Peanut Butter and Fireworks

Dear Family and Friends!

It’s been wonderful here in Roseville, MI!  So on Monday we had the most amazing tour guides show us downtown Detroit.  The Hubbards are truly the best.  Let me wrap up this P-day with a few words: opa, gierros, Canada, General Motors, first pumping the fist, Ferran’s, Fake beaches, OK I lied this P-day was too good for a few words!  The Hubbards spoiled us like they usually do.  So this week the main people who are progressing are John, Emma, Aliza, William and Calle!  

This week we focused on taking members with us to teach the lessons!  Sister Wood and I had some awesome experiences!  The members here are great!  So Sister Cornett is a sweetheart, she taught 5 lessons with us!  She also gave me a PTA shirt of hers because she’s a PTA and found out that’s what I want to do!  She bought us slulrpees and we had dinner with her.  She came with us to teach Carl who is struggling to understand God’s love and she bore her testimony.  She cried and I began to get emotional - but I kept it in.  Then there is Sister Gaus who 100% believes that “drones” follow her around everywhere.  She got very mad at us saying she was awesome and we are no longer allowed to flatter her anymore.  Anyways, a couple of miracles this week.  First I’ll start with Elda.  So after two appointments falling through we said a prayer of faith.  We felt prompted to go to this house that didn’t seem too extraordinary.  When we knocked a lady named Elda came out.  She was from Mexico and she was so sweet.  We started talking about how God blesses families.  We said a prayer and she started crying.  She told us she had prayed for help with a grandson who is struggling.  She said before we came she opened her mailbox and there was a picture of Christ and then we showed up.  She told us that God had answered her prayer by sending us.  The best part about being a missionary is seeing cool miracles like that all the time.  This week I wrote my testimony in a Greek Book of Mormon to give to Pipina.  She said her daughter would read it to her.  So a couple of fun things that happened this week.  We made peanut butter cookies for a less active.  Of course we ate some.  Have you ever tried putting chunky peanut butter on peanut butter cookies!  So yum! We took the peanut butter cookies onto our balcony with the couch cushions and watched fireworks  (they go off all the time) while we wrote in our journals!  It was so fun!  Please go check out the song Nearer My Good to Thee by Kyle Henderson!  It is sooo good!  Also, someone started fainting while we were teaching him.  He started falling onto me.  It was so scary.  I love you all!  Listen to the spirit.  In your prayers ask God what you can do for him.  I know that God has a perfect plan for his imperfect children.  Allow God to shape you.  He can only shape you if you are humble.  I’ve learned that every day.  God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He is always working.  He never stops.  I want to work hard for this small amount of time he has given me.  I Love You!

Love,

Sister Jacobsen

P.S.  Look up Psalms 27:14 (Sis. Woods scripture she shared with me.)

P.S.S. The cookies I made were gluten free and the easiest recipe ever!  1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg - Boo Yah!

P.S.S.S.  We are playing chair soccer today.  I’m so excited!

