Headed to Mexico!

Update:

Elder Eliason sent us a note to let us know that he'd be leaving the day before Thanksgiving for Mexico!  He mentioned that he would be calling us from the airport to let us know the particulars of his travel.  

He called us from Mexico City, where he and his companion were by themselves, having missed their connecting flight to Tobasco, as they'd been delayed because of weather in Salt Lake.  Elder Eliason sounded tired, but hopeful that he'd soon be in Villahermosa!  He spoke of how fast everyone spoke, that he found someone who spoke English to help him find the phone and get a call out... and that the airport was huge! 

Not knowing if they'd be able to get on any flights, he said that the Lord blessed them with a 'tender mercy' by having two seats come available late that night, as earlier they had been told that everything was sold out!  So... we assume that he and his companion boarded that flight and arrived very late that night in Tobasco, Villahermosa. 

He is now in Mexico, we haven't heard from him since he arrived in Villahermosa, and are patiently awaiting his first e-mail from there.  He's so excited to be there, but loved his experience and all the people he got to meet and work with in the Pocatello, Idaho Mission!  We'll post his first e-mail, as soon as we receive it!

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, e-mail, letters and packages in Elder Eliason's behalf!

Update:  We got a few pictures sent to the family in an e-mail... looks as if he too much to do for p-day today, so he just sent us all pictures!  That'll work!... see the pics below!

Elder Eliason at the Boise, ID Temple, while awaiting his Visa to leave for Mexico

Elder Eliason's new apartment... nice colors??? 

Elder Alvarez, Elder Eliason's first companion in Mexico!

The view out the front door of Elder Eliason's Apartment!  Palm Trees?  Come on!

Cemetery in Mexico

Elder Eliason calling for the ball... on the futbol field... not as easy as getting a pass on the bb floor!

Landscape view from inside the bus on the way to play futbol for P-Day!

Elder Eliason standing outside his apartment pointing to the Ford Ranger, that he hopes doesn't resemble the one he drives at home in two more years!  Elder, you look like a giant!  Lookin' good!

Visa is here!!

Hello all! Hows the week been!? Hope all is well and that you're doing great!

This past week has been quite the week! First news first, I got my visa!!! So I will be leaving some time this week ! President Colton came up to me and Elder Asay at church yesterday and told us that all of us visa waiters that came out the same time except one got our visas, and that we would be leaving this week to Boise on a plane to go and sign for our visa and then wait in Boise until things or flight plans are arranged, and then head off to MEJICO! Vamos a Villahermosa bebe! haha but yeah I don't know the exact day this week that we will be heading out, but this week for sure is what President said. So I'm heading down south for winter! ha for 20 months actually. It will be a whole new mission and a whole new wardrobe haha because of the hot, humid weather in Villahermosa. So yeah! Mom, I don't need anything i don't think so no worries! I'm going to be sending things i do not need for Mexico home today. So be expecting that. And I am glad the Lillig's called you ! They are THE nicest people i have ever met! They are Lutheran, but they are so nice and so welcoming to us. We have discussions with them often about the church, and we talked to the Bishop across the street who is great friends with them and we decided if they don't join the church here on earth, they'll definitely do it in the next life haha. But anyways!

Other news, we had our baptism this past Saturday for Paige Finley! It was great! She is sharper than a tack! She's 11 and she is very smart..but it was awesome to be able to see her be baptized by her uncle! And I am so grateful for the opportunity i had to teach her from the very get-go and see her progress and enter the waters of baptism! Ill attach pictures at the bottom of this email of us at the baptism. So it was awesome! She was then confirmed yesterday! What a great experience! It gets better too! As we woke up Saturday morning, the day of the baptism, we were filling up the baptismal font and we got a call from a older lady who we tracted into, and she said that her granddaughter wanted to be baptized! So we went over last night and taught Karlyn, who is 11 as well, we taught her the first lesson of the Restoration and invited her to be baptized and she said yes! So we set a date with her for the 18th of December! Elder Asay and I have been pumped! And so yeah! We're looking to set some more this week, as long as I'm here.

