Hi!
Tell everyone happy birthday for me. If I remembered and cared enough I'd knit hats, but that takes a long time and I haven't done it forever!
Things here are going amazingly well. I can't believe that it is Monday already! Time is going by so quickly! Sister K. and I are having a blast and teaching many about the gospel. We have a lot of commitments from people and a couple are planning on being baptized.
We got a call the other day that there is a woman who wants her 9 year old daughter and 8 year old daughter taught the lessons....bonus! She lives really close to us....as in 500 ft away I'm sure. The Lord blesses us for our diligent work.
Last Sunday Sister C. asked us to come teach her caregiver's daughter. The caregiver and her husband both just recently got baptized and the 20 something year old daughter was going to be over to her house. Well, we taught her about the restoration and invited her to be baptized. She accepted. We've been teaching her. She accepts everything and is doing well. She will be going to the Spanish ward but it is easier for us to teach her since during the day there isn't a man in the house so the Elders wouldn't be able to teach. We've worked it out with them. I love it! I think it is especially cool since I talked to Bro C. about the caregiver's family in the first place and helped them get in contact with the missionaries a few months ago. I feel really connected to this family yet, I don't know them personally really. Anyway, C. is her name. She has a cute little family, but CPS is being lame and because of random things the family is separated right now. It is sad, but we are praying for them.
Things have been going just all too well. There are so many people prepared and we are finding them! It is amazing! The Lord can and will put us where we need to be if we are willing to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. Sometimes we will be praying before tracting and we will feel prompted to go somewhere else and we will find people who are searching. It happened yesterday. It was awesome.
I'm finding that as I listen to the promptings and act on them quickly I'm given more. If we just do the things that we know we should and if we pray for promptings we will have them....they will continue to grow....it is awesome!
I know the gospel is true. I love the message that we share of eternal families. It is true. We can be bound together. Life isn't full of trials to make us hate everything, but to help us grow.
Thanks for all ya'll do! I love you!
Have a great week!
Jackie
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
October 18, 2010
Aloha!
So....best week ever! That's all.....
My companion is Sister K. She is so awesome. The spirit in the area is changing. We are finding so many people who are prepared. It is amazing! We are biking to appts, running in the mornings, and getting people to make commitments. It is the best. We had 4 people come to church....13 lessons for those we've found....amazing! haha....Anyway, we are doing really well.
Taking over P. is a fun/interesting thing. Most of the people that we've met out there speak Spanish. I've been trying to teach a little in Spanish. It isn't working the best, but I'm learning some gospel vocabulary that is helping. The family we are going to see tonight asked if I could come teach their friend in Spanish because she would respond to me better than to the Elders. They are coming too so we will see how that all works out.
I keep getting bit by fireants....they are the worst things ever! I most definitely have the bites swelling and getting all nasty....I'm so so so so grateful we don't have fireants in Utah. I'm just saying....
We spoke in church yesterday. That was fun. They called us either Wednesday or Tuesday night. I think the other speakers canceled, but it worked out. Sister K. did great. They did a standing song after I spoke so it must've been boring. Ya'll know how I speak....I'd want to be standing after too!
Everything is going so well. I don't even know what to say. The week just flew by! I can't even believe it is Monday already.
Oh! Rumor last week was true. We are getting a van. I've gone through three cars in three months here and none have been from wrecks or anything.
Elder T. S. is serving in KW1. His mom is S. S....if grandma knows them. He said that he remembered going and visiting with grandma with his mom. I just think that is so funny. Our district, 6 missionaries, is quite random. Two are from Idaho Falls, two are from Kearns, and two are from Tremonton....weird! We have some good conversations.
Anyway, I don't even know what to say to all of you this week other than things are so great. Oh! I did get lots of clothes because the other sisters left. It is a bit ridiculous. We have a huge pile in our living room, but we are waiting for the other sisters to look through it.
My favorite quote of the week:
"What do trumpets have to do with God?" --R.
R. is this 60 yr old woman who smokes a ton. She lives in a trailer with her two kids and they don't have an easy life, you can tell. The other sisters were teaching her so we stopped by. We were teaching her about the restoration again because her understanding wasn't there. I told her that a prophet is like a mouthpiece. I told her that just like trumpets have mouthpieces, prophets are mouthpieces for the Lord. Then, she asked that question. She was looking at me so Sis. K. busted up (silently laughing of course). I had to maintain my composure. That was hard!
