I will not let up, give up, or shut up!

Katie's 21st birthday is May 11th! I would love to have her mail box flooded with cards and well wishes from everyone! Her mailing address is on the side bar to the right! Thanks in advance!

Hey, family & friends!

This week was full of miracles again!  Seriously, so blessed!

We found some solid new investigators this week!  Bryson and Tom, father and  son.  hey said they were going to read 50 pages of the Book of Mormon this weekend. Wassup!

Dustin's baptism was so wonderful.  His whole family came to the baptism and part of them came to his confirmation on Sunday!  There was such a special Spirit there, and we know he's going to be a huge light to his family and friends.  He's going to get the Aaronic priesthood soon--he turns 12 this Thursday!

This week, we've been feeling persecuted more and more for righteousness' sake. Though it's only Idaho, and I'm sure we only get a tiny little piece of what anyone anywhere gets, we've been yelled at, chewed out, and scorned for proclaiming the truth.   However, we are the salt of the earth, and if we choose to close our mouths, "wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men," (3 Nephi 12:13). I will not close my mouth to the truth, "for so persecuted they the prophets who were before [me]," (3 Nephi 12:12).  I know these things to be true, and I will not let up, give up, or shut up until I'm gone out of this world.

I love you all.  Keep the faith.

-Sister Jacobson

Card reader's not working.  I'll send this week's pictures next week.  Sorry!  Love you!

This is a video done by Katie's home mission, the New York Rochester Mission with the quote she ended her letter with. It gives you a flavor for the passion missionaries feel about the work they are doing!

Miracles are real. Pray for them. Expect them.

Hey family & friends!

 

Awesome, awesome Easter week!  I probably watched the "Because of Him" video no fewer than 20 times with showing it to everybody.  I also figured out the first little part on piano.  Such a good video!

Jared's baptism went so well!  His dad got to baptize and confirm him!  Next stop: temple!  Also, they had Capri Suns after the baptism.  First time in years I've had one, I think.  Where have they been all my life?

Dustin's getting ready for baptism this weekend also!  He's so solid--he walked by himself to church in the gale-force winds yesterday morning so he could be baptized this coming weekend!  He's so excited for it!  One night when we had a lesson over there, he had his friend, Bryson, come over too.  Turns out, Bryson lives in a house we've been knocking on for weeks without them being home ever after we received them as a referral!  And he totally said he wants to be baptized, too!  We stopped by yesterday night and, though he wasn't home, we talked to his dad Tom.  There's no mom there, just those two, and the dad's not a member of this Church either.  He took the lessons about 10 years ago, he said, and wants to sit in on our lessons for Bryson, and he offered to feed us dinner this week as well!  Holy miracle and a half!  This family-->eternal.

I got to go on exchanges this week to Highland!!  Oh my goodness, it was so much fun!  We got to see Chriss and Brittney and Jessie!  Chriss is doing sooo well.  I feel like I could truly understand Alma when reuniting with his friends: "Therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord," (Alma 17:2).  It showed me even more the depth to which I love all these people I've worked with and gotten to know and taught and learned from for the last little while.  It's pretty deep.

Every year, the week before Easter, a nearby stake does this thing called "Walk With Christ," where they transform their church building into... I don't even really know how to describe it.  It's a journey where you learn more of the birth, life, and death of Christ.  The website is http://www.walkwithchrist.net/.  I don't know how helpful the site is, having never been there, but maybe there's more info on it.  Good luck!  In any case, we took a bunch of people there this week, including Miko.  She really loved it!  She's feeling the Spirit more and more, and we know big things are going to happen due to her great example back home!

Oh, shout out to the Kubies!  And Heather!  You crazy love birds! (Two of Katie's friends got married this weekend!) 
 
Love you all!  Miracles are real.  Pray for them.  Expect them.

 

-Sister Jacobson

Pics:

1.  Thanks for the packages!  The granola's already gone and the pillow case is covered in drool.  (Shout out to the Canandaigua Young Women!)

2.  This is outside our apartment.

3.  Jared's baptism.  What a suave guy.

Testify!

Hey, family & friends!

Ok, so I didn't want to make you feel jealous of our weather while you were still going through snow, but now that you're having nice weather, I've been wanting to tell you about our 60-70 degree days for like 3 weeks now.  Not to rub it in, or anything.  But yeah.... Idaho's got nothin' on New York cold and snow.  You troopers.

Miracles!

