Sister Carlee Jacklin: Love From Minnesota!

Hey Family!!!

I am so jealous! That sounds like so much fun! I hope you take me when I get home! But I am glad that you are having fun! I am also so happy for Jason! He'll do great! And OH MY GOODNESS! Tell Erica I am so happy for her and that I better get pictures!!! :D I am so happy for her! I have been missing you guys a lot but when I look back at the last three months, I realize how fast time really is going. Funny story for you mom. I got a glimpse of what maybe me being on a mission is like for you. We have a girl in our ward named J.R. who, after I had been a month out, reported to a mission in Guatemala. So she and I are a month apart. When we talked to her mom, she talked about how she has been out for 2 months and how excited she was to have her home in 16 months. Sister Tingey and I laughed because she has only been out for two months and her mom is already starting to count down and getting excited. But we also realized that this is probably what you and her mom are doing. :)

By the way... transfers.... it was probably the weirdest Monday ever... Sister Tingey and I were convinced that one of us would be leaving. Well, God had other plans. Sister Tingey and I are now officially what we call in the mission, eternal companions. You are eternal if you stay together for 3 transfers or more. So if you need to send any letters, my address is the same for the next 6 weeks. :) It was pretty funny. Our District Leader had the information and called us saying, "You two are eternal." And we sat there staring at each other saying, "You're joking right?" So we both went up to the library and printed the transfers off for ourselves and then went and got Blizzards at Dairy Queen. But we both understood why it happened. Our ward needs us. If we had any changes, the relationship with our less actives would have been crippled and they wouldn't let us come back. Now we have been able to get dinner appointments and even helped to fix broken relationships from previous missionaries. We know that the reason we stayed together was for the ward so we are okay with it. But yeah, Sister Tingey didn't know if she wanted to cry or laugh. It was a weird day. But at the end of that Monday, she would repeatedly say, "I am so glad we are still companions". It was interesting because almost every trainer and trainee in the mission stayed together another transfer. Which is rare. But yeah. Our goal this transfer as a companionship is Open and Honest. We are going to try our hardest to be best friends by the end of this transfer and stay as far away as possible to killing each other. :)

But yeah! This week has been amazing! We have seen many miracles and are having fun trying to get used to the fact that Sister Tingey is no longer my trainer. It has been quite an adventure!!! I actually had a really hard time this morning because today marks the beginning of the transfer and I thought to myself, "Man... I still have 6 more weeks to go and I don't know if I'll make it!" So I prayed really hard to my Heavenly Father to help me see if I had made any progress. As we were exercising, I though back to a day when I was almost finished with my first transfer in the mission. That day I had been wondering how in the world I was going to make it out of training, let alone getting through the mission. And when I thought about it, I also thought about the situation that I am in now. And WOW it was amazing the relief that I felt that Christ had gotten me through my training. And if He could get me through training that quickly, then surely He will help me through out the rest of my mission!

So, QUESTIONS!!!

1. AAAAAAAH! I am so sorry! I have not written it down yet but I am still in the same area so I will get it to you next week.

2. Yeah... :)

3. So the best thing happened this week!!!! We have 2 progressing investigators! They are A.and R.M.! They are AMAZING!! I'm scared to say it but they are feelin' pretty golden! A. has been to church twice now and R. has been to church once. And they LOVE IT!!! Our ward mission leader is also the Gospel Principles teacher so he gave them a gospel principles book and told them what chapters to read before the next lesson. And it is so funny because A. tells everyone that they are just visiting but by the end of the meeting, she tells everyone that she will see them next week! We are so happy we found them! We just found them after an appointment fell through! It was awesome! She was practically beaming during the meetings and R. was like a kid at Christmas. He immediately started to share what he learned in Priesthood with his wife. It will be fun to see them improve and get to baptism and eventually... THE TEMPLE!!! YEAH! It has been GREAT!!!

We also were able to reach out to the Claytons more by raking leaves with them and Sister Clayton was so happy that we helped them that she made turkey chili and apple crisp for us for dinner. Then, as we were eating, she pulled out a recipe book and said, "Alright sisters, pick some more meals for me to make for you! And you have to at least pick two!" She is so much fun! She also made us a whole batch of muffins to take home and also a whole box of frozen cookie dough so we could make cookies! We were also able to help break the ice a bit with their non-member daughter who, when we got here, was very against Mormons and missionaries. But when we raked leaves with her, she was super open and had a ton of fun with us! So we expect to see some amazing miracles from that! But yeah! It's been a fantastic week!!!

4. I actually would love, this can wait for Christmas too, some recipes that take less than 20 minutes to make. We run out of ideas quickly with what to eat... :) Actually, if Grandma J is willing, I would love the recipe for her macaroni salad. :)

5. YES! I got them! Thank you!!!

6.Thanks! She'll like that! She was so excited when she heard we were staying together for 6 more weeks. :) We have an awesome relationship with her right now which has brought a ton of miracles! :)

Anyways, I am so grateful to you for all that you have done for me! You have no idea what amazing examples you have been to me! I pray every day that the Lord continues to lead and guide you as I am away and keep you safe! I love you so much and know that this time that we have away is very small and we will see each other again. By the way, I saw Meet the Mormons. Well, I missed a few parts because it was zone interviews but for the most part, we saw all of it. I think my favorite story was the Candy Bomber. But don't worry mom, I cried at the Missionary Mom too. It was heart breaking to see the little girl that was just sobbing uncontrollably. But I also felt relief at seeing the family safe and sound and the son safe and out preaching the gospel! Thank you for living the commandments because I know that the Lord will continue to bless and keep you safe as you do those things! I love you so much and will continue to pray for you throughout my WHOLE mission!!! Love you!

Love,

Sister Carlee Jacklin