Week #19 Happy New Year!!

I hope that everyone had an AMAZING CHRISTMAS and a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR´S.   For Christmas, we had dinner with two different families...both investigators.   It was super amazing getting to get to know them even deeper on a personal level.   Also, the food was RICO!!!   One meal was all the meat you could dream of and the other was all of the seafood you could dream of.   I got a wallet from the World Cup for Christmas and a tie.   I am so grateful for both of them. I wasn´t expecting to get anything... expecially because I had only been here for like a week. Haha

So this week, we saw miracles.   The work flourished.   People who haven´t been to church in 30 years came this Sunday. The spirit was really strong in the house, at church, and during lessons.

We had another lesson with Andrea yesterday.   At the end, she said " You know, I don´t know what it is about you, but I feel something every time you´re here. It´s not like a tired feeling, but like I could doze off any second because of how relaxed and at peace I am."   We began to explain that that was the spirit testifying to her that what we were telling her she needed to do with her life, is right.  She has a son, Santiago, who is like 3 years old.  "What you said about me wanting the gospel for my son in his life Elder Jackson, is exactly right.   I made a promise to Heavenly Father when I had my son that he would have the gospel in his life.   I don´t know...it feels like you knew that."   I told her "Then you know what you need to do."   It was literally one of the best feelings of my life.   I knew in that moment that she understood who we are.   We aren´t just young men....we are disciples of Christ!   There´s a reason that we say what we say.

Also, we had a super strong lesson with Hermana Valinsuela this week.   We showed up and she told us that they didn´t have much time, but that we could share something.   Elder Soulier asked me to share my conversion story and my testimony of the church.   I began to share the adventure.   I don´t know exactly what I said, but Hermana Valinsuela and I were talking...or rather her and the spirit. As I told my story and testified of the things that I know to be sure beyond the shadow of a doubt in my heart, she opened up to us more than ever.   She told us things about her life that she hasn´t told anybody ever...much less two 20 year olds.   It was just such a spiritual moment and I´m so grateful to know that I have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion always.   That I can say the things that need to be said for these people to realize that they aren´t even talking to me...but to God.   It´s a feeling I can´t even describe except pure joy.

Now for the lesson of the week.

As Latter-Day-Saints, we dedicate our lives to Heavenly Father and covenant with him to live a higher law.   When we are doing the norms in the church, we typically, as a generalization, feel that we have a firm stand on Satan and his powers against us.   Is this really the case?   Or have we tricked ourselves and in the process lost sight of the real picture?

In the gospel, it has never been sufficient to just do the minimal requirements.   It isn´t sufficient to follow the doctine of the church, and to ignore the non-doctinal "shoulds and shouldn´ts" of the prophets.   It isn´t sufficient to only worry about our salvation and the salvation of our loved ones. (Doctine and Covenants 18:10 " Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God") It is our DUTY and PLEASURE to assist Heavenly Father in his work so that we can all return to the presence of the Father.   That being said, me must do all we can to save our brothers/sisters.   We must not let Satan get a grasp on the small things in our lives.   When he does, several things happen

1) Our testimony fades.

2)We have less of a desire to excell in lthe gospel. 

3) We become slothful(Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100)

4) We fail to fulfill our duty to God and Jesus Christ.

For many of us, we don´t even realize the impact the little things we do have on others.   Example, If women or men are wearing unmodest clothing, we are training the mind of the opposite sex that that is what they want.   We are training them to be more interested in our outter beauty than the goodness of our souls.   Is it important to look presentable,yes.   It is worth sacrificing the glory of our souls to look good, no.   We have to have a better understanding of Satan and how he works.   We have to start living our lives noth through our eyes, but through the eyes of Christ.   We have to be aware what we are sub-consciencely teaching others...especially the youth.   There are tons of examples of this.(Proverbs 23:7 and Doctine and Covenants 121:45)

 

I encourage each of you to sit down and to evaluate yourselves. Think about not what you are doing to represent the church, but WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING TO REPRESENT CHRIST. Think about this, and fix it.   I know everybody can find at least one thing...one little thing that you could to to help the world.   And ask yourself afterwards " Am I allowing Satan to work through me?"

