Hey, thanks for keeping me up to date with Grandma. I was at the Chicago Temple the other night and I was praying for her in there. I'm so happy to hear that she was not only ably to get a new heart but is doing so well after the surgery. I'm also glad that she was able to get it before Christmas too.
Well I'm doing good here still and as I said, I was able to go to the Temple with my first companion because a member in Escanaba was going through before his mission and he wanted us to come to that. He was escorted by the previous mission president and I was able to meet him for the first time because he got released a couple days before I came out. I'm heard so much about him and now I know what a great guy he is. He is just full of inspiration. We really had such a blast there and now I just can't believe that it's almost Christmas! Time really does fly by so fast. I hit my six month mark last week which is really crazy because I still feel like I just got here. I really am doing great and am staying warm:) I'm so glad to hear that you guys are all doing well at home and are having a great Christmas so far! I'll talk to you on Saturday for Christmas and wish you a Merry Christams!
Love
Elder Patterson

Sorry I don't really have much time, but I wanted to let you know that I got your Christmas card today and I wanted to thank you for that. Hunter looks funny with all that teeth missing in his mouth. All he wants for Christmas is his five front teeth hahahaha. So how has everything been? Are you guys having a good Christmas so far? I'm doing good with my boots and everything. It's about 9 degrees out there and I'm doing pretty good in it because I've got a good jacket and some good shoes. We had some crazy storms last week. The weather today is nice though except for the temp. Hey I wanted to ask you to send me everyones phone numbers like Dendi, Dane, and yours, and moms new number so I can call you all on Christmas. We got nice new slider phones here with a full keyboard because we are gonna be allowed to text now which is way crazy. Anyways thanks again for the card and it sounds like you guys are doing good back there. I'll talk to you later, bye!!
Love
Elder Patterson

Haha sorry I didn't get that email until this week but my address that I'm at is
637 Main Street Unit B
Delafield, WI 53018
I should be in this area for six months. I did get that package you sent me too with all the meds haha. The airborne you sent me is awesome, and I've never seen it in those powder packs before. And all the other stuff is awesome and I had to take some of the nyquill the other night because I was starting to get sick again so that came in handy. Thanks so much for that and I'm sooooo glad that you didn't order the other shoes because I would have felt soooo bad. Thank you again for thos boots, they are very nice and will do me good for two years. Thank you sooooooooooo much Tawni, it really does mean so much to me all that you do for me. I am doing really awesome and am LOVING my new area and I love and miss you all and wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I'll talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Patterson

Haha I'm ok it's not like I'm dying or something. I do have a huge jacket though but I haven't had to use it quite yet because it hasn't really been cold enough for it so I should be ok with that. I've just been sick because it rains a lot and the shoes I have, have a hole in the toe now and also they are not waterproof so that's why my feet are always wet and I'm just guessing that that's why I've been sick so much. I was actually stressing out because I didn't know what I was gonna do about the boots and I was afraid to ask for some because it seems like I'm always asking. Thanks though for those because I didn't know what I was gonna do. I am getting transferred though for sure and I won't know where I'm going until tomorrow. I'll be out of Escanaba though tomorrow at noon which I'm pretty sad about but it had to happen sometime right? I've been feeling pretty dang good though the past couple of days. All I have now is just a sore throat and a runny nose. And trust me, being sick hasn't gotten in the way of me having a lot of fun! I'm having a blast out here! I just wanna know where I'm being transferred to! Haha! Well I'll let ya go and just know that I am doing great out here and thank you so much for everything that you do! I love and miss you all and I will talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Patterson

Hey what's up? I got pictures from Brandi of Cannon, he's cute and it's crazy to think she has two kids now. I hope your trip was good and I don't know if you're still there but I hope it's still going well.
I'm doing good here still and am still sick but hey, I've still gotta be working right? We had a really good week and I've been having a pretty tough time with my new comp but it was good to see the work keep moving forward and it not being slowed down.
Well I'll let ya go and I keep you and your family in my prayers and I'll talk to ya later!
Love, Elder Patterson

Hey thanks for emailing me it was good to hear from you. That doesn't sound good with what's going on with grandma I hope they get it all figured out and stuff. I'll for sure fast with everyone and I'm glad you told me. I'll keep her in my prayers and keep me updated on the situation. Also see if you can find someone to go over and give her a priesthood blessing because she really needs that right now. See if Dane and Brian can run over and give her one or something. Thanks again for letting me know.
I'm doing good here and am keeping busy which is good. I'm still sick but I'm finally starting to feel much much better. I just can't get rid of my cough. My new companion Elder Kraus is from the Check Republic and is a great hard working missionary but he's completely different than my last companion which is taking some time to get used to. I'm the driver now which is really fun but not gonna be fun when it starts snowing because I really hate driving in the snow. Our truck has 4WD which is good though for the U.P. We are going to Green Bay today for a zone conference and I'm pretty excited for that.
Well I'll let you go and have fun in Texas and make sure you take lots of pictures of the baby and send them to me. Make sure you don't send any of her having it because I don't want to have nightmares ha ha. See ya later and I'll talk to ya later bye.
Love Elder Patterson

