Busy Busy Bees

Hello all!

This week has been so crazy, I don't know where to start! We have a
new investigator that we're super excited about- well, it's actually a
family! They are amazing and we really are hopeful that they will be
baptized! We've only taught two lessons so far, and we're going back
on Wednesday. We've met with so many people, I've lost count. The
thing that's brought us the most success has definitely been focusing
on part- member families and on names that members of the ward council
gave us. We've also been shotgun tracting- meaning we just knock a few
doors around whoever we're visiting! We've actually seen a lot of
success from that- we've met two people who are interested and that
we'll hopefully be teaching! We've also been meeting with a lot of
people who are less active, and will be teaching some of them as well.
Hopefully they will feel the Spirit and a desire to come back to
church! God definitely does not do random- we were able to have things
come together so that we could see and meet people we needed to
multiple times. Yesterday we actually went to see someone and as we
got out of the car to go their apartment, we ran into him right by our
parking spot coming back from getting a package! It was crazy! We've
seen a lot of miracles this week! I am more tired than I've ever been,
but also more motivated- there's a lot to do!

As for funny stories...well, we had a few! This one is the best
though- We were at Cortina's house (she was baptized recently so we're
teaching her the recent convert lessons) and she has a lot of animals.
She's got a gorgeous black poodle named Misty, a chameleon, a lizard,
and a turtle. So of course we wanted to hold the turtle. He's tiny,
fits in the palm of your hand. Well, I guess Sister Forsyth made him
nervous or something because he peed all over her! We laughed really
hard about that. And we went out to sushi this week- Sister Forsyth
has never had sushi before! We ate a lot. We even ate fish eggs! I
tried the raw tuna and it was pretty weird. Then last night, we met
this old man who was definitely interesting. A less active member,
kind of grouchy- we'd been asked to drop by. Sister Forsyth shared the
'You Are Special' story with the puppets with gray dots and gold stars
(even though we couldn't remember the names of the puppets). He had
this sweet dog named Oscar....who was so filthy! My skirt had
gray....stuff from his fur all over, and my fingers were gray where I
scratched his ears!

This week has been amazing for my testimony too. As we've met so many
different people who either have left the church, or haven't yet
joined, or even meeting with active members, I feel like I've learned
a lot about how different each of Heavenly Father's children are. In
Relief Society yesterday, we talked about the parable of the seeds,
and the discussion stuck on the seeds in stony ground, those who
"received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the
word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself,
but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth
because of the word, by and by he is offended." (Matt 13:20-21). We
have seen a lot of people who left the church because they were
offended, by doctrine, or by an individual. As we talk to them, I just
want to tell them, "can't you see you're risking your own salvation on
hurt feelings? Can't you see that you're hurting yourself even more by
leaving church meetings behind?" And as they've left behind going to
church, many of them have also neglected their scripture study and
prayers as well. Sister Forsyth and I talked about it in training, how
leaving church because of offense is like trying to stab someone else
with the hilt of a sword- sure they may get bruises, but the person
holding the sword is hurt far worse. This rambled on for far longer
than I meant it to, but the real point is, do not lose sight of the
big picture. Why do we go to church? To partake of the Sacrament and
renew our covenants. We go to church for God, not for people. (The
people just come as a package deal). We go to church because we
spiritually need that for our week. We go to church because we are all
imperfect. There is a bigger picture to be seen. Why are we a part of
this church? Because it is true. Because it is the one path to
salvation. I know I cannot afford to leave this path behind. I read in
Matthew 16, "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Okay, I promise that's it for the rambling! It's just something I've
been thinking about a lot this week- focusing on the big, eternal
picture for our own progression. Speaking of eternal progression,
someone I was teaching in Hazel Dell got baptized this week and we got
to go! His name is Logan. He's an eleven year old that we were
teaching because he didn't get baptized at eight. It was really great
to be there! It was weird too, to be back in Hazel Dell, because I
feel like I've changed so much since leaving even though it hasn't
been that long.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Stay close to what you
know is right, and don't forget to step back and look at the big
picture sometimes!

Stay strong!
Sister Jacobs

Sister Forsyth tries Sushi for the First Time

From a text message received today!  Thank you to wonderful people who share with us their love for our sweet Sister Jacobs!

First Transfer to Mountain View

Hello all!

This week has been a wild ride from start to finish- it feels like
it's been a month! I can't believe that just three or four days ago, I
was still in Hazel Dell. The last few days there were busy as well-
saying goodbye, teaching people, and Sister Girot and I got to take
two new sisters out for the first time! Their names were Sister
Marsden and Sister Foster. We had two appointments but they both fell
through, so we went and tracted a bit at this complex we'd been
meaning to visit, and it went so well! We talked to a lot of people
and quite a few were interested, I think! Of course, they're all in an
interesting spot in their lives- everyone in that complex is being
evicted for about two weeks because of a change in ownership.

