Another transfer in the 'Burg

Whats up peeps! I'm alive after a crazy snow storm! This week was pretty crazy and kind of frustrating! 

Well to start off our week, we decided to find in our "money pit" apartment complex. We found this older woman named Rosa. It was awesome! She let us in gave us water and listened with real desire. She said her family needs church right now in their life. She lost a daughter 2 years ago and her grandson she has living with her is a pill head and always sneaks out and just makes life hard for her. So we are going tomorrow to teach them both. 

Wednesday we did Hermana Dominga's interview. Before that we were teaching her and her husband got all mad and didn't want her baptized all of a sudden. We talked to him about all his concerns and ultimately put on the restoration DVD and it changed his heart and all of sudden he was chill again with her being baptized. 

Thursday Elder Turner had a meeting in Richmond, so I went with the Zone Leaders and did English work. We started off at this apartment complex and talked to a really sweet old lady who insisted we should take her money haha. We taught her the restoration and she seems pretty interested. After that we went to this really rich neighborhood, where everyone and their dog was a catholic and did not want to listen at all. Then we finished up the day at their recent converts house. 

Friday we went finding and everyone had snow plows and tractors and skid steers ready for the snow, and it was just cloudy not even looking like it was going to snow, so we started knocking doors, and we look over at these big huge silos in town and slowly watch them disappear, so we were like ah fetch we better get in haha, and it just hit us like a wall! So much freaking snow! We ended up getting in this guys house and he's way toooo friendly, so he said he's been taught before and we pull up the record on our iPad subtly and we see he's been dropped three times because he just pulls anti Mormon material out of his butt and bashes, so another ah fetch moment. Anyways we bash with him for like 3 hours because he locked us in his house. He's bringing up stuff like Joseph Smith said the moon was inhabited, and just whack stuff. Either way we answered all his questions and ended up just saying dude.. we need to leave I'm sorry, and he wouldn't let us so we just asked him so you're kidnapping us? Then he let us leave. 

The next three days I had to do English work with the Zone Leaders because my companion was snowed in down in Richmond. Then our baptism fell through because everyone was snowed:(:( but next Saturday Hermana Dominga! Mark your calendars, because she's getting dunked! Man this week was just filled with crazy freaking english work, they deal with way too many legit crazy people. 

Well that was my week. 

con amor 

-Elder Jacobson

The Elder's car!

A Better Week

I'm freaking pumped for this week!!! Yesterday was soooo amazing!
Actually the past few days have been pretty awesome!

This week actually started off really slow, we didn't have a lot going
for us. Immigration really stepped it up a notch and have started to
do midnight raids, so everyone is really afraid now, and don't really
want to answer the door. Later in the week it really started to pick
up though! We actually got to talk to a woman who was taught before
but the Elders that taught her wrote down the wrong address, so we
actually just ended up knocking her door by accident, and she let us
in, so that was pretty cool.

We were knocking doors and this baptist answered his door, the first
thing he said was "are you guys Jehovah Witnessing?" So we said no,
we're Mormons. Then he said "Yeah the church of Christ of Latter Day
Saints? That's Jehovahs." We explained that would be Mormons... Not
Jehovah's Witness. Then he continued to just tell us we're going to
hell, and he pulled out his bible and read some verses and stuff, then
he said he doesn't believe that someone could go into the woods and
write a book, like Joseph smith, then we just asked him "like John the
Revelator right?" Then he just said have a good day. So that's my
crazy person story for the week.

Something I realized from being out here, is no matter how much
rejection you go through, I'm still left feeling so positive everyday.
It's amazing how much scripture study improves your day. I love the
scriptures, they hold so much happiness, and you can learn and grow
from them sooo much. I've just felt such a 180 in my life ever since
I've looked forward to really reading scriptures for an hour and
studying them everyday as to before my mission I didn't, and I've
learned so much from them and I can't explain how great it feels to
focus on Godly things, compared to earthly things I used to focus on.

Friday we had zone conference so it was just a lot of new trainings,
and getting told by the Assistants to the Presidents how we've been
messing up lately, it was a really fun 6 hour meeting in
Charlottesville

Waynseboro zone

Yesterday was so awesome though, like I said before! We've been
teaching a lot of different people who have been saying they will come
to church for a month now and they never do, but yesterday was so
perfect! Everyone of those consistent people except for one showed up
to church yesterday, including Hermana Dominga! She was so awesome,
she died her hair, bought new shoes and a dress, and she even bought
some Dentures haha but it was so amazing to see her there and she is
on track to be baptized this week! But all the lessons and talks that
were given were perfect for everyone that came! It was such a tender
mercy from the lord, I can't explain how amazing it was!

