8-18-14 Week 6 of Change 10. Woah!!

Hello Family and Friends!!! I did some cool things this week and I sent pictures!!! Hope you all enjoy them. Life is going good, fast, and fun. There was a baptism this week!! Wo hoooAh!! The guys name is Damien and I will tell you guys about him and about everything that I did this week!

Monday: We had our district activity on Monday and we did a couple of things. First we played soccer and it was awesome!! I've really grown to love soccer. Everyone plays it here. I have seen like 2 basketballs and one football in my whole mission. Soccer, Soccer, Soccer! SO we played soccer and then after we played ultimate Frisbee (thanks mom and dad for the Frisbee). Ultimate missionary Frisbee is pretty cool. It is like normal ultimate Frisbee, but with missionaries. We then proceeded to go eat something called a Lomito Arabe which was very delicious and after that we went to eat ice cream. That was our district activity and it was awesome.

Tuesday: We had lunch with one of our investigators on Tuesday who is a chef. His name is Isaiah's and he has one leg. He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident and is trying to move on from it. He is absolutely awesome and ready for the gospel. We went to his house and we made him cordon bleu. It was really awesome and spiritual. Basically he told us his life story and the next step is getting him to church so that he can get baptized too.

Wednesday: I found dead chicken. There is a women in my ward here that sells chicken. What she does is she takes the guts out, puts the chicken in a bag, and takes to her work the next day to sell it. We went to her house and had the opportunity to help her. I have never seen so many dead chickens in my life! Elder Hampton is used to it because he has a farm, but I grew up in a different part of town lets just leave it at that! Yeah for Los Angeles!! So we gutted chickens and it was a very fun experience.

Thursday: I had a division with a missionary named Elder Estigarribia. He is from Paraguay and is in an area right now that is 1 hour from his house haha. That is like if I was serving in Ventura California being from Los Angeles California. He goes home in February and is a convert and is awesome. We had some fun, it was a rough day because it was a day before a holiday and everyone was preparing for the holiday, but our efforts were not in vain because they have an investigator that will get baptized in 2 weeks!

Friday: We had two very spiritual lessons that I would like to share. We had one lesson with the Rivas family and another with the Salguiero family. 7 investigators in total. We taught the Restoration the the Riva's family and taught the plan of salvation to the Salguiero family. They were very spiritual and I will let you guys know more about them.

Saturday: I baptized someone on Saturday named Damien. He is 20 and awesome!!!!! We had a very espiritual baptism interview and he chose me to  baptize him!! 

Gotta go. Love you all Have a great week!!

Elder Jessop

8-11-14 Miracle Week!!

Hello Friends and Family, this week was pretty crazy. We literally didn't work at all because we had so much stuff to do, but we did what we could and the Lord did the rest. I would like to help you guys smell what I'm stepping in.....(this is what Elder Hampton tells me when he understands what I say..) I am actually stepping in quite a bit of mud, rocks and water (baptisms!!!) It is a good thing that my last companion left me a pair of shoes because the other two I have a pretty destroyed (mom my shoes will last me I promise :D)

Tuesday: We had our Zone capcitation on Tuesday and Elder Hampton and I presented it.We talked a lot about goals and how the goals we make here in the mission will help us make goals after and then we got to the spiritual part. We are working hard as a mission on our formality. Actually looking like representatives of Jesus Christ. White shirts (which is hard when Paraguayans wash your clothes by hand haha), clean shoes (for all the new missionaries :D), firm handshakes, the proper way to direct yourself to others, and stuff like that. It was awesome to be honest and we all committed ourselves to doing it. Then we had an activity at the end and told everything to close their eyes. We played the song I'm trying to be like Jesus (the primary one) and told the missionaries that we were going to show them a mirror and they were going to see themselves in the mirror. Instead of showing the mirror we showed a picture of Jesus Christ and that got us all thinking. Are we really striving to be like Jesus Christ. Am I really striving to be like him? I thought about it for a long time, studied about it, prayed about it, and I feel the point of the mission is to help us become like him. I really feel like I'm trying and I'm super happy because of it. 

