October 30, 2017
Hola!
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| My "child" & "grandchild" |
It's been a crazy week. It was one
of those weeks where we were crazy busy and constantly moving all week long but
looking back it's like...uhhh...what actually HAPPENED this week?! We had a lot
of weird meetings and service activities and things that prevented us from
going out and hitting the pavement like we wanted to this week, but that's
okay, this is the Lord's work and evidently He had other plans in store for us!
Last Monday in the middle of the day
we received a phone call from our YSA Bishop. The conversation went a little
something like this:
Bishop: “Sisters! I just
received an email that there will be two nonmembers who will be attending our
FHE this evening.”
Us:
“Bishop that's awesome...how did they
find out about FHE?”
Bishop: “Well in her email
she said that she had worked with LDS people for a while, was impressed with
the people, recently moved here, and both her and her daughter are interested
in learning more about the church...so I invited them to FHE and they responded
saying that they would both be attending!”
Us:
“Wow...that's...SUPER...awesome. Have you
called the relief society president to let her know?”
Bishop: “Yes! She is all
ready to go with fellowship and everything!”
Us:
“....alright good work bishop...we will
see you tonight!”
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| YSA WML freehanded this |
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| My starry-starry night |
It was literally a miracle that fell
from the sky. When Elder Anderson came to our mission back in August he
promised us that as we worked with the youth and as we worked with the
young single adults that we would see miracles and a direct increase in
baptisms. Recently our YSA ward has seen the fulfillment of this prophecy,
because investigators are literally appearing out of thin air. Yesterday at
church we had three investigators! That's a ton for an YSA ward! FHE last week
was awesome...it was so cool to see the ward step up to the plate and
fellowship K, and make her and her mom feel so welcome! We were able to meet
her and talk with her a little bit, but we only spoke with her for a few
minutes because the ward was so involved with her and helping her get
integrated. This whole situation is the DEFINITON of member missionary work. I
think often times we, as members, get discouraged with trying to share the
gospel because we don't see the big picture. More often than not we are never
going to see the fruits of our labors. Imagine if K's mom hadn't been impressed
with her LDS coworkers. Would she have emailed our bishop and asked for an
invite to an activity? Probably not. The coworkers probably didn't even realize
that she was watching them, and perhaps they were even discouraged when she
wasn't interested right then and there in the gospel. I highly doubt that they
even considered the possibility that a number of years down the road she would
seek out the gospel for herself. Our examples carry more weight than we
realize. There's always someone watching and waiting to see what choices we
will make. Our choices carry eternal consequences for not only ourselves, but
often for others as well. I think this is the very reason why Elder David A.
Bednar is so big on being an agent to act instead of an object to be acted
upon. (2 Nephi 2:26:…and because that
they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good
from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon…”) I know that as
we strive to make good choices, and to behave as the Savior would if He were
here today, that we will be blessed for our efforts and the Lord will make us
to be instruments in His hands. We are so excited for the opportunity that we
will have to hopefully begin teaching K!
We had a great lesson with L this
week. We showed her the Mormon message "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy
Meet" and we talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every time we
teach L I am reminded by the Spirit how real the gospel is. Her testimony of
the Atonement made me cry during our lesson. We were worried about her when she
went out of town, because oftentimes investigators going out of town is what
causes them to stop meeting with the missionaries, but L told us that her
vacation made her realize how much she wants the gospel in her life and in the
life of her future family. It was so beautiful. :') We also read Ether 12:6 (“…faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen; wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness
until after the trial of your faith.”), and talked about what it means to
have an anchor in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked L what her "anchor
of hope" is, what keeps her coming to church week after week and what
keeps her meeting with us despite the opposition that she faces, and she had
literally like four or five different things. (Also a very beautiful moment.
:')) She also told us that she is planning on talking to her parents again
about baptism...keep her in your prayers! We know that she can do this with the
Lord's help and the enabling power that comes from the Atonement of Jesus
Christ.
This week we had multiple service
opportunities. Two days this week Sister Utsch and I did service for a
part-member family in our area. We helped them move items from a room in their
house to the garage. The room was really cluttery, like hoarder-level cluttery,
and they have lots of cats, and I am allergic to cats so it was pretty brutal
for me, but they were so appreciative and grateful that we came to help them.
In addition, at the ward party, one of their non-member kids came up to us and
gave us huge hugs and asked us if she could hang out with us! She's getting so
comfortable with us and recently we've been feeling like we are being placed in
her path, as well as her family's path, in order to help bring them closer to
Jesus Christ.
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| Fashionable selling outfits |
On Saturday our whole zone had a
massive service activity at a Special Olympics car show in Gilbert! We rolled
up (literally, bc it was a car show...ha...ha...ha) and they gave us these
yellow shirts to wear over our dresses, and then we had to put on these super
cute Home Depot money aprons on top of the shirts. Our whole zone was cracking
up because we looked so goofy and I was like "Zone, we have literally
never looked better." It was definitely not the most flattering outfit. We
spent the first hour of the service walking up and down the various aisles of
old cars trying to sell water to people for a dollar. It is official…I am not
cut out to do door to door summer sales. Hahaha you would think that I would
have learned some sales skills from knocking doors as a missionary but
nope...definitely not. In one hour Sister Utsch and I literally sold two water
bottles. Haha if I can't be successful in selling ice cold water for $1 in
ARIZONA then I don't know what I would be successful in selling as a salesman.
