Week 37: There is Sunshine in my Soul today!!

I love Washington so much!!! I love the sun, the people are so funny, and well I get to do the Lords work-so what could make me happier? 

This week was a lot of fun, all the hard work is starting to pay off! This is the last week of the Seven week Transfer. It has been so crazy! Back to hard work. I think this is one thing that is important to remember, is that you will go through trials and tribulations. Now whether they are trials of doubting who you are, or if you Father is Heaven is really there, or just nothing can seem to go right with whatever you try we will all go through something. But the real test isn't if you are able to make it through these situations. We are all going to make it out of something but do we keep Christ the center of our lives and continue to pray to our Heavenly Father. I have been reading this month’s Ensign and fist off it is AMAZING!!! The talk that has stuck with me the most is called "The Redeeming and the Strengthening Power of the Atonement"(Click here to read this talk) By Elder Kim B. Clark. In the talk he not only talks about the importance of the Atonement and that if we allow it to change us and a situation it can. In it he talks about Obedience. Obedience has become one of my all-time favorite things to learn, study, and apply! One of my all-time favorite quotes is from President Ezra Taft Benson he says, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." there is so much truth and power to that quote. Elder Kim B. Clark says, "The great key to developing heart-and-soul obedience is to be obedient in small and simple things, like keeping the Sabbath day holy, saying our prayers, telling the truth, paying our tithing, following the Word of Wisdom, being kind to others, avoiding profanity, and honoring our promises. Remember, obedience in small things creates a spirit of obedience in all things. Moreover, obedience in small things brings the Spirit into our lives and strengthens our faith in Christ and our resolve to do His will. It opens our hearts to Him and blesses us with the strength and discipline to withstand temptations to violate the law of chastity, succumb to greed and materialism, or fall into apostasy. Obedience in small things prepares us to give our hearts to the Lord so that we will accept and fulfill the increasingly demanding personal assignments and commandments that come to us from the Lord throughout our lives." 

When we are obedient the Holy Ghost is able to be with us and that is when we are able to become a blessing in others’ lives and doing the things that our Father needs us to do. Most importantly we KNOW that he is there! It is such a beautiful concept.

Elle, Jager, and Sister Barletta

Miracles really do happen when you are obedient and you wait it out. The Lord has so many prepared people in Washington and we have had a successful week or sharing and being able to find three people who have accepted a date for baptism! It has been crazy to see how much the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does strengthen your family. I don't think I saw it as home because that is all I have ever had and most everyone around me had it also. But coming to where it is very uncommon I have really learned to appreciate having eternal Families and knowing about the Plan of Salvation and that Repentance is real. That is the cool thing, we have the solution for all problems and so we have to shout it to the world. 

Two side notes to end this letter. First I guess I have a really strong accent and I am told this by quite a few people. Second Dads beard is quite the hit in the mission....I love it to! I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week!

Elle with Sister Foster

Week 36: Grateful to Wear The Tag!

Sisters Dalley, Barletta, Elle, and Shattuck

I can honestly say that I love, love, love the sun shine! Now the heat, if this is something that has to come with the sun I guess I can get over it- but....oh I love the sun. 

This week was so crazy busy! We had two exchanges and then Mission Leader Counsel on Thursday. So Sister Barletta and I were only in the area together for a couple of days.  Even though we were only in our area for a couple of days miracles happened! Miracles always happen, but the thing is...it has been a long time coming! 

First off Patty is on date!!! Happy day! It is for June 4th and I am so excited! She said she is either going to be all in or not at all. Well, she is all in! So now we get to keep working with her. The cool thing with her is she is really doing this for herself and for no one else. She started to learn from the missionaries a little over a year ago and has been reading the Book of Mormon consistently and really is searching for an answer! I have a front row seat to being able to watch people come to know the truth for themselves and make the decision to come unto their Father in Heaven and follow our Savior Jesus Christ! I am one lucky girl, well missionary; but you get the point.

Then our Recent Convert just got engaged to someone who doesn't believe in Mormons and will not talk to us. But that's a long story in and of its self. I congratulated him and so the wedding will be in five years.

Elle and Hermana Richey

Exchanges were so much fun! I love getting to go and learn from other Sisters and figure out ways that I can become a better missionary! It is da-best! I got to go with Hermana Richey; she is in training right now but is so smart! She knows her stuff.  It is too bad we don't like to Bible bash because she would be good at it. But that is beside the point. I don't speak Spanish and so she was on her own pretty much most of the time. She had so much fun and came away from it knowing she was a good missionary! SUCCESS!! 

