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

Here I go again!

Merry Christmas all y’all! I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends and that you feel the light and the love of Jesus Christ in your life today! Christmas as a missionary is one of the best ways to spend Christmas. There is nothing sweeter than serving the Savior during those holidays that we celebrate him. 

Well, as some of you know, I was asked to train a new missionary, or a golden! Sister Roberts has now joined me in Woodstown as a brand new set of eyes and a brand new missionary! She is so awesome! She’s from Dayton, ID and has a love for the gospel that is amazing! She’s got great desires to do the work of the Lord! I got her on Wednesday after a few meetings and spending some time in good ole Valley Forge! It’s a little weird to go back and see places I haven’t seen in so long! 

Thursday was pretty normal, we went to the Storehouse, did weekly Planning, all that jazz. We also had some pretty awesome stuff happen! WE GOT OUR CAR BACK!!!! Finally, it took it long enough to get it! Our dearest Mahonri is now back in tip top shape and get us where we need to go! It’s so awesome! We also got to teach the Ayala family, and they were so great! We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it’s just a story of a family who wants to get closer to God. Beatris (the mom) said “That’s exactly what I want for my family!” I know that the Book of Mormon will help us grow closer to God. 

Friday we had our Christmas conference. It was so good! I got to see Sister Bush and Sister Taylor again! It was so fun to see their happy smiling faces! We had a wonderful conference all about the miracles in the year and the conversion stories of this year. We talked a lot about remembering, and what we want to remember from this last year. I thought over my last year, my only year of being a full-time missionary, and thought about the laughs, tears, joy and sadness I had felt. I thought about Agnes and James. I thought about Sister Shin, Sister Abbott, Sister Kuta, Sister Bush, and Sister Taylor. I thought about the many members who had become like family. 2017 was a year for the books. A year I never want to forget, I learned so much. 

Saturday was so good! Maggie was baptized! It was such a wonderful service, but it was also super crazy. We forgot to bring a towel, the water was green, and she had to go under twice, which she did NOT want to do. She was a good sport though it all though, and after she was baptized we asked her how she felt and she said “I got chills, I’m not gonna lie.” Maggie is one of the realist people I’ve ever met, her love for the gospel is contagious, and I’m so excited to see where her service in the church takes her. Sunday she was confirmed, the Spirit was UNBELIEVABLE. It was so strong, and it brought tears to my eyes to think about how far Maggie has come, it also made me reflect on all the other confirmations I was able to see come to pass. My heart continues to swell with joy and happiness as I look over my mission and see the blessings of the Lord around me. 

Yesterday we spent the day taking Christmas cookies to our investigators and wishing them a Merry Christmas! It was so fun! We got to do some service for our investigator, Mariah, and that was just the perfect way to start Christmas! We then headed over to the Whitcombs where we had dinner and acted out the nativity. It was so fun, and I could feel the Saviors love. 

Well, Christmas is a special time of year, and a time of year I hope we all strive to keep with us. President Monson once said “To have the spirit of Christmas you need only drop the last syllable. It is the Spirit of Christ.” May we all have that spirit with us through the year. Think of how much better the world would be if we all kept that spirit with us, but before the flood comes a trickle, and that trickle starts with you and me.

Alma 7:10-13

“And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.”

Always,

Sister Jackson

Sent from Woodstown, NJ 🌳

Maggie

Maggie's Baptism

Maggie

Christmas Day with Sister Roberts

“These are days never to be forgotten, days of harmony” -Oliver Cowdrey

Well fam and friends, another week has come and gone. The transfer is over, and my best friend is leaving me for her next adventure. It’s like leaving family, Sister Taylor has been with me from day one and now she’s headed somewhere else. It was so sad last night when we got transfer calls, we did not see that coming, at all. It’s really weird to see her go, and I’m going to miss her greatly! She’s going to do so good in her last area though, she’s going to kill it! 

This week has been mucho insane. Let’s start from the top, shall we? 

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Cherry Hill Sisters! It was so fun! I got to spend the day in Cherry Hill with Sister Scott! We did a lot of finding, and taught a recent convert! This recent convert has a glass eye, a cochlear implant, and an amazing testimony and love for God! It was so fun to read the scriptures with him and to discuss their meaning with him. He’s got lots of great insight! 

Wednesday after exchanging back we had to stop by the police department to pick up some final paper work and as I was explaining who I am and the date and time of the accident the cop goes “Wait, was this the car accident with the nun?” And we explained for the 50th time that we aren’t nuns, we are missionaries. It was pretty funny though. After that we went into Penns Grove and saw some awesome miracles! We met a few awesome potentials and got into contact with a bible referral! We got to give her her bible and as we talked about the Book of Mormon she was very open to it and set up a return appointment! It was so awesome! 

Thursday craziness ensued. We did our normal Thursday stuff, like weekly Planning and such. Then we had back to back lessons. We met with Terressa! She was our waitress a few weeks back at the Woodstown dinner, and it was such an awesome lesson! She brought up baptism! She told us that she’s been looking for a fresh start and that she thinks baptism can give that to her. We also got to go to the Storehouse, which is always so fun! The Storehouse is a very happy place, I love it so much! 

On Sunday we had the interesting experience of being interviewed by two Muslim people! Nasi, the wife, is doing her masters thesis on religions. So they attended church and then interview us and Bishop Whitcomb, it was so cool! 

The most interesting part of of the week is when we met with a man who will be referred to as Amalikiah. He was found by Sewell and showed interest in the gospel, and then we met with him. He was very kind and charming, but as soon as we sat down it all changed. We started to teach the Restoration and he goes, “Can I share something with you?” We say yes, and he begins to pull up Anti material, bible scriptures and all that jazz. As he’s trying to convince us we are wrong Sister Taylor goes “Are you here to learn or to prove us wrong?” Amalikiah was so caught off guard that he said “Well, both! I was praying to witness to some one of the truth of the gospel and then I met you and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” We tried to hard to testify to him about the truth, and each time he denied it, over and over again. Eventually it got to a point where we just ended it, and that was that, but it was a very interesting experience.

The best part of all of this is on Friday, right after our Amalikiah experience, Sister Taylor and I were able to attend the Priesthood Restoration Site in Harmony, PA. The Spirit was so strong there, and I knew without a doubt that it was true! The spirit testified over and over again, but the most powerful part was as we were standing in the Smith home. We were in what is believed to be the translating room and we each took turns testifying of the Book of Mormon on the soil it was translated. The Spirit was tangible, undeniable, and real. The Church is true. The Priesthood is restored. The gospel is on the earth again. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It will all be here until He comes again. 

I know this all to be true. Truly I join with Oliver of old in saying “These are days never to be forgotten, days of harmony, days of hope, days of peace.”

“I don’t know how it all worked out, but I know God did it.” -Sister Berhan

Much love,

Sister Jackson

 

Priesthood Restoration Site

weight of the gold plates

New Jersey District

Tag Picture - Susquehanna River

Priesthood Restoration Site