Monday, September 30, 2013
Pics of Sister Jamison September 30, 2013
September 30, 2013 - Lake Reams
Hey,
So this week was pretty good, we have been the in apartment a
lot because of my neck and me having to rest all the time and such, but that's
ok. Tomorrow I start physical therapy and all I can say is I can't wait.
Yesterday though after church Sister Deaver, in our ward who is also a massage
therapist, came over and worked on my neck and shoulder for a good hour and it
felt sooo good! It was so nice of her! She also told me a lot of things I can
do to help myself get better quicker, which is good! Umm lets see... So
awesome, k so a less active in our ward who I told you about awhile ago
Christian Casquete (the one who came to church with us a month ago and bore his
testimony) well he came yesterday and he brought his kids too! It was so
awesome! His mom Sister Casquete has become active again as of like almost 2
months now, which is so great, and finally Christian is coming too! We were so
excited to see him there and with the kids and we are preparing to have his
children baptized I believe the 3rd Saturday of October, we are still working
out the details, but I really hope so because I don't know if I will be here
another transfer, but very possible now because I have to go to PT and I can't
just up and leave the area! So we will see, Fabio is also doing well, he was at
church for sacrament meeting and then had to go to work, but he is excited for
his baptism. He still has a few concerns, but the Portuguese elders are working
with him on that and he seems to be doing just fine, we will see though!
Loretta has been doing
very well too! She is keeping all of her commitments and really thinking about
everything that we teach her, she also came with us to the Relief Society
Broadcast on Saturday (which by the way was AMAZING!!!!!!!!) And she seemed to
really enjoy herself. Our stake here is seriously so awesome, they did a whole
program before the broadcast that was centered around good works and they
talked about the accomplishments that the Orlando South Stake, man and let me
tell you the Relief Society in O South is amazing! They are always doing
volunteer work for the community, and now they have adopted 2 title one
elementary schools and they are teaming up with all religions around this area
to get volunteers to go and help at these schools. It all sounds so cool I wish that we could go with them! But
that's ok they are awesome. They also made tons of yummy treats to eat before
the broadcast, which is always a super bonus. Man I loved the broadcast it was
so inspired! and it seriously was perfect for Loretta, and President Monson
always, always gives such good talks and great stories, I love that man!
Keeping our covenants is so important to the Lord, we show our love for Him and
our willingness to live as the Savior did as we keep our covenants. That is one of the
coolest changes I see when a person is converted to the gospel, they get
excited to be baptized because they realize that they are making a promise with
the Lord and that it is what He would have them do. Each baptism I've been
too and each baptism I have had that is always a recurring theme. I can't even
explain what it feels like to watch someone’s life change because they have
come closer to the Savior, and to see how it impacts them for good. You just
feel so happy and overjoyed to see that because of you or other missionaries
the rest of their life here and eternally have completely changed. I could go
on and on and I still couldn't explain it right! I am so excited for conference I can hardly
wait! I have been fasting and praying to prepare myself and because I know that
the Lord has a message He wants to be heard, but to receive it we HAVE TO
prepare. In Omni verses 25-26 he is closing his statements and encouraging the
people to fast and to pray so that they might be prepared for the message that
King Benjamin is to give (Mosiah 2-5) Elder Holland said if we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one
of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle
just to you" and I know this to be true, all those that speak in general
conference pray and fast continually for the message they are to give that they
may be lead by the spirit to say those things that the Lord would have his
people know, then why shouldn't we pray and fast continually to receive the
indented message by the same spirit of the speaker! I hope you all are
preparing yourself for conference that you may receive new direction and
revelation from the Lord for your individual lives, and I know that as you do
you will be answered in general conference. Well I love you all and I pray for
you everyday, choose the right (which would include writing to me ;)
-
Sister Jamison
Monday, September 23, 2013
Lake Reams - September 23, 2013, Accident Post
Hello,
So this week was just super different haha, the first of the
week was good! We had a way awesome lesson with Loretta on the Plan of
Salvation and it was way good, she loves it every time we go over and visit
with her and teach her things about the gospel, she has also committed to come
to a temple tour with us this Wednesday so I am excited about that! We were
also able to do service this week for a family in our ward the Petersons, I
think I already told you about them, the family with the 6 autistic boys... But
anyways they are way cool and we were able to help Sister Peterson clean up a
little bit because Brother Peterson was out of town on business. It was
really cool because we got to know their nanny better. Her name is Malia
and she is so cool, she is a poly girl who was in the army but is done now, and
now she is a nanny for the Peterson family and she also does the traditional
Hawaiian dances over at the Polynesian cultural center at Disney. We were
able to talk to her and get to know her better and more about her background
and it was way good! We also had temple service this week which is always
fun, we got to plant a lot of beautiful flowers which is always my favorite!
