Week 60 - Doctrine and Covenants 60:13 Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel among the congregations of the wicked; wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.

Dear Jordan,

 

Hope you are doing well. I asked mom about the new mission address and she said that she didn't receive it. Will you please send it in an email?

 

Well, this week has been quite the experience. On Monday I had the surgery on my left heel. They removed the bone spur but also had to reattach the Achilles tendon. All went well; however, it took a while for the anesthesia to wear off. They didn't have a boot for me at the hospital but they had crutches for me. Grandma and mom came to the hospital to pick me up. We just came home and I didn't do anything else the rest of the day. The girls went to the ward Family Home Evening at the bishop's house. Mom is doing well but her leg still hurts. She is able to get around with the boot and crutches. The Clements dropped me off for the surgery and they have been driving Sarah to the train station each morning. Melody Smith brought us some pizza and salad for dinner. On Tuesday the anesthesia finally wore off and my heel hurt a little. Kelly Christiansen came by to check on us and she cleaned the kitchen and some other chores. Also Grandma came by to drop off a wheelchair and help clean. I got bored so I started catching up on some of the emails from work. Charlene Clark brought a chicken pot pie and fruit for dinner. On Wednesday mom went to Rachel's dance assembly and then went out to lunch. I did some more emails until mom came home. Ruth Ann Herbert Voss brought some chicken soup and Joann Cooper brought some jello and doughnuts. Robert called that night to see if he could help. On Thursday Grandma came by to drop off mom's wallet and to see if there was anything else that needed to be done. Lynn Barney brought some cookies over during the day. Joe and Linda Clements brought over pizza and salad for dinner. Mom and Hannah ran some errands. They picked up the paperwork for a temporary parking pass. They then went to the library and then Smiths. Hannah is getting more and more time driving. Rachel worked for several hours at Comicon and then Hannah and mom picked her up from TRAX. On Friday mom had a follow up appointment for her leg and then she picked up a temporary disabled parking pass. The Urton's brought over dessert and Judy Christensen brought over lasagna. Holly also came over and brought some sheperd's pie. I also received a kneeling scooter that we ordered on Amazon. It really helps for moving around. I was using crutches or the wheelchair to go down the hall, both of which required some tricky maneuvering. On Saturday Rachel went to work at Comicon and stayed from 9 am until 7 pm. She was able to see part of the Studio C panel. Hannah went to the ACT test practice. Any suggestions for her? Mom went with Hannah and stayed until Hannah was finished. Mom, Sarah, and Hannah then went to Sarah's school dance. They had fun. They then picked up Rachel and came home. Hannah drove on the freeway for the first time. Mom said she did a great job. On Sunday Hannah and Bekah went to church but the rest of us stayed home. I thought about going but it would be very difficult to get ready in time. Everything takes longer to do. Mom bought me an electric razor for Christmas and I use it but I have to either sit down where I can't see the mirror for most of the shaving or stand on one leg in front of the mirror. It is also tiring. Today is the Super Bowl so we won't be going to Robert's house because he will be going to Pat and Kent's house.

 

Out weather has been warmer than normal and we received a little rain but not much. The air is cleaner today but it was a little dirty earlier in the week.

 

Anything new this week for you? Any interesting contacts or discussions? How are you doing with the weather now? How are you feeling with speaking and understanding Korean? Please let us know what is happening.

 

We love you very much. We can't wait to see you at the end of this year. When mom went to the dance assembly, Mrs. Mangelson was there. She said that they are living in the consulate in Shanghai. Mom asked if they had an extra room for you after your mission and she said absolutely. Just another option for you to consider. I know you want to focus on your mission right now, which is the right thing to do. Please keep working hard and keeping the mission rules. How are things with your companion? Did they fix the plumbing in your apartment? Can't wait to hear from you this evening.

