Adventures :: August 1, 2016

Hi everyone!

This week has been one of many adventures. I am mostly just sending a lot of photos this week. We explored, taught, and had a baptism in a river. It was an amazing and spiritual week. 

XOXOX

Hermana Jessop

The Elders' Baptism in Chicacao

Sucely.. she feeds us lunch everyday and is the best, funniest person 

We share a ward with Elder Tumbaco and Elder Reymundo. Love them.

The hill by the Bishop's house

Learning to fly a kite

P Day activity scavenger hunt

Girls from our zone

Nest Building :: July 18, 2016

Word of Wisdom dinner lesson with some of our favorite converts

Our Kids singing Families Can be Together Forever.. Unforgettable

The best thing about being back in the same zone is visiting converts!!!

Hermana Hill and I

Hi!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I am still loving my area. We are seeing more success after 4 weeks from opening the area. The Lord has definitely blessed us with many miracles as we have been working hard and doing our best to follow the spirit and do his will.

I especially love the community in San Antonio. There are some really amazing members. Something I really loved this week was sharing a lesson about the Word of Wisdom and teaching about caring for our bodies. We made a dinner focusing on healthy foods. It was so much fun!!

Another highlight was being with a family we are teaching that has 10 little kids under the age of 12. They are the coolest little kids. The first time we showed up at their house, all the kids came running to us and we sang Families Can Be Together Forever. Every time we go to their house now, all the kids sit and sing to us. It is powerful. I will never ever forget these little kids! They have all been to church and we are planning their baptisms for this next weekend.

Another amazing thing about a mission is the way the stories of others heal our own wounds and give us more awareness of who we are and who the Lord needs us to be. If we let the Lord, He heals our hearts so we can be better and stronger through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As I sat across from an investigator this week (Juana), I was deeply touched by her story. She found the church and has a strong testimony of the truth of it and the truth of the Book of Mormon. She wants to get baptized but in order to live all the commandments, she will either have to get married or leave her husband. It is difficult because she has had 8 kids with him and she and him have been together for 22 years. In these 22 years, she has been living in a very abusive situation. As I sat across from her and felt her strong spirit, I began to reflect on my own family's situation.

Twelve years ago, my mother was faced with a similar situation. She could continue living with my father in an abusive situation or courageously leave him in order to give us, her girls, a better life. My mother took the counsel of many of her leaders and took us away from a toxic situation. Yes, it was difficult, but through these experiences, we have been able to grow in ways I do not think we would have otherwise. We have seen the Lord's hand through every moment, every phase, and, even if it was hard, these experiences have really edified us and been for the better. And most importantly, we have been able to learn to trust more fully in God and his plans for us.

Walking by faith and following spiritual promptings is a formula that will never fail us, because the Lord knows His plan and walks with us, hand in hand. He wants us to be happy.

This month, as pioneer day approaches, I think of my mother, my ancestors, and pioneers everywhere, all around the world, sacrificing all they had, walking by faith, and following spiritual promptings with the hope that all would turn out right, that their children would be able to prosper. I feel deep gratitude for my pioneer ancestors and their courage and strength as they crossed the plains. There are pioneers in every part of the world.

So, how are we pioneers today, and how can we trust the spirit more fully and walk by faith, even when we do not know what the Lord has in store for us?

Throughout The Bible and Book of Mormon, there are several accounts that confirm that the prophets did not exactly how their writings would benefit the world. They only knew that they needed to write and take good care of the plates for future generations. Look how we are all benefiting today because of the courage of prophets. So much truth would be lost without these pioneers.

I hope we can all walk by faith, follow spiritual promptings, and prayerfully and humbly make sacrifices for future generations. We may not know what will happen, but God will not lead us astray. We are all pioneers, paving the way for God's greater purposes. We are here for a great purpose and must press forward with courage, strength, and trust in God. Only the Lord knows the end from the beginning. Let us be grateful for our ancestors. Let us be grateful for the faith God has given us. Let us have courage and vision like Mother Eve.

Have a fantastic week. Love to you all!
XOXO
Hermana Jessop

Changes :: June 27, 2016

This week, I had changes and am back in Mazatenango, where I started my mission. I am happy to be here because I truly love Mazate! Some of my converts came and visited today, which made me so so happy.

My area is called San Antonio. It is really big, so we get to meet a lot of people. The ward is average sized and the members are overall really supportive from what I have seen. I have only been here a few days but overall, it has been a good few days. The changes are always challenging, but with time, we adjust and the work of the Lord continues!

My companion is named Hermana Perea. She is also from Lima, Peru. She is also 23 and graduated from college as an architect. I love having conversations with her because she is really intelligent and an amazing teacher. We have a LOT in common, like our interests, talents and opinions, which makes things really fun and interesting. 

Our mission president goes home tomorrow and we get a new mission president, President Goodman!!!

That is all for now.

