Neco's Baptism - Tie Burning on Friday!

Hey Family,

This week was a really good week on Wednesday I stayed here in Spanish Town after District meeting with Elder Taylor on a trade off which was a lot of fun to get to catch up with him. On Friday the Zone Leaders (Elder Mackey and Elder Montegomery) and us went with the Whiteheads the new humanitarian aid couple to build chicken coops so we did that for several hours and got the walls up.

 

Yep I hit 6 months this Friday and yes the time has gone by way fast. I'll be burning a tie on Friday. At 6 months you burn a tie at a year you burn a shirt at 18 months you burn a pair of pants and at 2 years you burn all three :) A missionary tradition here.

 

We had the baptism of Neco Patterson on Saturday it was an awesome service a lot of people showed up and he really wanted me to baptize him so I did. We always try to get someone in the Branch to do it because the missionaries won't always be here but he really wanted me to and his aunts who he lives with wanted me to so I did and it was a great experience for me. Well we found many female investigators this week that all live in one neighborhood circle together. I really like Raquel she's pretty cool and she's going to allow us to teach her oldest daughter who they call Pinky she's 10 years old so we'll start teaching her tomorrow probably. We get transfer calls this Saturday and we're pretty sure that Elder Paxman will be leaving because he's been here for 6 months you never know he could stay.

 

 I did get my package early last week thank you it was awesome :) I knew Sam was getting married this weekened and I was thinking about her a bit I was wondering who else will be married by the time I get home. When does Jarom get home do you know? I just play piano on Pday's cuz we email here at the church on the computer so I just use the keyboard while my companion is on. Elder Larsen actually taught me I still have all the notes I took when he taught me I'm actually getting pretty decent :) Our lightbulb for the kitchen broke so we just use candles at night but we'll buy a lightbulb today.

 

It's been awesome here in Spanish Town and I'm grateful I can be here in Jamaica and touch the lives of the people that live here. I know this church is true and I'm so thankful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord in his work. I'm definitely not the same person I was 6 months ago and I know my testimony will continue to grow as I progress on my mission.

 

Well it hasnt rained too much but it's actually pouring down as we speak :( I'll have to walk home in it with no umbrella ugh...not what I want to do on Pday. Well hope everything goes well this week. Tell me what teachers and classes Adam gets for school I'm interested to know and tell Adam and Matthew specifically I said hi.

 

Love, Jake

 

Neco's Baptism

Elder Paxman, Neco, Elder Clark

Building the Chicken Coop

 

Happy Birthday Elder Clark - President Vinas Visits Jamaica

Hi Mom and Dad,

August 15th - President Vinas is coming to visit Jamaica and speak to us missionaries in Kingston (he's the Area President of the Caribbean) and we'll probably to go TGI Fridays afterwords ( the only TGI on the island) We bike every Saturday here in Spanish Town cuz we go out kind of far but most of the time we are on foot. 

Our apartment is really gross  we are probably going to move in the beginning of next month. There is a hole in the dry wall so the neighbors flood us out when they forget to turn off the hose that fills up their washing machine. The house has a lot of mold in it and it has a musky smell to it. Plus rats, an ant nest, and cockroaches. Sister Hendricks came yesterday to see the apartment and didnt like it so Im pretty sure we'll move into a nicer place. This past Wednesday we had a tradeoff with the Elders from Linstead. Elder Layton and I went to Linstead and Elder Taylor went with Elder Paxman here. Elder Layton is a brand new missionary that just came in at the end of July. He's way cool he's from Calgary Canada and was a hockey player. We did a lot of finding and found 6 new investigators for them. Right now we have 5 investigators with baptismal dates and we should have two Cheryl and Nicco getting baptized on the 27th of this month. Work is going well and Elder Paxman and I are having a great time serving together. By the way has Dane, Brendan, or Kevin put in their papers yet I'm excited to hear where they'll be going? Just wondering.


