January 11, 2010 (Still in Guzman!!)

Ha! Poor dad doesn´t get to write! Lol Well, I just started writing and it´s 53 minutes on the clock. Writing presidente and sorting letters and reading all the gobbly-goop the assistants send me is annoying and time consuming. That and I was also dinking around with Walmart.com... i now have a startling and impressive addition of 194-195 photos. Today in the morning we went on a 4:45 a.m. journey to the ´volcan´ (which is volcano). We all got ready by 5, waited a little for the ride to get there (our elder´s quorum president) and we shipped off, picked up a girl in the ward who wanted to go, Christian Diaz, the young men´s leader also went and we headed up the mountain. The first pictures you will see is the ´choir´ I have told you about so emotionally, which I FINALLY get to load up and then a few random opens, then when you see 10 elders tightly grouped togther in the back of a truck with blankets and mattress pads, bundled down in sweaters and coats and jackets, that´s us in the back of Pdt. Espinoza´s work truck headed out. The Road was frost bitten and white, the trees were empty and shadowed, then at 6:30 we broke the horizon limit going up the side of the moutnain and found a FANTASTIC sun rise. We later got up and the rest our photos of our volcano adventure. We are on the mountain/dormant volcano - Nevado del Colima. It´s called ´del Colima´ even thought it´s technically in Jalisco. The tall peaked one with snow is this volcano. You´ll see several other photos of a large volcano shaped mountain with an open top and smoke coming out. That´s Fuego del Colima; an active volcano currently holding a ´caution´ rating, due to the possibly pending erruption. YEAH!!! Now we´re in the ciber writing. This week was impossibly hard. We baptized Erika on Sunday. It was interesting. The entire week her family and friends have been cutting her open with their comments and criticisms. Mom destroyed her, her best friends decided they didnt´want to be friends anymore, relatives mock and criticize her, husband threatened to divorce her (but thankfully isn´t...whew...) and just a slew of crap. She stayed firm, she knew what she wanted to do and she did it. I´m very happy and honored to say I had the blessings of seeing her in that process. Yesterday I was DEPRESSED. It was bad... This week was just rough. I don´t know if it´ll be any better this next week but I´m just going through the motions right now. I still don´t have my head on straight. I complain alot. Either I´m happy and everyone hates on me, or I´m depressed and everyone´s fine. That´s my point of view, the social worker I´ve been talking to has helped me kind of stop and take a step back looking at the situation and I´m sure it´s not that bad a situtaion. I took a picture of me one day in my room. You´ll see one of my just ... upset looking resting my head on my fist. That day was just a pissy day. Lol, so I took a picture. I´m just tired...I´ll tell you what, I´m exhausted. Everythings tested. Leadership, discipline, obedience, physical (I´m been constantly sick with one thing or another), testimony, love & charity... EVERYTHING is being tested and challenged. And I´m exhausted...The good news is that we´ve had success. Like I said we´re kinding of just going through the motions, but we´ve had lots of success. There´s a 17 yr old girl getting baptized the 24th of the month, she´s getting married to an inactive member of the ward who has several active family members. Those family members invited her and we´ve been teaching her, and it´s great, she also has a great testimony. I like the quote you sent me my Presidente Benson about pride, because I think i´m guilty, for example I´ve thought recently that she takes a little more to Elder Perez, but I think I´m just sensitive to others way of looking at me. It´s all added up though, the comments that I receive everyday. I understand oh, they´re just kids yelling at me, or oh they´re jsut jealous that you´re tall, things like that, etc. etc. so on and so forth, but it all just builds up. I relax on Mondays and then TUesday and Wednesday are fine, I deal with, laught it off. THen THursdya it´s a little...ha, ok..yeah... Friday I´m just dealing with it and then Saturday I¨m just done, I´m just.... DONE, sick of hearing GUERO GUERO GRINGO GRINGO GRINGO GINGO Hablas Ingles (doy ou speak Ingles???) Gran Khali! (Some WWE wrestler). I´m sick of people swearing at me I´m sick of stupid comments, idiotic assumptions about everything. It just builds up. That doesn´t limit the problem either. I have 4 months in this forsaken city and I love it here, I really do. More than almost all areas I´ve had. But I haven´t had anything to show for it. I´m really tired...I don´t have a whole lot of positive things to say about this country...I march forward. 