here in Paraguay and is a lawyer. We are helping him learn about the church and the members are helping him a lot. I know that if he reads the Book of Mormon to find out if these things are true he will be baptized and not just because us or his friends want him to, but he will have those desires that will come from his heart to follow Christ. 

It is amazing how simple the ways of God are: He literally asks us to love him and do what he says, which is easy of we are humble because he knows what is best. It is really heartbreaking to meet people that really don't have desires to know about the church or follow God. Satan has them so wrapped around his finger and so controlled that they think that they are Happy living in their sins and then when something bad happens they dare to blame it on God. The mission has really opened my eyes to the wickedness of Gods children and how little the righteous really are  and it makes me sad and I can only imagine how God feels. He sent his son Jesus Christ to suffer for all the sins of mankind, but if we do not repent we must suffer even as Jesus suffered, which caused such a perfect being as him to sweat blood from every pore (D&C 19:16-19). I am very grateful that I don't have to suffer if I chose with my own free will to repent and it makes me extremely sad that people chose to not repent and to suffer for their sins. I have tried so hard to convince people of their sins and help them repent and some do and I have felt much joy in seeing them repent and be baptized because there is no other way to get into the kingdom of God. there literally isn't any other way, it is impossible under Gods law. I have grown to love the people I meet and I feel Godly sorrow when they don't repent because it is the only way to find lasting happiness.

I love the mission and I am extremely grateful to be here. I love the Paraguayans oh how I love them and how they frustrate me sometimes haha. I have found myself here and I have realized more than ever how much God really does love me and each and every one of us. 

Elder Jessop

1/12/15 Does God Know That You're Willing to Pay the Price?‏

We had a lot of activities this week: Zone Conference, Family Search History, New Investigators. It has been a lot of fun and very fulfilling. I have learned a lot and come to know myself these past couple weeks and I'm grateful. Now on with the week!

Getting to know my Roots: I was in a members house this week named Benjamin Machuka. This young man is getting ready to go on a mission. He has his mission call to the Argentina Buenos Aires North mission and he leaves on January 27th. Before he goes he has started to do a lot of family history work. He wanted me to log on to my family search history profile so that he could look and my genealogy tree. Anyone who is familiar with this website will know that every person has a family tree where they can log on and see who all of their ancestors are up to how far you can go. Some can find stories of family members up to the fourteen hundreds and some go a little farther back. Those of you who don't know the website you can log on to (familysearchhistory.org). So I was going through my family search history on my dads side and I got back to the 1800´s and I found out that I come from the Fish family, then I kept going back. 1700´s, then 1400 AD, then 1000 Ad, then it just kept going and I got to 23 BC and at this time Benjamin Machuka and my companion couldn't believe that I could go that far and then I found more roots and I kept going back to: 200 BC, then 500 BC, then 1000 BC, and it was crazy and that day I just got to know my roots and the best part was that on the website I found a family line that went from Andrew Lamont Jessop to... you guessed it ADAM!!! It was pretty mind blowing and it made me really excited for family history work.

Mission Farewells!!: In the ward I am serving in there are 4 future missionaries. One goes on January 15th named Rodrigo, one goes on January 27th which is Benjamin, one goes on January 29th which is Victor, and the last, but not least goes on February 11th which is named Samuel. There are also about 40 returned missionaries in this ward of the 100 active members which really strengthens the ward tremendously. The first of the future missionaries that leaves is Rodrigo. He gave his farewell talk and it was pretty espiritual. It is amazing how the work just keeps going with or without you, but the mission doesn't end after 2 years or 18 months of service. IT is a lifetime calling. I wasn't called to be a missionary for 2 years only to go home and forget everything I have learned and go back to what I was. My service as a missionary for my Lord and Savior will be one for life and I am grateful for that.

Zone Conference: President Agazzani threw a zone conference this week, which is like a conference where a bunch of missionaries get together and learn from the President. He finishes his mission in June and he will probably have only one conference left. He assigned my companion and I to do a part of the conference. We talked about the importance of bringing the conversion directly to the importance of Jesus Christ when we talk to people. Always talk about him so that we can have the spirit when we talk and help people come unto him and be perfected in him by His Atonement. We also taught the importance of teaching our investigators with the repentance steps so that they can truly repent of their sins and know how to come unto Christ through baptism. They also taught of how we should use the Book of Mormon always, always always to respond to doubts and help others feel the spirit. We also learned how to iron clothes, make beds, and be clean haha. I guess in the mission we learn a little bit of everything right.

