HAPPY NEW YEAR BACK!!! :D
I
am so glad that you enjoyed skyping with me! I was worried that I was
going way too fast! I just got so excited when I saw you all and just
started going at a hundred miles an hour! :) It was so good to see you!
Yeah... I will admit. It was really hard to say goodbye but I thought
about it and how I prayed in the MTC for Heavenly Father to help me make
it to Christmas. Just to Christmas. And now it is past Christmas! :)
And I thought to how quickly those 6 months went by. It is going to be
super fast these next 6 months too! :) But I am so glad that you enjoyed
it! OOOOOH! I also got a giant jar of dill pickles from one of the
elders, Elder Morgan! He asked me what I liked, I couldn't really think
of anything so I said pickles! :) And he got me a jar for Christmas! I
will have to send the picture next week! :) hee hee
One
thing that is super cool about the new year is that, with the new year,
I will have exactly one year left of my mission. The elders here call
it their blackout year. When we talked about it with Bishop Peterson, he
asked us to think about how we wanted Christ to change us and help us
to become better servants and leaders. I thought to myself, "Man! This
means for me, what am I going to do with the rest of my mission to be
the best that I can be?" And the number one thing that popped into my
head was Charity. I really want by the end of this year is to be able to
have enough love for the people around me to work with any of them. :)
It is a lofty resolution but what better place to set that goal then on
my mission? :) By the way, what are your guy's resolutions this year? :)
Anyways,
I really liked the story that McCall Harward told! I hope that when I
return to Minnesota, after my mission, that good things have come from
my efforts! That is one thing that gets at me everytime! I hear about
these amazing missionaries that baptized 20 to 30 people from the older
missionaries around me. However, when I look at the ward directory, all
30 are less active or completely inactive! It reminded me of the
scripture in the Book of Mormon where Christ says, "It would be better
that he had never known me" than to be baptized and fall away! So my
hope is that through my mission, I can help people to convert to the
gospel of Christ and stay active instead of just baptizing a ton of
people, just to see them fall. I don't want that! Don't get me wrong,
people have their agency! I just hope that they use it well! :)
Well,
the work here is great! One thing I have found from this transfer so
far is that I am going to be a great mom! My companion is very big on
going to bed early. Therefore, I have to do a lot of picking up the
pieces and calling people at night. Which can be frustrating but when I
think about it. Mom had to do a lot of behind the scenes work while I
was at school or having fun with friends to make sure I had food on the
table and clothes on my back. And most of the time, it isn't fun! I
think I finally got a taste of what you and Dad have to do everyday! But
she is amazing! She will teach me a lot! :)
One
thing I learned this week was yesterday at a member home. Sister Daily
mentioned that on her mission, if she ever had a problem with something
that her companion was doing, it usually meant that she had a problem!
:) When she said that, I decided that, when I am frustrated with my
companion, I will focus on what I am doing wrong and how I can fix it!
:) I am also doing this thing where I list in my head all the things
that I find good with my companion! That way, there won't be room for
frustrations! :) (By the way, I got some super cute church shoes from
her too! She said they didn't fit her so she gave them to me, and they
fit!)
We also biked all the rest of the week!
So I had my first experience with riding in the snow! It was super fun!
:) And I am pretty sure that I will be super in shape again too! Since
we biked on average about 10 - 15 miles a day! :) I will send pictures!
:) I don't have my camera with me right now... sorry! :)
I
also had the chance to talk in Sacrament Meeting again! :) I talked
about why I served and mission and how that strengthened my testimony.
So, I told the story about how I never wanted to serve and how God is
really the one who called me. And I had dad after dad in the ward come
up to me and say thank you because their daughters were having a hard
time deciding if they wanted to go on a mission! :) It was funny! I also
found out that many of the people in the ward are originally from Lehi!
What do you know? But none of them knew dad. But that's okay! :) I was
glad I had that chance to talk because the ward is warming up to me now!
So that makes me happy! :)
We have some
awesome investigators, M and D. D used to be a professional
soccer player, I don't know for what team but they are super cool! They
don't understand a lot of doctrines so we are trying to help them. And
D is not a fan right now of the Word of Wisdom. haha but we'll work
on him. M said the Word of Wisdom made sense. It was really funny!
But they asked us after one lesson if we would come over everyday. So
we said. Oh! Okay! So hopefully if we now go over on a regular basis,
their understanding will get better. :) haha! They really are super
sweet! They have two super cute kids too! C, who is 15 months,
and K who is around 4 or 5. They are super cute! I'll definately
send you a picture next week! :)
Anyways, I am
so happy that the week is going good for you! Hopefully January treats
us both well! I love you guys so much! Thanks for the encouragement and
love and I will see you in 1 year! :)
Love,
Sister Carlee Jacklin
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