You gotta keep your head up! - Dec. 2, 2013

Happy December!!

Can you believe it?! In my mind it's still May!

Well, transfers are still hard. I was told that after my first transfer, it would all get a lot less sad. False. Haha :) I'm just grateful that I know that it's all in the Lord's hands. The only One who knows the end from the beginning is the only One who is in charge of it all. It's comforting :) 

My new companion is Sister Rebecca Sullivan from Texas! And her favorite ice cream flavor is rocky road :) We get along. Which is good :)

Thanksgiving this week was great! All 6 of us missionaries got to have dinner together (which never happens) and the Smith family invited a bunch of their family, too!! It was so fun. I had my first fried turkey! :) Yay! At the end of that lovely dinner, we sang with everyone Families Can be Together Forever. It was a tender moment :)

Friday was... my 6 Month mark!!! :) I can't even believe it! I remember when I first came out, I asked everyone how long they'd been out and if they were out 6 months or longer, then their advice was valid. Haha! Silly Sister... :) I have since learned that we are all always learning how to be better missionaries! Even the missionaries who have 2 weeks left have something to improve on :)

This week I've been thinking a lot about what my purpose is here. Not as a missionary, but in my area specifically. And another Sister told me this, "Does it matter? As long as we're being obedient and doing the best we can, that purpose will be fulfilled." Yup. That's true. So I've been working on having more faith that my purpose is being fulfilled :)

I'm grateful for the Gospel. I'm grateful for priesthood blessings. I'm grateful for people who know better than I do what is best for me. I'm grateful for all of you and the support y'all provide. 

~Sister Jacobs.

All things considered . . . I'm doing just fine!

Mon. Nov. 25, 2013

Hello my wonderful family and friends! :)

 

This week has been all sorts of ups and downs, just like a mission always is :)

 

On Wednesday and Thursday the cold got the best of me and I was down and out. Sister Marshall made me drink lots of water and take some medicine to get me better. Which was good. because we all know how I feel about water. And medicine, haha. On Wednesday morning we asked the zone leaders to come and give me a blessing. When they showed up, I answered the door and one of them goes, "ooh. Um... wow. Are you doin alright?" I didn't feel that bad. but apparently I looked it, haha :)

 

Halfway through the week we heard rumor that one of the sets of sisters in Paper Mill was going to become 50/50 YSA and Paper Mill sisters. And we heard that the zone is splitting. And we heard that there are going to be the first set of Spanish speaking sisters. And we heard that transfers were going to happen early because of Thanksgiving. So much was in the air and I think it's fair to say we were going crazy. Sooooooooo. Here's the low down. The only thing that's changing is my companion. Anticlimactic, right? Haha. All I can say is there must be a reason why I'm here. Heavenly Father called me here, English. And even after another opportunity, I'm English again. Which I'm beginning to appreciate, I think. But on the upside... I get to be here for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!! Which I'm stoked for. The members here rock. Seriously :)

 

Speaking of which... Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday!! Something that Sis Marshall and I have been doing and challenging others to do is... be grateful!! Try to only be grateful in your prayers. It gets easier as it goes... and it helps in praying with faith :)

 

We kind of a cool experience yesterday. We were tracting in an apartment complex (love that!) and it was cold. And it was almost time to go to dinner. I mentioned the cold and Sis Marshall goes, "it just means that there's someone super important for us to find!" The next door? A lady opened the door. She has 2 cute boys. She has been trying to make it to church the past few weeks, but something always comes up. We knocked on her door and she was so excited because she knew we were sent from God. We talked to her quite a bit and then we asked if we could share a scripture with her because she missed church. I looked at her and asked, "Do you have faith that if I open this book to a random scripture that it will be a message that God wants you to hear?" She said yes. So I did. And I don't remember what the scripture was, but I do remember that she teared up and she needed exactly that. We left that very Book of Mormon with her and she was excited for it :) We'll be going back very soon :)

 

Most importantly are our two very progressing investigators! One is going in for a surgery on Wednesday so we haven't been able to actually meet with her, but we've kept in contact. Her phone is working again, thank goodness :)

 

Then we taught our other investigator again yesterday. The Portuguese elders weren't able to be there, so we taught him with his girlfriend, the member. He is *so* ready for the Gospel! We taught him some of the commandments and he asked if he could start paying tithing before he gets baptized! Wow. The Spirit was so strong :) Later we got a phone call from the Portuguese Elders and they said that they had dinner with the two of them and asked them about goals they had for the upcoming year. She said that hers was a secret. He said that he wanted to get to the temple and he also had a secret. So... wedding bells anyone?!?! Haha. I hope so. They're adorable. :)

 

Christmas info!! Because all of the letters, cards and packages that will be going through the mission office for the holidays, they have asked that all letters, cards and packages be sent directly to our apartments. This will be through the end of December, then it'll go back to the mission office. That address is:

Sister Ashley Jacobs

1818 Greyfield Ln

Sandy Springs, GA 30350

 

I love you all dearly and I'm excited to "see" the fam in a month!!! :) :) (We get to skype or do Google Hang out on Christmas Day.)

Oh! Speaking of which. Please make a list of questions you'd like me to answer! This is only one of 2 phone calls that we'll have and I wanna make it awesome!! Also, if there are things I write about that you wanna hear in more detail, I can definitely do that. I'll be coming up with some questions of my own :)

 

Love you all!!

~Sister Jacobs.

Sorry we're late to dinner... I guess we lost tract of time! :)

Oct. 14, 2013

Family!!

Guess who loves you? ME!

This week as we've done lots of tracting, we have been playing games and coming up with different ways to have fun! And it's been a blast. Really, tracting has become one of my favorite things.

This last week we tracted into Lynn! She told us that she was happy with where she was. So we offered her service! And she asked us to come back, gave us like 3 phone numbers and told us she was looking forward to hearing from us! THEN the next day we found another Lynn! She told us the same thing, "I'm happy with my own religion." We offered her service and then got talking about the basics of the gospel, clarified some questions and then we introduced her to the Book of Mormon. She told us that she would definitely read 3 Nephi 11, and she was looking forward to our follow up phone call! Those were definite miracles.

We sang in sacrament meeting on Sunday. A choir of 6 missionaries! It was so fun. I can't even tell you how much it means to me to be able to share my testimony musically. Find your passion. And figure out how you can share your testimony that way. Because it is the most amazing feeling in the world

I see miracles every day. Nothing is a coincidence. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me. I know that He loves you. And I know this church is true.

Sorry for the short email, but I'm out of time.

I love you all

~Sis Jacobs.

Oct. 7, 2013 Blue skiiiiies smilin at me. Nothing but blue skiiiies do I seee...

Mon. Oct. 7, 2013
Sorry. I guess I forgot to send this last week. I worked all day and took Lexy to get her Driver's Learning Permit and totally forgot to send this on.
Enjoy!
Lisa

-------------------------------------------

Hey ya'll!

Fun fact. I forgot my journal today. So Imma try and tell you about this week from memory. Which is harder than it sounds. Haha.

Okay. This week was full of meetings! Which I love. Meetings make me so excited for the upcoming events! :) I love it. Really, really.

