6-9-14 I Got Changed !!!

Hey everyone, I want to let you know that I am no longer in Ettiene. I've got a couple of things that I would like to share. Just listen tight and enjoy the show, well not really a show but at least you can enjoy the letter :)

San Lorenzo: My new area is a place called San Lorenzo, my area name is Tuyuasape 1.1. It is one of the largest cities in Paraguay, but I'm more on the outskirts of San Lorenzo. We have to take a bus to the city every Monday to go buy food and stuff. I'm pretty excited to be here. This is my 4th area and I will probably be here for a little while to be honest because I just got here. If you guys want to see where I live and you want to look for is on Google Map. The streets where I live in Fortin casí De La Victoria. I live on the 2nd house behind a gas station. I will have pictures of the new house next week.

Changes: This change week my trainer Elder Morgan went home and I saw him in the terminal and took a picture of him. He finished his mission very strong and I was sad to see him go, but I will see him again someday. The changes are the best. My new companion is Elder Villar and he is from Chile. He goes home in July, or the next change, so we will only be together for 6 weeks. Very short, but I'm really excited to learn a lot from him. My mission President, Presidente Agazzani, called me on Tuesday and told me that I was going to be one of his new Zone Leaders. That is pretty cool. I've really learned to be humbled and accept the will of God. I am the Zone Leader of Zone 9 of 14 Zones and there are only 14 missionaries in my Zone. It is a very tiny Zone, but I'm still very excited and ready to go. 

That is about all I have to write. I've got to go anyways. My hour is about up. I know sometimes my letters are short, but I will make it up next week. I hope you enjoy the letters and thank you for your support.

The church is true.

Elder Jessop

6-2-14 Happy‏!!

Hello Everyone! I don't have much to write, but I will write as much as I can. I'm kinda tired and a lot of the words I write might be spelled wrong so just hang with me please. 

Changes: The transfers are this week and we will know the transfers tomorrow I think. I will probably be staying here in Ettiene, but you never know with the changes. Some of the missionaries kinda freak out about the changes, but I have been here so long that it is just a normal routine. My trainer, Elder Morgan, goes home tomorrow. I remember when he picked me up from the office just 1 year ago... Man does the time sure fly out here when you are having fun!! I have fun every day, there are miracles here everyday and all the changes do is help us keep learning and keep finding miracles daily. 

Tired: I've been really tired lately with all this stuff. A couple of days after we planned I just got in bed and slept. It was rough, I think it is the change in the climate here that is making me so tired. There is not enough sun anymore. GOTTA GET THAT VITAMIN D!! It has been raining a bit and the sun hasn't been out. It literally went from 100 degrees daily to like 60 daily in a week. If you guys have any advice on what I can do to be less tired I will gladly appreciate it :DDD

Companions: I was thinking a lot about companions. Every missionary in the church has a companion, or like a partner in proselytizing. A sidekick maybe, something like that. My companion right now is Elder Peterson and he has helped me a ton develop many of my attributes. I was thinking about how companions here in the mission just help prepare you for your future eternal companion, or in other words, a wife. Elder Peterson and I clean together, talk together, work together, teach together, sleep together (in different beds), WE DO EVERYTHING TOGETHER. I don't know if marriage is like that, but it might be maybe a little.

I have to give a couple shout outs to some people. Or just one really. Taylor Bergstrom! I don't know if you read my letters, but if you do I want to wish you a happy graduation!!!! You are graduating high school which is crazy and Cody told me that you are going to UCSD!!!! That is awesome and you are going to kill it!! I know I'm missing your graduation, but I would love to have a picture!!! Congrats!

There is nothing like sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are no words that I can use to describe what I do here and how I feel and what I'm learning daily. I am happy, I cant describe the joy I feel with the opportunity I have to help others receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love each any every one of you. Thank you for the letters and support.!!

