Sister Jacobson's Glimpses of Gilbert

Week 56: The Rains Came Down, the Floods Came Up

February 21, 2018

Hola!

Heading to the temple!

Happy Wednesday!! It feels like it's been a solid week and a half since I last emailed...probably because it HAS been a week and a half haha. This morning we had the opportunity to go to the temple and let's just say it was much needed! I love going to the temple so much; it's so worth the 5 AM wake-up call and the delayed p-day.

It's been a pretty good week here in the forgotten, Promised Land. We had so many opportunities to testify to people during lessons, on doorsteps, and on the street this week! One of my favorite principles I've learned from Preach My Gospel is that a testifying missionary is a teaching missionary. It's amazing how much a simple testimony can change the countenance of someone! I know it's because the Spirit touches their heart and they can feel it!

Let me tell you about the MESS that was last Wednesday.

Wednesday before the chaos

Sister Small and I were super excited because it was a full proselyting day, and we were both together in our area! It had been a long time that we'd been together in our area for a full day due to exchanges and whatnot. So we go out and work, and all morning long...no one answered the door. Honestly, pretty classic morning for us so it was no biggie. We decided to stop by a member and ask for some referrals on our way home from lunch and that is when the chaos ensued. By this point it started raining a little bit. Sister Small goes "Sister Jacobson I just cut my foot on my bike pedal." I was biking in front of her and I couldn't see it, so I was legit like "Sister Small calm down. You're fine. It's just a SCRATCH." But we get to this member's house and Sister Small's ankle is seriously GUSHING blood. And the rain is getting harder, and the member isn't home. We found some Kleenex in Sister Small's bag but her blood was soaking through the Kleenex so fast. We had seen a different member outside a little bit down the street so we were like "it's fine...they have six kids....I'm SURE they have bandaids!" THEY DIDNT HAVE BANDAIDS!!! At this point Sister Small's ankle is STILL bleeding profusely and we are on our last Kleenex. Luckily, the next door we knocked on they were home and had a plethora of bandaids. We were able to get her cleaned up and we were on our way!

We ate lunch and had companionship study and then we went and had a lesson with L!! We had a really great lesson with her. We talked about how the gospel blesses families, and how the decisions we make now will ultimately play into the lives of our future families. Then we talked about how God sees our true potential since He is our Father, and we watched the Mormon Message "Your Potential, Your Privilege." I love that video! I think that sometimes we cut ourselves short, and we convince ourselves that we are not good enough to receive all of the blessings that the Lord has in store for us...when in reality we are MORE than enough! Because Heavenly Father is literally our Father, we are able to receive all of the blessings that He has. L told us that the Bible study class every week is going well and that this last week her mom told her that she was impressed with her knowledge of the scriptures. L told us that she told her mom that it was because she studies the scriptures every day, and her mom was so surprised! And then L says, "I study all three...the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Book of Mormon!" and her mom was like "Well...the Book of Mormon isn't really scripture...” and L was like "Yes it is! It's just like the Bible, only it teaches us about the people in the Americas and Christ's personal ministry there." And then she references John 10:16 (And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.) and said, "I believe that the other sheep that Christ was talking about in that verse are the people in the Americas." and her mom was like "Oh, I didn't know that...interesting!" Her heart is softening!!! L goes, "Sister Jacobson...you told me this would happen!!" and I was like...I did haha, but I honestly didn't expect it to be so soon! It was really exciting; and it was a good reminder to both me and Sister Small that this is all on the Lord's timing. As we were preparing for her lesson, Sister Small and I were kinda like, "Man...she is so ready for baptism...it's not fair for her to have to wait to be baptized." But then in the lesson it was kinda a slap in the face from the Lord like, "Calm the heck down. I got this. Trust me." I don't know why her timing is this way, and I don't know the plans that the Lord has in store for her...but I do know that He has a perfect plan for L, and I know that part of that plan will one day be baptism and that that day will come when it is her time!

