2014 May

5th May

I am so happy for Brother Wurster.

I need to figure out what time you all get out of church on Sunday. It will make it a whole lot easier to set up being able to talk to everyone on Mother's Day. Also, I was wondering, if you were going to try to get other people to be able to be present.  Hopefully you are on when I send this message and we can figure all of that out.

It's super cool to hear that seminary is finally over. I remember the early mornings and I didn't like them very much. But the fact that I was going to seminary made everything easier. This means that Zach has already finished his first year of seminary, and will be in his second year when I get home.

To answer your first question, I am doing very well. I have been having an amazing time being able to be here on a mission. I have particularly enjoyed being able to be a part time service elder.  Being able to do all of the service projects that have come up throughout the mission has been awesome.

I hope that you have all been doing well. I love you all!

I will definitely see about giving your phone number to our host family so that you can talk with them, and I will probably give your phone number to them.

As far as the time to start the hangout, they are gonna have us for lunch beforehand, and wanted us to come over at one, so they might want to talk with us and get to know us a little better before we start the hangout session. Anytime around 1:30-2:00 would be a great time for us to start. Church for us is 9:00-12:00.

Also, if you can tell Sean I said Congrats on the mission and hope to see him after I get back, that would be awesome!

11th May

We had a time (interesting, entertaining, and wonderful) "hanging out" with Elder Jastal on Mother's Day.

12th May

I was So Happy to be able to see everyone. I am sad that Gabe wasn't able to be a part of any of it. I haven't heard from him in so long...

Anyway, I really enjoyed being able to talk with everyone and hear how everyone has been doing. Alexander looks like he is doing very well. Brinya looks like she is doing wonderful. I was so happy to be able to see her smiling and being so happy and energetic.  It was great to see everyone else too.

Tell Sammi I said hi, and that I hope she was able to have a wonderful Mothers Day!

I love you all and hope that you will all be able to have a wonderful week. Also, Thank you for the Pictures!

Love,

Elder Jastal.

19th May

It sounds like things are going well at home still. It certainly does feel like it has been forever since Mother's Day, even though it has only been 8 days. 

I have always loved Elder Bednar's talks, so I think it is awesome that you were able to teach a lesson using one of (Ask in Faith) his talks. I will definitely find time to go print those (I had also mentioned Pray Always to Elder Jastal) talks off and look through them.

I am still companions with Elder Chapman and we both moved to a new ward up in the Mission Viejo Stake. It has been going fairly well, the only setback we have seen is that I caught a cold, the night we got into the area and then Elder Chapman caught it from me a couple days ago. I am getting over it though, and outside of a bit of a cough, I am now doing great. We are still both part time service elders so will still be doing different service projects around the mission. I am happy about that because I love being able to help out with the projects that we have been doing.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week. I e-mailed gabe today and I hope that he will e-mail me back by next week. If not, then I will just keep e-mailing him until he does. I hope to be able to hear that he is doing well.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Jastal

27th May

 MY Memorial day was awesome! I couldn't hardly find parking in our apartment complex for the most part, but luckily we did find a parking spot so that we could lessen the distance to our apartment. Other than that, We had a P-day activity and had a lot of fun. The biggest problem was that all of the Libraries were Closed! WE couldn't find any other place to try and e-mail so we have permission to do that today.
 

The vehicle and cell phone coordinator is in charge of making sure that everyone is legal and able to drive, and he was the one that talked to me in the first place about you trying to help me make sure that my license gets renewed. I will be waiting to hear about the packet coming in. I will also be in contact with the Mission Office Staff so that I can be sure to get the Eye Examination as well. Thank you! I love you Mom!

2014 April

14th April

Well, it sounds like there has already been some work done on the inside of the house.  You did mention that Zach moved into Helaman's room, so I guess that the only room left unoccupied now will be the "Guest room".
I am Super Excited about Easter. Our Choir will be doing a couple of performances that day. One of them will be in the morning at our Mission Office. The other one will be at one of the Stake Centers in our mission. I am not sure if any of them will be recorded or not, but I am excited to be able to sing. I think at both of them we will be performing "This is the Christ" which was written by James E. Faust.

 

It is awesome to hear that Brinya is still moving along in all of her medical operation things. I hope that she is doing a lot better than last I heard. I don't even remember what the last I had heard was.

It is also awesome to hear about the funny things that happen in Nature. Squirrels are really funny critters, so I am not surprised that it was scolding the cat.

 

Anyway, It was great to be able to hear from home again. I love you all and I hope that you all will be able to have a great week.

 

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

 

 

21st April

 

I hope that you were all able to have a wonderful Easter at home. I had a fantastic Easter. I was able to perform with our Choir again. We did two performances, one in the morning at a ward up in the Irvine Stake, and then an Easter Concert in the evening in the Mission Viejo stake. They were both great performances. After the first one, a member went up to one of the directors and said that she had been a convert and that shortly after that she moved to Salt Lake and had the opportunity every Sunday to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She felt however, that our performance that morning was even better than all of the performances she heard from MoTab. I still think we need to work on that, but the people around here, love to be able to hear from our Choir. We have gotten quite a reputation out here. We were told this right before we finished up the beforehand practice for the Evening Performance.

