Olá! Família e amigos! I ask that you all please read the end of this when you get the chance. Where the big letters start

Opa tudo mundo. Eu posso finalmente escrivar em Português este semana! Meu computador foi mal ótimo semana! Mas, este semana foi bom e não bom também. Nos temos muitos que foi bom mas muitos dificuldades também. Eu se por quê. Nos pensamos muitos coisas iria ir bom, mas eles não foi.

Anyways off of that. This week we had a lot of good and bad. I´ll start off with the good then go to the bad.

This week we were blessed with another big miracle. We had prayed a lot about being able to teach someone and on Sunday last week we met someone who wanted to be baptized from the other ward. I don´t know where he came from but he really turned a bad week into a really good week. It was really interesting to be sitting in Sunday School and then the other bishop from the other ward came in and told us that someone wanted to talk about Baptism with us. We immediately jumped up from our seats and ran out to meet him. He was 18 years old which made us even more excited because our goal in the mission is to convert at least 100 men who can hold the Melchezideck Priesthood. So it was a blessing for us and mostly a blessing for him. We had his interview on Wednsday and Baptized him after the same day. His friend who just opened his mission call that night did the ordinance. We told his friend after that he could count this as his first mission Baptism.

That was a great first half of the week. But the second half we had a hard time getting commitments with people. We would talk to people and make a lot of contacts, but they were being malis. Which means they act nice but then they don´t want to see us after. It was really hard. To top all that off we had none of our recent converts come to church yesterday. Which made me and Elder Goodwin a little frustrated. Also the fact that our Sisters in our District like to lie to us. They give us times for interviews but then they change it at the last second to another time so it screws up with our schedule. Most of the Sisters in our district are leaving also this transfer so they are being fubecas. Which means lazy and bad missionaries. Us and the Elders in Santa Rita have been getting all the Baptisms for our district.

The end of this week was a real challenge for me and Elder Goodwin. It drove us crazy trying to do all this stuff and having our Schedules change on us every second. Then I remembered a talk by Elder Holland that helped with the week. It said:

Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.

For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.

If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,”¹⁶ then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.

The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I testify that the living God is our Eternal Father and that Jesus Christ is His living and Only Begotten Son in the flesh. I testify that this Jesus, who was slain and hanged on a tree,¹⁷was the chief Apostle then and is the chief Apostle now, the Great High Priest, the chief cornerstone of His Church in this last and greatest of all dispensations. I testify that He lives, that the whole triumph of the gospel is that He lives, and because He does, so will we.

On that first Resurrection Sunday, Mary Magdalene first thought she saw a gardener. Well, she did—the Gardener who cultivated Eden and who endured Gethsemane. The Gardener who gave us the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the cedars of Lebanon, the tree of life.

I declare Him to be the Savior of the world, the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, the Bright and Morning Star. I know that our garments can be washed white only in the blood of that Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. I know that we are lifted up unto life because He was lifted up unto death, that He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, and with His stripes we are healed. I bear witness that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, that He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief because upon Him were laid the transgressions of us all.¹⁸

I bear witness that He came from God as a God to bind up the brokenhearted, to dry the tears from every eye, to proclaim liberty to the captive and open the prison doors to them that are bound.¹⁹ I promise that because of your faithful response to the call to spread the gospel, He will bind up your broken hearts, dry your tears, and set you and your families free. That is my missionary promise to you and your missionary message to the world.

Heh this changed the size of my writing. Let this talk touch you. This talk helps me everyday. The Mission will never be easy. So don´t think that it will be. Just because I am in the Mission that gets the most Baptisms in the world doesn´t mean that it is easy for me. It is hard and it will always be hard. Just like it said, Salvation was NEVER easy! I know that there are those out there that might read this and think that my mission is easy because we just baptized over 200 people this past month. I know it´s not easy for you as well. This is an experience that will change our lives and the lives of our investigators. We need to show them that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Light that they are looking for in the world. We will have hard times. But we need to keep on moving strong, and keep moving stronger. That is our job. This is also directed to those that are at home as well. Always find a chance to teach people in your life. If you have served a mission then you should never stop doing what you did on the mission. Just like Christ said to Peter, in John 21:15-17

15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

We are in this until the end. Everyone. I´m not trying to get into anyones faces or anything but we need to follow and teach the word of Christ until the end of time. I know that these things are important. I know that we will always have trials in our life that will test this subject. But it is our job to Feed His Sheep. I know that these things are true and I end this as my Testimony. I exort all of you to read and share this with others. I feel it is important to all to here this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love you all and pray for you all everyday. Keep following the Lord. This is your missionary in Brasil saying, Tchau. Until the next letter!

