Young Elders Conference Photo

2014-12-27

Thank you all for the wide selection of gifts! I am glad to get a lot of the things that I needed. I hope that the speakers will work once I try them. Be sure to thank the Jolleys, too! They sent me some ties and a couple of Twinkies dressed up as "Minionaries!" My companion and I liked those clothespins painted to look like us, plus the Chic-Fil-A gift card; we'll have to use that sometime in the near future. 
    We have also received snow during Christmas. We decided to take a walk during the afternoon, and we came back covered with so much snow that we had to hang them up by the door just inside the apartment. We enjoyed our Christmas dinner too, especially the ham. After dinner, we watched last year's Christmas devotional. I'd say this was one of the best Christmases I've ever had!
    Lately we have been reading from Jesus the Christ during companionship studies when we were finished with our Sunday lesson. It is interesting to learn about what was happening during those days and how it all related to His ministry. I find it helpful in better understanding the scriptures and the parables that he uses.
    I believe that's it for now. Until then, I pray for you and your safety.

Tony to Jacob 
What type of temple work do you do when you go?  Baptisms?  Initiatory? Endowment? How often do you go?  Every week?  How many different temples have you been to?

Jacob to Tony
It really depends on how much time we have. We try to do baptisms and confirmations on the same day and the initiatories on another day, but that's when occasion permits. We are required to take part in an endowment session once a month.

Tony to Jacob
How many different temples have you been to?

Jacob to Tony
I have been to the Salt Lake temple most of the time, and we did get a chance to visit the Bountiful temple on Halloween. Today, that's 2 temples.

Tony to Jacob
Why did you go to Bountiful?  Any idea which ones you might go to in the future?

Jacob to Tony
From what I'm told, it's because of all the crazy drunk people in SLC during Halloween. I have no idea which ones we will visit in the future.

Tony to Jacob
Well, I'm glad you avoided the crazy drunk people.

Tony to Jacob
I recall you mentioned in a recent letter that you do sports on Saturdays at 6. Is that the only day you exercise?  What sport do you engage in? Are you using the black undershorts I sent?  Hope you're staying fit in all ways prescribed by Luke 2:52.

Jacob to Tony
Since it's not a workday, yes it is the only day to work out. I have not yet tried one the sports shorts for fear of misuse.

Tony to Jacob
Misuse?

Jacob to Tony
Actually, I fear that being tight they might actually rip.

Tony to Jacob 

Just wear them. If they rip we can get you some new ones. If you don't care for them you can send them home. You won't know until you try. 

2014-12-25 Christmas Call

Listen to the Complete Call by Clicking Here

...I got to open all my presents.

