Week 52: Tina Got Baptized

January 22, 2018

Hello everyone! 

Transfer 8 in the books

One year! Sister Small and I officially hit our year marks as missionaries on Thursday. It's a really weird feeling being like...a year ago today...I was on my mission. It's been the fastest year of my life, and it's also been the best! This week Sister Small and I read our journal entries from our first day at the MTC and we both realized how much we've grown in the past year. It's really cool being companions with someone who started her mission at the same time as me, because not only do I recognize the changes in myself, but she recognizes them as well! If that made sense haha. 

One year with these pretty gals

On Thursday we also had the STL meeting for this transfer; it's one of my favorite parts of this calling! At the start of every transfer we're able to gather together with the other Sister Training Leaders, receive our list of sisters in our stewardship, and discuss the needs of the sisters in the mission. This time Sister Wheeler gave us a brief training on confidence. We talked about how all of us feel like we're just "average"--like we're okay at sports, singing, art, etc...but we're just okay...we're not super talented or super good, and there's always someone better. It was really cool because these are all things that I've definitely felt before, but I thought I was the only one! We talked about how we can get past the comparison and instead focus on what our Heavenly Father sees in us. Super uplifting! Also, since we were at the STL meeting, we were with Sisters Donaldson and Rowley, who were mine and Sister Small's MTC companions. It was so sweet to be reunited on our year mark as missionaries as the four of us sisters who started this journey together! Afterwards we went out to lunch together at Burrito Shack, which was super tasty.

Celebration lunch at Burrito Shack

We had a lesson with L this week! It had been so long since we'd had a lesson with her, and it was so good to see that she is still doing well and that her testimony is as strong as ever. Last Sunday was her first Sunday back at church in a few weeks due to traveling and she told us that when she came to church she remembered how much she loved it and was so excited to come this week! We watched the Bible Video of Peter walking on water--my favorite New Testament story--and talked about how focusing on Christ eliminates the distractions that might otherwise beset us. L told us that she's excited to be back in school because that means that she's back in institute classes! It's so cool teaching someone who has so many other contacts with the gospel throughout the week outside of interactions with us. She also told us that she and her mom are going to start going to a Bible study class together, which is really exciting and hopefully it will open up a door for her to talk about religion more openly and more frequently with her parents. We are praying!!

We also had a lesson with the K’s this week. CK was so excited to have us over for Taco Tuesday, and we were equally as excited because let me tell ya...the K’s can COOK. We had some DELICIOUS tacos and then we had a lesson about waiting on the Lord. We talked about how because of CK's patience and her trust in Him, that her prayer was finally answered and she was able to receive a testimony of the living prophets and apostles. We asked them what their next goals were and they seemed a little unsure, but throughout the course of the conversation we found that CK's concern about prophets and apostles isn't totally gone, it's just a little subdued. There are still some things that she's struggling with, and still some things that are definitely bothering her, but overall the biggest concern has been resolved. And, she told us that MK is officially TWO WEEKS without coffee or alcohol!!! That is HUGE. MK didn't act like it was that big of a deal, but literally one month ago he freaked out when we invited him to stop drinking coffee and alcohol. That family. Man. They are just making leaps and bounds left and right. We tried to give them a soft date to prepare for baptism on, but they didn't even want to talk about it...because we still don't know the timeline for MK. It's a little tough because we won't know the timeline until he meets with Bishop again, so we ended up settling for a commitment invitation for him to meet with Bishop. Please keep them in your prayers! 

As sketchy as the AGM gets

This week we were out finding, and Sister Small and I felt really inspired to be on this one street...but door after door was slamming and we were just getting nowhere. Recently we've been really frustrated with the lack of new investigators we've been able to pick up in our area, because we go out and we work hard every day, and we talk to everyone we see, and we have awesome conversations about the gospel, and the Spirit is present...and then we ask if we can come back and the person says "No, I'm good." It’s literally person after person after person. It's been so frustrating...but we're still going out and working because we've both seen on our missions that the hardest, most difficult times are always followed by the best, most miraculous times. So we were knocking doors, and we go through this whole street with every single house rejecting us, and we get to the last door. We walk up to the door and before we knock I looked at Sister Small and I said, "Fourth floor, last door?" (reference to one of Elder Uchtdorf's talks, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/fourth-floor-last-door?lang=eng) and she nodded, and then we knocked. A man named J answered the door, and he told us that he'd lived in the neighborhood for fifteen years. Right away, our hearts sank, because most people who have lived in the neighborhood for that long are accustomed to the missionaries coming by once a month like clockwork and are over it haha. But we struck up a conversation with him, and he was a super nice guy! We talked a little bit about Arizona, and about America, and it was a pretty good conversation, and then we brought up faith. He mentioned to us that he was Catholic but his faith in Christ had definitely been shaken more than once. There was a lull in the conversation and we didn't really know what to say, but it ended up being a good stupor of thought haha because after a moment of silence he goes "Back in 2002, my ex-wife and I lost our baby, and it was a turning point for me in my faith because I had to look inside and decide if I still believed in God or not." We testified to him that we knew that God was real, and that he would see his baby again. He said, "Will I though? Or is that just something nice that we tell ourselves when we go through a tough time?" We started testifying of the power of prayer, as well as the Plan of Salvation. He had question after question, and eventually I asked him if he'd ever read the Book of Mormon. He said, "No, but I have a copy." I told him that the Book of Mormon contained the answers to a lot of his questions, and that if he read it and prayed about it he would be able to find peace about some of his inner turmoil for the first time in a really long time. We gave him a new copy of the Book of Mormon, with a “Plan of Salvation” pamphlet inside marking the place of Alma 40. He said he'd read Alma 40 and the pamphlet and that he would pray about it! Super cool! We were so grateful that we'd kept knocking, and that we were able to talk with J. We're hopeful that we'll be able to see him again this week and follow up about his reading! 

