Week 66 - Dec 4, 2015

Week 66 - Dec 4, 2015
Jacob:

Hello! I hope you're starting to get into the holiday spirit, because I am! The FamilySearch Center has already got a couple of trees near the steps and some poinsettias scattered around. I've started setting up the holiday decorations that I was sent in the mail, while trying to keep our apartment clean. It got here just in time to start the advent calendar, too!

During this past week I was pulled aside a couple times by a patron who had trouble indexing. I was even called by her personally when I wasn't technically on duty. I may have to bring this up with my zone leader whenever I get the chance.

If you ever get a chance to get to one of the Discovery Centers (in the FSC in SLC and soon to be in the Family History Library, also in Seattle) here are the stations to familiarize yourself with:

1. This is where you take a computer tablet, enter your FamilySearch account, and take a "selfie" of your self before taking it to the different interactive stations
2. Discover: Find out what your name means, how many people share your name, and what happened the year you were born!
3. Explore: Learn where your ancestors are from and when they migrated to America.
4. Experience: Take a "time machine" back to anytime between 1820 and 1895 to see the house that you ancestor might have lived in.
5. Picture: A special camera places your face over the face of people from different nationalities so you can see what you would look like if you dressed as them!
6. Record: Answer some questions about various topics, some relating to family pictures. There are two options for this one; a small room for single people, and a larger room for friends and families.
7. Share: Put some "takeaways" on the large tree to view before you send the story to your email account once you return your tablet. It only shows what you've done, so save this one for last!

It's fun to talk and share with you the different things I experience each day.

Tara:  Hi son! Are you still there?  I'm so sorry I didn't get an email sent yet!!!! The past few days have been busy and even though I have thought of you, I didn't get a chance to write.  Glad you got the decorations and are looking forward to Christmas!   I will write a good, long letter next week !!! I love you so much!!!!

Jacob:  Thanks for responding to this one. I was afraid that you wouldn't get a chance! As long as I know that you are there, it makes me so much happier! We're actually finishing up email time up here, so we might get a chance to talk more next week.

Tara:  So sorry my boy! I look forward to hearing from you so much!!! We are excited to hear the Christmas devotional this Sunday... Are you going? We are having fun getting your Christmas package put together.   We all love you and miss you!

Week 65 - Nov 25, 2015

Week 65 - Nov. 25, 2015
Jacob:

Hi, everyone. I'm writing you today because what would've been prep day is Black Friday. I have been doing a new activity on FamilySearch called "zoning." That's looking at old newspapers and creating zones for each section relating to deaths, births, and marriages. I would encourage you to do it too, but it's hard if you don't have somebody to show you. You could either go around asking if anybody knows how to do zoning on FamilySearch or just wait until I get back from my mission. I found some real gems, like the death record for the actual Oscar Mayer!

For Thanksgiving we have a nice dinner planned, plus watching Joseph Smith; the Prophet of the Restoration. When I saw it in the past, I recognized the Methodist preacher was the announcer for some old Church videos. Could you please tell me what his name was? On Friday we have a class on cleaning our apartments, then we're going to deep-clean our apartments. I still haven't moved out of the apartment. Seems like district leaders don't change apartments unless otherwise noted. We are also planning to see the lights on Temple Square and help out in the FamilySearch Center for the rest of the night. What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

I haven't gotten to do those cards, so I'm considering mailing them back as soon as the crowds die down for a while. I've felt that with my zone duties there aren't a whole lot of gaps in my schedule where initiatories could be done. But if there are any cards that need just endowments, I could do one each month.

Everyone's getting ready for the holiday season, too! The Church buildings are already putting up holiday decorations, and just yesterday the technician in our zone asked me to help him by downloading all the media library's Christmas videos onto a flash drive to plug into the big screen in the FSC's big TV screen.

Happy Holidays!




Tony: I think the Methodist Preacher's name is Tim Threlfall, according to IMDB:

Tara: 

Hi there! We are happily surprised to hear from you today. Sounds like you are doing good.  I've never heard about doing the zoning before... I will have to keep my eyes and ears open to learn more about it.  I loved hearing about your finding Oscar Meyer!  ️. Your Thanksgiving plans sound like fun. We are baking pies right now, planning on taking them to Preston tomorrow to eat with the Derricotts. There is supposed to be a big storm coming tonite, so I hope the roads will be good for driving. 

You can go ahead and send the temple cards back, or else give them to some other elders to get done.  I might send a few endowments for you to work on though.  

We are getting a box ready to send to you with a few Christmas decorations for your apartment.  Hope you like it!

