Happy New Year !!

Hello everyone!! Happy New Year first and for most and I want to tell you all that I've been here for 6 months in Paraguay. I'm almost Paraguayan only I have blonde hair and blue eyes. That little difference will not stop me. A couple things happened this week that I would like to tell you all but first I'm going to begin with a list that I have.

We are teaching a couple of people that are preparing themselves to be baptized really soon and I want to tell you all about them:

Eva: Eva is a 55 year old really awesome Paraguayan women that I found doing divisions with a missionary in my district named Elder Caballero. We walked up to her house, not knowing what we were doing, and we decided to clap (in Paraguay instead of knocking on doors they clap). We went into this door and the wife of her nephew greeted us with a really nice smile and it turns out that she was a member. She let us in and Eva just started telling us about her struggles and how she is looking for peace and how she wants to find it. She told us how she prayed to God to send his messengers to her door and what do you know, good old missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints showed up. The first thing she told us is that she loves it when we smile because we always look happy. She is getting baptized this Saturday.

Ana Maria: Ana Maria is another really nice lady that at first did not like the church at all because she is from an Evangelical church. We got her to come to church and she told us that our church did not have any vigor. She told us that she had her church. What we decided to do was to keep stopping bye and saying hi and she told us randomly one Saturday that she was going to go to church Sunday and low and behold, SHE CAME! That was awesome and then she told us that she really likes how she feels welcomed in the church and she never feels like that in any other place. She also came to church again yesterday and she is getting baptized this Saturday. 

Belen: Belen is a girl that is 12 that is the only member of her family that is not a member. Her parents are not members either because they don't want to get married, but all of her brothers and sisters are members. I asked her one day if she wanted to get baptized and she told us that she would never get baptized because she is Catholic. She then started coming to church every Sunday with her cousins that are really active and her cousins started teaching her a lot and we would occasionally ask her if she wanted to get baptized and she kept saying no. One day, actually this last Saturday, we passed by her cousins house and she happened to be there and she came up to us and told us that she wanted to be baptized!! That is a testimony of member missionary work. She is getting baptized this Friday.

There are many other people here that we are teaching and I love it. There is a girl named Maria Nancy that almost got baptized with her mom and sister but decided not to, but she keeps coming to church and I know she will get baptized some day. I'm really seeing the blessing and miracles that come daily as I'm here in Paraguay. 

Today is Monday. Right before this typing letter. Elder Goodell and I, (Elder Goodell is another missionary in my district) decided to by 1 kilo of ice cream and eat it. Today is the 21st birthday of Elder Goodell so we went all out. I have pictures :D.

Also, I had a really wonderful experience talking to a girl that told us that her mom had just died. She told us that she would never see her mom again and how she is sad and prays every night to see her mom in her dreams. We started teaching her about eternal families and about the purpose of our existence and how with the power of God we can see our families again after this life. She didn't believe us even though we testified to her over and over again, but even if she doesn't believe that, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have to teach the people here. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to live with my father in heaven after my life and to have my whole family there with me. I know that families are eternal. I love being a missionary. It is a short time in my life, but it has been the most blessed and enriching experience I have ever had.

Thank you all for the prayers and for the support. I love each and every one of you and I hope you all have a great and fulfilling week.

Elder Jessop

We Wish You A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year‏!!

Hey Everyone, a lot of stuff has been happening. It's almost 2014!!! I hope you all enjoy the ball drop tomorrow. 

I'm going to tell you what has been happening: 


SKYPE: I Skyped with the family for Christmas!!! That was the best Christmas present EVER!! It was a scary experience because we are in a third world country and there are not a lot of computers with video cameras so we had to find one. We kept looking and looking and then we found one. A member told us that we could use her laptop to do Skype on Saturday she told us that and we went back Wednesday. The actually day of Christmas. We went to her house and she told us her laptop broke. Well that was a big bummer because we didn't know what we were going to do. Our families were waiting for us and we didn't have a computer. We started gathering supplies from members. We got to the point were we had a microphone and a video camera but we didn't have a computer, UNTIL we found one!!! We found that another member had a laptop and we used his laptop and we did Skype. It was awesome to see the family. It had been about 7 months. It was a blessing and a great experience. 


Pedro: Pedro is a young child who got baptized before Christmas. He was the reference of a member and he told us that he wanted to get baptized even though his family was making fun of him for doing it. He told us with his own words "They laugh at me because I'm Mormon, but they are not going to beat me, I'm going to go to church because I like it." This kid is 10. HE IS AWESOME. Beyond words he is awesome. 


