Jake's email Oct 15th

Well hello there. It turned back to hot weather here and I got sunburned. And it’s all humid. But it’s going to rain again today. But the last week of rain has been causing some problems here. First it gets everything wet. But Paysandú is next to a river and it actually flooded. It’s moved up an extreme amount. There was about 100 meters of land that’s now under water and it’s covered about 4 streets. People’s houses are flooded. They actually evacuated a part of my area and most of the zone leader’s area. It’s super sad. They had huge trucks carrying people out. And a bunch of people are going in and robbing the houses now. So everyone is going back to their flooded houses or not even evacuating in the first place. We actually went to the flooded part of the city and it’s a good 3 to 4 feet in some areas. The kids love it but they don’t understand how bad it is. And it’s interesting because it happened to one of the worst parts here in Paysandú. So that's a little news about our area. Oh and I forgot to mention that they just legalized abortion here in Uruguay. That sucks. Now everyone is going out and having sex and they won’t have any consequences to their actions. And they are about to legalize marijuana here too. I mean everyone smokes it but it’s not legal just yet. But they are working on it. I'm getting kind of scarred for this place. And on the news they say that the states are going in the same direction. Is that true? And how are the elections going? I voted for Romney and sent it in. I hope Obama does not win. He will make the country like here and I really don’t want that.  But just let me know when you have a chance. Well the family room and TV sound exciting. I want to see some pictures when you can. I bet Halen is nervous. But he will do fine. He’s strong. Hahaha. But it’s normal. And he won’t even have to speak Spanish. So that’s one less thing to worry about. Wish him well for me. Oh and could you do me a favor. Could you send me more clothes? Like more missionary mall socks and some white shirts that are a little bit smaller. And the rest of my ties in my closet. That’s a lot to ask but if you can do it, that would help a ton. And we have this 49 year old investigator named Gabriela and she is golden. She wants to get baptized and she knows almost everything. And she went to church yesterday and to the conference. And she is a gimp. But she has a strong desire to follow Christ. And her daughter was there and she’s not a member and she told us that she knows that the church is true thru multiple prayers and spiritual things she has had. But she went back to Montevideo yesterday. So that was a bummer. But she’s going to get baptized on October 25. I’m super excited. And she was a reference from another ward. So that is something new and cool. But nothing else too exciting happened. So bye..

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Oct 7th Jake's email

Well this week has been good. It has rained all day this week. And the
streets here are horrible. They have no drainage in them. So when it
starts raining the streets get flooded and it’s about 8 inches of
water. And it’s like a river. And my shoes are not made for that. I
have been walking around in wet shoes for about a week now. And my
other pair of shoes broke. So I can’t use those ones either. But I’m
doing good. The conference was amazing. And yes I did listen to it in
English. I like the voices better and it’s easier to take notes in
English. But I can understand it all if it were in Spanish. And that’s
cool about the new TV. Is it nicer? And how’s the new floor. I bet it’s
amazing. Well as you know changes were this week and I’m staying here
and with Elder Pyeatt. So that wasn’t out of the blue. I guessed the
entire change that would happen. And we had some zone shirts made. It’s
the Mountain Dew logo, but it says Paysan on the mountain part. Its
super cool looking. And I found out the Elder Oaks conference will be
this 27. And is going to be the two missions in Uruguay that are
going. And I bet he is going to drop cain. They are always a lot
stronger to us when they are just talking to missionaries. But in
General Conference they go easier. But that is ok too. Man time just
flies by here. I feel new but I’m almost half done. And now there are
going to be younger missionaries. I’m super excited for it but I’m just
going to feel older. But I guess that’s life. Oh and I still haven’t
bought anything with my birthday money. Everything is too expensive
here and I didn’t find anything I want. And I find myself thinking of
how to prepare others to go on missions because I wasn’t prepared at
all. I just think I could have had a better start. And I could be
better now. And during interviews I told president that and that I was
super discouraged. And he kind of talked to me and told me there is
bigger things awaiting me in the mission. I don’t know I still feel new
and like I can’t speak or teach very well. I’m learning a lot form Elder
Pyeatt thought. He’s from New Mexico. And he can teach really well. So
I’m learning some from him. But what I learned from the scriptures is
all I can do is my best. God is not going to judge me for doing more
than I’m capable. I just know that he is pleased and he will do a lot to
help me. But any advice? I need all the tips I can get. Well how’s
everything back home? Still normal? It’s weird to think that I have been
gone awhile. What’s the biggest difference without me there? Silence, 
peace, no more jokes...? I don’t know because I’m not there. Well
chau...talk to you next week
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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

