Email #69….June 28, 2011

what an exhausting week! to start off, i did two and a half
intercambios in seven days! this is the last week for my district to bring
people to church to baptize this cambio (investigators have to assist
for at least 3 Sundays in order to be baptized). so i decided i would
go help the Elders get their investigators to go to church. it went well.
we had some great experiences actually… found some awesome people,
and i was able to get to know Elder Seeley and Elder Torres a little better.
it was a lot of fun, but a lot of work and not a ton of sleep. (i just
don’t sleep well outside of my bed, even though it is a crappy bed!).
we were even able to see a couple fruits from the hard work.
hopefully they can start committing their investigators to baptism! and, i
did my first baptismal interview. it was great to hear about this 11 year
old’s experiences with the missionaries and why he wants to get
baptized. it was awesome!

then we headed up to Concepcion on Sunday night… oh man. i was
already exhausted, but that trip just topped it off! we ended up
having to sleep in the office with 38 other missionaries... needless to
say, with so many bodies and no mattresses, none of us got much sleep.
Monday, we headed over to the chapel in Talcahuano. Oh… before this,
me, Elder Gibbs, Elder Wilkins, Elder Tripp, Elder Hong, Elder Snedegar,
and Elder Torres practiced for a musical number for President Swenson.
well, in reality we started a band…yes… i think we will be famous. we
sang “God be With You till we Meet Again”. Elders Gibbs, Wilkins, and

i played the guitar and the others sang in Spanish. it was great playing
the guitar again, but nerves were high performing in front of everyone.
it went well though!( I’m going to try to send it to you.) the conference was
great as usual… sad, but good. i have learned so much from the Swensons
and I will miss them dearly. BUT, they said that they would be moving to
Utah Valley! So, hopefully we can stay in touch... after the conference,

Gibbs and I went to bio bio to visit! it was so great.... going to see
the families Solis, Cofre, and Maurer is just like going home. i feel so
loved there and they are so good to us! They picked us up, drove us all

over, and fed us all a ton! it was a great day... even more awesome to do
it all with Gibbs. well, after having no sleep, i am so ready for bed. my back
is sore and i am dying! but that is what has happened this week. i
love you all! have a great week!

elder jackson