Hey, family & friends!
Aaaaawesome news! In several regards!
Tuesday, we got to speak at a stake Young Men's/Young Women's (Jr. High and High School age youth) activity on prayer and missionary work. And Wilber, our wonderful Ugandan friend, spoke too! He stood up and said, "My name is Wilber, I'm from Uganda, and I've come to the conclusion that this Church is true." He related his conversion process and his excitement, and talked about what brought him here to America. He said that he originally thought God had brought him here for education, but now he knows that he was brought here to find this Gospel. THEN, everyone split into two groups: one pretending to be people that don't know how to pray, one pretending to be missionaries teaching people to pray. Those two groups broke into little groups of 4-on-4 groups. We were missionaries (obviously)..... with Wilber! It was AMAZING watching him teach people to pray (even though they were only pretending not to know). He said some amazing things about how when he prays, he likes to repent first because he doesn't want to enter God's presence unworthily (!!). Partway through, the "investigators" broke character and started asking him real questions about prayer, his experiences, etc. What a privilege to get to know him this way--we really didn't teach him. He taught us.
Wednesday, we had another lesson with Chriss (side note: we've been seeing her every day, essetially). She was expressing some more concerns about the Church, and we were answering them with "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith," and the like. All of a sudden, she gets really quiet for a second and says, "Something just dawned on me." She then related to us how for the past year or two, she's been praying to strengthen her walk with Christ, and she suddenly realized that with us, she has been this whole time. She then clutches her chest, closes her eyes, smiles, and when we asked her how she felt, says, "It feels warm in my chest and all down my arms. I want to just bask in this. ........................Holy ----!" Always a firecracker, this one. But she recommitted to be baptized on the day we had scheduled her for, and proceeded to quit smoking her e-cigarette the very next day so she could! She's absolutely amazing, and the ward has been welcoming her with open arms.
This week I've learned a lot about forgiving myself. In church yesterday, many of the talks were on meekness, and I realized that I need to start applying that to myself more. We so often as people are fine with forgiving others, letting them know how much we love them, treating them well, etc., and that's wonderful! But truth is universal. If we don't apply that to ourselves as well, we are not entirely meek, humble, submissive, or completely fighting off the natural man. Feelings of guilt need not linger longer than when you've repented to your Father in Heaven. He forgives you, so forgive yourself. Let it go.
Oh yeah! Sister McKnight and I are staying together! Woo! And we're part of a new zone they're creating: Pocatello North Zone! One of our zone leaders is going to be one of the soon-to-be former APs, and our district leader is going to be Elder Meier from my MTC district! There's a whole lot going for us this transfer, and we're excited to be spending the hollidays together, too!
Well, I sure love you all. Thank you for your prayers and support. We sure need them!
Love,
Sister Jacobson
Pics:
.Last district Sister picture
Praying like Enos
Early am running in the snow with toe shoes!(picture at the top of the page)
Well, I certainly love all of you. If you're holding onto past mistakes, let them go. If you're excusing your behaviors because "that's just the way you are," change. But accept that change won't come immediately. This life is all about change, and though it's uncomfortable, it's incredibly rewarding.
Hey, family & friends!
Early am running in the snow with toe shoes!(picture at the top of the page)
Taryn was baptized!! It was beautiful.
There was another baptism taking place in the church building right before, so
getting the baptism clothes and everything set up before was a bit stressful,
but it all came together in the end. I feel like almost every baptism I've been
a part of has been like that! The Adversary does NOT want that important step
to be made because he knows the eternal happiness they will gain from it and the
associated living of Gospel standards after it, so he will stop at nothing to
ruin that big day for everyone. Luckily, Satan is nothing compared to
God!
Love you all! Buy and read "The Power of Everyday Missionaries!"
I feel like I'm getting really repetitive with saying that this was another amazing week. Nevertheless, it stands: this was another amazing week!
Back to the good stuff! Through many miracles, we found two new investigators this week! One's name is Socorro, and she has three children. She just moved into the area, and has been going to the LDS church off and on for 8-10 years now. Exciting, no? The way we found her is a neat story. So. There we were. On exchanges. Because Sister McKnight wasn't here, I got a bit lost, and we drove past the Elders that serve in the stake helping someone unload some stuff into their house. We smiled and waved and drove away. The second time I mistakenly drove that way and passed them again, we decided to get out and help. Turns out, they were out walking and a lady picked them up for a ride (with her teenage son, so it was koshe) and told them they were going to help her friend move in (kind of against their wills). So through a series of "coincidences," we were led to help her out, got to know her, asked her about taking the lessons, whabam. She's awesome.
Representing New York !
