Here goes :)
Jake to LoraLynn:
5/28
Doooooood,
this week has been stupendous! Refer to Dads email!
Its been HOT here! Muggy! ive soaked more than one shirt with sweat we perpetually have our sleeves rolled up behind our elbows. I would wear short sleeve shirts but i only have (which are dirty) and theyre super baggy compared to anything here. British clothes are way trim fit and its sweet as butta'. Luckily British clothes are way cheap as well (unlike evrything else) so im going to get a pair of british shirts today. I am continuing to put the peanut butter to good use, primarily by swirling it together with nutella. mmmmmmmmm! Love you!
6/6
Ill give you a teaser, on Monday I got fitted fro a British suit! :O It wont be way slim fit unfortunately, so it may not look totally British, but hey... its tan! ooooh! I wanted a gray one but they didnt have a cheap one in my size. The cool part is the suit was only 49 pounds! Taylored! And since Katie sent me a good 30+ pounds in the mail I didnt feel like I was wasting Dads money :D Ill have it for District meeting next week, im so excited hehe. I went on exchange to Bridgend yesterday and man im sad I dodnt bring my camera. Its all green and hilly and theres a river and flowers and all sorts of stuff. Its just GREEN. We pretty much rode through trees on bike paths the whole day and with the gray sky and barely visible fog is the distance it looked amazing..... but i dont have pictures! Im sure its not the last time ill ever go there and next time I wont forget my camera.
Im glad everyones alright. I dont have much time to worry but i do sometimes. Im not homesick though! :P Its funny you should share that scripture with me (1 Ne. 15:8) because I cant find one of my pocket badges right now and I didnt even think to pray to find it! Shame shame!
Love you!
6/18
I dont particularly miss anyone, or anything or anyplace... except playing my guitars and listening to music! Wedding I hear? Thats just weird.
The last two weeks have been frustrating what with sickness and bike problems but Elder Hutchings assures me that the greatest trials always come before the greatest good so we have high hopes! Hugh had his baptismal interview yesterday and he is good to go for Friday! Hes excited for it! It was way cool to hear him in Gospel Principles talk about how it just made sense to be baptized after he got his answer that the Book of Mormon is true (and it was after I told him to pray for a specific answer that he got it!). My suit is the best! Ive gotten lots of compliments, my ward mission leader said i was looking very british yesterday! Interesting notes American ties are super ugly here! They are all wider than the average HBritish ties so they look really huge and a lot of our colors and patterns are pretty terrible in British Eyes, they didnt like my black and blue tie or my dark green one, they very much like skinny ties and diagonal stripes as well! Music just has to be appropriate, and uplifting. No romantic overtones or stuff like that. Its just gotta be really wholesome and not distracting, so I doubt anything youve got for me is inappropriate. I dont know about NEEDING but one of my ZL's told me about some sweet cds he has (maybe he has them on an ipod im not sure) but its these BYU Scholar seminar thingies where all these BYU scriptorians go through all of the standard works a chapter at a time and talk about the scriptures really really in depth, like with the old testament they talk about the original Hebrew and its meaning and historical context and all sorts of way deep understanding stuff. Elder Hopkinson knows the bible like crazy because of them! So thats way cool, and I also am interested in Truman G. Madsens series of talks about Joseph Smith, I think Dad actually has them so ask him about it, but if i could get a hol of those that would be really cool and also way good for my spiritual progression as well :P Love you!
6/28
The Baptism was good!! ill see if i can attach photos and send them
but if not ill have to wait for that flash drive. I got to do the
Baptism! It was way cool, i dunked him pretty thoroughly. Hugh is a
kingdom builder not just a kingdom filler. I cant wait to see him a
year from now at the temple! I know hes going to grow so much, you can
just tell from the way he treats the quad we made the ward get him :D
As im sure you know by now I have been transferred. While Elder
Hutchings gets to stay in Cardiff for an even 6 months I have been
called to Swindon. From what little ive seen so far its a beautiful
place and it should be good to serve here but I miss Cardiff already.
Im Welsh at heart! But now I can actually say I served in England on
my mission to England! I dont know that Ive been picking up on any
accents, i might without realizing it, but i havent put any active
work into it. Cardiff was quite a melting pot of British poeple but
maybe Swindon is a little more Swindonish... maybe ill pick up a local
accent if its common enough! Thats cool about the temple! I wish every
temple had murals in the rooms, that was my expectation before going.
The Preston Temple had a few landscape paintings, rolling green hills
and rainy skies, my favorite! Its easy to see that Britain was just
beautiful green forests and hills in the past.
I love you!
Jake to Dad:
6/6
Dad!
