11/03/2014

Dear Family,

It is getting rainy here I Gresham! It rains about every day now and it will until about June. I am okay with that. It is kind of nice actually. all of my raingear is holding up so far. And Gresham is pretty close to Vancouver. It is literally right across the Columbia River from my last area in Fern Prairie. It kind of blends into Portland at some point. It is all pretty much the same actually.

Mom, you are right when you said that the poorer people are being more receptive. We went tracting in a really rich area the other day and it did not go well. It reminds me of Mosiah chapter 2. Everything we have is from God and so sometimes we get really selfish when we think we are better off than other people. At least the dust obeys what God says haha! Then we think that poor people brought it on themselves, which is usually true, but that is not for us to decide. We are so blessed to have what we have.

My companion is doing better. He is really improving. He is getting more comfortable talking to people and carrying on conversations. I hope that he continues to improve. He is doing okay with his girlfriend. He is so getting dumpted though, haha. I am soooooooo glad that I do not have a girlfriend. It just makes things so much easier and just better. I can tell that it is going to affect his mission greatly if things start to go downhill with her. Hopefully we are not companions by that time! haha, just kidding.

Thanks for the sports updates. It sounds like it was kind of a down fall for Teton. I remember talking to Bishop Robson during basketball season last year and he said that the struggles that I was facing now with losing, teammates, etc. will all seem pretty small when I went out on a mission. I have definitely found that to be true. I have talked with people who are going through a pretty rough time and they would laugh at me if I told them I was struggling because I lost a few basketball games. This mission has certainly given me an eternal perspective.

I remember where I was and what I was doing when it was game 7 of the World Series. We took out a member with us who let us know up front that he was missing out on this game so it better be a good experience. So of course, our appointment fell through and we had nothing to do. We stopped by a few people along with some of his home-teaching families. We went to visit a less-active couple and they weren't' home. It was about 8 at night and we were frustrated and the member was frustrated, so we just knocked on a door right next to us. This guy in his late 20's answered the door and was super receptive. We talked to him for 30 minutes about what we believe and he was all in. It was cool to see that and he is meeting with us again this week.

So we had the baptism of Ava. She is 8 and we were asked to teach her with her less-active mom. For our last lesson, we had a testimony meeting. Everybody bore a nice testimony until it was Ava's mom's turn. Ava kept begging her to share her testimony, but she just wouldn't and then she ran out of the room crying. Awkward. The spirit was definitely working on her. she gave a talk at the baptism so she is coming around. She also is dating somebody who is not a member and he has been to church a couple times and he was at the baptism as well. It was a really neat experience and I am so glad that I was able to participate with that.

Halloween is the same here as anywhere else. I really don't like that holiday. Just weird. There is one less-active lady who we are working with and she is way into Halloween. She even has her own website! It takes her like a whole month straight just to decorate her house. Crazy stuff. President Taylor said to just stay inside. Good idea. We just hung out at the apartment and with members so that was a nice change.

The work is going well in this area. I am feeling so blessed to be a part of this great work. I loved the Grandpa Hart missionary story. It reminds me that we are sprinkling seeds everywhere we go. My companion and I had 101 OYMs this week, which is basically how many people you talk to for the first time. We are really trying to push forward and be better and change the culture in this ward and area. Thank you for all that you do for me; for your love and support and prayers and fasts and everything else. Some missionaries are not blessed with that same family support, so I am so grateful for you and all that you do. I love you all and Have a great week!

Love, Jaxon