It's been a long 3 months

So I haven't been posting any emails because we haven't received any. I just got my first one late Friday night saying that he gets to call!! YA HOO best Mother's Day Gift ever. I didn't think it was going to happen but was very surprised! Of course I cried. He said he will start emailing regularly now, so hopefully this blog will get regular posts again.

Here are the 2 I got that I didn't post

Feb. 17, 2014

I'm gonna kill someone, the message didn't send uhhhh.... Well I'm
good life is good, and I don't even know what to say now. Okay
well let's see I guess we'll go to the condensed version, I was a
judge for a speech contest for educational week here in Wotje, that
was cool. They also want us to teach English at the high school so
we'll see about that. We have a phone out here, which is nice, but 
the service is kind of shotty. My companions name is Francis Va'aulu 
and he's the man, just a way humble nice guy. There's no priesthood 
out here, no branchnno branch president, no church building, no sacrament 
trays, like literally nothing. So it's kind of cool, we take the sacrament from
the same cup and just pass it around. People feed us all the time, and
that's nice, sometimes we'll get fish or traditional marshallese
cooking, which is cool. They love talking about food here, if
we cook it's like ramen and some sort of canned meat, so yeah that's
always fun...  at least there is food! Haven't exactly
picked up Kiribati yet because I don't have a book to learn it, but
the kids know Marshallese, so that helps. They are our most
progressing investigators, their names are Toantau and Uonite and they
should be baptized soon if we can get baptismal clothes. Sorry this email 
sucks and is short, but the computer deleted the
other longer one that I sent, which sucks... But yeah I'll tell you
all about Wotje either when I get back to Majuro or when I'm home.
I'm keeping a good journal :p but I love you all tons and thanks
for everything! Elder Tentau got his package and was apparently pretty
stoked! Thanks for your kindness and all that you do!
Lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson

So this was the most painful process ever, I waited like an hour
and a half yesterday only for this not to work, and then waited an
hour today and finally got on, so this is a blessing that I finally
was able to sign into this ridiculous thing, oh my goodness I think
that was the most frustrated I've been on my mission.
Lots of lovin'
From your Son Elder Jordan Michelson

I'll try to answer your questions

January 26, 2014
So I don't have a lot of time so I'll try to answer all of
your questions really fast. We held church this week at our house, the
turn up was less because the high councilman who came with us left on
Saturday, but this upcoming week it should be better. We have
it at our house because there is almost nothing established here. No
branch President, no anything, my companion and I run everything. So
that's kind of exciting, gave the talks, blessed the sacrament
just did everything. We have some potential priesthood holder's here
and will try to give them the priesthood and get them more involved,
but interesting scenario to say the least. Definitely got a lot to learn and 
will grow a lot from this experience as well. The lady
who doesn't speak marshallese is an English teacher at the high school
here, the marshallese people, at least the students generally will
know a little english and also the other teacher's and a couple other
people have decent english so that's how she communicates. Her kids
are starting to pick it up, just because they go out and play with
other marshallese kids all day and they are also learning at school,
so we teach them in marshallese. Our days are fairly slow right now,
seeing as we only have a couple people to teach we tend to go to the
same houses and teach them and then go around trying to offer service
or just go and talk to people because that's kind of a part of the
culture, very welcoming friendly people even if they have no interest
in our message, if we really wanted to, we could force almost anyone
to study with us or whatever, but don't think that's going to do a
whole lot of good. The house that we live in now is fairly nice,
and the people who previously lived there just went and lived with
their family right beside them, so they stop by and kind of talk to us
and give us food and what not, which is way nice seeing as we have
nothing. I haven't cooked a meal forever seeing as we don't have
any cooking supplies and stuff like that, so that's fun. Hahaha canned
green beans for breakfast anyone?? That's kind of the way it
is out here. Well the way to get mail or whatever is the same,
just send it to the mission home, and at some point it'll get to me.
That's what happens with that. In terms of bugs and stuff, nothing 
too dangerous or anything, just kind of sketchy when you wake up 
in the middle of the night to see 10 cockroaches on the wall, so yeah 
gotta love bugs and spiders and stuff. I don't know how far from Majuro 
it is exactly, you could probably google that and check that faster than I 
can, it would have to be there somewhere. That should answer all the questions
and stuff, hopefully that's good. What else is fun that I have to say... 
had diarrhea for pretty much a week now... always fun, I'm sure that'll go away 
sometime soon though. We went and checked out some more cool Japanese world 
war 2 stuff, and got some pictures of stuff like that.  I would send pictures but that 
would probably take a millenium so we'll just wait on that one until I get back to 
Majuro. The work will come slowly and surely, we just kind of have to
set evening up and try to get things going out here, I'm sure I'll
have some good stories on that aspect of the work soon enough. But
that's all for now!
Lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson

