Elder Jordan Saunooke 5/9/16 ~ Another Week "Bites the Dust"

Ok so Tuesday we saw Manuel Diaz on his bike and we said hi to him as he went past but he just made this kinda sly smirk face and kept going. Twenty mins later he passes by again.... and does the exact same thing. So we decide to visit him the next day and he tells us that its because he thought he was driving a motorcycle... needless to say yes the word of wisdom is still a problem. 

Saturday night we had a branch activity and actually had about 15 people!! It was so awesome to see everyone come out and it was funny to hear mayan right next to me as we watched The Testaments which is basically what my mission still looks like 2000 years later. 

Sunday we only had about 12 people in la casa de oracion and they all left after second hour.. but yes I did get to talk with my mommy so that was great!! I loved seeing my family and how honestly they look about the same and Ansley is still not talking tons... yes that makes me happy. 

Something I have been thinking of this week is that really our baptismal covenant is what drives missionary service. Yes I have been set apart as a missionary but really its because I am baptized that I should do what I am doing.

I was reading in 3 Nefi this week and I decided to change some words in chapter 11 verse 11.

Y he aqui, soy un representante de la luz y la vida del mundo; y he bebido del convenio del bautismo, y he glorificado al Padre, tomando sobre mi el nombre de Cristo, con lo cual me he sometido a la voluntad del Padre en todas las cosas desde el principio. Ta poderoso eso;)

Ok well there are lots of things I could write but thats the mish... tons of new things every day:)

Love you guys!!

Elder Jordan Saunooke 5/2/16

Ok so this week we had divisiones and I was with Elder Quinto!! It was really fun to be with someone who speaks both languages fluently. He is such a great guy and we had so much fun and yes we taught 64 lessons this week. Me cuesta... tengo CAAANNNsancio hermano en las palabras de Jose Rivero Cab. Some funny experiences were contacting literally a straight catholic street... door after door... one old guy walked to the window told us he couldnt listen to us because he cant walk, and then walked back to his chair. That made me laugh a lot honestly. We taught a family Tuesday night with two daughters age 15 and 11 and they were both so interested in the easter videos. Their dad is beyo locoi or half crazy in mayan and started talking and they were like shut up we want to watch!! They even fought over who got to read the yoke of christ scripture. 

In the house we had a bomb sleeping situation. It is so hot so we opened the windows and ghetto rigged the two fans in the window to bring in cold air. And Elder Quinto tiene un buen de canciones y si disfrutamos mucho:)) Too bad my comp doesnt like sleeping with the windows open because he doesnt want anyone to see into the house.... 

Ok so on tuesday we went and visted the Cab family and they fed us afterward and it was so good! I love them! We walked on the way to Clementes house and it was so hot so we decided to buy this pineapple juice from a barrel that is sold in plastic baggies. It was so nice and cold and the guy swore it wasnt alcohol...long story short... yes i drank alcohol in the mission. Should have known just by the fact that it started out tasting weird and at the end it was great hahhaha!

We taught a lesson to two recient converts and they asked us that if we shouldnt work on the sabbath day why as missioneries we still preach... im wondering the same thing hahah but it was a powerful way to point out the difference in working for personal gain and for the salvation of others.

I have loved reading the Continous Atonement this week. Literally every day I have had someone ask me a question about what I read in the morning from that book. With our branch president we taught his cousin and he was asking about Christ and the wine at the wedding. It was so cool to have just read that really what that demonstrates to all is that christ has all the rights and power to CHANGE. 

I have also loved teaching using the story of living up to your potential which is the Pres Uchtdorf talk and how when people choose not to read their scriptures they are choosing to eat cheese in their bedroom instead of join the already paid for parties and festivities on board. It seems to really connect with the people. 

We finally had our shower and toilet fixed this morning! We also had concrete barriers put at the bottom of the doors so we dont have problems with rats and yes I definitely wrote my name in the concrete.

We had transfers and it looks like im at least gonna be in el fuego purificador por 4.5 meses with my same comp so there must be a reason im here. I actually took a pic in the ccm pointing to the mission and im pointing to Peto in the picture....

love you all!!!

Elder Jordan Saunooke's Email 4/25/16

Te Voy a Decir Una Cosa...

