Sunday, August 28, 2016
We Love Surprise Texts from the Mission Field!
"We love and adore your girl! She works so hard!" --Sis Bangerter
Week #55: Transfers
We got transfer news this week, and we are both staying another transfer! It's a new record for both of us- we've never had a companion for three transfers. So it will be awesome. It's going to be a transfer of miracles! Also a transfer of a lot of whitewashes (where two missionaries are both put in a new area). Most of our zone is leaving, and we're down two sets of sisters- they're putting them somewhere else!
As for this week, it was pretty awesome! OMSI on Monday was a blast. On Tuesday we had lunch with Sister Dover because she had some Thai eggplant that she wanted to try (they looked like golf ball sized watermelons) so she made us a curry and some sausage, and it was really good!
On Wednesday, we went out to our car (we'd parked on the street- our apt gets one parking space so we alternate nights) and our car had been egged! I think it was just some kids driving through the neighborhood, not intentionally to our car. So we had districtmeeting, and then spent a lot of time trying to get the egg off our car (unfortunately it was pretty dry by then). We learned that egg
takes off the finish pretty quick. So it's mostly gone now, but if you
know what to look for, it's still visible.
On Thursday we went to Snow Cap and we met someone from Germany who is
here volunteering! She was super nice. And on Friday we saw Sister
Staples- she is way cool. We had a good conversation with her and she
said she'd be at church on Sunday!
Saturday was our day of service- not intentionally! But someone in the
Kelly Creek Ward needed help weeding their backyard, and then someone
else needed help moving in. And we had a lunch with all the sisters in
the zone and went over some policies and stuff.
things happen to them, often as a result of their own actions and because they lack divine assistance due to their own refusal to accept it. The pride cycle is something that happens in each of our lives- I know it happens in mine. And my goal is to spend less and less time in self destruction and more and more time trusting in God and having faith that things will be okay. And some days it is really hard! But that's the point of mortal life. That's how I've learned. I'm nowhere near done learning, but I can honestly say I'm a lot farther than I was before, and that means I'm doing alright and I can keep pressing forward.
Don't forget to cheer yourselves on this week! Love you all!
Sister Jacobs
Monday, August 15, 2016
Week 54: OMSI
This week has been pretty awesome! We've talked to a ton of people and
we invited them all to the luau. We even had someone say they might
come to church too, but ended up not making it to either.....life of a
missionary.
Fun stories from this week- we made blackberry jam with Sister Dover! We'd picked the blackberries earlier on, and she did all the stuff that takes a long time, and we mixed it up and put it in jars! It's
good too (I might send a jar home at some point :)). And she made us home,add Mac and cheese for dinner! With sour cream and onion potato chips crumbled on top, which was delicious.
We also met a guy who believes he was called by the gods (yes, all of them) to be a shaman. And his poodle was creepy. Super creepy.
Sherry came to ARP! That is such a huge step for her! And then, the next day, she went to the temple visitors center again, with the Nordstroms, some people from ARP, and without us. She is really doing well! She is taking small steps in the right direction :)
One of the other people who went to the visitors center was Brian-he's Lori's son (she's a super awesome lady in the ward who comes out with us a lot- she's a fairly recent convert too). That night, theNordstroms had us over for dinner and they had invited Brian. So, what the heck, we invited him to take the discussions. And he said yes. And we taught the Restoration right after dinner. The Spirit was so strong, and he is definitely sincere! He is searching for happiness. So we are super excited about that!
Aniyah got baptized! She's eight :) she lives with her grandma. Her dad wasn't sure about her getting baptized so there's been a whole stink about that, but Bishop talked to him and after that, it was
okay! And there was so much support form the ward, and a lot of her dad's family came too.
And we had the stake luau! It was so cool. There were a lot of dancers, and some really good chicken and rice and fruit salad and such. So many people came! We got to help dish up the food, so it felt
just like old times at BYU catering. They even had a fire dancer at the end (I got a video). The funny part was that we had gone on exchange that day, but due to a series of funny coincidences, we ended
up only being apart for maybe three hours.