This place is ready, I can feel it!

January 19, 2014
Alright so I finally figured out how to write you back. The Internet is way slow, but this place is way nice.  I think I might have burnt my neck today, just randomly saying because we just kind of walked around the island today and tried to figure out where stuff is. There is quite a bit out here, and it was cool to see how prepared this place is, we had 23 people to church on our first Sunday, and we'll see if we can keep that up, we've located 6 or so members now, and this one family already wants their children to be baptized, so that'll be good if that can go through. The only problem with the solid family is that they don't speak Marshallese so when we held our service on Sunday she didn't really understand what was going on, but it's all good. We'll figure it out little by little, oh it's super funny how surprised some of the people are when they hear this white boy speaking in understandable Marshallese, the smiles on some of their faces is like priceless! My companion is Elder Va'aulu from Samoa he's been out for a while now, almost 2 years, he goes home at the end of March, so I'll get someone new at that point obviously. He's the man and it'll be awesome working out here, definitely different but still good.  Naw the dialect is relatively the same, they just speak way fast and stuff and it's a little harder for them to understand what I'm saying because my pronunciation isn't perfect to say the least, but hey, I do what I can and as long as I can get my point across that's all I really care about. I'm going to attempt to learn some Kiribati while I'm out here. That'll be fun starting from square one again but hey I learned one language so why not try to speak another? The family with the two kids they want baptized don't speak Marshallese at all, but they do know a little english, so that's nice we'll see how that goes. This island is sick, there's all sorts of world war two stuff on it that the Japanese left, and there's nice shady beaches and it's a really neat island. It's also a whole lot cleaner and the water is so blue... haha but don't worry I promise I won't go swimming :p I think that's about all for now, we're still just trying to get stuff established and figured out right now, so it'll be different for a bit. But this place is ready, I can feel it!

Lots of lovin'

From Elder Jordan Michelson (laddik in Wotje)

Moms comment

Usually we get emails on Sunday afternoon so when at 10pm we got this, it was a WONDERFUL surprise!! 

Sorry for the Craziness

January 19, 2014 

Haha okay so sorry for the craziness, and not letting you know what's happening exactly, just kind of been rushed and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but it's been good! Haha so basically I got to say goodbye to almost no one, it was way rushed and then I just went and worked with a bunch of other companionships throughout the mission, it was weird not having any investigators and what not, so yeah and my companion right now is Elder Vaaulu and he is the man, it's going to be really fun working with him, plus we're going to go do work! I don't know we'll see what the island is like when I get there, I heard that maybe it has email, so we'll see once again. We're kind of just going in blind and setting everything up from scratch, we don't even know if we're going to stay there or not, we need to go find a place to live, and all that. We have a week, if the irooj or like the king i guess of the island says its okay to work there then we are good to go, and we can find a house and figure stuff out. If we don't then I come back and probably head out to arno, where there definitely is no email. So it'll be an interesting next month, but it'll be fun for sure! Oh and the lady that I worked with for all that time, I was not able to see her get baptized but oh well it's not that important, I know I did my part and as long as she does get baptized right? And let's see what else Wotje is, from what I understand, the most beautiful island in the marshall islands, so I'm kind of excited to see it! And we almost flew out this morning, checked all of our bags and were on the plane, flew for 2 minutes and then came back down because there was a problem with the plane, hahaha aindein majol in (just the way it is in the marshalls) but hopefully we'll fly out later to today and all goes smoothly! I guess just send some emails on Sunday and I'll try to respond when I can and see if I can get some internet access! But I love you all a ton and thanks for everything,
lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson (Ri-wotje)

mom's note
we got this on friday and didn't know if we would hear from him again for 6 months. I was on pins and needles. Other families with missionaries in the Marshall's haven't heard from them in 5 months so I know it was a possibility.:( 

