The Sniffer

So I'll tell you a story or two from this week and some of my favorite highlights: 

1) THE SNIFFER-  We prayed with members and we told them we were going to find in their area and return and report on how it went. Well their area is SUPER RICH and quite religious. So... we knocked a few doors and I wasn't getting anything. Then we decided to pray.   You're going to think I'm crazy, but previous to this God has led me to a house through the wind or through sounds or something to do with my senses.  BUT THIS TIME I got the distinct impression that I needed to use my nose.  I personally thought it was hilarious and ridiculous, but I did it anyway and guess what, there was ONE HOUSE that smelled like Asian food!  A Filipino family answered and they were very interested in our message!  

2) MORMON.ORG- President told us to use our time wisely and mormon.org time is an hour a week that we get to spend on the computers researching things for our investigators and looking up videos and such for people who need it.  In other words, most missionaries tend to waste time on it. So this week we decided to skip mormon.org in an effort to use our time more effectively, and we went tracting in the awful heat. A nice Indonesian lady and her husband invited us in and we got to teach the entire restoration! We are going to go back this week. I'm so excited!

3) DESTINY AND CARLOS!  They are the foster kids we have been teaching, and we finally met with their social worker.  It looks like they will probably get to BE BAPTIZED SOON!  I really hope I get to stay in this area to see it. It should be amazing! 

4) Brother M will be going to the temple soon. I really really love him.  He has been feeding us dinner lately and his BBQ is the best in the whole world (sorry Dad). He has changed so much!  The ward just gave him a calling too. 

5) Brother O bought me gluten free oreo's (YUMMMM) and we got to have dinner with the Ferkins. They are some of my favorite people in the ward. They are really nice to us. 

This week I relied heavily on prayer.  I really love praying out loud. I feel like it helps me concentrate more and I feel the Spirit more when I pray out loud.  There was a time this week that I was easily annoyed with things I shouldn't have been.  I recognized this and didn't want to feel this way.  So I just started praying that God would help it go away.  I basically asked if he could take away my feelings of being angry and annoyed AND GUESS WHAT, HE CAN DO THAT TOO!  He can do anything. So if you are annoyed, mad, sad, or anything and you don't want to be, try sincerely ask God for help!  

I love you all so much

Love, Jess

They have the coolest trees here

This spider lives outside our complex and her name Nancy

Working More With The Members

So this week was pretty good.  We are adjusting to our new mission president and he is doing things quite differently than our last president.

We have been challenged to work with the members more, so we committed to be better. We called some of the members who are less inclined to do missionary work and asked them if we could come over. Then we shared a powerful scripture about the work and we would ask them to pray while we were out in their area.  Then we go to work and work and work and work.  We didn't have an area or experience where we haven't seen a miracle.  And we did it six times!

We also got to teach a less active member of the ward who is gay. He is going through a rough time with the church because he is gay, and so my goal of the entire visit was to reaffirm the love God has for him.  We told him God is aware and loves him.  We read some scriptures with him.  The most basic, fundamental principle of this church is that God is our loving Heavenly Father. That is the first thing we teach.  It was a powerful message and we all walked away in tears.  I don't know if he will ever come back to the church but I know he felt love. Hopefully he remembers how much he means to Heavenly Father.

We also ran into a guy who said he wishes the church still practiced polygamy... that ticked me off.

Then we talked to another lady who hates the temple and that made me mad too.  But it's okay I'm over it! 

We also met another less active girl who started crying because she needed us that day, and that was neat.  We didn't even hardly share a message with her and she started crying. I still don't know how to react to tears but I'm getting better!  I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love, Sister Webb

We really love frozen yogurt!!

44 of 72 Weeks!

SO MY NEW COMPANION IS GOLDEN (I love you Julie Rose).  She is an incredible missionary and she really wants to be a missionary. She works hard and does everything she is supposed to do. She is so incredible. She was on the BYU color guard team and she is so nice to me.  I really love her already. 

This week we were walking away from seeing a less active and we bumped into this super nice boy named Daniel.  We started talking to him about how the priesthood had been restored and he was really interested.  He asked so many questions and we had answers to all of them!  It was so cool! He invited us back, and we taught a powerful restoration lesson.  We always invite them to be baptized in the first lesson. He said yes, so we will get the YSA sisters over to his home. 

