Sad Goodbyes

Some of the coolest missionaries I know!

This week I came to know the Savior more as I studied His teachings to the apostles regarding growing faith and overcoming doubts. I was again baffled by the complete lack of of doubt that the Savior had. He was in the same situations that the apostles were in (such as casting out devils or walking on the water) but was able to do so much more than them because he did not have any doubt. He believed completely in Himself and knew He was doing His Father's will. I was really excited to learn more about this and to start applying it. I need to have more faith so that I can be the tool through which miracles can happen. 

Things are going well here in Lasselle and Ironwood. I am excited for all the good things that happening. We are having a lot of member involvement, people at church, etc. It is great! I'm pumped. We are having a baptism this Sunday!

I am really sad that President and Sister Mullen are leaving this Friday. It will be an interesting transition. We'll see how it goes! I sustain my leaders though. I know President Hammon is called of God. 

It has been waaaaayy hot here. Yesterday was 111. But water helps! 

We had a few missionaries come home here in Moval so they are way excited to help us out and give us referrals. You are right, the responsibility to share the gospel is actually not on the missionaries, but it is on the members. The members are to find and the missionaries are to teach. The more members do missionary work, the more the church grows. The counsel given all throughout the D&C in regards to missionary work is for all members, not just missionaries. 

Tell the family hi for me! I am excited to see them all. I hope they can all be at the airport when I arrive. I got my itinerary this week from President Mullen during my exit interview. Ahhh it was so spiritual but it is also so sad. I will be so bummed when my mission comes to an end. It's getting real. This is my last transfer. Ever. It's sad. 

Here's a sample of a Samoan dinner and some shirts I designed for the mission! The Justs are some of the coolest missionaries I know and they are heading home this week :(

Love you so much! 

Love,

Your Elder Jackson :) 

Brother Samuelu, "He's the coolest!"

 This week was absolutely fantastic. I was really taught a lot by the Lord. Last week I realized that my effort could use some work so I set out at the start of last week to push as hard as I could this week and to qualify more for the Holy Ghost. Long story short, I am prideful and need to humble myself and I need to grow my faith more by being more diligent and finish my mission sprinting. I just need to make sure I don't forget this important lesson over the next few weeks!

I have been focusing on increasing my faith by asking the Lord in prayer every morning to lead me to those I can baptize and to help me be able to treat this day as if it's my only day to serve Him. I also have been asking what I need to study multiple times during my personal study both for myself and my investigators. I honestly forgot to do it many times but I did notice a big difference in my attitude and the Spirit I felt during the week. I realize how easy it is to plateau and unless we are constantly looking for ways God wants us to improve, we will start digressing in our progression (Alma 37:41).  We saw some miracles in the Samoan ward this week by being led to a really cool set of cousins. We felt strongly to stop by this one family but they were not there and we talked to the younger cousins instead. We taught them the message of the Restoration and they accepted! It was awesome. We also were blessed to find some way cool people in the Lasselle Ward. We had 3 of them show up to church too! It is a huge blessing. 

It is crazy to think that there in only a week and a half left of having President and Sister Mullen as my Mission President and wife. They go home the last day of June. It's sad! I'm going to miss them. We had a really good multi-zone conference this week in which they said goodbye to us and shared their testimonies, advice and the Doctrine of Christ. It was powerful. 

I agree, I think the amount of time I have home will be perfect. Not too long or too short. I hope I can adjust in that amount of time. It is also really nice to know where I will be living and to have that all taken care of.

It is hot here but I think I've adjusted. We went hiking this morning and it got up to almost 100 by the time we finished and I didn't notice. I guess 4 years in this kind of heat makes it not seem so bad! 

I am really determined to give it my all these last few weeks I have left! I love you so so much and I hope you have a fantastic week! Stay safe and enjoy your travels! Love you!!

