January 30, 2017 10 MONTH MARK

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​ello all, this is the mom, putting the blog up today.  For some unknown reason, there are times when Jenni's tablet fails to load this blog.  Who knows why, but this gives me a chance to thank you all for supporting Jenni on her mission with your prayers and kind messages.   She is doing great.  This momma is very proud of her girl!   Now... February 21 is Jenni's 20th birthday (she can't see her blog, can only post here) anyway, her address is at the bottom of the blog and I know she would LOVE to get real mail for her birthday, so if you have an extra stamp lying around, please send her a birthday message.  Thanks!   

Here is her message for the week:

Two things, how is January already over?! AND HOW AM I 10 MONTHS OLD?! 🙊😅

This week was wonderful though! Full of miracles per usual! 😎

So last Monday, I was doing pday stuff when I realized my ring from my grandma was not on my finger anymore. I have had that ring since 2009 and it means the world to me. So I started looking EVERYWHERE! I couldn't find it, and my mom told me to just let it go for a few hours, so I did. I prayed so much and looked so hard through the week and still it was no where to be found. Friday night we had some extra time before bed so I was determined to find it. I got on my knees and pretty much begged Heavenly Father to help me find it. So I looked in all the rooms and corners that I could think of. Then I sat on my bed and just listened for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I thought of all I did on Monday. One thing came to mind, I re made my bed after washing my bedding. So I felt like I needed to check under my fitted sheets. It was in the last corner I looked in. I was SO happy!!! I am so thankful for those tender moments that remind me of God's love and concern for his children! 😭❤

Tuesday was a great day too! We were able to find a new investigator named Charlotte! Her lesson went SO good!! We also got to go to the Tuesday night meeting! We had planned to go early so we could talk to just Felicia and to prep the song we were gonna sing. But that night we ate at a members home and the GPS was no help with getting us to Felicia's. We got SO lost. It was dark, there were scary dogs chasing our car, ( sidenote: Stuart has made me an anti big dog person)  and we were going wayyy too many miles. So basically Satan was trying to stop us because we had super great plans. But he didn't completely win. We got to the meeting with 2 minutes to spare! We got to sing "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" and they loved it! They said it gave them chills and they could feel the spirit! ❤  It is on my facebook page if y'all wanna check it out! (Sidenote pt 2: some people have asked me about the facebook rules again and basically you can do whatever you want with my posts, like, share, or comment. I just cant follow your feed! ) 

Big changes took place Wednesday. We had the worldwide missionary broadcast! It was so great! There were also some anouncements made and you will probably here them from 100 other missionaries today. So for starters our daily schedule is different! We have from 6:30- 10 to exercise, eat, get ready, plan, and have personal study. There is only a set hour and a half, the rest of the time is basically free! A big change is planning in the morning, because we usually would plan for our next day right before bed! Another big change is 30 minute lunch time. I HATE it! Hate is a strong word I know, but it is stressful! By the time we actually cook something, we have like 10 minutes to eat it. I am sure it was inspired, I just haven't figured out why yet. We also get to go to bed early now which obviously I am pumped about! Pday also got changed too! Now it starts at 8am not 10am!! We have 2 extra hours which is SO great!! 

As missionaries, we set weekly goals, and those got changed as well! The Charlotte North Carolina Mission has been piloting the main key indicators since June, so this really is nothing new for us. We have seen a lot of success though since we started focusing on the specific goals! I am excited for all the other missions in the world to see that same success! 

Okay I saved the best for last, so hopefully all 5 of you who still read this, are still with me. 😘

So a few weeks ago we met Wendell. We had our return appointment on Thursday and it was incredible. He read the pamphlet we gave him, and he knew his facts! The lesson went so well and I am proud to say HE HAS A BAPTISM DATE!! He also came to church yesterday and loved it!  We are so excited to be working with him! 😊

Spiritual Thought: " It's hard to have a negative attitude about things, if and when your life is focused on the Prince of Peace" - M. Russell Ballard, "Our Search For Happiness" 

Well I can't say enough how much I love this life and this area and my companion and the branch and my Heavenly Father and my Savior and all of you!! ❤❤❤ These past 10 months have been so wonderful and I wouldn't trade them for anything! 