9 Months. Not that long...To answer a few questions. A new suit, that would probably come in handy...lol. The ones I have are pretty gnarly...lol. It would just have to be a lot smaller. Lol. Ther´s o Men´s Wearhouse in Guadalajara, if there is, I have no idea how to find it...nor do I believe they would carry the same product, they large chains usually don´t. Walmart for example is completely Mexican based with very few articles from the states found there. You´re selling the little white and blue ones?? Why so? The Thing too??? Now i can´t fit in the little thing so I´m not reall going to miss it that much, but that´s fine piece of property. Mom really should get out an drive it more, but ... I don´t know. The Mountain Dew one is pretty slick, but thinking bout it... a paint job I can get on any buggy. Look at he parts before the paint...well Dad you know a whole lot mroe than I do, just pick the one you thinks best.Spekaing of cars..have you talked to trick my truck yet??? Lol, andale! (let´s move it...lol)The packages I don´t think I´ll get til February. We only get them every 3 weeks and this time around we aren´t even goign to have interviews so our packags won´t come in...I mean to say they´re there in the offices but we won´t be receiving them for a while.Now I have a few fvors I´d like to ask of you. Could you, by some way, write the offices here and ask if I could go to a chiropractor or get some sort of therapy. Sister Nobel maybe?? She does that...I think it´s a possible shot, if my back is out or my neck, that could cause this head and body pain. A pinched nerve for an inflame or stressed muscle. I lie down and night and just watch and feel my body twitch. The contracting and spasming of my muscles in every centimeter of my body. Maybe it´s not that bad, but I got to spice it up a bit so I get some attention here, actually it really does feel that bad, that´s a very accurate description...lol. Head pain, sinus squeeze, stress and anxiety, lack of concentration. Sorry, I like to complain, but this is ridiculous, haha. (Note I write this with the best of humor...that I can muster, lol) Well just to finish it off as I´ve gone over by an hour, lol. I´m wearing the read nintendo shirt! YEAH! Lol. Your beloved and wonderful dashingly, handsome and wittingly intelligent with magestically English accented son,-JakeLolP.S.Send Ties! (X-Long)

January 4, 2010....YEA its 2010....He'll be back in 2010!!!!!! YEA!!!!!

Everything sounds normal over there, but to start off: BUY THE MOUNTAIN DEW DUNEBUGGY; BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT (and make it extra long so I can fit in it...and drive) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!If that wasn´t very clear: I would really find it a marvelous idea if dad bought the mountain dew dune buggy and made sure I fit to drive it cause I would be pleased in helping him with his dune buggy business! It would also be a very good idea if Dad sent the application for Trick my truck for the armored car before I get home. Confieme no es tan dificil, antes de levantarse de su lugar, si la cilla en lo cual está sentada ahorita mismo, busca ´Trick my Truck´en el internet y llena la aplicación y mandar por hacer clic en el botón nombrado ´send´. Ya despues serán magnificamente asombrados los trabajadores de ´Trick my Truck´y pondrán miles de dólares en restaurar la camioneta y seré muy feliz su extraordinaramente guapismo hijo que te ama desmasiado. Bueno Back to English. Thanks for the letters and packages. Everyone finds toffee a little out of the ordinary but we´re enjoying it here and I loved the bottle of cinnamon. Oh how happy I have been. Lol. I´m not depreciating the other thigns you gave me I´m just glorifying the cinnamon sugar! I loved the Mario Shirt too! I never thought I´d like a red shirt but it´s pretty cool. I didn´t realize it was the shape of a mushroom. Lol. SPeaking of, if anyone is interested in getting me something, like a birthday present, or christmas quanza hannakuh labor day present, something like that...they just came out with Halo legos and I saw them the other day here in Sorianna, and they look really amazing. Lol. Toys are really expensive here though, a Barbie is some 200 pesos. (one of the more common toys I see, not that I´m cecking out the Barbies....)Thank you for the fudge and nuts. Send more nuts. I love nuts and they stay fresh(ish) I love that stuff. Lol, gracias!Some good news for this area is that their is an AMAZING churro stand here where they give you about a food long churro about an inch thick and not as crunchy as I´d like, kind of goo-ey (how do you spell that??) but that´s ok it´s only 4 PESOS! AHAHAHAHAHA! Erika´s getting baptized this Saturday.She told her husband she was