Elder Jackson Lee: motorcycle

February 8, 2016

Week 9: Big hello! Look! Two giants!

Hello Family!

Story of the week— Since I'm 5'10 and my companion is 6'6, when we walk down the street we always hear kids say "Hola gran! Mira! dos gigantes!"

So it was my senior companion's six month mark last Friday, so that night I bought us cheescake and super cola (it was super good), and we went on our roof and burned a tie on a little bonfire as we ate. It was a pretty good time.

I tried lots of new foods this week. There is a thing called wiskil (if I'm spelling it right). It's kind of like squash. They eat it with lemon squeezed on it, it's super good. I also had a mayan drink called pozol, it's made with corn and cocoa...and also super good, although a little weird. There's a hot sauce they have here called picamas. Everybody here has it, and they put it on everything, often accompanied by ketchup and mayo, and it's amazing! My new favorite snack is fruit (super cheap here) and we put sal negra (black salt), chile picante (chili powder) and squeeze lime over it. I'm in the habit of putting lime, chili powder, and salt,or picamas on everything.

This last week was also the celebration of the town's patron saint, it's called feria. And it's just like being at Kamas Fiesta Days. Tons of booths selling things, rodeos, that kind of thing.

As far as the missionary work goes, Spanish is still going really well. I love learning it, and I'm doing really well with it. the people here are very warm and accepting of the gospel (and love to talk to gringos, especially bolos (drunk people); we found out bolos also have the gift of tongues, they always seem to speak perfect English!) But the problem is they are all huge chambones (guate slang for a lazy person) so they are never home for their set visits, nor will they keep commitments, and none of them come to church...we end up teaching the first lesson, and never seeing the person again, over and over.

But yeah, still enjoying it here a ton, everything is awesome. I always love hearing about (and especially from) everyone. Please tell them all I'm thinking about them!

The companions...

Elder Van Katwyk and Elder Lee, aka dos gigantes!

6 month bonfire celebration for Elder Van.

A day in the life...

The beautiful country...

The beautiful children...

And Elder Lee!

The food...

Favorite condiment!

Seriously, mmm!

Homemade, with love.

The best dishes!

An apartment tour with Elder Van...

Elder Van coined this the "baggy" quilt. (baggy=homesick!)

Hot plate + sink + microwave on the fridge = better kitchen than most.

For study and motivation.

The rooftop patio.

Great for a hangout spot.

Comes with a view.

On the way to Feria...

Rodeo Queens

In the parade

More pictures of the countryside...

Chiantla sits in the Cuchumatanes mountain range...the highest in Central America.

And of the city...

A distant volcano in the sunset.

Thankfully, the elevation keeps the bugs to a minimum.

A guest in the apartment...

To scare the heck out of mom...

Just need a little perspective!

Some things never change with this boy.

I am a Utah Man!

Yet, the work continues to roll forward.

The word of God will safely guide us through.

February 1, 2016

Week 8: The Gift of Tongues is a Thing.

Things have been going great here, and I know its because you have been praying so much!

Story of the week:
So Elder Mailo (a roommate from the MTC) and I had to go back to Guatemala City this week to get our Visas. It was a nightmare. For the sake of time, I'm not going to fill you in on everything that happened, maybe later...but long story short: they sent two guys with a week in the field across a foreign country...starting with the wrong bus...also Elder Mailo is a very, very dull knife...so I can testify that the gift of tongues is a thing! Miracle after miracle, we actually made it with no time to spare.

Other than that, my week has been pretty normal...work, eat, sleep...I always look forward to eating and sleeping...we do mostly door-to-door proselyting, which I don't mind because we get to talk in between houses and I work on my Spanish, and we get to explore a bit, which is fun.

We have found a few investigators. I don't speak too much during lessons though, but I try, and I'm getting better. Everyone thinks I've been here for a lot longer than I have. But yeah, most of our investigators are chambones (a Guatemalan term for a lazy person) so it's hard to get them to keep commitments.

The companionship is going great. Elder Van does an awesome job training me, and we get along super well. Having an athletic companion is great. He also loves to hear everything I have to say about physique training, and is the fifth Elder who is following a program that I have written for them now. But yeah, he is a hard worker and we do enjoy each other's company.

As far as my health and well-being...not enough protein...really, like maybe 10g a day...send protein, because I can't get it here... Other than that, no problems at all. I'm taking everything great. I did get my short-sleeved shirts tailored, for 5q each, less than 5 bucks all together, haha!

If you could do some research on what they call Bible bashing, that would be great... I'd love some evidence from the Bible about the Book of Mormon, and some counter points to common things Catholics use from the Bible to discredit the Latter Day Saints, if there's any articles on anything like that. If you could copy and paste that... I don't necessarily need it but I'd be interested, so if there's not that much to be found that's fine.

I am learning a ton, but mostly about gospel principles. I'm also reading the Book of Mormon front to back again right now. I just finished 1 Nephi if you want to join in. But mostly what I'm focusing on learning is Spanish, and it's still improving A TON.

Glad to hear from you. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the updates on the goings-on at home. Keep that up, I love to hear it all. Love you!

Jackson sent some pictures from the MTC. He didn't include any captions, but I did tell him that a picture is worth a 1000 words, so he must have decided he didn't need the words. The captions are my best guess. :)