Wednesday: I did a division with Elder Mejia in our zone. We both served in Paraguari and we talked all about it. One of the people I baptized went to Spain to go work! She wrote me a letter to say goodbye and said that she would get in contact with me on Face Book... Elder Mejia is from Columbia and goes home next March. It is coming up fast.

Thursday: We had interviews with the Mission President!! Elder Hampton went first and then I went second. I learned that through the grace of God we can be saved, that after doing all we can and even though we are going to fall short, the atonement makes up for the rest. That helped me a ton and then the assistants showed us a video about how Jesus Christ makes everything possible. Through Jesus Christ we can be happy, we can have joy, and can receive our salvation. Only because of him. Then we did Weekly Planning and had a miracle on Sunday. That night we had our Ward fun night and we had a ton of investigators come. They really wanted to play soccer and we hope that they can come to church too!

Friday: One thing that really stood out Friday was that we had a family home evening with one of our investigator families and with a member family. The investigator family the the Slaguieros and the member family is Davalos. We watched the Restoration and the kids committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know that it is true. The parents of the Salguieros are members and we are helping to reactivate the family and help the kids get baptized. We then played a game where we opened candy bars with spoons and forks. IT WAS SO FUN! I ate a lot of candy :DDD

Saturday: There was a baptism on Saturday of a girl named Miguela. For some reason my photos are not loading to the computer so I cant send any pictures, but there is always next week. This girl is 10 and her dad is a member that got baptized in Paraguari a long time ago. He is way cool and he is coming back to church and the daughter got baptized on Saturday

Sunday: By far the best day of the week! Tons of miracles happened today!! We had  8 investigators come to church!!! It was a miracle. The Salquiero family came after having not come for over 10 years and a girl named Julieta came to, who will hopefully get baptized this Saturday and then 4 other teenagers came who went to the Ward Activity Night on Thursday. We are helping them too. We are seeing a lot of miracles in our area and thanks to faith the Lord has blessed us quite a lot. 

I love being a missionary. The days go by faster and faster. Every Monday I say to my companion, "How is it Monday already?". Before I know it it will be done, but the work doesn't finish with the mission. It keeps going and becomes greater! Being a missionary is awesome. I'm happy and I love serving the Lord here. 

Love you all!

Elder Jessop

8-4-14 Its a Bird, Its a Plane, Its Supermissionary

Hello Family and Friends! Thank you all for the letters and thank you all for the support! I'll now write about my week, or try too at least. Every single Monday I come to the computer desk and I think about what happened and it literally just blurs together, but luckily I have an agenda!!! I will try and tell you what happened last week according to my agenda. Events, Spiritual Experiences, People that I have met, cosas así. 

Martes: We had our district meeting today and we decided to go to the district meeting in Reducto, which is a place in our Zone. The district leader is a Colombian named Elder Vanegas who goes home in October. We went there and it was awesome. I learned that the importance of the spirit can´t be substituted for anything else. A testimony can´t be bought, sold, taught, or given. A testimony is something earned and something that requires work and something that makes us who we are. I have a testimony that the church is true and I act according to that testimony and when I share it I can help other people feel the spirit so that they can receive their own testimony. ALWAYS SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY! That's what I learned :-). Later that same day we had a lesson with a family of 3 and I tried applying what I learned in the district meeting and I shared my testimony and later invited the 3 to be baptized and they accepted a baptism date!! They are named Carlos, Rueben, and Graciela. We hope to see tons of progress with them ITS BAPTISM TIME!!

Miércoles: Wednesday we went to Asuncion because I went to the dentist. I went to the dentist because my teeth hurt really bad and it so happens that my wisdom teeth are growing in an pain is normal. She said that it is like being a baby and your teeth grow in! I guess I am a baby now. I don't have to get them taken out for now luckily! I was scared. I also learned this day that we don't have to wait for blessings that the Lord has promised us. We can receive them now! We just need to act and work and they will come. We don't have to wait passively for blessings, but we can receive them daily if we work actively in the Lords work. 