Elder Asay has been awesome and I'll miss him a bunch! But it'll be Awesome to be able to go down to Mexico now and be able to start the next phase of my mission! I know it will be tough, learning the language and getting used to the culture and whatever else, but I'm so ready for it. I am ready for the experiences that await. I am ready to take these things head on and help the people of Villahermosa come unto Christ! We're getting Elder Asay's new companion today, who is another visa-waiter headed to Brazil. So Elder Asay will be training and he has only been out a transfer and a half! haha he can handle it though..he is a stud!

Other than that, everything else is good! Just getting ready to head out of good ol' Pocatella! ha I hope all of you are well! I know this church is true and that it is the true church of Jesus Christ, the same church that He organized when he came to earth. I'm so grateful for the Atonement. Through it, we can all become clean and return with our families to live with our Father in Heaven again! It's such a wonderful message, the most important message that will/can ever be shared in the world! I love it! and I love you all and thank you so much for all your prayers and support! I wouldn't be able to do this without you and I'm so grateful!

Jeffrey and Marina, as the date gets closer for you guys to go to the temple, I cant help but get more and more excited knowing that! I miss and love you guys so much! Give the boys hugs for me and Megan and Kenzie, tear it up this season! Shoot the ball! I regret not shooting more! You've got the shot so take it ! I love you so much family! Mom and Dad you're the best and I pray for you and the family everyday! I look forward to talking to you in the airport as i head to Mexico!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

love, Elder Jordan Eliason

p.s. The other picture is with Tom Curro aka the next Danny DeVito, and the other is with Brother Vawdrey, our Stake High Councilman over Missionary work! He's a stud! Love you!!

First Baptism! Update 11/8/10

Hello all!

 

Hope you're all doing well! With this wintry weather coming in across the west, time to bundle up yeah? Mom and Dad thank you for your emails this week! - I dropped by Frank and his son's house this week with Elder Asay and I thanked them again for the coat! They are great guys...we're trying to get in to there house and share a message with them but they're always busy! But I did thank them for you! They want to have us over some time for eggplant haha whatever that is, he wants to cook it for us!

 

Anyways, this past week has been good! We had some great lessons! And we also had Zone Conference on Thursday! It was wonderful! We learned a lot about the Role of the Holy Ghost in conversion! President Colton is an amazing man! I really look up to him! Haha we had a practice time to role play a situation where we were to ask the investigator to be baptized, and President Colton sat in on OUR role play out of the whole zone! haha a little intimidating! But we did well! He also jumped in and added his advice and insight on how we could do better ! But we definitely needed that, as were looking to commit others to baptism, I know that practice will help us this next week as we try to get more things set up! But yeah the ZC was great!

 

Also, we have been working with a lady named Roxanne, she's met with the missionaries for the past two years! haha shes been investigating our church and the Jehovah's Witness church and she is on the fence, and has some hang ups on whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet or not, but we've been trying to help her gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, because if she can get that, she can also come to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Also, in the two years that she's met with the missionaries, she has come to church only once! So, we committed her to come to church and she came!! She's been known to not show up! But we got her to come ! So that was good! So shes making progress!

 

Paige Finley is getting baptized this Saturday! So we are very excited! This will be my first baptism! haha I'm excited! but yeah!

 

Other than that, the work is good. Just doing my best and trying to be the kind of missionary I know the Lord would want me to be!Today it is snowing! Not really sticking yet, but I am sure it will later! But yeah, Elder Asay has never really seen snow down it Mississippi , so he is excited haha. No word on the visa yet, but i have a feeling that it'll be soon...the first group of visa waiters before me, who came out here 6 weeks before me,  got there's about 3 weeks ago, and so I'm guessing in at least three weeks. Maybe I'll get a nice thanksgiving dinner, then head down to Villahermosa!  But we'll see I guess right? It's all in the Lord's hands!

 

But I hope you're all doing well! I love you all so much and appreciate all your love, prayers, and support! As I get down sometimes, I feel those prayers pick me up and help me want to do better! I know this is the true gospel! There is no other way to make it back to our Heavenly Father, except through His gospel and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I love it! Anyways I hope you're all doing well! 