Investigators: We are finding some really good people recently. We have Richard, Griselda, Eduardo, Carlos, Francisco, Vader, and Ilse. I don't have time to tell you about all of them, but I will let you know how they progress.

I absolutely love it here. I read a quote by Elder Bruce R. Mc Conkie that said, "We have to convince that Lord that we are willing to pay the price for anything that we want and in that way he will help us fulfill our earthly purpose". That isn't the exact quote but something like it. We have had some difficulties here in the missionary work, but as I have striven to come unto Christ and live how he has taught us, I have felt spiritually lifted and fortified. I have told him that I am willing to pay and I have been extremely blessed for it. I know that he lives and that he loves me. I know that the Atonement cleans, purifies, and wipes away sins. I have felt it daily. They say that the best convert in the mission is yourself and I have really tried to let the Lord mold me into the person that he needs me to be. the mission goes by fast and any return missionary can testify of that. I still have time left to help people come unto Christ and invite them to follow him. I am happy, joyful, filled with love, and I hope that you all enjoy my letters. 

Thank you for all the support and love.

Elder Jessop

Elder McFarland and I

1-5-15 Looking Back on the Week‏!!

Hello Family and Friends!!

This week went by just like every week, super duper fast. It is pretty amazing. Elder McFarland and I had some great triumphs and trials this week, but I have seen so many blessings and I am very grateful. Now on with the week.

Tuesday: Today it rained and it was awesome. I learned today the importance of making not only a good decision, but the best decision that there is. I should be willing to do what it takes so that I can receive the blessings of choosing the best decision. I can do that by following the path that the Lord wants me to follow because he knows what is best for me. I can learn what path he wants me to follow through the scriptures, ancient and modern prophets, my patriarchal blessing, and personal revelation. Every one of us has promised blessings waiting for us in the future, but some of us might not receive them if we don't make decisions that will lead us to those blessings. It is the best decision that I ever made when I decided to serve a mission. I have never been so blessed for this decision and I hope that I can keep making the best decisions of my life to receive the best blessings that I can from my Father in Heaven. 

Wednesday: Happy New Year!!! Today we had to go home at 7:30 due to safety purposes. It isn't like I was planing on staying up until 12 to see the fireworks haha. I went to bed at 10:30, like normal. I learned the importance of not letting a worldly desires take over my spiritual desires because if I do so then I will be subject to the worldly laws and will not be able to complete with Gods laws. Here in this area we literally have the best members ever! We have 9 return missionaries that are not even married yet. I don't know what they are doing with their lives but they are not married ;-). Then about 70 percent of the ward are return missionaries. It has the highest attendance rate in the whole mission which consists of over 60 churches. I have learned a lot here just in these few short weeks. We are leaving a lot with the members and hope to see a lot of success from it.

Thursday: Had a great lesson with one of our investigators named Vader. When I found out that his name was Vader, it made me think of Star Wars. I love Star Wars, but besides the point Vader is progressing and reading in the parts we leave him and we hope to baptize him in the coming weeks.

Friday: We had our Mission Ward Meeting and that was awesome. A lot of the mission is going to change pretty soon. 27 missionaries go home this change and 21 come. 15 go home next change and 28 go home in May and then my mission president finishes in June. The mission is undergoing a lot of changes and the goal of the Church is that each mission has about 200 missionaries and our mission has 230, but slowly it with go down to 200. President is calling a lot of new leaders so that they have experience when the new mission president comes. The mission has been the best experience of my life. There is a new mission plan that consists of: baptisms, retaining baptized members, and reactivating inactive members. That is what we are going to apply in the mission so that we can see more success than we have ever had. 

Saturday: Great Day. Nobody got baptized, but we are looking for those miracles really hard and we will find someone that is ready.

Sunday: Fast and Testimony meeting. always the best. I love church. I love God. I am very blessed.

