Family,

What’s up family? Wow this has been another crazy day and week. I and my comp are still working pretty hard to find some new people to teach here in Pino, we have found a couple of pretty cool people. Tomorrow I’m going to be going to a different state!!! Turns out our mission goes a little into the next state over, Guerrero so tomorrow I’m going on divisions with the elders in the area of cuaji so ill be chilling outside of Oaxaca for a day crazy huh! 

 My new comp is elder Lopez; he’s from Sonora and has about two months in the mish so I’m just finishing up the training. He’s a pretty good kid and is a really good teacher. It’s been really fun to be with someone straight from the MTC because he’s ready to work and wants to talk to everyone. We live with the Zone Leaders and there both pretty cool guys, one is named E Hollis he’s from Arizona and we get along really well. He’s also kind of teaching me how to play the guitar in our spare time. 

We found a pretty cool family this week. It actually just started off contacting. We met a lady who was really nice and let us in her house to teach a little bit. We taught about Joseph smith and the book of Mormon she accepted the lesson really well and we placed a date to come back. When we went back her husband was hanging out in this hammock reading the book of Mormon! He told us he has never seen it before and he was really excited to learn more about the church. There both really cool people and I can defiantly see them progressing in the church. 

That’s crazy how much it has snowed over there, right now I’m sweating! I wanted to go snowboarding pretty bad the other day but I know that can wait. I can’t believe that Thor is a dad of 7 ha-ha you’ll have to send me a pic of that also. As for the shoes everything is ok there still holding p pretty good. But I could use a nice razor and some extra blades. Also our mish just banned iPod touches and guess what I have an iPod touch so I’m thinking that I’ll send it home the next time I send a package. I still haven't got the last one you sent me but this week we are going back to Puerto Escondido's for a zone conference. The area president is coming to talk to us so if the package is in the office I should get it there. Thanks for keeping me informed on what’s going on at home I like to hear the news. I love you all so much but I had better get going. I hope you all have a good week and ill write again soon! 

Love Jake  

Wow these have been a crazy last two weeks, sorry about not writing last week Josh was right we had transfers and I totally forgot to tell you guys because one I was about 100 percent sure I was going to stay but Nope! Right now I’m sitting in the coast in a place called Pinotepa. It’s about 12 hours away from where I used to be. I left Sunday right after we got the calls and stayed the night in Juchitan with the L.Z. then I woke up left Juchitan at 7 and headed to my new area. I was lucky and got to stop at the coolest place here in Oaxaca it’s called Puerto Escondido I took some pics and if I have time I’ll try to send them off to you, but if not look it up on the computer it’s amazing! I was only there for a couple hours while I went and ate with some other elders. I got there about 2 pm and then I got on another bus and took a three hour ride from Puerto to Pinotepa. I found out this week that president is one of those guys that like to rip the bandage off fast because he moved me up to district leader. I’m also training my new comp E Lopez, and were re-opening our area so it’s quite a big load but I’m excited and I know that I will learn a lot here.

I’m living with 2 other elders, our LZ so that’s pretty cool. One of them is named E. Hollis. He was in etla before I was and one of his converts that I worked a lot with got sealed this week in the Temple and we both got to go! So me and E. Hollis rode on a bus from Pino to Oaxaca (WHICH IS LIKE ANOTHER 11 HOURS) over night. That day we went to the sealing and it was awesome. I actually was teaching the sister of the lady that got sealed and she told me that her sister is now baptized and with the new change in age limit for missions she is wants to go on a mission. Her name was Epifania. It was super cool because I got to see a lot of the members from Etla and talk to them a little bit. That night we got on another bus at 9pm to go back to Pino. So these last couple weeks I have been on a bus for a really long time and I have been all over Oaxaca! But I loved it.

It’s hot here in Pino, not as hot as Ixtepec but the problem is our area is all HILLS so I’m sweating like crazy here. Were about 40 mins away from the coast so it’s also a little humid. I’m still just getting used to the change. Our branch here is tinny! This Sunday there was like 35 members there in total so we hope we will be able to add a few numbers to that. I’m sorry that this letter is all over the place and I hope it all makes sense but I have better go so I can try to send some pics. I love you all so much and I love hearing what’s going on around the house and with the local sports so keep that up. I hope all is well and I hope you all have a great week. Take care and be safe.