Then, today, we went to OMSI! (The Oregon science museum) It was way cool. President McAteer came and we got a HUGE discount because we got a group pass. We toured a submarine, saw an exhibit about space, and
got to look at some nature stuff too. Sister Sharp drove us, so we got to hang out with Sophie on the car ride (she's three) and we played a lot of patty cake. She is so cute!
This week, my thoughts have been a lot on pride- I've been trying to be more humble. The thing that really redefined pride for me is when President Ezra Taft Benson said that pride is competitive. I've realized for me, that's exactly what it is, whether for good or bad, especially others' good to my bad. So I've been trying not to compare. Christ never compared one person to another, but taught each
individual from where they were. So I've been striving to compare less and love more! So my challenge for each of you this week is to do the same
Love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Jacobs
we invited them all to the luau. We even had someone say they might
come to church too, but ended up not making it to either.....life of a
missionary.
 |
| Space Cadets |
Fun stories from this week- we made blackberry jam with Sister Dover! We'd picked the blackberries earlier on, and she did all the stuff that takes a long time, and we mixed it up and put it in jars! It's
good too (I might send a jar home at some point :)). And she made us home,add Mac and cheese for dinner! With sour cream and onion potato chips crumbled on top, which was delicious.
We also met a guy who believes he was called by the gods (yes, all of them) to be a shaman. And his poodle was creepy. Super creepy.
Sherry came to ARP! That is such a huge step for her! And then, the next day, she went to the temple visitors center again, with the Nordstroms, some people from ARP, and without us. She is really doing well! She is taking small steps in the right direction :)
One of the other people who went to the visitors center was Brian-he's Lori's son (she's a super awesome lady in the ward who comes out with us a lot- she's a fairly recent convert too). That night, theNordstroms had us over for dinner and they had invited Brian. So, what the heck, we invited him to take the discussions. And he said yes. And we taught the Restoration right after dinner. The Spirit was so strong, and he is definitely sincere! He is searching for happiness. So we are super excited about that!
 |
| Aloha! |
Aniyah got baptized! She's eight :) she lives with her grandma. Her dad wasn't sure about her getting baptized so there's been a whole stink about that, but Bishop talked to him and after that, it was
okay! And there was so much support form the ward, and a lot of her dad's family came too.
 |
| Zone Breakfast |
And we had the stake luau! It was so cool. There were a lot of dancers, and some really good chicken and rice and fruit salad and such. So many people came! We got to help dish up the food, so it felt
just like old times at BYU catering. They even had a fire dancer at the end (I got a video). The funny part was that we had gone on exchange that day, but due to a series of funny coincidences, we ended
up only being apart for maybe three hours.
Then, today, we went to OMSI! (The Oregon science museum) It was way cool. President McAteer came and we got a HUGE discount because we got a group pass. We toured a submarine, saw an exhibit about space, and
got to look at some nature stuff too. Sister Sharp drove us, so we got to hang out with Sophie on the car ride (she's three) and we played a lot of patty cake. She is so cute!
This week, my thoughts have been a lot on pride- I've been trying to be more humble. The thing that really redefined pride for me is when President Ezra Taft Benson said that pride is competitive. I've realized for me, that's exactly what it is, whether for good or bad, especially others' good to my bad. So I've been trying not to compare. Christ never compared one person to another, but taught each
individual from where they were. So I've been striving to compare less and love more! So my challenge for each of you this week is to do the same
Love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Jacobs
 |
| Willamette |
Week 53: Incoming Message
This week has been pretty crazy but also fun! We hit our second year
mark, sort of. August 5th marks the day of our first transfer meeting,
my first day in the WVM. So it's interesting to think about the
journey since then- it feels like so much has happened but also like
it's been no time at all.
This week was different than usual....because we got sick! Luckily I missed the worst of it, but Sister Frisch wasn't feeling good at all.
So we stayed in for a few days. It was nice, because I think we both
needed some rest. I studied some, caught up on journaling, colored a
bit, etc. We're blaming the sister training leaders- they had it first
and since we live with them, it got passed on pretty quick. But
everyone is better now so that is awesome!
