Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ Happy New Year!!

Hey Family!!!!! Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!! i actually met a lady this week who finished 25 years with her husband on the 27th as well and so that was kinda cool... she is super catholic but.... you guys at least share that in common!:)

This was a hard proselyting week because of the chaos with new years... we had one day where 5 appointments canceled on us... but it was a great week of eating lots:))

We had a very interesting teaching appointment on Tuesday. We went to visit a less active sister, and when we started I asked everyone how they were doing... each one of the family members said the same thing... that they were doing fine. In spanish it would be the equivalent of Como esta? bien. I then said that there are so many words that exist in the spanish language so i am going to ask again, but this time the word bien is not allowed. I could sense that the sister who had accepted our visit was angry, but she wasnt telling us exactly. She then proceeded to tell us that she was happy... yeah i dont think so hahhaa. We started teaching the Restoration and when we got to the part about prophets, she said that she already knew all of that, but what made her doubt was about the fall of Adam and Eve. We helped her to understand that God leaves everyone there free agency and that he even leaves satan his free agency. Satan made use of his free agency to tempt Adam and Eve. God never made Satan tempt them. When we finished the lesson the sister had calmed down lots, and it turns out the missionaries from a long time ago who were here never answered that question when she asked them and they left and never came back to visit her, so she was upset... It was a great teaching experience though.

We did an open house activity with the other branch and we got to play volleyball!!! It was so fun and I havent played in so long, that I felt like Dad felt after the turkeybowl the next day, but it was totally worth it!

We went and saw Elizabeth in libertad for the first time in like a month, because she has been working like crazy and is always busy, but she was so happy to see us, you could see her whole countenance change, and we started teaching her son Edward as well so we can prepare him for baptism.

We ate dinner with Sister Margarita and we ate chicken and potatoes... it was wonderfully american food hahah:) This email is kind of scattered but i hope you have a wonderful week and that You guys are putting your new years goals. Goals are really what help us to become who we want to become, and I know that if we make goals we can accomplish them one day at a time. In the words of the first presidency... know what God wants for you, Know that he can help you succeed, and that he loves you even if you fail.... Love you all and I hope you have a great week!!! Good luck Ansley love you!!

Elder Jordan Saunooke

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ 12/26/16

Hey Everyone!!!! It was so great to see you all and to be able to tell you guys Merry Christmas! Honestly you guys look so grown up to me... Ansley is really talkative and tall, Cole looks like he is 20, and Lindsey looks like she is a senior in highschool whats up with that!? What do they feed you guys there? Do you guys not eat soup, beans, and tortillas? Thats probably it;)

So to tell you guys about my week....the coolest thing we did was go to Campeche to hand out gifts to the children in the hospital. They allowed us to enter into the Oncology unit and I couldnt help but think of Ansley when I saw all of these sick children. It was a great experience even if it was a little bit sad. We actually ended up having too many presents thanks to all the members that donated for us to bring to the hospital, and we started contacting in a park and singing hymns so that we could hand out the rest of the gifts. When we finished it was a little difficult finding transportation back to our area and I went with Elder Hanke to find the vans that run to our area but there were not any tickets left, so the only thing we got was soaked..... It was so weird because it started to pour and only in the part of the city that we were in.... it was kind of like snow on Christmas Eve except not really.=) We came back to our area on a bus and everything worked out just fine, and we ate dinner with Hermana Margarita. She prepared turkey, and mashed potatoes, and soup, and it was about as close to an American meal as I get here. 

Christmas day my companion and I gave talks and I chose to talk about the importance of symbols. I talked about how in 3 Nefi the symbols of the saviors birth saved the life of all who believed in the coming of the Mesiah. We also have important symbols that save us from a spiritual death and are something that we too should look forward too anxiously every single week... the body and blood of Christ represented by the bread and water of the sacrament. Our Ward Mission leader Hector opened his mission call after sacrament meeting and he is going to Tijuana! I totally guessed that three weeks ago, and I know he will be such a good missionary, I am very excited to see what he will become. 

Oh we also went with Hector and another girl from our branch to sing to the people in the local nursing home here, and it was so fun! It has been a long time since I have done that. 

I loved talking with you guys and seeing all of your smiling faces!! I hope you have a happy new year and enjoy the last week of 2016!!

Love,

Elder Jordan Saunooke

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ Merry Christmas! ~ 1219/16

Hi wonderful family of mine!!! How have you guys been??? Are you guys excited for Christmas??

We went to Campeche on Tuesday night to make sure we could be there on time without having to wake up ridiculously early on Wednesday to make it to the Christmas party! We stayed in Sascalum and we were with Elder Calel and Elder Garcia. That night we went to Dominos pizza and i dont think I have ever burned my mouth so bad before... I guess I was just really hungry.

The Christmas party was lots of fun and we had a talent show. Our zone sang the song Jingle Bell Rock and it was lots of fun, and it was great to see the other groups as well. Do you guys remember Elder Tingey? He is serving as a zone leader in Campeche and man that kid is a future actor hahhaha it was great to see lots of my friends and to be there with lots of zones. There was even a piñata and we ate tacos al pastor. That night we stayed with the zone leaders Elder Hanke and Elder Rodriguez in Samula and that was lots of fun except for the fact that..... I lost my debit card. That was pretty stressful and frustrating to be honest, but hanging out with them and eating this giant gummy snocone helped out a bit hahaha. 

This week the two branches of Escarcega and Morelos had their Christmas parties or in othe words their posada. The branch of Escarcega asked us to be the three wise men in the play they did, and we ate lots of food. In our posada with Morelos we put on the video un regalo para el mundo, el espiritu de la Ñavidad, and Ilumina el Mundo. It was really great and we had an attendance of like 60. 