Its a Beautiful Day in Roseville

Dear Family & Friends,

This week sped by!  Lots and lots of exciting adventures and spiritual moments.  So on P-day I went to the zoo!  It was so much fun!  I felt like I was on vacation, it was weird!  Sister Hubbard is the sweetest lady ever!  We went with her friend and her two little boys!  The Detroit zoo has a water tunnel where we could look up and see all the animals swimming above us!  That was my favorite part.  We had dinner and it was so yummy! The next day we went on exchanges!  Because Sister Wood is a Sister Training Leader and I’m learning how to become one, we will go on at least 3 this transfer.  So my temporary companion’s name was Sister Jewell!  She is awesome!  I went to her area which is called La Peer.  It’s all country  It was beautiful.  So, in Michigan basically every corner you turn there is a body of water.  There are lakes everywhere!  I had such an awesome experience.  So we went over to a lady named Peggy’s house to do some service.  Her husband has Huntington’s disease.  It was one of the saddest things I’ve every seen. My heart just hurt looking at him.  But Peggy made it bearable because she is so strong.  We helped move her husband Dick outside  He doesn’t talk or move but he understands everything.  We helped Peggy wash her windows.  Their house was unreal.  Right on a lake with a gorgeous view.  We taught her a lesson and Sister Jewell and I were in such unity.  It was crazy because we barely knew each other.  The spirit touched Peggy’s heart.  I hope she accepts the gospel into her life.  It could help her so much.  OK, so for lunch we went to a super cool place called DK.  So it’s a hamburger place.  But it’s not just any typical hamburger.  The buns of the hamburger were donuts.  I thought it was going to be disgusting but it was so good  Almost as good as In-n-Out but not quite.  So La Peer has been struggling with finding investigators.  So we said so many prayers of faith.  We had such a neat experience.  We were able to meet a beautiful girl named Alisha.  We showed her the “Because He Lives” video and she told us she and her boyfriends have been looking for a church.  She got so emotional she started crying.  She is going to be super solid.  I was so sad when I had to leave the next day because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to teach her.:(  But, I was so happy to be back with Sister Wood.  She is amazing.  When we met with William it was so funny because he said, “I’m so glad you got back from your trip Sister Jacobsen, I didn’t like your sub!”  William has said a lot funny things this week.  I asked him if he knew who satan was.  He replied, “You!”  I was taken back but couldn’t help but laugh  So later this week we realized William wasn’t retaining all the things we were teaching him and he wasn’t keeping commitments.  He loves church, but we need him to apply the things we are teaching him.  So I told him that we can’t come back until he actually keeps his end of the deal.  Yesterday, he probably called 5 times at least. When I talked to him, he asked if we could come over.  I asked, “Well, did you read the Book of Mormon with your grandma?”  He said yes.  So I asked to speak with his grandma.  He pretended to give the phone to his grandma.  He then changed his voice to a higher tone.  We talked to his “grandma” for a couple of minutes.  The sad part is we actually thought it was his grandma and then we realized it was just William pretending.  So then we started laughing and I asked “William why are you pretending to be your grandma?”  he started laughing.  Anyways this week has been full of miracles.  So we barely went tracking this week because our days were jam packed with lessons for our progressing investigators.  There was a guy named Joe that we found and he’s super cool.  He’s been on America’s Got Talent.  We told him about our church and set up an appointment.  He texted us later that day and said, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence I ran into you sisters today.  At first I was blinded by the light but then I saw Jesus Christ on your name tags.”  He’s super cool.  We have lots of experiences like that.  Being a missionary is so great.  Everyday I feel like I am just so blessed.  We have amazing investigators and they are progressing which makes me so happy.  We also have a couple that aren’t which breaks my heart.  So there was a man we were teaching who totally asked Sister Wood to marry him.  It was so funny.  It was scary though too.  We make sure we always have members with us.  I’ve given lots of CTR rings to children and I started wearing one myself as a “friendship” ring.  William and Jimmy love them!  Tim is a boy who calls the Pearl of Great Price the “great value pearls” haha like the Walmart version.  Saturday was super fun because Sister Wood and I went to get Chinese food! This was the first time we’ve gone out to get food together and it was because it was my 1 month anniversary!  haha crazy right?  Too much to write and too little time.   Just want to publicly say Happy Father’s day!  I love my Dad so much!  You work so hard for our family and your sense of humor is what keeps me going  Thanks for being such a great example!  XOXO (hugs and kisses)  So I feel like I’m starting to become the person I’ve always wanted to become.  I still have miles and miles to go but I can feel myself changing and growing.  So this week I learned a ton about faith.  One thing that stuck out to me was “it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”  Faith is most definitely a principle of action and power in the book “Our Search for Happiness”.  It says, “I continue to believe that faith, real faith, whole-souled and unshakable-can be as important to a healthy balanced life as a study anchor is to a ship bound for the open seas.”  We have faith when we take a breath.  Lets anchor our hearts in Jesus Christ.  Have Faith!

Love,

Sister Jacobsen

P.S. Ether 12:4, Moroni 7:33

P.S.S. D&C 11:17 You are the victim of your desires.

P.S.S.S. Hymn Pg. 220 - Don’t judge you still have a long way to go.  

Miracles in Detroit

Hello Everybody!

So this week was unreal!  So many miracles!  God is so involved in our lives and knows us all individually!:)  So last P-day we deep cleaned our apartment!  It needed it!  Not it’s all homie and nice!  But we are NEVER home so I guess it doesn’t matter!  

Anyways, I want to start off talking about Aliza!  She is a beautiful black lady in her late 30’s and we were teaching her the second lesson.  She told us that she gets a good vibe whenever we are in her home.  We explained that her feeling she was having is the Holy Ghost.  We invited her to be baptized and she said YES!  I was so happy!  We still have a long road to go but she’s definitely on the right track and she can feel the spirit.  So I’m very excited!:)  So the next person I want to talk about is Emma.  Emma fought cancer and she is also in her 30’s.  She is crazy addicted to smoking.  Her dog Maggie even smokes 2-3 cigarettes a day.  She had a baptism date but the Sister missionaries had to take her off because of smoking!  But good news!  We put her back on date this week because we talked to her about why she wants to get baptized and emphasized her relationship with Jesus Christ.  I promised I’d get her some yarn and crochet hooks to keep her hands busy.  Emma is such a neat person.  She has such a kind heart.  I feel like I’m learning so much from my investigators.  OK, now I get to talk about William.  So William is actually 15 and he doesn’t have down syndrome.  He was a miracle baby!  He was born 1 pound 4 ounces.  He has a tube he uses to eat but he just barely started to eat on his own.  He has some disabilities but he is truly amazing.  He makes everyone around him happy and you can just tell how he is so close to God.  William and his Dad came to church with us yesterday and he absolutely loved it.  He wanted to go to the afternoon services too.  We talked to William and his Dad about being baptized since you are suppose to invite them on the first lesson and they are definitely wanting to!  But William is super scared of the water.  So we will see what happens.  I know God has blessed me with William.  He makes me smile every time I see him plus he calls like 10 times a day with questions!  He use to say Hallelujah black praise prayers but now his prayers are quiet, gentle and soft.   The spirit is so strong and they are so precious.  OK, I have to hurry.  Next person is Callie.  She works a ton so its hard to see her a lot but she’s on date and she comes to church.  Callie has been so prepared but she is taking her time to learn and grow.  So John is also super awesome.  We brought him a Book of Mormon and he totally understood and agreed with the Restoration!  We also invited him to be baptized on the first lesson and he said YES!  He is HUGE so I’m having doubts!  Ha Ha JK! I’m so happy and excited for him.  So we had two other miracles this week.  A girl named Samantha somehow got our numbers and texted us saying, “I want to learn about Mormonism.”  Also a guy named Danny walked into church and came wanting to know more.  He loved church and it was amazing.  