We then had Mission Leader Counsel which makes for a long day, a six and a half hour meeting. I know, I know, you are all so jealous of me because you didn't get to join in. Well that is okay you don't need to be. 

Then Exchanges with Sister Washburn!!! I love that Sister So much! It is first off nice to be with someone who is the same height! Selfish wish, I don't think so. I am really not that tall but it is hard to find someone I don't have to look down to. I got to spend the day in Everett! The sun was out and so we walked everywhere, well when it wasn't 6 miles away but it was so nice. Everyone one was outside enjoying the sun because their spring break had started. So there were a lot of people to talk to.

Elle and Sister Washburn

I don't know how I got so lucky to get to serve a mission but I did! I love it so much out here in Washington and am grateful every day that I am able to put my name tag on and be a representative of Jesus Christ. I have the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest missionaries that have ever lived! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Elder Autuia, I don't know how to spell his name! He is so stinken awesome!

 So sad that he will be going home in a few weeks

Elder Gonzalez. He was my zone leader when I got to Lake Stevens.

 Then we got transfered to Lynnwood together for a transfer and he was 

my District Leader But this transfer he was moved to Sonohomish 

to be the zone leader there. almost spent half of my mission with this elder!

Sisters Dalley, Barletta, Elle, and Shattuck.

Week 35: General Conference!

This week went by super quick! It had to be because of General Conference, which was amazing!!!! It is so cool we are able to listen to Prophets and Apostles, men called from God to lead and guide us! It is so funny how excited I get when General Conference is coming around! But I think there are certain things said in Conference that are meant just for us that no one else catches. Our Heavenly Father truly knows where we are and what we are going through. Although we were only able to listen to the prophet for a short time how great was that time.

I think that one of my favorite things said was by Elder Holland. He said, "[Lucifer] knows he can't improve, he can't progress, that worlds without end he will never have a bright tomorrow. He is a miserable man bound by eternal limitations, and he wants you to be miserable, too. Well, don't fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is that we get credit for trying, even if we don't always succeed. Remember, the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christ-like virtues and strive to acquire them."

I love that he said we get credit for trying even if we don't always succeed! How amazing is that! All we have to do is try! This is something we have been asked to do since we were little so it is not like it is anything new and shocking.

Exchanges With Sister Shattuck.

We have so many amazing Missionaries in the Washington Everett Mission! I am so thankful I get to go on exchanges with them all! Sister Shattuck is so amazing! She is from Utah and has been on her mission....this is her second transfer. She is so bubbly and out-going.  She  is going to do some amazing things! I learned so many things from her. We were able to go and teach the Law of Chastity together to our Recent Convert James and she had only taught it once before, she did so amazing! It is awesome when a missionary and I go on exchanges and have never taught together and it all just clicks! BLESSINGS!!

Then I got to go on an Exchange with Sister Foster!!! It was so much fun to be able to go on an Exchange with her! Everything just clicks and we get the work done. We actually had the chance to put up a fence for some of her members. She is serving in Monroe and it is so cute! I loved it! I had a lot of fun going out and doing some yard work like that! One of my favorite things as a missionary is the fact that I get to talk to everyone! Certainly when the person that you are with is spunky and loves it to! 

General Conference

I am excited to see what this busy week has in store for us! I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week! Enjoy SPRING BREAK!

Week 34: Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Why is it that Easter Sunday is such an amazing day?! Well the answer is because we know that we will all be resurrected and live with our Heavenly Father and Family again! What a great knowledge that we have! Being able to share that knowledge is such a blessing and I love it so much! 

This last week was so awesome! One of our investigators, Sherri, has been able to make a new friend in the ward with Sister Holthem. I am so thankful for members, it helps when investigators can make friends so they feel welcome in the ward. Because we missionaries are terrible friends...we don't go to the Movies, or Bowling and we can't stay over very long. Oh and we are moving in and out more then you can believe. But that is okay because members make the best friends! Anyways, Sister Holthem invited her to the General Women's Broadcast and Sherri was super excited but she missed her ride and didn't make it. General Conference is this week so she will have another chance! 

