Brothers and sisters,

This is my last weekly email. I am saddened at the thought that this 18 month journey of mine is coming to a close, but I am so thankful for these 18 months. I have been blessed of the Lord exceedingly. I had no idea what I was getting into on that bright summer day in August of 2016. I had no idea how much I would love this part of the country. I had no idea that part of my heart would always belong to Philadelphia.

I love Philadelphia. I love the culture. I love the intensity. I love the music. I love the loud ness. I love the craziness. I love the diversity. I love the soul food. I love pretzels. I love the smell of the city. I love the history. I love the colors. I love the people. I love being a missionary. I love sharing the gospel. I love being Sister Jackson. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the blessing of being His hands in this glorious part of His vineyard.

There is so much to say, and so much to do. I am excited to see my family again. I know that the work of the Lord will go on, and I will continue to play a part in it. My work isn’t done just because I take off the tag, in fact it’s all just beginning once again.

I love you all, thank you for sticking around this long, for your prayers and support. I’ll see you soon!

LO
VE,
Sister Jackson

“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel.” -Joseph Smith

Maggie and Josie

Mariah, Josie, Heather

Maggie, Josie, and Sister Roberts

Fife Life

This week has been so good! Woot! So here is a quick recap of the week because I’m lazy and we are creating at the Fife’s :)

Ed is on date! Woo! He was 40 minutes late for his lesson, but we taught him! He’s doin well and really understands that baptism is life changing. He is excited for baptism to be the start of his new life in August! 

Faith is also on date! It was amazing! We finally met with her this week and found out that she doesn’t need to be retaught anything. Since she met with the missionaries we had been memorizing the pamphlets they gave her so she could remember the doctrine. We set her to be baptized in May! She is so excited and she is so faithful, she will be an amazing member of the church. 

Maggie is so amazing! I just love her with my whole heart! Not much has changed, she just continues to live the gospel and soak it all up!

We haven’t met with Emaani or Venita lately. We also haven’t seen Elizabeth, but from what we know she’s doing well. 

Well, that was pretty much our week! Sorry this weeks is so short, but you can ask me questions soon enough!

This week we also had the departing temple trip, and that was so good! President Winn (the temple president) talked a lot about how we need to read and pray every day. It was a really good meeting, and the temple was amazing as usual! I am so thankful for a temple in Philadelphia. It was so amazing and the spirit was so strong. I know that the spirit of the Lord in unrestrained within the temple walls. 

Love you all and tune in next week for the last weekly email from Sister Jackson! 

Always,

Sister Jackson

The Woodwards

The Stechers

Maggie, Sister Roberts, Josie

Us LDS memebers

In case you’re curious fast and testimony meetings in Woodstown are the best thing since sliced bread. This week we were reminded that we only have 1 wife, we belong to the “LSD” church, there was a secret meeting about the government and if we didn’t know about it, it’s because we are protected, and if we hover around our children we will squander them and they will be eaten by hawks.

Relief Society is another adventure in and of its self. I’ll spare you the details, because it’s rather life scaring, and just say the counsel thing is rather interesting. Oh, and life is not a pink bubble.

In other news this week was great! Faith bore her testimony this week about how Heavenly Father will give you something that you want with your whole heart. It was so sweet! She kept asking us questions about how to bear a testimony, what to say and all that! She spoke right from her heart, and it changed the whole spirit of the meeting. She saved the day, literally.

We met with Ed again this week! He continues to do really well! He loves to learn, and he’s expressed to us that he is feeling closer to God as he has met with us and read from the Book of Mormon. He told us that Jesus has become his best friend and has helped him with so much. 

We also met with Elizabeth! She’s doing the best she can! She is really striving to reach her baptism date and overcome the obstacles holding her back. I think this time is different for her, she realizes that the gospel has something she wants. 

We also met with Lisa, a lady we met a few weeks back. She brought her minister friend to the lesson, and I’m 95% sure it was going to be a bash. So we stuck to common ground and talked about prayer, but once the minister found out we were Mormons we lost all hope of talking to them again and quickly left. 

We also met an amazing woman named Jen! We were stopping by some formers in the areabook, and they had moved, but Jen lived there now! She was so sweet! We got her hooked when I started loving on her golden retriever (but really, fastest way to get someone to listen is to start talking about their dog)! She soon let us in and we were able to share a short message with her and she accepted a Book of Mormon and said we could come back! She’s been watching Mormon vlogs on YouTube and has been impressed with what she has seen! You never know what living your faith can do. 

This week has been a little hard for me. I’m constantly reminded by members that my time is coming short, and it’s true, but it’s been hard. However, this whole week I was reminded of how much my Heavenly Father loves me and all of His children. It was no mistake that we met Jen, no mistake that plans canceled over and over again this week, no mistake that I’ve been serving in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission, no mistakes are ever made by God, because He is perfect. That includes in your life too, it’s no mistake that you didn’t get a job, it’s no mistake that you married who you did, it’s no mistake where you’re going to college. Nothing is ever a mistake. We just need to trust in God, and rely on Him. It will all work out, I promise. 

Sister Stecher

face masks

the district

Love you all!

Always,
Sister Jackson

Sister Jackson, or should I say Sister Johnson? I've heard it both ways!

Hello friends and family! It is been a crazy P-Day and even crazier week. So I’ll just try and break this down and keep it short because I’m running out of time and I’ve still got stuff to do.

Here’s a quick update on all the people we met with this week and the area!

