Meagan's a missionary!: August 2010

Hey everybody!

How is life back on the west coast? It has been dumping rain for 2 days straight! Crazy stuff. It rained on Monday too...and when it rains here, it is always accompanied by high-speed winds, thunderclaps louder than you've ever heard in your life, and lots of falling trees (as was the case when we came out of a lesson on Monday night...refer to picture #132...that is our car and that is the tree that landed right next to our car!). So yeah, it has been fun.

We found some pretty cool new investigators this week...one is the ice cream man! We talked to him outside his house and had a good lesson with him (we didn't know yet that he was the ice cream man), and then after the prayer he said, "Hey, I'm just getting ready to leave for work." "Oh that's cool. Where do you work?" "I sell ice cream. Do you want some?" He then opened his garage door to reveal a huge ice cream truck and he gave us each a free popsicle. Woohoo! Then another new investigator we found as we were looking for a referral we had gotten from a member. We knocked on a door (apparently the wrong one) and a guy answered. We asked for Matilde and he said that she rented the other half of the house but that she wasn't home right then. We got to talking with him and as he opened the door a little wider, I saw that he was standing in a recording studio! He plays and records music for different churches. Hermana Schleske told him I was really into music so he handed me his guitar and I played and sang "I Stand All Amazed." He stopped me in the middle, turned on all his recording gear, and told me to start over. He burned me a copy of the cd right then and there. Pretty rough recording, obviously, but sweet, huh? I'll try to send it to you. He said that anytime we wanted to come back, he would record me for free. :) So then we got to talking with him and all the different music he does and he asked, "You know, I go to all these different churches every Sunday doing music for them, but I don't get why there are so many churches!" Perfect lead-in to a lesson about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it!

Oh, update on Danny...I don't know if you remember him or not but we have been teaching him for a LONG time...basically since I first got back to Paterson. He has been making lots of drastic changes in his life to come unto Jesus...hair cut, leaving the women, and now he has finally stopped smoking and drinking completely!!! It is amazing to see the progress he's made. It's been a slow, steady process with him...our members involved in the lessons have wanted us to give up on him numerous times but we haven't felt like we should. And now he has a baptismal date! Awesome. The last big hurdle is getting him Sundays off work consistently...it's kind of hit and miss. But he will be able to if he has the faith, I know it. And Minerva...she's still a work in progress as well but we feel like we're getting a little closer every time we meet with her. Expect good news about her very soon... :)

My companion and I are getting along really well and getting a lot of good work done here. We have been blessed over and over again this week as we have just given all we can give to the Lord and letting Him do the rest. I'm grateful for the comfort and guidance of the Holy Ghost that we can receive when we do what's right. Something that I've learned a lot about lately is PATIENCE! Patience with yourself, Patience with others, and Patience with the Lord. All 3 aspects are crucial in being able to fully follow the Lord's path for your life and fulfill what He knows you, and only you, can fulfill. I am so grateful for all of you that have experienced patience with me over the years and the way the Lord has taught me that he knows best. He always knows what we need and when we need it. Follow His plan for you, be flexible to it, and things will turn out better than you could have expected (see the last 2 verses of Alma 34).

I hope everything continues to go well. Mom, I hope you're feeling better. Grandma is leaving soon, yeah? I hope she had a wonderful visit. Tell her I love her. And Nana's birthday is coming up, right? Happy Birthday, Nana! :) Take care. I miss you mucho but I love you mas!

Love,

Hermana Jackson

P.S. The other picture is my comp and I at Lucina's baby shower. The decorations were done by Emma, the member who owns the house we live in...she is SO flying out to Utah in several years to decorate for my wedding. Haha. :)

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What a great week to finish out an amazing transfer and power us into the next! We had 2 baptisms yesterday!!!!! Eric got baptized right after church and Maria a couple hours later. It was just wonderful. Eric's grandma, Matilde (got baptized almost a year ago) was just crying so much to see her grandson get baptized. She bore her testimony and the spirit was so strong. And this coming Sunday, Eric's mom Lucina is going to get baptized! How cool is that? Matilde, Lucina, Eric, and his little brother are who are in the picture #0074. The primary kids sang at his baptism and he was just so excited all week. I love teaching that kid. A couple of days ago when we were getting him ready for his baptismal interview, we asked him about Jose Smith and he went on to tell us the entire story from the childrens Book of Mormon...starting with all of the questions JS had to the vision and on to using the Urim and Thummim to translate the plates! Haha, smart kid. He was so ready!

Maria's preparation on the other hand was not quite as smooth. Never have I seen the powers of Satan working so hard against somebody to get her to back out on her decision. We went to visit her one day and as I was doing her dishes she just started coming out with doubt after doubt about the church and prophets and coffee and who even knows what else. We had a lesson with her that day and did not let her go a day all week without seeing us. I have never prayed harder for somebody in my life! I kept telling Heavenly Father, "It has taken her 6 years to even say yes to get baptized. I know she will get her answer in the next 2 days to be able to know these things are true." It took a lot of faith and fasting but we could not back down and she came through so confident and happy in the end. After her baptism, she was just glowing and was saying how happy she was that she finally did it. I attached 2 pictures of her...one with her family before her baptism and one with her after. She is so strong and is going to be the key in reactivating her husband's entire family. The way they all rallied around her at her baptism yesterday was amazing.

We found some pretty cool new investigators this week, which was needed because as much as we've been trying, things have been rough in that aspect. But the Lord always blesses us when the time is right...and for me it seems to always be in the last week of the transfer cycle. Oh, speaking of transfers...I am staying in Paterson again and Hna Binning is getting transferred! Crazy, huh? So you can keep sending your letters directly to me (for the address, email my mom). I'm going on my 5th transfer (total) here in Paterson...that's longer than I was in Morristown but I have so much more energy here. That means I get to be here for Lucina's baptism and hopefully for some others we hope to see this transfer. It will be great! Hna Binning is really sad to be going. We have worked really well together...we are SO different from each other but it made a good balance in the work. This transfer will take us halfway into September...meaning I will be repeating days in the same area (considering I arrived in Paterson last year on Sep 2). I am excited though to see what it holds.

Well family, I hope things are going better for you all. To my wonderful brothers, don't be afraid to write me every once-in-a-while...at least maybe one more time in my mission. :) I know that this gospel is what brings true happiness in our lives and that Heavenly Father will guide and direct us as we seek Him. My theme for this week/transfer has been 1 Nephi 10:17-19. I absolutely love what that says about being led by the Holy Ghost. Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers. Take care and I'll write again next week with the details of my new comp. I miss you tons but I love you more!

Love,

Hermana Jackson

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