Week 35: The P’s Baptism

September 25, 2017

Hello Hello! 

The P family!

It's been yet another great week here in East Mesa! This area is just booming with teaching opportunities and it is amazing to see the Lord prepare His children to receive the restored gospel! Sister Utsch and I are definitely staying busy and the time is flying by...I can't believe it's already Monday again!

Exchange with Sis. Foster

This week I had the opportunity to go on two exchanges with two amazing sisters! This transfer Sister Utsch and I have five sisters in our stewardship, plus the mission got smartphones, PLUS our area is booming so we're crazy busy all the time! We're trying really hard to make sure we do a full-day exchange with all of the sisters in our stewardship but so far it's been really difficult. The first exchange I went on was in my area with a cute sister named Sister Foster! She was trained by my MTC companion and she's a great missionary. She's been on her mission for about six months and we had a good exchange. Not many people opened their doors and we didn't have many teaching opportunities but it was cool because she's training this transfer and as the exchange went on I could tell that she was really overwhelmed and felt under-qualified, so I was able to build her up and give her some advice on things I wish I had done differently when I trained. It was definitely inspired that their companionship was the first one we went on exchanges with this transfer. It was cool to see that the exchange was successful despite not many opportunities to teach!

House selfie in brand new car!

The second exchange was with the sisters we live with--last transfer we lived alone but this transfer another companionship of sisters whitewashed into our zone! I went with Sister Patrick into her area and we had a solid afternoon of getting lost and knocking on lots of doors without much success, but this exchange was another one that was successful, not because of the amount of proselyting we did, but because of the conversations we shared. Sister Patrick goes home at the end of this transfer and she's having a tough time knowing that her mission is coming to an end. She's also had a fairly rough mission so towards the end of the exchange she was kind of reflecting on her mission and I helped her make a plan to make her last transfer the best it could possibly be. When I was called as an STL I was really nervous because I knew that being an STL required far more charity than I possess....and charity is by far my worst Christ-like attribute haha, but every single exchange I am surprised by how much love I feel for each of these sisters! I know myself, and what I can and cannot do, and I know that the Lord blesses me with love and charity when I need it! It's absolutely incredible to be able to see how the Lord can take my imperfections and mold me and make me into exactly what He needs me to be!

This week we were biking around and we felt inspired to go stop by a recent convert family of about two years, the C’s. We got there and they let us in and we just asked if we could say a prayer with them and Brother C just broke down in tears. He expressed to us how frustrated he is with himself because he keeps making the same mistakes. He said "I wish more than anything I could be a tenth-generation Mormon...because I had 52 years of sinning before I found this truth." It was heartbreaking. We talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its enabling power, and we shared a conference talk with him about how we're doing better than we think and he was so grateful. He had gotten to the point where he just felt so alone, like he couldn't do it anymore! It really made me think that we all need to be doing a better job of bearing one another's burdens, and helping each other along the way. Life is hard, and there are so many people struggling around us that we don't even know about!! Brother C was so excited to receive just a simple visit from the missionaries...and no one even knew how sad he was. We need to reach out in love to those around us...we never know who might benefit from it!

Z. L.'s shirt reppin at zone sports

One of our wards had an awesome ice cream social this week! This ward has kind of been dead missionary-work-wise the past few months, but last month we had a ward fast for missionary work. We've started doing member lessons and we've started working closer with the ward council to plan better activities to invite people to...and we're finally starting to see some amazing things happen! So many ward members brought their neighbors and it was awesome!! We met so many new people and it was great because they were able to see the missionaries as real people, not just as two weirdoes in black tags that show up on their doorsteps every few months. Missionary work when done with members is night and day different from when it’s done without! My goal when I go home is to be a great member missionary, because I see now how important members are in this work!