We had an incredible lesson with a  less active member. We have started bringing members to our lessons with less active members because we feel like it helps them have friends to be with when they come to church. So we had a lesson with Sister D and we brought Sister K.  I had been inspired earlier to share a video about drug use with Sister D and it was a perfect video on repentance. We taught repentance to her and she loved it. She said she wants to come back to church! 

Then we took our young investigators, Destiny and Carlos, to the LA visitor center with Sister Ingram. I am really scared for this week though because we have to meet with their social worker. They are foster kids who want to be baptized. They will probably be baptized next month or the month after if everything goes well... we'll see though. 

When I was young, like every other kid I would cause contention with my siblings- and I remember one time my mom was fed up with me. She told me to go to the laundry room (aka - time out central) and to stay there until she came to get me.  I was sitting there being super moody and grumpy, and she walked in ready to talk.  I remember being mad and yelling at her for a few seconds. She tried to talk some sense into me but I just wasn't accepting anything. She let me finish my rant, and took in a deep breath. She looked really tired, sad, and worn out. I remember her saying to me, "Jessica, I'm worried that your biggest struggle in life will be your pride."

I won't ever forget that.  My mom left and I left too. At that age I didn't want to think I was prideful, but she was so right. The only think that keeps me from progressing in life, the only thing that keeps me from reaching my maximum potential here is my own pride. Pride is my greatest struggle, but I am determined to be better. I am who I am because of God. I know He can do anything and I know He can strengthen my greatest weakness. I am so grateful for a mother who has helped me recognize my flaws and who helps me become better. 

I love you all! Thanks for the conference talks!    

Love, Sister Webb

At the LA Visitors center 

My new companion, Sister Hicks, from Eagle, Idaho

Mom & Dad's Homecoming and their thoughts to Jessica

My Mom & Dad reported their mission yesterday. It was an incredible experience for me to see the changes in them and the impact they had on the people in Whittier.  There is no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father sent Jessica to their mission for very specific reasons.  When her homesickness was almost unbearable the first few days, my Dad sat down with her and told her to give it a solid three months of full effort and dedication with no thought of going home.  She did it and it proved to be a turning point on her mission.  Here are my Dad's thoughts to her today as he is now trying to adjust to being home and missing the mission so much:

Well we are done.  We gave our talks in church yesterday and had the big family party.  Scott drove me down to Provo to hear Sharron and Val report their mission at 9am and came back to report ours at 1 pm.  When Judy told the story during her talk of you coming to the California, Long Beach Mission, their was an audible gasp in the congregation.  They laughed when she said, "When you go on a senior mission make sure to request that a grandchild follow you there!" 

I have not unpacked.  The adjustment is harder than I thought.  I think the axiom that I used with you that it takes 3 months to adjust is going to apply to me for coming home.  You cried when we came to see you after your had been out 2 days and we were strong.  I cried when you called the day we left and you were the strong one - thanks!  Really it is hard!  We will miss our Wednesday lunch at Blaze Pizza with you and your companions.  Good luck!  Pause during your prayers to feel the love coming from our prayers for you.  Love, Grandpa 

Strength from God

So this week... man... I don't even know where to begin. 

This week we picked up an awesome new investigator. She married a man who is LDS and she is Filipino.  They didn't really talk about church much at the beginning of their relationship, but now they talk more. She is interested in learning the gospel and she said she wants to join the church when she believes it is true. She is so sweet, and so is her husband. He is a return missionary that came home 10 years ago.  We had a powerful lesson with her. 

We also had brother Moriel at church and WOW WOW WOW . . . he's the BOMB.COM. He is the nicest guy in the whole world.  If I could give him a hug I totally would.  He is one of my favorite people I have ever met in my mission. He is so sincere and he really wants to change for the Lord. He has such a strong testimony. We also had a powerful lesson with Jake, but he wasn't at church this week. 

I ended up working with members quite a bit this week. We would go on splits and I have a few splits tonight. Until tomorrow morning, I am the only missionary in the La Mirada ward. My companion had to go home because of health problems.  I feel bad for her- I wish I could have helped her more. Since then my companions have been Sister Jones and Sister Glenn. THEY ARE THE BEST MISSIONARIES IN THE WORLD!  They have taught me so much and I really want to be like them someday. I will be getting a Greenie tomorrow to train and I'm so excited for that!  

I have been trying to think of what I want to talk about today, but I don't really know what to say except I want to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I don't think I have ever typed out a testimony like this though, so bear with me. 

