Give 'em heaven: All because of a pink bike and saying goodbye to dear life-long friends.

Buenas tardes (good afternoon) mi familia!

It’s so good to hear about your week and all that’s going on! Thanks for all the pictures and wonderful words. I love you all so much!

I have a new companion!!! Her name is Hermana Castellanos. She’s from Oaxaca, Mexico (south of Mexico City) and she is lovely. I absolutely adore her. She is seriously one of the sweetest people ever. It cracks me up because I try to make her laugh a little bit, or say something that I think is funny - (usually no one else does... haha ni modo), she laughs a little bit and says ¨Ok¨. And yeah, that’s it. Haha. She is always just saying, “Haha ok Hermana.” But truly we get along great. She has 6 months in the mission - so a little bit more than I do and she’s just a sweet little thing. I love the way she teaches and she’s a hard worker and we are plugging right along. She has 4 step-siblings and doesn’t know her real dad and has some health problems, but is always pretty happy. We had a bit of health issues this week for her, with her stomach, but she’s feeling better now. So yep - I love her and she’s great.

The baptism for Susana, Marco, and Christina was AMAZING!!! Oh my goodness, I am so happy. It was a little miracle, that it did happen, though... there were bits of drama around every corner. We needed to get the baptismal clothes for them to wear and we always get them on Friday when we have ward council with the bishop. Well it turns out that we went on Friday and there wasn’t a single jumpsuit. (Jumpsuit? What’s it called? I have no idea... but you know what I mean...) so I might have freaked out a little bit. We went early as well, because all 6 missionaries were going to teach the young men and women how to share the gospel with other people - and that, in and of itsself, was crazy. I had studied in the morning and put together a plan, because I felt like I should be a little prepared, because I didn’t quite know what was going on and when we got there, I asked the other Hermanas if they had something planned and they said no... and then we all asked the Elders and... what do you know, they hadn’t planned anything either. So woohoo, the spirit is real and we used my plan - a crappy plan, but a plan. And it was great! But to hear about the baptismal clothes was pretty stressful, because well... the baptism was the next day! Yeah... no biggie. The elders said that they thought they had some clothes in their house and would check that night and then they called us in the morning. And again... no ropa. Shoot. We went early in the morning to wash/clean the font and thank heaven the other ward was there cleaning the church, so I asked the other bishop if we could use their clothes and WAHOO! They had 3! It was a small miracle. We started to clean the font, and we washed it all, but the water couldn’t go down the drain. We tried to open the drain, but it just wouldn’t go down. The Elders finally got there to help and with 3 Hermanos, they opened the drain... haha and we washed and started filling it back up and oh no - we couldn’t close the drain! Aw man... the struggle is real. But the whole time my companion and I were just laughing at how hard Satan tries to get us down, but NO! HE WILL NOT WIN! So with lots of prayer and faith, it shut off and we left with the water running to fill it. It all went great and it filled and the water was warm and people were coming and everyone was there and ready and beautiful and we only lacked one thing - the converts. WHAT?! So I called them and asked WHERE THEY WERE and found out from Marco that Susana had left. Uhh... like what do you mean she left? Where? When? When is she going to be back? I don’t know, don’t know, don’t know... well shoot. Remember how the baptism was at 5:00pm? Well people started showing up around 5:20 (Mormon standard time is true here, but even worse...) and they came at around 6:00pm. Oh man... I’m sure they just wanted to make it all the more suspenseful, so it was all the happier when they showed up. Yeah... we’ll call it that. :) Haha. But they came, got baptized, and SO many people came to support them. It was amazing. I was thinking during the week that if we call people beforehand and assign things like prayers to a single member of each family that we will have more support and boy did that work! It was the fullest it’s ever been! All the way to the back, so that we had to run and get more chairs! It was awesome. The spirit was so strong, you could just feel the hope and love that this gospel brings into people’s lives. Christina, who is 8 years old, shared her testimony and said that she felt like God was baptizing her. Whoa. And each one thanked us for getting to know them. Wow, it was an incredible experience. And to think, it all happened because of a pink bicycle.

So the people in my district now are as follows - Elder Muñoz and Elder Fox (Elder Fox doesn’t speak a word of Spanish and is my friend... I’m trying to help him to feel better and more confident. He’s great. He’s from California) and then it’s Hermana Tuz and Hermana Bailey and finally the two of us. It’s an awesome district and it’s been great so far.

Elder Fox and Elder Munoz

Hermana Bailey and Hermana Tuz

Hermana Anstee and Hermana Castellanos

But it is weird to not be with Hermana Ortiz. The first night I just wanted to call her and tell her everything that happened with everyone and how great things are going, but I couldn’t. It’s been really weird to not see or talk to her. I miss her a lot.

Hermana Ortiz with her new companion

Elder Camaal with his new companion

Hermana Guerrero and her new companion

That’s pretty much my week! It’s been so great. I love my companion and I love the mission, love the area, and the president, and just love it all!

I’m so happy to hear moving is going well and that you’re finding all the little evidences of my weirdness... ;) Haha!

For the ward newsletter, please tell them that I say: “Estoy feliz. Dios nos ama. La iglesia es verdadera. les quiero mucho. Gracias por todo su apoyo y amor. Me extraña helado.”

Google Translation…"I am happy. God loves us. The church is true. I love them very much. Thanks for all your support and love. I wonder ice cream.”

***Tammy's note - Not quite sure about the “I wonder ice cream” translation. Haha.***

Well, that about does it.

I love you all so very much! You mean everything to me - even if Buddy is a little weird and maybe the other members of the family as well... ;) Ah just kidding, but I love you all, just how you are. Thanks for all your love and support and all that you are and do. I sure hope you are all happy. Have a fantastic week and know that I am always praying for and loving you!

Lil J

P.S.

Dad! Oh how I love you so much. You are the best ever. You know that right?

I’m so glad to hear about Sam coming and helping with the move. He’s such a good guy.

Everything here on the other side is so great. I truly am so happy and learning and growing so much. It’s such a blessing to be here. I miss you like crazy. Almost, only one year left! The 11th of April is when I’m coming home... going to live like crazy, because time is truly flying (like the wheels of my bike;)) I want to just hold on to every moment before it goes flying away. But one thing I’ve learned - another moment always comes along. It’s so amazing to be here. I’m so grateful.

I love you so much and thanks for being my dad.