Monday, July 25, 2011

July 25, 2011

Oí Família,
My week has been awesome and I have a feeling this week will be even better. I´ve excepted the fact that I´m not a perfect teacher or missionary and that I am not very good with the language, but i know if I do my best and rely on the Lord He can make up for all that I´m lacking. Because I´ve excepted this knowledge a huge burden has been taken off my shoulders and I´ve had a lot more patience with myself. I´ve been a lot happier too. So this week we have a baptism scheduled. A man named Alexsandro. He´s really cool. He´s really excited to learn more about the gospel and to be baptized. He hasn´t had a problem with anything. He said he smoked before but he´s giving it up which is awesome. So this week should be great. So I´m not sure if you recieve my emails because sometimes it seems like you don´t respond back about things. My companion really wants a quad and asked me to ask again. Also he wants to write Kelleene to practice his english, so she will probably recieve a letter from him in the near future. That´s good that you´re healthy. I had my first of probably many run-ins with the Runs. You know there´s a saying here, ´´It´s not a South American Mission until you´ve crapped your pants`` Honestly I´m hoping to prove that wrong. Anyway I´m glad to here that Jackson´s enjoying the food. From past experience I know Jackson can be a stinky man. High Adventure of 2009: the cave experience. Not Fun. Yea the food is good but it gives you terrible gas. I can´t believe he´s already leaving though. Time honestly works very strangely out here. Hours feel like days, days feel like hours, and weeks go by quick. One thing that´s weird is that it´s really hard to remember home. Home feels like a dream. It´s really weird, but its good. keeps your mind on the work. Anyway, the work continues down here and the weather continues to be weird. Love you guys lot´s. Have a great week. Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, July 18, 2011

July 18, 2011

oí família,
I´m doing much better now. These first couple weeks have been rough.Thát´s cool about Joshua helping the missionaries. It´s probably one of the best things he can do to prepare. That´s also great about Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gary. I hope you´re right about them cutting down. So Augie´s leaving this week. That´s awesome! I wish I could have been at his and Jackson´s farewells, but it´s ok. I actually haven´t been emailing Jackson and Robbie, because we can´t email friends. but I finally recieved a letter back from Robbie and I sent him another. Do you think that you could send me Jackson´s address? I´m pretty sure he´s on his last week in the MTC so I´ll probably need his address for in the field. So the lawn mower finally works? That´s awesome. Well if you want to know about me I´ll say that one of the cool things that happened this week was that one of the people we´re teaching came to church and he´s really excited about the church. Also I ate armadillo meat this week. Looked like burnt meat and tasted like chicken(no joke, it really tasted like chicken). So yah this week it rained a lot and was very sunny and hot. I feel like I´m contradicting myself, but the weather is just crazy, because today has been pretty cold. I guess from what the president said, Santiago is actually one of the harder areas of the mission. I have to say that was a comfort, but it means we´ll have to work all the harder. Anyway that´s it for this week. I hope you have a great week. Love you all! Tchau.
Elder Jolstead the Younger

Monday, July 11, 2011

July 11, 2011

oí Família,
I have to say that picture of Daniel is so cute. Good lookin´ kid. So this week was ok. I feel like I´m smashing my head against a brick wall with the language. I feel like because I know very few words I teach the lesson the exact same way each time and that it really is starting to lose its significance. it´s like I´m giving a memorized speach every time. but I guess that´s how it has to go until i learn the language. i am learning, but at a very slow rate. So how´s every thing at home looks like you´re having a lot of fun. oh my companion really likes my ring and scriptures and he wanted me to ask you if you could get some for him. i know its way expensive so you don´t have to, but i promised him I would. So after my mission I´ll just send some to his home or something. I feal really bad for it but I know quads are expensive by themselves and with the price for sending stuff to Brazil I figure you probably won´t. Oh but I was wondering with your next letter if you could send a printed copy of Elder Holland´s two talks one the Book of Mormon that he gave at conference awhile back. i really liked it and wanted to read it again. So the work is going ok. One of our investigators who was taught pretty much all the lessons by missionaries two months ago, smoked again so that´s great. There is this one family who is a part member family( the wife is a member) who I love visiting and teaching. the husband looks like Mario and is so funny. Honestly though, this last week has been tough. I remember laughing at an older Elder who said your first three months will be terrible, I´m not laughing now. All in all though i´m really enjoying the experience. I know that after a few months of working I´ll know the language and be really enjoying the work. Oh also, if possible could you send printed pictures of the family and the area, because all I have is the wallet sized photo and my companion shows pics to some people when we´re teaching about families. Also I think every six months I just send my photo card home instead of putting them on the computer because it is extremely hard. I don´t even know if you got my lastt photos. Anyway that´s it for now. Love you all lots. tchau.
Elder Jolstead the brother of Jared

Monday, July 4, 2011

July 4, 2011

Oí Família,
I´m doing fine. I really like it here in Santiago. There are alot of really good people here. I actually have not had any weird foods, and all that I´ve had has been good. It is winter here, my second winter this year. It´s pretty cold, but not as cold as home. There has actually been talk about snow here, though. It keeps making me think of Christmas. That´s cool that Mikey and Rebecca are there. I can´t believe that Jackson is already leaving! That´s so weird. Oh tell Jaren to memorize as much portuguese as he can before he comes here. Don´t worry about the grammer just learn vocab. Anyway I don´t have a lot of time. I love you all and I miss you. tchau.
Elder Jolstead the brother of Jared