We got to take Sherry to the temple visitors center! And it was awesome! When we came to pick her up, she said she'd been so nervous that she'd thrown up. But she came anyway, and when she got there, the
change was visible. She looked so much more comfortable and at peace, and when we asked she said she wasn't really nervous at all, and so we
told her that's how it would feel at church! And she committed to come (next week- family stuff came up). But it was so amazing! I love the visitors center. And we got to see two of the new Meet the Mormons videos and they are also amazing! It was super cool. She will definitely be baptized someday! She is amazing.
Our ward BBQ was this week too, and we ended up helping there
whichever as awesome because we met so many people, and we really got
to interact with the ward members which is awesome because they're the
bomb. Little Jetta Beckman loves, loves the missionaries so she was
showing us around and we had to sit by her. It was so cute.
One of the elders in our district turned 19 on the day we had district
meeting so we had a little birthday party for him! I feel kinda old
now, being twenty. It was so fun- we all got Chipotle for lunch and
then the Rose City elders (the Tongan ward) joined us too. It was
awesome.
We also had some fun- some members had made us bite size s'mores in a
mini cupcake pan, and we have a mini cupcake pan in our apartment and
they'd told us the recipe so we decided to try it! It went really
good, except for the oven was on broil....picture results below. They
still tasted awesome though! I ate like 6 of them..
We also saw some miracles in dropping by people and actually getting to see them and set up appointments. The Lord definitely guided us. We
met some interesting people as well, and had some interesting conversations. So it was still a super awesome week!
This week, the Lord has been trying to send me a message for sure. I think Satan knows how many miracles we've been seeing and so he's
trying to get me down. But, on Sunday I was studying hope and I read a talk by Jeffrey R Holland called "An High Priest of Good Things to
Come." One of the quotes in that talk is one of my favorites. Anyway, then in Gospel Principles on Sunday we were talking about the Holy Ghost and Brother Beckman invited people to share their spiritual experiences and one of the sisters shared that exact same quote (I might have cried a little). Then, today, I got this email from my friend Melody who's serving a mission in Mesa AZ:
And that was the quote. The exact quote. Do you think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something? I do! I have been trying to build my faith and to work hard as much as I can, and talk to everyone! And also to be okay with whatever comes of my efforts, knowing I gave my best. The best tool to battle Satan is confidence in the Lord. I know that to be true! And I am building my confidence in Him!
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Jacobs
mark, sort of. August 5th marks the day of our first transfer meeting,
my first day in the WVM. So it's interesting to think about the
journey since then- it feels like so much has happened but also like
it's been no time at all.
 |
| Giant Tetris |
This week was different than usual....because we got sick! Luckily I missed the worst of it, but Sister Frisch wasn't feeling good at all.
So we stayed in for a few days. It was nice, because I think we both
needed some rest. I studied some, caught up on journaling, colored a
bit, etc. We're blaming the sister training leaders- they had it first
and since we live with them, it got passed on pretty quick. But
everyone is better now so that is awesome!
We got to take Sherry to the temple visitors center! And it was awesome! When we came to pick her up, she said she'd been so nervous that she'd thrown up. But she came anyway, and when she got there, the
change was visible. She looked so much more comfortable and at peace, and when we asked she said she wasn't really nervous at all, and so we
told her that's how it would feel at church! And she committed to come (next week- family stuff came up). But it was so amazing! I love the visitors center. And we got to see two of the new Meet the Mormons videos and they are also amazing! It was super cool. She will definitely be baptized someday! She is amazing.
Our ward BBQ was this week too, and we ended up helping there
whichever as awesome because we met so many people, and we really got
to interact with the ward members which is awesome because they're the
bomb. Little Jetta Beckman loves, loves the missionaries so she was
showing us around and we had to sit by her. It was so cute.
One of the elders in our district turned 19 on the day we had district
meeting so we had a little birthday party for him! I feel kinda old
now, being twenty. It was so fun- we all got Chipotle for lunch and
then the Rose City elders (the Tongan ward) joined us too. It was
awesome.
