Week #68: I Have A Daughter

The rain's finally started coming down! We had our first real storms
this week, and a decent amount of drizzling. And it was transfer week
which is always crazy. So from the beginning!

Monday night was Katrina's baptism!! It was so amazing. We had pretty
good support from the ward, which was awesome considering it was
Monday at 5... And the Spirit was super strong! Cool story- we picked
the songs out for her baptism since she doesn't know too many hymns
yet. So the closing song we picked was "How Great Thou Art"- it was
the first one that came to mind since it's one of my dad's favorite
hymns! Well Katrina's grandpa passed away on Saturday night. So she
came up to us and told us that she knew her grandpa was there at her
baptism because that was his favorite hymn. That was really neat.

On Tuesday morning we had an odd encounter. We were knocking on a door and a guy across the street pulls up- one of those Amazon delivery guys. Well he asks if we're JWs of course but we tell him we aren't, we're LDS, and he says "tell me more about Jesus, I love Jesus" but this whole time he had his phone out like he was recording. And then he asked a lot of questions that didn't make sense and told us Jesus was just a prophet and not the Son of God. Anyway, it was pretty
weird! Later, we had dinner with the Johnsons and the Boyds- Sister Sitala's final hurrah before leaving! It was a lot of fun. And then we took Paula and Sister Schott to Sonic for ice cream! That was so fun.  Paula left on Wednesday too.




Wednesday was transfers! We got to the mission office, said hello to
everyone, and I got my new companion- Sister Layton! She is from Mesa,
AZ! She actually went to high school with Sister Frisch so they know
each other really well. She is so awesome! We've had a blast this week
working hard! So on Wednesday we helped Sister Woods pack- she is
moving from an apartment to a house within the ward. We had dinner at
the Olsens- they are awesome. And we talked to a ton of people!

On Thursday we saw Sister Conner- she's a less active member that
we've been trying to get in with for a while! She is super sweet. And
we had an awesome Relief Society activity- I'll have to attach a video
clip of Sister Schott's roll making class that she taught. And he had
brownie tasting so I made cream cheese brownies :) and they were
delicious!

Friday we had an awesome weekly planning and we were also able to meet with Fernando- he's doing really well. We are trying to have more visual lessons with him. We also had FHE with Mitch and Katrina! The Spirit in their house is so different now- since they've been married and she got baptized. It was amazing! And Jeneva asked us when she could get baptized (she's eleven) so we put her on date for December
23rd! Which means she'll be comnfirmed on Christmas- the Holy Ghost is the best Christmas gift.



The FHE was so fun- we talked about the temple and we played charades and ate leftover wedding cake. They are hoping to all go to the temple!

Saturday was so fun- we had our zone breakfast and talked a ton about
working with members which was awesome! So we are going to work hard
on that! We met a lot of new people too- Natalie, and then Nathan. And
in the evening we helped Sister Schott return all the last things from
the wedding- that was fun, to spend some time with her. And she bought
us milkshakes afterwards :)

Sunday we had church of course! Sister Layton met about five thousand
people and remembered all their names....just kidding. I don't even
remember all their names! Katrina got confirmed, which was awesome,
and we had a great Gospel Principles class about the Holy Ghost!  We
have a new ward missionary too- Brother Rees. He seems like he is
totally on fire!

So basically everything is looking up! We are working hard and we are
going to see a lot of miracles- we have already! And we are having a
lot of fun too- Sister Layton is awesome and we get along really well.

Thought of the week is from Elder Holland: "Dismiss the destructive,
and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your
family, your friends, and your neighbors. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and,
with His help, where you are willing to go." I love this! We are meant
to learn from the past but not to destroy ourselves or others over it.
And we are meant to keep moving forward, to keep moving and growing.


The gospel is awesome!

Love you all- have a great week!
Sister Jacobs

Week #67: A Baptism, A Wedding, and A Baptism (Families Can Be Together Forever)

"Baptism in Progress"

This week has been CRAZY AWESOME. Most of it was wedding and baptism
prep. And a lot of service as well! And then it all culminated on
Saturday with a baptism, a wedding, and transfer news!

Boyd's Baptism

The Boyds were baptized this week! It was amazing. We met with them every day this week and their dad came for their interviews and for the baptism. The Spirit was so strong- there were many tears cried.

And Brother Johnson invited BJ (the Boyds' dad) to be the one to
baptize Malaya in two years when she turns eight- which means we are going to teach and baptize him of course! It was pretty much the
coolest moment of my missionary life. And they were confirmed on
Sunday and so much of their family was there. It was incredible!








And Katrina got married! We spent a decent amount of time helping plan and decorate for the wedding- and it came out beautiful. They were so happy, and everything came together perfectly, and everyone was happy.

