Jake's e-mail for this last Monday...

Here is Jake's e-mail....

Well I just wanted to let you know that I got your second package. I knew it was mine because it was covered in Catholic stickers. I wonder what people think of that? I love the packages it made my week. This one had the rest of the CDs in it. So I have been listening to them for a week straight. My companion likes to listen to them when we sleep. Ya and it’s really scary when you get woken up in the middle of the night by hidden Bigfoot sounds on your CD. Ya that was pretty scary to my companion. I got really sad because when I heard them it felt like I was camping again and we hit the jackpot of recordings, but then I realized it was my CD. But pretty funny, because my companion freaked out and didn’t know what the sounds were. So I had to explain to him the whole Bigfoot thing in Spanish. And the food in the packages is really yummy. It had been my dinners for the last week. Ahh it reminds me of home. So a couple of interesting things happened this week. First is one night when we were sleeping a huge storm rolled in and we had our windows open. And it started to pour rain. And we were both asleep. But my companion woke up at around 2 in the morning to use the bathroom. When he stepped on the floor it was wet. So he flipped on the lights and that woke me up. And there was about an inch of water in our entire apartment. So we scrambled to clean it up. Something amazing is that none of my stuff got wet, only one book. But my companions stuff was soaked. So there is an amazing blessing. So that was a fun experience. Then the next night another huge wind storm rolled in and almost blew our laundry in the street. So crazy storms. In fact during a storm in the day we got soaked and my companion’s umbrella got shredded by the wind and we saw a power line explode. It was awesome. And I had to talk in sacrament yesterday. That was intense. I didn’t write anything down. I just did it all out of my head. I chose the topic of faith. And it was hard, but I lasted a good 10 minutes. And people said I did a good job, but I think they were just being nice. And the thing about the pictures is that we are not allowed because we can’t look like tourists. And they say not to bring your camera with you because of the chance it might get stolen. Which reminds me of a story my companion told me. His first area was Montevideo and while he was there he was robbed three times. Twice with a gun to his head and another with a knife to his companion throat. Scary!!!!! So it’s safer to not carry it. And my companion being district leader means more meetings on P-day in Mercedes. So that’s a downside to it. And we have a zone conference in Paysandú on Tuesday. So that’s going to be interesting. It’s about a 3 to 4 hour bus ride. But we are staying in Mercedes tonight. So I have a feeling that I’m not going to get much sleep. And people down here get really mad when I speak English. For example Elder Elliot and I teach an English class to the youth. And one of the members of the bishopric came in and got really mad at us for speaking English, in an English class. Weird.

I have been really interested in the story of the First Vision lately. I read it all of the time. There are a lot of things we learn from it. But what I would like to focus on is that because of one simple question and faith a young boy got to see the father and the son in a vision that would forever more change the course of human kind. Just faith and a question. That is why faith is the first principle in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without faith there is nothing. And faith is a principle of power. For example. The story of Alma and Amulek when they were in prison. Alma cried out "how long must we suffer when we have faith in Jesus Christ" and his prayers were answered because of his faith. The prison walls fell and everyone inside was killed except Alma and Amulek because of their faith. We can learn multiple things from this story. That God answers prayers, God helps us in times of need according to our faith and faith gives us great protection from immoral and spiritual danger. I know that faith is essential in all things we do and when we have faith all things are possible. So let us strive to increase our faith through study of the scriptures, daily prayer, and family home evening. And I know your faith will increase and your testimony as well. I share these things in the name of our beloved savior and redeemer of the world, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

CON AMOR Elder Salmond

PS. A couple more package ideas. The songs I can be your hero, I can see the light from Tangled, and hallelujah by Rufus Wright. And in one of your letters could you send me my CTR ring I forgot it at home. I think it has fallen behind my desk in my room. That would be much appreciated. Oh and thanks for the extra money as well. It will help a ton. Peace out....

Jake's e-mail... February 6, 2012

Here is today's email from Jake...


