Week #59: The Apple Family

This week has been kinda insane. Due to some unforeseen events and odd
circumstances, we ended up moving! We swapped apartments with the
elders (they live in a very nice area, and where we were is a bit
sketchy). So that took quite a bit of time to pack everything and
settle in. And, the elders left twenty two apples hidden around our
apartment (I got pictures of all of them- I'll attach them) for us to
find, along with some hilarious sticky notes, including one that says
gullible on the ceiling. The funniest part- Sister Staker grabs the
handle on the fridge to open it and the handle comes off! So she says,
"Oh no, I broke it!" Well, we open the fridge and there's a sticky
note saying "You broke it!" Pretty funny. The apples were everywhere.
But the apartment is much nicer!

We also had zone conference this week- our first with President
McAteer. It was pretty awesome! They talked a lot about JustServe and
about reaching out to people in the communities around us, and getting
to know them. President McAteer also talked a lot about faith. We all
studied Hebrews 11 beforehand. It was really neat! And there were some
great trainings.

We also had an awesome FHE! JC and his girls came, and the Crofts, and
the Nordstroms. We did a "missionary for the day" activity. So we
exercised, we knocked some doors, we did a "service project" (writing
notes to Sister Frisch's brother in Japan)....it was super fun :)

A couple members of our ward live in a retirement home right by the
church so we visit them, and this week it was so fun. First we ran
into the two single ladies, just hanging out and so we saw both of
them at the same time- it was so funny to watch them talk to each
other. And we saw them again later in the week, along with the Brams.

On Monday (sorry this is super out of order) we had a fun adventure-
we'd gotten a referral from the Spanish elders for someone. So we had
a member go with us and we drove there....and it was out of our ward.
And the address was a super out of the way auto body shop. Anyway, we
found the guy and he was pretty chill. Our member taught him the
Restoration! That was cool! And then we referred him to the elders, so
we aren't sure what's happened there yet.

Brian came to church too! That was way great! We had talks about
General conference, and a Sunday School lesson on the priesthood
So that was the week! And if there's one thing we've learned from this
week, it's that angels are really around us, protecting us. Whether
they're from the premortal life or they are those who have passed on,
they are here and they are assigned. The Lord definitely watches over
us! Never forget that!

Love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Jacobs

Week #58: We Saw A Ton of People!

I'm not even sure where to start this week. A lot has happened. We met
with Brian a few times, and he is doing awesome. It's amazing to see
how he is finding peace in the gospel at a time of turmoil in his
life! And he is so willing to read and study and learn.

From a text received this week that said "Missionary Sighting!"

We also went to the family history center with the Bowens and it was
pretty awesome! We helped them find some names for the temple, so now
all they have to do is be temple worthy! And they can too- we're
pretty sure all that's holding them back is church. They are so close!

We saw a ton of new people- we got a referral from Mormon.org for
someone and so we met her, and she is really nice! And the Spanish
elders found someone in our area who, they said, is really ready and
really humbled by life. So we are going to see how that goes! It's in
the sketchier part of our area, so we're definitely taking members
with us. We also met a friend of one of our young women on the street,
and it was awesome- she said she would talk to her YW friend a both
coming to church! And she did talk to her- we found out on Sunday.

We had our zone breakfast at the Crafts' house- that's where we got
the only pictures I have this week..... It was awesome! We have a
great zone, and there are some serious miracles happening.

So that was pretty much our week! My thought this week is from 2 Nephi
2:26- "And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may
redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are
redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good
from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be
by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to
the commandments which God hath given."

We talked about the Atonement in Sunday School this week, and this
verse stuck out to me. Our Heavenly Father has given us our agency,
our ability to choose, so that we could be free to act and so that we
could learn  and grow by experience, become who He intends us to be,
and then return to live with Him. But because of the Fall, we were
forever separated from His presence. That is why He sent Jesus Christ!
Jesus, through the Atonement, paved our way back to Him. He made it
possible for us to choose good or evil, eternal life with Heavenly
Father, or eternal death through sin. Without that Atonement, we had
no choice- we were doomed. But with it, we have the chance to truly
reach out full potential, to repent and change and grow every single
hour of the day. The opportunities given through Christ are infinite.
So I am grateful for His sacrifice! I am grateful for a Savior that
loves each of us so much that He would suffer for all that we would go
through. I know He lives! And someday we will all see Him, and He will
be overjoyed to see us, and to see what we have made of ourselves. So
make today the best you can!

Love you all! Have a fabulous week!
Sister Jacobs

Week 57: A Whole Lot Going On

This week has been pretty crazy! We got a call on Thursday that we
were going to have to take our car up to Vancouver...so we are walking
now! It feels like I'm back to normal actually. We haven't tried
crossing our area yet though.

Fun stuff that happened this week- we helped a girl in our ward learn how to crochet! Well, Sister Frisch helped her and I watched and kinda got the hang of it! We did some surprise service for some members which was awesome :) we also had our first district meeting of the transfer!


We did some fun service- someone we've been working with is replacing her roof! We couldn't help get the shingles off, but we could help get them into the trailer afterwards, so we did. There was a huge pile! And that was the day we were on exchanges too, so Sister Arbon and I had a fun day. She's actually served in the Columbia ward before so we
got to see some of her old friends. We got to see the Bowens and we invited them to church, and they came! It was amazing! And we stopped by mutual as well- they were having an unbirthday party.



And ARP was absolutely amazing- we had two investigators come, and the Spirit was
so strong! It was incredible! If you've never been to one of those
meetings, I invite you to go- you won't regret it.