Thankfully, after one hour, Sister Utsch and I happened to be in the right
place at the right time and were able to switch jobs so we ended up sitting
under a tent collecting voting tickets for the last three hours of the service.
We definitely lucked out, because at ZLC that night both DLs and both ZLs were
sunburned pretty badly from walking around trying to sell water in the sun for
four hours.
Also this week five separate people,
including a former companion, asked me if I dyed/highlighted/lightened my hair.
So just to clarify: no. The beauty of the Arizona sun and a missionary hard at
work.
The finale of Sister Jacobson and the Sitting Skeletons
is this week. We saved the best for last. I want you all to know that this week
we saw a direct increase in the amount of skeletons placed outside people's
homes. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to stop and take photos this
week of all the skeletons but I got some really nice pictures with the S
skeletons (for all you hocus pocus lovers out there), a corpse bride, and a
skeleton who got a little too high for his own good. Some honorable mentions
not pictured: An entire skeleton pirate crew complete with a pirate ship, a
corpse couple, a skeleton riding a motorcycle, and a skeleton family having TV
dinner. You can't make this stuff up. It’s official: skeletons are the best
Halloween decoration. There are so many varieties of how to decorate with
skeletons the possibilities are endless! I'm sold. I’m definitely investing in
some when I get home.
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| House selfie |
Not gonna lie, other than that, this
week was pretty slow. We were hard at work every day, every possible second
that we could, but still didn't have many opportunities to teach people or to
testify of this restored truth that we love so much. This week the majority of
the people we talked to were pretty rude and definitely not interested in the
message that we have to share. It's caused Sister Utsch and me to reflect
deeply on our missionary efforts. My whole mission I've been absolutely
fascinated by the basic gospel principle of faith. We know that faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ is a principle of power, and that faith can make things
happen that wouldn't otherwise happen, but on my mission I've truly seen that
the purpose of faith is not to change God's will, but to EMPOWER us to ACT on
God's will. Faith is an action word, and faith motivates us to do things we
wouldn't otherwise do, so in the case of Sister Utsch and me, our faith
motivated us to come on a mission. Our faith is what motivates us to get out of
bed every day at 6:30 and have thirty minutes of exercise, plan for our day,
and have a full hour of studies. Our faith is what motivates us to leave the
house at 10 AM and not return until 9 PM, despite the slammed doors, thrown
objects, and fingers of scorn. Our faith is what motivates us to work our very
hardest all day every day, seven days a week, in the hopes that we can find
just ONE person willing to listen to our message. And even though we have the
faith to find this one person every single day, and we have the faith to have a
baptism every single weekend, sometimes the Lord's will is otherwise. One thing
I've learned about Heavenly Father is that He is truly our Father! James E
Faust once said, "Noble fatherhood gives us a glimpse of the divine,"
and I LOVE that quote. When I think of my own father, the famous Blaine
Jacobson, I think of someone who pushes me to be the very best I can be,
someone who won't just hand things to me because I want them, or maybe even
deserve them, someone who lets me experience things for myself so I can learn
from experience. Our Father in Heaven operates in the same way. He doesn't give
us experiences because we want them, or even deserve them, but because we NEED
them to become more than we are right now. He knows that the best way for us to
learn for ourselves is by experience! He doesn't see us for who we are, but for
who we can become. And that is why He demands so much from us. He knows that
it's hard to keep the commandments in the world we live in today, He knows that
it's hard to maintain faith in Him despite all the challenges that beset us, He
knows that it's hard to be continually putting our best foot forward every
single day of our lives, but He also knows that this is the only way for us to
become the people He needs us to be. It requires a certain level of sacrifice,
but Joseph Smith said, "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of
all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead]
unto life and salvation." So this week was hard, yes, and we didn't
find any new investigators despite our best efforts, but this week, instead of
giving us what we wanted, the Lord gave us what we NEEDED; an opportunity to
learn and grow and increase our faith in Him and His plan for us. I love this
work. And I am so grateful that the Lord is able to use imperfect servants like
us to help in this glorious work.
Have a great week. I love you all!
Sister Jacobson
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| Biking home with popcorn |
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| Weekly planning |
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| Taking after my Mom |
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| Baymax at a ward party! |
The finale of Sister Jacobson and the Sitting Skeletons
is this week. We saved the best for last. I want you all to know that this week
we saw a direct increase in the amount of skeletons placed outside people's
homes. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to stop and take photos this
week of all the skeletons but I got some really nice pictures with the S
skeletons (for all you hocus pocus lovers out there), a corpse bride, and a
skeleton who got a little too high for his own good. Some honorable mentions
not pictured: An entire skeleton pirate crew complete with a pirate ship, a
corpse couple, a skeleton riding a motorcycle, and a skeleton family having TV
dinner. You can't make this stuff up. It’s official: skeletons are the best
Halloween decoration. There are so many varieties of how to decorate with
skeletons the possibilities are endless! I'm sold. I’m definitely investing in
some when I get home. 
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