Monday, July 16, 2012

(JONNA)-Been Singin' in the Rain!

Hey Everyone!
 
Mom-sounds like quite the trip this week! Glad it was still fun for yall. And, I'm glad yall were taken care of. I get overwhelmed with how blessed we are.
 
Dad-liked your Office experience...when in rome... :) And, thanks for the Wilderness MTC summary. That sounds like it was pretty cool. And, yes, the cultural & recreational things are SO important. In Humble, we went 2 weeks on Pday without going to do recreational activites. Usually, we meet at the church with other missionaries to play basketball after other Pday things are done. And, 2 weeks in a row we took a long time on Pday and didn't get to go. Boy, does it make a difference! Here, in Woodville, we are at least 30-40 minutes away from any other missionaries and so we don't get to do that stuff much. So, I like to clean, bake, craft, etc. Which is nice. (And, I'm glad the car thing worked out. I am glad yall are being looked after!)
 
Hank-So cool you know that Elder! You enjoying your summer in MS? Hope you are treasuring these last few weeks. And, I hope your new mission president is great! I bet he is. (Did you get my letter/photos? I sent them to AJ too...thought yall out get a kick out of the animal adventures here)
 
AJ-Welcome to Florida! Sorry the MTC was rough. "This place is not like prison...this place is freeking awesome!" Hope you enjoy your cushy nerf life in Florida now :) haha (hope you got my letter and photos!)
 
Ciara-hope you're having a good time still! Sounds like a lot of fun. Jealous...but happy yall are doing good!
 
This week has been super rainy and wet. It rained for 8 days straight. I loved it! I got to wear my boots more than I have so far and it was nice and cool. Today, it has been more sunny and the clouds are beautiful!! I can't believe that AJ is flying out to Florida today! Wow! I figure he is in the air, or close to it, as I am writing. Hope your phone call was nice this morning :) Sounds like a super awesome 4th of July for AJ! Super jealous we didn't even see fireworks :( But, that will come again-no worries. I also heard that Andy Griffith died?? SAD! Didn't he make an appearance in one of Brad Paisley's videos "Waitin' on a Woman"?
Also, I got your package!! Loved it! I got it Monday after we came home from emailing last week. I loved the photos! Some were super hilarious! (And, I love the plaques-did I spell that right? No worries about the mess up, it is fixable, and if not, it makes for a good story.) And, new socks!! I was SO happy about those!!!! Oh my, I cannot even describe it.
This week I drove the truck for the first time! In the rain, over muddy roads. It was fun. I took a photo that I'll have to show yall later. There is mud all over our truck and boy, it is hard to get in and out with a skirt on and not get it muddy. Had a few skirts fall victim to mud this week. Good thing it is laundry day. Also, it is so funny because there are dogs everywhere! When we are up and down these dirt roads, dogs will come barking and chasing us in the truck (one time, I was backing Sis. K as she was driving, and 5 huge labs came running at me, I jumped in the car just a few seconds before they got to me!) But, these dogs will just stand in front of us and bark. No matter how we honk, they stand there barking. Sheesh. Lame. But, its funny.
So, some fun/cool stories from the week...
We went to see E ,an elderly woman in a nursing home. She asked for a Book of Mormon to give away to her nurse last week. So, as we were visiting her, Sandra, the nurse, was there. We talked of the world and how things are getting worse and worse. I read Helaman 5:12 and Sandra liked it. E then gets the BofM and gives it to San. We wrote a little thought in it and gave her our number. She was very grateful and said she would read it. Hope to see her again soon!
Also, yesterday at church we had a funny/cool experience. First, here church is at 9am and Relief Society/Priesthood is first, then Sunday School, then Sacrament. So, in RS we had a nonmember from out of town visit. We were talking with her and she said her son had joined the Church a few weeks ago and they (with her husband) were on vacation. So, he found the nearest branch and brought them. (Bobby & Susan Hanks and their son Brian is who I'm talking about). Well, the branch is so small and the work kinda slow that the branch hasn't had a Gospel Principles class in a long time. And, the Gospel Doctrine class is a lot of meat and not really milk of the Gospel. So, Brian, the son, and Bro. Durr came to us and asked if we could teach a Gospel Principles class for his parents. Which meant in like 5 minutes! They handed us a manual and said it was on the Atonement. We found a classroom, had 2 members join us, and Sis. K and I taught a Gospel Principles class with only 5 minutes warning. Oh my...I hure hope they liked it. But, let me tell you...God answers our prayers! We were praying and praying that we would be able to fill the time and do it meaningfully. Luckily, the Atonement is something that we teach all the time. So...whew!
Earlier this week, we were visiting a less-active but coming back member. She was telling us of when she first joined the church. She joined when Pres. Kimball was the prophet. She wanted to get sealed to her adopted kids or something and was told "Well, if you have a problem with it, then talk to the prophet about it." So she did! She saved up money to go to Salt Lake, made an appointment, and sure enough, she meets with Pres. Kimball. She said, "I didn't know that he was that busy of a guy. I was told to talk to the prophet and just thought that everyone did!" So, she met with him and Pres. Kimball took them out to ice cream! He bought her kids a cone and bought a huge one for her to share with him! She said, "I asked him, we sharin' this cone? And he looked at me and said, 'yes we are, just don't lick on my side!' So, there we were, with the prophet at the ice cream parlor eating and sharing cones with him like we were best buddies." Hahaha! Isn't that funny?? She then, went to the temple to take out her endowments and Pres. Kimball offered to watch her kids while she went. He told them to call him Uncle Spence. So, anytime they saw him on TV after that, they really thought he was their Uncle Spence. She came home and told her friends what a good time she had and they couldn't believe that she just went to Salt Lake to talk to the prophet and had ice cream with him. She thought thats what everyone did, go and chat with him and come home. She didn't think it out of the ordinary until her ward told her otherwise. Funny, right??
Oh, and earlier this week, Sis. K was feeling sick, so we stayed in most of the day. While she was sleeping, I decided to clean out the apartment. I've done this each time I get to a new place. Man, it is so gross how most missionaries (even sisters!) live and think it is ok! Because things are temporary and they come and go, things get left behind, and "deep cleaning" does not happen. Sure, the surface is clean, but the under-ftuff is what counts (thanks mom!). And, when missionaries leave to go home SO MUCH is left behind. I did it in Baytown and Humble. And, I did it again this week. I CLEANED OUT. While Sis. K was asleep, I was cleaning out the apartment. I got rid of a lot of useless things that have piled up over the years. (Tupperware without matching lids/containers, gross towels, expired food, old blankets, stained-worn out clothes, and lots of trash.) So, I was in the middle of the pots/pans and oven area when I heard a knock at the door. Which is RARE. I open it and find Elder and Sister Jamison the apartment inspectors! Hahahaha. (Which dad yall see we got a 10 last transfer?!) So, with a huge smile on my face I brought them in and explained the situation. I had piles of trash to be taken out, piles of Goodwill things, and the dishes piled up for cleaning. Man, it was a project. They laughed and said that was "valiant." But, really, I don't like to live in clutter (ok-besides my room) and it was a rainy day and I had a sick comp. What else was I supposed to do? But, man, let me tell you...it is lookin' GOOD! Almost done, just gotta get to the bedroom.
Well, the time has come again to end. We are off to go to Walmart and other errands. I am trying to be a better "finder" this week. I am trying to be more bold. It is super hard, but I can feel the Lord helping me. Will yall pray for me? I need all the help I can get to have courage and motivation to find people to teach. It is hard, but it is my goal right now.
Love yall so much!
Sister Jackson

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