Elder Jacklin

Hey my brothers and sisters!

Hey normally I start these off in Portuguese, but my keyboard that I am writing on is screwed up so I can't make the accents for the words.

This was a successful month our missions totals for baptisms was 174 people. 174 souls that have come back to Our Heavenly Father. This was also a very successful week for us in Bayeux as well. We got 16 new investigators, I think 10 people marked for Baptism and we had one person Baptized this week. He was very happy about that and we gave him the Holy Ghost yesterday during sacrament meeting. Yeah this was a successful week and the next 3 weeks of this transfer will be awesome as well. I think when I get done with this transfer I will have about 15 or more baptisms. 15 people that I helped bring back to Christ. That is something that I can be happy about. I will continue to work hard and pray for those that we are teaching.

Prayer is a very important thing to have in the mission. The past 3 weeks of the mission were very hard for me and Elder Goodwin. We had a lot of rejections and there were some days where we would just be doing contacts the whole day. I would say that Prayer was very helpful these past few weeks. My Testimony of Prayer has strengthened because of it. It is very important to pray always to our Heavenly Father. It gives us blessings when we do. I know that it has been a blessing for us here. This past week was amazing. We were blessed with so many miracles this week because of prayer. Prayer is also a protection from the Adversary and his influence on us. We pray for strength and guidance in all we do and the Lord will bless us with love and miracles. I am sure if we did not pray as hard as we did this week, we would not have had as much of the blessings that came to us. It is important to pray before everything you do. Asking God for guidance in all you do is important for you to understand what it is you are about to do, with a fullness you would not have had with just going and doing it with your own knowledge. I invite you all to pray in everything you do. For those on Missions, pray to your Heavenly Father anytime you leave your house, when you do your studies, and when you wake up and go to sleep. Do not do it just because the Mission Rules say to, but do it because you want to. For those who are at home. I ask that you do the same. Keep praying. I know that it can help with anything we do, because it is speaking with god. I know that he loves us. I know that he answers prayers dependent on our faith. I know these things are true, and I say them, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well that is all for this letter. Sorry it was so short. I love you all. I ask God to help you all everyday with your works. Keep on following his word! This is your missionary in Brasil saying, Goodbye until the next letter!

OPA! ESTE É SUA MISSIONÁRIO EM BRASIL!!!!!!!!

Olá como vocês está! Isso tudo bem aqui em Paraíba! Muitos coisas ser indo em aqui. Bom e mal. Este semana foi mais o menos. Eu acho é foi um poco mal, mas nos tivemos bom trabalhos também. Meu Português é recebendo maior. Eu acho em 3 o 4 semanas, eu vou ser falar fluente em Português. Podem entender que eu falou em estes cartas? Eu espero não. Também eu espero vocês podem.

Anyway. (Oh and for all those that were wondering hello in Portuguese is the same as hello in Spanish but without the H and has an accent over the A, Hola=Spanish, Olá=Portuguese).

This week had a lot of downs for us. We´ve not been having much success in finding new people to teach. We´ve done a lot of contacting but it hasn´t been getting anywhere. We have been getting a lot of malis, which means people that will give us times that they want to meet but then they turn us down when we come to teach them. So finding new people to teach isn´t going very well. We have one person scheduled to teach next week. We are hoping we can get in and teach them.

An interesting thing happened this week with one of our recently converted people. We´ve been having a lot of trouble with her believing what we say. Which awes me a little because she was baptized. But a few days ago, we answered the door and she finally told us she started to read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it, and she knew that finally what we said is true. She said a month before we got to this area, she had a dream about two missionaries that would come into her home and teach her the truth that she was looking for. She didn´t think anything of it until she prayed. She also said in the dream, that one of the missionaries was taller than any person she had ever seen. She told us that she basically had a vision of us. We then told her that the Spirit was preparing her for this moment that she would get the True Light of the World. Now she is reading the Book of Mormon and understanding what it says.

