Week #29: Don't Forget Why You Are Here!

This week has lasted a long time. It feels like it's been a whole
month! I have been out seven months as of today so maybe that's part
of it. Anyway, it's been fun. Adam and Alisha were sick which is why
they didn't make it to church! The same for this Sunday- something is
going through their house. But we met with them Tuesday night and read
a chapter in the Book of Mormon and they are still sincere! We also
were able to visit with Sister Cruze on Sunday. Brother Cruze got a
total knee replacement a few weeks ago and he's still out for the
count.

 On Wednesday, we got to give a thought at Mutual- we've really wanted
to start reaching out to the youth more. It was awesome! They almost
forgot that we were going to do it though....anyway, it went well.
Then we got to meet with Bailey and Jordan, and that is always fun!
They are doing awesome. It rained a whole lot too and soaked through
our boots so we changed our socks and shoes before dinner!

On Thursday, all our appointments had to cancel so we ended up walking
in the rain for around five hours (looking back, we really should have
taken a break sometime in there) but we talked to a good number of
people and visited someone Brother Winks had told us about- an old
neighbor of his, James, who is pretty nice! He has a lot of beliefs
that line up well with the plan of salvation. Anyway, that night was
the Relief Society activity and we went! It was chocolate themed and
two members of our ward brought their friends! Those activities are
always worth going to. We also had interviews with President Ferrin on
Thursday morning which was a lot of fun.


Friday was our day of service! We sewed in the morning- we're close to
finishing the quilt top! I'll have to take a picture next week. It
looks really good. Then we had our weekly planning- we were grateful
to sit down! And then we helped Cortina do some cleaning! It was
pretty awesome.

On Saturday we did a lot of walking again. We had a lot of people to
visit but they lived on opposite sides of our area. So we arranged a
few rides. We ended up not having dinner until 7 because of our own
scheduling goof. But then the appointment that we scheduled funny
wasn't even there (Nadya and Victor- the Ukranian couple we met). We
met their family and left a Russian Book of Mormon for them and we
will have to try by again later. So we walked around some more and
found a few cats, that did not like being petted! Two of them tried to
scratch me....my own fault for trying to pet them! Might have been
better if it was light out. Anyway, for dinner we went to the
Crothers' and had hot pot, which was absolutely delicious! It's a
giant pot of broth on a burner and you just put the meat you want in
the broth to cook it, then you dip it in sauce and eat it! And repeat.
It was so good. We had a really good discussion with them as well.

Sunday, we were pretty exhausted again (I got a pedometer last Monday
- finally! I've been writing down the step count too.) So we were
grateful for the meetings! Then we just walked around and talked to
people and tried to track down some new move-ins. And then we had an
awesome dinner at the Kulins! Ham and salad and French fries, and
otter pops for dessert. They are a ton of fun. We walked around some
more, made phone calls, did training, and crashed. And so far today
we've mostly just napped.

I think the step record for this week was Saturday- we ended up with a
little over 19,000 steps! It was pretty awesome. Anyway, it's been an
amazing week. We got two referrals through the church system, and we
set up an appointment with one and we're still trying to make contact
with another. It was pretty great. So it's been a good week, even if
things are crazy!

Thought for the week: Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly
I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified
thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

I've been thinking a lot about the Plan of Salvation recently and I
was thinking about how important it is to remember that we signed up
for this. We knew it was going to be hard. We don't know what kind of
details we knew before we came, but we must have known how difficult
it would be. When things go wrong, it would be easy to blame God, but
we can't forget that we signed up to be here. And we learned and grew
in the premortal life and shouted for joy when we knew we'd be able to
come here! I always wonder, of all the people I meet each day, who did
I know before?

Don't forget why you are here! Love you all!
Sister Jacobs