The Week with Just Enough Deja Vu‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-the sisters bought a
very interesting selection of groceries (spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers,
uncrustables, chicken, and laundry detergent), the Sisters helped to
paint a living and dining room jogging path gray, Zone Conference was
awesome (more on that later), Sister Cale wanted her brother to be
there to direct the service project happening on exchanges (more on
that later too), there were Hawaiian Haystacks (TWICE!!!), and much
goodness in the land.

Hey Lovely Humans!

How are you all? This week has been a good, albeit strange one for me.
Here's why-

The Brethren recently changed the format of exchanges to be that all
missionaries participating in the exchange go and work in the leaders
area for the day. If exchanges didn't already feel like the strangest
sleepovers that have ever occurred they certainly do now. Tuesday
morning before personal study Sister Clark and I made the treacherous
drive (admittedly it wouldn't normally be treacherous, but there was
freshly fallen heavy snow) to Pickerington 2 to spend the next twenty
four hours with our Sister Training Leaders. Though we split off into
companionships for the normal work we got together in the afternoon to
do a service project for the city of Pickerington. We helped to paint
the holiday figures. The Sisters have been working on this project for
several weeks now. When I asked if they wanted to add highlights or
lowlights to the figures they looked at me like I was speaking another
language and I wish that Ethan had been there to demonstrate. From the
places on the figures that they hadn't yet repainted it was clear that
the last painter had done such work and I wish we could still help
them so the figures would look as nice as they could. The rest of the
exchange was nice enough. I learned the importance of being urgent,
but not frantic and was reminded that if we fail to listen to what
people say it won't matter what piece of gospel doctrine we try to
offer.

Wednesday we got to help Sister Adkins paint and then got right back
to work. Because we had both exchanges, Zone Conference, and weekly
planning this week we needed to be extra diligent in order to achieve
the goals that we had set at the beginning of the week. As we reviewed
our weekly goals last night it was a blessing to see that we had in
fact been able to do just as we had committed to the Lord to do.

I've learned a lot about goal setting on my mission, but I didn't
realize just how much until we were at Zone Conference on Friday.
Almost a year to the day before had been my very first Zone
Conference. At that Zone Conference as we received training on various
aspects of missionary work we were asked to set goals and determine
how we would accomplish those goals in the next forty hours. I
remember setting goals and hoping that as we set our goals that I
really had this hope that our numbers would be like the other
missionaries and wouldn't seem too low or too high. At this Zone
Conference as we received various trainings we were invited to set
goals and make plans to accomplish them within the next week. As we
set about to determine what our goals would be I found that I didn't
care much if at all for what the goals of the other missionaries would
be, but rather cared what Heavenly Father wanted us to accomplish in
our area at this time. I knew that Heavenly Father had a perfect
awareness of the circumstances in our area and that if we would listen
he would guide us to make goals that would stretch us and require our
diligence and faith, but goals that we could ultimately achieve. It's
been fun to mark off things on our chart and see that we are in fact
keeping up to pace with the goals that we set.

I know that with the help of our Heavenly Father that we can do
anything. My daily life as a representative of Jesus Christ is proof
of that to me.

The church is true, life is good, God's in charge, and Satan hates you.

Love,

Jessica

The Week Elsa Threw a Temper Tantrum‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-the Sisters went to
District Activity, the Sisters went to District Meeting with their new
district, there was snow (on multiple days), temperatures got to
single digits and it was rather chilly, the Sisters gave Valentines to
the pre-school aged kiddos in the ward, there were green smoothies,
good food, and of course cookies (#ValentinesDay).

Hey Loves!

How was your last week? Besides being rather cold (thanks for the hand
warmers mom, they warmed my soul) it was also really good. This week I
feel like I was blessed to see how instrumental members can be in
making missionary work effective (and I really like things when they
are effective). We were able to have several different members
participate with us in teaching our investigators and just as promised
by our Zone Leaders, it truly did influence how many of our
investigators made it to church this week.

