December 30, 2013

Whats up!

So this past week was awesome!  It was very nice to see my fam and see their faces!  They got to see how fat I am... FYI I gained more weight in 4 months then my 4 years in high school trying to gain.. I'm just going to try to embrace it for now because I cannot stop eating this food.  For Christmas we had 3 asados. But anyway Christmas was good... it didn't feel like a Christmas at home but I really did enjoy the people I was with and to have the opportunity to serve the Lord on his birthday is a blessing. 

I don't really have much to report on this week because I was able to talk to you guys. Elder moro got transferred (not my comp) so we get a new elder moving in today. Should be exciting but I'm sad because moro and I got along really good. I'm still in Romero with E Amestica and I really think we are going to have some good success this transfer. Just got to pray hard, smile a lot, love, and work like mad men.  Easy.

Love you guys. Have a happy new year (Cade - don't kiss too many girls at midnight) 

Elder Jackson 2

Someone please tell me whats going on in the football world. :)

December 23, 2013

Hello, 

So Christmas is rolling around and I'm excited for my first one here. I am going to a members house (Juan Pablo). He's awesome and we are going to be with him and his family the 24 and 25.  Today we are going to be traveling for 6 hours for a bbq at the mission home for 1 hour... haha. 

This week was good.  My Spanish has actually started to improve and it's starting to get easier to talk to people. The nights here just turn into craziness so the new rule is we have to be home at 8.  Everything is super good and things are rolling for us. 

This week for Christmas focus on the pearl.  This is the time of the year we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesucristo. I'm eternally grateful for all He has done for all of us.  I know my Savior lives. 

Remember him this season. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Elder Jackson 2

December 16, 2013

Hello,

It's almost Christmas and its so hot I can't barely handle it.  It doesn't feel right and I would do anything for some ginger bread or some pumpkin cookies. I guess summer here its alright just to not wear clothes at all.  I've seen naked babies running around and a whole bunch of skin.  I'm starting to get those missionary tan lines and its depressing.  I think all the fat and weight I put on is going to be sweated out of me the next few months. I just have to stop eating those factueras and dulce de leche.

We are teaching an old guy named Nestor and he used to smoke a lot but we are helping him and doing everything we can to help him stop.  If he becomes a diabetic in the next month its my fault... everyday I buy him a bag of candy. He loves it.  He wants to be baptized so bad but just cant get over this.  I have faith in this guy he's awesome! 

My Spanish I don't think has improved at all in 10 weeks... 2 days ago I had 4 different people tell me they didn't understand 1 thing I said.. talk about a buzz kill.  But the people think its funny so whatever.  They can laugh all they want! 

Hope everyone has a super duper Christmas!  I'll be eating meat and watching little kids throw firecrackers all week.  Should be super duper fun!!! 

Love you all and Merry Christmas!

Elder Jackson 2

December 9, 2013

Hello, 

So this week started with a crazy storm that felt like a hurricane. We were walking an the road and just got into a house when its got really bad.  The house next to us got torn apart and it was just crazy outside. But we were safe. The power and water were out for 2 days and there were protests and it was just pretty crazy at night. I thought is was a very exciting experience!  Its getting super hot and humid here and its not even summer yet. I'm starting to sweat all the time. 

The Spanish is coming along slowly and is taking a lot of work.  But its coming! 

We had a baptism this week and it was pretty awesome. The father was able to do it and it was really special for him.  There's also Christian that we are hoping to baptize in the next week or so. His mother was baptized like 2 months ago but he backed out. But he's awesome, 16 and we are trying to work thinks out with him. This week we found 3 families that are super awesome and we are very blessed and happy to find them. 

It has been an awesome week and this week should be even better.  My comp and I are getting along good.. it's hard with the language sometimes but we just roll with it... and it helps when you have other elders with you that are super cool too. 

I'm loving it here!  Have a good week!! 

Love you guys. 

Elder Jackson 2

Holar

Hows it going?  So it turns out I got my weeks messed up and last week someone told me it was Thanksgiving. 

So, for Thanksgiving me and the 3 other elders with me made a little Thanksgiving dinner.  I made some melinesa, elder moro made some guac and noodles elder harker had some stuffing his family sent him and we had a cute little meal.  We all said what we were thankful for and it felt like home. 