Edward: he was a referral from Morgan.org! He is so awesome! He came to church this week and he’s super open to the Gospel! He actually just texted us earlier today and thanked us for meeting with him and helping him see the purpose of his life and finding God and all of these amazing things! He really enjoyed church and how kind the people are! He is been having a rough go of life lately and as we’ve met with him I think it is just helped him find the Savior. He excepted both Book of Mormon and the Bible and we hope he’s been reading from both of them! We are looking forward to meeting with him later this week.

Jack: he’s this old guy. He’s super nice but was definitely more interested in what the member had to say than what we had to say. He doesn’t like young people. We’re hoping to establish a better relationship with him this week and continue to meet with him!

Faith: we haven’t been able to meet with her but she came to church again! Another amazing thing is that she went to seminary all week last week. Now that’s dedication. There are members who don’t even go to seminary every day all week. We went to seminary this morning and she actually gave the devotional! This girl is so faithful. It amazes me. Hopefully we will meet with her tomorrow and be able to set her on the track to baptism! We are so excited and so thankful that we get to work with her!

Elizabeth: she’s great. We actually sent here with the baptismal date this week! It was one of the best lessons that I’ve had with her. She expressed to us that she wanted to be baptized and to overcome the things that are holding her back from doing that. She also came to church this week and it was really good to see her! Her baptismal date is set for June so it’s a ways out but that was the time that we felt was right for her.

Emaani: we haven’t met with her this week we are hopefully going to be with her next week.

Shirley: she’s awesome! We met with her and talk her the restoration and she expressed as her she’s on a spiritual journey and is looking for the right church. We are going to be meeting with her again tomorrow and hopefully will be able to help her on the spiritual journey.

I think that’s probably all the updates in regards to investigators. We haven’t met with any less actives this week really, we did meet with Maggie though! She’s doing great! So  are her parents!

This week we had zone conference! It was so awesome! We talked a lot about the plan of salvation and about charity and having love for the people around us. Charity so important! If the people you talk to don’t feel your love for them than they will ever understand or progress in the Gospel. Christ was the ultimate example of charity and as we continue to strive to be like him he will bless us with the love that we need to help those around us continue on their path back to Him.

President Sikahema also spoke. He told the story of how he knows Maggie’s dad for the 500th time. He also kept calling me Sister Johnson and everyone giggled every time he said that and I don’t think he ever noticed. Then later when I gave my commencement testimony, as president Randall now calls it, President then said “Sister Jackson, or should I say Sister Johnson?” Then proceeded to laugh. Ha ha. It was actually super weird to know that this was my last zone conference. I am just so thankful to have served my mission and to have known so many great people. I am excited to finish out the next few weeks strong!

I love you all!

Always,

Sister Jackson

Sister Roberts and Josie

Rita's is open!!

You best stay prayed up!

I think I always start my weeklies the same way, and that’s so boring. These get harder and harder to write each week, just to let you know. 

Anyway, this week has been another good one! It’s been crazy with the weather, it snowed Saturday night and was melted by Sunday morning. It has rained so much that there has been flooding, so that’s been fun to drive in (thankfully I’m not the driver). I just have so much love in my heart for New Jersey! 

So let’s start at the beginning! On Monday one we got to go visit one of the less active families we’ve been working with for a while! It was so good to see them, it has been a long time! The mom is super pregnant and actually had her baby later in the week! She’s like super mom and already had professional pictures taken of the baby. Now that’s dedication. 

Tuesday we had district meeting and then had a day full of finding. Towards the end of the day we had a lesson with Gwen! She is awesome! She has so much love in her heart for God and she really related to Joseph Smith’s story. Later that evening we went to mutual to help out with the 55+ valentines dinner the young men were putting on (plus we got leftovers, score!) and Gwen came! She really enjoyed herself and it was great! 

Wednesday, oh the wonderful Valentines Day! Hahaha, we had a most interesting day. We started our morning off with a lesson with a family in Salem. Who turned out to be not as interested in we thought. They gave a half-hearted attempt at bashing, and we tried to explain, but it just wasn’t working. So we left. They were still super nice but just couldn’t get over the whole Prophet and Book of Mormon thing. Because revelation ceased with the Apostles and you can’t add anything to the Bible. As stated before we tried, and we testified, but they just weren’t ready to listen. 

We also got to go see Sister Johnson! She is the most amazing lady, and she’s been lonely since her husbands passing a few months ago. We went over and just visited with her for a little and talked about all of the super fun stories she’s got. She and her husband were some of the first members to live in Jersey and spent most of their lives trying to help build the church. She is truly amazing. 

We had dinner with the Nolin/Naval crew that night! My heart just loves that family so much, especially sweet little Ellie, who spent the whole night telling us about her Valentines Day party at school. Sister Naval is also one of my favorite people and so it’s always fun to chat with her! However; as we were leaving the house Sister Nolin opened the door and I started to walk outside only to be hit by a bird who was flying into their house! It was crazy! The bird had been hiding in the wreath on their door and got scared when it was opened, so it took off in flight, only it was towards my face.

On Thursday we had exchanges with the Sewell sisters! I got to go spend the day in Sewell with Sister Connelly and it was so fun! We started off by going to temple Prep with one of the recent converts in their ward, and that was amazing! Temple Prep is always fun to take part in! Later we did some finding and then taught an active family in their ward and it was so fun! Meanwhile in Woodstown Sister Roberts and Sister Trommlitz Set Emaani with a baptism date for late April! It was so awesome to hear about when I got back!

On Friday we finished exchanges by walking around Woodbury and it was the cutest little town! We also got to talk with some amazing people on the streets who had already met with missionaries before and were interested in meeting again! Woot! Anyways when I got back to Woodstown we headed over to Penns Grove/Pennsville and it was amazing as usual! 