January 5, 2014

Let's see just like a bit of new news this week... Like maybe I'm going to open an outer island or something and I might be out there for like 6 months with probably no email, and I also get to fly to another outer island and see if that's ready for missionaries, if that's the case that's where I'll call home for the next 6 months. Haha so I'll either be working on Wotje or Arno, I don't know, but then again I don't really care either way I'm opening up a whole new island to missionaries. It is going to be awesome, apparently President trusts me a little so that'll be nice! I'll be working with the former AP which will be nice because Elder Vaaulu is that man, oh it's going to be awesome! It was weird saying goodbye to all my investigators and the area that I was accustomed to once again, and it kind of sucks that I'll miss Katline's baptism, but it's not really important if I'm there or not, at least I helped her progress. And my last sunday in the Laura ward there were 7 investigators that showed up to church, which was just a really nice way to end leaving! So hopefully all those people will progress and do well, so hopefully your online for a bit because otherwise I don't know if I'll be able to talk to anyone for a while. 

Mom's note 

This is the email we got, and got left in the dark with no other emails for a couple of weeks. I needed to know more info so I emailed the mission office. They said that he would be able to email before he left. Unfortunately he didn't email for almost 2 weeks.  

It was awesome talking to you!

Sounds like a good week, and when's the rook tournament then? You gotta keep that thing in the house, and who's going to be Erc's partner?? That'll be good that you're teaching seminary, something to keep you a little more busy hey? And transfers are really random, it's just kind of whenever they need to happen, I guess, nothing too set in stone. And recently with this new president, transfers don't happen that often, people have been tending to stay in their areas a little bit longer, but I guess we'll see what happens. I think it's pretty clear that I will be moving soon, I just have to no clue as to where. And no I haven't received his letter yet, I got one from the Holt's and one from Paige another from the Brooks' fam, and I think one from Grandma Mich, that's all for now, so I guess we'll see when I go into town today. I was fine after talking to you, I mean this whole Christmas season is kind of busy and different to begin with, so it didn't make me homesick or anything, it was just really nice to talk to you all, and I do just miss being with you guys. I guess I only have a year left, which is weird to say, and weird as to how fast it has gone thus far, I feel like I say that a lot, but it's true. And I don't know something that was kind of nice, was on Christmas eve I read the story of Christ's birth and then read Jesus the Christ about his death and just kind of took some time to reflect on his life and everything that he did, it was nice and I definitely felt the spirit. Definitely a different Christmas, but it was good. It was also nice that I got to spend a lot of time with Elder Parkinson, that kid is a stud, and we are officially in a bromance! But don't worry about it :p And a scripture that I used and liked this week was Isaiah 55:8-9. I liked it just because I'm able to relate to it personally and also help relate it to my investigators, it's a great scripture to use for teaching the word of wisdom. But yeah I think that's about all for the week, it was awesome talking to you and looks like you are all doing wonderful! Have a crantabulous week and thanks for everything that you do! 
Love,
Elder Jordan

Talk to you all in like 3 days! Whoop whoop i'm pumped!