Something that I learned this week about investigators is that I need a better attitude! Because I'm opening an area, I have this idea that we're just here to set things up and we're not really gonna find anyone to teach. And then I realized that Heavenly Father is blessing me with what I have faith in-- a dead area! So I started to have faith in an area full of the elect!

The day after that decision, we had a "one last door" experience! We were getting ready to come home. It was super late, aaaand dark. So I look at Sister Marshall and say, "One last door." So we did. Aaaaand nothin. So then Sister Marshall looks at me and says, "one last door!" So we did! And we found a girl who talked to us forever about Christ and how important he is to her! She was dog-sitting so we got her real address, her # and she asked us to come back. We were soooo excited! We got home and looked at our map. And she's out of the zone! Soooo we got to refer her to another ward. And then we got a referral from the YSA elders. Poor guys. They give out referrals like it's going out of style. So we went to Ruby the next day aaaand we have a return appointment!!! It's like the first one on my mission, haha :)

Fun story! We didn't have church on Sunday, right? (It was General Conference) And conference didn't start for us til Noon sooo we went to a Baptist church! I was nervous that they were going to kick us out, haha. BUT the people were suuuper friendly! And quiet. What?! I was expecting a lot more "amen"s and "hallelujah"s. It was a good experience though. :) Toward the end we talked to some people and they just went on about how much they loved Temple Square when they went a while back. My favorite thing that the minister said was "how many of you are on facebook? Raise of hands, come on." Everyone except for a row of 6 missionaries raised their hands. He went on to say, "pretty much everyone. And if you didn't raise your hand, what on earth are you doing with your time?!" Oh, you know. Just preaching the Gospel. Haha. He was relating it to how if we spent as much time praying as we do on facebook, we'd be super connected with God.

Speaking of conference... How did ya'll like it!?! Good stuff, right? There were like 15 missionaries at the stake center and a couple of investigators. It was so fun to be with a bunch of missionaries knowing that everyone was listening for answers to their investigators' questions. My favorite was probably the "Exclamation point!" talk. I feel that excited too :) 

I think it's so interesting how everyone finds different themes in conference. Think for a second about the theme that really stuck out to you. Why did it stick out to you? And how can you apply it? I know that Heavenly Father has specific things stick out for a very specific reason. I felt a theme of faith and service. I've been thinking a lot about how I can better serve and have more faith :)

I love you all!

Have a lovely week!

~Sister Jacobs.

PS. This week we got a hug from a Jehovah's Witness. She thought we were JW sisters. Awkward moment when she realized we were Mormon, haha :)

Sister Marshall and Sister Jacobs in the Paper Mill area.

These shoes were made for tracting and that's just what they'll do...

Sept. 30, 2013

... one of these days these shoes are gonna tract right into you!!

Familia!!

Como estan?!

This week rocked. Every week rocks as a missionary, though. :) 

Tuesday was Sis Stott's (one of the other sisters in Paper Mill) birthday! We drove over to their apartment early to make breakfast. So fun. I am really loving my new district!! It was hard at first, but I just keep telling myself that I need to put Webb Bridge in a box, and give it to the Lord, just like I did with home. And when I do that, all is well. :) 

Remember how President has asked us to tract 2 hours a day? Well... as soon as he extended that invitation, it became impossible to tract for 2 hours! We have to plan where we're going to tract before we plan anything else for the day. Crazy, right? We've started to find what works for us, though. 

Speaking of tracting.... we found this lady who told us that she's been going to several churches with her friends and is trying to find one church to settle on. We're still trying to get in with her. Cross your fingers and say some prayers, mmkay? :) 

We had a really cool experience with a team up this week. The relief society president needed to find people who she didn't know and we went out with her to find them. When we went with her, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing! She was super bold and even started conversation with some strangers on our way to the member's home. When we got in the car to leave, I complimented her on her missionary attitude and she said, "It's only because you are here! I was scared to do it alone, but once I had you sisters with me, I felt like I could do anything!" Wow! What an example! :)

Aaaaand then we went on exchanges! I love that. Love, love, love that! I love seeing another area and how they do things. We bumped into like 3 Spanish families on the exchange. It rocked! We talked to one guy about General Conference and hearing the Prophet (so excited!) and we talked to another lady about the Restored Gospel. I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had to learn Spanish gospel words! But, I know that it's not on my own. Heavenly father blesses me to remember things. He's the best. really though. :)

As fun as exchanges are... I was so thrilled to see Sister Marshall again! Man, I love her :)

My testimony of Thomas S. Monson being a prophet of God has been strengthened. For all of you who saw the General Relief Society broadcast, I hope you felt the same way. And the sister missionary choir! Wasn't that amazing?!?! I cried. For all of you current/returned/future missionaries out there:

Think about it. We have been blessed to live in a time and in a place where the Gospel is available to us! Out of all the history of the world, we have the true fullness of the Gospel! And out of all of those, you are/were worthy, willing and able to serve a mission! You know who else was called to serve a mission? Um... Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah. (Prophets from the Book of Mormon) Dude. How cool is that?!? How blessed are we?

I just get the chills thinking about it! :)

Cool story. The broadcast was held at the Stake Center, so I got to see a bunch of ladies from my last area! When I saw Sis L. (best ward missionary ever), I ran up to her and gave her a hug. She told me that Sister B. (a recent convert, remember her?! Love her) was doing great! but most of all, Sister B. physically made it to Sacrament meeting on Sunday! Church has been broadcast to her for two whole years and she finally made it! I cried. What a miracle! Happy, happy tears :)

In church, the bishop talked to us about how phones can be a huge problem. So I had a thought and I want to challenge you all to put your phones on airplane mode when you're at church! You can still use the scriptures and whatever else you need to, but you won't be tempted to email or text or whatever else.

I love this Gospel! I know it's true! I know that Christ is my Savior!

I looove you all! Every. single. one. :)

~Sister Jacobs

PS. Thank you, thank you for your letters! I love them! But not as much as I love you :)

Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun, please shine down on me....

Mon. Sept. 23, 2013

Familia!!!

Fun fact: I take my journal to email because I can't remember what we did this week.

Not so fun fact: I missed a couple of days writing in my journal this week so this email might be lacking.

This week was rather monumental! We biked for the first time! I have become exponentially more grateful for the limited miles we do have, and I respect all of those elders and sisters without a car. I'm blessed :) Biking was fun though! There are lots of tips and tricks that never would've crossed my mind. Like tucking my skirt into my biking capris. And then remembering to un-tuck the skirt before we talk to people. Haha.

We had a lesson to teach this week! It just kind of went, haha. I was pretty bummed as we left, but then we ran into our friend, M. on our way out! Remember how I sang for him and his friend last week? We stopped to talk to him and that rocked. He asked us to pray for his friend. But he couldn't because he doesn't believe in God. After a short conversation we challenged him to kneel and ask the 'universe' if God exists. He told us that he definitely would and he'd call us when he did. So we're praying for him.