Hmm....I don't even know what to say! Things are just going fantastically and I'll probably have more to say next week. Our goal is to have a baptism every weekend in November, so if you want to pray for that, we will be doing the same! I know it can happen. There is good potential everywhere we look!
Well, I know ya'll are sick of reading this and hearing me babble on with my fingers so I'll let you go. I hope that you all have a fabuloso week and I'll talk to you later skater!
Love,
Jackie
So....best week ever! That's all.....
My companion is Sister K. She is so awesome. The spirit in the area is changing. We are finding so many people who are prepared. It is amazing! We are biking to appts, running in the mornings, and getting people to make commitments. It is the best. We had 4 people come to church....13 lessons for those we've found....amazing! haha....Anyway, we are doing really well.
Taking over P. is a fun/interesting thing. Most of the people that we've met out there speak Spanish. I've been trying to teach a little in Spanish. It isn't working the best, but I'm learning some gospel vocabulary that is helping. The family we are going to see tonight asked if I could come teach their friend in Spanish because she would respond to me better than to the Elders. They are coming too so we will see how that all works out.
I keep getting bit by fireants....they are the worst things ever! I most definitely have the bites swelling and getting all nasty....I'm so so so so grateful we don't have fireants in Utah. I'm just saying....
We spoke in church yesterday. That was fun. They called us either Wednesday or Tuesday night. I think the other speakers canceled, but it worked out. Sister K. did great. They did a standing song after I spoke so it must've been boring. Ya'll know how I speak....I'd want to be standing after too!
Everything is going so well. I don't even know what to say. The week just flew by! I can't even believe it is Monday already.
Oh! Rumor last week was true. We are getting a van. I've gone through three cars in three months here and none have been from wrecks or anything.
Elder T. S. is serving in KW1. His mom is S. S....if grandma knows them. He said that he remembered going and visiting with grandma with his mom. I just think that is so funny. Our district, 6 missionaries, is quite random. Two are from Idaho Falls, two are from Kearns, and two are from Tremonton....weird! We have some good conversations.
Anyway, I don't even know what to say to all of you this week other than things are so great. Oh! I did get lots of clothes because the other sisters left. It is a bit ridiculous. We have a huge pile in our living room, but we are waiting for the other sisters to look through it.
My favorite quote of the week:
"What do trumpets have to do with God?" --R.
R. is this 60 yr old woman who smokes a ton. She lives in a trailer with her two kids and they don't have an easy life, you can tell. The other sisters were teaching her so we stopped by. We were teaching her about the restoration again because her understanding wasn't there. I told her that a prophet is like a mouthpiece. I told her that just like trumpets have mouthpieces, prophets are mouthpieces for the Lord. Then, she asked that question. She was looking at me so Sis. K. busted up (silently laughing of course). I had to maintain my composure. That was hard!
Hmm....I don't even know what to say! Things are just going fantastically and I'll probably have more to say next week. Our goal is to have a baptism every weekend in November, so if you want to pray for that, we will be doing the same! I know it can happen. There is good potential everywhere we look!
Well, I know ya'll are sick of reading this and hearing me babble on with my fingers so I'll let you go. I hope that you all have a fabuloso week and I'll talk to you later skater!
Love,
Jackie
Monday, October 11, 2010
October 11, 2010
Hi!
so....everything changed...but nothing at the same time. It is quite weird. I dropped off Sister F. today, Sister H. and Sister M. were there too. I will miss them. Now I'm hanging out with Sis. S. and Sis. P. until my comp gets here. She is coming later on the bus. I'm thinking I will get Sis. K., but I could be wrong. She was just trained by Sister W.....She is my "granddaughter" lol....Sis. W. is training again. She is powerhouse. I'm a fan.
They decided to close the other Sister's area in P., so now I will be covering the whole KW2 Ward. That should be fun. Well, now I'll get to go out of the triangle. Elder S. from Tremonton is in KW1 now so we have some BRV power I guess.
This week has been fun. Sis. F. has been ready to go I think. The ward just found out on Sunday that the three of them were leaving. They kept it under wraps pretty good. I laughed. We had to do a lot of "goodbye" visits....
Oh! So there is this kid in KW1 that has a bit of a crush on me....don't worry that he remembered my name from when I told him 4 months ago. I didn't think I'd ever see him again. Remember the YSA crawfish boil boy story? Well, we saw him in KW at the pizza place after a meeting. He came over and talked to me and was excited to hear that I didn't have a LONG time left. I think it is pretty messed up. As long as he doesn't find out that we are in the same building at church I think I'll be ok. It will be really funny...Don't worry, it is a story you almost have to hear in person because I can't really explain the way he was dancing and I just don't have time to even explain what I mean by that. BUT!!!! Remind me and I'll tell you later skaters!