After our lesson with L we went and visited some YSAs. We were on our way back from these YSA visits and headed to dinner when we realized we were just about out of gas. So we stopped and got gas, which made us late for our dinner appointment. We had splits set up with a young woman preparing to serve a mission for after dinner, and we had planned to bike with her so we had to get our bikes before dinner. It ended up being okay that we were late because dinner wasn't ready...but then we got out of dinner late...which made us late to splits. Also, in the middle of dinner the skies OPENED up and it started POURING rain. We were like "awesome, good thing we are on bikes." But anyways, we got to splits, and Sister Small and I are drenched, fully expecting this girl to cancel. But this young woman was awesome! She's like "Yeah let's still go on splits...I can handle it!" So we hop on our bikes and take off to our furthest ward. About halfway through the ride, Sister Small and I realize that this YW is NOWHERE to be found. We slow down and look behind us and wayyyy in the distance there she is. We attributed our vast distance from her to be because we bike everyday and have strong legs, so we slowed down a bit, and then eventually stopped. When she caught up to us she goes "I have a flat tire." We look down and sure enough, her front tire is completely deflated. So there we are....a few miles away from home...standing in the pouring rain...with a random teenager and a bike with a bum tire. We quickly abandoned our plans for the night, and instead went to a member's home who we were POSITIVE would have a bike pump. They did not have a bike pump...but they felt so bad for us that they insisted that we come inside and share a message with them. We shared a super simple message about Jesus Christ and the Spirit was so strong! It never ceases to amaze me how the Spirit can bear witness of truth even in the most unlikely circumstances. We left their home, and their neighbor had just gotten home and had a bike pump! We quickly pumped up the tire so we could make it back to this YW's house. We also decided that since missionaries have far more experience on bikes it would be better for one of us to ride her bike back, and for her to ride one of ours. So I hopped on her bike and let her take mine and let me tell you....that bike ride was one of the most physically exerting things I have ever done on my mission. It was worse than riding through sand haha. But long story short...we made it back in one piece to her house, and she actually didn't hate it too bad, we have splits with her again tonight.

Still smiling in the rain

Rainy night splits

But wait...there's more. Sister Small and I had correlation for our YSA ward so we biked home, hopped in the car, and made it to correlation only about fifteen minutes late. We walked in, SOAKING wet, freezing cold, and all that our ward mission leader, ward missionaries, and the Elders who we share the ward with could do was stare. We were in rough shape. What made me feel better is the Elders only looked a little bit better than us; their hair was frizzier than normal haha. We sat down on the couch, reported on the work, and made it through the rest of the meeting. About halfway through the meeting I leaned down and wrung my skirt out haha we were so wet!! All in all, a messy day but definitely made for some good memories.

This week we had a couple of really positive interactions with people all because we were in the right place at the right time. One of the times, a part member family saw us on the side of the road and rolled down their window and said, "Sisters! Come to the house and get some water!" and we ended up having a great visit for thirty minutes or so. Another time we were biking down a street and I saw that the garage of a less-active, recent convert, somewhat hostile family was open. As we biked past we pulled over and started talking to the guy and he was so friendly. I had met him once before really briefly back in August and he totally remembered me, and even noticed that Sister Utsch wasn't here anymore. We had a great conversation with him, and it ended with him telling us how grateful he was for the support and help of the members of our church in the area!

We had a great Sunday! We had four investigators at church! We were only expecting two so it was a nice surprise and made for a very busy Sunday for us. One of the ward missionaries in the YSA ward is leaving on her mission next week so she gave her farewell in both the family ward and the YSA ward, and it was the perfect opportunity for K to come to YSA for the first time. This ward missionary was a stud and invited K and she came! From what we can tell she had a great time! We are excited to meet with her and the K family this upcoming week. It's the last week of the transfer and we are excited to see some miracles!

I love you all! Thanks for all that you do

Sister Jacobson

The dark sky over our heads

Crazy dark sky at 6 p.m. last week

Finding a dry spot

Trying to keep our bikes dry

D-ridge at the Temple

Accidental picture

Tryna blend in with the cactus

AZ skies at it again

Spot the bike pump

Wind blew just as I snapped

Week 55: Too Much Sun Makes a Desert

February 12, 2018

Hello hello!

