Hello my lovelies! I hope your week has been good! It's been quite a

rainy week out here. Rain has been pouring all over. It's been quite

the adventure, but it explains why it's so green out here!

On Monday we got to go see Brenda and it was so awesome! We had our

plans for the evening fall through and we just decided to go tracting,

well we were talking and we both had thought about Brenda. So off we

went! She is the best!

This week we also got to see Sister Price! She's doing great! We got

to help her with some more painting around her house and it has been a

while since we had seen her, so we caught up with her on all of her

travels. She wants to come back to church so we are working with her

on that.

One of the many miracles we saw this week was a lady named Kerrie. A

few weeks ago we were planning and I thought we should go down and

tract but I ended choosing a different street closer to the area we'd

be in. Turns out this week we ended up on that street and we found

Kerrie. The first door we knocked on she answered! We testified of the

Book of Mormon and she let us right in! It was awesome! We talked with

her for a while about Christ and how important He is, she told us we

were welcome back any time!

We also got to see Angel this week, he's doing well! We taught the

Restoration and it was super awesome! Teaching the restoration is my

favorite lesson because it's the foundation for everything we build

upon. It's so awesome.

We had a crazy adventure this week. We drove down to the P1 area to

spend the night before our meeting in Broomall. What should have taken

us only 1 hour and 45 minutes took us 2 hours and 10 minutes. Due to

traffic and a few wrong turns taken by yours truly it was crazy, we

ended up almost driving into the city and it was just a crazy

adventure!

Our meeting was super good though! We talked a lot about how to set

goals and why they are so  important. Sister Condon, a fellow

missionary, brought up something called A-Z goals. It's where you set

a big goal for goal Z and then make goals A-Y in order to reach goal

Z.

Another miracle we saw this week is last night Sister Bush and I were

just put contacting people. There was a man just sitting on his porch

and Sister Bush thought we should go talk to him so we did. He was so

cool! We testified of the Book of Mormon again and were able to give

him one. He told us to come back. As we drove away we saw him reading

from the Book of Mormon!

All in all this week has been tiring, but so worth it. Everything

happens for a reason, and God will never let us fail. Yeah, being a

missionary is hard but serving the Lord is easy. The Lord only

requires you to follow Him, and to be worthy of His Spirit. The things

that make it hard are simply worldly things. Agency, Satan, peer

pressure. When you really stop and think about it serving the Lord is

easy, mortality makes it hard.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Much love,

Sister Jackson

The District

Hola friends and family! I hope it's been a great week for all of you!

We've had tons of fun this week and a few amazing miracles! I can't

wait to share it all with you in the little amount of time I've got. I

wish I could just bring you all with me on this journey! It's amazing!

Let's start at the beginning, we had dinner with the Monroes Monday

night and it was awesome! They are such an amazing family and I love

them so much. Brother and Sister Monroe love their kids so much. It's

amazing.

On Tuesday I got to spend the day with Sister Watkins! She's super

awesome and had the biggest desires to serve the Lord. In fact we had

a non member give us a referral and Sister Watkins jumped on the car

and was ready to go straight there! While she was here we were able to

teach the Robertsons, a new family who moved into the ward from Nibley

Utah! We talked about the Restoration and why it is so important to us

as members, even in our day to day lives. How different would our

lives be if the church was never Restored? It's almost a scary

thought, could you imagine a world without the light of the gospel?

The next day, after Sister Bush came home, we got to go visit a

referral that we had received from the Elders! Their names are Kevin

and Amanda, they are so awesome! Amanda is a member, Kevin is not.

Kevin has a desire to learn and grow in the gospel, we talked with

them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was such an amazing

lesson! We felt the spirit so strong and we loved it!

Later that night we had a lesson with Dave! We talked about the word

of wisdom and it was so amazing. We had Brother and Sister Vassilaros

with us. Brother V had lots of great stories of standing up for his

beliefs as he traveled the world for work. We talked a lot about the

word of wisdom is a health code, but it's also a lot more than just a

health code. The word of wisdom is about showing commitment to

Heavenly Father. When we are baptized members we make a commitment to

follow the word of wisdom. It's about showing that we are committed to

Him, and to His gospel when we live His commandments. It's also about

integrity, we can be alone with someone and be tempted to break one of

the commandments. We can say "no one can see me." "No one will know."

In that moment we loose our integrity because Heavenly Father knows.

On Thursday we had interviews all the day long! Sister Bush and I were

able to help out with the training side of interviews by role playing

with the Elders and Sisters! We got to see how hard our zone works and

how much effort they put into teaching the Restoration, each

companionship brought something new to the table! It was awesome!

