The Joker....

hola! bienvenidos Día Santo! 

Entonces.... 

Good grief. Wind. Lent. Carnivals. Treks. Etc.... Madness I tell you Madness. 

Brett I can´t believe you are already Training. Good grief. I would rather die. 

Grandma Jackson is going to kill herself. Has she not learned that with out a cane slash walker she always falls and hurts herself.  Hope she gets better. Rhonda too! 

Well this week was really interesting. It started out really bad...got worse...and then it ended with a BANG! 

i´ll start with the bad lol. So Satan is evil. We all know it. He tried to bring us all down this week. Because it was the week of our baptisms. First my investigator Krish got in an accident and hurt his foot. He couldn´t go to the Ward camping trip and almost couldn´t go to his baptism. My other investigator, Patricia had something happen to her neck and had to go to the hospital to get a shot. And then Isabel lost her front teeth. And that just the people getting baptised. 

My companion and I on the other hand had quite a week of health problems as well. My comp hurt her foot and had a bloody nose all week with headaches and much more. Poor thing. 

So I tried dyeing my hair to the color of the roots. Turned grey. Not kidding straight up greyish green.The first words that came out of my mouth wasn´t hosanna. This was on Monday.Then  I had an inflamed nerve in my back which cause my smaller part of my back and my leg and foot to hurt and cause me to limp. So grey hair with a limp. Then i got a fever in the mouth. Really weird. It caused my lips to swell and burn the corners of my mouth. I looked in the mirror and I thought I look like the Bloody joker. Limp. Grey Hair and an extra smile. SICK!!! So I scrubbed the crap out of my hair with a bar of soap and other products. And I called upon the man upstairs and said, " I know this is really random but can you help me fix my hair and get it to a normal color?" God has a sense of humor so I am sure he laughed. Now my hair is blond. A really pretty color too. Miracles people. Gotta love them. 

Then my cook gave me a cow foot soup for lunch. It took everything in my power not to hurl. It's just the hair on the hoof that got to me and the fat. I usually like fat but I almost lost it. Geeewwww gotta love the food. Then the next day we had clams, lobster, shrimp, and more octopus. I really liked it. I happen to like Fish food. Didn´t know it.

So that was the majority of the  bad week. 

Then the baptisms! O my heavens these were by far my favorite baptisms thus far. The interviews for the baptisms went well and my district leader almost cried with Patricia. She is a very spiritual woman and is a true convert. She will do anything for people. It is really hard for her because her husband doesn´t believe in god and she can´t feel the spirit in her home when he is there. Sad business. 

O funny story before I tell you about the baptism. O blasphemy the caps button is broken. somebody fix this later. 

The other day we were visiting Patricia and she said she was ready to buy new clothes. We were like for what. So i can buy dresses to wear everyday. She thought that was a part of our religion to wear dresses everyday. She said well I never see you guys in pants. Good heavens no. We said it was just because we are missionaries We have to wear dresses. Poor thing. True faith right there. Almost got rid of all of her jeans for the gospel. somebody write to the church and tell them that we are setting a weird example for people because of the skirt thing. 

So the baptisms. It was a huge spiritual experience for me. I cried. Patricia and her daughter Isabel were so happy and smiling and their testimonies after their baptism was amazing. they are going to be awesome in the church. Then Krish´s testimony really got to me. Only his uncle and grandma are members. He has been going to church for months but had to get permission from the parents. He is 13 and he was so happy at his baptism. His parents and sister were there. At first they were really mean and not smiling or anything and really standoffish and out of place. After his baptism he got up. His awkward 13 year old self and shared his testimony for the first time. He said I am really really happy. This feeling is indescribable. I hope that my family, my supporters, will one day be baptized as well. He started to cry like everybody else in the room and said amen. The spirit was soo sooo sooo strong. iIlost it. Good grief it was beautiful. After the meeting the parents were so nice and giving out cake, smiling and shaking the hands of people. they had a change of heart. I know without a doubt in my mind that they will join someday. It was amazing. Gospel is true.