Letter from Jake Salmond in Dolores Uruguay
February 6, 2012

So this week was pretty new, because of the whole transfer thing. It made it so our numbers for the week are not the best but oh well. We will try harder this week. And to answer some of your questions. My new hat is made out of really tightly woven straw. I don’t know if it looks like the one in cowboys and aliens because I don’t remember it to well. And we are allowed to wear it during proselyting. I feel like a cowboy when I wear it. So that’s nice. And where I do laundry is in my bathroom in a little plastic tub we have. Because its sooooo expensive to wash clothes here. If you were to go to a laundry mat and do it. It would be about 30 dollars. So it’s cheaper to wash it by hand. And not too many problems with bugs yet. Only the cockroaches in our apartment and last week I noticed a web on a coat hanging on our door (using my tracking skills) and I slightly pulled on it and I noticed a huge spider. So I made my companion kill it. It was about 2 inches in diameter. Huge. But other than that it’s pretty normal. And something else exciting happened during the week. I got your package. Woooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo. And it was the one with potatoes, top ramen, caramels, cds, a Jesus picture, CTR rings, a book, and moleskin. And I also got letters from my siblings. The package made my week. One thing though...in it there were cds 5,6,7,8 so I don’t know what happened to 1,2,3,4. So I don’t know. And the music is really sweet. I have been listening to it for a week straight. Love it. And I don’t think my Christmas ones are going to make it to me, so could you tell me what was in them_? It’s been driving me nuts... and it’s been really humid here too. And I have also used my tracking skills a lot just to practice. And what I have learned is that people of South America are very unobservant. So it’s easy to pull pranks on them. And I have noticed a lot more about the people here that I will have to include in a latter letter... do you remember the young man we baptized named Mauro. Well he got the priesthood last Sunday and that was pretty neat. And I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago the mother of the bishop died and we went to the funeral. It was like the ones back in the states but when we got to the cemetery it was freaky. It was one of those really old and creepy catholic ones you see in movies. I didn't want to go in because it made me feel really uncomfortable but I had to because of the funeral. It was one of the worst experiences in my mission yet. That feeling is not possible to describe. The entire time I felt that I was going to be stabbed by some maniac like in the movies. It was full of statues of saints and seplicures and stuff like that. The oldest one I saw was from 1840. And there were a lot more older ones that I didn’t get to look at. I don’t want to go back. So what’s new at home? Any good movies lately? How was Texas? What’s it like without me there? Since you know I was the glue of the family-...jaja just kidding, but seriously

The other day I was reading in Mosiah and found a really neat scripture. Its Mosiah 18 verse 9. One sentence I really enjoyed was that we need to stand as a witness of Christ in all things and in all places. Those aren’t the exact words but I enjoyed it because when we are all baptized we take upon us this covenant. To stand as a witness to Him in all things and in all places. And I have experienced in the past when I was nervous or hesitant to make known that I was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And I think we all have either seen this or done it ourselves. But I think to myself why? Why should we withhold the truth? Why should we be embarrassed with our identity? And I can tell you why. It’s Satan. He is the one behind it all. He says to you that they will make fun of you or your will be rejected. I can’t say that this may happen or not, but what I do know is that if we do what is right and stand as a witness for him that he will help us whether it be giving us strength or words in time of need. As a special witness of Jesus Christ by being a missionary I testify of this. Every day I experience all sorts of things but if I do what is right and put my faith in Jesus Christ he will help me. And trust me when I say we need his help. I challenge whoever reads this to be that witness of or beloved savior and redeemer of the world. To stand for in places and times where we know we should. And I promise from the deepest part of my soul that you will, you will be blessed in ways we can even dream of them...

yo les ama y deseo que ustedes son feliz y tienen consuelo en todas las cosas
Con amor- elder salmond capo, guapo, snaker

P-Day was a day late due to transfers...