Elder Jessop

5-26-14 How the Time Flies.‏

Hello, I really have no clue what to say this week. It just went by so fast. It is blowing my mind. Every preparation day my mind gets blown about what happened in the week. It just feels like it goes so fast. 

Elder Peterson: So Elder Peterson, my companion, thinks he is just the funniest Elder in the world and is constantly reminding me of how much time I have left. Every time an airplane passes by he just makes one joke. He says, "That's about (how many days left I have to finish my mission) away". For example 3 days ago a plane passed bye and he said, "That's about 11 months away". I've gotten used to it. I've been out here so long, but not long enough. It is going by to fast. Elder Peterson has stopped recently though, so that is good.

Doctor: I went to the doctor on Thursday and it turns out that I'm going blind.... Hahaha Just kidding, but I will be in need of glasses pretty soon. I can no longer see very far with my right eye. It is all blurry. I think that is called nearsighted. I'll see what happens, but I´m not too stoked to get glasses if I have too. Can you guys picture me with glasses??? I might be rock-in them in the coming weeks.

Cold: It got cold here in Paraguay!!! It got down the 35 degrees... I know that is not that cold, but after having lived a summer here in Paraguay, 35 degrees might as well be Antarctica. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was really cold. I even busted out the thermals to wear under my clothes. Those did help, Thank you mom for your brilliant ideas. I wouldn't have brought those if it wasn't for her. Go moms.

District Activity: We had a district activity, which is like a fun day with other Elders and Sisters. I'm the district leader of the office of elders, so they only had time on Saturday, so we got permission to have the activity on Saturday. We played soccer and the Latins kicked butt, then we played basketball and the Americans kicked butt, not that there is a rivalry or anything... Then we played Football, which was awesome!!! I haven't played football in a year and my companion has a football and he brought it to the activity and we played and it was way fun. I'm kinda sore, but that is OK. 

I learned a lot this week about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I learned a lot about how us, as missionaries, we have to tell everyone about the cleansing power of the Atonement so that the people who haven´t been cleaned by it can be cleaned if they repent and get baptized. Everything that I do here in Paraguay is only because the Atonement of Jesus Christ permits that I can help other people be clean, and it's like that in the whole world! The Atonement of Jesus Christ is for everyone. Everyone can be cleaned and healed if they repent and accept the Atonement in their own lives. I'm trying my best here in Paraguay to forget about all the little things and focus on helping people accept the Atonement We believe that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all my kind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. THE ATONEMENT IS EVERYTHING!!!! If it wasn't for the Atonement of Jesus Christ we wouldn't have the opportunity to be healed or saved and do anything. I know that though the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed and healed because I have been cleansed and healed by it. God loves us, so he sent his son. His son died for us and took upon him the sins of the world. How can we not accept his sacrifice and do his will? I'm trying to help people learn about the atonement so that they can accept it and be cleansed of their sins and healed by the atoning power of his sacrifice. I love my God, I love this work, and I love inviting people to come unto Christ and be baptized for the remission of sins.

Elder Jessop

5-21-14 Week: Paraguay‏

Hey everyone! I'm here writing to you guys from a computer....
My legs really itch because I just got 3 or 4 bug bites, but I'm going to tell you all what happened in my life last week. 

Compras: I took a picture of all the things that I buy every week and I sent it. I buy all that food from the picture in 1 week. 5 liters of milk and yogurt, fat free and sugar free. 7 apples and pears. 12 bananas. 1 pound of peanuts. 2 chicken breasts. Half a pound of meat. 12 eggs, 7 tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and carrots. That's about it. We usually have lunch with members too. So now my mom knows that I'm eating just fine :)

Independence Day: May 13th was independence day for the Paraguayans. It was a pretty normal day actually and it is nothing like the 4th of July in the States, but they were pretty happy that there was no work.