We had another lesson with L this week! That, my friends, was a wild ride. She rolls up and first, gives us fruit snacks. We were so excited! Then she says, "Sisters, I have another present for you." and we were like better than fruit snacks?! And she was like...no...and pulls out a thick green binder. She hands it to us and says "My parents gave this to me this morning...it's been a rough day." We open the binder...and inside were 84 pages of anti-material. So fun. Sister Utsch and I were like....oh....okay... haha. In one of our wards there is a member who is an expert on anti-material. The Church used to hire him to go bible bash with people professionally haha he's awesome. But anyway, we texted him a picture of the cover and asked him what it was/what we were dealing with and he responded back "that is one of Satan's finest works." So that was just super great...not. I think we handled it pretty well though. We talked with her a little bit about how to deal with anti-material and gave her the advice to remember how she feels when she reads the Book of Mormon. We read Elder Bednar's talk "Ye Knew Me Not" with L and I honestly don't think that there could have been a better talk to have read with her! We bore powerful testimony at the end and I told her that I knew whatever was in the binder couldn't hold a candle to the Book of Mormon, because the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is true. We'll have another lesson with her this week and we'll see how it goes! Keep her in your prayers...anti-material is the worst.

So that's what Sister Utsch and I have kind of been dealing with this week...it feels like we've had a lot of encounters with antis/anti-material recently. The missionaries in the Arizona Gilbert Mission take a lot of heat for serving in a "cushy" mission but I challenge you to find another mission outside of Utah that gets anti-d more than the Arizona Gilbert Mission. You cannot serve in this mission without a rock solid testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of the prophet Joseph Smith. We've both been studying Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel like crazy this week...just trying to strengthen and widen our own foundations! This week I studied a lot of conference talks about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, as well as Joseph Smith History. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. That testimony is unshakable. As I was studying Joseph Smith History this week I read a verse where Joseph is reflecting on the first vision. He says, "Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it..." and as I read it, the words came to my mind "And I know it too." Most anti-material slanders the prophet Joseph Smith's character but that does not diminish the fact that he was called of God to be the prophet of the restoration. God's ways are higher than our ways, and if that means that a fourteen year old farm boy is called in all of his imperfections to be a prophet then so be it. The Lord qualifies who he calls! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Anyway...enough on that, we had an amazing weekend! The P children’s baptism was absolutely amazing!! It was just as good as the H’s! I'm more at a loss for words from this one than the H’s I think.

P's baptism photo

It was a big day for the P’s! N and B (who’ve been members for about six years) were sealed for time and all eternity as husband and wife like three hours before the baptism of their children haha. The Spirit was so strong at their baptism. B, S, K, and C have been waiting for YEARS because of legal conflicts to be baptized. I think that the Spirit was strong because they wanted it so badly. They are the perfect example of people who truly understand what baptism is and how important it is to our salvation. It was so cool to see their faces as they entered the waters of baptism, and then see their faces as they came up out of the water. Afterwards they each told us that they felt different. It was so precious. Sister Utsch and I were in tears as we taught the restoration at the baptism. We're both pretty stoic missionaries; I think I've cried like four times on my mission so it was really weird for both of us but we couldn't help it...the Spirit was just working on us! And given everything that happened this week with antis and whatnot we were feeling pretty dang passionate about the restoration haha. There were so many non-members there and both N and B's ex's/the kid's co-parents were there and it was really touching to see how happy they were for their kids, and to be able to watch the Spirit touch them as well. Seeing how happy the gospel makes others just makes me happy, too! It's so rewarding to see the change that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings about in others; that's why we're missionaries! We live to see other's changed by this gospel...and it makes all the hard times worth it.

Pre-baptism selfie w/1/2 the P's

This week Sister Utsch and I have been overwhelmed with gratitude and humility; we've had nine baptisms in 35 days. That's ridiculous. Our stake president said to us this week "I served in Brazil...and that's more that I had on my entire mission...and you're doing this in just a square mile area....that's incredible." But it's all the Lord’s doing. None of this would happen without Him and His plan for each of us. The fact that the P kids were able to receive permission to be baptized in it of itself is a MIRACLE. That is evidence of the fact that the Lord softens hearts and prepares His children. Sister Utsch and I do not have the capacity it takes to be a full-time missionary and servant of the Lord by ourselves; He qualifies us every single day and makes us far more than we are on our own. It is through Him that we are able to do the things that we do every day. I am beyond grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him. I love His gospel. I love this work and I love being a missionary.

Have an amazing week! I love you!

Sister Jacobson 

Swag selfie, dope filter, & new car

Week 34: Administering < Ministering

September 18, 2017

Hello! 

