January 26, 2017
Hey hey hey!!!!
So as I'm sure you figured out...my
MTC p-day is Thursday. They actually told us right after I sent that first
email but since I'd already sent it I couldn't get back on and send another
one...it's been a long week and it was such a bummer to wait so long to email!
This means I'll only have one more MTC p-day. I forgot y'all were headed to San
Antonio this week...have so much fun!! SA is such a fun city. You might have
something waiting for you at home ;)
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| Thanks, Rockwood"s! |
Hey!! Go to DearElder.com and you
can write a letter and they'll deliver it to me same day at the MTC! Getting
mail is so much fun and it just brightens your day! Please tell the Rockwood’s
thank you so much for their letters this week!! I almost cried when I opened
their notes...they were so sweet and please let them know how much of a
pick-me-up it was!
Remember when I came home from my
first semester at BYU and said that one semester at BYU had taught me more than
four years of high school? Alright the MTC puts four years of high school and a
year and a half at BYU to SHAME. I have learned so much this past week and have
grown spiritually as well as mentally. TBH I might have grown physically as
well...the wrath of the MTC food is real. When you're speaking English in the
MTC they really crack the whip because you only have three weeks before you
ship out, so there's hours upon hours of studying every day and each lesson
goes a little more in depth than the last. It's crazy how we're been exploring
the simplest of doctrine, but have been finding so much deep application to it.
It's exhausting, but so so great.
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| The Arizona Family |
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| Sister Donaldson and Me |
So the two going to NZ were
struggling on the first few days because they were bummed about not getting to
go to the NZ MTC but then they were called as STLs and they've been great ever
since! So yeah, the district and zone are great! I mean, yeah our District
Leader lost his scriptures on the second day here and our ZL packed the wrong
pair of slacks that have a rip across the butt and yeah the STLs walked into
the men's restroom and it's been a bit of a mess at times...but its great!!
We didn't get exercise time for our
first three days here so on our first day of gym time I ran like three miles in
twenty five minutes J
I went HAM. My comp was like
"Sister I didn't know you were such a gym rat!! J But our zone is ALL about four-square. It's super intense
and low-key super competitive. I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle yesterday. MTC
four-square, who knew right?? I have tried playing volleyball but it's worse
than backyard barbeque and I get really frustrated. Today I played a little bit
with a Japanese Zone that leaves this week and because they've been here so
long they're actually fairly decent. There was one Elder who was from Laie!!!!!
We totally bonded over Laie stuff, and he knew exactly who the Lowes and the Ho
Chings were, and he even knew Auntie Tamara!! He's in her ward! He asked why I
didn't stay and grow up in Hawaii and I told him that my parents were worried I
would be bullied as a Haole and I thought he was going to fall over from
laughing so hard....and I've seen him a couple times since gym time and every
single time he's like "MY POLY SISTER!!!!!"
For all my friends out there who
were in Cape Verde with me this summer: I saw Cole this week in the MTC!! I guess he's elder Jones now...it was at the
Worldwide Missionary Broadcast so I didn't get a picture, but it was really fun
to see him and catch up with him a bit. I've also seen Sister Doig, Sister
Williams and Hermana Daley this week! Also Sister Inman is in my zone! It's
been so great seeing all of them and it's been fun having familiar faces
around. Also, I'm totally in the MTC with Donny Osmond's son?? Ha-ha, he's
going to Italy Rome. At least he told all of us he was Donny's son…it’s gonna
be real awk if he just said that and Donny doesn't actually have a son! J
This week I was rebuked. We had some
old mission presidents come to our district meeting on Sunday and I was sitting
front row, taking notes and I don't even know what happened....I fell asleep
and next thing I knew it was the end of the meeting. I felt awful. Afterwards
one of them pulled me aside and was like "Sister, are you okay??" and
I was like...”Oh yeah, sorry. I'm just really tired today.” and he was like…"SISTER.
You are a MISSIONARY now and missionaries do NOT get tired." He was
totally serious!! I wanted to cry...I was like “Uhhh, I didn't mean to fall
asleep. I'm sorry, uhhh I've been here five days and I've never struggled with
staying awake.”....and he was like, “What you need to know is that if you tell
yourself you aren't tired then you won't be tired.” Good. Thanks for the
advice....because I totally meant to fall asleep. :( Ha-ha, it's become kind of a district joke
because now when someone is like "I'm tired" we're like "THAT"S
NOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE". J
We taught our first lessons this
week! Sister Donaldson is really good at asking heartfelt questions and I'm
really good at asking more bold questions.J She'll bear testimony and extend a well worded baptismal
invitation and they'll say no and I'll hit them with the "why not??"