Love Elder Hope  

Hey!

   Wow this has been a crazy week and so much has gone down so I will try to fill you in on all that has happened this week. First off I guess I will tell you about my trip to Oaxaca. Well the tables have been turned and Monday I found out that I was the illegal one! Right after I got done writing you last week I got a call from my leaders telling me that I had to go to Juchitan to catch a bus that was leaving for Oaxaca at 11 pm. so I headed to Oaxaca to sign some papers. It was pretty much just a day trip but it was cool because I got to hang out with all my old Friends for the day. We almost got to go to a Temple session but the temple was closed so president let all the elders from my generation to go out and eat together.

   Friday we had a little stake activity that went pretty well. It was pretty much an open house and inside there were members who would answer questions. It was a pretty good turnout and the elders that live with us had a baptism afterwards. It was good because a couple of our investigators were able to see how the baptism goes, Oh ya we also had interviews with president Friday morning and that went really good also.

   Saturday and Sunday we headed back over to JUCHITAN to watch Conference. We ended up staying over there for the night so that we wouldn’t spend so much money. Conference was great and I loved it! There are so many parts that I liked and I would share them with you but I just don’t have time. It was super cool because here all the wards from around Juchitan go to the stake center to watch Conference. Well it was awesome because I was able to see a lot of the members from my old area Xadani! It was super fun to get to talk to them and see how they all have been doing. I loved it. While talking to them a member came up to me and started telling me about an investigator that w were teaching when I was back in XADANI. His name was Radelio and he was an older guy that lives off fishing. He told me that the recently went over to visit with him and found out that he had fallen sick, death bed sick. They started talking and the member told me Radelio started talking about me. He said that I had told him something that he wouldn't ever forget I honestly don’t remember what I said to him but I’m sure it was something inspired by the Holy Ghost. Whatever it was I hope that he will get better.

 Well once again I had better go I’m about out of time. I just want you to all know I love you and look forward to hearing from you every Monday. I hope all is well and that you have a good week. Love Elder hope

yo!

   What up family?, wow this week has gone by really fast but at the same time it seems like it has been forever since I have written you guys. Dad when did you get the idea to put a heated cable on the roof and how does that work? I’m sure it will help though but you might not even need it if you have a winter like you did last year ha-ha. So is Thor a dad? I don't want to scare you but I had a bad dream last night that I took the Trams Am out and after almost crashing it a bunch of times it over heated on me. Hopefully that doesn't happen right. Sounds like Madison is doing rally good this year that’s awesome. That would be cool if they went to state. 

   Well this week was a little different than normal. We really didn't get a whole lot done because my comp was sick for a couple days. He had a little upset stomach with a slight fever. I kind of feel like a jerk because I made him work the first day then the second day when he passed out (he didn’t really pass out but we sat down on the side walk to take a little break and he laid down in the middle of it look at foto) Afterwards I decided to take him to the doctor because there has been an dengue epidemic breakout here and we weren't sure if he had it or not. W ended up sitting in the centro de salud (health center) for two hours which about killed me because it was hot and really uncomfortable packed into a hot room with sick people all around. I felt really bad for everyone in there also. Turns out that Pack didn’t have dengue which was good but he has a stomach infection which he probably got from something he ate. But he has some pills now and doing a lot better.

   We did however find a family of 9 the other day and I’m pretty excited to work with them some more. Also there is a little pueblo about 20 mins from here and we got permission from president to go out there and check it out so Tuesday were going to go out there with a member and see if we can’t baptize people. I hope everything goes well; we should be the first missionary's from the church to go out there so I'm excited. As for conference I am also excited. It is super cool to get to listen to a living day prophet. We’re going to be going to Juchitan which is about 45 mins away from Ixtepec to watch it. I really hope that some of our investigators will have the chance to go also a listen but it will be pretty hard for well all of them to go but we’ll keep praying for them. I’m not sure if you remember me telling you or not but right now there is a party going on here which has also made it hard to get work done. It’s been going now for like 3 weeks and there is still one more week to go. Everyone tells us to come teach them after the party's so it’s been hard to find a lot of people. We ended up contacting for a couple hours the other day. We were able to find a couple people but it was still a challenge ha-ha. Well I had better wrap this up but I just wanted to let you all know once again how much I love each and every one of you. Thanks so much for all the support and I hope everyone has a great week!