Well ok so you're all probably wondering about my accident - I
am fine! I just had a spill on my bike but everything is ok, Sister Thomas and
I were on our way to an appointment and we were turning down a street (well supposed
to be) and for some reason Sister Thomas didn't turn and I started too and when
she saw me turning she cut me off more than I think she realized and then
braked and there wasn't enough room for me to get by without hitting her, so I
hit her and I was going a lot faster than she was so when I hit her I just went
face first right over my handle bars, but lucky or unlucky I don't know, (my
dang purse is so heavy with all my junk in it) that as I flew forward it fell
off my back and the strap got caught around my neck and pulled me off sideways
as I was already going forward and so I landed on the right side of my head and
had major whip lash (which feels awful) and I just laid there for a second
because I felt my neck pop and I was super dizzy, so then I had to go to the
hospital because it gave me a concussion and yadda yatta and I was there till
like 2am and then for this past weekend I've been kickin it at the mission home
because I was on a few different med's and they had to watch me or something,
so I am ok now though. My neck is in terrible pain, but I have been resting a
lot and will continue to do so for the next couple of days. Tomorrow morning I
will go to a sports medicine doctor at around 10:30ish and he is going to check
me out and then I am supposed to start physical therapy this week as well to
help me get some motion back, but other than that I will probably just be
resting, I am not supposed to go out with the med's I'm on, so I will probably
be in the apartment for the next couple of days, so write me lot's of letters
so I am not bored! Well other than that nothing too exciting this week! Fabio
is having his baptismal interview today and so I am hoping that, that goes
well! If it does we are having a baptism
this Saturday! Woo hoo haha I guess we will see though, Fabio is so great, I am
really excited for him, he really has come a lot closer to the Savior and
really does want to have this change in his life, it's so cool to see these
people change as they gain a testimony of the restored gospel! Well love you
all!
-Sister
Jamison
Monday, September 16, 2013
Lake Reams-September 16, 2013
So this week went pretty well! We were able to have an awesome
FHE with Fabio and the Beck family at the Beck's home. Brother Beck went
on his mission to Brazil, so he made a delicious Brazilian BBQ! It was so good
and Fabio really enjoyed himself, which is good! We were able to talk about
prayer with Fabio and Brother Beck bore his testimony about the power of prayer
in his life in Portuguese, it was so amazing! We couldn't understand anything
he said obviously, but you could feel the spirit so strong! Fabio also loved
playing with the Beck's kids Josh and Taylor, Little boy and girl and they are
way cute! Every time we bring Fabio to church or an activity he always likes to
play with the kids, he wants a family so bad and so he loves to be apart of the
church because families are such a big deal! So that was great! Loretta also
texted us this week and asked if she could come to church with us this
following Sunday and we were excited about that. She has been stressing lately
over Steven, and she always is messaging us letting us know what is going on
and asking for scriptures that she could read to help her feel hope and peace.
She is so awesome, she always says, don't forget to text me scriptures to read
this week! We are hoping to get Sister Peterson over to a lesson with us this
week (she is the one who has 6 severely autistic boys) and because Loretta has
a handicap son we thought it would be a good match. Sister Peterson is
very open about her children, but is also so amazing about telling how blessed
she is and how the Lord has always helped her through her trails and we thought
that, that would be good for Loretta to hear. We plan on teaching her the
Plan of Salvation (which is my favorite lesson to teach) and I think that it
will really help her to see that God has a plan for her and her family and that
He is there to bless her and help make her happy through the gospel! Even
though Loretta has been a slower processor, that is ok, she is sooo wonderful
and is really so happy to read the Book of Mormon and come closer to her
Heavenly Father, so keep your fingers crossed that she is able to come to
church on Sunday! My favorite part of the week probably was when we were
able to go over and do service for a woman in our ward ( Sister Tillotson) she
is such an amazing woman, she has 7 children and her 2 youngest are identical
twins, that have down syndrome and leukemia (Wow!) She really needs help some times around the
house and so Sister Thomas and I were able to go over and sweep up the floors
and mop and help her to pick up a bit, her poor baby girls are always so sick
and she and Brother Tillotson do such a good job at taking care of them, on top
of the 5 other kids! She really amazes me! I don't know if I could ever handle
that as a mother that would be so hard! But one thing she does always
like to say and share when we come over is how blessed she is especially in
serving her children because of her mission. She said it really had prepared
her so much for what she was to face in the coming years of her life and having
a family, she looks back and says she can’t imagine being able to do this
without having served first. She is so amazing and such a good