(Wow, I think I´m going to make this a thing now).

This experience is one experience that shows, the Spirit is real. God uses the Spirit to teach and help us with the questions we have. I know that he is real. I have a firm belief that he exists and that this is his Church. If I didn´t believe this I wouldn´t be here doing this today. We are the True, Church of Jesus Christ. I know this to be true. I know that we are all his children, and he wants all of us to return to him. So he gives us the Spirit. He helps us with the Spirit and guides us with it. He guides us through the Scriptures and through his Prophets. I know that all these things are true. I have no doubt that they are true. I know that if you all keep these thoughts in your minds you will not fall into doubt or despair. I know these things to be true and say these things in the Sacred name of Jesus Christ our loving Brother and Savior. Amen.

Well that´s all for this week. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Keep on Pressing on in the Faith. I love you all and pray for you all for success. Tchau meu família. Tudo mundo. Este é sua missionário em Brasil, falando, até mais. Até o próximo carta!

Elder Jacklin

 

 

De sua missionário em O Missão Celestial!!!

Opa!!!!!!!!!! Este é sua missionário de Brasil! O Missão Celestial! A lugar onde vocês devem ser! (Just kidding). Mas, este semana, é foi não bom. Nos tivemos muitos problemas este semana. E desculpa por este carta para não sendo muito grande. Mas... sim.

Anyway. As I said before this week was pretty hard for me and Elder Goodwin. We had a lot of rejections this week. We made a lot of contacts with people this  week but when we visited with them we didn´t get much reaction to wanting us to come back. (Did that sound weird)?... BUT! We did have one investigator this week, that said we had met them previously but I don´t really remember ever talking with these people before.

Well these investigators a little bit about them. (Man my writing sucks now). One has been baptized already but has gone inactive, and his wife is not a member. He wants to get back into the church and I think he is getting the Priesthood restored to him this week. He wants to be sealed with his wife in the Temple. Now here is where things get interesting about them. His wife believes in everything about our Church. She believes that President Nelson, (I almost wrote Monson there), is a true prophet of God. She believes that there is eternal life after death if she is sealed to her family. And she wants to be a member. The only problem is, is she doesn´t want to be baptized. She wants to be a member but she doesn´t want to be baptized. We have told her already that the only way to become a member is to be baptized. But she believes that there is another way, and thinks that her baptism in the Cathollic church is good enough.

This has been a really challenging week for us. But I remember in one of my books that I wrote before coming out on the mission. There was one quote in there that I liked a lot and I can´t believe I forgot about it, especially because I am the one who wrote it. It says:

Today we stand on this field of battle as Elders and Sisters. We are not afraid nor do we falter when the gates of hell open up upon us and our enemy comes crashing down upon us with the hope to destroy us. We stand faithful in each other as a family and as one strong unit! Even when the adversities of the world befall us and we weep out in pain and in anguish we remember that we don´t stand alone! Now I say unto you! Do not be afraid of this great evil that stands before us! Rise up and stand above it! Rise up for those we hold dear and those we have been called to protect! Stand Elders and Sisters! Remember that we are here for a reason to defend those lost souls and bring them back to our God! We are Missionaries of the one True Church and of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father! Stand and fight for those souls that have lost their ways! Rise! To Victory!

                                                                                                 -Reborn Darkness (The Holy War)

Yeah, you can probably tell that I tweaked a few things in that to follow a missionary type quote. But if you are having a hard time on your mission. Look at this quote, and remember that we are not here for ourselves, and it may be hard sometimes. But remember, I tell you to remember, that we are here to invite and bring souls unto our Heavenly Father. We are here so that we may be able to live with our Father in Heaven again. With our families and all of those who came before us. I know that I am here to serve my Father and to bring those lost souls back unto Christ. I know that in this time of hardship it gets hard. But remember, we are not alone. We are here to fight and win in the great battle against the Adversary and we know that if we stay true to our covenants and follow the word of God. We will be able to return and help others to return to live with God again. I leave this with you my Testimony of our Purpose here on earth and say these things in the Sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I hope that this can help you through out your lives. I love all of you and I want you all to know that my Spirit is with you in all you do. I pray for all of you and I hope that you all can have success.