Katrina's mom, Paula, flew in from Arizona on Thursday so since then it's been wedding central. Paula was baptized in this ward not that long ago and then moved. So it's been so fun! And Katrina had her baptismal interview last night (we had ice cream) and she's getting
baptized today at 5!








We also had our mission tour this week- Elder Kopischke of the Seventy
came. It was pretty amazing! He talked a lot about being bold, but
genuine, and about caring about people and not numbers, about being
realistic with our goals and planning, and planning ahead. It was
pretty awesome! Definitely something to apply. They were so nice (him
and his wife). And it was so fun to see all of my old missionary
friends - it felt like a family reunion!

Picture from "Mama Hobbs"

Besides that, we did some service for other members, met with the
people we could with what time was left, and basically worked hard all
week. It's been exhausting in the best way. And Saturday night we got
transfer news- Sister Sitala is leaving to St Helens and I am staying
and training!! We're both pretty excited though Sister Sitala is
definitely sad to leave. It will be a lot of fun. This ward is
amazing!

I love you all, and I hope you have an incredible week!
Sister Jacobs

Week #66: A Time to Rejoice (and a time to get a lot done!)

This week  has been crazy... I'll hit on the highlights!

The Boyds- we weren't sure they were going to be able to be baptized
this Saturday (the 12th) but we met with them and our ward mission
leader and laid out a plan and they have been on top of it! It's been
pretty amazing. So we will see them every day this week to make sure
that they are ready. We went to the temple with them this past
Saturday and saw the visitors center and walked around the temple.

Katrina- she is still preparing to be married this Saturday and then
baptized next Monday! Everything is wedding plans right now- it will
be awesome.

We saw Angie this week as well- she is doing awesome. We watched the Restoration movie with her.







This week has been a very good week, all in all. We were able to work hard and meet a lot of new people! And today we're having a sisters' P-day at Sister Schott's house- hanging out, eating food, and emailing of course!

This week I have been studying the Atonement. I read a talk by Richard
G Scott that talked about rock climbing. He compared that to us
relying the Atonement. He talked about a rock climbing method called
"soloing" where someone attempts to climb a mountain without any sort
of protection or security. He talks about the danger of falling. Then
he describes rock climbing with the secure protections of ropes,
anchors, and a partner. He then talks about how lives are like rock
climbing, and our partner and anchor is Jesus Christ. He says "In real
life, the anchors are the laws of God that provide protection under
all of the challenges that you will face. The rope and carabiners that
secure the rope to the anchors represent obedience to those
commandments.

When you learn those commandments, continue to practice
them, and have a plan to avoid danger, you will have a secure means of obtaining protection against Satan’s temptations. You will develop strength of character that will fortify you against transgression.







Should you make a wrong move, there need be no enduring problem
because of the belaying or help that is available through your
repentance."  I love the picture this portrays. If we rely on
ourselves or the world alone, our falls and slips could seriously
injure or kill us. But with Christ as our anchor, He will catch us
when we fall or slip up and will guide us back to the right path up
the cliff.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Jacobs

Week #65: Communication

This week has been a ton of fun and craziness! I'll try to keep it short :)

On Monday we dropped by and we were able to have a short lesson with
the Boyds- Sister Schott came with us. We've been having a harder and
harder time getting in with them lately, but they still come to church
and activities so we still see them.

On Tuesday we had another zone blitz, in the Forest Home ward! We were
able to reach out to some cool people. And we had a member with us. We
met a lady named Denise who was really nice! She lived way back in the
corner, a house you could easily miss. And we had dinner with the
Olsens and she made homemade spaghetti sauce and had garlic bread too-
yum! I think this is the most I've had spaghetti my whole mission-
kinda funny!

We also were able to see Katrina and chat with her- she was making
pumpkin pie for Braiden (he really wanted some- she doesn't like
pumpkin pie). She's pretty on track, it's just coming to church that's
hard because of her work schedule. And we had FHE with the Cranes! It
felt just like old times.

On Wednesday we had district meeting and talked about the Restoration.
Then we helped Sister Knopp clean her house-she'd already gotten off
to a good start! She's really clearing things out. We saw Angie too-
she is doing amazing. We actually had a really good discussion with
her about faith and how we don't have to be 100% certain all the time.
We talked about the Brother of Jared. One of my favorite verses in
Ether 3 says "and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing
doubting." That means faith will necessarily come with an edge of
doubt- that's part of the test! I think she'd never thought about it
like that before.

On Thursday we did our Cookie Monster thing - made cookies and ding dong ditched a few people. That was a lot of fun! We saw the Snooks-
Sister Snook is so funny! We've been helping with family history a lot- we're planning a trip to the family history center next week. We also saw Fernando and had a good lesson- he got a priesthood blessing.  We are planning a party for him tonight- today is his birthday! It will be a lot of fun- a lot of the ward is coming.