 

Love,

Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, Sarah, Hannah

 1 Kings 8:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.

Week 59 response

Sorry... but the image of both of you walking onto sacrament meeting on crutches is pretty funny. :) I guess it's good that we have that front row all but reserved! Sorry to hear that mom's no broken bone record is now over. I guess she'll just have to start counting again. I hope the girls are giving you plenty of help with things. Also, I hope you are eating healthier since exercise will be a bit difficult for a while. I was reading conference Liahona's and came across Elder Klebingat's talk about having confidence before God. The one about taking responsibility for our physical well being continues to stick out. I think I also heard a talk by Elder Ballard about that recently. Whatever the case, I hope you do well. It is easier to heal faster when you're healthy. ;)

This week has been good, though there has been a bit of a constant misty drizzle or a few days now. Like I said last year (that sounds weird), the Koreans don't like rain, so that has put people a bit on edge. It's alright, but it's a bit like trying to talk to Americans when the Super Bowl is going to start soon. We're just chugging along. :) It's all good. We had our interviews with the mission president this past week, and it was really fun to see the mission from his perspective. He's got a lot more logistics to deal with than I originally realized. On a similar note, the office elders are getting our kitchen fixed. Apparently one of our pipes rusted through, and so our downstairs neighbor is getting a leak into the walls... It's not very good. That's actually why we're emailing so early today. We will be doing studies in the afternoon so we can supervise the repair workers. We got to experience street contacting to those on the way to work... It is very obvious why we do studies in the morning. I knew why before, but I *know* why now. 

Thank you for the email and prayers. I hope that despite the problems with left legs (come to think of it, my left leg hurt for a few days...) are resolved quickly. I'm grateful we live in a day when those medical treatments are available. It is very comforting that you don't have to deal with amputations, or even surgery without anesthetics. The Koreans don't trust anesthetics, so all dentistry is done without it. It is not a pleasant thing to see. It makes a lot of sense in explaining why they brush their teeth after every meal. 

Thank you again for the news. It's always such a pleasure to hear from you. I'll pray for your speedy recoveries, and I know that as you do all you can, it'll workout very well. :) Thank you for your examples and hard work. Love you!

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones

Week 59 - Doctrine and Covenants 59:21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

Dear Jordan,

How are you? We received your letter that you sent on 12/30/2014 or as shows on you envelope, 30.12.2014. Thank you. We also got a copy of the letter that you sent to the Urtons. They really enjoyed it but had trouble reading some of the writing. Mom was able to transcribe it for them. Also the Clements received their letter and really enjoyed it. We haven't seen a copy of it yet.

It has been quite the week here in Utah. On Monday it was Martin Luther King Day so the girls were out of school and neither mom nor I had work. I went to 24 Hr Fitness for a bit. We then met Robert and went to see "Night at the Museum 3." It was pretty good but it will be the last one. We then ate lunch and then Hannah and Rachel had dental appointments. Mom then had a crown fixed. I met with a podiatrist to see about a bone spur on my left heel. It will need to come off and the surgery will be on Monday. I also found out that I won the No Cavity Award for the month of December at the dentist. They took a picture of me and I received a gift card. I then worked on my mom's floor in Alpine for a bit because the doctor was in Highland. When I came home only mom and Hannah were still awake so we didn't have Family Home Evening. 

Mom was ready and wanted to teach a lesson on Martin Luther King. On Tuesday the Young Men finished the Game Design merit badge. On Wednesday, mom was at Holly's house and was leaving when she fell down the steps and twisted her left ankle. She went to the instacare and they took an X-Ray. She actually broke her fibula (the bone on the outside of the leg). She was feeling okay, but was in pain if anyone touched her leg. When I arrived home, I started running errands, such as picking up prescriptions, for mom. Also, I didn't know she broke her leg until I got home. When I heard that it was her left leg and that she was going to be on crutches, I started laughing. Not at her, but at the situation. Both of us will have braces on our left legs and will be using crutches at the same time for several weeks. 

On Thursday Sarah stayed home from school to help mom. She did a great job and set up an appointment with the doctor to put on a cast or brace. When I arrived at home I ate dinner and watched some TV until it was time to pick up Rachel from TRAX. She is a volunteer at Comic Con so she was at training. On Friday Sarah had the day off due to the end of the Quarter. I took a couple of hours off to drive mom and Sarah to the doctor for her brace. I had to leave before the brace was started due to work. On Saturday I exercised and then I drove Hannah to her ACT prep class and Rachel to her second training for Comic Con. I then went to the temple, since I won't be able to for a while. I then drove to Alpine because grandma is having problems with her garage door opener. She will need to have it replaced. We then had lunch with Robert, grandma, Ben, and Dallin for grandma's birthday (thanks to Dan and Jackie's generosity). I then did the shopping. 

