Hello family and friends,
Since Jacob hasn’t written in over a month, I thought I would write a little update.
We got an email from Jacob’s mission president, President James Evanson, in which he mentioned that they have a mission FB page that they started in July, when they came to the mission. I went on the FB page and found 5 pictures of Jacob!
The first picture is the day he went to pick up his companion he would be training, Elder Reed. The next picture is them after interviews with their mission president. Then, there are 2 pictures at the temple. He and his companion were able to go with their Lehi zone to the Timpanogos temple on September 23. That is especially exciting because he was only able to receive his own endowments before his mission and was not able to go back again before he left.
Three weeks ago, at transfers, he and Elder Reed had to move. Their stake split, and so they needed to move into their stake boundaries, which moved them down the steep hill. So, now they are back on bikes and live in the basement of a member’s home. Sounds like it is a nice place, but they do miss having the Assistants to the President as their roommates.
We are sure thankful he is serving a mission! Thanks for your support!
Heidi
PS. I was literally about to hit “send” and this email came through from Jacob;
Hey Everyone,
I hope you are doing well. Sorry for not reaching out earlier. My phone wasn't working and my companion Elder Reed’s broke. Luckily, I got it working again.
This last week has been incredible with General Conference. The talks were amazing! We got to watch one session at our mission president’s home, which was great! I loved the quote, "Give me your whole self and I will give you a new self, even myself". We kept having connections to the people in general conference. Elder Brad Wilcox’s daughter lives in the area, so we had a heads up he was speaking. Elder Seikihama spoke in our mission just 2 weeks ago and another 70 spoke with the Evanson’s in another stake in our mission, so we had heard about him. One lady in our area sang in the Saturday afternoon General Conference session. That was cool! I felt really edified by the speakers in General Conference and it was a great time for learning.
This week has been interesting. We have been doing everything from helping people dig a trench, to fixing flat tires, to removing defacing someone put on church mirrors. Lots of service.
We also had an incredible teaching moment where we taught a guy named Luke. He had come to a chapel just looking for some water. He had never been in a church before. We ended up talking outside for about an hour about our basic beliefs in God and Christ - since he had been raised without religion. While he ended up not wanting to take another lesson, he did say he was open to any service opportunities, and we believe he has great potential. (Especially since all his roommates are members).
Teaching Dawuyien has been amazing. While his family is still in China, he has been working hard to prepare for them. He started reading the Book of Mormon this week, which was great, and said he was open to going to church. It's powerful to watch peoples of all cultures and backgrounds become united under Christ.
It sounds like all of you are doing well. I hope you have an incredible week like me!
Elder Cluff
