Week 24: Cabin Fever

July 10, 2017

Hello hello!!

What's good?! What a week!! So many wonderful, amazing, miraculous things have happened!

Monsoon Season Sunsets

This week started off on a really bad note. My patience was tested in ways it has never been tested before. Man, I was literally about to unravel last Monday/Tuesday. (If you couldn't tell from my email last week ;)) But this week really illustrated to me how much I've grown since coming on my mission, a few months ago I would have been way worse than I was this past week...and during companionship inventory this week Sister Rudd even told me that one of my strengths she’s noticed was patience! Haha I think she was just being nice though....in any case, I appreciated it! :)

Fresh Whip ft. Crutches

Last Monday I started harassing the AP's for a car. Up until that point we'd been finding members to drive us places, but it had reached a point where we were certain that we wouldn't be able to bike for at least a few more weeks, so I called in the big guns. Monday night we were unable to find a member to drive us around, so when P-day ended we had to stay in the house. We live outside of our area so it's not like we can even go tracting in our neighborhood. However, we used the three hours of proselytizing time Monday evening to prepare for some lessons this week...it was a good use of time! Tuesday was the fourth of July, and we had a very patriotic District Meeting in the morning and then we were supposed to go and proselyte in the afternoon, and then remain inside or at a zone activity in the evening. I spent all morning on Tuesday texting and calling all the members I could think of, and no one was available...so Tuesday afternoon we stayed inside as well. That was when I thought I was going to go crazy. Monday night and Tuesday afternoon are the only times on my whole mission that I haven't gone out and worked...and I was so antsy. So when Wednesday morning rolled around I was about to lose my mind...the thought of staying inside another day was too much for me. The cabin fever was too real. But, miracles happen and the AP’s brought us a car Wednesday morning! That was wild, I hadn't driven a car in almost six months...so I was super stressed hopping into that driver's seat on Wednesday haha. The rest of the week we were able to go and work, and we saw so many miracles!

The first miracle we saw was in our lesson with M this week. He told us that the only reason why he still smokes is so he can have a break at work. One thing to know about M: I've never met someone more passionate about his job at a gas station. He loves his job...and he puts himself through so much so he can be the best employee that F's gas station in Gilbert Arizona has ever seen! So we were really worried about trying to help him quit smoking this week, because he is literally surrounded by cigarettes ALL THE TIME. I mean, c'mon...a gas station is not the most ideal place for someone who is trying to quit smoking to work. But we have faith that with the Lord's help he can quit! Our lesson with him went about as well as I think it could have gone. This week both Sister Rudd and I have been really worried because we want him to quit smoking so bad...but at this point the desire has to come from inside M. He was stubborn about quitting, and the best commitment he could give us was "I'll try." But when we were evaluating the lesson afterwards we felt like the Spirit was present and we testified with power; there's no doubt in our minds that M knows that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and servants of the Lord. During our lesson M started lamenting to us about how he's going to be forever a slave to cigarettes and he's condemned to a life of addiction, and I felt the Spirit so strongly and I cut him off and started quoting to him a Jeffrey R Holland quote in PMG that basically says that while we (as missionaries) are on the Lord's errand we have the authority to call down miracles if needs be, because this is the work of bringing souls to Christ. And then I promised him--I called down a miracle-- in Jesus Christ's name, that if he was diligent this week and followed the program we gave him with exactness, then he would be a non-smoker by the next time we saw him. Haha as the words were coming out of my mouth I was like...wait...this is a really hefty promise, and I did it in Christ's name haha that's not something you do lightly, but that's how I know it was inspired and it was from the Spirit. I would have never thought to say something like that, but the Holy Ghost knew that it was exactly what M needed. We've been following up with him every day this week and so far he hasn't bought any more cigarettes and he's doing well! His roommate told us he isn't really following the program, but honestly I don't care how he quits...as long as he quits!! Keep him in your prayers! We have another lesson with him on Wednesday this week.

