The Fourth Change

 I've made it this far. I'm staying here in San Luis with my Ecuatoriano for the next six weeks. I'll be in this ward for more than 6 months. What a crazy time! In this week an old investigator came back and he is still living with his girlfriend. So we told him to get married and it was a little weird. This kid just turned 19 and he is getting to get married. It's like if I was getting told to get married right now! That's insane. We'll see what he does. 

This was a very sad Easter. We ate for lunch noodles and a plate of rice. I was very sad. Then we had a bunch of meetings at church and the bishop told me to fix the hoop. The hoop fell and bent really bad. So I had to jump up and yank it down, but it didn't work. So the other white guy pulled me down till we got it straight. It was fun!

Love you guys!

Colder

 It's been a crazy week! Normally I go to bed at 10:30pm and I'm hot and just lay on my bed with the window wide open and wake up at 6:30am. But one night, I woke up and my toes were cold! It's getting there! So last night, me and the other Gringo took our mattresses on the roof to sleep in the cold. BEST NIGHT EVER! I felt like I was in my room at home because of how cold it was. 

  So a sister in the ward got married on Friday. At about 10 we get a call that they did something bad and need some help. So we went and found the basketball hoop/ soccer goal fell and broke and they need help to set it back up. So we picked up this huge metal frame and put it back together. Then they asked us to help take chairs outside. So we had a contest to see who could take the most. Of course I won with 10 on my shoulder. 

  We also went to a less active's house and found a bird! And she let us hold it. It only bit me a couple times, but it got on the shoulder eventually, it was insane. These people love birds and say it's mans best friend. And throw the dogs on the street. 

Hope everyone is doing well, everything is great here. Changes are next week, so we'll see if I stay or if I go. I think I'll stay... We'll see!

Full Weeks

 So I managed for the last six days since I wrote. It was a really normal week. My Ecuadorian companion told be that everyday he is missing his family more and more. He still has 11 months. Something he does to worsen the situation is look at pictures during study everyday. But he doesn't believe me when I say that is the problem. 

We've been having lots of fun going around and dying from heat. I'm still learning the area and have four months here. There is so much to do! I don't know where to start. But we are always learning and teaching. The people here are really funny. My favorite thing is the kids. We talk to a lot of kids while looking for their parents. We'll ask and they'll tell us they're not home. Then the question after is, can you ask if they have un momentito to talk, and then they go and ask their parents. I love these people! 

Have fun back at home, miss you guys. I'm doing great down here!

Trujillo Temple

 What a crazy full week. Last P-Day, we watched "Intensamente" which I guess is "Inside Out" and I would highly recommend it. It pulled q5 my heart strings though, maybe it's just being thousands of miles away from home. But, a very good P-Day, we have an Hermana from Argentina and we drank Mate which is that grass thing you drink out of a weird cup. But we drink it with soda... It was amazing. Then I did a work visit with a zone leader for a day! He is from North Carolina and is dying in two weeks. 

He told me he had 20 days left and when we got up the next morning, I got up, turned around and got on my knees to pray, and he immediately hit me with a pillow and said, "19 Days!" He is a little excited, but it was the best day ever. We then had a normal week and then, went to the Temple! We woke up at 4 in the morning to catch a bus at 6 to get the session at 10. It was incredible! The Temple is so new and there was almost nobody there, we saw Presidente Marler and his wife. They are awesome. We hung out on the grounds, ate pizza in the lunch room and took a bus back, and here we are! It was a crazy fast day. We got to watch Tarzan and The Book of Life of the bus rides, Best P-Day ever! Miss you all! It's only getting hotter down here. But I'll make it. I've made it this far, what is 19 more months....    Love you guys!

Mom note: Kristi grew up with the Marlers in Escondido. President Kurt and Sister Kathy Marler are currently mission leaders in the Trujillo North Mission. President Marler's father, Don, performed the marriage ceremony for Paul and Kristi in the Los Angeles Temple. This picture is from earlier in Jack's mission when he was still in the MTC in Lima. 

Past the Heat

 I've successfully made it past the hot season. It should go down a little bit. But it continues to be too hot for comfort. We had a little cita with the bishop's wife to help her with something. So we went over to cut up some animals. It was insane, and in church clothes. It was so fun! It's Cuy. Then we ran to the chapel for an interview and she didn't come because of her husband. Then it was a sad day. She wants to get baptized, but her husband is a little aggressive. 

I did learn this week how to kill flies! With my bare hands! It was pretty fulfilling. There was no bread on Sunday, so our pensionista served cake with fried eggs on top for breakfast. She might get fired. She was pretty upset this week because we had no electricity. But we got it fixed now. It only took 5 days to have power again. 

Stake Conference

 This was a crazy week. We have a Multi-Zone Conference on Friday with half the mission. President came down here to Chimbote to get on us for not being smart, and then blew our minds talking about the Plan of Salvation. Then we had Stake Conference this weekend and the Stake President is crazy. President Rios was there and spoke and left. It was really good. Then this goon gets up and goes off about Pure blooded horses and a lot about the devil and how he wants to eat us like snakes eat fireflies. He was crazy! But the First Counselor got up and gave a killer talk on the family, and then I was sad. You guys need to reactivate everyone! 

In the beginning of the week, our pensionista started making soup for the first time. And everyone got really sick; I couldn't walk. So we told her we are all very sick. She told us it was because our stomachs froze from eating ice. NOTHING CAN FREEZE WHEN I SPEND ALL DAY WALKING IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER!!! Soup is poison here. Or maybe she is poisoning us. I'll think about it. We are out of power again; all the time it just goes out. One day we were on the streets a little before 8pm and everything went black. It was a little scary because it was a bad part of town and I was a little weak in the stomach.

But it's all great down here. My new companion's name is E' Arevalo and he is from Ecuador, a city named Guayaquil. He is a lot more mellow and nice. It's a lot of fun. We made some commandments for the room because his fingers are a little light and he is drinking everyone's water, but that's all over. It's all good. Miss you guys, thanks for writing those that do! Work hard and I'll do the same!

Mom's note: In January 2020, Jackson's companion from Ecuador arrived at the Guayaquil Temple with his parents and siblings to be sealed together. Not knowing the connection, I said my congratulations as they proceeded out the front door for pictures. Jackson sent this picture to me the next day. 

Happy Valentine's Day

 It was a weird Sunday in the ward. In Elders Quorum they had everyone stand up and give hugs to all the dudes. Their kinda unique. But it's been very different with a new companion. I'm the only one that knows the people and the area and still, I'm not that smart. It's been a new challenge, and I'm getting through it. One weird thing now that I'm out of training is proselyting at 11am after language study. And people really don't like being woken up from their naps at that hour. We went to contact a reference and I knock on the door and this women runs out and screams at me saying, "What are you doing knocking so loud!? You're going to wake up the people? What do you want this early in the morning?!"

And I though about how I could say we have a message that will make you happy without sounding sarcastic. She said we shouldn't come back. I love these people! 

We went to visit a member family and her nephew was there with his huge nerf gun. But is wasn't working. So we being smart teenagers took apart a spring weapon and maybe lost a couple pieces. Then the little boy proceeded to cry a lot. There is a lot more learning I need to be able to deal with that. But I'm not trying to learn from these people down here. We were teaching a family yesterday. The kids were outside playing and we were teaching. Then in the middle of the lesson, the 6-year-old ran in to the 4-year-old and said he was saying bad words. The grandma took him by the arm and he was screaming, "Please no! Please no!" and we heard a lot more screaming and beating coming from the back. 

Anyway, I'm learning a lot. Have fun at home!