August 21, 2017
HELLO HELLO!!
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| Unified companions |
This week was hands down the best
week of my entire mission. Every single journal entry this week started with
"Today was AMAZING!!" and then went on to list a variety of miracles,
both big and small. But seriously, out of all of the weeks on my mission...this
one takes the cake. This week in general our mission saw so many miracles--25
baptized and confirmed this weekend across the mission! Sister Utsch and I are
just on cloud nine from the many miracles we saw, and so humbled and grateful
for the blessings from the Lord we've seen.
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| Exchange with Sis. Cammon |
First things first, this week we
went on exchanges--it was my first exchange as an STL and I was sooo nervous! I
went with Sister Cammon, a sister who has been on her mission for about nine
months, and we were in her area. We had a long day of knocking lots of doors
and talking to lots of people and not finding much success...but we had tons of
fun together! Sister Cammon is an awesome missionary--I love being able to
serve with such wonderful people!
This week one of our members in our
YSA ward texted us and asked us if we had anyone we were working with that
would enjoy a plate of cookies. Sister Utsch and I said yes, and this YSA girl
delivered two plates of fresh cookies to us. Then, Sister Utsch and I put the
plates of cookies between us, knelt down, and prayed about who in our wards
needed to know that we loved them. After we prayed, the two of us both felt
really strongly about the same two families...so we went to deliver the
cookies! When we arrived at the first family's home, the C’s, they were
outside! That in it of itself was a miracle...they very rarely answer the door
when we knock on it. The C’s are a recent convert family of about two years,
and they have always struggled with smoking. They are so diligent about their
efforts to quit, but they just can't seem to shake it...and they know that it's
a commandment from the Lord to keep our bodies clean of harmful substances so
when we, the missionaries, come around they tend to feel a little guilty. We're
working really hard to help them see that we are here to love and encourage
them, not to condemn them! But since they were outside we were able to talk to
them and they invited us in. We talked with them briefly, left the cookies, and
on our way out the door they expressed to us that they want to start meeting
with us again, because their sons haven't been baptized yet! Miracles!
The second family was the K’s.
They're going through some tough medical stuff in their family right now, and
the ward family is really making an attempt to reach out to them and love them.
They weren't home when we dropped by, so we left the cookies on their doorstep
anonymously and left a trail of sticky notes on their driveway to make sure
they found the cookies. The next day we stopped by to make sure they found the
cookies, and M was like "Guys!! Someone left a plate of cookies
anonymously on our doorstep...it was one of the best surprises of my
life." And we just played along like "wow that was so nice of that
person" haha...it was so sweet to know that something so small and simple
could touch their lives so personally. :)
Oh and don't even get me started
talking about Friday afternoon. It was one of those days where we were exactly
where we needed to be, when we needed to be there, and the miracles just
flowed. Every person we talked to on the street was receptive and interested;
we handed out four Books of Mormon, and got five return appointments!!
AND we had a huge miracle where we went to visit a promising potential
investigator we found in our area book from like 2012, figuring that he'd
probably already moved...and he had, BUT, the person that we talked to had just
moved in and he was SUPER interested. He told us that he'd recently started
going to church for the first time in his life but he felt like the church he
was going to wasn't true. He was busy right then but we were able to testify
that our church is Christ's church restored to the Earth today, and we
testified of the Book of Mormon and its power. As we were leaving, he
ran outside and gave us Gatorade! So awesome! His name is R.
And now...the part that everyone has
been waiting for. This weekend was the craziest weekend ever. All weekend long
it seriously felt like we were running around with our heads cut off.
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| The H family |
This weekend was the H family’s
baptism!! It was literally the best weekend of my life. I think the only
weekend that might trump this one is the weekend I received my endowments...but
there are no words to describe how special and spiritual this weekend was. But
I will sure try to do it justice! Ever since I received my mission call I have
prayed every single day for the opportunity to teach and baptize a family. When
I arrived in the mission field, I realized how few and far between whole-family
baptisms come, and I hate to say it, but I lost my faith a bit. I still prayed
and asked Heavenly Father for this opportunity...but I can honestly say that I
didn't expect anything from it. In addition, the only baptism I have had on my
mission was my first weekend in the field...and I don't really count it because
we didn't teach her haha we met her the day before she was baptized. Other than
that, anyone I have taught has not been baptized. These past few months with no
baptisms have really tested my faith as I've watched those I've served with
experience the fruits of their labors...missionary work is hard work, and I
think it's really easy to get discouraged, especially when week after week and
month after month pass with no outward results from the labors. But having the
opportunity to watch the entire H family (besides their youngest daughter, who
is 7) enter the waters of baptism this Saturday made the difficulties of these
past few months so worth it.