Elder Evans: I forgot to tell all of you about my new companion his name is elder Evans and he is straight out of the MTC! I'M Training him!! I will be with Elder Evans until March. He is from Arizona and is 18 and everyone tells him that he is a metai. Metai means little kid or child in Spanish. He is awesome and he really works hard, but yea he is tiny. I'll send some photos. His first week here in the mission he had the opportunity to baptize Pedro and that was a great experience for him and me. Training is a whole different experience  Now I understand why my trainer, elder Morgan, did the things that he did when I first started the mission. We are going to have a lot of fun together. 


Subiimos una montaña: YEA WE GOT TO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN. OK it is not really a mountain, it is more like a hill but it is pretty big. I have pictures and I am sending them as I write. It was really fun. I'm really afraid of heights, so I am surprised that I went so high. It was pretty fun. We saw a giant tarantula which wasn't very fun, but it was pretty sweet. 


Fla Fretes: We had dinner with a family here that is less active that showed me how to cook a meal. I don't know what it is called, but man was it really good. MOM would be so proud of me. It had chicken, rice, onion, carrot, tomatoes  garlic, and other stuff but it was really really good. I'm sending pictures. This is a great family that we are trying to reactivate and we thought it would be a great idea to have dinner with them. It was an awesome dinner with an awesome family. Here they eat dinner at like 9:00 at night. It was a late dinner but really yummy. 


Mission Activity: This last Friday we had a mission activity for Christmas and have the mission came. We climbed the Hill of a city called Lambare, we had a white elephant, we had Pizza Hut!!!!!! And we had fruitcake for dessert. It was a great day and we were literally there all day. We left at 4:00 in the morning and got back at 9:30 at night. My district and I had to sleep at the zone Leaders house the night before so I slept on the ground, but it was way worth it. 


Happy New Year everyone. The mission is changing my life. As I enter a new year I feel as if my whole objective in this life has changed. Instead of thinking about myself, I think of others. Instead of working for my own gain, I work for the gain of others. Instead of loving myself, I love others. I am changing and I am truly grateful. I hope you all have a great week and start off the new year with a splendid letter from good Old Elder Jessop. 

I love each and every one of you and I am grateful for your support. 


Elder Jessop

Merry Christmas!!!‏

Hi everyone!!! Christmas is coming woohooo!!! It will be a great Christmas season. I've got a couple things that I want to say!!

The Plan: So next week I'm allowed to skype with my family. I will see there faces though a TV screen for 40 minutes. Yea we only have 40 minutes but it is worth it. I will probably be skyping them on Tuesday or Wednesday! That will be a great day. The time difference is like three hours I think so we will see what happens.

Peanut Butter: My parents sent me Peanut Butter!!! Two jars of Skippy. They sent me other stuff too. I already ate all of the Reese's Pieces, but Ive got enough peanut butter for three months!! I'm happy.

Merry Christmas too everyone: The transfers are this week, so I will find out who is my new companion and I'm thinking that I will probably stay here because I just got here in Paraguarí, but ya never know!! Christmas here is really different I've heard but the Christmas here has ALOT of food. It is like thanksgiving in the states and the Paraguayans know how to cook. I'm looking forward to eating on Christmas. Ill walk around to appointments on Christmas and I will knock on a house and they will tell me Come In and eat with us!! At least that is what they might say.

I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! JoJoJo. 

Elder Jessop

HUBO BAUTISMO ESTA SEMANA!

Hello Everyone!!! 

It's almost Christmas! In a few short weeks I will be skyping my family in the States for Christmas. I'm thinking that that's a pretty good Christmas present. I've got a lot of good news this week!

Baptism: There were two baptisms this week!!!! YAY!!!!! 
A women named Luz Maria and her daughter Maria Soledad were baptized this Friday. It was awesome! It was really a great sight to see. We had been teaching them the gospel & then a change came & they felt the spirit and the work helped a lot because they got baptized! 

Watermelon: I also had a watermelon. I cut it open for lunch and ate half of it. It was awesome and it was all I had to eat for lunch so I ate it. It was really good but not as good as the watermelons my grandma picks! ( Love you GMA). Here the watermelon is really popular they just have truckloads full of them and they sell them on the street! I buy one every week now because they are only here in the summer!