How's it going? Sorry I haven't emailed for a while I was in Green Bay last week for stake conference and wasn't able to email. I don't have a lot of time to email today either because we gotta go somewhere. But I'll just catch you up on as much as I can right now. Well if you haven't heard, last week while we were in Green Bay I had to go to the emergency room because I was having a really hard time breathing from being sick and was able t get the meds that I need to get better. As a result to that I am actually feeling the best I have in the last three weeks today which is pretty exciting because I'm really sick of being sick. Transfers are this Wednesday and I am staying in Escanaba for another transfer which is another six weeks and I'm excited to stay here too because this is the best area in the mission. I am however getting a new companion which I'm really nervous for really hoping it's one I can stand being with for six weeks or longer. We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators for October 23rd and I'm really excited to help her prepare for it and to watch her life just change dramatically. Well that's all I can think of updating you on and I'll let you go and hope to hear from you next week. Tell your kids that I love them and miss them and I'll talk to you next week!
Elder Patty

How are things going with you? Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl yet? My guess is a boy! How's everything else been going?
Well I'm doing good here. I got your cookies! They were so good, thank you so much! I should be sending you a letter this week. But yeah like I said I'm doing ok. I've had pneumonia which is not fun at all but I'm doing everything I can to get better from that. It's tough though because it doesn't let me sleep at night. Last night was actually pretty good because I slept for an hour and a half which felt really good. Our investigators here are all doing great and they are all still progressing and getting there. There is one member here though who needs everyones prayers, who is Tommy Chicago. A couple days ago someone stole his credit card and spent over $3,000. He has been through so much in his life and he's just trying to understand why he's going through so much. We've been working on getting him to the Temple and the closer he gets, Satan gives all he's got to stop him from going. So please keep him in your prayers as we get him closer to the Temple.
Well that's all that I can think of that's new here in Escanaba and I'll write you a letter this week and put anything that I may have forgotten in it. Thank you so much for everything especially those COOKIES ha ha. Love you!
Love,
Elder Patterson

Family and Friends

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing really well. I myself am doing really well out here. It was actually a crazy week because we spent half of the week here in Escanaba and then we spent the other half in Iron Mountain which is about an hour and ten minutes away from here. We did that because my companion and one of the Iron Mountain Elders comp went to Milwaukee for the week for meetings and so it was just Elder Carter and I all week. It was really interesting because we did a lot of finding by knocking on doors. We did that so much and because of that we now have three new investigators here in Escanaba and Iron Mountain also has a few more. While finding though we found a Born Again Christian who invited us in and really starting bashing on our church and what we believed. That's always an interesting experience to have.

Now that Elder Hofmeister and I are back together we have a lot of referrals to go to all week because of the fair. We have really been looking forward to visiting these people. We have been working very hard and been having such a blast. We work hard and play hard. Also to catch you all up on our recent convert Bonnie Kirschner. When we gave her a Priesthood Blessing a couple weeks before her baptism to help her quit coffee she was so amazed at how easily she quit drinking it. To this day she has told us that she has quit caffeine all together which really surprised me. She is such an amazing member and is really making great friends in the Branch here in Escanaba.

Well that's pretty much what we've been up to out here and I just want to continually thank everyone for all the support that you all give me. I pray for you all every single day. This mission has been a great experience and blessing so far. My Testimony has never been so strong before and is continually growing every day out here. Thanks again for everything you all do for me and I hope to hear from you!

Love,

Elder Patterson

Family and Friends

Hey everyone! All is well here in Escanaba. We've been doing really well and this past week we had the State fair here in town. That alone was a huge succes because we had a booth set up for people to order anything they wanted like church movies or a Bible or of course a Book Of Mormon. We got a lot of people that ordered stuff so we are going to be going through those and delivering them to everyone. We also did a lot of walking around at the fair and talking to everyone. Our goal with that was to make sure everyone saw us. It was a way fun week but a way exausting week. We did that every single day all day long all week. Now we are gonna be doing a lot of tracting the next few weeks since we made sure everyone see us and now we'll get recognized by a lot of people. We also ran into people that weren't so pleasant like usual but it's always interesting to hear the arguments people have.