Mothers Day: I got to Skype my family last Sunday!!!! That was really fun and uplifting. Mothers day here though is the day after independence day and I got to eat Asado, which is like the most expensive/popular meat here in Paraguay. It was way good. This weekend we were basically spoiled food wise. Friday a family made us American hamburgers which were really good. Saturday we ate excellent as well. Sunday too. It is not the healthiest food but it sure does taste good. 

Friendly Box: I got a box full of stuff from a family member. My dads cousin the Kearney's. I want to say thank you very much to the Kearney's and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Wedding!!!!: I got to be a witness in a wedding. Here when you want to get married you have to have 4 witnesses and on Saturday I was one of the witnesses of a marriage. The girl Maria got married and then baptized right after the marriage and my companion got to baptize her and that was a great day!! I sent a ton of pictures and I hope that you enjoy them!!! 

I love you all and I appreciate your prayers and love. The time is flying by, but I still have work to do here in Paraguay and people to baptize! Mateo 28:19!!!!!

Have a great week!!!

Elder Jessop

5-14-14 Ché Paraguayo‏

Hellos everyone!! Happy Mothers Day!!!!!! I know that it is not until Sunday, but Every day should be a great day for good ol´ mom. Right mom :D

This week was pretty good and I will let you guys in on what happen in just a bit. 

El viaje al templo: We went to the temple this week in Paraguay. It was a pretty short trip now that I'm here in Asuncion, but it was excellent. I sent some pictures to you all of the temple and some of the missionaries I was there with. The Elder who is my companion is the Elder who is about the same height as me and that is American, his name is Elder Peterson and he is excellent. We are doing tons of stuff together and we are enjoying the ride. He is the lucky Elder that will be with me when I hit the half way mark. Every time he hears a plane he tells me how long I have left until I'm done, which is really bad but we just kinda laugh it off. I don't want to leave, it is not my time yet. I learned a lot when I was in the temple and especially I learned about the importance of the plan of salvation. The reason why missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints invite people to be baptized is so that they can know about the plan of happiness that God has given us so that they can find it and not only find it but receive the happiness that God has promised us. I like seeing people happy and I know that getting baptized will help them be happier, then these people will have the opportunity to do other covenants with god so that they are even more happy. Everything God has done is so that we can be happy and it is kinda cool.

Stake Conference: We had stake conference this weekend and it was awesome and they had a really cool presentation about missionary work, which involved 4 teenagers. There was a 16 year old kid in one of the wards in the stake where I'm serving who is a member and he shared the gospel with his friend. His friend ended up being baptized and was baptized about 1 year ago. The friend shared the gospel with a different friend who ended up getting baptized too and he got baptized 6 months ago. Then the kid who got baptized 6 months ago shared the gospel with another friend who got baptized 2 months ago. It is amazing to see the chain that was shown here when one kid shared the gospel. The first kid decided to share the gospel with his friend and as a result 3 people got baptized. If you are a member reading this I invite you to share the gospel like these young valiant men and the Lord will bless your life and if you are not a member yet I invite you to research and talk with the missionaries and listen to the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

WE are still looking for a house here too but we think that we might have found one. It isn't much of a house, it is more like a giant room with a bathroom. I will let you know what happens.

I love you guys and I got to go. I will be skyping the good old family this week and hopefully that will be extraordinarily awesome and I am very excited.

Elder Jessop

I'm Staying In Ettiene

Hello everyone!! 

I'm still here. Sometimes I forget that... I feel like I'm in a whole different world sometimes. This place where I am at reminds me a lot of Los Angeles, but a little less American. It is a very wealthy part and the people are excellent for the most part. It has been fun up to this point in Ettiene.

Martes: We had changes this week and I am now the District Leader of the offices of the mission here in Paraguay and I stayed here in Ettiene and I got a new companion. His name is Elder Peterson and he is from Texas and I will send a picture of us in the coming weeks. We have quite a bit in common. We both played high school football and he has a football and it is awesome. I haven't touched like a real football in a while. 