This week went by really fast.  It consisted of a lot of walking and a lot of sweating and teaching.  One day we walked what felt like for 3 miles to teach an investigator and he wasn't there so we talked with his neighbors and turns out they were baptized like 20 years ago and had pictures and everything.  It made the long walk worth it. The one thing here that is super frustrating is that no one gets married or wants to so its my goal to teach them why they should get married so they can get baptized.

My Spanish is getting better.  The thing I realized is that I'm my worst enemy with the language.  When I'm frustrated, I can't speak but when I'm stress free about it I can talk.  I just need a chill pill every once in a while I guess. Whenever I get frustrated I speak in English.  My comp decided that he wants to learn English last week probably because I spoke a ton of English.  I know Spanish, I understand what people say and I can read and understand but the thing that kills me is talking.  My tongue doesn't move like the Latins.  It is very challenging.  Anyways, this week was a good week.  My comp and I work really hard and sometimes its hard to keep up with him but I'm trying. 

The missionaries here are famous.  I feel like a rockstar half the time. 

Hope everyone had a super duper thanksgiving.  Love you lots  

Elder Jackson #2

November 24th

This week was quite different. We switched things up a little bit.  My comp totally changed the way we do everything and I don't know if what I've been doing was wrong.  It's terribly frustrating having a latino comp when you don't really know the language.  Besides the lang the whole culture is different.  It definitely takes some time getting used to.  My spanish has been getting worse and worse..... it makes me so mad.  My confidence is shot, completely gone.  If I didn't have other guys in my pension with me that could speak english so I could talk things out I would freak out.  Spanish has definitely taken its toll on me before and during my mission.

I forgot about Thanksgiving until friday. I hope everyone had a good one!  I made it past my first big holiday!!! But there was a holiday here yesterday and we played soccer.  I felt like a white guy playing basketball with a bunch of black dudes.  Even the 55 year old men were juking me out... I don't know if I lost all my athletic abilities or if they are just that good. 

I don't think I ever want to leave this ward.  The people are too good to me here.  It's nice to be able to connect with people without being able to speak their language half the time. 

Since it was Thanksgiving I'll say what I'm Thankful for.....I'm very very thankful for where I'm from and how I grew up.  The experiences I had and things I've been able to do.  By seeing different parts of the world and talking with other missionaries, it makes me realize how good I had it and how awesome my parents are.

Have a wonderful week everyone.  Focus on the pearl!

Elder Jackson#2

ps.  I caught my first fire fly this week.

November 11th & 18th

Ya, I'm in Argentina...

Hola, 

The weeks are starting to just fly by and the sad part is that my spanish is still "poor to fair". But its all good the people bare with my when i talk and im pretty used to feeling like an idiot. What I deal with in my apartment is unbelievable. The other elders are by far the weirdest dudes here. The love to play lion king music and jump around as gorillas. when we find bugs they light them on fire and they never stop singing its unbelievable. 

This week was sweet! we did 2 service projects one we built a bridge. the bridge collapsed 2 times when they were pouring the concrete in it but they fixed in and its now done. I probably wouldn't walk over it. Let alone drive a car over it.  But that's how things are in Argentina.  My and I also made a fence for this old lady in our ward and the fence was pretty decent. 

My comp and I are on a roll. the work is going great and things are rolling for us. We are expecting some baptisms in the next couple weeks. its such a good feeling to walk out of a lesson that went super good. 

Love you all 

-Elder Jackson#2

Sink or Float?

Honestly I cant remember anything before Thursday, but Thursday was terrible to say the least. We had intercambios and I got paired up with the Latin zone leader... it gave me a great idea on where I was with my Spanish . basically no where.  Haha its awesome! But honestly,  it was a good time and I got a lot better with my spanish and it was nice to see some different teaching styles there were. 

This week I had my first rain storm and i didn't have a coat or anything. It was sunny and clear skies and after our meeting it was absolutely pouring.  I felt like a missionary. soaking wet and having a smile on my face. 

This week we had another baptism and we have one this upcoming week. We are super excited. Saturday Elder Holland is coming so that is going to be awesome!   We are all super stoked to see what he has to say to us. Well, sounds like everything's good at home.  Thanks LCC for redeeming us against Torrey.

Love you all, 

- Elder Jackson#2

Just Awesome!