We also had some fun- some members had made us bite size s'mores in a
mini cupcake pan, and we have a mini cupcake pan in our apartment and
they'd told us the recipe so we decided to try it! It went really
good, except for the oven was on broil....picture results below. They
still tasted awesome though! I ate like 6 of them..
met some interesting people as well, and had some interesting conversations. So it was still a super awesome week!
This week, the Lord has been trying to send me a message for sure. I think Satan knows how many miracles we've been seeing and so he's
trying to get me down. But, on Sunday I was studying hope and I read a talk by Jeffrey R Holland called "An High Priest of Good Things to
Come." One of the quotes in that talk is one of my favorites. Anyway, then in Gospel Principles on Sunday we were talking about the Holy Ghost and Brother Beckman invited people to share their spiritual experiences and one of the sisters shared that exact same quote (I might have cried a little). Then, today, I got this email from my friend Melody who's serving a mission in Mesa AZ:
"Hey,
Today, I just wanted to share a short thought with you. One of my
favorite Apostles is Jeffery R. Holland. This is one of my favorite
quotes as of late, and he said,
"Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep
trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--30 years of it
now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right
in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”"
Where it says boy, put your name there instead. For example, if my
name was Carmen, then I would say "Don't give up, Carmen. Don’t you
quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness
ahead--a lot of it--30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep
your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe
in good things to come.”"
Just a thought.
Sister Bowen"
And that was the quote. The exact quote. Do you think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something? I do! I have been trying to build my faith and to work hard as much as I can, and talk to everyone! And also to be okay with whatever comes of my efforts, knowing I gave my best. The best tool to battle Satan is confidence in the Lord. I know that to be true! And I am building my confidence in Him!
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Jacobs
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Week #52: Spiritual Strength
This week was kinda a whirlwind so I'll do a quick overview of what
happened and get to the meat of what I wanted to tell you all this
week:
We had an amazing lesson with Sherry! She is doing really well. While she was reading the Book of Mormon this week, she received personal revelation through the scriptures that she needed to come to church!
So we had everything set up, and she did cancel, but that's the closest she's come. For her, church is facing down a huge fear for her- it's a big obstacle. And she is working so hard to overcome it!
She is a strong woman. We're hoping to go to the temple visitors center with her this week!
We also helped the Bowens with their family history- we got Brother Bowen set up on FamilySearch and we managed to get his line connected to work someone else had done, and so it shot back! We found some Scottish pioneers even, which is awesome.
Sister Lamont came to church!! She is so cute. She made it through all
three hours too. We've been trying to get her to church for a while
but it's been hard for her since she just had her hip replaced. But
she is doing amazing, and she loves the Book of Mormon! She's halfway
through Alma now.
We also had interviews with President McAteer- that was awesome. They are really amazing. They "borrowed" the candy jar from the mission office and brought it with them to interviews as well, and Sister McAteer showed us pictures of her family. They to,d us something cool-when a new mission president comes in, the old one isn't allowed to tell him anything about any of the missionaries. So it's a completely fresh start! It's probably crazy for President McAteer but I think it's really cool that the church does that. It gives every missionary
the chance to start fresh and be whoever they wanted to be. It's
awesome!
This week I've seen so much how the Lord has blessed me. I've felt His strength in my life. This past year has felt like climbing a spiritual
mountain- sore legs, out of breath, the works- just struggling to make it to the top. Hitting my year mark felt like one of the viewpoints,
being able to stop, look back, catch my breath a bit. But then of course I realized that life is entirely like that spiritual trek up a great mountain to the celestial kingdom. So the trek isn't going to get any easier! But I feel like I have gotten stronger- I didn't
realize it in the moment, but looking back I can see a difference.
The Lord has also prepared and fortified me with extra spiritual strength throughout my mission- a lot of the best spiritual experiences have come before the hardest moments. He has taught me so much about the plan of salvation and what part I am playing in that.