getting baptized and he told her ¨If you get baptized i´ll divorce you¨. She replied. Oh well I´m getting baptized. Lol THey´re not getting divorced, but loved her answer. Her famliy, who are members, explained that Satan´s going to put alot of crap in her path but it´s all lies and bullcrap. Don´t believe just keep going forward. We´re still teaching him too, but we don´t have as much time with him as we do her. Several other people are going well. I made a no-no this week. One ofthe active members in the ward ¨La China¨ as they call her (her names Rosa Isela, but they all call her la china caus her hairs curly..don´t ask) well she´s 19 and her 18 year old sister is active also, mom no, and brothers no. Their inactive. Well her little brother (Bryan-17). Is a......Here is where I described him in not obscene nor vulgar words but not very nice ones either......he just iritates me .... alot. He helped his aunt move the other day and he was just being a prick the entire time. Then on the way hom still. I was just patient, didn´t care, calm. He started hitting me. Slapping me on the head. Ok, 1 time.... doen´t matter. Twice, ha....he´s just an idiot.We get to the house... Cool now I don´t need to worry.... BOOM! 3 times. Every emotion in my body curled up into a bitter anger and hatred as I flew outthe truckdoor slamming in onthe way circled rapidly to he camper coverd bed of the truckripped it open siezed the shriveling child bythe ankle and dragged him out of the truck off the tailgate. I was overcome by a calming sensation and suddenly the feelings disappeared, and I know they were taken from me....other wise I would have murdered him with several energized punches. STruggling for how to express the terms ´Cut the crap jerkoff´ in Spanish I yelled drastically. NOOOOO!!! Then helped him up and expressed that he stop the annoying stuff... I called later after we planned and asked how he was, la china replied that he hadn´t said anything and that he was fine...I saw him the next day and saw how he was. I´m going to do a formal apology soon. (When I have a chance) Anyway, that´s the story of the week. We´re going to go roast hot dogs and sausages! See ya´ later.. well, talk to you next week! ----

December 28, 2009

I´m really tired.... Nothing new there, is there. Well I am currently writing having not bathed in three days vomited 3-5 times and bed-ridden for half a day. I´ll explain in a bit. I would be so excited to hear from R.J., that´s one of the biggest things I look forward to in my life is seeing the changes that have happened in his life. Brazil. The week he gets back we´re going for a pedicure and Sparkling apple cider while playing darts and mario party. Ha. I loved the red Nintendo Shirt it was hilarious and awesomne. Elder Perez isn´t a very emotional guy, but he was thankful and he said to say thanks, alot. He loves (and needed badly) the watch. He put everything on that day and wore it around lol. Kid drives me crazy every once in a while, but a few hours later my head cools and my heart calms down and goes out for him. He was worried that his family had been kidnapped and learned later that they had moved houses but their old house had been shot out by narcos (drug dealers) and his dads public bus service business, several buses had been ransomed for money. It´s been rough. He goes home March 15. I woke up good and read the Book of Mormon (two pages...oh well) and dealt alright with the attitudes going around the house. BUT...they just got to me before we came here. I´m not thinking very positively...lol. It´s allll good I just want to relax today and get away from the norm. By norm I mean, not he daily routine, but the daily list of annoyance I deal with which is now by standard .. a norm. A daily expected occurance that I´m steadily adapting to and dealing with better. Lol Now the story. This week was as follows!:
Monday...changes, We went to a pueblo hour and a half from here, killed a pig, cooked it and ate it. While cooking we got our hands on a pistol and blew a coke bottle to hell and back. We were taught where the Mexican army had come to destroy several acres of weed that had been planted and then we enjoyed carnitas de peurco. YEAH! Lol. Then we got bussed back to the highway where I distanced myself from the other crew and started asking a ride. A kind man and his friend rolled off to the side and asked me where I was headed. I answered: ¨Guzman!¨Hop in he tells me. At this point a parade and stampede of missionaries and young single adults who had come with us (totaling eight) come running from their former hiding/congregation place and piled in the poor pick up who was foolish enough to stop for us. I climbed in as well. IT was a pleasant ride home. Elder Perez had also gotten sick and started to throw up.