This week has had its ups and downs, my new tubes for my bike are supposedly the wrong size and so ive been getting holes. I may have to get new ones or a patch kit or something. Its frustrating because we have to stay in to work on bikes and shelf the work for a while, not to mention the monetary costs of getting new tubes or other things. Despite that we have things to be thankful for! Hugh is going to be baptized on the 22nd of June! He called us on Monday to tell us that he got his witness that the Book of Mormon is true! He was already so willing before but now that he KNOWS it nothing will keep him from his date. Hes going home to Portsmouth for a visit for a week and a half but hes going to go to Church there and we have arranged for missionaries there to teach him. Well call him frequently as well to keep track of his progress. Its exciting! Elder Hutchings (and others) say theyve never seen anyone so prepared. Elder Barker from Cardiff Bay says hes just a dry member.
Im glad everyones alright,
I love you!
6/18
Way to go Dad! The best shot in the west! Make sure to keep practicing! (Dad won Scout Camp's Top Shot competion!)
Make sure to tell the family i say hi and find out how they are doing for me, find out how my guitars are doing!! I cant believe Lindsay is getting married its too wierd! Colds are the wrost and I can testify. Both Elder Hutchings and I have had fairly serious colds and even spent an entire day inside this week. Its frustrating but at the same time its quite relaxing to take a day off to get better! I definitely felt the difference afterward! This week has been a little lacking but we feel really good about next week!
I mentioned to LoraLynn that id really like to get a hold of those Lectures on Joseph Smith by Truman G. Madsen and I also mentioned to here some cds ive heard about: Something to do with BYU scholars who go through every chapter in the standard works and discuss the scriptures really in depth, even looking at the original language that verses were in and what they mean in Hebrew or Greek and so on, historical context, etc. Ask LoraLynn!
Im running out of time (we have to Presidents letters online now!) and I dont know if ill get much next week because of transfers! If i get a new companion i probably wont have time but well see! I love you!
6/28
Hughs Baptism went perfectly! There were 35 poeple there, lots of support from the ward. And of course there were plenty of refreshments afterwards! It seems like its helped the area a bit already, the Rhiwbina Elders brought an investigator and now he has a date! We dont have any other investigators in Cardiff so the new missionary will get to start from scratch! We had a girl named Amanda but she just doent want to make the commitment. She feels that faith is enough and doesnt like the idea of one true church. We had to drop her and give her time on her own. I promised her by the Spirit that if she would attend the baptism she would get her definite answer that the Book of Mormon is true and she seemed like she would come but when the spirit
left with us an Art Exhibition was more important. We still run into her sometimes and we know she will be baptized in the future but for now its up to her.
I got transferred yesterday. It was really rough when i got the news, Cardiff and the Cardiff Central Ward feels like home. But im in Swindon now! Its a nice little area, decently populated but not necessarily a city. I havent seen much yet, especially since i forgot my bike at the mission home. It was pretty hectic with everyone trying to say goodbye to President Ogden, and the coach was leaving. I barely got my luggage on and didnt even know my
bike hadnt been loaded. Hopefully the APs or Zone Leaders will be able to bring it to me soon. My new companion is Elder Callen, near as I can tell hes really really normal, so this is going to be an awkward adjustment. Me and Elder Hutchings were the best of goobers. I miss him already; the last conversation I had
with him he had just found out from President that his Brother passed away. On the bright side of things, it seems like Swindon is slighlty less hilly and a little closer together, with lots of cool bike paths. And we
apparently have dinner appointments most nights a week with a good handful of less active members who like the missionaries. Its a 4 man area here as well and the ward is about 150-170. Im looking forward to it but it feels a
lot different than it did arriving at the MTC and at Cardiff. I feel like there are poeple Ive left behind that need me.
Elder Leavitt talked to me a bit before he went home on Tuesday; he told me that everytime he got moved before he thought he was supposed to there was someone who needed hgim in his new area. I know that what he said is true so im looking forward to finding out what i can do here. Im not a greenie anymore. Im not being trained, i dont have an extra hour of companionship study. Im a missionary now like anyone else! Elder Hutchings says now is when Ill really start to learn. At least now I can say Ive served in England on my mission to England!
Jake to Mom:
6/18
John,Hugh knows the Church is true! He prayed about the Book of Mormon and got an answer directly from God that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that the Church is true! You can do that too you know! Be careful with knives, they are evil! I love you pal! Find out how my guitars are doing for me!Mom,Hugh is ready and excited to be baptized on Friday! He had his interview yesterday!How is the family? How is John doing? Whats been going on in the US lately? Are my guitars being loved? Has Uncle Todd used them for anything cool? I dont miss being at home bt i miss my guitars! No offense, missionary work is just really really gratifying! Again i feel a little limited as far as time this week but that always seems to be the case, hopefully at the start of the new transfer there will be more time but know in advance that if i get a new companion i may not get to email next week!I will keep those scriptures in mind and make sure to share those principles with Hugh this week!I love you!
