Sister Carlee Jacklin: Love From Minnesota!!!

Hi family!

So, it sounds like you are having a lot of fun out there! Hopefully it isn't getting too cold yet! :) I am also happy that Jordon got to be the one to follow Connor in the marching band show. I am pretty jealous that I didn't get to be the one! But that's okay! I bet it was pretty funny watching Jordon chase Connor around trying to follow him. :)

So, this week has been full of fun stuff! We had our mission conference with Elder Martino on Tuesday and it was awesome! He talked about our baptism goal for the year in our mission (which is 500). We were a little over halfway when he came this week. So, he calculated it and said that each team needed to baptized 3 people by the end of the year for us to hit that goal. And he then talked about the pillars of finding in missionary work and that was, finding through our own efforts, the NAC (Part member families, prospective elders, and children of record), and member referrals. And the biggest emphasis he had was on the NAC and member referrals. It was so cool! He told us that if we were willing to work with members, then we would hit our goal. I am really excited! We also had some wonderful talks given to us by some missionaries that Elder Martino picked that were about Charity. They were amazing and not at all what we expected. Instead of talking about having charity and love for our investigators and members, they talked about loving our companions. They talked about how just simply loving your companion would make loving the area and people easy and natural. It was so cool! :)

Wednesday, we had Mission Leadership Conference and it was really good! He really put the pressure on with us and talked about creating plans for the work to move in a way that involved members so that we could get 1 baptism at least, each month. It was so good! We were definitely overwhelmed but motivated after the meeting. I think one thing that he said that made me feel really good and motivated to work was that he grilled us and told us all the things that needed to happen to make sure that our goals in the mission were hit. And then he paused and looked at each and every one of us and said, "This is why I love Mission Leadership Conference, I can say whatever needs to be said and I don't see a single tear. I know why! That's because you are the best! And your President can trust you to do the hard stuff because you are the strongest." That was really helpful because as I have been learning the area and the people, I have felt very discouraged and inadequate. Hearing that helped me to see that the Lord trusts me to do my best and be my best. So I felt good after that conference.

On Thursday, we had a mini Mission Leadership Conference with the District Leaders about what we learned and we made a rubric for all of the teams to help them to make a plan to reach their goal of 3 baptisms by the end of the year. We have some really solid teams too so we are super duper pumped to get our 3! :) We then went and taught M, B and B's mom, who has been closed off to the missionaries for 15 years! And we had a super good lesson! And she even PRAYED sincerely afterwards, which B was really excited about because they have never heard their mom pray that sincerely before! Then we went to Hour of Power and had a super good lesson with S, our most progressing investigator. Hour of Power, by the way, is a "lesson" we have in a member's home where we read from the Book of Mormon for about an hour and fifteen minutes. It is so cool because it is usually a few investigators, recent converts, and active members so the spirit is really strong and it is a really open environment where comments can be made and questions asked. It is so cool! I think we should have hour of power everywhere!

On Friday, we started on our plans to get 3 baptisms and boy are we in over our heads!!! It took us 1 1/2 hours to get plans for 2 people done! It made me realize how much planning needs to be put into getting people to baptism! (By the way, Elder Martino wanted us to plan for 10 people!) So we took a long time trying to do that and then we had a really good lesson with one of our progressing investigator's roommates. We invited her to come after having a really good lesson to the woman's broadcast. She was super excited and said that if E, our investigator, got back in time, she would come and see it. We then had dinner with a sweet member of the ward who is housing 8 people in her home and doing most of the raising of her grandchildren. She is also the only one who is a member of the church in her family so she is also an example for them. She was so cool and sweet! We talked to her about staying strong and continuing to be that example and then we coordinated and talked about planning a Family Home Evening with her whole family! After that, as you know, grandma and grandpa took us out for ice cream at Dairy Queen! It was so fun! Grandma showed me her "bad selfies" which were really funny! :) We had a lot of fun and Sister Jenkins thought they were super great! I think my favorite part of the visit (now ask grandma if it is okay that this goes on the blog. I don't want to embarrass her!) was when we were saying goodbye, grandpa made the comment that Sister Jenkins was the best missionary driver he has ever ridden with. Well, grandma had taken a selfie with me and then went to take a picture of Sister Jenkins in the car and forgot to turn the camera around on her phone so she said, "The greatest sister missionary..." and it was on her face instead of Sister Jenkins! I about fell on the ground laughing!! She then laughed and said, "How do I turn this thing around?" It was so fun! And yes, the package was so cute! Funny story, our members found it and put it up at the top of the stairs and I walked right past it and didn't see it! Sister Jenkins came up behind me and saw it and went, "Aw! Your grandparents are so cute!" :) I was so thoroughly confused at the comment because I didn't see it! It was so funny!