Here is Jake's e-mail for today. We were wondering if we were going to get one.



hola hola. como esta? I'm so happy its p day. because yesterday didn't have it because of changes. the only person that is leaving from Dolores its Elder menchaca. he was our district leader. and he is going to cerro montevideo. and a north American is going to replace him here. I think its elder Elliot. and My companion elder Gallardo is our new district leader. cool stuff. I have figured a good way to loose weight. once a day make a room as hot as you can make it and just sit there and sweat for 15 to 30 minutes. I think that is why I am loosing so much weight. and I can tell I'm loosing weight because none of my clothes fit. for example I can pull my suit jacket about 8 to 10 inches of my torso. and I'm on my last belt hole. so that is how I can tell I'm losing a lot of weight. and I got 4 letters from ya´ll. one of them was a valentines card. awwwww it was nice. I liked the dog on it. it reminded me of Sophie. and its kinda of cool because I had 5 baptisms in my first change and I plan on having 5 more for this change. Vanesa, Carlitos, Lorena, Katy, and pascual. so I'm pretty excited. I mean they all have their problems to work on but that's why we are there to help them. and the temple situation is that I will be able to go to the temple with carlitos and vanesa if I'm still on my mission. and if your area is in montevideo you can go to the temple when your district leader decided its ok to. so I think they have changed the rules on that. pretty cool. that's cool about Ethan being a giant. soon he's going to be like the giant off of the princess bride. 'anybody want a peanut?'. ha-ha he's going to be so tall. and it's cool about his glasses too. I really don't use mine because one of the nose pieces is broken so it's really uncomfortable to wear them. and I'm going to explain more about Dolores now. Its a really small town its probably 2 to 3 miles long and about 1 mile in width. really small. I mean there is only 4 missionaries here. and it's kind of poor. not in the center of the city but once you start going out of the city it gets pretty poor. because there is open sewer lines (that really stink), dirt floors in houses, and dogs everywhere. that is only a few examples I have seen here. but most people here are way nice. they will give you cold water, which is kind of a rare thing here, or they will turn on the fan or their little air conditioner on for us. and it is super super expensive to run a little air conditioner. super nice. and there is no carpet anywhere. it's all tile or cement. even the sidewalks have tiles instead of cement. it's kind of cool. and the roads can go quickly from asphalt to dirt. so I have been road walking for a month strait. I will be a pro back home for Squatching. and it's really beautiful country. and it's really flat. and the a lot of the buildings in the city have a lot of European influence in them. a lot of cool terrain ideas and concepts here but we are not allowed to take pictures. so that's a bummer. and about the Squatching trip to ??????? lake. DO IT. I don't want you to stop your Squatching trips for me. what if there is a squatch waiting there for you to take its picture but you weren't there because of me. that would stink huh? so do it. and the ???????? trip sounds like fun too. tell me all about it when you do it. and you mentioned something about extra money for food. how much are you willing to give me? I just want to know if it's ok to do it...

Con amor- Elder Salmond, capo, guapo, snaker

Jan 23, 2012 Post from Jake...

Well I totally spaced this off so I apologize to all those that are following this. Anyway here is his post.

El españpl es mas o menos. no el mejor perro estoy aperendiendo. como fue su semana? my week was preatty normal. except last night i wanted cereal so i got some and poured some milk out of the fridge and turnes out that aftetr i ate it i found out it went bad a week ago. i thought it was yogurt but it was bad milk. so i had a huge battle in the bathroom this morning. and i found something to spend my money on. i bought a hat. its like a cowboy hat and it actually fits my head and its really nice. it cost about 80 US dollars. but it was worth it. and on saturday we ahd the baptizms. it was great. we baptized mauro, nicole, and aldana. it was a sweet experience. the parents of nicole and aldana want to be baptized but need to get married first. which down here is a pain because it costs alot of money and the jugde goes on vacation alot. that is in all of uruguay. that is on part of their government that is really corrupt. so it kind of sucks. and we have two more baptizms. one investagator siad he would be baptized on the fourth and another said she would be baptized when here sister does. which her sister is vanesa the mother of nicole and aldana. so alot of exciting news. and its kind of funny i have been in the field for 5 weeks and have 5 baptisms and Elder manchaca has been in the field for a year and has 6. so they all say im a capo. its just so amazing how the lord prepares prolpe to recieve the gospel.
and i have a question. in the bible it talks about demonic possesions and then jesus would cast them out. but in there it descibes the demons taking away peoples agency. and in jesus the christ it expounds on that more. how can this be? agency is a gift from god that even he cant take away. how can a demon do it? just wondering...
how did grandpa bobs house thing go? was it creepy? did you find something that was worth it? if you did that is great.
i have found some good quotes i want to share with you:

obediance is the price
faith is the power
love is the motive
christ is the reason

