Jacko's Mission Letters

so this uh.. well.. this is it ig.. that was the whole mission.. weird.. this is the last email.. 2 years has 104 weeks.. only 102 emails because i'm coming home about a week before the official 2 year mark, so that takes off a week, and then there's still this next week, but i'm not about to write an email when i'm already home.. sooo there it is.. the whole mission.. documented and saved into 102 emails.. never missed a week.. don't know hOw.. but there you have it.. went on an exchange with elder larsen, that was pretty fun.. we played soccer in hato nuevo, that was some of the most fun i've had in a while.. we played ooga booga with my comp and berry's comp, and it maybe went a little outta hand, but it was my last one, so we had to make it good.. we almost went and had another adventure with flete, but it ended up getting canceled twice.. sooo we'll see if we can get it done in these last couple days.. i pulled...

last sunday we went to church normal, at 8:30 in the morning, expecting sacrament meeting to start as usual at 9.. but we went upstairs to start the meeting, bishop gets up to the pulpit and is like "i really love christmas, so we're gonna have a christmas activity".. so they made hot chocolate and had bread and had a "christmas activity" to replace the first hour of church.. then for the second hour we had sacrament meeting.. we however diD completely skip second hour classes, and no one knew ig (especially not us) so everyone who had second hour clases planned was kinda annoyed.. annnd idk it was just kinda a mess, cuz the other elders had 4 friends come for the first time, and that was the first impression of the church that they got.. that we just show up at 9 and listen to christmas music and have bread and hot chocolate, and we just sit around talking.. and there's nothing bad about that stuff, but it shouldn't be during church.. i...

i am soooooo sorry.. i have made a great and terrible mistake that i was severely unaware of.. for an entirety of approximately 18 of my emails.. i have used an incorrect format of a roman numeral.. this is terrible.. incredibly embarrassing.. inedible embarrassing.. so it turns out that once you get to 41, instead of XXXXI as i so previously thought, it's actually XLI.. and then 42 is XLII and so on.. same with the 90s.. 91 is not LXXXXI instead it is XCI.. 92 is XCII and so on.. buttt doesn't matter, cuz i didn't realize till i was already on C.. which i had to look up, cuz i thOught it was C, but wasn't sure.. and that's how i stumbled upon the information that i had done it incorrectly like 18 times.. also on tuesday night at like 11:30 (i was sleeping) elder berry walks into our room and tells us that he just got off the phone with pres and that someone nearby us got malaria (i still don't really know what malaria is,...

on monday we went to the church and played signs with the district.. it was super fun, but some of the sisters took a while to understand the game, which made it a little more fun, cuz we definitely messed around a little too much.. but it was fun.. we juggled a soccer ball around a little too, cuz we have a couple latino elders who aren't dominicans.. (dominicans don't really play soccer, mostly just baseball and basketball).. we had district council and did one where we all shared our testimonies and stuff, which was cool, i've done that quite a lot of times in district council now, and it's always pretty good.. we also read our mission call letters, which was crazy timing, cuz i got a text later that day that pol (my brother) had received his mission call.. sooo we did a call that night, and he's going to argentina!! wohoooo!! super cool.. other than that, we put 2 of our friends on baptismal date this week, so we're going to b...

it was a good week, we did a lot of cool stuff.. probably.. i don't really remember.. i'm not drinking a ton of kola-real and coke anymore, cuz i was tired of dying.. but it was a good week anyways, have a great week, love you guys! john 11:23-27 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. I AM THE RESURRECTION -Jesus Christ

coca-cola and kola-real.. the only things that are holding my life together at this point.. every day i'm sooo tired.. like i could just sleep the whole day.. but i don't, instead i just slug around trying to keep my eyes open.. and then once i'm on the verge of passing out from being so tired, i drink some kola-real.. and the first gulps are like a giant gust of wind that blows away the fog from my mind.. and then a couple hours (or a couple minutes) later i'm dying again.. buttt i've entered the last transfer.. it still feels so far away, but we're moving there.. sooo for now my blood runs thick with kola-real and coca-cola.. and i can for real feel it killing me, so i'm trying to wing off of it, but at the same time, there are days that i feel the grip of death tightening it's hold upon me, and then i drink some black fizzy sustenance, and it fights away the fog.. my trainer elder goldfarb (who also died in this house in my first tr...