Well I love you guys so much. I love the mission and this time in my life and I encourage you all to make the best of your time right now. We only have this short amount of time here on the earth. So enjoy it and do all that you can to be better. Miss yah! But not enough to come home!

p.s. I am making WWBS? bands. It stands for What Would Blake Say? It makes my day with every situation. Genius. I see a fat person at McDonalds. "you know what burns me up' Fat people at the MACDonalds"  hahahaha cracks me up. think about it Blake. You´d make money! 

-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson

I got cabin FEVER!!!‏

Greetings my fellow beings. 

It is Monday and I have a chest cold. Hacking up a lung. The weather changes too much here and it is draining the life out of me. I got rained on in Boquete then I got back to my area where it is sooo hot you consider ripping off all your clothes and joining the people at the carnival. It is the week of Carnival and everybody be all drunk and naked up in here. Babylon. Disgusting. The carnivals here are right before the holy week. A week of partying and doing the horrible, before confessing to the father of their sins.. It gets really bad in Santiago. They send the missionaries out and put them here with us or in the city. Law of Chastity. Get some! 

The Indians are still going bonkers. The did a road block between Santiago and here. And the main highway was shut down and there was no traveling. They were protesting, smoke bombs, and put trees and rocks on the road. Ridiculous. And is anybody doing anything about it no. They want to do something big on the 27th I heard. Gosh and changes are coming up and we haven´t got mail because of it! No mail since the middle of January. NO GARMENTS!!! DAHHH!

This week we too watched a movie in English. 17 Miracles. BEST CHURCH MOVIE! Good grief. I lost it. It is about the miracles of the pioneer's journey to the Salt Lake Valley. It is truly amazing.  I had this urge to do Family History work. But I must be patient until my time comes. There are so many stories and histories out there. Many children and people have died without the work done for them. And I really want to help people do family history. I love teaching that lesson here. Brilliant movie!

We have three baptisms this week. Patricia and Isabel. We had to change the date on them because of the husband.  They are so excited and are beyond ready for this! We also have Krish Lezcano being baptised this week! Krish is a 14 year old boy. His uncles, cousins, and grandma are members. And he has gone to church every week for months. But the problem was getting the parents permission. So we taught him is final lesson. He has literally all of the lessons. And he asked for permission and the parents agreed. They are not members and have nothing to do with the church. I hope that they will have a change of heart someday. So his baptism is coming up. We have 6 fechas total. Hope they all go through! 

Panama is seriously hot. But the good thing about it is that it is fruit season. The good fruit. Not like the usual grapefruit, oranges, and all that. No it is Mangos and some sort of pear like fruit. Juicy goodness. I about died and went to heaven. Also the WATERMELON! Good grief. Dang good in the BOCA! Truly am enjoying myself. I have gained a lot of weight here. Because of the dinner and lunch at member's houses. Too much rice, pasta, and heavy food. You would think that the exercising in the morning and walking your butt off everyday would even it out. Nahhhh not really. I hope to starve in my next area and drop 50 lb. Ha yeah right. After the mission weight loss training will be happening. 

Everybody sounds like they are doing good. I am said I missed the grammys. I heard Adele the singer was on there. Beautiful woman. Great voice.  Wish Kyle good luck and I hope everybody is having a great time. 

Love you all and miss yah! But not enough to come home!   

--
Hermana Channing Jackson

Caution: Sasquatch crossing‏hhnnn

Well welll well we are innn trouble....

Hola. Well by the sounds of it looks like this are going down the drain. 

Me and another hermana are in tears because of Whitney Houston. My heart is broken. I love her and I will forever remember her beloved songs. She best be singing in the tabernacle in Heaven. 

Brett I was going to ask you when you were going to head to the equator place. I heard about it from an Elder here from Ecuador. By the way are the people of Ecuador's accents fetchin sweet. The Elder here I about pass out every time he talks to me. Good heavens. Beautiful. 

Well I am not really sure about the Indian thing anymore. I guess it is suppose to settle down. I think they are going to start it up again today. Dang Indians. This is our land! Hahahah totally a Pocahontas moment. Basking in the Disney. 

Well the flip. Why is the internet down over there. Cambria MCCHICKEN HEAD! WHAT UP SISTER! 

BLAKE HAS A JOB!!! Failure to launch be FLYIN! Whoop Whoop. I will totally visit you someday. Get on it my brother. Make some MONEY and Be A HONEY! I swear I´ve gotten gangster here. Losing my dignity. 