Este é sua missionário em Brasil. Falando, tchau, até mais!

Élder Jacklin

De Sua Missionário em o Missão Celestial!

Opa! Meu família, amigos, e missionários! Como vocês está! Eu estou muito bem aqui em Paraíba! Nos temos 3 batismos este semana, e sim mai. É foi a família estou trabalhando com. Eles foi muito feliz quando eles podem ser batizo. Este transferência apenas terminando hoje. Eu estou muito animado por o próximo um. Vocês podem entender que eu falou? If not well I guess I better start doing this in the language you all know.

First off I just want to say para bens to Emily for going and doing the Missionary Band in Nauvoo. I remember when Mr. Miller invited me to do that, but I told him I was going to be in Brasil until 2019, so maybe when I get back. I don´t know if anyone noticed the picture a couple of weeks back but I have a trumpet in my house. It was given to me by a member in my area. He wants to play with me sometime. He plays the Battery here in Brasil. (By the way if any of you say I´m spelling Brasil wrong then you´re wrong! You spell it with an S)!... ANYWAY!

As I said earlier but some of you might have not have understood what I said. We had a fantastic week here in Bayeux! We got 9 new investigators to teach and they all seem interested in being baptized. This week we finally got that family baptized that we wanted to. No one played goalie this time. (Yes mom it was that family we have been trying to baptize and yes I got to see it). In my first transfer I did 8 baptisms! That´s so freaking awesome. Probably by the end of this month I could have over 20 baptisms if everything goes right. The family was really happy and they became members yesterday during Sacrament Meeting. We also ordained one of our recently converted investigators to the office of a Teacher as well so that´s a bonus!

This week I had an amazing experience with the Spirit this week. I felt the Spirit so strong a few days back. It was great. I could actually feel the Spirit speaking to me as I walked. It was amazing because I remember when we were at 3 people´s houses I felt this Spirit. I could feel something inside of me when we spoke with these people. It felt like a voice speaking to me. I remember one person who we talked to said that she wasn´t interested in what we had to say, but I could feel that in her Spirit it was saying, ´´Set me free, help me.`` that is when I finally decided to suck up my fear of being afraid of people laughing about the way I speak. I shared my testimony about how through the things that we teach you can be forgiven of what you have done. I remember the look on her face change from a not so interested face, to come in and teach me. We didn´t have time that day but we came back later. I remember that later that day. It was my turn to lead in Contacting. I remember praying just before we started to walk and then I felt as if someone had grabbed my head and started pulling me in a certain way. I remember walking down certain streets and then having the Spirit say to me. You missed the turn, and then I would turn around and walk that direction. I remember Elder Goodwin asking me why I was doing what I was doing. Just following the Spirit. I remember coming to a stop on a corner of a street and then we sat down. The feeling then left me. I remember just sitting there and then like a lightning strike I heard inside my head STAND UP! We both in sink stood up and turned around and there was a man standing there and we taught him a little then I heard in my head. Good job, you found him. There are many things that you could think about this situation. Oh I just walked in certain directions and he just happened to be coincidentally standing there. But it was not a coincidence. It was the Spirit fully manifest in my mind speaking to me. I know that he speaks to us if we listen and he can guide us to do the work that we are supposed to do here. I am grateful to the God in giving us the Holy Ghost. He is an amazing companion to have. I invite you all to follow his word and his guidance. He is a true Spirit and he gives us revelation from God. I know that The Holy Ghost exists. I know that it is important to follow the Spirit´s Promptings when we feel them. I end this letter with my Testimony of the Holy Ghost in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I´m excited for the months to come in my mission. I know that this is going to be a great experience for me and for all those I teach. I hope it will with all of you who are serving missions. I know it also helps those who aren´t on missions as well. Even the thought of others serving will help you as well. I give love to you all. Este é sua missionário de o Missão Celestial falando Tchau meu amigos e meu família. Até o próximo carta!

Elder Jacklin

Amar de Brasil!

Opa família, amigos, e missionários tudo bem! Isso bom aqui em Brasil! Nos temos muitos coisas vamos em aqui! Nos somos batizar uma família este semana! Eles são muito animado por batismo e nos temos 5 novos pesquisadores! Como vocês está? Eu espero tudo mundo ser bem! Eu também espero vocês podem ler que Eu escrivo. Prova mente sol Élder Warner e Sister Miller e meu avô e tudo um quem estudar Latin em escola. 