Monday we finally had a zone activity!! We played a little bit of volleyball, and the future relief society, that is to say the sisters cooked hamburgers afterwards for everyone!! I have bad news...I can no longer touch rim.... I thought that day would never come but I guess after having spent every drop of energy in my body, combined with back problems, and a few trips to the hospital....yeah I jump like a white boy. I went to buy ice after with Elder Wasden and Elder Flores and those are two of the funniest guys ever and definitely in the mission. Elder Flores was asking if my comp was always so serious and he was like you need to tell him to break the rules! Hahahaha I was laughing so hard, and then right after this small dog that he hadnt seen attacked him and he jumped about three feet in the air.

Tuesday Elder Aguilar and I contacted this lady who is about 25 years old who was sitting outside the house on her phone. She told us that a few weeks ago she had told the witnesses maybe another day, but she liked the way we talked. She asked me if I used to be a model, and then asked if as missioneries if we have to always be together.... umm that is a definite yes. 

Thursday we contacted this guy who works in a construction shop and is actually the owner. Turns out he had received lessons from Elder Ceballos and Elder Flores about a year ago... like everyone else we contact. "Un chaparrito y un grandote de la Republica Dominicana" as they all say. He was telling us that its good to experiment with drugs and the things of the world so we can learn and have experience and I couldnt help but think of many a conversation with Dad that so many people think that way and it is so sad!! We also taught Jose Rivero and his brother Gener and they are great. They are good friends with an Elder Bingham who served here like 2 years ago and they even used to play wii sports with him I think. They always love to talk to us, and the main problem with their fam is the word of wisdom. I swear everytime we talk with a drunk person they talk forever and say the phrase... te voy a decir una cosa... and hence comes the title of this email. Their cousin is always around drinks a lot and always tells us we are gonna eat in his house one day when he is sober. We were teaching Jose and Gener and they were asking us what we are gonna do after the mission. Jose answered his own question and póinting at me was like you are getting married, and Elder Aguilar started to say he was gonna get married too, and Jose interrupted and said no you are just gonna study i can already see it! I may or may not have busted up. They are both doing really well and Gener has officially committed to stop drinking and hasnt fallen yet!!

Friday we went to Oxz to do baptismal interviews and unfortunately for the hnas it fell through... The good news is that i found a lil restaurant nearby and the guy that is the chef made alfredo and used to work in the US! He asked me if I wanted garlic bread and i didnt hear what he said so he asked me in english... oh the white life. Or should I say half burnt to a crisp life. Its so hot here.... its about 105 and humid every day and there is no ac anywhere.... yeahhhhh. Anyway he cooked alfredo and i think my comp about died when he used white wine to cook... i explained to him that it all burns off but he wasnt convinced and chose to not eat.... but I did buy food for the hnas too and so it was a mini picnic. The elders also had an interview lined up and this guy is awesome. He has one foot that doesnt have bones and is all curled up like Harry Potter´s arm in the second movie when he has his bones removed. He is seriously straight gold and has such a strong testimony and desire to be baptized. it was a very neat experience to be able to share with him. 

Love you all and hope you have a great week!!

But I dont wanna marry a Yucateca:( ~ Elder Jordan Saunooke's Email 4/18/16

Ok this week has been great and not so great... Wednesday we had our entrevistas with pres Garcia and it was so powerful!! He had this revelation for our area mid interview and said that if the members dont keep the sabbath day holy, it will not rain, nothing will grow this year, and that they will continue poor for all their lives. It was very powerful but he also shared a scripture in exodo that talks about how the lord provided mana in double quantity to ensure that the saints could keep the sabbath day holy and how there is always a way. Hna Garcia bought us all these slurpèe like drinks and yes of course i chose piña colada... she is so funny because she was saying it was so hot and I honestly didnt even notice because we were inside the ac hahaha she is definitely used to Merida. I also may or may not have heard a 21 pilots song as someone drove past this week.. something I never thought would happen in Peto, Yucatan.

Friday we visited this less active sister who has so much faith. Hna Vila. She said right away that she wants to go to the temple and attend church but she needs someone to help her so she doesnt fall. And just like that she went to church this week for the first time in years thanks to the help of Hna Adela. Speaking of Hna Adela we ate with her on friday and I guess she and her boyfriend had just seen a vampire movie cuz the whole time they were telling us to eat and eat in a Dracula voice hahah she is hysterical. When we ask her if there is anything special she would like us to pray for she says stuff like, That God takes away this white hairs im getting,  she is definitely one of my favorite people. 

