Met Michael Jordan!

October 12, 2020

Hola hola!! 

A busy week in Cruces so let's just dive on in!! 

This week started with exchanges which were awesome. One of the zone leaders, Elder Noyes, came here and it was such a blast. He was here in this area for the first 14 months of his mission so he has all the connections with members and other friends. It opened some awesome doors for us to have him back and introduce us to so many people. I learned a ton from him, he's a stud.

We did a tonnn of service this week which was a lot of fun. We went over and cleaned up this lady's cactus garden, put up some fences for this other member's goats, moved some huge piles of wood for this crazy guy, and helped out at the bishop's storehouse. It was a good time! The biggest goat was obviously reminding me of MJ, hence the subject line of this email. Sorry for any let down there lol. Even though I heard Lebron got his 4th ring, MJ is still the goat in my opinion!

In other things, I got to go to church here for the first time! It was awesome to meet the Bishop and some other members who I had only previously talked to over zoom or phone calls. And I got to bless the sacrament which was giving me some major flashbacks to my home ward haha. The ward is seriously the best and fed us a ton again this week.

We also had some really good lessons with our peoples!! Joel is doing awesome and should be (fingers crossed) all good to go for his baptism on Saturday!! We also had some incredible lessons with Don! The spirit was super strong the whole time and he said he really liked the Book of Mormon. We're praying that he will continue to read and get his answer that the Book of Mormon and this church are true. Really excited about him! Lastly we had some really good lessons with members in the ward and I had the opportunity to give my first blessing. Such a neat experience.

I've been really working to recognize the promptings and impressions of the Spirit this week. It's something I know is crucial to missionary work, and really all of life. A scripture I've really liked and has been on my mind a lot is D&C 6:36 where the Savior says, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." I have been trying to focus on Christ in all I do, say, and think. I know making Him the focus brings the Spirit and helps me improve in all aspects! 

I think that about sums it all up! Love you all so much!! Thankful for the love and support! Hope you all have a great week! 

Hasta que la obra esté terminada 

Con amor, 

Elder Jackson

1. MJ himself 

2. It wouldn't be one of my emails without a sunset

3. Beautiful pile of some of wood we moved 

4. Zone breakfast this morning! Minus the sisters who came later