We had interviews with the mission president and I loved it! I always love talking to President. At our district meeting, President told a story that he always does. He talked about when he was a young missionary and his mission president asked them to tract for 2 hours a day. He talked about how it's important, not because tracting is fruitful, but because the mission president has the keys for the mission and it's the obedience that matters. Then he challenged us to do it! Two hours of tracting a day! I don't think it's that bad, to be completely honest :) I get to share my testimony with strangers! Sister Marshall and I play little question games and have nice talks while we walk from door to door :)

One of the doors that we knocked on was  a man named J. He was a preacher for his church. He talked to us for a good 45 minutes. I thought that at the end of it, I'd be exhausted and frustrated, but instead, I was pumped!!! He tried to put down the Book of Mormon by saying that God preserves his word. All that did was remind me of the persecution that the early saints went through and strengthen my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, because it's still here!! Guess what. The Book of Mormon is true :) 

Sister Marshall and I have been trying to find what works for us, and our favorite thing is singing at members' homes. When we share a thought, we share a scripture, relate it to a hymn, sing it for them and then ask for referrals. The Spirit is super strong and it works like a charm! I love singing my testimony. Just in case you didn't know :)

Well, time is short!

Love you all and talk to you next week!

Make this week letter worthy! I promise that I will! :)

~Sistah Jacobs

Sometimes I close the car door on my leg. Hah! Don't ask.

And then 3 days later, the bruise looks worse. But I'm fine. Promise. :)

Our nature walk this morning. Georgia is beautiful. :) I'm stoked for fall!!!

Sept. 16, 2013 New friends and new faces to seeee. . . .

...new friends and new faces to seeeee. With blue skies ahead, yes I'm on my way, there's no where else that I'd rather beeee. 

Speaking of bees. They're huge here.

Family!! :)

Lots of stories this week. 

First of all, Wednesday, I was asked by 2 members if I had hispanic blood. And then on Saturday someone asked me if I had Armenian blood. 2 things. I don't look hispanic at all! Second of all, how the heck can you pin point being Armenian?! It's so specific. Aaaand like 3 generations back. I still think it's crazy. (Ashley's great grandfather is Armenian from Syria.)

Sister Marshall and I have been trying really hard to pray about where we're supposed to go and what doors to knock and what parks to contact at. After dinner on Thursday we pulled into a park parking lot and said a quick prayer before we got out of the car. But we both felt weird. So we prayed again and I got the distinct impression, "go home." I was bugged, but I couldn't deny the impression. I told Sis Marshall and she said that we should probably follow the prompting. So I thought to myself, "okay. Well, we're just supposed to start going home. Then Heavenly Father will direct us where to go after that and it'll be great." So as we drove home, I turned off to some neighborhoods and we pulled over again. We prayed again. And again, "go home." And I'm thinking to myself, "we have goals to reach, people to meet, I want to share my testimony!" but I couldn't deny the prompting, so we went home. There's a potential investigator in our complex so I thought that maybe we were supposed to visit him! After we parked the car, we walked over to his apartment and knocked on the door. Nothin. We walked back to our apartment and I asked Sister Marshall what she was thinking. She told me that when she pushed away all of her own thoughts and desires, being home felt right. So we studied for the last hour of the day before we got ready for bed. I still don't know why we came home. I don't know if Heavenly Father was protecting us, if He was testing us to see if we'd be obedient, or what. It's the first thing I'm gonna ask Him when I get to the other side, though. :)

Saturday was our miracle day. Seriously. Miracle after miracle. Something that we do as missionaries in the GANM (Georgia Atlanta North Mission) is offer to leave the Savior's peace and blessing in people's homes. We introduce ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ and basically ask them if they'd like a blessing on their home. Elders use their priesthood, and as sisters we say a prayer by virtue of our calling as missionaries. So we were offering this prayer at an apartment complex (apartments are the best. for real) and we were meeting loads of people. One man, M., opened the door and told us he didn't even believe in God, but if we wanted to come in and pray, he was fine with that. We walked in and he had another friend who was also in the apartment. So we started to talk to them about what they believed. After just a few minutes, it was clear that the prayer wasn't gonna happen. The things they asked about were completely off topic and even though it was about "Mormons," the spirit wasn't there. So I felt prompted to sing. Sister Marshall and I sang 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives.' And the Spirit filled the room. And you could tell from the look on their faces that they felt it. We let the Spirit linger for a moment and then I testified that I know that God lives and loves us. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that He knows what we've been through. And I know that this church is true. M. didn't look like he wanted to believe what he was feeling, but what his friend said next amazed me. He said, "You know that they (the missionaries) believe in God. They go to people's homes and they came into this apartment with 2 men. They know that God's going to protect them. And I don't know what this is" (referring to the Spirit) "if it's the power of God, or Jesus Christ or a good energy from them, but they're lifting people up and they need to continue doing what they're doing." We don't have a return appointment. I don't even remember the friend's name. But you can bet that we planted a seed.

Our other miracle was  a lady named S. We asked if we could leave the blessing in her apartment and she was so excited about it. So we went in and asked a bit about her and what she wanted us to add in the prayer. We said the prayer and asked how she was feeling. She told us that she felt so grateful. She told us that she and her friend had been talking about knowing truth, and we had prayed for her to recognize truth when she heard and felt it. We weren't able to set up a return appointment, but she wants us to come back for sure. 

Our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles :)

Til next week, 

~Sistah Jacobs.

Remember, even though I've been transferred, my mailing address is the same!

Sister Ashley Jacobs

Georgia Atlanta North Mission

1150 Cole Dr SW

Lilburn, GA 30047

Pun for the week:

*As we pased Willeo Rd*

Sis J- "Willeo follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?"

Roads in Georgia are funny.

Sept. 9, 2013 And at last I see the light . . .

Alooooooooooha! This week rocked! :)

Monday was full of packing (It was transfer week). And we had fun with the Milton Sisters. They rock.

Tuesday was our last district meeting together. Which was sad. And then Tuesday night we had dinner with the B Family. I might've cried on our way out. But Sis B. told me to call her whenever I needed anything. Sister Loader was there to comfort me :) I sure like her. After too many goodbyes and the final packing of things, I hit the sack. I went from Trainee to trainer overnight! Literally! :) 

Wednesday morning was sooo different. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, so so excited for my new Sister (companion) !! I thought back to my first day in the field and I got greenie-excited all over again! I gave a hug to Sister Loader and then my ride came and took me to the mission office. It was sad to leave her, but I'm gonna see her tomorrow at Zone Training. So that's cool. :) When we got to the mission office, we sat in the Chapel and all heard the names of our trainees for the first time... after about 30 mins, they walked in! And I met Sister Marshall!! She's 19, from Riverton, UT. And she's super cool. Her dad shipped her bike to GA and she put it together at the mission office. Without help from the elders. I wish I was that cool. Hopefully some of that will rub off on me by the time we're done together :)

We got a packet with some info about our new apartment, keys to the car (yay for a car!), a phone number of someone who was supposed to give us our keys and then we were on our way! Thanks to my trusty-handy-dandy GPS, we found our apartment! The other sisters had 'heart attacked' our door. :) Oh yeah. We're the 3rd set of missionaries in that ward. Does the Lindon Stake even have one set of missionaries?!

We met with Bishop Foye for dinner and he gave us some names of people to talk to. We talked to the sisters and they gave us some referrals. Basically this ward rocks. 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were full of visiting people, contacting, and sweating. Gotta love missionary work, am I right? :)

Sunday was awesome! It was ward conference so there were some people from the Webb Bridge ward (her previous ward) with stake callings. That was my tender mercy for the day :) By the way, Paper Mill is the best ward in the mission. Just sayin :)

Also. My apartment is in Sandy Springs. Guess where the temple is? Sandy Springs. The other sisters told us that if it wasn't for all the trees, we could see if from our apartment. Ah! Let me just tell you this. I am never going to take the temple for granted again. :) We didn't get to go last month. So... the next time I go will be the last day of my mission.