October 1, 2012 Jake's email

Well hello. How are ya'll doing there in Utah? I hope all good. I’m just tired and hot. It’s starting to get hot again here. It just seemed to be cooling down. But it’s not. Oh well. What can I do? I hope your week has been going good. Mine has been doing well. We have a good investigator named Leonardo. Oh and his mom Maria. They are super cool. We actually gave his mom our last copy of the Book of Mormon. We actually have been having problems getting them to the mission. I don’t know why. We gave her a part to read about infant baptism. Because she is super Catholic and she also has had that doubt before. Well we went back and she wanted to give us the book back and said she is always going to be Catholic. So we asked her if she read. And she said yes and she believed what she read and that it gave her an answer. So we asked if we could explain a little more. And she said yes. So we sat on her patio and explained the Book of Mormon better and all that. At the end of the lesson she was totally interested. And we gave her another part to read and she said she would give it another try. She is so going to be baptized. The family is like a typical member family. They are so nice and open to us. It’s great. The only problem is I think most of the kids are the smoking partying type of people. But they can overcome it. And I’m so excited for General Conference next week. Do you think it’s going to be on the second coming or the end of the world? Because everyone thinks it’s going to happen at the end of the year. People ask me all the time about it. But it’s not because no man can know when or where it’s going to happen only god can know. So everyone is wrong. But who knows. Oh and can you send me more stamps because I don’t have any. And I got the Halloween card too. Yeah. Super cute dog. Oh and did Halen leave already. If he did Yeah. And was he nervous and stuff. It’s been going by super fast. It’s nice. I’m almost at a year. When I think back it seems like I got off the plane a couple of weeks ago. I guess they were right. Wow I always think of a ton to write beforehand but I can’t think of anything. Hmmmm...... I got nothing. I’m gonna start writing my ideas down so I have more to write to you. Sorry if I’m not telling too much.... bye I will have more to say next week... oh and I’m in ether 5 in the book of Mormon....

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's email today...

Well this week was good. We had a visit from Elder Vinas. He’s a 70. He talked to us about less actives and our ward. He kind of dropped some cain on some people. But overall the conference was good. Which reminds me we are going to have another visit from Elder Oakes the apostle. And I’m super excited for that one. And I’m also excited for General Conference. It seems like I just watched the other one. Time is flying by. And I just reached my 11 month mark too. I have almost a year. That is super crazy. I don’t get how I did it. It’s awesome. And this week was kind of boring because all of our investigators went out of town because it was school vacation. So we didn’t get any in church and hardly any lessons done this week. But I’m hoping that we are going to have success this week. And our investigator named Jonathan is super evangelical. And he bible bashed with my comp the other day. It was super weird and it almost lead into an argument. But it didn’t. So that was good. But we think he is being discouraged by his pastor. So he has all of these scriptures. Oh and the 17 point thing did help. Because I studied that a day before that lesson. So it helped me answer his questions and his scriptures. But evangelical people are weird. Their religion is loud and fast. They pray really intensely and it’s everyone at once. And they play rock music during their reunions. It’s cool that I have actually learned more about other religions and I can see that ours is even truer than those. But it also helps because I can defend the church better. And teach them what they need. But yeah. Cool stuff. And I’m in the point in my mission that I might go up to senor comp next change. But I don’t want to, because I don’t feel ready. But it’s what the lord wants. And my comp is called Elder Pyeatt and he is from New Mexico. And he’s not a bad guy. He just got into some bad habits from some of his other comps. But he’s doing a lot better now. We are working a ton. It’s just hard because our area has very few members. And all are too old to help out. They can’t walk or sometimes think straight. So it’s difficult to get some help from them. But yeah. It’s easy to find people here it’s just hard to teach them. They all are not home or don’t want anything after the first lesson. But it’s super easy to find people. Oh and today we played dodgeball and I got drilled right in the eye with my glasses on. They didn’t break. But man did it hurt. I couldn’t see for a good 10 minutes. And my face got all red and swollen. But it’s just a fun story now. I’m good. It doesn’t hurt too bad now. And I also spilled all the beans about the Bigfoot stuff to our house. Super funny. I’m getting everyone interested. I have told them some info and some stories. And even the elder from Paraguay is even interested. The other two elders actually slept in our room last night to hear some more stories. And I think they were scared. But they wouldn’t admit it. And they are my zone leaders. Ya I live with them. I don’t know if you knew that. And thanks for the photos. I look sooooooo weird in them. I didn’t recognize myself. Super weird. But they are cool and I’m going to show them to members. Well that’s all for this week. Bye!!!!!