Saturday my throat infection came back and so we went to Merida. It was so funny because practically from the moment we got there we saw members and everyone was like hey elders! There was some sort of event at the temple and there must have been 200 people there outside. It was very cool to walk past and made me feel very proud to be a member of this church. I went to Star Medica  and I now have some strong throat stuff that is helping and a muscle relaxer for my back.  We traveled back standing almost the entire time, but we contacted this guy and his girlfriend who are going to do a support program for childer in Oxz. The girl is from New york and so for the first time.... I taught the Book of Mormon in english... wow that was weird. We got home and our branch pres Pres Cab and his family were waiting for us and they had food. They had made stuff up and came to see how I was feeling.. I love them!! 

And as for the title of this email... yesterday we rested a bit in the afternoon cuz i was still feeling pretty weak and for the first time I thought.. hmmm maybe I will rest in my hammock. So for about thirty minutes i was laying down and I have no idea how it happened but the hammock slipped off the hook and I fell HARD.  And so according to missionary tradition I have to get married to a yucateca.... yeah dont think so.;) Anyway I love you all and hope everyone is having the time of their lives:)

Love,

Elder Jordan Saunooke

Short & Sweet ~ Elder Jordan Saunooke's Email 4/11/16

Ok so this is gonna be a quick one!! We had divisiones this week and I was with my padrastro aka Elder Gomez! It was so fun and he has 26 months in the mish so you could say i was learning just as much as the people we taught. We bought matching ties and taught Roberto about the priesthood and got him to understand that the priesthood is the authourity and power of God. 

We sang The star spangled banner as a song, and wow i kinda forgot at first;)) Hey I also lost the cell phone this week...que chafa.. yes that phrase just killed you inside brandon...;) The last day of divisiones Elder Gomez played the meanest prank with fake blood like he split his head... that guy... XD

Saturday we taught 9 lessons!! Yeah all on foot!!! i am sleeping better now and my throat problems have mosty gone away. We had a zone conference on Friday and man do I love those guys! We ate this fruit that the hnas of my district brought and it looks like pineapple but tastes disgusting....

Last night we taught a guy who is 22 named Jorge Rivero Cab and he was really good friends with one of the missionaries who served here almost 2 years ago...  He kept asking who insulted us and said he was going to go beat them up hahahhaa he was drunk. After he asked like the sixth time I pointed to my comp and said este varon... aka this guy and he didnt understand it was a joke at first. The work is seeming to turn here and I really do love my branch and our investigators! Love you all!!!

Ummmm.... FRUIT!

Elder Jordan Saunooke's Email 4/4/16

Well this Tuesday we met a drunk guy named Roberto that was honestly pretty racist and Hostile... he asked us to return to visit him the next day and I really didnt want to but we did anyway. When we returned he was such a different person and was saying how he was going to stop drinking completely, be an example for his two young sons before it was too late, and was going to raise them to pray to God... wow that was a change. I accidentally stepped on his dog, and it bit me but luckily the teeth didnt puncture my skin.... 

We have new excellence goals as a mission and that means, 50 lessons a week. Wow that is a lot... I know it will be good though. I am actually most happy when we are teaching and when its just me and my comp is when i start to feel less than happy so that is a great goal to have. We taught manuel diaz but he was kinda fried and started smoking midlesson and said it was really hot. He then proceeded to climb on the roof and throw water off in buckets to cool everything down. His younger brother who is 18 was there too and joined us and I think that we have been teaching manuel all this time to be able to find his younger brother. He Was actually really interested and it was a powerful lesson about prayer and the godhead:)

Thursday we taught Roberto and his friend Jose and they love when we teach with videos... me too actually.. We showed them the video the lamb of god and the spirit was very strong as we watched how the savior personally suffered for the sins we commit. How the greatest injustice of the world happened to the only perfect man to ever live, all so that we can return to live with god and our families one day... 

The next about 6 lessons in and in Tzucacab I started feeling so lousy... we went to the doctor and turns out I have a throat infection and fever... time to rest I guess. The guy who rang us up at the health center happens to be a guy we contacted and he didnt charge us and told me to get better:) ·#blessed

We watched the conference in the casa de oracion and we were the only ones besides one member there. We put subtititles in english so that my brain wouldnt hurt so much. i can understand but after a while...... It gets to be a lil much. The talk I think was one of my favorites this conference was by Elder Renlund. He always is such a powerful speaker. it was so good to hear the conferences and its so funny to think they go by so fast as a missionary, because I remember them being so long when I was home.... I love pres Monson and I hope we get to have another conference with him...

Love you all and stay awesome

Elder Jordan Saunooke

Happy Birthday, Mom! Message from Elder Jordan Saunooke

This kid IS my HEART!