Crazy story! So this morning we went walking with a member because it's her favorite thing and there's a super pretty nature walk along the Chattahoochee. We were walking to the nature walk and Sis Allen said that there was a fire in a complex a couple of streets over. So we passed that street and there were still trucks and stuff. And news people. So... we passed them. So... I might've been on TV this morning. Haha. :)

I love training. I love the mission. Life is great! :)

~Sis Jacobs

Quote for the week:

I wish we could listen to Tangled music. It's the best. -Sis Marshall.

Yeah. Tangled is pretty cool -Sis J

"I see the light" is my favorite -Sis M

Well. That's a good one, but it has romantic overtones... -Sis J

Psh, we're thinking about the light of Christ! -Sis M.

We had a good laugh :) 

Missionaries that are all from Pleasant Grove, UT

Webb Bridge district. Elders McConnehey (Sp?), Eames, Loveland, Anderson and Buhler. Sisters Allen, Porter, me and Sis Loader. I just noticed that E. Buhler isn't standing on the curb with the rest of us. And that's hilarious.

We think we're cute pirates. It's fine

Webb Bridge missionaries. I love them. I miss them. I'll see them tomorrow :)

Sister Arbon came into the field! She's cousins with Felicia (a neighborhood friend). Cool, right? :)

Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me....?

Aug. 26, 2013

Familia!!

I love ya'll so much!

On Tuesday we taught Sis B a new member lesson about temples. She's super excited to get her recommend and go do confirmations! Woot!! :) Super cool, right?! :) It was so cool to see her as a baptized member. She's the best. :)

Wednesday we helped clean for a family that's moving. That was fun. We sang Disney songs at the top of our lungs. Nothin' like a little Pocahontas or Tangled to get your cleaning groove on! :) After that we taught E! We went to a member family's apt and she wheeled on over. As we got started she asked, "Do ya'll believe in embracin?" "Um, yeah..." "Well come now, gimme a hug!" She is the most southern lady I've met here and we're best friends, haha. :) We taught her the restoration and she felt the spirit super strong. It was so great! It was confirmed to me that Joseph Smith restored this Gospel! He did! :) As we walked out of the lesson, Sister Loader goes, "I'm pretty sure you and E were best friends in the pre-existence" Yeah. Pretty sure we were :)

Thursday was Zone Conference! Yay for meetings! :) I love listening to President and the assistants and everyone else talk about their vision for the mission and how much we can do if only we have faith and work hard! I'm always so pumped after meetings :) 

Quote for the week:

The assistants were giving a training and Elder Miller said, "Okay, what are some things we can do for our companion?"

"Elder Hoyt sings to me in the morning!" -Elder MacDonald.

*3 minutes later*

"Okay, now what are some "don'ts" for a successful companionship?"

"Elder Hoyt sings to me in the morning!" -Elder MacDonald.

I died laughing. :)

The other news is that there are 63 Sisters in the mission, 80 by September, and over 100 in October! Woot! :)

That night we taught P and the spirit was definitely there! We're still working on getting her to come to church and to recognize why the gospel is important, but it's been good teaching her! :) 

Friday we helped another member move! But she's only moving around the corner, so she'll still be in the ward, thank goodness! :) Saturday morning there was a member baptism and E came! She said a couple of "oh yes" and "amens" throughout the talks and prayers, haha. I seriously love her. 

Random thought: If Mormons bought out 'Veggie Tales', how would they do the story of Ammon defending King Lamoni's sheep? (from the Book of Mormon) These are things the missionaries ponder over lunch... :)

Happy first day of class to all of my dear Logan-ites! :) (Utah State University started classes this week) Say hi to everyone and everything for me! :)

I love this gospel, I love all of you and I know the church is true! 

Hope to hear from you soon!

~Sister Jacobs

Picture of Ashley and other missionaries at Zone Conference.

Miracles happen once in a while, when you believe...

Aug. 19th, 2013

(In order to respect the privacy of the members and investigators in Ashley's mission, I will be using only the the first initial of their names in this and future emails. Thanks for understanding AND thanks for all your love and support for Ashley.  - Lisa)

Miracles happen once in a while, when you believe...

Hello, all! :)

I love writing to you. It's my favorite part about P-day :)

Happy first day of school for Lexy and work for Mom!! (I got a part time job working as secretary in the high school counseling office) I'm *so* excited for you both! Say hi to PG, Mr. Shelley, Mr. Wilcock and Ms. Smithson (favorite teachers from high school) for me! :)

This week we went on an exchange with our Sister Training Leaders. Sister Hamilton came with me to Webb Bridge and then Sis Loader went to the other area with Sis Nielson. They're like the sister zone leaders, only they're over 2 zones. I was talking to Sister Hamilton and asked if each zone is gonna get Sister TL's and she said that Sister Wolfert wishes they could, but there are so many sisters coming out in the next transfer (20!!) that they need everyone to train! So... I'm gonna be a mommy (trainer)! Probably. I won't get the call til next week if it's for sure, but I'm pretty much expecting it to happen. and. I'm. stoked!! :)

After our exchange, Sis Loader and I checked the mail and we got a package. A combined package!!! It was the highlight of the week for me! (Up to that point... :)) I loved all of Lexy's puns on everything! I was laughing so hard. I told Sis Loader, "My sister is cooler than your sister." And she was like, "um, not possible." Don't tell, but I still think Lexy is cooler. :)

The Elders have been teaching a lady named P. and Sister S. has been her fellowshipper in the ward. After teaching the 3 lessons she dropped of the face of the planet for like 3 weeks. She wouldn't respond to the elders at all. This past week, Sister S. said she had talked to the elders, prayed about it like crazy, and suggested that we try to teach her. The elders prayed about it and then gave their okay. I. felt. awful. for "taking" their investigator, but she let us teach her on Thursday, so that was improvement! We studied like crazy for the lesson, but had no idea where we were gonna go with it. Sister S. drove us to P's home and we let the Spirit take over! We opened with a hymn and then just shared our thoughts and the scriptures that came to mind. Sis Loader shared a suuuper powerful testimony about the truthfulness of the Gospel and at the end of the lesson we had another appointment with her! I still give all the credit to our Elders (after the Spirit, of course). They found her, they taught her the first 3 lessons, they invited her to be baptized, and we're just here to help follow up. I feel like we did the same thing for Sister B., haha.

Friday was Sister B.'s baptism!!!!!! We'd been praying for good weather for like 2 weeks and we woke up to rain. rain rain rain. I was super worried and Sister Loader goes, "We prayed for it. It'll clear up for the baptism, and then rain again when it's over. I'm not worried" And she was absolutely right!! I've learned a lot about prayer from her. :) The program was held in a garage (most spiritual and beautifully decorated garage I've ever been in, haha).

