June 19, 2017
Hello!
Ladies and gentlemen I would like to inform all of you that today
it is 118 degrees in Gilbert Arizona. And tomorrow it will be 120. Let me tell
ya, it's brutal. I really don't know how we are surviving. The only explanation
I can think of is that we're just super blessed for serving the Lord. And
unless we are directed otherwise from President Wheeler, tomorrow we will go
out on bikes and work all day long, just like any other day. This week
especially something has been on my mind and I'd like to share it now. The only
group of people in the entire world I can think of that would be willing,
excited even, to go out in 120 degree heat--with a heat advisory in effect--are
the Mormon missionaries. Why? Because our message is true. The message that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and is back on the Earth today is so
IMPORTANT and so VITAL that thousands upon thousands of young men and young
women worldwide pay their way and volunteer their time to provide an
opportunity for everyone to experience the BLESSINGS and the JOY that this
gospel can bring. So my simple request to everyone not of our faith is this:
give the missionaries a chance. Trust me, we KNOW it's super awkward when we
come up to you on the street and start talking to you about Jesus Christ. We
KNOW you don't want to talk to us and that you're not interested...but we also
KNOW that this gospel is true and can bless your lives beyond your wildest
dreams. Give the missionaries--heck, the gospel--a shot. You just might be
surprised.
 |
| AZ or HI? You tell me! |
 |
| P-day lunch at Cafe Rio |
Anyways, this week we had a couple of AWESOME moments and a
couple moments of just utter despair haha.
This week we went and met with our 10 year old investigator, E. While there we
found out that her mom, V, had reached out to a member of the ward and asked
for scripture passages from the BOM that E would enjoy--and the member came
THROUGH and sent loads of amazing scripture stories! Shout out to amazing
members--your missionary efforts make ALL the difference. We stopped by the
member later in the week to say thank you, and this member mentioned to us a
conversation that she'd had with V a few days prior. She said that in this conversation,
V had started talking about the Mormon missionaries (us!) and how she never
EVER thought she would be in a position where she was letting them in her home,
let alone letting them read from the Book of Mormon with her. But she
continued on and said that the scripture we had shared last month with E had
brought her so much hope and so much peace, and a knowledge that things would
be okay--even if they weren't right now...that she was willing to let us come
in and read more hopeful scriptures. The member told us that the thought that
came to her during this conversation was that even if we don't baptize E or V,
we're still making an impact in their lives and that is doing a whole lot of
good. So that was a super cool moment for us!
 |
| Play first, then teach - fruit of our labor |
We had an evening where it seemed like all of our plans fell
through. We had a lesson at 8 o'clock so we were trying to work around the area
that the appointment was at but just nothing was happening. We were street
contacting, tracting, stopping by members--we were trying everything and just
no one was home. We finally stopped and said a prayer and asked for direction
in where to go. After the prayer we waited, and listened for what the Holy
Ghost was telling us. Neither one of us felt anything. We pulled out our ward
lists and started flipping through them for some people to stop by and try and
visit--and nothing was coming to our minds. We had to go through each of our
ward lists probably 3 or 4 times before I finally started feeling directed to
one ward. I started reflecting on our recent meetings with the Bishop and the
Ward Council and finally I was like "Let's try stopping by the J
family." Sister Ogawa thought that sounded good so we went there--and the
family was outside doing yard work! They were like "I'm so glad you showed
up!! We could use a lesson right now." They invited us in and we sat down
and in the course of our conversation I gathered that two of the kids that were
there don't normally live there, and are less-active. One of them, C, was like
"rumor has it that missionaries always have super good lessons planned.