We spent the day finding and we found our new investigator, Angie, who lives where an old investigator lived! She was so awesome, she let us right in! It was a miracle for sure! We also taught a less active family and they are doing much better than they were last time we saw them. They seemed to finally really understand what we are saying. We ended our night with dinner with one of the sisters in our ward, Sister Rhea! She is the sweetest person ever and I just adore her! 

Saturday was a relatively normal day, lots of tracting. Dinner with the Fife’s, a lesson with Sister Leuallen and then we got a referral who wants both a BOM and a Bible! We are super excited to meet with him on Tuesday this week! I’ll report back and let you know how it goes! 

Sunday was so amazing! So let’s dive in! First, President Sikahema is the most powerful missionary ever. He texted Maggie’s parents and invited them to church since he would be there, and they came! He also taught the Restoration over the pulpit, so that’s awesome! The Spirit was so strong the whole time! Second, THE biggest miracle happened! So let’s flash back 8 months ago, so way before I was in this area, the missionaries were meeting with a young woman named Faith, who really wanted to get baptized. A few weeks before her baptism her parents told her she couldn’t meet with them anymore. So she cut off contact with the church except for her one friend Spencer and kept reading her Book of Mormon. So flash forward again, this week her parents told her that she’s almost 18 and if she hasn’t lost interest in the church yet that she could make her own decisions! WHAT?! So she came to church and set up a time to meet with us! MIRACLES ARE REAL FRIENDS! It is a miracle that her parents had their hearts softened enough to let her make this decision, and a miracle that she has stayed as faithful as she has. I’m so excited to work with her! 

We had time to go finding on Sunday and we found the best lady ever! She was not interested at all, and after telling us about how she didn’t go to church because she over slept and washed her hair and how she had received the Holy Ghost at 17 she asked us if the only calling we hold at our church is missionary. So we briefly explained how missions work for us and she goes “Oh girls, I’ll tell you one thing, you best stay prayed up! Mmmhmm!” We about died laughing! We also complimented her sweater and she went “$2 at consignment! You don’t have the pay a lot of money to look cute!” I seriously love the people here in Jersey!

Along with this lady I know that prayer is a power to be reckoned with. Prayer is so important to our relationship with our Father. Think of how often your kids talk to you, or how often you talk to your parents, it’s almost everyday right? Well, how often do you talk to your Heavenly Father? Is it everyday? I know that if we take time each day to talk with our Heavenly Father our lives will go much smoother and I promise that you will find answers to your questions. He will not leave His children in the dark if they are truly searching for the light. 

Always,

Sister Jackson

 

Josie and Sister Connelly

Pres. Sikehema and the girls

decorating with Sister Roberts

You've done lost your everlasting mind! -Sister Wilson

Hello hello! What a great week it has been to be a servant of the Lord! Just to clarify for some of you who have also been getting my MTC districts emails. Yes, I am still a missionary. I extended 6 weeks! Woot! It’s going to be the best 6 weeks ever! It’s already started off with a busy week, so you know that’s a good sign! 

To start off on Monday evening we went to stop by a former investigator. She was home and she let us right in! She proceeded to ask us about the super bowl and then tell us all about how she does not believe in medication so she was not going to be taking all the medication her doctor has prescribed her. She then set up a return appointment and we are super excited! 

To be honest, it’s easier to write these if I do it in bullet point form, so buckle up kids! 

-We spend a day in Salem (my FAVORITE ghetto town) and it was so wonderful! Not much happened, but it felt so good to be there. (Yes Sister Taylor, it was the first day of the transfer. The tradition continues) We did get to see a whole bunch of formers and even get into contact with a family who “avoided” missionaries! 

-We spend a day in Pennsville, and it was hardcore raining all day. It was rough! It was cold and no one was outside or wanted two soaking wet women to come into their homes, BUT we did met this super nice man named Jesse who asked us to come back when there was a woman home.

-While in Pennsville we stopped by this less active family and visited with them. It was interesting. We found out that the Brother spent some time in the insane asylum, and while he was there he tried to choke one of his doctors. It was interesting. 

-Thursday we went to the Storehouse! It was so great! I always love going to the store house.

-We taught Maggie again this week! Well, more like she taught us. We went to teach the Plan of Salvation and she set everything up and then told us what each thing was. It was impressive! In her own words she explained the pre-mortal life “We were there with God, just chillin, hanging out with Heavenly Father.” I love her! 

-Later that evening we taught our new investigators, Emaani! Emaani is the daughter of Venita, and we have started to teach her the lessons! We taught the Restoration and it was so awesome, the only problem? Sister Roberts was sick, like we spent the next two days inside sick, so she didn’t teach much because she was trying not to throw up and she couldn’t concentrate. Venita asked us if we believed in deliverance prayers and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but Sister Roberts did, but she was to sick to explain, so I tired, and probably failed. 

-the next two days we spent inside, due to the flu. BUT we still taught two lessons! We spent some time with a member of our ward who is blind, and talked with her. She’s been going through a lot and while we were talking she was talking about her friend and gave the quote for my subject line! We also visited with Gwen! Gwen is a former that I’ve met with a few times and she’s going through a rough patch. She was so open to listening last time we saw her! She even came to church this week and was telling a member that she really enjoyed it and really needed to have the word of God in her life AND the young men are doing a valentines dinner for women 55+ and she is going to go to it on Tuesday! WHAT?!? Miracles are real friends! 