Later that evening we met up with the sisters serving in Logan for

another exchange! Sister Nielson came home with me and Sister Bush

headed into Philadelphia for the day!

Sister Nielson and I saw some AMAZING miracles here! After we went to

see Amanda and the kids for a minute we spent the day tracting! We

started off in the Kutztown Ward area and were able to bear testimony

to a Hindu lady. We knocked on her door and she opened it and told us

that she was Hindu and she's thankful for us stopping by, but she

wasn't interested. As we walked away she stuck her head out the door

again and asked "Girls, why aren't you out having fun in your lives?"

We were both able to bear testimony that we are here because Christ

has given us so much, and we are here to give back. We are here

because we love Christ and we want others to know Him like we do. She

thanked us and wished us luck. Next we met a lady who taught high

school and knows a kid who is out on his mission is Russia right now!

She talked so us for quite sometime about the church and how she

admired the kid and how she admires him now, she gave us some water,

let us share a scripture and we headed out on our way!

Next we headed into Allentown to find some less active YSA members and

it was so awesome! We made an effort to talk to everyone, YSA or not.

We talked to a lot of interesting people! We were able to share the

Prince of Peace in Spanish with a lady and she teared up as the video

ended and was so excited to have missionaries come back! We also met a

YSA lady who wants us to come back and talk with her more about the

Book of Mormon. Lastly we met a Less Active YSA! We were about to get

into the car (in fact I was in the car) and Sister Nielson stopped a

man and started talking with him, as we talked we found out that he is

actually a member! He moved here from New York and wanted to come to

church one day! We got his number so hopefully we will be able to get

into touch with him again soon!

On Saturday when Sister Bush had returned home we had lesson after

lesson after lesson! We started the day off with service at a local

church that does a thing called Closet of Hope, people donate their

clothes and less fortunate people are able to come and get free

clothes, shoes, and other things! It's pretty amazing! After that we

had a lesson with Sister McCreary! We shared a scripture with her and

talked about how the Atonement blesses us at all times. It was pretty

amazing. Next we had a lesson with Sister Donio! She's super funny and

loves the gospel!

After we had a lesson with the Skidmores. It was amazing. We did

something called the donut analogy. Brother Marriaga was able to help

us out and it was so powerful. After we shared a bunch of scriptures

about the Atonement and how Jesus Christ suffered for each and

everyone of us, even if we use that Atonement or not. We talked about

how He would do it all over again if it was only for just one soul. It

was amazing, and so powerful. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is

something I think we take for granted on the occasion. There are

people out there who will never know that Christ suffered for them,

there are people who know but don't use it. As members we have the

Book Of Mormon which testifies of the Atonement in such powerful ways,

and I think we forget how powerful it can be, when we let it into our

lives.

One song I really love is the Children's song Gethsemane, the lyrics

are so powerful. "Gethsemane, Jesus loves me. So He went willingly to

Gethsemane." I hope that as we do our best to remember the gift that

was given to all of us in the garden of Gethsemane that we will feel

the love of our Savior, because He did it for us.

Friends and family I love this gospel. It is life changing. It is

powerful. It is real. It is true. It's an amazing thing to immerse

yourself into. It's irreplaceable, indescribable, incredible.

Something I've been thinking about lately is a saying called "The

fellowship of the Unashamed." It's by Elder Eyring and I'd like to

share a part of it with you

"I will not flinch at the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence

of the adversary, negotiate at the table at the enemy, ponder at the

pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give

up, shut up or let up until I have stayed up, stored up and paid up

for the cause of Christ. I must go until He comes, give until I drop,

preach until all I know, work until He stops me. And when He returns

for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be

clear."

This gospel is amazing, I wish I could put into words what it means to

me, but Scripture says it the best.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of

God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and

also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have been called of Him to

preach His word among His people that they may have eternal life." (3

Nephi 5:13)

Let us follow Christ. Let us be unashamed. Let us bear testimony by

the way we live. Let us do all we can for the cause of Christ.

The Lord loves you and so do I.

Much love,

Sister Jackson

Exchanges with Sister Nielson and Sister Walton

Exchanges with Sister Olson and Sister Watkins

Sister Nielson and Sister Jackson

Hellora! (Sister Bush was texting a member a few days ago and managed

to say hellora instead of hello) I hope your week has been good! It's

been an adventure out in these parts as it usually is. It's been rainy

and sticky and tons of good wholesome fun!