Miércoles: We had to go to the terminal for the changes and I got to see tons of missionaries from the mission. I saw my trainer Elder Morgan, who goes home this change and I also saw Elder Evans who I trained in Paraguarí. Missionaries keep leaving and leaving and coming and coming it all happens so fast these days, but the changes are always fun to ask the missionaries how everything is. 

Jueves: We had lunch with a member who is in the High Council of the stake here and they fed us and gave us a couple of references that we went and contacted. We contacted one of the references and his name was Diego. He use to have a huge drug problem, but now he quite all the drugs, but he still has a tobacco problem, but with the Gospel of Jesus Christ anything is possible. We taught him and invited him to be baptized and he accepted in the first lesson and we invited him to go to church and it was an excellent lesson that we had.

Viernes: Friday was kinda rough. We walked pretty much the whole day and it was very awesome. We tried to bare our afflictions the best that we could and endure the rejection. We did have a great lesson though with one of our investigators Josefina and she is really progressing and that made it very very worth it. Every time we bare our afflictions with faith, the Lord will sustain us and lift us up. That is what I learn that day.

Sábado: There was a baptism this day of a girl named Concepcion!!!!!!! She is about 70 and was baptized. She came to church every week and she was finally baptized on Saturday and it was a very nice experience. I forgot my camera, so I didn't take pictures but the sisters did and she was just so happy after she was baptized. She was like shining and had a big old smile on her face!! I knew in my heart that she was clean and Concepcion even said it herself. 

Domingo: Diego came to church!!!! We went and got him at his house and we walked to church together! This was his 2nd time and he said that he loved it. I was very excited to see him all ready to go when we went to his house. After church we also went looking for a house. We have basically been mandated by our President to look for a house and nothing else, but luckily we think that we might have found one and I am really excited to go look at it today! I will let you guys know on that later.

We are entering into May again and it is crazy to think that the time has passed so fast. I am getting my hair cut today too. It is weird really, life just kind of goes with or without you and we should really go with it. I have seen the blessings of the Lord in my life as I have gone with life in the way that he went with his. I love Paraguay. I love missionary work and I love seeing the faces of the people who ask God about our message and accept it when they receive an answer from him that it is true. I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

Congrats to Johnny and Meagan for there wedding in Lake Arrowhead. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there but I know that you are both very happy!

Elder Jessop

HAPPY EASTER!!

Hello everyone!! I have 15 minutes to tell you all that's happened!! Happy Easter!

Tuesday: We had a district meeting and the Zone Leaders came to it, so we were not the only Elders and we learned a lot about the importance of being with members and talking to them often and how we should use them. We also learned how we can always invite people to be baptized the first lesson and even the first time we meet them. Tuesday we also had to cook at home and that was a small but delicious meal.

Wednesday: We had an awesome lesson with a girl named Josefina who went to church this week and we are teaching her a lot and she is preparing to be baptized in the church soon. She is awesome and I will let you guys know more about her later. We also ate at a members house on Wednesday, we ate like milanea which is a meat type thing and it was one of the first houses that had a salad here so I ate all of it.

Thursday: The rain started on Thursday. Here in Paraguay for Easter they have a thing called Semana Santa and everything is canceled. This day we were invited to a members house to eat dinner named Estela and she gave us chicken and meat. That evening we also had the chance to be apart of a blessing of a house of some members who just moved in. The Melgareho family. 

Friday: Friday it rained hard. I taught my first lesson in English too while we were in a members house. He knows English and he has Parkinson's disease and we are trying to help him. The Relief Society went to his house and cleaned everything, which was very nice. His name is Javier and he also gave us a music player that looks like a plane. I took a pic and I'm sending it to you.

Saturday: It rained a ton today too, but it was an awesome day while we were walking in the rain. I had a baptism interview this day too of a guy who is like 70 and he doesn't want to get baptized yet until he feels better health wise.... He is 70 and I pray that he gets healthier so that he can get baptized.