 August 22nd - Thank you for the birthday wishes! And please write a post on my wall saying Jake says thanks for all the birthday wishes! My birthday was awesome! Elder Paxman and I made cookies on Tuesday night for district meeting the next morning. after the meeting they all floured me outside. I went to the other side of Spanish Town for my birthday with Elder Montegomery on a trade off and we ate out at Pizza Hut for dinner. We are probably going to be moving in the middle of September to a new house.

President Vinas visited with our Zone and Kingston Zone in Kingston on Saturday. It was a very good experience you can definitely see Christ's reflection in him he is so nice it's no wonder he's a General Authority. We talked a lot about our mission as a whole and goals we should set for ourselves and what we need to work on to get Jamaica's first stake! It's coming soon we just need to keep working hard :)

Tell Sam Lee I say Hi! I hope she has a wonderful day! I'm so happy for her! We have a baptism coming up this saturday! Nicco, a 9 year old, we've been teaching is getting baptized :).

Love, Jake

Its a tradition in Jamaica to get "Floured" on your Birthday

Zone Conference front Row - Sister and President Vinas, President and Sister Hendricks





Making Cookies by candlelight for District Meeting



Ether 12: 27 - Forever Strong!

8/1/2011

Hey mom,


Ya I said bye to elder Larsen on transfer day in Spanish Town cuz everyone meets there cuz its a central point. We had six Elders and one Sister leave us and we got seven new elders (four from Canada and three from the States). Yep and Elder Hobbs is in Hopeton right now I'm sure he'll enjoy it I told him to say hi to the Richardsons for me. I like Spanish town a lot and Elder Paxman is really cool he's a hard worker and a nice guy. He is from Provo Utah. He's on his fourth transfer here so he knows the area really well. It takes me about three weeks to master an area. Right now our area is the most dangerous area in the mission. They never whitewash this area because there are areas that we are not allowed to proselyte in and there are areas that we are not allowed to be in after 6pm so you need someone to show you around. I guess there is a bit of gang wars that are going on here. We heard some gunshots while we were teaching on Thursday. We went proselyting in Gordon's Pen where the three people got their heads got chopped off and near the river where they found two of the heads. Last night there was a fight going on on a street we were passing by but nothing that interesting that I havent seen yet. I guess we're supposed to have four to six baptisms coming up this transfer so I'm excited. We extended a date to someone yesterday for August 27th and they accepted. I dont know the people's names yet cuz Ive met so many people so I'll know by next week. Elder Snelson is training a guy from Canada named Elder Gurr who seems nice. Elder Taylor is training a Canadian (Elder Layton) in Linstead and is in our District and we are having a tradeoff this Wednesday with them so I'll be able to catch up with him. 

8/8/2011

Hey mom!


Spanish Town has been going well. Elder Paxman is awesome. He's a great missionary and great teacher. Hes very kind and is willing to work hard. Tell our neighbors I said hi. We have been teaching a lot of people here lately.

Carleen is a recent convert who had her leg amputated and has a prosthetic leg but it broke so she cant move around right now and has to spend a lot of money just to get into Kingston to fix it so she's been having a rough time. I shared with her Ether 12:27 for a spiritual thought and we had a good conversation and lesson on trials. There is also another girl we are teaching named Ashley who is 9 years old and her mom and brother are baptized but her mom wont let her get baptized right now for some reason. It was sad because Ashley came up to me and asked me what I do if I get bored and I told her I keep myself busy so I dont have a ton of time to be bored and she said she's always bored and that theres nothing they can do but sit inside and its not always safe for them to be outside. I asked her if she ever uses her imagination and if she ever acts like an animal or pretends she has superpowers and she said no. So I played with her for a bit and we pretended we were animals it was fun I'm glad I was able to brighten up her day a bit. I really feel for these people that have nothing but they remain positive and just keep on moving forward dispite their trials.

So anyways I"m glad things are going well and I'll have to keep you posted on how more of our investigators are doing next week.

Love Elder Clark