WHY

Everything is going great! So the highlight of this week was Shelby Lakisoe's baptism! So on the first day we got to Villawood we went out for visits with 2 RM's. We visited the Lakisoes who were Less-Active and we set a return appointment for FHE. Ever since then we have been going over every week for FHE and teaching them the gospel discussions! Shelby was going to turn 9 in 2 weeks so we had his baptism this week! It was super cool. They asked us to give talks and Sister Fifita gave an amazing talk! We made him a lollie Leigh. Other then that we did some hard core service. It was pretty much an extreme make-over. One of our investigators Pun finally agreed to let us help him clean the backyard! We took a group of people over and we picked up all the dog poo and cleaned the entire thing. It was too good. We have been exercising every morning at this super fun adventure park with our Bishop's wife each morning. She is so much fun! Too much to say, next week i will update you on everyone else! I just want to share a quick spiritual message!

Easter is great and is such a wonderful time to focus on our savior. What is the atonement? The process of "betterment". To make bad men good and good men better. 2,000 years ago Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect." We don't come to church each week because we are perfect, we go to take the sacrament because we are imperfect.  The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces and life can definitely be hard sometimes. Something that i love that my mission president sent out a couple of weeks ago is "We easily find what we look for and we are products of our past desires. "... He granteth unto men according to their desire" Alma 29:4 You are what you have desired and nothing more or nothing less. At least you know who to blame for what you have and where you are on the ladder of progression in life." I know that life can be hard but we are so lucky to have the gospel. The gospel blesses families and it brings ALL the happiness that we receive in our lives. I love the word WHY. why, why ,why? the answer is simple. Because you know your why. Because he is the why. I love you all! HAPPY EASTER. AND HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY MUM! I won't forget! Next week i will update you on the many Smile moments that have been occurring!

Love,

Sister Sekaboeseni 

Sister Sekaboeseni

That is my Tongan name. They call me Sister Sekaboeseni. Or sister Kolipoki. 

Well this week was off the charts! To start it off the Tipiwais were baptized! Such a special day! I gave a talk on baptism and i talked about their favorite shampoo which happens to be Macaroon Oil shampoo. I started crying when Sister Tipiwai gave her talk. She is the one who first started coming to church. So this entire family was inactive. But she is the first one who started to come back! She is amazing. So much work has been put into this family, and i feel so blessed to be apart of it. It was the sweetest thing. When Sister Fifita and I pulled up to the chapel, right when i opened the door all the kids started screaming SISTER JACOBSEN! I wanted to start crying right then and there. It felt so good to be back at my old chapel with the people that i love so much. President and Sister Back came as well!  Next month Lyric and hopefully Kylee will be getting baptized so i will be back soon! :) Also Emma and I still keep in touch and she tried so hard to go to the baptism but she had her Dad's birthday! But she emails me and tells me that her Book of Mormon reading is going great! 

We also went to the temple this week! We ran into an American couple and they told me some shocking news! They told me that i had the accent! But i am pretty sure that all the accents are just gettting mixed together and they couldn't tell because i am pretty sure that i still don't have one! 

I also got bit by a dog. It was really funny and don't worry mum it didn't hurt. I just had red marks, there was no blood! Missionaries usually have all these crazy dog stories but this is my first one!

This week i saw so many of the people that we are working with Life's change. One of our less actives gave us a ring and said i am giving the church up. We ended up going over to visit him and got him started on his Family History the next day. Then the following day we come over and he is deep cleaning his car. We say, Barry what are you doing? Barry said Ï AM GIVING UP SMOKING". It was soo cool! We took all his cigarrettes from him and he crushed one up in front of our faces!

Also ahhh SAMANTHA! So much to update on Samantha. She is amazing. This week in her closing prayer she said, Ï know it is true, i can see it." She has totally changed. She texted us and asked us how she can keep the sabbath day more holy? Samantha came to church again this week. Super sad news is that she has to move to the city which is in the North mission because that is where she could find cheap housing. But on sunday she half jokingly asked if she could be baptized on sunday! She is for sure getting baptized! She prayed on Saturday about which day! She is so excited and asked if Brother Bruce would baptize her! She will probably be baptized this coming Saturday or the next! It's really cool to see how her conversion has taken place. She is constantly talking about the spirit. I testify that the spirit truly is the real teacher. 