I love you all and hope that this message with sink in with at least one of you.   Have a GREAT New Years.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #18 Christmas Week

Link on to the Video.......

Merry Christmas!!

Alan and Jessica

Bastain and Santiago

Cantrerez Family

Christmas in Gran Av!

Christmas presents from Bishop Contrerez

Corro Family

Ducuad on Cerro Negro

Elder Asplund and Elder Jackson at the Christmas Party

Elder Despain and Elder Jackson

Enrique

Family GOnzalez

Family Soto

Henriquez Family

Last Moments in Gran Av.

Maritza

Making Christmas Cake with Elder Soulier

Sad at my going away party at the Church

Week #17 Moving to Ducaud

So our predictions were confirmed...I left Gran Avenida and came to Ducaud(Du-CO).   It is the furthest South our mission goes.  There are parts really rich and parts really poor.  The people here are definitely more humble than Gran Av, but I miss GA the same.  The cool part is that there are a ton more young people here.  Most are like in their thirties.  We were contacting yesterday, and the first contact we did let us in! lol  We hadn´t even asked to share something...we were just talking.  How COOL!  That didn´t happen in my three months in Gran Avenida.  It was hard saying bye to everyone after only three months, but there is something or someone waiting for me in Ducaud.  :)

This week, I want to address the subject of love again.  I want to address the question of "How do we find love in a self-centered world?"  

First,  What is the great commandment?? 

John 13:34-35.  We are commanded to love one another as the Lord loves us.  Through this, everyone will know that we are disciples of Christ.  Why is this important?  This is really important because it is a requirement to have charity in the last day to return to the presence of the Lord. 

Moroni 7:44-47.  In this quest to develop charity, there are many advesaries.  First and foremost, Satan.  

2 Nephi 2:27.  Also, we have the world against us.  Everything of the world is to turn us away from Heavenly Father.  

WIth these trials, we are promised strength if we will just turn to the Lord in our weakness.  With the Lord, we have several things. First, we have the light of Christ.  We have the light of Christ to help guide us and to keep us on the path of righteousness.  We LITERALLY have a part of Christ in us!!  Second, we have a family in the church.  

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are one.  We are one body united.  We are here to help each other in our times of need.  That is part of the covenant that we made with Heavenly Father when we were baptized.  It is not NEARLY enough to take care of things for ourselves...we have to help others...it´s our duty.  Last, we are promised angels on our left and angels on our right.  We have the power of Heaven with us, always. We have the most powerful weapon in existence.  When we are shown love, it is a byproduct that we are going to share that love with others...it it not in our nature not to. To end, when we are looking for love in Christ, we are going to have the spirit with us always and know where to turn to  find the true loves of the world...which are Christ, family,  helping others,  and the gospel.  Deuteronomy 6:5  

Thank you all for your love and prayers.  I know that God has heard them and is blessing me because of them.  Thank you all,  so much.  God Bless. 

Week #16

This week was a handful.  First,  I went on like three divisions.  lol.  A companionship in our district was having problems one day, so Elder Peck and I went on divisions with them to seperate them for a little bit.  

On another note, Elder Orchard received a cake mix in a package...I cooked it for breakfast yesterday. lol.  Even made topping.  (By the way, if you blend normal sugar...you get powdered sugar!) Lol  While I was on divisions with Elder Johnson yesterday, we had a lesson with a guy named Jose.  When we got there, he was really upset and frustrated.  Basically, his car broke, he missed breakfast and lunch bc he was at the doctor´s office and they couldn´t help him.  And he is having a problem with his kids who are like 30 something being "bad people".  I honestly don´t really remember what exactly was said, but Elder Johnson shared a scripture on patience and I shared a scripture about enduring faith and prayer.  The spirit was SO strong.  He even commented that after our scriptures and prayer, he felt peace and comfort.  I pointed out and testified that what he is feeling is the spirit testifying that what we´ve said is true.  It was such an amazing lesson.