Have a great week! 

Sending Love, 
Sister Jacobsmeyer💕

PO Box 1025

Stuart VA 24171 ​

Pictures:

1)Our District😊

2) ❤

3) I would serve 100 times over for cookout hush puppies and shakes😍

4) the sistas of winston 💜

5) 10 months old

JANUARY 23, 2017 Part TWO

Hey all, the first part of this blog was really last weeks entry that never got put up.  oops!    This part is actually today!  This week!   With help from the Mom!   

This week was one we were dreading. We had no big events to look forward to, or any fun meetings. So we prayed extra hard that we would survive the week and it ended up being a week of miracles🎉

The first miracle was on Tuesday!  We were in charge of leading the religious meeting on the mountain. They wanted us to show how the Bible and Book of Mormon went hand in hand. So we used a lot of scriptures and personal experiences! We were also able to teach most of the Restoration! It went SO well! All 7 of them accepted a Book of Mormon and they want us to lead once a month and present our lessons! Naturally we are pumped! Oh! Also every time before it starts we sing while David plays the harp. They LOVE "Come Come Ye Saints" but we were a little tired of that song (no offense pioneers who inspired it) So we switched things up and sang "Come Thou Fount"! Felicia recorded it and put it on her personal facebook page  and her store page! So you can go on my page and find it if you wanna watch it! 😊

Miracle number two & three occurred Wednesday and Thursday. We did a looooooot of knocking. But God gave us the opportunity to teach! And we found 3 new investigators! Wahoooo! 🙌

Friday brought miracle number 4. We went out with a girl in our branch who just got home in October from her mission in Idaho! (Fun fact: Her first district leader was a return missionary I met this summer in the Wilkesboro ward! Small world!)  So we had a return appointment, that sadly fell through. So knocking we went! Out of the 4 doors we knocked on, ALL of them talked to us! And 2 of the 4 let us teach them! It gets better. One sweet couple, let us in (and let us help them with their groceries #yayforunplannedservice)  and we got to know them for a little bit. They were asking us some real great questions of the soul and we were able to testify of restored truth to them. As we got to know them, we connected the dots and found out that they are Felecia's parents!😮 They want us to come back and teach them more. They weren't able to commit to a specific return appointment due to upcoming doctor appointments, but hopefully we'll be able to meet with them again soon! 

Saturday we had miracle number 5, getting invited to dinner & a birthday party! Ok it wasn't a huge miracle but still it gave us something to look forward to haha Plus we got to be with the cutest families in the branch who we love so so so much! ❤

And lastly, miracle number six. We were former finding after church and met Larry! We had a great conversation and he accepted a return appointment! And because of him, we met our monthly goal!! 😊Miracles can be found EVERYDAY! This I can testify. Big or small, God is always willing to provide those tender mercies! 

Spiritual Thought: "Be brave because you are a child of God. Be kind because everyone else is, too" ❤❤❤

I am so thankful for each & every one of you!!  Enjoy your last full week of January!! 💜💜

Sending Love, 
Sister Jacobsmeyer

PO Box 1025

Stuart VA 24171 

1/ I told her to smile real big ha ha

2) Ok but like these shirts are the most accurate thing ever😂

3) Last week at the baptism with the Alexanders💕

4) Preaching to the cows🐄

5) So on the way up the mountain we were covered in clouds!! My picture did not do it justice, so I stole this from facebook! We live in such a beautiful world😊

Okay but can we talk about how January is halfway over??  Crazy! This week was PERFECT! Well close to it!

