Semana de Milagros y pavo y Facebook

WHAAAAT, happy December. it's crazy that it is now December! so little time.

Well the one thanksgiving I will have on my mission was amazing. all 8 of us missionaries in the branch ate at The R's home for dinner. Both the parents served Spanish missions and the dad is in the branch council so they are an awesome American family in the branch. They wanted us to have an American thanksgiving! it was so nice :)

All 8 of us Missionaries from the Branch ate at the R's home for Thanksgiving!  

Monday we enjoyed reading a talk mom sent me! it was from Elder Holland.. obviously it made me think more about my mission and why I am here. I've only got 9 months to make up for my slack! this is a one time thing, and it's not easy.. but I love it! Monday I also ran into an old friend S who I met at EFY 5 years ago in Santa Barbara.. small world! she lives here!

Tuesday was a lot of tracting.. we were knocking doors and a guy answered and I asked "HI! How are you doing?" he looks at me and says "dishes.." and starts to close the door.. haha awkward! not what I asked. another funny door we knocked. He opened the door and we say, awkwardly, "Hi, do you believe in Jesus Christ?" bhah first of all it was an awkward start to this conversation, then the guy gets mad and says "you know that's very rude of you to show up at my door without calling first, we are in the middle of something. good bye." and he shuts the door.. my companion and I looked at each other confused, then started.. we didn't even know the guy so how would we have his phone number. ha it just makes me laugh when people say "not today girls." or "I don't have time" or "im on the phone" I just think.. hmm well then why did you answer the door? so many people here but none want to listen. I always think well what if the Savior was knocking at their door, what would they say to him? or if the Savior was walking on the side of the street, people wouldn't avoid him, they would run to him! People don't know what they are missing :/

 

well Wednesday, I hit my 9 month mark... My mission is now half way over :'( we had district meeting and then went to the library to officially start using facebook.. crazy! as everyone is probably freaking out.. just think how much more we are freaking out!! we are set apart from the world.. and then half way through my mission I have to get back on facebook. weird! but its for a good reason, we need to be inviting all those around us to come closer to Christ and what better way than facebook! everyone is on al day long! I invited one of my friends to hear more but he kindly rejected and I said that's okay, ill talk to you in 9 months when im home! ha see, it doesn't hurt to invite!! I feel like by the end of my mission half my friends on facebook will be missionaries haha ohh no. well Wednesday we also taught an amazing lesson with a member from the branch! the investigator was so excited and into the lesson and was asking amazing questions. the spirit was truly there :) he read Moroni 8: 8-12 which is pretty harsh, because it is about infant baptism.. but he understood it so clearly and agreed it was truth from God! WE also went to teach another investigator... her brother doesn't like us and shoved us and his sister outside in the cold and locked the door.. after we left he told us not to come back.. ill be honest we were kind of nervous and didn't know what to do.. so we didn't go back for a couple of days. but everything is oaky now. no one can stop the lords work from progressing!

Thursday, thanksgiving! many people asked if we still work on a holiday.. we laughed and said "of course we do! we never take a break!" it was actually a great day! I was on exchanges with my old companion Hermana M. gah love that girl! we knocked a ton of doors. everyone was nice just super busy. we got in with a family and taught them! I thought they were super interested, but by the end of the lesson they didn't want a Book of Mormon... he read out of the book of Mormon with us 2 Nephi 29: 8-12 and said  it is true but that the bible is still perfect and we need no more.. we asked him to pray to end the visit, and it was kind of scary.. he was screaming and shouting in his prayer, I didn't feel the spirit that's for sure. but I know he knew what we had shared was true because it made sense but he just didn't want to accept it. well we kept tracting after dinner and found an amazingly prepared guy! he even said that it was a miracle he answered the door! we talked with him on his porch and had an amazing lesson :) he agreed that it was true and that he wants to hear more, so hopefully we can help him with that! he is English so other missionaries will have to teach him.

Friday we found a new investigator. she is amazing.  it was our first visit with her and we didn't know what to teach! she didn't seem super interested, so we treated water for a couple minutes and then the spirit came. my companion asked a  question and we sat in silence for 2 minutes while she began to cry.. she has had a rough life.. we ended up talking about Christ and the atonement and the sacrament. it was amazing and 100% guided by the spirit. we invited her to be baptized and she said yes!! we hope that her husband will allow her to or that he will join with her :) later that night we found another new investigator. she is super awesome too! she let us in right away and was asking awesome question about the book of Mormon and church. it was a great night :)

Saturday I was on exchanges with Hermana P in Longview! it was a good day. we met a ton of cute old people and taught/talked with them about the gospel.. they all said they cant wait for the day the savior will come again! I felt such a love for these people! they have had so much experience and now they know what they want!

 

well church on sunday was great. we had a delicious break the fast, I love Mexican food! hahahahhah when we were home for the night my companion and I had a really funny awkward conversation with an old investigator on the phone. he brought up question about the church and our standing on a couple of things.. it ended up being a 20 minute lesson with him! it was awesome! but a great experience :) so many people are ready they are just to afraid to take the leap of faith!

 

well I love you all so much, thank you for the support :) THANKS TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND STRANGERS FOR THE LETTERS :) I love them so much!!! it makes my day!

this week we are super excited, we get to go to the temple on wednesdasy! WOOHOO! bright and early at 7:30 haha, but then the rest of the day will be spent with the whole mission! we will all go to Portland, Oregon (since our mission covers their too) and we will have a dinner, talent show, and fireside. it will be a great week :)

 

stay warm and stay happy! ITS ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!