Tuesday: Elder Perz is still sick. We stayed in the house as I washed his, mine and Elder Guevara´s clothes. WHich took for EVER! 4-5 hours... Christian came over and we talked video games and wrote down more random game facts to my growing list of characters and stats. Lol.Miercoles: Guadalajara. We get up at 4 o´clock and hitch a bus at 5 to Guadalajara, we sleep on the bus and miss our stop and arrive in Tonalá (a district of Guadalajara VERY VERY FAR AWAY from where we were going). So we grab a taxi for 200 pesos. We arrive (Elder Perez is still sick) and we have our Zone leaders council. It was cool, I got to see and meet a few new people. Elder Oakes still doesn´t want to talk to me. (He´s a zone leader now too). Bus ride back was a ... difficult. Get back, Elder Perez is still sick. And Myself now too. This was my spiritually draining day.
Thursday: Repentance process continues. We plan in the morning and visit Angela a recent convert with cancer, bedridden and fighting hard. We said hi and headed over the meal in which we enjoyed and started for the church to meet up for the caroling group activity. We met with three of the young single adult girls and headed out 6 missionaries and the 3 sisters. Several others couldn´t make it. We went to several less active/inactive homes. It was quite enjoyable. Friday: Christmas: I talked to you and complained about alot. Lol, sorry. 45 minutes went by fast. As all things do. Very pleasant to hear from you, I wasn´t affected at first, but after awhile I started thinking. It´s pretty cool to hear from somebody, talk to the family. You in specific yes. Lol. Realized 9 months is not very far away and as much as I love the mission and am grateful for what I learn am looking forward to it. Mission work is incredible, but it´s a process. I want to prove char estes ultimos meses. Afterwards we went to la comida in which we had a traditional favorite Pozole and I put WAY TO MUCH chile on it. She had gone caroling with us the day before so I gave her the Hershey´s chocolate bar you had given me. Afterwards we went and taught a reference we had received who I will tell you about here in a second and then we went home. I changed 40 bucks out and spent it all already. I bought pizza for everybody. 1 Macro and another large. Macro is like a Godzilla pizza if you can imagine. It was good. They bought chips and soda and stuff while talking to their families. Saturday: The ´Day´I woke up vomiting and pooping. Who knows what time it was when I started but I was pooping then at 6 something I reluctantly succeeded to throw up. From 7 -9 I proceeded in this process. From 9 until 3 I lied in bed with shivers and a headache and soreness all over. At 3 the other elders got back to the house and asked if I was able to go to Tuxpan to do the interviews, I said yes and we left. I was half way dead. But that´s ok. I interviewed the daughter, Elder Perez the mom and the son and we stayed for the baptism. I fell asleep in the sacrament room while they were preparing for it all. We sang a pretty musical number and then they were baptized. Cleaned up and then they invited us over para cenar... ugh... They just could not understand that I was sick. I can´t eat, I don´t feel very good right now. They respond, He doesn´t like the food down here much does he, speaking to the other elders. The other elders reply no, it´s just cause he´s sick. The family says. He hasn´t gotten used it yet, doesn´t like it? No I¨M SICK.. If I eat I WILL VOMIT!!! Now offended, what you don´t like our food or what?? Glory... This is at 10:30 by the way. Well not the exact conversation but the point is to express what they said to me. It was annoying. Lol. We stayed the night in Tuxpan with Elder Nichols and Elder Aulestia. We put he two beds together and