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's e-mail from Sept 17, 2012

Well this week went by super fast. It’s weird how fast the time goes by here. It’s like I’m in South America or something. Well something interesting happened. We were walking and then I heard a huge crash so I turned around to see a dog flying in the air and a man on a motorcycle crashing. He hit my backpack that I had at my side. If he were to be 4 more inches closer I would have been hit. And the dog flew and had a broken leg and the man and his bike flew forward and landed in front of us. So we ran over to help him. He was ok. He was wearing a helmet. But he was just sad that his new bike just got messed up. Then he just took off again. It was super crazy. But oh well. I feel bad for the dog. And I got three packages and some letters. One letter was sent a year ago. That’s nuts. Stupid mailing system. And the packages are very appreciated. I have food for a week now. And it’s all super good. Thanks. And the card was cool too. And thanks for all the advice for studying and the scriptures. It was all cool. And I have to go study them. If you get anymore tips or scriptures please do tell. It helps a lot. And were you ever a district or zone leader in your mission? Just wondering. Well thanks for all the prayers and love from you. It helps. I see it every day. And I testify that prayer is very powerful and with faith it can do miracles. Well Chao... 

And the challenge is for the family but for the individuals. So I have already started...I’m going to win!!

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Con Amor Elder Salmond

Jake's e-mail from Sept 11, 2012

How is everything going back home? It’s good here. I had a good week. The area is starting to pick up and it’s nice. We actually have an investigator now who speaks English perfectly. She is 22 years old and she lived in the states for 10. She lived in Georgia I think. But she totally has a southern accent. It’s super cool. But she said that she has had a rough life and she has no family. So she went looking for God. And she eventually went to a Baptist church here. Then we found her. And we taught the restoration to her and she loved it. She had all sorts of questions. So we told her to pray to get an answer. And we asked if she were to receive it what should she do. And she responded that she would need to be baptized and go to the church. So we gave her a baptism date. I’m super excited. She is going to get an answer. She is. And we have this other investigator that plays the violin and paints. And he went to the United States. He has just a cool life. But he has known of the church for 50 years but has never gotten baptized. He knows a ton and is very interested. So I’m excited for that too. And many years ago President Heaton. The mission president served here in Uruguay for his mission. And this week we found one of his first converts. His name is Adan De Costa. He is super cool and he went to church yesterday. And we gave him the president’s number to see if he wants to call him. That was also very exciting. This week had just been good. We actually beat our district leader in numbers. I know it’s not about the numbers but its making me smile. It’s been a good week that I haven’t had in a long time. Wow this was a good week. 

And can you give me some advice on how to teach and study. I feel that I’m lacking in those parts. And why haven’t I heard too much about dad’s mission. Like what’s your converts names and how many did he have. And the places. Any cool experiences. And can you send me some pictures of his mission so I can see them and show them to people.

Well I hope you feel better. That isn’t very good. Did you get a blessing? I’m sure you will feel better. Just a bummer that it happened from Red Robin. You should be careful. I bet I have gotten food poisoning here too but didn’t feel the effects for some reason. I eat meat here that I wouldn’t even look at back in the states. I have eaten horse, armadillo, weird meat that I don’t know the origin of. And a lot and a lot and a lot of rice and pasta. That is one thing I don’t want to eat at home. And everything is covered in mayo here. They use a bag every meal time and the bags are huge. It gets pretty intense here. 

Well love you all and pray and read their scriptures. Most people take the scriptures for granted. I did all my life and now I can see that they are life changing. When I read them now I get my answers to my prayers and it’s different every time. I got a challenge. Everyone who starts and finishes the book of Mormon. Cover to cover by the end of the year, I will by a futbol jersey for them. And I will send them in a package to get there faster. And don’t cheat because that is against the rules. Don’t be late like I did to read the book of Mormon. It was a bad mistake. Well I love you all bye....

The challenge is for the family...

