Seeds and Sacrifice

 June 27, 2022

Bonjour à tous! 

I can hardly believe it’s almost the end of June! I have no idea where the time has gone, but I’m grateful for yet another week in the service of the Lord! I think part of why time seems to be flying by so quickly is that we spent most of this week running around from lessons to service to meals etc and honestly that’s the way I like things to be. 

I have said it many times, but, I’ll say it once again, I love service! More than just being a nice change of pace, I love getting to help others in a meaningful and measurable way. It’s so satisfying to see the fruits of our labors, and, more importantly, to create or strengthen friendships with those we serve. This week we helped the amazing Gonzalez family prepare for their move to Mexico, helped a less active single mother in the ward with her backyard projects, and sawed through a bunch of fallen tree branches for an older Sister in the ward. 

We’ve also gotten under way with exchanges for this transfer, and the two we had this week were filled with miracles and tender mercies! The first was with the Spanish Elders in the Victoria ward, and I had the privilege of spending the day with the one and only Elder Cardozo, who is incredibly fun and upbeat and simultaneously a spiritual powerhouse of wisdom. He does something I really love at the end of each day of counting up how many times we saw the hand of the Lord at the end of each day, and looking back we saw quite a few miracles! The most obvious and memorable one I’d say was going to visit a referral only to realize that they live in an apartment building and we didn’t have the apartment number. There were eight apartments so we decided to try and follow the Spirit. Without hesitating Elder Cardozo decided to buzz apartment 6 and lo and behold a woman answered and it was the right one! 

The second exchange was with Elder Madsen about 20 minutes south of Longueuil in La Prairie. La Prairie is super pretty, and the day was made even more memorable since it was on St. Jean Baptiste day which is apparently Quebec’s National Holiday. Picture the fourth of July but it’s just for Quebec. It ended up being pretty tame compared to the 4th, but we had a great time!

Without going into any details, I have to say that Elder Cardozo and Elder Madsen are both remarkable missionaries with incredible stories. Learning about other missionaries and hearing their experiences and testimonies is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary, and each it strengthens my testimony that this truly is Christ’s restored church filled with His covenant people. As unassuming or imperfect as we may often feel, we each have our own testimonies and relationships with our Savior and we can each use our unique personalities and experiences as we invite others to come unto Him!

In terms of actual numerical success, this week wasn’t incredible, but I am constantly learning that there is more to the work than just numbers and we had some really amazing spiritual experiences teaching and testifying to others and hopefully planting seeds that will one day bear fruit. I’ll share one example that stands out to me. Since my amazing companion, Elder Freestone, is going home at the end of this transfer, for pretty much the first time in my mission I have the responsibility of being the designated driver. As we were pulling up to a dinner appointment with the Levesque family on Saturday night, we had some trouble finding the visitor’s parking so I ended up taking a few seemingly haphazard turns and parking pretty far away. Elder Freestone half jokingly said that it would somehow lead to a miracle, and as we were walking back to our car following said dinner appointment we stopped to talk to a man reading in a park and we ended up having a really powerful discussion with him about our beliefs and sharing how the Gospel has blessed us personally. He shared some of his own personal experiences and we were able to bear our testimonies of God’s love for us and the peace that comes from our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. In the end we all left feeling edified and with mutual respect that I hope will one day help him accept the restored gospel.

As some of you may already know, June 27th is a very important and solemn anniversary. It was on this day 178 years ago that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred in Carthage Jail. I have always felt a special connection to them and their martyrdom since visiting Carthage Jail when my family moved from Kentucky to Utah was one of the earliest spiritual experiences I can remember. The Spirit I felt that day set the foundation for my testimony of the Restored Gospel. I’d like to share my testimony that I know that Joseph was truly a prophet of God, and that he was a good, honest, and sincere man whose greatest desire was to please God and serve his fellow man. I will forever be indebted to him and his brother for their role in the ongoing Restoration, and I hope we can all take some time today to reflect on how their contributions and sacrifices have blessed each of us individually.

Love you all,

Elder Jackson