June 23, 2014 - Opposition is never fun, but . . .

Hey, hey, hey!!

First, my epiphany for the week. This week Sister Reese and I had something to work through. We talked a lot and came to understand one another so much better. At the end of that conversation I knew that our companionship on the mission would lead to a life-long and even an eternal friendship. The next day we saw D. and B. They had their own disagreement and D. asked us to come over and help her find some Book of Mormon scriptures to add to her bible verses. As we taught and even shared the experience that we had the previous night, I remember saying, "Opposition is never fun while we go through it, but when we overcome, the victory is sweet." Like, Alma 32:42 kind of sweet. And I realized that I too am grateful for opposition that I overcome. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and gratitude. What a blessing. What a wonderful blessing.

That being said, transfers have fallen upon us again. I'm officially leaving this wonderful little area. Back to the city I go! I'll be serving in the Lilburn Stake, the Dacula ward. While my heart hurts to leave, I feel a great sense of peace knowing I have fulfilled my assignment here. I'm excited for what the Lord has in store for me! I'm excited to overcome opposition, to find those who are prepared and teach like crazy! I'm not gonna lose any momentum! :)

The work continues to move forward!

Also. If you want a rockin' awesome study, go for the topic 'Armor of God'. While listening to the Seminary song (found on youth.lds.org), Armor of God. If that doesn't get you pumped to do work... I dunno what would! Haha.

Lova y'all!

~Sister Jacobs.

Gotta love the south! :)

Gotta love the South!! :)

June 16, 2014

Quote of the week: "Our son gave him 2 donkeys for Father's Day! Yessss!"

Hello one and all!

Great week! When is it not? :)

We saw B. almost every day this week prepping her for baptism. Luckily she was already living all of the commandments so it was simply making sure that she understood the doctrine. And Sister Reese is a stellar teacher so it was no sweat :P Actually. It was really cool. Last week at church B. made a comment about having to attend church every single week... when we taught her about the sacrament and she stopped us and said, "You know. Now I get it. I can pray at home. I can study at home. But I can't take the sacrament at home and that's why we go to church every single week." Yes ma'am! :) I love when investigators have epiphanies like that. Go Spirit! :) 

This week when we were at D's place, we met her other daughter-in-law, C. She has also seen a change in D. and wants that for herself. She knows that church strengthens marriage, but they haven't been in a while because they kinda fell out of the baptist church that they were going to a few years back. (Cue Vision of the South...) Sooooooooooo we gave her a Book of Mormon and we're fixin' to teach her, too!! The Gospel is for families! :) 

D. and B.'s baptisms were awesome!! Tony came up from Alabama with his wife and it was perfect! It was Tony's first baptism and confirmation and he did great. A. came, too! We usually can't do lessons with him til 3 because he's asleep. He has a LOT of health problems. Don't worry. We're working on the Word of Wisdom with him, haha. But anyway. The baptism was at 11 and he came! And church is at 10 and he came for the confirmations! The whole branch is teasing him about getting baptized, "You know you're next!" "When's your baptism gonna be?" "Yeah. With all of your family as members, you don't stand a chance!" Haha. He told us that baptism is a definite maybe. Silly Al. He'll see the light in D and B (if he hasn't already, because they glow!) and he'll desire that too. We're pretty sure that he wants it, but he's worried about the word of wisdom.

This week our Mission President came to the Elberton Branch! He's only got a few weeks left to finish his mission here in Georgia and it was Father's Day... and he came to the branch! It was so awesome! :) He said that Elberton is leading the mission in baptisms and that he hasn't seen this much excitement in the branch in the 3 years that he's been here :) We got a pic with them and their daughter because it was the last time we'll see them. Luckily we'll get to talk to him next week for transfers :)

Til next week!

~Sister Jacobs

Photo 1: The Wolferts at church! Elder DeGraff, Elder Galvez,
President Wolfert, Sister Wolfert, Tess, Sister Reese, me.

Photo 2: The Baptism! :) Tony, B., Me, D., Sister Reese, Alicia

Photo 3: Mike Schultz, Doctor of Strange. Haha. He's soooo cool! :)

June 9, 2014

Quote of the week: "I always knew you were a country girl at heart!"