Hola,

So this week was super awesome!  I had my first baptism here in Argentina!  Super spiritual and she was so ready!  She's really awesome. She also has 2 boys 16 and 19 that are super cool that we are working with and I think they will eventually get baptized too.  

Life in Argentina is awesome!  The people are just so nice!  I love it! There is a lot of work to do here and my comp and I never really slow down.  I'm so tired all the time.  The people here feed me so much and sometimes I feel like I'm going to pop.  If they see that my hands are empty they put more food on the plate or put an empanada in my hands and I don't refuse because I don't know how to talk... its great! 

I really don't think I actually studied before but now, I love it.  I am so blessed to have the Gospel in my life and even more blessed to have the opportunity to share it.  Especially here because this place is just awesome. 

Now a little about how and where I live... I live with 3 other Elders and they have to be the most hyper-active Elders ever.  I really don't understand them half the time.  They are sooo weird!  My comp loves to talk...all he does is talk.  It's nice but at the same time its not.   I ride buses a lot and our area is pretty big so that is why they split it.   Our apartment is way nicer then what I'm used to walking into so I'm very thankful for that.  My perception of nice has severely changed. 

Well everything is Awesome!  Love you all!

- Elder Jackson 2

First Real Week...

Ok, so this week was full of ups and downs. I feel like the Lord is really trying to work on my humility.  It's terrible to sit in a lesson and not know what's going on and when I do it's so hard to communicate and say what I want to say.  When I do open my mouth they look at me like I'm retarded and my comp has to clear it up for me.  It's pretty humbling to say the least. 

So Friday I was informed I had to give a talk in church and If you know how I feel about public speaking you would know just how I felt about that.  Sunday came around and I actually gave a pretty good talk - I was actually surprised with myself.. haha.  One of the older women in our ward adopted me as a son (I don't know what that means) but that was pretty cool. 

Me and my comp are working really hard and getting stuff done!  We have 2 baptisms this week so I'm super excited about that. I eat so much here its unbelievable.  I'm convinced it's because food is the only pleaser I have anymore and so I just have to eat all the time. Don't worry I'm not fat.  I actually do some sit-ups and stuff.  Random thought, I was eating lunch with a family and the 2 older boys 16 and 19 years old start playing high school musical music and I just about lost it.  It was awesome.  Turns out I'm not the only person. 

you guys need to edit this before you send it out. its terrible. my whole screen is red because its all spelled wrong because its programmed in spanish and i dont have time to look back on it all. Its been a good week and im really starting to love the people and really like it here.

 

love you all 

-Elder Jackson2 

ps.  Forgot to add some things. I see more boobs here then at home. Everyone just starts breastfeeding right in front of us in lessons and it's super awkward.  I almost crapped myself but luckily didn't.  And everyone thinks I'm a giant.  I'm about 2 feet taller then everyone and they think I'm so big they always give me so much food.  They also think I'm like 25 and freak out when I say I'm 18.

If you want to write to Alec:

alec.jackson@myldsmail.net

OR

Elder Jackson

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Quintana 447

1846 Adrogue

Buenos Aires, Argentina

*Needs to be under 4 lbs and need a picture of Jesus on box :)

First week in the real world...

Wow.... Argentina is so awesome! Everything is so diffrent but that was kinda expected. We first landed from our 12 hour flight which was absolutely miserable because I couldn't sleep at all and we went to the mission home.  We ate some Empanadas and they were so good I wanted to cry.  I ate about 8... ya I might get fat. 

Anyways, my pres is super cool I have interviews with him tomorrow too so that should be fun.  My comp is super cool. Way cooler than I thought he would be and no he is not Latin he's from Arizona.  After I met him we headed to our area.  I'm in Romona which is outside of La Plata.  I'm basically in the middle of nowhere.  My little home is right by everything: church, food, stores, everything we might need and we take the bus to where we need to go because most people live in the middle of nowhere. The people are super nice and willing to listen to us, that makes it pretty fun.  The only problem is I have absolutely no clue what people are saying to me and it sucks!  The accent is so diffrrent and they use vos instead of tu to us so I really cant understand too much on the street.  Lessons on the other hand I can understand everything and participate a little.  I guess you can say I have a strictly missionary vocab right now.  Overall, everything's great here!  The kids make fun of me but its all good. 

My comp is really awesome and we (he) is having success.  It was definitaly very nice to get out of the mtc and get here.

