Sister Josie Jackson: 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