This whole week has been full of miracles. Even on those two days we were stuck inside the miracles were real.

I KNOW that God is still a God of miracles, and sometimes that miracle is the answer to a sincere prayer for help from one of us. I know that He hears and answers those prayers in His own due time. I know He listens. I felt that again and again this week, I felt that love as I knelt in prayer at the end of each day. I felt that when I poured my heart out to Him in pure gratitude for the last 18 months. I feel a lot like President Monson did in April 2015 Conference when he said “They have been busy years, filled not only with a few challenges but also with countless blessings.” It has been a busy year and a half, and the blessings and love I have seen and felt are REAL. God lives, I know it and I cannot deny it. 

Always,

Sister Jackson

favorite building in Salem

Heavenly Helpers

Fly Eagles Fly

Did you know the scriptures reference eagles 37 times and patriots 0 times? Well, now you do. 

Hello friends and fam! It has been an amazing week in the work of the Lord! We had transfer calls last night and I am staying in Woodstown with Sister Roberts! Woohoo! We are so excited to keep the work rolling in this glorious part of the vineyard! It is going to be so fun, and I am so ready for the next 6 weeks! 

We saw Terressa again, she is in the process of moving and so she needed help cleaning her “new” trailer home. We went over twice this week to help wipe down walls and clean the bathroom. Her roommate (the person who actually owns the trailer)has probably never cleaned it the whole time they’ve lived there. The bathroom was so nasty, Sister Roberts is allergic to dust mites so she got a super great reaction from cleaning this week. 

We also saw Elizabeth! She is doing good. It was the first time we had seen her in about 68 days, and she really opened up about some concerns that she has had. We talked a lot about how we are children of God, and nothing we do or say can change that. He still cares for us deeply, and will always love us. I am so thankful for that knowledge and that I get to spend everyday helping people see and understand that they are children of the Almighty God. 

This week we spent a LOT of time in Penns Grove. So here are a few tidbits of the things that happened:

- we ran into our investigator on the street and found out they are a cross dresser. Later our relief society president asked us about said investigators and asked if they were a cross dresser.

- we visited a less active family and the sister collects angels. She asked us if we wanted one and we politely declined. She then kept asking before finally picking two out and giving them to us. 

- we went to go give a bible referral his bible at his address. As it turns out that’s actually not his address. He just puts that one as his home address. His wife answered the door and was so confused as to why we were there and asking for her husband. We have also stopped by that house multiple times since receiving the referral, and no one has ever bothered to tell us he doesn’t actually live there. 

-We met a lady who was getting out of her car as we were walking past. We asked if we could share a video about Jesus Christ and her response was “Are you Jehovah’s Witness?” We said no and she let us right in and set up a time for us to come back. 

A few miracles this week: 

- we received a referral for a lady who lives at the bottom of our area. She wanted us to come by yesterday and give her her bible. So we went down before the Super Bowl and she was so awesome! She told us she orders free bibles all the time to give to her children to point them in the right direction, and she was so happy to take a copy of the Book of Mormon! She expressed to us that she is looking for a church right now, so she is just church hopping and was very open to meeting with us later! 

We had an awesome training with President Randall this week. We talked a lot about faith, charity and obedience. We have to have all three to become “effective advocates and messengers of the truth.” When we love others and the Lord, we desire to be obedient, when we are obedient it builds our faith because obedience brings miracles. 

Yesterday when we got to our dinner appointment, it didn’t look like anyone was home, but we tried anyway. We spent 25 minutes on their porch knocking on their door and ringing their doorbell, as it

Sister Roberts and Josie

Working at the Storehouse

was raining outside. We ended up calling them and they had been downstairs watching pre-game stuff. It was just an awkward night last night. 

We had a rough time at the beginning of last week, we were down to no miles and we had appointments in the most random of places. We spent one whole day in the richest part of our area knocking on doors and it was awful. We met one person that said she would read a pamphlet, and how thankful I am for one person! One of my favorite songs recently has been One by One, which was written by Elder Bednar and put to music by Paul Carrdall (if you haven’t heard it, go look it up). This week I have been thinking a lot about how the Savior ministers to others “One by one” in a few different places in 3 Nephi it talks about this idea. 

3 Nephi 11:15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

3 Nephi 17:21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

3 Nephi 18:36 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them.

Jesus Christ comes to each of us One by one. He comes in His own time and in His own way, but He always comes. He loves each of us individually, and wants each of us to come unto Him, one by one. 

“The Lord just wants you to know how awesome you are! How you’re doin it!” -Sister Bergin

Always,

Sister Jackson

You're right. It would be hard to pull the cosmos out of a bag!

Hello friends and family! It’s been a pretty good week out here in the glorious state of New Jersey! I just want to take all of you on a tour of our area, it’s so cute and so fun! I just love it here! 

This week, like all the other weeks, has just flown by! It has been a crazy week full of so many miracles! I am so thankful to have this time as a missionary, it’s so much fun to serve the Lord. It’s true when people say it’s one of the best times of your life! I highly recommend serving a mission to everyone! 

On Tuesday after district meeting we had exchanges with our wonderful STL’s! I got to spend some time with the ever delightful Sister Trommlitz! I adore her! We had so much fun out here in Woodstown! We jumped right into the work after District Meeting! We had a lesson in Salem with one of the referrals I mentioned last week! We got to Rosalind’s house and she was so excited for her bible and Book of Mormon! As we talked she mentioned a lot about her life, and that right now she really is searching for peace, it was so awesome to testify that peace is found in the Book of Mormon. 

