Sister Carlee Jacklin: Love From Minnesota!!!

Hi Family!

So, I was wondering when I saw the Picture if that was Jay Leno... but I wasn't sure until I read the email! :) WOW!!! I also was shocked at how grown up Zac looks now! And Brook is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am glad that they had a blast! :) So I will answer your questions now.

1. So, I am not sure yet what time exactly... We are still unsure on where we will be skyping but I do know that we will be Skyping at around 12 or 1:00 Minnesota time so it would probably be 11 or 12 your time. We have church at 9 o clock Minnesota time. We will try and see if the Delong's will be willing. He's actually our new Ward Mission Leader. :) I also need to know your Skype account again... If you could just send it in next week's email that would be great! :) But yeah! Most likely 12:30 or 1:00 Minnesota time... possible 2 Minnesota time... I will know for sure by next week!

2. I did print off the pictures that you sent... were you sending different ones or the same ones? I do still want the wedding ones for sure if the hump day pictures are the same! Sister Mower really wants to see them! :)

So, I am pleased to announce that I do not have lice and I don't think Sister Mower does either. I would always joke when I looked through her hair though by touching a hair and then pretending to eat whatever I found... :) ahaha I feel like my maturity level has decreased since being out on a mission.... like, farts used to be gross and now we just giggle... :) haha. However, we did have to go to the doctor for a rash that Sister Mower has and it turns out that she has an overproduction of yeast on her face.... in other words, she has dandruff on her face!!! So we got some medicine for it and it's working!!! You can also see that we are slackers and I don't have the Hump day picture for you guys yet! Sorry! I am certain that ours will be great though! :)

So, I am once again emailing you from Minneapolis! We are going as a companionship to the Basilica again and the sculpture gardens! Sister Mower hasn't seen it yet so she is super excited! I am excited to go too!

This week has been fun but CRAZY!!! We unfortunately lost Elder Smith, our District Leader this week. He got emergency transferred to Thunder Bay! His visa to the U.S. expires before his mission ends so I think they just decided to send him now. So, he was pretty excited! Not really. But there have been a ton of changes in our district but it has been an adventure.

We then went and helped this lady and her husband to move. They both have some form of mental handicap and they fight worse than siblings! We went over to help her sort through stuff and she micro managed everything... I got some serious anxiety out of that one. Her husband is a bit of a hoarder too so that didn't help. It really stressed her out. So Sister Mower and I did our best to help her to get some stuff packed away and left with our heads spinning. It was good to help though and you could see that she was really appreciative of the help we gave. So I felt good. One thing that was really funny is that she found an old ash tray of hers and she asked if we would be willing to donate it. Sister Mower awkwardly said yes and then when she wasn't looking, she threw the ash tray away. I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing. :)

We then went and helped our friend P. out again. She texted us one morning as we were studying and said that she was done trusting people and that we were the only ones that she could ever trust. Confused, we called her up asking what was wrong. She had been admitted into the hospital and then her ride never showed so she had to walk home at 4:30 in the MORNING! And it was on a day that it was sleeting and cold! She then told us that she was going to the store to pick up a prescription so we immediately told her not to, hung up the phone, called Sister T. and hunted her down! We found her just on her way to the store and told her to get in the car. We then stayed with her to get her prescription and then drove her home. You could tell it meant a lot to her that we did that. I was glad that we were able to help.

We had Zone Service on Saturday and it was for Earth Day! We went into Champlain and helped pick up trash from the ponds and parks. It had been raining and snowing on and off so all the trash was soaking wet! It was so much fun though! I got to see Elder Wright there who is an elder that I came out with. It was good to see that he was doing well! We had so much fun! We also found a dead snapping turtle and Elder Smith and Wright asked me to take a picture of it. It was weird but I did. :) Then we went back and they had Jimmy Johns for us to eat :) It sure was yummy! And on the way back home, we found a sign that said Texas Ave. so we took a picture and then we saw a sign down the street that said Utah Ave! So we took another picture! :)