helloooooo i'm here still.. so we had a baptism last night.. it was luisa.. we found her in the first week of the transfer in my comps second day or something.. and we invited her to church.. and she came that first sunday.. and we invited her to get baptized.. it took a little longer cuz she was a little slow to understand, but she's now come to church 5 times, and she's the newest member of the manoguayabo ward.. she's a bit older, like 60ish, but she's super cool.. when we showed up at her house tho to take her to the baptism (cuz we have to do it at another chapel cuz there's no font at ours).. and she told us she would need to wait until december, because she didn't feel prepared enough to be baptized.. so i was like.. "uhhhh whAt? why?" and she was like "well i have sugar (diabetes) and high blood pressure, and i don't think i'm ready to be baptized because of that.. and i was like "uhhh baptism doesn...

august 12, 2023.. the baptism of 2 of our friends in vicente noble.. and from there i thought we would be having many baptisms in that area.. we had lots of people progressing, and we had people with dates to be baptized.. my comp at the time was elder almonte, and i had just arrived to the area 1 week before.. 2 of them decided they weren't ready, and they didn't know enough to get baptized.. the rest didn't come to church consistently enough.. later elder gilbert showed up, and we had some struggles with his health, and the branch.. but we still were working with people who were going towards baptism.. people who were very close, just needed that extra little push.. buttt at the end of my time there still no one else had been baptized.. i left that area with high hopes, thinking my next would be better.. that it would be more open to accept the gospel.. and at first i was with elder then.. he had a couple.. issues.. and had to leave the area early.. elde...

august 12, 2023.. the baptism of 2 of our friends in vicente noble.. and from there i thought we would be having many baptisms in that area.. we had lots of people progressing, and we had people with dates to be baptized.. my comp at the time was elder almonte, and i had just arrived to the area 1 week before.. 2 of them decided they weren't ready, and they didn't know enough to get baptized.. the rest didn't come to church consistently enough.. later elder gilbert showed up, and we had some struggles with his health, and the branch.. but we still were working with people who were going towards baptism.. people who were very close, just needed that extra little push.. buttt at the end of my time there still no one else had been baptized.. i left that area with high hopes, thinking my next would be better.. that it would be more open to accept the gospel.. and at first i was with elder then.. he had a couple.. issues.. and had to leave the area early.. elder...

that's a big looking number right there.. silly romans.. monday we had a party.. but a sad party.. cuz an elder who just barely started the mission had to go home because of his parasites.. so we played gross soda pong, and ate some snacks.. there was a gross cake too.. and it was sad.. most depressing party ever.. it was fun lowkey.. but sad.. we had zone conference this week, that was interesting.. there were some really good parts, but we also had some parts that were a bit.. interesting fs.. my comp has confirmed bacteria in his stomach, so that's a classic.. he hasn't been doing so well with the food here.. it's a litttle different than panama apparently.. i also had like a bunch more migraines again, so that was super fun.. hadn't had one in a while, but i bought some new meds for it so hopefully the next time one shows up i can stop it before it gets too bad.. also they continued to have problems with my residence car...

just standing in bravo.. eating old chicken bacon sushi.. with an angry migraine.. what a classic pday in the DR.. anyways, this week was pretty good.. last monday we spent just sitting in the hospital for 6 hours straight.. and i didn't eat any food that morning, and after that last encounter with hermana hernandez i thought i would just wait to get home to eat anything.. we spent the week finding a ton of people and trying to get those members in lessons.. we did some family home evenings with some inactive people, and people coming back to activity.. we watched johnny lingo in spanish at one of them, which was funny.. annnnd that's all i really remember.. anyways, have a great week, love you guys! 3 nephi 14:24-27 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock— And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that hous...

welcome all.. not toooo much to report.. other than some interesting experiences for my comp.. on sunday last week we had a call with the mission on zoom, and they were having all the new people say where they are from and all that, and my comp did his in creole, because he was called to this mission creole speaking.. and then we got a message from president saying not to speak in creole unless asked specifically to do so.. which i thought that was the point of the mission call.. was to specifically speak in creole.. buttt apparently not.. so my comp kinda got of to a bad start with pres ig, like he already doesn't like him.. annnd then on tuesday my comp got sick.. we had district council, and then afterwards the other elders in our house were about to go on an exchange.. so they were gonna go to the mall that's 5 min from our house to eat, cuz it's easier than trying to be in a different house on an exchange, and getting food and all that.. and nor...