Well this week was pretty crazy. I almost died twice. One by being in a car and one walking down the road. But I did save a members life this week. We were coming back in a taxi from our appointment because we were so far away. And our idiot of a taxi driver decides to pas this car and here came two cars straight at us cause one was passing the other. We get slammed in between two cars and I screamed bloody murder. But no damage to the car or us. But my garments were damage if you catch my drift.  Good grief. IDIOT! LOOK BEFORE YOU PASS! And then after we got out of the situation he decides to demonstrate what happened and what he was thinking. DEAR SIR GET ME THE FLIP HOME! I was ticked and then he asks for a great deal of money. Whatever. 

On Friday my companion, a 13 year old member and I went contacting and trying to get lessons with members. This member is named Abel. He talks a ton. Well we went walking down this paved road where there are hardly any cars. He was telling me all about these video games and singing Skillet (because I got him hooked on it) and stuff. Then I got this thought, you guys needed to move closer to the side. I was like hmmm weird there aren´t that many cars. Well Abel was talking up a storm and a little ways away from my companion and I. And then we all heard this motor. I looked up and there was this purple race car passing this truck right in front of us at incredible speed. The words popped into my head SAVE ABEL! I don´t know how I did it but somehow I grabbed hold of him and chucked him to the side of me before the car almost hit him. This kid is a big kid and was pretty far away from us. It was really strange. The car passed us and it was so close that the wind kinda pushed us. Then Abel said. ¨WOW¨ I was in shocked and kinda freaked out because if that car hit him he would have died instantly. Adrenaline. Gotta Love it. 

We had a lot of good things happen this week.  More baptism dates. Three more families. And a ton of great experiences. 

We went to an area in David as a zone to help other Hermanas out in finding new people, setting baptism dates, etc... It went really well. I did divisions that date with the Mission Nurse and It was a really touching experience for me. We went up in the mountains of Boquete to find families and invite them to an activity that the ward there was having. Well after climbing up this mountain for about 30 minutes we get to the village place. Guys it was one of the saddest places I have ever seen. It is in a mountain range area where it is cold and rainy.There was this giant red tin building with 50 doors or so. Each door has a small room. These are the peoples houses. There is a concrete stove and one bed. I was in culture shock. Bugs were everywhere and dogs and tons of little kids running around with bug bites and dirty faces. One little girl walked up to me grabbed my hand and smiled at me and lead me from door to door. These kids surrounded me and were touching my skin and holding on to my skirt and petting my hand. Gosh my heart was breaking. We sang Families can be together forever in these little rooms and I bore testimony about families. Family is all these people have. One member there walks about two hours to get to church. She attends every Sunday. Never misses. What faith!  I had alot of spiritual moments there.

 

Well I love you guys. And I want you to know that I really love it here and everyday is a life changing experience. Miss you all, but not enough to come home! 

-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson

Everybody bee all kinds of crazy up`in here.‏n

Hello People of every nation. 


It sounds like everyone is having one heck of a time. Wow it is already time for the bishopric to be changed. That went by fast.


 AND HURRAY FOR THE GIANTS! MANNING POWER ALL THE WAY! Someday I will be apart of it all. I need to find a cousin of the Manning Family. 


Blake way to drive around America without me. What is this. And you don´t need hotels. Sleep in the dang car. Georgia! That is what I am talking about. Geturrrdone boyyyeeee!


Brett you better hang on to your pants because transportation is crazy. I have to hold my neck a certain way on the buses because I am so blasted tall here. And I get punched in the face by a woman's badonkie donk when I am sitting down. Also remember the difference in pronunciation in Gentiles (The people)  and Genitals(The parts) . Bahahahaha that was great. My face was so red. Discussing the book of Mormon and mentioning that crap. Awesome life learning a language.
 
