I Believe in Miracles!

Don't kill me, I had lots to do on email today... I don't have much time. BUT I'm here in Belleview with Sister Conger. It's about 95% oldies on golfcarts. A majority of our investigators are hispanic!! So I'm getting to use my spanish prolly more than I have in a while actually haha. Mom, I'm hoping you'll share some more from the email I sent you I guess cause I really don't have much time.. 

The ward is unreal! Like my first day here we had a dinner and they said, "hey I want to introduce you to our neighbors after!" pfff! whaaa?! Unfortunately, that aint the case with many more of the members.. But we have a couple or two who are the coolest member missionaries ever. Our RELIEF SOCIETY PRES. literally came out with us for 6 hours on saturday and saved us on miles. 

Pray for me in my spanish cause I don't get to study it, but I'm teaching in it every. day. I translated at church yesterday.

Eeek, gotta go! Love you all tons and I'll tell you about this week next week. SORRY!

LOVE, Hermana Jackson

WEW! lkseflskdfl;ksdjf haha how do I even express my feelings and thoughts right now?!!! THATS AWESOME!! Kinda crazy but I'm so so glad that they're happy! It sounds like they're flying pretty high right now haha. Don't worry bout me :) I'm super stoked for them!! Lil surprised I suppose although I shouldn't be haha. I guess it's just funny that life actually happens and I'm in my own lil world haha. I LOVE my world so I wouldn't change it in a second. Hey, they'll be at MY wedding so it's fine if I aint at theirs hahaha! I know this is where I'm supposed to be and this is where I WANT to be more than anything.

GUESS WHAT! So I got to go see the Larson's at their house this week :) I'm sure you received pictures haha. But It was a really special experience. I'm super sad I didn't have more time for the lesson cause they took us out... But all in all we got a lil something in and the Lord definitely directed it. I love them SOOO much! I guess that's what happens when you pray for people and think of them often.I REALLY hope she was watching conference cause there were several talks that were directed to her questions. Anyway, they're just the sweetest of people and I really appreciate their love.

I'mma get on the big email and such. I've gotta email Matty and Shanda back real quick though.

Te quiero MUCHO! (muah!)

Hermanita Jackson

Al fin de Septiembre?!

Meggie Ricks is the best friend eva! 

Our apartment was absolutely freezing.. So this is what my outfit ended up being one morning of studying haha.  

Michelle's promises :) 

Sister Spencer is also a Dane :) we just love her! 

That's Carlos! 

Sister Chinsey says: shoot for the stars, be a star because you ARE a star! hahaha 

The Chinseys and the assistants 

could not even breathe on the last one haha. How lucky am I to have served with Hermanas Allred and Marsh in my same ward!!? 

we did facials every sunday night in Lake Nona hahaha 

The Aldaves.. LOVE them! Cutest lil fam de Peru. 

MICHELLE! 

from Sister Aldave this week. 

One and done?!

Woo, well here comes a curve ball atcha!.. I'm leaving Lake Nona east! I'm a lil shocked to be honest haha. I've absolutely fallen in love with the area, but I guess I've done what I was supposed to here. Man, what a transfer it's been and how FAST it's flown by!! I swear I was just with the Grovers at the dentist office ;) haha. I don't even know how to express how grateful I am for this last transfer. I've grown prolly more than I have like my whole mission (maybe a lil over the top, but equally true). I've learned how to kick it up a notch and give it my all. I definitely learned the power of love! It was really cool how that became a theme for me. I learned how to listen to people better as well as the spirit. I learned about making decisions between good, better and best. Those are just some examples and seem basic but they've made a huge difference for me. I've LOVED being companions with Sister Kreiberg and have learned a whole lot from her. We just belong together haha. We tried pretty hard to tell all the office couples and the assistants to put in a good word for us to stay together but it turns out it doesn't work that way.. Quite the opposite actually haha. She's so deeply rooted in the gospel and it shows in everything she does and says. We worked pretty stinkin hard together and had a blast (we laughed often and HARD). Needless to say, I'm grateful I got to be her companion. 