He's taught me more about who I am and who I can become, and given me
so much more perspective on my journey there. Yesterday I was studying
The Infinite Atonement by Tad R Callister during breakfast and the
topic kinda carried over into my studies. Brother Callister describes,
in one of the last chapters (I think it's about justice and mercy) our
premortal existence. He describes how we were active participants
there. Our Heavenly Father told us His plan and we wanted to
understand it. That was the great Council in Heaven- we discussed,
debated, asked questions, and bore testimony in an effort to
understand our Father's plan. Sadly, Lucifer and his followers
rejected the plan and were cast out of heaven for it - 1/3 of God's
children rejected Him. He let them- because He loves us each enough to
allow us to make our own choices. As I thought about that, I
remembered a conversation we had a few weeks ago with a member. They
asked us if we thought the celestial kingdom would be crowded or not.
Then the wife talked about how she hoped it would be crowded and how
if her sister couldn't be there she didn't want to go, period- if her
sister didn't get a chance (she's made some less than ideal choices).
So that made me think, in the premortal life when those who followed
Lucifer/Satan left, how much did we grieve for them? Did we plead with
them to stay? I'm sure we missed them- these were our brothers and
sisters and our friends, swayed by the insidious whispers of
rebellion. I wonder if some who followed Satan followed him because
they didn't want to come to earth without the ones who had left. Then
I thought about this life. I thought about how sometimes the ones that
we love die, and sometimes we don't want to go on without them but we
do, because we have to. We mourn them, but we keep going because there
are still things we must do. I think it will be the same at the final
judgment. Some will not have lived up to a celestial law and will
inherit a lesser glory. And we will be sad! But we can still see them.
And I think, if we choose to move on, to live to the highest glory our
Father offers us, we will still be able to have joy. This is hard to
explain in words, but I know that if I take responsibility to do all
my Father has asked me to do, then He will make up the difference for
my mortal frailties and I can reach the celestial kingdom, and of
course I want to bring as many as I can with me, but if they do not
come by their own choice, I am going anyway because that is the
deepest desire of my heart, to dwell with my Father and with my
Savior. Someone told us yesterday they thought the church should be
more worldly and I thought, it never has been. It always has been
different, unusual, looked down on by the world. Since the days of
Adam, of Noah, the prophets and the righteous have been persecuted,
mocked, and cast out, and that will not change until He comes again.
Then, not even an hour later, I found out my cousin had passed away
unexpectedly. She's the same age as I am- her birthday and wedding
were both planned for this month. We're still not sure what happened.
This year, I've seen a lot of people pass away, from the old to the
young. And I can testify to you that God's plan is real. I can tell
you truly that death is just a gateway to the next stage in our lives,
that my family and friends are busy on the other side, working to save
souls like I am now. The plan is not over at death! And I will see
them again.
So I wanted to invite each of you to study God's plan this week. Go to
the scriptures, to the words of modern prophets, to friends and
family. And tell me what sticks out to you if you want to! It will
give you added strength in the craziness that will surely come (each
of us gets it at some point).
I love you all. Have a wonderful week!
Sister Erin Jacobs
happened and get to the meat of what I wanted to tell you all this
week:
We had an amazing lesson with Sherry! She is doing really well. While she was reading the Book of Mormon this week, she received personal revelation through the scriptures that she needed to come to church!
So we had everything set up, and she did cancel, but that's the closest she's come. For her, church is facing down a huge fear for her- it's a big obstacle. And she is working so hard to overcome it!
She is a strong woman. We're hoping to go to the temple visitors center with her this week!
We also helped the Bowens with their family history- we got Brother Bowen set up on FamilySearch and we managed to get his line connected to work someone else had done, and so it shot back! We found some Scottish pioneers even, which is awesome.
Sister Lamont came to church!! She is so cute. She made it through all
three hours too. We've been trying to get her to church for a while
but it's been hard for her since she just had her hip replaced. But
she is doing amazing, and she loves the Book of Mormon! She's halfway
through Alma now.