 

Megan and Kenzie, keep ballin' it up! I love you and Jeffrey and Marina I love you guys and am excited more and more as the time is coming for you guys to be sealed! As we talk with one of our less actives, and as they are striving to go to the temple and be sealed, I cant help but share your story and share my excitement about you guys and how excited i am for you to take this step! Its a wonderful thing!

 

I love you all and hope that all is well! :) PS pictures are attached...one of them is with Elder Ursua who i went on exchanges with who is also awaiting a visa! He's going to Veracruz!

 

love, Elder Jordan Robert Eliason

 

 

Baptism's, Snubs & Eggplant! (11-1-10)

Hello all!

 

How are you all doing?! Hope well! Hopefully your Halloween weekend was fun and safe!

This past week was good! The work is kind of slow right now besides our two baptismal dates and your 3 other investigators! We're doing our best to go out and find those who are looking for the message of the gospel! And so far its been slow for us but we're just going to keep plugging along! haha I love Elder Asay! I have grown to respect him so much as I have gotten to know him more in the past week. Hearing his story last night as we talked for a while was amazing. He has come a long ways to be where he is today. Haha if you think I have been through some rough things moving and have knee problems...which were struggles for me and everyone has there struggles, but that doesn't even compare to what he has gone through. He has truly earned it to be here and he is a wonderful example to me.

 

Haha we have a great time while serving together...for instance this past week we were knocking and this guy came to his door window and rolled down the window halfway and said " Mormons?" and we said "Yep ! " and he said " No thanks" while rolling up the window. Ha and there have been many instances of people just totally snubbing us! haha like on Seinfeld when Kramer gets snubbed. "She snubbed me Jerry!" haha here in Pocatello we either get honked at and waved at or we get the snub...where we wave, and people stare at us and ignore it. But its all good because we have fun with it. It is a little frustrating when people are cold and not interested, because we have the most amazing message to deliver to people that can change their lives for the better! And when they turn that opportunity down, its sad and a little frustrating. But that's OK because they will come along over time...The Lord will prepare them sometime. 

 

But anyways, Elder Asay has been great...and we get along great. He being from Mississippi, he doesn't have southern accent haha. And me growing up in Texas, I never had a southern accent, so when people ask us where were from he'll say Mississippi and I'll say I grew up in Texas but live in Utah now, and they'll say, "Neither of you sound like your from the south" haha We get that probably 30 times a day!  

 

But anyways, the work is good! It's always good! But we're never satisfied! We're looking to set more baptismal dates soon ! And to find new investigators! Its a little bit tough in this area...Its a more wealthy part of town and people are either members, or they're set in there ways. There's a lot of Lutherans out here! But yeah, its been tough to find people to teach, but there out there and we'll find them! Other than that, the weather hasn't gotten too bad yet! Frank and his son - The Russians as we call em - are the ones who gave me the coat. They are awesome...Frank has a mad Russian accent and we talk about cooking a lot with him haha. He wants to have us over to eat Eggplant. Haha neither me or Elder Asay have ever heard of eggplant so we just rolled with it and said, "for sure!" haha but hes nice and I will get there address's so you can thank them personally mom!

 

Our baptism with Paige is going through still on November 13th so were preparing her for that. And our other date is being pushed back because they haven't been to church yet, but we're working on it! Anyways! I love you all ! I know this gospel is true ! I know that this is the true church, Christ's church. I know we have a living prophet on the earth today!

 

For Halloween night on Saturday night, we watched Up! haha it was good ! That's a wonderful movie, and then we played ball til 9pm. We were in the ISU Institute Building all night. But it was good.

 

And family, I love you all! Haha id like to see pictures of David and Joseph for Halloween! and Meg and Kenz, keep playing hard in ball! Mom and dad keep pressing on with work! I love you all and am so grateful for all you've done for me in my life!

 

I love you all so much and thank you for the Halloween package! I loved it! It was perfect! All the perfect snacks ! and Dad, I took Elder Asay out with that 20 bucks like you said, he says thanks! I love you! Make it a great week! Its ALL about attitude! PS no word on visa's, but probably soon! I love you again!

 

Love, Elder Jordan Eliason