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