Dear friends and family,

Goodness this as been a week! Sister Bush is such an amazing

missionary and we have seen some good times and some not so good times

this week! Its a part of missionary life though, and I love it! There

are things that happen on a mission that could only happen to you on a

mission!

It was a super good week, we had some referrals from some members far

far away, spent a lot of time tracting in the rain, a great meeting,

and lessons filled with the spirit and the love of Christ!

We started off our round of lessons with Stephanie and Richard! They

are doing so awesome! We talked about the sabbath and why it is so

important. As we were preparing for the lesson I started to realize,

once again, just how important the Sabbath day is. Sundays these days

are regarded as just another day off from work, its a time for our

heaviest shopping, biggest sporting events, and not enough time for

the Lord. In reality a time to spend showing the love of Christ to

others. In the institute manual they quote President Kimball, he says

"The Sabbath is a day on which to take inventory--to analyze our

weaknesses, to confess our sins to our associates and our Lord. It is

a day on which to fast in ‘sackcloth and ashes.’ It is a day on which

to read good books, a day to contemplate and ponder, a day to study

lessons for priesthood and auxiliary organizations, a day to study the

scriptures and to prepare sermons, a day to nap and rest and relax, a

day to visit the sick, a day to preach the gospel, a day to proselyte,

a day to visit quietly with the family and get acquainted with our

children, a day for proper courting, a day to do good, a day to drink

at the fountain of knowledge and of instruction, a day to seek

forgiveness of our sins, a day for the enrichment of our spirit and

our soul, a day to restore us to our spiritual stature, a day to

partake of the emblems of his sacrifice and atonement, a day to

contemplate the glories of the gospel and of the eternal realms, a day

to climb high on the upward path toward our Heavenly Father.”

The Sabbath day is so important and I hope we can all remember what

that day is all about, and why it is set aside to be sacred.

That night we had a lesson with Dave, but unfortunately he had to

cancel. The members we were with took us out to Rita's (cranberry

water ice ❤️) and then had us teach them the Restoration. The thing

is, we think that they taught us more than we taught them. The

Vassilaros family is amazing and are very into deep doctrine. Brother

V taught us about Moroni's promise (Moroni 10:3-5) especially the part

where it says "ask if these things are not true." Why does it say not?

Well its just like when you ask someone where they are from "You are

from Utah aren't you?" You already believe that this person is from

Utah, but they are the only one who can confirm it. So when you ask

"is it not true?" You already believe it is true, you just are asking

for the confirmation that it is, indeed, true.

The next day we had Zone Conference, which was as good as ever! We got

to use the new planning guidelines that they released for PMG and it

was amazing! The guidelines are truly inspired. We also heard a lot

from President Randall and he is a truly inspired man. I love hearing

him speak, he always has such good things to say!

We also met with the O's this week again! We taught them the Plan of

Salvation and it was so funny! Sister O talked a lot about how the

Plan of Salvation was the thing that she loved the most when she was

investigating the church! It was so fun to hear their testimonies of

the plan and what it means to them! I loving teaching the members

because they always have so much to add to the lesson.

We got to meet with Sister Silfies this week! We talked about the

Gospel of Jesus Christ and used the nails diagram. Her son, Elijah,

was so cute! He keep pointing at the nails as we taught and whispering

"they building something" he is just so sweet! He has a lot of energy

but he really does listen to the spirit when its talking to him!

Our last lesson this week was with the Skidmores. They are so awesome!

We talked about agency, and what it really means to have agency.

Really agency is our freedom to choose. In a BYU play titled "My Turn

on Earth" there is a song that talks about this it says "The only

thing greater than life itself is the power to direct that life."

Could you imagine if we lived in a world without our agency? When we

had to do everything one way and we could never choose for ourselves

what we wanted to do? That would be a sad world.

We got referral this week from a member in HI! It was super exciting!

Michael wanted a Book of Mormon so that is what we gave to him! He

didn't want to set anything up with us because he is super busy, but

he told us to text him on Saturday. We did and since we had seen him

he decided to google some of his questions, and because of such, was

subject to some anti material. He was still very friendly but told us

he would reach out to us when he was ready to learn. It was sad, but

Heavenly Father has a plan for each of his children and one day

Michael will find the gospel.

The gospel is so good! Lately I have been thinking a lot about

singleness of heart and mind to the gospel. As i have gone through

trials and had those moments where I slip up I have found my strength

in sticking to what I know, and that is the Book of Mormon. I recently

started to reread it, and it has been so good! I was reading in the

institute manual. Today I was reading when Nephi asks for strength to

break the bonds which bound him, and I started thinking about the

power of prayer. When we pray in faith we can do anything, as long as

we are willing to act on the information that is given to us. Elder

Gene R. Cook said “Note that they [Nephi, Alma, and Amulek] did not

have faith in their own strength; they trusted in the Lord and relied

on his strength. It is faith in Christ that will deliver us from our

own bonds; it is increasing our faith in Christ that will give us

added power in prayer."

I hope we are all taking the time to pray with faith, to read the Book

of Mormon and to stick to what we know to be true.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Much love,

Sister Jackson

 

JOSIE'S ONE YEAR

The District

Elder Olsen and Josie