So much happened this week but other than that i had my first hungry Jacks and went on trade-offs with the tongan sisters. I went on Trade off's with Sister Sanft. On friday night i asked her, "So let's talk about exercise tomorrow."(Sister Sanft has a hard time with the mornings) and she looks at me with a smile and pauses for a few seconds and then says ... Ï'm not running Kolipoki."It was so funny! BUT GUESS WHO WOKE UP ON TIME AND RAN WITH ME? That amazing sister!!! 

I have to go! BUT I LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Sister Jake

P.s. Mum can you send all the pictures??

Are You Still?

Hello Family and Friends! 

So i just have to start by exclaiming my JOY! The Tipiwais are getting baptized on Saturday and they invited me to give a talk on baptism! (This is the massive family of 12)  President kept me close so i could go the baptisms! I am so excited! Ok other than that, our area is REALLY picking up. Samantha is progressing super well. She texts us everyday the miracles that she sees. Yesterday she got kicked out of her house, but she still came to church even though she has to move! She keeps feeling the spirit super strong at Church. She asked yesterday, "Can i stay here forever?" She asks so many questions. The Tafengatoto family came to church as well! :) We saw miracles every day and Sister Fifita and i love each other more and more every day! We get to go to the temple tomorrow! Ok i just wanted to share something that really hit me this week;

You, the youth of the Church were generals in the war in heaven before this earth was.

The day will come when you will pass away into the spirit world. 

You will be enthralled by those you are meeting.

You will ask someone in which time period they lived on the earth.

"I was with Moses when he parted the Red Sea"

Another will say, "I helped build the Pyramids"

Other will proudly say "I fought next to Captain Moroni"

And as you are standing there in amazement, someone will turn to you and ask, "which Prophet's time did you live in?"

You will bow your head and whisper, "Thomas S Monson"

At that very moment a hush will fall on every hall and corridor in Heaven, and all in attendance will bow at your presence!

You were help back, in the pre-existence, for 6000 years because you were the most talented, the most obedient, the most courageous and the most righteous.

ARE YOU STILL?

so i really enjoyed reading this over and over again. I know that the war in Heaven followed us down here to earth. I know that we are here at this specific time for a reason. We are special. A line that my comp and i enjoyed reading about this week was "If the bitter cup doesn't pass, drink it and be strong." We are both really really happy and i just can't express how happy i am! Love you all!!

-SISTER JAKE

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the best defense is a good offense

I know I am the worst at keeping everyone updated. I just want everyone to know that I have not been eaten by kangaroos yet and the vegemite has not poisened me (I haven't even tried it yet). Ok so I am now in Villawood. We shotgunned the area so we started fresh. I reckon shotgunning is the ideal way to go because both my companion and I get to start on the same page together. Villawood is the BEST! We are in a Polynesian English speaking ward! My bishop's name is Bishop Quesada but I just call him Bishop Quesadilla because it is a funny joke that we have between each other! We speak mais o menos Spanish to each other. This probably sounds weird considering our ward is Polynesian but Bishop actually has a Chilean background.