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's e-mail from Sept 3, 2012

Hola hola. Well this new area is a lot different. Because it's almost all city compared to the last one I was in. and our area is super huge. I'm kind of scared that I won't learn it and I don't know. But my house is super huge. And we live with the zone leaders. They are super chill. They don't drop Cain or get all in your business. The only bad thing is the bathroom is disgusting. I will have to send pictures. I almost gagged when I first saw it. But it's super big. And the house is on the second floor. And its right on the main strip here in Paysandú. It's kind of cool going home at night and just walk the strip home. There is actually a casino right across the street from us. So it's super nice. But the area is a little hard, because my comp doesn't know it. And there are not very many members and even less are active. And my comp is a little disobedient. It's kind of sad. He says that being obedient is not necessary to have success. But that is totally wrong. Look at every example of missionary success in the book of Mormon and they are all doing what they need to be doing. But I can't force him to do anything. All I can do is help him. I hope he will change. But sorry I haven't been writing too much lately or sharing spiritual things. I just got bored for a little. It just seems like I do everything the same over and over again. But I'm almost done reading the book of Mormon in Spanish. It's interesting to think that I can read and talk in Spanish. I still have problems believing it. But I do learn things new every day. I learn that I can walk a little farther and talk a little more every day. And last night we got stopped by a group of 6 drunken men asking about drugs. So we taught the word of wisdom. Then we just jumped to every other subject. It was kind of scary but we handled it good. It just scared the crap out of me when one man grabbed a brick. But he just held it. And at the end of the teaching one of the men pulls out this little wad of paper and sniffs it. That is the first time that I have seen someone sniff cocaine. Really interesting. And all were smoking weed too. But I knew I would be safe. And I also saw a prostitute get out of a man's car and I saw him pay her. That was also interesting. But it's good here. So don't worry. But I do have a question. How do I better study the book of Mormon to help people and explain it simple? I feel like my teaching skills are lacking a little. I just need to explain things better. And I get super nervous too. Well if you can help thanks. Well I got to go...love ya'll

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's from August 20, 2012

IM FREAKING 20 YEARS OLD. IM OLD.  And because of the mail strike I just want to wish Ethan a happy birthday and sorry about not sending a card. Well thanks for the pictures and the music playlists. I was trying to guess some but I could not figure them out. So I got some mental relief. So this week has been nuts. It's been raining all week. But I didn't get too soaked. And we got an investigator in the church yesterday. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. And her name is Augustine. She's eight and she's super quite and she doesn't want to get baptized just yet. But we will work on it. And her sister is my new snake. Yippee. Good think I'm leaving here in a week. The most you can stay in one area is 6 months. And I have been here for 6 months. That seems like forever, but it went by super fast. And I don't have a lot of time this week to write but I just want to say I love you all. And man I can see the blessings from the mission every day. I hope you guys can too. Maybe it will be a hard week or day, but I always see at least one blessing every day. Love you all

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's from August 13, 2012

Well this week has been very disappointing because we haven't had success like I want. We are just knocking doors and all don't want anything and it sucks, there was a day where we just sat on the side of the road for 20 minutes. We got super down. And our leaders here are just going nuts. They are getting mad and dropping the Cain for every little thing. And they are just getting on my nerves. And I'm almost at my breaking point. I mean president has told us in person and thru letters that we are doing great, but our zone leaders treat us like stupid little kids sometimes. And they live around the corner from us and so they burst into our house at random moments just to drop Cain or catch us doing something. So I'm just getting sick of it. I've almost broken down like 3 times already and I'm just super angry as I'm writing this here letter. So all of the miracles with grandma are pretty amazing to hear. I'm glad those happened. I think I'm past the sad stage. But she will be missed. Marilyn's talk was amazing. How is Luke doing at Arbys? Elida tells me is a good little boy. I hope that's true. Does he like it? What does he think? And I've been talking to Elida thru email. Because of the stupid strike. But she told me that felicity, my old girlfriend, is pregnant. Wow. That's crazy. Sorry my language but ----... good thing we broke up before she did that. But it's ok. I'm past her seductive ways. And I'm super tired... I can't explain it. It's just a deep sleepiness that doesn't go away. It's hard some days. But it's bearable. So how are things back home? I hope all is good but if not just turn to the lord and he will provide a way for you. I miss you all..Bye

