Service in skirts!

Hey, family & friends!

You asked about transfers...  We're both staying!  We'll be here at least until mid-July.

This week was nuts!  We taught seven lessons on Friday!  

Manuel was in town early from work and wanted to see us, so we walked around the park and talked.  We told him about the 10 Commandments and the Word or Wisdom. When we talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy (4th commandment), he said, "Oh, sometimes I work on Sundays.... from now on, Sundays and Fridays will be my down days!"  Just up and decided!  Oh my gosh!  He and Julio are so amazing!

All our lessons that day were amazing, but fast forward to the last one.  So.  She's scheduled to be baptized this Saturday, but she still doesn't know if she knows this is true or not.  We KNOW she knows more than she thinks she does!  We know she can be ready, and we've prayed to know that she can be ready this Saturday!  She's nervous about letting people down if she doesn't get baptized, but we assured her we will love her no matter what her decision is.  On Friday, our Zone Leaders came and gave her a priesthood blessing.  It was perfect!  The Spirit was super strong, and the blessing was just what she needed to hear.  We're going to press forward in faith, knowing that if she reads and prays every day, she will get an answer.  It may not be now, but she will get an answer!

And then yesterday all our lessons fell through.  But hey, that's mission life!  

Wele is amazing.  She has a stronger testimony of the Gospel than a lot of baptized members!  It's just a matter of the Visitor Center Sisters being able to catch her mom when she's home to give her a call, now!

Pics: 1. We ended up mowing a potential investigator's lawn!  She ended up not being interested, but she's super cool and we got to do service anyway!  And yeah, we did it in skirts.         We go hardcore.

2. My shoes after mowing.  

3. We got to serve a guy named Snuffy in our area at his Horse Rescue.  We got a bunch of other missionaries to help us!  I got to brush a bunch of horses.  They love me.  Basically best friends with them; no big deal.

I know this Church is the one true church on the earth today.  I know that it is Christ's church on the earth again, restored through Joseph Smith, and that the one surefire way to know that is by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know it's true.  And I testify that it is true.  

I love you all so much!  Don't get in too much trouble; save that for when I get home ;)  

                           Love, Sister Jacobson

*Cody got baptized! Katie started teaching him in Idaho Falls. See April 15th letter to read her description of meeting him and the surrrounding events.

 Hello, family & friends!!

So I went on two Spanish exchanges this week.  I'm basically fluent.  Esta bien.    

Also, on the second exchange, a Mexican man told me "You don't know me!  You don't know how I pray!"  ....But we committed him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that night!  Woo!  Oh, and one of my Spanish companions totally jacked this guy's pack of cigarettes.  As we were walking away, we all of a sudden heard "LOS CIGARROS!!"  So we walked faster.  

And you asked about Sister Rye.  She and I were the first 19 year-old Sisters here, she's from New Mexico, and she's REALLY good at nerf wars!  Haha we're having a lot of fun and success together!

This week, we set another baptismal date!!  Woooo!!!  It was with Manuel, Julio's friend.  They both recognize the Holy Ghost testifying to them during our lessons, and they both have a strong desire to know this is the true church.  They're gaining that witness from the Holy Ghost as they read the Book of Mormon and keep praying about it; they feel really good about it!  Ah!  They're just so solid!!

Welecele is fantastic!  She's pressing forward with faith, and one of the Sisters and the Visitors' Center is emailing her mom to try to let her know what this church actually is (aka not a cult).  I know as Welecele keeps working towards her baptism and as we have faith that her mom will soften her heart by the date of the baptism, everything will work out.

So..... well, So's not sure if she wants to really know this is true.  Pray for her to have that desire--she's such a sweetheart, and we know this is the true path to happiness for her!  (And everyone!)

We're still waiting for Kamryn's parents to work out a day that will work for her to be baptized!  She's so cute.  She really wants to do this.

Oh, last week, we had to drop Celene.  It was heartbreaking, but we asked her why she kept having us come over if she didn't want to progress.  She eventually told us it was because she liked having us over.  We restated our purpose as missionaries, and that it isn't to hang out, so although we didn't want to, we just couldn't keep coming back.  Miss her like crazy.

People have been giving us so many more referrals this week than we ever have been getting!  Our family stake is starting to catch on fire.  Luckily, it's the Spirit of God like a fire is burning, not a fire is burning like the Spirit of God.

Oh!  We got to go on a Sisters' temple trip this week!!  All the Sisters in the mission went to the Idaho Falls temple this past thursday.  Not only was it fun to see all the Sisters I've gotten to know and love, but what an amazing sight to see so many strong, faithful Sister missionaries, ready to work their very hardest for the salvation of so many.  It certainly is even more of a motivation to me to WORK, seeing the amazing examples around me.

So, for this week, read 2 Nephi 4.  One of my favorite chapters.  It lays out a good pattern for how to get yourself out of a rut, especially when you're getting down on yourself.

I know this Gospel is true.  It can make you happier than anything else on the planet.  I know families can be together forever through this Gospel, and I'm so grateful for that.  I love you all SO much!!

Love, Sister Jacobson

 

P.s. pics:

1.  One of our exchanges

 

2.  Sister Rye and me at the Idaho Falls temple
 

3 . Pocatello Idaho Sister Missionaries at
         Idaho Falls Temple
 

4.  Sister Rye and me with Sister Brinkerhoff,
the mission president's wife.         WE. LOVE. HER

                                                                                    5.  I'm a master photographer. Come at me.

 

 

 

   

 

1st of 3 Skypes!!