So this week we've seen quite a few miracles, the first one being

Sister Silfies. I hadn't seen her for a long time and one day out of

the blue she called us! She had come to church that Sunday and then

called to tell us that she wanted to take the lessons so that she

could re establish her faith! It was so awesome, we went over and

taught the Plan of Salvation and it was so awesome! She is amazing and

she loves the gospel so much, you can see how it lights up in her eyes

when you talk to her!

We also taught Angel again this week and he's doing great! We have a

thing for teaching the Plan of Salvation so that's what we taught him!

We had him put it together by himself and teach it to us, about

halfway through the lesson his mom came and joined us. Which was

great, except his mom understands English, for the most part, but

doesn't quite speak it. Neither I nor Sister Bush speak Spanish.

Luckily we took Karina with us! Karina speaks great Spanish since she

grew up in a Spanish home and was able to teach her! It was so

awesome!

We also taught a lady named Rhonda. She is a born again Christian, and

she loves the Bible. She had met with missionaries before and has a

few misunderstandings about the Restoration. We spent most of the time

talking about scriptures and why they are so important. It was really

awesome to talk with her!

We also met with the Skidmores twice this week. They are doing

awesome! We taught them about how service is so important and that it

is so key for us to have in our lives. We also talked about a Hope

Works video about asking ourselves questions when we start to have

hard times.

We met with Dave this week and he came to church on Sunday! He seemed

like her enjoyed it and he told us that he wants to get baptized! We

still have to teach him a few things, before we can get him baptized

but he seems like he really wants to know about the gospel and he

really has a desire to learn more about what we believe. He's so

awesome!

Last but not least we met with a girl named Emily this week. She is a

friend of a member of the YSA and she's not happy with her current

church. So we went on a hike with her and Josh and we got to answer a

lot of her questions! She had a lot of really great questions for us

and she really wants to find a church that fits right with her. A lot

of the things she's looking for apps. Be found here but everyone has

to make their own decision.

We also had some exchanges this week! I was able to be down in

Philadelphia 1st ward with my MTC companion Sister Stubben! It was so

great! We taught a few lessons and the spirit was so powerful in each

one of them! We also ate dinner with a less active from Mexico and she

made us the most delicious tacos that I've had on the east coast. It

was so good.

So this week Sister Bush and I were getting to our apartment after a

long day of work and as we are walking to the door we see the scariest

sight. In front of our door there are two bushes and between the two

bushes in front of our door there was a spider, just chilling, making

a web. We couldn't walk to our door because we'd have to walk through

the web. So we ended up cutting the web with a piece of junk mail and

running inside the house. Later on we went back out with our handy

dandy broom and tape to catch it and kill it. #itneverfails

This week while tracting we decided to ask people if they had seen a

miracle in their lives. Well we knocked on this one door and a man

answered and we asked him if he'd seen a miracle and he said "Well I'm

looking at two of them aren't I?" Sister Bush and I were so happy

because up to this point no one had answered our question and so we

jumped right in to telling him who we are and what we do, and that is

when he told us that he's a Catholic Minister. It was so awesome! He

politely turned down our invitation but wished us good luck on our

quest.

I feel like the longer I'm on my mission the more I gain a deeper

understanding and thankfulness for things of the gospel. I am just so

thankful to be apart of the restored church. I am thankful to be

spreading the word to all within the sound of my voice. I am thankful

for a Savior who loves me enough to die for me. I am thankful for

temples where I can be sealed to my family for all time and eternity

so I will never loose them. I am thankful for the blessing of taking

the sacrament each week and how it renews our spirits. I am thankful

for a Father who love me and answers my prayers. I am thankful for the

people I've met who have changed my life. I am thankful for so many

things that I don't have the time or energy to write them all down,

but most of all I am thankful for these things because of my Father in

Heaven who gave them to me.

I love you all. Happy Pioneer Day!

Much love,

Sister Jackson

Splits

MTC companions on splits

Hello wonderful people! This week has been, well a party but not in

the way that we though it was going to be a party! We had a few

lessons this week, a lot of miracles, and a whole bunch of fun!

We started off this week by teaching little Oralee! She's our Ward

Mission Leaders daughter. We've started teaching members out here in

hopes to build trust and to get more referrals, so we taught Oralee

about the Ten Commandments and she was so cute to teach! We taught her

about the first five commandments and the hand signs that go with them

she was so cute! She was so excited to learn and tried so hard to get

her little figures to make the signs.