Ha-ha-ha, it's been fun to see our personalities interact. Our first investigator
this week was named I. He recently went through some hard times and wasn't sure
if God was answering his prayers. Friends and family, I want you all to know
that the power and authority that come from being a missionary is real. Sister
Donaldson and I went in to the lesson with full intentions to teach the
Restoration, and as soon as we sat down we threw our lesson plan out the
window. We ended up teaching him about trials, and I literally started pulling
scriptures out of thin air that I'd never read before. The spirit was so strong
and afterwards SD was like "Sister that was amazing where did you learn
all those scriptures!!" and I was like "Sister D....that wasn't
me...that was straight up the Holy Ghost teaching through me." It was so
cool.
We just got a new investigator named
P. She's a TRC (Teaching Resource Center) investigator so she may or may not be
real. When we got here we were told that one English district wouldn't get TRC
investigators this week because the TRC was running low, when we went to
orientation we found out that our district was the one that wouldn't get TRC. We
were so upset, and all day we were kind of moping around because we were
like...this is the MTC...their job is literally to train us to be
missionaries!! How can we learn if we can't teach!! But then we found out that
the other district in our zone was really struggling with homesickness and none
of us really were and we felt better about them getting the chance to teach
instead of us. BUT THEN! We got back
from dinner and there were TRC slips taped to our door! I guess the TRC had
missed a stack of slips or something so we ended up getting them this week. Anyways,
P is great! We've met with her once and she has a lot of questions. We spent
almost all of our first lesson getting to know her and bearing testimony of the
truthfulness of this gospel. It was crazy because as soon as I said "I
know this church is true" the whole atmosphere of the room changed the
spirit was so strong. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I felt it,
Sister Donaldson felt it, and we know that P felt it for sure. Our next lesson
with her is tomorrow and she LOVES history so we're planning on teaching her a
ton about Christ's earthly ministry and the apostasy. I'm really excited to
meet with her, and I feel so much love for every single person we teach.
When you first get to MTC you get
this little manila envelope with your tags, your room key and your ministerial
card in it. It was so crazy because it was the first day of my mission and I
pulled out my ministerial card and was looking at what should theoretically be
my release date (June 26, 2018 for those eagerly awaiting my return. ;)) and I
just thought...okay it's the first day of my mission...what am I going to do
between now and June 26 2018 to be the very best missionary I can be and to be
the Lord's physical hands here on Earth. It all boils down to obedience. If
you're obedient then you'll have the spirit, and if you have the spirit then
you'll teach with the spirit, and if you teach with the spirit then people will
become converted to the gospel and come unto Christ. I've set the goal for
myself here in the MTC to become more like the Savior.
Yesterday was the Worldwide
Missionary Broadcast. Not gonna lie, the first five minutes of the broadcast
were SUPER cheesy and I was like oh no...but then it was really cool because we
got to watch Elders Bednar, Oaks and Anderson interact with each other as
apostles of the Lord while discussing missionary work. They also changed the
missionary schedule! So we now have the option to go to bed between 9:30 and
10:30, and our study time in the morning is more flexible. We can do comp study
whenever we want! Also P-day is extended by two hours because we don't have to
study on p-day, which is going to be super nice. It went into effect
immediately so last night we got done with class at 9 instead of 9:30. They also
changed the key indicators but since I'm not in the field yet I don't really
know how much it'll affect anything....but yeah exciting stuff!
One cool thing that our ZL told us
this week is that the MTC is like a temple, because every room has been dedicated
by an apostle of the Lord and everyone here has to have a temple recommend. So
we get to live in a temple for three weeks...kinda cool right??
On Sunday we watched a devotional by
Elder Bendar called the Character of Christ. I know for a fact that he gave
this devo a couple of years ago at BYUI....PLEASE look it up and listen to it. IT
WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I'd seen it back in June, but seeing it again was still
so life changing. You will not regret it.
All in all I'm doing great. I love
being a missionary. I'm so happy here and I love learning about the gospel all
day long!
Love and miss you all!!
Sister Jacobson
Sister Jacobson
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| Facials and Donuts |
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| Snowy Night |
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| Facials: MTC Style |
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