On Friday we saw Katrina again and Sister Sorenson came with us- she is so awesome. She invited Katrina to her scripture study class at Super Saturday (unfortunately Katrina woke up with a bad cold on Saturday so she didn't get to come).








We did go to the beginning of Super Saturday! Haille got to come and
she loved it- the Young Women have really taken her in. It helps that
she is super outgoing. So we got to know the ward and just had a good
time and made a few crafts too!

Saturday was also the trunk or treat (our ward didn't do one so we
crashed the one for the neighboring ward). Fernando came, and Angie
came with her son, and a few less active members (and some active
members!) came as well, and Mitch came with Braiden and Cameron. It
was a ton of fun! Everyone got candy (Angie's son won me a cupcake at
the cake walk) and chili and played some great games. It was a really
good night. We also had a lesson with Julie and Sister Schott came to
that as well. I thought it went really well! I feel like I understand
her a lot better and how to better teach her and help her. And she has
to act too. That will probably be the hard part.

Sunday was crazy! We ended up having to cancel correlation because we
forgot to ask for a ride and then since Bishop Dyer was out of town we
assumed we didn't have ward council (but we did) so we missed that.
But on the upside, I got a good nap in during our lunch time! Church
was really great- there were some good talks on becoming like Christ
and love and service. The Boyds came and brought their cousin too, and
Fernando made it as well. And our evening was pretty packed- we saw
the Osterkamps and then saw the Muraskis and Delli Gattis. It was a
really good day by the end of it.

The reason for the title of my email is that throughout this week, a
theme that stood out to both Sister Sitala and I was the need and
importance of communication. We come from two entirely different
cultures and have really different ways of handling things- and a lot
of relationships are like that! So if we don't communicate, we run
into a lot of difficulties. If only we had telepathy, right? But one
thing I love about honesty and communication is that it's not only
about the bad stuff but the good stuff as well (I'm still working on
both). A lot of times when people say "oh, be honest," they want to
hear something negative but that does honesty a disservice! Being
honest about the good is as important (probably more important) than
being honest about what bugs you. President Hinckley said "I am not
asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction.
Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge
mistakes pointed out by others and change his course. What I am
suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so
permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those
with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more
than we speak of one another’s faults."

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Jacobs

Cookie Monsters

Caught by a member making cookies to give away!

Week #64: Fifteen Months

This week I hit my fifteen month mark. I'm starting to feel an
impending sense of doom....but in all reality, I'm mostly just not
thinking about it.

 This week has been pretty normal. We had exchanges on Tuesday! Sister
Finn and I stayed in Fairway Village and had a ton of fun! Since she's
served in Fairway Village before, we ended up having a great
conversation with Sister Schott that night. (PS Sister Schott is the
bomb!) Tuesday ended up being a super crazy day. We had a zone blitz-
so we all went to the Prune Hill ward and helped them find people for
an hour or so. Then we met with Katrina and she is doing awesome! And,
as we were leaving, we ran into the Hermanas in the same complex and
they were on exchanges too, and Sister Twitchell (who I replaced in
Fairway Village) was there with Hermana Magnum! So the members who
were picking us up invited them to dinner with us. There were four
sisters, and none of us were with our assigned companions! I love
exchanges.

We had interviews with President McAteer on Thursday! That was a lot of fun. We got there and then got a text that they were running half
an hour behind. So we decided (us and the two sisters we were with) to
go out to lunch...to the Chick Fil A that recently opened! My first
Chick Fil A in fifteen months. And when we walked outside, it was
pouring. Good ol' Pacific Northwest weather. And there was a Relief
Society activity- square dancing! And a professional caller came. It
was really neat! And there were Dutch oven desserts.



On Friday, we had some awesome weekly planning, and then some stop
boys. We met this lady named Sarah- she was really interesting! She
was very nice too. She invited us in and gave us cider, and Sister
Sitala was cold so she gave her a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, and a
pair of jeans. It was pretty fun. And then we got to meet with a new
investigator that Sister Sitala found on exchanges! She is really
neat. We had an awesome lesson!

On Saturday we helped Sister Schott clean her garage- she's still
recovering from a ruptured Achilles' tendon- and then she made us
BLTs! We dropped by a ton of people and then we had dinner with Iva (she got baptized last year) and she took us to a super awesome pizza place! And from there we went to the adult session of stake conference at the stake center. It was so good! And afterwards Iva got some ice cream and we ate it at Sister Schott's.