Missionary: someone who leaves their family for two years so that others can be with theirs for eternity

just some nice quotes i have found. oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. WHOOOHOOO!!!! thats exciting. what are you going to do for your birthday? let me know.

con amor jake-capo, guapo, snaker

Jake's exposure to the culture...

I just want to clarify that Jake is doing good. He just calls it like it is so his e-mails may seem like he is struggling. If he was he would say so. He is just telling it like it is. This e-mail is awesome and he is doing great. Don't want to give anyone the wrong idea. Anyway here it is...

hola. sus cartas son bueno. yo qeiro hablar mas en español pero me español es no bueno. so that means im going to type the rest in english.first off i want to re-explain my food situation. its good now. i still only eat about one or two meals a dayt but thats good. we usually eat lunch at a members house. its always rice. i have went a month and everyday i have had rice. its just plain white rice. but sometimes they will put eggs or potatoes in it. its very bland but filling. and we usually eat sandwhiches or eggs or cereal at our house. which is actually like an apartment. and last week Elder vasques, a missionary in our district went on splits with the zone leader and we got Elder Morris. he is an american and was way cool. he has been out for 22 months and said that the first change is always the hardest. and also i have seen way to many boobs out here. we will be in a lesson and the girl will just whip it out toi breast feed. and we get stunned for a second and just continue. and we were sitting at the bus stop and the same thing happened to the woman across from us. but the worst by far was when a woman went up to bear her testimony in church. and she started to talk then she decided to breast feed the baby in her arms. so she popped it out and fed the baby and just continued like nothing happened. preatty crazy stuff in the land of uruguay. Mom and Dad dont take this out. i want people to share the scares with me. and did i tell you that i have two snakes. yeah!!! they are the two girls we first baptized. its not good. we will be teaching and all of the sudden we hear 'salmond' in a high pitched voice and its the snakes on their bikes. ahhhhh! and they are always flirting around us. its preatty bad and they don listen to us when we explain that is bad. and they are always telling me that they want my eyes. so i have recived the nick name 'Elder Slmond- guapo, capo, snaker' in our district. last p day it was so hot. we checked and it was 111 degrees and it was awesome... and then it cooled down because of a storm and then the wall of humidity hit and that was preatty bad too. but i heard in rivera, a part in uruguay, iis 120 degrees all summer long. yikes!! so these next couple of questions i really need you to answer please. Justin, my cousin, worked at lifetime with one of my buddies in the CCM, his name is aaron alvey. he is really tall, but only for a month or two. can you ask justin if he knows him? and also one of my teachers in the CCM, Moises Cruz, was in the same mission as seth at the same time. could you ask seth if he remebers him? and last i want a list of possible souvenirs you all want, including grandma and grandpa, just in case i run into something you want. and can you include your clothes sizes and shoe size. but the shoes are measured diffrently here so could you convert it to south american standards. thanks... and me and my companion have 3 more people we are baptizing this saturday. there names are nicol, aldana, and mauro. we would be baptizing the parents of nichol and aldana, but they need to get married first, which is going to be soon. and we planned for the parents baptized in march. and i am probably going to go to the temple with them in a year. yea!! and dad tell the uruguayans at your work 'vamos arriba' for me.they will love you for it. thanks

Con amor, Elder Salmond-guapo, capo, snaker

Today... Jake's blister blessing...