The snow finally melted and we were able to go back to normal thank goodness!! Up here in Stuart we've  been struggling with finding lately. We decided to switch things up and go where the people are by doing some Walmart finding! Earlier in the week, we role played a finding situation of meeting a woman in the baby section. Well Thursday we went to the baby section and we met this sweet lady and got to talk to her about what we do and use some short powerful statements. We were able to see our role play come to life! She seemed really interested and receptive. We were able to give her a pamphlet and our contact info. Unfortunately, due to her own personal life circumstances, we weren't able to get her contact info or be able to set up a time to meet with her again. So we are praying that somehow, someway we meet her again. Also this made me appreciate role plays more, I can't say they are my favorite thing to do though😂

The weekend was where it was at! Friday we had zone meeting! It was so great! There were so,e really great trainings given that pumped me up to go be more ambitious! Also after the meeting we went on exchanges! I got to go to Winston-Salem with Sister Davis!! 🙌❤ In case y'all forgot, she was one of my first companions. She is simply amazing, I love her! We saw so many miracles! It was such a fun exchange! 

Saturday I spent 10 hours in a car 😅 We drove back from exchanges, and five minutes later I got in a car to drive to EMELY'S BAPTISM!! We picked up Sister Hill (aka my kindred spirit, I love her) and her companion, Sister Johnson, so they got to be there too! Emely is so sweet and she made a few remarks about starting over and getting a new life. It was so great! Us sisters even sang a special musical number! The spirit was so strong and I am SO happy I got to go!  Plus I got to see some of my favorites from Lancaster, and the Alexanders! 😊 We also drove through Concord to get to Monroe, it was a great stroll down memory lane ❤ 

Oh I can also fianlly say I have a gun story!! Yesterday we were looking for this house and we got kinda lost so we were turning around. I had to get out and back Sister Sandy (the joys of missionary life) and then bam! A gun shot! Right towards us! I got in the car and we saw a man on his porch. So welcome to Stuart Virgina! 🙃

Spiritual Thought: 

" People think I'm crazy. They say I take this Jesus thing too seriously. Well I don't know, but Christ took me pretty serious when He died on the cross for me" - Unknown  

I love this! It really makes you think too! Christ did SO much for us, more than I can fathom, so the least I can do is serve a mission for 18 months. But it stretches beyond that. The least we can do is show gratitude for him, and try our very best to follow his example, even if people think you're crazy. 

Life is great, and missionary work is fun!  There is a special place in heaven for those of you who write, support, and love me! Have a blessed week, yall! 💕

Sending Love,
Sister Jacobsmeyer

According to my tablet, it's 16 degrees here in good old Stuart and I'm counting my blessings that like half of my christmas gifts included warm fuzzy socks😂

This week went well. I finally have some stories for yall!

So Tuesday we had planned to visit this former who lives in these sketchy apartments. It was in the early afternoon so we were fine with going. So we knocked on the door and this older lady answers and she's on the phone. She tells the person she will call back. So we give her our door approach, tell her who we are and why we are there. She starts crying and says give me  a second. She closes the door and we can hear her praying. So we are like score!! She opens it and let's us in. There were obvious signs of drinking/smoking something going on(plus later on she told us she was drunk), but like what else is new. So we start trying to do some teaching and she starts mumbling things. She told us to talk about something else, and we were like so confused. Then she pulls out her phone and reads us some bible verse texts and asks if we believe them. She also told us she knew a guy who was Mormon once, and she started crying again and mumbling. At this point we were not as pumped as before. Then she starts saying something like "you killed them" and "no I can't" it was freaky. So we were trying to get out of there! I asked if we could say a prayer with her before we left and she said she would say it so she grabbed out hands and squeezed soooo tight while she prayed. Then we got up and she was like where are you going? Don't leave! And then she started searching for something. Then she told us she wanted to give us money. We told her to keep her money and again that we had to leave. Thankfully we got to! I seriously have never been more scared my whole mission. It was freaky to the max. But God protects His missionaries and I am here to tell the tale😊

Also on every Tuesday, we eat with the Branch President ( side note: I have probs gained 30 pounds from all the meals I have had here. SOS😭)  and after we go to this ladies house and have this religious meeting. There were about 6 other people there, all from different religions and once a week they meet and talk about God and stuff. This week a Catholic Lady led the discussion. It was neat hearing everyones different views. The best part was it was in good spirits! No bashing! We are supposed to lead it tomorrow, but the icy roads might stop us. 