Let's see it." And it was like a challenge haha so Sister Ogawa and I
pulled out all stops and taught a super bomb lesson on the Doctrine of Christ,
and how it can bless our family relationships. At the end of the lesson Sister
Ogawa asked them what they could do this week to be more unified as a family
and C was like "Actually...do you think you could come back next week and
teach us another lesson? I think we need it." Naturally, we accepted haha
and then committed them to pray as a family every day before then. It was
awesome. And it was a really cool lesson for us on how the Holy Ghost directs
us--we didn't receive the answer to go to the J’s right away...we had to be
patient and wait and sift through the ward lists on our own before we received
even a little bit of direction. Sometimes that's how it works, and it's times
like that where we're blessed to be able to exercise our agency! The Plan is
perfect.
 |
| High Five |
Haha Saturday was our depths of despair day. This weekend
the Gilbert Stake was blessed to have the opportunity to have Elder Bednar from
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles preside at Stake Conference. He was
accompanied by Joni L Koch of the Quorum of the Seventy, so we had two General
Authorities present. On Saturday Elder Bednar had a meeting with the youth from
10:30-12:30, and then he was meeting with the stake president at 1:00. Some
Elders in our zone had a baptism at 2:00 and the stake president told them that
he was going to try and bring Elder Bednar to the baptism. So all of us
missionaries were going WILD inviting anyone and everyone we could to the
baptism--trying to set them up so they could meet an Apostle. Sister Ogawa and
I had four investigators commit to come to the baptism, and all four were
excited! But then Saturday morning all four texted us and cancelled. We were so
bummed. But we turned our attitudes around and we were like "There's
another plan for the day!!" and we went out and worked. So we're biking
and we're probably a good 30 minute bike ride away from home and Sister Ogawa
goes "do you hear that??" and I just hear this sssss sound. I look
down and her tire is just COMPLETELY flat. She had a MASSIVE hole...like it
looked like someone slashed her tire it was so big. We were like...is this a
joke? And you gotta understand, this whole transfer we've had bike problems. A
few weeks ago I had six flat tires in one week...just flat after flat after
flat, and finally I took it into the office for the Vehicle Coordinator to look
at and the inside of my tire was completely shredded and had destroyed the
rubber tube, and earlier this week we'd patched one of Sister Ogawa's tires. At
this point I think I can change a bike tire in my sleep. But anyways, we were
so far away from home, and we were a good 15 minute walk away from the nearest
member so we started walking and we were both just silent haha we were so mad.
But—a tender mercy--the first member's door we knocked had a repair kit and we were
able to patch the tire! So we were on our way again, and then the rest of the
day was fine...but for a few hours there we were like man this sucks haha.
Alright now the moment we've all been waiting for....stake
conference. I really don't know how to describe my experience with Elder Bednar
other than saying I now want to become his best friend. He came, he threw down,
and it was beautiful. Literally everything out of that man's mouth is pure
gold. Our recent convert spoke Saturday night and did a wonderful job.
She was able to meet Elder Bednar and talk with him briefly and she was just on
cloud 9. Because the church is so mature and so thriving in Gilbert, Elder
Bednar was able to talk about a lot of the basic doctrinal principles on a much
deeper level. It reminded me a little bit of the training we receive in the
MTC--he talked much about how EVERYTHING in the gospel is connected and ties
into the Doctrine of Christ. He is so bold and not afraid to say it how it is.
In the adult session he kept saying "buckle up…" or "if you're
buckled up I can say this…" and then he'd say something super bold and
accurate and it would make everyone squirm but in a good way. I couldn't write
fast enough notes--I received so much revelation!! Next time you get a
chance...sing all 7 verses of “How Firm a Foundation” and consider how the
Atonement of Jesus Christ enables us to do so much more than we could on your
own. I promise you'll never sing that hymn the same again.