So now that I've been all sentimental, I'll go ahead and tell you more about my week! The other night we were biking by a lil used car place (if you could call it that) and two ladies were just getting done fixing something with a car. We asked if we could help and started talking with them. One of them has an aunt who is a member and we got to talking about the Book of Mormon. Then we see a guy come out of the lil shack and walking toward us (backup: we've talked to him once before as we were biking past and he said he'd call the police if we gave him a card..). I was just writing our number down on the card when he tells me he's going to call the cops. He was yelling at us! I mean, it's not like it's out of the norm haha we don't encounter the nicest people always.. But I hurried to finish writing our number down and he said that if I gave her the card he would have us arrested. So Sister Kreiberg and I got on our bikes and rode away. Immediately we were both in tears. We stopped a lil further away and just didn't know what to do! Honestly, I didn't care at all that he was yelling at us, he can yell at me all he wants. What hurt was that he wouldn't let us give her a card about Jesus Christ. I wondered if I could have been more bold like the prophets in the Book of Mormon. WHY were they just so good!? It's like we're living the Book of Mormon! I catch myself often making parallels to the situations back in those times. Lots o similarities, I tell you! How are people so hard-hearted? 

Technology is the coolest! For the past 2 weeks I've been communicating with a guy in Peru! He found me through a member in our ward. He's GOLD!! I got to have a skype lesson with him the other day and it was the coolest thing! Hard by myself and not having used spanish in a lesson for a while haha, but Heavenly Father blessed me! Haha sister K didn't know what was happening so at the end he told me, "she needs to smile more!" and prayed for her hahaha. Then the next day Sister K got to teach her best friend in Denmark! I understood how she felt the day before not understanding haha. It was incredible. I'll keep you updated on him. His name is Carlos.

We had a lesson with Richard the other day and he really enjoyed church and told us before we asked that he'd come this week to all 3 hours! Unfortunately he got sick the night before (Darn it Satan!). He's progressing really well and keeps telling us that he knows he needs to put in his part. 

This week we had at least 2 LARCs with the craziest trials. Like heavy stuff. We'd come away from their lessons and say a prayer to feel better cause it just breaks our hearts! Haha who are we as lil 20 year olds telling people how to live better lives?! Good thing this is The Lord's work and he leads it, eh?

Saturday we had something fall through at night and 30 minutes before that time (we were just gonna stick to the backups) when we were eating dinner, we get a text from a potential that some other missionaries gave us this week and he asked if we would come over! The Lord PROVIDES. His name is Dennis. He's just about deaf and has had a really hard life recently. He's about 70 and the sweetest lil thing! After getting to know him and talking about Jesus Christ breifly and what we were there to do, he committed to coming to church! He says he needs to get closer to God again. Yesterday we were sure he (and 4 others) were going to come, but we got a long text from him later telling us that he got all ready and got a mile away from the building when he had a panic attack and couldn't do it. He said it would have been easier to drive off a bridge than to come because he gets so embarrassed :( he told us he doesn't want ot waste our time. We went over last night and it just hurt me to watch him cry silently. He's gonna try and come this sunday. 

Alright, running out of time. But know that all is well here as I'm in the promised land! This afternoon we get to welcome to newbies (11 sisters and 3 elders!) to the mission!!! It'll be crazy cause I feel like that was just meeee!

Que tengan maravillosa semana :)

Hermana Jackson

...The Spirit was just RADIATING

holaaaa familia Jackson! que pasa? 1. sorry I'm on slightly late today, due to Vanessa (da van) breakin down on us this morning and 2. I have so many exciting things to tell you  that I'm just starting with this email this week :) I know Mama's excited about that one!

First and foremost, Happiest Birthday to Chlo Chlo this last week! I promise I didn't forget. Is it true that she's 10 though?!!! There's no way! Then again, I'm 20...

Last Tuesday I had the BEST present ever by going on exchangies with my trainer and best friend Hermanita Allred!! We reminisced on the good ol days when we were both the newest lil chikas back in Windy. This is so funny, but I was a lil bit emotional being with her because she's changed my whole mission! I can't imagine what type of missionary I'd be without her influence to work like a dog and have fun while doin it! She's an INCREDIBLE missionary. 

