November 3, 2014 - last mission post

Dear Family, 

Wow I can't believe the time has come! 18 months has already gone by so quickly. I have loved my mission so much. Being here in Florida serving Heavenly Fathers children has been the greatest experience in my life thus far. I have come to know my Savior more in this past year and a half than I ever have. I don't think I could ever express my feelings adequately for how grateful I am that I have been able to serve this mission, and for all the love and support that you all have given me while I have been out here! I wouldn't have made it through without you! I love you all so much and I am excited to see you on Wednesday! 

Sister Jamison

Beautiful Florida at sunset

My 100 day reading schedule

Self-explanatory mailbox

In my apartment

Packing for the trip home

Fell asleep in my chair

Last temple trip with departing sisters

October 27. 2014 - Just one more week!

Hey Family, 

How are you all this week! Only one more week until I see you all! WOW, can't believe that!

Well this week has been super good. Sister Lokotui and I are still working with Marie and things are going great! Earlier this week she had some concerns about a few things in the church and the only thing I could think to ask her was if she was reading from the Book of Mormon everyday, well of course she said "No not everyday but a lot." Sister Lokotui and I then invited her to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and promised her that if she would that she would be able to receive an answer to the things that seemed to be holding her up and that she would feel from Heavenly Father that this is right. The next time we met with her we asked her how her reading was going and she said that she has been able to read everyday, and that she feels peace and content about the decision she's making to be baptized. We also invited her to a baptism of two young girls that was happening this past weekend and it was really good for Marie to see. She loved the baptism and afterwards she was telling us that she knows now that this is the right choice that she is making. She also told us about her feelings of continued peace, and contentment and comfort that she has been feeling as she reads and prays about our message. I am grateful that she has been able to recognize the fruits of the spirit as she comes closer to Heavenly Father. That is one thing that I think is hardest for us sometimes, when we want an answer we expect God to bang us over the head with it, I'm not saying that, that can't happen but it rarely does. In Galatians 5:22-23 it explains what the fruits of the spirit are, the spirit communicates through soft peaceful, loving, temperate feelings. It is so important to continue to have spiritual experiences so that we can learn how the spirit personally feels to us. That way when we are faced with decisions in life and we look to God for help we will able to recognize the help and the answers. God will always answer us whether it is yes, no or later. Elder Richard G. Scott talks about this principle of recognizing the spirit and how much the spirit can be in our lives as we learn what it feels like, he says:  

"What may appear initially to be a daunting task will be much easier to manage over time as you consistently strive to recognize and follow feelings prompted by the Spirit. Your confidence in the direction you receive from the Holy Ghost will also become stronger. I witness that as you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear.”

Isn't that an amazing blessing? Just think if we all got to the point where we were so comfortable and close to the spirit that it would be more reliable to us that what we can see and hear! Wow I hope that you all will get a chance to read this talk because it is amazing and has really helped me to know what the spirit feels like for me. I love you all and I will see you next week... literally... that is so weird to say... 

Sister Jamison

Elder Scotts talk below!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/to-acquire-spiritual-guidance?lang=eng

October 20, 2014

Hey family!

How are you doing! Wow, time is really ticking down isn't it? Well this past week was good! Unfortunately we had to drop practically every single investigator that we had because they were just going nowhere, BUT!!!!!! We received a total tender mercy from Heavenly Father by being able to pick up a new investigator that really want's to get baptized and is totally pump about the gospel! Her name is Marie and the elders from the Minneola Ward found her because she was living on there side, and they were able to teach her lesson 1 and 2 and then she had to move and now she lives on her side and so we get to finish teaching her. But weirdly enough her fellowship has always been in our ward and when she comes to church it's always in our ward so Sister Lokotui and I have been able to help her from day one, which is nice, we are just so excited now that she is in our ward! She has a baptismal date for November 1st, so we are working really hard to have that happen and just crossing our fingers and praying that we will be able to help her get to that point! But I think it can be done! And guess what else! My other investigator Angie that lives in Lecanto Ward is also getting baptized on November 1st! I am SO excited for her! I worked with her the whole time that I was there and she had a lot of health issues and a hard time quitting smoking, but she really is making so much progress and is really sticking to her goal of baptism and hasn't smoked in 40 days with this program that she is on! I am so exited for her to be baptized, it is something that she has wanted for a long time and she basically is already a member of the church. She came every week when her health permitted it and all the ward members know her. She does FHE, and scripture study and everything! She is so great! I wish I could go to her baptism, but that's ok I am just so happy that she has finally made it! And Nathan my other convert from Viera is doing so well! He Facebook messages me all the time to update me on how things are going with him. He moved into the Viera 2nd ward, so everyone was sad to see him leave, but it's still the same building at least! But he is a gospel essentials teacher, he was also asked last Sunday to teach High Priest, could you believe that! He is on a roll! He also goes out with the missionaries all the time and just loves it. He loves the gospel so much, hahaha I still remember the first time that Sister Kreiberg and I knocked on his door and we asked him to come to church with us and he was like I can't super bowl is going to be playing and we said "Well Nathan would God want you at church or watching football?" Haha and then the rest is history from there! Oh man missions are the BEST! Haha I can't even imagine my life without all the wonderful people I have met here in Florida. I am so grateful that I got to serve in the best mission in the world! Well I love you all and I am excited to see you in 2 weeks! Peace! 