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's from August 6, 2012

Well I can say that this has been the very hard week. But I think I’m past the shock stage. So how is everything holding up? I saw the pictures too. It looked good. The President helped me a lot and the call made it a lot better. But it still hurts. It’s still hard to teach the plan of salvation without tearing up. It sucks because they ask what’s wrong but I don’t want to tell them. And also our area is not doing so good. I don’t know why. Our numbers this week were horrible but I feel that we put in a big effort. But I guess I’m just getting tested. Who did you all see at the funeral? Was it a fight like grandpas funeral? Or a lot calmer? Well some fun things happened this week. I threw flaming knives into a door in our house. That was fun. And dang I can’t think of anything else right now. I think I’m gaining a little weight here, but that I heard is to be expected. I just want to get thin. And we have our zone conference tomorrow. I guess we will see how that goes. And we are having a bunch of General Authorities come to the mission soon. First one of the 70 then we are having Elder Scott come. Ya its exciting but I’m also scared for all of the guilt trips and dropping the Cain. But I think I can handle it. It’s only an Apostle of the Lord....ahhhhhhh!! Ok I’m normal again. And my house has been interesting because we just talk about video games all day. So they have convinced me to buy some when I get home. Well I love you all and don’t worry about me. I will be fine. It was the shock and I think its wearing off...love ya'll

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's third e-mail on July 30, 2012

I quickly replied again with the following....

Hi Jake,

This is a tough time. We have been looking at the last 18 months of my Moms life and we have all had a chance in one way or another to say our goodbyes to her. Maybe not in the way we would have liked knowing what we know now. We have a picture of you with your Grandmother the day of your mission farewell and it is one of the best pictures ever of you both. She was allowed to see so many people that day, even though for some it was the last time in this life it was made possible. There are so many events like that over the past little while that Heavenly Father truly had us and her in mind. I hope you saw my quick response to your email and don't have to through the entire week. May the Lord bless you at this time Jake. You are in our prayers.

Love,

Dad

Then he responded with this...
so when is the funeral. what is everyone else saying?

Jake's second e-mail July 30, 2012

I saw Jake's first e-mail and quickly sent him an email trying to explain everything to him and that we didn't say anything because his Mission President was suppose to contact him first... I also briefly told him of all the miracles that had taken place leading up to her death. Here is his second email that day...


so the mission president told me that grandma died. i dont know what to say. i didnt even get to say goodbye... im super sad and... i dont even know what to write. when is the funeral. did you guys get to talk to her or what. did grandma say anything when she died. i dont know what to do. i forgot what to write. sorry but i doint have much to write now. but can you take alot of pictures for me and stuff. and also could you have luke give my email address to elida at arbys. and whats wrong with jake.  is he ok. what does he have. love you all...bye

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's e-mail July 30, 2012 ...

DID GRANDMA DIE?
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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's July 23, 2012 post...

Well first off if you want a satchel you need to put in about 70 dollars. And just let me know if you did that and I'll try to get it for you. But it's pretty nice and it will last because its leather. Well changes were last week. And the first night my comp elder Williams took a big crap in ht bathroom and it clogged the toilet. And we plunged it and it didn't do anything. So we got a flexible stick from outside to unclog it. But it didn't do anything. And by this point the bowl was filled with crap. And I mean full. So we were all joking with a youth in the ward. We asked him to stick his arm in and we would pay him 50 pesos. But we dint make him do it. So elder Sorensen who is in the house with us voluntarily stuck his arm up to his elbow in crap to find the problem. It was epic gross and funny at the same time. We all took videos. at first he's explaining the situation then he just goes in to the bathroom and starts doing a gag and laughing thing then he just shoved it right in. it was so gross. He was not trying to throw up and he eventually just backed out because he couldn't find the problem. It was awesome and he is my new hero. And in our house of 4 missionaries we just talk nerd stuff. We are all white and nerds before our mission. So it's like I'm at home. We just speak nerd and English. And we have an investigator who has been one for 2 years and she can finally be baptized. She had problems with a divorce and she's living with another man. So she broke up with him and she's ready. We just need to wait to have the dust settle. But I'm so excited. And I think we will be famous for baptizing her. Oh and I got another guys info for the scripture cases because the others weren't as good as I thought. So this other guy is from Argentina and I heard they were really good. And also my pictures on my phone. What's the situation because I think you can copy them on the memory card and then email them to me. And also the mailing situation here is bad. So I guess there is a strike in the postal system here and they don't allow anything to get in or out of the country. So it's bad. So I had a surprise birthday card for dad in the mail. So if he didn't get it sorry. It's late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! So that's why it's been weird here. Love you all and talk to next week. Oh and congratulate Halen and his mission call for me. That's so cool. I met a guy here who lives in Columbus Ohio. I need to get his info so he can contact and baptize him. Weird huh?? 
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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's July 17, 2012 post