Anyway! Things have been great here. As I said just before we have a baptism this week for a family that we have been trying to be baptizing for three weeks but our Bishop and Stake President have been playing goally the whole time. Luckily Presidente Dias will be there to make sure the Baptism actually goes through this time so it´s a for sure thing now!

We got new investigators this week as I said we have five new investigators. 2 of them who said to come back and visit them didn´t want us to come back and visit them though. (I don´t know who the heck said Brazil was an easy mission? It´s really hard here). Well the other 3 we had we were able to visit. It´s kind of funny. They all have the same name at the start of their names. (By the way people here have like five to seven names here in Brazil, and that´s normal). We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked them if they wanted to be baptized. They all said yes to baptism but not right now. I remember Elder Goodwin and I laughing about that then saying we weren´t going to do it right away but that we would teach them more. They all then let out a huge sigh of relief. I´m really going to be praying that we can teach them and be able to bring them back to Christ.

This week a certain holiday starts up in Brazil. Oh this is going to make teaching here really hard. Carnaval starts this week. It´s not that big in our area but it is in João Pessoa city and everyone goes there so there is no one to teach here in our area. We don´t know what we are going to do during the huge week but it is going to be really hard to teach people the next couple of weeks.

Well that´s about all for the highlights that I will share at this time. Just like my brother always said the sound of ´´Firecrackers`` is real here. Well that´s my letter for today! I hope everyone is doing ok. Those on missions keep working the work of the Lord. Let the Spirit guide you in all you do! This is your Elder from Brazil saying Tchau for the week!

Elder Jacklin

Also more pics from the week!

 

 

Opa tudo mundo! Como vocês está!

Opa tudo mundo! Eu sou muito animado para falar com vocês de novo! Este semana foi muito legal! Eu amo é a qui muito! É muito quente a qui, e esta chovendo muito! I´m getting really good at this. My first half of my training is over and I have my next 6 weeks to look forward to! It´s been a great first transfer here in Bayeux with 4 baptisms! It would have been 7 if the Bishop didn´t reschedule the Baptism without telling me or Elder Goodwin.

It´s been a great week for our mission though. Our goal for this week was to baptize 65 people and our actual count was 81! We are doing great here. We are getting so many converts. We have Zone Conference tomorrow. We´re probably going to talk about this with everyone. The zone we are doing this with has Elder Geisler in it! It will be awesome to see him again!

The start of our week was pretty hard. We didn´t get as much work as we wanted to done this week. We had a lot of uexpected things happen to us this week. To start off on Tuesday, we had our meeting with our Zone which normally takes all morning to do. Then we had the President come and have an interview with me at our house. That was really good and I got a lot of help with that. But we did about only 4 hours of work that day. The next day the Senior Couple or Vice Mission Presidency came to our house to do something with my bed and we had to reorganize our entire room because of it. We didn´t even leave until about 5 that night. It started picking up the next few days though. On Friday we had splits with the Elders in Santa Rita. I had to go with the LD´s companion back to Santa Rita while Elder Goodwin stayed with the LD to do Baptismal interviews.

Santa Rita is insane! It has this giant hill. And for those who ran cross-country and know what Grinder is. This hill is like the Great-Great-Great Grandfather of Grinder. Grinder is a walk in the park compared to this thing! I mean it was huge. It took us a half hour to just walk up this thing. At missionary speed, (which for those who don´t know that is a really fast pace). But it was amazing! I wish I had my camera with me to take pictures. It was a great experience. The people there could actually understand me.

Saturday we had a baptism our fourth in this area. We were supposed to have a family baptized but on Saturday but the Bishop rescheduled it to Sunday but the Family couldn´t do Sunday so we resceduled it for next week. But the person we baptized today was so excited to be baptized. He was so excited that I had to hold him back from going into the font first before the Baptizer did. It was a great experience. Then to finish of the week I had to give a talk in Church. It went really well. I talked about how to become a good missionary and I said that 3 key points that are super important are Patience, Diligence, and Obedience. Is it possible to change your scripture on your plack. Because I found an amazing scripture in Alma that I really like. When you get the chance look at it. It´s Alma 1:25. I love this scripture a lot and I feel like it can help a lot of people who read it.

