March 20, 2017
Hola hola!
What a week! Sister Sorenson and I really
buckled down this week and worked hard. We've been really trying to keep our
"line" in the water as long as possible. We read an analogy in PMG earlier
this week that compares missionary work to fishing (shocking), and the analogy
was basically like "fishers don't drop their line in the water and leave
when they don't get anything...they leave their line in the water UNTIL they
get something.” We've been working on applying that, and we're planning on
carrying that into the next transfer with us.
 |
| Transfer 2 Planner |
 |
| Sister Sorenson's Birthday |
Last Wednesday was the last exchange
of the transfer...and it's probably the last Spanish exchange I will go on. A
cool miracle happened...Sister Anderson and I went and visited one of their
investigators-it was actually the one I met/taught on my first day in the
field! Turns out that this investigator's visa expired, so she moved back to
Mexico and didn't tell anyone so that was cool (not). BUT!! This woman answered
the door and told us that she has a daughter currently serving, and that she
left in January. I felt really strongly that I needed to ask who her daughter
was, and I was like....ehh there were 2000+ people in the MTC with me, there's
no way I know her daughter. But I asked anyways and it turns out that her
daughter was in the same zone as me in the MTC! This lady started freaking out
and invited us to come in so we shared a brief message with her about faith in
Jesus Christ, and then she started rapid-fire asking me questions about
adjusting to missionary life and how it's all been. I told her that I wouldn't
lie, adjusting to being a missionary is hard, but it's also equally amazing. I
shared with her the quote that's like "the bad days may outnumber the
good, but the good will always outweigh the bad," and she loved that.
After about fifteen minutes of telling her about how my adjustment has been I
told her that we needed to get going, but we wanted to leave her with a prayer.
She asked if I would offer it, and of course I accepted. As I was praying I
felt really strongly that I needed to pray specifically for her and her family,
especially her daughter serving. This woman started crying, and when I finished
the prayer she told me that I was an answer to her prayers because she loves
talking to ANYONE who's seen her daughter more recently than her. As we were
leaving, I realized that this girl's family doesn't even LIVE in
Gilbert...they're from South Phoenix. What are the odds that they would be in
the Gilbert mission...in a house of a Spanish investigator...on a day where I'm
on a Spanish exchange?? Pretty slim. I know with 100% certainty that it was not
a coincidence that I ran into her on that day...I know it was divine and that
she needed to talk to us on that day.
So that was cool. After that day of
Spanish exchanges Sister Anderson told me that she had taught me as much
Spanish as she learned in six weeks at the MTC and I was like ...yikes I know
next to no Spanish haha. But then the next day Sister Sorenson and I were
riding our bikes and we OYM'd (Open Your Mouth...street contact) this guy who
only spoke Spanish and I realized that I know all the Spanish I need. It's
frustrating because I understand almost everything I just don't know how to
construct the sentences and stuff...and this homie was like "Oh I don't
believe that there's only one religion" and I go "WELL...yo se La Iglesia
de Jesu Cristo...." and just start bearing my testimony in Spanish hahaha
that's all you need! As we were biking away Sister Sorenson and I were like man
it's a lot easier to be bold and be a missionary when the only thing you know
how to say is your testimony...that's a perk that foreign language missionaries
never talk about. So that was funny this week.
We had a service activity at a rodeo
this week! Man it made me want to go to a rodeo. Summer 2018, for sure!
 |
| Rodeo Service Activity |
 |
| I'm On a Horse, Heeyaah! |
 |
| Wanted |
We also have someone who we've been
teaching this transfer who wants to be on date but can't because he's being
adopted by this family in our ward and is waiting for his adoption papers to go
through...pray that they'll go through quickly! He's an awesome kid and his
family is super great as well. His name is R.
A, our golden YSA investigator, is
proving to be difficult. Every time we drop by her house she is all for the
lessons/activities but she's cancelled every single appointment we've set with
her. Also she's 19 and goes to bed at 7 PM every night? So that makes it really
hard with the YSA ward when all their activities START at 7. We've got a few
tricks up our sleeve for this coming week though...stay tuned.
And then there's the M family.
They're part-member, and they have an OAY as well. Apparently the missionaries
who taught the husband really pushed the wife to get baptized as well and it
scared her...so she has a strong distrust of the missionaries and for that
reason doesn't want her son to be baptized. But they have an older daughter who
was baptized at the same time the dad was so…I'm confused. We met with them two
weeks ago, and they're the family that came to church. However, we think that
she knows she needs to be baptized because she won't look us in the eye...it's
interesting because as a missionary you always know when people know that what
you're saying is true...because their eyes tell the whole story. If someone
won't look you in the eye, it’s probably because they're ashamed of something
or they know you're right. Every time. She has a stake calling in scouting
though and she is the definition of magnifying your calling...so we are going
to try and meet with them this week as well.
Other than that...it's just life out
here! This past week I turned two months old in the mission!
In two mission months I've...
-learned how to bike with no hands
-changed a tire (mandatory vehicle
coordinator training don't worry haha)
-patched a bike tire (Sister Sorenson’s...happened
last night)
-been the butt of more 'Idaho' jokes
than ever before...yesterday someone told me I sounded like I was talking with
a potato in my mouth! haha
-found lifelong friends in my MTC
district and my house
-come to realize how much I truly
LOVE winter
-received three priesthood blessings
(not including setting apart/father's blessing)
 |
| My Bike Ate My Skirt |
-given out probably 15 BOMs
-biked around an average of 30 miles
a day
-talked to everyone I've seen
-bore my testimony in English AND Spanish
more than ever before in my life
-completed half the BOM
-come to know my Savior, Jesus
Christ, more than ever before.
…and honestly probably a plethora of
other things I can't remember now. But yeah that's what I've got! Have a good
week! I love you!
Sister Jacobson
No comments:
Post a Comment