We have been teaching a few investigators that have been progressing and now after this past week we are probably going to have a few more once we visit those people. The members here are so good to us Elders and take such good care of us. Especially Tommy Chicago who justr gave a talk yesterday in church. It was about going through the Temple and it was perfect because we have been helping him get to the Temple and he said in his talk that it's like the Wizzard Of Oz because he's trying to get to Oz and he's got Elder Hofmeister which he called the Tin Man and me which he said that I'm the Scarecrow and he said that the Tin Man and the Scarecrow are helping him get there. It was a really cool way to put it.

I am loving the work that I'm doing and I'm working really hard out here. I love the members here and also the investigators that we have been teaching. I also love and miss all of you and am very thankful for all the support that I receive from you. I'll let you all go and will update you guys next week so hang tight now for another week. Bye!

Love,
Elder Patterson

MTC Pictures

Scroll down to the end of June to see Jacob's pictures form the MTC.

Escanaba pictures coming soon...

Family and Friends

Hey everyone! I sure hope all is well back where everyone might be. From what I hear you all are doing great. I'm doing great. I'm actually going to be here in Escanaba for another transfer which is another six weeks. That's one of the reasons why I'm doing so great because Escanaba is the best area of the whole Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. That's my opinion anyways. The members here are way supportive and way cool. More important though is that the investigators here are great and they are all progressing and doing well. Bonnie, who just got baptized a couple of weeks ago is doing great and is getting stronger and stronger every day. She is making lots of friends in the branch.

This week we actually have the fair in town and we have a booth that we'll be at all week. We will for sure need all of your prayers for that this week because we are really hoping that we have a good turnout.

People here complain about how hot it is when it's only like 90 degrees. They have no idea what hot is. The weather here is great though. It rains a lot but I love rain because I'm not used to seeing so much of it.

Well that is pretty much all that is going in Escanaba Michigan these days. Thank you all for all the support and prayers that I continually get every day. I feel those prayers every single day and they help me greatly. Thanks again and Bye!
Love, Elder Patterson

P.S. I can be written at ----5651 Broad St Ste 1
and I love to get mail. Greendale, WI 53129

Family and Friends,

Hey everyone! There is nothing new here in Escanaba except that we had a baptism on August 1 with Bonnie and it went great. On August 8 I got to confirm her. It was an amazing experience to watch her life change so much and bring some happiness into it. We are teaching a lot of other investigators, so we are keeping pretty busy luckily.
I'm really starting to adapt to the work I'm doing because before I came out I wouldn't talk about the gospel with everyone I come in contact with. It was weird at first but I now have gotten the hang of it and it doesn't even bother me now. What I am here for is more important than I have ever realized before. I knew what I was here for before but I have learned so much and now the gospel means so much more to me now than it ever has throughout my entire life. My testimony has grown so much and I'm happier than I have ever been too, and I know that it's going to continue to strengthen as I serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.
Thank You so much for all the support and prayers that I continually get from all of you. I love and miss everyone. I am so glad for the decision I have made to serve the Lord for two years. It took me a while to get out here but right now is my time and I'm thankful for the patience you all have had for me. Goodbye everyone!
Love,
Elder Patterson

Tawni

Hey what's up? Thanks for emailing me back it was really good to hear from you. I still love it up here in Escanaba even though today it was 95% humidity. But it's like that pretty much every day so i'm getting used to it a little bit. Today though it was really bad because we went golfing right after a big rain storm so it was extremely muggy on the grass. I do love the weather here because i've never seen so much rain and clouds in my life being an Arizona boy. We've even had a few tornado's since i've been here. I haven't seen one yet but i told Dane that my goal is to get some sweet pictures of one to send you all. Bonnie's baptism went great yesterday and i get to refer upon her the Holy Ghost this next Sunday. My ties are starting to wear out and get pretty nasty because of the humidity. I need to get more ties or find some that do well in this weather haha. Going golfing every p-day has made me really dark that i almost look like a black guy. I love being in the U.P. I'm freaking out because i'm gonna be 21 on Wednesday and i don't know what i'm gonna do haha. I've been out for almost two months and it seems like i've been out for not even a week. It's crazy how fast time flies on your mission. The people here are still great and i've learned so much in the past two months. I've learned more about the gospel in the past two months than i have in my whole life and it's been a great blessing. I told Dane that i would never trade the memories that i've had so far for anything. I'll be sending some pictures probably today if i have time to run to the post office. I put them all on a disc at wal-mart so you can just take them off of that and i was gonna have you send the disc back to me after you do that because i'm gonna keep them all together. Thank you so much for all the support you and your family gives me. I love and miss you all but like i said earlier, i wouldn't trade it for anything. Bye!