example. It makes me think about my mission and what the Lord is having
me experience to prepare me for my life ahead, Some times I think I am having a
really hard day or what not, and then I just stop to think about how there must
be a purpose for it. I already feel that I have grown so much. A mission puts
you out of your comfort zone in every way you can imagine possible and you
really have to push yourself to fully rely on the Lord and make tough decisions
without a "parent, or sibling or best friend" around. I am so
grateful for this experience that I have to serve the Lord and His children, I
already know that the biggest change I will see on my mission will be myself. I
have felt so much joy to be able to serve other people and see how the gospel
has been able to change and bless their lives, but what it is doing to me is
something I cannot explain, it is so wonderful to really come to know who you
are by serving the Lord, truly relying on Him and having a brighter hope for
the future, at first it was weird to be out of the loop on everything, but now
it is weird when I hear stuff that is going on in the world because it is just
depressing! I have really come to realize what it means to be un-spotted
from the world, I am so so much a million times happier now that I am not
consumed in all of that. Of course I know that when I come home I will somewhat
step back into, but in such a different way than I was before. Living the
gospel and keeping the commandants will bring more peace and happiness than
this world could ever offer, I promise as you do ALL YOU CAN to live this you
WILL be happy. I love you all.
-
Sister Jamison
Monday, September 9, 2013
Disney House, Jessie by Schofield st. sign and Alice the alligator - 9-9-13
Lake Reams - September 9, 2013
Hey family,
So this week was good! We had an awesome lesson with Fabio at a
ward member’s home (Sister Affleck) it was really awesome because the
Portuguese elders were able to come and help Fabio understand better the
lesson. We talked about the word of wisdom and brought Fabio a picture of
the temple to show him how our bodies are like the temple and how important
they are to Heavenly Father, especially how we take care of them! It was so
cool, at the beginning of the lesson as we were starting Fabio made the comment
(because we have touched on the word of wisdom before) that sometimes God asks
us to do things, and even though we don't understand why, He has a reason and
we just have to listen to Him. It was so cool, that really helped the lesson go
very well because that's exactly how most people feel about the word of wisdom,
is that it doesn't make sense haha But that's ok Fabio is beginning to
understand more and more and that's so awesome! Half of our lesson was in Portuguese,
it was way cool!
We were also to see Loretta this week, things have calmed down a little bit for
her, and so she was ok with us coming over! We were able to read the
parable of the ten virgins with her and talk about how we need to always be
preparing for the coming of the Savior and she whole heartedly agreed that it
is good to always be preparing because we never know when He's coming, and
that's true! This week we are going to try and have a lesson with a member in
our ward (Sister Peterson) on the Plan of Salvation, I hope that it all goes
well, I really think that this could give Loretta some peace of mind.
This week we also had exchanges (if you don't know what that is ask Sam or Matt!)
But I was able to be with Sister Dunford in her area and we saw a girl who is
just becoming active again named Erin, she is very sweet and works a ton at
Disney; but has been realizing that she needs to come back to church and has
been making more of an effort. We went and taught her about Fasting and the
spirit was so strong, we talked about the blessings of fasting and all
committed that we were going to fast together on Sunday (so yesterday) it was a
great day to fast too, you can always feel the spirit so strong when you fast,
and there is always something that can be fasted for!
So we've had an interesting week I would say, basically all of our lessons fell
through except for Fabio haha, we weren't able to see Norris, but he said that
we could see him this week, so I hope that goes through! We have been
really focusing lately on teaching the less active families the lessons and it
has been going great. It really helps them to see how simple yet wonderful the gospel
is and how much it can bless their lives. It is so exciting to see an investigator
progress, but I love and feel just as excited when the less actives progress
back into the gospel as well! It is so amazing to see that change take
place in their lives and how their countenance changes when they start to feel
the spirit and come closer to the Savior again, so exciting!
So Sam will like to hear this,
yesterday we were having dinner over at the Fitt's home and they of course like
everyone else have a pond in their back yard. Well the Fitt's have about
a 4 to 5 foot gator in that pond and Sister Fitt feeds it every once in a while
haha, which is super illegal in Florida, but she likes that it hangs out back
there. So after dinner we went out by the gate and sure enough the gator
saw her and came right out of the water to the gate to be fed. We didn't feed
it but brother Fitt started throwing bark to it and the poor thing was trying
to eat it
. Brother Fitt didn't want it to eat real food anymore so that
it would go away, but they are all pretty sure it wont go anywhere now. It was cool;
I got a lot of pictures of it.