weeee had transfers.. said goodbye to canada boy, and i have received a new comp.. we got a call on tuesday before transfers, and pres told me i was gonna be training again.. i thought it would be a gringo, cuz usually there are more gringos that come in at this time of year than latinos.. buttt at these transfers there was only one gringo elder that came in.. sooo i got elder Ibargüen.. he's from panama, so he speaks spanish, and he was studying english before the mission so he knows a little.. annnd he was called to speak haitian creole.. which is a littttle awkward not gonna lie, cuz i definitely don't be speaking such language.. cuzzz i wanted to focus on mastering spanish (which i am still far from).. and the other thing, is that there aren't any haitain speaking wards or even branches in our mission.. annnd because of that, there are no sacrament meetings in haitain.. sooo i haven't put any emphasis in teaching in creole, because they n...

Dear Brother & Sister Williamson, I hope you are well enjoying the blessings for the dedicated service of your son. We recently completed changes in assignments in our mission. I wanted to tell you that your son, Elder Jackson Williamson has been asked to serve as a trainer of Elder Ibargüen Carrera. This is a great responsibility. The profound influence a first companion has on a new missionary is felt throughout their entire mission. The Lord trusts in your son and knows he will be able to do his will in this great assignment. Elder Williamson is a great missionary and has prepared well for this responsibility. I have complete confidence in Elder Williamson ability. I am grateful for your missionary’s service and your support of his efforts here in the mission field. You can be proud of his service. Please continue motivating him to serve the Lord with all his heart, might, mind and strength to continue seeing miracles in his mission inviting all to come unto Christ. May th...

category 5 gigantic hurricane beryl, presenting winds of... idrk, they were up to 130 when it was a category 4, so i'm guessing a lot higher than that.. basically in the morning there was a part where the entire sky became covered in gray, and it was super cool.. it drizzled for like 30 min, and then was on and off throughout the day, but it was less rain than just normal rain here.. basically, beryl missed us almost completely.. if i hadn't known there was a hurricane.. i literally wouldn't have known there was a hurricane.. as of rn, wednesday, it's going towards jamaica and mexico, so ig we'll see how that goes for them... and then my toe started swelling up.. that's not good.. in the night in between wednesday and thursday, i was kept up for most of it from pain.. and then it was super swollen in the morning.. it was weird too, cuz it felt like it was ingrown all over again, but it wasn't.. and the swelling was based in the cut that t...

i have hunger.. send food.. on monday we had a great district pday.. we played basketball, and ultimate frisbee, and some card games, and had some pizza.. it was good to actually do stuff for once, instead of just being on our phones, sooo i've stopped using my phone sm on pdays and such.. every tuesday we have district council.. and we started doing this thing where we go to lunch after and buy papa johns.. they have some kind of deal, where we buy 4 pizzas, plus 2 plates of garlic breadsticks, plus 3 2 liter bottles of soda.. annnd that's for 12 of us.. it's pretty much the best thing ever.. even tho the papa johns in the states is still better.. and then after we go and get ice cream from burger king that's in the same mall in our area.. we've still been focusing on member help.. it's going a little better kinda.. we're still having members cancel on us, and a lot them still don't wanna come out.. orrr they say they wi...

we had zone conference this week.. and the point was basically that we need to be doing better in quality, and not necessarily so much in quantity.. for example.. we can easily find like 30 people in a week, and even if some seem pretty cool, they have a lot less likelihood to actually progress.. because, if you're finding 30 people in a week, and your ward isn't helping out on it's own (meaning that you have to beg them and try super hard to get just a little bit of help) that means that you have to set apart time to work with the ward and try to get them to help out.. therefore you have an imbalance in your focus, and you've found lots of people, but they aren't being strengthened by the ward.. annnd just finding randomly wOrks sOmetimes but there is a much higher chance that a member referral progresses to baptism.. that being said, i have had to begin to change everything i thought i knew about missionary work.. in my mission, i've been in ...

hello.. on monday we went to a batting cage, and i hit a couple balls.. we put rosalina on date, she's come to church a couple times now, so we're focusing on helping her get ready.. but other than that, basically nothing to report... have a great week, love you guys! mosiah 18:8-10 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, w...