Erik has been having a hard time lately. He is having a bit of depression and we are trying to help him with that.  He is going to talk to a counselor next week, and might be starting some medicine to help.  Don't worry about him, because he will be ok, but please remember him in your prayers and continue to write encouraging and loving things to him.

We are happy you are learning skills like deep cleaning! . I'm sure it will be useful through your whole life!  We love you so much and are proud of the good things you are doing! I will send some pictures from Thanksgiving, and I hope you enjoyed the pictures from our trip!  Love you a bunch!   Mom

Week 64 - Nov 20-2015

Week 64 - Nov 20, 2015
Jacob:

Hello everyone! I am doing great in Salt Lake City! I am doing very well in my zone at the FamilySearch Center. I have lots of opportunities to help out people. I also have a new companion, Elder Crittenden. He is also from Rexburg and I hope that he and I will have a good companionship.

This Thanksgiving we are planning on having a dinner. On Black Friday the FamilySearch Center doesn't have any missionaries assigned to it, so Elder Crittenden and I volunteered to be there from 5:00-9:00 pm.

I have just received word that the Family History Library will do some remodeling beginning December and ending February next year. There will be more details to come.

I have also come up with a holiday wish list. It consists mostly of things that I would like, not necessarily what I need (except an umbrella, it seems to be tearing and I lost the case for it)

- SD-USB converter

- Large notebook

- Chocolate-filled candy cane or peppermint stick (I can't remember which)

- Pencil sharpener

- 2016 calendar and advent calendar

- Freeze-dried ice cream

Thanks for being able to listen to me each week! I hope you all have a safe holiday season!

Me as an Englishman and General Custer: 

Week 63 - Nov 13, 2015

Week 63 - Nov 13, 2015
Jacob: 

Hello everyone! My companion and I are getting along just fine. You can tell the ward that I am letting myself change by being more diligent in scripture study. Even after the Book of Mormon challenge has ended I am planning to read through it a couple more times before the end of my mission. I was told by President Tate that "if you don't feel like praying, pray until you do feel like praying." I haven't done the initiatories yet, but I promise to get them done hopefully before the year is up. I am starting to feel myself change in allowing myself to submit myself to God's will more often.

Are those stories about James C. Livingston on FamilySearch? I haven't forgotten about him, but a couple times during some testing in the Discovery Center I have come across our first ancestor converted to Mormonism. The only problem is I can never remember his name. Speaking of ancestors, I am expecting Great-Grandpa McLean's profile to come up on FamilySearch sometime in the near-future. Maybe if you or I had something we could get it started and not deal with the stress of others being confused about it like it did when I first came on the mission.

The lights are starting to come up, and a few of them have been lit up for a couple nights for testing, but we don't expect them all on until after Thanksgiving. I also have been looking forward to a Thanksgiving dinner for our stake. So far as I can tell we have not had any snow, but the mornings and evenings while it's dark have been a bit chilly.

Each day in the FamilySearch Center we go around the floor helping those who like to be introduced to family history research or the FamilySearch website. We also have an in-service (sort of like a mini computer class) each week and sometimes we work in the Discovery Center, where people with a FamilySearch account can do interactive activities that are aimed to encourage family history work. I was told that sometime during the next year the Church was going to start turning the main floor of the Family History Library into a giant Discovery Center. As district leader it is my job to make sure everyone in my district has everything they need, including the mail which I get every weekday.

I believe that's all for now. I hope to see you again soon!

-Elder Derricott

1. Signs on the washing machines in our apartment complex (the white ones were accidentally placed upside-down)

2. Elder Heese and I

Week 62 - Nov. 6, 2015

Week 62 - Nov. 6, 2015
Jacob:

Hi, everyone! Sounds like you have all had a good week! I bet you all have great experiences with these trips! I hope that you all stay safe while separated from each other.

We have actually had some snow today, but mostly in the mountains. I hope it's not like last year, with so little precipitation that it was a year of drought. It is cold, though. I'd go so far as to say that I need to wear my coat to and from places.

On Halloween we went to zone as usual, but we went home early to avoid those who would target missionaries. We watched David Archuletta's "Called to Serve," which I found very inspirational. We also watched "The Quest for a Go-Getter." For those who haven't seen it, it's about a man who is asked by a kind boss to fetch him a blue vase. However, the boss's other two jealous workers are determined to keep the man from getting it. It's very humorous and at the same time very inspirational. I think it's my new favorite short movie!

I have also finished reading the Book of Mormon, so I am going through again to check over anything I may have missed.

My new companion Elder Heese is very nice and kind. He likes talking to people and helping out patrons. I have constant prayers of comfort and joy, and I make an effort to look forward to each day with a positive attitude.

I think that's all that I have, but before I go I would like to point out that one of my gloves somehow got missing. I would like to request another pair of gloves because one glove by itself isn't of very good use.