I am so grateful to be here on a mission. I CANT IMAGINE HOW MUCH MY FAMILY IS SACRIFICING FOR ME AND MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER TO BE OUT HERE ON A MISSION IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD... but I know the Lord needs us all here! The Savior lives and the gospel is true!

 

I get to skype home in 23 days... but who's counting ;)  adios!  ~  Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

Feliz dia del pavo

Happy day of the turkey everyone :) haha or in English, Happy Thanksgiving!! This week is a great week to take a little time to remember then blessing we have in our life! 

hmm.... well, i just had to take this picture for my future kids when one day they say "wow mom, you werent able to use facebook on your mission?"  Capture the moment.

It was interesting what i heard from someone last night... We were knocking doors last night to reach our goal of talking to 70 new people this week(and the first time ever on my mission we accomplished it!!) 1 man we talked to last night expressed his gratitude for the things that he has in his life, especially the savior. he said to us "i am grateful for so many other things, i could talk to you all day about what i am grateful for!" WE truly are a blessed generation to have so many things in our life today! As this week is here me and thousands of other missionaries will being using Facebook as a daily thing.. no not to get distracted about things at home, but to help those at home and those where we are serving. I am super excited to be apart of all these crazy changes!!!!! This is an amazing time.... Just as The Lord promised in Doctrine and Covenants 88:73 "Behold I will hasten my work in its time." That time is now. It is a blessing to be here on the earth, we all agreed to come down at this time to help our brothers and sister, to lift and strengthen each other! Another commandment that was given in Doctrine and Covenants 88: 77 "and I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom." I don't think we realize all these other commandments that God has revealed to us through the restoration of the gospel! ahh the scriptures are so true!!!! I can never read enough of them! We must teach our friends, family, neighbors, strangers, everyone! they must know about this gospel and what they can have!

aww my wonderful family sent me a box of
"Christmas junk." hahaha i love it all!
i already decorated!

Well the time is quickly passing here and i cant pause it :/ I am so grateful to be here, I actually enjoy being busy for 16 hours of the day, every day, being out in the cold freezing, but being filled inside with the spirit :) I love talking to people about Jesus Christ, our Savior!! I love expressing my love and gratitude for him! even when people don't accept our message of the TRUE restored gospel at least we can all agree about the Savior.  

well we have had some great miracles this week :) since my companion is a sister training leader and she has to go on exchanges with other sisters a lot, i get to do it with her :) so this week i got to be with my old companion Hermana V in her new area!!! it was so great and fun :) i also brought out an english sister with me to my spanish area. we talked with 24 new people that day and taught 4 lessons! my brain was so full i felt like my head was about to fall off! it was an amazing week here in Vancouver Washington :)

My little living space!

Les amamo muchisimo! que tengan un feliz semana. Toman este tiempo el jueves para recordar de sus bendicones!  (dont judge my spanish, i cant spell or speak perfectly! haha poco a poco :) - Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

Half Way/Hump Day!!!!!!!

I will be coming home in July!  So I'm half way!  Happy "Hump" day! Yes, I look worried.

Spanish District at Super Taco.  We pretty much eat here every week!
I love Mexican food!

Little time to email, ahh! well transfers are this week, I am going to be companions with Hermana R who came out 3 months before me. we will still be in the V branch but we will double in and cover a different area! so I will be teaching new people :)

well, we taught some great lessons this week and had some cool experiences... well duh, of course. haha I just cant remember much of what happened this week. We have been teaching someone named A, and she finally decided that she is going to get married and baptized!! that's about all the exciting news.. oh yeah I forgot to mention.... This month we will start using Facebook, and in January we will be 1 of 30 missions that will start using IPads.. What what!!! yeah, we are pretty lucky :)

well we had sisters conference this week, it was great! lots of uplifting things were said, but also more pressure to be better! its tough when "our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end." with teaching people I cant ever get past "our purpose as missionaries is to..."

Sister D & Sister B her family works in the San Diego temple too

We taught some very strong religious Jehovah witnesses last night... wow, I have really bad anxiety because I was shaking and my stomach was so tight!! its not that I was afraid of them, it was that I felt so bad that their hearts are so hard and they were only trying to prove us wrong... we had to patiently sit their, listen, and when they were finished we would ask them a question and testify. it was so hard and sad! I imagine that is how the Savior felt when he was ministering to some of the people. It was a cool experience though because towards the end I realized I have such a strong testimony of this resorted gospel!! whether I can give an answer to every question someone asks me, it doesn't matter.. what matters is what I feel and that I can testify to allow the spirit to let them feel that it is real!

My reflection

Here are some cool things I have learned this week that I want to share with you all:

-whenever we are going through a tough time we need to think and ask Heavenly Father "what am I supposed to learn from this?" if you miss the learning opportunity of a trial then you will never grow!

-for all missionaries!! take this mission into your marriage, serve your mission for the future, your family :)

-The Lord saves his best missionaries to sail the uncharted waters.

-work on becoming more like the savior, no one else!

-A baptizing missionary is how you think, pray and work.. not who is in the water.

-success is not measured by how many baptisms you have, but how many lives you helped change :)

-When Satan was cast out, the war didn't end.. it was just transferred to here.

-love is what you have been through together.. a testimony is the same

-pay your tithing with faith, not with money.

-your body is a temple, clean and maintain it.. your body is a gift from God!

Hermana M & I planning ~ Thanks for the Thanksgiving Box!

Pretty much the only mail I get ... Transfer letters! j/k

it was a great week :) I love you all so much!