My companions name is Sister Fafita! She is great, she recently was sick so we had to take her to the doctors. The doctors in Australia is really strange. It could just be a random house in a neighbourhood, but the one we went to was around a lot of shops. She is doing better now! But it was the FIRST time I was flat bound. OH I forgot to say that Sister Chaipinit, my trainer, joined our companionship for the last two weeks of her mission because President wanted to enjoy her last couple of weeks and it has been a DREAM to have her! I feel so lucky that I get to kill my trainer and that my daughter gets to be with her grandmother. Big family reunions happening here in Australia! Ok so Pun and Brendon the first people we talked to in Villawood we are still working with! We love them and we are patiently working with them. Brendon says he gets a ward feeling in his heart when he prays everynight! He use to be atheist! We have an investigator names renee who SOOOO badly wwants to be baptized but her husband has to divorse his ex-wife so that they can get married. They don't have the money to pay for the divorse right now because they have 5 kids but they are saving up! Also, we received a keen refferal from one of the returned missionaries in our ward! She came to stake conference and she came to church again yesterday. She is really sincere and really searching. Yesterday we were talking and she told me, "Ï can feel something different about this church, when i went to another church i felt empty but here i can feel so much peace." Super cool experience. It was interesting because during relief society meeting i felt super prompted by the spirit. I just started using new scriptures because my other scriptures are Sooo worn out, but i carried my old scriptures to church yesterday. My whole heart is in these scriptures. I wish i could describe them better but every page of the Book of Mormon has parts of my testimony written on them. Anyways i felt prompted to give them to our investigator Samantha to use for one week. I turned to her and told her that i wanted her to have my scriptures to help her study. I could see how much this meant to her in her eyes. Yesterday she was supposed to come to hound dog (an event where missionaries and members come together to go and visit) with us at the temple but she stayed home so that she could study the scriptures all Sunday evening. 

Ok so quick spritual thought. This week we had zone conference and my STL companion and I gave a training! It was so much fun. We did a role play all about food and how important it is to follow up. I love this quote from PMG: Extending an invitation without following up is like beginning a journey without finishing it or buying a ticket to a concert without going into the theater. Without the completed action, the commitment is hollow. Then i learned heaps about prayer. Ok ask yourself this question, "When did Jesus Pray?" 

Jesus was always praying. He prayed on the morning before heading to Galilee. He prayed after healin gpeople. Before walking on water. Before peter called Jesus The Christ. He prayed before the transfiguration. He was ALWAYS praying. Here are just a few scriptures i loved about Jesus praying in the Bible. Luke 5:16, Matthew 14:23 Luke 9:18 Matthew 19:13-15 (when he blessed the children) John 17:1-26 Luke 23:34 (when he died on the cross). Now ask yourself this question. If Jesus couldn't live this life without talking to our Heavenly Father, do you really think we could? I know that we can't. My FAVORITE scripture about Jesus praying is found in 3 Nephi chapter 17. I know that when we take care of the Lord's time, he will take care of our time. President Back layed out the time for me. As a Sister Missionary, i oly have 4,215 hours to serve him as a full time misisonary. That is only 547.5 days. I want to stand blameless before God at the last day and hear him say "This is my missionary through and through". I love my Heavenly Father so much. I am learning to Love him more than anything else. I love you all heaps!!! 

Love,

Sister JAKE

P.s. Mum can you send everyone the pictures? Love you XOXO

Sister Kolipoki

I am here in Villawood! So many changes in the last week it has been unreal. Heavenly Father has really blessed me with a peaceful heart this entire week. He really does love us and I testify that Jesus Christ lives. So at the request of my loving parents I am going to try my best to update you on everything! So Villawood is not far from the pool so it is very similar, BUT it's quieter and more peaceful. Probably because we don't live next to the major mall like Liverpool. My companion came straight from the MTC and her name is Sister Fifita. I have accidentally called her "Sister Fahita" numerous times but all is well because she has a great sense of humor which is HEAVEN SENT. I laugh too much and It is more fun when you have someone to laugh with you! She is full tongan and she is from New Zealand. We went grocery shopping and right when we walked in she busted out in dancing to the music that was playing. I laughed so hard and then i was like that's a no no haha. It was hard to leave the pool, but again my heart has just been full of so much peace. On Tuesday i went to the mission home and all the trainers had dinner and we had a big spiritual party. We talked about the work and how we could help these new missionaries to love this sacred calling as much as we do. Then we ate and talked and Sister Back made homemade cookies! These were the first homemade cookies I have had apart from the ones the Johnsons sent me from America haha. Then the next day we met the new missionaries and I took one home! (which I hadn't been to yet haha) So i decided that on our way back to the flat that i was going to have her drop her bags off and then take her tracting without even looking at the area because i wanted her to let go of all her fears and help her to know that we are here to work hard. Guess what? THE FIRST person we talked to ended up becoming a new investigator, he came to church and he has a goal of being baptized the second week of march! MIRACLES! We have had so many lessons in the past 4 days and we are getting to know everyone really well! We went to church yesterday and THE ENTIRE WARD IS POLYNESIAN! I counted 3 other "Palangis". Dreams really do come true. I love Polynesians because they are always so happy. Plus they just laugh and care about the things that really matter. Also, my flatmates are tongan. So America has definitely been defeated and I am officially tongan now. Hence Sister Kolipoki. I see miracles everyday. EVERY. DAY. There was heaps that happened last week too but I can sum it up with ice skating, finding our investigators son who ran away, 5:30 AM workout with bro tekere,miracles, miracles, and more miracles!

