Sister Jacobson's Glimpses of Gilbert: Week 36: Selective Obedience, Selective Blessings

October 2, 2017

Hey!!

Mesa skies showing off

Holy smokes this week went by at the speed of light. I can't believe its October. What the heck. What I've learned is when you have things planned for every single day the week just seems to slip right by. This week was amazing!

We had two lessons with L this week. We woke up on Wednesday morning to a text from L asking if we could meet that night. We could tell by the nature of the text that she was really distressed and upset, so that made Sister Utsch and I really worried. I have never prepped for a lesson that much in my entire LIFE. Our comp study before was so intense, and in every prayer we said throughout the day we were just pleading with the Lord for help in our lesson. We brought our YSA bishop with us and the lesson ended up being awesome! Her parents had given her more anti material and she was just feeling really overwhelmed. It was basically an hour and a half of resolving concerns and bearing testimony...the Spirit was so strong. We left the lesson and both Sister Utsch and I were blown away for the millionth time how solid L's testimony is.

The next lesson we had with L was Saturday night. That lesson was super spiritual as well. We talked all about God's love for each of His children and how He is aware of each of us, and we showed her a clip from President Uchtdorf's Saturday morning conference talk. (Audio link to his talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/media/session_1_talk_4/5594191246001?lang=eng.) She told us about a really spiritual experience that she had on the night that her parents gave her the anti material and we were all crying...it's so cool to see how well she recognizes the Spirit and recognizes that God loves her! It's amazing how much love you develop for people when you're serving them and helping them grow their testimony.

We had another really cool moment last Monday night where we were making some visits when our phone rang. We answered it and it was a less-active member in one of our wards. She asked us to come over and share a message right then and there. That never happens! We went over and she just broke down in tears, told us that her husband had just been arrested and that she had a restraining order on him. She told us that she had nowhere else to turn and that she was running out of money and that she was outside crying so her kids wouldn't see...when the thought "call the missionaries" came into her head. As we were talking to her she told us that she's not sure if God is there anymore, and we were able to bear testimony to her that the fact that she had the thought to call us is proof that God is there. God can't be here in the flesh, but He has many servants that He sends in His place. It was so touching to be able to be His hands in that moment, to let one of His children know that she is loved and that He is aware of her and her family! We've started working more with that family and we're hopeful that they'll start making changes in their lives and come back to church.

Temple baptisms with B & K

Temple with B & K

On Tuesday we had the amazing opportunity to go to the Mesa Temple to do baptisms with B and K!! It's funny, I've been to the temple twice on my mission to do baptisms with recent converts and both times it was at the temple not even in my mission haha! But it was so special. When we first started teaching the P/B family, we asked each of the kids why they wanted to be baptized and B and K said "because I want to go and do baptisms in the temple." They were SO excited to be there. They could hardly wait. They were baptized Saturday, temple was closed on Sunday and Monday, and they went as soon as they got out of school on Tuesday--the first available time they could have gone! K told us tearfully that she never thought she'd be able to do baptisms in the temple because she never thought her dad would give her permission to be baptized. The Spirit was so strong, and there's not a doubt in my mind that the Lord was smiling down on them that day! Afterwards, K and B wanted to go to the temple cafeteria to see what it was all about so we got to go there as well! Haha I think they were almost more excited about the temple cafeteria than the actual temple. To be fair, the cinnamon roll Sister Utsch and I shared was pretty bomb. They told us that they're praying that the cafeteria won't be done away with when the Mesa Temple is remodeled hahahaha. I didn't have the heart to tell them that the Boise temple cafeteria was done away with after its remodel.

Exchanges with Sis. Klinke

This week we went on one half-day exchange with a companionship we had done a half-day exchange with a couple of weeks ago! Except Sister Utsch and I switched it up and went with the sister we hadn't been with a few weeks earlier. I stayed in my area and was with Sister Klinke. She's been on her mission for a little over two months now! She is the cutest person ever and she is already such a good missionary. It warms my heart to see the rising generation of new missionaries coming out. We had a great day filled with multiple awkward street contacts/door approaches...and multiple things going wrong. But it was still a good exchange nonetheless!

