Week 34 - Anxiety is the Worst..... 😳😐😬😅😂😜

Howdy Y'all! 😊

Well you're probably all wondering about my subject heading. I'll get
to it in a little bit though! A lot happened this week! We had a ton
more lessons and it was awesome! Even though they were short it was
still great just talking to people! It made my insides smile!
😊Highlights of the week were district meeting, Christian's lesson,
and Sacrament meeting.

Okay, so we have what we call district meeting on Fridays. District
meeting is when a group of missionaries in a few areas get together
and have trainings to improve ourselves as missionaries (for those who
didn't know what it was). Our district is three areas: Crossville
(us), Jamestown (Elders), and Sparta (Elders). President and Sister
Griffin came to this district meeting. It was pretty awesome! I was so
nervous for them being there because I just get intimidated easily I
guess, but it was awesome! 😊😜😂 We had some great trainings. First,
I want to talk about our role plays. It's basically when we practice
what we just learned out of Preach My Gospel. Well I absolutely
dislike role plays with a passion, like a lot! I was role playing with
one of the Elders in my district who is fairly new, he's been out for
7 weeks. We were role playing obedience and President was coaching us.
I was so nervous and just freaking out because I dislike when I am
being watched while I'm teaching unless it is a real lesson. It was so
awesome though because President helped us a lot and gave us some new
insights and it was just really cool just to see the Spirit working.
Then our district leader did an awesome training. It really helped me
to put things in perspective. The way Satan likes to work and how my
weaknesses feel like they are being intensified on my mission, but
that's just because I'm doing the Lord's work and Satan doesn't like
it. Then President's training was awesome like always. He talked about
what kinds of missionaries we wanted to be and how sometimes we got to
do the "Old Law" (in the Old Testament) before we can do the "New Law"
(in the New Testament). It was super awesome! 😊

Next highlight was Christian's lesson. We got to know him a lot and he
shared a ton of things about his life with us. It was just awesome how
he opened up to us some more! He is really golden and I am very
grateful for the chance that I have to be a part of teaching him! It
makes me so happy! God is good! 😊

Last thing is Sacrament meeting! Well this is the part where my
subject line comes into affect. Sister Dillman, Maw, and I got to
speak in Sacrament on missionary work. Yes, I still freak out when I
have to speak in Sacrament. I don't think it ever gets any better!
😳😬😐😊😂 I am sending my talk in another email if you would like to
read it. It took me a really long time through lots of prayers,
studies, tears, and anxiousness! I hope you enjoy it and feel the
Spirit as much as I did when I read it. Not saying I'm the best at
writing talks because I know that none of this was me. It was all my
Heavenly Father giving me the words to say. My favorite scripture is
Alma 26:12 and it describes my whole life I feel like. "Yea, I know
that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not
boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can
do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in
this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
This was one of the greatest Sacraments that I have ever had though.
The Spirit was amazing and I could see a small change in the ward
after! It was amazing! God is definitely good! 😊💜

Well that was my week! I hope y'all had and will have an awesome week
as well! Remember the church is true, the book is blue, and I love
you! 😊💜

Love,
Sister Jacob
Serving in Crossville

________________________________________________________________________

Here's my Talk from Sacrament! 😊

Missionary Work Talk

Hello everyone! Please bear with me, I have a really bad anxiety when it comes to speaking in crowds. I can bear my testimony just fine, but something about talks just scares me. I have really loved serving in this ward and I'm grateful for the chance to be able to. I love all of you so much even if I don't know you very well. 

The topic that Bishop has asked me to speak on is Missionary Work. To me this is a very important topic. It is also something that has come close to my heart. It's also the topic most people dread. I want to help change your view on missionary work. It's all up to you though, you do have your agency to choose. All I ask is that you have an open mind and heart and listen closely to the Spirit that you feel as you go throughout the day.

To start off some background on me. Why am I here? Well I love to talk, I can talk your ear off for hours, if I could. Except when it comes to certain things like: public speaking, super uncomfortable situations (which happens pretty regularly), or when it comes to sharing the Gospel. I am terribly shy and I never know what to say. Now you're probably asking well then why are you serving a mission? Let me tell you. I have always had a desire to serve a mission. I have no idea why because it scares me to death, but I enjoy it. Sharing the Gospel is very important, no matter where you are. For me I couldn't do it at home. I was a "regular member". I let the missionaries do their job while I sat on the couch wishing to have opportunities to share the Gospel with someone. I'll tell you what, I learned that that's not how it works. I had to gain the trust of my Heavenly Father and prove to Him that I would do what He asked me to. I came on a mission to try to prove that.  

Coming on a mission has forced me out of my comfort zone. I like to tell people that I love a challenge and I do. I also don't like change. I found a quote the other day that says "You can't spell challenge without change. If you're going to rise to the challenge, then you have to be willing to change." I've really seen this quote come into affect throughout my mission. No matter how hard it has been, but I know it's been worth it. Sharing the Gospel with those around me is still hard because of rejection, not knowing what to say, and just speaking to strangers. It has been a great blessing though. I have seen it change my life. It has helped me grow personally and spiritually. I can go on all day about how missionary work blesses your life.

But the question is why and how. Why do we need to do missionary work and how do we do missionary work? First, why do we need to do missionary work? Our mission president, President Griffin, once gave us a training on why we do missionary work. He said "We do it out of fear, reward, duty, or love." We all want to get to the point where we just do things because we love our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we do things for a reward, or because we are scared of the consequence if we don't. The reasons that cause me to share the Gospel with those around me is duty and love. In Doctrine and Covenants 38:40-41 it says "And again, I say unto you, I give unto you a commandment, that every man, both elder, priest, teacher, and also member, go to with his might, with the labor of his hands, to prepare and accomplish the things which I have commanded. And let your preaching be the warning voice, every man to his neighbor, in mildness and in meekness."