Well I found out my change for 6 weeks..... Drum roll.....I'm staying in T-bo. Yippee. I like it here and I'm glad I'm staying. And my companion is going to Colonia. It's a place famous for the missionaries almost starving to death. The members don't give anything to the missionaries and there is a lot of apostasy. But he will o good. And I'm getting my first white companion. It's elder Williams. Yay. I heard he is a big joker. And he's lost about 80 to 100 pounds in his mission. Wow. Well I'm glad everything went well for the holidays and the parties and all. I just worked. And it was awesome. We had 6 people in church and one is being baptized this Saturday. The only problem is that his mom is really anti Mormon. So that can be a problem. Oh and I went to a leather shop for a satchel and I put in very specific details and the leather too. And we agreed on the price of 1300 pesos. So a week later I went to go pick it up and he asked me we agreed on 750 pesos. Is that right. So I said yes, paid the guy, and then ran out of there. So my bag was 550 pesos less than the original price we agreed on. Heck ya! It's a miracle or a sin, I don't know. But it's super nice and it's just big enough to put all my books in. way cool. And today we played dodgeball as a zone and during one of the matches I got drilled in the nuts hard. It dropped me. My companion just called me a baby. But I didn't care. I just wanted to throw up. And someone also stepped on my hand while I was down. But my balls hurt worse. Oh and the thing with the memory card is that all of my photos are there but I just can't see them. So my companion helped me fix it and now I have all of my photos. I'm so relieved. Well what's new at home? Is it hot, because it's cold here. oh and if you guys want an authentic Uruguay meal, just cook some plain white rice and put mayo on top of it. And bam!! There is a common meal I eat. I have eaten more oils, fats, and mayo here than my entire life. They put oil on everything. And then put mayo on top of that. So I'm pretty used to it. And they wonder why they have health problems. Well I hope everything is going good. Talk to ya'll soon.....

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's e-mail from yesterday

So what’s up with the pictures? At the pizza joint there is a random brown kid. Huh? But all of the other pictures remind me of home. Ah home what a place to be, but I’m here in Uruguay my new home. Where the grass is filled with trash and the people don’t shower in a month. And the air is filled with the smell of bread and ‘mate’ (chimarrão). It’s pretty nice down here because we are in winter so it’s really cold at night and during the day it’s bearable. But I love it so. So some quick things. I saw a commercial for the new Spiderman. It looks intense and I want to see it. And I saw a commercial for Falling Skies too. Epic. And I heard that Windows 8 came out. Or in the near future. Pretty cool. I almost forgot it was the 4th of July. But one of my leaders told me it was. So that was good. Well I went into a leather shop this week to fix my shoes. It’s a long story but let’s just say my shoes melted in front of our heater. But I walked in and they took my shoes and I also asked if I could have them make me some stuff out of leather and they said yes. So I put designs in for a leather satchel. Freaking sweet. Oh and I also bought a wallet of leather with hair still on it. Cool. And a cup for ‘mate’ (chimarrão). But I have to go pick up my satchel on Wednesday. I’m pretty excited for it. It’s going to be 1300 pesos or about 65 dollars. Not too bad for a custom made leather bag. I don’t know but I have been dreaming a lot about home lately. It’s bugging me. I don’t need to be more trunkie than is necessary. Ugg now my English sucks. I can only speak in Spanish or Spanglish. But hey that’s a good thing right. Oh and about my pictures on my phone there is an option to place them on the memory card then you can extract them and email them to me. But it’s pretty funny that Ethan found them. I guess he’s a smarty pants. And our area is dying again because we haven’t found a new person in like 3 weeks now. It’s hard but I love the area. Do you guys have any advice of how to find people or contact or work with the members? I need all the help I can get. Well I hope you all are having fun and try not to get into too much trouble. Chau..