Elder C. from the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked to us on Saturday. It was awesome! I learned so much. He wanted to shake all of our hands before the meeting. Well, there were three missions worth of missionaries there so it took about a half an hour. We were wondering why we were supposed to do that. He told us that the authorities have a special power to be able to discern our spirits and he said that a few of the missionaries needed interviews with the President! He didn't single them out, it was just funny. He taught us from on high for quite some time....well, an hour. He was the one in conference with the heavy accent that said he was a convert. He told us more of the story of his conversion. It is a pretty awesome story. He is a cool guy. He is in charge of the southwest area and he told us that we are a pretty big deal. Well, he didn't say that exact thing, but I did.
He did tell us that something special was happening in the area. We are all experiencing miracles. Texas is on fire. He told us more about listening to the spirit.
There is a section in PMG about being a successful missionary. One of the bullet points is that we listen to the Spirit. I have been working so hard on being able to do that always. We had a cool experience the other day, where we were able to go to someone's house that was in real need. We got them a blessing from their neighbor. The look on their faces were priceless! I never realized what a blessing it was to have the power of the Priesthood in the home. The power is real. Through blessings, the lord speaks to us. He tells us things pertaining to us. I love it so much. I need to write that one in the journal so I don't forget it!
I've been trying to be really good about writing in my journal every night. Well, this week has been slacking a bit so I am going to go back and write. I'm going to fill up the journal. It will be great. It is such a cute one. Thanks for it! :D
Well, I love ya'll so much. I can't really think of anything else to say. Have a blessed week and I'll talk to you later!
Jackie
The C. family. We play soccer with them on Saturday mornings.
Sister H., Me, Sister M.
Sister F. and Me
Oh! And I may get to go to an airplane hangar in C., TX and watch other people fly in a private airplane while I play ping pong with possibly interested people and eat hot dogs....so fun, right?
Love ya'll!
so....everything changed...but nothing at the same time. It is quite weird. I dropped off Sister F. today, Sister H. and Sister M. were there too. I will miss them. Now I'm hanging out with Sis. S. and Sis. P. until my comp gets here. She is coming later on the bus. I'm thinking I will get Sis. K., but I could be wrong. She was just trained by Sister W.....She is my "granddaughter" lol....Sis. W. is training again. She is powerhouse. I'm a fan.
They decided to close the other Sister's area in P., so now I will be covering the whole KW2 Ward. That should be fun. Well, now I'll get to go out of the triangle. Elder S. from Tremonton is in KW1 now so we have some BRV power I guess.
This week has been fun. Sis. F. has been ready to go I think. The ward just found out on Sunday that the three of them were leaving. They kept it under wraps pretty good. I laughed. We had to do a lot of "goodbye" visits....
Oh! So there is this kid in KW1 that has a bit of a crush on me....don't worry that he remembered my name from when I told him 4 months ago. I didn't think I'd ever see him again. Remember the YSA crawfish boil boy story? Well, we saw him in KW at the pizza place after a meeting. He came over and talked to me and was excited to hear that I didn't have a LONG time left. I think it is pretty messed up. As long as he doesn't find out that we are in the same building at church I think I'll be ok. It will be really funny...Don't worry, it is a story you almost have to hear in person because I can't really explain the way he was dancing and I just don't have time to even explain what I mean by that. BUT!!!! Remind me and I'll tell you later skaters!
Elder C. from the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked to us on Saturday. It was awesome! I learned so much. He wanted to shake all of our hands before the meeting. Well, there were three missions worth of missionaries there so it took about a half an hour. We were wondering why we were supposed to do that. He told us that the authorities have a special power to be able to discern our spirits and he said that a few of the missionaries needed interviews with the President! He didn't single them out, it was just funny. He taught us from on high for quite some time....well, an hour. He was the one in conference with the heavy accent that said he was a convert. He told us more of the story of his conversion. It is a pretty awesome story. He is a cool guy. He is in charge of the southwest area and he told us that we are a pretty big deal. Well, he didn't say that exact thing, but I did.
He did tell us that something special was happening in the area. We are all experiencing miracles. Texas is on fire. He told us more about listening to the spirit.