Con Amor, Elder Hope!

Ps if you haven’t already sent the package I would like a towel but one made of micro fiber. It’s just like the blanket I brought with me but smaller. If you happen to find one I would like it because it doesn’t take up any space and it’s twice as light but if not it’s ok. Thanks!

Yo Que onda?
   Hey what’s happen family? Well I better start off by thanking you all for your prayers for Angel because they were answered! That's right this week Angel entered into the waters of baptism and it was awesome. I’ll tell you his story here in a bit. Today has been a busy day. We actually woke up early today and headed over to Angels house to help him out a little more building some fences around his corn fields to keep the deer out. Afterwards he gave us some breakfast. We ate Mino-tacos (I think that's how you spell Minos). It was pretty sweet I wish I would have taken you all some pics. But it was basically fried little Minos that he caught in the river. To be honest they weren't too bad. 

   Alright I better tell you all about Angel. I think I have told you all about him before but I’ll tell a little more. So about a couple months ago Angel was walking out to his house late one night (he lives about 30 mins away from the city on foot) when he was jumped, and then beaten. He was stabbed slash cut with a nail. I know it sounds weird but I guess these people put basically welded a nail to a little piece of pipe and stabbed him with it. It’s a pretty popular weapon here. And to make things worse they usually dip the tip in poison. Angel was cut from the front part of his waist all the way across his body to his back (I have seen it and its crazy long and ugly). Somehow he survived all that and a couple days later some members brought my comp over to his house to give him a blessing. Afterwards they started to teach him. When I got her he had listened to a couple of the lessons and had gone to church my first week here. Long story short we keep teaching him and teaching him until one day he said something pretty interesting. He told us he knew the blessing had made him heal faster than normal and even the doctors were surprised on how fast he was healing. He then told us "I know if I get baptized I will heal even faster". We then taught him about baptism and he accepted a date. Well as you all know he was baptized and yesterday was confirmed. He’s a really cool guy and has been through a lot with what happened. They could give him stitches because he’s diabetic or something like that so his cut has healed all by its self. When I saw his cut I was really surprised on how it had healed so fast. It has also been a testimony to me about the priesthood blessings. 

   We have had quite a bit of success here in Ixtepec. I know that we have relieved a lot of help in doing so. There is no way we could have done it without the spirit. I also have leaned that god really does prepare his children to receive the gospel and that the people here in Ixtepec are ready. I have really enjoyed working her in this area. It’s a little hard living with two other elders at times, the house is pretty messy and its super hard to keep clean from everyone walking in and out. We also have a cat that is always trying to sneak in and eat our food. I’m told that the other elders used to feed it. They also let it give birth to its kittens in our house...... I have pretty mixed feelings about that ha-ha. So Becky if you want another cat you can totally have this one because I don’t want it. 

 Well once again I have to go but I want you all to know how much I love you all and how grateful I am to have you as my family and Friends.

Love E. Hope

Hola!

 

   Alright I have some really sweet news for you guys. The other day we had a multi-zone conference here in Juchitan for all the areas and zones. It was really sweet not going to lie, I loved it. I learned a ton! President did a really good job and he basically let us ask a bunch of questions about rules and a whole lot of other things. It really got me excited again about the work. The other cool part about it was that I was able to see a lot of my friends I have made here in the mish and also some of my old comps, actually like 5 of them haha it was really fun to get to talk with them a bit and see how they have been doing. Actually one of my comps E. Juarez is going to be going home here in a couple more weeks so thats super weird to me but he seems happy and excited. 

   But here comes the best part about it, there was an elder there at the conference that was in my first area Cosijueza. He came up to my and we started to talk a bit. I asked him how things went back there for him and asked if he had seen Eddi (my first convert). He then told me thats hes doing great and IS GOING ON A MISSION! It pretty sweet and i was really really excited for him. Hes heading to Chilli and leaves in November. Hes going to make for a sweet missionary and once again Im super excited for him. I just thought it was super cool when I heard that and its cool to think how many people he will teach and the lives he will change as he teaches the people in Chilli. Im grateful that I was able to be a part of that process.

