JACKSONS JOURNEY JOURNAL: February 2018

Valentines Week

February 2018

Matt and I were able to get away for an evening. It was very nice and relaxing!

Ellie's Valentine this year was Dylan her friend from school. He gave her chocolates and a teddy bear for a Valentine surprise. They also went to a church dance and had a great time. He's not a member of the church and she isn't dating until she is 16 (about 4 more months) so she's had to shew the boys away until the awaited day lol! Another friend from Utah Trent also sent her a Valentine and has written her a couple of sweet poems. Oh the pre-dating year crushes....Fun times!

Bre and Kohlton had a fun Valentine weekend from high in the sky after her b-day treat to the low lands making dinner together for a sweet dinner at home. Chocolates and candles were the extra treats for Bre this year. Super cute!

Grandma Cheryl took the little ones to the park and roller skating for a fun Valentines Treat so mom and dad could get some adult time away, thank you Gma!

They had a great time on their outing, little Miss Saydee was all tuckered out getting some zzzzz.

Ellie "Our Newest Cheerleader"

2/27/2018

Way to go Ellie! Cheer tryouts were all last week and judging was Friday night. She found out Saturday morning that she made VARSITY CHEER!! Very proud of this girl, all your hard work and dedication paid off Ellie. GO RED and WHITE!

When Ellie first scanned the list, she didn't think she made it (not initially seeing her name) they had it spelled Ellei instead of Ellie (assuming since Elleisha is spelled that way and they had full real name on the app form.) She missed tryouts for last year since we moved here at the beginning of the summer and tryouts are in February. She was one happy gal and is very excited to be more involved in her school and community this year!

Baptism # 4 Jarom's Argentine Grandma Elvica

2/27/2018

Jarom is doing great and he says his time in Argentina is flying by so fast (which must mean he is busy which is good to hear.) He says that he feels that his English is getting worse by the day and that he is getting better at speaking and understanding Spanish more and more every day. Last Saturday he baptized his Argentina Grandma Elvica, isn't she so cute?! He sent us a nice email this week and at the end he says, "Oh and yeah Elder Lopez and I were robbed on Saturday." Not what a mom likes to hear; however, it is not an uncommon incident for the missionaries to get robbed in foreign countries apparently. They got away with his back pack and their cell phone, Jarom said "oh well" so it must not have been too big of a deal. We love receiving Elder Jackson's emails and weekly updates on his missionary service!

More White Fluffy February Snow

2/23/2018

Kohlton had his mission farewell talk last Sunday, he did a great job. We will miss him as he leaves to serve in the Lord and the people in The Philippians starting in the SLC Utah MTC to learn the language and to train. He reports to the MTC on March 6th and leaves Monday the 5th so in just a little over a week, bitter sweet for Bre. We are all very excited for him!

These are a few pics I downloaded from my phone from a few different recent snow falls. Some of them were taken after church last Sunday and the rest from our back deck this morning (some of the pics oddly wouldn't flip around so they downloaded sideways but they are still fun to see.) It is really nice living out a bit further during the Winter months! It felt like we never would get our snow-fix or fill when we lived in Sumner. The snow and snow flurries would always tend to hit all of the cities around up and skip over the little town of Sumner. No shortage of snow for us now out in the country! It really is quite a beautiful site. I will add more after I download the pics from my camera :) I feel bad though the Scouts with Josh in 11 year old scouts, Spencer's group and Matt who is in serving with the Scouts/YM had planned to do a snow camp out at Buck Creek in the mountains near Mt Baker in Snoqualmie National Forest in Darrington this weekend. Sadly, with the winter conditions and so much snow fall already and then accumulations of 12-20" of more snow expected this evening, they called the camp out off. With that much snow fall with the winter storm advisory and then the driving conditions, it was just too unsafe to send the boys to the camp out this weekend...they will reschedule though. Josh was just super excited and bumbed out since it was going to be his 1st camp out with the scouts! Go figure, the coldest and snowiest weekend of the year thus far in the area they have the snow camp out planned on.

Elders Jackson and Lopez with Baptisms

Feb 20, 2018

Thought I would write up a quick update and let everyone know that I am still alive in Argentina!

On Saturday me and my companion Elder Lopez baptized Natalia and Angelica! They are from Paraguay and couldnt wait to receive the blessings that come with baptism.

The work in Buenos Aires is going great! I might not be able to speak Spanish perfectly but I have a strong testimony of the gift of tongues and I know the Lord blesses his missionaries.

We have another baptism scheduled for this Saturday! Elvica will be getting baptized. She is 77 years old, lives by herself and doesn't have much family left. She walks with us to church on Sundays and has so much faith and love for our Savior!

I am thankful for all of you and the impact that each of you have had on my life!

-Elder Jackson

It's great and heart warming to read and see the Lord's work being accomplished in Argentina with Jarom our Elder Jackson and his companions! We all look forward to his weekly emails and updates on his service. It's fun to see his growth, happiness and love for where he is and what he is doing right now in Buenos Aires. His impact in the lives of those he serves will stay with him into the eternities which is so good to see and know. We miss and love Jarom dearly but the understanding that he is where he is supposed to be and in the service of The Lord makes the days, weeks and months that go by so rewarding to us as his family.