Thursday was fun, we got our nails done and then we went shopping for some much needed clothing! (My white shirts had stains in the pits and my cardigans have started to get holes). So we went to Goodwill and found so much! And it all stayed under 6.00 a piece! I was able to get a ton for really cheap! So I should be set now! :) It was a lot of fun to just relax and shop! :) It was good to get my feet pampered too. After 9 months of walking on them, they deserved it! :)

We also went and walked on Sunday to our referral we got because it was gorgeous outside and talked for a bit. Sister Mower, just like Sister Tingey said that I am not allowed to marry a tall man. It was so funny! I told her that I like tall men and she was like, "NO! Sister Jacklin, you have to marry someone who is at most 6 feet tall." So I retorted by saying that I would go with whatever God wanted, and if that was 6'7" then so be it. It was funny! :) We had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, our referral wasn't home so we'll have to try again later, but it was a good change of pace being able to walk. It was so hard in the cold winter months to walk outside. I feel like Sister Mower and I have gotten really close which makes me happy. I feel like being close to one another makes it a lot easier to get work done and feel the spirit. So words of advice to my younger brothers before they serve: Get to know your companion! It makes those hard times a lot easier when you know who your companion is and how you can help them. :)

We went to an art show and auction on Saturday for some members in our ward as well. We decided to go after his wife told us that it would be helpful to have the numbers there to support Brother Lambert. He is a potter and professor at Anoka Ramsey and was doing this show/auction to help make money for a scholarship for future students. The pottery was beautiful and we were able to see so many less actives and got to know them better. When we talked to Brother Lambert afterwards, you could see that he was happy that we came. One thing that was a problem that day was that we got dressed in separate areas of the house and when we turned around.... we were matching. Matching is fun... unless the same articles of clothing are the same color... we both had on red skirts, gray or white tops and black cardigans.... everywhere we went people were like, "The sisters are matching". It was funny and embarrassing :)

We went and saw B.R. and of course, she had decided to wear red and black as well so we got a picture! ;) She exclaimed when we both came in the room, "My goodness! You both look the same!" We had a good visit with her. She has really started to decrease... she is still 92% there mentally. She just gets really tired and talks super slow. She sounded like President Packer in the last conference. It is hard because we love her so much but whatever happens is for the best. She is such a neat lady. She talked to us on Saturday about what happened when she was in Detroit during the time of the civil rights movement. She talked about how she would walk places and there would be the separate bathrooms and theaters and restaurant entrances everywhere she went. We then talked about black people getting the priesthood and how exciting that was and the spirit was so strong! We then read Joseph Smith History with her.

We also visited M. F., who cuts our hair, and she talked with us about some stuff that they had been doing that week. She was talking to us when her husband pulled up in a big old World War 2 truck that was painted bright yellow by the previous owner. She laughed and said that her husband called it the Beast. She said that she called it the "Divorce Maker". I laughed so hard! We then walked out and she showed us the "rules" of being a good driver that were on the inside of the door. It had rules like, dressing appropriately at all times when driving the vehicle and only smoking at stop signs. :) Then her husband said he had an even funnier thing that he found in the manual. Mind you, this is a legitimate WWII truck. In the manual it gave specific instructions on how to destroy the car so as to not let it get into enemy hands. It even told you where to put the dynamite so that it would be completely destroyed. M. then turned to us with a distressed look and said, "Oh my gosh! I don't think my car tells me how to destroy it! You guys should go check your manuals! And then call president! I am very concerned about our safety now!" It was so funny! She is so sarcastic and funny! She said she is going to get a decal sticker that says Divorce Maker on the side. :) She said she calls it that because her husband got it without asking permission.... :) ooops. It was a pretty sweet car though! :)

This week has been a busy one but a fun one! I am excited for Mother's day! Both of us are! I remember when it was New Years and I thought to myself that Mother's day was so far away! And now it is only a few weeks away! I am having a blast here in Anoka! I hope that the week goes well for you and that you stay safe! :) I love you guys so much! :) Have a good week! And I hope the weather is warm for you there! I'm sure it is but I hope it stays that way!

Love,

Sister Carlee Jacklin