Wednesday was pretty crazy. We had a mission-wide transfer meeting so
everyone came to the mission office, and President Taylor spoke. It
was amazing. President Taylor is an incredible man and a great leader.
He spoke for a while and got us all fired up again about Then we
swapped out companions, got set up, and headed out! Only it took me
and Sister Forsyth a bit longer, because it turns out we're reopening
an area (so we got whitewashed too). So we had to get car keys, a
phone, figure out housing, etc. We actually didn't get into the house
until about 4:30- we live with a mom and her daughter, and the mom
works, and the daughter isn't home from school until then. So we had
to put our groceries in someone else's fridge for an hour or two. It
actually worked out- we'd already met our ward mission leader's wife
because she came to pick us up since I guess our area didn't used to
have a car, so we went there and talked with her and met her husband,
Brother Winks. Then we dropped off our suitcases and we met with a few
people and figured out who we could go see and met with the bishop and
the STLs who used to be covering this area (they covered two wards,
but now they've only got the YSA ward). Anyway, cool story, it turns
out that on my first day when Sister De Leon (who is one of the STLs)
and Sister Eyerly took me to an appointment, it was in this area. So I
already know one of the investigators here! And that was something
they were worried about, I think- the transition between sisters. It
was pretty cool. I'm glad I get to help teach her!

So for the past couple of days, we've been busy, busy, busy with
visiting people and getting to know our ward. We've been meeting with
auxiliaries and getting names. Sister Forsyth says the best place to
start is part-member families, and that seems to be true. We've had a
lot of success already with going and setting up appointments with some
of them. Hopefully we get to teach them all! We have so many names
that I'm actually working on compiling a master list of people we need
to visit. The sisters over this area before weren't really able to
concentrate on the work here, because they had a lot of
responsibilities in the YSA ward. Everyone here has been really
excited to have their own missionaries finally. So there's a lot to do
and organize, and get to know about the area. It has so much potential
and I'm so excited to see what happens!

Sister Forsyth is amazing! She has been out for fifteen months, so
this might be her last area before she goes home. We actually got to
go to a baptism in her last area on Saturday morning- that was cool!
I've been learning a lot from her about how to be more effective at
just talking to people, and how to really work with the ward. We have
knocked maybe ten doors since we got here, and yet I feel more
productive now than ever. We've been so focused on the ward and who we
can work with, how we can help out. Our visits with the auxiliaries
were amazing, and we were able to get so much on our lists of people
to visit and what to do. We've started visiting and trying to set up
appointments. I feel like I'm learning so much on how to run an area
and get things organized. It's been a blast. Our area is pretty small
too, so we can get a lot done since it's so easy to get everywhere.
This transfer and this area are going to be spectacular!

As for the spiritual side of things, this week has been amazing.
President Taylor gave us a scripture study assignment the transfer
before I got here, and I've been going through it. It's a list of
chapters in the Book of Mormon. There are so many powerful chapters
about the doctrine of Christ and what we teach. I feel like I've been
learning so much. I've actually been reading my scriptures just about
every chance I get just because they're so powerful. The scriptures
are amazing. I love how they teach powerfully and simply about what we
need to know to obtain salvation. The Spirit is so strong every time I
open the, and I've been able to learn so much about things that can
help me, and things that can help people we teach. Actually, I'm going
to include the list of chapters in this email, and I challenge all of
you to read them. You cannot miss the Spirit that will flow into your
life. Your desire to follow Christ will be strengthened and your
knowledge of how to follow him will increase. I know this because it's
happened to me, even just in the last couple days. I can feel myself
changing and becoming who my Father in Heaven wants me to be.  I think
that already I'm not the same person who left on my mission in a lot
of ways. So read the chapters! You will not regret it!

I love you all! You are always in my prayers. Stay strong!
Sister Jacobs

24 Carrot Sister Missionaries

Received this text and picture from a member in Sister Jacobs' Ward:

"Sister Jacobs was pulling carrots and engaged in a conversation with another lady (non-member) telling her all about our church and the gospel."

"She is a wonderful servant of the Lord and still giving service to the local food bank as well."

"I love this daughter of yours as do all who come to know her!"

Spiritual Upliftment & Transfer Time

Hello all!

The news is in.....I'm getting transferred! I'm going to the Mountain
View ward in the Vancouver Stake this Wednesday. It's bittersweet- I
know it's where the Lord needs me, but I will miss Hazel Dell! My new
companion will be Sister Forsyth.

Anyway, as for everything that happened the rest of the week, it's
been pretty crazy! On Monday night we ate dinner with someone we hope
to teach (hopefully I'll have a picture next week). It's a family, and
everyone has been baptized except for the mom- including the great
grandma! They are full of personality.