Just because of all of the events that have taken place this past week, I feel inclined to talk about charity.

What is charity?  The scriptures say that charity is "the pure love of Christ" or "everlasting love". (Moroni 7:47)  

We have the perfect example of charity in Jesus Christ.  During his mortal ministry, he always "went around doing good" and showing tender compassion for all of the afflicted and distressed.  His ultimate expression of charity was his infinite Atonement. (John15:13)  This is the single greatest act of charity that the world has and will ever know.  Through an understanding of the Savior´s love for each of us, we can exercise faith in him and repent...there with becoming perfected IN HIM.

The Savior wants each of us to receive his love with outstretched arms.  He wants us to use this love and to share it with others.  Not only does he want it, but the fact is that he commands it! (John 13:34-35)  

It should always be our goal to love as the Savior loves...with compassion, patience, and mercy.  As we share the love of Christ, we find that our very capacity to love increases.  Preach My Gospel teaches this very concept...that as our understanding of the Savior and his Atonement grow, so does our desire and need to share it with others. (Moroni 7:45-48)

My friends and family,  it is essential that we all strive daily to grow more charitable.  As we do, our capacity to love will expand beyond measure.  In return, we will continuely draw closer to Christ.  And we will find, that with this love, comes fearlessness... for "perfect love casteth out all fear" (Moroni 8:18)  My prayer is this, that each of you would make it a daily goal to exercise charity in your lives.  Love someone, nurture someone, show compassion towards someone...just as Christ does to each of us.  In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con Amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #15 Hard Week

Hello All!!!

This was a hard week. We had an "Open Capilla" this Saturday, so we spent a ton of time this week trying to get stuff ready for that.   Cordinating things with the leaders of the church, printing and cutting things,  CUTTING THE YARD AND CLEANING THE CHURCH SATURDAY MORNING.  It is always a great event here, but it is the one day that it rains, so it was rainey and super cold, so not as many people came.   Elder Peck and I stood out in the rain to invite people to the capilla.  Although the odds and mother nature were against us, we had a decent turnout and the members worked super hard to make it a success. :)

 

Other than the open capilla, not a lot happened this week.   We taught less than normal because of the open house, but we had some good lessons.   We invited two people to be baptized, and they both agreed.   As cool as that is, the challenge is just starting...now we get to see what they are made of. Satan is going to be working hard this month. We commited ourselves to them that we would give it everything we have that they´d be ready by their dates, but they have to do their parts too. One of those people, Lucia, had an experience.   We quit going by pretty much because her daughter in law told us that she didn´t want us to come by anymore.   We went by randomly the other day.   She told us that she´d really been having a hard time lately and had prayed about an hour before we got there that something or someone would come to help relieve her of this pain...an hour later we show up.  It is so amazing to see the power of prayer in action.

 

Temptation is a challenge that stares all of us in the eyes each and every day...just as it did Coriantom with the temptress.  It is one of the greatest tools in the arsenal of Satan.

 

What is temptation? The Bible Dictionary says that "tempt" is "to test,try, or prove.   To seduce or leads to evil.   To provoke to anger." Sok, the definition of "temptation" is "To test, try,prove, provoke to anger, and to lead to evil" That being said, I think it´s safe to say that the world is FULL of temptation.

 

These are, as Paul said, "perilous times". (2 Timothy 3:1) Satan is in almost every place on the Earth in some manner for he "seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27) With this omnipresent power in this land, it is often very difficult for us to focus on what´s important, which is Christ and righteousness.  Luckily, we have been given the gift of "agency" or "the ability to choose good or evil for ourselves".   With this gift, we have several ways to avoid the temptations of this world.

