Week #72: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! Merry Christmas!!

It snowed again this week, even more than before! We had a lot of fun
walking through the drifts...and there were two snow days for the
schools. Oh, and we had maybe two or three inches of snow (and some
ice). It was really pretty. I love how peaceful the world gets when it
snows!

This week we had some really neat miracles happen! Julie C and her
daughter Jaemie came to church on Sunday and then to the stake musical
fireside that evening (which was incredible). Sacrament meeting was
great too- the subject was the family which was perfect! And Jaemie
and Jeneva are good friends, so they are also planning on coming to
Jeneva's baptism this Thursday.

Speaking of Jeneva she is doing great! We are still working on her
baptism program and getting everything set- it is really close to
Christmas. She is pretty excited, and her family is too.

We were able to get in touch with quite a few less active members this
week that we hadn't been able to see for a while, which was good. We
did have to account for ice in our travel time, which made a
difference! We also helped a lady in the ward wrap Christmas presents-
that was so fun. And we had a special dinner with Sister Schott for
Sister Finn's birthday! The YSA sisters (Sister Finn and Sister Arbon)
are covering the Mountain View ward now so I gave them a list of all
my favorite people :)

One of the days it snowed we actually had a zone service project-
weeding a community garden. So there we all are, bundled up and it's
below freezing. I put two pairs of gloves on below my yard gloves. But
we got it done! It was a pretty cool garden- except they wanted us to
pull the grass and leave the ground cover, which was backwards from
normal!

Transfers are coming up- we should find out this week! Probably we
will both stay though. There was a mini transfer last Monday since a
lot of missionaries were headed home before Christmas. It will be fun!

Love you all! Merry Christmas!
Sister Jacobs

Week #71: Have You Ever Been in a Room Full of Angels?

Snow in Vancouver

Cookie Monsters

As for the week, it was awesome! We had a great lesson with Julie at the Mowrers' home- despite the ice and snow, missionary work goes on!  We did get a good snow and ice storm this week- but nothing too bad.  We were all told not to drive the mission cars, so not much changed for us :)


We got to have FHE with the Boyds- it was kind of scattered as always but it was good to see them again. The kids have been coming to church
still and Haille is working on going to the temple! We are hoping to get them to the family history center sometime.

The Ells are doing good- Jeneva is working towards her baptism on the 23rd! And their car was out of gas on Sunday so Mitch and Katrina walked to church! That was amazing.







The mission party today was pretty incredible. It was so fun to see
everyone - the entire mission came! So I saw Sister Frisch and Sister
Dearden and all of the people that I've served around before. It was a
giant family reunion- kind of like what I imagine the celestial
kingdom would be like. We started out with a talent show which was
HILARIOUS and then lunch and of course a spiritual portion at the end.

On that note, there's a story behind the topic for my email! So at the end of our gathering, we closed by singing Silent Night (one of my favorite Christmas hymns). As we sang, I felt like the room was filled
not just with missionaries but also with angels- those from the other side who are watching out for us and helping us along. I felt like they were singing too. It was pretty incredible. I love Christmas and celebrating our Savior!

As part of the Christmas season, President McAteer asked us to study the four Gospels and 3 Nephi and the theme that has stood out to me the most is sacrifice. It started in Matthew, and then in Mark I felt like it was all about sacrifice and love- sacrificing especially for those we love. In Luke I felt like it talked about sacrifice and faith, how sacrificing the things of the world takes a lot of faith.




In John it talked so much about Christ's power to make things good,
and then in 3 Nephi it showed these principles applied in the lives of
the faithful Nephites. Then Sister Babcock (one of the sisters who
replaced me and Sister Frisch in Columbia) bore her testimony for our
Christmas gathering and as she talked she told the story of the rich
young ruler. I thought about how Christ said it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into
heaven, and I know personally I don't believe that necessarily applies
to worldly wealth (at least in dollar quantities). We are all rich
with weaknesses, pride, and the praise of the world, and Christ asks
us to sacrifice all of that and become poor in Spirit- to become meek
and humble- and He will make us rich with His strength and with
salvation.

I love you all! Merry Christmas!
Sister Jacobs

Week #70: SNOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!

It's currently snowing outside and that definitely made my day :) I've
been saying it's going to snow for probably two weeks.

Snow!!

This week has been fun! We saw some good progress, and we did get a lot of things done that needed done.

We were able to meet with Angie! She wasn't feeling too well but we were able to help her get a priesthood blessing. The Spirit was really strong and she definitely felt it. Hopefully she will continue to remember it!

We also were able to help Sister Schott get and set up a Christmas tree- a real live tree! That is super exciting- I don't think I've ever had a real tree. And Sister Schott also took us out for dinner and it was delicious.

We met with Julie! She actually is doing really well- she talked about needing to come to church and do things with her life and meet people, and really find out for herself. That was so exciting. Miracles of having a goal! But she cancelled later in the week due to illness.