We spoke in one of our wards yesterday on missionary work! Our ward mission leader was supposed to speak with us, but he had to go out of town for work at the last minute, so he texted us on Saturday basically like "hey make your talks longer so our new bishop doesn't have to fill in the remainder of the time" so Sister Small and I followed through and really beefed up our talks...and then we got to church and it turns out bishop had found a special musical number AND an additional speaker so we were like sweet! What a blessing! But then...it was not a blessing haha. Sister Small took 20 minutes--EASY on her talk...and then when I got up to speak it was another EASY 20 minutes. Neither one of us watched the clock haha. It was 2:05 by the time I sat down and bishop just got up and said "We'll have the special musical number be our closing hymn and we'll have this other brother speak in February." Oops. I remember always being so stressed to get up and speak in sacrament meeting, or teach a lesson before my mission...but now I'm so at ease speaking in front of people and I can easily fill twenty minutes of time and still have more to say. 

Tina's baptism!

Tina was baptized and confirmed on Saturday!!!! It was so exciting!! Tina is by far the most golden, most prepared person I've ever taught on my mission. She had been going to church every week and meeting with the missionaries when we started teaching her three months ago, and she easily could have been baptized a long time ago. She wanted to wait for baptism until she finished the Book of Mormon, but it finally got to the point where she realized that she couldn't wait any longer, she needed to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. She is in Alma 2 in her Book of Mormon reading...which is still super good/rare for a recent convert. On the morning of her baptism we texted her "Happy baptism day! Here's a reminder of what to bring/when to be there:" and she responded back "Thank you!! I am so excited; it's a beautiful day for a baptism. Today is the most important day of my eternal life!" We LOVED that. It's evidence that Tina understands the important decision she just made; she understands the eternal significance of it! And that's what ultimately determines if someone is converted or not; their understanding of the sacred covenants that they make and their willingness to keep them.

There were easily 80+ people at her baptism. So many people from her boyfriend's ward were there, and so many from her ward, as well as the majority of her family came in from out of town. She had so much support.  As she was being baptized there were just tears streaming down her face and when she came up out of the water she exclaimed "I am so blessed!" It took her forty minutes to change afterwards haha...easily the longest time I've ever waited for someone to change at a baptism but she looked super fly when she came out of that bathroom hahaha. And the cool thing was, no one was annoyed or antsy...everyone was just so happy for Tina and so glad that she was happy! There was such a sweet spirit at her baptism, and we could feel the Lord's love for Tina so abundantly. There were loads of nonmembers there and many of them commented on the amount of love they felt in the room! It's been such a blessing to teach her and help her progress towards baptism. She's going to be a stellar member of the Church. This week we are planning on teaching her family history and hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to go to the temple with her. So exciting. :) 

The great AGM!

Tina is the tenth convert I've been able to teach and help progress to baptism in this area of Desert Ridge. Tina's baptism is also the first convert baptism that her ward has seen in over two years--it is a result of much prayer and fasting, and the ward has done such a good job fellowshipping her. In the last six months, all three of the family wards I'm serving in have had a convert baptism. A year ago this area was considered one of the "dead areas" of the mission, but over the past year there have been a couple really hardworking and diligent missionaries to serve in this area and now it is one of the best areas in the mission! There are truly no dead areas! The Lord is constantly preparing the hearts of His people--it's our responsibility to help them feel the spirit. I'm so grateful I've been able to witness firsthand the Lord pour out His blessings upon this area and upon these people. I love this work and I love this gospel! I love being a missionary and I love having the opportunity to serve the good people of Gilbert (Mesa) Arizona! This past year of my life has been PRICELESS and irreplaceable; I wouldn't trade it for the world. Serving a mission is the best decision I have ever made and I am so grateful to have this opportunity! I am beyond excited for these next six months. They are going to fly by and I am excited to make the most of every minute. 

I love you all! 

Sister Jacobson 

AGM Sisters

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