The First Week!

 October 4, 2020

Bonjour mes amis! 

I can’t believe it’s only been four days since I was set apart as a missionary! My days are filled with class, personal study, language study, companionship study, planning meetings, French tutoring sessions, and workshops - and I love it! It’s definitely a lot of work, but, after six long months of mostly empty schedules, it feels good to be busy! Everything I do has a purpose, and I can see how the lord is shaping me to be an instrument in his work. If I’m obedient and follow all the instructions I’ve been given, I know the lord will bless me to understand far more than I ever could on my own. I have to thank all of the excellent teachers I've had over the years, because knowing how to properly study and take notes has been invaluable!

Anyone who knows me knows that I have some, let’s say, “nocturnal tendencies,” and the most surprising miracle I’ve experienced so far is that I’ve actually been able to fall asleep at 10:30! Before starting the MTC, I was fairly certain it would be easier for me to get up on time if I just stayed up until 6:30 instead of trying to fall asleep five hours before I would usually consider going to bed

The biggest miracles I’ve been blessed with, though, have to be my companion and my district. It’s only been half a week, but I already love them all so much! My companion, Elder Fairchild, is from Highland Ranch, Colorado - which is apparently just south of Denver - and he is a super cool dude! He loves to ski and skateboard, and apparently he can even do a backflip on a wakeboard! Most importantly, he shares my love of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and even indie music! I can count on one hand the number of people I know who listen to boy Pablo, but somehow Elder Fairchild even knew who he was. I can’t wait to listen to indie music with him two years from now haha 

The most powerful spiritual experience from the last three days has to be when our district had a testimony meeting about coming unto Christ. The spirit was so strong I honestly almost started crying at one point. As I said, I really love my district! (which is good since we spend around seven hours a day together haha) Some of them actually live really close by, so maybe we'll get to meet up with them before the MTC is over - while being Covid conscientious, of course.

Another fun experience was seeing Elder Derek Gibbons during one of my workshops (a workshop is basically a huge zoom call with a bunch of missionaries and a speaker) and getting to message each other for a bit! I love Elder Gibbons so much, and I know that he is truly going to change lives in both Boston, Massachusetts and Leeds, England! It even turns out that his companion is friends with Elder Allred in my district! 

I’ll close by saying a little bit about General Conference. I’ve heard people say General Conference is like Christmas for missionaries, and I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment! I loved every talk, and felt like each one was giving me valuable advice on how I can be a good missionary. I’ve never been more certain that our leaders truly are modern day prophets!

After listening to Conference, I felt inspired that I should work on developing some Christ-like attributes - specifically humility. Learning a new language is a very humbling experience, but I know that if I am patient, God will help me. The gift of tongues is real! I’d challenge all of you to choose a Christ-like attribute that you would like to develop in yourself - I know you will feel yourself coming closer to Christ as you do! 

Love you all,

Elder Jackson