I got my mission release papers today. I feel like I am dreaming. It is like the day you think will never come. I officially go home May 6th. It has been a fun ride and I still have a lot of time left to help people come unto Christ. Christ is everything. He is the light, the way, the truth. He is the savior of mankind. He is the only way by which all mankind may be saved.I love him and I know that he loves me. This new year I have a lot of goals and plans. I am so grateful for the support and love and I hope that you are all happy and have a great year.

Elder Jessop

12/29/14 - New Companion, New Change, New Years

Hello everyone, this week was awesome. We had a lot of activities and a lot of things happened that I'd like to share. 
We found some new investigators finally and we are excited to be working with them with my new companion. I guess I will start with him:

New Companion: His name is Elder McFarland. He is from St. George, Utah (I have had a lot of companions from Utah). 

We got here in the mission together so naturally we are going home together in May. We are super excited to be together here in our area, bummed that I had to say goodbye to Elder Huntsman, but I have been here so long in the mission that it is just another part of life changes. We are super excited and we are going to do a lot together here in Ybaté.

Tuesday: We had our Christmas activity of the mission. We went to a place called Quinta del Carmen and played games and stuff. 

The whole mission was there. Our mission consists of 235 missionaries and we fill up the joint. We played soccer, capture the flag, volleyball, water balloon toss and it was awesome. We also watched the Christmas devotional of the church, which was spiritually uplifting as well. I met my old companion there, Elder Hampton

I love that Elder. We were companions for 5 months and it was nice to see him. It was a fun Christmas activity. I even got to be with the mission President.

Cake Making: We made 13 cakes this week... A LOT OF CAKES. We gave them away to all the members in our area. They were all banana cakes and they were pretty good. 

Thursday: I got to Skype with my family on Christmas Day. It was a great experience and the last time I will do it before I go home which is kinda crazy. It was fun and I saw my two best friends from High School Cody & Jordan along with my Aunts, Uncles and cousin.
Other than that we had to go inside at 7:30 PM instead of 9:00 PM because of a department security mandate. We made Christmas dinner too. We had milanesa, chipa guazu, sopa Paraguay, potatoes, and a lot of really good Paraguayan food. This is a Paraguayan manger. Awesome.

Friday and Saturday: The first two days of the week when we actually could get a full day of work in and they were awesome days. We have really been struggling to find new investigators in our area and we found quite a few on the weekend. We found one named Vader, yeah like Darth Vader hehe, that made my day to know his name. He has an Uncle that is a return missionary and he is planning on getting baptized in January. We found a young man named Rodrigo that goes to a Japanese Paraguayan school. He is not Japanese though. He is super awesome and is planning on being baptized in January. We found a women named Rosa Ayala, she has had a rough life. Her son died in a bike accident (DON'T BUY A BIKE HANNAH!!), her other son was seriously traumatized from it and is looking for peace. I love finding people who are literally looking for God. Then we show up because the spirit led us. It was a miracle. It has all been a blessing.

I love the mission. I love the paraguayan people. I love my calling. I love my Savior. It is a true love. I feel his presence in my life. I'm happy. I'm at peace. I have never felt so much joy in my life. Despite the difficutlies that every missionary faces, through Jesus Christ we can always find an exit. He carries me and lifts me when I cant go anymore. His Atonement has made me who I never that I would become. His Atonement has changed me and I'm eternally grateful for it. I love him and he loves me. If there is anything that I know, it is that. The greatest knowledge that I can have and I'm extremely grateful that I can share it with others. 

Thank you for the support and love. I've got 3 changes, or transfers left and I hope to take advantage of each and every one!!!
I love each and every one of you and I hope you enjoy my letters from this humble abode in Paraguay.

Elder Jessop

12-22-14 Merry Christmas!!‏

Hey everyone!!! Merry Christmas!! We spent a lot of time this week looking for new investigators in our area. We are doing a lot of contacting and searching.

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas to all and I hope that you all have a great week with your families at home. Don´t forget about the Savior during this Christmas. Take the time to remember him give thanks for all that he has done for us. As for that I will be seeing my family on Thursday! Thank you for the love and support.

!Feliz Navidad! ¡Feliz Navidad! ¡Feliz Navidad Le espero un año de felicidad! I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! I want to wish you a Merry Christmas I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!

Elder Jessop