Week 11: Don't Touch Cactus!

April 10, 2017

Helllllllooooooooo!!

Two Months as Companions!

It's been another good week in sunny sunny AZ! It's been another weirdly busy week...we haven't had too many appointments but I feel like we're ALWAYS doing something.

For example...last Tuesday we got a phone call from our vehicle coordinator and he asked us to come in on Wednesday morning to exchange cars! We were nervous because our car was old...but nicer than some and we'd been really stingy with miles and we thought we were going to get an even older car. But we rolled up to the office and the vehicle coordinator handed us the keys to a brand spankin' new 2017 Chevy Malibu!! Ooooh we were PUMPED. It's the nicest car in our mission right now! It had like thirty miles on it when we picked it up, and it's really high tech. It was definitely an upgrade. So that was super exciting; our whole zone is really jealous.

At the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant

Wednesday night we had the opportunity to go to the Easter Pageant with our investigator, R. He's in the process of being adopted by this family in our ward so once his adoption papers go through he'll be baptized! He's awesome. It took him a bit to warm up to us but we're tight now. His mom was so funny...she kept saying "in twenty years when you're talking about your mission you're going to say 'Oh yeah we went to the pageant...and SISTER C took us!!' You'll never NOT remember me now!" Haha, but just in case that wasn't enough to make us remember her...she went ALL IN. When we got there we just went and threw blankets down and then went and walked around the visitor's center. Our seats weren't too bad but they were definitely back pretty far...but when we got back from the visitor's center Sister C went and found an usher and was like "um, excuse me how do we get better seats" and he told us that at 7:30 if the seats up front weren't claimed then they'd open them up to the general public. So Sister C like sat in anticipation and as soon as the usher opened the seats up she pounced, so we ended up with seats in the very center of the audience on like the fifth row. It was amazing! The pageant was so well done, and the attention to detail was incredible. Some scenes brought the Spirit so strong, and I had goose bumps at several points. My favorite number was this one where it was just the Jesus Christ's actor and then a bunch of children on stage; it was all about how Christ LOVED children and wanted them to come unto him! At the end of the number there was this little kid sitting on Jesus' lap and he was talking to him...and you could tell that the Jesus’ actor was trying hard not to laugh. I loved it because it personified Christ. I think that too often we forget that Christ is our older brother...so we're like afraid of him...when in reality he loves us so much, more than our mortal minds can comprehend and wants to be a part of our lives so bad! Anyway, it was a great way to celebrate Jesus' life. I love this Easter season and how much it brings Jesus Christ into the center of everyone's focus!

This week I was riding my bike out of a member's driveway and I lost control of my bike momentarily...but I didn't crash, I regained control. However, when I had lost control I accidentally hit one of my pedals into a cactus...and my foot took the majority of the blow. We biked a little ways and then I had to stop because my foot was hurting so bad. It was night so we shined our bike lights on my foot and there were all these little tiny spines sticking everywhere out of my foot. Holy moly it hurt haha. I sat there in the street and got as many out as I could and then we went home and I got the rest with tweezers. That was not fun. So that's my lesson this week...don't touch cactus!

Scary Stump Found on Exchange

This week we had our first exchange of the transfer! I went with Sister Baggaley (one of the sisters I live with) in her area and we had a long but fun day. It was the first time on my mission that I went tracting and didn't want to die...improvement yay, haha! We talked to lots of people and had lots of rejection but also lots of potentials...that's Arizona for ya, haha. We had a good exchange, and I noticed that exchanges this transfer are going to be a lot more manageable now that they're not in Spanish. ;)

We had stake conference this weekend! It was awesome. Our mission president and his wife spoke and they dropped straight wisdom, as always. My favorite thing that President Wheeler said to the stake was "Do you know how lucky you are?? This stake has three sets of Sisters, and one set of Elders! Don't tell the other stakes...they would kill me if they knew this stake had three sets of Sisters!!" Haha I'm just kidding, that's not my favorite thing that he said...but I thought it was pretty funny that he got up and said that in stake conference. In all seriousness, my favorite thing he said was "Do you know how good you really are? And do you know how good you can BECOME?" He went on to explain that all of us are inherently good, but through Jesus Christ we can become more than we ever could alone. He also told us that relying on Christ will never be easy, and will often require us to stand alone. Moroni 1:1-3 came to mind, where Moroni is saying that he really didn't think he'd be writing, because he thought he'd have died by that point because the Lamanites were hunting the believers down. The end of verse 2 and verse 3 get me every time, "...because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life." Moroni stood alone for 36 YEARS! I put myself in his shoes and honestly wonder if I could have been so steadfast. Moroni is a stud. Seriously, he’s a fantastic example for us in our lives. If he stood alone, then so can each of us.

Mission Easter Concert

Mission Easter Concert

Finally, we had a choir concert last night! We were all really stressed about it because we didn't have many rehearsals but it ended up coming together just fine. Blessings from the Lord! I'm so glad Sister Barrott sent you that video; hopefully it sounded good haha. That's the first time I've sung in front of people since I graduated high school! I'm trying to be better at putting myself out there and not hiding my talents as much and this concert was a good way to start!

Anyway, that's my week! We had no crazy miracles or no crazy stories...but there's a few of my insights. :) Also...make sure and check out the #PRINCEofPEACE videos! I've seen the kick-off video probably about thirty times and I'm not in a technology mission...so y'all out there walking around with a computer in your pocket have NO EXCUSE. Watch it!! You won't regret it!!

I love you! Happy Easter! :)

Sister Jacobson

"Trunky Planner" for Soon-to-Leave ZL

New Dress! (Notice My Tan Legs)