Oh, yeah?  How was that?
It was pretty fun.
Anything spectacular in there?
I did like the watch.
Oh, good!
And were you able to sleep in your Christmas jammies last night?
Yep.
ha-ha.  Did you like your shirt?
Uh-huh.
I thought that would make you laugh.  Well, we have a bunch of questions here we thought of that we'd like to ask you about but I don't wanna ask all of them so I'm gonna let some of the others ask you if they have anything first.
Uh, sure.
Nothing that I can think of.
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Come closer so he can hear you talking, Erik.
Hey, Jacob.
Yea.
Um, so, what do you do on your P-days, mostly?
Well, we usually go shopping.
OK.
And we also do our laundry on that day.  And we take the time to e-mail home.
Oh. Well, that's nice.
We always look forward to your e-mails a lot.
Thank you.
Um, what about exercising?  What kind of exercises do you do?
Well, yesterday we took a walk around Temple Square.
Do you ever go to a gym and play ball or do anything like that?
Um, we do our...actually...it's mostly in our church's cultural hall.
Oh, yeah.
Is that just on P-days or do you get to exercise every day?
We get pretty...we get lots of walking every day with doing deliveries and all.
Oh, yeah.
Yea.
Yep, we opened your envelope this morning with your...with the pictures and the description of what you do.  We sure liked that.
Well, ya, that's nice.
ha-ha...that was nice.  It was fun to read and hear more about what you do every day.
Yea, tell us about that Intranet comment competition.
Well, it's pretty much for members of the church workforce.
Does that include everybody in the Church Office Building, too?
Yea, pretty much.
So, tell us more about it.
Well, every time you make a comment on one of the articles your name is submitted for a drawing later that month.  If you put it right you've got a pretty good chance of winning.
Yea we saw you won that briefcase.   That's pretty cool.
Uh-huh.
So what parts of the day do you read articles and type comments?
Well it pretty much varies from day to day.
So are you saying that in between deliveries you have time to sit down at computers and read articles?  Or what are some other times?
Well, actually it depends on what's going on in the week.  The mission conferences, temple trips, and basically pretty much we wanna try to fit in other people within the delivery schedules.
So, do you like doing the deliveries or are you getting kind of tired of that.
I like doing them.
Good.  I'm glad.
What exactly do you deliver?
Well, there are a bunch of books teaching history of the Church.  They're pretty much from wherever in the world you can get them.
That sounds cool.  So, I have another question.  Do you ever get to eat dinner with other members or with other missionaries or do you pretty much just do it on your own?
Well, we get to eat with other members on certain occasions.
So, you have eaten with other people a few times?
Yep.
And do you feel like your food is working out good?  You're able to cook the things you need to and prepare them and find what you need?
Yes.
Well, that's good.
So, tell me more about those books that you were delivering.  I imagine it's kind of like a library except normal people don't get to go look at the shelves.  That's your job.  When somebody requests a book you go find it on the shelf and take it and deliver it to them.  Is that kind of how it works?
Well, some older people come in and look for the books and they put it on the cart so that we can deliver it around the building.
OK.
Cause, some of the stuff is pretty old.  And they have to be kept in files to keep them from falling apart.
Wow.
So, then, are you in charge of...um...when the person is done, they put them back on a cart going the other way and you haul it back up where it belonged or what?
Well, they do have a return room and we like to go back every 15-20 minutes.
You go back every 15-20 minutes to see if there's anything to return or not?
Yep.
So, do you two always stay together on that?  You always have to be...
Yes.
...within sight of each other?
Uh-huh.
So, where are you calling from today, from the church or from your apartment?
Um, we're calling from our apartment.  Our district leader lent us his phone so that we could call.
Oh.
Is your district leader in your apartment?
Yes.
How many people are in your district?
Um, I think there at least 12.
And do you have district meetings on a regular basis?
Usually on Monday nights.
What kind of things do you talk about in district meetings?
We talk about lessons that we're going to teach the seniors on Sundays.
You teach those lessons every Sunday?
Well, it's usually after church we go to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and teach some junior missionaries.
Cool.
So, what are those lessons like?  What's an example?
Mainly we use lessons from Preach My Gospel.
So, do you and your companion teach that or is it a big group of teachers or do you take turns doing it once a month or how does that work?
Well, we usually take a senior companionship and me and my companion teach them.
So, every week you teach a different senior companionship?
We try to keep it consistent but if ours isn't there then we try to find a companionship without teachers.
Hm.  So do you go through those lessons in order each week.  So you teach lesson one then lesson two and stuff like that?
Yep.
Cool.  So how many lessons are there total?  Do you know?
No.
So is it kind of like the older couples pretending to be investigators?
Yea, pretty much.
That's good experience, good exercise for you.
So I had a question about your laundry.  Have you washed your sheets yet?
I have washed them a couple of times.
I wondered if maybe they remind you to do that or if you just remember on your own.
I remember.
Oh, good job.  I'm glad.
Probably about once a month or so, huh?
Yea.