There's this family that goes to one of our wards where the mom and the kids are all active, but the dad isn't.  They have a son, Jared, that's turning 9 today that the dad wanted to baptize, but wasn't able to because he wasn't coming to church.  Our ward mission leader set us up with teaching them for the past few weeks because the dad felt better about Jared being baptized with the lessons behind him, and now the baptism is scheduled for this Saturday.  Because he's 9, he falls under our stewardship, so we kind of just got a baptism scheduled for us.  Hurray?  They're a really fun family, and we really love working with them!

Mamie opened up this week with a ton of really great questions when we were teaching her the Plan of Salvation!  Up till then, she had been more reserved with everything, but we feel like she's really starting to love learning about this.  She said she wants to be baptized eventually, she just doesn't see a need to right now because she already feels happy.  We just need to help her feel that sense of urgency in doing the Lord's will when He wants us to do it.  I'm of the opinion He always wants us to do His will NOW.

Hannah got baptized!!  Her whole family was there and loved it, then they all came to sacrament meeting to see her get confirmed,( also known as receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost) including her mom who's not of our faith!  Up to this point, she hasn't been interested, but we asked if we could teach Hannah the new member lessons with the whole family together, and she said we could!  We're hoping this will generate some more interest with her as she feels the Spirit of the things we teach!

Remember Wanda, that sassy, awesome black lady who we met when I first got to the area?  She's back!  And she and Charles (her man) came to church yesterday!  In Sunday school, when we were talking about trials, Charles commented that God lets us go through them so we can learn, because "God don't want no fools."  Testify!  He wants us to learn for ourselves what's true, what's not, and how we can follow those things ourselves.  We're not meant to follow these teachings blindly; we must come to some conclusion that we will follow Christ and what He's asked us to do of our own free will.  Otherwise, we don't learn, we don't grow, and the whole point of coming to Earth is null and void.

This week, visit  easter.mormon.org.  Remember why we celebrate Easter, and remember the strength we can receive not only when we've exhausted all our strength and it's not enough, but steadily and consistently through our trials.  We don't need to wait to call upon the Savior's Atonement.  It's always there.

Love you all!

-Sister Jacobson

 

Pics:

 

This was my April Fool's

prank this year! Idea

courtesy of Sister Gale,

former companion!

 

 

 

 

We finally have other Sister

missionaries in our zone! This

was at Conference!

Hands up if you loved General Conference!

Hey, family & friends!

Hands up if you loved General Conference.  They'd better all be raised.

Also, because I forgot to last week, shoutout to the Tuttle family singing in the women's choir for the Women's General Session!  I about spazzed my hair out!  And shoutout to the Tuttles that would have been singing there if they weren't dedicating all their hearts, minds, and strengths to serving the Lord on their missions, of course!  And while I'm shouting people out, might as well give a shoutout to all my fellow friends and servants on missions, both stateside and foreign.  Love you all!

Remember that girl Kelsey I told you about a while ago?  She didn't move to Texas, but is moving to another part of Poky, right to our zone leaders' area, in fact!  We got to see her one last time and we asked her about baptism again.  She expressed some concerns, mainly the fact that she didn't know it was right yet.  When we asked her if she had prayed about it yet, she answered that she didn't know how.  It's always such a sweet experience teaching someone how to talk with their Father in Heaven, and after we committed her to pray about everything that night, I knew she would get her answer.  "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," (Matthew 7:7).

Great lesson with R.C. the other night!  Basically, it boils down to the fact that he needs to sincerely seek for his answer, not out of obligation to us or anyone else, and actually wanting an answer.  There's understandably some fears in finding out answers to something that will change your life, but this is the best, happiest, easiest way to live.  "The Gospel isn't weight; it's wings."

Met with Mamie again!  She also is a bit afraid of the commitment, but after telling us some of the trials she's going through, we know she'll be able to feel peace about it as she sees the wonderful fruits of the Spirit in her life by living Gospel principles and ordinances.  

Hannah's baptism is all set for this week!  Woooo!

General Conference is like the highlight of my life right now.  Besides the fact that I get to represent the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim His Gospel day in and day out.  You know, that's pretty cool.  But I noticed a theme of preparation for big things to come.  We're helping to usher in the Second Coming of Christ, and now I can taste how close it is, along with the chaos and trials that will come just before.  However, we can have peace amid the chaos.  We can have strength beneath our burdens.  The Gospel, though we may eventually be disliked for living it, will be so much more easy to live than to not.  As long as we have God on our side, we will have peace.

Watch or rewatch Elder Holland's talk.  Loved it.  Exactly what's been on my mind.

Love you!

-Sister Jacobson