Email #68….June 20, 2011

i sure hope that you laughed at the letter. sometimes i have
experiences that make me cry from laughter, but when i go to write
them down, they just aren't that funny... but those two experiences
were definitely on the top 3... i can't believe the house is changing...
can you send me pictures of the new things done?

well, i have two other companionships in my district... Elder
Torres (Mexico) and Elder Degracie in Collipulli. then, Elder
Flores (Honduras) and Elder Seeley in Puren. both areas are pretty far
away from me, so traveling is not going to be fun. they are definitely
great missionaries, but some things are needed. Collipulli is doing
well, but both elders both pull me aside and tell me how the other one
doesn't ever agree with "him". that's kind of normal, it happens to
all. Puren, on the other hand is struggling. they aren't having much
success. both elders are really passive, so they don't get "blunt" at all with
their investigators. it's weird being a DL because i take numbers every
Sunday to see their work. the numbers were really poor this week...
contacts were way down... not a lot of lessons taught... and hardly any
"news". they are both really "dis-animated", so i am trying to find of
good things that i can teach in district meeting. i taught of
obedience this last week and how it makes us happier and more
successful, even if there aren't baptisms. this week i'm thinking of doing
something fun... i want to get the Rocky Theme song and play it when
they come in. then talk about how Rocky never gave up even if he had
some "downs". i hope it will get them a little more excited. as well i
will probably do an intercambio with them to help them find some new
investigators. i'm sure grateful to have a hard working companion to
help me through this all. speaking of great companion....

we had a conference, or training as they like to call it now, in Temuco
on Thursday. it was awesome because Elder Gibbs is in the zone and so
we were able to hang out for a bit. our house (me, my comp, Elder Tripp,
and Elder Wilkins) challenged Gibbs and other elders to a dual with
scripture mastery.... loser had to buy ice cream. (not that that was
gambling at all!!) well, we studied hard and won! got some ice cream...
and, we beat all the other half of the mission... so we got snickers as well.
then we had another competition. if you remember last week i talked about
how we are trying something new to help get into houses? well we had
a competition of who could get into the most houses in an hour and a
half. all 100'ish missionaries left to the streets of Temuco to teach the
gospel. well, we switched comps and i got put with Gibbs. we rocked it!
we really work well together. i think we didn't stay comps because we
needed to learn more from someone we might not get along that well
with. anyways, we got into nine houses and took third. my comp Elder
Beatty, with his comp, took first. we rocked it! we also had some funny
experiences. every house has a gate in front. we entered this one,
walked in and knocked the door. an older gentleman comes out all mad
and starts yellin' at us... telling us it was private property and we
couldn't walk in like that. i in turn explained that we were
representatives of Jesus Christ and just wanted to gift him something
free. he said, "don't talk to me! i will talk to you when you are
outside of the gate." ok... so he accompanied us to the gate, he
then locked it, taking his time and then said, "ok... now we can talk."
well alright! we said we just wanted to come in for 2 minutes to give
him something and say a prayer. he said " i don't open the door to
anyone, but i will to you guys." ha! so we walked in and talked for a
minute. he then apologized for yelling at us and said that he had
gotten assaulted the other day and couldn't trust anyone. anyways, it
was funny. i guess you just had to be there.

well, Hermana Swenson called me this morning and said how much she
loved your letter and how great of a family i have. i said," i know.. they're
awesome... the best family in the world!" The Swenson's will be leaving next
week.... we have another conference with ALL of the missionaries in
Concepcion next p-day... so, i might be late writing you next week... anywho,
i will have to answer "the" question next week... Happy Father's day to
all you dads out there!

elder jackson