December 22, 2012

Olã Minha Família, That´s sad that not many people came. It was probably because they went to the one last year and saw that I wasn´t in it and knew that I wouldn´t be in this one either. hahaha and they saw that Jared came back to be in it haha Just kidding. So its final. President said that he talked to Salt Lake and unfortunately I can´t stay one more. I think its because with the new age limit there are a ton of new missionaries coming. Oh well I´ll have to settle with the time I was called to serve ´´for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me... why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?`` So this week was pretty good. Me and my companion are having a lot more success. We marked 2 baptismal dates for this next week and the week after. The new scripture of motivation for me this last transfer has been Mormon 9. Our Heavenly Father really is a God of miracles and will always be a God of Miracles to those who have faith suffient and work hard enough to make the miracles happen.The Lord really has been helping us this last week. We´re on the look out for a whole family though. I´m thinking that president is thinking about letting me die as the assistant. haha It wouldn´t be that bad and I guess it would be alright.... I´d get to take myself to the veil. haha Anyway that´s about it. Have a great week! Love you guys! Elder Jolstead the Older

December 15, 2012

Oí família! So sounds like things are going good with the exception of Shantewa. I knew that it was only a matter of time...hehe I´m kidding of course. I know how it feels to hit someone´s car. At least she slid. I practically used father´s car as a battering ram haha. As you can tell I don´t feel to beat up about that now. But I still don´t trust myself to drive. Sister Ribeiro tried to get me to drive 2 times already. I have to say it was tempting. The Hi lux of the President is a pretty nice car. haha But I really don´t think that that would be such a good idea. So things have been going better this week. After all the traveling got done we actually got to work a little and we´ve had a lot more success. The Lord really compensates for the time we lose doing assistant stuff. This Elder that I have been working with these last 3 days that my companion has been traveling with President had a pretty good idea to find new investigators. There´s this military station near our apartment and out of no where he wanted to go in and talk with one of the leaders there about teaching the soldiers that live there. So we went in and talked to this sergeant guy and he said he´d have to talk to his superiors first but then we could call to find out if we could. He was pretty cool about it so I think we might be able to pull it off. It would be really good because there are a ton of missionary-age men there. Here in the south they have to serve one year in the military at 18 years old so there´s hundred´s of future missionaries in there. So that was cool. Oh and I found out that you can record General Conference for personal use. It says so in the Church Handbook. I read it today. :) That probably would have been better to know before we taped over all the conference tapes that we have. So its been pretty hot here. I was hoping that maybe it would be like last year where it was actually pretty cold here. Oh and today I got a letter from Brother Claypool. I don´t know who that is so I´m guessing that they´re new members in our ward. Thank them for their letter for me. So I don´t know if they´ll let me stay another transfer yet. President hasn´t said anything. He just said that he would ask Salt Lake. Hopefully they´ll let me, because some how word got out that you could stay longer and its becoming a fad to ask president to stay longer. :( I hope this doesn´t ruin my chances. So yeah that´s about it. So what time will I be able to talk to you guys on either skype or on the phone for Christmas? It´s a good thing that its not on Sunday this year, that way we don´t have to plan around church. Think I ´ll try to use the computer here in the mission office, but I don´t know yet. Anyway that´s about it. Have a great week everyone! Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Younger

December 7, 2012

Hellooooo Family! So, unfortunately we haven´t taught that much more, but we have found some good people to teach. We´ll see what happens in the weeks to come. Its looking like Christmas here too. haha There´s lots of lights here in Santa Maria and this last Monday Santa came to the military base next to our apartment! haha I have to say that was pretty interesting. Especially the tanks with the Christmas lights on them. haha The only thing that doesn´t really feel like Christmas is the lack of snow and the 100 degree weather, but... other than that it seems like Christmas. So anyway, things are going alright here. We´re working hard. This next week is transfers. That same routine again for the 5th time now. Transfers, picking up the newbies and trainings are very normal to me now. The first time was exciting, but now I kind of look at it as time that I can´t use to work in my area. That´s just part though. Anyway so things are good. So that´s about it. Have a great week. Love you guys.

November 30, 2012

Querida Família, How´s everyone doing? How´s the new diet going? Have you been able to go without sugar? ( I say as a eat a cookie. hehehe) That picture I drew was of my old companion and his fiance. I drew it for his birthday. I can´t believe its Christmas already too. I came in the office today and it was all decorated. I think it was Sister Ribeiro how decorated. So my week has been very enlightening. I´ve been very frustrated these last couple of weeks, because it seems like out of no where the work in my area just stopped, and I can´t figure out why. But, at the same time its been good. I´ve realized how blessed I´ve been these last couple months. The Lord has been helping us so much. We have had a lot of success. I was getting a accustomed to the ease of it all and the Lord doesn´t let us stay comfortable for too long. He can´t, because that is the exact opposite of the purpose of His plan for us. We need to keep progressing and so the Lord, I think, felt like I needed to grow a little more. And let me tell you He really did a good job. These last weeks I´ve really seen how much I have to do better and where I really need to change. Its exactly how that scripture in Ether says: He will show us our weaknesses so that we can change them and with His help we and make them strengths. I´ve really had to stop this week and really think about what I´m doing here. We´re literally helping the Heavenly Father´s children came back to Him. Why should that be an easy process? It wasn't easy for our Savior. Why would it be any easier for us? So in a way my week was very good. I still have a lot to learn. But I really am grateful for the opportunity to serve; during the goods times and the hard times. There is nothing better to be here on the mission, serving the Lord. Well anyway that´s about it. Have a great week everyone! Love you guys. Elder Jolstead the Older

November 23, 2012

Oí Minha Família! How´s everyone doing? Happy Thanksgiving! I think I´ll celebrate by making clover rolls. You found a Jumanji Game? Was it fun? No animals appeared? haha That must have been terrible for that drummer. Poor guy. Those kinds of things seemed to happen to me everytime I played at the school. I think out of all the times I played at the school 2 times I didn´t have trouble with the bass drum sliding away. haha That´s good that the missionaries back home are having success. Unfortunately we´re not having too much success right now, but that´s just part of being on a mission. Sometimes you do good and other times you don´t. If it was all good everyday you wouldn´t learn or grow and there would be no point. We just need to keep working and the Lord will help us out. So yeah nothing very notable happened this week. Just work like normal. Have a great week though! Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older

November 17, 2012

Hey Family! How´s everyone doing? Sounds like the regular winter fun. Driving in the snow is not something I´m looking forward to when I get back. So yes I can email Joshua. Last week I didn´t get a chance because of a trip that we had to do to see how a missionary was that burned himself with hot oil. It wasn´t that bad though. When I first heard about it though, my firat thought was two-face from the Dark Knight. haha Don´t worry too much about the packages Mother, I´m doing alright. Just send them when you´re able. I´ve been trying to eat better too. Instead of rice and beans I´ve been trying to eat beans and rice. haha No but really I´ve been trying to eat less, because now how its so hot here, if you eat a lot you don´t feel to good later. I´ve lost weight I think. So my week was alright. I still haven´t had a full working week this transfer. We had another training for the leaders yesterday. But with the time we have been working we have been walking a ton. We´re trying to update the members´ list for our ward, so we basically walk from one side of the street to the other looking for the addresses on the list. It would be easier if the addresses here were in order and didn´t jump from 30 to 589 at the house after it. haha We hope the Lord will bless us with an incomplete family as we do the ward´s job of cleaning up the members´ list. At this point we basically have no real investigators. We´ve cut and baptized them all, so we´re back to doing the fun part which is finding new investigators. Anyway that´s all that happened this week. I hope you all have a great week! Love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older