It is a commandment that we share the Gospel with those around us. God's church is a missionary church. It isn't split up into different sections like: missionaries and members. We are part of the same church. 

I want to share a part of a talk from this last General Conference by Elder Neil L. Anderson about how missionary work is a responsibility we share. I think he says it amazingly and I couldn't have said it better myself.

"The gathering of Israel is a miracle. It is like an enormous puzzle whose pieces will be set in place prior to the glorious events of the Second Coming. Just as we might be perplexed with a mountain of puzzle pieces, the early Saints must have seen the commission to take the restored gospel to all the world as a nearly impossible task. But they began, one person, one puzzle piece at a time, finding the straight edges, working to rightly frame this divine work. Little by little, the stone cut without hands began to roll forth; from hundreds to thousands, to tens of thousands, and now millions of covenant Latter-day Saints across every nation are connecting the puzzle pieces of this marvelous work and a wonder.

Each of us is a piece of the puzzle, and each of us helps to set in place other essential pieces. You are important to this great cause. Our view ahead is now clear. We can see the miracle continuing and the Lord’s hand guiding us as we complete the gaps that remain. Then, “the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done,” and He will return in majesty and glory.

President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together … to bring souls unto Him. … He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work.”

The divinely appointed responsibility that once rested primarily upon the shoulders of full-time missionaries now rests upon us all. We all want to share the restored gospel, and gratefully, thousands are baptized each week. But even with this wonderful blessing, our concern for our brothers and sisters and our desire to please God bring a compelling urgency to share and strengthen the kingdom of God across the world."

We are called to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It is our duty. The work will go to all nations, it has been prophesied, but we need to do our part to move the work forward. 

The other reason I do missionary work is out of love. I can't express how much I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I have been given so much that I want to give back. I want to show how grateful I am and how much I love Them by sacrificing my time and efforts into the work. I also love the people that I talk to. Yes, they are complete strangers, but something happens to you when you share the Gospel. You can feel Christlike love towards those you come into contact with. That has happened throughout my whole mission. I don't know how I haven't exploded. If you love Heavenly Father, if you love Jesus Christ, if you love your friends and family, if you love this Gospel, then it shouldn't matter what happens. You just tried sharing the most important thing. You are helping them move forward and progress towards their Savior, their Father in Heaven, their salvation. Why would you want to be the one to keep them from receiving blessings, fullness of joy, and salvation.

Now that we know what comes from it and why. Now how do we do missionary work. I have actually been trying to figure that out myself. What I do know though is what I have learned from studying the scriptures and praying for guidance. We have the best example ever. Jesus Christ was the perfect missionary! We have all the ways to share the Gospel at our fingertips! In the Book of Mormon it gives a really good example in Alma. Ammon takes a page from Christ's book. In my last class of mission prep before I left to the missionary training center my teacher shared a very important lesson with me. The way Christ did missionary work was more with L.E.S.S. Less being the acronym. He Loved the people. He was an Example to them. He Served them. Then He Shared His message. 

In Alma 17 and 18 it talks about the sons of Mosiah. I want to focus on one son, Ammon. To summarize Ammon's story, he refuses the kingdom from his father to go do the Lord's work. He goes to the land of Ishmael and comes into contact with King Lamoni. I want to point out two verses, but background before I do. The sons of Mosiah did get discouraged to go to the Lamanites. They were a wicked people who didn't want to listen. I would have been discouraged too. In verse 11 and 12 it says "And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls. And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God." If we ask for help, we will receive the help we need. After this the sons of Mosiah separated to reach more people. Now back to Ammon's story, he went to the land of Ishmael and they took him captive as soon as he got there. They took him to King Lamoni to figure out what they needed to do with him. King Lamoni asked if Ammon wanted to stay and Ammon said yes, I do want to stay for a little while maybe even until I die. Well that made King Lamoni happy, so he was like take one of my daughters to wife. Ammon refused that and said make me your servant. Ammon already loved the people that's why he was there in the first place, they're his brethren. He became a servant to the king, now he's serving the people. Ammon is put in charge over the King's flocks and some of the other Lamanites scramble them and he proved himself to be an amazing servant by not only gathering the flocks back, but making sure it wouldn't happen again. The other servants were amazed and told the King what happened. Ammon was then an example to the King and the servants. The King asked where does this power come from, are you a god. Ammon says no, but let me tell you who is. Then he shared the Gospel with King Lamoni.

We can all be like Jesus and like Ammon. We just need to do more with L.E.S.S. Love the people, be an Example, Serve them, and then Share what we know to be true. In Alma 37:6 "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass".

Now because as missionaries we leave challenges, I would like to leave y'all with a challenge. Take the challenge in Doctrine and Covenants 65:5 "Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth." I also challenge you all to find at least one opportunity this week to share the Gospel with someone. Will you do that?

I know that if you do so that you will be blessed. You will grow more spiritually and you will be able to feel the pleased comfort of your Father in Heaven. I want you all to remember that someone out there needs you. Somebody in this world needs to hear your testimony to bring them closer to their Savior. I also know that if you do your best God will do the rest.

I love this Gospel and I know how much it has blessed my life. This is the true church and those around us need to know of the hope and love it brings. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior because of Them all things are possible. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Sister Jacob

Serving in Crossville

1, 3, & 4. It's beginning to look a lot like fall! Everywhere we go! 😊😂🍂🍁

2. District lunch with President and Sister Griffin! 😊😂😜
5. Dilly and I just enjoying our time as missionaries! 😊💜