December 11, 2012

As for the mission this week was pretty good!  We were busy with appointments and different service things so it was a fast week.  We went on exchanges with the zone leaders on Thursday/Friday and were able to see most of our progressing investigators so that was good. On Friday we did service for one of our investigators by laying a bunch of cement.  We actually did a pretty good job, we were pleasantly surprised.  The work here is progressing but its been a while before the missionaries here did much member work so I'm really trying to focus on that.   Just like President Hinckley said there a better way to do missionary work than tracting! =)   I hate tracting so I use that statement a lot.   Well I love you and miss you all!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

December 3, 2012

It was a pretty good week! Not too many lessons and still have yet to meet some of our investigators but we did have some fun!  BYU played ISU on Saturday and we got tickets to the game! Ha it was a blast!  Ha the APs ended up being there as well.  They were embarrassed because they didn't have an investigator there and we did.  But that's the day they took their P-day which most the time they don't get, so I let it slide! ;)   Then of coarse the Christmas devotional was last night and that was great!   It's always good to hear some inspiring words from the first presidency!  What a wonderful country we live in to be able to celebrate and worship freely! What a wonderful time of year this is! The time that we have to reflect on the Savior and all that he did for us!   The Spirit of giving is all around us so let it sweep you away and feel the wonderful joy that comes from serving and giving to others!  What better gift can we give than the knowledge of eternal families and the peace that comes from the restored gospel! Give your friends the best gift possible by sharing with them the same joy that you feel!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

November 26, 2012

As for the mission it was a pretty crazy week filled with not many appointment because of Thanksgiving.  It was definitely a good week though!   Monday we had Elder Don R Clarke of the 70 come and talk to us for the day that was awe inspiring and very motivating!   Elder and Sister Clarke sat at our table for lunch and talked with us.   Sister Clarke talked to me a lot about school and asked where I wanted to go. I mentioned that BYU was always my childhood dream!   She than proceeded to tell me that I need to start taking the ACT and get a good score on it and start filling our an application.  Then she talked to Sister Jergensen about it and told her to help me with whatever I needed! Ha ha what a nice lady! =)  Looks like my charm comes in handy! Ha ha ha! ;)!   We were able to meet with the ref from Iowa games sadly he is very argumentative and all he did was try and tell us how we are wrong and that we are a pagan religion because we celebrate Christmas! Apparently because of a scripture talking about worshiping idols in Jeremiah 10.  I think verses 1-5 ha ha but he said he wanted to meet again and that he would actually let us talk this time so that is good! =) We went to a members house for thanksgiving and had a great time!   A really awesome young family. The husband has served in the army for a while so we talked a lot about that and it really got me thinking about joining again!  So we'll see if that's still what I want when I get home! =)

Love Elder Jach Goates.

November 20, 2012

As for the mission things are going relatively well.   My new area is Ames.  It's a college town with Iowa state right in the middle of it.  Sadly I'm a Hawkeyes fan,  Ha ha.  Fun for me to rub it in people faces! =)   My new comp is Elder Swindler.   He actually grew up in Cedar Falls Iowa then moved to Provo when he was 14.  Ha pretty funny!  He is an interesting kid... =) but I'm sure we will get along just fine.  We had the Iowa games on Saturday, which is like a little kid olympics.  The missionaries get to help out with it.  We were there all day Saturday doing scoreboards for basketball.  It was really fun and we actually got a potential out of it.  One of the refs gave us his number and took ours and has already called us.  Pretty exciting! Yesterday we had Elder Don R Clarke of the 70 come on a mission tour and talked to us all day!  It was a very inspiring devotional!   Hopefully motivated a lot of the other missionaries like it did me!   We have a few pretty good investigators, but I haven't been able to meet any of them yet because we have been so busy.  This ward is full of a lot more younger people because of the college which is really fun.  I like the ward already.  I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and can remember all that they are thankful for!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

November 11, 2012

It's been a pretty up and down week!  Lexi didn't get baptized and has been dropped because she wanted to get baptized because she had friends in the ward.   Her mom still wants us to come over and read with her and teach lessons so that's good.  Hopefully it will spark an interest with her too!   Nita is doing great she had an awesome Sunday and a great time in Relief society and made some new friends in the ward so that was really good.  Amari is doing good we got to meet her mom for a second but wasn't really a formal greeting so we still need to go by there and hopefully will be able to talk with her mom and set a date soon.  It's transfers this week and I am getting transferred to a new area.  It will be hard to leave with all the success the area is having but I'm sure my new area will be great!  It was nice weather last week and got into the 70s on Saturday.   We were on exchanges and played some football with some members in  Keokuk.  That was fun!   Well that's about all for this week.  Hope everyone is doing good!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

November 5, 2012

Lexis baptism was rescheduled till this Saturday because her mom felt like she hadn't been reading enough out of the BoM and really wants her to learn about the Church.  The whole family is still excited for her to be baptized!   We are starting to teach Amari again this week and will hopefully be able to meet her parents before I leave so we can set a date with her.  She has still been reading out of the BoM and still really wants to learn.  Nita is doing good she struggles some days with wanting to drink and feeling inadequate but she is still working towards being baptized on December 1st.  The work is moving along here!   It will be hard to say bye as I now have confirmation that I am leaving Burlington on the 15th! Ha Ha President Jergensen text us this morning because I text him about Nita still working towards the 1st of Dec and he said "Great work out there, see you at transfers!" Ha Ha! Well just gotta keep pushing forward!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

October 29, 2012

As for the mission this week has been crazy!   We had some new people move in from Ottumwa it is sister Gyechis sister Nita who has been taking the lessons since March and is scheduled to get baptized in December.  So we will work with her to get her there.  Her daughter Cierra is 13 and has had all the lessons and wants to be baptized, so we are going to schedule a date with her this week.  Lexi is doing awesome and will be baptized on Saturday. Her family came to church on Sunday and her mom said she enjoyed it and asked for a gospel principles book so she could read for next week.  We are going to work on getting them to come with Lexi and hopefully start teaching her before I leave.  Her family is so nice and Lexis mom Tasha feeds us all the time,  ha ha!  It's usually pizza or taco bell but its nice to not have to cook for ourselves!   We had a a lot of people in church on Sunday that we had to help get to classes and everything so it was pretty hectic but it was a good Sunday.  This week should be even better!   The work here is really picking up and we have some really serious potentials that we are working with.  It will be hard to leave here but  I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord! Ha ha! well I hope everything is going great for all of you back home thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes!  Love you all!

Love Elder Jach-Goates