This week we legit almost killed probably 7 dogs. There is not ONE dog chained or fenced in up here *cries bc not a fan of big scary dogs* So they all just jump out in front of us while driving, thankfully we haven't hurt any of them. And thankfully they haven't hurt us! I ran away from 2 dogs this week. Again another mission first #boonieprobs 

And last but not least... SNOWWWW❄⛄ On Friday night while we were sleeping a bunch of snow came to town! We woke up to white! It took me back to my first(and only) experience of living in the snow up in Idaho. I can't say I am a fan. It is pretty though! Our cars were grounded all weekend due to the icy road situation. And sadly there aren't any houses/people to try that live in reasonable/safe walking distance. So we just went CRAZY, stuck inside. We tried to stay as productive as possible! We even got to teach someone over facebook, which was great! But the best part of all was, church was cancelled aka I didn't't have to give my talk! 😂 

The people down here I guess shut down everything when they get snow, so most the churches cancelled their meetings in our mission. So we had a zone conference call testimony meeting! That was nice, it at least gave us a little spiritual uplift for the week! And Sunday night the Mullins came and got us and had us over for dinner! It was SO nice to be out of the house! Seriously I was getting stir crazy. It looks like we will be inside today too, so if any of you wanna entertain me so I don't't lose my mind I would appreciate it😂

Spiritual Thought: 

"Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so; all is right.Why should we think to earn a great reward If we now shun the fight? Gird up your loins; fresh courage take. Our God will never us forsake; And soon we'll have this tale to tell— All is well! All is well!" - Come Come Ye Saints Hymn #30

This is one of my favorite hymns. Sister Sandy and I sang it Tuesday at that meeting, and while I was complaining about the cold and the snow, I thought of the pioneers. Day after day, they walked in below freezing weather, some even lost their feet due to frost bite. This hymn was written on their journey out west. I am so thankful for those brave souls who left it all behind, for something they believed it. They had it so rough, yet found ways to be full of happiness! 

Okay sorry this is so long🙊 I hope you all have a great week and that I get to hear about all your adventures soon! Sure do love ya! 💕

Sending Love,
Sister Jacobsmeyer

#40 January 2, 2017 Started at the bottom, now we're here!

New Year, New Me, New STATE! Greetings from the middle of nowhere aka Stuart VA! My 4th area, and 3rd state in the past 9 months! 

Well it was a crazy and kinda sad week!

Monday I had my last zone activity in the best zone ever (RIP Charlotte South) We all got together and hung out. Oh and ate food and played games. It was fun! 

On Tuesday Sister Hill and I just assumed we were both staying, because we hadn't gotten a call.....but fast forward to our weekly taco tuesday date. Our phone rang and it was the Assistants. They broke the terrible news. We were BOTH leaving 💔😭😭😭 WHAT?! Lancaster (and a few other areas) got a big switch around! Elders are taking over Lancaster now. 

So we spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday packing (and crying) and saying goodbye. The Tracy's took us to our fav place to eat in Kershaw and I think I will miss that place the most 😉😂 jk but it's amazing. Also Wednesdaymarked 1 year of me getting my mission call!! What?! 

So Thursday we packed up Sister Tracy's truck and left. I was in the car for a few hours. I went from the very bottom of the mission, to the very top! I am now here in Stuart, with Sister Sandy! Which thankfully I served around her my first 2 transfers so she is no stranger. She is from Idaho and goes home in 5 weeks💔 This is my first time sending a companion home!! 

