December 4, 2017
Hello everyone!
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| D-Ridge zone sports this a.m. |
To start off, L was not baptized on Saturday. We weren't
expecting it to happen, but we were remaining optimistic until the very last
second! We had a lesson with her this week, and as we were preparing for the
lesson we really sought the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We tried to put
ourselves in her shoes and imagine how she was feeling and then prepare a
lesson based off of that. It was really cool, because when we got to the lesson
with her we discovered that we'd hit the nail on the head with how she was
feeling. Because of the Holy Ghost, we were totally prepared to help her! The
Spirit was really strong during our lesson. Afterwards, Sister Utsch and I
talked about how REAL L's intent is. She's such a genuinely good person, and
when you talk with her you can tell that she wants to be baptized because she
truly wants to follow Jesus Christ, and that she wants to be a member of His
church. There's no desire to be baptized for personal gain or social standing
or whatever...it's purely out of a desire to follow Jesus Christ. It's so
refreshing to see, and I know that the Lord will bless her for her righteous
desire. I know she'll be baptized one day, and that's going to be an amazing
day! I'm looking forward to it, and I know that she's looking forward to it
even more. Keep her and her family in your prayers!
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| Visiting L at work |
This week Sister Utsch and I had probably the most rigorous
religious conversation I've ever had on my mission with this potential we found
in the area book. We knocked on his door back in August, and a woman who did
not speak English answered and we tried to ask for S, but she didn't really
understand, and she told us to come back either after October 18, or in
2018...so we were really confused and all around it was pretty awkward...so we
hadn't gone back, but this week we felt really strongly we needed to stop by.
When we knocked on the door, S answered and he knew exactly who we were right
off the bat! He told us that other missionaries used to come and talk with him
about a year ago, and that it was really weird because he would see them all
over the place. He said that everywhere he went he would see these missionaries
and they would stop and talk to him and ask him if he'd read the Book of
Mormon. He told us that he wanted to read the Book of Mormon, but
English is his second language, so it was really difficult for him to
understand the old English in the Book of Mormon. He said that the last
he'd heard from the missionaries, they were going to bring him a Farsi Book
of Mormon, but he'd gone out of town and then they were transferred so he
was lost in the shuffle. It was a huge miracle, because we totally have a Farsi
Book of Mormon in our house and this whole time we've been like...who
was this supposed to be for?! Probably for S! We'll take it to him this week.
As we were talking with him, we found out that he's been studying religion for
the past thirty years. He's an honest seeker of truth, and he told us that he's
been practicing the Baha’i religion, which basically practices the main
fundamental beliefs of all religions. That was really evident by our
conversation with him because he agreed with much of what we were saying. It
was fascinating to talk with him, and he really wanted us to come back to
continue our conversation! We are excited to take the Farsi Book of Mormon
over and hopefully start teaching him.
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| Pizza reward for service |
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| Swanky water someone gave us |
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| Something to ponder |
The second miracle was really cool.
We were at our last rotation of the night, and it was 9:15. Our shift ended at
9:30, and we hadn't been having much success in talking to people. We were at a
station where not many people stop, it's mostly people just trying to breeze
past and get to the next cool thing. Sister Utsch and I were standing back and
waiting for people to stop so we could go talk to them about the display there,
but for the most part, we were doing the whole "Hello, welcome to the
lights! Have a good night!" kind of deal. This lady stopped and looked at
the display, and Sister Utsch went and started talking with her. At this point,
the crowd had started to disperse a little bit, so I could hear parts of their
conversation. She had just moved here with her young daughter from North
Carolina, she hadn't found a faith yet and so far her daughter HATED Arizona. I
looked, and her daughter was tugging on her mom's sleeve saying "Mom,
let's goooo! I want to keep looking at the lights!" Meanwhile, Sister
Utsch was trying to have a spiritual conversation with her mom. I heard a voice
in my mind say, "Go to her." I went over to the daughter, and started
talking with her. I asked her what her name was, she said K. I asked her how
old she was, she said seven. I asked her what her favorite part of the lights
were, she said everything. I asked her what the best part of Arizona was, and
she said nothing. I started listing my favorite things about Arizona to her,
and we started having a conversation. She was a WILD little girl haha, it took
a lot to keep her entertained. After about ten minutes, she got bored and went
back over to her mom. It was at the exact same time that Sister Utsch was about
to get this lady's address so the missionaries could go visit her. Literally
nothing else could have gone more wrong. In these fifteen seconds, K
accidentally knocked her mom's drink out of her hand, so it spilled all over
Sister Utsch and I and onto the ground, Sister Utsch's pen wouldn't work, and K
started getting more and more persistent. I looked around frantically for
something to entertain K with, and my eyes rested on the forgotten display. It
was a scene of shepherds and their sheep on the night of the Savior's birth. I
said, "K! Do you want to come with me and count these sheep?!" She
was SO excited to come and count these sheep with me. We counted all the sheep
in the exhibit, and then we counted all the chickens, and then K realized that
she'd forgotten to count ONE sheep. The one she'd forgotten was the one that
the shepherd was holding. She said, "I'm sure the shepherd didn't forget
that sheep though! He's holding it!!" and she laughed, but that small
statement really impacted me. Our shepherd is Jesus Christ, and I know that He
doesn't forget any of us. One of my favorite hymns recently is "Dear to
the Heart of the Shepherd," and I thought of the third verse:
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the “ninety and nine”;
Dear are the sheep that have
wandered
Out in the desert to pine.
Hark! He is earnestly calling,
Tenderly pleading today:
“Will you not seek for my lost ones,
Off from my shelter astray?”
As K and her mom were leaving, her mom turned back to us and
said, "You know, I promised myself that the first person to talk to me
about religion here in Arizona I'd hear out. I'm really grateful I came here tonight."
I know that Jesus Christ knows each of us and that He is always reaching out to
us. I know that it was not a coincidence that K and her mom came to the Mesa
Temple Lights. He's always providing us with opportunities to turn to Him. I
know that it's not a coincidence that they stopped at mine and Sister Utsch's
station. Sometimes He relies on us to reach out in love to those around us and
minister to His lost sheep. It's an honor and a privilege, as well as a sacred
charge and responsibility, to have the opportunity to reach out to those lost
sheep around us. I am humbled by the Lord's trust in us as His servants.
I love you all! Don't forget to #LightTheWorld this week!
Sister Jacobson
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| Braided hair gang |
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| Someone paid for our Cafe Rio and someone else gave us a gift card! |
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| A stoplight, a food truck, & a selfie |
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| Weekly planning toast |
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| #famous at Gilbert Historical Museum |
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| What are those glowing eyes? |
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| ...a horse, of course! |
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