My week was amazing!!  We had some meetings, a little bit of rain, and other stuff.  Did you know that people use flood irrigation?  Look it up, it's pretty crazy.  My apartment is tiny.  Smaller than my last one.  Two rooms, one bathroom, and four elders.  But it's great!  The ward, Mezona ward, is pretty sweet.  I love the people, and everyone signs up to feed the new missionary!

We got to go play on a huge jungle gym today, that was pretty sweet.  My companion will send pictures.

 

I have not used any sunscreen yet, but after today, I think I will start.  It was HOT!  And it didn't help that we went and played on the jungle gym.  You can probably look it up, it's called Riverview park, Mesa AZ.

Tell Will that he'd better brush his teeth, or they will start falling out.  I'm going to try to send his birthday letter tomorrow, i'll include something about it ;)

Thanks for being mom!

--Elder Watson--

It's a where's Waldo picture...or where's Jake picture!

  Sorry if my Emails are short this week, I'm trying to think of what I did..
Friday it stormed and rained a ton, so we stayed at the stake center after weekly planning and did family history work.  Combined elder Proctor and I found over 1,000
 ordinances to be completed!  In about two hours!  it was crazy.  So you and dad will be receiving a few temple cards in the mail before too long that I expect to be done by the time I get home ;)
I love and miss you all, and I'm glad that Cal, Will, and Grant got to go camping!  Above that though, I'm glad that Dad got to take them.  Those memories will stay with them all forever, and I'm SO happy that Dad took me camping when I was their age.

Love, --Elder Watson--

Check out the size of these grapefruit!  They are fresh and so good!  The mission home has some grapefruit trees so when they are near the mission home, they always ride by to pick one to eat.

Clean sink and dishwasher!!!

Thorn in your tire doesn't really turn out very well.  :(

Dear madre,

It was nice to hear from you too!  I'm glad you're all doing well, and can't wait to see you again.  (But I will ;)

I won't forget sunscreen, i promise.  I'll get the package later today i think, and can't wait for that mac 'n cheese.  I'm glad that Cal knows when i'm getting home, too.  Make sure you tell everyone to send me ties, or give you ties to send me, so I can take pictures in them and have more ties!  I'm going to write you a mother's day card and send it today, so this email will be short.  I wasn't sure what we were going to talk about on skype, so I didn't send one sooner.  Love you and can't wait to hear from you again!

--Elder Watson--

Jacob with the mission president and his wife.

Jacob with the other new missionaries that arrived in Arizona the same day as him.

It has been hot, but not too hot.  In the 90s mostly, but it really feels cool because it's dry heat.  Yes, I still have meals every day, it's great!  I am getting to know the members, slowly...It's a big change.  

I look forward to letters, packages, and emails from everyone!!!!  Also, tell Callis that he's adorable and that he'll be six when I get home, regardless  of what he thinks.  (Cal keeps telling everyone that Jacob is coming home when he is 5!)

     That's so cute!! What Cal said AND the picture you sent.  I look forward to coming home too, but I can't bear the thought of leaving Arizona.
      My ward is interesting.  It's what you would call "Newly weds and nearly deads".  No middle aged people exist there.  I have met bunches of the members, and I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting letting everyone know that I hadn't been out for more than a week yet, and THEN passed around the dinner calendar.  Not a blank space on it anymore ;D
      We don't really have many investigators down here, there are just tons and tons of inactives.  I think our ward is about 150 actives and 350 inactives.  It's really sad.  We do have one new investigator with two 8 year old twins, so that's exciting!  Teaching is just like the district, but me.  not them.  It's scary, knowing that what you say could lead to someone's eternal salvation.  But trusting in the Lord helps.  He is always there, guiding the lessons and helping me teach.  I have taken pictures galore, and i'm sending the SD card out today.
     Love hearing from y'all.
     Love, --Elder Watson--

MOM!!    
      SCOTTSDALE IS BEAUTIFUL!! I'm going to take some pictures, then send the SD card home. 

     I have learned SO MUCH these past weeks, and remembered even more of what I was taught at home.  I am so thankful that you and Dad took the time to teach me the Gospel when I was young, and encourage you to KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK!!!  I love you so much, and Heavenly Father does too!  If you ever need comfort, just pray and i know that you will receive it. 
My companion in the field is 6'4" and ginger.   ;)
     Apparently basketball is pretty big in my current ward, so we'll see how that goes.  I bought my bike yesterday, and it's AMAZING!  My area is only 5 sq miles, but we ride them everywhere.  There are bike lanes and paths through Scottsdale, so we're always riding safe (even if there weren't).  If you ever have any specific questions, just ask!  LOVE YOU!!!
--Elder Watson--


     I'm living in an apartment, with a pool, gym, and tons of other cool stuff.  We have our own washer and dryer, dishwasher, etc.  We have the biggest apartment.  There are six beds and extra mattresses.  I am in the El Durado ward and i am not supposed to "chat"  with Email so I am just following up with more things i forgot to say.  I am Emailing on Wednesday because it was transfers on Monday, so everyone skipped P-day.  After this it will be normal. 
      There are weird wildlife things here, strange birds and lizards and whatnot.  There are palm trees and rocky mountains.  There's hardly any grass.. People just have gravel lawns, but it's beautiful gravel.  The weirdest thing is seeing oranges, lemons, grapefruits and limes just growing on trees everywhere.  I woke up tuesday morning, walked outside, exercised, and grabbed a grapefruit off a tree and ate it.  (it was good)  My companion is from canada, and he's only been out three months yesterday.  Apparently that never happens, but he's an amazing missionary so i can see how he is training already. Love ya!

April 8, 2015

This is a letter we received in the mail, while he was still in the MTC in Utah.
 

Dear Family,
     I love and miss you all!  My testimony has grown so much in the past week.  It is amazing to see how strong the spirit is in the MTC.  Everyone is so happy!  Sorry I haven't written you yet (through mail).  I am a part of a "test schedule".  Just my district is doing it, and basically every second of my day is filled with study, teaching, and being taught.    I have been wanting to write y'all, and so I've been compiling my letter's words for a few days now. 
     I'm not sure if I ever understood how much God helps us in our lives, but now I do!  He is everywhere!  He helps us in so many ways, we can't even imagine. 
     Grant, Will, and Cal...Read the BoM and learn the chronological order that the stories are in.  Read the children's Book of Mormon and Bible Stories and learn to explain how things happened, and you will be surprised at how much you know and don't know.

     Mom, please have Grant, Will, Cal and whomever else send me something they learned from the scriptures every week and tell me how they can apply it to their lives.

      I enjoy every package you send me and the letters are amazing and uplifting.   Thank you.
                                Love y'all,
                                        Elder Watson

HEY GUYS HOW'S LIFEEE?  The MTC is amazing!  Last night my companion and I were called as the Zone Leaders for our district, and we have a ton of responsibilities.  My district has some ASL missionaries, which is AWESOME! I'm learning a ton of ASL, and everyone thinks that i'm british.  Tell everyone they can send me letters, I would love to hear from everyone
-- Elder Watson--