Well. Crazy week! Who am I kidding, when is it not?! Haha

Our investigator D. is always a rockstar!! We got things all figured out for her baptism on Saturday! Her son is coming up from Alabama and he's way excited to baptize and confirm her! He just barely received the Melchizedek priesthood so she'll be his first confirmation We were going over the interview questions with her and we asked her if she was ready to make the commitment to follow keep the commandments and strive to be faithful to the baptismal covenant throughout her life. "Oh yes. Absolutely." Oh my goodness. It melted my heart. She has been SO prepared. She is SO ready. She is SO faithful. Sis Reese and I thank Father in Heaven every day for allowing us to teach her. She would've accepted the Gospel no matter what missionaries knocked on her door. But we are blessed to be here for her. And she is always there for us. We love our Momma Debbie

Another couple, B & A. are pretty great, too! We taught them and they seemed really touched by the Spirit. She said that after she sees D.'s baptism, she'll make her own decision. Fair enough. We still have a few lessons to teach. The next day D. gave us a ringaling and said, "Hey. Momma (B.) is wondering if she can get baptized when my son comes up on Saturday..." She... what!?!? SO we got her on the phone and talked to her about how she feels about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and the other things we've taught. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and she's keeping ALL of those commandments soooo we'll be over there about every day this week to finish up the lessons and she'll get baptized on Saturday, too!! Oh wait. It gets better. A. wants to get baptized too!!!!! It'll take a bit more time because he's got some Word of Wisdom habits to overcome, but hey! We've got ourselves a family! Saturday is indeed going to be a special day

Um. This week we went to girls camp for a day. No big! Sis Wolfert (the mission president's wife) got it all arranged for us and we were able to go with some other sisters in the stake and teach the girls how to casually share the Gospel with their friends. It was sooooo much fun!! It felt so great to be at camp again!! The girls here have such.strong.testimonies!! I admire them for their faith! We went over some common questions they get from friends or classmates and I would've had no idea how to answer them when I was a Young Women. No way. It makes me want to live here forever!

Oh yeah!! We went to sing at a Baptist Church on Saturday! Monday night we got a call from Sister H. Her mom passed away and she wanted us to come sing a couple of songs at the memorial service. The H Family aren't members. They've been going to church for 3 years. They referred their daughter in California to missionaries and SHE got baptized, but they won't. Occasionally Bro. H. will still preach at the Baptist church. Like on Saturday. As he talked about his wife's mom, he referred to her as a goodly parent, "Just like the parents the prophet Nephi had." They know it's true. They just need to get baptized, haha. It was good to be with them at this time. It helped me to think of my baptismal covenants and what it means to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

Be bold with love. Be the change to see the change. And love like crazy. That's what we all need. We need to serve, love and build those around us.

Well that's all for this week! Remember to consecrate yourselves! What does that mean for you? I dunno. But I'm learning more what it means for me as June is another month of consecration for the Georgia Atalanta North Mission

~Sis Jacobs.

 I love The South. I love Walmart. Put 'em together and.... tah-dah!! 

Rockin Girls Camp with the young women from the branch.
Madisyn and Carolina. Cutest girls in the stake. 

These people have a bear that they decorate for every holiday or month.
This month she's a "June Bride" She ate my Book of Mormon! ...
I don't think that's what Nephi meant when he instructed us to 'feast on the words of Christ!' 

Sister Jacobs - June 2, 2014

Quote of the Week: 'Oh the boogeyman is gonna get you, girl!'

Goooooooooood morning!!

This week has been pretty good! I don't have much to share, because it's been a short week since I wrote last Wednesday :P

On Thursday we had our monthly RS luncheon! There are some members who have a cute little pond on their property and they invited us all to come fishin'!! I think the last time I went fishing was in Activity days... Looooong time ago, haha. It was lots of fun and I love these ladies! I am so grateful that even though the branch is spread thin, they support us and come with us and help us as missionaries.

Tracting has been very interesting this week. It's been really hard... We've felt a lot of opposition and have had many opportunities to be bold. Something that I've been working on, but every time we come across someone who thinks they know the truth about what we believe, my own testimony is strengthened. I know that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, simply from the peace and love I feel when I pour over its pages. I know that Christ's church has been restored in its fullness and that I have been put in this place at this time to testify of those very things. Everything that He does for us is through love, and he expects us to love those around us just like He does. I know that Father in Heaven has blessed me with the desire and ability to love. I also know that there's so much more I can do with that love. But I have no doubt that He will show me what He expects and how to achieve it.

This week Kristina invited us to dinner. Her 2 sons were there this time. Dylan is 10 and Kaden is 7. We were able to share the Restoration video with her cute boys. When the conversation, "What does it mean to be saved?" "I'd like to know that for myself" played, Dylan spoke up, "Yeah. What does it mean? And how are we saved?" Soooooooo... we finished the video and talked to him a bit more about what being "saved" really means and entails. We gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and Dylan held it to his chest and said, "I'm going to cherish this forever!" Cutest boys ever.

Well. I've got about a month left in the best area in the mission, and I'm fixin' to make a world of difference out here! The Lord has a lot in store for this little branch and I am so blessed to be a part of it.
Til next week,
Sister Jacobs. 

Photo 1 - My fish! His name is Chomper.

Photo 2 - Sis Reese and I. We love Georgia 

Photo 3 - Dinner at a member's home

Photo 4 - Relief Society Activity - Fishing!