May 26, 2014 - Memorial Day/New companion, Sister Petersen

Hey family,

How are you this week? I hope really well! Well this week has been kind of long ha-ha Well I have a new companion and her name is Sister Petersen and she is from Draper, UT, of course everyone is from Utah. But she is pretty cool, she is 20, tall, really thin, she doesn't talk much but that's ok, she is a sweet girl and we get along well!  This week has been a little shy of

Sister Petersen and I have done a lot of tracting and I mean A LOT! But that's ok, that's how you find people. We also have had some really good lessons with Darien this week. Sadly, he told us that he is on probation right now, so we had to cancel his baptism for this Saturday. He was really bummed as were we, but we were able to teach him about repentance and why restitution is so important and he understood why he needed to make up for what he had done. He is still really determined to be baptized and he said that he would work hard and try to make it there by next year. Unless he pays his fines then he can of course be baptized earlier, but we will see. Darien really loves this gospel and all that he is learning and is really doing very well. He still comes to church and is making friends with people in the ward so that is good. We don't really have many other people right now that we are teaching, but we are working with a lot of less actives and so that is good. I love working with less actives, Peter and Paul are doing well. They both better understand why church is so important and making more of an effort to come to church and keep the commandants. Well I had an interesting experience this week.  So the other day Sister Petersen and I were out tracting and we were going around saying prayers with people.  We knocked on a door and a young lady answered, she looked about 19 and we asked if we could pray with her and she said, "that is so weird that you are at my house, I was just talking to my son about God, so sure come on in." So we went in and there were two other young girls in there around the same age, another one of them had a young child like 4 or 5 and then  2 guys that were boyfriends to 2 of the other women and the girl that answered the door was single, but anyways, we went in and sat on the couch.  The house was a bit messy and unkempt, there was tons of alcohol and cigarettes on the table and everyone was very messy and yelling/ cussing at one another, not in a mad way just as normal conversation, but very weird to me.  We were able to say a prayer barely with all the noise and then the girls in the house were kind of trying to get a feel for us and they started asking us all these questions, like how old we were, if we drank, if we smoked, if we knew how to tork or whatever and if we partied, junk like that and we both just said no, and with the most shocked look on all their faces they all bragged about how much of a drunk they all were and how they partied and what not. They then were making comments like, well girls you need to go out and live, and all I could think in my head was "Are you kidding me?" They sit at home all day, none of them have jobs, and they smoke and drink all day, go to parties at night and are trying to raise 2 children under the age of 5 all together. That doesn't sounds like life at all to me or that I am missing out on anything. They asked us what we have done with our lives being so amused at the fact that we were in our 20's and had done nothing and all we could say was, well we both were at a university before we came here doing XY&Z, we are now serving an 18 month full time mission, I have volunteered and been a mentor in a program for underprivileged children, I have had the opportunity to travel some, I have had several different jobs and learned different things from those, I practice music and art all the time, except for not as much now because I am on a mission, when I go home I plan to continue studying and bettering myself in anyway that I can, and it was like that all went in one ear and out the other to them.  It was maddening almost, and yet after all of that their only response was, "well, ya but when are you actually going to go out and live?" I had nothing to say, what could I have said? Their definition of living and mine are worlds apart, and no matter what I said they could still not fathom the fact that I did not "party" and therefore had zero life experience. Last October in the priesthood session of general conference Elder Uchtdorf gives a talk called "You Can Do It Now" and in there he says, "One of the adversary's methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire."  Is that not true? I am so shocked at the way people live so contently in these kinds of situations and think that its going to bring them happiness, or that they have really accomplished much.  It is the perfect example of getting what you want in the moment and not realizing how it could destroy you later, what was funny about being with those girls is they all talked about things that they wanted to do, be rich, be smart, be whatever and yet they have all coped out for drugs and alcohol and their excuse is well I'm just a drunk anyways or whatever.  Elder Uchtdorf also says, " Satan's purpose is to tempt us to exchange the priceless pearls of true happiness and eternal values for a fake plastic trinket that is merely an illusion and counterfeit of happiness and joy." So many people aren't willing to work for what they want, so they do what is easy and live in discontent. Anything that is virtuous, lovely or of good report or praise worthy, shouldn't we all seek after these things? How cunning is the adversary!? The gospel is the only thing that will help us to see past these counterfeits, to know what is truly of worth and what brings real happiness.  Anything that shortchanges you of the blessings of eternity is never worth it. God want's us to be happy and successful, yet so many aren't? Well maybe that is because so many really aren't following God at all. The counsel and promises from the living day prophets are so important, as we listen to them "the gates of hell shall not prevail against you."

Well I love you all and I hope and pray for you all the time.