We also had interviews with President McAteer- that was awesome. They are really amazing. They "borrowed" the candy jar from the mission office and brought it with them to interviews as well, and Sister McAteer showed us pictures of her family. They to,d us something cool-when a new mission president comes in, the old one isn't allowed to tell him anything about any of the missionaries. So it's a completely fresh start! It's probably crazy for President McAteer but I think it's really cool that the church does that. It gives every missionary
the chance to start fresh and be whoever they wanted to be. It's
awesome!
This week I've seen so much how the Lord has blessed me. I've felt His strength in my life. This past year has felt like climbing a spiritual
mountain- sore legs, out of breath, the works- just struggling to make it to the top. Hitting my year mark felt like one of the viewpoints,
being able to stop, look back, catch my breath a bit. But then of course I realized that life is entirely like that spiritual trek up a great mountain to the celestial kingdom. So the trek isn't going to get any easier! But I feel like I have gotten stronger- I didn't
realize it in the moment, but looking back I can see a difference.
The Lord has also prepared and fortified me with extra spiritual strength throughout my mission- a lot of the best spiritual experiences have come before the hardest moments. He has taught me so much about the plan of salvation and what part I am playing in that.
He's taught me more about who I am and who I can become, and given me
so much more perspective on my journey there. Yesterday I was studying
The Infinite Atonement by Tad R Callister during breakfast and the
topic kinda carried over into my studies. Brother Callister describes,
in one of the last chapters (I think it's about justice and mercy) our
premortal existence. He describes how we were active participants
there. Our Heavenly Father told us His plan and we wanted to
understand it. That was the great Council in Heaven- we discussed,
debated, asked questions, and bore testimony in an effort to
understand our Father's plan. Sadly, Lucifer and his followers
rejected the plan and were cast out of heaven for it - 1/3 of God's
children rejected Him. He let them- because He loves us each enough to
allow us to make our own choices. As I thought about that, I
remembered a conversation we had a few weeks ago with a member. They
asked us if we thought the celestial kingdom would be crowded or not.
Then the wife talked about how she hoped it would be crowded and how
if her sister couldn't be there she didn't want to go, period- if her
sister didn't get a chance (she's made some less than ideal choices).
So that made me think, in the premortal life when those who followed
Lucifer/Satan left, how much did we grieve for them? Did we plead with
them to stay? I'm sure we missed them- these were our brothers and
sisters and our friends, swayed by the insidious whispers of
rebellion. I wonder if some who followed Satan followed him because
they didn't want to come to earth without the ones who had left. Then
I thought about this life. I thought about how sometimes the ones that
we love die, and sometimes we don't want to go on without them but we
do, because we have to. We mourn them, but we keep going because there
are still things we must do. I think it will be the same at the final
judgment. Some will not have lived up to a celestial law and will
inherit a lesser glory. And we will be sad! But we can still see them.
And I think, if we choose to move on, to live to the highest glory our
Father offers us, we will still be able to have joy. This is hard to
explain in words, but I know that if I take responsibility to do all
my Father has asked me to do, then He will make up the difference for
my mortal frailties and I can reach the celestial kingdom, and of
course I want to bring as many as I can with me, but if they do not
come by their own choice, I am going anyway because that is the
deepest desire of my heart, to dwell with my Father and with my
Savior. Someone told us yesterday they thought the church should be
more worldly and I thought, it never has been. It always has been
different, unusual, looked down on by the world. Since the days of
Adam, of Noah, the prophets and the righteous have been persecuted,
mocked, and cast out, and that will not change until He comes again.
Then, not even an hour later, I found out my cousin had passed away
unexpectedly. She's the same age as I am- her birthday and wedding
were both planned for this month. We're still not sure what happened.
This year, I've seen a lot of people pass away, from the old to the
young. And I can testify to you that God's plan is real. I can tell
you truly that death is just a gateway to the next stage in our lives,
that my family and friends are busy on the other side, working to save
souls like I am now. The plan is not over at death! And I will see
them again.
So I wanted to invite each of you to study God's plan this week. Go to
the scriptures, to the words of modern prophets, to friends and
family. And tell me what sticks out to you if you want to! It will
give you added strength in the craziness that will surely come (each
of us gets it at some point).
I love you all. Have a wonderful week!
Sister Erin Jacobs
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