all ..relaxing... very comfortable! = D Lol. Well... Sunday we got up late because we went to bed at Midnight to 1 in the morning after they gave us a ride back from their little town they live in outside the city to the house in Tuxpan. We caught a bus at 8:30 and arrived in Guzman at 9:30, again having missed the proper stop. We popped and caught a bus to the church and there we arrived. Rememer I had not showered yet that day and the day before was sick in bed and their was no gas, so we couldn´t take a warm shower and therefore postponing the time left to Tuxpan without showering. We called before getting there the other Elders to bring out suits and and fresh paiir of garments. We stayed for several meetings and went to a recently reactivated members house who is also our new branch mission leader. Got to the house everyone was home already. They partied until 11:40 and I chipped in the conversation seeing as I was in bed and they all on the floor in the same rooming on their little pads. Lol. Oh well. Woke up at 6:30 but DEATH could, (conditionally speaking) Elder Danielson had gotten there at 2 a.m. from Manzanillo to visit a convert. He hitched a ride with a member from manzanillo in his 18 wheeler to here. We layed around until 7:30 when I got up and started reading. We then commenced district class later and here I am. That´s my week. The investigators I mentioned earlier are Erika and Fernando. Erika showed up at church several weeks ago with her Aunt, Hna. Rodriguez. We arranged that we´d call and put a date later for when we could come by. Called and they called us bck and put the date for Christmas! Lol. We taught her and her husband Fernando who was there asking questions, understanding and all in all it went very well. He works Sunday´s and so we´ll work with that, but Erika came again on Sunday. She´s liking it alot. The family that we ate with on Wednesday´s is struggling bad and can´t afford to help us anymore, and called in to the Relief Society President informing that she wouldn´t be able to attend us. THe issue was addressed in the Relief Society this week and who signed up... Erika, our invetigator... what d´ya know! Lol. That was awesome, she had also shown up to church by herself, the week before she came with her aunt but now she was solo her aunt was out of town. Wow, she´s awesome. Just got to get her husband out of the carniceria and keep helpin´m out. So that´s my week hope you enjoyed it´s already been about an hour in here so I´m out of here!-JakeLOVE YOU SO MUCH OH MY GOOSNESS YEAH LOVE LOVE LOVE! YEHA!----

December 21, 2009

Well the message I just wrote got deleted and I´ve been on here for a long time. May it suffice to say that I´ll tlak to you in 3 days at the number you have currently and that´ll make up for the lack of information present in this letter. I just wrote President Saucedo for an hour and a half. He asked me about the obedience in the zone having given him a hint that it was bad. I´ll tell ya´ that I had plenty to say. Well I´m stuck with Elder Perez for another six weeks. It wouldn´t have been bad but in the last couple weeks...remember Elder Gonzalez? It´s very similar what´s happening now. But this time I´m ready to punch something...very very hard. I told president Saucedo, we´ll see what happens. I´ll tell you more later. Tell Ex-Elder Bodrero I said hi and am looking forward to talking to him and seeing all the good changes and hearing the good stories. Mom...IMPORTANT. Could you get me R.J.´s mailing address. NOT EMAIL:: NOOO EMAIL. His writingaddress?? Ask specifically if I can send ENVELOPED LETTERS to the address. THANK YOU! -Jake^P.S. I still haven´t sent the package caus my Monday´s suck!-Also JakeP.S.S. I just directed a choir in a local grocery store. I´ll send pictures soon.

