February 26, 2015

Leaving Medellin—He’s on his way HOME!!!

February 23, 2015

Things Jayden is looking forward to:

·       Zucchini bread

·       One of those pies that Tori makes

·       Joe Banditos pork taquitos

·       7 layer

·       Dad’s bbq ribs

Love, Elder Rucker

Catch you on the flip side

February 16, 2015 Best 2 Years Yet

Hello Mom,

This week was super good. My companion and I have been super busy. We have really helped out the area and have really been working hard. The area where I am at right now has not had a baptism in more than one year. On Saturday we are going to have a baptism. Really great missionaries have passed through this area and have prepared the people here. My companion and I are the first missionaries to arrive for the harvest after more than one year of planting. I know that my companion and I don't have too much time left together but we will make the best of it.  

I truly cannot believe I am finishing my mission. When I think that in less than two weeks I will be at home I don't believe it. But I know my time has come to an end. I have loved sharing the gospel with the people of Colombia and I have loved the opportunity  I have had to serve the Lord 24/7. I know  my life is only going to get busier and busier but I do not plan on stopping my effort is sharing the gospel. I know there is much work to be done. Finishing a mission is not the end of missionary work for one, but training for the rest of one’s life. My nametag may be taken off my shirt but the letters will stay engraved in my heart. “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.) I won’t stop working until my Savior Jesus Christ tells me "Your work is done".

I know without a doubt there is a God and that He loves each and every one of us. We are his children. I know his son is Jesus Christ. He is the Savior and Redeemer of all who accept Him. I know  His atonement can take away any pain we feel, be it spiritual, emotional, mental or physical. I have seen his hand throughout my entire mission. I have seen the power of the Atonement. More importantly I have personally felt and seen in my own life the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement is real.

I know the Church of Jesus Christ is the only true Church. I know Joseph Smith was called as the Prophet of the Restoration and through him Christ restored his Church. I know that today there is a Prophet that leads us and guides us; his name is Thomas S. Monson. He loves and wants the best for us. The word of the modern day prophets are true. Every six months we hear their inspired messages. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. It has the answers to the questions of the soul. I have been filled with the love of the Father and of the Son studying its words. I know that the Book of Mormon was written by Prophets, inspired by God. They wrote for me and for everyone. Their words are to help us grow and to learn. The Book of Mormon is a powerful tool of conversion. I have seen the power of this Book. The Book of Mormon has changed many lives and my life as well. I have loved being a "Book of Mormon Missionary".

I know families can be together forever. The Plan of Salvation is God’s plan for everyone us. He wants to be with us forever and for that reason has given us this plan. I know  sometimes the journey is rough. But after everything if we persevere we will be happy and we will be with our families. 

Again, I testify God the Father Lives and so does his son, Jesus Christ. Their love has no end. I know the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true Church. Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration, Thomas S. Monson is his successor today. The Book of Mormon is True. Families can be eternal. I do not doubt my testimony. I will share for the rest of my life this gospel with all who will hear. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer and Savior, Amen.

Love, Elder Rucker

See you in a few days. Best two years yet.

January 19, 2015

Hey Mom,

This week was great, absolutely great.  First off, we had transfers. I might have said last week that I am staying with Elder Rojas and I am super excited. We got a lot of other Elders in our zone that I have worked with before and I am super happy. 

In the Zone we started a purification. Just as the people of Israel passed through a purification of 40 years we are doing a purification of 6 weeks. We started on Thursday. And since then,  my companion and I have just been full of the spirit. We have had so many experiences that I don't have enough time to write them all to you today. So I have decided to just share one.

There are lots of details that I have to leave out for a lack of time but you will have the big details, when I am back I will be able to tell the whole story. 

The purification changes from week to week. As the ZL, we think of things the missionaries can do to grow closer to Heavenly Father and leave behind, truly leave behind the world. One of the activities that came to mind was to do a contacting activity. So we talked with our District Leader and as a district we set up a contacting activity. Something special we did was that every activity would have guidelines of what to think about. And through revelation the Lord promised blessing to those who really were putting their best effort to become better. The blessing promised to us in this activity was a spiritual experience.  We knew the Lord would deliver on His blessing. And one thing my companion and I said before we started is that we wanted to find a family, not just any family but a family that had been prepared to receive us.