Sister Jamison

May 19, 2014 - Lecanto, Florida

Hello,

Well this week was pretty good. It was the last week of the transfer, which is crazy to think that it has already gone by.  Sister Murphy is getting moved which I am pretty sad about, but it's ok she's been in Lecanto for a long time so she needs a change. I wonder who I will be with next!  So 2 huge miracles happened this week.  Basically this whole transfer Sister Murphy and I have been trying to meet with these 2 less active guys in the ward, and they have been super impossible to get a hold of. We really have only met with the both of them maybe once or twice. But anyways the one (Paul) we were able to meet with this last Friday and his daughter was actually one of our investigators for a while, but we were able to meet with him and he was telling us about how he was a little upset that his daughter Sylvia.  She wants to stay with the Lutheran Faith for right now because that is where she goes to school and all her friends are there so that only makes sense. But we were able to have a really spiritual lesson with him and we were also very bold with him and told him that if his daughter has chosen to go with another choice at this time then that’s ok, but as a member he has made covenants with God and so he has an obligation to come to church and partake of the blessings.  Paul understood what we were saying and told us that he knows that he needs to come back to church.  We encouraged him to work it out with his daughter on Sundays so that he can come.  He told us that he was going to work it out and see what he could do. Paul knows that he needs to come back after 40 years of inactivity, he has forgotten so much but when we are able to meet with him he really feels the spirit and knows what he needs to do.  We also tried to meet with a less active of about 18 years named Peter who completely fell away, became a biker, tattooed up and has a lovely tongue piercing.  He really is a great person though, well anyways we weren't able to meet with him but he showed up to church on Sunday! He remembers many of the members that have been in that ward for ages which made him not so timid to be there, Paul also came to church and sat with us in the front which he hates to do.  I was so shocked to see the both of them there, but so excited that they actually came!  It was a great Sunday too, it was stake conference for us and Elder Rasband came and spoke to us. He focused his talk on the family and how important teaching the gospel in the family is.  He talked about the quote by President McKay that goes " No success can compensate for failure in the home" and how failure only occurs when we stop trying. It was nice because you were able to really understand that even if you teach your children and they choose otherwise, that you only fail when you stop trying with them. We cannot of course choose for our children and it is not the fault of a parent who has tried to teach the gospel to unresponsive children who choose different paths, but if we fail or "stop" at what we can do to bring them closer to their Savior through the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we have failed.  It was a very good talk to say the least. The biggest thing I think I have been learning lately is how much the gospel impacts the family life. I cannot imagine not having it and I don't know how families get along without it??? The gospel helps to shield the family in so many ways.  Every single day without fail I see different dynamics of family life and the issues that come and in my mind I relate everything to the gospel. Whatever situation it is I can always without fail think of an aspect of the gospel that could have easily prevented that problem or hardship, or could now fix it. The gospel is the ultimate life insurance.  Once again I am so grateful that I grew up in gospel-centered home, what a world of difference that makes.

Well I love you all and I got to get off now! Talk to you later!

Sister Jamison

May 5, 2014

Hey family!

Well this week has been pretty good. Sister Murphy and I have been working a ton with the less actives and part member families here and it has been going pretty good. We have so many less actives and part member families we could make 3 more wards just from ours, but no one comes to church (haha) however, we are working really hard to meet with all these people and see where they are at. We also had the opportunity to go and do service this week for Habitat for Humanity.  We were supposed to help in building a house, but we got rained out, so we ended up going to the ware house and helping out there for like 3 hours so that was fun.  We did a lot or organizing and cleaning, etc. things like that. I also unfortunately got a sinus infection... ugh it is miserable but I have still been able to work so that is good. I went to the doctor this morning and got a prescription and so I am hoping that it will help.  I hate being sick as a missionary, there is so much to do and so little time and you just feel like you can't let it slip away from you because this is all you have.  I really hate when I feel that I don't get as much done, as I want to. Well I just have to tell you all again how grateful I am for the gospel and how having a gospel-centered home really has blessed me so much.  During our service at for Habitat for Humanity this week there was a woman there promoting classes that we can either take or that we can sign up to give to teach things to less fortunate people such as " How to have a healthy relationship with friends, family or special others, how to cook simple healthy dinners, how to do laundry, how to maintain proper hygiene, how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, etc." I also heard many of the volunteers complaining about their children's education and how they should not be wasting time learning about history or complex mathematics, but how to cook and sew and fix a car and fill out taxes, you know the "everyday stuff" All I can say is that I was shocked.

All of these classes you could pay to go an learn basic things that will help you to be a better person, or feel better or what not and all I could think was, that there should be no need to have to pay to learn any of these things. Most of everything that they were mentioning are things that a person should learn in the home, basic skills that you practice growing up. I am so grateful for the structure of the gospel and the importance of families and learning in families.  Most of, if not all of, my life skills, and how to live day to day and function as a person has come from what I learned in the home, or in the homes of friends. It is so sad to see these basic things that people struggle with and the only honest answer that could help them is the gospel. Centering our lives around Jesus Christ and his teachings and the teachings of our living latter-day prophets protects us and helps us to be the people we want to be, it gives us motivation to be better, be smarter, want to do more, expand ourselves. I wish everyone would realize what a fool proof system the gospel is. Jesus Christ is a foundation that will not fall, which means his teachings are perfect and cannot fail.  When we have complications in our lives regarding the consequences of our own decisions it is because we have not lived up to the teachings of Jesus Christ, not because His teaching were inadequate for our particular circumstances.  The gospel is so vital, that is why we need to share it!

Well family I would write more but I am going to be talking to you on Sunday! I cant wait and I am not positive when I will be calling, but you all can plan on around 4ish Utah time and so that would be 5 Texas time! Love you all!

Sister Jamison