Sis Loader and I sang 'When I am Baptized' accompanied by Elder Eames on a guitar (with permission, of course). We took a video of it after the baptism, I'll send it home eventually :) Anyway, after that we wheeled her out to the pool. Elder Eames and Elder Anderson and Brother A. helped her into a plastic chair, they carried her down the steps of the pool and then set the front legs of the chair on the bottom step of the pool and held the chair so her head and neck were above the water. Bishop Weurgler performed the ordinance and then the other 3 lowerd the back legs so she was immersed and then carried her out of the water! Cool, right?! She was helped back into her wheelchair, covered in blankets and towels and confirmed at the poolside. As soon as we got back into the garage for a closing prayer and song, it started raining again. :) As we drove away Elder Anderson goes, "Man. God has a sense of humor. The one day I get to go in a pool on my mission and it's raining. I'm freezing." I thought that was hilarious :)

E. came to church again yesterday! P. was planning on it as of Saturday night, but didn't make it. We're so calling her next Sunday morning. Anyway, E is the best! We haven't been in to teach her yet because her schedule is crazy, but it's gonna happen! We'll keep calling her every couple of days and it's gonna happen. :)

Funny story. So yesterday after sacrament meeting Sis Loader was talking to some less actives on the carpet part of the chapel, and I was talking to an investigator on the other side, right where the overflow starts. Half way through our conversations, the curtains start to close and we looked at each other like a deer in the headlights as my companion slowly was taken out of my sight and sound... I was laughing so hard! Sis Loader brought the less actives to the overflow to talk so all was well again. But it made me laugh. Oh man :)

Well, that's my week in a nut shell! 

I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you! :)

~Sister Jacobs

Sister Hamilton, me, Sister Loader and Sister Nielson.

It's not that unusual, it's just another ordinary miracle today.

July 29, 2013

Hello!!

I've officially completed my first transfer! :) All 4 of us in the Webb Bridge ward are staying for at least another 6 weeks! That was the best news. Really though. :)

Also, Sister Molly George (Her roommate from college) is now in the mission!! I haven't seen her personally, but one of the elders' investigators was helping someone move in another ward, and he said that she was there!! Yay for familiar faces! :)

Mom, thank you so much for the package! Sister B has asked us to sing at her baptism, so the Children's Songbook came just in time! Thank you!!! :) The CD, Lamb of God is so great!!! Sister Loader actually had it but didn't know what it was. When we opened the CD that you sent, there were 2 CDs!! Sister Loader said, "It's like finding out there's an 8th book to Harry Potter!" Haha. We really love it! :)

I can't believe that you met up with Sister Loader's family! (Her companion's family lives near us) We have been talking about having Lexy look out for Amanda (companion's sister)  when school started, but it looks like you already got that covered! Today when Sister Loader opened up her email she was like, "Um... Sister Jacobs? Those are my parents." And I was like, "what?! And those are *my* parents!" It was super weird to see you all in a picture together. But super exciting at the same time :)

Okay. Highlight of the week was probably Wednesday-ish. We were just finishing up lunch and someone knocked on our door. No one ever knocks on our door. So... I looked through the peep-hole and there was a woman I'd never seen before. I answered it and she's our upstairs neighbor! She came to apologize for something that we didn't even notice. Anyway, she commented "hallelujah!" on our Jesus picture that we have hanging in our window! Haha. What a sweet lady :)

We met with Sister B again and because she's in a lot of pain we can only meet for like 30 mins at a time. She's been through all the lessons, but Elder Buhler wanted us to go over the last lesson and the commandments with her just to refresh her memory. When we told her that, she goes, "can we do that all at once?" Uh... So we did! Fastest lessons of my life! When we got to the commandments it was like, "What do you understand about tithing?" She'd answer with more understanding than I have, haha.  "... will you live it? What do you understand about the word of wisdom? ... will you live it?" She's so great. August 16th is the big day! She's excited, we're excited and the elders are excited! It's gonna be a super tender experience :)

I love being a missionary! It gives me the greatest opportunity to think of Christ and come closer to Him! I love it! and I love you! :)

~Sister Jacobs

PS. The first picture is one Tyler took as he was passing through Georgia and had to stop in a Target store for something a few weeks ago. He sent a copy to Ashley. It was in her mission boundaries.

The second picture is of Ashley in the exact same location recently and she shared that with us.
Ashley's comment in finding that location: Best treasure hunt ever! Haha :)

The first picture is one Tyler took as he was passing through Georgia and had to stop in a Target store for something a few weeks ago. He sent a copy to Ashley. It was in her mission boundaries.

The second picture is of Ashley in the exact same location recently and she shared that with us.
Ashley's comment in finding that location: Best treasure hunt ever! Haha :)

No Song for This Week!

Aug. 12, 2013

Howdy from the South!!

 

Fun fact: I can count on one hand how many people in my area have legit southern accents. One of which is our lady of the hour, Sister B!

 

We had a *super* cool experience with her on Tuesday! She wanted to meet the bishop before her baptism. So we went over with him and had a little lesson and then she asked for a blessing of healing so that she can actually come to the church building on Sunday and "be of use to the church" as she put it. Bishop said that he'd be able to give her a blessing, even though usually 2 priesthood holders bless the sick and afflicted. She asked if Brother B could participate. He's been less active for a loooong time. So they went into the other room and talked for a bit and then came back. Brother B anointed and then Bishop gave her the blessing! Coolest. experience. evar! :) I cried. Fun fact: I cry a lot as a sister missionary. :)

This email is just gonna be all over the place. Forgive me? Thanks. You're a peach.

 

On Monday we went to do something as a district and there was an extra elder! Surprise! Elder B. and Elder A. are now training Elder E. from Kaysville! A member is going to let him borrow a guitar on Friday so he can accompany Sis Loader and I at Sis B's baptism. I'm so excited! :) Sister B is super excited for her baptism and said she wants lots of pictures! How convenient, I do too!! :) I'll have a full report next week! I'm so proud of her! She's showing soooo much faith going through with this! :)

 

On Thursday Elder B. hit his year mark but we didn't find out til dinner... so when we got home Sis Loader and I made him a little card and we gave it to him the next day. It was my favorite thing. Seriously. If you're having a hard day, make something for someone. It is just the best feeling in the world! :)

 

Friday was awesome! We had some less actives that we wanted to visit but they live in gated communities... so we prayed that the gates would just be open or that we could follow behind someone into the community when we got there. And guess what?! It worked!! We drove into the community and there was a sign that said, "caution. private air strip ahead" ooookay? So we find Sis P's house and as we get talking to her, we discover that it's an aviation community. Everyone. owns. a. plane! What the heck? Like... what do you even do with a plane?! Apparently fly to Alabama for a vacation, according to Sis. Hermana Shelton (Ashley's friend serving in Peru) and I are in completely different worlds, haha :) I got pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to attach them :)

 

Other fun facts about Georgia.

It has rained more here this summer than in Seattle.

Paula Abdul lives in our ward boundaries. Like... a mile or two away from our apartment. According to one of our members it's a gated community, and then she lives on a separately gated street. With a security guard. I'm so glad I'm not famous :)

 

Saturday. Oh man. Saturday was great. Sister Loader got a package and we just had soooo much fun with it! Her mom told her to put on her "big girl panties" and then sent her some! We took pictures. Haha.

