May 25th 2015

Hello everyone!!! Hope everyone is doing great. Sounds like the boys continued the annual overnighter at the cabin. Makes me proud!!! Nobody even had to go to the hospital this time! Good work! I hope you are all having fun at the cabin and saved me a cinnamon role!:)

Yesterday was one of the best sacrament meetings I have ever been to since I have been here! The Lago family came and all the members were super nice. They know their situation and after church a couple of them came up to me feeling so proud saying they challenged them to get baptized even though their family problems. So we are getting some support. They are awesome and so strong! The lessons are always very very emotional. I LOVE IT!

Yesterday was kinda cool. The story of how I met the Mayor is kinda long anyway I ended up in the same room with the Mayor who is HUGE here in Roxas. He was going around talking to lots of different people and I decided to try and place a Book of Mormon with the Mayor. So we went up to him and introduced ourselves and he wasn't super pumped about it and kinda went on talking to other people. But then I tried again and told him that my dad was the Mayor in our city back home. Ha ha like I said being a Mayor over here in a big big deal they are similar in status to a Governor.  So as soon as I said that he totally changed and he told his body guard guy to grab a chair and some food for me and the rest of the time he was there for about 20 min we talked about our purpose here and it turned out he has been to Utah before. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and he told us we can go to his office and ask for some money if we need help. So ya that was really cool.

Ha ha o ya last Monday we planned a family home evening with a part member family. We didn't really know if they remembered that we were going there but when we got to their house there were so many people who prepared so much food and even the girls spent all day preparing a dance performance for us. They had a microphone and tons of speakers. it was a wonderful opportunity and we took full advantage and really built relationships with the people in that neighborhood and it paid off come Sunday and 4 of them came to church! So that was awesome! 

Its been a great week like always! Great things are happening here! i love it. I love the church! I love the mission! I love the Philippines! Thanks for all of your letters. I got a package from Neal and Suzanne! Thank you so much for thinking of me like that! Thanks to all of you! You are always sending letters and sending some love from home! It may seem small but it means a lot to me!

I love you all so much and wish the best!

Love,

Elder Jackson Erik Craythorne

May 18th 2015

WHAT A WEEK!!!! It is for sure up there at the top! Awesome! So first of all skyping you all was great! I loved it! Having a family prayer kahit magkabilang mundo tayo was awesome!!! Even though I was in a computer shop I just felt so happy hearing my dad pray over our family again. That was very special....thank you! 

Alright so this week as busy busy busy! We went finding one Tuesday like mad men and was very successful. Now we just need to find who are the listeners and who are the actual investigators!!! The gospel is for everyone though its not only for a few special people. Time is the only difference.

Wedneday we finnally got the Lago family to open up!!! They are so converted on the Book of Mormon. The oldest kid who is 19 was praying so hard to know if the Book of Mormon was true and she said she couldn't go to sleep she read all night and when she finally got to sleep she woke up and without thinking she reached for the Book of Mormon. She is awesome! The mom was a very emotional and told us she knows its true but the concern is if they join the church her sister will stop supporting her kids in school. So its a very real concern but one that we can work through. There is something I have learned here and its Satan really really doesn't want any one to join the church. There are always obstacles but going through those are what makes a convert strong. Its all part of the plan and I know it! Well they came to church except the dad. We are slowly getting his trust he has a Word of Wisdom problem and is not home very often. But its coming! They are also inviting a lot of other people to come with them! This family is huge in their community and so ready!

Wednesday night we got a call from the mission president and he wanted to take us out to dinner!!! So that was an awesome surprise! He took me and my companion and four of the sisters to one of the nicest places in the city to eat. It was amazing food and they even had a band playing outside. It was that nice of a place! So that was a little different!

Thursday we got an assignment from the mission president to go to the youth conference and do a mission prep activity for the youth in the stake! The youth conference here was at a beach resort and there were over 100 kids 14-17 that came! So it was an awesome opportunity and a lot of fun!

We had a successful baptism this week. Adriana who her mom is a less active who is now back going to church was baptized and Sister Bandillion her kids are all members she just took a little more time to pull the trigger!

I love this area so much! There are some great things happening especially in the neighborhood of the Lago family! So ya it was a blast this week we had a lot of fun and felt like we had a lot of help this week. Thank you all for your prayers and support! I can feel it!

Alright so I better wrap this up but I just want you to know how happy I am here. Even though I might have got something stuck in my eye after the family prayer over skype but I am just so blessed to be here! I am so thankful for a mom goes above and beyond her calling as a mother and a rock solid priesthood holder as my dad and my best friend who does everything with only his family in mind! I love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Jackson Erik Craythorne

May 4th 2015

Maayong hapon kamo tanan!!! Awesome awesome week. Yesterday we had the first sacrament in Sigma. It was a huge deal and I sent some pictures to show you how many people came to witness it and of course it was the first Sunday of the month and you can probably imagine how spiritual of a testimony meeting it was being the first one in that area. Its not its own unit yet. Its kinda like what we used to do with the people who are sick and cant go to church and take the sacrament so we used to take it to there house back at home. Its like but they have speakers and Bishop attends. Just a sacrament meeting in another place to help the church grown even though its not a branch yet. Its really close though!!! The spirit of that meeting was indescribable and just the people are so excited!!!! I love it!

This week was awesome when it came to investigators' Book of Mormon reading. Sometimes its a challenge to get them to REALLY read the book of Mormon. They need to really know how important it is in order to get really converted and not leave as soon as they join the church. The Lago family and the Uball family didn't just read the book of Mormon but really searched and they know how important of a book it is! So I was very happy about that.

I am sure you heard of the Mayweather and Pacquaio fight and that happened to be during our church... So our church attendance at the Ward was not the greatest. Pacquaio is HUGE here the whole city like shut down during his fight. No tricycles no jeepneys. They all support their fellow Filipino. We did have a surprisingly amount of strong members who still came despite Pacquaio. He has done a lot of good here and is an inspiration to this country!

Its kinda funny here in Roxas there are two missionaries from West Point and one from Hopper. No other Americans just 3 of us less than 5min from each other back home!!! Pretty crazy!

I cannot believe its almost Mothers day and I get to see my awesome family again. You guys sounds amazing in your emails and I am so excited to hear your voices!!!! I love you all so much and just so lucky to be a missionary and I am here to make the most of this opportunity! 

Love,

Elder Jackson Erik Craythorne