I also found out letters get here fine the only problem is I get them every transfer every 6 weeks so they take forever.  Packages are fine but there is a certain way you have to do it. I forgot how though...

Anyways I know I'm going to love it here I just need to get a grip on my castillano. 

If you have questions ill answer them I just dont have a whole lot of time to write and stuff.

Have a good week. 

Love you all,

-Elder Jackson 2

Safe arrival...

Dear Jackson Family,

I am writing to inform you of the safe arrival of your son in the Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission.  Attached here you will find a photograph of Elder Jackson with President and Sister Thurgood.  His trainer will be Elder Haynie and they are going to serve in the area of Romero A . Their preparation day will be every Monday and you can expect an email letter on that day.  I am also including important information about mailing packages to your missionary.  Please be sure to read and remember.

Thank you for sharing Elder Jackson with our mission.  We appreciate your support and also the fact that you have a son who wants to serve.  We will take good care of him!  God bless you.

Sincerely,

Receiving Packages

Argentine customs holds any package that looks valuable or weighs over 2 kilos (about 4 lbs.).   Our registrador will go into the city from time to time to retrieve these packages and pay the fees required for holding.  These fees can be extreme.  All mail fees must be paid by the missionary, and it sometimes requires a trip to the airport for the missionary to pick them up which is a whole day out of missionary work.

Warn family members to send packages that weigh 4 lbs or less.  These packages are sent directly to the office with no fees.  Also, they should be wrapped in plain brown paper without a declaration of value or insurance stamps on the outside.  Argentine customs will tax and hold even small packages that appear to be valuable or that contain any type of medication.  A sticker of a picture of Christ on the outside will usually guarantee safe delivery.

Do not use a private carrier such as Fed Ex.  Delivery is good but the customs fees, which must be paid by the missionary, can be $75 to $100 or more.

Hermana Dance

Secretaria

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Sur

Goodbye Provo....hello Buenos Aries!!!

It's official...Alec is departing for Argentina Monday, October 7th. I will be posting his emails and pictures on this blog (and will continue to email them as well).  Just to recap, I will post the emails he has sent up till now while at the Mission Training Center in Provo.

From: Alec Jackson <alec.jackson@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 11:57 AM
Subject: Week 2

Let me first start off telling you how much better this week was than last week. Last week my grouped sucked and I seriously wanted to snap but this week I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard and felt the spirit so much in one week. My district is really growing on me and my zones super awesome. Saturday we had a party thanks to Grammy and the 12 caramel apples she sent me - it was super fun it was a great way to just unwind. 

My Spanish still sucks but I don't think I'm the absolute worst in my class anymore.. I'm starting to pass some kids up. Teaching someone is extremely hard when you don't know how to hold a conversation. We really don't do anything other than study for 16 hours a day so its pretty awesome. We do get to play b ball and I'm starting to get my game back.  I love the feeling I get when I ball up my comp. 

I sang in choir and I felt like I was the only one without a voice of an angel - but it was super fun and I had a good time.  Yesterday we had some devotionals and they were awesome. we were all pumped up after. Oh and I didn't know Provo had hurricanes it was a Crazy Saturday night. Random note - I cant sleep.  I have only had 1 solid night of sleep since I got here. Everyone says how they just pass out when they get in bed but it takes me an hour to fall asleep and I always wake up at like 4 and cant fall back asleep. So needless to say I'm always tired.

Top things I miss:

my first name

my beard

the ability to take off my shirt

my tan

my bed

being able to walk in a different room without someone following me 

my family and friends 

girl

Love,

Elder Jackson #2

Ah what a week!! So last week started off terrible! My Spanish sucked and I felt like I forgot everything I learned I felt like I was just going to loose it but then I got a letter that turned everything around.  Perfect timing. Thanks dad. Its kinda hard to remember what happens during the week because all the days feel the same. All I can really remember was that we had a few really good spiritual lessons in class. I learn so much everyday. Im still doing choir and I still feel way out of place. My Spanish still sucks FYI 

So every week the branch pres has everyone write talks and Sunday he randomly calls 2 elders to give it and there is no time to get ready. This week I thought for sure I was going to get called and my talk was just garbage so I was freaking out! Right before the meeting started he came up to me and told me to follow I'm with my comp and I thought I was in trouble or something but turns out we got called to be zone leaders.... yay... my comp was pretty stoked. He's that super leader type of guy that loves to be the boss of everyone and ALWAYS has something to say, oh and he knows everything about the scriptures and thinks hes the most spiritual guy ever. I don't think he likes me too much because I don't treat him like a boss haha. But I love him. 

