Is spring here already?

Hello!

The weather has been really nice here in Whitefield. There were honestly some days where I could have gone outside without a jacket, but as a missionary and knowing that you are not quite sure how the weather may change, I was never so brave to do so. I have been enjoying the refreshing air and the joy of being a missionary.

This week Reza got baptized. I forget how much I have told you about Reza. He is from Azerbaijan (near Turkey). He knows four different languages. He is a humble and kind man. Reza is 30 years old and has loved reading from The Book of Mormon. He actually reads in Farsi, and unfortunately, his translation of The Book of Mormon is not complete. It is great to make a new friend and it is fun because you learn these small mannerisms of certain people. Some of Reza's favorite phrases are "I know. I know" (said when he already understands what we are saying), "Example, example (followed by an example)" (to show he understands the concept or idea we are discussing), and "Hello sister. How are you?" (said every time he answers the phone). It is great to make new friends and get to know them for who they are.

Reza wrote down some of his testimony before and after, and it was beautiful. While his English is not perfect, he does try and has an incredibly strong testimony of The Book of Mormon. Therefore, I felt it would be appropriate to watch “A Man without Eloquence” from the Doctrine and Covenants DVDs for the interlude after the baptism while he got changed. It was a perfect fit! The video clip is about six minutes long and talks about Brigham Young's conversion to the church. Brigham Young tells how it was not a man who spoke eloquently, but rather a humble man's testimony that converted him. It shows the impact a simple, yet heartfelt testimony can have. There is power in saying, “I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that His church has been restored to the earth today.” Simple words accompanied with the Spirit truly can change hearts.

As for other things, it is going well. You may wonder what a typical day is like for Sister Jack. Well let me tell you!

A typical day in the life of Sister Jack

6:15 am Arise, pray

6:30 am Go for a run, stretch, continue to exercise

7:00 am Breakfast, shower, get ready for the day

8:00 am Personal study (study the scriptures, other books from the missionary library to prepare for lessons to teach that day as well as expand my own understanding/knowledge)

9:00 am Companion study (sing a hymn, pray, read from the White handbook which discusses the missionary rules/policies, share what we learned in personal study, plan lessons for the day, practice role plays, watch dvds of other missionaries, read the scriptures or Preach My Gospel together, etc.)

11:00 am Teach a lesson to an investigator or recent convert/less active member (Normally I would start at 10:00 am, but during your first two transfers in the field you have an extra hour of companion study).

12:30 pm Lunch at the apartment. (Make food. Clean things up. Make phone calls to members, investigators, etc.)

1:30 pm Teach more people. Talk to people in the street or on the bus. Speak to everyone (ideally) we come in contact with.

5:30 pm Dinner (or tea as they call it) at the apartment or member's home.

6:30 pm Lesson (if we had tea at a member's home otherwise we carry on with the evening)

7:00 pm Teach more people. Find more people to teach. Usually at night we go tracting (meaning we knock on people's doors).

9:00 pm Return home to the flat and make plans for the next day. We schedule out every hour of the day including back-up plans.

9:40 pm Call the district leader (one missionary who oversees a few companionships and the missionary work in the area). We report on the day, discuss any questions we may have and rejoice in the work we have done!

9:45 pm Update records (teaching records, information about people we may have received, all by pen and paper. Good old fashioned way of keeping track of things). Write in journal if time. Get ready for bed.

10:30 pm Pray and go to sleep.

What a glorious schedule it is and somehow it doesn't ever seem to get old. Probably because the work changes so much from day to day.

Thank you for all your love and support. I appreciate the work you do and the people you are.

Love, Sister Jack

p.s. This is picture of our district. I promise I was wearing more colorful clothes. I just put on my jacket already and didn't have time to take it off for the photo.

This next picture is at Reza's baptism. For the record, Reza was happy. He is just shy and doesn't really like photographs. But I wanted to give you an idea of what he looks like.