Dear family,

It was so good to see you all on Skype yesterday!!!  I especially loved hearing Hudson and Haylee yelling "hello" from all over the house.  It was a nice touch :)  

This week has been awesome!!  Sister Rye's stomach is getting better, and we've been seeing miracles lately: we set three baptismal dates within 48 hours!!  Two with investigators we've been teaching for a while, one with a man in our first lesson with him!  

I've noticed the theme for this week has been faith, work, and miracles.  With both So and Welecele (two of our investigators with baptismal dates now), we felt like we needed to ask them to set a date by which they would be baptized, promise Heavenly Father they would do everything in their power to be obedient to His commandments, and work hard to do just that.  We promised them that if they exercised their faith, then worked their hardest, they would overcome their obstacles by the time the date rolled by.  We had been praying about the days, and we know they can do it.  They both agreed to work.  I know that as we do our absolute best, even though our best isn't enough, that's when God picks us up and carries us to where we need to be.  Miracles HAPPEN.  Through faith and obedience.  And if we ask for something righteous, God be willing, He will grant you what you ask for.

Julio is the other investigator with a baptismal date.  He and his friend Manuel came to Rexburg to visit a friend on BYU-I campus a few months ago.  The friend wasn't there, but they saw a bunch of people going into a building, so they followed and went to an LDS church service!  They felt something different, and kept coming back.  So a few weeks ago, the bishop of that ward called us and asked us to come meet them.  We got to know them and talked about how through the Gospel, we can live in our families forever.  They both said that's what they want, and they want to know more!  Manuel was in Mexico this weekend, but we were able to meet with Julio.  They are both so sweet and so receptive to the Spirit!  So grateful the Lord is trusting us to work with some of His choice children.

 

Side note: thank you to all who made my birthday special!  The packages, notes, well-wishes, and everything made it such a great day!  

I know that this is where I need to be.  I know the Book of Mormon is true, and because I know that, I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and this is the true church on the earth today.  I prayed, over and over again, and I finally came to recognize the Holy Ghost speaking peace to my soul, witnessing the truth of it to me.  I love sharing the happiness this knowledge has given me, and I'm excited for more amazing experiences to come!

I love you all.  Read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.  Gain and regain your testimonies.  It's such a sweet joy.

-Sister Jacobson  

Katie's birthday is this Saturday May 11th! If anyone wants to send her a birthday card, her address is on the sidebar to your right!

Dear family & friends,

So many great things happening here!  First off, Sister Rye is SO awesome and we're having SO much fun together!  Lately, she's been super nauseous all day, every day, and the doctors have a few theories of what's wrong with her stomach.  Yet, she KEEPS WORKING anyway!  What a champion!  We went to the doctor earlier today and she got to eat some radioactive eggs.  Hopefully they'll be able to see for sure what's going on so she doesn't have to put up much longer.  Hate seeing her have to struggle with that.

I feel like there's been a theme this week of trying to strengthen others, especially missionaries.  As Sister Training Leaders, we've been able to listen to some of our Sisters' problems and counsel them the best we can.  It's really such a blessing to be put in a position of helping others through their problems and concerns.  Forgetting yourself and worrying about others is one of the most rewarding and things we can do as brothers and sisters.  I just hope I can be a mouthpiece for the comfort and advice God wants to give them.

Also, we're going on two companion exchanges this week and two next week.  Aw yeah.

Right now, we're actively teaching three investigators on BYU-I campus and one in our family stake.  At BYU, we have Welecele, from Tanzania, So, from South Korea, and Celene, from California.  They're all so cute!  They're about our age, which is definitely a change.  They all have wonderful personalities, and they all have some obstacles standing in the way of their receiving the Gospel into their lives.  Welecele already has so much faith in the Church and wants to be baptized so badly, but her mom doesn't want her to, so she doesn't feel like now is the right time.  Celene is Catholic and doesn't want to leave that behind, but also loves the Church.  So wants to believe, and is trying hard to receive and answer and increase her faith.  We were also approached this week by a girl named Julie on campus who has been a Mormon her whole life, but has lots of doubts and questions.  She is a SWEETHEART and we've already been able to teach her twice!  She's doing everything she can to regain and strengthen her testimony, and she's so solid!

On the home front, we're teaching an almost 12 year-old girl named Kamryn.  Super cute!  She was able to make it out to church this sunday as well!  She and her parents want her to be baptized; it's just a matter of matching up her parents' and family's schedules for when the baptism happens.  We also teach and serve a lot of less-active members here.  It's all inviting others to come unto Christ, no matter if they're members or not.  Woo!

There are also these two hispanic men, Julio and Manuel, that have been going to church on campus (though they aren't students) for a while now and want to meet with us and learn more we were able to meet a few days ago!  I'll tell you more about them next week.  They're SO cool!

I know that this is Christ's church on the earth again.  I know that if we apply Christ's Atonement to our lives as fully as we can (through faith, repentance, baptism by priesthood authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), we can purify and sanctify ourselves, fitting us for the Kingdom.  The Atonement is a free gift.  All we have to do is accept it. The Holy Ghost can testify of truths and comfort us.  All we have to do is let ourselves feel His influence.  Seeking for truth requires not just your mind, but your heart as well, cheesy as that sounds.

I love you all soooo much!  I'm excited to skype/google chat this sunday!!  Read Mosiah 4:9.  We've used that a lot this past week.

All my love, 

Sister Jacobson

P.s. Remember Cody, with cerebral palsy?  He's getting baptized this saturday, and we get to go down and see it!  AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! (What a great birthday that will be for her!)