Wow, this week was amazing! It was so incredible to see Sister Abigail Guzman enter the waters of baptism and make her first covenant with God. The Spirit was so strong there at the service and it was an amazing feeling to see her shear joy as she came out of the water and say that she felt like she had left her old life behind. She was beaming and was so grateful for the love and support she has received from members as she has taken these steps toward the Savior.
My testimony of goals really grew this week. It is so true, when we set goals by the Spirit, and we do all we can to accomplish them, the Lord will step in and give us the grace we need to succeed. I really came to know the Savior as I saw, on more than one occasion, us or others, make a commitment, and even though the odds seem against us, we persevered in faith and somehow we were able to reach our goal, just as He did. He didn't doubt that He could accomplish what His Father had asked of Him, and neither did we. We didn't think that it would be possible to get everything taught and help Sister Guzman be ready and worthy to be baptized this past Sunday, but we had prayerfully set the date when we first started teaching her and we made a commitment in MLC to do so as well, and even though we concerned, we decided to move forward with the commitment we had made. As the day of the scheduled baptism grew closer, we were praying earnestly that we could have miracles placed in our path so that things could fall into place and our goals could be accomplished. I can testify that the Lord will always step in. He did for us, and everything worked out. We were able to meet our goals, and it was all possible because of the Lord. It reminded me of what I read in 3 Nephi this week about the Nephite Governor Lachoneus (just like the name of the best missionary ever!). He receives an epistle from the leader of an opposing group of people who are bent on destroying them. The leader tries to illustrate that the only two options are to either surrender to this opposing group or to be destroyed at him. Lachoneus' reaction struck me. He was not intimidated by the demands of a "robber". We may feel like it is impossible to choose the right, but we always can choose God, and if we do, we will be delivered. Even though the world was telling me I would either have to accept not reaching my goals or altering them, I didn't give in and was able to receive divine help for choosing the right. I am forever grateful for the power that the Atonement brings into our lives.
Thank you so much for the wonderful care package via the Lords. It is so great to have that picture. It really warmed my heart. And as always, I love having a Lego advent calendar. Thank you so much!
It was so cool to see the Wattersons and the Lords. They are wonderful people. I am grateful for the Spirit they carry. It was a little strange to have a piece of home here, but it was a good kind of strange. Sometimes I forget how close I really am to home. But it was awesome to see them! I'm glad they are doing well!
I'm glad that you are feeling the Spirit so strongly to motivate you to continue to do family history and temple work. I feel that temple work is really just flying forward.
Our Thanksgiving was awesome! We ate with the Senior Couple in our Ward, the Holyoaks (from Cedar City) and the Rodriguez family. The Rodriguezes fixed amazing food. I loved it. It was a lovely time and I felt very at home. We also played a tooooon of Turkey bowl (I'm still sore) with some awesome families (including one of my personal favorites: the Harris family) and had a fun evening of games with all the missionaries. The month of November has flooooown by. I can't believe it! It's unreal. I'll be calling home in no time! Wow. This week has really been strange. I've felt like I will always be a missionary, but now it is getting real that I won't be forever! I want to make the most of it!
Love you!!!!
Your Elder Jackson :)
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