Dec. 22

Sounds like a good busy week, this week was a tad bit slower just due to some christmas caroling and people just kind of being gone, they really like to just jambo and go different places, but oh well it was still good. Had a really good lesson with my investigator, Danny, about Enduring to the End and I really felt the spirit when he bore testimony at the end of the lesson. We read the story from the book of Mark about the seeds by the way side, in Mark 4, and he really understood it. Hopefully he'll be able to progress and come closer to baptism! Also I got asked if I was a wolf this week, or if my Dad was a wolf hahaha just because of the hair on my arms and legs. Had some like 12 and 14 year old kids playing with my hair in church and that was just kind of funny, apparently I'm a wolf now though. Beat will happen on Christmas Day, all day, haha it's kind of a big deal. So we'll be doing a Samoan dance for the beat, all the elder's and then the sisters will do their own separate one, it'll be good and I'm looking forward to it. I'll finally get to wear a lavalava and rock that for the beat, so that'll be nice! Tell Emily and Tori I say hi back then, the next time you see them. I started running and stuff every morning. Elder Parkinson and I are going hard, and it's nice to run in the morning. It is so much easier here though, like back home I was just sucking air and stuff, but here it's nice to be able to breathe and stuff when we go on runs. So now I bike everyday, run, and then work out a bit, so hopefully I won't be getting too fat. With a diet of rice, chicken and fish I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. But yeah I definitely miss the Christmas chocolates, oh dang, but I guess that's what happens when you go to an island for 2 years! Anyway I think that's about all for the week, didn't really have a Christmas Devotional or anything, we had Brother Tiban the high councilor from Rita come and that was awesome, he's a powerful speaker and just love that guy and his family to death. So that was the week, hope that you all have a fantastic Merry Christmas and I will talk to you all in like 3 days! Whoop whoop I'm pumped!

lots of lovin'

from Elder Jordan Michelson

I am starting to feel the spirit a whole lot more

Dec 8, 2013

Happy FREAKIN birthday by the way. I heard that a lot of decorating didn't get done just because you're so popular and had tons of people call you. Anyways I hope the day was awesome and I send some loving from the Marshall's! This week was actually really good and am starting to feel the spirit a whole lot more, I don't know it's just kind of different. With training and having to do literally everything, it's quite the new experience. It's hard to find the balance between helping my companion learn and grow and give him time to speak, and actually having lessons. When he speaks he tends to stutter a lot and then will stop and ask me how to say every second word, so people just have a hard time trying to understand what he's saying half the time, plus his pronunciation is a little off. Needless to say he is doing good though and we are having success, I just am trying to figure out when I need to take over and when I should give him his time. It's getting better. But what else this week, I've been having some really good personal studies lately and have been guided by the spirit more so in lessons. It's nice, for example on Tuesday morning in my personal study I studied about Joseph Smith and the Restoration literally not knowing why I was doing that, I had nobody who was at that point in the lessons and was supposed to be studying about dispensations and prophets. But I continued on in studying the Restoration, annotated once again and had a really good study. Writing things down and asking questions really does make a difference,  and also asking yourself ways in which you can improve on teaching the concepts and also how they can apply better to investigators. Had a really good study, and really felt the spirit and I thought that was the purpose of me studying that. But we went to our first lesson, the one we were supposed to be studying about dispensations with and I felt prompted to share the whole message of the Restoration, which I normally don't do. The Investigators were really able to understand and that was one of the most powerful lessons I felt I've shared over the course of my mission. It's cool how much the spirit really does lead and direct us, if we choose to listen and obey. So that was my cool experience for the week, and just had quite a few spiritual lessons. Also I've been thinking lately about why we are put in the situations we are put into, sometimes I feel like it's to help our companions, ourselves, and even the ward, as much as it is to help our investigators, if not more so. To answer your questions, so for christmas activities, all the Elder's and Sister's are doing a combined pday today to practice for beat, which is like the marshallese dance and christmas celebration. So we'll see how that goes, as for getting invited over for christmas, nope I don't think I've really ever had a scheduled dinner appointment with members, I had one where a guy fed us shark and that's about it. You just go to people's houses and they'll feed us, that's just kind of Marshallese culture and I had some delicious rice with coconut milk and iu, which is like another part of a coconut. That was pretty good, and the language is coming very slow with the companion, he understands fairly well, but his speaking is slow, and he tends to say the same thing every time. Trying to help him change it up a bit and I know it'll come. Just kind of adds to the responsibilities, but it's all good a little extra stress always helps, makes us stronger, right? But my favourite scripture from this week, is probably 1 Nephi 7:12, just a simple verse about faith, but it really stuck out to me and I used it a lot this week to help my investigators understand the concept of faith. Anyways I think that's about all for the week, hope I answered your questions, and that it warms up a little back home! Oh and my companion probably won't have a lot of christmas stuff, just not part of the culture as much so if you want to help him out or whatever that would be nice. Thanks for the emails and the love!

Lots of lovin'

From Elder Jordan Michelson