Also i forgot to mention that you shouldn't give my Escanaba address out to people because i won't get what they send me if i get transfered. Everyone is supposed to mail me and send me stuff through the mission home and they foreward stuff to me wherever i am so i will always get it. Also if people send packages and stuff they need to do it through the post office and they need to send it as priority or over night so that when the mission home gets it, they can foreward that to me. If it's fed ex they can't foreward it to me. My mission home address is
Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission
5651 Broad St Ste 1
Greendale, WI 53129-1889
And like i said Make sure everything gets sent there to just be safe. But i'll still be here for a couple more weeks for sure so thanks Tawni!

Escanaba

Escanaba is great! We live with members Sister Schmidt and her husband is the branch president. It's just a small little branch and the church building is super small it's actually pretty dang cute. Haha. Sister Schmidt is way too nice and her and a member named Tommy Chicago are who make Escanaba the best area in the mission. Tommy was baptized about ten years ago and he has no teeth but he is the funniest guy i have ever met. He takes us out to lunch or dinner a lot and takes us out of town a lot for like district meetings and stuff. His family is Catholic and his niece got baptized last week and we went with him to Catholic mass and the infant baptism and it was so awkward being there. They didn't have the spirit there at all. The investigators here are awesome. We just got dropped the other day by someone but we've been working with a lady since i got here and her baptismal date is next week on August 1st. She is so ready and getting so excited for it. It's been so amazing watching her life just take a huge turn. She has been so happy lately and she's been coming to church including last week when Elder Hofmeister and i gave a talk. It was good because i talked about the Book Of Mormon because we had 6 investigators at church so i picked something that would be best for them. I never thought i could actually give a talk for 23 minutes haha. Well that's what's new in Escanaba Michigan. PEACE!!!

Dane's email's

Just to update you all Jacob is done with the M.T.C. and has been in his first area for nearly a week.

(First Email)
Hey what's hangin? How are things going? How's everyone doing?
Well i think they emailed you but just to let you know where i'm serving is in the Upper Peninsela in Escanaba Michigan. Everything here is so green and it's just so beautiful here. We are right off the great lake here. My companion is from Calgary Oberta Canada and he is so sweet. Elder Hofmeister. Well the library just told us that they're closing so we are going to try and find another computer so i'll talk to ya in a little bit.

(Second Email)
It's funny we woke up at 530 and went and played basketball with a bunch of creepy men and then at 9 me and Elder Hofmeister went golfing with two members and it was so fun. We golfed 18 holes and i shot a 169 which sucks but it could have been worse. But i did start to get pretty dang good at the end. We were golfing for 6 hours. We are about an hour from Greenbay and we were gonna go there for pday today but we didn't. We did drive through there from Milwaukee and saw the field and it was pretty cool because it's the biggest building there because it's like surrounded by farms, and one of the members we were golfing with is a huge packers fan and was all mad at me for being a cards fan because of the last time we played them.

4655 17th Road
Escanaba, MI 49829

I know Jacob truly appreciates the support that he continually gets from you all.

I'll keep you posted.

Dane

Pictures from the MTC

Provo Temple

My District

(top to bottom, left to right)

Elder Thompson, Smedley and Smith

Elder Bevan, Hyte, Bro Fereday (my teacher), and Day

Elder Sare, Robinson, Stephensen and Me

Missionary Statues

Our last night in the MTC

Allen Family

Hey guys how are you all doing? I'm doing great! I'm having a blast and I'm learning so much here. And eating so much. Brian's right, I'm totally gonna gain some weight but only in the MTC because it's all you can eat every meal of the day and it's pretty good food. Although it does give me really bad gas and it makes my companion mad. Ü I'm trying so hard to get along with my comp.
I definitely got it tough for my first one because he's like psycho. He would probably wear my skin to a B-Day party. HaHa But anyways, my second day here I got called to be the District leader
and it's been a blast just doing that. I love my District and I think they love me. (I hope). But anyways I picked an awesome time to come to the MTC because this is the time when they train all the Mission Presidents and so there are Apostle's and General Authorities walking all around this place. I think we have President Monson speaking to us tomorrow. Well I gotta go take a dump so I'll talk to you all later and make sure you all write me!

Love,
Elder Patterson

P.S. Send me some good snacks, I feel left out in my District because I'm the only one that hasn't gotten anything. HaHa.

Mission Pictures

I went out and took some pictures for Jacob's mission plaque.

And the winner was this one...

Some of my other favorites were...

the Mission Call...

Jacob reports June 16th to the MTC.