Well that´s all for today. Eu amo tudo mundo! Tchau!

De sua missionário em João Pessoa Brasil

Elder Jacklin

Some Pics as well

Amor de Brasil! (Love from Brazil, but in a friend way!)

Opa meu família, amigos, um e tudo. Decupe por este carta sendo pequeno. Mas e muito tarde por-me aqui em Brasil. I will send a longer one next week. Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Things have been very busy here and we had P-Day de Zona hoje. That is the reason my letter is going to be small. 

This week was crazy busy. We had a lot of stuff happen. To start off we have an area in our zone that doesn´t have any missionaries in it and we are right next to it so we have to do the work there. I don´t know why the president took the missionaries out of that area, probably because we don´t have enough missionaries to cover all of our areas. So most of the week we have been going to that area. To start off we have three references for baptism there. And we just got another one from Salt Lake. We were having lunch when we got a call from a sister who worked in Temple Square in Salt Lake giving us a reference in that area. So we went and taught him and are going to baptize him in 2 weeks.

This next week is going to be fantastic. We have been having great success with our investigators so far. We have 7 baptisms this coming Saturday! 7! One is for a family we have been teaching for about a week and we are going to baptize all 3 of them this Saturday. Then we got 2 references from the bishop in the other area about a week ago that we are going to be doing as well. Then we also have 2 more as well that we just got from the bishop again from that area a couple days ago. So we have a lot of baptisms this week. We have one set for the following week and we might have two more as well if we can get some of our investigators to come to church.

I am sorry that this letter wasn´t that long and I have so much more to say but I don´t have anytime left. I hope that my friends who are on missions are having great success. I hope those at home are doing great in all of their doings as well. I hope you are all doing well and are happy in what you are doing in your life.

De novo por este carta sendo muito pequeno. Mas eu tenho que ir! Eu amo tudo. Tchau!

Elder Jacklin

Bom Tarde! Como vocês está!

Opa tudo mundo! Meu Família, Amigos, um e todos! Este semana foi muito bom por meu! Obrigado para todos de sua cartas e emails! Eu seu muito feliz para receber seus.

To answer anyone´s questions, sim! Meu português é muito bom! I hope that all of my friends that are on missions are having a great time learning their languages! Things have been going great for me here. I had my third convert this week. (Third baptism), it´s so amazing that I get to see so many people come unto Christ! We get to teach so many people here. Many turn us down. But it feels so great to baptize so many wonderful people.

To start the week off. It was New Years. I got to email my family and friends again. I am finally able to send pictures now. But I don´t know why people say that holidays are great on the mission. I mean they´re great, when they don´t fall on your P-Day. If they do they become a total nightmare for your plans that day because, nothing is open. All the Lawn Houses are closed so you can´t email until the Patriarch comes and opens the Family History Center for you. And then he sits there and talks to you so it gets really hard to email. We also had a lot of really weird experiences with drunk people this week. They would always walk up to us in the middle of the street and be like, ´´Oh, don´t worry about all the bad things the people of your church teach you. I will protect you.`` You know just really weird stuff.

This week was good but very stressed. We have a lot of investigators, we have so many that it get´s really hard to teach sometimes. Our area is also a very large area and we have to walk a lot. But when we meet those people that we teach, we always seem to touch their lives. Most of the people that accept us really like what we teach. We have this one investigator, who lives with a family in the ward that we visit a lot. She just recently opened to us. And she said that anytime we came. She says what we teach is very complicated but she says that some how when we teach it, she can feel and know what it is we are saying. She just recently started praying and is starting to feel the spirit touch her. She is wanting to be baptized this next Saturday and we already have another one planned for that day as well. I love being able to bring so many people unto Christ. It is such an amazing feeling. One that I don´t think I´ll ever experience outside the mission. And when I do it by another language, that feeling is strengthened. I can testify that what we teach is true and I believe that the way we teach it really matters to those that we teach.

I would like to take this opportunity to share my testimony with you all. First time in Portuguese and Second in English. I hope that what I write can really help you, whether you´re on a mission or back at home.