December 14, 2009

Ok, now Christmas Day, that sounds fine call at 8, Remember one week from today are changes and if I stay fine, call me, I´ll email you, if I change I´ll call you again with the number so you can try it out. IMPORTANT: I have 30 minutes this year. I have 30 minutes to talk, I will not go over. OK?? That means no ¨Hold on while I go pick up Josh" no ¨Hold on hold, Presidente Palmer´s calling my cell phone¨. No, hold on Dad´s at the office. Got it? I´m being strict because it´s important. You two, if you want Josh and Erin...and my friends. Keep it simple. No one else. Unless it´s like Rena, tell Rena I love her and miss her. Now continuing on. I´m relatively pessimistic right now and a little negative. Just molested from stuff that´s going on. The elders in the zone are getting out of hand. We´re not supposed to play soccer, and they just planned a ´zone´activity, minus Elder Povey, Elder Nichols and myself to go play soccer with some members of the ward. When you commented on being late last night. We´ve been going to bed at ... 12 o´clock everynight. Nobody see´s it as important to get to the house on time, plan prepare, nothing, it´s usually a party every night. It´s super fun, we´re all enjoying ourselves to a certain point, but enough´s enough. One night we stayed up late and had some laughs and then it started to be every night. We get, or got, sick of the routine, the lack of success, we get disanimated and then want to steer away, but that´s not the way to go. The fact that they have success while being disobedient doesn´t help, well, it´s being taken the wrong way. The third set of elders have had 2 baptisms and a possible family more. So it´s annoying. They´re going to go play football now, but we´re still in here writing. I just put on 82 more photos, if you want to go check it out. I still haven´t gotten the photos of wing night?!?! I was really looking forward to that... = ( ...I´ll probably get them here soon. Elder Nichols and I have been sitting up and talking most nights. We get along pretty good, which I´m glad about. We´re working on the other elders now too. Poor Elder Nichols, he´s the white guy you talked yesterday for a second when you called. My old companion. He´s sick of this area. Yesterday was a break for me because ... well there just weren´t as many problems. The whole zone has had enough with our ward mission leader, we´ll probably see a change here soon. There´s so many cool people in this ward, but the cool ones are the less active less spiritual ones. The ones who come, there´s a few. The diligent every week ones.. Drive me INSANE! I starte having visions and dreams and imaginations of how I would pin them against he wall mutilating their insignificantly tiny bodies. Saturday night was bad...lol. But yeah all is well. I´m putting it behind and calming down. It doesn´t matter. I had to give myself a prep talk on that one though. Lol, wow. Our golden girl in the little pueblo of Tamazula rejected baptism. I don´t think her kids will get baptized if she doesn´t. She made a ´promise´ to her parents x years ago that she would never change her religion. Well I´m going to go, not awhole lot to say...wait one thing, but yeah I´m going to go afterwards.So Im completely coverd from neck to toes including hands and butt in red bumps about the size of an average mosquito bite. They get bigger and smaller sometimes and are more concentrated in some areas none in others. We consulted and came to the agreement that it is a stress/anxiety reaction. I think I might have already told you this, but that´s ok. Lol. So Hna. Saucedo (president´s wife) is currently searching for a specialist in Guadalajara. I´ve been talking to this social worker dude too, but we´ll see how it all goes down. I just can´t tink, I´m constantly tense and stressed and tired. Commonly known as LDSMDS LDS Missions Disease Syndrom(I put just syndrom at first but it´s a disease). I´ll tell you more when I know more. Haven´t gotten packages yet, will tell you when get them. I love you I love you I love yoU! La verdad, de hecho estoy plenamente agradecido para ustedes y odo lo que me ofrecen. Les doy mis gracias en gran manera y espero que en estos dias puedan sentir la gloria y la maravilla de que es la navidad. Saludos a todos, y ... quiero comunicarme con Miguel, Todd y Jason, algun dia estos. Bueno, hasta entonces. Adios!-Jake Taylor