 

It was also wonderful to be able to hear from Elder Andersen on Saturday. I got to see my old Mission President as well, and some of the other missionaries I had known before our mission spilt back in July. I was quite pleased with the things I was able to learn from Elder Andersen. I am also going to have learn the scriptures better; mMore particularly, the Bible.

 

Anyway, I hope that you were all able to have a wonderful week, and I hope that this week goes well also.

I love you all,

 

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

 

28th April

 

Cool that Dad got called to be the Sunday School President. It is always good to hear about all of the things going on at home.

Before I forget to ask, did you guys get a package from me in the past week or so?

Anyway, I love that talk ( Safety for the  Soul) from Elder Holland. Elder Holland has always been one of my favorite Apostles. I haven't read that talk for a while, and will have to go read it again now.

As for my week, it was great. I was able to do a bunch more service again. We were asked to help out, again, at the Irvine Great Park, and we got a bunch of vegetables from the guy who runs most of the work on the Incredible Edible Farm. Hopefully, we are able to use it all up before it goes bad. But it was super awesome to be able to help with everything.

It is super crazy to think that Elder Tribett will soon no longer be Elder Tribett, and will be great for everyone to see him again.

I hope that you all have a great week. I love you!

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

2014 March

3rd March
Thank you mom. I haven't looked at that scripture for a while now. Thanks for sharing it and your testimony. It does a lot to help me strengthen my resolve to do all I can while I am out here and  to make sure I do all I can when I get home as well.

 

Thank you for the picture of the new little one. What is her name?

 

It is awesome that you are able to be there for Josh and Sammi.  I hope that you are able to enjoy the rest of the time that you have to be with them.

 

I am sorry to say that I haven't anything to give as an update for the week. I stayed in the Apartment for most of it with one of my companions who had the flu and is finally starting to get better. My other companion was able to Go out on splits with the Ward Mission Leader a couple times, but other than that I don't have much to tell about.

 

I love you mom! I await the day when I can learn to have a perfect love for all men. But for now I am learning just as you are.

 

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

 

10th March

 

I am glad that you got to go to the temple. It is a very beautiful place. Especially the temple in D.C. That is a great picture as well.

 

It is also fun to hear about Little Spencer. He is such a funny little guy.

I hope that things continue to go as well as it sounds like they are going. I hope that you are able to have a lot more fun with Josh, Sammi, Spencer and Eleanor.

 

At the time that you sent this e-mail I had probably just finished and left from e-mailing. As for the name I think it is a wonderful name (Eleanor).

I hope that the snow hasn't made it more difficult to do things around there. Snow.... gosh I almost don't even remember what it is like. 
It is also wonderful news that Josh will be able to be home more often as well.
As for journal writing, I am making a greater effort to remember to write down something in mine at least once a day. I am hoping that I can make a habit out of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Love It!

Spencer is such a goofy little guy.

I also love the little messages you are receiving from the scriptures. It is wonderful to hear about what others learn from the scriptures as I do my own learning as well.

I hope to be able to live up to the standard that is expected even after I am released from my service.

Last Monday, My companions and I had the opportunity to substitute in seminary for one of the members of our ward. We taught the class a lesson based on Alma chapters 14-22. I was super stoked because My favorite Book of Mormon verse is in chapter 22, and I was able to dress up in a costume. I found an old tie that nobody had worn in forever, and I found a cloth belt that was lying around the apartment, and I used a blanket and a little foam sword. So you get to see the little Ideas that missionaries come up when they want to have some kind of fun. I thought you all might enjoy it.

 

 

I hope that you have an excellent week.

Love,

Elder Jastal

17th March
It sounds like the trip home was a lot better than might have been expected. 
I am happy to hear about Brinya again. I haven't heard much about her for a couple of months, it feels like. I hope that she doesn't have to go through this stuff for too much longer.

 

I like that verse (1 Nephi 11:11) , by the way. That verse actually gives more information about who the Spirit is verses what it does.

Also, thanks for the pictures of Spencer and Norah. She looks adorable and the picture of Spencer is classic.

 

My week has been great. My companion Elder Wetzker got sick last Monday shortly after my companion Elder Chapman started getting better and so I was inside again for a while. I also had the opportunity this week to make some Pork Spare ribs. The members that had signed up to feed us on Thursday, had some sort of school function come up for their kids and so they couldn't exactly have us over for dinner anymore; but rather than sending us away empty handed, the Sister asked if we had the things necessary to cook with and then gave us the Pork Spare ribs and some potatoes.  So I got to make those and french fries. I was kinda nervous about the whole prospect, but I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. The meat was delicious and was literally falling off of the bones. The french fries weren't too bad either, until we stuck them in the oven to try keeping them warm enough to eat while we left for a couple of the appointments we had during the time that the meat was cooking. Unfortunately we weren't able to eat until we had turned in for the night, but it was still good, and definitely worth the wait.

 

Anyway, I hope that you all are able to have a great week.

I love you!