There is a section in PMG about being a successful missionary. One of the bullet points is that we listen to the Spirit. I have been working so hard on being able to do that always. We had a cool experience the other day, where we were able to go to someone's house that was in real need. We got them a blessing from their neighbor. The look on their faces were priceless! I never realized what a blessing it was to have the power of the Priesthood in the home. The power is real. Through blessings, the lord speaks to us. He tells us things pertaining to us. I love it so much. I need to write that one in the journal so I don't forget it!
I've been trying to be really good about writing in my journal every night. Well, this week has been slacking a bit so I am going to go back and write. I'm going to fill up the journal. It will be great. It is such a cute one. Thanks for it! :D
Well, I love ya'll so much. I can't really think of anything else to say. Have a blessed week and I'll talk to you later!
Jackie
The C. family. We play soccer with them on Saturday mornings.
Sister H., Me, Sister M.
Sister F. and Me
Oh! And I may get to go to an airplane hangar in C., TX and watch other people fly in a private airplane while I play ping pong with possibly interested people and eat hot dogs....so fun, right?
Love ya'll!
Monday, October 4, 2010
October 4, 2010
Hi There!
Transfers are next week. We've been playing around and not really doing anything today. It has been interesting and fun.... It is weird that there is only a week left until the three Sisters in the ward go home. The Zone Leaders just keep telling them they are trunky and it doesn't matter what they do. I get so annoyed.
We've been working like crazy! We were tracting a few weeks ago and found a man that said we could go to his house sometime (he was at a friend's house). He said if his truck was home, he was home. We had a member-E. with us and an appointment fell through. I felt like we should visit this man G. Well, when we got there, he wasn't home, but his wife/girlfriend figure was there. She'd met with missionaries before and had gone to church for a long time. She wasn't ever baptized because she didn't want to change the religion that her parents chose for her.
Well, after an awesome lesson, we found out that her and E. were in the same class at college. They were able to make arrangements to study together. We see I. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and her classes with E. are on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. Perfect.....
It is really cool how the Lord works through us to allow the blessing of others. We randomly were able to make that work. I'm grateful I was able to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. AND....they came to Conference! I., G. (her husband), and C., her nine year old son. I was so happy to see them!
Conference was definitely a highlight. We had 5 investigators come. We haven't had a single person at church until this week. I'm pretty sure they liked what they saw, so they will be there next week for a regular service....It will be great!
We finally met the ward mission leader last Tuesday. It has only been a month here....haha. He has a cool alligator snapping turtle. It would eat my hand if I let it. Maybe I said that.
Between conference sessions on Saturday we were able to go tracting. We met a woman that told us she was searching. We also met a lady who had a giant boa python and we watched her feed it mice. It was crazy. We sat in the snake's (yes, the snake's) room and taught her a lesson. It was exciting...I could've died (jk...it was gentle, I'm sure).
I thought of the best idea ever.....ready? Who is going to help me do it fam? It is a quit smoking ashtray. How this works is that we have an ashtray where at the bottom you can insert a picture. i.e. a picture of Christ or a picture of your family. By so doing, it helps people to remember the loved ones that want them to quit....enabling them to have more willpower....what do you think? This is going to be a winner. Maybe you can tell T. and she can start making the ashtrays out of her pots or however that works....
So again...Conference was amazing! I got so many answers to all my questions. It was great!
A.'s baptism was amazing! I was so happy. I was able to see all of A. again. D., our neighbor went. We knocked on his door about an hour before the baptism and said, "Hey, there is a baptism in an hour, get on your church clothes, get your bike and let's go!" He totally came! We biked over to the church and watched it. It was a little weird biking back at 9:30pm but we have lights...don't worry.
Speaking of which, we have been biking lots. Our area was a bike area but we have a car. It is so fun to bike. The weather is perfect for it now...70s.....so we go. I highly enjoy it though the helmets are nerdy. I like the greenbelt trails that are all around K. so we don't have to go mainroading it all the time. And, unlike Brian's area, mine is completely flat. We do have one bridge...the altitude gets to me, but hey, I'm turning into a pansy....with really tough legs....
Soccer is still super fun. Brother C. has me considering playing college ball, though, I'd have to run a lot....and I couldn't go to a Junior College because I have my associates...I'd have to play with the big kids....lol. Maybe.
So...the pictures. One is of S. O. and I. She is the one that I talked to about her dogs at the mailbox for a while, then while tracting we got a phone call from a member whose husband worked with S.'s sister and said S. was interested. We taught her once, she accepted baptism, and there she was. :D
The other is A. H. and A. L.'s baptism. A. we taught for a while, and A. we gave the Elders the heads up he wasn't baptized but comes to everything....these boys are definitely converted to the gospel and not just to the elders pushing them into baptism. It is great.