 

On Sunday the G. Family brought a friend of theirs to church! She stayed for all 3 hours and the ward rocked at welcoming her! She said that she quite enjoyed herself and wants to come back! We're meeting with her probably tomorrow to answer her questions and talk to her a bit more about the church. Oh yeah.

 

Everyone says that we have to have fun as missionaries, right? Yeah. Okay. So for my first couple of weeks I seriously didn't get how. But I'm having tons of fun now! For example: every morning we read 3 pgs of the white handbook as part of comp study. I'm pretty sure every missionary does this. So... we've started reading it in different accents! Southern, British, Asian, and our new favorite... Brian Reagan! The first day we did it I read pg 53. The last line on that page just about killed us, we were laughing so hard. :)

 

Alrighty, I'll calm down.

I love missionary work. I've waited 7 years for this opportunity and now it's here! And as of yesterday I've been in Georgia for 2 months! And I'm coming to love it more and more. As a wise friend once told me, "love the mission and it'll love you back." I feel like that's something we can all take to heart. Love your calling, love your ward, love your job, love your family, love your school, love your situation, and it'll love you back! Being here is crazy! Every night I try to think of one word to describe the day, but I never can! There are so many ups and downs and so many unique experiences that I don't have time to share, but it's all for the best. :) I challenge you all to prepare for next Sunday. Get ready to take the sacrament and pray for the speakers to say the things that you need. And pay attention to how you feel. Yesterday I literally felt myself be filled with the spirit. I have been rejuvenated for the week!

 

The church is true,

the book is blue,

and I love you!

 

Sister Jacobs

 

PS. Thank you for the letters! I thoroughly enjoy them! :)

 

Big girl panties!
'I've lost 500lbs and I'm a Mormon.'

Oompa loompas?

Church on Sunday. Apparently there wasn't enough room in the parking lot... haha. :)

 

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There must be something there that wasn't there before . . .

Aug, 5, 2013

Aloooooha! This week has been great! And Happy August! Time flies!! 

Sister B is doing awesome! We continue to meet with her and she rocks! We helped a less-active member move this week and it was super fun! We're sad that she's out of our area now, but we're excited for the sisters that get to work with her now

And now, a silly sister (missionary) story.
Every night before we go to bed, Sister Loader and I do 5 Bits of Happiness. We'll talk about a moment in the day when we 1) felt joy 2) accomplished something 3) saw a tender mercy 4) felt peace 5) and then we give each other a compliment. By 7:45am I already had my accomplishment for the day. I was blow drying my hair this morning and I saw something in the mirror that I hadn't seen before. So I turned around and saw this bug on the ceiling. "Sister Looooader?!? Come look at this!" So she comes in and was like, "Ew. We had those all the time in Jackson [her last area]. Good luck killing it!" and she goes back into the bathroom. This.... bug was like and inch and a half long with fifty million legs. that got longer and longer toward the back of the bug. Being the designated bug-killer in our companionship, I was thrilled. Haha. I went back to doing my hair. Then it moved. It was on the wall by my bed. And I was not risking it getting any closer. So I moved my bed out of the way, grabbed a flip flop, and tapped it off the wall. It started squirming on the ground and I finally found the courage to kill it! All the while squealing like only a sister missionary can, haha. It was good times

My favorite thing about being a missionary is the excuse to be bold! The other night we got a text from an unknown number and she asked if Derek was doing okay because she hadn't heard from him in a couple of days. So... I responded with something like, "Hi! This is Sister Jacobs and Sister Loader, missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! We just got this phone a few weeks ago, but we hope your friend is okay! We can keep him in our prayers if you'd like!" She said that would be nice, so I continued, "We definitely will! Would you like to hear a message from some of our missionaries about Jesus Christ? I'm sure we have some in your area!" She declined. But it was fun to be bold!

The president just came out with a challenge for our mission! He said that the goals for the mission are 45 baptisms in August. He said that if we get 40+ baptisms, those companionships who baptize someone will get to go to the temple at the end of the month! What?! So... we love Sister B. And we're gonna pray for the rest of the mission!

Quote for the week!
"I was investing too much time in Pabo* and wasn't getting anything in return. So I had to drop him... like an investigator" -Sister Loader. We're such missionaries. It's fun

Anyway, life is muy bueno. Going to church is the best. Members rock. Fasting works! The church is true! Love you lots!!
Sister Jacobs

Things are looking up, it's a great little world we live in!

July 22, 2013

Family!

Okay, so I haven't even told you about the month of consecration... because I didn't feel like it was working.... til this week! :) The month of July has been the month of consecration for our mission. Every companionship is working super hard to be exactly obedient. What a great way to start my mission, right? Anway, Sister Loader and I were getting super discouraged and that's why I didn't share. I felt like even though we were being obedient and working our best, we weren't seeing miracles that everyone else was. But guess what? We had our miracle this week!!! Lots of miracles, actually :)

Our first miracle was Monday afternoon. We got mail!!!!!! Between Sis Loader and I, we got 6 letters and a package! AH! Best day ever. Really though. Now that we know that mail works... please continue to write! For those of you who sent mail and got it back, it's now safe! :)

I love the mission office.

Our next miracle was Sister Bray. Here's the story.

Monday night was soooo hard. We found a lady who knew her bible better than the back of her hand and we didn't bash, of course, but we tried to share our testimonies. When we finally got away I said, "Sister Loader, I'm going to bear my testimony to you because I know you'll listen." So I did. Twice. And when we got home we both shed some tears and expressed our desire to talk to someone, anyone who would listen to the Gospel which would bless their lives immensely. It was the next day that we found Sister Bray.

She took the discussions like 2 years ago, but had some severe health problems and couldn't get baptized. She can't attend church but they broadcast it to her so she can see it (bishop approved, of course. There are like 3 people in our ward that use it). Her main hold up has been that she wanted to be able to walk into the font. On Tuesday Sis Loader and I decided to see her. During training the elders texted us and said they'd visit with her and see if they could set up a time for us to see her (I love our elders. Seriously). So we told them to go ahead and we found some other people to visit instead. About 10 minutes later, we got a call from Sister Bray herself! She basically said that she wanted us to come over that day, she wanted to pick a baptismal date, and talk about what needed to be done so she could be baptized. So Sis Loader and I were thinking, "Wow! Those elders are seriously on top of things!" Come to find out later that she hung up the phone and then the elders knocked on her door! So... we planned on visiting her, the elders planned on visiting her, and she called us so we could visit her all on the same day! Isn't the Spirit amazing?! So we called up a member and she said, "You know. This morning I just decided to put on a skirt. I never decide to just put on a skirt!" And she was the perfect person to introduce to Sister Bray. They've both had similar experiences that two 20-year-old sister missionaries could never relate to. Toward the end, I was getting ready to invite her to baptism (my first) and she pulls out her phone and says, "So I want to be baptized on August 9 or 16, preferably the 9th. Can we do that?" Man. She's awesome.

I learned so much from that. We had been working hard the whole month, but it wasn't until we were absolutely certain that we couldn't do it by ourselves that the Lord stepped in. We had been praying all month long for Him to bring us to His children that were ready, but I never meant it more than last Monday night.

That was the big miracle this week sprinkled with lots of little ones in between.