Shout out to BROOKE! Sister Carpenter is back to America and she served so so well! Love you so much Brooke! Thanks for being such a great example to me! 

Love,

Sister Jake

better best better better best?

Hey i will email next week! These past few days have been crazy and there are heaps of changes! I am leaving the pool! :( But i am really stoked for the new adventure i am about to embark on. I just wanted to share something i learned this week. A member said to me, " Better better best. May your feet never rest. Until your best is better and your better is best." There is no end to becoming better. 

Love you all!

-Sister Jacobsen

Nemo

Big News. Finding Nemo took place in Australia! And the address "P sherman.. Sydney" actually exists here! I hope my excitement way conveyed through this email! So on Tuesday we celebrated Australia Day! Everybody was drunk, but it was cool because we were able to help people onto trains and some of our investigators opened up and said things they probably didn't want to say that helped us know their needs more haha. Always look on the bright side right? So this week was somewhat slow because we weren't able to have solid lessons with our investigators because of Australia Day and the numerous storms that have been occurring! One minute it will be scorching ant the next minute there will be flash flood and massive bolts of lightning. Pretty fun. One member just came out in his swimmers and stared sliding along the floors because it looked like a pool! We also saved our neighbours flat from burning down on Australia day! BUT THE TIPIWAIS are great! We committed Kylee to read to Chapter 2 and she read to Chapter 12! We committed her and Ricky to be baptized and they said yes! This family is massive! The day they enter into the covenant will be absolutely wonderful! They were able to share their testimonies with us this week about Church! It has really changes their lives. They haven't missed a day of church since this year started! We found out Kylee and Grant aren't married but they've been engaged for 15 years! So their will be a wedding before the baptism :) Good thing they have recently been talking about making it legal! Well i will send some pictures or else i will get in trouble with my mum! Love you all! Transfers are next week and lets hope i stay in the pool! 

Love,

Sister Jake

P.s. Mark 8:35

P.s. Sometimes you have to teach something 7 times in 7 different ways to get someone to do one thing. 

Dawn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA JAKE!

I have no time so i just want to share one experience!

We had gone to a retirement home because a member had asked us to go visit an elderly lady in our ward that lives there. He said that her living conditions are not pleasant and its not the best life so she would really love a visit! We went over right before heading back to the flat on Saturday and it was about 8:20 so we knew we had to be quick. She is partly deaf and is handicap so there would be very minimal communication. We found her corner that she lives in. She shares with another elderly lady and when we walked in we saw her Church clothes hung up and ready to go. The lights were turned on and her face lit up! Dawn was so happy to see us. We said a prayer with her and decided we would sing her a song. We asked her what her favorite hymn was and she yelled out Hymn 219! When we looked up the Hymn it read "Because i have been given much!" She sang the entire song out loud with us. It was special. She has a taxi pick her up to go to and from church everyweek. She has her priorities straight. I can promise you that i learned so much more from that lesson than Dawn ever will. When we got back to the car, i just stared crying. It was a great experience! Other than that our investigators are doing Great! The vision is becoming real. We have ward council members coming with us multiple times a week and Bishop is coming with us this week and we are hoping to make some solid plans.=!