Comp goals

It's been another solid week here in Arizona! I apologize if this email is ridden with spelling errors, the computers are all being used by other missionaries setting up their smartphones so Sister Utsch and I took one for the team and decided to email via phone this week. The rest of the mission gets smartphones tomorrow! 

A lot of our time this week was eaten up by things other than proselyting. It's been frustrating. It's ironic because I remember being a greenie and seeing my companion go to leadership meetings and being jealous because she got to be inside a cool church building instead of a hot bike outside...and now I would so much rather be on my hot bike outside! A couple of weeks ago President Wheeler gave MLC training on administering vs. ministering...and he gave us ten points to success for each. He explained that administering is taking care of the temporal welfare and needs of those in your stewardship, while ministering is attending to the spiritual needs. He also told us that the ministering aspect cannot be taken care of until the administering aspect, so I've been trying to remember that this week but it doesn't mean that I like it Haha! 

We had an awesome lesson with the H's this week! We showed them Family Search and helped them find some of their ancestors. G got so excited! It's been amazing to see G's transition since I first came in to the area to now. When I first got here he was pretty timid and unsure of himself and this gospel, but he is just blossoming and growing and so eager to learn. You can tell that he's all-in and ready to go. 

After a ward hula party

We had a funny/alarming moment this week. Haha we rolled up to our lesson with L on Wednesday and she goes "Sister Jacobson. I stalked your Facebook and I TOTALLY found your mission blog. I was reading it like 'Wow who is this 'L' that I keep reading about? It sounds very familiar...'" Hahahaha we were laughing so hard. Facebook probs. Good thing I had all good things to say ;) so shout out to L because I know that she's probably reading this right now! L told her parents about her baptism this week. Unfortunately, it did not go over too well...so we have made the decision to push back her baptism to a later date, in order to give her parents’ time to process her decision and to give their hearts time to soften. She's so awesome though, seriously her gospel knowledge astounds me and her testimony is rock-solid. It’s a bummer she won’t be baptized this month, but I'm not worried about her at all...it’ll only be a matter of time before she’s able to be baptized. :) 

Actual conversation between me and Sister Utsch this week at 6 AM on the way to zone sports: 

Me: Oooh it's a little brisk out here!! Maybe I should grab a sweatshirt...

Sister Utsch: Sister Jacobson...its 75° right now. 

Look at what Arizona has done to me. In other news...it’s started to cool down a bit here! It was in the high 90s this week and it felt amazing. We've almost made it!! 

We made it "weird"

We had a cool moment this week to increase our faith in being a Facebook mission. We stopped by a really promising potential who has been really busy and he told us that he felt bad every time we come over because they're just so busy and it's never a good time. Long story short, he was basically like...look we don't want to be wasting your time with all these stop by visits, so just don't come by. But when we told him that we were on Facebook and could friend him and teach him that way he was SO excited! He lit up and was like, “Yes!! Please!! That way we don't have to worry about coordinating our schedules, we can just meet via technology.” It was so cool! Another cool moment where an investigator liked a post I shared! I was like I’m doing it!! I'm being an online missionary! So we’re coming around to the idea of being on Facebook slowly but surely. 

This week the P’s had their baptismal interviews. Since we whitewashed this ward from our DL he couldn't interview them so our ZLs did the interview. They passed with flying colors! They've been waiting for years to be baptized so this week is going to be amazing for them. One of our ZLs was in this ward like 6 months ago so he knew the family pretty well...and last night he expressed to us how exciting this was for him to see, because six months ago they were nowhere near being able to be baptized. It really made Sister Utsch and me realize how blessed we are to be the ones to see this last stage actually happen...I wish at baptisms we were able to see every single missionary that touched the individual and helped them progress to that point, because the baptism photo would be a whole lot more than the two current missionaries! 

Sis. Utsch, Sis. Allison & me

This week we were #blessed to be visited by Sister Utsch’s last companion and my MTC companion’s trainer! Sister Allison was an incredible missionary and she's an amazing person. We got to go to lunch with her and bring her to a lesson with us and it was just so great seeing her. The lesson we had with her was with the K family. We love them so much! We talked about the stripling warriors and their unwavering faith and trust in the Lord. The Spirit was so strong and I just know that the Lord is with us, and helps us in every way that we need it. He is literally our Father and He is not going to abandon us or leave us, His love is so real and I feel it so powerfully every single day. 

