Week 31: The Week of Baptisms

August 28, 2017

Hello! Happy Monday!!

Comp goals

This week was awesome. It was one of those weeks where we went out, worked, got super hot and sweaty, saw some miracles, came home, went to bed, and then did the same thing the next day! I never thought I could find so much joy in being sweaty in church clothes...I guess the mission does weird things to you!

This week it felt like everyone on the planet earth got baptized. We went to a baptism almost every single day. It seemed like every person that Sister Utsch ever taught on her whole mission got baptized...all this week. We had the opportunity to attend all of their baptisms and it was amazing...our hearts have been so full all week! I love being in a small mission! It's so underrated. By far one of the biggest perks is that we have the option to go back for baptisms of people we taught and see old companions all the time. Plus, we get to see our mission president and his wife on average once a week. It's amazing.

We taught the H’s their first new member lesson this week. The feeling in their home was different than it had ever been before, and I know it's because the Spirit is present in their home 100% of the time now. We left the lesson and both Sister Utsch and I were like...did you feel that?? It was amazing. I've never noticed the difference between homes with the Spirit and homes without the Spirit until my mission...maybe I'm more sensitive to it, or maybe I just go into so many different homes that I notice it more...but there's definitely a difference. It's been a testimony builder to me of how much I want the Spirit to be present in my home in the future!

Exchange with Sis. Cruse

This week we also went on exchanges with two companionships! The first exchange I led out my area with Sister Cruse, a sister who has been out for nine months. I was really nervous to lead out because I still don't know the area super well but we had an awesome day! We only got lost like three times!! We caught a part-member family outside and were able to set up a return appointment...which was a huge miracle because they never answer the door. We focused a lot on tailoring each contact to each individual person, because this gospel is designed for the individual. Sister Cruse is a great missionary....we had a ton of fun together!

Hot day for exchange with Sis. Cordon

The second exchange I went to Sister Cordon's area! She's been out for eleven months and is training a new missionary right now! We had a super awkward dinner haha. We showed up to dinner and everyone there spoke Spanish except for the English member who had signed up to feed us. About five minutes into dinner there was a knock on the door and it was the Spanish missionaries! Sister Cordon and I were so confused about why they were there, and they were confused about why we were there...but we found out that one of their Spanish members had signed up to feed them dinner that night, and the Spanish member lived with the English member. Haha it was really funny, but also really awkward because Sister Cordon and I were the only ones in the room that didn't speak enough Spanish to communicate. But we just laughed about it and had a great rest of our day. I'm so amazed by the amazing missionaries in this mission! One of the biggest blessings of exchanges is having the opportunity to interact with so many other missionaries and being able to learn from each of them!

We also had another dinner with T this week! We sat down at the dinner table and she looked at us and said, "Okay...I've been practicing my praying. It won't be as good as yours but here goes..." and just started praying! It was awesome!! Sister Utsch and I couldn't believe it haha...she's so awesome! After dinner we read from the Book of Mormon with her and helped her understand what was happening and how to apply it to her life. She recognizes the Spirit when we bring it, and she recognized the Spirit when she was reading from the Book of Mormon with us...so hopefully this week she'll be able to recognize the Spirit when reading from the Book of Mormon without us there!

On Saturday we had a lesson with our YSA investigator, L. She is seriously so awesome!! We sat down at our lesson and we asked her if she had any questions and straight out of the gate she was like "How do I tell my parents that I'm getting baptized??" We offered her some advice, and shared with her some stories from the scriptures in an effort to provide her with comfort...and afterwards she told us that she felt so much better and thought that she was ready to tell her parents. Then yesterday she came to church in our YSA ward. It was amazing to see the ward just welcome her with open arms...she even went to the "new move-in meeting" during third hour and got to have an interview with the bishop! After church our bishop told us that she had invited everyone in the "new move-in meeting" to her baptism! :') And he also told us that she had told him about her parents being unsupportive and he gave her the names and numbers of some people in the ward that went through the same thing and she said that she would call them for advice. Members and missionaries working together make my heart so happy! Keep L in your prayers...she's amazing and we are praying so hard that her parent's hearts will be soft and that they'll be understanding and supportive when she tells them.

Haboob, double rainbow, & the Supersitions

Hahaha yesterday we had dinner with one of our ward's ward mission leaders and it was by far one of the most entertaining dinners ever. He has five kids, and they all LOVE the missionaries. His youngest is six years old and he is obsessed with Sister Utsch. Seriously, this kid is going to be a heart-breaker in about ten years. All throughout dinner he kept trying to hold her hand and at one point he looked at Sister Utsch and said "Kiss me!" I was laughing so hard I think I almost fell out of my chair...our ward mission leader's wife was so embarrassed but it was honestly just super cute and super funny.

Tomorrow Elder Anderson will be in our mission!!! We are so excited! And nervous! The musical number sounds awesome...but it's still nerve-racking. I can't wait to hear what advice he has for us! President Wheeler always says, "If you're in a meeting with an Apostle and it doesn't change your life...that's your fault." Very excited!

Anyways, have a good week. I love you!

Sister Jacobson