Jueves: We had the Noche de Barrio on Thursday and I don't remember the word in English but the translated word is ward night. We had an investigator come too!! Her name was Belen and she has 16 years and she brought her cousin. She has had it hard recently because her dad recently passed away. We shared with her about the Plan of Salvation and we invited her to read the pamphlet and we invited her to church. We really feel like she is ready for the gospel and that the atonement of Jesus Christ can heal her pain. She will be baptized shortly. I also did a baptism interview of a girl named Michelle that is an investigator of the Elders in Reducto! She passed and she will get baptized Saturday!

Viernes: I did a division with the other district leader of my district named Elder Guitarra. He is from Ecuador and he has been in the mission since January. He is awesome and they will be baptizing a girl this Saturday named Michaela!! I'm supper stocked for that and she came to church Sunday!! That was a great division!

Sábado: Saturday there were 5 baptisms in my Zone!! A family of 4 and the girl Michelle!

Domingo: Sunday is always the best day. It was fast Sunday today and it was a very great day at church! I really felt good and I want to invite everyone to church. A lady told us the other day that church wasn't important that you didn't need to go and we testified to her that it was and that we really need to go to church to renew our covenants and be happy. I'm happy and I love going to church. God fulfills with his promised blessings!

I'm doing pretty good. I love it here I'm doing awesome. I'm happy and I've been here for a long time now but there are still more people here in Paraguay that I have to help receive the restored gospel and be baptized!!! Keep me in your prayers and the people I teach in your prayers too please! I will try to take more pictures haha.

Elder Jessop

7-28-14 Week # ? (I lost count)

Hello everyone!!!!! Elder Jessop is back in business here on this computer & chair in good ol´ San Lorenzo Paraguay. This Internet cafe where I'm at is named Germany. Like the country. It's awesome, especially because Germany won the world cup. There are a lot of German descendants here that look like me. Literally every time I see a white person with blond hair I'm just in shock, but there are several that I've seen here. This week was spiritually full filling and awesome! I'm tired, but that is very normal! Carry on, carry on, carry on!!

We are finding a ton of people here in San Lorenzo. We had like 17 new investigators last week and quite a few have committed to being baptized on a certain date in August. We decided to fast to find people as a Zone because we were struggling to find new investigators and the fast definitely worked because our prayers were answered. Yeah for Fasts!! WE found several people that had already been to church, but had lost contact with the missionaries because they had to travel or both missionaries were changed or something like that. We met a girl named Luisa who has a son that is a member named Mario. He is pretty awesome and Luisa is inches away from being baptized. She almost got baptized on Saturday but she has a couple doubts, but she did tell us that the only thing left she had to do in her life to be with God was to be baptized, so I think that we are seeing progress at least! We also found a man named Helmyr Velazques who was about to get baptized but had to travel urgently to a city called Ciudad del Este and he was there for over a year and then he traveled again to Concepcion and he just got back to San Lorenzo two months ago and we found him. He committed to going to church and getting baptized on August 9th. We pray to see progress with him. Those are just 2 of our investigators that are progressing and the rest will all be baptized and be cleaned of their sins in the current weeks!!

Today we had a leadership meeting and it was very spiritual. I learned the importance of making goals in the mission will help me make goals for my life after the mission and help me keep progressing in the way that the Lord needs me too. His goals should be my goals is what I learned. I also learned that I need to always love so that I can help people feel the pure love of God. LOVE IS AWESOME!! It was makes the variety of life :DDD

I'm happy. I'm tired and it's awesome!! My letter isn't that good today because I didn't have time to write down what I wanted to write, but I am happy. I am doing well. Time is going by to fast. I love this place. My companion is awesome. I'm happy and I couldn't imagine anything better. Some people might think that missionaries are crazy. Leave everything behind for 2 years and leave the house to go preach something we believe might sound silly and a waste of time, but I have never felt more joy in my life than the joy that I have felt here in my mission among the children of God here in Paraguay. It is by far the best decision I have ever made. The sacrifices that I have made have helped me become a better person. They are not even sacrifices because I have received so many blessing from God. It is way hard, don't get me wrong. My life has never been so hard, tiring, sad when people don't come to church or have the desires to repent, or heart wrenching, but at the same time I have never felt such love, joy, and happiness. It is awesome and hard to explain.

