March 19, 2012

Dear Family, 19 March 2012

President Flores sent us a photo of our new Missión President today. But Mom, you beat him to it in telling me his name. That’s great that you go to see him in the Church News. President Flores has about 3 months left. I’m going to miss him. He is really great President.

Hermana Per and I have been teaching Jose and Dina lots this week. They are progressing so much and their testimonies are really growing. The biggest obstacle that keeps them being baptized on the date we set is that they´re not married yet and getting their papers ready is kind of complicated right now. It looks like it will take at least a month until they get everything arranged. I was a Little disappointed because I really wanted to see their wedding and baptism but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be transferred next week. Its heart wrenching because I’m more attached to them than the rest of our investigators. Hermana Per and I have built a really strong friendship with them. But the most important thing is that they actually get baptized and not that I’m there to see it.

I'm going to try to send fotos next week. I know I haven’t sent anything for a while.

Love,

Hermana Jackson

Monday, 12 March 2012

Dear Family, 12 March 2012

So, I wanted to tell you all more about Felix. Felix is 53 and we first met her husband in the street. They live close to her house. He was really receptive and said he was willing to listen but when we asked if we could teach him with his wife, he was a little hesitant. "I don’t think she will want to listen but you can try." The first few times we tried to visit them she was pretty closed off and hard to talk to but as we talked to her a little bit more she started to warm up. One night we stopped by their house to teach them and only she was home but we decided to teach her without her husband. As we started talking to her, we found out that she doesn’t believe in God. Or at least she’s not sure if he exists. She never grew up in a religious home and she’s read a lot of material on religion and has a hard time with the fact that there are a lot of churches and confusion. The second time we visited them both of them were home but only Francisco sat down to listen. Felix was cooking in the kitchen. Francisco was really interested in what we taught and understood everything so well. When we started talking the Book of Mormon, Felix popped into the room and started asking us questions. We noticed a change in her and she seemed sincerely interested in knowing if it was true. We told her she could know if it was true by praying. I asked her if she believed God could answer her prayers and she said she wasn’t sure. We read Alma 22 vs 18 and told her about the king who wasn’t sure either and how he prayed to know. Yesterday we visited her and she said she had prayed and her faith is growing a lot.

This week we’ve been teaching Dina and Tina a lot. They accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 24! They went to church yesterday and really liked it. They are the best! Dina is 32 and Jose is 28 I think. They are planning on getting married soon. Please .keep them in your prayer that everything can go smooth before their baptism.

So I’ve heard that you can know if you speak fluently if you start speaking in the language in your sleep. Apparently I scared Hermana Per really bad because I had woken her up twice this week. The first time shouting in Spanish, “What! Why! I don’t know what’s happening to me!” Who knows what I was dreaming then last night she said I was mumbling stuff and she could only hear me repeating, “Jesucristo”. I’m glad the second dream sounded a lot better.

Anyways, I’ve got to get off this computer now.

Love you all,

Hermana Jackson

Hermana Jackson and Marizol, Mar 2012

5 March 2012

Dear Family, 5 March 2012

I’ve got a lot to tell you all about this week. We started teaching a

man named Juan. It’s interesting how we found him because we first

contacted a woman on the street and she invited us into her house

later that week. While we were in her house, her brother walked in

and was really friendly and allowed us to Schedule a visit with him.

When we showed up at his house later that week, Juan (his brother in

law) just happened to be there during the lesson and was more

attentive and interested in the message more than anyone else in the

family! The second time we visited him he told us that he prayed

and asked god about what we had taught him and said that he received

an answer it’s true! After we had given him the Book of Mormon he told

us, “Thank you for giving me this because I know you didn’t just give

me a book but you gave me the Word of God” He will be baptized March

24. The only challenge is that he wasn’t able to come to church

yesterday because of his work. Please pray for him that he will be

able to make all of the changes necessary to be baptized.

One night, one of our appointments had fallen through. It was the

last hour of the night before we had to be inside our apartment and we

had gone and attempted to visit all of our investigators in that area

and no one was available. We thought, ok, last resort is tracting.

Not really our favorite activity in the night because it doesn’t seem

to be as affective in finding people but we decided to contact a

certain house that we hadn’t contacted yet. The woman was really

friendly and let us in right away. She said that right before we had

knocked on their door, her sister in law said, “Hey, we should find a

church to go to” It’s amazing how the spirit guides us in the right

places in the right moments even if we’re not aware of it. So, that

night we taught them the first lesson and we invited them to pray and

specifically ask God if Joseph Smith was a prophet. They all committed

to do it and we continued teaching but we noticed that the woman

(Reina) was quietly reapeating to herself “Jose Smith, Jose Smith,

Jose Smith”, I thought that was a little strange so I asked her if she

had a question or anything and she said “No I’m just trying to make

sure I don’t forget his name when I pray tonight” Hearing that just

warmed my heart! She was so humble and sincere and willing to do what

we had invited her to do. I know that it warms Heavenly Fathers heart

too when he sees that was as his children are humble and willing to

obey him with a willing attitude and sincerity.

I have another story I want to tell you all but I’m just going to have

to share it with you next week. To be continued….

Love,

Hermana Jackson