The day after was actually probably one of the hardest days on the mission haha. Sister Kreiberg and I both were so worn out. We think it's because of all the exchanges and not to like toot my own horn, but we've been trying to really consecrate ourselves. We both were feeling sick and almost out of energy. We were on bike for a good part of the afternoon and it was a hot one. Not gonna lie, that was the first time on the mission that I thought I might cry haha. BUT we said prayers, we got some quick frozen yogurt and of course the Lord provided the people WE needed to help us go forward. The next morning we woke up kinda icky again so we got a blessing and I'm not kiddin, immediately I felt so much better and so much energy! Woo! That day we saw some cool stuff too! We have a less-active of 20 years who the sisters were working with before I got here and then my first week we got a text from her saying she decided not to meet with us again because she was scared her husband would find out. He still doesn't know that we're meeting, but we're all praying. We've been praying for her every day to open up to another sister in the ward who "got a foot in the door" the first time they met at church last transfer and has been inviting her over for lunch dates. Well our prayers were answered and she messaged us on facebook the other day to go see her! She's so cool! We asked what made her want us to come back and she said, "because I know it's true". She's been wanting to get a patriarchal blessing and this Sunday she came to church (the sister in the ward gave a talk and asked her to come for it too) and stayed all 3 hours and then received a blessing. She just found out recently that she has MS.. We're so excited for her. That same day we saw a recent convert whom we've been slightly worried about because she doesn't seem to have "that friend" in the church yet. She loves the church and knows it's true, but hasn't quite come to feel comfortable. Through some inspired questions the spirit helped her open her heart and us to discern her needs! Man, there's nothin better! That night we saw a potential named Dane whom we met the other day and got a member to come with us. Lemme tell yuh, he was a lot like Kyle in the way he had such good questions and understood things!! He told us at the beginning that he had already been baptized, but after explaining baptism and authority and Jesus Christ and everything he said, "well I think I need to be baptized again!" haha. I don't even remember the rest, but I remember it was a really cool lesson. He was supposed to come to church this week and didn't. This next week though! We stopped by Michelle's the other night because she hasn't been answering our calls and such. Her grandpa passed away this last week and it's been hard on her. We were straight forward in telling her we couldn't keep coming if she didn't come to church and she said, "No, I want to be baptized! I want to be a Mormon! I want to be married in the temple one day! I want to go on a mission!"... We were honestly beside ourselves haha. She really means business this chika!! She wrote a promise that she would always go to church, signed it and then had us sign it. She wrote down goals for what needs to be done for her to be baptized and had us sign it. She pulled up a calendar and chose a date and we prayed about it. She's the coolest AND has fellowship with another YW in the ward who bore her testimony last week in church about coming out with us and loving it! haha. Michelle came to church with that YW this week and seemed to have a good time and even went ot the fireside last night about dating. 

We saw Richard on Saturday with a member and at first he answered the door on the phone and said he couldn't meet today. Then he said to come back in 30. When we came back he had hung up and let us in! It was a really cool lesson in helping him understand the power of prayer and the need for him to give his all to know if this is the truth. Our member shared experiences that were PERFECT for him and he came to church yesterday!! I couldn't have been happier at church yesterday! The less active family we took to the temple a few weeks ago came and stayed all 3 hours for the first time in forever and they're both receiving callings. they both loved it! as well as their kids! We met with a Tom and Claudia this week for the first time and it was insaaane! I've never been so exhausted after a lesson. We had to really listen to Tom and the Spirit. Man, I wish I could explain it all... I'll send a picture of the teaching record haha that's how crazy it was. We met with the Rolon (part members) family last night! The lesson started off super rough for some reason and didn't get good until the first vision. The spirit was just RADIATING, especially when the member husband (and kinda less active) shared his feelings of the first vision! Then we were nearing the end when I noticed him with the BOM open and deep in thought so I asked him if he had anything to add. When he shared his thoughts of Mormoni 10:3-5 and cried and spoke so sincerely to his wife, I coulda cried! It was super special. 

Ok quick funny story.. We found a gecko in the apt. at about 9:50 the other night. It took us 30 minutes to get a bowl over the top of the thing (mostly cause sister k hates em and we were laughing out heads off). We cheered but then realized he was stuck under the bowl.. We used the restoration picture from the wall to slip ever-so-carefully under the bowl and then, arm-in-arm we carried it to the door and let him free. Woo! Good ol wild life :)

Hermana Jackson

 Our ONE year mark called for ONEsies ;)

I drove the truck from Elder Busathe this morn.. It's bigger than Vanessa!

From the Sunshine State ...

Runnin low on time already so I'll be quick! 

1. last monday we gave a temple tour to a cute les active family we're working with :) it was so special and they're ready to work toward the temple as a family. Their 5 month old baby was SO excited to be there and we all knew why! She knew were she was.