Sis. W's "Birthday party"

Also this week we had a birthday party for Sister Wheeler! Haha it was a sister's conference, but we're not supposed to have meetings with only the sisters or call things sister's conferences, so we called it Sister Wheeler's birthday party. For the record, it was President Wheeler's idea to use that loophole haha. So all the sisters in the mission met together and received some training. We talked about increasing our own personal discipleship of Jesus Christ, and we had four break-out sessions where each of the STL companionships trained a smaller group of missionaries. Mine and Sister Utsch's station was all about extending commitments and teaching people instead of teaching lessons. It went well! We talked a lot about being obedient to the Spirit and following the Spirit's direction, because the Spirit is the true teacher and the Spirit knows the hearts of our investigators far better than we ever will. So naturally we spent a lot of time talking about how we qualify for the blessing of the Spirit. Being a missionary gives us authority, but being obedient and keeping our covenants gives us power. It's not enough to teach with authority, the power has to be there as well. Sister Utsch and I threw down a little bit not gonna lie haha. In brief, the basic point was...why is the Lord going to give you 100% blessings for your 60% effort to obey His commandments and guidelines? Selective obedience brings selective blessings. We don't set the terms of our promises with God, He does, and when we enter into those promises we agree to live by the terms that He has set, and if we don't then He cannot and will not bless us! We were pretty bold and we were a little worried that the other sisters would be scared of us or offended but everything that we've heard since the conference has been nothing but positive stuff so overall I think the conference was a success!

The "Birthday party"

On another note, at the sisters conference was the first time I have ever felt like an "old" missionary. I was sitting there with another sister who came out the transfer before me, and we were looking at some of the brand new missionaries talking to one another and she and I looked at each other and went "WE'RE GETTING OLD!!" It was the weirdest feeling of my life...I still feel like I should be a brand new missionary haha!

We also had interviews this week! It's interesting to me how much my relationship with President and Sister Wheeler has changed the longer I've been on my mission. I remember being so scared meeting them for the first time that first day in the airport, but now I literally feel like they're my parents haha. I didn't have any pressing questions or concerns for President Wheeler this time around, but it struck me how nice it was to just get to sit down and talk to him! It also struck me how much trust President and Sister Wheeler have in us. I always look forward to interview day!

And finally....the super bowl. Oops, I mean General Conference. ;) Man. I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!! Here again, I didn't have any pressing questions or concerns on my mind but I went to conference seeking some advice on how I could be a better missionary, or how I could increase a Christ-like attribute...things like that, and I was absolutely blown away by how perfectly the talks helped me with the things I needed! Those men and women are called of God. I think if I had to pick an overall theme for this conference I would definitely say it was "Follow the Prophet." Sister Utsch and I noticed that a lot of the talks were very bold and very firm, and we've had a lot of conversations about how the sifting the wheat from the tares is taking place. In the coming months I know it's going to be crucial to follow the words of the prophet.

Mesa skies at it again

My favorite talks were President Uchtdorf, and Elders Oscarson, Oaks, Stevenson, Owen, Cook, Rasband, Haleck, Hallstrom, Bednar, Zwick, Eyring, Callister, and Andersen. That's a lot of favorites I know haha. And I haven't even heard the ones from Priesthood yet! ;) To name a few highlights... I especially enjoyed Elder Bednar’s, Elder Koch's, and Elder Andersen’s....because those are three general authorities I've heard speak in the flesh in the past few months. I really enjoyed hearing them speak at General Conference because it brought to my remembrance the things I learned from them in each of their respective visits! I also really enjoyed Elder Stevenson's talk about the "spiritual solar eclipse." Over and over on my mission I've seen people lose their testimony over the smallest little things...so that one really resonated with me. Sister Utsch and I were literally in awe over Elder Tad R. Callister's talk. Not your average General Conference talk but he threw down and it was amazing. I want everyone to read it. (Audio link to his talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/media/session_5_talk_4/5595013698001?lang=eng.) We have decided that the next time someone tries to roast us for the Book of Mormon we're just going to hand them a copy of that talk and walk away. He said everything that we think every time someone tries to hate on the Book of Mormon but he was about 1000x more eloquent than we will ever be lol.

I was also really touched during the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. Having known that Elder Hales had just passed away I think it really made the mantle that those men carry so much more real. I about lost it during Elder Andersen's talk when he started reading part of the message that Elder Hales had prepared. It was very appropriate and something tells me that Elder Hales knew that he would not be able to deliver the message himself. "Our faith prepares us to be in the presence of God." What an incredible doctrinal statement. I am beyond grateful for the life and legacy of Elder Hales.

Anyways...that's about what I got! It was a great week! I love you all!!

Sister Jacobson