Love From Minnesota!!!

Hi family!
 
Sorry for the butt load of pictures and videos! :) We have had a great 

week!
 
To start, we had our surprise visit to Minneapolis and it was a blast!
We went to the mall in downtown, the African store where I got my new
YELLOW African dress, and had lunch at Panera (it's like a Kneaders).
Then we went to the stone arch bridge and took pictures and then
headed for home to make it in time for our dinner and FHE with the
U family! It was so yummy and we had a really fun lesson with
them on the restoration and sang songs.
 
Tuesday, we had MLC and it was amazing! First, president Forbes talked
about changing the culture of our mission for the better so that we
can become more Christlike missionaries. Then we had different topics
about planning and studying and then had discussions about them with
our groups and it was probably the best MLC I have been to the whole
time I have been a Sister Training Leader. I really enjoyed it and
felt grateful. Then, President asked us missionaries going home to
bear our testimonies to the rest of the MLC. So I and 3 other sisters
bore our testimonies to them. It was weird. It felt very unreal to be
standing up there after watching other sisters do that throughout my
entire mission. I never felt like I was going to be in their position.
Later that day, we had dinner with the A's and had a lesson with
them too. One of their cute little girls calls me Sister Jack o
lantern. :) We then had a lesson with a sweet African lady
In our ward and had a conversation about the importance of church and
how it is so different in America than Africa. She talked about her
challenges with going to church when she first immigrated to America.
In Africa, everything shuts down on Sunday because EVERYONE goes to
church. She is a super strong lady.
 
Wednesday, we had district meeting and then had 2 lessons with former
investigators. We then had an awesome lesson with the J's and
committed Brother J to be baptized on February 13th. He isn't
sure yet but he is doing so well at keeping commitments and getting
over his struggles and weaknesses. We then had dinner at the
W's and had a lesson with them too! We did a fun lesson on the
restoration and had a blast with the kids afterwards playing with our
iPad cameras. It was fun :)
 
Thursday, we had CEAP and had to throw away rotten fruit and find the
good fruit. Icky! It was fun though. We then went and had a crochet
meeting with Sister L and now both Sister Kirkby and I are in the
process of making our own scarves! :) mine is blue, hers is purple! :)
we then had dinner with the W family again and had a really yummy
German dish that I can't remember he name of but it was beef with
sauerkraut and mustard baked in a roll. It was sooooo good! Brother
W told me a little about the Nielsen's too. Is Collin really a
senior already?? Weird. :) After dinner, we did some stop bys and then
had an awesome lesson with Sister C and then she let us "perform"
our song for Sacrament meeting. :)
 
Friday was fairly uneventful, just weekly planning and some service
and finishing zone comment sheets.
 
Saturday, we finished our weekly planning and then practiced our song
because it was getting down to crunch time and got to practice in
front of the Elders and also Sister C. We then went and had
dinner with the F's and it was really good! They absolutely
spoiled us rotten! They took us to a place called Lemongrass which is
a Thai restaurant and got us Pad Thai entrees, 3 large things of sushi
to share and egg rolls to share! It was AMAZING!!!!! We had a good
visit with them too! They are awesome! :)
 
Sunday! I sang in sacrament and it went great! Sister Kirkby and I
were both shaking afterward. :) I did good and I even had to sing
without a microphone! I am very convinced that the Lord blessed us
both with the ability to do it! We then had dinner with bishop and his
family and it was of course delicious! :) We then did some stop bys
and then went and saw the YSA Devotional at Sister C's house
and had a really good conversation with her afterward about the new
mutual theme and the tree of life. It was a super big tender mercy
because all that President Nelson said was an answer to prayers about
finishing my mission. I am so grateful that I got to see it.
 
Well, there you go! That is my week! I love you all and hope you have
another good week! And tell Connor I am proud of him for going to
mission prep! I wish I did mission prep more before my mission! :)
love you again!
 
Love,
 
Sister Jacklin
 
 
 
Sent from my iPad