We got to go to the temple visitors center with Beth and Cassie as well. We think Cassie might have driven the visitors center sisters a little crazy....some favorite quotes include "Sometimes I call him the Great Spirit because I get tired of calling him Jesus," "Can I touch your baby?," "I love your faces!" (To a random couple), and "can we go back in the temple and play reverent games?" (After going into the
temple atrium). It was still awesome though, and we know they felt the Spirit. And we definitely did! I love going to the visitors center.






We had an amazing lesson with Brian! We really got into the scriptures
and the Spirit was super strong and we invited him to set a date to be
baptized! He picked December 12 (happy birthday Catherine!). It was a
great day!

Saturday was our first full day walking (we dropped the car off in
Vancouver on Friday afternoon) and it went really well! We stayed
pretty close to the church, but we got to talk to a lot of people! It
was awesome! And Sunday was also really good- a ton of people came to
church! And we got to reach out to a lot of people. So it's been a
good week.

My thought for the week is on forgiveness. It's something I felt prompted to study a few days ago. I studied a talk by President Faust- his last one actually- from General Conference, April 2007. He tells quite a few stories about how people were able to overcome anger in moments of tragedy and forgive others. He quotes a specialist who said
"Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.” I think that is so true! Especially, at least with me, forgiving myself, frees up a lot of that energy. I know if I'm not worried about being angry with myself, or with others, I'm a lot more receptive to the Spirit and more willing and able to love
others.




I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Jacobs

Beautiful Scenery from P-Day (below)

Week #56: Running Hither and Thither

Sister Jacobs moustache you a question...

This week has been CRAZY! But also super fun. We managed to go just

about everywhere.

Going Bumperless!

Sister Nielsen went home on Monday so Sister Arbon hung out with us on Monday and Tuesday. But before that- we had another adventure. As we're getting Sister Nielsen all ready to go, and waiting for her ride, they realize she forgot something inside. So we're waiting with her luggage so I hop up on the trunk to sit and write emails. Then Sister Frisch goes to hop up with me, and she barely touches the bumper and it falls off. Yep, it just fell off. It happened when Sister Frisch had the car in Seaside, and it didn't really get fixed, just popped back on. So this time it really fell off. So we shoved it

in the backseat, and just drove around with it all day.

 Tuesday, we saw a lot of people Sister Arbon knew when she served in the Columbia Ward. We went and saw Beth and Cassie, and Cassie was so excited! And we had dinner with Sister Dover and the Nordstroms as well, which was so fun.

Seeing Beth and Cassie again!

Wednesday was pretty crazy because it was transfer day! So we got to go to the transfer site since Sister Arbon needed to pick up her new

companion, Sister Staker. But we have a new vehicle coordinator (who is from the Mountain View Ward) and I guess no one told him he wassupposed to drive the big van down to pick up all the missionaries getting transferred. So we ended up being at the stake center for around five hours- we woke up at 5:30 to get there at 7:15 and didn't leave until noon. But those of us who were waiting went to Cartlandia for brunch! (It's a bunch of food carts in Portland). So then we had a lesson with Sherry which went really well. 

And we had dinner with theNordstroms, and Sister Dover came! And Lori and Brian came as well.  And, now I'm the designated driver! Woohoo! I feel so much better when I'm the driver- I learn my, way around a lot better.

Twisted Sisters!

Giant Otter Pop!!!

Thursday was another adventure! So we'd called Elder Turner, our new vehicle coordinator, about the bumper, and he set an appointment for us to go to the dealership and get it checked out - and the dealership is in Vancouver. So we got to go to Vancouver! And they told us they can't fix it, and we needed to take it to a body shop. So we ended up driving to the mission office which was awesome! 

We got to see all the office missionaries- it was like a big reunion. And we got a different car! It's a bright red Corolla. It also has damage, but it needed fixed less urgently than our car, so we're driving that now. It was so weird driving up to Vancouver because we went through all my old areas to get there. And then we went and volunteered at Snow Cap! And one of the volunteers was showing us this book someone had donated. It had a Scottish fellow on the cover, and the title was "KILL OR BE KILT." Yeah, we laughed about that for a while.

More cake pops!

After that, things calmed down. We had one member drop us off some Italian food for dinner, which was really good except our stomachs were doing backflips after we ate it because it was pretty greasy. And we had a stake day of service, partnered with the East Hill church, and we helped get schools ready for the new year! We specifically

helped paint railings on modulars at an elementary school.

Anyway, that was our crazy week! It's been nuts. It's also been amazingly spiritual, at least in my studies. At zone comp study, our zone leaders invited us to study the topic of hope. So I did and I found a talk by Neal A Maxwell from 1994 called "Brightness of Hope." So I wanted to share a few thoughts from that! He talked about how, as part of the last days, people are losing hope which results in more

selfishness and turning inward. The hearts of men are "waxing cold." But we need to have hope. But hope is what makes the hopeful strong and helps them make a difference. 

My favorite quote from the talk was:

 "Significantly, those who look forward to a next and better world are

usually “anxiously engaged” in improving this one, for they “always

abound in good works” (D&C 58:27; Alma 7:24). Thus, real hope is much

more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual

spine. It is composed, not giddy, eager without being naive, and

pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation

taking the form of determination--a determination not merely to

survive but to “endure … well” to the end (D&C 121:8)."

So hope can make all the difference! Keep your heads up, for there are

better things to come. I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Jacobs

Funny Face Frisch!