Love you! Elder Derricott

Week 61 - Oct 30, 2015

Week 61 - Oct 30, 2015
Jacob: 

This month after transfers I have a new companion, Elder Heese. He can walk fine, but for long distances like between our apartment and church or Temple Square, he has to use a walking stick. I don't see Elder Bess very often, probably because he's in a different zone than I am. I did manage to get one photo with Elder Gates before we transferred, and this was after a dinner appointment with some of the senior missionaries.

I love the package you got me! I just got started on the "Boo Berry" cereal today! One thing I'm curious about is if it tastes any different from "Franken Berry." Are you going to make it a tradition to buy "Monster Cereal" each year? We don't have too much planned for Halloween, just an early release from day zone. We also get to see a movie at the stake center after dinner and some evening sports. Other than our apartments and the stake center, we don't have much else to go during the evening.

I am also near the end of my Book of Mormon challenge. Our mission is planning next to do a reading challenge based off the talks from this year's October General Conference, but I'm not sure if you are going to get anything on that?

I'm sure that the mission is planning on getting us tickets for this year's Christmas devotional, but I'm still skeptical as to whether young missionaries will be able to go to the Christmas concert. Last year's concert went over curfew time and we had to go home with our mission coordinator Elder Musgrave.

Anyways, it's nice to see that everyone is doing well and I hope to speak with you again in the future!

Elder Derricott and Elder Gates

Week 60 - Oct 23, 2015

Week 60 - Oct 23, 2015

Jacob:  Hey, everyone! I'm doing alright. This week I have been learning a bit about leadership and how I could become a better leader. I hope that what I learn will help me become a better person in the future.

I got some melatonin a couple weeks ago, and it seems to be helping with my sleep a bit. I do, however, still need some special shampoo. I have noticed some dandruff in my hair for the past few weeks. I also seem to be the victim of losing water bottles, so could you please send one asap? Maybe you could find a way to etch or paint the name "Derricott" on it?

Last week my companion and I got on computers that suddenly shut down on us. They seemed to be the only ones that shut down in the entire library, and mine wouldn't turn back on until I removed my flash drive. I'm starting to doubt my technological skills. Thank goodness for auto-saving drafts!

This week has been pretty good. We had a couple special lunches; one was at the Lion House with a sister missionary who worked in our zone at the FamilySearch Center, the other was a farewell luncheon for some missionaries who were leaving. It was a sandwich luncheon, but for some heretofore undiscovered law of physics the cheese was gone faster than the meat. I also got a flu shot, so I should be safe from the flu for the next couple months.

I feel like this mission is blessing me with good comfort and health. Since the mission started I am starting to get a feel for my budget and how to make the most of spending.

Hope to see you all soon!

Week 59 - Oct 16, 2015

Week 59 - Oct. 16, 2015

Jacob: Hi, everyone! I am having a good time working in the FamilySearch Center. I get to help out patrons, and if I get stuck, I can just ask for help from the other missionaries in the area. I have already done shopping, but I was hoping to get laundry done after emails were done. President Tate's wife Sister Tate said that some of my shirts were starting to look a bit "yellow" so I bought some "Oxi-Clean" at the store.

It's nice to hear that you are having a nice warm fall. Ours is pretty good too except for one thing: gnats. Our apartment complex seems full of them during these warm fall days, so we literally can't go anywhere without going through them.

I am basically caught up with the Book of Mormon challenge, and I am trying to find a good way to apply it to my life.

I can't wait to hear how those upcoming events turn out, especially that talk in primary! Do you know who specifically is teaching the lesson?

I'm sorry that my email isn't quite as long as some of my more recent ones, but I do have some nice pictures to share. I hope that everyone has a great week and know that everyone is in my prayers!

Sincerely, Elder Derricott

Tara :  Hi son.  Good to hear from you! Oxi clean should help a lot with your shirts... Also wash them with hot water and sometimes a little bleach.   The gnats sound really irritating...we have had a lot of them too. I don't know who is teaching primary, but it was the president, Micalla Nef, who asked for information about the missionaries.  I will let you know if I find out more about it.  Your pictures are great! I would love to get a picture of you and your companion sometime. What are your Thanksgiving plans? I think we are going to Preston with all the Derricotts.  Love you so much!

Jacob:

Salt Lake Temple

Cathedral with U of U?

Fountain

U logo on mountain

Church Office Building

Tony: I was in Salt Lake Monday through Thursday, Jacob.  We went to Temple Square Wednesday night.  We also saw the inside of the Cathedral of the Madeline on Tuesday.  We went to the Cathedral of the Jazz on Monday.