HACE CALOR: It is starting to get really hot here. For those of you who have cell phones just check the weather report here in Paraguay. In January it gets up to 110 or 120 degrees. It is terrible. Gotta drink a lot of water but it's OK. I'll just eat a bunch of watermelons. That will save me.

I love being a missionary there is nothing else like it. I hope you all have a great week and that you enjoy the pictures that I sent. The changes are next Wednesday so I'll find out if I'm staying or if I'm moving next Wednesday. I love you all. Especially my mom. Love you mom. 

Con cariño

Elder Jessop

• Cows in a School, Photos of Baptism, WATERMELON!

It´s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas‏

HEY EVERYBODY. Elder Jessop has just hit the 5 month mark here in Paraguay and I've been away from home for a while too. Like 6 months or something like that. All the days kinda blur together sometimes. 

Thanksgiving: The Thanksgiving here in Paraguay was awesome. I gave a lot of thanks to people who I talked too. They said some things in Guaraní too. I'm guessing they were giving thanks to me too. I love the Paraguayos. They are my heart and soul. Not going to lie, there actually was not a Thanksgiving here in Paraguay because it is an American Holiday, but in all it was an awesome day. 

Cerro Porteno: Here in Paraguay there are two soccer teams, ones named Olympia and the other is Cerro Porteno. They play almost every Sunday and the teams are arch rivals and the way the missionaries can tell when they are playing is by watching the people. Everyone has soccer jerseys, beer, and a radio or TV to listen to the game. The other night there was a parade because Cerro won. It was cool to watch from the balcony of my house. My companion has stickers on one of his book of Mormon carrying cases and he shows it to everyone because he likes Olympia. It is pretty cool.

December 8, 2013: OK I know that this date has not past yet, but this date is a very special date for all of Paraguay. On December 8th, THE WHOLE COUNTRY literally walks from where they live in Paraguay to a city called Cacupee. They all walked for days to this city to go celebrate. This day is a Holiday where the people go. Some people go to give thanks to the virgin Maria, some people go to party, some people go to sale stuff. I will let you know a little more of what will happen on that day as it comes.

Luz Maria: We have 3 investigators name Luz Maria, Maria Nancy and Maria Soledad. They are a family and they came to church on Sunday!!!! They are awesome and really wanted to get baptized at first and then Luz Maria didn't go to church for two  weeks and changed her mind, and she went to church again yesterday and said that she wanted to get baptized!!!! Esoty tan feliz no puedo explicar mi felicadad en ingles por eso estoy escribiendo en español. AHHH!!!!!

Yea that's my life. I have been out here for a little while now and I just want to say how grateful I am for the opportunity I have to be out here. I love my God. I have learned that he has a plan for everyone of his children and his plan is one of happiness. There is no greater joy I have ever felt in my life. I love these people, I love this work, I love my God. 

Mateo 28:19 - Id y haced discipulos bautizando en el nombre del Padre, del hijo, y del Espíritu Santo.

Mom I love you. Have a great week.

Elder Jessop

The Mission‏

Hello Everyone. I literally do not know what to write you all this week. I'm really hungry. It is about lunch time and my stomach is going for the walls. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here in Paraguay for thanksgiving we go crazy and baptize. We don't eat turkey. Actually there is no thanksgiving here in Paraguay. That's OK though. For all of you folks in The United States, Happy Thanksgiving.

Also my parents are celebrating another year of marriage. I ask that you please wish them a happy anniversary. They are awesome. I think they are going on 32 years of marriage. My family is very blessed. 

I guess I have a funny story I can tell you all. My companion and I were walking on the sidewalk and a bus drove by us and a guy screamed out the window, and I quote, " spies spies spies, One day we will kill you all, spies." It was pretty awesome. It was funny too. Yea that actually happened yesterday.

OK, I know this isn't much but I would love to share my testimony with you all. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know the church is true. It is in my soul of my very being. I don't believe, I know. I have the blessing to be here in another country and to help the people here find happiness in their lives. I'm truly blessed. I love each and every one of you. Have a great week.

Elder Jessop

I Love Missionary Work!

Hello everyone, I sent pictures this week of where I live a little bit. We also had a baptism this week of a boy named Enrique. It was really funny actually. My first day here we went to his house and I started asking questions and I asked how old he was and he said 8, then I asked his mom for permission for him to be baptized and she said yes. It was awesome. My companion thought he was 7. It was a great day.