Well I don´t know if you all have heard the news but the Indians of Panama have gone off the deep end. Look it up online. I am sure it is on the news. And of course I have to been in the province that they are protesting in and going wild in. The Indians are mad that all the housing developments or something to that effect. They are blocking the roads so buses and cars can´t pass. We can't go to some of our far away areas because there is no diesel. I am like awesome, we can´t work or anything. Only in the area closest to us. It was crazy yesterday so many helicopters and gun shots and stuff. I heard from an Elder today that in front of their house they were teargassed and all the army men were standing outside their laundry with shields and bats.  Today they are blocking the airport and and the way to Coasta Rica. They are mad and all the Panama Indians are in on it. Only Panama City is the safe zone I heard. President Ward called my Zone last night and said for us to wake up early in the morning and go shopping for 5 days worth of food because things are going to get crazy. So we did just that. And I have been on a food storage and water binge for some time so I am ready for whatever goes down. I personally think they will send us to Coasta Rica for awhile if things get rough. Kinda Crazy huh.


But anywho this week was pretty awesome minus the craziness. We set all kinds of goals as a zone and me and my comp tore it up! Whoop Whoop! All kinds of contacts and lessons with members which is beyond rare. We also have two more baptisms coming up! I am so dang excited! Patricia and Isabel are getting baptized next week! AHHHHH! I don´t remember if I told you guys about them.  Patricia is from Venezuela and she married a man from Denmark. They have two girls. Isabel and Malu. Malu is my favorite. She is blond and blue eyed and cute as ever. She comes up to my face and takes a piece of her hair and brings it to my head and says MISMO! Which is the same.  She hasn´t seen another person who looks like her. We brought them to church yesterday and everyone thought I brought my family to visit. Because the girls in a way look like me. It went so awesome. They loved church. And they have a car and alot of money. And Patricia is big on helping youth and has this awesome project planned. I am excited.She really is amazing and so are her daughters. The only problem is her husband is protestant and doesn´t really believe in god. I don´t really understand the religion that well. So we hope theing will go well with him. 


Things are going great here. They really are. I really have grow to love the mission. Missionaries are not perfect but the gospel is. This whole gospel is genius. Everyday when I am studying I am like WHOA WHOAWHOA! This is totally beyond awesome. Everything has a purpose. Get ready peps because this is going to be one crazy great expierence of life before it gets even greater in the world to come. Love it!  I hope all you are doing well! Keep the faith. Love you lots! Miss yah but not enough to come home...unless they ship me out of Panama due to Idians. hehehehehe
-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson

Hello People of every nation. 

It sounds like everyone is having one heck of a time. Wow it is already time for the bishopric to be changed. That went by fast.

 AND HURRAY FOR THE GIANTS! MANNING POWER ALL THE WAY! Someday I will be apart of it all. I need to find a cousin of the Manning Family. 

Blake way to drive around America without me. What is this. And you don´t need hotels. Sleep in the dang car. Georgia! That is what I am talking about. Geturrrdone boyyyeeee!

Brett you better hang on to your pants because transportation is crazy. I have to hold my neck a certain way on the buses because I am so blasted tall here. And I get punched in the face by a woman's badonkie donk when I am sitting down. Also remember the difference in pronunciation in Gentiles (The people)  and Genitals(The parts) . Bahahahaha that was great. My face was so red. Discussing the book of Mormon and mentioning that crap. Awesome life learning a language.
 
Well I don´t know if you all have heard the news but the Indians of Panama have gone off the deep end. Look it up online. I am sure it is on the news. And of course I have to been in the province that they are protesting in and going wild in. The Indians are mad that all the housing developments or something to that effect. They are blocking the roads so buses and cars can´t pass. We can't go to some of our far away areas because there is no diesel. I am like awesome, we can´t work or anything. Only in the area closest to us. It was crazy yesterday so many helicopters and gun shots and stuff. I heard from an Elder today that in front of their house they were teargassed and all the army men were standing outside their laundry with shields and bats.  Today they are blocking the airport and and the way to Coasta Rica. They are mad and all the Panama Indians are in on it. Only Panama City is the safe zone I heard. President Ward called my Zone last night and said for us to wake up early in the morning and go shopping for 5 days worth of food because things are going to get crazy. So we did just that. And I have been on a food storage and water binge for some time so I am ready for whatever goes down. I personally think they will send us to Coasta Rica for awhile if things get rough. Kinda Crazy huh.