We had a FHE with Patty and her family, Sister Woolley and her daughter came to, but leading to the actual FHE was crazy. I, Sister Jackson am not too creative when it comes to FHE's and so I did what any desperate person would do...we drove to our WML's house and knocked on the door. He answered, we asked for his wife. She was not home sadly and so we asked him if he could get on Pinterest and look up some FHE ideas! He was a good sport and did a wonderful job helping us to find a good FHE, we did the Popcorn Olympics! It ended up being a lot of fun and everyone was happy to eat popcorn after! We talked about how everyone is different and has different talents and that we should use and share them, just like every piece of popcorn is different and it would be boring if they were the same let alone perfect pieces. She might be getting baptized on June 4th! Fingers crossed! 

The General Women's Broadcast was amazing!! I do wish that it was two hours long though. I loved how focused the meeting was on service and serving the refugees! I am so thankful for the the chance that we have to listen to the General Authorities and how we are able to have a Prophet and Apostles today!! Honestly such a blessing! I can't wait for Conference this next weekend!

Yesterday I also spoke in Church on the Grace of Christ. I studied the talk given my Brad Wilcox,  'His Grace is Sufficient', it's an amazing talk. (Video Address of Brad Wilcox Talk, Click Here.) (Written Address of Brad Wilcox Talk, Click Here.)

I hope that you all had an awesome Easter! I am so happy for you Nick! You now have the Priesthood!! How cool is that! I love you and am so proud of you for being worthy and making the decision to get it! 

I love you all and hope that you have a week! I hope that Conference weekend is better then you can imagine! Don't forget go with a question or two! 

I love you all!  

Week 33: The Sun is Real!!!

Elle and Sister Barletta at the lake. Not sure which lake.

So first off I am loving Lynnwood! It was a big change going from suburbs and "almost Country" to apartments and more apartments. But I love it! I have met so many amazing people and love them so much! It is a lot easier when you make your own Sunshine as well!

Hosmman and Gabby are my favorite people in the entire world. They are and will forever been some really good friends. I don't know if I have ever told you about them but we met Hosmman while reading the Book of Mormon with James, a Recent Convert outside on the stair case. Hosmman asked what we were doing which started an amazing conversation about the church! He said we could stop by and well the rest is history. Every time that we go over there they have the best questions in the entire world! They also believe a lot of the same things we believe. We are working on helping them read the Book of Mormon because by reading it, this is how a person can know if the church is true or not. They love learning which makes it a lot of fun to be able to go and to teach.

Sister Barletta and Elle.

Sherri is doing good, She loves having us over. It is just because she "feels good" whenever we come over, which is the Spirit, not us!! The fact she can recognize and feel it is awesome! 

Patty is doing really good! I can only imagine how hard it is to be a mom working full time, getting a new job, and going to school and still making time for the missionaries can be super stressful. The blessings that come from it are amazing! 

It is going to be such an awesome week and I am excited to see the miracles and blessings Heavenly Father has in store for us and Lynnwood! 

In case you forgot the General Women Broadcast is this weekend!! Which means General Conference is almost here!! We are so lucky to be able to listen to the words of Prophet and Apostles. Having the fullness of the Gospel is just the biggest blessing in the entire world. That is one of the AMAZING things about a mission is I get to share this forgotten or unknown truth with all those I see and who will listen. 

I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week! 

Looks as though someone is getting ready for the Zombie Apocalypse.

Spring is such an amazing time.

Creepy Ice Cream Van.

Week 32: What Day is it?

Sister Barletta and Elle soaking wet, helping at the food bank.

So I continue to mix up my days. Saturday I thought it was Wednesday and I guess hadn't realized that a couple days have passed. Time in the mission is so much different from anything I think I have ever experienced! Which is a good and bad thing but when I figure out how to tell "time in the mission" I will let everyone know. This week has been a really nice week. We only had one really bad rain and wind storm that knocked out the power. Luckily our apartment was safe, so therefore everyone is going to be safe and have power. Actually this was not the case. We were leaving to an appointment and most of the street lights on 164th decided they were going to stop working. So traffic was backed up so bad but that’s okay, well not really but there is no point in getting frustrated over something so simple. 

We had an awesome week this week! Transfers were on Tuesday and so all of the new Missionaries got to come in and everyone who was switching companions. Sister Barletta and I are still together so we didn't have to worry about transfers. At Zone Meeting the next day our Zone almost doubled! It was super crazy! Some areas were split in two and they also decided to mix the Spanish Missionaries with the English ones. I don't know how it is going to work but I am willing to try anything. So it is nice we only lost two missionaries. Hermana Clark is in my district. I am way excited, she is a very good missionary and so I am excited to get to learn from her. 