When we got to the area where we were going to contact the missionary that had organized the activity told us the Jehovah Witnesses were just getting done contacting the area and that he was thinking about changing the area. He felt sad because he and his companion had prayed and chosen the street where each companionship should contact.  They thought it wouldn't be effective to contact because the Jehovah's witnesses were just getting done. (Side note: I am not saying that the Jehovah Witnesses are bad it’s just that the people sometimes confuse us with them.) Anyway he was going to take us to another are, but I told him, "No, if you received the revelation for us to contact these streets that’s what we are going to do".  

We started to contact and started to see the blessings. In just one hour we were able to share with lots of people. As we got to the end of our street we both felt the Spirit but knew that we had not yet received the promised blessing of a Spiritual Experience. We looked back and knew we had missed something. We contact for revelation not door to door. But we had missed something. My companion felt we should contact one of the last houses. As we contacted the family inside they really weren't paying attention. We kept talking and sharing our testimony. Just as we were about to go the Mom said, "let them in". So we went in and started to share more with the family. Within minutes the daughter was in tears. She explained to us what had happened to the family in past years. The family has had it tough. A couple more minutes passed and the mom was in tears. The Spirit was present as my companion and I conversed with the family. All-in-all that family, my companion and I felt the Spirit and felt the love of our Heavenly Father. We left the house full of the Spirit. The Lord delivered on his promise. 

We have only been in the purification a few days and my companion and I are feeling it. I know in the weeks to come the experiences will be great. I also know I will see difficulties. I won’t give up.      

I love you family. There is much that I have to share with you. Just a little bit more until I am home. We are going to give it all we got, 100%. Best week yet and they are just getting better.  Love, Elder Rucker

January 12, 2015

Well Mom, 

It is true—I was sick. The dreaded Chincunguna finally got me. Everyone who has got it stayed sick for an average of one week. I was sick with Chincunguna for 24 hours and I beat it!!! I am 100% positive it was by the power of my Heavenly Father that cured me so quickly. You don't have to worry; I am running at 100%. 

Today we had transfers. I will be serving here in Monteria until the end of my mission and I will be staying with Elder Rojas. I am really happy. I will also be here with a couple of Elders from my group.

This morning we went and fed the monkeys. It was really cool. Well, this week was just a regular week. I am here putting along at full speed and we have lots of errands to run!

Love, Elder Rucker

January 5, 2014

Hello Mom,

We sang Christmas carols at a member’s house in a little town way out in the boonies. As they came out to listen, so did a lot of their neighbors. When we finished singing the member could hardly hold back tears. She sent her son into the mission field a month ago and was feeling a little down. We got there just in the nick of time to lift up her spirits. The Spirit was present.

This Sunday the teacher for the gospel principles class didn't show up on time so I taught the class. It was a spur the moment kind of deal. It all turned out great.

That is all for this week! Love, Elder Rucker

p.s. It is so hot here, that people go crazy and put boxes on their heads. It has reached 100 degrees every day this week.

Hmmm… I wondered why my letter was so short this week!!!  It could be because this is the information Jason received:

I have Chinkunguña, an insect borne virus. I am ok. I am pushing fluids and Tylenol.

December 29, 2014

Well Mom,

Not too much to say today since we talked on Christmas Day. 

Well----I guess there is one thing. On Saturday the sisters had a couple of baptisms. One of their baptisms asked me to baptize him, so very happily I did. Also, his daughter was baptized. Then later on in the day they had another baptism. His name is Luis. My companion had to help baptize him because he can’t walk. It was a very spiritual baptism.

Also, my last companion, Elder Collins, now Dayde Collins, has finished his mission. He is studying at BYU. He told me he got there recently. He wants to get to know the family. So I gave him your number and dad’s number. Expect a call from him. And if you would like you can invite him to eat. He would love it. He is a really good runner. Like REALLY good. He will probably run for the BYU cross country team. I am sure you will get along just great. Also, he eats a lot, and when I say a lot-- I mean a lot! His stomach is a black hole. He is one of the 7 wonders of the world he eats so much. But yeah, invite him over, chat a little bit, eat a good dinner, and you can even have him play the piano.  He is a professional piano player as well.

Love, Elder Rucker

 

The gift I got in the mission gift exchange. Pretty small, right?

 Our Zone with the Christmas gift from President. It is a journal with our name and the symbol of the mission.