The oldest district left today which sucks! They kept it real around here! I don't know how I'm going to function around here without being able to relax ever. I grew to really love some of those guys. 

Soooo no one is keeping me updated on college football or any sports for that matter thanks a lot people. My sports life is good here. I ball up these kids on the court. I also run the 4 square courts.yep I'm an athlete. 

So I live with 3 other guys and they all just start singing weird songs sometimes. It totally reminds me of Jake and Cade. 

I hope everythings good at home. Keep me updated!

Thanks for all the love and support

Love, 

Elder Jackson #2

From: Alec Jackson <alec.jackson@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 11:29 AM
Subject: Week 4?

So this week flew by just like all the other weeks. Everything is routine now so I'm pretty much used to MTC life. The food is killing me now. I don't have an appetite for anything they give us but it's all good - we have a lot of junk in our apartments so its not terrible. 

The most depressing thing ever is to hear the crowd of the football game. We are right across the street so we can hear EVERYTHING. So needless to say Saturday night I ate my feelings and cried myself to sleep.  So stoked that Utah won.  Right now I'm in all my Ute gear repping it hard right now. 

Last week an Elder in my district asked me to give him a blessing. I was kinda tripping out because it was my first one but it was all good and a really good experience for all of us. Being zone leader, nothing really changes except for the ridiculous amount of meetings I have on Sunday... it kills my Sunday!  I was so used to just taking a nap or doing nothing and now its meetings from 6:30am until 4pm for me then we go to the devotional. My Spanish is improving everyday and my teachers are really good with me.  This week as a district we made it a goal to speak Spanish everywhere but the house and gym. Next week english is dead completely.

Really nothings really changed here and my comp and I are learning to work together more.  Our lessons are getting a lot better.  My zone is awesome and I try to keep it real and keep everyone's stress under control.  Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy but I just got to accept that fact. 

I love all the letters and packages from everybody!  Thank you!   Sorry my letters suck I promise to really step it up once I actually do something more than study for 18 hours a day.

Love all you guys, 

Elder Jackson #2 

From: Alec Jackson <alec.jackson@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Sep 30, 2013 at 12:14 PM
Subject: Que tal

Hello. This week was really good. First off I just want to say how stoked I am for Bryce!  That's so exciting!  And hats off to LCC for being better than I thought this year. 

So this week I feel like things have really been rolling. Our lessons with our investigators have improved sooo much its unbelievable. Even though my Spanish is terrible, I feel like I'm getting my point across which is really nice.  We are definitely more in tune with the spirit and I'm starting to get into that missionary mind set all the time. 

The MTC has really treated me well!  I've been in the best district here and livin life in the west campus!  I can already tell I have grown so much and the crazy thing is is that I haven't even got into the field yet. The only problem I have is that we haven't had one of the 12 Apostles give a Tuesday devotional yet.  Hopefully this week.  Being Zone leader is probably the easiest thing in the MTC. The only thing I do is go to meetings all day Sunday but those are getting easier to sit through even though they are pretty much pointless. 

This week our whole district received a paper in the mail telling us that we had not received passports yet... Sooo Friday is the moment of truth we will find out if we are going stateside or straight to Argentina with visas or travel visas. 

Well, once again not much to say.  But I'm freaking out that I'm leaving in a week and I don't know a lick of Spanish.

Love you all,

Elder Jackson#2

From: Alec Jackson <alec.jackson@myldsmail.net>
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 5:26 PM
Subject: WHATS UP

AHHHHH so I got my travel plans!!!

I first saw it and I read that we were flying into Alanta, Georgia and I just started to laugh because I thought I called it...but turns out we are going to Buenos Aires on travel visas and we just have a layover in Georgia! I'm sooo pumped! We leave Monday! 

This week has just flown by because its been so diffrent then before. Wednsday, I hosted and I saw some people I knew and that was fun. Then Thursday was in field training and it was super nice to just talk to different people and relax. The main campus seems like it's miseerable. I'm so happy we were at the West Campus.

Well, anyways I'm going to Argentina and its such a relief!! 

Elder Jackson #2