Great Week!

We had a really great zone conference last Tuesday where they talked about making goals for our individual areas and where we want the work to be for the next transfer.  Then we talked about what sacrifices we need to do in order to achieve those goals.

One thing me and Sister Ricks have been trying to do as one of our "sacrifices" to reach our goals is we're doing at least one bus contact every day. So we're trying to chat more with people on the bus and bring up the gospel somehow.  Not been the easiest thing (I don't know why but talking to people on the bus has always been a wee bit awkward for me because if they're not interested or they get offended then you still have to sit next to them the rest of the bus ride...) but we've already seen blessings come from doing this!

Our investigator set a baptism date this past week!! December 20th. When he said he wanted to be baptised then both me and Sister Ricks were kind of stunned and tried to act all cool about it but inside we were both going crazy! Haha. If everyone could remember to pray for him and this date we would really appreciate it. We both hope really bad that we'll be here to see it but if not, it was still a miracle that he set a date since he's been investigating for so long.

We also got in contact with our other investigator yesterday! We've been trying to get a hold of her for weeks but she's been really busy with her job and family and wasn't returning our calls/texts.  But then yesterday Sister Ricks just felt like we should go by her house and she was there and let us in! She said her and her husband had been just talking about us.  We were able to set up an appointment with her for this Wednesday and we're going to commit her to a baptism date then! We're so excited and know that it was definitely a miracle that we were able to see her. 

So we're encouraged to do 2 or 3 hours of community service a week and me and Sister Ricks just started volunteering at a local charity shop.  We're going to be sorting clothes, ironing them, painting furniture, and anything else that's needed.  It's been really fun and the owner kept telling us how grateful she was for our help and how she believes it's a blessing from God.  I definitely believe that when you serve others, you're really helping yourself more.

We had a really great Stake Conference yesterday for the Glasgow stake.  We went on the bus with a less active we're working with named and we played LDS Hangman the whole time (an hour and a half) so that was really fun haha.  President Brown spoke at the conference at talked about the importance of doing member missionary work.  So many good ideas that made me already think about how I want to be a better member missionary when I get home! Then the Stake President spoke about not being casual with church attendance and being late to it.  I liked the comparison he used.  He said, "Christ wasn't casual when He went to the Garden of Gethsemane, so why would we be casual when we go to partake of the sacrament each week?"

It's getting in to winter here so the weather's been getting colder and rainer but the leaves are starting to turn colors and falling off the trees so that's been neat to see.  Both me and Sister Ricks love to step on the dead leaves to hear them crunch but the sad thing is here everything's so wet and damp that the leaves are still pretty soft.  So it's a real treat when we find a crunchy leaf.  Haha kind of ridiculous but it did make me realise all the blessings I took for granted back home (even a super small blessing like a crunchy leaf!)

Anyway, great week that had its challenges but definitely had its blessings and miracles as well! Love you all and miss you!

Sister Jackson

P.S. Learned a few more Glaswegian sayings the other day.  We were talking to this older less active lady, Mary, and her son, Jack who come from Glasgow.  Apparently they say "quain" (queen) for "lady/girl" and "loon" for "man".  Then they say "fit like?" which means "what are you like" or "how are you doing?" So they would say something like, "Fit like m' quain?" which would mean, "How are you my lady/How are you my lass?"