His week was just pretty much the same old. We didn't
have any meetings and so it was just a lot of finding and working but it was
also a lot of fun! Well, I literally don't have anything to write this week but
we got to skype yesterday so that was cool! Sorry I don't have any pictures
again but I hope you all have a great week!
(Note from Mom -- Sometimes Jase's letters don't say much, as you can see above! However, he does photocopy his journals and send them home periodically. So I asked him if I could type them up and include them as well. Here they are for this week!)
Sunday May 7: Well, today we didn't have ward council because the Finlays
were out of town and they are half of it, so that was awkward. However the
Ibraihim family came to church today, which was good. They are refugees from
Syria and really like the church, but the language barrier is rough. So they
are kind of a long term baptism, but it is really good. I feel like I have
worked with a lot of people who struggle with English on my mission and I can't
help but wonder if it is part of my gift of communication from my patriarchal
blessing. I hope to develop that gift because I don't seem to be very strong
with it yet. Anyway, nothing else really happened except dinner with the
Wycocks! They are awesome!
Monday 8: Oh man, today was rough. It was just so much finding and knocking
on doors, which I just hate. I really wish we had more people to work with, but
our area is small and all of the formers aren't really interested. We want
to find new people but we just don't know how to find them. Tracting is
terrible, but in the area it is really the only way to find a new face. It's
just hard to have these completely blank days and no way of planning them. I kind
of wish we had more office work. I know I need to learn a lesson from this, I
just want to learn it faster so that we don't just keep searching in
vain.
Tuesday May 9: Today was all visiting formers and knocking on doors with no
results once again. Quite a full day. I'm pretty sure I have like zero faith in
tracting, especially in today's day and age where every single place you go,
that person has already talked to missionaries. It is frustrating.
Wednesday May 10: Today was a little better even though the
appointments we had fell through. I think its cause we had interviews with
president which helped lift things up a bit again. These are the last
interviews we will have with President Villanueva. We talked a lot about my
assignment as an office Elder and I think it will help me become more
"quick to observe" like Brother Douglas taught. We also talked about
the needs of the area. I think we need to just keep working and it will turn
up.
Thursday May 11: Today was great! We had District meeting first and then
today was still a lot of finding, but we got to set up an appointment with
Sister Garcia and teach the plan of salvation. I think she has a lot of
potential to come back and her daughter as
well. It is nice to be able to teach something for once and we hope to
keep working with her. Other than that it was just our usual finding day! I
really can’t wait to see this area pick up and I think we can get it to that
point if we just keep pushing for it!
Friday May 12: Today was pretty good but really long. We had weekly planning
so that took forever, but it was all good. We were able to reach a referral we
got named Sal today and he is pretty cool, but is a really strong Catholic. We
taught the restoration but he kind resisted it and so we just really encouraged
him to really study the Book of Mormon to find out if our message is true.
There wasn’t much more we could have done, so hopefully he takes the challenge.
Saturday May 13: Today was decent but it felt really long. However, we were
able to find two potentials so that was good. It was just a really long finding
day for us even though it was a little more successful than some of the other
days but whatever. I am excited to Skype tomorrow and see how everything is
going back home though! It will be nice to have a short little break from it
all.
Sunday May 14: Well, today was Mother’s Day so we weren’t able to get much
work done. The white handbook says that Sundays and Holidays are the vest days
to find but that is a huge lie. Church was really good today though and Kaoussar
and the twins came to church, but not Emile and so we didn’t teach them. They
also didn’t stay for sacrament which was too bad.
However, we did get to Skype
family today so that was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. I feel like it went by
a lot faster than it did last time though, so that was unfortunate, but it was
all good. My mom and dad reminded me to wear my retainer again. Of
course I’m not actually going to do it though. We then just went by less
actives for pretty much the rest of the day and then just had language study. So
it was pretty good day!
*Note from mom -- he isn't wearing his retainer any more because he didn't wear it every night like he was supposed to, therefore his teeth shifted and it no longer fits! :( I am setting him up an Orthodontist appointment as soon as he gets home (which isn't for another year) to get a new retainer (or short term braces). We invested a lot of money into that smile and I don't want to lose it!