After that we made a quick Wawa run and then headed to go teach Jan! After a long time of not being able to see her due to health problems, she was so excited to see us! We were able to teach her the plan of salvation because she’s been feeling like God doesn’t have a plan for her, and she really enjoyed it! She gave the sweetest prayer at the end of the lesson, she is so amazing. 

That night we had bible study, and only one member showed up. Now, this member has a different way of thinking than most people. We read about the Good Samaritan and soon enough it turned into this really deep conversation about the Savior and helping others and changing our mind set. It was kind of hard to follow her train of thought, but thankfully the Spirit knew what she was saying! 

Wednesday morning we had the chance to sit down with a less active family. It was so fun! We decided to talk with them about Family History and how it can strengthen us, and it was amazing. As it turned out they work on family history all the time! The Spirit was so strong as they talked about their ancestors. They told us all about how they’ve had names to do and how badly they want to do them but they know they can’t because they don’t come to to church often enough. In fact, that’s what the sister told us. She knows and recognizes what they need to do to get to the temple, but they just don’t come. 

We also had an amazing lesson with the other referral we received last week! His name is James and he ordered a Book of Mormon. We sat down to teach him and he told us all about how the youth theses days don’t know Jesus, and how all these churches around here don’t “jive” with him. He has been looking for a place to go because he has been looking for a long time for a church that “jives” with him. We taught the Restoration to him, and he LOVED it! He seemed very impressed by Joseph’s story. He also really liked the Book of Mormon, he told us that his friend had told him to get it because it would help him understand the Bible. It was just a miracle lesson! 

We also saw Maggie, and she’s still as amazing as ever! She just loves the gospel, and told us she’s going to restart the Book of Mormon because she just feels like she isn’t getting everything out of it that she should be getting. She’s just awesome! 

We had dinner with some members this week. As we were helping the Sister put her lesson for relief society together her husband was asking a bunch of questions. She was trying to get things in to help describe the creation that she could put in a bag. Her husband goes “You could get a picture of the cosmos!” She rolled her eyes and said “I can’t fit that in a bag.” His response made us all laugh for a solid 5 minutes “You’re right, it would be hard to pull the cosmos out of a bag.” 

A few quick miracles:

-A less active we work with wants us to start teaching her non-member daughter the lessons and get her daughter involved with activity days

-We met a man who was outside smoking who told us he and his wife had been looking for a church. He asked where ours is and we told him it’s literally just down the road from him and he said he’d have to check it out sometime.

-We met with a former who has been canceling all of her appointments for a while and she told us that she now has Sundays off, so she can start coming to church! 

-we were walking down the street and a guy rolled down his window and yelled “Excuse me?” We said “Yes?” And he goes “Jesus loves you!” So of course we said “He loves you too!” The man then smiled really big and drove away. It’s the simple things that are the big miracle, making some one smile is just as big of a miracle as baptizing nations in my book. 

With all of these amazing experiences with the Book of Mormon this week, I have been thinking a lot about it. Earlier this week I was reading President Nelson’s talk titled “The Book of Mormon: What would your life be without it?” I really love how he talks about the purpose of the Book of Mormon, he says: 

“The Book of Mormon both illuminates the teachings of the Master and exposes the tactics of the adversary. The Book of Mormon teaches true doctrine to dispel false religious traditions--such as the erroneous practice of performing infant baptisms. The Book of Mormon gives purpose to life by urging us to ponder the potential of eternal life and “never-ending happiness.” The Book of Mormon shatters the false beliefs that happiness can be found in wickedness and that individual goodness is all that is required to return to the presence of God. It abolishes forever the false concepts that revelation ended with the Bible and that the heavens are sealed today.” 

I also love Elder Tad R. Callister’s talk titled “The Book of Mormon: God’s Compelling Witness” he says:

“The Book of Mormon is one of God’s priceless gifts to us. It is both sword and shield--it sends the word of God into battle to fight for the hearts of the just and serves as an arch defender of the truth. As Saints, we have not only the privilege to defend the Book of Mormon but also the opportunity to take the offense--to preach with power its divine doctrine and bear testimony of its crowning witness of Jesus Christ.”

Without the Book of Mormon I would be searching for answers that could never be found. I would be lost and I wouldn’t understand my relationship to the Savior. How thankful I am for the Prophet Joseph for doing all he could to translate this book! How thankful I am for the fact I can read and ponder on it’s eternal truths each and everyday! The Book of Mormon is the word of God, I testify that it is. If you aren’t sure, read it, pray about it and you too can know, just as I do. 

Love you all! 

Always,

Sister Jackson

 

Sister Trommlitz one year celebration

splits with Sister Anderson and Sister Trommlitz

“The Episcopalian lizard, native to South America”

Don’t worry friends and family. I know that the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, all of New Jersey has been partying since last night. Thanks to excessive fireworks, screaming, and yelling we have been well notified of the victory vs the Vikings. Plus our neighbors were up with loud music for FOREVER. #flyeaglesfly

Anyway, this week was so good! We had a lot of teaching appointments this week! It was amazing, and miracles galore! Even though we spend 2 hours waiting for an oil change and then found out they put the wrong oil in it, we were incredibly blessed! 

Starting off our week we taught a less active family. It is just the husband and wife who are members. We talked with them a lot about CPR (church, pray, read) and why each one is so key. The Sister brought up that she doesn’t read because she doesn’t understand the Book of Mormon, but she understood it when they were in Mexico. It was an interesting conversation, the hottest topic was church. When we brought it up the Brother blamed the Sister and she got all fired up. Her next words were “Well, you’ve got no room to talk Bill! You don’t even try to wake me up for church.” Sister Roberts and I were pretty taken back by that, but at least they know church is important! 