Sunday: EASTER SUNDAY!! Here they don't do Easter egg hunts, but church was very awesome. Josefina came to church and the bishop talked about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and how one day we will all be resurrected like he was. 

I had an experience that kinda rocked my world. We ran into a couple of 20 and 18 years old kids yesterday and we taught them about Jesus Christ and we invited them to be baptized, but the 18 year old couldn't stop laughing. I find out that right before we got there he was smoking marijuana. We are going back there Tuesday, but after the lesson I realized in what different stages in our lives we are in. We are the same exact age, but in levels totally different. I look forward to being apart of his change of heart, but it was amazing to see how equal we are in terms of age, but also how different and far apart we are in the stages of our life. For that I am grateful for Heavenly Father and his love. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice.

I love you all. Today we are doing an Easter Egg Hunt. I am way excited. New change is in 3 days and we got new agendas.!! Love you all be safe!

Elder Jessop

Ettiene‏

This week went by way fast and some things might of happen, I'm going to try and tell you them.

Walking: We walked at least 20 miles this week at least. All we do is walk and I'm lucky that my shoes are staying together because here they have stuff called empadrada and is it basically compacted rock into the ground. It hurts to walk on sometimes and my shoes are holding up so that makes me happy. 

Zone Conference: This week we had a zone conference and we studied a talk by an apostle named Elder Bednar about the importance of being a missionary that Preach My Gospel teaches us to be. We studied a lot about that and how we can always try to keep improving and never stay in a static state. 

Eyes: My eyes are getting better. I still have an infection in my right one, but the doctor said to keep using the eye drops and I will be fine. I am not going to lie, but sometimes I forget on purpose because I hate eye drops. My mom and sister used to have to tie me down to put eye drops in my eyes, but they will heal soon. 

Food/Work out Plan: OK in case you all haven't noticed, I have been gaining a little bit of weight thanks to the Paraguayan food. The food here is not very healthy for you at all. I have made a plan for exercising and eating so that I can get back to my normal weight and be good again. My exercise plan consists of:

                1. 1 thousand jump ropes

                2. 100 push ups (30-25-20-15-10)

                3. 50 russian twists

                    40 abdominales

                    30 knees to chest

                    20 leg lifts

                    100 flutter kicks

               4. 50 double jumps.

An I got 30 minutes to do it all. It is good fun and I hope it helps me loose the paraguayan fat I have gained jajaja. I also am trying to eat better and tell members healthier foods. Whenever I say that I don't want more because I am full they think I don't like the food and they get offended, so I end up eating more so they don't get offended, but I get fatter. There is a win win situation here and when I find it I will tell you all haha.

Love you all. I am out of time. Have a great week!! Que Dios les bendiga.

Elder Jessop

General Conference‏!!

Hello everyone today is a great Monday here in Paraguay! 

Nice and hot and I'm like sweating from every pore. It is not the most attractive thing in the world, but attractiveness rules fly out the window as a missionary. A couple great things happened this week and I'd like to tell you guys all that happened, so I will. Obvio.

Tuesday: We had the district meeting and the sisters and my companion are awesome. I've got the sister leader trainers in my district and they do work. It is definitely different coming from a district of all Elders and coming here. During the district meeting we talked about the importance of studies and how we need to have efficient study sessions to have the spirit with us daily, so we can be guided to the people the Lord needs us to meet.

Wednesday: We had interviews with the President of the mission, President Aggazani. He is from Argentina so his accent is really different from the Paraguayans. My interview was like 20 minutes, usually they are 5 to 10 min. His timer on his phone went off to tell him that he needed to end the interview and he just kept going. We talked a lot about plans and how we have to have plans so that we can achieve our desires. Then he talked to me about girls & how I can't just go home one day and have a plan to date every girl I can, but I have to have specific plans and cut down the girl pool so that it is easier to find the girl that I am looking for. That was an awesome interview. Desires with specific plans leads to specific results.