Yep.  That's good.  So, we found a Facebook page for parents of kids that are in your mission.  And we enjoy reading that and seeing pictures that the parents post of their missionaries and stuff.  It kind of helps us understand what you do on your mission.  So that's pretty cool.
Have you ever heard of that, Jacob?
Um, no.
Do you know an Elder Bailey?
The name rings a bell.
It was his mom that invited us to it. So, what are the names of the other elders in your apartment?
Well, my current companion is Elder Bowers and my District Leader is Elder Busenshi and his companion whose name I don't remember.
Oh, heheheh.  So, do you guys get along pretty well do you think?
Yea.  Of course.
Hehehe.
Of course.  Elder Busenshi and his companion are just visiting so that I can make this phone call.
Oh.  So, do they live there, though, in that same apartment or not?
No.  They live in a different apartment.
OK.  So, is it just you and Elder Bowers in your apartment, then?
Yes.
OK.
So, that's different than...you've moved since we dropped you of at that first apartment, right?
Yep.
Have you moved more than once?
Yes.
Twice?
Uh-huh.
So, how far away did you move?
Um, well, we haven't moved from the Garden Apartments.  Basically we're just swapping companions in the same apartment area.
Is it the same building?
No, I think there are 8 buildings total.
So, you've moved from one building to another building?
Yep.
Was that hard for you or was it pretty easy?
It was pretty easy.
Good.
How about all the stuff that you've moved twice.  Are you finding that you packed and planned pretty well on what to bring on your mission or are there things that you have that you don't use or are there other things that you don't have that you wish you had?
I've got pretty much what I need.
Nothing extra?  You don't have things you don't use?
No, not really.
Hmm.
Good.
We must have done pretty good, then, huh?
Uh-huh.
How's your clothes holding up?  Everything wearing well?  Nothing wearing out?
Nope.
Are you rotating through everything?  Like not wearing the same 3 pairs of socks every week but you're rotating through all 10 pair or however many you have?
Yep.
Same with your garments and rotating your suits and everything?
Uh-huh.
Swapping your shoes every other day.
Yea.
Do you need any more garments or do you have enough?
I've got enough.
OK.
So, tell us about your temple trips, Jacob.  We didn't realize that apparently you go outside your mission on certain days.  Is that a weekly thing or a monthly thing? How do you do those?  Because you've been to a couple of different temples it sounds like, Bountiful and I don't know where else?
Well, mostly we do temple trips in the Salt Lake Temple but on Halloween we went to the Bountiful Temple.
Did you just kind of carpool up in the same vans that you go to WalMart in and get driven there?
Yep.
Cool.
Who's the van drivers?  Is it some of your district leaders or do they have special drivers that only drive vans or what?
Well, some of the missionaries who are drivers they drive.
So, they have to take a driving test to make sure that they can drive well enough?
Yep.
OK.
Do you ever wish that you would have got your driver's license?
Yea, kind of.
Erik's been working on his again.
That's good.
Uh-huh.
We had Erik's papers all turned in and then the Stake President called us and said that...you know the test that you have to take at the Family Services?
Yea.
He went to Idaho Falls and did his and apparently somehow they lost it and they couldn't figure out where it went or everything so he had to go back last Friday and do the whole test all over again.
So we still don't have a mission call for him but it's in the works.
Alright.
You're OK if we send a video when he gets it of him opening it?  You're OK to watch that?
Yea.
OK.
How much time do you get on the computer on Saturdays?
Basically we have 2 hours.
And is that computer back over at your workplace, not in your apartment?
Actually it's in the Family History Center.
Oh, is that the building by the Plaza Hotel or in the bottom of the Joseph Smith Building?
No, I mean the Family History Library.
Oh.
That's the building over by the Plaza Hotel on the west side.
Actually it's the building right next to the Church History Museum.
Yea, OK.  I think that's the same building we're talking about in different ways.
So, do you feel pretty comfortable getting around Temple Square and stuff?  You know where everything is and how to get there?
Yep.
Have you ever been in any of the underground tunnels?
Um, yea.
Really?
When do you go in there?
Um, we usually take one from the Church History Library to the COB to get newspapers.
You call it the COB, huh?
Yep.
Church Office Building?
Yep.
Have you ever bumped into anybody, any of the apostles or anything?
No.
Keep your eyes open.  They might be around.
So, we heard there's a choir in your mission.   Is that something that you're interested in or that you can do or what's the deal with that?
Um, well, actually I'm not really that interested in it.
Oh.
I thought you liked singing.
Yea, but we have to wake up pretty early in the morning.
Like how early?
Earlier than 6:30.
So, 6:30 is pretty much your limit, huh?
Yep.
That's funny.
You wake up at 6:30 even on P-day?
Uh-huh.
You go to bed at 10:00?
What?
Do you go to bed at 10:00 every night?
Yep.
I imagine you're always pretty tired and ready to sleep, huh?
Uh-huh.
So, did you guys get snow last night?
Yep.
Yay!
How much, can you tell?
I'd say it's about 2 inches now.
We probably got over 6 inches here overnight.  Yesterday we went...um your mom had to work at the bookstore on campus and so we went up to meet her for her lunch and we went walking around the outside track because it was pretty nice outside.  It was just a little bit cold.  But we were walking around the track on campus and I saw a carrot on the turf.  I looked a little closer.  It was by a teeny tiny pile of snow that had melted and there were some rocks laying there, too.  So, we'll have to send you the picture.  But I took a picture of everybody and we were making comments about how there was no snow in Rexburg and the snowman had melted and how said it was and now just less than 24 hours we have over 6 inches so that was kind of fun and kind of a drastic change.