Amanda and Hannah Jessop: I hope you are both going to church with mom and dad. Keep preparing yourselves to go into the temple with us when I get home!! Love you both my sweet sisters! :)

The church is true. It is perfect. I know it with all my heart. I love you all and I mean it.

Elder Jessop

7-21-14 The Pure Love of Jesus Christ

Hello Friends and Family. Thank you so much for the letters and love. Today is July 21st, 2014. I have a new companion, I stayed in my area, we had investigators go to church, I learned about the importance of the Atonement. It was a very good week and I feel happy and that is how I think I should feel.

CCM: This Saturday we had something called a CCM. It is like a mini MTC (Missionary Training Center) for teenagers of the stake where I'm serving. It was pretty awesome. What we did is we went out into an area in the stake called Posta Mybcua. I am not sure what the name means but it is something in Guarani which has to do with the famous wars in Paraguay that happened almost 200 years ago. Anyways we all went there, two Zones in the mission and it was awesome. There were 6 wards and 2 branches and we literally got in groups and we went out and visited people. I went out with my companion and two young men of the stake. One was named Gustavo and he is 12 and the other was named Javier and he is 16 and they are both preparing to go on missions when they reach the age of 18. We went out and we walked to our area and we got kicked out of a house….haha. I clapped at the door and walked in the the man told me to go next door and we went next door and the guy came out and kicked us off his property. He said a lot of bad words in Guarani. Yea that happens in the mission and it wasn´t the first and it wont be the last. It happened top Jesus Christ too so it was very easy to get over. We did end up teaching a wonderful lady named Maria who is preparing to be baptized this Saturday and honestly Saturday probably was the first and last day I will see her. I learned that day that the things we do in our lives have eternal consequences. 

It was a very wonderful experience. 

Santiago and Guadalupe: Siblings went to church this Sunday. It was excellent. We walked to there house and Santiago thought we weren't going to come because he was already ready to go!! It was awesome and they loved church. I will be updating their progress as the time goes. 

Elder Hampton: I have a new companion named Elder Hampton. He is from Lehi, Utah and people think that we are brothers because we both look the same and we have the same name (Elder) I can't count on 2 hands how many times I had to explain the word Elder last week haha.

I have been learning a lot about Jesus Christ recently and really trying to get to know him and understanding who he really is and what he really did for us. The more I learn about him, the more desires I have to be like him. Everything he did was because he loved us. I hope I can develop that love for everyone just like he did. I'm learning so much and trying to be the best I can be. Through the Atonement I'm achieving that desire.

Thank you for your love and support. Until next week.

Elder Jessop

7-14-14 The Powerful Function of The Holy Ghost

Hello Family and Friends!! We have changes in two days and I'll be getting a new companion because Elder Villar is now finishing his mission and he will be going back to Chile this Wednesday. I'll be letting you all know who my new companion is next Monday. I'll give you guys a hint of who it might be. It will be an American, or a Latin. That's all I got.

This last Tuesday we had our Capacitación de Zona and it was my first one where I actually taught the missionaries about what our Mission President wants us all to know. We learned about the importance of developing talents in every aspect of our life and the importance of using them so that we don't lose them. We read in the scriptures about the parable of the talents and how it doesn't matter how many talents we have, nor how many talents we develop in our lives as long as we develop them. In the same parable there is a man who is given a talent and he hides it from the world, so that he doesn't loose it. The Lord then chastises him for not having develop his talents and he takes his talent away from him and gives it to the man with 10 talents. The point is that we can develop our talents in any circumstance and we should develop them and if we do, we will be able to enter into the fold of the Lord and be one of his worthy servants. May we all develop our talents so that God will accept us and bless us with more. 