On Sunday the Eastmont ward was dissolved and part of the ward was moved to our ward and the other parts to Sagecrest and Canyon Rim. I then did some home teaching. One of the families is the bishop. After home teaching we went to Robert's house for dinner.

Today (Sunday) is a gorgeous day in the mid 50s and lots of sunshine. Hannah has been driving a bit more since she will do the most driving over the next few weeks. I had her drive me around as I visited some of the home teaching families. Several people from church asked how you are doing. I let them know that you are well and that you have just over 10 months left. Jake should be home in about 3 months. Wow, is the time starting to fly. It is almost February as well. That means that about half of the winter season is over. We are glad that you are surviving it.

Please keep up the great hard work that you are doing. We hope that you aren't too frustrated with how hard it is to find and teach the people. Heavenly Father is working on the individuals so that they will be ready. Please stay ready so that you will be able to help them. I was reading Jacob 5 this week and I know that you are part of the few laborers that help with the pruning, nurturing, and grafting to get the people ready to bear good fruit.

We love you and pray for you. You are terrific!

 

Love,

Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom, Sarah

Week 58 reply

This has been a good week. We have still been doing a lot of street contacting, but it has allowed us to find a family! We're going to be teaching them again tonight. :) This mission has always had a fair bit of street contacting, but I guess that's just something that makes this mission special. :)

The weather is getting cold again (we had snow again last night), but it's been fun to see the miracles that come when you forego pleasure for service! It's great to hear you're all working so hard! Keep it up! 

As it turns out, the Korean distribution center does not sell thermal garments. I thought they surely would, but I was wrong. It's okay, though, because Korea sells think pants that look exactly like suit pants. I've been able to capitalize on a pair an older missionary gave me a while ago. They're pretty comfy. :)

There isn't that much to share this week that I didn't share last week. Sorry... I guess I'll answer your questions, then. ;)

We don't have very many zone conferences. We have monthly zone trainings where all the missionaries in the zone are trained by the zone leaders and sister training leaders.

Elder Bradshaw is doing well despite his belief to the contrary. He's still having a bit of culture shock, but not in the way that you'd expect. He prefers things in the Japanese way more than the Korean! It's fun to see him use chopsticks like a Japanese person and eat traditional Korean food like it is Japanese. He's always so excited to get Japanese food. It's a bit funny since he lived in China, not Japan, and he's Amaerican. He's a fun one. :)

I'm feeling comfortable enough with Korean. I don't really have any problems unless someone is trying to be confusing or trying not to understand. As that is only ever old men, we're fine the vast majority of the time. :) 

Keep doing great things! I am always so happy to hear about the exciting things you're doing. :) Sorry if there are typos. We're using iPads. Don't get over excited. There's just a store with them on display for use. ;) Apparently the iPad Air 2 is pretty nice! Love you!

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones

Week 58 - 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord

Dear Jordan,

How are you doing? We hope that you are doing well. This was a different week. We received some rain but no snow. We also had very nice temperatures on Saturday. The temperature was in the high 40s to low 50s. The sun was shining and there wasn't too much of an inversion.

On Monday, we did not have family home evening because when I got home everyone was asleep except Hannah who was doing her homework. On Tuesday the scouts did the game design merit badge. It was a lot of fun. I was able to teach them rules of games and how some of the games are set up. Next week we will finish up the merit badge and they have to come with a game of their own making. They get to teach others how to play their game. Mom started teaching her class at the Community Ed Center. She came home very tired. On Wednesday she basically was asleep by the time I got home. The girls were doing homework. On Thursday mom also taught her class and again the girls were doing homework. I went around to the scouts getting permission slips. 