Love Elder Rucker

December 21, 2014

Making yummy cookies!!!

December 15, 2014

Hey Mom, 

This was a stressful week. The assistants had us literally running around town to get everything ready for the Mission Christmas Conference here on the coast.  We had to put everything together and do everything and they advised us with very little time. But everything came out well and everyone had a great time.

Now that I am writing, I realize that was basically all we did this week. Run a bunch on errands preparing for the conference. 

President really likes the Haka. So each year each zone does a Haka. Ours turned out the best. We rock!!! My district also did a skit that was hilarious. The zone I am in is excellent. We were the life of the conference.

Love, Elder Rucker

Check out our Haka!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L9uNiOInCc 

December 8, 2014

Hi Mom, 

Well…this week was a busy one. We had transfers. My old companion, Elder Collins, finished his mission. He got home on Thursday. My new Companion arrived on Wednesday. His name is Elder Rojas. He is from Bogota. His is 20 years old just like me. But he has only been in the Mission for 5 months. He served in the Colombian Military before coming on his mission. He is awesome.

This week I found something really special: Instant Potatoes. I bought them one night and made them the next morning for breakfast. They were delicious. 

Well, I don't know if you have seen it, but the church has put out a Christmas video. It is called, "He is the Gift". It is really good. The Church has made a bunch of promotional cards for us to hand out here. We have had a lot of success with the cards and with the video. We have more investigators. One night when we went contacting we saw a family outside their house talking. We contacted them and gave them the card. We told them that we did not have too much time but that we would like to come back another day to talk with them. They said that it was alright. Before we left they asked us a few questions and before we knew it we were sitting down teaching them. They are the Barrios family. They have a lot of interest in what we share. I know the Spirit opens a lot of hearts in the month of December. I know that any other time of year and this family would have rejected us. But the Spirit talked to their hearts and they listened. So now we are teaching them. It is the grandparents, the parents and the daughter. They are a great family. That is just one on the many success stories from contacting using "He is the Gift". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjFEMmM0Xs

That’s all for this week.  Love, Elder Rucker

p.s. Here on the coast it is so hot and so sunny that we are allowed to use Sombero hats. There is the foto of Elder Collins and me in our tracking hats.

December 1, 2014

Hey Mom,

This week was good. Not too many highlights but still a good week. 

First off, we went to a leaders conference in Medellin.  It is a conference we have about every month. So on Wednesday we traveled, it takes all day to get to Medellin from Monteria because we travel by bus. Then on Thursday (Thanksgiving) we had the conference. On Friday we traveled back to Monteria. Saturday was a normal day. Sunday was Elder Collins last Sunday in the mission. 

Today was busy in the morning. I had to send my companion off to Medellin. My new companion is Elder Rojas. I know him. Whenever we get together I speak with him. I am really excited.

Well, that is all for this week. Love, Elder Rucker

November 24, 2014

Hello Mom,

Stories from last week-

I have some bad news and I have some good news. And the weird thing is, they are the same thing. So here it is. Christmas came early this year. My package got to me really fast. I would have got it the end of November, however, the Assistants came to Monteria to work with my companion and me and they brought the package. So I am happy that I got it. I just did not have the patience to wait until Christmas to open it. But the good this is--I got it!

We are teaching a guy named Daniel. He is really smart. He speaks really good English. It is safe to say that he is atheist. This is the first time I have taught a person who doesn't believe in God. The good thing is that he has a Catholic background. So at least we are not starting from ground zero. He is awesome. 

Stories from this week-

It has been a good week. The Stake in Monteria asked us to put together a missionary choir. So that is what we did. We have been practicing for basically a month and on Saturday we had our first show. It was good. We also had 4 baptisms in our ward. They were not investigators of my companion and me but of the sisters that serve in the same ward with us. It was still cool to be present in the baptisms.

Well, those are the stories for this week. Enjoy.

Love, Elder Rucker

November 18, 2014

Sorry had no time to write yesterday. I had to use pday for some errands for the Zone. Don’t have too much time right now. I am all good. Loving the mission. If I have time later, I will write more about the week. But if not, know that I am fine and Loving it here in the heat. We hit 95 the other day.

Love, Elder Rucker

November 9, 2014 Test of the week

What fruit is this?

November 9, 2014

Hey Mom,

This was a great week and a sad week. 

