Week #24: The Craziness Continues...

This week has been another adventure. Things always seem to get crazy
right before transfers. On Monday, both our appointments had to cancel
for stomach flu- it's been making the rounds. So far we've been
spared! And we're keeping clean so that the stomach bug stays away. On
Tuesday, Felicia was sick so we didn't get to meet with her either. We
met a couple members of the ward who said they weren't Mormon anymore
(but their names are in the ward directory). We're making a list so we
can give it to the ward clerk so people don't bug them too much. Our
dinner appointment was at a different place than we expected because
they had to have a biopsy done. Then, we had our first lesson with the
Cruzes which was awesome! They definitely have testimonies, despite
not having been to church in 25 years. And they are super protective
of us. It's kinda awesome. Wednesday was actually pretty normal! We
got to take some time to practice for the musical number for zone
meeting on Thursday morning (which went awesome!). On Thursday night,
two out of our three appointments fell through but it worked out
alright in the end.

On Friday, there was the departing temple trip for missionaries going
home, and Sister De Leon had to go so we got to drive to the mission
office and pick up Sister Floyd. Well we were going to do our weekly
planning session at the mission office. We were about an hour in when
Elder Funk comes and asks us if we can help drive some brand new cars
from the dealership back to the office (that was a fun adventure)
which took an hour and a half, by which time we had to leave and head
back to our area- we had a lunch date with Sister Arbuckle just to see
how she's doing and such. Her family is awesome- she's the only one
who is baptized but her 12 year old daughter Elissa is a dry Mormon-
she comes to church, Young Women's, etc. Her husband loves having the
missionaries over but still isn't real,y into the gospel. And her son
comes to Mutual every week. So we did that, then had a lesson for
Sister Floyd, then ran back to the mission office, dropped off Sister
Floyd, and came back for dinner. So we didn't quite finish our weekly
planning. Then Saturday was busy too. And Sunday after church, someone
pulled the fire alarm! So it's been an adventure. Also, I bought a
cool hat! (On Monday, not Sunday). I'll include a picture. I figured
it would be great for the rain.


Anyway, as for transfer news....... We're both being transferred,
Sister Heath to Spain, and I'm going to Africa! Just kidding- but it
feels just as weird. We are both staying in the Mountain View ward! I
get to have a companion for more than six weeks, which is really
exciting. And I will have been in this ward for six months. Also,  I
will have been out for six months as of this Friday! It's pretty
exciting! We're going to go out for ice cream, courtesy of Sister
Heath's grandpa.

This week has been crazy, but it's also been really good. We've gotten
a lot of work done and really is ward is starting to grow! As for the
scripture that's been my favorite this week- I've loved Moses 6:34-
Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify;
and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn
from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore
walk with me.


The Lord has so much power and if we put our faith in Him we cannot go
wrong. Sometimes the world tries to tell us that He asks too much,
that it's crazy, impractical, etc. But it's really not- think of all
He can do, and His promises. If we follow Him, we will have so much
more than the world could even offer. So I challenge you all to test
this out- follow Him, maybe do something that you haven't been, and
see what happens.

Love you all! Have an awesome week!
Sister Jacobs

Week #23: Such is Life

Hello all! This week has been an odd one for sure.

We met with a lot of new less-active members this week! They are all
such amazing people. I think I've talked about the Cruzes before- we
are officially teaching them now! And Gabe as well- you might remember
him from way back like three months ago, he was the kid with the
unicorn mask. We met with him and asked if we could come back and he
said that would be nice! He's a really good kid, just needs a little
push. It helps that they live right across the street from the church!

We did a lot of knocking and visiting less active members as well. We
set a record number of people talked to in one day for the two of us!
That was awesome. We followed up with a lot of people too. We've made
a lot of awesome goals to work with the members of our ward better and
to be better missionaries, and it's been showing some results already.
We're really excited to see what happens as we continue! And Brother
Winks, our ward mission leader has been working on a cool idea-
helping the ward create family mission plans! It's an awesome idea.
I'm looking forward to working together with the families to help them
make goals to reach out to others! That is the best way to do this
work!

