Jane returned from her mission in February and was honorably released by President N. Strait Hill of the Indianapolis Stake.  She returned to BYU to continue her studies.  It has been a blessing to see her take on so many responsibilities and keep moving forward with her life goals.  We enjoyed a surprise visit from her in August,

and she and I made a Peruvian dinner together.  She is utilizing her Spanish language skills as a volunteer and is taking Spanish classes at the Y to perfect her skills.

Bautismo! 18 February 2013

Lesmith se bautizó!


Hey, I'm writing to you in Spanish! Woah. Uh-oh.
 

So, I have a lot of things to do, and I don't want to spend
 a whole bunch of time writing (sorry),
 but it was an awesome baptism!

 
Really.


The members and everyone who was participating were there 

on time (miracle!). 

Lesmith was super excited. She is so sweet. 

I really hope that we can keep teaching her the commandments and everything so that she's set.

The members supported a ton. It was so cool!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here as a missionary.
 

Thank you for supporting me. Helping others is truly the only way to find joy, and facilitating their growth is the most rewarding thing ever.

 That's why being a parent is so sacred and important to our salvation. 

Families are the best! I love you very very much!


Love,

Hermana Jackson

Jane Jackson

So, this week has been cool. We had inteviews with President Turk! (check out the blog) I love that. He asked us about what the Lord means when he says that we should pray always. I think of the scripture in Alma 3--counsel with the Lord in all thy doings. I want to do that better. I found a cool quote from the Gospel Principles manual that talks about how we can constantly repent. But, it's in spanish, or I would share it with you. I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. When we feel stressed or desperate or frustrated, we just have to have patience and faith and trust that if we do what he wants us to in this moment, everything will be okay. That's what being a missionary has taught me. I can't say that I never get stressed of frustrated, but I know that it is something that will pass. :) I know that Christ is our Savior and that he loves us. Have an awesome week! I love you!

Hermana Jackson

Life is Good

hey. Life is good. There never seems to be enough time to do everything that needs to be done, but somehow everything always works out. last week President Turk told me something (I might have told you) that literally changed my perspective on life completely. Well, it's a process, but it impacted me alot. I told him that I was a little bit troubled because as a missionary I frequently don't meet the goals that I put. And what's the point of having a goal if you don't meet it? He said, ''Don't worry, Sister Jackson, the pattern is the prize.'' He explained that the very act of putting goals and working towards them is really, in and of itself, the goal. It is what helps us to progress. Although we might never meet our goals, we will have come much further than we would have if we had never put them, and we will be better prepared to set goals and make plans for our future. The ultimate goal of the gospel is to make us perfect, but in this life, the Lord wants us to follow that upward spiral of learning that comes from obeying, repenting, and learning bit by bit. THAT is our goal. Cool, huh? It really kills that whole perfectionism thing.

I love you and I pray for you! hope that everything is well with you!

Love,

Hermana Jackson

¡te ríes gratis!

Boîte de réception

x

Jane Jackson	11:12 (Il y a 22 minutes)
à Danielle, Gayle, Heather, moi, Jonathan, Kaye, Liesl

Hey. No one wrote me this week. That's okay. 

You're probably all busy getting ready to celebrate

Jonathan's 17TH BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday, bro. 

I love you!

We are here in dear old Bosque. Hermana Pocco is a hoot.

We laugh at each other alot. Well, I laugh at her. She says 

that I should have to pay for all the laughs she gives me. 

haha. There's another one.

This week Ximena was baptized! She's 13 and her mom 

and sister are less active. Her mom came to church for the 

first time in a long time 3 weeks ago, and has come these 

past two weeks. My companion says that it is a complete 

transformation, because before she was completely 

unwilling to let Ximena be baptized. But when she came, 

Ximena and her sister, Cynthia, bore their testimonies in 

church and it was really awesome. Having a good 

experience in church can change a person's life. Help other 

people to have a positive experience in church! It'll make it 

happier for you too.

So, I've been thinking about some birthday advice to give 

Jonny, because a year from now you can be a 

MISSIONARY! Woohoo! And I feel like this is good for 

everyone, so I'll send it to all of you.

I've thought of three things that I would have liked to 

(or should have) put in to practice before my mission, 

but I didn't because I didn't know any better 

(Whoever said that ignorance is bliss was totally wrong):

1) I am extremely (and by extremely I mean very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very 

very very very very very very very very very very very very

very very very very very very very very) grateful for all of 

the support that I have received that has enabled me to 

be a missionary at this time. However, in retrospect, I 

would like to have paid for some of my mission 

(Dear Mom and Dad, please don't feel bad. Like I said, 

I am EXTREMELY grateful. But I'm also the guinea pig. 

Isn't it great to have a talking guinea pig? Love, Jane). 

Having things come easily means that you don't always 

appreciate what a great sacrifice they really are. I should 

have sacrificed more to prepare myself to be a good 

missionary, and I feel that paying for my mission would 

have helped me to do that. What you should learn from 

this: Work hard and save up.

2) I never really shared the gospel with people. Told them 

I'm Mormon, yes. Expressed opinions, yes. But really 

taught and testified of the gospel and how it can bless 

the lives of others, no. I attribute this to ignorance as 

well. Anyway, an important part of being a good 

missionary is having the gospel be a part of you. Another 

important part is being able to connect with people, 

especially being able to help members to help 

investigatores, because as members we don't usually 

know how to share the gospel. Lesson to be learned: 

Share the gospel. You can do this as you invite friends 

to come to church and to activities, as you share your 

knowledge of the Book of Mormon and of the plan of 

salvation, and as you live in a Christ-like way. Pray to 

know who to share the gospel with and pray to know how. 