So why was it a sad week? Well, last week I told you we were working in a three way companionship with a new elder named Elder Gonzalez. This week he was sent to Armenia to be in a regular companionship. So we had to send him off. My companion talked with the Assistance to see if they would leave him with us but they said, "no". The Lord knows better than we do. Elder Gonzalez will do some great work in Armenia.

Now for the good news. One, last week I got the recipes for all the goodies. This week Elder Collins and I made the chocolate no bake cookies. They came out excellent. 

Two, I found Miracle Whip. It was a MIRACLE. It’s the first time I have seen it in Colombia. I just could not pass up the opportunity to buy it. It wasn't even that expensive. Anyway, when I bought it, I was able to carve the hunger for a cheese, jam and Miracle Whip sandwich. I have had the desire to eat one of those sandwiches since the MTC.

Three, to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday, my companion and I ate ice cream and a brownie. Yum!!!! I know the quality of the picture is not that great, sorry it’s a photo from my phone.

Now for the last and most important thing that happened this week.We have an investigator named Cesar. He has been investigating the church for more than a year. Every time we teach him I feel the spirit. He gives really good prayers. I have never have had an investigator pray with such sincerity to know if the church is true. He is great. Anyway this Sunday he attended church for the very first time. It was awesome. He had a smile on his face the whole time. When the classes finished a member gave him a Liahona (the magazine) and as we were walking out he saw a stack of Liahonas and asked if he would take more. It is only a matter of time before he gets baptized.

I love this work and I love being a missionary.

Love Elder Rucker

November 3, 2014

Hey Mom,

This week we traveled a lot. We had a zone leader conference in Medellin on Wednesday. So on Tuesday we were traveling and then on Wednesday we had the conference and then on Thursday, once again, we were traveling all day. We traveled by bus.

My companion is super great. His name is Elder Collins. He is from Washington. He is Awesome. Sadly, he will be finishing his mission at the end of this transfer. And more news: we work in a trio. We are companions with Elder Gonzalez. He is a new missionary and Elder Collins and I are his trainers. He is from Colombia. So yeah, we are doing good and enjoying things here in Monteria.

This week I had a very, very amazing experience.  My whole mission I have been in the city, and I still am, but my area is on the outskirts of town. Part of my area is still under development so there are lots of empty lots and fields. That means there is not a lot of light. In every other area there has been so much light that I could hardly see the stars. This week I saw the stars bright and clear for the first time in my whole mission. When I noticed the stars and that I could actually see them I told my companions to wait. When they looked back and saw I was looking up, they also looked up. Elder Collins immediately knew what I was looking at. We just stood there in the middle of basically a field for five minutes looking at the stars. What a testimony not only of the great power of God but of his tender mercies as well. Sometimes you just have to take a break look up and soak it all in. 

Thank you for the recipes. 

I love you and we will see you next week.

Love,   Elder Rucker

p.s. My return date is a secret muahahahahahahahahahahahahh. 

October 27, 2014

Hey Mom,

This week was an adventure.  On Tuesday I said goodbye to all my friends in Buenos Aires. I was sad to go. I learned a lot from the people and the members.

Wednesday, I traveled all day. We started our journey from Medellin to Monteria at 9:00 in the morning and got to Monteria at about 8:00 at night. It is an 11 hour bus ride. It was weird at first—we were in the mountains then after a while, rolling hills and finally flat lands. For the first time in my mission I can’t see the mountains. 

Thursday, my first full day in Monteria was not too bad. It was hot and humid but all right.

You know how when it rains a lot and the street outside our house floods a little? Well, on Friday it rained just a little bit and flooded the whole street. There was a creek in the street!

We had stake conference this weekend and it was super cool. They did a broadcast from Salt Lake. Elder Holland spoke and a couple other general authorities.

There are the highlights of the week.

Love, Elder Rucker

"For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" 1 Nephi 20:10. This scripture is really great to explain where I am at.  Just follow the link and then scroll down a bit and do a little converting of temperatures and you will see why. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monter%C3%ADa

Apart from being a great scripture to explain where I am at it is also a great scripture with a great teaching. If you notice the word "in the".  God does not always wait until after the trial. He acts when we are ready, most of the time "in the" middle of our trial.  

Cool video to watch when you have lots to do.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3792885561001