2016! Yeah!
My email is a little later (or a lot) but I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year! Good luck with school and work and all everyone is up to. Our Christmas and New Year were filled with a lot of tamales ( I ate 12 within 2 days) and so much fun with members and investigators.
Things have been busy here, but so amazing. Every day I am just so grateful to be a missionary. I get to delve into people´s souls every single day and practice extreme love and teach and study the gospel!! It is the best calling to have!!! We have seen so many miracles. Some of you have been asking for some stories and the truth is there are just so many to tell and I don´t even know where to begin. Missionary work is incredible and I am so grateful to be a part of it.
I have been thinking about the beautiful words that Isaiah uses to describe the Savior: Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The Savior has many names but one that has stood out to me a lot lately is "Prince of Peace." It has come into my mind frequently as I have thought about a theme I am very passionate about: stress management.
I have noticed that a lot of missionaries are stressed out. People everywhere are. But, I am pretty sure the Savior wasn't walking around the Earth all stressed out. All of the extreme negative feelings like hatred, envy, loneliness, discouragement, worry, malice, insecurity, etc. that cause extreme stress in our lives are holding us back from our greatest potential and are not of God. If it is not good then it does not come from God; it comes from the adversary.We don´t have to feel horrible, because we have the Savior, and we can literally use the atonement every moment of every day. Our Heavenly Father does not want us to feel this way. With the knowledge we have of the gospel and if we always pray for help and are obedient, we really can have peace all the time. The key is Christ. He is at the door waiting to give us peace, but we must seek it and accept the gift, knowing we are worthy of it. He loves us and He wants us to have peace, to always know that we are okay and that He recognizes every single step we make.
Update on members and investigators: The family we taught that got baptized a month ago continues to be active in church and they are really thriving. The dad, Hermana Rafa received the priesthood and is going to baptize his son. They are so happy and seeing them and feeling their energy from when we started teaching them to now is night and day different and so amazing. The gospel really does bless and change families. That is something that has really impacted me.
We have been teaching a 12 year old named Jose who is part of a family where all are members of the church, but they are not active. About a month ago, we were teaching a 9 year old, Daniel, who did not want to get baptized alone and was really worried because he didn´t have friends in the church, so we thought to start teaching Jose so and create kind of a support group night for young boys. It has been amazing to watch Jose, Daniel and 6 other boys grow closer in the gospel and those who are not members have learned about the gospel and want to be members! Baptizing and reactivating. Jose now goes to church on his own with his hair all slicked-back and his backpack, like a mini missionary. He received the priesthood on Sunday and told us it is his dream to serve a mission. He is the cutest. His family came to church for the first time in 8 months to see him pass the sacrament for the first time.
Anyways, there are a lot of stories to tell. We meet beautiful, amazing people every single day and I wish I could share every experience with all of you.
Thank you for your support and love. I love you all so very much!XOXO
Hermana Jessop
Photos:
Tamales
Visiting 3 sets of twins
The boys from the ward, including Jose