Friday was my 9 month mark, which was strange. I feel like I am still brand new! We had district meeting that day, which was fun to meet new people! Also while out finding this lady gave us some cupcakes haha! 

New Years Eve we didn't do anything too special. But New Years Day we were invited over to someones house for a southern tradition. It consists of eating collard greens (for money) and black eyed beans (for luck). They also fed us a nice Christmas type dinner! We were stuffed! 

I also got to go to church yesterday and finally meet the branch! We meet in an old house, whi h made me feel like I was on the back east trip visiting church history sites haha. 

Spiritual Thought: 

"And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care." <<Doctrine & Covenants 12:8>>

So this transfer my Christ-like attribute study is on Humility! And for the 5 days I have been here, I have already been humbled so much! Stuart is a very low income town. People here don't have much. I am very thankful for the life I was blessed with, and all the many blessings I have received over the years. I am hoping that this year we can all make a goal to become more humble and realize how much we really do havmble

Well I hope next week I have better stories. It might snow this week! Did I mention it's freezing here?! 

Oh and if you wanna send your homegirl anything my new address is 

PO Box 1025

Stuart VA 24171 😘

I love yall with all my heart! I hope your new year is off to a great start! Hope to hear from you soon💕 

Sending Love, 
Sister Jacobsmeyer

New Year, New Me, New STATE! Greetings from the middle of nowhere aka Stuart VA! My 4th area, and 3rd state in the past 9 months! 

Well it was a crazy and kinda sad week!

Monday I had my last zone activity in the best zone ever (RIP Charlotte South) We all got together and hung out. Oh and ate food and played games. It was fun! 

On Tuesday Sister Hill and I just assumed we were both staying, because we hadn't gotten a call.....but fast forward to our weekly taco tuesday date. Our phone rang and it was the Assistants. They broke the terrible news. We were BOTH leaving 💔😭😭😭 WHAT?! Lancaster (and a few other areas) got a big switch around! Elders are taking over Lancaster now. 

So we spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday packing (and crying) and saying goodbye. The Tracy's took us to our fav place to eat in Kershaw and I think I will miss that place the most 😉😂 jk but it's amazing. Also Wednesday marked 1 year of me getting my mission call!! What?! 

So Thursday we packed up Sister Tracy's truck and left. I was in the car for a few hours. I went from the very bottom of the mission, to the very top! I am now here in Stuart, with Sister Sandy! Which thankfully I served around her my first 2 transfers so she is no stranger. She is from Idaho and goes home in 5 weeks💔 This is my first time sending a companion home!! 

Friday was my 9 month mark, which was strange. I feel like I am still brand new! We had district meeting that day, which was fun to meet new people! Also while out finding this lady gave us some cupcakes haha! 

New Years Eve we didn't do anything too special. But New Years Day we were invited over to someones house for a southern tradition. It consists of eating collard greens (for money) and black eyed beans (for luck). They also fed us a nice Christmas type dinner! We were stuffed! 

I also got to go to church yesterday and finally meet the branch! We meet in an old house, whi h made me feel like I was on the back east trip visiting church history sites haha. 

Spiritual Thought: 

"And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care." <<Doctrine & Covenants 12:8>>

So this transfer my Christ-like attribute study is on Humility! And for the 5 days I have been here, I have already been humbled so much! Stuart is a very low income town. People here don't have much. I am very thankful for the life I was blessed with, and all the many blessings I have received over the years. I am hoping that this year we can all make a goal to become more humble and realize how much we really do havmble

Well I hope next week I have better stories. It might snow this week! Did I mention it's freezing here?! 

Oh and if you wanna send your homegirl anything my new address is 

PO Box 1025

Stuart VA 24171 😘

I love yall with all my heart! I hope your new year is off to a great start! Hope to hear from you soon💕 

Sending Love,
Sister Jacobsmeyer