Tonight I am really excited, we are going to dinner at the Beck's house with Fabio,
Brother Beck went to Brazil on his mission and so we are trying to get a
fellowship going there. He is going to make a Brazilian BBQ and it sounds
way good, Fabio is way excited too. We originally were going to have the
Portuguese elders come but they ended up having a lesson, but that's ok, next
time! Well that it all for this week! I hope you are all doing well!
Today is the start of my 4th transfer; I've only got 9 more! How crazy is that!
I am still in Lake Reams as well just as I expected to be because I will be
finishing training Sister Thomas, then I will no doubtfully get transferred
somewhere else! But that's ok; I can't leave until I see Fabio get baptized!
Well I love you all, have a great week!
-
Sister Jamison
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
September 3, 2013 - Lake Reams
Hey!
So this week was really good we saw so many miracles! So first
off Fabio is doing so so well, we were able to teach him this last week with
Brother Tomlinson at a park by where we live. We usually teach him there
because we can't go in the house unless there is a female there and there is
usually not, so the park does just fine! It started to pour on us of course but
good thing there was a pavilion over us! It was kinda funny though the storm
was so bad we were all practically yelling at each other haha, it was ok the
spirit was still strong and Fabio always enjoys our lessons so much. We also
were blessed to be able to have members present at all of our lessons this week
which is usually a bit of a struggle for us, but we worked so hard and called
everyone we could to come with us and we were able to have a lot of solid
lessons it was so great!!! We also have picked up a former investigator named
Norris, he was dropped about 2 years ago and we have just started teaching him
again, he is off to a good start and has been reading the Book of Mormon which
is so good, and so we will see where that goes! Unfortunately we weren't
able to get ahold of Rachel again this week, which super bums me out but we are
going to keep trying with her. She recently had a death in the family so
we think she might be out of town, I hope that everything is ok with her.
Loretta has also been doing ok, we were going to go and see her
this last week but she didn't want us to come by, she has been having a very
hard time and we were afraid that we lost her, but on Sunday she texted us and
said that she is doing much better and that her son is too. We were happy to
hear that because he is always struggling.
Sunday was definitely our day of miracles though, Fabio was able
to come to church even though he worked literally all night at his new job, and
he was so cool when he got there he was telling me how his sister and
brother-in-law were over at Daytona Beach that day and that he really wanted to
go with them but knew he should come to church!! It was so awesome, his family
always goes to the beach on Sunday and Fabio usually goes with them, but he is
finally coming to realize that he needs to be in church and not at the beach on
Sunday! And sacrament meeting that day was so perfect for him. There were
two families blessing their babies, and after the first family blessed there
new boy, Fabio was just crying. I looked at him and he leaned to me and
said, I am going to bless my children someday like that in this church, it is
so beautiful. He really felt the spirit so strong, and the thing he loves
is how much we as a church are involved with the Family and building our
families. He always tells us how he wants a family and how he wants to
raise them with good values like the families he sees at church, So cool!
So also so cool so ever since I got here we have been visit
a family who is less active, the Casquete family, and we would go over all the
time and teach them and invite them to church and they wouldn't ever
come. But for the past 4 weeks Sister Casquete has been coming and really
trying to get active again which is so great. She has a son that lives with her
though and his name is Christian and he has 3 kids. He is super nice and always
likes it when we come over to visit, and we have been working on getting him to
church for a while but haven't had much luck. Well!!!! This last Sunday Sister
Thomas and I had a thought that we should go an invite Christian to the evening
sacrament service at church, so we stopped by and he said that he would come if
his sister came home in time with the car. Then Sister Thomas and I headed
to the church and as the sacrament was being passed no Christian, then once it
was done he hurried and snuck in the back and came and sat by us! I was so
surprised to see him, its been years since he's been in church! At first
at we were sitting there he looked a little bored, but then as more and more
people were baring their testimonies you could tell he was starting to feel the
spirit so strong. Then as his eyes started to tear up Christian got up and went
and bore his testimony, he said that it had been a while for him but that he
was grateful that he was there, and that the Sisters had been coming by to
teach him and help him come back to church. He testified that he knew without a
doubt that the church was true and that this spirit he was feeling was
something he has been missing for a long time, and that he knew that this is
where Heavenly Father wanted him to be. It was such a strong testimony and I
was so happy for him!
I really wish I had more time to write but I don't! I love you
all and have a great week!
-
Sister Jamison
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