A cool teaching experience we had this week.... I asked one of our investigators if he had ever asked himself why he is Catholic and he just stood there looking at me. He was like actually that is a really good question... youre right all ask tonight in the prayer if what you guys shared was true. And we had a lady we have been visiting show up to sacrament meeting and I honestly didnt think she would come, but she did and it feels so good to see your investigators follow through! 

I Hope you guys all have a wonderful week and A Merry Christmas!!! I am so excited to see you guys this Sunday! Love you tons!

Elder Jordan Saunooke

ps- where are the shaved head pics? Cmon dont be shy I know you guys have some hahaha

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ Pictures ~

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ 12/19/16 ~ More pics!!

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ 12/19/16 ~ TONS OF PICS!!

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ 12/12/16 ~ Surrounded by Catholics!! ;)

Hey everyone!!! How are you all doing?? What can you tell me about snow and cold and hot chocolate?? Is there any of that there?? Here it is definitely still hot.....

Well to start off... this week we had a zone conference in Campeche and we did a really cool contacting activity where we all left there and contacted as many people as we could see with the Ilumina el Mundo pass along cards, and it was a blast. I might have been a little crazier and thrown them in the taxis and cars as they passed by in their back windows but hey.... it was fun;) We then took pictures in front of the Campeche sign that is in front of the beach!! Super fun.

This week what has been really interesting and cool is that our ward mission leader has been helping us a ton and has become one of my best friends here. I used to think he hated me honestly but I guess I was wrong. We always try to come up with doctrinal questions to stump the other one and to have fun studies and it has really helped me to be a better teacher. We had the baptism for his niece this week, and he had me direct the baptismal program, and confirm her a member of the church in sacrament meeting. That was my first time doing that and it was really cool! He is waiting for his mission call and I am excited to see where he will go. He is so much better prepared than I was, and has only been a member for a little over a year. I always thought I was prepared before the mission, but I really wish I had taken better advantage of opportunities to go out on splits with the missionaries and study better in institute or something..... I usually study one chapter in the book of mormon, one talk from a general conference or liahona, one chapter in the new testament, a few pages in Preach my gospel, and then some other theme every day and its really helping a lot.

This week has been slightly stressful but a good learning experience. We dont really have investigators here and so that has been frustrating because contacting all day isnt really the most effective method and I really want to work the harder and smarter way. I realized though that its important not to be hard on myself and to love everyday and every challenge. My son and I are getting along way way better and that is a relief because it was a little difficult at first. I am learning so much by teaching him and I have started reviewing the lessons so much with him, that the majority of the dreams I have at night, I am teaching... its gotten to that point hahahahaa. 

And lastly this day is going to be nuts because its the day of the virgencita and the whole city is gonna go crazy...... but ill enjoy the fireworks I guess:p you know what I dont understand? people will run from here to mexico city for the virgen, but if you ask them to go to church for three hours.... forget it. hahahaha ;D

I love you all and if I can find a way to send pics I will!

Elder Jordan Saunooke

ps- Ansley you are my hero you are so brave!

Elder Jordan Saunooke ~ 12/5/16 ~ 13 MONTHS!!!

Hey family!!!! 

So since the last time I wrote you guys, we traveled to Merida again because we had the visit from Elder Pieper! It was a lot of traveling but it was definitely worth it to hear the words of one of the Lords ordained general authorities. buttttt.... before that....

I got to go back to Kanasin!!!! We showed up to ward night and I got to see lots of people that I missed seeing! I got to see Omar and his wife and we talked with them for a while and then we went to see Bianca and her family. Bianca was at school finishing an English examen but while we were waiting her family made us dinner, and even though we may or may not have stayed out kinda late waiting for her, she did show up and it was so cool to be able to see her again! I sure love her and her family they make me so happy. Juan Carlos (her husband) brought us to stay in my old house in kanasin with Elder Johnson and Elder Sandoval.. 2 english speaking guys hahahah so it was a fun night!

We got up at 5 to see Elder pieper and we talked really about basic missionary things but it was great to go over those things. I asked the question of what is acceptable as far as tea in the Word of Wisdom because the missionaries all teach it differently and I wanted to hear from a 70 what he wants us to teach here... he let President Ruiz answer but he mentioned something about caffeine which led to the conversation about that topic. Elder Pieper said that we dont drink black or green tea and that everything else is acceptable and that the Word of Wisdom has nothing to do with caffeine. I felt like Luke from Modern Family...."sometimes I like to just throw a bomb and see what happens" hahahha.

On the bus all the missionaries went back together in the bus so it was fun being with everyone! The Christmas devotional was really great and it was interesting how they focused on the Holy Ghost. I believe that if we are ever priviledged to have more scripture it will talk much more about the holy ghost because we dont have much, but it happens to be what I have been studying for about two weeks now because Dad told me its what he studied in his mission, and I have learned more than I thought I would. It was kind of a confirmation that it was good to have studied that hahahah :) We had 3 investigators in church yesterday and all of Libertad came to the devotional last night in a van so we had a full house!

Tomorrow we are going to campeche again for a zone conference at 5 am so more travel... but its lots of fun honestly in ADO:)

My son and I are quite different but we are learning lots here. Our Lider misional helped us out yesterday because we did a practice lesson with him ( he is actually waiting for his mission call) and it was a good chance for Elder Nuñez to learn how to teach the Restoration:)

I love you all tons, and I hope you are all watching Christmas movies for me!!:)

Love,

Elder Jordan Saunooke