January news from Jared

The first part is an exchange from Jefferson to Jared and then back.

"Austen Nebeker taught us a crazy good lesson in priesthood today about the spirit and missions. I loved it when he explained to us how when two years ago when he sat in one of the chairs in the corner of the bishops office with his head down he just didn't care about the gospel really, skiing was all that mattered to him and he only knew the sacrifices of going on a mission. He found out on his mission though that there are 10 times more blessings that missionaries receive than sacrifices. I have felt like he did lately when thinking about going on a mission, I mostly just know the sacrifices and hard parts of what a mission is and it doesn't seem all that great but knowing now how great of an experience a mission is from what Austen said and how much the Lord blesses missionaries i definitely feel like I want to serve a mission." (Jefferson wrote this and then Jared responded) " I would agree with what Austin said and I think most kids are that same way. You know it's the right thing to do but all you can think about are the negatives. You know for me, I was not all that excited and sometimes it's still hard to stay happy and excited but there are, like he said, 10x more blessings than trials and most of it is your attitude. You make the mission what you want it. You just can't go out expecting what return missionaries talk about right off the bat. You for sure have to work up to that point, but you can have fun everyday if you have the right attitude. You can use that as motivation, knowing that you will learn the language soon and know how to teach and not have so much to work on but day to day you just have to relax, take it as it comes and live in the moment. Learn as much as you can, do what you can when you can do it, and just let everything else bounce off of you. Well, glad to know you are thinking of a mission. It seems like you're in the prime of your life and I think most kids are but it will all be there when you get back and the two years you give to the lord will be worth it. " (That was a satisfying exchange for a mother to read between brothers who only a year or two ago finally decided to be real friends)

This last one is a short note from another one of Jared's letters "The big thing for this week was my split with Elder Cleveland. We were in the MTC together and he is awesome. We are now in the same district and see each other a lot. We did a split the other day and it rocked. We both are not that good at poruguese because we both only have three months but we didn't let that slow us down. It was so nice to be with another person for the day that is new. Not only did we have the same problems and worries but we could talk about our comps. I love Elder Toala (my comp) but I dont think he is a good trainer. Elder Cleveland's comp is great too but not that good of a trainer. Both of them and almost every other missionary in this area just are not as focused as they could be. Everyone breaks rules and rationalises it and if I hear one more person tell me I will change and 'oh, I want to see you in six months' I'm going to kill them. I get so sick of that. The kids are not bad and we get a lot of good work done but there is so much more that could be done and I hate the rules too but they must have a reason even the little ones. I set a goal this week not to change in that way and not to think it's ok to do something because others are or think there are people doing worse things. It sounds easy but it's not and there will always be worse people that make any decision look good. Cleveland also helped me get better at studying." "This next week we have 4 baptisms planned so I hope they stick and I can write you about them next week. The work is all good. The language is still coming slowly. The members still rock."