Most of the rest of the week got overshadowed by Saturday. That was a
weird day....it started off pretty normal! Well, not really. That was
when we found out that President Taylor had a mild heart attack. The
zone leaders asked on Friday if I could play the piano for a musical
number on Thursday so we took some time in the morning to practice and
helped clean the church. We had an awesome correlation and afterwards
we decided to go by a less active lady's home. Well she answered the
door and she was pretty emotional but kind of odd. She started telling
us about her life problems (some pretty serious ones resulting in
baseball bat holes in the wall...) and showing us all these
documents...well, turns out she was pretty wasted. So we told her God
loved her and we left, basically. It was a very weird experience. Then
that evening we were driving to our dinner appointment and we got in a
fender bender! It was nothing serious and no one was injured at all-
just cosmetic damage to the cars, really. But I was freaking out
because I had no idea what was going on. See, we'd driven up to the
light and gotten into the left turn lane when the guy next to us
decided to turn left, side swiped us, moved back, and hit the bumper
of a third car. The third car was furious. The guy in the truck didn't
even realize he'd hit us! So it was a mess. But everything worked out
(we prayed really hard) and all the paperwork is done and it wasn't my
fault, so everything is okay! But it was a crazy evening. Needless to
say, we didn't make it to dinner.

Sunday, we took it pretty slow and we got everything organized for
today, and right now we're at the mission office. We did the paperwork
we needed to do and now we're temporary office secretaries while the
staff are in a meeting! President Taylor is having surgery but he's
confident and calm. He assured us everything would be okay in his
weekly email and actually said "it will take more than a heart attack
to stop the WVM!!!" He is a very strong man and a great leader!

My scripture of the week is Phillipians 4:7: "And the peace of God
which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus."  I have felt that peace this week! Especially
after our fender bender. I was really worried that things were going
to be crazy but I felt the Spirit assuring me that it would be okay,
and that He would help. Jesus Christ knows that things are crazy and
that I didn't know what to do! And He took care of that. He filled in
those gaps. And with my grandpa's passing and President Taylor's
health troubles, I have felt that peace again and again. He is always
there looking out for us, and there is a peace that passes all
understanding that we can have if we ask for it!

I love you all! Stay strong!
Sister Jacobs

Week 22: New Year! New Weather!

For the most exciting news, we got snow yesterday!! We had to go
outside and play in it of course, before church. It was awesome.
Except they cancelled third hour and our meetings after that so we
suddenly had three extra hours to figure out what to do. It was a
great day though- mostly visiting members so we didn't freeze, and
talking to people in between.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. On Monday we had our first
appointment with Adam and we met his wife Alicia! They'd actually
forgotten we were coming but Alicia had prayed for help that morning
and then there we were. So that was awesome! Mostly Adam wanted to ask
Brother Mallicoat questions about what it's like being a convert. But
we did teach a little bit and committed them to read and pray. They
didn't make it to church but hopefully next week!

On Tuesday we found a new person named Gordon Big Back. He was excited
when we told him the Book of Mormon was about his ancestors! We are
going back this week.

Wednesday was exchanges so me and Sister Floyd spent the day together.
It was a lot of fun! We had our district meeting, which was awesome,
and then some great lessons with less active members.

We have a young woman in our ward who just recently got baptized and
is less active and we've been trying to reach out to her. Well, we
decided to go talk to the Young Women's president about it and see if
they can do anything- she really just needs a friend. We're hopeful
that they will be able to help!

We celebrated New Year's on New York time- they had us go inside after
dinner- so we had candy and Martinellis and dos some planning. Then
New Year's Day was weekly planning so we finished that!

Anyway, it's been a pretty drab week- everyone is very relaxed with
the holidays and then the snow just shuts things down. There's no
plows or salt or anything, so it just turns to slush or worse, ice.
It's not too bad today but they told us to drive as little as
possible. It's very pretty though and it feels just like home!

 Thought for the week: Doctrine and Covenants 122:9, "hold on thy
way...fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and
ever." If we are following the Lord's way, He will be with us. We can
feel the assurance that he is there and that He loves us and will take
care of what we cannot. I found out this morning that my grandpa
passed away this week and immediately I felt this conviction that he
is working hard on the other side. He has a job to do, helping those
who died without a knowledge of the gospel to come unto Christ. I felt
that confirmation - it was quiet and gentle, but it was firm. We must
hold on our way so we can say as Paul did, "I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim 4:7).
Then we can see our loved ones, and most of all, we will see our
Father and we will see our Savior. What a day that will be!

I love you all. Fight the good fight, and keep the faith!
Sister Jacobs

Week 21: Whoops! I guess this did not send! Merry Christmas...A Week Late!