I think one of my favorite experiences with a member this week was
with Kara. She received her mission call last Tuesday and asked us if
we would come over to be there when she opened it. We were both really
excited for her when she read that she was assigned to labor in the
California Redlands mission. She reports to the MTC in about five
weeks and she was particularly saddened that she'll be missing her
little sister's baptism, by literally a few days. We were able to have
her come out to work with us for the evening on Thursday. Things
didn't really start out so stellar. The appointment that we had
invited her to come with us for cancelled and our back up was
following up on some old referrals. It was cold, she hadn't worn
boots, and following up with people can be a little disheartening.
After we followed up with the second referral we happened to be near
an investigator's house so we decided to stop by and see how she is
doing. It was really remarkable to see how aware of us Heavenly Father
is and how much Marilyn needed us, but also how much we needed her.
After we left the lesson Kara was so excited about being a missionary
and the opportunities that she would have to have experiences like
that one.

One of the other major highlights of this week was that Dan, Clarence,
and Tine from Delaware came down and took us to dinner at Cracker
Barrel on Saturday night. It was seriously miraculous to get to see my
first Ohio family. It was a beautiful reminder to see that even though
I've been away from them for over six months that they are still my
people. I guess you could say that it reassured me about going home.

We have a new investigator named Anita who is about the sweetest thing
to have ever walked this planet. She lives in the same retirement
community apartment that one of our members lives in and she has such
a tender spirit. She asked us to help her pick an outfit for church on
Sunday when we taught her on Saturday night. She wasn't even sure if
she was going to come to church at that point, but she wanted to be
ready if she decided to come. She did in fact end up coming to church
and shared with us about how she had spent the whole night debating
about whether or not she should come, and eventually decided to come.
After Sacrament Meeting was over she told us that it had felt so good
and so right, more than any other church that she had been in. I know
that Heavenly Father truly arranged for us to meet her when we did.

I cannot believe that I am lucky enough to be here right now, even
when things are at their hardest I can feel how truly significant this
work is to Heavenly Father. These are his precious children and I
cannot believe that he lets me be here to love them.

The church is true, life is good, God's in charge, and Satan hates you.

Love,

Jessica

The Week of Weird‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-Sister Cale figured
out a super awesome new s'mores treat (#hollaatthelostsister), the
Sisters dragged their mattresses into their study room at eleven at
night to resolve the beating bass speakers vibrating from their
neighbor's apartment, the Sisters learned a little Tree (the language
they speak in Ghana), saw miracles as they tried to utilize all the
available time that they had, and were given plenty of opportunities
to be grateful for one another.

Hey,

This week (which is really just the tail end of last week because you
already heard about last week because #transferstruggles was pretty
much a weird one. But there were lots of things that were decidedly
fantastic about it that are worth sharing.

On Wednesday night Sister Kurtz had us over for dinner, even though
she'd had minor surgery earlier in the day. This woman is officially
my new standard for "Can I manage to help with this?" She goes above
and beyond in taking care of not only us, but everyone in the ward.
Someday when I grow up I want to be like her. We were able to go over
to her house on Thursday morning and do a little service which was
awesome, especially because we found crowns as we picked up some of
Callie's toys. And you know how I feel about tiaras. Haha.

Another major awesomeness of Wednesday night was having Brother and
Sister Sharples come to our lesson with Willie. It was miraculous to
see the way that Brother Sharples and Willie immediately bonded over
the love they have for their wives and the desire that they have for
their children to be happy. I love when you invite a member to the
lesson that can be friends with your people. It's the best.