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| WML & gecko friend in the font |
Sister Utsch and I believe that we
are blessed to serve in the best area of the Arizona Gilbert mission. This was
only further confirmed by the outpouring of love at the H’s baptism. There were
well over 50 people there (standing room only!!), including Sister
Allison--Sister Utsch's last companion who finished her mission at the
beginning of August and drove the fourteen hour drive from Idaho to be here for
their baptism--and her family, the majority of the missionaries in our zone and
their investigators, many people that the H’s have met along their journey,
every single ward auxiliary, and President and Sister Wheeler--our mission
president and his wife. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and I was 100%
positive that I was going to cry, but I didn't--I was smiling too much!! While
they changed, Sister Utsch and I did a ten minute restoration lesson and
afterwards the Elders in our zone came up to us and told us that their
investigators LOVED the lesson and felt the spirit so strongly--one even said
that they wanted to be baptized too! And then afterwards, President and Sister
Wheeler told us that it was the best baptism they've ever been to. :') At the
baptism, Sister H also came to Sister Utsch and me and said "Sisters...I
need to thank you. I know if it had been any other set of missionaries then our
family would not be getting baptized today. You were just perfect for our
family." But the truth is, we didn't do it...the Spirit did. We were
merely the instruments in the hands of the Lord while He did His work. We were
just blessed to be a part of it all!
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| Who says paperwork isn't fun? |
And then yesterday was their
confirmation--all six of them during sacrament meeting! The stake president is
in their ward and he is one of their fellowshippers, so he confirmed them and
gave them each beautiful, individual blessings. THAT was when the tears flowed.
Sister Utsch and I were like openly weeping in the middle of sacrament meeting,
as we watched our investigators receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This is what
it's all about! This is why we go out and knock doors every single day, this is
why we try and talk to everyone, this is why we are missionaries--to labor to
bring just ONE soul unto Him!! And we had the opportunity to bring SIX souls
unto Him this weekend. And then...one of the sweetest moments of my life was
after church, watching Bishop ordain G a Priest in the Aarronic Priesthood, and
then in turn G ordain his son, J, a Teacher. It was so special. Sister Utsch
and I were beside ourselves...how did we get so lucky?! What did we do to
warrant such immaculate blessings from the Lord in just one weekend?! He is
far, FAR better to us than we deserve!!
As if six baptisms in one day weren’t
enough, we had a lesson with an YSA investigator, L; we've met with on and off
just one hour after the baptism concluded. I swear, Sister Utsch and I were on
some sort of a spiritual high during that lesson...the Holy Ghost was just
flowing so well. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes faith in
Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the
Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. The spirit was SO strong!! At the end,
Sister Utsch said, "L...have you ever received a confirmation that the Book
of Mormon is true??" which was kind of weird because we hadn't really
been talking about the Book of Mormon...but out of nowhere L just
started CRYING. She could hardly get the words out but she said that she had
received a confirmation that it was true. We invited her to baptism...AND SHE
SAID YES. She went on to explain that she had been praying that we would text
her to set up a lesson, and that she's been thinking about baptism a lot
recently...the problem is that her family isn't very supportive. We testified that
the Atonement isn't just for mistakes or sins, it's also for the burdens that
we can't bear, and we promised her that her family's heart would soften. And
then we extended the date of September 23 for baptism and she accepted!!
Y'all...I need you to understand that ONE HOUR after six baptisms we put an
investigator on date....and we already have four investigators on date for September
23...so we will have FIVE baptisms next month. At the end of the day, Sister
Utsch and I knelt down and thanked the Lord profusely for the day. This weekend
had been so humbling and so amazing all in one...and overall I'm just grateful
that I was able to be here and witness the Lord's work firsthand.
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| Baptism gifts we created for the H's |
Sister Utsch and I also got some
more exciting news this week...she's been asked to play the piano at the Elder
Anderson zone conference next week, and I've been asked to sing in a quartet
for a special musical number! We are so excited! :)
Anyway...I have a testimony that
this is the Lord's work. I know it, and I love it. I know this gospel changes
lives and blesses all those that come unto Christ. This gospel is so, so real!
As we follow the basic principles and ordinances of the gospel, I know that the
Lord makes us better than we can ever imagine, and blesses us beyond
belief.
Have a wonderful week, thank you for
all the love and support! I love you all!
Sister Jacobson
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| Unified at zone sports |
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| The 4 northern STL's... |
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| Missing phone training with Elder Bednar |
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| Pretty shortcut we found this week |
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| AZ skies at it again |
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| More AZ skies |