We also had a short lesson with Sister Milner this week! She had some

questions about what it means to keep the Sabbath Day Holy and how we

do that. So we FaceTimed her and talked with her about what she thinks

is okay to do on the Sabbath and what she thinks isn't okay to do on

the Sabbath. It was a really good talk and it reminded me that there

are no lists of do's and dont's on what to do on the Sabbath. The

guidelines we are given are not to shop, go to church, be with family.

Other than that we really have reign over what we do and do not do on

the Sabbath.

We saw Myesha this week! I don't know if you all remember Myesha but

she is a YSA aged lady living in the glorious city of Allentown. One

day we were walking around trying to find some less actives that live

there (YSA of course) and we walked passed Myesha and her friends!

Myesha stopped us and we started talking. We hadn't seen here for

about four weeks and then we got to see her this week! She's so

awesome! We just sat outside with her and talked to her and her

friends Jay and Erica. They all seem really interested in learning

more, before we left we shared Ether 12:27 with them and talked about

how when we pray we are able to overcome all things and to move

forward with power. We committed them to kneel and pray every time

they were having a hard time, we had a great conversation on kneeling

vs. laying prayers. It was a great talk! We were able to set up a time

to meet with them this week so hopefully it will work out!

We also were able to meet with a less active who hasn't been to church

in 22 years! He was baptized when he was 9 but never really understood

the gospel and so he's looking to know what we actually believe and

what the Book of Mormon is. He had some interesting questions about

the Plan of Salvation and the three degrees of glory, as well as where

the Book of Mormon came from. It was a great talk! We were able to use

the spirit to do a lot of the teaching, and to help us build our

testimonies of why it's so important to live righteously.

We also got to teach the Earnshaw family, Bishop Earnshaw is awesome!

We had a great talk about the Atonement of Christ and how we can use

it in our lives. What it means to keep it with us. How it works in its

different ways. It was a really powerful lesson to have! It was

amazing! The Spirit was so powerful! It was amazing!

We got to go see Brenda this week and she is doing great! She is so

funny and definitely has a good sense of humor that one! She's a

treasure!

We also had a member bring a friend to church! She was awesome! Her

name is Emily and she had a lot to offer in the classes! She wants to

meet with us because her friend told her that we know more about the

gospel than he does so she wants to see if we can answer her

questions. So we will be going on a hike with her sometime this week

so that we can answer her questions! She doesn't want to sit down and

talk because she feels like it's confrontational. However, she had a

great time with the YSA! They always have these little surprise linger

longers and that was yesterday! Sister Bush and I were talking about

how they always have something going on, and that's what inspired

today's headline.

We had an interesting experience tracting (I'll attract the

video/pictures) we went to this street in Kutztown because we were

like "this looks like a good place!" On our maps with no wifi. Well we

get there, and all the houses are row homeish and all the windows are

cracked just a bit through the curtains. There is no sign of human

life anywhere, at all. It was terrifying. So we left.

Well folks, it's been quite the week. Sister Bush and I had a meeting

on Friday and it was quite the drive so on the way down we listened to

a talk by John Bytheway. In it he talks about the war chapters in Alma

47 it talks about Amalickiah and his plans to become king of the

Lamanites. Brother Bytheway talks about how Lehonti doesn't want to go

to war with the Nephites so he and some of the men separate themselves

from Amalickiah's group. Lehonti's men go up a mountain and Amalickiah

tries to get Lehonti to come see him but Lehonti refuses. Eventually

Amalickiah does something very sneaky. He asks Lehonti to meet him

halfway, and Lehonti agrees. Well, the armies end up joining each

other, but Amalickiah still wants to be in charge, so eventually as we

read in verse 18, he kills Lehonti. But not in a normal way, a sneaky

way. He has a servant poison Lehonti by degrees, so over a period of

time Lehonti is poisoned, and by the time Lehonti realizes that he's

being poisoned it's far too late.

This is just like what Satan does, he convinces us to meet him halfway

down the mountain. Tells us he isn't going to hurt us and eventually

we agree with him and slowly our soul begins to be poisoned and by the

time we realize that we are being poisoned we've gone far down a path

we never wanted to be on. He's a sneaky guy, but the good news is is

that good is always stronger than evil, so when times come when we can

feel Satan telling us to just meet him halfway down the mountain we

can remember the covenants we have with God, and we can stand firm

with Him at the top of our mountain.

Being a missionary isn't easy. Serving the Lord is. I love you all!

Much love,

Sister Jackson

 

Looking for Ichabod Crane!