Also, in my district another companionship baptized 5 people!!!!! It was awesome. None of them talked in Spanish, they all talked in Gauraní. I had to do the interviews with a member. They got baptized in a River too. It was awesome. 

Also this last Tuesday an Apostle came to Paraguay. Elder Christofferson came and talked to us here. It was awesome. The Paraguay mission and the Paraguay North mission gathered up and 500 missionaries heard an apostle of the Lord speak. He talked to us in Spanish too which was pretty awesome indeed. I got to shake his hand and everything.

There are a lot of good people here. I really like it here. I'm going to fit in just nicely and if I don't I'm going to make myself fit...haha. I hope you are all doing awesome. Ive been out for a while now I think and I'm grateful for all your prayers and letters and love. Much peace and love to all. I'm living the good life. A missionary life.


Elder Jessop

Enrique's Baptisme  

My new Desk

River Baptism's

Turtle time!

My Star Wars Sheets!

Closet space

Outside the new crib!

Hello Paraguarí!!‏

Hi everyone, I GOT CHANGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I left Caáguazú on Wensday and now I'm here in a place called Paraguarí. I will take photos for next week. It is the only place in Paraguay with hills and mountains and stuff. They a really small mountains but still. 

I'm here with an Elder named Elder Lefler and we were in the MTC together. It is really weird because we have the same time in the mission, about 5 months, and we are companions. We are really new but it is really fun.

I also got a mini calling. I got called to be the District Leader here in Paraguarí. Some of you know what that is and some of you don't so I will explain it. Every mission in the world has an order of Leadership. There is the mission President, Then there are 2 assistants which are always helping missionaries and President Aggazani. Then there are Zone Leaders. There are 14 Zones in my mission and each one has two Zone Leaders and they are companions. So there are 28 Zone Leaders in total. Then each Zone has two or three districts. Each district has anywhere from 6 to 10 missionaries. So there are about 35 districts in the mission and there is only one district leader in each district not like the Zone Leader. Then there are the rest of the missionaries who are in the districts, which are in all the Zones. I'm one of the District Leaders now. So now that you know the organization of the mission, you know what I am. I'm not in charge of the missionaries in my district but I am responsible for them. I think I'm too young to be a District Leader but my mission President thinks otherwise.

My new life here in Paraguarí is awesome. I will take pictures and send them next week. 

Love you all and I hope you all enjoy your week. 

Elder Jessop

Andrew & Elder Lefler at MTC

So long to Elder Arteaga

Hi

Hi. 
I'm sitting here right now thinking about what I'm going to say to all of you awesome people and now I sit here and think and there are some pretty big days coming up in my family life so I will talk about them. Some other stuff too but I am still thinking. 

Changes: We have changes this week, there is a chance that I leave my area and there is a chance that I stay here with my companion, but I will let you guys know that next week. Changes are always fun.

Birthdays: This week, The 8th of November are the birthdays of some very important people in my life that I love. 

My Dad is turning 50, so happy birthday dad. I Love you and I hope you have a fun time on your cruise thing with mom. That should be really fun. That is a half century already. I don't even have two decades yet. OK thanks dad for everything and everyone should say happy birthday to my dad this week.

My grandpa turns 71 this week I think. My dad and grandpa have the same birthdays 21 years apart. That is pretty cool. My grandpa is an awesome guy and while he is not much of an Internet guy, you should all say happy birthday to him on the Facebook account of my grandma's. Hahaha she is on Facebook a lot I think still. Happy birthday grandpa.

Last but not least the 8th of November is the birthday of my dear friend Cody. Cody if you are reading this I want you to know that I love you bud. We have been friends for a long time and you are my best friend. We've been through a lot and have done a lot together and you are a big part of my life and who I am today. Your family has cared for me and has always accepted me as one of there own which is awesome haha. I haven't heard from you yet but I know that you are working know from what I last heard and I hope that everything is going great in your life. I care about you very much and I love you and your family and I hope that you are all doing just great. Your my best friend and that's not going to change. I hope you have a happy birthday. Say hi to your family for me. 

Everything is going good here in Paraguay. We are entering into summer and it is getting really hot. It gets over 100 degrees really easily here but that's OK, you just got to drink a lot of water. I'll let you guys know what happens with the changes this next week.

Love you all very much and the last thing I want to say is.... Hi to my mom. 

Hi mom :D

Elder Jessop