Anyway....my thumbs are tired. Sorry this is a trash bag email. Not a super exciting week but this next one is lined up to be exciting! We have 4 baptisms on Saturday!! Wooooohoooo! Also I am 8 months old in the mission today and I am confused. It feels like I left yesterday...where is my mission going?! 

I love you all! 

Sister Jacobson 

Hanging with our fly-catcher

Zone t-shirts

Happy at work

Transfer 5 complete

AZ skies at it again

AZ skies take 2

Snake!

Creepy pic we found

Week 33: O Babylon, O Babylon

September 11, 2017

Hello!!!! 

Selfie with my new phone

Comin atcha hot from a smartphone in Mesa AZ!!! (Actually the majority of this was written on a computer...typing an email on a smartphone is not what it’s cracked up to be) What a WEEK! Let me tell ya about how wild it's been here...but first...let’s talk about some of the amazing miracles the Lord has blessed Sister Utsch and me with this week!

This week we had another lesson with L! She's doing so awesome. Seriously I have no idea what we did to deserve such a prepared investigator. She is so gung ho and ready to go; she just eats up everything that we teach her. This week we talked about the Word of Wisdom and as we were teaching she told us that about a year ago she used to LOVE tea and drank tea multiple times a day. Then she said one day she woke up and decided that she needed to stop drinking tea. She told us that it was really hard at first, but she felt so strongly about not drinking tea that she was able to stop. She also told us that she's been tea-free for a year now and described to us how much better health-wise since not drinking tea! I know that the feeling she had that one day where she needed to stop drinking tea was inspired from Heavenly Father and was part of Him preparing her to be ready to be baptized this month! On Sunday she announced her baptism to the YSA ward...so exciting!!

Playing with T's dog

Last night we had dinner with T. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a little bit about the Lord's plan for her and her family. One of my favorite things about the gospel is the simplicity it brings into our lives. T talked a lot about wanting consistency and wanting something basic to grasp onto and we were able to teach her the most basic doctrines of the gospel and testify about how it all boils down to faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was strong and she told us that she feels really strongly that she needs to start making an effort to say family prayers out loud with her son every night. Sister Utsch and I were floored...it's so cool to be able to see people change as we work with them and help them develop that relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! She is doing awesome!! Also, T invited us to a painting party in her “beer” garage with a bunch of her friends so we're super excited to go to that--stay tuned for pictures hopefully haha.

We also had dinner with the K’s this week. They requested a lesson on baptism so we taught all about baptism and why it's important and why it needs to be done by someone holding the proper Priesthood authority. We took advantage of our new technology and showed a video of Christ's baptism and invited them to read the account for themselves in the scriptures. They're doing so well! Their faith is growing little by little and it's amazing to be a part of their journey. At one point their five year old son came out and said 'Sisters, this is my favorite book!' and held up Spencer W. Kimball's, The Miracle of Forgiveness, hahaha tooo funny. Also, the dinner they made us was phenomenal--we're treated too well here!! And while we were eating a HUGE storm rolled in so we took shelter in their home and watched the lightning until it eased up enough for them to drive us home. Good ol AZ!

We had a super cool miracle this week. On Friday we decided to stop by a potential named R. We met him while tracting about two or three weeks ago and honestly we were not placing much faith in him...when we met him he made it pretty clear that he's not religious at all and doesn't have a relationship with God, but he took a Book of Mormon and said he'd read it. We thought he was just being nice but we decided to go and stop by his house anyway and follow up....and he'd totally been reading!! He was like, "It's weird...every time I pick it up to read I just feel better...like a weight is lifted off of my shoulders and it's easier to do the things I need to do every day!" Haha and we were kinda like...weird....WEIRD that what we told you would happen would ACTUALLY happen. It's almost like....we've experienced that ourselves and want other people to experience it?? I swear, if people would just listen to the things that we say then their lives would change completely!! But yeah, it was awesome! We're going back later this week to teach him. :)

This past Thursday we had MLC, where we activated our phones! It's been amazing having LDS Tools--let me tell ya. But everything else has been a nightmare. It's been so much of a nightmare that all that you can really do is laugh about it. We left MLC so overwhelmed with all of this new stuff we have to learn how to do and it's already a huge adjustment for sure. The new app is cool, and I think it'll be good once we're used to it...but so far it's not very user friendly...only the STLs and the ZLs have activated phones right now and I think we've called the ZLs over 10 times in the past four days to ask them questions about the app and about the phones, and I think they've called us about the same amount of times. It feels like we're in a little technology club with the ZLs and the four of us are all simultaneously overwhelmed and suffering together haha it's great.