So I had a delightful surprise this week.  Sister wood and I got back from knocking doors and someone kept knocking on our door.  We got scared so we began to say a prayer.  Then the knocker said, “Sister Jacobsen, Sister Jacobsen.”  I was soo confused!  But it ended up being Mama Hubbard!  Jane’s mom! (My room mate from college)  She was so sweet!  She brought us cookies and homemade Mac’n Cheese!  She also received special permission from President Gerber to take us out on P-Days and show us Michigan.  Today we are going to the zoo!  I’m so excited.  So fireworks are super popular here.  They are always going off at night!  

Well, I’m doing so good!  I know that God loves me so much and I just love these people so much!  I’m still adjusting, but God’s given me the resources to do it!  Check these to scrips out!  D&C 84:88 and Mosiah 24:14.  I love you guys!  Stay sweet!

Love,

Sister Jacobsen

P.S. I met a little girl that has the amount of sass as Macee.  That’s a lot of sass!  The people here are awesome!!!

Detroit Michigan

Hello to my fellow gangstas,

So I am in Detroit!  I love it here.  So I need to tell you a few of my first impressions.  Honestly, everyone here is black and I love it!  I’m in Roseville and every house here has two doors.  So when we pray to know which houses to knock we also try to know which door to use.  It is so weird that there are two doors.  Also EVERY house has a dog.  No Exaggeration.  The average is three dogs.  I have seen 6+ dogs .  Dogs are scary.  So when I first was driving in the area, It looked like it was snowing because of the cotton.  It was everywhere and was all in the air and on top of the grass.

So on the plane I actually sat next to a nice man named Joe and I have him a Book of Mormon.  We read a little bit together! It was awesome!  Also, someone in First Class paid for all of our food.  It was so cool.  

We say prayers for everything.  Honestly everything!  It was weird at first but now its super helpful.  We have some awesome investigators! One has a baptismal date.  The hardest part is all the lessons we schedule that fall through.I feel like 9 out of 10 lessons we plan fall through.  Its easy to get discouraged because you just want them to accept the gospel soo badly.  But then you get insanely happy when you see their faith grow and you see that they can feel the spirit.  Life is good!  This missionary work is a good deal.  

So my companion’s name is Sister Wood.  She is my trainer.  She is a country girl from southern Utah.  She is always super sweet and super spiritual!  We are very different but I already love her so much!  So we have been running to the church every morning which has been a blessing.  

OK rewind to my first day.  My mission Presidents are awesome.  The first day we went tracking.  I was terrified to know my first day but it went great.  We tract every day all the time.  Lucky for us we have a car.  I have a strong testimony of the power of prayer.  God has answered so many of my prayers this week.  So one day we were teaching Claudia and Erika and we could tell Claudia want interested but during the closing prayerI actually prayed that Erika would say something.  Right after the prayer finished Erika asked a question and we ended up inviting her to do FHE and gave her our number.  It was awesome.  I have seen countless miracles this week.  Don’t worry grandma Jake, I am writing them all in my miracle book.  One day we taught Stephan and a Tashwan.  There is already been so many people that slam the door in our faces and reject us hard core.  One guy opened the door and said “my dog bites” and slammed the door.  I met a down syndrome boy named William that we get to teach.  He is my favorite.  

I never have enough time to study my scriptures on my own.  So my area is the most ghetto area the sisters are allowed to be assigned to.  I love it because the people are so humble.  I have no time!  I promise I will get better at sending emails.  I will  try and get the most important info next week.  But, I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Jacobsen

PS: Look up Matthew 11:28-30 and look up what yoke means.

PSS: Look up D&C 52:8.  It talks about my mission.  I wish I could stay in Roseville.  I love the people so much.  I hope I stay at least one more transfer.

Reassigned

Hey Family! I am just supposed to get on here really quick and tell you that i have been reassigned to the Detroit, Michigan mission! I have to wake up at 3:30 on monday morning! Our flight is at 7:40! I will be calling around that time ish hahah. I will be there for 6 weeks because that is one transfer. And if my Visa still is delayed i will be there for another transfer! I am excited to serve the gangstas. So i also get to email for an hour tomorrow because we get to do our laundry and kind of have a Pday tomorrow! So i will talk with you guys more about it tomorrow! I love you guys so much! Thanks for writing me on DearElder! It has been so fun getting your letters! Keep writing! Lauren i expect an email with all of the addresses by tomorrow! Ill try and send a bunch of pictures tomorrow! I am so happy!

XOXO

Love,

Sister Jacobsen