Another awesome miracle this week! We stopped by a Less-Active/Part-Member/Former Investigator family this week! The husband is less-active and the wife is a former investigator. Our teaching record for her says that she is "golden" but ever since I've been in this area I've found that she is FAR from golden. The reason why they don't come to church is because of pressure from their parents...which is a tough spot to be in. I've stopped by their house multiple times and every time I've been met with a lukewarm response, at best, from this family. Finally the ward told us to back off so we haven't really been focusing on them anymore. But! This week we stopped by because they came to the Elder Bednar stake conference a couple of weeks ago and we wanted to follow up and see if they liked it. I think I've said this before, but I seriously want to write Elder Bednar a thank-you note for the lasting effect this conference has had on this area. Anyway, when we got to this house, the wife, E, was home and she was SO HAPPY to see us. She invited us in and we sat down and got to know her a little bit better. She mentioned that she and her husband are going to start coming to church again...and I was like wait, what?? She went on to explain that after the Elder Bednar stake conference they really felt like they have made the decision to not come to church/join the church based off of the opinions of other people, and they feel like they've wasted so much time being concerned about what other people are going to say instead of worrying about what their Father in Heaven says. I seriously almost fell over haha, I don't know what I was expecting to happen but it definitely was not that! Miracle! We're excited to go back and keep meeting with them and continue to help them come closer to Jesus Christ!

Sis. Fuimaono & Me & Indoor Vball

Getting Stuck Vball w/Butterfly Net

For our zone activity on the fourth we got together with the other missionaries and played a bunch of sports! Sister Fuimaono and I spent the whole time peppering and playing volleyball. It was SO FUN. I am so rusty!! It was such a good workout though, honestly the best workout I've gotten on my mission, aside from biking all day every day lol. We brought the volleyball home with us and every night when we get home we play in our house haha. It's intense because we have a ceiling fan in the middle of our living room so we have to be really careful to not hit it. And then a couple mornings this week we've gotten up early and gone to the church to pepper! I'm dusting those cobwebs off, slowly but surely!

Fresh Whip ft. Companion

Another miracle we've seen this week is a massive increase in member trust. We only get 500 miles on our car for the entire month of July. Our area is fairly small, but those miles go so fast...especially when you have to be in the car 100% of the time. So this week we passed around a list in each of our wards for members who have time to come on visits with us or drive us around. We try and spend at least a couple hours every day with a member out with us. The first day we did this, we got in nowhere. We spent the full three hours knocking doors and no one was home. By the end of it, the member was like "Oh you've worked so hard, you can go home now!!" and we were like...nope this isn't how it works! And we kept going and afterwards she told us how impressed she was that we were still out working, even with Sister Rudd's bum foot. The second day we did this, our member was driving us from our house to our area and she was like "you usually bike this?!?" and we were like yeah! and she just goes "OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!!" hahaha it was really funny, but then she told us when she dropped us off that her respect for us had increased so much after seeing how much we bike every single day. The Lord knows exactly what we need!

And for those that are eagerly awaiting the update on Sister Rudd's foot...on Friday we were finally sent in to Urgent Care to get an X-ray. When the doctor came in to look at the foot he pushed around and when he pushed Sister Rudd's second metatarsal I thought she was going to die. What I've learned about her these past few weeks is that she is one tough cookie. Not much fazes her, and she has a super high tolerance for pain. Seriously, her foot was ridiculously swollen and she was all "it's fine, let's go work." I think I was more worried than she was. So when I saw her in pain with that second metatarsal I knew that it really hurt. When she came back from the X-Ray she was like "man that really hurt when he pushed on that." The mission nurse at this point was like "Ooh. That's not good." So we were all SHOCKED when the doctor came back and told us that the X-Ray showed no fractures or soft tissue damage or anything. He put her in a boot though and told her to use crutches for the next few weeks...and we're supposed to call the mission nurse today to give her an update. Depending on what Sister Rudd says we might be referred to a foot specialist...there's still a chance that there's torn ligaments and tendons, but we're just hoping that it's a bad sprain.

Anyway, things are great! In Sister Rudd's Priesthood blessing she got after she hurt her foot our companionship was promised that as we continued to work to the best of our ability through this trial we would be blessed with miracles and fast-paced growth. We've definitely seen that this week. Despite not being able to work on Monday or Tuesday we were still blessed with massive amounts of success and many miracles, I'm so excited to see what this next week has in store. Thank you for all you do! I love you!

Sister Jacobson

Foot Tan Lines

Watch Tan Lines

Sis. Fuimaono & Me After Indoor Vball