XOXO

Hermana Jessop

The Secret :: May 16, 2016

What a week. Every moment brings a new adventure here. We have been teaching the Ramirez family and this week their little girl, Luz Clarita, was baptized. The parents are going to wait a little bit, following the example of their little girl. Also, a little girl named Yuri got baptized. One day, we were visiting a family and Yuri showed up and told us she wanted to get baptized. It all worked out so perfectly. It was a beautiful little miracle. 

Both of these little girls are great examples to me. There is something so precious and sweet about a child. I see why Christ spent a lot of time with the children. I have spent every day this week with Yuri, Luzy and her little sisters Marisol and Renata. They teach us how we can be humble and peaceful and just go with the flow and follow Christ. I love these little girls with my whole heart. I never want to leave them.

This week, I met Mikaela. She is 91 years old!!! We asked her what her secret is and she said that people ask her that all the time and she says that one eats what they need to eat and she has never had a special diet, but her secret is happiness. She is catholic and loves God with all her heart. It goes to show that God makes a big difference in our lives if we let him do so. We are all united in a desire to be better and serve God because of the knowledge we have of our Savior. 

We are all looking for the same sorts of things in life. We all just want happiness and acceptance. If we look with the Savior, we always find what we need to get to the next step in life. I have been thinking about all the desires I have in my heart and how I try to accomplish them by myself... to be healthier, smarter, skinnier, more talented, etc. etc. etc. Again and again, I have to learn that only through Christ, we can reach all of these goals, both temporal and spiritual. The Lord cares about what we care about and wants the best for us. He will lead us where he needs us to go and to who He needs us to be, in His time, and we will be HAPPY! I want to be like Mikaela when I am 91.

Here are some fun times from this week... 

Mikaela and I

91 years old!

Washing clothes with Marisol in the Pila

Luzy painting Elder Contreras' nails

Our mamma in Dalmacia Mama Maritza.. she always cooks for us and makes us dresses and gives the best hugs

Guatemalan Enchilada

Luz Clarita ready for her baptism

Yuri ready for her baptism

Hermana Meza and I with our girls

Our Savior - The Gift of Repentance :: March 28, 2016

Happy Easter Everyone!

March has been a crazy month but also one full of miracles. I am more tired than I think I have ever been in my life but also happier than ever. Missionary work makes no logical sense but it is truly the most beautiful and magical thing in the whole world. It is all the Lord. I feel like I haven`t really done anything. It is like the Lord has just allowed us to come along and see miracles as long as we are obedient and have faith in him. Missionary Work is amazing!

We have seen countless miracles this month. I want to tell the story about the Cadenas Family. We met them about a month ago. We were walking down a dark street at night headed for our house and they yelled out "Hey, don`t you guys sing?" (in Spanish, haha) and so we stopped and talked to them. They started asking us a lot of questions about things we believed and a lot of false beliefs that they had about the Church. They found us.

We started teaching them and after about two weeks, they wanted to get baptized. After we had their date to be baptized and they had visited the temple and were excited and everything, one day we went to their house and they were angry. They told us they never wanted to talk to us again. We were really hurt, confused and sad because in just a few weeks of visiting them every day, we had grown very close to their family and we hated the idea of not seeing them again.

We prayed and fasted a lot about how to help them and one day we felt that we needed to go back and talk to them. Basically, they had heard a lot of negative
things about the church and had a hard time with some of the changes they would have to make.

As they had their baptismal interviews, we discovered that there was a big family conflict that needed to be resolved. Again, we thought they were not able to baptized. As a missionary, you just want to help everyone be free of their sins and be able to feel happy.

Anyways, everything happened so quickly that I do not know how to explain it, but somehow we went to their house and resolved their doubts and I do not doubt that all of it was the spirit of the Lord, because from one day to the next, they went from being very angry to extremely excited and pleased to be baptized. We sat with them day after day as they worked through the repentance process and I have never seen people change so much.

Once again, I cannot explain what happened. But, I do testify that we saw giant changes in every one of the family members, especially the parents. Before my mission, one of my favorite people in the world, my brother-in-law, Braden, told me that on his mission, he learned how repentance can really change people. I am starting to actually understand what that means.

I testify that Jesus Christ lives and loves each one of us. Each day as I study the life of my Savior, I realize that I know almost nothing and I am such a small part of the big picture, BUT, I am an important part. Each one of us is. I am eternally grateful for the gift of repentance and for the opportunity to see the people around me change and repent of my sins and be clean again every minute, every hour, every day as I repent and try again and again. I love my savior with all my heart.

In Mazatenango, Las Flores, we saw countless miracles this month. Our zone leaders are awesome and everyone in our zone grew really close. I have never felt so unified with a group of people. With this unity and common goal, we were able to break the record for baptisms in our area, which is something that has not been done in years! We were able to go to the amusement park to celebrate after a month of hard work.

A mission cannot be explained, it just has to be experienced. Anyone questioning going on a mission, just do it! It is worth all the sacrifice and hard work. This is the Lord`s work.

Love you all!
Hermana Jessop