Update on Elder Jake

Many of you know that Jake suffered another seizure on Tuesday morning.  Although he wasn't hurt physically, other than biting his tongue, this one was worse than the last.  Once again 911 was called and Jake was taken to the hospital.

There are so many details to what happened, but basically they think this is related to his Type 1 Diabetes.  He had another extreme low blood sugar which caused him to have a seizure.  Jake has no memory from the time he went to bed on Monday night until he woke up in the hospital on Tuesday.  He also suffered some other memory loss but it does seem to be correcting itself over time.  He had an MRI today and will have a ECG tomorrow.  We don't know the results yet but the tests are mostly precautionary so we are expecting good news!

Elder Jake's missionary companion, Elder Becker (OUR HERO) has been with him every minute of the day and night which has included him sleeping in one of those awful torture chair/bed thingies.  As you can see by this adorable picture, Elder Becker has taken charge and we couldn't be more grateful!!!

As you can imagine, this has been quite a roller coaster ride!!  But through it all I have felt such peace.  The only way I can explain it is that I feel like I'm being carried, and I know that is exactly what God is doing.  Before Jake left on his mission he was set apart by our dear friend President Vongsawad.  Before giving Jake that sweet blessing he shared this scripture with all of us, and I knew right then this scripture was going to bring me great comfort:

D&C 84:87-88
"Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come. And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

God has been on Jake's right hand and left.  Angels have truly been round about Elder Jake.  Many of them are Canadian people who are truly some of the most Christlike people I have ever known!  Elder Becker is an angel. Sister Ranger, the sweet woman they live with, is an angel.  President and Sister Nicholas are angels.  The ward in Lethbridge is filled with angels including the bishop (who is also a doctor at the hospital) and his sweet wife.  Angels also exist here at home in the form of family and friends who have prayed for all of us.  We have felt every prayer.  We are blessed beyond what we deserve, and we are truly grateful!!!!!

This is Jake with our dear friend, President Vongsawad, the night he was set apart.

Man what a crazy week. I don't even know where to start.

Sorry, I know it's gross, but it looks so much better than it did last week! YAY!!!!

Man what a crazy week. I don't even know where to start. My eye honestly hasn't affected me at all. If it looked normal, it wouldn't be any different from my other eye because it doesn't hurt or bother me at all. If I blink really hard it feels sore but who blinks like that anyway? No one. So honestly, there is nothing wrong at this point.

It is really weird to have had something so crazy happen, then to have it be fine that evening. We went out and did some contacting that night. It was like it never happened. People found out about it really fast. People I have never met before knew about me. They would say, "Hey you're that missionary on Facebook!" (Jake is talking about Pam's Facebook account.) It's weird. 

The week has been pretty good other than that. We found four potential investigators yesterday tracting. That almost never happens. We only talked to five or six people too. We have two return appointments with them too. It's awesome. We are busy all week until Friday and Saturday. Then we usually tract. Because we have nothing left to do. They are the slowest days. 

I'm not sure what happened outside of the normal other than what I told you and what I'm sure you already know. We went to Waterton last Monday with a family in our ward. They are super awesome. It is beautiful there. We saw US soil. It was beautiful. We went snow shoeing. We saw some bear tracks on our hike too. That was sweet. The weather was great too. It was pretty warm. I was sweating like crazy. I wore a jacket but didn't need it. 

The weather is stupid here in Lethbridge.  (This is Pam, and I just want to make a disclaimer that as a mom I never allowed my kids to say s-t-u-p-i-d!  I taught them that was a bad word.  Looks like I've lost control of this missionary!)  It will be warm one day, super windy the next day gusting to 100 clicks an hour, (what are clicks?  I have no idea!)  then snowing the next day only to be warm and sunny the next. People say that it can get hot during the summer but I'm not sure summer exists in Canada. The funny thing is that supposedly Lethbridge is the warmest city in Alberta. That is terrible. Canadian weather is stupid.  (Yikes, there's that word again!) 

(This is Pam sharing a joke I heard:  Canada only has two seasons, winter and July!  Not exactly like the San Diego weather Elder Jake is used to!)  

Well, I'm not sure what else to talk about. It was a pretty normal week. Nothing else super exciting happened. I'm sure you expected an extra long email but I don't have anything else. At least nothing I remember. I probably have memory loss. I don't know what from though. It's not like I hit my head or anything. Weird.  (This silliness makes me happy happy happy!!!  This is the Jake we all know and love!)

