"The better it gets, the more we owe" -Elder Christofferson

What an OUTSTANDING week! Words can't really describe all the wonderful things that happened this past. It was such a busy week! We had so many meetings! But they were all so AMAZING!

MIRACLES: First off, we have this investigator, Darrell, who has such a desire to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However he hasn't come to church yet so we decided to start reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon with him and it has been wonderful! He already knows a ton about the Bible and it has been a cool experience to see him make connections with the Book of Mormon to the Bible.

We also have been trying a lot of former investigators and oh how we have seen the miracles! they are just flowing in! We have met so many wonderful people and families and I am so excited to be an instrument in Gods hand and help them come closer to Christ!

SATURDAY: The best day of the week! Our whole mission gathered in Tulsa, OK for a joint mission conference/tour with the Arkansas mission where Elder Southward, Elder Robbins and Elder Christofferson were there! There were 390 missionaries total! and all 390 of us before the meeting started got to shake all of their hands! The Lord truly works one by one. The spirit was SO strong and just being in their presence was truly humbling. Its hard to find the words to describe the experience I had on Saturday. All I can say is that I love being a missionary! And I love this gospel and I know it is true! Elder Southward talked about how it can feel overwhelming being a missionary because we are to bring the gospel to the whole world. Matt 28:19-20 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Elder Christofferson later talked about how he and the brethren, also feel overwhelmed. He talked about how there is 15 of them and they have this commission to teach all nations. The Stake President in my area where I am serving talked about how out of 7 billion people and only 15 of them, 1 of them took the time to come here. God is so nice! and the apostles truly know him and represent him.

Elder Christofferson also mentioned that this past Thursday he assigned mission calls to 190 missionaries and 30 couples. How exciting is that! All three of them talked about missionaries and how they love visiting missionaries! They talked about how a special abundance of the spirit is with missionaries, and I would have to say the same for being in their presence! I wish I could share everything I felt that day and learned but I don't have the time. My companion, Sister Caudill shared this with us afterwards. Its from Joseph Smith History at the very end, Oliver Cowdery talking and she said this sums up how we felt. I definitely agree with her. “I shall not attempt to paint to you the feelings of this heart, nor the majestic beauty and glory which surrounded us on this occasion; but you will believe me when I say, that earth, nor men, with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage. No; nor has this earth power to give the joy, to bestow the peace, or comprehend the wisdom which was contained in each sentence as they were delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind. The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel (apostle), the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God, is to me past description, and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior’s goodness with wonder and thanksgiving while I am permitted to tarry; and in those mansions where perfection dwells and sin never comes, I hope to adore in that day which shall never cease.”—Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1834), pp. 14–16.

Have a blessed week! Thanks for all the prayers and support! 

All my love,

Sister Jackson

We played "pie face" at a members, except they didn't have any whip cream so we used our dinner instead, noodles! haha

Wonderful Week!!!

I can't believe its been another week already. It was a wonderful week indeed! A couple miracles from this past week!!

1. We met with Connie a couple times this week in preparation for her baptism this past Saturday! In one of her lessons we were talking about temples and how after she is baptized she can go to the temple and be baptized for her ancestors. She said, "I knew he was a loving and merciful God but I didn't ever know the depth of his love." That really touched me! Heavenly Fathers love is real! He loves us all, so much! More than we ever know! Her baptism was on Saturday! It was beautiful! All her family was there to support her and the spirit was so strong! She was just glowing after she came up out of the water and smiling the most sincere smile ever. Watching her prepare for  this day has been a wonderful experience. She strengthens my testimony every time I meet with her. She just radiates the spirit!

2. I was able to go on exchanges with the Spanish sisters this past week and I went to 'Spanish land.' And what a tender mercy! They had 3 appointments set up and I don't know any Spanish, so I wouldn't be any help! It turned out that 2 of the 3 knew English!! It was such a wonderful day! I have such wonderful hermanas in my district! I love them all!

3. I had a missionary meeting last night! It was wonderful! I learned so much! They talked about our relationships with the members and our companions. And how important they all are! They mentioned how we represent Christ all the time! 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." I LOVE being a missionary and a disciple of Jesus Christ! He puts His trust in us and we need to put our trust in Him.

I hope yall have a blessed week! Remember that we are all sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father! 

