May 19, 2014

Quote of the week: 

You know you're a missionary when you say things like:
"After this service project, can we please go straight home and change
into normal clothes?!"  Skirts *are* normal clothes. Don't judge 

Tender mercies are everywhere! Take a look. Once you make a habit of
looking for them, and recording them, you'll see them everywhere!
Talking about our tender mercies is my favorite part of the day 

We spent a lot of time this week in preparation for B.'s big day!
Her brother drove down from Ohio with his sweetheart for
the baptism and confirmation. They really have an awesome story. B. and
her brother were separated when they were fairly young and lost
contact with each other for about 50 years. B. adopted and her brother
ended up going to foster care. Finally they got in touch with
each other! They've been in touch since, but hadn't seen each other
for 2-3 years until the baptism. Cool story, right?!  Also, B. 
a rockstar. We all know that we experience opposition when we take big
strides to do what's right. Her opposition was her leg surgery. She
was supposed to go in Friday, a week before her baptism, but it was
delayed til Monday. She was in a LOT of pain and couldn't put any
pressure on her bad leg for 4 days. Til Friday. Thursday night her leg
wasn't getting any better, but she was determined to get baptized.
Friday morning, it was still really hard for her, but she came and we
helped her in and out of the font. Much like Sister Bray's baptism,
actually. She's a miracle! That's for sure! The longer I'm here the
more obvious it is that Father in Heaven is blessing me with the
opportunity to take part in the joy these people experience. Every
baptism I've been a part of has been handed to me, I feel. Yes, we are
obedient and we work hard. But when these people are ready, they. are.
ready!

B's brother and his wife were so sweet. They took B. out to get some new
dresses, and they're ordering her a large print quad *and* a
subscription to the Ensign! These people are so amazing. B.'s home
situation isn't the best or the easiest, and her brother is seeing that
it improves. And we'll be there every step of the way! 

We invited two of our other investigators, R. & TA to come to the baptism and
they said they'd be there for sure! While we were helping B. get
ready I remember not hearing their voices in the other room and I
thought to myself, "Well. I guess they're just another couple of
investigators that fail to keep their commitments..." When we wheeled
B. into the chapel, there they were! Talking with Elder and Sister
Elder and with big ole smiles on their faces! They really enjoyed it!
TA seems interested and willing to learn about the gospel. 

Momma D.  is still our rock star! She's always watching out for us,
and making sure we're alright. I've never felt more loved and watched
over than in this area. You'd be amazed at how many people tell us
that if anything happens or if we need anything, to go to their home.
And it's not just members either. Complete strangers while we're
tracting will make sure we've got everything we need. I. love. the.
South!  Oookay. Back to D. She's so excited, not only for her
baptism, but for the temple! We'll talk to her more about that this
week  

Another investigator, B., has a soft commitment to get baptized on June 14th as
well. We've taught her the 1st two lessons, and now that she is
learning, her husband wants to, too. Sooooo we're gonna have a big
party lesson this week with a member family, D., B. and her husband & we'll 
review the Restoration with the infamous DVD!

As we check up with the members and their 21 day challenge, they're
beginning to see how they can help! What they can do, and people they
can talk to! They are so amazing! They are such strong members always
willing to do whatever they need to to help out. These people know how
to accept an assignment and put their whole heart into it. I could
learn a thing or two from them 

Oh my heck. I almost forgot about our investigator M.!! Okay. So we were tracting
this kinda country road when all of the sudden we're in Toon Town of
Disneyland! But really though! We see this old fashioned gas station
and another building right next to it. This guy was in the garage
working on his car so we went up to him and met our new best friend,
M.! He was super nice! After a minute of talking, we asked him where
in the world we were and he told us that it's his favorite hobby to
restore things. And now that he's retired, that's what he does all
day! He showed us around his little shop and it was so great. I can't
even begin to tell you! We didn't have our cameras on us, but we're
totally going back to take pics! My favorite thing that he does is
he takes the back of an old car... and turns it into a couch! A
couch!!!! I sat on one. It was cool. You'll die when you see it. Sis
Reese and I seriously felt like we had died and gone to heaven. Or
that we were at Disneyland. Same difference, haha  He told us that
if anyone was mean to us or wouldn't listen to our message, to take
them to him and he'd straighten them out. I almost asked him if he
just wanted to come tracting with us, haha. 

Having fun as a missionary, or in life in general is so important  I like to think
that Father in Heaven sees the funny things we do and has a good
laugh, too.

Preach My Gospel Epiphany- Rely on the Spirit to know what to pray for (pg 94).
When we pray, and truly listen to the Spirit, He guides our prayers
and builds our faith.

A few weeks back we had a super busy Pday. Pdays are always busy and
it's tough to find new investigators and other people to talk to
because we don't do as much tracting on Mondays, especially when it's
dark (thank goodness it's staying lighter longer!). I'd really been
working on this aspect of my prayers and Monday morning I remember
asking for unforeseen opportunities to find people to talk to that
day. We spent some time with Momma D. and she needed to go to
Walmart. So we went with her and she knew the whole place! It was
fantastic. I saw those opportunities as tender mercies, people that
the Lord put in our path because of a prayer in faith. When I pray
like that, I feel like the purpose of prayer is truly fulfilled, not
to "change the will of God but to secure for ourselves blessings that
God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our
asking for them" (BD prayer). It truly aligns our will with His. I
have a lot more to learn about prayer, but I am grateful for the
things that Father in Heaven has taught me thus far 

We're working hard! We're doing our best! And the Lord is blessing us
like crazy!  I sure love it here. So. much. love 

Til next week!
~Sister Jacobs

Momma D. She made us lunch a few Pdays ago 

We went on an adventure this week.