Well hope all is well back home. I love you all. Take better care of yourselves than I did of me. Talk to you next week.

Waterton National Park

Elder Jake Snowshoeing 

Elder Becker Snowshoeing

WOW!  Lot's of snow.  Elder Jake's not in San Diego anymore!

That snowy mountain is in the United States!

Bear paw print!  Looks like more sleepless nights for Pam!  : )

Battle Wound Photos from Elder Anderson

We are so thrilled that Elder Jake is part of the army of LDS missionaries.

We never thought there would be real battle wounds!!!

Elder Jake didn't have much time to email today because he and his companion went to Waterton with a family in the ward.  Although I was really hoping for a long email, detailing the events of yesterday, I'm so grateful they were able to go somewhere beautiful and have some fun.

Speaking of beautiful, these pics are not!  But oh how we are grateful that Jake is alright.  He promised he is testing his blood sugar throughout the day and at 2:00 am.  I think this missionary of ours may have learned a lesson the hard way.

Again, a million thank yous for your love and prayers!  We are blessed far more than we deserve!!!

My poor baby!  He may be 19 years old but he will always be my baby boy!

Grateful there are only three of these icky stitches!  And so grateful for the great care he received!

Easter Blessings!!!

This morning about 10:00 am we received a phone call from Elder Jake's mission president saying that he had been taken to the hospital by ambulance after suffering a seizure.  Jake's missionary companion was woken up about 4:30 am by a bang.  While having the seizure, Jake fell out of bed and hit his head on the desk next to the bed.

Elder Becker, Jake's companion, did the best thing he could possibly do, he immediately gave Jake a priesthood blessing.  He then called the mission president who told him to call 911.  The paramedics tested Jake's blood sugar (Jake is a Type 1 Diabetic) and it was normal so they ruled out a sugar low as the cause of the seizure.  As it turns out, it was an extreme low blood sugar that caused all the trouble.

Jake spent Easter Sunday in the hospital in Lethbridge and he is now back home with his companion, and except for a black eye and three stitches, he is once again perfect!  He will need to test his blood sugar often and wake up during the night to test for a few days, but he is going to be just fine.

How can we ever thank Elder Becker, his inspired companion, for blessing Jake and caring for him today?  How can we ever thank President and Sister Nichols for making the drive from Calgary to Lethbridge to be with Jake during this time?  How can we ever thank all of you for loving Jake and praying for him?  And above all, how can we ever thank our Father in Heaven for watching over our missionary?  There are no words to express our sincere and overwhelming gratitude!

Today made me think of a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Alma 7:11-13:

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."

This scripture is perfect for today, not only because of Jake, but because of Easter.  Jesus not only took upon him our sins, but also our pains and sicknesses.  This is what he did for us, because he loves us.  I know this to be true!  I know it with all of my heart!  

Happy Easter!  We love you all!

The Andersons

We are so excited to see all the work that is moving forward.

We were THRILLED to reveive this picture via email from the wife of the bishop in the ward where Elder Jake is serving.  This is what she said, "Hi I'm in the Fairmont ward where these two awesome missionaries are serving!!! They are setting our ward on fire!."

The weather here won't make up it's mind. The other day it snowed in the morning a solid two inches. By the late afternoon, the ground was totally dry. Just two days ago it snowed also. It was freezing. At the beginning of last week we broke out the short sleeve shirts. Only to hang them right back up. We also tried to fly the kite again. But I guess Lethbridge actually has two days a year with no wind. The two days we tried to fly the kite. Unreal. Nevertheless, we are told to endure to the end, so to the end will we endure. That kite will fly like the American flag if it's the last thing I do. 

Anyway, back to the work. We have had a pretty productive week. We were told that this lady a member has been working with is now willing to meet with us and take the lessons. It is crazy how prepared she is. She said that sometimes she will just drive to the parking lot of the church because she just feels drawn to it. I can't believe it. She has been reading out of the Book of Mormon too. It is awesome. I guess her husband is pretty sick so hopefully we can give him and or her a blessing. 

But that's not all that has happened. We taught a Less Active's son who isn't a member. He is super cool and interested. The mom has been coming out to church too and bringing her kids. He is around 10 or 11. He has a sister who is 18 who hasn't met with us yet because she has been super busy but her schedule should lighten a little bit so we should be able to teach her Friday and pick her up as a new investigator as well. 