                   

I also got my giant package from my parents this day. It was like 15 kilos which is like 35 pounds. I got my package from the mission office, I had to carry it to the bus stop, had to get on the packed bus with it, then I had to walk a mile from the bus stop to my house with a 35 pound square box. You should have seen the peoples faces when they saw me. Blonde guy walking around the street with a big old box. That was quite the adventure. My parents sent me Oreo's, Cheese Its, canned foods, a party bag of Reese's Pieces, pudding, apple sauce, and peanut butter. They sent me a jump-rope too, which I have used every day since. It was almost like my parents thought I was starving or something haha. I thank my parents for the box, but the best part by far was the bubble wrap. I'm still popping every little bubble I can. 

                   

I also had to go to the doctors today for the first time on my mission. I have an eye infection it turns out, so I bought some drops and I should be good as new. The presidents wife told me that I needed to go, so I went. I´ll let you guys know if it goes away next week.

Thursday: Weekly Planning, nuff said.

Friday: Friday was a great day. What happened exactly I don't remember, but I know that it was great. I will take better notes next week.....

Saturday and Sunday: These two days we had General Conference, which is a semiannual conference that the church does every 6 months. It was awesome and we had two investigators go. If any of you didn't have the opportunity to hear the conference you can get on LDS.org and look them up. The North Americans were in one room watching it in English and the rest where in the Sacrament room watching it in Spanish. I watched two sessions in Spanish because of our investigators, but it was still pretty cool. Hearing the words of the living prophets and apostles was excellent. 

I know the church is true. I know that there are living prophets and apostles on the earth today and that they are called of God. 

The mission is going by fast. It is April already and before I know it I will be home.. I have felt the love of the Lord in my life and I know he lives. 

Elder Jessop

This Week Went By Fast‏..........

Greetings from a big city in Paraguay. Good old Elder Jessop is here to lead the way with a great letter to write to everyone. This week went by fast! I was thinking today about what I was going to write to you all and the only day I could remember was yesterday and as it so happens, yesterday was a great day. 4 investigators went to church yesterday!!! I'm going to tell you a little bit about them in a second.

Jorge: Jorge is a guy that lives with his dad. When we met him he wasn't working, his wife had just had a miscarriage of his two kids that were going to be born and he was pretty upset at God. His first question to us was, "Why would God leave a guy without a job and why would he take two of my kids away from me if he really is loving." I will tell you right now at the moment I didn't know what to say, then I thought about his question long and hard and I opened up the scriptures and we tried to teach him why something like that would happen. The scriptures are a powerful tool to invite the spirit. The next time we visited him during our visit he told us that he had found a job and that we brought him good luck, then I remembered the importance of recognizing God when he blesses us. He then came to church last week and yesterday he came to church again. His job makes it hard for us to visit him, but he is progressing very well and is way happier than the first time we met him.

Arnaldo and Elizabeth: These two also went to church yesterday with their 2 year old son. They are not married, but they want to get married and they want to start keeping the commandments of God and they came to church and it was really funny what happened. They got lost and right before sacrament we had to go find them and they were walking in the complete opposite direction. At least we found them and they made it to church and they are awesome.

Josefina: This girl was a contact who has been to the United States several times and the first thing she told us was that she wanted to go to church. AND SHE CAME!!! It was awesome! We called her Sunday morning and she was like yeah I'm coming. She had a great time and she sat with the Relief Society President. We haven't actually taught her yet, but we are going to her house tomorrow. We will find out more about her tomorrow.

Honestly I am having a great time. I love it here. It is a lot of work and my body is definitely getting its use, but it is amazing all the things that are happening. I'm changing. The members of my family are changing too. I love every second. I know that the church is true and I invite everyone who reads this email to find out for themselves if it is true. I know it is, if I didn't I wouldn't be spending two years of my life here, but I know it is true. I am giving two years of my life for the salvation of many. It is worth every second.

Elder Jessop