There was a special 8 AM meeting for recent converts, recently reactivated
members, and investigators...and the bishops, ward mission leaders, and
full-time missionaries were able to attend. Sister Ogawa and I have been
working our tails off these past few weeks trying to invite as many people as
we could to this meeting and we had ELEVEN people there! (Out of the 50 or so
we invited....but that's still pretty good) I went Blaine (Dad) x 1000 at this
meeting haha. At the adult session the night before I was watching Elder Bednar
closely and I figured out where he came in/out of and where he stopped and
shook people's hands and then I carefully plotted and calculated where we would
sit the next morning. So I staked out a spot for us and one of our recent
converts and our investigator to sit on the aisle of one of the rows he walked
past and shook hands, and then we placed our investigator on the end, the RC
next to him, and then Sister Ogawa and me. We were on the fifth row, and where
I was sitting was dead center in the chapel. It was one of the best meetings
I've ever attended in my entire life. The day before Elder Bednar introduced
himself to the recent convert and then centered his whole talk in this meeting around
our recent convert. This recent convert is going to realize in like two months
how incredible that is haha.
For the general session we stayed in our super good spot and as we were singing
the opening hymn I made eye contact with Elder Bednar (because I legit couldn't
stop staring at him and I'm pretty sure he has all the hymns memorized--true
story) and he smiled at me and I had a moment where I was like what is my life.
We didn't get the opportunity to shake his hand, but that's okay with me...I
feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have even heard him speak and to
have been so close!! Also, I am 100% positive that if I had shaken his hand I
would have done something super embarrassing--because that's what's happened
every other time I've met someone I respect/look up to/admire. So it's a good
thing because I probably would have tarnished the good name of the Arizona
Gilbert mission in his mind. Haha, just kidding.
Anyways, the moral of the story is that Elder Bednar had
amazing things to say, and I learned so much...but I think what stood out to me
the most is the PASSION that he has for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He speaks
about it with such wonder and amazement, and I wish more of us were that way.
The Spirit just floods the room when he walks in and it's impossible to deny
that the mantle that he carries is real, that he truly is an Apostle of the
Lord, Jesus Christ. In every session he spoke for one hour and could have
easily gone on and on and on, and I would have gladly listened longer. He had
to constrain himself to speak for only one hour--can you imagine?? The average
member struggles with a 15 minute sacrament meeting talk, let alone an hour
long discourse with no written notes. It really made me aware of how IMPORTANT
those 15-20 minute general conference talks are. They're inspired, and they're
for us. They could go on a lot longer but they choose the 20 minutes that they
think we need MOST at that point in time. What a blessing!!
 |
| Selfie with ivy |
 |
| Tiki torches |
Well...last night transfer calls came. Unfortunately Sister
Ogawa will be leaving me!!! We don't know where she's going yet, or who my new
companion will be...but on Wednesday we'll find out. I've loved my time with
Sister Ogawa and I'm sad to see her go, but she's such an amazing missionary so
I know she'll do amazing things wherever she serves. :)
Anyways I love you all! Have a phenomenal week!
Sister Jacobson
Ladies and gentlemen I would like to inform all of you that today
it is 118 degrees in Gilbert Arizona. And tomorrow it will be 120. Let me tell
ya, it's brutal. I really don't know how we are surviving. The only explanation
I can think of is that we're just super blessed for serving the Lord. And
unless we are directed otherwise from President Wheeler, tomorrow we will go
out on bikes and work all day long, just like any other day. This week
especially something has been on my mind and I'd like to share it now. The only
group of people in the entire world I can think of that would be willing,
excited even, to go out in 120 degree heat--with a heat advisory in effect--are
the Mormon missionaries. Why? Because our message is true. The message that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and is back on the Earth today is so
IMPORTANT and so VITAL that thousands upon thousands of young men and young
women worldwide pay their way and volunteer their time to provide an
opportunity for everyone to experience the BLESSINGS and the JOY that this
gospel can bring. So my simple request to everyone not of our faith is this:
give the missionaries a chance. Trust me, we KNOW it's super awkward when we
come up to you on the street and start talking to you about Jesus Christ. We
KNOW you don't want to talk to us and that you're not interested...but we also
KNOW that this gospel is true and can bless your lives beyond your wildest
dreams. Give the missionaries--heck, the gospel--a shot. You just might be
surprised.
No comments:
Post a Comment