Love from Minnesota!

hallo Meine Familie!!!

Jordon can check me if that's right or not! By the way, wasn't that so cool that the area seventies can speak in their native tongue? It was so cool! I LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! I am so happy to hear that the boys are having fun and a big thumbs up to Jordon for being so grown up! I mean, I know he is a grown up but I mean, great job being the peace maker! I am really having fun here! By the way, DON'T MAIL TO MY MAILING ADDRESS! Mail to the Mission Home. Transfers are next week so one of us will be moving out most likely. And I would feel horrible if someone's letter got stuck in Savage while I am somewhere like Duluth! :) Speaking of Duluth, it has gotten chilly here! Sister Tingey suggested that I get some dressy boots that aren't snow boots for this chilly fall season so I will probably be getting some today. I just wanted to let you know. :) And my week has flown by too! Sister Tingey and I were doing a training evaluation and realized that we only have one more Sunday together! But we are also going to be going to the TEMPLE THIS WEEK! Which will be a fun thing to do together for our last week! And I will finally not be a little TRAINEE!!! It's funny because I was talking to some sisters in our district about how long the mission is and they told Sister Tingey that she is on the downhill now. I joked that I'm still on the uphill and they told me about when they were training. It just blows my mind that they were in my position at one point! And now one of them is almost at her year mark and the other sister only has 4 months! They told me that it is slow at the beginning and then boom! It just flies! So it was fun to talk to them about that.

This week we also got to go have district lunch together at Olive Garden! It was my first time so the sisters were very helpful in showing me what was good on the all you can eat soup and salad menu! We had tons of fun! I have a picture but it's on my camera and I forgot it. I took most of my pics off of Sister Tingey's camera. I have been having a lot of fun with this district and I will be sad to see it go. But we have had fun with the time we've had. 

I think one of my favorite talks was the one about living our lives in a way so that the promised blessings in our Patriarchal Blessing will come true. And that was AMAZING because Melissa sent me Great Grandma Jolley's Patriarchal Blessing. (Thank you!!!) And when he asked that question, I thought back to the night that I read it. And how I saw that EVERYTHING ON THERE CAME TRUE!!! It talked of her receiving Celestial Glory if she did the things that were asked of her and I know that she did them. I know with out a doubt in my mind that Grandma is going to inherit eternal life!!! And then I thought about my patriarchal Blessing, and I decided that I need to make sure that I do those things so that when my grand kids and great grand kids look back and say, "She did it! It came true!" I want to create a vision for my family so that I can receive those promised blessings! I encourage each of you to look at your blessings and think about things that you want to do to ensure that you receive those promised blessings! I am so grateful for you and the examples you've been to me! I am so grateful for Great Grandma Jolley and her willingness to do what the Lord required of her and I know that she is still watching over all of us and cheering us on as we continue to strive to do that which the Lord requires. Thank you for your examples to me and for the continued support throughout my efforts here in Minnesota! And I am glad that blessings have been coming to you. I pray every morning and night that blessings will come to you as I work. I ask the Lord to pour blessings out upon you through my efforts. And I am thankful that he is answering my prayers!

Okay! Now time for questions!!!

1. We do cook for ourselves and we also have dinner with members. We send around a sign up sheet and they sign up for times that they want us over. However... I wouldn't be telling the whole truth with the "cooking for ourselves" we have been super crunched on time so we've eaten out a lot. So that talk about how keeping our bodies healthy will draw us closer to Christ, Sister Tingey and Sister Curtis both looked at us with a super guilty look on their faces and Sister McCullough was laughing so hard! :) Us sisters have really been struggling this past transfer! :) We've had a lot of ice cream... :) 

2. I don't have the address on me right now but I will be sure send it to you next week. :) I think they will really like that!

3. We have had tons of fun! I have really gotten close to the elders and sisters in our district. Sister Tingey and I have compared each elder and sister to a noodle, a car type, and a color! Yeah... let's face it... we're super weird :)

4. I do need some things... I need a sturdy scripture case, just like the simple ones with a handle on it. A colored one would be cool! Like pink or yellow!!! :) And I think I need a better camera... could I ask to borrow maybe Jordon's mission one or my good one if you can manage to get it to turn on? The one I have is hard because you can't tell if it is blurry and you can't get very much into one picture... I wish I had found that out sooner... Every picture I have sent home is from Sister Tingey's camera because my pictures are blurry... So I will probably be sending that one home. But other than that, I am GOLDEN!!! 

Any ways, I love you guys sooooo much! I am looking forward to the day that I come home honorably but until then, I am doing a marvelous work!!! It is fun because I have found that a mission is A LOT like the Plan of Salvation. We come to this area for a short time and it begins to feel like home and we like it, but we know that home is not really there. We work our hardest to be our best and bring others to Christ so that when we return home, we return with honor. Then, when we are home, we get to enjoy the things we learned and continue to grow. Just like that, we are here on this earth for a short time to learn and grow and bring others to Christ. We feel at home but know that our home is up with our Father in Heaven and we work our hardest so that when we return to His presence, we return with honor. And then after this life is over, we get to spend an eternity to enjoy the things we learned and learn and grow forever in our Father's presence!!! It's amazing what things you learn on the mission!!! I love this gospel so much and for the opportunity we have to bless others with it! I love you and I will continue to pray that God will provide blessings to you through my efforts!

Love,

Sister Carlee Jacklin

P.S. Just for fair warning mom... I have a bucket list of things to do after the mission and I plan on spending a lot of time with you! :) I feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with you before the mission doing things like going to the temple or just going for a walk, so I plan on making temple trips together a habit!!! And I want dad to come along too! I really want to make an effort to spend more time together doing things as a family like going to the temple! I love you!!! Keep going strong and magnify your callings!!

P.S.S. I loved your letter dad! I laughed so hard at the false prophet thing to Jay! Sister Tingey didn't get it... I guess we have a weird sense of humor... :) But I loved it!!! :D

 P.S.S.S. We get to see Meet The Mormons!!!! I AM SOOO EXCITED!!! YOU GUYS NEED TO SEE IT AND TELL ME IF YOU LIKE IT!!!! :D

Before

After. I didn't get bangs, too much work. The ward members have said they like it.

Plan of Salvation t-shirts some ward members gave us. The asterisk in the center is us in earth life.

One of our great ward members.

The leaves are changing!