Sister Jamison

Clermont, Florida October 13, 2014

Hey Family!

How are you all doing this week? I know I always ask that but I don't hear back from many of you.... hint hint........... Well my week was pretty great. Sister Lokotui and I did a lot of finding this week and we were able to get some good potential investigators, so we will see what happens with them. We have also been focusing a lot lately on working with the members on their missionary efforts. We have a family mission plan that we have been using and it has been going pretty well with the families that have it so far. It is so great that we have so many opportunities to be able to share the gospel. There really is no reason why we can't be sharing all the time. Obviously the Internet is the best way to go about it right now. The messages we post can be so powerful and as we take the time to link them so many people can see them we sure can do a lot of good. The other day I was on LDS.org looking at "How members are sharing the goodness" and whom do I see but my own brother Samuel Jamison sharing the goodness over his instagram posts. Way to go Sam! Did you know, those of you who are not under the age of 30 that you can hashtag (#) things and it will link to public pages on Facebook and other websites? So cool right. That is part of our job to share the goodness through the Internet. It is so easy and it makes it possible for you to choose what is public and what is not. As you know Brandon my last RC found the gospel because a family was not afraid to share what they believed through the Internet, and look at him now, he is a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and couldn't be happier. You never know whom you will impact through inspired messages online. Sharing a Mormon Message is good, but there is always a better way and a best way. Through a hashtag in there or link an lds website, it's so easy and that way millions can see your message! As missionaries we are called to serve but every one of us as members are called to share. Being able to see how the gospel changes people’s lives should be motivation enough for all of us to do our part. And to think now Heavenly Father has blessed us to be able to do it in such an easy way!:) I hope you all got to go and see Meet the Mormons as well. Our mission got to watch it the day before at the church because President Berry had a special code. The movie was SO wonderful; I hope that you all get the chance to see it! Well mi Familia, I will talk to you next week! Love you and see you soon!

Sister Jamison

October 5, 2014 - Clermont, Florida

Hey Family! 

How are you this week! I hope well! Wasn't Conference great!!! I loved it so much! I wish that they could have conference 4 times a year instead of just twice! WOW! I loved that there were so many talks on the leaders of the church namely the prophet and how he is the mouthpiece of the Lord here on the earth.  It really was making me think about the simple yet profound counsel that the prophet gives to us and how truly blessed we are as we heed it. In the Book of Mormon the phrase "and inasmuch as ye keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land" is repeated more than 22 times by the prophets, some food for thought there I think? The Lord makes promises to us through His servants and as we follow we truly will prosper in the land. Just as talked about in conference, Heavenly Father really knows us by name and what we need and He is ready to bless us when we call upon Him. The prophet teaches us the correct way that we can follow Jesus Christ and how we can receive blessings at the hands of the Savior. I know that the Lord knows us and that there is nothing that we can't do with His help. I see and hear things all the time about people in the church falling away or losing the testimony that they had so strongly at one point. My whole mission I have pondered how on earth especially return missionaries can fall into such a pit hole such as this. Well as I have been thinking about and studying this question I remember the word's of Elder Walker an area 70 that came to visit our mission last year, he quoted the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants 88:85 which says " Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." He also quotes Doctrine and Covenants 43:9-10 which says " And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my church, and be sanctified by that which ye have received, and ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me- That inasmuch as ye do this, glory shall be added to the kingdom which ye have received. Inasmuch as ye do it not, it shall be taken, even that which ye have received." He spoke to us about how the Spirit isn't magically going to give you words or a testimony that you don't have. Unless you study the Spirit has nothing to work with. It kind of makes me think of the visual that we are all like a watering well, if there is no water at the bottom you cant get anything from it and your labor is in vain. However if you draw from a well that has water then you will receive that which you are seeking to get. From a non-missionary/teaching stand point, we are all the same. We are taught to live, eat, breath the gospel. To study the scriptures and pray daily in our families, and to have weekly family home evening. These are essential to us retaining that which we have received by the spirit, and when we don't take care to nourish that which we have, it will be taken from us, even all that we have. I know may people who become lax in their study of the gospel and their own personal continued revelation from God.  There was a bishop I saw with a note on his door that read, " Have daily scripture study, family prayer and weekly family home evening, and then come and talk to me." Duuuhhhhh so many influences in the world seem to throw people of track so quickly that the first response is to run to the bishop to fix the problem. The Lord has already given us solutions to our problems, and it all starts in the home. I am so eternally grateful for my opportunity to serve a mission, it has opened my eyes in ways that could have never happened outside the consecrated service of the Lord. No person or possession could ever mean more to me than the relationship I continue to form with Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Man I could go on and on, I am excited to come home and live the rest of my life as a faithful member of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ here on the earth. Nothing in my life has brought me more happiness than that I have received from my Father in Heaven. It really is black and white, you either follow Jesus Christ or you do not. There is no sort of following Him one day and then not. Make the decision and then do it. John 15:10-20, I'll leave that for you to look up. If we love Him we will keep His commandments, there is no greater expression of love than obedience. Love you, see ya soon

Sister Jamison