 

1) Center your life on the Savior-When we center our lives on the Savior, promised blessings are fulfilled in our lives. With this focus, we can fulfill our potential here on the Earth and become Children of Christ. (Helamen 5:12)

 

2)Pray for strength- Our greatest source of strength comes through our Heavenly Father. With this communication co0mes a better relation with our Heavenly Father and a better understanding of his will in our lives. He will always help us to make the right decisions if we earnestly seek his guidence. (3Nephi20:1 We should always be praying in our heart to be closer to the Savior.

 

3) Study the scriptures dailey-Ass we study and apply the truths that we learn from the gospel in our lives, we find that we´re better prepared to confront the advesary when he attempts to begile us. (Helamen 3:29-30)

 

4)Fill your life with goodness-When we focus on filling our time with goodness, we have no time to even ponder the wicked things of the world. When you fill up a cup 100% with water, there´s no room for calories. ;)

 

5)Avoid tempting places and situations-When we put ourselves in bad situations, we are just asking for trouble. It´s like jumping head-first into quicksand...we have 0 control of what happens.

 

6)Strie to infrluence others to do good-As Latter-Day Saints, it is our duty and our obligation to help others. To help them realize their worth and their potential...to be examples. We have the ultimate example of this int eh Lord Jesus Christ. (John 17:14-18)

It should always be our goal to overcome the evil of the world and to follow the Savior. We should be firm and quick as Jesus was. (Luke 4:8) Through rightous thoughts, prayers, actions, and desires, you WILL overcome the world...just as our Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that this is easier said than done, but it is something that we are all OBLIGED to do as sons/daughters of God.   Through the power of the Atonement, we can do all things and will become who we are ordained to be. (James 4:7-8) I have a short video.   It´s a play that I saw once growing up.  I´ve seen it several times since then, and every time that I see it...I can´t help but crying and thanking my Savior on the spot for what he does for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkzNjA5Rt2o or search obra de teatro cristiana

I pray that each of you would do your best to always overcome temptation, choose the right, and be forever thankful to our Lord and Savior.   That you would feel his hands guiding you.   And that you always feel the warmth of his love forever embracing you.   This is my humble prayer. (3Nephi 22:17) In the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Week #14 Learn it, Live it, Become it

Hello Everyone!!

This week was pretty awesome.   I am starting to really get ahold of the language.   I am getting to the point where I can just have conversations with people about random stuff and respond and everything....it´s SO awesome!  I´m so thankful to be learning Spanish too...it's the best!

So this Saturday, we got called by the Bishop...he wanted us to come over to his house.   We had no idea what for, but we went.   Basically, he invited us over to tell us how appreciative he and his family are for our hard work and how much he loves us.   He said that he can feel a new spirit in the ward and it is readily apparent.   After that, his wife cooked us pankekes(chilean pancakes) and then we had 3 complatos each...they are AWESOME! (basically a hotdog with avocado,tomatos, aji, and mayo)   Right after that, we had a family home evening with some members and a less active family. We showed up...you guessed it...they had complatos! lol  We ended up eating like 4 pankakes, 7 complatos, and like a half liter of coke each. Lol  We were stuffed!   Another night, we had a family home evening with the family Acosta.( They´re great because lots of time, food is the only way to get less actives to meet with us)   There were like 3 or 4 different families there...like 18 people. It was AWESOME!   We had tacos.   They were delicious.   I got inducted into the clan of WOOGIE WOOGIE.   I can´t really talk about it...it´s a secret. ;) lol   But that was fun.  Their son, Mauricio, is a professional dj.  He has a sweet setup in his room.  He let us play on it a little...super fun! (I´m a little jelous of Elder Lawson now.)   He said he is going to make us a cd for Christmas! :D  I´ll have to wait to listen to it though. :( Oh well.

Louis and his Mom thought that we looked hungry... Here is what they gave us to take home with us!!!

