Meagan's new motto

Hey family!

How are things going? I have gotten several dearelder.com letters from mom and a postcard from dad in England. Sounds like everyone's having a good summer. If anyone else would like to let me know how they're doing, all would be welcome... ;) and you can use dearelder.com and I get it the same day so I don't have to wait until p-day to read your letters. Haha, hint hint :)

So on Sunday, Sister Nadauld came and spoke to us for RS...they do RS here with all the sisters combined because we are usually so outnumbered...there are probably about 150 sisters here. So she spoke about comparing our bodies to temples and how none of the temples look frumpy so sister missionaries shouldn't either. It was really funny because I think the line everyone came away with remembering was "Plucking your eyebrows is like trimming the hedges of the temple." Wonderful. It is our new favorite motto. :)

My new district is working out great. We have all started to bond really well and my Spanish is progressing. The other day, we played a game called El Nativo, meaning Hermana Cochrane (one of our teachers) selected one of us to be the native and we couldn't speak English all day...guess who was selected to be the first native...yep, that's right, me! I was confined to only Spanish for about 8 hours. I actually learned a lot and it really helped....I'm going to try it more often from now on. Hermana Cochrane is so led by the spirit in her lessons and she knows so much about Spanish and the gospel. Class goes by so quickly when she's teaching. We were telling her one day that it is hard to keep practicing giving the lessons to each other because it doesn't feel real so she decided to take on the role of one of the investigators she taught on her mission and we get to teach her progressive lessons like an actual investigator. It is helping so much! Me and my comps had the chance to teach her on Saturday and after the lesson, we could tell we had really taught by the spirit. We had so much planned that we didn't end up even saying because she didn't need that. Wow, it was cool. I can't wait to be able to do that more and with more practice, we will just get better!

So guess who is in my zone? Kyle Nichols! His classroom is just a couple doors down from mine so I see him all the time. Plus we're in the same branch and have the same schedule and everything. It was really cool this morning because we all went to the temple together and it was really good to see him there. However, while I get to see Kyle all the time, I rarely ever see Matt! But I did get to see him when Ashley came by, and I saw Ashley. Hopefully I'll see him a couple more times before he takes off.

Thank you so much for the packages! I do not need any more junk food! Haha...I swear I don't eat that much at meals but I am so sick of eating. But this morning at 6am, me and my comps went to the gym to exercise. They are trying this thing out where they open the gym from 6-6:30 for just sisters to exercise and other stuff. So we went and I played volleyball with some girls while H. Andersen and Cornish ran laps around the track. It was nice...they played "worldly music" during that half hour...and by worldly I mean Disney music from Aladdin and Hercules. :) That is about the most exciting it gets!

JENNY SPENCER! Thank you so so much for your letter and the twix bar! :) I am replying this afternoon. Best of luck to you later this week on going through the temple. I wish I could have gotten a letter to you before you go but p-day wasn't until today.

JACKIE! You rock. Thanks for the tips on pranks for the elders. I told the elders in my district that I am loaded with new ideas...none of which are against the white handbook...haha, just kidding. :) Love you!

Thanks for everything you do for me. I love you all so much. I sent a letter with pictures last week and I've got another one coming this week that maybe you could scan and put on my blog (I can't load them onto the computers at the MTC). Remember, you don't need to email out all my letters, just put them on there (and my subject title could be the title for each new post :) haha

I know that the preparation I am doing is going to bless so many people and I know that the Lord is aware of each of us and blesses us according to our needs. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that because of it's truthfulness, we can know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he restored Christ's church on the earth. I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to hear from several of you soon. I miss you tons but I love you more!

Love,
Hermana Jackson

First Transfer

Hey!

So, I did end up switching districts. Yesterday after lunch, Hna Cornish came in and told me that the change was official and we had to be at class in half an hour, so just like that my p-day was over. But then I found out that my new district has p-day today, so I got 2 in a row.

Intermediate Spanish is SO HARD!!! I went in there yesterday afternoon and sat there for the first hour just wanting to cry. But it got better. I figure that since I can understand enough of what they're saying to get by in class, then I am in the right place because I'm challenging myself just enough. So now I have 2 new companions (yep, I'm in a trio). There's Hna Cornish and Hna Andersen. Hna Andersen is from San Diego and she's going to Kentucky for her mission. Her Spanish is WAY good but she's really nice about helping me out. I have a feeling I know the least Spanish in my district. So along with the change of districts, I also had to move rooms so I got to pack up all my things and carry them upstairs. It's good though. I'm feeling more comfortable with the language now.

I saw Marsha and Julia today in the MTC cafeteria. Crazy! It was so good to see them and give them a little update. Tell Matt Hunt and Kyle Nichols that I am looking forward to finding them tomorrow! Their first couple of days will be rough but if they need anything, tell them they can find me in 7M-203. :)

I got to go to the temple this morning with my new district and it was wonderful! I absolutely love the feeling there. And knowing that missionaries are prayed for throughout the world gives me so much strength and comfort.

So, I already told you most everything yesterday but here's for my shout-out:
JACKIE! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your letters!!! I have now received both of them and feel so loved and blessed. I am replying in person as soon as I put my laundry in this afternoon.