Our next miracle is that we reached all of our goals that we set for this week! That's a big deal. Maybe not to most missionaries. But for Sister Loader and I, that's huge.

We have a couple of other potentials and we're super excited about them!

I love your letters and your emails! And I love the pictures that you send me! I can't express to you how wonderful it is to hear from family and friends.

I am so blessed. We are so blessed. The gospel is so wonderful. But it's more than wonderful, it's true! Sister Loader asked me the other day how I knew the church was true. And I had to think real hard, just because I never had a light switch moment. It has all been a sunrise. And I said, "Because it makes me happy. Nothing would make me this happy unless it was divine and true and eternal." And that's all there is to it. The gospel makes me happy. 

Life isn't easy, but the Gospel is simple. The Gospel doesn't make life easy, but it gives us peace. All of us. Listen next time you're in sacrament meeting. Not to the speaker, but to the Spirit. He tells me cool things at church. And there are cool things that you can be told, too!

I love being a missionary! I love you all!

Til next week, Sister Jacobs

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**Missionary, missionary, tractin through the rain...

July 8, 2013

(** From Mom's missionary tapes that I listened to when I was little.)

Friends! Family! Hi. I love you all. Like, a lot.

First of all... I got notice on Saturday that mail isn't getting to us. Which was kind of a relief at first, haha. I was like, "Isn't the beginning of my mission supposed to be when I get the most mail?" 3 weeks later, empty mailbox. But that's okay! I talked to our mailman, Antonio and asked if he knew why it wouldn't be getting to us. He tried to explain how forwarding works and then saw my name tag. He goes (in his Spanish accent), "Seester? You know. I think I bin gettin mail for a seester. But I bin sendin it back. I write down your address and take out da block." Hallelujah! So, if you've sent me a letter and got it back, I apologize for your wasted stamp, but if you send it again, I'll get it for sure! Woot!

I love Georgia. It's so great. :) Some excerpts from the week.

4th of July. I wore my red shirt, Mom! I hope you did, too! :) (We have matching shirts. I did wear mine that day.) We had a breakfast with the ward and there were a couple of investigators there, that was cool :)

RAIN!! I LOVE RAIN! We were walking around on the 4th of July and it wasn't raining. We knocked on a door. We waited for about 30 seconds. It was pouring! I'm so grateful for my umbrella and my raincoat. It's so fun. Man. So fun. We've been told over and over that this isn't normal to have this much rain in July but hey, I'm not complaining! Rain lessens the heat! Love it! :)

We were driving on a fairly busy road when the car in front of us just stopped. So we stopped behind them. After about 15 seconds, we saw why they stopped. Geese. Geese were crossing the street. 11 of them! I felt like Count Dracula from Sesame Street. "One, two, three... eleven! Eleven geese!"

The work is good! Our bishopric loooves missionary work! We're focusing a lot on getting the members pumped. Whenever we talk about missionary work to Brother Hope, even I get pumped about missionary work! More than usual! It's so great. I got another referral to the Spanish missionaries! It went better than last week's, too! All thanks to Spanish speaking missionary friends who answer my emails. :) This is something that I want to do at least once a week. Guess what? The church is true. And Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to be happy, and everything that He does for us is all about our happiness! Awesome, right? :) 

I love ya'll! 

(^Look at me... gettin all Southern :))

Sister Jacobs

-Quote for the week from Sister Loader:

I love Barbie! Some people don't like her because she has gross proportions as a real person. I don't care. She's a fictional character! Can you imagine the proportions of a cabbage patch kid in real life?!

-Things Elders don't have to think about:

Skirts. Two examples...

We walked out the door and sat in the car, "You know, I really don't remember this skirt having a seam down the middle." Yup. I put it on sideways.

We came home at the end of the day, "Oh my gosh! No wonder my skirt feels weird, it's on wrong!" Yup. They shift throughout the day. 

Pictures:

Love it!

Awesome!

Happy 4th of July! My skirt is soaked, haha :)

Caaaan anybodyyyyyy find meeee... somebody to.... teeeeeach?

July 1, 2013

Family and friends! Recap of the week:

Monday night we met with Sis. Johnson, YW's president, to talk to her about the YW in the ward and she asked us to teach her kids for FHE since we were there anyway. We, of course, taught about missionary work and asked what kinds of opportunities they have had in the past. They had tons of stories for us! And these are all kids under the age of 10! Toward the end of the lesson, their boy (9, I think) goes, "So, are you gonna give us a challenge, or what?" and I asked, "Do you want a challenge?" All of the kids gave us a resounding "YES!" It was awesome. We gave them some mormon.org cards and asked them to give them away to their friends. That was sooo much fun! I don't feel like I'm very good at teaching and relating to adults, so teaching a group of kids was super refreshing for me. It was like a "oh yeah. This is why I wanted to teach elementary school in the first place!" At the end, they sang "I want to be a missionary now" for the closing song. Cutest thing ever.

Wednesday was so fantastic. We had interviews with President. And it was just good! I don't even remember why it was so great. I just remember my face hurting from smiling so much at the end of the day.

We heard back from Blair. She told us that she was in the hospital again and that her parents are going through a super rough time. I'm not very happy with the adversary right now. Not that I'm ever happy with him... but I'm reeeeally not happy with him, haha. We've got a couple of ideas of things we can do for her. 

We just have to make them happen. 

I love the Sabbath. Seriously. I love getting ready on Sunday morning and just thinking. Pondering the questions and concerns that I have, and prepping myself to get those answers in a few hours. I just love it. As we walked out of Sacrament meeting, I got a text from the ward mission leader, "Hey, I'm not there today. I asked Bishop if he could find someone to cover gospel essentials but didn't hear back. Can you teach?" Um... so I walk into class and Bishop's 14-yr-old son was standing at the front of the room, ready to teach! He just got back from EFY (Especially for Youth Program) and kind of re-taught a missionary lesson he learned there. It was so great! He called it, "10 ways Ammon was a missionary." One of his ways was to be an example and he said that we can only reflect His light when we're standing in it. I loved that! It's just like the moon! If you think about it, we have all the phases of the moon because we only see the light that is directly reflected from the sun. Man. Everything connects to the gospel.

 

Sister Loader and I went to YW instead of Relief Society so we could introduce ourselves to the YW. It's been a while! I loved it! For opening exercises, they asked for "Missionary Moments" and they all shared stories from the week. Man. This ward is great! After church I found a piano to practice hymns on (yeah. I'm the designated piano player for district meetings now. Never thought that would happen) and one of Sister Johnson's daughters came in and told us that she gave away her mormon.org card! Suuuper cute. 

I'm going to try to start a new section of my letters, but we'll see how long it lasts, haha. It's called "Things Elders don't have to think/worry about on their missions." For instance... I now part my hair on the other side of my head so that my hair doesn't hang over my name tag. Tuesday morning I told Sister Loader, "This is a monumental day. I hope that you're excited to be a part of this major change I'm making in my life" haha. It was good times.

Well, my dear family and friends, I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July and that it's full of fireworks and hot dogs! I love you all!!

~Sister Jacobs.

Perfect Week!

June 24, 2013

Perfect Week!

Hello friends and family!!

This week has been awesome! I've tried to write down specific things that I want to share throughout the week so I'm not just talking about the weekend. 

