Sister Carlee Jacklin: Love from Minnesota!

Hey Family!!!!

So I am soooo happy for Zac!!! That is so fun! Thanks for cheering super loud for me mom! I am so excited for him! And I think I am super jealous of Connor who gets to go do all those cool things with the band! I am super excited for you Connor!!! I really do like his picture too! :) So, Meet the Mormons looks so good! During our .org time, we got to watch the trailer and it looks so cool! Our rules right now is that we can see it in theaters if we have an investigator to go with. And right now WE DO!!! We met an amazing woman this week that I will tell you about in a second. But yeah! It looks amazing! I think it is amazing how the church has been able to spread the word!!! I love technology! (When used correctly) :) But I am so glad that you got to see it. And yeah, it was hard to watch the trailer with the mom hugging her son. For my first few weeks, I couldn't even think back to my last hug to you because it killed me. But when I think about it now, I have been out almost 3 months!!! And I am done training in 3 DAYS!!! Sister Tingey and I are blown away by how fast time has gone by!!!

I also liked what you said about the new leadership in the stake. We seem to be going through a lot of the same things. When I came here, President Forbes had only been here for a month more than me. And apparently, he has changed A LOT of the things that President Clements put in. But I know that he is an inspired man that has been called of God and I am excited to work under his direction. And I know that whatever your leaders now are doing, as long as they continue to trust God, they will be able to lead the stake to be even better!

So some exciting things have happened this week... WE GOT OUR FIRST REAL INVESTIGATOR TO CHURCH!!!!! We have been teaching her and her husband for only 3 days and she is making the necessary changes!!! Her name is A, she is from Alabama and her mother told her to make sure to invite any missionaries in her home because no matter what religion, they would bless her. So she would text us and let us know when she could meet, which usually never happens so that was cool. But at first, she told us that she was only curious. Now, she and her husband, R, have committed to being prepared to be baptized on November 8th and she came to church! It was really funny because we were only able to teach her this week because her husband had to work. Well, we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and shared the Mormon Message, "A Book of Mormon Story" and she really liked it. Then she had a storm of questions for us on what our church was about and how the Book of Mormon relates to our values as a church. As we tried our best to answer her questions, she blurted out, "You know? I should probably just come to church!" so we, a little taken off guard, said, "Yes! We would love for you to come!" so we arranged to meet her and have her follow us to church. And we also gave her a pamphlet explaining what would happen at church. And as we pulled out from her house, we saw that she had immediately picked up the pamphlet and was reading. And she came!!! She had an AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!! The ward stepped up and worked to help her feel welcome and happy. Then, after 3 hours of church, (oh and I forgot to mention, she's pregnant so sitting for 3 hours was really hard for her) we had a linger longer that was to go until about 5. She stayed until 5:30!!! She really got to know members and when we asked her how she liked it she said, "I love it! You still have certain things that need to be done but you are so relaxed!" The scary thing was that we had her coming on Fast and Testimony meeting which was a little scary but she loved it. She said that she had never been to a church where people spoke from their hearts. We are so excited for her and the progress she is making!

We also got to see Brother C at church!!! :) He is the husband of the lady who gave me snow boots! I was so excited to see him there! He only stayed for sacrament so we decided to stop by his house. Well, all I have to say to that is that I have never seen someone so happy to see the missionaries before in my whole life! He lit up and immediately invited us in and started looking for his wife. After we had our lesson, he told us that he would try coming for the second hour too. Well, we are missionaries and that wasn't good enough! :) So we committed him to fellow-shipping R, A's husband, when they came next week. So we asked him to sit with R at Gospel Principles and he said, "Well if I sit with him in Gospel Principles, I'll need to stay for Priesthood so he isn't alone!" So we committed him to ALL 3 HOURS!! We also shared a message about the love of Christ to he and his wife and she told us about a woman in the ward and how she didn't want to go because she didn't like feeling hated. And Brother C said, "Amazing isn't it? That there are tons of women in that ward that love her and miss her and she won't come because one woman doesn't like her." We could see that Brother C was ready to come back and he wants his wife back too! We are really going to be focusing hard on helping them!!!!! I am so happy that he made the changes necessary and is now prepared to aid his family in coming back!!!

Okay! Questions!!!

1. I actually want to do something with you that Sister Tingey is doing with her family! Elder Goddoy talked about working to make sure our promised blessings in our patriarchal blessings come true. Well, she did this thing called your "Visions". Your visions for your family in the future! And here is mine!

I want my family to be a lot like the one I have now. One that is built on a sure foundation and with gospel principles in mind. I want my kids to have an open door to come to so that they can ask questions. Just like I could with you. I want to study the scriptures daily so that I can help aid my children when they have confusions about doctrines and when they are lost and confused by the ever changing philosophies of the world. I want to marry someone who has served an honorable mission and will use his talents and the things he learns to help aid me and my family and I want him to remain worthy of his Priesthood so that I and my children can enjoy those blessings. I want to have an eternal marriage and continue to have a good relationship with you and dad and my brothers as well so that we can pack the house every Christmas, General Conference, and Thanksgiving with people! I want to continue not only aid my family but use my talents to aid others! I want others to feel of my testimony in everything I do! I want to continue to have Christ in my countenance even after the mission so that I can lead them to Christ!

Okay! There you go! Now it's your turn! Send me your "Visions" for yourself. And I highly recommend looking at your patriarchal blessing before doing so. You can send it in email or letters! And for now, send it through the mission home!

2. Yes! I found some super cute boots! They were a bit pricey though. There weren't any good ones on sale but they are super cute! They are a lot like my black ones that got holes in them. And I'll keep letting you know when I make a big purchase. Which I feel like my boots were.

3. Thanks! So... transfers.... the rules changed last night and we won't know until this afternoon. So if you need the send the card soon. Send it priority through the mission office. If you can wait, I'll get the new address to you if I have one so you can send it next week. I am pretty sure that I will either have a new companion or I'll be going somewhere. It is very rare for a trainee and trainer to stay together one more transfer.

4. Thanks. I am so sorry that I didn't see it sooner. I wish I had... I really don't mind borrowing one if someone is willing to let me borrow it. But thank you...

Love,

Sister Carlee Jacklin

P.S. Thanks!!! I love my hair too!!! I am probably going to try and keep it that way during the mission because it only takes me about 10 minutes to do. I unfortunately have not figured out the curly hair yet. It kind of just flips out funny and then poofs in the humidity.

P.S.S. Yes, the cold is very different. The air is a lot more dense with humidity so when it is windy, it just cuts right through you. but it's okay! Utah winters will just end up feeling FANTASTIC!!! :)

P.S.S.S. :) I hope you liked the pictures you got from Sister O! She is our Ward Mission Leader's wife! She is so much fun!!! By the way, the temple is TINY!!! It is smaller than Draper!!! :) Anyways! Love you! Hugs and Kisses to EVERYONE!!!