Eu se que este igreja é verdadeira. Eu se que Deus falar-nos ser profetas. Eu se que famílias ser eternidade. Eu se que de nos ensinamos com Espirito de Verdade, nos podemos trazer muitos pessoas a Cristo. Eu se estas coisas ser verdade, e eu falou estas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, Amém.

I know that this church is true. I know that God speaks to us through prophets. I know that families are eternal. I know that if we teach with True Spirit, we can bring many people to Christ. I know these things are true, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Eu amo tudo te vocês! Estas Pessoas em o missão, qualquer trabelhando forte! Estas para casa, ter um tempo de bom! I love all of you! Those people on the mission, keep working hard! Those at home, have a good time there!

O missionário em Brasil!

Elder Jacklin

P.S. I have to give a talk in church so if you all want to congratulate me or tease me about it you can. 10 minutes, in Portuguese, on how you can do missionary work in your everyday life. Tchau!

Feliz Ano Novo!!!

Opa Família! Como esta! Estou bem aqui! É muito bom aqui e eu amo é aqui! Eu penso eu devo escrivar este mensagem em Português hoje. Não, I´m just kidding. Hello everyone. It was nice to hear how good your New Years has been. It´s way different down here. It feels kind of weird, but holidays aren´t really an excitement for us down here, (except Natal e Dia de Mais). Everyday down here feels like a holiday to us. We had a lot of Ups and Downs this week. Allow me to narrate the week for you!

On Monday it was nice to see you guys again. It felt weird being on the other side of the screen this time. Did you paint the walls again? I swear I helped you paint those like 4 times before I left? Just kidding.

The rest of the week was pretty interesting. We had a meeting with our bishop on Tuesday. He likes what we are doing and he wants us to keep up the good work. He also told us that we need to stay out of the North-Eastern part our area because apparently it´s a bad place for Missionaries from the US to go. The other areas here are really nice though. We have a lot of people here that treat us really nice, even when they aren´t members.

We had another baptism this week. Her name is B. In the picture I send she doesn´t look very happy but she was. We baptized her on Saturday and were going to confirm her a member on Sunday. But Brazillians have a weird habit of not getting ready on time for things. We came by her house an hour and a half before church telling her that we need her to be prepared to leave the next time we come around. When we came around to her after picking up another investigator, his name is R I´ll talk about him in a second, she was barely starting to make Breakfast. So we had to wait for her to eat and to get ready. We were 45 minutes late for when we were supposed to get there. So we have to wait until next week to Confirm her. She is willing to wait and we are still excited for her.

R is an investigator we started teaching on our first day here. He has been taught all the lessons and wants to be baptized. So this coming Saturday we are going to Baptize him. We were supposed to do it last Saturday but then something came up in his family so we had to reschedule for this week. We are very excited for him.

P is making great progress. We are meeting with the Bishop tomorrow with him to talk about him receiving the Aaronic Priesthood this coming Sunday. Elder Goodwin and I are excited for him. Last night I was talking with him about the Priesthood (in Portuguese) I was telling him about all the Blessings it will bring him and his family with it in his home. He wants to serve a mission when he´s older. I asked him where he wanted to serve. He told me he wants to serve in Washington D.C. and convert Donald Trump. As soon as I heard Trump we both just burst out laughing. Then Elder Goodwin came rushing out the door telling me we had to leave because it was 22:30 and we needed to be getting home. By the way we were at a members house for this. His name is F and he´s the other person in the Picture that I will send of B´s Baptism.

Oh yeah a quick side note. My camera broke. I don´t really know how. Also just a personal thing to my mom. I got the charger, but the chord that goes with it wasn´t in my bag or in my Suit Cases.

Well that´s about all for the week. This morning we got up around 7 because it´s just like Monday, it´s another holiday here and we don´t have anything planned. Everything is closed to so we can´t buy any food or any other things that we need. Sometimes I wish that if a Holiday was on P-Day, then we could move P-Day to another day and just have a normal work day. Because we can´t seem to find anything that´s open today. I´ll send the pictures in a few minutes so if you freak out about why they aren´t here yet just give me a few minutes. I have a lot and will probably be sending them in a couple of emails.

Elder Jacklin

 

Elder Stratton & Elder Jacklin

Joao Pessoa Elders

 

Sao Paulo

The district

Elder Goodwin and Elder Jacklin's Christmas Display

B's Baptism

P's Baptism