In short, this week has been hard, but God is so good. There have been times where I have felt weak and not in control of anything.  But He helps me feel okay. It's almost like He's right next to me.  Like I can feel His arm around me and He's telling me to keep going and that He loves me. He fills every single hole when I ask Him to.  Even when everything around me s uncontrolled and obscure, he gives me the ability to stand in the very center with a brilliant kind of courage and strength.  It's the kind of strength that is definitely not my own. I love him so much. I can't even start to express how grateful I am. 

THIS WEEK I WANT YOU TO SEND ME YOUR FAVORITE CONFERENCE TALK!  I'm craving conference talks. I love you all so much! 

Who I am becoming . . .

This week was one heck of a week. I saw miracles I have never seen before- and I felt the spirit so strong.  I wish I could bring all of you here with me and just show you what it is like to be a missionary.  I've learned it's difficult to be a missionary when you are so focused on yourself. It took me a while to become acquainted with the new environment and new lifestyle, but even after that it took months for me to feel like I was a missionary.  I don't know how to define the feeling of "being a missionary" except for to direct you to 2 Nephi 4 and Jacob 5 (yes I know that is a long chapter).  I'm better than I have ever been but I feel like I still cry out like Nephi "O wretched man that I am!".  I can honestly say that I feel like "love consumes" me, and I have cried to God with all "energy of my soul". But I'm not afraid any more. I'm not afraid to be bold. I'm not afraid to go home anymore. I'm not afraid to be yelled at, spit on, or called bad things. I "trust in God" more than anything. I know he will help me with everything. I can't even begin to describe how my heart "grieves" for the people I love out here. I feel like I "labor diligently" so people 'might-may-perhaps' come to Christ. I can't begin to describe how bad it hurts to see these people hurt, or reject the salvation that God is trying to directly deliver to them through me.  

In simple terms I feel like I have seen a change in myself. The next eight months will be for me a study application. I would like to further my conversion and figure out how I can be my 'converted, awkward, bold, loving missionary self' inside the real world. I know who I want to be.  Granted I do not know all the steps I need to take to get there, and I don't know how I fit in with the real world now, but I will get there through the grace of Christ and through my own diligence. I can't give up- I know too much!  

I miss Grandma and Grandpa but I know this is where God wants me.  I don't understand why He loves me sometimes and why He blesses me the way he does, but I am so grateful to Him!  

Love, Jess

***Jessica's companion is being sent home to resolve her kidney stones.  When I asked Jessica what her week was going to look like, she said, "I'm not sure but I do want to go tracting till I have blisters, knocking till my knuckles bleed and LOVING ALL OF IT because I have missed it so much hahahahaha!"***

Gratitude for "Leaders" & Goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa :(

This week we saw some miracles!

1) We had our investigator call us in tears and we were able to help her feel the Spirit as she was going though a really rough time. We prayed with her and she prayed too. We set a baptismal date and she is progressing!

2) We picked up a foster daughter of a member of our ward this week. She is a little hard-hearted but she went to girls camp this week and really felt the spirit.  We talked yesterday about homes and how we always have a home in this church.  No matter where you end up- you can find a home at church. 

3) We taught a little girl who is 13 and less active. She is the only member at home.  Her mother's side of the family is LDS but she is staying with her dad. She went to girls camp too and came home much brighter than before. She felt the spirit and we had a super powerful lesson with her.

4) We had been having a rough week (again... to say the least...) and we hadn't seen a ton of members this week because for some reason we didn't have any dinner appointments and we have so many people we want to try to see.  Sister Ingram got back from girls camp and called us that night and invited us to go to dinner with her and her husband.  She knew we didn't have dinner and she really takes care of us.  She was exhausted (you could physically see it) but we had a wonderful dinner and we got to  have a great conversation with her. She brightened out day.  

My testimony this week is of leaders. Leaders sacrifice SO MUCH.  Leaders can be anyone.  Leaders do not lead by doing everything right, by being perfect, or by always setting a stellar example all of the time . . . leaders lead by love.  If the leader loves you they are a good leader.  If they love you and everyone then other Christlike attributes rain down from heaven on them and because they love you- you have a desire to be like them.  To love like them and be like them.  Anyone can be a leader.  Anyone can love like that.  

I LOVE YOU! 

Me and my companion at zone meeting

Grandpa took this of Jes . . . not sure if she was singing or teaching??

Last zone meeting with Grandma & Grandpa . . . Still can't believe I served a mission with them!  It will be one of my favorite parts of my mission!  I'm going to miss them so much!

Last lunch out with Grandma & Grandpa.  They always takes us to such yummy places!!

Jes