Teaching the ice cream man sure has its perks!

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Hey everybody!

How is life back on the west coast? It has been dumping rain for 2 days straight! Crazy stuff. It rained on Monday too...and when it rains here, it is always accompanied by high-speed winds, thunderclaps louder than you've ever heard in your life, and lots of falling trees (as was the case when we came out of a lesson on Monday night...refer to picture #132...that is our car and that is the tree that landed right next to our car!). So yeah, it has been fun.

We found some pretty cool new investigators this week...one is the ice cream man! We talked to him outside his house and had a good lesson with him (we didn't know yet that he was the ice cream man), and then after the prayer he said, "Hey, I'm just getting ready to leave for work." "Oh that's cool. Where do you work?" "I sell ice cream. Do you want some?" He then opened his garage door to reveal a huge ice cream truck and he gave us each a free popsicle. Woohoo! Then another new investigator we found as we were looking for a referral we had gotten from a member. We knocked on a door (apparently the wrong one) and a guy answered. We asked for Matilde and he said that she rented the other half of the house but that she wasn't home right then. We got to talking with him and as he opened the door a little wider, I saw that he was standing in a recording studio! He plays and records music for different churches. Hermana Schleske told him I was really into music so he handed me his guitar and I played and sang "I Stand All Amazed." He stopped me in the middle, turned on all his recording gear, and told me to start over. He burned me a copy of the cd right then and there. Pretty rough recording, obviously, but sweet, huh? I'll try to send it to you. He said that anytime we wanted to come back, he would record me for free. :) So then we got to talking with him and all the different music he does and he asked, "You know, I go to all these different churches every Sunday doing music for them, but I don't get why there are so many churches!" Perfect lead-in to a lesson about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it!

Oh, update on Danny...I don't know if you remember him or not but we have been teaching him for a LONG time...basically since I first got back to Paterson. He has been making lots of drastic changes in his life to come unto Jesus...hair cut, leaving the women, and now he has finally stopped smoking and drinking completely!!! It is amazing to see the progress he's made. It's been a slow, steady process with him...our members involved in the lessons have wanted us to give up on him numerous times but we haven't felt like we should. And now he has a baptismal date! Awesome. The last big hurdle is getting him Sundays off work consistently...it's kind of hit and miss. But he will be able to if he has the faith, I know it. And Minerva...she's still a work in progress as well but we feel like we're getting a little closer every time we meet with her. Expect good news about her very soon... :)

My companion and I are getting along really well and getting a lot of good work done here. We have been blessed over and over again this week as we have just given all we can give to the Lord and letting Him do the rest. I'm grateful for the comfort and guidance of the Holy Ghost that we can receive when we do what's right. Something that I've learned a lot about lately is PATIENCE! Patience with yourself, Patience with others, and Patience with the Lord. All 3 aspects are crucial in being able to fully follow the Lord's path for your life and fulfill what He knows you, and only you, can fulfill. I am so grateful for all of you that have experienced patience with me over the years and the way the Lord has taught me that he knows best. He always knows what we need and when we need it. Follow His plan for you, be flexible to it, and things will turn out better than you could have expected (see the last 2 verses of Alma 34).

I hope everything continues to go well. Mom, I hope you're feeling better. Grandma is leaving soon, yeah? I hope she had a wonderful visit. Tell her I love her. And Nana's birthday is coming up, right? Happy Birthday, Nana! :) Take care. I miss you mucho but I love you mas!

Love,

Hermana Jackson

P.S. The other picture is my comp and I at Lucina's baby shower. The decorations were done by Emma, the member who owns the house we live in...she is SO flying out to Utah in several years to decorate for my wedding. Haha. :)

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