Hermana Jackson Monday 28 Nov 2011

Dearest Family,                                                                      28 Nov 2011
I hope you all had a fantastic giving.   There are all these smiley faces on this email but this computer is a little messed up and I can't figure out how to get it to stop doing that.  Anyways, that’s too bad that Shirley's kids were sick but I hope you all have a happy turkey day on Sunday.  (I wrote turkey day instead of the other name because i do, these weird smiley faces pop up)  But well, this week we had 2 baptisms.  Yay!  Jaime y Mario.  They are sons of Sandra who was inactive for years until the past couple of months that we've been visiting her.  She's the one in the photo with the yellow sweater.  So now she's back and active in the church and lets us teach her kids.  The only one we weren't able to baptize was her oldest, Keren.  She's the one standing next to me.  We were teaching her for a while but she had a lot of doubts about the book of Mormon and didn't want to go to church.  She started going to a different church instead and became really distant from us.  We've been praying a lot lately that she can soften heart and give it another chance.  Our prayers were answered!  She showed up to Jaime and Mario’s baptism and saw one of our pamphlets and asked if she could read it.  Then she told her mom that she wanted to go to church with the family.  After church she said she wanted to go to seminary (even though it starts at 5 am) and that she was willing to let us teach her again.  She still has a few doubts but it truly I a miracle that she has changed her mind.  We're hoping that she is our next baptism.  Also in the photo on the right is Oscar.  He is a recent convert that the elders taught.  He is the father of Sandra's 2 youngest.  He recently received the priesthood and got to exercise it for the first time with Norman's baptism and here with Jaime and Mario.  It was really special.
I know that the gospel is true and that its principles and ordinances bless families.  I'm so grateful to have been blessed to have been born into such an awesome family with all the blessings that the gospel brings.  I love you all so much!

Hermana Jackson

P.s. the other photo is of Julio.  He is one of Sandra’s youngest and likes to dance like Michael Jackson.  I tried to capture him in the act but it just doesn't do it justice.  haha


________________________________I thought I would share this note Rachel sent to me today also__________________________
 
Dear Mom,              28 Nov 2011
I'm to hear that you are still fighting the cold and I'm sad to hear about Becca too!  Poor thing!  I hope she gets better soon.  But I know she is in good hands, Dr. Mom!  Sounds like you had a lot of fun with the YSA guests.  It was fun reading about that…and also that you invited Mary Pletsch to the Training Center.  I bet she just loves it!
Well, the weather here is off and on…cold and rainy or hot and sunny.  It’s always changing.  Sound familiar?  I know Utah can be that way.  And no, we didn't get to celebrate thanksgiving here. I just tried not to think about it and get lost in the work but I really do miss our family dinners.  Also, I have some semi sad news.  I looked at my card that tells me my official date that I return from the mission and it says December 4th!  So I guess I don’t get to celebrate turkey day you guys next year. Kind of sad huh.  But that is the closest day we have transfers.  At least I get to be there for Christmas!!
Love you Mom!
Rachel

Contacting the Bus

21 Nov 2011

Dearest Family,

This Wednesday is transfers and our leaders called us last night to tell us that both Hermana Nava and i are going to stay for this one. I'm going to be with her until she goes home! She returns January 2.

So when I first got to Esperanza she told me about this tradition that the elders have here when they travel to district meetings. The other area in our district is really far so we have to take a 30 min bus ride every other week. Anyways, the elders contact the whole bus when they travel to these meetings or in other words the 2 of them ask the bus driver to turn off the music and they stand up in the front and preach to the whole entire bus. We’re talking grey hound size. So my companion was telling me she never had the nerve to do it but that she wanted to try it with me (which is funny because my Spanish is still awkward and not so good). So this Tuesday we decided to muster up the courage to try it. I was really nervous before but felt surprisingly calm when we started. All was going smooth and dandy (besides the fact that we were clenching to the overhead bars trying not to fall over while teaching as the bus was turning all the crazy curves of the mountain) but our message was going pretty well until i was talking and i saw some of the people with concerned looks on their faces yelling "Bolsas! Bolsas! Una Bolsa!" (bolsa means bag) I was a little confused. I thought. What bag? What are they talking about? Do Ii stop talking do I keep going? Uuhh.... so I stopped for a little and decided to keep going and we eventually ended. After we got off the bus Hermana Nava told me that there was a lady that started throwing up when we were teaching. haha! So I hope our attempt to preach the gospel wasn't that bad, but at least we had a good reaction from the rest of the bus. About 5 people asked for book of Mormons and we got their information. So, that’s all i have time to write about this week. It was an adventure and it strengthened my faith in this work. If we have the courage to stand up and open our mouths, the lord will bless us and give us the words and the strength that we need to do it. Words, so powerful that they make someone throw up…no, just kidding about that part. But really I know that if we have the faith, heavenly father can use us as his servants.