B's baptism. Brother, B., Me and Sister Reese.

"Y'all be sweet, now!" - May 12, 2014

From Ashley's Mom: We had a fantastic Skype session with Sister Jacobs on Mother's Day. It was so great to have all our family gather together (via Skype) for one sacred hour. Ashley's brother Chad is in Phoenix and Tyler and Andrea were in Vernal, UT so it was wonderful to be able to see and talk with Ashley in Georgia. She looks great and is doing extremely well!
______________________________________
Oooookay! Since last week we had all of 15 minutes to email... Y'all are gettin' double this week!

I guess I haven't told y'all about our investigator B.! She's great! We tracted into her beginning of April. We've been teaching her ever since and she's getting baptized on Friday!! Her brother lives in Ohio and has been a member for 20 years! That was news to us! He's actually coming down to perform the baptism

She had a really cool experience with quitting smoking (fun fact. Everyone here smokes. Like everyone) We challenged her to go for 3 days and see how it went. We followed up daily, and she told us that one day the cravings were really bad, so she lit a cigarette, and put it to her mouth and it tasted gross! She said that she's never had a cigarette that tasted like that and she's been clean ever since! Sounds like a story from The District, right?! Haha Apparently Debbie was best friends with Bert's daughter growing up. Seriously. Small towns are the best. Everyone knows e.ve.ry.one.

More details on singing at the Lutheran church! It was awesome! Every time we went over to the R. Family's to practice, we talked a little bit more about the Book of Mormon which she is really loving. She is fascinated with Christ visiting the Americas. That's my favorite part, too   Sister Reese said it was interesting to feel the spirit come and go throughout the meeting. I sang 2 primary songs and the Spirit was there for that! That's my favorite part about singing. I'm not here to show off. I'm not here to be a good singer. I'm here to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. To bring the Spirit into people's lives, help them recognize it, invite them to experience more, and then rejoice in their agency. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's not. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the ability and love for singing. I'm not good with words and the longer I'm in this area, the less eloquent my words become, haha, but I'm learning that He really wants me to use *all* of my talents in this area and he's giving me another transfer to experiment with it. What a blessing

After the service, we went out to eat with the R. Family and their friends, too. Sister R. told the pastor she'd been reading the Book of Mormon and rather enjoying herself. I was proud of her for being strong in her feelings toward the Book of Mormon. Sometimes pastors can be intimidating, haha, but hey, they invited us back again so Sister Reese can play along with me and perhaps we'll do a duet with Sister R.! She sings, too

Last week we had an awesome lesson with our investigator D. and then had lunch with her. We've officially deemed her Momma D. She's doing great! She finally picked a day to be baptized! June 14th. It's kinda far out, but that's when her son will be able to make it here to baptize her. And we're all praying and hoping that her mom will be ready to get baptized then, too! She sat in on a couple of lessons and made it to church yesterday. It was great!! She's really opening up! And D. is a rockstar! She recognizes the adversity in her life and she knows that it's because she's making right choices and satan doesn't want her to. The Gospel doesn't erase our problems, but it gives us strength to solve them. She understands that well

The Branch started the 21 day challenge. I'd never heard of it before coming here, so 'Imma explain it to y'all.' Basically Elder Ballard has promised that if we make a list of less-active/nonmember friends and pray for them individually every morning and night for 21 consecutive days without missing a prayer, one of the people on that list, or perhaps someone else will accept an invite to listen to the missionary lessons. You might could google the actual quote. I'm not sure when he gave it. Aaaanyway. It works! And the branch is loving it! We started it the beginning of May, so I'll let you know what the results are in a few weeks

On Thursday we got a very interesting phone call from President Rownd. He told us that Elder Elder called Pres Wolfert (mission president) and told him he'd be crazy to transfer us apart. So did President Rownd and then the Stake President called him and asked him to keep this "Dynamic Duo" together! Pres Wolfert said he'd have to seriously consider it... and hey! All of our prayers worked and I'm staying til the end of June! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Church yesterday was fantastic! We had a record of 84 people at church! The little room was packed! Three of our investigators came to church, and a bunch of other unexpected investigators came, too! They had to get 3 men to pass the sacrament, instead of the normal 2! Elberton is well on it's way to becoming a ward! At least, that's what we're working for! Well. It was so good to "see" the family yesterday! Thanks for being great! I love y'all!

Be the change to see the change!
~Sister "Hartwell for life!" Jacobs

Everyone!! May 5, 2014

I feel like I just got here (on the computer), and now I'm being kicked off! Ah!

Okay. Good week. Our investigator D. is solid.

Singing at the Lutheran church was cool. We met lots of people. Our investigator T. told the pastor she's reading the Book of Mormon and learning a lot from it. The pastor's girlfriend got our number to help her with service at a local nursing home. Dunno how that pastor feels about us... haha. But it was a cool experience :) I like our church though. That's why I'm here, right?! :)

The branch is doing an awesome 21 day challenge that will help with member missionary work! They love it!

I love it here! Talk to y'all on Sunday at 2:30-3ish my time! (We get to talk to her for Mother's Day! So excited!!)

Love ya!

~Sis Jacobs.

Rockin' the Sister Missionary tan line! And it's barely May!