On Sunday we had the General session of stake conference, and it was
awesome too. They broadcast it to our building. Two missionaries who
are preparing to leave spoke. And President and Sister McAteer too-
together! They stood at the microphone next to each other and told
their conversion story. Then we went to the Hiltons to borrow some
white Christmas lights for Katrina's wedding and then had to test all
of them....and we had FHE with Fernando that evening as well. It was a
good day!

Add caption

This morning I read a good quote in an article by Richard G Scott
("Gifts of the Spirit," February 2002). He was talking about the gift
of charity and striving to develop it and he said "Never make someone
have to choose between your ways and the Lord’s ways. And always make
sure that you’re making it easier to live God’s commandments for those
who are by your side and who are your friends. Then you will
understand whether you have charity."

Silly Selfie

I love this quote! It is
something I want to continue to strive to do. Sister Sitala and I were
talking this morning and I was thinking about how every time I've
wanted to not follow a rule or not work hard or whatever, it's out of
selfishness. But when I do want to work hard, etc, it's because I care
about the people around me. So that was an interesting thing to
realize! Just something to think about. I invite you to strive to
become more charitable this week!

Love you all!
Sister Jacobs

Funny Sign in the Area

Week #63: The Anti-Climatic Typhoon

Hello from the rainy Northwest!

This week has been pretty wild, and also a ton of fun. Right now,
we're headed up to the Ape Caves for a hike- hopefully by the time we
get WiFi I'll have some fun pictures to send!

On Monday night we had an amazing Family Home Evening with the Boyd kids at the Johnsons' house! They also invited the Primary teachers of the other kids. They got along so well with the other kids who were there! And we had an amazing lesson- the Spirit was really there. The Boyd kids are amazing.









We saw Angie on Tuesday morning. She's been meeting with the
missionaries for a while. She is super sweet! We also were the Cookie
Monsters- we make cookies with Mama Hobbs (a sister in the ward) and
then drop them off at various members' houses. It's a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, we had our zone meeting which was a lot of fun. Our zone is really chill, and everyone gets along really well.


We saw the Boyd kids again on Friday- they're so fun! And they came to church again on Sunday. They are just soaking everything up, and the
ward has just enveloped them and taken them in. They fit in perfectly! This ward's really good about reaching out to everyone.

Also on Friday we found out that Elder Anderson was not coming for mission conference after all- apparently there was a typhoon somewhere
and the remnants of it were headed straight for us. So we ended up actually getting told to stay in Saturday morning because it was supposed to be so bad. Well a few hours later we were told we could go out again and that the storm had changed course. It actually even got sunny! So that was our disappointing typhoon. But we did carve
pumpkins during the time that we were inside!


Sister Sitala had nevergotten to carve a pumpkin before, and she did an awesome jack-o-lantern. It was a ton of fun.

Church on Sunday was awesome! The Boyds came again and loved it. We
have 1pm church here, which is a first for me, and it's really odd
because by the time we get out of church, the day is mostly over!  We
had dinner with Nasy Chan, who is a member of the ward, and some of
her family.  She made some really good food- and enough of it to feed
an army! She kept bringing more out! There was stir fry, crab, rice,
salad, potstickers, Cambodian Jello and Cambodian dessert- kind of
like large coconut tapioca- and some sticky rice roll things and soda,
and there was large amounts of everything. It was so good! She sent
some home with us too.

The Ape Caves were pretty bomb today! (We are driving home right now).  It was really pretty, but also really dark- I definitely did not prepare adequately for that. My lights were not very bright and one is kind of dying. So I stuck close to our group and eventually borrowed an extra light. There was one part where there was a five or six foot
ledge we had to all get up- that was fun. And lots of rocks to climb over! Then on the walk back we had to cross a river but the path was flooded so we used some trees that had fallen across. All in all, a lot of fun, and definitely tiring. A good exercise in zone unity, for sure! We have a really good zone.

On that note, the experience I had today with my lights proving inadequate reminded me of a conference talk from October 2015 by Vern
P Stanfill called "Choose The Light." In it, he told of a similar experience biking through a dark tunnel and having to temporarily rely on a friend's light.




He said "In our lives, the extended hand of the Savior may take the form of help from a trusted friend, leader, or loving parent. While we are struggling in the darkness, there is nothing wrong with relying temporarily upon the light of those who love us and have our best interests at heart." I love this quote! It was important for me, in order to be safe climbing over large rocks, to rely on the brighter lights of those around me. Similarly, when it feels like we are spiritually lost in darkness, it is important to
know that we can temporarily rely on the light of others until we get our own feet back under us. Then we can continue on our own. Once I had a light in my own hand, I could go forward more confidently and no longer needed to rely on others.

Sister Sitala gets two fillings!

I love you all! Have an amazing week!
Sister Jacobs