Love,

Elder Jastal

24th March
To answer your first question, the weather here is great. We have had some rain in the past few weeks, but nothing to last more than a couple days. Yes, I am in Orange County. The Counties our here in Southern California are HUGE!! If you look up "map of orange county" on Google, it will show you how big it is. It covers like 30+ cities. It is crazy.

 

It sounds like Stake Sisterhood day was great. I think I remember hearing about those studies regarding family dinners a long time ago. I don't remember when though.

 

My week was great. I was actually able to get out the apartment because my companions are all better. It is awesome! This past week, we were able to work as volunteers at a couple of thrift shops, but then we had meetings during the times that we would usually work at other places, so we didn't get around to the food banks that we volunteer at. We have been able to talk to people about the gospel at the places we work. The approach we are taking is similar to the approach that Ammon took towards King Lamoni. We serve and wait for the people to ask questions so that we can answer them, and we are usually able to have gospel related conversations, at least one or two per day, during the time that we serve. Outside of that, all of our proselyting is done during the evenings.

 

It sounds like things are going well at home. Zach had told me about his Purple belt, and I had responded with how he is doing awesome and to keep up the good work.

As for the last member to have sent you pictures of me with my companions, that was Brother Peter Vidmar, he is an awesome guy.

Anyway, I hope that you all are able to have an awesome week this week and that the weather doesn't get bad. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Jastal

31st March

Sounds like there was a lot to be learned at ward conference. I hope that Grant and Zach did well at the tournament  Anyway, I hope that you were able to enjoy the week. I was able to help several people move throughout the week. I also was able to help out at the huge park that is up in Irvine. My companions and I planted a bunch of trees and bushes. Other than that, not too much happened.

 

One other thing I just thought of though, have you been able to find time yet to send out whatever it was that we had talked about at Christmas. I don't quite remember what it was that I had asked for, but I do remember asking for something. If not that's fine, I was just curious.

 

Anyway, I know that I haven't written much, but I don't have too much to write this week. I love you all and I hope that all of you are able to have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Jastal

2014 February

3rd February

 

It sounds like life at home is going great.  Hopefully you are able to work out visiting with Jerret and Lisa and the kids, as well as being able to head out to Maryland. To update you on the little service projects, this past Friday we were able to take Olive Garden to a homeless Shelter in Laguna Canyon. It was awesome to be able to help out with that.

Elder Beckstead is getting Married!? Holy Smokes!

 

Thanks, again, for the mini patriarchal blessing.

 

I am hoping that things begin to look up as far as the waether goes. How is Zach doing with the extended break from school? Is he happy or is he frustrated with the probable increase of chores at home? (if there has been an increase in chores)

 

As for Specific volunteer opportunities that we have been able to work with, last Tuesday we were able to help a group, I don't remember the name, lay out a whole bunch of mulch to start the creation of what is going to be called the Incredible Edible park. It is going to be a sort of vegetable garden park thing where parents can take their children to play around and that sort of stuff. And if anybody ever gets hungry, there will be little healthy snacks growing all around them that they will be able to pick and eat. That is one of the more recent things that we have helped out with.

 

Anyway, I hope that you are all enduring the weather fairly well. I hope that you will all be able to enjoy the upcoming week. I love you all.

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

 

10th February

I will have to figure out how to get Gabe to respond to me. I haven't heard from him in forever, and I kinda don't know if I expect to hear from him before my mission is over.  Thank you for the quote though. That is going to be really helpful. 

 

I bet Zach was super excited to be able to have the time off from school.  He told me that he spent a bit of it playing minecraft with some friends.

 

I would say for Spiritual Experiences, my last district meeting was a great one. My district leader had felt inspired to have a meeting that was more counsel from all of us rather than him instructing us for an hour and a half. I learned from all of the District what I have been feeling the need to work on personally. It was great.

 

Anyway, I hope that you all have a great week. I love you all.

 

Love,

 

Elder Jastal

 

25th February

 

Hey Mom!

 

To tell the truth, I was kinda rushed towards the end of my e-mailing so I completely forgot to e-mail you (last week).

 

It is fun to hear all these little bits about my nieces and nephews so often. Especially Spencer. That little guy is super funny.  IT is exciting to hear about having another little one that is almost here.

 

As for how we are doing here, I would say that tings are going well, but I will also say that the drought is certainly having an effect out here. There usually isn't a lot of rain in southern California anyway, so the drought isn't good news. I am having plenty to eat though. The members have always been good with helping the missionaries out, so we have dinner pretty much every night of the month. As for the clothes, I have a few ties that I am trying to find out how to get fixed. the back seam on them is coming undone. Also, I got a couple new pairs of pants with the money from Sister Berry yesterday. The biggest problem I would say I am facing out here, is the fact that it costs a lot to replace anything out here, if I need to. It cost about $70 to get 2 pairs of pants.

 

I guess I have to look forward to the next Google hangout a bit more now. I will probably have made  bit more improvement by that time anyway, so I will probably sound a bit better as well. 

 

Anyway, Thanks you so much for the scripture. I love you mom!

 

Love,

 

Elder Jastal