Sister Jennifer Skaggs: Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!‏

[A few things from Sis. Skaggs mom -
Some of you may wonder why I don't edit Jennifer's e-mails to make her blog entries shorter. If I did then it would ruin the integrity of what she is sharing -- you may miss out on the ENTIRE experience (spiritual, funny or otherwise). I take the liberty of correcting her spelling and punctuation - at her request - and adding pictures.
She is loving her mission....we are able to experience just a tiny bit of her mission by the e-mails she sends home. I'm sorry if the length is too much for some but I do hope you will continue to follow "Jen's Journey through Temple Square" for the next 18 months!!]

Here's her letter:

I love you all!

Can you believe it? The day I have been waiting for is less than 24 hours away!!!!! I'm sooo excited - you have nooo idea! I'm nervous, scared, petrified, excited etc. I will enter the mission field tomorrow morning! We leave the MTC at 6 AM. We will drop people off at the airport and then will head to Temple Square! The Branch presidency gave us permission to email right now because we don't know when we will be able to write again and because we are one of the only missions who doesn't get to call home before entering our mission.

These past 3 weeks have been some of the most humbling, and challenging weeks of my life. But I wouldn't trade these weeks for anything. I feel so blessed for the things my Heavenly Father has taught me. My testimony of the Priesthood has strengthened so much since being here! I now that the priesthood is real. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many worthy priesthood holders. Dad, I just want to thank you so much for being worthy to hold the priesthood. I wish I would have taken advantage of it more often by asking you for priesthood blessings. I was always so scared to ask. That's something I regret. I don't know why I was so afraid. But I truly just want to thank you. I have come to realize these past 3 weeks just how important the priesthood really is. Michael and Brandon, please make sure you stay worthy at all times to have the Priesthood. It has been such a blessing in many of our lives here as we have been able to turn to the Elders in our zone and ask for blessings. Thank you!

Elder Sandstrom - friend from home - and his MTC companion

This past Saturday they bused us back to Temple Square and we had the opportunity to go on splits with a Temple Square sister and actually give real tours! I was pretty nervous at first because this was going to be the real thing. It was such a growing experience! The sisters there were sooo excited to see us which made us even more excited to actually get out and serve!

This is Leah - our MTC investigator

The one thing I really learned was to just listen to the spirit. My companion and I were getting ready to go down and eat dinner, however I wasn't hungry. So I turned to her and asked if we could just continue working and I could just eat in 30 minutes when I got on the bus. We ended up walking to the Temple Model and as we were there we met this young couple. They seemed very timid at first to be talking to us. I realized that I just needed to be myself and just talk to them. I started asking them about themselves, etc. Long story short, he will leave in October for his mission and she wasn't a member of the church. She was nervous about him leaving. I was able to relate to her about when Josh left on his mission and how we went from being with each other for 3 months straight to then only one e-mail a week. We started talking more and we asked if she would be interested in staying in contact. She agreed. I will call her later on this week and start talking to her. She is so sweet. I'm so grateful we were in tune to the spirit and decided to talk to her. If we would've taken our dinner break we would never have met her. I don't know what will happen with her. But I feel so grateful for the trust Heavenly Father has put in me to talk to her and to be there for her.

Visitor Center sisters in the MTC

Temple Square training sister

Another really neat story.... Saturday my Temple Square companion answered a call from a gentleman who wanted to read the Book of Mormon and meet with the missionaries. Since she will be going outbound tomorrow she looked at me and said "He is all yours". He agreed to have me call him later on this week to see how everything is going and to see if the missionaries stopped by. I don't know why Heavenly Father has put his trust in me with these two individuals but I know there is reason they are supposed to be in my life right now.

I don't have much time. So much has happened here. I have grown so much as an individual and as a missionary. I KNOW this gospel is true! That is something I WILL NEVER deny! I feel so humbled and grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission. The love for my Savior has increased so much. I know without a doubt that he lives, and that it is through faith in him and the atonement that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven again someday. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for staying true to the Gospel while growing up and for being sealed in the Temple. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't be with you guys and the rest of the family for eternity. I look forward to the day when I can enter the temple and be sealed to my husband for eternity.

I hope you all know just how much your Father in Heaven loves you and knows you. I hope you NEVER DOUBT just how much he loves you. I know this journey on my mission and throughout life won't be easy but when was life ever meant to be easy? Everything will be okay as long as we are just ALWAYS having faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and his gospel and in our Father in Heaven and his plan for us.

I love you all! I feel so blessed to know each of you. I don't know who will read this but I just hope you know you are loved and that everything will be okay.

With all my love!

Sister Skaggs

P.S. I saw Riley Bray on Saturday!! It felt so good to see another familiar face. And i wasn't even a real Temple Square sister yet! It was good to see you Riley!

[Additional pictures attached]