Chicken Feet for Dinner yummmm......Getting Transferred to Spanish Town!!

Hi,

Brother May (Gilford May) got baptized Yesterday! yay! The teenager we are teaching got a no from his dad so he has to wait a while. Zone conference was awesome and very uplifting. We had the area Mental Health Specialists and Doctors come and speak to us which was pretty cool. The work is  going really well, I'm not sure about how many of our investigators will be golden it usually takes a couple of lessons for me to figure that out. We are actually going to go play soccer right after I finish email so that'll be cool. We are playing Kingston Zone vs Spanish Town Zone :)

Yes I did get the Easter package actually. I got it like two weeks ago I forgot to tell you, thanks. I got the candy, gels, and cable and money :) A lot of packages get here faster but for some reason whenever its a Christmas or Easter package it takes longer for them to arrive I don't know why but thats how it is.

Well are you ready for the big news...........................? I'm getting transferred again! Im moving to Spanish Town. Which is probably the most dangerous spot on the Island. I have driven thru there a couple of times and trust me there are some very dangerous areas in Kingston but I do not even want to get out of the car when passing through Spanish Town creeps me out. There are tons of gangs everywhere and its just kind of freaky not a safe place. Theres been a lot of killings there and last week three people got thier head chopped off over there :(

Elder Snelson is training here in Boulevard but we don't know who yet. There are seven new Elders coming in this transfer and six leaving so a lot of trainers this transfer. Elder Ferrin is getting transferred to Mandeville not the branch I was in but the other one. I am going to be companions with a guy named Elder Pakxman. He and Elder Ferrin were MTC companions they are only one transfer above me.  So ya I'll have to tell you how Spanish Town is next week. Transfer day is always on Wednesday. 

So I had chicken feet for the first time on Friday night for dinner at a members house! It was definitely an experience. I think I can go without ever having that again :). I said bye to everyone on Sunday and got some people to sign my journal and I took some pictures. We did some service on Saturday morning at one of our investigators houses Maudeme. We made a big sand pile for the kids to play in and then a guy climbed to the top of a coconut tree in the middle of it to get coconuts and we drank from them.  Answering dad's question: Ya I have seen my Mission President several times since Ive been here and my companionship all got interviewed this Saturday. Theres only 55 missionaries in the mission so he gets to know everyone really well. Say Hi to Colin BTW.

Love Jake

Elder Ferrin, Bro May, Elder Clark, Elder Snelson

The Companions - Elders Snelson, Ferrin & Clark

Elder Clark and Elder Snelson - Kingston

Cut Down Coconuts.....

Hold Coconuts.....

Drink Coconut Milk...yummmm!

Best week of my mission so far!

Hey mom and dad!

I got all the emails from all the kids that were at Dana's house they made me smile tell them all I said hi. I got Alyssa's grad announcement two weeks ago as well as a letter from the young women, I got grandma and grandpa's email last week. People from singles ward and brother Banagas wrote to me so tell them I get their emails and read them and appreciate them. Tell Ben and Linda I said hi when they come over I cant believe its been almost 5 months since we were in Utah with them.

 

As for the work this week has been one of the highlights and best weeks of my mission so far. The past 3 weeks we have worked hard to find new investigators and organize our former's binders and so far have found 34 new investigators 16 of which we found this week. This week has been insanely busy. We have been booked on average three days in advance and have this week booked through all of Thursday already. We are going to try to go on splits with a member this week because right now we have more people to teach than we have time for. Brother May is being interviewed for baptism this Wednesday after Zone Conference and his baptism is scheduled for this Sunday and was announced in church. We might possibly have another baptism this Saturday as well if one of our teenage investigator's dad gives us the ok.

 

One of our investigators got mugged and was shot on Saturday night and is in the hospital now, crazy right? So we'll keep him in our prayers and check up on how he's doing in a couple days when we go to teach and meet with his best friend for the second time. It was crazy cuz we saw him Saturday morning and he seemed pretty stressed with life and said he was having a rough time and I talked to him for about 15 minutes on how we have to endure trials and why we are given them and gave him some words of encouragement, and then after the lesson I shook his hand and looked him in the eyes and told him to keep fighting. Little did I know what would happen to him that night. 

 

Tell  Deanne and John thank you so much I really appreciate it, and tell Collin I said hi when he gets home I didn't realize that he was pretty close to me. I guess El Salvador is kind of near Jamaica. Hope Matthew has a good time at Circle X I keep him and everyone in my prayers. I have set a goal that everyday I'll pray for 2 people that I am thankful for back home and why I am thankful for them and the things that they have done for me.

I am in Alma right now in the Book of Mormon and am on Deuteronomy Chapter 7 in the Old testament. I really want to have the whole bible read and that is my goal. It helps out a lot to know the bible here cuz a lot of people are pretty educated on it. The main religions besides ours in Jamaica are Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness, Pentecostal, and Catholic. So we get a lot of questions about what is the right day to worship on, the gift of tongues and what god's name is :)

Hope all is well.

 

Love Jake