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

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