"With the help of the Lord, our limitations can be overcome!" ~ Elder David A. Bednar
What a beautiful thing that we aren't alone in this journey, right?! This week was awesome and was a powerful learning experience for both Sister Jacobson and I.
Guys I love week 11! So for new missionaries, week 11 is when they get to step-up and take charge basically (and the trainer just gets to step back and offer support). 😜 Ha, ha but it is really a great learning week. It's hard to believe I'm almost done training Sister Jacobson - one more week! 😱. It feels like just last week Sister Hansen was training me and I was freaking out trying to lead out week 11. And it feels like just yesterday I was cheering my other amazing "daughter", Sister Thorson, along as she killed leading out her week 11. Time is seriously flying!! But this week I was so impressed and proud of Sister Jacobson! She reminded me a lot of myself- had some “spazz-outs,” unsure and feeling inadequate at times BUT she worked hard every second of every day and we saw miracles! I think one of the things I was most impressed with was that she made the effort to stop and talk to every single person we saw. Her love for the Savior and His gospel is so contagious! There were so many blessings and miracles this week, I have no clue where to start but stay with me!!
Monday- On our way home Sister Jacobson felt like we needed to call 3 specific less-active members so we did and had some amazing lessons over the phone with them. All 3 of them were going through very different trials but as we listened we were prompted to share a different talk from conference with all of them. Isn't the spirit a gem?! 💎
Tuesday- Okay there's a few highlights from today I'll try to make them brief, I couldn't choose just one:
💎We met up with some girls - Kristian and Elizabeth- who used to take the lessons but stopped taking them. We had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings with them and this is where the gems come in:
1) New Investigators: We talked about the gospel the WHOLE time. It was such a great discussion and the Spirit was so strong- right there in BWWs - hearts were being softened. They both agreed to take the lessons again and start fresh! Holla!
2) Free Food: Okay the Lord really blesses us in the funniest/ coolest ways. So apparently BWWs has this legit lunch deal (maybe it's new, maybe not...idk I don't go there often so I couldn't tell you for sure) where if they don't bring your meal out in 15 minutes it's free. Well our waitress punched the timer on the table and by the time we got our food it was 15:43. AND OUR FOOD WAS FREE! Greatest tender mercy everrrr!
💎 Next highlight was we went back to follow up and see if this guy, Ray, that we met last week had read out of the Book of Mormon we left him. Well this older woman comes running toward us as we are walking up to her house and I'm thinking "oh man she's going to scream at us...this is never a good sign". But as we get closer, sweet Sister Jacobson smiles and tells her who we are and that we have a special message for her. She exclaims "I know I've been waiting for you to come back!" We proceeded to have a lesson with her and talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. She told us her name was Charlene and said that her son never answers the door and really felt like he needed the Book we were talking about and that she was hoping we would come back so she could learn more too!
💎 Something I just love about Sister Jacobson is that she's not a quitter. She didn't just turn around after that lesson with Charlene and say 'alright done!' We walked that whole street and the streets around that street sharing cards and Books of Mormon left and right. Right as we were hurrying to our car so we wouldn't be late for dinner she stops in the middle of the road and pulls me toward the sidewalk. She told me that we needed to pray and that there was one more house that we needed to stop by. We prayed and walked up to this house in the middle of the street. The lady came out and was so kind! We shared a Book of Mormon with her and I'm pretty sure the message we shared about families touched her. It was legit!
Wednesday- We had training in Washington, PA all day and learned about how to have more effective chapel tours. It was a fun day! Well that training came in handy because Kristian (see Tuesday gem 1) came to Book of Mormon class and we gave her a little tour!
Thursday- Sister Jacobson also is amazing at knowing when people need some extra help. We asked Millie (who was feeding us dinner) if she needed anything. Normally she just tells us she's good but this time she told us she needed help pulling out weeds in her back yard- she couldn't do it because of her back. So we went early and helped her and it was so great to get to know her better! I love helping people feel our Savior's love!!
Friday- We tried some referrals and we were able to have more awesome lessons and share more Bibles and Books of Mormon. And then it was Dave's baptism!! Dave is just the coolest. He's one of Brother Orum's friends and has come so far. Just a month and a half ago he said 'maybe in a year I'll start taking the lessons'. Even though we didn't get to teach him (the Elders did,) it was awesome to see him progress and become happier and happier as we would see him at Book of Mormon class and at church each week. He was SO happy as he came up out of the water and had the biggest grin I think I've ever seen on his face! The spirit was so strong.
Saturday- We had the Sikoles big Halloween party that we've been helping get ready the last couple months. It was awesome seeing my mission "sister", Sister Johnson and her mom, as they came back to visit the mission! We were able to talk to so many people at the party and it was such a fun service, leading tours through the Halloween -trail. #ProTourGuides
Sunday- I think my highlight from today was seeing little Wyatt Phillips be baptized. He is 8 and has this rare ear problem that if water gets in his ear it causes major problems. So understandably he was nervous but he was so excited to be baptized. He had some special ear plugs so that nothing would go wrong. Everyone was on the edge of their seat. Wyatt was baptized a good 3 times because his head didn't go all the way under. The last time brought tears to everyone watching. His dad held him close and as Wyatt quietly said 'Dad I'm scared. Do you think I can do this?' His dad knelt in the water to be on his level and held him close and said 'I know you can!' It reminded me of how our Heavenly Father never lets us do anything alone. He is right there helping us through anything and everything so that we can progress! It was amazing.
Well I love you all and hope you all keep noticing those tender mercies daily! J ‘till next week~
Sister McDonald
Ponderize: "They did pray unto the Lord their God continually"~ Alma 62:51
Commitment: "Choose to repent (daily) and immediately invite the savior into our lives" ~ Elder Renlund (oct 2016)
Christ Like Attribute: Kind!
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