But anywho this week was pretty awesome minus the craziness. We set all kinds of goals as a zone and me and my comp tore it up! Whoop Whoop! All kinds of contacts and lessons with members which is beyond rare. We also have two more baptisms coming up! I am so dang excited! Patricia and Isabel are getting baptized next week! AHHHHH! I don´t remember if I told you guys about them.  Patricia is from Venezuela and she married a man from Denmark. They have two girls. Isabel and Malu. Malu is my favorite. She is blond and blue eyed and cute as ever. She comes up to my face and takes a piece of her hair and brings it to my head and says MISMO! Which is the same.  She hasn´t seen another person who looks like her. We brought them to church yesterday and everyone thought I brought my family to visit. Because the girls in a way look like me. It went so awesome. They loved church. And they have a car and alot of money. And Patricia is big on helping youth and has this awesome project planned. I am excited.She really is amazing and so are her daughters. The only problem is her husband is protestant and doesn´t really believe in god. I don´t really understand the religion that well. So we hope things will go well with him. 

Things are going great here. They really are. I really have grown to love the mission. Missionaries are not perfect but the gospel is. This whole gospel is genius. Everyday when I am studying I am like WHOA WHOAWHOA! This is totally beyond awesome. Everything has a purpose. Get ready peeps because this is going to be one crazy great experience of life before it gets even greater in the world to come. Love it!  I hope all you are doing well! Keep the faith. Love you lots! Miss yah but not enough to come home...unless they ship me out of Panama due to Indians. hehehehehe
-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson

Rice Guts, Man Calves, and bushy eyebrows....‏

What Up All...This is Hermana Jackson reporting live from the heart of DAVID for the third change in a row and I am happy as a pimple on a teenagers face. I have the same companion and we are working like crazy to fix this area and make it into something.

Ommmaaannnn where do I start...

Brett the pictures are legit and it sounds like you are working it up. Learning to be a missionary is the hardest thing and I learned that we won´t really figure it out until the end. But keep working at it. I haven´t had much time to study my language either. But I´ve started writing conjugations and vocab and studying on the buses and while we are walking in the middle of no where and repeating everything that people say to me. Preach the Word of God my Brother. I also like your backpack. 

Well sounds like things are warming up in Colorado and all these changes going down in the Ward. Mom keep on preaching. Dad keep on a shootin those shots in the butt. Cambria be a star at music and life. Blake take over the world. Say hello to my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents for me. Tell them that I think of them often. 

Also did you get my package yet?

Poor Blake. 21 hours. Gosh put on some stuck like glue and wag that finger! I really miss some of the car music Blake and I would jam out to on our trips home. LOST IN THE WILDERNESS! I NEED THAT SONG!!! NOT ON THE IPOD!!!!! 

So this week was great it really was. We were teaching Samudio every night and preparing  him for his baptism. When it came time for the interview the District leader said he is more than prepared. WHOOP WHOOP. Saturday came and we were cleaning the font and setting up chairs, and filling up the baptism font. Which took 5 hours because there is hardly any water pressure and the faucet was tiny. Good Grief. We also did service the day of the baptism and we made pineapple empanadas. You know how easy that crap is. I was in shock. I could totally make this and forget about TACO BELL'S empanadas.  We also made a chocolate cake for the baptism. The Baptism was a 6:00 and no one showed up till about 7:00. I was so happy because His Family, who are less actives, all showed up to support him. He bought a white shirt and he was so happy. Then the baptism was done and I sang a song. Yes I be singing in places now because I am the only one who can carry a tune here. And then the greatest moment came. Samudio shared his testimony.  I almost cried. He said I am so happy, I am so grateful for Hermana Jackson and Hermana Mendez for stopping by my house and changing my life.  He said he would never forget us. He bought a journal slash and he wrote down everything. Every lesson we taught him, the dates, our names, his baptism and when he received the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic priesthood. I was like good heavens. We really are changing lives. All because we took the road less traveled by and God put him in our path. Miracles happen people, every once in awhile. 

We have also been meeting with some menos activos and one of them is a 90 year old woman who lives by herself. She looks like a dinosaur. I want a picture with her. We were visiting her last night and she was telling us all about her life, when she was converted, and showing us pictures and stuff. She has the pictures of the missionaries who converted her in the 70s and all that jazz. She laughs, jokes, and smiles like crazy. She has a ton of faith but it is hard for her to go to church because it is a long way to walk. While we were talking the phone rang and we saw her get up and run to the back. I am sooo not kidding. She literally ran. Me and my companion were in shock. My mouth jumped and my companion said Ella puede corre!? I was like yeah she can freaking run faster then me. What are they drinking and eating down here. That woman is a beast and still has 15 years ahead of her. O heavens I almost died laughing. Its all about moving and working. Somebody take Grandma Jackson around the gym a few laps. She can´t get any weaker. 