Later that day we taught our dear Maggie! She is amazing. We talked about family history and got her family search all set up! She was so excited and even came prepared with people to enter in to the website! She was so prepared and ready to go to the temple! 

Wednesday we spent the day in a Broomall, oh how I love that place! Walking into the building is like walking into my own home. I got to see Elder and Sister Sessions (my favorite missionary couple ever!) and we spent the day with President and Sister Randall (the best mission president and Sister to ever live!). The best part though was the Randall’s daughter. She was put into a trio with us and she is so funny! When Sister Roberts told her she’s from where Napoleon dynamite was filmed Allie said “No way! Congratulations!” Among other things, she also said this weeks subject title. For the training we spent the day talking about teaching the Restoration and how we can continue to communicate in our companionship’s. At one point they split us up, trainers with trainers and Golden’s with Golden’s. It was pretty fun! When we got home we headed straight to our dinner appointment with a part member family! It was so awesome, they are totally Disney people so clearly we hit it off right away! 

Later that day we met with Venita! She is doing well, still has a lot going on with her son, ex-husband and job, BUT she wants to come to church really bad. She feels very welcomed into the ward with the conversations she’s had with Bishop and with Sister Bowman. Pretty much the whole time we spoke with her we talked about the importance of CPR. It was awesome! The Spirit totally took over and directed that whole lesson. That is the most amazing feeling on the planet. 

On Thursday we met with Sister Leuallen! She’s doing great! She’s been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and she got to 3 Nephi! As we talked about it she goes “I don’t understand why there has to be so many wars though!” That got me thinking about the war chapters. I mean it’s like 10+ chapters all about war and warfare, why, why is this of importance? I think it’s simple, the Book of Mormon was written for our day. Our day is full of wars and rumors of wars, the war chapters allow us to see how we can hold on to our faith. Even in times of spiritual or physical war. 

We saw Terressa twice this week! She’s doing well, it’s been hard to teach her because she never stops moving. Ever. So we just do our best. Last time we saw her we had a great conversation of the spirit world. The Spirit was so strong as we testified of the life after this one and the fact that God judges justly, not as man would judge. She also committed to come to church next week! We are so excited for her, because we know that church will uplift her spirits and guide her! 

MAGGIE WENT TO THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK!! It was so awesome! The Spirit in the temple is already so strong, but there is something special about going with a recent convert that makes everything a little brighter. It’s almost like looking at the world through a filter of pure joy! My heart was so overwhelmed with happiness and love. It has been a blessing to work with Maggie and a pleasure to teach her. Seeing her go to the temple to help other receive those same blessings that she has just warmed my heart in a way that nothing else could. 

A few miracles this week:

-We received three referrals! Two of which ordered a Book of Mormon and set up appointments to learn more, and the other met some fellow missionaries in a Target near by. We also set up an appointment with her! We are going to be busy this week! 

-While street Contacting in Penns Grove on Sunday night we met our new investigator! We approached her with showing the Prince of Peace video and then had a great conversation about faith in our Savior. She really opened up to us and told us she isn’t religious but she wants to be. When we gave her our card with the church address on it she went “I wish I would have known this earlier! I would have came!” I KNOW Heavenly Father prepares people to listen to us. 

-We met with a former investigator we have been trying to get a hold of my whole time here in Woodstown! We knocked on her door right when she got home from work and let us right in! She was also very open and told us that she doesn’t have a religion and believes all religion has some truth, but doesn’t have all the truth. Well, do we have a story for her! She committed to meet with us over Facebook, since she has a crazy schedule and is very excited to learn more! 

I testify that God is in every aspect of this work! His finger prints are all over everything we do every day. The fact that we were in Penns Grove on Sunday was by total design. We weren’t supposed to be there, we were supposed to be in Mullica Hill. The fact that we met that former investigator was a miracle, we were 30 minutes behind schedule when we met her, if we had been there any earlier we would have missed her. It all works out exactly like it is supposed to! Trust in His timing, and in His way! He knows what is best, even if it doesn’t always make sense to our mortal brains. 

I love you all! Thank you for your continued support and prayers over the last few months, I am thankful for each of you and your influence in my life. 

Always,

Sister Jackson

Sent from Woodstown, NJ 🌳

Ps. If you’d like to read the last few weeks check the blog, if you don’t know the blog, check my mom’s Facebook. If you don’t know my mom, you’re really missing out. She’s the coolest. 

 

Maggie at the temple

Josie, Sister Roberts, and the Delaware River

“Oreos. We need more Oreos.” -Sister Roberts

Howdy y’all! It has warmed up maybe three degrees out this way! It’s still cold, it’s still windy and the work of the Lord still presses on ward, ever on ward! It’s been a crazy week full of lots of different experiences and lots of laughs! It’s a great time to be a servant of the Lord in the great state of New Jersey! 

We had two trainings this week all about learning how to better work with the members we serve around and about learning how to better follow up with media referrals! The Church is making a big media push out here, so we’ve been gearing up for more referrals and more people to teach. Woohoo! It’s going to be great! Anyway, these trainings were so good, on day two of training we spent a total of six hours there, and four of those hours were spent role playing different things. It was a really great chance to brush up on skills! One thing I really loved is as we talked about the wording we used Sister Randall brought up the word “Just” and how “the Book of Mormon is not just.” I was thinking about how often I use that word, and how it can take away the power of the statement you are making. “Oh the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is just the true church.” Vs “The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on the earth today.” The power of words is real. 