MOM!!! I love you. Thanks for your email and letter. I can't believe you told me I have a package coming and didn't tell me what's in it. The anticipation is killing me! Thanks :)

Well, I think that's about it for now. I wish I had some crazy funny story to tell you but I don't really. I am full-on praying in Spanish now and trying to joke around with people but...haha, yeah, let's just say that Oh Baby and Don't Fret don't translate into Spanish very well. :) Things are getting better here...but it's definitely the hardest thing I've ever done.

Thanks for all your love. Tell everyone I said hi. I miss you tons but I love you more!

Love,
Hermana Jackson

P.S. I have a new address with the district change and everything (but if you sent one to my old mailbox #, it will still get to me)

Hermana Meagan EM Jackson
MTC Mailbox #320
NJ-MOR 0901
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

What a week!

Hola mi familia!

Oh wow, I don't even know where to start. It has been a wild first weeks here at the MTC. I never thought I could feel so overwhelmed! But life is getting better. The first couple of days were rough but now that I'm kind of getting into the swing of things it is nice. I'm actually probably going to have a switch-up here pretty soon. I took the Spanish language assessment on Saturday and they want to put me in the intermediate class starting this afternoon/evening, so that will mean having a new companion and district and zone and everything, which is really sad because I LOVE my district. There are 12 of us, 4 hermanas and 8 elders. 7 of us are going to NJ Morristown, 3 to Las Vegas, and 2 to the Dominican Republic. My companion so far has been Hna. Binning, from Tucson, AZ. She actually is the girl I met at the end of the semester so that is cool. We get along really well but when I move into intermediate, I will probably get switched to be with one of the other hermanas who is also moving up, Hna Cornish, from Orem. It is a tough decision for me because I don't want to leave my district but I was reading in my Patriarchal Blessing and it told me to take every opportunity I have to progress and improve myself so I can be a blessing to those around me and that is what being a missionary is all about, being a blessing to those around me, not hanging out with my friends. Plus, I will still get to see 6 of them in NJ. So yeah, I may end up with 2 p-days this week because my new district has p-day on Thursday, I think. :)

What else is new? Oh, they let all the elders and sisters stay up on Saturday night and stand in the MTC parking lot to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks, which was way exciting. I saw a sister from China and started speaking to her in Chinese while we were all just standing around. :) My district got to go into the Referral Center on Friday and make phone calls following up with people that had called in and asked for things like church DVD's or Books of Mormon or something. I was way nervous at first but then the first 10 numbers I dialed weren't home so I calmed down...until someone answered when I wasn't expecting it, and they wanted to know more...and I freaked out but then I bore testimony to her and told her we would send the missionaries over to her house in the next week. Life is good. :) I also called this one lady and asked for her husband (because he was who was listed on the referral) and she's like, "He's dead." I was so shocked, I had no idea what to say...unfortunately, I passed up the golden opportunity to share the gospel with her because I was still in shock but I put them on the call-back list and made a note that he had died. Hopefully someone will call them soon. :)

I'm sorry to say but I passed out on Saturday while doing gym time out on the field. I went to see the MTC doctor this morning (because they made me) and he was all strict and told me I'm not allowed to drive in NJ and wants me to go see my cardiologist again in AF before I leave the MTC, so we're setting that up for sometime next week. Grrr....oh well. Pray for me.

So I mentioned how my Spanish has just been growing so much here (so much so that I'm going to intermediate). I try to say all my prayers in Spanish and I bore my testimony in Spanish yesterday. I'm currently working on trying to learn the first lesson, though my class just barely started conjugations. It is going to be so hard moving into intermediate...I don't know if I'm ready for it. But I was talking to some hermanas yesterday who did the same thing and they said that even though they always feel a little behind in their new class, they were bored in the old one and it is just so much better now because they can be completely thrown into it. More details on how it actually goes later. :)

I've run into TONS of people I know here. Several girls I didn't even know were on missions. It's good to see them and nice to have a familiar face like the other night when I was overwhelmed. My friend told me to just pray and do all I can because the Lord will take care of the rest, and he definitely has. This week I will have an extra stress of Spanish study hardcore but I know I can do it with the Lord's help.

Well, I think that's about all I have to say for now. Thank you for your wonderful examples and support. I miss you tons but I love you more!

Love,
Hermana Jackson

Meagan's on her way!

Meagan is now in the MTC! There were lost of tears but we are excited for her and you know that she will be an awesome missionary!
Her address for the next two months will be:
Hermana Meagan Jackson
MTC Mailbox 257-0901
2005 North 900 East
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Setting apart

The evening Meagan was set apart as a missionary!


Meagan modeling all the skirts she made.

Welcome!

Welcome to my mission blog! On here, little snippets of my weekly email home will be posted for everyone to keep up with how I'm doing. For those of you that said you prefer to write emails rather than letters because you prefer typing, I don't really want to be reading lots of emails every week so I'm probably not going to give out my email address to anyone but family. But you can use dearelder.com! It's free while I'm at the MTC and then just the cost of postage after that. If you have anything important you need to get to me, email it to my mom (calciomom@gmail.com) and she will forward it on to me.

Enjoy the letters and I hope to hear from you every so often. See you in a year and a half!