At weekly planning the four of us started transferring everything from our area books into our app and at the end of three hours, I had put in 3 full teaching records, Sister Utsch had also put in 3 full teaching records, Elder May had put in 2, and Elder Gleave had put in 3, but then his app crashed and wouldn't start up so he had to delete the entire app and start over. I think I would rather poke my eye out with a hot stick than transfer all these teaching records. So yeah, it's been awesome.

Getting my massage on

However, as nightmarish as this transition to technology has been so far...this IS the future of missionary work. At MLC the head of technology told us that by the end of next year every single mission that has iPads or tablets will be transitioned to a smartphone mission. This is how the Lord is hastening His work. We also talked a lot about using technology effectively and efficiently, and the comment was made that this technology is going to make it easier for those seeking the truth to be found. Instead of casting nets to fish for investigators, we're part of the transition that will start casting fishing poles to fish for a single investigator. It's all part of the Lord's plan to find the elite. One of our biggest concerns has been distractions, and one thing President Wheeler talked about was that if you're distracted by anything while a missionary then it's no one's fault but your own. He threw down...he was basically like...if you're distracted, wake up and get focused on your purpose...get to a place where focusing on your purpose is second nature to you. It was a great training!

In other news, the Arizona Gilbert Mission is actually the definition of the blind leading the blind right now. At the end of the MLC one of the Elders raised his hand and was like "So when do you want us to start using Facebook??" and President Wheeler was like "Better log on tonight and get going!!" but they gave us like no direction and no rules?? So basically we have no idea what is and isn't allowed haha we're just kinda going for it and using our judgment and following the Spirit. A member ordered Sister Utsch and me pizza Thursday night so we sat on the floor of our room with a pizza box in between us and logged onto Facebook....and then we cried together. It was horrible. I can't imagine what it would be like coming home after 18 months or 2 years and logging onto Facebook for the first time...it was absolute trash logging on after just seven months--it went against everything I've learned on my mission. It was literally like opening a door into Babylon...being able to see everyone's posts and the newsfeed and seeing what's going on in the world....horrible. We went through our pages and literally gutted them...like if you knew what my Facebook looked like before and what it looks like now you wouldn't recognize it. We put like all of our albums/posts on private and we untagged ourselves on basically everything and hid a ton of posts from our timelines...it was intense. And it took forever holy smokes. But the best thing about being on Facebook so far is that all of MLC is friends now! And we're able to be friends with all of the missionaries that just got home from our mission...it's so great. It just makes you feel good to go on to Facebook and the post at the top of your newsfeed is from another missionary and they're talking about Jesus just like you! And we can be friends with our investigators and members and stuff like that...that's been awesome so far.

On my mish but still reppin the Y!

In terms of what's allowed and what's not...still not exactly sure. I think what will happen is that President will come out with a guideline of what's okay and what's not once we experiment a little and gain more experience but as of right now it's up to us. So what I'm saying is that if you have a genuine, serious question about the gospel, or about what I'm doing as a missionary/why I'm serving a mission...then by all means message me on Facebook and ask it and I'll answer! But if you're just sliding into my DMs to talk to me about how I'm doing or about BYU sports or whatever...then don't be surprised when I don't reply until Monday via email. :)

Transfer calls came in last night!! I am staying in Desert Ridge with Sister Utsch! We are so excited for this next transfer. This past transfer with Sister Utsch has been the best transfer of my mission, and this next one is lined up to be even better! Transfer calls came in and we were dancing around the room--we were SO happy. Haha we were laughing because I said "Sister Utsch...this means you'll be my longest companion!!" and she was like "yeah...unless you get ET'd again" and I was like "Don't even joke about that....it's still too soon." Haha but in all seriousness...good things are ahead in Desert Ridge! I love this gospel!

Anyways...I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Jacobson