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's July 2, 2012

Well Montevideo was pretty fun. We went to a place called independence plaza. But in Spanish of course. And it was really cool. There is a really famous building there and I ended up being a couple of little things. Including a pipe to smoke weed. Cool huh. And we ate at California burrito. It was really expensive but super delicious. It was about 10 dollars for a little burrito. But it was worth it. And this is the only time that I need to sign legal papers. They just took my finger print and my signature. Pretty easy. But I really don’t like Montevideo because it’s too fast and I don’t feel special. Everyone as a white shirt and tie. But I don’t know about my money. It had to have been another missionary because nothing else was missing and it was only missionaries in our house. But don’t worry because I told president and he was furious about it. And I mean furious. So he’s going to deal with it. And this week I kind of got a break. Because two missionaries were doing service and one of them tagged his leg with a machete. So it was bad. So I told them to use my super glue to seal it. So they did and then he came to my house to rest it because our area had no plans that day. So I literally stayed in bed all day and watched movies. Our area had no plans because we dropped all of our investigators. But this missionary wanted to go to the hospital to get stitches but they said the super glue worked and wasn’t necessary. So we just stayed inside all day. Pretty fun huh. But the cut was super huge and I think you could see bone. It was on his shin. But I saw him today and he was playing soccer even though the doctors’ said not to walk on it for 3 days. And I also found 100 pesos in the street a couple of days ago. I guess I’m just lucky huh. Oh and I was given an email from the brother of another missionary. And in this email this man described step by step of how to get investigators to church. And well I followed those steps and we got 5 in the church this Sunday. I’m so happy. But also in this email this brother said in one area he had 170 baptisms and always 27 in the church. Wow. So if you could send advice of how to talk to people or contact or work with the members tell me please. We are kind of stuck again in this area. Love you allllllll bye....

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's June 25, 2012

Well today is a lot different than other days. I’m going to explain why.
I received a text message from our zone leaders on Friday saying I
needed to go to Montevideo to sign legal papers to be in Uruguay. So
today at 2 in the morning I boarded a bus with my companion and
headed to the capital. It was only five hours. It was long and I didn’t
sleep that much either. It’s weird how awkward it is to ride in a car
when I haven’t ridden in one in 4 months. But I’m here in the terminal in
Montevideo called Tres Cruses. It’s the center for all mail and buses
here in Uruguay. If this place were to be destroyed the country would
fall apart. And there is a lot of places to buy stuff here. But I can’t
buy anything because my money was stolen. So I’m a little bummed, but
what can I do. And everyone from my group in the MTC too. We just
traded stories and stuff. It was nice. But I’m going to be spending all
day here in Montevideo, but the papers is only two hours long. So I
guess we are going to do site seeing. Oh I’m thinking of buying
McDonalds or Burger King. I’m so excited. But it’s so freaking expensive
here. Wow. It’s like 10 dollars for a combo. But I think it’s worth it.
It’s funny too because one of our companions in our house thinks I left
to do special changes. Because he saw the text and we explained that
there are problems so I had to switch areas real fast. He was bummed.
And he told everyone in the ward I was leaving too. How funny. So when
we told him it was a joke he was so mad. We have it on video too. And
now he has to explain to everyone that it was a joke. I laughed for a
long time on that one.

Well that is so cool that you had success at Squeaky Trees. I miss
squatching a lot but I’m here. It sounds like you had a blast. You
had a ton of activity and you may have seen one....oooo scary. Wow. Yo
quero etar con ustedes pero yo necasito estar aca. Entonces yo puedo
servir el señor. Tengo mucho animo y algnos veces esty triste. Les
extraño mucho. Pero la cosa es que tengo solamente 15 meses mas. Wow.
No puedo creer. Mi tiempo aca is muy importante para mi. Y tambien lo
siento si ustedes no entienden este español o yo no escribio muy bien.
Y yo escribio este español solo.

How did you like that Spanish? I hope you enjoyed it. So life is still
the same there huh. Interesting. Life here is a lot different from home.
More than I can explain. Everything is different here. From the people
to the sounds the dogs make. Because in the USA its bark but here its
wauw. Weird huh.

Well I hope you all have a good week and try your hardest to do what
is right. Sometimes it’s not easy but it’s worth it.