Me and a sweet ride

Me and Melanie the little girl who follows us around all the time

Elder Jacobson is thrilled this week because they are finally being fed by some members! He also told me that he can't describe the love he feels for Hermana Dominga and her family. I love seeing his soft heart grow even softer...
They are also right in the path of the huge blizzard headed that way! I know they'll be safe and watched over, but hopefully they've prepared!

Slow Week

Man this week was a polar opposite of last week! 

Immigration is literally out and knocking doors, so I mean literally no one is answering! It really sucks. We have knocked so many doors this week, my knuckles literally have a callus on them now. 

We had district meeting this week and that was pretty good! The STL's here are driving me nuts. They try to be our moms, and then they suggested that we use members in our own areas to use for member splits, then they use the members in our own area so we cant use them... I'm really irritated with them to say it nicely. 

We went on exchanges and I got to meet this new investigator named Jeremy, he was kind of nervous talking to us and explained that he's suspended and that's why hes not at school and then he just went on this rant about him getting jumped about 30 minutes right before that. So we taught him the restoration and I know the spirit was there very strongly and I know he could feel it. Then his friends showed up and were going to go with him to hit some guys, but we taught them a little bit too, and over all I'm just glad to be able to teach him a lesson and feel the spirit before we left.

 

Other than that we taught another lesson to Nashin about the plan of salvation. We were talking to him and telling him how Satan had a plan also where we would have no agency and so that is why he was cast out. Then he was saying his religion was saying it was a bad thing that Adam and Eve were tempted, because if they didn't, they would be able to just live life and (have kids?) we would all be perfect and have no sense of right or wrong... and then I just told him that sounds a lot like Satan's plan right? and it just clicked for him, and he just went.."ohhhh yeahhh" and he was just like I want to know more about this.. is this in the book of Mormon? we told him yes, all these questions you have we have answered using the book of Mormon. so it was perfect! 

But man, other besides that we have had absolutely zero luck finding new people and teaching! and I'm not exaggerating either. But this week is looking pretty awesome! so i will fill you guys in on more next Monday! 

the sunset we had here which was awesome, but nothing beats
a Utah sunset

Ryan said he mailed us something before Christmas, but after a couple of weeks we still hadn't seen anything. Finally this came in the mail...

 I would've been so sad if his tag was lost in the mail!

We love looking at it everyday!

New Years, New Investigators

Well this week was by far the best week I've had so far! 

We started off by knocking doors and we knocked this door where this girl named Veronica lives. Her sons answered and we asked if we could talk to their mom, and they said she doesn't speak English, and we just said "Esta Bien", and he went "What!?" and his jaw dropped haha it was awesome. She let us in, and had a lot of interest. After the prayer we could feel the spirit so strong there, and she just started crying. She said that she's been hurt and un able to attend church because she broke her thumb and doesn't have insurance to get medication. She said she has been praying someone god has sent will visit her and teach her. That was just such an amazing moment.

I asked Ryan if people are surprised when they speak Spanish- 'Yeah! People try to use it as an excuse and say no Hablo ingles and we just say perfecto it's pretty funny!!'

We found so many more new investigators finally! We have 17 new this week and there are so many solid new people! We had an Returned Missionary of 2 months come out with us and he really helped out a lot. 

We found a new investigator named Nashin, he knows so much and is really prepared! He actually mentioned, "I wish god gave us more prophets and since they all died, I wish we still had some and they could call others before they die". So yeah he is awesome. Also his dad just kept telling us We're pretty much angels, the work we do, and spreading the gospel, and he just kept saying thank you. It was so awesome! he kept saying he needs us to take Nashin out with us and teach hahaha. It really was amazing though being called angels and also just how grateful he was. 

There's so many more lessons we taught this week that people were just so prepared to hear a message. I love this gospel. Also I invite you guys to read Luke 9:62, and 1 Nephi 22:31, I came across those this week and have been pondering them! 

Well those we're the highlights of my week. I hope all of you had a great new a year and plan to make the most of this week!

-Elder Jacobson

 Pic 1 is me and Turner, and prince. You can't tell but we all ended up

wearing the same suit and tie and I have a nerf gun trying to look like James Bond or something

 Pic 2 is the south will rise again. That's famous saying around here

and a member from the 2nd ward gave us a flag for Christmas 

These 2 pics are of me and Luna, every lessons she always hangs out
and sleeps on my shoulder