Love you all,

Hermana Jackson

Baptism!

Dear family, 14 Nov 2011

Mom, dad, and becca, im sorry to hear you’ve been sick lately. I hope you feel better soon! Also, I’m sorry to hear about marelen’s mam and kaleen. Isn’t it great that we have knowledge of the resurection and the life after this one. The brings such confort.

So, this week Norman was baptized! Yay!!! This man is just great! So, i guess he went to church a couple of times when he lived in the states and the missionaries taught him a few times at the beginning of the year but he didn’t progress. Yesterday, before his confirmation, one of the elders handed me an old teaching record with his name on it. The previous elders wrote, “He told us he didn{t want to go to church anymore and that he didn’t like it. That is was a lot of responsibility. Right now he doesn’t want anything from the church.” I was so surprized when I read that because the Norman I know now is so different. Also, the past 3 and half weeks we’ve been teaching him he’s quit drinking alcohol and coffee. He is punctual to all the meetings and has really showed a sincere desire to change and make god a priority in his life. Its amazing to see what the restored góspel and the atonement of jesus christ can do to the hearts of men. It was also encourging to see that seeeds were planted by missionaries before and here he is sprouting up in his own time. It made me think about all the investigatores we’ve had that haven’t accepted the góspel but that maybe they will change their mind when the time is right for them. Theres always hope. Well, thats all i have time to write today. Love you all!

Hermana Jackson


Oh, and the 2nd picture has Hermana Isis in so now you can know what she looks like. I think i’ve probably talked about her a lot.

Dear Family, 7 Nov 2011
Sorry this is another short one. This week we had to clean the baptismal font/swimming pool. Here are some pictures. Yep, that's where we baptize our investigators her. Behind the pool is the branch meeting house/ chapel. The other girl in the picture is Genis. She is a recent convert that accompanied us in lots of our lessons. She is great! This week we are hoping to baptize Norman. He is a friend of Hermana Isis. We are really happy for him. Please pray for him that everything can go well. Well, i have to get off this computer now but thanks for sending the fotos of Halloween costumes. They are awesome!
love you all!
Hna Jackson

31 Oct 2011

Dear Family, 31 Oct 2011

Happy Halloween! Sounds like you had a great Sunday! I would love to see all the costumes. Could you send me photos next week?

Well, this week Hermana Nava was feelings lost better until we ate lunch with a member and all of a sudden she got up from her seat and ran to the bathroom. She came out of the bathroom scratching her skin like crazy and walking around franticly. She said she felt like her whole body was burning like a fire. She was having some kind of allergic reaction to what we ate. Luckily Isis, the member we always eat with, is a nurse and she took us to a clinic she used to work at that could get her treated faster than the other hospitals. They gave her some kind of anti algergy medicine and now she is fine and we{re back to working!

The other week we were contacting and we found this woman named Jami who was really receptive and accepted another visit with her fiancée. Later we went to Isis’s house to eat and Jami was there sitting at her table! Jami sells avon to her and they are already friends! So we talked to her more and she started to feel more comfortable about the church and I thought everything was going great. So we show up to our appointment this week and her husband is outside working on his truck and tells us he doesn{t want anything to do with us because he is catholic and in the process of trying to get approved by the church to get married to Jami. So we left really disappointed and went on with our week. Then we were at Isis’s house again and Jami and Renee (her husband) called saying they were going to stop by. We quickly decided to kneel down and pray that they might be receptive and listen to a lesson. Dariani, Isis’s daughter gave the most sincere prayer and then they showed. At first they didn{t want to come in when they found out we were there, but eventually they did and we talked for a while. We convinced renee to let us teach a lesson and grudgingly accepted. We started teaching the lesson and I mentioned how we believe that marriage and families can be sealed for eternity. When he heard this his whole countenance changed. Then after we quoted the 1st vision he sound, “how beautiful!” it surprised me how his whole attitude had changed. Its amazing how the spirit works in the hearts of people and how this message really speaks for itself.
Love, and Prayers,

Hermana Jackson