i'm seriously debating weather i put this in my email this week.. and honestly idrk, but i think i'm going to.. it'll be a little more serious tho, and pretty disturbing.. as in angering, and kinda leaves you feeling dum and helpless.. or at least it was for us.. so anyways here we go, if you don't wanna read it, you can hop out now.. basically we were having a typical day.. all our lessons were falling thru, and we were just trying to find someone to visit.. we got near the end of the day, and we decided to visit our friend esmeralda.. now esmeralda is on date to be baptized in 2 weeks.. she's been to church twice now, but only one of them counted because she got there late.. and she has lots of health issues.. she drinks lots of soda, and doesn't eat very healthy, and so we taught her pretty early on about the word of wisdom.. she told us that she was ok with all of it, because her doctors had told her that she had to stop drinking alco...

we walk up to one of our investigators.. she's covering shredded ham with what looks like blue fun dip dust.. "what's that?" i say.. "rats" she responds.. oh yah obviously.. so she puts it right under a cage of giant rabbits, and i'm thinking it's food for them?.. but then these big rats start coming out to scavenge for the meat, and then it made sense.. it was some kinda poison, to get rid of the rat infestation.. aNd she kept having to tell this little kid that was there to not eat any of the meat.. "cUz yOu'Ll DIE!".. one time we're walking down some giant stairs in our area, and this old dude with a cane stops my comp, points to me, and is like (in english) "hey, i betchu if a' ask you whe' this ga' is frum heel tell yuh heez frum utah".. and my comp's like "oh yah, he iS from utah"... so that's how we met ruben.. we asked if we could come by to his house some time, and he said we ...

welll it's now wednesday.. and i'm supposed to get the stitches out today.. sooo just waiting for the doctor to respond confirming that we can come, and then we will travel over there.. the problem however, is that the majority of the stitches have at this point buried themselves deep in the skin.. she made them super tight, and with that combined with the ridiculous swelling, the stitches were just straight up cutting into my skin.. sooo that's made it difficult to walk and do stuff, but now after 10 days.. the skin has grown completely over many of the stitches, and idk how she's gonna get them out without just cutting everything open again.. which really seems like it would be the slightest bit counterproductive, but i'm not the one who went to dominican medical school, so what do i know?.. nope, didn't have to cut anything.. basically when she did the stitches she just went in with the needle, like in thru the nail, and then down into the s...

aaaaahhhhhhwwwooooch.. why?.. so i was definitely joking about the whole having to use a phone flashlight to do surgery because the power was out.. surely they have some generator or are gonna have some other way to do it.. nope.. this doctor lady legit just had her assistant guy hold up his phone with the flashlight on it.. and then just dove in and did a lot of cutting and so forth.. and there was a lottt of blood.. the numbing stuff hurt a tOn too cuz it's just some random needle they stick in your toe.. so it took probably like 45 min or less.. and i ended up with bandages around my two big toes, and an alarming amount of blood soaking thru.. sooo i wasn't sure how badly she had done it.. until the next day when i was supposed to take the bandages off.. annnd i discovered that i literally look like frankenstiens monster on my toes.. i'll include pics down below cuz ik you don't believe me.. but i legit feel like i was a victim in a saw movie.. and i lost...

anyways the temple trip was lit.. it's pretty fun doing it in spanish.. i definitely have more reason to focus, so i can pull out every little thing that's being said.. got to see a couple people from around the mission, got some pizza, a box of juice.. annnnd 2 ubers denied us entry because we had 4 people.. sooo we got stuck there for a while and didn't really have much of a pday.. sooo not much of a break this week.. just worrrrrrk.. but it wasn't too bad.. our efforts resulted in 5 people coming to church, 3 of which for the first time.. so that was cool.. and despite a litttle pain from ingrown toenails, we still went out every day, cuz this next week is gonna be a bit detrimental.. hopefully not, but i'm supposedly not supposed to walk for about a week after the slice and dice.. we'll see about that one tho, cuz we've got some important people to visit.. but yah other than that just chilling.. sunday was a little whack after chur...

mcdonalds isn't really that good.. but wendy's is some pretty high quality foods.. you thought i forgot to send an email on monday.. nOpe instead our pday got changed to wednesday this week so we can go to the temple!!! anyways tho, last week on wednesday we went to the doctor to get my ingrown toenails checked out.. cuzzz at this point i've had them for aboutttttt a year.. and they're only getting worse, so i gave up on trying to wait any longer.. i didn't go earlier tho, because i was in the south.. whichhh means that the doctor offices and emergency rooms are just call of duty maps.. or active warzone sick tents.. so anyways i got here a couple weeks ago, so i thought i may as well at this point.. the other and main reason, was that after i get surgery, i apparently can't walk for a week.. whichhh means i would have to stay in the house for a week.. which also wouldn't have been a good idea in my other areas that very sever...