Sk8 is lyfe

Which is drier, the desert or my week? You decide. I hate to say it, but it's been another really, really rough week here in Desert Ridge. We honestly had a string of like four days where the only door that opened was our dinner appointment, and where no one was outside. It's crazy, because this is the NICE time of year in Arizona, usually everyone and their dog is outside...but this week was seriously a ghost town. Or, if they were outside, they were anti and not pleased to see us. Good times. A while ago I heard a phrase that says, "Too much sunshine makes a desert," and I've thought about it a lot ever since. Here in Arizona, we are super duper familiar with the desert...and with the hot sunshine that creates the desert! If you think about places like Hawaii, they're full of lush, tropical greenery but also plenty of sunshine. The greenery couldn't exist without vast amounts of rain, because if Hawaii was sunny all the time then it would just be another Arizona. However, the rain mixed with the sunshine creates a perfect vacation spot! If you place the analogy in the context of our lives, then the desert would represent a life filled with too many good things--to the point where it wouldn't even be good anymore because it would be the norm, and the Hawaii would be a life filled with both "sunny", or good, days/weeks and "rainy", or bad, days/weeks. Personally, I would much rather have a life filled with good and bad, that way I can recognize and better appreciate the good when it comes! So even though this week was really tough, I know that it is just a rainstorm and that beautiful greenery is ahead.

Exchanges with Sis. Foster

We went on two exchanges this week. The first was with Sister Foster, who has been on her mission for nine months. We stayed in my area and had a day full of knocking doors! We knocked on a member's door and they gave us a couple of referrals, but none of them were home. We ended up knocking on a potential's door, who I had met a couple months ago on exchanges but had never been able to meet again, and he was home! We were able to give him a BOM and invite him to read it. He said he wants to come to church, so I told him the place/time of the YSA ward. Come to find out like three days later that he is 100% married with a baby...so that's awkward. We haven't been able to get back in contact with him...and he wasn't at YSA yesterday haha so we'll see what happens.

Exchanges with Sis. Diebold

The second exchange was with Sister Diebold, who has been on her mission for four months! She is an ENERGIZER BUNNY, let me tell ya. We had a really fun time working together in her area. No doors had opened the entire time we were together, and it was like twenty minutes before we were supposed to exchange back, and we decided to stop by a random potential from the area book. As we got to the house, the potential had just gotten home, so we waited a minute or two before knocking on the door. The lady was pretty stand-offish at first, but we told her that we knew she'd talked to missionaries before, and asked about her experience with them. She was surprised to see girl missionaries haha but told us that she really wasn't interested. We told her that that was okay, and we asked her religious background. She told us she was raised JW and right away I was like...awesome...this is gonna end in a bash. But we kept talking to her and found out that because she was JW she was an outcast growing up, and she has a lot of negative feelings towards organized religion as a result. We were able to testify to her that it doesn't have to be that way, and we testified to her that Jesus Christ accepted everyone regardless of who they were. It was a really spiritual interaction, and it ended with her inviting us to come back to teach her daughter about Jesus Christ! It was an awesome miracle!

Sister Small and I taught one lesson this week to the K family. CK met with bishop last week and had a great visit with him! She left feeling uplifted and inspired, as opposed to two months ago where she was ready to bail ship after meeting with him haha...so it's huge progress! We read Ether 2 and 3 with them, and talked about the Brother of Jared. This is MK's favorite story in the Book of Mormon so he was PUMPED. We focused a lot on faith and how faith can become knowledge if we nurture it enough. MK's favorite part is in verses 19 and 20, where it says, "...he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting. (20) Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him." We talked a lot about how God has ministered to them individually and how He has helped them come closer to Christ. It was a spirit-filled lesson, and it ended with us inviting them to read President Oak's talk from the October 2000 General Conference, "The Challenge To Become," (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/11/the-challenge-to-become?lang=eng) which is an awesome talk, if you've never read it I highly recommend!

Other than that...as I said in paragraph one...super dry. It's been a very humbling week. I feel like my weaknesses are just glaring and the natural man in me has been really apparent this week. I am so impatient, and I've been so easily frustrated this week as appointments and things have fallen through, and things haven't gone as planned. Mosiah 3:19 has been on constant repeat in my mind this week: "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." I've been reminded this week how much this work truly is the Lords, and if we think for even a split second that we are in control, that we can handle it by our own merits, then we are 110% wrong. EVERYTHING in this work is the Lord's timing, and it is our responsibility to be worthy servants and vessels for His Spirit to reside within us, and it is our responsibility to submit to His will in ALL things, even if it is contrary to our will at times, because the truth is, He knows His children and He knows what's best for them.