In addition to those two people, there is another. Her name is Tanya. The first lady is Brenda. She is in her fifties? The next girl is Kayley. Tanya is maybe around thirty. She has been meeting with some sister missionaries because she has been going to a different ward for the past few weeks. But she is in our boundaries. The city has been having this festival of music thing for the past few weeks. There are a lot of people who play in it and get awards and what not. Well she was super involved with that so she was too busy to meet with us. She told the sister missionaries that after it was over, she wanted to meet with us. Well it ended last saturday night so we should be able to meet her finally. 

That is three new people to teach. Not to mention the investigator, Loretta, we picked up last week. We have a lesson with her tomorrow. Like I said, the work is picking up like crazy. Two of our investigators are super close to baptism. They are Keenan and Blake. Their parents have been less active but are now coming back. Their step dad is going through the steps so he will be able to baptize them. He is super close. They should be baptized within a month! The oldest one told his mom he really wanted to be baptized. 

We are so excited to see all the work that is moving forward. The ward is really starting to trust us and help us now. Well not much else is new. Hopefully all is well back home. Take care of each other and be safe. 

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Elder Jake and Elder Becker wearing short sleeves, for a very short time!

Eating banana splits with the other local missionaries!

It is awesome to see the Lord's work. To be a part of it is even better.

The Windy City!  That's my nickname for Lethbridge. That's about all there is to it. Just wind. Except for yesterday. Roma (the wonderful woman Elder Jake and his companion live with) got a kite for her grandkids and Elder Becker and I wanted to test it out. Well, it was dead as a dead thing yesterday. There wasn't enough wind to carry dust around. It was so stupid. Regardless, we will persevere and try again. 

So this past week has been awesome. We picked up two new investigators and should be picking up another this week. We are going to try to set up a baptismal date for three of our other investigators this week too. Hopefully that goes well. We set a goal to try to contact ten new people every day. This means we tract every day. Haha man it is so crazy. Some people freak out on us and others just slam the door. It was so awesome though.  (Tracting is when missionaries go door to door, hoping to share a message.)

Yesterday we stopped by someone who is less active to try to visit with them. When we walked up to the door, it looked like no one lived there. There wasn't any carpet or furniture in the house. It looked like they never finished building it or something. Maybe they stopped mid remodel. Anyways, we always knock on the doors if we can first, then ring the doorbell if no one answers. Well we knocked anyways and no one answered, so we went to ring the doorbell. There wasn't a doorbell. There was only two little wires coming out of the wall. Elder Becker figured all he had to do was touch the two wires together and that would ring the doorbell. I thought he was an idiot haha. I figured he would shock himself or something. He took the two wires and touched them together and we heard a loud DING DONG. Hahahaha it was so awesome. He basically hot wired the house. 

Yesterday was a rough day for tracting. We got yelled at by a guy who said to never knock on his door again, we had another guy make fun of us and tell us there was nothing we could do to possibly make him happier than he already was, and we had the typical awkward encounters. We walked up to one door and the door was open, but the storm door was closed. There was a group of four or five people in there. One of the guys was in a white shirt and tie. He said, "Hey guys, come on it." I had no clue who he was but he acted like he knew us. We stepped inside and they were all just staring at us. I had no clue what to say. I turned around to look at Elder Becker, praying he knew one of them. He had no clue. We just stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Finally and thankfully Elder Becker took the lead and said, "Hi. We're the Mormon missionaries." The guy just said, "Yeah I know. We're all members." Oh man it was so awkward! Hahahahahahaha! Apparently they were in the singles ward and one of them lived there so they were getting ready to go out. Oh I was dying. It was hilarious afterward. They were all in different singles wards so the guy that let us in just figured we were there for one of the other people. It was the most awkward moment of my life. We get those all the time while tracting. It's great. It is really cool. 

Since we set that goal, we have contacted ten people every day. And every day, we have seen a little miracle from the Lord because of it. The Lord works in mysterious ways. We have found two less actives while tracting who aren't on the ward list, and we have made two return appointments and stuff like that. It is awesome to see the Lord's work. To be a part of it is even better. When we pray for miracles, we must also have faith, and I know that they will then unfold before our eyes. I hope you are all safe and warm. For the first time in a while I am warm so that's nice. 

Take care until next week. Love you!

Elder Anderson

Elder Jake sent this picture to show us how close he is to the U.S.of A!