Here is today's e-mail from Jake.

i cant beleive i have been in the field for 20 days thats awesome. so the heat has been turned up a notch. its ridiculous. and we did a fast on thursday and that was super tough because of the heat. and im never dry. im always soaked with sweat. its getting wierd because day by day i can see myself losing more wieght. im going to need a new belt soon. ihave run out of holes...and today i got a haircut. well really 15 minuetsa ago. and im a capo. thats spanish for stud. last week nothing really was too exciting. all of our investagators were not keeping commitments and it was frustrating. but on sunday we had 4 investagators come andf it was awesome. then later that night the same family agreed to be baptized. the only problem is that the wife and husband are really legally married. so they cant be baptized until they are. what a bummer. hows the grandma situation? is it better? im so proud of her and moving by herself of that mountain. she needs it. im excited for all the gifts you guys got. sounds like fun. i guessed luke would beat all of his video games in a week. i still havent got my two packages. and i havent used the money either. because everytime i think about buying something. i go back and think do i really need that. and then i think of how much food i could buy. so i havent used it yet. and im still trying to figure out how to mail letters home from here. not that i have anytime but it would be nice to know. and i also got responses from jake and courtland. courtland sounds like hes doing great. it so cool. we are all growing up. but micah hasent responded so...you know whats something i really miss? top raumen noddles with soy sauce and tabasco. yum.- speaking of which. today we did some service in the mourning. which was we had to move a bunch of sand. and she made lunch for us. and it was bland and nasty. it was plain rice and this wierd vegatable with nasty white chunchy sause on it. so i drowned it in tabasco. but it was still bad. and i have had a blister on my left foot now for about 2 weeks. its nasty and huge. its about an inch wide and three inches long. and i have done all i can to help it but i can never give it a break because we are walking all day and eveyday. alright now for the spiritual experience of the week. we ahd to walk to the gonzales familys house. which is about a 40 minuet walk into the country. which is beautiful by the way. and my blister was hurting and it was hot and i just ran out of water. so i was miserable. and we got to his house and we talked and he wanted to show us his farm, because he is a gaucho. and his wife made us dinner. which was pizza and soda. and the entire time i was ther i was praying to god to help me on the long walk home, because i thought i wouldnt be able to make it. and my prayer was answered because he got his car from out of nowhere and gave us a lift into town. and it made me a little trunkie because it was on a bumpy dirt road and he had the windows down. so it reminded me of squathching. but i know heavenly father ansewes preays. it may not be a pow right in the face answere but he does answer them. its because he loves us. and i was so thankfull he answed mine. i love you all. until next time.

Con amor y fe, su hijo jake

Last Monday... sorry for the delay

Here is Jake's e-mail from last week.

i cant believe how hot it is here. i mean hot..our apartment last night was 87 degrees and that was cool compared to outside. it gets pretty gross. im still losing more wieght. i can tell in my stomach area because its getting less fluffy. but i found out a really good way of how to loose weight. eat only one meal a day and walk for 8 hours with clothes on that dont breath so you sweat like a maniac. it really does the trick. but its good, it dosent bug me as bad as it used to. and i still havent gotten your letters or packages. im really bummed. i hope they arent lost. and we keep on getting new investagators but none of them will keep commitments like come to church. and one of our investagators we have to teach the law of chasity too. that will be super fun. thats cool about christmas. i hope it was the best one you have had yet. how was new years. mine was just trackting and the usual. but we got to stayt out later than usual. 10:30. and we went to juan carlos´ house and ate some food and chatted. then we went back to the casa. and at midnight there was a bunch of fireworks and my companion wanted me to go watch but i wasd so tired that i didnt. he was a little mad at me, but i dont care because i think sleep is more important. i have finally broke open the seasonings and they are delicious. im kinda scared to use it on a meal at a members house because food here is held more sacredly than in the states. so i dont know. well im not gonna write that much because i got a strong impression to write micah an email.

con amor, su hijo jake

Here is a second e-mail.

aome stuff you could sewn me is pass a long card in spaish with the SLC temple on it, CTR tçrings in spainsh (or HLJ in spanish i think), a filter straw for members cups of water, and my line of priesthood authority. if you can send them that would be great.

love yall