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