So, Jacob, I'm curious to know if you have seen very many people down there that you know.
Well, I did run into I think the Stapelmans once.
Oh, yeah?  Or was it the Stangers?
Oh, yea, the Stangers.
Cause they told us that they turned around and you were standing right there next to them.
Stapelmans might have seen him, too.  I can't remember if they said that.
Yeah I can't remember.
So did you get very many Christmas cards and letters from people?
Yea, just some.
Just some?  Who wrote to you.
Well, I think it was some family from Oregon.
The what?
Um, some part of our family I think they were from Oregon.
Um, are you maybe talking about Bryan and Linda from Oklahoma?
Oh, yea, Oklahoma.
So, did they send you a letter?
Yep.
Oh, nice. Anybody else?
Nothing from the top of my head.
Oh.  So, sorry go ahead...
Did you see that um...did you notice that when we get letters from you that I'm posting them on a blog for you and then some people actually comment on that blog?  Did you notice that when I sent that to you from Sister Scheiern, specifically?  Do you remember that?
I remember.  And I did write to her.
OK.  Good.  So, the question I have about that is are you able to look at that blog?  Is that something that's appropriate for you to do?  Or is it better that we just copy and send things to you?
I think it would be safer if you copied.
OK.  So you're pretty much confined to just your email and your Intranet stuff.
And LDS sites.
OK.  That's good to know.  And is it OK if we kind of chat with you when you're online if we email back and forth?  We weren't sure if we were supposed to do that or not.
Like during that 2 hour time when you're sitting at the computer.
Um, I think that's OK.
So, you're usually there like between 1 and 3?
Yea, usually.
OK, well that's good to know.
So what kind of snacks do you have during the day?  Is there in the church history library is there people that have snacks laying out?
Uh... they recommend that you take snacks to the break room to protect the documents.
Oh... so you don't have snacks laying around because it might ruin the don't ruin the documents? They have them in one special room.
Yeah
Got it.
Is there usually snacks there every day?
Not really.
Sometimes and sometimes not, huh?
Uh huh.
So you just bring your own snacks with you most of the time?
Uh-huh.
Have you been feeling healthy and not sick at all?
Yep... pretty much.
Good.
How about your weight?  Have you been noticing that you've been staying pretty steady on your weight or gaining or losing or do you have a chance to weight yourself at all?
I haven't actually had a chance to check my weight.
Do you know if there's a spot where you can?
No, I don't know.
Are your clothes still fitting OK?  Nothing's getting too tight or too loose?
They fit pretty good.
OK.
Remember that first day when your pants ripped?  Did you get those fixed?
Yeah.  Um, yeah
OK.  They are working OK for you? that was pretty funny, huh?
Yeah.
So tell us about something funny that's happened on your mission.
Well... Elder Rodriguez told me about some of the dreams that one of the missionaries had.
Some of the dreams?
Yeah.
Like what?
Well, this guy, Elder Rodriguez told me that he had a Harry Potter dream.  And he dreamed that Dumbledore was there among the students and he said "attention class.  Today we are going to watch a movie! But before we do that you must find a buddy! And the guy who wanted to see the movie..." I got 5 minutes so I'll make this quick... " He asked this girl, Ashley, to be his buddy so he gave her a karate kick.  He said, hey Ashley, do you want to be my buddy? And she said OK.  He ended up being late for the movie and when he did get there, there were a bunch of knights standing around the door, and he said "guys, I'm sorry I'm late... will you let me in?" And the guys said NOOOO.  Go away.  You are late for the movie and you can not enter.  But Ashley... it's my chance to tell her I love her!  NO!!!!  Go Away!  So then he wanted Dumbledore to help him.  So they had to do this.  They had to go find this thing called the magic cup.  If they tried to get the cup, the mentors attacked them and then he dreamt that he woke up and he looked liked a girl.  Then he dreamt he was changing into an exact replica of Harry Potter.  So then he went to get to the knight again "Harry Potter!"  Go away!  You are late for the movie!  But my buddy Ashley is in there and it's my chance to tell her that I love her. The knights looked at him and NO! Go Away! You guys are jerks!
Funny dream!
That sounds pretty silly Jacob!
Um-hum.
That's funny.  So did you get homesick at all or did you do pretty good with that?
I'm doing pretty well now.
Good.  I'm glad.
Have you e-mailed with Elder Rodriguez since he left?
Yep.
His dad's been pretty good about keeping in touch with us too.  It's been fun to see that they got to go to Disney World and go on a train and different things.
Um hum.  They also went to Universal Studios.
Oh. Cool.
So what's your current companion's name? Elder Bellers?
Elder Bowers.
What kind of things do you and he have in common?
Well, we both like cartooning.
Yeah?
Is he do they make it separate so that he's a senior companion and you're a junior companion still, or do they make those designations?
I like to think of myself as a junior.
Uh k.. I think I'm pretty much out of time.
You have to go now?
Yep!  I love you!
Love you Love you, love you.
WE all love you and pray for you a lot.
Thank you!
Merry Christmas and talk to you again on mothers day.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
OK  Bye.
Love you Jacob!  Bye
Love you too.