On Friday I took the day off to get ready for the camp out. I went to lunch with mom and we ate at the Serving Time café. It was very good. The scouts went up to camp Tracy for this camp out and we stayed in the cabins up there. We had a lot of fun. We had noodles for dinner and then the boys were able to work on some merit badges. In the cabin it was a little cramped because we were with another troop. But all the boys got along well. One of the merit badges was space exploration and so they build rockets on Friday night. We finally got to the cabin and went to bed around 10:00 PM. Saturday morning the leaders of the other troop had to wake up everyone because we were all asleep still at 7:45 in the morning. We went and had breakfast and had French toast. We then finish some of the merit badges including firing off the Rockets on the frozen lake. The boys were able to go tubing down the mountain as well as snowshoeing and cross country skiing. One of the boys even fired the rifle at the rifle range. For lunch we had tortillas they were very good. I am happy to say that everyone came back alive. However one of the boys fell into the frozen lake and then later burned his hand on the stove but he is doing well. It was fun using first aid skills again. After the camp out we drove the boys home and then I came home. 

Since it was such a beautiful day Rachel got her bow and arrows out and she was shooting them. She's getting pretty good at hitting the target. On Sunday we went to church and it was announced that the Eastmont ward would be dissolved and that it would be split among three other wards. Next Sunday will have a special meeting where all of the information about the rearranging of the wards will take place. We will let you know what all happens. 

After church Rachel drove me home in the Pilot. We then went to Roberts house for dinner and relaxation. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King day so the girls are out of school and I am off work. I will let you know what we do for fun on Monday.

How is the weather treating you now? Are you still healthy? How is your companion Elder Bradshaw? Are you still doing a lot of street contacting? Have you had very many zone meetings? Have you had very many visiting general authorities? I know it's not 18 months yet, but how comfortable do you feel in speaking and understanding Korean?

You are a wonderful son. We love you very much. We want what is best for you so please let us know how we can help you. Please keep up the wonderful work you were doing. Please keep the rules but enjoy yourself as well as time permits and as The Spirit guides you. We pray for you and you are constantly on our minds. We Love You!

Love,

Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, Mom

Thinking of you!

It is the studying that you do after your school days that really counts. Otherwise, you know only that which everyone else knows.

- Henry Doherty - 1870-1939, Financier and Oilman

Jordan reply

Thanks for the email! That was a really fun one to read! Sorry about the inversion. Although it's colder here, all the public transportation is net zero emission, so the skies are clear. We haven't had a cloud in the sky for what seems like a few weeks. It's a bit weird, but it's nice to have clean air. That and it's not too stressful to just use the public transportation instead of trying to park a car. ;)

This has been a really good week! It's always good, but this week we actually got to see some results of our work. We have been able to find a few people who actually want to hear from us and about our message. That's actually the reason I'm late writing. A man called us (we didn't call him) to meet and so we had a lunch with him and his family and he referred his entire family to be taught English. They are also very willing to learn about the gospel. The daughter did an exchange program with SUU, so they have a special connection with Utah. That's not a tool common here in Korea. ;)

This week was also transfers. I am still with Elder Bradshaw. Elder South left and was replaced by an Elder Hobson from Idaho. Sister Boud (who apparently lives about a stake away from us?) was replaced by a Sister Holmes from Heber City. Elder Wycoff (the trainee who came when I got to 상계)  was replaced by 김태완 Kim Taewan. Nothing too surprising, but it is nice to have a Korean elder again. The members have been asking a lot less of the missionaries since Elder Ahn left. It was funny that one of the recent converts was coming to me for English help because "it seems like I have the best Korean." I hope there are people better at Korean than I am, but I'm glad studies are finally paying off. :)

I'm so glad you're all doing well. I hope you continue to work hard. I can empathize with being tired after a full day. It helps to exercise. :) It also helps to get to bed before 11. The most helpful thing is definitely having time with the scriptures and prayer, though. I hope you are still able to do family prayer and scripture study. It's hard to get up that early, but the spiritual boost is worth it. 

I can't quote it, but "though the flesh is weak, the spirit is willing." Something like that. It's really true. We shouldn't be physically capable of the things we do out here (walk for 9 hours, talk for 13 hours, teach in a foreign language) with what we're given (not time to make healthy food, no water during the day, only an hour to study the language). Despite that, because we want to do this, and moreover because it is the Lord's work, it all works out. I'm glad I get to see it. The miracles are abundant. I remind Elder Bradshaw almost everyday that it's a miracle anyone stops to talk to us in the first place. :) 

Thank you for the email and the news. I hope you keep doing great things. Love you all! Enjoy the warmer weather, but I will have to pray for some rain for all you. ;)

Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.

Best wishes,

Elder Jones