We've done quite a bit of tracting this week, since a lot of our
appointments fell through. We met quite a few nice people! We're
running out of places to go though..... I placed a Book of Mormon too!
We were talking to this woman and she was really nice. She seemed
pretty interested and we had a great conversation. She said she had a
lot of LDS friends and before we left I felt like I needed to ask if
she'd ever been offered a Book of Mormon before and she said no! So we
left her with one!

Zone meeting was on Wednesday, and that was a lot of fun. We had some
great trainings. We really focused on the Standard of Excellence and
on working with the members and getting them excited. We talked about
how to invite members to invite people to things, and how to structure
our dinner thoughts to help excite them. Thursday we has a sister
study with the traveling APs and that was also awesome. That focused
more on extending commitments and on making our message personal
(because it is). We talked about how important it is that they feel
that the Gospel is true. We've had a lot of spiritual uplift-ment this
week. Thursday was also when we got our transfer letters. We also went
tracting and accidentally re-tracted into someone that Sister Girot
had placed a Book of Mormon with before, so that was kind of funny! He
was really nice, and he said he had the book on his desk but hadn't
read it yet.

On Friday we had interviews with President Taylor, so that was pretty
cool! They were shorter than I thought, but it makes sense- there's a
lot of missionaries to interview. We also had some fun appointments.
We met with someone for the first time, and we weren't sure if she was
a member or not. The first time we met, she said she'd been raised in
the church. So we talked to her, and she said she went when she was
younger because of her stepdad but wasn't baptized. Then we were
talking at the end of the lesson and we said "eventually we'll invite
you to be baptized" and she said she already had been, a few years
ago! So it was a bit confusing. But she wants the lessons! She is
pretty cool.

Saturday was the real adventure! We had a service project in the
morning- the Carrot Fest. There's a farm in our area that grows food
for the Clark County food banks. So volunteers come and help out. We
picked so many carrots. We actually picked them too fast- they had us
stop and go pick corn instead! We also helped wash and bag the
carrots. We were there all morning, and we got a new investigator! We
started talking to someone and she was really nice, and she was
interested! It was awesome.

Anyway, life is just great out here. I can't believe it's Monday
already- time goes by faster and faster as I get used to the routine.
It is so great to be here. I feel so much closer to the Spirit and it
is so nice to see people progressing and just making small changes.
Missions are great!

Love you all! Stay strong!
Sister Jacobs

Service and Rain

Hello!

This week we've finally been getting that rain we've heard so much

about! The temperatures have dropped pretty significantly- from the

90s to the 60s... Anyway, it's been cold! But, luckily for me and

Sister Girot, somehow we manage to be inside every time it really

starts pouring. As someone said the other day, we've got the big man

on our side.

It's been a great week for service as well! I think we helped out with

something just about every day this week. We've weeded, and helped

organize papers, and reorganized a garage...and we helped put up one

of those wires that goes with the shock collar for dogs, to keep them

from running out in the street. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun! As a

missionary, doing service and weeding is a lot more fun than it used

to be, that's for sure.

We've been finding a lot of people- our new and potential

investigators lists are really long! Hopefully over time, a lot of

those will become progressing investigators. Before I came out on my

mission, I didn't realize how much time it can take to really teach

someone. One of the brothers in our ward said it's probably because

the stories we hear are about the converts who were waiting for the

missionaries. It really does take time! We are doing our best to meet

our goals, and working with the members as well.

We've had so much Chinese food this week. One night with the Trumbos,

and the next night with Lily who is a recent convert, and they both

gave us leftovers! I think there's still some in our fridge. Lily is

really wonderful. She's from China, so sometimes it can be difficult

to understand her. But I find that the more I focus on listening and

pray for the ability to understand, the easier it becomes. She asks

wonderful questions. Something else interesting I've seen while being

here- recent converts often give the most sincere and spiritual

prayers. They are so humble, and they are really talking to God.

That's a goal I've been working on for myself, to pray more sincerely

and really talk to my Father in heaven and rely on His strength more

than my own.

It's been interesting to really see how the Lord works in people's

lives to make things go the way He needs them to go. He truly is in

every detail. He organizes and influences us to meet others at the

right time, and we just have to act on and follow His guidance. He can

see the whole picture, and we can only see part of it. He will never

lead us wrong!

As for a spiritual thought, I read a pretty cool quote this morning

while studying for one of our lessons. It's from this past General

Conference, and it was on the lds.org homepage too. It says:

“Marriage is more than your love for each other. … In your love you

see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link

in the chain of the generations, which God causes to come and to pass

away to his glory, and calls into his kingdom. In your love you see

only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed

at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love

is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something

personal--it is a status, an office. Just as it is the crown, and not

merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and

not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the

sight of God and man. … So love comes from you, but marriage from

above, from God.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

The family is an eternal principle and a pattern established before

this life even began! By striving to have that pattern in our lives,

we can receive the greatest happiness and joy possible.