   Also Yodo and Harvy were confirmed this week which was really good. Like I said their family/parents are members but less active so it has been really fun to see them come back to the straight and narrow. Its also cool that they are now members and one day can go to the temple as a family. It has been fun to see their progression together as a family. This sunday I also gave another talk in church. My comp Elder Pack talked about the Book of Mormon and I talked about a talk that elder Anderson gave called What thinks Christ of me? I feel that it went well. This week has been pretty crazy here because the 15th was Independence day here in Mexico so there has been a lot of parties and a lot of drunks. Also there having their "fair" here for the next week so Im sure this week will be a little harder in the way that everyone will be out and about which will make it hard to find our invest. but i guess well get some contacts out of it. Its still pretty hot out here and we ended up buying a couple hats a while ago but we dont use they to much because it doesn't really help and they look ridiculous so we usually just leave them at the house. Were teaching a really cool guy named Angel right now who has a baptism date set for for this Saturday so pray for him! Hes had a pretty hard life.

   Well thats all i got for this week, once again I just wanted to let you all know how much I love you. Im also grateful now for the weather in Idaho haha and Right now i miss the snow but oh well. I know I have said this before ad Ill probably say it again but we are so lucky to live where we live and have what we have, especially the gospel. I know its true and i know it changes people lifes for the better. I love you all and until next week,

 Elder Hope!

Well what a good week! First I’ll start of by telling you all about the baptism that we had this week. Their names are Rolando and his son Jose, their mom was supposed to be baptized with them but she told us a couple days before that she didn’t feel ready to be baptized this week so were going to be working a little more with her. I really wanted them to all be baptized together but I know she will be sometime soon so I’m not too worried. The baptism went really good! We had to go to a church that isn’t too far away to do the service; we had a pretty good turnout member wise. The room was full and I know Rolando and Jose were able to feel the spirit and the support from the members. Sandra really likes the baptism and like I said I’m sure she will soon be baptized also. Jose is 9 years old and he’s a pretty funny kid ha-ha he told us a couple weeks ago that he wants to be a missionary like me and my comp one day. The first day I got here to Ixtepec we went and visited Rolando and his family. I think I have kind of told you the story about them but we taught them about baptism and after I felt like we should put a baptism date so we did! Rolando was pretty hesitant at first and wanted to wait a couple months but we kindly "planted" him in which we shared a Scripture with him about not postponing repentance. We also had a new convert with us who shared a pretty powerful testimony about the book of Mormon which helped a ton. After talking to him for a couple mins more he accepted. Rolando and his family are really good people and they will be good leaders and members of the church. 

   The other day we woke up at 6 and walked down a dirt road for 30mins in the dark to get to one of our investigators who lives out in the middle of nowhere to help him out a little bit in his corn field. His name is Angel. A couple months ago he was walking at night when he was jumped by some people who robbed him and then cut him pretty good. He needed help building a fence in his field to help keep cows and all that stuff from smashing his corn and since he’s still healing from his accident we went over to help. It actually turned out really well; we dug about 13 whole posts and then cut down trees with a machete for the post. The only bad this was that there was a ton of ants and thorns on these trees and I ended up getting bit a couple times. Not going to lie it HURT. I’m not sure what kind of ants they were but they sting like wasp so that wasn't to fun ha-ha but I survived. We also found some type of fish that lives in mud; I sent you a pic of it so you should see what I mean. Angel told me they taste really good but I’ll just take his word for it. He also invited me to go hunting Iguana and armadillo with him but I’ll have to see if president will let me first. It does sound fun though. 

   Well like I said last week today we had changes but I and elder pack are both going to be staying here again in Ixtepec. I’m pretty excited he’s a good kid and we work well together. I really like it because when I get food that I can’t eat he helps me out so it’s a pretty good blessing. Well I had better go but I’m doing alright. I just wanted to let you all know that I’m loving the mission. It is defiantly the best thing any young man can do in his life. I have learned so much and have grown to love the Gospel with all my heart. I know it’s true I know it changes peoples life’s and I know that through our savior Jesus Christ we call all return to live with our heavenly father again. That knowledge really does feel my heart with peace and hope. I love you all and I know that I have the best family ever! I hope you all have a good time at the fair and that everything goes well for you throughout the week. I’ll talk to you soon. 

Love your son,

           JAKE