Last week as a missionary

Well this is it... last week as a missionary. I will still email on Tuesday, June 2nd, but only very quickly, That is the day I go up to Perth.

Honestly, I don't really know what to say. The mission is something I have loved so much. I feel like I've been here forever and, at the same time, I can remember the MTC like it was yesterday. My mission has taught me humility, patience, diligence, obedience, and faith. I hope more than anything that I can hold onto the faith and love for the gospel that I have now forever.  I hope that I can share it with my friends and family. I love you all so much! Can't wait to see you again!

I had a crazy dream last night. I came home and went to work at A-1 Installations, but the office was now in a skyscraper in Portland and all the returned missionaries I know were working there. The leadership were all on computers doing really intense work and the other missionaries were all playing Minecraft on other computers for some reason. I was trying to figure out how to get back onto the scheduling page I used back home, so I called Brother Moore over and he opened up the recycling bin on the computer but it brought up a crazy program were it zoomed the screen to the underside of a school desk and there were all the wads of chewing gum that represented discarded programs. On one of them was the program I was looking for. It was really weird. Plus, at lunch break, I was trying to talk to the RMs about missionary work and they all just laughed at me and didn't care about it anymore.

Anyways it was a good week... ish. Pretty much all our appointments fell through, but this week is looking good and the district is still doing really well with finding new investigators. Elder Yang and I found a family this week that we will be teaching on Wednesday.

I love you all so much!
Elder jamison

A Pokémon Battle?

This week has been really good. Our district game is going great too! The game goes like this. We are Pokémon trainers and are in a group battle against... bad stuff I guess. We have to beat their six Pokémon team to get the top prize - dinner at Nando's. This week, we beat the first three; Caterpie, Pikachu, and Squirtle. It will be tougher from here on though. They had 60, 75, and 90 HP respectively. This week, will will battle Ivysaur, Charizard, and Mew Two who have 150, 175, and 250 HP, so its quite a bit harder. We can do it though if we stay excited. We found eleven new investigators this week and taught fourteen member presents. In contrast, we have been doing like eight member presents and only getting like four new investigators lately, so its a huge upswing.

Elder Yang and I found four of the investigators, two of which have families we are teaching now and we are super excited about it. One was a huge miracle. A few months back, Bishop saw a couple arguing in the street and felt prompted to talk to them. They didn't like him at first, but he was able to help them out and finally made friends with them. Nek minute, Elder Yang and I tract into a solid as family and invite Bishop to help us teach them. We find out during the lesson, it's the very same family he had felt prompted to talk to. Miracles happen. The lord really is guiding this work.

I love you all so much!
See you in two weeks!
Love, Elder Jamison

No letter this week, but Skyped home for Mother's Day

I love the gospel so much and I love my Savior Jesus Christ

This week has been good. Sunday was especially awesome. One of the recent converts in the ward got to bless his new baby. He did really well and it touched a lot of people. Tayla bore a very powerful testimony and she and Dylan brought a friend to church. Things are going really well and I think I finally have this missionary thing down... and it only took twenty-three months to get it.

It is such a strange feeling... Everyone will ask, "How long have you been out?" or "When do you go home?" and it really doesn't feel like it's close. Obviously it is, but I don't feel any different than the first day of my mission. I have changed so much, but the feeling of what I need to do is the same. I don't know if that makes sense, but i just can't imagine not being a missionary. I think about it a lot, but it doesn't seem real to me.

I have been studying a lot this week about humility and meekness. I think that is really the key to success in the gospel. We need to always acknowledge our weakness and fault before the Lord and allow Him to help us. We also need to know that all of us on earth are equals and are equally important in the plan of salvation. If we can understand those relationships, ours with God and with others, then we will have the understanding and hopefully the motivation to do what is right. It makes sense in my head and I hope you can understand it too.

I love the gospel so much and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I hope that on the day I meet Him again I will be worthy to be called one of His disciples.

I love you all. Never be discouraged. Being sad isn't ever worth it.
Elder Jamison

P. S. How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?

Week 99

What the heck... I'm starting week 100?

It's crazy how fast the time goes. I can still remember my first day like it was yesterday... legit though. I'm not just saying that. I am so thankful for the opportunities and experiences I have had. They really have prepared me, much better than I could have done alone, for the future God wants me to have.

This week has been a lot better than lately. We found six potential investigators that are all really nice. We taught one yesterday and picked her up as a new investigator. Her name is Beth. She is twenty-five and has zero religious background. We have to go very slow with her. We will probably teach about the restoration again if we can, but will be doing the plan of salvation this coming Monday. Oh, snap! I just remembered we can't do Monday. It's okay. We wanted to see her earlier anyway.

The Elder that moved in, Elder Geurts, is from Pocatello, Idaho.  Anyway, we have been telling a lot of dumb jokes lately. We were up till like 11:00 last night telling pirate jokes.

What's a pirate's favorite subject in school? ARt!
What's a pirate's favorite veggie? ARsparagus!
What's a pirate's favorite color? PurplAR!

Ha ha, they get stupider and funnier over time.

I love you all so much!
See you in five!
Elder Jamison

Chocolate Man and other photos

Chocolate Man

Gifts of Huang

Cricket

Zone Conference with Holyoak

Ping Pong

Dylan's baptism

Ho ho ho! This is it - the last transfer!

Man, it’s been good! Dylan's baptism was this week! It went okay... not many people showed up, but it was still awesome. Supes awk Sunday though. They didn't show up.... kind of. I was sweating bullets like, “Where are they?! Dylan hasn't missed church for nine weeks and TODAY is the day he misses?!” All goods though. He was in Perth and his car broke down so it’s not his fault he missed. We will just confirm him next week.

Dwayne and Serena are definitely moving. I'm going to miss them and I hope they do well there. It would have been nice to see them baptized and married here, but maybe it wasn't right yet. It’s okay though. You have got to learn to forget about stuff you can’t control.

It's getting tricky with Elder Yang. We have been having trouble with new investigators lately. It’s hard to find them. He thinks the problem is we don't tract enough. I told him what I think about tracting and how it won’t help, but he got offended (I think) and thinks I don't take his ideas seriously. All goods though. He just thinks I'm mad at him all the time, but he caught me at a bad time. Stuff just hasn't been working out much and I'm always on the edge lately. I get moody when he goes crazy. It would actually be funny if I wasn't so anxious. He has tons of energy and loves to be the center of attention... sometimes a bit too much. I think I was like that too when I first started, so I guess we all have stuff to work through. All goods though. We have plenty of support from our ward and we will find more people to teach.

I love being a missionary! It’s not the clothes or the schedule or the rules I love. In fact, those things are very hard for me. But what I do love is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and I would give anything for that chance! I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that, because he loved us all, he came to earth to suffer and die so that we could live with our families and Heavenly Father forever. Nothing is more important to me than the gift of hope that Jesus Christ gave to me!

Sorry for going missionary mode, but I really do love the gospel! I love you all!
Elder Jamison