We also met with our investigator Terressa! I don’t know if you remember her story, but here is a quick recap. She was our waitress a few weeks ago at the Woodstown diner, Sister Taylor, Sister Berhan and I taught her once and she brought up wanting to be baptized! Well, after that her life got really crazy and we lost contact with her. This week we got back in contact with her! She recently lost a loved one and has been struggling with that, as we all do. She’s got two kids and is in the middle of moving, so her life has been pretty chaotic. We met with her a few days ago and she brought out her Book of Mormon, she opened it up to 3 Nephi 22 and she goes “Girls, this really freaked me out.” We read over the first few verses and it talked about how the Lord is on our side, so clearly we were confused. We asked why and she goes “This applies directly to my situation.” Oh I could have danced a jig! There is no sweeter feeling than knowing that your investigators are reading and applying the Book of Mormon to their lives! Just as President Monson testified so beautifully of last April, the Book of Mormon is true. 

We also had a meeting with a lady we tracted into a while back. Sister Roberts and I had been just praying to talk to anyone, and we knocked on Venitas door and she left us right in! Well, turns out she is actually a member of the church! She was baptized in LA and then fell away not long after. As it so happens we came into her life just at the right time! She’s been dealing with a lot of family issues and temporal things lately and who better to help than the church of God! We’ve talked with her a few times over the past few weeks and it has been amazing to see her faith grow. Yesterday when we went to visit her she asked us to refresh her memory of the church so that when she attends she can remember what she believes. She also asked us to send her scriptures to read! It was awesome! 

So, I am so thankful for modern technology and that I get to use Facebook as a missionary to spread the gospel. There is one downside to this though, it doesn’t say Sister before our names. So we were visiting with Venita and we’ve been using Facebook to stay in touch with her, so she’s talking and out of nowhere she goes “I mean, Josie and Savanna, this is.....” I forget the rest I was so caught off guard! It took me a second to realize she was still talking to and about us! I just want to be Sister Jackson forever, that’s all I ask! 

We finally taught Maggie again this week! She’s so amazing! We went over the power of CPR (church, pray, read) and talked about how these things keep us going. With them we can easily endure to the end, without them it’s a lot harder! Maggie opened up so much, she shared experiences with prayer, with reading the scriptures and with church. She testified beautifully that she knows the church is true, even though she still has questions and still doesn’t know everything. After our lesson we talked with her parents for a little while and they continue to open up more and more each time we see them! Tom, her dad, is a HUGE fan of the idea of BYU-H and continues to try and convince us and Maggie that that is the school to be at. I don’t disagree, but I know I’d spend more time at the beach than I would in class! 

We got to spend sometime in Penns Grove this week and that is always an adventure! We met with a referral we got a while back and talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, at the end of our conversation she only had two questions “Are you nuns?” “Are you Jehovah’s Witnesses?” Which was funny, because we only had her information because she went on Mormon.org and ordered a free bible! We also went to visit a girl we found a while back, as we were climbing the stairs I just got the feeling we should leave, but continues to climb anyway. The closer we got to the top, the more intense the smell of weed, finally at the top of the stairs I just got the most awful feeling, so we turned around. Fun fact about my hair, all it takes is .5 seconds in an environment where it smells like weed for the smell to attach its self to my hair. It’s great. I spent the rest of the evening with hair that smelled like a skunk. 

Tying in the subject line for this week, we had dinner with a member the other night and they made us fish and chips. Sister Roberts does not like fish, but obviously we had to eat it. We ate it and she wasn’t feeling too hot afterwards and hasn’t felt great since. I’m 95% sure she’s allergic to fish. Anyways the next day on dinner break we needed to go buy some essentials (cuz we were out) and as we walk to the register Sister Roberts sees the isle of Oreos, and goes “Oh! Oreos, we need more Oreos.” So we ended up with a family size package of double stuff Oreos to close out our week of hard work and dedication to the work of the Lord! 

Oh my friends and family! This gospel is so good! The plan of salvation has been on my mind a lot this week. I am always reminded of this plan God has for us! He set everything up to return to Him. He calls prophets to help us find our way home, He gave us the Book of Mormon to give more doctrine, we have personal revelation to find our own answers. Truly our God is an amazing God. I solemnly testify that God lives today! He wants us to return to Him and so He gave us what we need! I know that the Plan of Salvation is real, that Jospeh Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not “just another church” but the true church, that the Priesthood is on earth and it is a real power. I truly exclaim with Jacob of old “O how great the Plan of our God!” (2 Nephi 9) 

Always,

Sister Jackson

Bridgetown service project

Josie, Sophie English, Sister Roberts

end of day chocolate cake

pizza time

“If this is a state of emergency, Utah would always be in a state of emergency!”

Aloha from the warm, sunshiny state of New Jersey! 

Hahahahahahaha I wish that was true! The more accurate statement this week would be “Hi, welcome to Jersey, the place where you can’t feel your toes.” It has been so cold here this week! I don’t think it has reached above freezing at all, and with wind and humidity it has been like a freezer out here! I’m not sure how people actually live in this state. 

This week was good! We saw some awesome miracles come to pass! We met with a referral we received who is from Jamaica. She is so amazing! When we talked about prophets she brought up that she believes there are living prophets today. She also set up the time for us to come back, she didn’t even wait for us to ask! I know people are being prepared to receive the gospel! 

