Ano Nuevo :: January 18, 2016

Happy New Year!

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

Families :: January 11, 2016

This lady in the ward made these skirts for us!! We went to her house one day and she had one for each of us.

The other is a picture of the young mens. There is an inactive member who is named Jose who is 12 and his family doesn't like the church anymore but are all baptized and we went to his house the other day and told him the he could receive the priesthood and he told us that it is his dream to receive the priesthood and go on a mission and he was so happy we came to tell him that. He came to church all by himself Sunday and had his hair all slicked back and a backpack and looked like a mini missionary and in the night went with the young mens visiting and is just so cute

Learning a lot about stress and how there are many negative emotions that interrupt our day that are not of God. He is the Prince of Peace, so why should we ever be so uptight and worried? This is not of God. I have been writing my negative thoughts all day and it is amazing to realize they are not of God.

The gospel really does bless families. Going into one home to the next, it is night and day different. There is such a light of christ and I am so grateful it has changed the life of our family. I love you guys so much

So many experiences to tell. I don't even know where to start. we are teaching a lot of people and this week we focused a lot on the work and our faith and positive thinking. We saw so many miracles! We are doing 40 days of fasting with the ward so one person fasts every day and gives us a reference and we have found many people. People really are prepared!!

Can't write more right now but i love you so much. I have so much to tell you but some things might have to be told right after my mission. It will fly by. I am so proud of my family and tell stories about you every day!!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!

Grandota :: January 4, 2016

This is how small the people are. She is half of me. heheheh this is one of the members in our ward who visits with us a lot. She is amazing.

The Flowers here are beautiful. I love nature.

Merry Christmas! :: December 21, 2015

MERRRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying Christmas time! Christmas in Guatemala includes a lot of fireworks, tamales and parties. We are enjoying the hot Christmas in the tropics.

This week, we had a Christmas Devotional with President and Hermana Ruiz. It was really nice to be with other missionaries and feel so much love and feel like a big family. We had a lunch, games and some spiritual messages. Ihave attached some photos of my companion and I at the lunch. We got some gifts and celebrated and celebrated some of our achievements and made some goals as a mission.

We have been visiting people and teaching of Christ and seeing the miracles every day. I love singing Christmas songs! Being away at Christmas is weird because as amissionary, you feel so much joy and happiness to be part of the work but it is also hard to be away from family during the holidays. But, what is so cool is that we have the opportunity to look deeper for the Lord´s hand in our lives and really see that we have everything we could ever need. It is really beautiful. Gratitude changes everything and allows the Lord´s spirit to penetrate our lives and help us,no matter where we are and what we are experiencing.

I think of all the people who are alone at Christmas or who do not have family or are extremely afflicted and really, being away at Christmas for a season is a blessing so we can better understand others and have more compassion for ourselves and those around us. Some are with family but they feel very alone and are struggling inside. Some will never know what it means to have a family. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. Life will always be hard in some way and that is the point, so we progress and learn, but because of the Savior we can always choose to have hope, love and to act in faith. Always. No matter what the circumstances are, we can choose how we react and how we will feel. I hope for everyone to have a Merry Christmas, to remember the real meaning and to enjoy where we are, the people we are with who God has given us to love and to just love every minute. We were made to have JOY, especially at Christmas because OUR SAVIOR LIVES!!!!

I just want to thank you all for your support and love, for the love you all give to the world. We are all on this journey together. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us perfectly. We are on the Earth for just a moment and He is with us every step of the way. We just have to ASK, and because our Savior came to the Earth and died for us, we ALWAYS have him, and He understands us perfectly.

I hope that we can all reach out to others this week during Christmas and always, remembering to judge less, love more, and live every moment, because that is what the Savior would want us to do with the great gift He has given us of His atonement. ENJOY!!!

Love you all!!!!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Hermana Jessop

Photos!

Christmas Time :: December 7, 2015

Hello!

It has been a great week. Some days I cannot believe that I get to be here in Las Flores and to be a missionary! It is still surreal and I am grateful for this amazing opportunity. I sometimes look down and see my nametag and realize I am part of something so much bigger than myself. Missionary work is amazing. Anyone questioning a mission, just do it. Go on a mission! It is incredible and something everyone, if they have the opportunity, should experience.

It is hot here and there is not snow or many lights, but I feel the Christmas Spirit. I thought it would be weirder to be away for Christmas but I feel the spirit, and it is because of Christ. He loves us and He is everywhere and as long as we remember this and seek Him, he will fill our hearts with love and joy! I love Christmas!!!

I have been thinking a lot about change. We moved two houses this week and have been all over. Nothing is going to stay the same in life, and this is why we must learn to thrive on ambiguity. The only way we are going to learn and grow is with this change we experience, by jumping outside of our comfort zones. The Lord knows this and this is why he gives us opportunities to jump and learn and change. This is part of His plan and as long as we have the Lord with us, this change is bearable and we will learn and grow in the best possible way. He is with us every step of the way!

This week, we were able to experience two baptisms. On Friday, Family Muy got baptized.. well, the parents. They got married and also baptized. When we first came to their house about a month ago, the mom let us in, but she told us that she was very strongly catholic and would never have let the missionaries in, so she does not know why she did it. But, after meeting with them again and again, they prayed and read and came to the answer that they needed to get baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is truly a miracle. In the course of a month, we have seen this family almost every single day and we have all become one big family. The kids are amazing. The dad has been clean of smoking and drinking and wants to continue on this path and stay this way for his family and children and their future. They are completely different people. Their home feels different, the kids are better behaved. So many changes. It is truly incredible. I am in awe and so grateful to be a part of their journey.

The other baptism was with Hermano Manuel. He was sitting on the street one day and we started talking to HIm and in the first discussion, he decided he wanted to be baptized. It was super incredible. He is so special. He is someone who was prepared and searching for something else in his life.

This is God's work. He is changing lives. I am grateful to be a part of it and wake up everyday to a new adventure. Jesus Christ lives. He will carry us if we ask Him to. He is always here and He loves us tremendously.

I want to hear more of your missionary stories, in your lives and with people who have served missions. Share them with me please!

Merry Christmas Season!
Hermana Jessop

Life in Guate :: November 30, 2015

Hello everyone!

Not much time to write but I realized I never told any details about where I am and for those of you who have asked, more details!

I am serving in an area called Las Flores, in Mazatenango. The ward is really amazing and super supportive and helpful. My companion is from Mexico and the two of us live in a house by ourselves. We eat with members everyday.

Training is going well! It is a privilege to be here during Christmas. The spirit of Christmas is so strong and people are very open and loving to us. We had a Thanksgiving lunch as a zone on Thanksgiving and that was super fun and wonderful! We also all performed in a Christmas talent show on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. They have Black Friday here too!

We are teaching a guy named Joe from California and that has been really interesting, teaching in English and getting to know him better. We are also teaching a family and the mom has always disliked Mormons and been a strong catholic, but she for some reason let us in and we have seen a big change of heart with her. She says she doesn't know why she did it but she wants to get baptized! The day has been clean from smoking and drinking for months and wants to change his life. It is incredible to see how the Lord works in our hearts.

Prayer, gratitude, faith, love! When we feel negative or dark, we know we are not possessed of the spirit of the Lord and these are things that will help us. The Lord is on our side and He loves us tremendously!!!

Hermana Jessop