Tortuga

Whats popping yall!? 


      Hope everyone had a great 4th, and got to see family and let off some fireworks on my behalf. I was thinking on the 4th how grateful I am for the country we live in and the freedoms we have, and also the men who fought and died for it. Let us also remember that only one person ever lived for us. Jesus christ was sent to this earth and lived, so he could teach us how to live the laws of heaven while in mortal flesh, then was later crucified and performed the atonement so we can have the freedoms to chose to follow him. What a cool holiday and correlation. The 4th was a big day for us. We spent all day going to events and just tryna meet people and get our name out there. We joined a corn hole competition and did pretty well, and also did a hot dog eating contest. Let me tell you I don't ever wanna even look at a hotdog ever again, but my companion and I tied for second. We had a good time and met a lot of people and now the town is very familiar with us. We made friends with the whole fire department so thats cool too. But let's get into this week shall we? 


       This week was a weird one. If I were to describe it as an animal, it would be a Tortuga or tortoise. It was very slow and nothing exciting really went on other than events listed above. We didn't even teach our usual people because they were out of town or had some other thing going on. Now I can let this get to me and be all down on myself even though it's not my fault and out of my control, or I can work harder and find joy in other things. And that's what I'm choosing to do. One of the biggest challenges and lessons that I am learning on my mission, but especially more in this area, is discipline. Sometimes the work sucks. Sometimes there's people who ruin your day. Sometimes you just wake up and the day sucks already because there's nothing to look forward to, like almost everyday in Alpine. But you know what gets me going and through the day? The growth I see in myself. The person I see God allowing me to become. The gifts and abilities I get to exercise and explore. The experiences I would never have the chance to experience ever again. I think about where I am compared to where I was before my mission and I don't even recognize myself. Knowing that I am still developing and learning, and somewhere ahead is the person God wants me to become motivates me to keep going and keep growing. I know this is going to help me be a better dad one day too and that's really the big one. But I came all this way, it would be a waste of my time and effort and even God's time to just float around or throw in the towel. 


      Anyways yall sorry for my little rant. I feel like sometimes I show my less serious side or "goofy" side too often, and I don't get to share my real thoughts and emotions and all of that because they're never brought up, or are assumed that they dont need to be. But I'm doing good and I'm grateful for this area and it's challenges. I say that a lot, but I wouldn't repeat it so much if it wasn't true. I'm also so incredibly grateful for all the support. I feel your prayers, your love, and your thoughts. I've always struggled with getting close to people or making deep connections, but my heart is overwhelmed with the amount of support I get, and i feel so close even though I'm not. I know I'm not the greatest at responding due to my sporadic schedule and hatred towards technology, but I do read every response and they really help. So thank you. Yall have a great week and stay cute! 


-elder JJ


2001 state HWY. 118 Alpine, TX 79830


Pics: 
1) this is it, this is the only picture I got lol. But click this link to see a bunch from my whole mission 

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