Sister Jacobson's Glimpses of Gilbert: Week 74: Bike Pranks

June 25, 2018

Hey everyone!

Yet another crazy awesome and crazy busy week in San Tan! Sister Jensen and I are having a ton of fun out here together. This next week is lined up to be even busier; we are so excited.

Exchanges with Sis. Schwendiman

This week we had exchanges. I was with Sister Schwendiman, a sister who has been on her mission for five WEEKS, and we were in her area! Sister Schwendiman is a stud. I remember my first time leading out my area--I was two weeks old in the mission--and it was HARD. She was so nervous but she did awesome. It was fun to watch her learn and grow on our exchange! We had a long day of contacting but we taught a few recent converts, which was a blast.

This was the last exchange of my mission and it was a good one to go out on! This week I counted up the number of exchanges I've been on on my mission and it is close to 60! Exchanges are long and exhausting, and can sometimes be tedious, but I've truly been blessed to be able to rub shoulders with the best sister missionaries in the world and I have learned so much from them as we have labored together in the Lord's vineyard. I'm so grateful for all of the exchanges I have been able to go on; they have molded and shaped me into the missionary I am today.

We had the opportunity to teach four lessons to T this week as well haha. We have concluded that he likes meeting with us because he likes the way he feels when he is with us. In other words, he feels the Spirit when he meets with us, and he wants to feel the Spirit more often. So here's the summary of the four lessons!

1. We planned to read Mosiah 3 with him but he had actually already read that in his studies that day...so we ended up reading Moroni 7 with him. We talked a lot about faith-what it is and what it isn't-and how faith can overcome doubt. The end of the lesson got a little heated, I was very bold with T...probably the boldest I've ever been with an investigator...and really pushed for a church commitment. He didn't commit, but kept saying that he would try.

2. The second lesson I wasn't there for because of exchanges, but Sister Jensen taught him all about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and she said it went really well! We were finally able to get this one YSA Bro to the lesson and he was a perfect fellowship. Sister Jensen said that T opened up a ton and that he connected really well with this YSA Bro!

3. We taught the Law of Chastity and the Law of Tithing! T understood everything really well and committed to live both of them. He specifically mentioned that he is excited to see what blessings come into his life from paying tithing!

4. We decided to go over the baptismal interview questions with him. T keeps saying he's not ready for baptism, so we decided to go through the questions to help him see he knows more than he thinks he does. We brought a YSA Bro with us who got back from his mission six weeks ago and it was like there were three missionaries there haha! It was a great lesson. T realized that he's progressing better than he thinks he is, and that he actually is ready for baptism haha. At the end of the lesson he almost started crying because he wants to come to church so bad but can't find anyone to work his shift. Eventually he decided that he needs to just be real with his boss and tell him that he's trying to go to church. He committed to talk to his boss and tell us how it goes! He didn't make it to church yesterday, but if he can make it to church next week and give us a solid commitment that he will keep the Sabbath day holy following his baptism then he can be baptized next week. Keep him in your prayers!!

FHA

This week we had FHA (Family Home Afternoon), which is something we do once a transfer! Typically it's pretty uneventful but this time around our zone orchestrated a surprise birthday party at FHA for an Elder in our zone. This Elder is pretty soft spoken and reserved, and he was SO surprised that we went out of our way to celebrate his birthday. He definitely felt special and we all had a blast! I've learned that if we can't take care of our own inside the fold, the Lord will never trust us to take care of those outside of the fold.

Us with our handiwork

OH lol we had a really funny moment this week. A couple months ago we got into this prank war of sorts with our district leader and his companion--all harmless things--like switching the helmets on their bikes, or them locking our bikes together, etc. So this week Sister Jensen and I were leaving the church building and we saw that the Elders had left their bikes at the church. It was our turn to retaliate and we had this BRILLIANT idea to lock one of the Elder’s bike IN a tree. So we U-locked his bike into this tree and then went home for dinner. About twenty minutes into our dinner hour, the Elders called us. They were like "Hey Sisters, were you at the church building? Have you seen Elder Lind’s bike by chance??" and we were like "Oh yeah we were there...you might want to try looking up outside somewhere." and they were like "Yeah we're outside...there’s no bike anywhere...wait but there is part of a U-lock on the ground...hmm...well guess his bike was stolen, we better figure this out." and then they hung up on us. We were pretty sure they were pulling our leg, but at the same time we were like...but wait...what if his bike is legit stolen? So we started like freaking out and running through all the possibilities haha we were like...okay we KNOW that we locked the lock, and it's only been about twenty minutes since we were at the church building, and u-locks are virtually indestructible--there's NO WAY that it got stolen, right?? But we were still worried so we ended up swinging by the building to see if they were still there--and they were...with both bikes! They were totally pulling our leg! They saw us drive by so they called us right after and we were like "yeah yeah, nice try Elders" and then Sister Jensen was like "but thanks a lot, I actually thought your bike had gotten stolen and it STRESSED me out. Now I have a migraine and I'm throwing up. We're not going to be able to go out and work the rest of the night." and they bought it! Haha we turned the prank that they'd turned on us back on them. That night on district calls they felt so bad that we "hadn't been able to work" that night...it was hilarious! We told them the next day at weekly planning that we'd been messing with them and we all had a good laugh about it.

We had a lesson with N this week and we taught the first part of the plan of salvation. N is so humble, so penitent. I feel God's love for her so powerfully every time we teach her. During our lesson she was just crying because her life has been really difficult lately and she had been feeling like it was unbearable. It was cool to be able to testify to her that one of the purposes of life is to learn to rely on the Lord through difficulties. Partway through our lesson, she began experiencing a lot of pain, so we had to cut our lesson short. She ended up going to the ER and found out that she'd had a cyst inside her abdomen rupture. And then yesterday another one ruptured. :( Please keep her in your prayers; she's going through a lot.

AZ at it again!

We had a lesson with J this week!!!! I love him so much and I miss seeing him multiple times a week. This guy is literally so awesome. He couldn't make it to church this past week and he walked into our lesson and said "Sisters, it's been a crappy week and I know it's because I didn't go to church. I've repented and I'll be there this week." Yes! J! We taught all about temples and yesterday he got his recommend so we should be going to the temple and doing baptisms with him this week! So excited!!

We taught C a few times this week as well. Sister Jensen taught her on exchanges about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. C knows that amidst all the chaos in her life she needs the Spirit on her side to guide her. That's one of the biggest things she's looking forward to post-baptism. We also taught her the Law of Chastity and Tithing. She is so faithful! She's really struggling to make ends meet right now but she committed to live the Law of Tithing no questions asked. She was basically like "If God is asking me to, then I’ll do it, He'll take care of me." Ah, I just love her and I am so excited for her baptism this weekend! She came to church yesterday and did so much better than last week; she stayed in the chapel for almost all of sacrament meeting! I'm so proud of her and I know that God has great things in store for her in her life.

Also, we've been teaching an OAY named B, and his eight year old sister, L, for a little bit now. B isn't ready for baptism, but L is...so she'll be getting baptized this Saturday as well! ALL the baptisms haha, it's going to be a great week. We are so excited!

I love you all!

Sister Jacobson