Saturday was crazy! We had a lesson with W, an investigator of ours at 9:30 in the morning because we had coordination at 10 and he couldn't meet later than 10. Then, the rest of our day was crazy! Everyone fell through for lessons and for the broadcast! Except for good ol' S! She came with one of her young woman's leaders and had a great time! But we made it through the day and I got to see a ton of sisters from the Anoka ward again! :) And Sister Anderson, our mission mom in Anoka! :) She is so awesome!

Sunday was awesome! We got 2 referrals from a member! He had invited them to church the Sunday before and they decided to come with him again! So we sat by the girl that came and got her information and set up a time to go teach her! And then the member gave us the number of the boy that came with him as well! :) We also had S come and some part member families showed up so that their kids could be in the primary program! It was awesome! :) We then went after having a delicious dinner where they made homemade Huckleberry ice cream and went to see some investigators. We went with a member of the ward and made a breakthrough with B! She was having a hard time and needs one on one attention. But we had a ton of kids from the apartment complex demanding attention. (In this particular complex, every kid knows the missionaries and they love listening to us and singing with us) So me and the member kept the kids occupied while Sister Jenkins talked with B. We then had a super powerful lesson with E and M! They missed the broadcast and so we went to see what happened. It turns out that E had been getting push back from friends and family. So we talked with them about praying to know truth and that despite push back, meeting with us would be a good thing. We then testified of prophets and the restoration of the gospel and then showed the talk that President Uchtdorf gave in the broadcast. The spirit was so strong in the room as he spoke and they both we nodding and commenting on the things that he said. At the end, they both said, "Wow! That was amazing! The spirit is so strong! We are so sad we missed it! You made our day!" And we again testified of the power that we feel when we hear the true servants of the Lord and invited them to come to conference and they said, "After this, how can we miss it?" It was so cool! Then M asked, "When can you come back?" It was so cool!

I think the coolest miracle for me personally happened after that visit. We went to see B and B who didn't come to church because their anti-mormon aunt took them to their old church and the pastor gave them doubts by telling them that they could just be baptized into their church and not to listen to us because people that go around to people talking about Jesus were false prophets. They still met with us though because they already received a witness that our church is true. So, we decided to do the same for them as we did for E and M. As they watched, soon enough, B was asking for paper and pencil and writing notes and B had settled and was listening as she did her homework. During the lesson however, B's pencil ran out of lead. Their home life isn't super good. So I lent her my pencil so she could finish her homework. When she was done she gave it back. I asked her if her pencil had lead and she said yes and then when she checked, it didn't. I asked her to give me her pencil (it was fairly new) and I looked at the lead size. It was the same as my pencil! So I took the lead out and put it in her pencil and gave it back to her. She looked at me for a second and quietly said, "thanks". In that moment when I gave her the lead and helped her put her stuff in her backpack and as I watched B open her heart again to the spirit and take notes, I felt an overwhelming sense of love for those girls. It was really hard to keep from crying. They afterwards said that they wanted to come back to church and that they wanted to watch conference. It was so cool to not only see the spirit work on them, but to also see just a glimpse of the love that God has for those girls! It was so cool! Then, to seal the deal, we saw a blood moon eclipse! It was so awesome!!!!! :)

Our week is going to be just as awesome this week! We topped it off today with a 1 1/2 hour bus ride into Minneapolis and then back to Plymouth and then got off at the wrong stop and then walked 1 hour to the library! Crazy but awesome morning! And the city looked beautiful! :) For some reason, the bus that drives through here, has to go through Minneapolis to get to where we are going. It was pretty great! :) I love you so much and hope you have a good week!

Love,

Sister Jacklin

P.S. I never answered this question, but yes. When we do activities as a district or zone that requires money, it comes out of our own pocket. So I may need you to check on my account. I think I am good but I will need some money today for the bus. :) haha! #nomilesleft

Love you!!