Half Leg, Whole Attitude

Dawn Patrol Matagalpa. 

I wont bore you with more adventures about the things that came out of me this week. My bowels are still a mess. I would say it keeps me on my feet and keeps the day exciting but i really spend more time, off my feet, sitting down. Ferrincito (Elder Ferrin) gets a kick out of it. I love nicaragua. 

Matagalpa is so freakin dope. It is getting chilly here at night and my fluffy walmart batman blanket has finally emerged from the darkness once again. We are getting really close to getting a stake here. We send in our proposal in January and we are barely qualifying right now. Ferrin and are are working our butts off. 

Elder Ferrin and i baptized our man Axel this week. He is a young kid with a good family and is really poor. He didnt have any shoes to wear to school so we did what i did with sam kramer many years ago and got him some sweet new ones the day of his baptism. 

This week Ferrin and I took a little trip down to Managua. Hermana Collado called and invited (forced) us to be a part of a some pictures and graphics for the mission. We sat around all day at their house and had some good food. I got to see some old buddies there which was cool. We finished at around 5 and in Managua, much like home, traffic doesnt move from 5-7pm. It took us two hours to go about 10 miles to the bus stop. Four 20 year old dudes sitting on each others laps in the back of a small taxi with windows that didn't go down made for some sweaty thighs. You get to the point here where you really dont know whose sweat it is anymore you just know that you are wet. 

Anyway, we missed the bus and had to stay in Managua. As we walked from the bus stop to a buddies house to spend the night, i got nipped by a good sized puppy. I dropped my pants right there in the street and sat there and bled for a little while. I remember thinking after working in the ER for all those months and being the son of the man who does this for a living i should probably know what to do. I didnt though. We went into some random ladies house and she helped clean my bloody butt off and i think we got the hole in me pretty sterile. We wrapped that puppy up with some toliet paper and duck tape and i was as good as new.  

Hope you guys all have great thanksgiving. I am so thankful for so many things in my life. Fam-jakes-cass-sleezy-surfing´-california burritos- my mission- and above everything the gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. My attitude about what i have and about what is important has changed 100 percent over the last 18 months. This attitude of being thankful and always looking for the good in all experiences-people-things has made me so much happier. God has given me everything. I thank him everyday for all of you and everything that i have. The next time your leg is bleeding in dirty dark alleyway just think of how blessed you are to have two legs- and for all the other things that God has given you. 

love you guys stay sleezy. 

Elder Jake

Faith in Dire Times

Dawn Patrol Matagalpa.

What is up everybody. Elder Jake has been slackin on the letters recently but is freakin loving it out here in the jungle. Always in the tube. I hope all of you are doing well and are gonna get extra sleezy for haloween 2015.

We baptized another sweet lady this week named Margerys. The zone here in matagalpa is doing sweet. Everyone is excited and focused. We ended the month breakin the baptism record for the zone. So dope. It has been humbling and so freakin fun to be out in the field agian. 

I have gotten away from my bowel movement stories and i apoligze. I know that's what everyone really wants to here. Here are a few recent experiences where the title of this little letter comes into play.

Two weeks ago Elder Ferrin and i were walking around out in the middle of no where trying to find some members and some families that we had been teaching. As we were walking along i all of the sudden got the feeling that i was going to crap myself in about 3 seconds. You know the feeling....maybe? I ran around looking for somewhere to go to the bathroom and i finally found someone who would allow my to use there facilities. I sat my butt down in this humid, tin shack that barely had a door on it. I was relieved in all of about 2 seconds. All of the little children thought it was just hilarious to watch the little white boy go to the bathroom through the cracks in the shack. After getting all of that business out, i looked around and there was no toilet paper . I helplessly yelled out to ferrin to go find me some toilet paper. He came back 5 minutes later and slid a single half sheet of lined paper through the crack in the door. (dire times) He said that the lady didn't have any and there were no stores around to go buy some. I got the best out of that half sheet of thin lined paper but even my wiping skills were not enough after that little incident. Elder Jake left that house with no socks...but clean.

Last pday some of the elders in the zone and i hiked up to a giant cross in the city. We decided that lunch up at the top would be way doper than walking back down so we bought some dogs, buns, ketchup and soda made our way up to the top. The plan was to use all of our scout camp aquired knowledge to find wood and make a fire to cook our dogs.  As i have done many times in my life, I realized that i am an idiot.  We quickly figured out that in nicaragua, where it rains every day, nothing lights on fire. We read the hot dog package and it said they were pre cooked so we did what real scouts would do and just ate those delicious dogs out in the jungle uncooked. I got to the computer to write all of you beautiful people and it came all of the sudden like most things do here. No email that week. We got in a taxi and headed off. I prayed in that taxi so hard that i would not puke over the fat lady that was sitting next to me. (dire times). As soon as i got out of that taxi i had not walked 40 steps and found my self in front of a giant catholic church puking out all things holy in front of our beloved mother mary. All of the church goers did not seem very pleased but a nice drunk dude came up and offered me a swig to rinse my mouth out. I told him, "next time." 

I love the mission. I have learned so many things in this crazy place. Things will never be the same and my perspective on life is 100 percent different than it was 18 months ago. I still love all of you the same. 

God is always with us. Faith in Him and in Jesus Christ is the foundation of a life of hapiness. In dire times, faith and prayer are often only things we have. Faith is essential and is what allows us to recieve answers, overcome and become better.

One man talks about faith like this. Faith is hope and vision. 

God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future  He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe.
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland)

Another man says it like this

I heard once that in dire times when you need a sign thats when they appear

Jesus Christ teaches us this. 

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say untoyou, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only dothis which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say untothis mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into thesea; it shall be done.

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,believing, ye shall receive.

How i feel....

But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And nowI would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. Andnow ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye seethat God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed 

Faith is everything. It is something that has become part of me. Its what allows me to be happy, have vision, and live better. Its something that i will never loose.

In dire times, keep the faith. Put your trust in God. Make him a part of our life and you will 
find happiness that you have never had before.

I love you guys. all this morning we were building a house for a member lady and her daughter. i made all the elders come with me. they werent super stoked to do manual labor all morning but i freakin loved it. the lady and her daughter are such sweet people too. I love nicaragua

I love you all. stay sleezy.