Typical rainy day in Washington.

Wednesday we had a normal rain storm which had me soaked from head to toe. The work doesn't stop just because of rain so we were able to go and actually find Sherri! We are super excited to start teaching her. She was in a coma for a couple of months because of a heart attack. She returned back home for Christmas. We talked to her husband, he isn't interested. However Sherri said if she comes to know that it is all true she is going to be baptized! If we do our job right and invite the spirit and she uses her agency right everything is going to be just fine! 

Saturday was the last day of the Play. I think I was ready for it to be over. We spent all day Saturday there and well we knew all of the things that were going to happen. Sister Jackson was not meant to be a part of drama. It was cool because we got to talk to a lot of different people and share some little bits of the Gospel with them. It will be nice to get back to normal missionary work!

Some of the missionaries who participated in the play.

Sunday, Sundays are not relaxing days, but this is okay because I love being super busy. We got invited to go and have dinner with President and Sister Bonham. One of the Sisters we are STL's (Sister Training Leaders) over is having a really hard time, she got here on Tuesday. So they had invited them over and didn't want it to be awkward so we were invited. I'll take that as they like us the most... HAHA

I am super excited to see what this week has in-store for us! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! I hope the Cultural Celebration goes well! Oh, and Happy 12th Birthday to Nick! I am super excited you are going to be getting the priesthood! Keep doing what Heavenly Father needs you to do and you will be the happiest person I know! 

This is Pastor Gary...He is super cool!

 We get to spend a couple hours with him on 

Wednesdays at the food bank. 

At the play.

Week 31: Puppy-Monkey-Baby!!!

Elle and Sister Barletta in their new mission car.

So this last week, Wednesday night, we were at a members having dinner and the Dad stared to say, "Puppy-Monkey-Baby, Puppy- Monkey-Baby." We were so confused and then told we wouldn't understand unless we saw the Super Bowl.  Well we didn't see the Super Bowl. Which is just fine but I think this was the weirdest thing in the entire world! I mean what the heck is a Puppy-Monkey-Baby? I don't have to worry about it! HA HA- It’s not missionary work. 

We had a good week this last week! It was super crazy with the play and having to be there every night that it was playing. But that is okay, it is so good!! I had no idea how much work was put into putting on a play! The stress and the drama are so funny!  Although watching all the stress and drama after a while starts to stress me out. So I sit in the back and sing along to the songs and dance. Let’s just say they probably wish I was their lead performer, NOT! But it was amazing! So much hard work has been put into it and I don't think it could get any better. What is cool is that a lot of members have brought there non-member friends. So at intermission, before the show, and after the show we are able to go and talk with EVERYONE! Which is one of the best parts about being a missionary.

We were able to find a couple more investigators this last week and they are both so funny!  One of them grew up a Jehovah Wittiness and is really interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  One concern he has it why would his parents teach him something that wasn't right? I think this is a great concern, because no parent knowing what is right and what is wrong would purposely teach their child something incorrect. That's the thing though, they didn't teach him false information, they taught him what they knew. They were able to teach him part of the truth, everyone has truth but the only difference is no one has the full truth like we do. It is through the Prophet Joseph Smith with the Restoration of the Gospel we are able to have the fullness of the Gospel. All of it! We have the exact same church that Jesus Christ established! 

Then our other investigator Casey loves to learn about all different religions. We actually went to go see a potential given to us from the assistants, when we knocked on the door her husband answered and said the person didn't live there and that they weren't interested. Well a week or two later we went and knocked on the door. We couldn't remember if we knocked it and after we knock we remembered and his wife Casey answered and we started talking. After a couple of weeks of being friends she let us in and we have been able to talk to her about the church!  She loves it and agrees with all of it. She thought that we worshiped Joseph Smith and so that was the only hang up. Once we were able to resolve that concern she has been hunky dory with everything else! She loves the fact that we told her we were not the teachers but the spirit was, and that we wanted her to go and ask Heavenly Father if what we were saying was true. Just as directed in Moroni 10:3-5 (she loved those scriptures).

It has been an awesome week! I have felt so much better, so thank you so much for the prayers and everything! There must be opposition in all things! How else would you appreciate the good? It would be as though we were in the Garden of Eden still. But I love you all and hope you have a good week! Happy Birthday to Jeff, and Zack and then Riley and Becky this next week!