2. we had 2 AWESOME exchanges this week! The first one I stayed here and was super impressed by the sister with me. We saw some cool miracles here in lake nona. We had a lesson with Richard and he was havin a hard time with his wife and didn't know what to do, but after an intense conversation with him and THANKS to the member who came with us he's still really wanting to meet with us and reading and praying. The other exchange I went to St. Cloud with a sister who was just an STL and about to go home. I got to learn so much from her!! I swear these exchanges do more for me than they do for these sisters! We saw the COOLEST miracles. One of the lessons with a new investigator was prolly the coolest restoration lessons I've ever had! He just was the most prepared person ever! That day was a boost of energy for me! Not that I was lacking too much, but I could always use a lil more :) especially after...

3. I gave my first training at ZTM!! haha wow, that was scary. Especially cause it was on comp. unity and communication which seems to be a bit of a sore subject here in our zone. But it was completely inspired of president berry in MLC! We hadn't even reported our exchanges to him yet, when he gave that training. Anyway, it turned out nicely, I think. It was pretty fun too! 

4. Michelle is progressing tons in lessons but not getting to church so we're going to have to push the baptismal date for later. She's SO COOL and a YW came and really helped us in a lesson this week, but somethin's keeping her from church. I think it's her mama though. So we're working on finding a lot. Elder Hamula challenged us to get 4 new gators every week, so we're on it!

5. Had a MIRACLE last night with a member. He invited us over and when we got there he told us his wife isn't a member! She was so ready to hear more! Like, this is manna from Heaven! We're so excited to share the lessons with her! He's also slightly less active so this'll be good.

K I've gotta run!! Love you all so much and thanks for being so good to me!

Haha side note.. We haven't been getting letters really at all in the past two weeks (as in only from mom n dad). This morning we read in Alma 60:6 and laughed so hard. Please read it :)

XOXO, Hermana Jackson

Editor's note: Alma 60:6 And now behold, we desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state.

Happy Labor Day y'all!

I'm absolutely baffled that it's Monday again! How? It's like every other day is p-day! This week was a crazy one. To answer Papas question about Kyle... Unfortunately we handed him to YSA (thats not the bad part) and he hasn't been answering for them and such.. We're praying he'll open up to them!!! Man, he's golden. Update on other investigators real quick: Michelle (13) has really been doing well MINUS the fact that she didn't make it to church yesterday (kind of a big deal actually..) but she prayed about a date for a few days and was super excited to tell us that she felt sure about Sep. 20th. She's gotta show her Mama she's committed. Luckily we got to talk to her mom the other day and she seems to like us. We're slowly getting her more involved. Shawn (16) we had a lesson set and he hadn't gotten back to us to confirm, but we went to his house anyway. We were saddened when we pulled up and it appeared like no one was home. But we prayed real hard and told each other he was gonna be there and as we walked to the door he peaked out the window and had opened the door before we got there! He was so excited (not a thing for him, so this was huge) and just seemed happier! THEN his mama pulled in the driveway (we haven't met her before and she's the reason why he didn't get baptized a few weeks ago) and we were able to talk to her some. Her husband is kinda negative too, but whatever, hearts can be changed. Shawn really does want to come to church and mutual but this Sunday his family was going to the beach and he couldn't get out of it. We're trying to talk to his mom more and figure things out. Richard (40's) SOO solid. I wasn't at his last lesson because I was on exchanges in another area, but it sounds like he's really open and honestly like he's already gotten his answer that it's true, but he wants to read more in the BOM first. 

So yeah, we had 2 exchanges this week with the Kissimmee english and spanish sisters!! The first exchange was so much fun cause I'm really good friends with the sister who came here. But their companionship REALLY has some issues right now with communication. She recently had a family thing come up that's been hard on her too. So she was crying a lot of the exchange and unseure she could finish the transfer. But it was really good for her to get away and have a fun day! On the other hand, Sister Kreiberg had a hard exchange with the companion.. Obedience issues. eeek! That was all a crazy problem even into the next few days. But they seem to be doing better. Then at MLC (yeah, we had it AGAIN!) President Berry was totally inspired to give us a packet all on communication that we can use on exchanges! The next exchange we had was way more balanced and the hermanita I went with was SUCH an awesome missionary. Like I feel like I learn way more on these exchanges than they do haha. Like I'm just here to give them a lil break I guess. No, but we had a blast. They're area is struggling really bad to find new solid investigators, so they've been finding a ton. Unfortunately they're having communication problems too, so that's been a stresser, but it'll all work out. Shoot, I've gotta run. I love you all so much!!! Haha sorry that's the most boring letter ever.... :) 

XOXO, Hermana Jackson