Ummm...did you forget to email me?

I am quite behind on blog posts - sorry.  I am taking a couple college classes, etc., etc... and on Sunday night I was up late and thought, "I will write Jake's email in the morning."  Well, the storm hit and let's just say I wasn't able to email him.  He actually thought I had forgotten him?!@  Is that crazy or what?!  As if!

So transfers came on Monday and Jake is staying in Great Falls!!!  He said that he is happy to be staying in an area longer than 6 weeks.  I know that they are working with a couple of investigators and I hope that he continues to find joy in all that he is doing.  Here is how he said it:

        So things are going great. I am so happy to finally stay in an area longer than 6 weeks. I feel like I just got here to Great Falls. Now that we have people to teach and we're in a groove time seems to be slowing down. I'm happy with life right now. 

So I will try to capture some of the things that have happened and bring everyone up to speed.  If you recall, his mission had a mission tour and a lot of meetings.  Elder Arnold of the Seventy came to his area and Jake loved him!  The church office had told them that they would be in for a real treat with Elder Arnold and Jake said they were absolutely right!  While at the mission tour he got to see some of his good friends from the MTC.  All of us know how much Jake treasures his friendships and people so I can imagine this was a VERY good thing for him.

For those that don't know, our church meetings are 3 hours long.  We have sacrament, then we have Sunday school, and then we have either Relief Society, Priesthood, or Primary. For those of you who do know, you might find this funny:

We were in meetings for 9 hours yesterday. I got thinking about previous to the mission and when I got to serve and meetings. I remember thinking how long church was. Heck, now I think church isn't long enough. Average meetings usually last between 4 and 5 hours for us. Today we have a zone training and that will probably last 4 or 5 hours.

Jake shared with me a bit of his meeting with President Mecham. He said that President Mecham is so inspired and that he really loves him and respects him. I am so glad that that is a wonderful relationship. I didn't doubt that it would be but I love hearing the way Jake talks about him - so much love and respect!

Jaime, Bowman, Matt - WRITE JAKE! LOL

Kate - Jake says you will an exceptional missionary! He said that his Bishop's son just got back from Honduras...sounds a bit 'exciting.' ( I suppose that is the best word) Be careful girl! He says that he heard that there are no driving rules there and that you become an extremely offensive driver to keep yourself safe. He also says you owe him a letter! LOL

So... did any of you watch, "The Work of Salvation" missionary broadcast?  IT. WAS. AWESOME.  A little fun fact - the missionary who gave the opening prayer.... Elder Ludlow....Chris Ludlow...was in Jake's EFY group!!!!  How awesome is that?  I can't even imagine how nervous he must have been!