All my love,

Sister Jackson

Connie baptism 

Some of the sister missionaries in my district 

Our district went to the Oklahoma zoo for p-day. 

All the Sisters in my district 

Hey Yall!

What a blessed week!! God is SO good! I have two experiences that I want to share this week... The first one is about Christine! She was baptized on Saturday! And what a tender experience that was. To see a 92 year old enter the waters of baptism and become a member of the church! Her daughter is a member and shared this experience yesterday in fast and testimony meeting. The daughter has been a member for 41 years now. She was baptized when she was 12. And this past October her mom got a blood clot in her leg and the doctor said they were going to have to amputate it. Christine received a blessing and the clot was gone. The doctors were amazed! This experienced touched Christine. And in January she started taking the missionary lessons. It has been such a spiritual experience to teach her. To hear her mom testify of the gospel in the lessons and how they can be a family forever has touched my heart! And on Saturday I got to see her son in law baptize her. To see Christine so happy and the sweetest smile I have ever seen on her face afterwards. It was a precious day :)

The second one is about Connie! She is getting baptized on Saturday! I have never met someone so excited to be baptized! She has been reading the Book of Mormon every day! and listening to past Conference talks, reading True to the Faith! and much more! She strengthens my testimony every time I see her! Her faith in Christ is so strong! She has been smoking for about 40 years and this past Wednesday she committed to stop smoking. That was the last thing she needed to do in preparation to be baptized! On Tuesday she took all her coins/savings and used the money to buy the things she needed to stop smoking. We introduced her to this stop smoking in a week program! and she is doing it! She is amazing! Her and her husband both stopped smoking and having been cleaning their whole house to get rid of the smell! She is an inspiration! 

On the 20th of this month, my whole mission is going to Tulsa for a mission conference and Elder Christofferson is coming! I am so excited! and I have been out on my mission for just about 8 months! Isn't that crazy! I LOVE being a missionary so much! I am so grateful that I have this time to be a missionary serving the Lord in Oklahoma! Have a blessed week :)

All my love,

Sister Jackson

Is it February already?!

What a crazy week! So much has happened this past week! Such wonderful things! First off, I was able to go to the temple! I LOVE the temple! Second, we had a HUGE miracle! More like a little angel girl named Alyssa :) We were doing some tracting in an apartment complex and after we knock on a door there is this little 9 year old Alyssa behind. She asks us if we are Church people. We say yes and she asks us what we do. So we start talking to her about the gospel and the Book of Mormon. We show her the picture of Christ at the front and quickly says, "can I have that?" We of course give it to her! and then she turns and walks away... We are just in awe at this little girl who is walking away from us and we quickly say, "Alyssa can we come talk with you and your parents more about this?" She then takes us to her parents who weren't free at the time so we part our separate ways. But just a little bit later we see her again! She then ends up taking us around the WHOLE apartment complex pointing out people for us to talk to who will listen to us. She was an angel! She would stop and talk to the people she knew and told them "You need to listen to these Jesus people...(and then point to us) precede" and then she would have us talk to them haha When we left the apartment complex she was showing the pictures in the Book of Mormon to another little boy. So cute! 

Funny Moment: In that same apartment complex a couple people thought we were from DCFS haha they would start talking to us about how their children are fine. It was really strange! Its kind of a sketch apartment complex.

Another miracle! One of our investigators who is preparing for baptism is AMAZING! Her name is Connie. Her husband has been a member since he was 8 and they have been married for over 40 years! and she is now getting baptized! Just a couple months ago she noticed she was missing something in her life and she started praying and then sister missionaries showed up! She has such a strong testimony! She knows it is true and is already sharing it with those around her! Please keep her in your prayers!

 Lastly here is a little thought... Alma 62:41 "But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war [day] between the Nephites and the Lamanites [with our family] many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war [day]; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility." This scripture applies so much to us! It can be replaced with really anything that we are going through [exceedingly great length of the week, month, job,etc]. It shows how we can either become hardened or softened because of the experiences and situations that we are going through. Its about our attitude! Remember we are on God's side and with that we have every reason to smile and be happy! Because God loves us!

Have a blessed week!

All my love,

Sister Jackson

This is my zone at the Oklahoma City temple :)

This sweet family in our ward saw our car parked by their house and left us water and granola bars! So kind of them!

This is Christine our investigator getting baptized on Saturday! She is so cute :) We do puzzles with her.