Dia de Pavo !!

November 29, 2021

Hola hola a todos!! It was another fantastic week here in the NMAM! 

El día de pavo 

Thanksgiving was with a doubt a highlight of the week! We were able to have a couple lessons in the afternoon and then eat dinner with two of our favorite member families. They happened to be sisters and live next door to each other and are the absolute best. They are so kind and they made two massive turkeys, one spicy and one traditional. It was a feast!! Then ending the night talking to mi familia made for an incredible Turkey Day. 

Amigos 

-Familia Medrano. We are still going strong but slow and steady with our beloved family! They took us to dinner again on Wednesday and were able to talk about the tender mercies they are seeing in their lives as they are striving to live the commandments. Still really hoping to set a date with them before I head out! 

-Familia Saucedo. They are awesome still as well and getting excited for the 18th of December!! 

-Gustavo. My man Gustavo is an absolute stud!! He is such a funny guy, but I can't remember if I've talked much about him in the past. He works two jobs, construction during the week and then at McDonald's on the weekends, so he is really busy but we've been meeting with him pretty consistently for a few weeks now. We stopped by on Thanksgiving and had an awesome lesson with him and were able to put him on date for January 15th! 

-Alma y Alondra. A couple new people we started teaching this last week! They are a mom and her older daughter in her late 20s. They met with the missionaries before covid and were super excited to see us when we knocked on their door! They both are really sincere and so we are super excited about them! 

-Miembros!! After our big push for working with members from Elder McKay in our devotional this last week we made it a goal to teach more with members as well as visit more members and we saw some huge miracles with two part member families. ! We met the older brother of a recent convert and had a fire lesson with both of them. His name is Jiro qnd was asking the perfect questions, it was big time!! Then we stopped by and met la Familia Pérez. Such a cool family who hasn't been to church since the pandemic but actually has two unbaptized boys we are going to start working with. 

Gainz

This week I was running on the treadmill at our apartment's gym (I know I have been extremely spoiled the past 6 months in this area) and I did something I've never done before, I fell off!! Haha. I was trying to finish off with a little sprint, until I was getting a little tired and my foot caught the edge just enough to shoot me off the back. It really wasn't bad at all but I'm grateful I didn't get hurt and will definitely be turning it down a few notches. 

Couple other random things

-Got some new floors in our apartment! Made for a fun few days without furniture and sleeping on the ground. 

-Great exchange with a set of elders! Although an ET and sad things with another set of elders. 

-A tonn of Christmas lights turned on this week, it honestly fills my soul with joy!! 

Pensamiento Espiritual 

With Thanksgiving this week I was naturally pondering and studying a lot about gratitude. I listened, and would highly recommend, to President Monson's talk from Oct 2010 "The Divine Gift of Gratitude." It is one of my favorites and there are so many good stories and lines. But one thing that especially stuck with me were his words about living in the attitude of gratitude, instead of simply being grateful from time to time. It reminded me of something my parents often said, "See the good, be the good." I have again seen and felt so much this last week that a life of gratitude will always be a happy one because you will be humbly recognizing the positive that is undoubtedly there. Our Heavenly Father's love is infinite and His blessings countless. I hope to be able to live in this attitude of gratitude that brings true joy. One last verse for you all about gratitude, Éter capítulo 6 versículo 9! 

This'll be my last full week here in New Mexico, crazy stuff!! Zone Conference and more exchanges so it'll be fun and busy! Hope you all have a great week!! Love you and am eternally grateful for each and every one you! 

Amor,

Elder Jackson 

1 Feasting

2 Hermana Gonzalez y Hermana Rodelo, the best of the best 

3 Dinner con la familia Medrano! 

4 Hot Coco Hot Tub

5 Family photo!!