01/19/2015

Dear Family,

Everything is going good here in Cherry Park. I have definitely fallen into a better routine. My companion and I are getting along great. Only in the mission field would this happen. I think the only thing we have in common is our love for missionary work. Other than that, nothing is the same. That one thing is enough, though. I would rather have it this way than having everything in common except missionary work. The district leader call is going good as well. We made a big jump this week from last so that was good. My first district meeting is on Wednesday so I am excited for that. I am meeting a lot of new people. Shaylah D. is on date for baptism on January 31st, but she has been really sick so we might have to push it back. We have a lot of people that have some real potential, it is just a matter of weeding out who is for real and who is not. I am going to try to work on giving more attention to the people on date. Before, I would just push their date back and keep doing the same thing. I want to have almost daily contact with them to make sure they are doing ok. Also, Richard P. is doing awesome. He was excommunicated a long time ago and is coming back. He has been sober for two weeks and hasn't had a cigarette in almost a week. He is almost ready to make the leap. We just teach him and when we feel like he is ready, then we refer him to the bishop.

The Cherry Park ward is definitely different than any ward I have served in. There a lot of Samoans and Tongans so they kind of shape the culture. Our ward mission leader is Samoan. His name is Koko M. He is more worried about making sure that we were being fed than our missionary work haha. It was frustrating at first, but these people LOVE the gospel and they love the missionaries. There are a bunch of less-actives because they don't really want to go to church, but they would smash anybody with their giant bodies who insulted the missionaries! I just keep picturing on Church Ball when those two giant Samoans just walk through the key and everybody is trying to get around them. Haha! I have learned a lot already from them and I am excited to learn more.

I think I have found out what I need to learn from my companion. He is really into technology and social media. As you may have noticed, I have been on Facebook a lot more. I used to think it was just a waste of time, but I have been much more productive with it. I have already had some good conversations with some investigators in my former areas and recent converts. I also had awesome conversations with a couple of people from home. Who knew that Facebook could be effective? It is just another tool to help us with the work.

Thank you for checking up on Bobby. I wish I could be there when he runs into missionaries. That will be quite the success story for two young missionaries somewhere in Arizona. About my cousin (?) here in Portland... I think she is active. She has been to church the two Sunday's I have been here. Her husband is not a member so maybe there is some potential there. I made another connection on Sunday! We were talking to a high council member who was going to speak. I told him I was from Driggs and he said that his daughter in law is from Driggs. Turns out his daughter in law is Danielle Gibson's sister! Wow! What a small world!

We figured that on Tuesday morning when we were walking the streets, that it felt like Oregon lost the championship. I just knew it. People were really bummed out, but nothing crazy happened. The Seahawks won so that kind of drowned out any pain form the Oregon loss. I do hope the Cavs hold off for a bit longer. I do not want to see them win one without me, even though one without me is better than none at all.

I am so glad that Austin did well in his game at Marsh... I have no doubt that Heavenly Father is helping him through these hard things he is dealing with. I will keep him in my prayers for sure. Same with Carson. I am glad that his team won.

Here is a funny story about that sister missionary from Oklahoma. This lady in our ward feeds all the Spanish missionaries and us. That sister missionary came to the dinner that I was at, and I knew there was a new one from Oklahoma, but I didn't realize it was her. We have another dinner planned for next month, so I will tell her that her stake president is my uncle. She will be surprised for sure! Thanks for sharing that experience with Uncle Gordon talking to President Taylor. I can imagine that the spirit would be so strong when they were talking to each other. They are both such great people. I can't believe that Gordon is still the stake president! It seems like one of my earliest memories of childhood when I heard that Gordon got called as stake president! How long has he been there?

Thank you for the letter. I always enjoy them. I think that is it for the report this week. Let me know if you need anything from me. I love you.

Jaxon