This week has been pretty crazy, but a lot of fun. On Tuesday, we got
to go to the temple! The Portland temple is absolutely gorgeous, and
it was a blessing to go and to feel that peace. After the temple trip,
we had five lessons (that's a LOT for one day, but we had none the
rest of the week- no one is available at Christmastime!). We had our
first lesson with Felicia! She's someone we met a while ago and this
was the first set lesson with her. We took Sister Child from our ward,
and it was amazing. She promised to read the Book of Mormon and to
talk with her husband about her pursuing this course. Hopefully they
read and pray together! They have a wonderful family. The rest of the
night was lessons with members- Bailey, and the Thompsons (Dylan
received the priesthood!! And he passed the Sacrament yesterday- it
was awesome). Wednesday night, we played minute to win it games at the
Baldwins which was a lot of fun! They are a good family. On Thursday,
we went caroling with the Winks to the houses of some less active
members- we brought cookies and candy canes. It was a lot of fun, and
they loved it! The Winks are a great family- their oldest daughter
comes home from her mission in March. They are so excited. Christmas
was awesome! It was really nice to de litter the room of packages-
it's a small room. It was awesome! We have so much candy. And we got
to Skype home! That was great, to get to see everyone after five
months. I got some good screenshots too...we had dinner at Cortina's!
She is the best. Her kids are super nice too. Then we went by a few
other members' houses.

And, the best part is what I saved for last......we got a car!!! On Christmas Eve Elder Funk called and said they'd be over in half an hour with a present. We thought maybe a package or something....Sister
Funk did wrap the keys though! We are pretty excited about it. We've got it for a month, then it might get taken away. But we are definitely grateful!

It's been a long week for sure- holidays are exhausting! I'm glad it's finally Monday- it feels good to rest a little. We've talked to a lot
of people and it hasn't gone anywhere yet. We keep going though! The work must go on.

As for a spiritual thought this week, I love Alma and the sons of Mosiah, and reading their accounts. I've probably written about them before, but they just don't get old! I love to be inspired by those
great examples, and to see that there is always hope. I realized something for the first time today- the portion of the scriptures describing their transgressions is just a few verses out of one
chapter, where the account of their righteousness and their works makes up much of the book of Alma. These men, who were so wicked, who persecuted the church and feared that their souls would be cast off, they were saved and redeemed. The angel appeared unto them because the Lord knew that seeing that sign would change them and put them on the course to make such a huge difference. These men became some of the most powerful missionaries this world has seen. They preached the
gospel "zealously" or with much energy and enthusiasm because "they could not bear that any human soul should perish." Then they went among the Lamanites- the age old enemies of their people because they recognized something that their people did not. Ammon said:

"Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in
the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto
our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn? For they
said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the
knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the
Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as
stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding
of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose
ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my
brethren, ye remember that this was their language. And moreover they
did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and
their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.
But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with
the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps
we might save some few of their souls."

Ammon and his brethren recognized these Lamanites as children of God
and as their own brothers and sisters. Then comes my favorite verse,
one that I have relied on:

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back,
behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the
Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give
unto you success."

The Lord gave them amazing success. The hearts of the Lamanites were
softened. Ammon found success quickly and miraculously among Lamoni's
people. But Ammon's brethren had a harder time. They were rejected and
imprisoned, and if it weren't for Ammon and Lamoni coming to free
them, they might have remained there. But after their period of trial,
of not seeing any visible success, Aaron was able to teach the king of
all the Lamanites. And that king accepted his words and decreed that
the gospel would be preached everywhere. Because of this, nearly an
entire people was converted and they remained strong for the rest of
their lives. My favorite verse that I mentioned is one that I imagine
they found to be true over a long time- they spent fourteen years
among the Lamanites! And they endured much. But by following the Lord,
they saw great success. As a missionary, I am only here for eighteen
months. And I don't have to worry about being imprisoned (as long as I
obey all the rules). But it is still hard, and I must trust in the
promise that the Lord will give me success. He will multiply my
efforts and fill in my gaps if I do my best. It may take a while, but
it will happen, even if that success is only that I am changed, or
that I train Sister Heath and she goes on to teach many people the
gospel. Success is not always measured by numbers- something I have to
remember, but is easy to forget. Success is measured by my being able
to honestly say to the Lord "I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Sorry for the length! Hopefully someone needed to read this. I love
all of you and I know that the Lord loves you even more than I do. He
is always there by your side, waiting for you to reach out. He is with
you even when you don't feel like anyone is there. He fills in our
gaps and makes up for our failings. He gives us peace and helps us to
know how we can improve. He is goodness and peace and joy, and all
progression and improvement comes from Him. Though of discouragement,
of unworthiness, those are not of Him and we shouldn't pay them any
heed. As long as we are striving to follow His way and we have done
all we can, we will feel at peace. We will know we have done all we
can today and we will continue to work hard tomorrow!

Happy New Year!
Sister Jacobs