August 14, 2017
Hola!!
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| Most AZ thing I've ever seen |
What a WEEK! I can't believe it's
already Monday again...where does the time go?! So much happened this week I
don't even know where to begin!
Yesterday the Tucson temple was
dedicated, so for the first time on my mission I went to less than eight hours
of church haha you know you're in the Gilbert Arizona mission when... ;)
President Uchtdorf dedicated the temple and it was special because he randomly
has a lot of connections to Arizona...this is the fourth temple dedication I've
been able to attend and I think each time it just gets more and more
special.
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| #Goals |
This week we were out working in one
of our wards, and we had about an hour before dinner so we decided to go
tracting in a different ward. As we were biking there, we saw a man quite a bit
further down the street sitting on his driveway pulling weeds out of his rocks
(not many people in Arizona have grass...most people have rocks in their front
yard). We needed to turn left to get to the other ward, and the turn was before
this man so we decided to just keep going to the other ward as planned...but we
got a few feet down the street and both Sister Utsch and I looked at each other
and were like...we need to go talk to him. So we turned our bikes around and
went and talked to this guy. His name was J. We asked if we could help him pull
weeds and he said no thank you, but he was very friendly, and through the course
of our conversation he mentioned that his wife is a member of our church. When
he said that, I felt the Spirit so strongly and I don't know how to describe
it...but I knew that I knew his wife. As he kept talking, he said that his wife
lives in Gilbert right now so she can take care of her mom. Then he said his
last name...and I realized that his wife is a Less-Active-ish member from my
last area...and when I visited his wife a few transfers ago I had made the
connection with her that I went to high school with her niece. So I told this
to J and he was beside himself...he kept saying "small small world!!"
haha. At this point, Sister Utsch and I hopped off our bikes and sat down on
the driveway with J and started helping him pull weeds...in our dresses and
all. We kept talking with him and had a very natural conversation...we talked
about everything from the weather to the Atonement of Jesus Christ...and all of
it just flowed! J had lots of questions for us about our missions, he wanted to
know how we drew the "short stick" of being sent to Arizona in the
middle of the summer haha...so we told him about prophets and about how every
mission call is inspired. We testified that we both know that we were in
Arizona for a specific reason, and for specific people. Then we were able to
teach a little bit of the Restoration to him...he'd heard bits and pieces of it
here and there but told us that it'd been a long time since he'd talked to
anyone about God. Eventually we had to leave and head to dinner, but J was so
grateful for our company and for our help with pulling weeds...even though he
initially refused our help! Personally, I'm grateful that we were where the
Lord needed us to be in that very moment. C'mon...things like this don't
"just happen." Like, what are the odds that this random guy I talked
to on the street in Mesa Arizona is married to a woman that I used to visit in
my last area in Gilbert AND that I went to high school with their niece?? The
Lord's hand is in EVERYTHING...He has a master plan and He is orchestrating
EVERYTHING. It's so amazing to be able to see that first-hand as a
missionary.
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| Dirty hands but a clean heart! |
We had another moment this week
where we were definitely where we needed to be at the exact moment the Lord
needed us to be there. We rolled up to an investigator's, T’s, home and she was
in her garage. Haha this garage is decked out in basically every kind of beer
paraphernalia you can possible dream up--complete with a full bar. She was so
excited to see us and invited us to come in and sit down...so we sat down at
the bar...and she brought us some cold water haha and we were just talking to
her. A few minutes later a car pulled up and these two girls got out and
started hauling all of this alcohol into the garage. They sat down and both
cracked open some beer and then T goes "Oh Sisters...this is my friend C
and her wife, S!!" Sister Utsch and I were so nervous...the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been very bold and firm about God's stance
on marriage, and as representatives of the Church and of Jesus Christ, a lot of
times the missionaries take some heat. We were so ready to get wrecked haha but
we actually had an amazing interaction and conversation with them. They did ask
us about gay marriage, but it wasn't hostile...they were genuinely interested
and curious. They expressed to us a desire to come to know God and discover
God's plan for them. We were able to testify of God's love for all of His
children and of the reality that He does have a plan for them. We also invited
them to church! I wish I could see what this looked like from the third
person...two Mormon missionaries sitting in this decked-out beer garage with a
lesbian couple talking about God's love. It was one of those surreal missionary
moments for sure.
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| Ridiculously large truck |
Funny moment: This week we received
a text from a non-member in a part-member family that we're teaching and it
said "This week I read a book. Nephi 3. It's when Jesus comes to teach
after he was killed." Sister Utsch and I were so excited!! This guy used
to be anti and now he's just so excited to learn. Then a few minutes later he
texted us again and it said "I'm sure you already know that...sorry."
Hahaha it was SO funny...I love being able to teach so many wonderful people!
We had another lesson with the H
family this week! We taught about the law of tithing and about temples. They're
still good to go for this Saturday, so this week is already crazy busy with
baptism prep! We have another lesson with them today, and then one Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and then their baptism Saturday. We are so excited for them.
Last night we had two dinners. The
only time I've ever done two dinners is when we have two investigators feeding
us...and last night two investigators fed us! We ate with the P family first,
the ones that will be baptized in September. They are so sweet and so special
and we love them so much!
The second dinner was with T (the
one with the garage bar). It was honestly one of the most memorable dinners of
my mission...haha we have dinners every single night so in order for them to be
memorable you know it's gotta be special! We ate with T, her son D, and his
friend, A. D and A together are HILARIOUS. I don't even know how to describe
them...but they're just cute, funny little kids. The majority of dinner was
spent laughing at the random things they'd say...it's true! Kids DO say the
darndest things. ;) But then once dinner was over, the kids left the room and
we started talking with T about the restoration of the gospel. T isn't this
golden investigator or anything...but she has SO much potential and I am 100%
confident saying that she will be baptized one day. She told us that her dad
actually just joined the church about a month ago, and now she's a little
curious...but she also told us that she doesn't foresee herself becoming a
member because she likes alcohol too much (she invited us to look at her garage
again hahaha) Here again, we had another very natural conversation that drifted
back and forth between sacred and spiritual topics and we were able to teach
her the whole Restoration. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and she
was so excited!! She told us that she will read it and pray about it, and she
also told us that she is so excited to talk to her dad about it. It was
awesome! We left feeling very fed...both temporally and spiritually haha.
But yeah...that's about what I got!
Oh other than the fact that Elder Bednar is coming to our mission on Friday to
train six companionships on technology....very chill. Haha but Sister Utsch and
I haven't received a call so it's probably safe to say that we won't be one of
the six companionships...honestly that's inspired haha. Once those
companionships receive technology then the MLC will be next, so we'll be
getting technology soon enough!
Anyway, have a good week! The Church
is true and I love you! :)
Sister Jacobson
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| Spa night |
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| Sis. J found Scamp's doppelganger |
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