2014-12-25 Christmas Letter

2014-12-20

We plan on going caroling on Christmas Eve and having a big dinner on Christmas along with watching last year's devotional. Don't worry, we'll probably have time to open our presents.
    I loved the concert, though it went on longer than I originally anticipated. I think it was worth it! After the concert started the first song, Big Bird and his friends accidentally interrupted the whole scene. To make up for it, Mack Wilberg allowed them to take over the concert. Elmo tried to find "more" in Christmas. Grover was in the control room ready to cue each number. Bert and Ernie helped out backstage and cued Santino Fontana, but Ernie kept mixing up the name. Abby and Rosita put on outfits that resembled the choir's costumes. Big Bird took over as conductor for the "Sesame Street" medley with Mack's response being, "I've got to see this." But one of the highlights of the evening was when Richard Elliott performed his arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with none other than the Count.
    Once again, there has been no snow this week. Just today, in fact, there was a small shower of rain. I hope that there will be at least enough to stick to the ground. But no matter what happens, I hope to make the most out of this Christmas!

2014-12-13

Hi everyone! I would like you to know that I got that box of Christmas presents that you sent. I can't wait to open them up on Christmas day.
    Speaking of Christmas, I had a little scare. This week I noticed that the tickets for the concert had a time of 8:00, which meant the concert would extend over the curfew of 9:00. I expressed my concern to the mission president, and he said it would be alright; he and his wife were going too, and we will probably meet up with them after the concert and go back to our apartment together.
    It's still pretty warm here, and today we had a small rainfall. However, I did notice that it was somewhat chillier in the mornings and evenings. Perhaps this is a sign of cold times ahead? 
    Anyways, here is a set of photographs I took of Temple Square the night the Christmas lights first turned on this year (plus my beautiful phone book tree.) Fortunately, they were saved onto my camera and transferred to my new flash drive. I will also send you a package in a brown paper bag, so that's something you shold look forward to. Until then, I will probably see you again soon!

2014-12-06

Hi guys! We had a little bit of snow in November, but it hasn't stayed for long. We haven't had any snowfalls since then. I hope to see at least one snowfall before Christmas comes around. 
    The mission gave both of us tickets for the First Presidency Devotional, so we'll be doing that. We get to see the Christmas concert next weekend, and the guests will perform in Music and the Spoken Word the day afterwards. I am so excited!
    Last weekend after emails we went to eat at the Garden Restaurant on the 10th floor of the JSMB. We had a nice waitress serve us, and we found that somebody had paid for our meal. The only thing we really bought that night was our desserts. Tonight we plan on eating in the City Creek food court. 
    Anyways, I thought up some more things that I would like for Christmas;

• 3-5 re-useable shopping bags
• A watch
• Pocket-sized set of scriptures
• Colored pencils with a carrying case

    It's so great to hear from you guys! I hope to catch you again!

11-29-2014

    Hi guys! Just wanted to let you know that I am having a good time here. Thanksgiving went well. Basically it was just like a pot luck; you get different variations of the same food items. This year I was actually careful to not over-stuff myself.
    The next day we made our own Christmas trees out of old phone books. One guy commented that his tree looked like a Dalek from Doctor Who. I was suprised at the amount of ink I got on my hands. Afterwards we watched a recording of last year's Christmas concert with John Rhys-Davies and Deborah Voight. Later that night, we went to Temple Square to see all of the Christmas lights turned on. It was a pretty big crowd, considering how popular the lights are.
    We were looking aroud Deseret Book and Walmart and wondering what to get you guys for the holidays. If you think of anything, let me know ASAP.
    See you guys later!

Jacob and his trainer from New York

(This is another letter and picture from the Rodriguez family to us.)

Sister Derricott,

Thought you’d appreciate another picture of your Elder. i took your advice and found an I love NY shirt. He was so cute, his face lit up when he saw it, and then wasn’t sure what to say.  I asked him, “do you like it?”  YES he responded. Good. So one more thing, I need to give you a big hug from your Mom. So I stepped forward and gave him a BIG hug from you. He looked a bit confused, but still had that very sweet smile on his face.  It was apparent that he and Elder Rodriguez hit it off. Elder Rodriguez went on and on about how much he loved your son. It was a highlight of his mission serving with him and serving him. You have a fine Elder and should be very proud of him.