Your Elder Jackson :)

This week was a very interesting one. First off, I honestly feel like the Lord was letting me know all throughout the week that He was expecting more out of me. I was pushing hard but not giving my whole 100% effort, and He let me know he wanted all 100%. After some pondering and prayer and talking with my companion, Elder Broadhead, I identified the things that I should work on. We started pushing with full-steam and it was really cool how my whole attitude changed. It's funny how sometimes you have to relearn things many times. I felt the Spirit in so much of a greater abundance. The miracles started to come again and I again felt like the Lord trusted us.

I was reading in Alma 37 and 38 this week where Alma is counseling his sons. I really enjoyed how he was telling his son Helaman that he must stay focused and diligent or else, just like Lehi's family, he would wander and not progress in his journey. To his son Shiblon he counseled that he stay faithful and steady so the Lord would continue to bless him (endure to the end). I was led to Alma 25:15-16 which taught me that obedience builds faith in Christ. His obedience also brought Alma (and God) great joy. Our diligence and obedience bring about 3 major things that I see: 1) blessings from God 2) makes God and our leaders and loved ones joyful and 3) builds our faith in Christ, which faith is a requisite component of the doctrine of Christ, which is what we must live to be saved. It blew my mind. My whole outlook on obedience was changed (again). It motivated me to be increasingly more obedient and to not slacken, especially now at the close of my mission. I will admit, it's tougher to stay focused and diligent now with all that will be happening in the coming months, but I see now that I cannot afford to do anything other than sprint to the end. I cannot give God a satisfactory answer if I do not. I have seen miracles in my mission, and there is no reason I can't have more of them. I am excited to continue applying what I learned last week in this upcoming week so I can start on my journey once again and not wander aimlessly in the wilderness.

I hope your week is the best! Here are some pictures and a video from our service at March Field Air Museum and one of the ginormous cargo planes taking off, as well as one with my ZL Elder Whiting.

Love you tons!

Your Elder Jackson :) 

We had a great Memorial Day. We went to the Riverside National Cemetery (it is huuuuuuuge! It has to be over a few square miles of just thousands and thousands of graves). It was awesome. We went through and picked up flags that had been placed on each grave. It's amazing how many people have served this country to keep it safe. There was also a really cool Medal of Honor memorial there that we checked out. America is the coolest. 

I feel like a real missionary now that I've been bit by a dog. Thankfully I don't have rabies and it doesn't look like it will get infected (Boy Scouts does come in handy!). The bite only went a little in and wasn't too intense. Maybe it will leave a cool scar that I can make my mission seem super intense when I'm dating haha. But it was totally worth it because afterward, the lady who owns the dog let us in and we were able to have a fantastic lesson. She accepted a baptismal date (Elder Broadhead is getting really good at inviting!) and to read the Book of Mormon. She came to church yesterday as well and really enjoyed it! Her name is Crystal R. and she is a NICU nurse at Loma Linda and is a very good friend with our former Bishop's wife, who also works there. She is also good friends with members who live across the street. She has had missionaries talk to her before but apparently they had never invited her to learn more. She quickly accepted it and said she has always had questions she has wanted answered. It's amazing how much the Lord really does bless us when we believe that there are people out there who are ready to receive the gospel. 

March Air Force Base Museum service.

We met a guy who played basketball at BYU but who is not a member. It was kind of cool to hear about his experience there. He is still not of our faith but is very involved in a church. 

Elder Broadhead is doing very well! I am very impressed with him and his skills. He is getting very comfortable with talking to people  on the streets now and in lessons. I couldn't be happier with my companion.

Things are going great! I'm trying really hard to stay focused because honestly it is a little tough with how soon I will be coming home. But I've decided to only think about school stuff on Mondays and to not think about anything non-productive so that I can push hard to the end. I had a missionary tell me about a year ago that once you start to get to the last few months, its incredibly hard to focus with all that is running around in your mind with what is just around the corner and I agree. But I won't let that hold me down! I am going to finish strong! 

Love,

Your Elder Jackson :)