We had quite a few activities in the ward this week because we had our ward conference. Tuesday we had a Paraguayan food night (SOOO GOOOD) and we played a ton of sports and games. 

The missionaries and I just watched and ate but it was very fun. Thursday we had some activities and we did a scripture chase, kids verses adults. Unfortunately I had to go with the adults.... It was really fun and we learned the importance of enduring to the end so that we may partake of the greatest blessing that God has given us, eternal life. Saturday we had an activity where we basically learned of the origin of the Ward and its construction. It's a very new ward and it isn't even 10 years old. It has been a real blessing to be here. I sent a picture of the members that were there in one of the activities. 

I learned a ton this week of the importance of the spirit and how we cant do nothing without it, or we will not be doing the will of God. When we have the spirit we are guided by the hand of God and he can then use us as his instruments, but if we don't have the Spirit, he can't use us. That is why we don't watch TV, listen to worldly music, and do other worldly things. Not that those things are bad, but they make the Spirit go away. I love the Spirit and it has really made my life much more happy.

I've really tried to change and be more like Christ. It is very hard sometimes to understand my divine perspective and how I can be like him some day when I am so imperfect. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can be like him one day and I will be. I'm trying to do my best and I hope that my God will be happy with me in the end. I am happy, blessed and I feel the love of the Lord daily. I hope to share that with others. May you all feel Gods love and recognize his hand in your lives. May he bless you all with happiness and peace.

Elder Jessop

7-7-2014 Jaha Ñapymi Kuera‏!!!

• Hi Family and Friends. Not going to lie, every day I realize that I have a day less to go in Paraguay. Gotta make it last right. I just can´t stop thinking about how happy I am. I am just so happy all the time. If you are not happy, you might want to change something in your life in order to be happy because being happy is absolutely awesome. This week was fast and a lot of miracles happened and it rained again. I'm starting to have memories again of the last winter in Paraguay that I had. Rain, rain, and more rain. Awesome life of a missionary.

• Miopía: I found out the other day that I have a miopia. I'm still not sure if that is a Spanish, an English word, or a crazy word that only the doctors use, but in English it means that I am short sighted, which means that in my right eye I can't see from far away. That doesn't make a lot of sense, but that is what they said and I'm going with it. That's why I am using glasses now. My head finally adjusted to having to wear glasses and I am finally used to them. I had my cat scan too and I don't have any brain damage, so I am 100 percent sure that the bump I got in the MTC a year ago is not the culprit for the lose of eye sight. The cat scan was nuts. They trapped me in a machine and I laid there for 30 minutes. Technology these days.

• Divisions: I did divisions this week with an Elder from Utah. He is working in the smallest area in the mission. It is 16 by like 12 blocks. It is really small and I learned about the importance of testifying about everything. I have really seen a growth in my testimony of the church since I have left. Just one of the blessings of the mission.

• Companion: My companion, Elder Villar, is going home to his house in Chile in 1 week. I have really been thinking a lot about how little time I have. That the mission passes by really fast. 2 years is nothing in comparison to a lifetime or the eternities. I really feel like my time has gone by really fast. It is difficult to understand. Other missionaries know how I feel. I've got 10 months left and I am enjoying it the best that I can. I love being a missionary and even though it is short, a person never has to stop being a missionary. We can always share the gospel with whoever, whenever, and wherever. I love sharing the gospel. It makes me happy and that is enough for me and I know it is enough for my Heavenly Father.

Elder Jessop

6/30/14 - They Joys of The Gospel of Jesus Christ‏!

Hello Family and Friends. Elder Jessop has thought a lot this week and now I am thinking how I really shouldn't talk in 3rd person. A lot of things happened this week and I'd like to share them with you. I will start with a couple things, but first I would like to say that you are loved and that Our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of you.