Well What more can I say. All I know is that life is good when you have God in your life and you are doing the things you are suppose to do all will be well.  Much love people. Know that I am praying for you all and that I love you all very much. Miss yah..but not enough to come home! 

-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson

Sometimes I get a good feeling yeahhhhhh...a

Well It was awesome to hear from everyone this week! Dad, Mom, Blake, Brett, Cambria, Ashley, and Mary!

 

Blake. Way to get on the ball. But I would be just enjoyin the freedom of the world. Live it up my man. And do as Brett says and GET AFTER IT! Whoop whoop

Cambria practice that violin. I have decided that the Jackson siblings are going to rule this world. Blake  brings in the dow, Brett puts on the Show, You play in the Band and I work the runway. Mmmmhhhhmmmmmm

Dad. I was so happy that you took the time to write an email to us. I miss you alot. I was thinking of you and playing video games today and cussing. hehe good times. I climbed a mountain today and was kinda roaming around looking for certain objects. Little arrow like objects. But alas I didn´t find any...... yet...

Mom! Sounds like everything is going good. I wish I could of been there to hear Ashley´s farewell. 

Well this week is Cambios. And I have no idea if I am going or not. I really don´t want to go. I love my area. And my Spanish is getting better. I have gotten to a point of understanding. When you start understanding the music that is playing on the bus you know you are making progress. The only hard thing is speaking. The way I deal with stress is a good ole coloring book! That happens to be a batman one. hehehehe

This passed week went by so fast and I celebrated my 6 months birthday...only three more months till I take the 9 months pregnant picture all the hermanas do. Basically a 11-12 months more for me. Weird. MAKE IT COUNT! 

We had the privilege of hearing from the one the only...RUSSEL M. NELSON! That beast of a man. He was here in Panama and preaching it up. We saw him on a video broadcast since we are 8 hours away from Panama. He told us what is up. Love it. They need to give these type of talks on Conference. His wife talked also and I was blown away. She kicks trash. She talked about Nephi Sam and Laman and Lemuel. How they all went through the same things. Saw an Angel, felt the spirit, and only two had a change of heart. I was like whoa.... Never realized that.

How many of us go through the mission and experience the same things but don´t have a change of heart. Genius. Also she said to look for the miracles in your life and remember them. Also If we could just take a glimpse into ourselves in the premortal life and see ourselves as we truly are all our problems and worries would fall away.  

And Russel M. Nelson told us a funny story about this letter he got from his grandson. Well his grandson is learning a different language and I guess the letter Elder R. got was full of grammatical mistakes and misspellings and foreign words. He said I scolded my grandson. I said to him that I know you are not teaching English but you are not perfecting your abilities in three languages. English, Spanish, and the Language of the Lord. He told us that we need to be excelling in all of these languages. I was like YEAH we do! My languages are crap! DEMAND EXCELLENCE out of yourselves people! Beyond which is sufficient!

And I am so excited for this week because we are having two baptisms. Samudio and a little 8 year old. Samudio is a mircale story. This man has family who are all members and some are less actives. He sits on his porch every night and looks at the cars passing by. And then we come along one day, because we took a wrong turn and say hey can we sing you a hymn? He says yes and says come back. He is a quiet man and nods his head during the first few lessons. then after the Gospel of  Christ, he starts talking laughing coming to church, and gains this testimony. All he was waiting for is an invitation. He was just waiting for people to ask him to change and come to Christ. And guess what he accepted. Sometimes it just take us one question to change our lives. Miracles. Love them.

Alot of people ask us about the world ending and 2012.  That's one of the number one questions we will be getting this year I am sure. I was like well prepare spiritually and did as Brett said, and said, take part in the Gospel of Christ! I love questions like these. Random. The Plan of Salvation questions are random too. 

Anyway not much to say this week. My mind is fried.  Keep on rolling with the punches. Love you guys! Miss you but not enough to come home!

-- 
Hermana Channing Jackson