We have a less active, Luis Vera, that has made like a complete turn around.   We had a lesson with him last week and he ended up just telling us about this epiphemy he had.   Basically, he wants to get back together with his wife so that he can live the gospel with his wife and his son again! :)   It is just so awesome to see someone have a desire to change their lives to serve the Lord´s will in their lives.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner!!

Today, for Thanksgiving, the district had our own Thanksgiving.   We cooked turkey, stuffing, rolls, potatos from scratch, gravy from scratch, pie, and fruit.  It was super awesome.   Also, we went ahead and did dirty santa for christmas since we probably won´t all be able to get together on a pday before transfers.  I´m probably going to be leaving the sector after this change...in 3 weeks.

Michael and Elder Jackson

So scripture of the week is 3 Nephi 19:28 "

28 Father, I thank thee that thou hast purified those whom I havechosen, because of their faith, and I pray for them, and also forthem who shall believe on their words, that they may be purifiedin me, through faith on their words, even as they are purified inme.

29 Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hastgiven me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may bepurified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me,that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them.

This is just such a great scripture...so powerful.   It truly emphasizes our savior´s unconditional love for us.   Many times in our lives, we lean on the prayers of our friends and family, but what we learn in this scripture,(and typical don´t think about) is that the savior is always praying for us.   The point of the gospel is to change us.   For us to have a change of heart, a change of desire, and a change of our very nature.   Jesus prays for us to experience this "mighty change of heart".    Through this change, we can have Christ in us, even as the father is in him.   That is just miraculous to think about...imagine the possibilities;however, all of that is predicated on our faith in Heavenly Father and HIS gospel.   We must learn to not only trust the guidence of the Lord, but to DEPEND on it. It is the ONLY way that we can become the sons and daughters that we are destined and ordained to be.

If you get nothing else from reading this, whoever you are, know that our Heavenly Father loves us.    He wants us to be the best that we can be and the happiest we can be with our families.    That is through the gospel of our Father and Savior Jesus Christ.

I love each and every one of you.   I wish you luck on this journey we call life and I pray that you would feel the love of our God in your lives.   That you would feel his hands guiding you in every decision.   And that you would come to love the gospel.   When you learn to love the gospel more than you want to breath, you will find happiness.   God bless.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #13

Hello All,

This was a good week...lots of work.  First,  I met a new missionary to our zone at our zone meeting this week.  His name is Elder Ranking.  He is a super great guy from Arizona.  I was talking with him and after a bit, I told him that I only had two months in the mission.  He was like " OH REALLY??  I figured you had like a year."  That was sweet to hear.  He said he thought that because of the way i talk and the way that I carry myself...he said I seemed like someone who had a lot of experience.  Kinda cool to hear that.

Second,  I went on divisions with Elder Orchard because Elder Peck had to go out with Elder Johnson bc he is the district leader.  We went to this man´s house.  His name was Patricio.  Patricio is learning English, so we spent a while helping him. with that...he actually speaks and understands pretty dang well.  Anyway,  we started talking about the gospel.(  More Elder Orchard just because he knew him better and everything.) Patricio basically said that he doesn´t want anything to do with the church, but that he wants to continue English.  Suddenly,  I felt prompted to say something.  I started talking in what seemed to be( and what Elder Orchard told me later) "like perfect Spanish".  I don´t remember what I said, but I know for a fact I was being guided.  I wasn´t the one talking.  It was like someone else was in my head whispering what to say.  I would have this voice tell me what to say, and then i would think " That´s perfect!"  All I really remember doing, is testifying of the truthfulness of the gospel.  I know that the Holy Ghost was speaking through me because the most powerful lessons are always the ones that you don´t really remember, BECAUSE YOU AREN´T SAYING ANYTHING REALLY!  This was such a humbling experience.  Elder Orchard told me that night while we were planning that while I was talking, he couldn´t help but to look at me because he felt the Holy Ghost so strongly and knew that I was being guided.  