Rain: It rained SO MUCH this week. I sent some photos to depict the rivers in the street. It rained a ton. I had to take off my shoes to walk across the street because the water went up to my knees. That was fun. That is a little problem with Paraguay. When it rains there are floods everywhere because the sewage system doesn't really work very well here. There were many things that we had to do in the rain too, but everything that we needed to do got accomplished. 

Glasses: You may not be able to recognize me from the photos, but I'm now wearing glasses. Yup I have gone from nerd to even more nerdy, but that's OK. The glasses fit well. My eyes are still not used to them, but they do work and I do see better. My head kinda hurts, but I have asked every person that has glasses why and they tell me that my head hurts because my eyes have to adjust to the glasses. Let me know how I look with glasses. If I look like a fool you can tell me too that's OK, but if I look OK that would be great. I have never worn glasses before and I wasn't really sure what to buy but the the glasses seem to work. I'm happy with them.

Animals: I met two new animals this week. Monday, after the district activity I met a Tucan and Friday after a baptism interview I met an owl. I sent respective pictures, but IT WAS SO COOL!! 

District Activity: In our district there are 4 Elders and 4 Sisters and we played, soccer, basketball, and that's it. It was really fun and it was a nice stress reliever. 

Consejo de Lideres: I went to my first leader meeting as a Zone Leader and it is a monthly meeting that we have with the Mission President and the assistants. We learned a ton and we have to give all the info that we learned in the meeting to the Elders in the Zone. I sent some pictures from the meeting. The picture with the Elders are all the Elders that came to the mission in the same day. I remember meeting some of them in the airport. We have been in the mission for a while now..

I have learned a lot this month about the joys of teaching people about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings that come through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I've been blessed richly by the Lord and I have had amazing opportunities to bless the lives of many other people through the gospel and through the healing powers of the Atonement. I have felt the love of God in my life and it is my desire to help others feel his love too. I love the Atonement and there is no joy greater that I have felt in my life than the joy I have seen here as the people I have met have learned about the Atonement, accepted it, and were cleansed by it. Jesus loves each one of us. I have felt it and I am happy that I can help others feel it too.

Elder Jessop

6-23-14 Arnaldo!‏

Hello everyone. I'm Elder Jessop and I'm no longer a teenager. 

I turned a wopping 20 years old on Saturday. We celebrated with a baptism!! A young man got marrried and baptized on Saturday named Arnaldo. Even though the cake was for him and his wedding I considered it as my birthday cake haha. That was a great day on Saturday. I can´t forget either that there are 2 of us. 

Gemelos: For all of you that don't know, I am a twin and I have a sister who was born 1 minute and 16 seconds after me (according to my parents). This twin of mine is named Hannah. Hannah and I have been roaming around the planet together since we were just wee ones. Birthdays together, Halloween costumes together (one year I was green grapes, and she was purples grapes, another year we were the king & queen of hearts .....my parents are so smart ;)) This year is the first year that my sister and I have not been together to celebrate our birthday, but there is a bright side. There is always next year. There will always be another birthday, but there will never be another mission. I will never have another chance to be a missionary in the same capacity as I am being one now. Hannah so I guess we will have to party hard next year for the big number 21!!! Yeeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh!! Happy Birthday Hannah. I hope it was great! Next June we will go nuts together

Arnaldo: Arnaldo had his wedding and baptism on Saturday. I took a bunch of photos but it is taking forever to send them because I accidentally changed the mega pixels and I can only send like 2 every email but it is worth it!!! It was a great day, believe it or not the cake that says Arnaldo and Maria is a cake that Elder Villar and I made. It was a great cake. Everyone wanted more so that was good. Elder Villar had the opportunity to baptize him and there were tons of people there in the marriage!! It was a great birthday and a great day for Arnaldo and Maria. Now they will be able to prepare themselves to go to the temple. 

Zone Conference: We had a Zone Conference with 4 Zones and I took pictures of that. It was great.

Love you guys. I have to go. Have a great week!

Elder Jessop