I LOVE YOU ALL! I WILL SEND A BETTER EMAIL NEXT WEEK!

LOVE,

SIS JAKE

Bats and Roaches

My Dearest Family,

I have no time to write. I apologize, but what's new? A couple of really quick updates! Emma received her interview with President Gomez and it was very positive, we still need to talk with her more about how it went! The Tipiwais are really excited for their baptisms, we are still working with Brother Tipiwai, they came again this week and President Back got to meet them. Oh how i love him. He decided to tag along to our ward! They are the BEST NOT THE BACK! We believe Bishop pulled Brother Tipiwai out of Gospel Principles class and interviewed him. We are having dinner with Bishop's family on Wednesday so we will talk to him then! The work is great and i never want to leave.

Update, there are bats, spiders, and cockroaches.  Last night i captured a flying roach and i set it free off the balcany of our flat. Our Neighbor Mick just laughed at me. We accidentally almost went to the sydney opera house on the bus! Have you ever tried making homeade popcorn with coconut oil? It's the best! TRY IT! Today we are going to a tongan farm for P-day! I am way stoked. I AM 10 PAGES AWAY FROM FINISHING THE BOOK OF MORMON! The book is true. I pray time and time again and i get the same answer. I love you all!

Love,

SIS JAKE

P.S. John 14:27

P.S. Ether chapter 12 is great

The only way to win is to lose

Wow this week i just can't even put into words! Ok so update on the Tipiwai family! Yesterday was one for the records, the entire Tipiwai family came to church, they came in a pack of 12! It was so beautiful! I will never forget that sight! So we were talking to the grandchildren about who would want to baptized them and they wanted their grandfather to! He has been Inactive for a while and just recently started coming back, but we asked him and guess what? He wants to! He said that he needs to get back into church though! So we are going over tonight for FHE and one of the ward council members is coming with us on Wednesday to sort things out! I really want to make things happen! I've been fasting because i know we need the Lord's help! This family is ready. It is the time right now!  Also, church switched to 9:00 so we knew it would be hard to get Emma to come but She and Ebony came! She also has recently been staying for the other meetings as well which is great! Emma is still overcoming the WOW. The next date that we extend to her, we want to make sure it happens. The ward is ready for her to become a member as well! We just want to make things happen! I know that conversion takes time and every investigator is different! I could honestly stay in the pool for my entire mission and be immensely happy. President has joked about that but i really would!! 

I hope everyone made goals this week! I actually hadn't received a priesthood blessing yet on my mission aside from the departure from the MTC. Pondering about going into the New Year and the 5th transfer here I felt prompted to receive one! So i did! The blessing was so inspired. In it i was told to make and set goals! It also talked a lot about my future family which i wasn't expecting and it talked about my investigators! SOoo my Goal for this year is to Give my Will to God. You know that scripture that talks about how when you lose yourself you find yourslef? Well i want to lose myself and i know i will do that if i give my will to GOD. The only way to win is to lose! It's funny because when we give back to God we are actually just returning everything that he has already given us. The only thing that we can truly give to him as a gift is our WILL. I also made spiritual, emotional, and physical goals as well but that is my overall goal! I just love how we can ALWAYS progress! I started a miracle Journal and have really enjoyed writing down miracles that i see every day. I read an article about smiling to the blind. It related to miracles and talked about how we just need to open our eyes and we will see them. We can see them TODAY. I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Jacobsen

P.s. Somebody slashed our tires this week along with 5 other cars on the block so guess who is tire changing worthy? Yup it's me! It was actually really fun, and our neighbors are so nice and a bunch of them totally came and helped us! The people are so nice here! 

Also, we are half back on bus! The elders now have the car. I lasted a transfer without giving it to them but now i have lost the fight because the AP's said we will be sharing with the other sisters! I am still working on my humility and prayed for forgiveness for being stubborn! But the BUS is great! I forgot how much i loved it! The only reason why we wanted to keep the car was so that we could see more of our investigators! I will send pictures next week!! Love you heaps!