As Sister Loader and I walked around our complex, we saw a lady taking stuff from the back of her car so we stopped to talk to her and she said, "I no speak English" So um... I talked to her in Spanish!!! Woo hoo!! I was able to ask her about her beliefs and she gave me permission to refer her to the Spanish elders! She was super patient with me, but I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. It meant a lot.

This week we also went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders (like the sister zone leaders of sorts). I went with Sister Paepaetaata to her area and it was so great! I learned so much from her! In the evening we visited a less active lady and she had Disney stuff *everywhere*!!! Her walls were red and everything in her home was Mickey! That was my tender mercy for the day.

That fireside ('The Work of Salvation' at http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-lmissionary-work-worldwide-broadcast?CID=HPL2P01W01032) was great last night, am I right?! Something that really stuck out to me was the importance of less actives. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was said that whether they hadn't heard the message before or they heard it once and had forgotten, they need visits and love! As I thought about it, every person on this Earth knew the message at one point and forgot because of the veil. So really every person on the street is less active and it's our job (as missionaries and members) to remind them of the infinite love that Heavenly Father has for them!

Well. I know that this isn't as detailed as last week, but I'm short on time. Guess what?! The church is true!! I love it! I love you all dearly!

Til next week,

Sister (and sometimes Hermana) Jacobs :)

Monday June 17, 2013

Here's the email from last week. I'm late posting it because I was at Girl's Camp all week.

Enjoy! 

Mama Jacobs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello all!!

I loooooove Georgia!!!

The last few days at the MTC were super tender. It was really good though. We got pictures with our district and our teachers on Monday and I spent the rest of the day tearing up. Man. Goodbyes are no bueno for me.

And then Tuesday happened!!! We woke up at 2am, got to the airport at like 5 and then got on our plane at 8! I remember seeing the Salt Lake Temple as we took off and thinking of the fond memories I've made there over the years. Another tender moment.

Most of the missionaries were sitting with other missionaries on the plane... but I wasn't! There was a family of 5 sitting all along the row, so I got the window seat (score!). At first their little girl was sitting next to me. She thought I was scary. Haha. About 10 minutes into the plane ride, they switched around and the Mom sat next to me. We talked quite a bit. She was from Puerto Rico and was in town for her nephew's high school graduation. He has his mission call to Hong Kong. I really liked her. I almost spoke with her in Spanish, but I could barely hear her in English. Anyway, I talked with her, caught up on my journal and caught a couple hours of sleep. When we landed in Georgia it was 1:45pm. Sister Adorable led all 19 of us (there were 19 staying in Georgia but closer to 50 missionaries on the plane going to various places) to the baggage claim where we met President Wolfert and his wife! It was weird to see them in person, haha. But I love them! It took 3 vehicles to take us all back to the mission home. President got individual pictures of us, had interviews and then we had dinner together! It was so awesome. The Assistants talked to us for a bit and I loved it. Even as they talked to us, as missionaries, I noticed different teaching techniques they teach in the MTC. It was cool. I took notes. :)

That night we were told our areas and our trainers names. I've been assigned to the Webb Bridge Ward in the Roswell Stake in Alpharetta, Georgia! My trainer is Sister Loader from all over the place. Her dad was in the air force. Her most recent residence? Pleasant Grove, Utah. Hold. the phone. I thought to myself.

I asked her where she graduated from high school. Pleasant Grove. What year? 2011. (That's where Ashley went to high school and the same year that she graduated.)

I've never seen her before in my life! Granted, she was only there for a year, but I still don't believe her.  That's a lie. I believe her now. It just took me until she started talking about the teachers there before I believed her. She's been out for 3 months. She just barely finished her own 12 week training and now she's on the other end of it training me! Crazy, right?!

On Wednesday they gave us a bit of information and then sent us on our way! Sister Loader is new to the Webb Bridge area. In fact, we're the first sister missionaries they've had! President gave Sister Loader a packet that had the address of our apartment, the keys to the car (oh yeah. we have a car) and said, "go get em!"

We got to our apartment and cried. It is soooo nice! The ward left notes all over the walls and stocked the cupboards and fridge with food. It was the most humbling experience. And I didn't realize that they furnished the place until yesterday when a gentleman came up to us and said, "I donated one of my desks! I hope you like it!" Such a generous ward. Family, I'm being taken care of, don't you worry. I just hope that I can meet their expectations of what a sister missionary should be like.

Well, because we're new, we don't have any investigators and our Area Book (book of potential investigators from the previous missionaries) is blank! So on Friday we decided to really hit the ground running! We did like 4 hours of tracting that day and found like 5 possible investigators! Peyton has met with us once and is letting us come back and then Blair wanted us to come back, but when we stopped by her place last night we found out that she's in the hospital. So we're praying for her and hoping that she's okay.

Other than that, we've been trying to get to know lots and lots of members.

Every night we have dinner with the Elders at a member's home. I'm telling you. This ward is amazing.  The elders are Elder Anderson from Mississippi and Elder Buhler from (get this) Pleasant Grove, Utah. Um... yeah. 3 out of the 4 missionaries in the same ward graduated from the same high school the same year.

They're really great.

Yesterday church was great. Bishop had both me and Sister Loader bear our testimonies, which was pretty simple. We expected it. The meeting was great and so was the rest of the block! After church we stayed for about an hour so I could practice the piano. I'm playing the opening and closing hymns at our district meeting on Tuesday. I'm so glad I brought that simplified piano book with me. It's already been helpful! It's been a great week!

 

Here are some answers to questions that I've been getting a lot:

Humidity? The humidity is great!!! Everyone told me I'd hate it and it'd be the worst ever... but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it seem! I might be eating my words in a month or two... but right now it's great!

Bike? My bike is awesome! Buuuuut... we have a car. In fact, my trainer hasn't used her bike yet, but her last area didn't really allow it... so we'll see what ends up happening there. The elders are super excited that we have a car. We give them rides. A lot.

Music? I didn't end up singing at the MTC Devotional, but I did a little musical number in sacrament meeting at the MTC. So fun. Actually, on Thursday we did a little bit of tracting and guess what we did? We sang the song "I am a Child of God" at the door. Did it work? Not yet! But it will. I'm excited to try it again.

Mail? My address will always and forever be:

 

Sister Ashley Jacobs

1150 Cole Drive SW

Lilburn, GA 30047

 

They forward everything so it takes about a week for me to get snail mail. Transfer weeks they hold the mail from Thursday/Friday until all of the missionaries have been switched around. So that means I won't ever lose mail because of transfers! Woot! Also send packages to that address. I don't really know how that all works, but packages take a bit longer. I think they're hand delivered at zone conferences or something. I'm still confused about it. Oh well. I had a couple of videos that I wanted to send but I couldn't... so if you could post them on the blog when I mail home the USB, that'd be great! Thanks!

 

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

 

~Sister Jacobs

Sister Jacobs & her companion Sister Brown

Sister Delci Brown & Sister Jacobs (College roommates)

Sister Bryant (Ashley's aunt) & Sister Jacobs in the MTC

President & Sister Wolfert & Sister Jacobs 

at the mission home in Lilburn, GA

Sister Jacobs with the group of  22 missionaries that arrived 

in the Georgia, Atlanta North Mission on June 11th, 2013.