And we saw Sister Bartley- we haven't been able to for a few weeks.
She is hilarious. She told us all kinds of crazy stories from when she
worked at a juvenile jail place. It was probably one of the most
interesting and odd conversations I've ever had!

Funny Faces with Sister Schott

We also met Denise- and it turns out she's Sister Beckman's mom, from my last ward! That was way cool- so we had a connection right away.
She's a member of the ward and we're hoping to help her make it out to church again.

This week was also the ward Christmas party! It was neat- Santa Claus came and there was a full Christmas dinner, ham and funeral potatoes,
and rolls, and chocolate cake. The Primary kids all sang, and a few families. One family, the Saunders, did a musical number. They started
with one of the kids playing the fiddle. Then (the little kids sat on the stage) one got a drum, one got a tambourine, and as the dad handed the third one this set of toy bagpipes, suddenly we hear real
bagpipes! And Sister Saunders comes in from the back of the gym and they played Christmas songs. It was so fun. We had a bunch of people come too!






This week I've been getting so excited for Christmas. I love Christmas as a missionary since the focus can't help but be on the Savior and on serving others.

The Tree of Life

 I've really felt close to my Savior recently,
especially in my studies. He really knows me and He is there for me!  In Relief Society on Sunday, the lesson was on Psalms 46:10- Be still and know that I am God. That is easier around Christmas time because we're surrounded by Christ and His story.

But we have to keep that peace year round! So I'm hoping to hold on to it better this year.

Merry Christmas! Love you all!
Sister Jacobs

We put a bow in his pony tail!

Christmas Puppy!

Week #69: Happy Thanksgiving! Trainee Meeting! Candied Yams and a new rock band??

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all ate a ton of food, and
were very happy.

This is the cover of their new Rock Band Album!

This week was super fun but also a bit different than usual! On
Tuesday we had trainer-trainee meeting at the mission office- that was
a blast. It took up a huge part of the day! It was so fun though, to
see everyone and to refresh all the things I'd forgotten. And to eat
all the candy in the mission office :)

On Wednesday we had our zone meeting! This transfer, our zone is a lot
smaller. But it is a lot of fun too. Zone meeting was really good- we
had some awesome trainings. Then we stopped by some people! Sister
Rees came out with us- her husband just was called to be a ward
missionary and she she came with us while he watched their baby. And
we had an amazing conversation with someone and talked about the
Restoration and eternal families with him- he talked about his mom
passing away. It was awesome! We also met a sweet older lady named
Maxine- she's in a different ward but right now she's at a rehab place
in our area since she had a fall. She was so funny! Then our dinner
appointment fell through so we went to Rib City and this lady at the
table next to us was talking about how it was her birthday and she was
alone so we ended up having a neat conversation with her and she said
we made her birthday :) it was pretty awesome.

Yummy Candied Yams!

Thanksgiving was a blast! Sister Layton made candied yams, and I made
cream cheese brownies. The Marsdens had a huge potluck at the church
building so we got to go, and we invited a couple people. The Ells
came (but not Katrina- she had to work) and the Snooks. And Fernando!
So we were there almost the whole day, since we helped set up and take
down. There was so much food! We still have leftovers and we've eaten
maybe three meals out of it already.

Friday, we went on exchanges! Sister Finn came with me to Fairway
Village. We went to a memorial too- for someone she worked with in an
old area who had passed away. We talked to a ton of people, and it was
really a good day- even if nearly all our set appointments fell
through. We did have FHE with the Ells though! They are awesome.

Sunday was also a good day. Church was great- the talks were about
tithing, and they were really good! And the Boyds brought their
cousin- he was super hyper but we made it through without any major
incidences. We met with Fernando at the Jones' house and had a fun
lesson about the Plan of Salvation- I made a puzzle! So the visual
thing seems to be working really well.

The new Christmas video also came out- #LIGHTtheWORLD. The goal is for
everyone to serve others throughout the month of December, with a new
idea every day. It's pretty amazing. I recommend that you all watch
it, and participate! By giving time, you will receive joy.

My thought today comes from Neal A Maxwell- he said "True, as the
scripture says, “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10), but
neither is lukewarmness full happiness." We have a Christmas challenge
in our mission to study the 4 Gospels and 3 Nephi by Christmas. As
I've studied, the theme that stood out to me is sacrifice. Christ
asked His disciples to sacrifice everything they had and follow him.
He asks us all to sacrifice anything worldly for something better. And
He sacrificed Himself completely for us. So in this gospel, there is
no halfway, no cutting corners, no slacking on what is asked of us,
not if we truly desire to make it to the celestial kingdom, live with
God, and become the best that we can become. And what waits for us is
real joy, better than anything the world offers.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! Love you all.
Sister Jacobs