My other favorite lesson that we taught this weekend was with Charles
and his siblings. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ by
making tape lines on the floor. At first there were just two lines-one
representing the start of our life on earth and the other representing
returning to God. We asked each of the kids to take only one step and
get from one line to the other (even when Michelle did the splits she
couldn't reach the "Heaven" line). As we added lines to represent
faith and repentance the kids were able to get closer to the line, but
even then they couldn't reach it. At this point we added two
additional lines above the "Heaven" line to represent the Terrestrial
and Celestial kingdoms. After the baptism line was laid down Michelle
could reach the telestial line, but she couldn't even start to reach
the Celestial or Terrestrial line even. We talked about the Holy Ghost
and Enduring to the End. It was only as we added the Enduring to the
End lines that the kids could finally reach the line that represented
the Celestial Kingdom. It was so awesome to be reminded as we taught
that it is enduring to the end that sanctifies us and prepares us for
exaltation. No single step in the gospel is enough to return us safely
home changed into children who will be happy dwelling with God.

The Church is True, Life is Good, God's in Charge, and Satan Hates you.

Love,

Jessica

The Week of Spring‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-the sisters taught
lots of kids (#forthewin), there was Graeter's Ice Cream (sorry
Buckeye Blitz, you have now lost your place as favorite with the favor
falling to Toffee Chocolate Chip), the Sisters found Wildflower Dr and
immediately had to stop for an impromptu photo shoot, Sister Cale
accomplished another one of her mission bucket list items (help paint
someone's house), there was free BiBiBop (tasted like #campuslife),
Saturday included time in Pataskala and Fairborn, and as is always the
case when engaged in the Lord's work, there were miracles.

Hey All!

It seems to mundane to give weather reports in weekly e-mails but the
weather has been spring beautiful in these last few days. Right now
all our windows are open and we're letting the stuffy winter air out.
It's fantastic.

So transfer calls came last night (because we aren't having transfer
meetings anymore) and I will be staying another transfer in
Pickerington with Sister Clark. As soon as the call came in I felt so
relieved. Though I have grown accustomed to the fact that transfers
frequently have nothing to do with my personal preference, I had
really hoped to stay in Pickerington for at least another transfer
because I feel like I have so much work to do here. I'm excited to see
what we can make happen in this next transfer.

One of the best miracles of this past week happened on Saturday,
though the story really begins last Monday. On Monday I received an
e-mail from Sister Harris informing me that Tabitha, one of the many
amazing people that I taught in Fairborn, was getting baptized on
Saturday. Of course I immediately set about trying to figure out what
would be necessary to best persuade President that I needed to be
given permission to go to the baptism (an hour and twenty minutes
away). Sister Gordon also taught Tabitha when she was in Fairborn, so
we hatched a plan of sorts that included finding a member who would be
more than willing to give us a ride before we even called President.
We called and he gave me permission to go (the member was from our
ward), but said he would have to think about whether or not Sister
Gordon could go. On Friday night he gave us permission to do an
exchange for the afternoon and that is how I got to see not only
Fairborn, but Pataskala on Saturday. Sister Lynch was a total Saint
and drove Sister Gordon and I to Fairborn. Tabitha was so happy to see
us and it was very cool for us to have the opportunity to be there
when she made that very important step in her eternal journey home.

We were as always enabled to do so much more than we would be capable
of on our own this last week. I am always so grateful for the way
Heavenly Father helps us to achieve our goals when we square our
shoulders and get to work. One of my favorite lessons this last week
was teaching the George kids about the Plan of Salvation. Teaching
this family truly helps me to understand why Christ wanted us to
become as little children. They have such a sincerity to understand
and a willingness to try anything that you suggest in order to better
know Jesus Christ. I thought it was particularly sweet when Charles
pointed out that as we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith in
Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
enduring to the end) that we are doing The Circle of Life. It's true
that we are continually in progress as God's children so long as we
keep moving.

I have been learning so much about how mindful Heavenly Father is of
us in our own personal journeys. There is nothing of this missionary
experience that I would change, not even the hardest moments, in fact
especially not the hardest moments because those inevitably lead me to
my knees where I am able to find the comfort and peace that I am
seeking. This week I have been given exactly what I needed to be able
to be the most effective missionary that I could be. I can't believe
that Heavenly Father loves me enough to allow me to have these
experiences.

The church is true, life is good, God's in charge, and Satan hates you.

Love,

Jessica