The good news is, with the absence of gigantic, glaring miracles this week we were able to look for little miracles and small tender mercies. Here are a few:

1. One night we were about to go on splits with one of our ward auxiliaries. We were sitting in our car for a few moments before going to the door, when we saw a lady standing outside the driver's window wearing a neck brace. I rolled down my window and she says, very disappointed, "Well...you're NOT the Chinese delivery man." No, we are not. Sorry to disappoint. Haha.

2. Last night we were treated to a Tongan feast. One of our Relief Society President's is married to a man from Tonga and he and his mom were SO EXCITED to have us over for dinner and give us Tongan food! We ate a variety of tasty food, and also a variety of not so tasty food...but it was an experience I won't forget! Their son plays volleyball and may or may not be more obsessed than me, so he updated me real well on the BYU men's team this year and didn't think it was weird that I casually knew so much about men's volleyball. So that was exciting.

Wearing the pony cause it's hot

3. Sister Small and I went to lunch after exchanging back one day and were getting our drinks when we hear a guy go, "Sisters!!" We turn around and it was a summer sales bro. He says, "I didn't even need to see the tags, I'd know those skirts from a mile away." Rude. Haha but we had a good laugh, I guess ugly sister missionary skirts are universal in all missions.

4. Last night we stopped by a family who has left the church. Sister Small used to visit them all the time when she was in this area before, but since I've been in the area we haven't visited them at all. I was pretty nervous, because I've heard some sketchy stories about them...but we just asked if we could use the bathroom and thirty minutes later were having an awesome conversation about the gospel! They asked us how we decided to serve missions, and we shared a few scriptures, and then he started telling us about his mission. He served in Japan, which was perfect because I randomly have so many connections to Japan (family members serving there, been there, previous companion from Japan, etc.)! At one point he was telling us a story and he was like "My companion and I were out working...we were..." and he stopped and was like "Man, I don't know the English word for it..." and I was like "Is it dendo?" and he lit right up and was like "YES!!!" You should have seen the look on Sister Small's face when I turned to her and said, "So they were tracting..." hahaha she was so surprised that I knew what word he was looking for. Shout-out to all my friends serving in Japan that have used the word “dendo” in their weekly emails for the past year or so! Anyways, the spirit was definitely there and it was an awesome encounter! We are hopeful that it touched their lives!

That's my week! We are going to the temple next Wednesday so Wednesday will most likely be our p-day. I love you all!

Sister Jacobson

Waiting for the sisters

Still waiting for the sisters

Found a skateboard while waiting

Skateboard and my pillow

What we do when we wait

Week 54: The Book of Mormon: More than a Musical

February 5, 2018

Helllllooooooooooooo everybodyyyyyy!!

It's been a super crazy busy week here in Desert Ridge! Between MLC, exchanges, and interviews, we had a couple of days where it seriously felt like we could not breathe! This week has just breezed right on by.

The comp and I

We had MLC on Thursday. We had the opportunity to gather as the core leadership of the mission and set the mission's 2018 goal for baptisms. My mission has taught me so much about goal-setting and planning, and the importance of being accountable for the inspired goals that we set. President asked for everyone who would still be on their missions after August to raise their hands, and out of the 32 of us there, only five raised their hands. It was a super bittersweet moment and really put it into perspective that soon we'll have to be handing the reigns of the mission off to the next generation. The rest of MLC was centered on the Book of Mormon and its importance in our investigator's conversion. I loved it! MLC really made me question how much I take the Book of Mormon for granted, and made me ask myself if I am really doing all that I can to study it and internalize the words daily. We read an Elder Bednar talk from the new mission president's seminar in preparation for MLC and it was one of the most doctrinally rich, insightful talks I've ever read!

Exchanges with Sis. Jensen

This week we went on two exchanges! The first was with Sister Jensen, a sister who has been on her mission for almost seven months now. We stayed in my area, and it was so fun. I have been Sister Jensen's STL for her whole mission and it's so awesome to see how much she's grown. She has become such a great missionary! Our day was filled with tons of slammed doors and rejection, but also with tons of little miracles and small victories!