Stay strong!

Sister Jacobs

Rescuing Daniel, O-Rings, Change, and More Small Miracles

Hello all!

This has been the longest week- it feels like it's been a whole month.
So much has happened. A lot of tracting, but we did get some return
appointments with some referrals and potentials that we visited! We're
excited to teach more. We had our zone conference on Tuesday- it was
incredible (and an hour away so it used up a lot of our miles for the
month...). We had a few different speakers and breakout sessions, and
we went through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so faith, repentance,
baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the
end. Sister Taylor talked about faith. She asked us why God didn't
remove Daniel from the lion's den. Then she said it was to show him
and us that it's better for God to save us in our difficulties than to
save us from our difficulties. Daniel should have been eaten alive,
but God held the lions back, and He can hold back our personal lions
as well if we have faith in Him.

 Then the APs talked about baptism and
confirmation and how important they are. Being baptized and confirmed
by the proper authority is essential to our salvation. Without it, we
cannot progress very far. In 3 Nephi 11 when Christ visits the
Americas, the first thing he talks about with them is baptism. After
all His sufferings and all He endured, baptism is what He taught
first- it was the most important thing He could teach the Nephites.

President Taylor concluded the conference with repentance. He talked
about it as a lifelong process, and how we have the wrong idea about
it sometimes. We sometimes think that repentance is a bad thing, but
it's not. It's how we grow, and it is so wonderful and so hopeful for
us. He talked about the Greek word "metanoeo" where "meta" is change
and "noeo" is either mind, knowledge, or breath. So to repent is a
change of mind and of knowledge. He also talked about a cool phrase,
"normalization of deviance." He talked about the Challenger expedition
and about how the problem was caused because of something they'd
ignored. They had these O- rings that sealed off the fuel from the
rockets, but whenever they recovered shuttles, these O-rings were
burnt (not burnt through, just burnt). They tried to fix it for a long
time, but finally they just decided that this burning of the rings was
normal, and fine because nothing bad had happened. Well, with the
Challenger, these O-rings burnt through and the ship exploded. It was
because of this "normalization of deviance" - because nothing bad had
happened yet, they just decided it was normal, but it caused a
tragedy. Sin is like this, and we have to be so careful. That's how
Satan gets us. He makes sin look enticing, like nothing bad has ever
happened because of doing this one thing. It's like boiling a frog.
But we have the Atonement and repentance, and that gives me a lot of
hope. Even when I mess up, that doesn't mean I'm lost forever. I can
change and leave that mistake behind. He said to us "you are doing
better than you think." That's true of everyone- I think we are all a
lot of the time doing better than we think we are.

On Wednesday, we had a really cool District moment. For training, we'd
watched this video from The District, where the elders started talking
to some maintenance guys and ended up getting a return appointment
with them. Then that day when we were headed home from lunch, we
spotted the landscaping guys also talking lunch, and we just thought
"why not?" So we started talking to them. Long story short, we gave
two of them Spanish Book of Mormons, and we got the information for
one of them!

We had a few other tiny miracles this week, where because we stayed
somewhere for a few more minutes instead of rushing off, we got to
talk to someone we hadn't seen in a while. That happened twice this
week, and the first time, we also found someone who cuts hair! Sister
Girot has been wanting a haircut, so that was a blessing. We also met
with some new move-ins, the Zabriskies, and Sister Zabriskie said she
would love to come out with us during the day! That was also an
incredible blessing. We don't have enough sisters who can go out with
us during the day.

We also put two people on date! One of them, his family has been
wanting him to get baptized, but they hadn't committed to a date yet,
and the lessons were going slower than they liked. So we set a goal to
work towards and he's going to be baptized on September 26! The other
one is a new investigator of ours. He's the one with the banana boxes
that I mentioned last week. He actually asked for help with starting
to clean them out and organize them. It's been pretty cool.

On Friday, we had a zone comp study and we went over chapter 9 of PMG.
That was cool, to hear what everyone took from it and thought about
it. And they gave us cheesecake afterwards.

Beyond that, it's been a lot of knocking doors. We've asked people for
referrals, and the Zabriskies gave us some but none are in our area!
And we went street contacting, and found someone interested- also in
another ward. But we've got a pretty large teaching pool still, and
we've just got to keep going! It's been pretty great. It isn't easy,
that's for sure, and it's emotionally draining, but it's worth it. We
are building firm foundations of faith for ourselves, and helping
others begin to build their own. And we eat some fabulous food.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! You are all in my prayers.

Stay strong!
Sister Jacobs

PS I want to see what you guys are up to as well!