Last week we met a lady named Venita, she was a miracle after a long day of tracting! On Sunday she messaged us and asked if we could come over. She’d had a stressful week and needed to feel Christ’s love, so away we went! It was an awesome meeting with her, she really just needed to be reminded of who she really is. I think we all need that every once in a while. We sometimes forget the spiritual side of our DNA because our lives are so temporal, but there is such great peace found in remembering that you are a child of great worth and that you have a Father who loves you and knows you perfectly. 

We also met a rather interesting man this week. We knock on his moms door and she let us in to show her a video. While we were showing her the video her son (who was like 30) came in and was smoking, a little too fond of cuss words and tried to flirt with us. So we started asking questions about the Savior, and he goes “Now, the real question is, what would your dad say if you brought someone like me home?” We were like, ummmmmmmmmm and so he walked away. It was kind of super creepy. His mom was so nice though! She told us we are welcome to come back when we are in the area. 

On Thursday we were grounded. It was okay thought because my cute companion had a raging headache so we stayed inside anyway! It was funny though, New Jersey declared a state of emergency and with both of us being from Cache Valley we were so confused. If Utah said declared a state of emergency like Jersey did we’d always be in a state of emergency! It was pretty funny actually. 

That pretty much sums up our week! I’ve been thinking a lot about eternal families this week. We have some investigators who are losing loved ones due to death and divorce and it has made me so thankful for the sealing power. It truly brings so much peace to your heart and mind to know that you are with your loved ones forever. I couldn’t imagine living in a world where I didn’t have the knowledge that I will see my family and those I love after this life is over. 

I am thankful for President Monson, he recognized that blessing and knew that we needed temples in order to complete that blessing. I’m thankful for the temple he announced that was built right here in Philadelphia, allowing so many people to be sealed for time and eternity to their loved ones. There are so many blessings held within the walls of the temple, on of them being that sealing power. 

I love you all! I leave you with my witness that, I know the gospel is true. “If this is boasting even so I will boast for this is my light and my life, my joy and my salvation and my redemption from everlasting woe.” 

Always,

Sister Jackson

 

Josie in the snow

Josie, Sister Roberts, and Lucy

Snow day selfies

Tags 

What a way to end 2017!

Hello everyone! Im still pretty sure we just entered 2017, but that’s the funny thing about time, it flies! I’m so thankful for last year! 2017 was one of the best years of my life! It was the year I spent being a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I hope you all can look back on 2017 with fondness and that you can look toward 2018 with hope! 

Well, a lot has happened this week! It has been fridged up this way, like ridiculously cold. Luckily here in Jersey we don’t pump our own gas, so we get to freeze only when we preach the gospel! The great thing about that though is the Spirit keeps you warm! We had some rather interesting street contacts this week, we were in Salem and no one was answering doors, but there was this lady on the street! We asked if we could share a video and she said yes. Little did we know she was drunk as a skunk! Like to the max, she even smelled like alcohol, and had a baby doll shoved down her shirt. It was a rather interesting conversation. We also met a lady who let us share a scripture with her but she didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, she was more of a scientist. 

We did lots of service this week. We helped a family pack their moving van, which was very entertaining. It was like watching my family pack a moving van (if you know my family you know this would be entertaining)! On Friday it snowed, and as a result we were grounded. So Sis. Roberts and I took our shovels and went to go shovel driveways, it was great fun! It was also so so so cold! 

We saw some amazing miracles this week! The first one being a lady named Venita. We had had all of our plans cancel, or fall through and we had no idea what to do! So we pulled into an apartment complex and started to knock. Every door had rejection behind it, and we were starting to get discouraged, then the last door we knocked, we met Venita. She let us right in and we got to talk with her about the Book of Mormon. As we talked we found out that a lot of her family is members, and that as a little girl in Fiji she had listened to the missionaries! It was so awesome! She has a busy schedule but she invited us to come back for sure! 

Lastly, yesterday we had had all of our plans fall through once again. So we were just walking around trying to meet with people, but to no avail. As we got back in the car I saw we had a missed call from a number with an area code I did not recognize! We listened to the voicemail and found out it was a guy who wanted to know when church services were. We called back and as we talked with him we found out he was 18 so we brought up the YSA that meets in Philadelphia, and he said “I don’t know what that means” we explained and then asked if he was a member. He said no. We asked if he was meeting with missionaries in Washington. He said no. He explained that he had gone to a family home evening with one of his friends and couldn’t stop thinking about it. He told us he has questions about life and about God that he wants answered. We told him that our job is to help find those answers, and he was so happy! It was such a miracle! I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!!!!!! 

Ahhh family and friends! Missionary work is so great! In fact, missionary work is the Lords work! Jesus Christ spent His life preaching eternal truths, I have learned more about Him as I have preached eternal truths. As I was looking back on this last year, I really came to understand this quote by President David O. McKay.

“True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work” 

Seriously though, the love I have for our Father in Heaven and our Savior is what keeps me going everyday. It’s what makes me have the drive to shovel random driveways and not expect praise or even a “thank you”. It’s what made me come on a mission to begin with! Just like in D&C 4:3 “If any of you have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work.” If you have a desire to serve God, you are called to the work! That doesn’t mean you put in your papers right now and serve a mission, that’s just a part of the work. The real work is serving your neighbors, your spouse, your children, your boy/girlfriend, your siblings, who ever! That is God’s work, showing love in action. 

My New Years resolution is to live by this other quote from President David O. McKay

“Every member … a missionary!” You don’t have to wear the tag to serve God, we are all called to serve, some choose to do it full time. 

I love you all!

Always,

Sister Jackson

Shoveling Snow

Sister Roberts