Exchanges with Sis. Chvala

The second exchange was with Sister Chvala, another sister who has been on her mission for almost seven months. We were in her area and it was a good day! We were able to talk to loads of people and give out several copies of the BOM. We met a former world health organization member on the street named N, who was Muslim, and were able to teach him part of the restoration! A few transfers ago there was nothing happening in their area so it's cool to see the progression and how they are being blessed for their diligent hard work.

We had interviews with President and Sister Wheeler on Friday. I love them so much!!! I had so many questions for them this time around and they answered all of my questions perfectly and brought so much peace into my mind! Interviews are truly one of the best times of the transfer.

Gifts for our stewarships

We had a lesson with T this week and taught her how to do family history! Before her baptism she told us how excited she was to go to the temple and do baptisms for her parents and grandparents. It was so cool to see her light up as we connected her family tree, and as we printed her parents’ names for her to take to the temple she was so excited! She had her temple recommend interview yesterday and is now good to go to the temple. We aren't sure when she'll have a space in her busy schedule to go to the temple, but we are hoping that we will have the opportunity to go soon with her!

We had a lesson with K this week as well. She's awesome! She's had a really rough time lately so we had a lesson focused entirely around finding peace through the gospel of Jesus Christ and why the gospel of Jesus Christ brings us peace. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I've taught. Sister Small and I both asked really inspired questions, and K was really thinking about her responses. We talked about her goals in the gospel, because two years ago her biggest desire in the world was to be baptized. She said that a lot has changed and that she's not sure if she still wants to be baptized. She's lost a lot of her testimony since she last investigated, and she wants to regain that before moving forward with baptism. We testified to her that if she put Jesus Christ first in her life and kept the commitments that we left with her then she would be able to regain her testimony and find her desire to be baptized again. She committed to read the Book of Mormon every day and pray, and seemed really genuine about it! We are excited to keep working with her, and for her to keep feeling the Spirit that comes from learning about Jesus Christ and his restored gospel.

Irrigation season in AZ

Other than that....there’s not much else to note. Work-wise this week was pretty slow. We were outside all day on Saturday and didn't see a single person haha. The only door that opened was our dinner appointment. Honestly it's been a pretty rough transfer. We are working so hard and we are being so obedient and doing our best to follow the Spirit in everything we do. It's been really frustrating, because we KNOW that there are prepared people in our area....we just can't seem to find them! There's been a solid increase in opposition this week and it seems to have been extra discouraging so Sister Small and I think that we are on the verge of finding someone so golden and so prepared. We can feel it!

This week I've been focusing on studying the Book of Mormon and internalizing the words. Yesterday our YSA bishop read Helaman 3:29-30 to us. Verse 29 talks about the state of those who will "lay hold upon the word of God," or basically those that study and apply the scriptures in their lives. The verse says that the scriptures will help us avoid the traps that the devil lays before us, and lead us home to Jesus Christ. The path home is described as straight and narrow, and it passes over a "gulf of misery." I don't know about anyone else, but to me it sounds pretty scary to pass over a gulf of misery with just a straight and narrow path as my guide...it sounds like I will definitely fail and fall. But verse 30 goes on to describe the reward the waits for us at the end of this narrow path. It promises us that if we truly do "lay hold upon the word of God" then we will end up on the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven! We are promised that if we internalize the scriptures, we will be able to rely on the strength of Christ to get us through the difficult times and eventually receive a priceless reward in heaven. I know that the scriptures truly can guide us through our dark days and that they can provide spiritual strength in our lives. They teach and testify about Jesus Christ and I know that as we make reading and applying their doctrines a part of our daily routine--as we "lay hold" to the scriptures--we will be able to come to know the Savior and gain eternal life.

I find it kind of ironic that so much of my week was focused on the Book of Mormon, because I saw that “The Book of Mormon: The Musical” was on tour in Boise this week! Friends let me tell ya, that musical can't hold a CANDLE to the real deal. The REAL Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is powerful. It was translated by the power of God and is the most correct book on Earth. It is a companion set of scripture to the Bible. Not only does it complete the Bible, but it enriches and expounds upon the doctrine taught in the Bible. It is another record of Jesus Christ, detailing His personal ministry on the American continent. The Book of Mormon has taught me so much about the life of Jesus Christ, and has taught me even more about the application of His gospel. It is my favorite book. I am a better person because of the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I am so grateful for it.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Jacobson