To Boonies and Back Again

September 6, 2021

Comment ça va? 

This week passed by in a blur. Nothing too crazy happened, but, as usual, there were lots of wonderful experiences getting to feel the Spirit, especially during lessons with our friends and during church. Fast Sunday is always great, even when it means biking in the heat without water haha (don't worry we made sure not to go too far so we wouldn't get heat stroke). I have to say, though, that I am surprised by how hot it still is here even though it's September. I'm starting to see Halloween decorations on people's doors and it's kind of disorienting since a lot of the time it's still 100+ degrees outside. 

In all honesty though, I am still really enjoying biking! Went all the way out to the boonies on the other side of town to visit a part-member family, and while it was definitely hot and tiring, it also felt very rewarding once we got there. I'll include some pictures because it was actually really pretty! It still doesn't feel real that I'll be going to Canada on the 16th, but one of the things that's hit me about leaving is that I probably won't do much biking once I get there. I know that a lot of things are going to change, but the good news that the Spirit is the same wherever you go and that the Lord's work 

Looking back, this week really did kind of feel like the calm before the storm, but I'll share some of the highlights I can think of. 

One of the first things that comes to mind was getting to go on an exchange with Elder Rydalch, who is my zone leader and also one of the Elders I live with. Like pretty much every other missionary in the zone, I love him so much! He is a great missionary, and I have really enjoyed the past transfer we've spent living together. I feel like I really learned a lot from him during our exchange, especially from his example of opening his mouth and talking with everyone. 

The other experience I'll share came from church this week. Thankfully this Sunday we were able to have church in person again, and we were also able to have our new/returning member class again for the second time ever! Elder Price and I led a lesson/discussion about the Restoration and at one point a lot of people started talking about the Book of Mormon and sharing their testimonies of how reading it has blessed their lives and the Spirit was just so strong! It felt so awesome to be in a room full of people that I love and to hear them share how much they love the Book of Mormon. I know that reading the Book of Mormon every day is one of the simplest yet most powerful things we can do to stay on the right path, aka the Covenant Path, and it gave me so much hope and excitement for each of their futures because I know that if they will continue doing that they will be able to overcome whatever trials they may face after I'm gone. 

As a closing thought, something I did during personal study this week that I really enjoyed was thinking back on my life and trying to pinpoint what I would say are some of the happiest moments in my life. I feel like it is usually pretty easy to remember the times that we hit rock bottom, but we should really spend much more time thinking about the wonderful experiences we've had where it seemed like we almost touched the clouds. I was filled with so much gratitude as I thought about some of my favorite memories and experiences, and I found a very common theme among them of the things that matter most, such family and the feeling Spirit. I'd encourage all of you to give it a shot yourselves! 

Love you all, 

Elder Jackson