And ASK THE MISSIONARIES. They can help you. :) 

Practicing with another person what you are going to 

say is very effective also. I do it on a daily basis.

3) There is so much information, so much doctrine, and 

Preach My Gospel is so bit that I didn't really know 

where to start. Now I've learned. Obviously we can't 

teach everything we know to other people, but as we 

learn to apply the principles of the gospel to real needs 

and real circumstances, we understand it better and we 

gain a testimony. And we can explain it better to others. 

So, Focus your gospel study on real needs and real 

circumstances. You can study to help a quorum 

member become more active, to help you sister have 

more confidence, or to help a friend who is going through 

a hard time. Just think, ''What doctrine does this person 

need to know, understand, and live so that they can 

overcome this problem?'' Pray as you begin your study, 

while you study, and at the end, and God will answer 

that question. Our understanding of the gospel deepens 

when we make it a part of our every day living. Be willing 

to teach what you learn to others and to invite them to live it. 

Never forget that the first principles of the gospel are faith 

and repentance., Every day we have to exercise our faith 

to obey and to repent, or we are not living the gospel. If we 

do that, we live our covenants and we will have the constant 

companionship of the Spirit. I know that Christ lives and that 

he is our Savior. 

I love you!

Hermana Jackson

Jane Jackson	14 janv. (Il y a 5 jours)
à Danielle, Gayle, Heather, moi, Jonathan, Kaye, Liesl

I don't know if all the pictures I want to send will load before my

 time is up. Goodness gracious. My companion is great, my ward

is incredibly involved, and my area is smaller then all of my other 

areas. So, I pretty much can already get myself around without 

any problem. That's pretty cool. The most intimidating thing is 

the members (and trying to fill the shoes of hermana Petherbridge. 

haha). Hermana Pocco still doesn't have a lot of teaching 

experience, so we're going to be practicing. A lot. The good thing 

is that she likes being punctual and she's pretty low maintenence. 

That means we leave on time. :) She's also very good at 

remembering all the things we have to do. 

We have two baptisms planned for this week. one is Ximena, 

a 13-year-old girl whose mother is less active (but has come 

these past two weeks to church) she is really sweet. The other is 

Lesmith, who is about 30 and a single mom. We have to check 

up on how she is doing, because she could come to our ward this 

past sunday.

I'm glad to hear that you're doing better, mom, and that the family 

is doing well. :) I love you all! I am excited to see you, although 

I don't want to end my mission yet. People ask me on a daily 

basis how much time I have in the mission. I never realized how 

popular of a question that was until now. ugh. :)

I know that this is the work of the Lord and that He loves us. 

Work hard, repent, forgive, and obey. 

Love,

Hermana Jackson

Jane Jackson	7 janv. (Il y a 12 jours)
à Danielle, Gayle, Heather, moi, Jonathan,  Kaye, Liesl

I have, like, two minutes to write, because i was s

busy reading I lost track of time! Thanks for writing

me! I will pray for you, Mom. 

I'm being transfered! It's sad. I'll spend my last 6

weeks in the ward el Bosque in Trujillo. Palermo Zone

Sometimes I feel like one of many many people who

all do the exact same thing, but if I weren't here,

there would be one less missionary in the field.

I feel like that is the way it is in the gospel. We

may do the same seemingly mundane things

every day, but if we aren't doing them, who else

would take our place? The worth of souls is truly

great in the sight of God. Keep being awesome!

Love,

Jane

...and a happy new year!

...and a happy new year!

Boîte de réception

x

Jane Jackson	11:56 (Il y a 19 heures)
à Danielle, Gayle, Heather, moi, Jonathan, Kaye, Liesl

It was so good to see you all! I'm glad we got skype to work.

Sister Turk totally got your email and called me--she offered to 

let me use skype in the mission home. haha. (Her health is a

little bad right now--they asked us all to pray for her last night, 

so that might be good to include in your prayers.)

Fortunately the Melody Mejía let us use her computer, so we 

didn't have to go all the way to the mission home. Mom! You 

didn't tell me you got a concussion! I'm glad you're all doing 

okay and that you had a good Christmas and Christmas Eve. 

 

Christmas is really only fun when it's shared. We went out to

La Campiña de Moche (a the rural part of Moche, where the 

Huacas of the Sun and the Moon are. You should google it.), 

ate dinner together as a zone and then had a testimony meeting. 

Around a campfire! It was awesome. We shared our testimonies 

based on the question ''Why do you love the Savior?'' I'm so glad

I voiced my opinion on that--I really did NOT just want to watch 

a movie, which is the usual Christmas Eve activity. After the first 

6 testimonies, Hermana Bond and I sang a special musical 

number, and then after that we roasted marshmellows. And we 

may or may not have had a few fake sword fights with the

marshmellow-roasting sticks... :) Also, I need to send you pictures 

of our Christmas decorations and of me opening my presents. 

But right now I don't have time... :/ 

Christmas was really cool. we visited lots of people, sang a 

song, shared a scripture, said a prayer, and left. This week has 

been a little rough, though. Leonardo, Maribel, Fanny, and María 

were all going to come to church, and they didn't come. Cool 

story: María is the wife of a less active that I contacted, like, 

my second transfer here. And we finally visited them. They have 

3 kids, Jorge (19), Patty (14), and one little boy whose name I 

don't remember (10). The Heavenly Father is always preparing 

people and is SO aware of us as individuals. I know that he loves 

us and watches over each of us. Pray always!

Hermana Jackson