Wow I’m tired...bye
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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's June 18, 2012

well the letter wasent very long so  im going to write some more. even though i dont know what to write.hmmmmmmmmmm well... i recived a list of all the bad word and phrases in spanish from another missionary. haha. they are super bad but now i will know what those mexicans are saying. and i think im satring to gain somme wieght becasue they feed us a ton here. its kind of sad but oh well. oh and i found out that someone stole 3000 pesos from me.i dont know who but im a little sad and mad, but what can i do...ao howa the weather back in the states. oh and i was thinking of the photos from my phone and did you just look in the memory card or did you accsess my phone memory too. i think i have pictures in my phone but not in the card. so you could check that too...i really dont know what to write. i kind of have a head ache right now and im hungary but we dont know what to make for lunch. i miss the food back home because we have such a varitey of food and types. here its rice, noodles, potaoes, and thats about it. i want food from mexico or china or just from home. i dont know thats one aspect i miss the most. oh and you guys. love yall 

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Con Amor  Elder Salmond


well we had thew baptism of lucas on saturday. and the cool thing was that he invited his family to go too. and his family really enjoyed it. and his mom cacme to church the next day and she was crying during the confirmation of lucas. ya feel the spirit hahaah. i think if she gets baptized then her family will too because she has the pants in the family. oh and im still sick too. its been like 12 days now. wierd but im just going to tough it out. and this week has been really storm as well. last night i got soked and it was cold. but none of my books got wet so im happy. and i have been thinking alot of how time has been zipping by here. how about home is anything diffrent. has the time been going slow or fast. i dont know i kind of miss home but not tooo much. so how is halen doing. im going to send another letter after this one so sorry if this one is short. love yall. oh and the wierd fact for this week was i tried to count how many dogs i saw in one day. well lets just say half way thru the day i lost count at 50. wow uruguay...


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Con Amor  Elder Salmond

Jake's June 11, 2012 email

Well some news is that we have another baptism this Saturday. It’s a boy named Lucas. His family is so freaking awesome. They just have a problem going to church. But with time and his baptism I think it will change. It’s interesting this third change with my companion... we both felt that we didnt put our 100 percent into the work our last change. So we are going to change that. The thing we struggle with the most is finding new people. It’s gone dry and for awhile so we need to start looking. So for the past week we have just been knocking doors or in Spanish touching doors ha-ha. And you get some pretty interesting people. For example we encountered a man who answered his door and he was butt naked and hairy and old and absolutely disgusting. And he asked if we were those Mormons and we said yes. He then slammed the door in our face. Normally this would be a sad ending to a story but for us we rejoiced. I didn’t want to talk to a naked man who was alone in his house for too long...we normally just get a shake of the finger which means no or most don’t even answer their door. But imp exhausted and it doesn’t help that I'm sick. I don’t know what it is but I’m always coughing and there is a rattling in my lungs. I called Sister Barney, she is the medical person for this mission, and she said just to take some medicine and some other stuff. I just need to buck up. Oh and yes I loved the interesting stories that you send. If you can find more you can send them to me. Which reminds me could you make a copy of that book that we always talk about and send it to me. And could you send a copy of Mormon doctrine by Bruce R McKonkie too. And you talked about a game called hearts. Could you send me the rules on that and the game we played in scouts while we were at Bear Lake? It was the one with all of the dice and cups. You can talk to bro moss about it. I just need some simple games to play. And I have decided I’m going to start putting a weird thing from Uruguay in all of my emails. So this weeks is...people here all say they are allergic to heat from chilies and stuff like that. And they all think it’s the most vile poison known to man. It’s hilarious. But they all drink wine and smoke. I wonder who is going to live longer hahahahahha....

2 Nephi 33:3

     '...for I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know he will hear my cry.'

Oh and news that is fairly recent today in the stake center a bunch of missionaries were playing Futbol and one sister missionary named Hmashaw was there. And in her ward here there is a man who has an obsessive crush on her. Well he was there at the church waiting for her to leave. But our zone leaders saw him and asked what he was doing and he said I’m waiting for my Hma Shaw. And they said he needed to go. But he said no I’m not leaving without my Hma Shaw. And he said they would have to force him to leave. So one of our zone leaders named elder Nygard, who has been wrestling since he was 4 and is a freaking STUD. Picked him up wrestling style and started to carry him out. Well this man started to punch Elder Nygard in the back of the head. Then elder Nygard fell down and this man ran up and punched our other zone leader in the face. Then he left. And this man has been making some trouble for this sister missionary in the past and he has gone too far. I think they’re going to close their area or do changes or something. I’m so sad for her. I never saw this I was told by another missionary who was there. Freaking intense. If I was there I would have beat the day lights out of the guy. And this guy has his mission call to go serve in Argentina. What a loser...