The last one is of Sister F. and I after District Meeting. Lunch at Quiznos....it was good.
Wow, sorry this is so long. I actually wrote down what I was going to say. That is probably the key.
How is the baby news going? More info? Less? What do we have.....haha
I love you all so much! I'm grateful to be able to be here in Texas. The people are great and the work is really picking up. It just takes focus and concentration, right padre?
Have a great week! I know I will!
Jackie
Transfers are next week. We've been playing around and not really doing anything today. It has been interesting and fun.... It is weird that there is only a week left until the three Sisters in the ward go home. The Zone Leaders just keep telling them they are trunky and it doesn't matter what they do. I get so annoyed.
We've been working like crazy! We were tracting a few weeks ago and found a man that said we could go to his house sometime (he was at a friend's house). He said if his truck was home, he was home. We had a member-E. with us and an appointment fell through. I felt like we should visit this man G. Well, when we got there, he wasn't home, but his wife/girlfriend figure was there. She'd met with missionaries before and had gone to church for a long time. She wasn't ever baptized because she didn't want to change the religion that her parents chose for her.
Well, after an awesome lesson, we found out that her and E. were in the same class at college. They were able to make arrangements to study together. We see I. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and her classes with E. are on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. Perfect.....
It is really cool how the Lord works through us to allow the blessing of others. We randomly were able to make that work. I'm grateful I was able to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. AND....they came to Conference! I., G. (her husband), and C., her nine year old son. I was so happy to see them!
Conference was definitely a highlight. We had 5 investigators come. We haven't had a single person at church until this week. I'm pretty sure they liked what they saw, so they will be there next week for a regular service....It will be great!
We finally met the ward mission leader last Tuesday. It has only been a month here....haha. He has a cool alligator snapping turtle. It would eat my hand if I let it. Maybe I said that.
Between conference sessions on Saturday we were able to go tracting. We met a woman that told us she was searching. We also met a lady who had a giant boa python and we watched her feed it mice. It was crazy. We sat in the snake's (yes, the snake's) room and taught her a lesson. It was exciting...I could've died (jk...it was gentle, I'm sure).
I thought of the best idea ever.....ready? Who is going to help me do it fam? It is a quit smoking ashtray. How this works is that we have an ashtray where at the bottom you can insert a picture. i.e. a picture of Christ or a picture of your family. By so doing, it helps people to remember the loved ones that want them to quit....enabling them to have more willpower....what do you think? This is going to be a winner. Maybe you can tell T. and she can start making the ashtrays out of her pots or however that works....
So again...Conference was amazing! I got so many answers to all my questions. It was great!
A.'s baptism was amazing! I was so happy. I was able to see all of A. again. D., our neighbor went. We knocked on his door about an hour before the baptism and said, "Hey, there is a baptism in an hour, get on your church clothes, get your bike and let's go!" He totally came! We biked over to the church and watched it. It was a little weird biking back at 9:30pm but we have lights...don't worry.
Speaking of which, we have been biking lots. Our area was a bike area but we have a car. It is so fun to bike. The weather is perfect for it now...70s.....so we go. I highly enjoy it though the helmets are nerdy. I like the greenbelt trails that are all around K. so we don't have to go mainroading it all the time. And, unlike Brian's area, mine is completely flat. We do have one bridge...the altitude gets to me, but hey, I'm turning into a pansy....with really tough legs....
Soccer is still super fun. Brother C. has me considering playing college ball, though, I'd have to run a lot....and I couldn't go to a Junior College because I have my associates...I'd have to play with the big kids....lol. Maybe.
So...the pictures. One is of S. O. and I. She is the one that I talked to about her dogs at the mailbox for a while, then while tracting we got a phone call from a member whose husband worked with S.'s sister and said S. was interested. We taught her once, she accepted baptism, and there she was. :D
The other is A. H. and A. L.'s baptism. A. we taught for a while, and A. we gave the Elders the heads up he wasn't baptized but comes to everything....these boys are definitely converted to the gospel and not just to the elders pushing them into baptism. It is great.
The last one is of Sister F. and I after District Meeting. Lunch at Quiznos....it was good.
Wow, sorry this is so long. I actually wrote down what I was going to say. That is probably the key.
How is the baby news going? More info? Less? What do we have.....haha
I love you all so much! I'm grateful to be able to be here in Texas. The people are great and the work is really picking up. It just takes focus and concentration, right padre?
Have a great week! I know I will!
Jackie
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