We had once with our friends from the Bahai church again this week, but this time it was in OUR chapel.  It was a good time.  At the end, we showed them around.  When we got to the chapel, Sebastian said "permisso" or " Excuse me" and went and started looking around the chapel.  He went to the back and just say in one of the pews...smiling.  When he came back he was real excited and just said that he feels at peace in there...we explained why.  lol

We ran into a super old menos activo family...it´s a guy named Luis and his mom.  When I say old, I mean OLD!  His mom, is 103.  That was super cool...she has more energy than us!! lol  They had a bunjch of stuff from world war 2.  We had a great visit and lesson with them.  At the end, they asked me to pray.  I prayed.  After Luis opened his eyes, he turned to his mom and said "Mommy, how do you feel?"  She replied "Peaceful.  That was so awesome to know that both of them feel the spirit when we are there.  We had another lesson with them yesterday and they said  "I just feel so happy when you are here...happy and at peace."  It is so cool to know that we have been striving to be worthy of the presence of the Holy Ghost and the people around us are starting to see it.

The miracle of the week, it the Acosta family..again. lol  The hermano (recentely reactivated) started inviting less active families over to his house for family home evenings.  at the end, he has been challenging them to return to the church and basically giving them stuff to do in the church ( but not an assignment)  The amazing part is, due to that, we had a new less active family come to church for the first time this week.  We hadn´t even taught them.  Also, his son, Gonzalo, went to a fireside with Elder Christianson this week.  He said " I knew I needed to go, so I invited a friend to go with me."  His friend is a nonmember.  He told us that she smokes weed.  He told us that after the meeting she said basically "I don´t want to do that anymore.  I want to live clean and receive the blessings of the gospel."  Since then, she hasn´t smoked weed and is going to church in the sector where she lives.

The scriptures this week are on revelation.  Revelation is something that many people think is out of their reach, but the reality is that it is in your pocket, waiting for you to take it out.  

Mathew 7:7-8    7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seekethfindeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  

If we don´t pray for revelation and seek to obtain revelation, we won´t have it.  He that seeks the gift of revelation with a sincere desire to inquire of the Lord, will receive it.

Doctrine and convenants 42:61 "If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive ^arevelation upon revelation, ^bknowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the ^cmysteries and ^dpeaceable things—that which bringeth ^ejoy, that which bringeth life eternal."

The gift of revelation is a miracle.  It testifes to us how to bring joy into our life, into our families, into our hearts, and into our souls.  It is how we can know the desire of the Lord in our lives.

Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-9 "7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

 8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in yourmind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shallfeel that it is right.

 9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which issacred save it be given you from me."

The spirit of revelation is a powerful tool and a mighty tool.  It isn´t something that is just given.  It is something that we have to seek.  We have to meet God half way with it.  He wants to give it to us, but we have to want it for ourselves as well.  We must study our desires out in our mind and in our prayers.  You will know you have received revelation when you feel a burning in your heart and when you continue to return to the topic.  If it is something isn´t right, you will forget about it.  You will feel the insignifigance of it and desire it no more.

2 Nephi 28:30  "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learnwisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have."

Revelation isn´t something that is given all at once.  It is a process.  It is given to us piece by piece as we strive to become more like our Lord and teacher Jesus Christ.  If you use not the gift of revelation, certain truths of your heart will be taken away.  That is why it is so important to constantly seek the Lord´s desire in our lives and for revelation for our lives, our family, our work...daily.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:23  " 23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

Don´t look for signs.  More often than not, they aren´t going to happen.  When we receive an answer, when we have peace of mind, and a confirmation of what we need to do, it is a witness from God.  What more do we need??

I would encourage everybody strongly to seek the guidence of the Lord in your lives.  Through the gift of revelation, we can know how to better live our lives in harmoney with the desire of the Lord, lead our families, be happy, and become who we are destined to be.  I love all of you.  Miss you.  Pray for you.  Know that your Lord wants to show you the way in your life....all you have to do is meet him half way and ask.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson