A Time to Prepare‏

From 2/16/15


To EVERYONE,

Due to the holiday yesterday that is why I'm emailing a day late, but it's all good. Life is going great! This past week was just amazing! :) I should start with the nice little SNOW Storm we received yesterday.

Adventures of Working in a SNOWstorm:

Just because a storm comes in doesn't mean the work has to stop. Yesterday was an EXCELLENT day to work! The snow didn't start till about 1 pm yesterday which was good. But when it started coming in it actually started sticking pretty fast which meant our cars were grounded. Well how does that work if you're not allowed to drive, its snowing and you live 2 miles from your area? Solution is you WALK! :) That's exactly what we did. Just imagine two Sister Missionaries in the snow walking down a back road with no sidewalk with traffic and that would be us. As we were walking out of the apartment complex one of our investigators [someone being taught the Gospel] called to say that due to the weather they didn't want us coming over because it was getting too dangerous. I was like, "Umm, well, Scott we are already going to be in your area." Scott was like, "Wait. What? Are you crazy? How are you going to get here?" I responded with, "Well, we can walk. In fact, we actually already are." He said, "That road is not a safe road for you to be walking on in this storm. You're going to get killed." I said, "Well the work still needs to go on. We will be careful." Scott said, "Where are you? Tiffany and I are coming to get you right now. You are not walking in this. I would be devastated if I showed up to church on Sunday and found out you and Sister Stoddard were killed by a car sliding off the road." They ended up coming to pick us up and then we went to their home and ended up teaching them.

Teaching Scott and Tiffany - I just love them so much! They have become family to me and will always hold a special place in my heart. We didn't have a specific lesson planned for them because we have taught them everything at this point. Sister Stoddard and I decided to ask them questions that they have about everything. Scott was mentioning about Prophets and having one today. It was funny because for personal study I have been studying Mormon 9 and that morning I studied Mormon 9:9 about how the church is the same yesterday, today and forever. Then I cross referenced that to Hebrews 13:8. I remember role playing with Sis. Stoddard during companionship study about how people today still don't believe that the true Church, the one Jesus Christ established, had been restored back on the earth today. Out of nowhere I just started testifying to Scott about why wouldn't we have a Prophet today? If we read right here in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and how he called Abraham, Moses, Noah etc. to be his mouthpieces then why wouldn't he call another one today? I went on to testify that we did indeed have a prophet today etc. I can't really remember what I said. But I remember afterwards Scott was just like, "I never thought of it that way. You just answered a lot of my questions." I was like, "I was just saying what the spirit needed me to say." It was interesting because after we left, Sis. Stoddard mentioned to me that they have shared that with him before but for some reason today it just clicked for him. They are definitely making progress towards baptism and making that first covenant with their Heavenly Father. It is just going to take a little bit of time. They are a truly remarkable couple and I love them so much! We are having dinner with them Friday night and I'm so excited!

Tracting in the Snow - When we finished with Scott and Tiffany it was only like 4:30 and we already had cancelled our dinner appointment so we figured we would just tract the surrounding neighborhood till 6 and then go see Sister B, the amazing lady with 9 kids. Well, since it was a holiday and a snowstorm had come in that meant EVERYONE was home! Which means its Christmas time for us missionaries! We only knocked on several doors and they ALL answered which is a miracle within itself. One of the homes actually became a new investigator, well, not the home but the person living inside, and they referred their next door neighbor! When we finished talking with her it was about 6:00 and with it getting dark, cold and the snow picking up we didn't feel comfortable being out so we went to Sister B's home.

Hanging with Sister B - Okay you have no idea just how amazing Sister B is! I attached a picture of her and I together. She is the one who gave us flowers for valentines day. She was super busy with everything going on and still hadn't made dinner so we offered to help. She was making gyros - I have no idea how you spell them. But she made ALL of it from scratch-- the dough, the meat etc. Two hours later dinner was ready to be served! It was so much fun. Oh dad, you aren't going to like this, but guess what the meat was made from???? LAMB! Yup I actually had lamb for dinner last night. It reminded me of your lasagna story [from his mission]. hahaha! It was actually really good!!! Her kids have A LOT of food allergies so she has to get really creative with her meals. She is just so amazing! At like 8:30 Brother and Sister B took us home. We had already about a good 5 or so inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down. They were so sweet to drive us and they had no issue doing so. I just love the members here. They are just so amazing! They make me laugh all the time and I'm learning so much as to how I can be more effective in life now and when I'm off my mission.

Day of LOVE (Valentines Day) <3

Happy belated VALENTINES DAY!! I just loved valentines day!! Well, besides going to the doctor. We thought I may have been getting a possible UTI and so we went to the Doctor to verify if it was or wasn't. The results came back negative but the symptoms were showing it could be starting so he gave me a 3 day antibiotic. I was still able to work the whole day and I'm still going strong now! Sister Skaggs is all good now! :)

Packages from home!

Where do I even begin? So first of all thank you so much, mom and family, for my valentines day package!! It came on VALENTINES DAY! Sister Stoddard went to check the mail and we both received packages and a letter on V-Day. I was super happy when I got it. Oh and the funny thing is that I saw the sweater and was like, "That is so cute. I'm going to wear that. I put it on and we left and then I read you card for me, mom....about how I should wear the sweater on Valentines day. Thank you! I truly have the best family ever! So glad I have you four for all of Eternity! Oh and thanks for the cookies they are almost gone! :)

So there is a picture attached of Sister B and I. We were out doing things and we get a text from her saying, "Where are you two? I want to meet up with you." We were like, "Well we can just come to your house." We show up to her house and she hands us each a bouquet of flowers. It totally made our day -- that was before we got the packages and so it just made us both super happy! She is so funny! After she gave us the flowers we were like, "Hey, we are going to a lesson right now. Want to come?" She is like, "Yah!" She is like, "Do you need to ask me twice? Yes I want to come." She is so funny! I just love her sooo much. I'm going to miss her when I leave!

Sis. Skaggs with LDS
author, Traci Abrahmson

That evening we had dinner with Sister Wangberg, or what I will reference now as Sister W. I just love her!! She loves to get super creative with everything so I took a picture of what dinner looked like. She has been telling us about it all week and was so excited! I felt so bad though because we were like 45 minutes late because we were at the doctor. Not fun! But they were like, "Don't worry about it. That was more important." After we had dinner she drove us to stake conference. Yah, crazy right? We had stake conference in Feb. I didn't know that was even allowed but apparently people have it in Feb. Anyways, I just love Stake Conference! Guess who I met there?? I met one of my all time favorite Mormon Authors, Traci Abrahmson!! She spoke because she lives in this stake and after her someone else spoke and he was like, "Yah, I love reading Traci's books." Sister W looked up on her phone all of her books. I was like , "They are probably going to be books I have never heard of before." Well I was WRONG! Sister W shows me all of the books and I about freaked out. In fact I did. I was like, "No way! That is her. She wrote those books. My mom and I have read ALL of them. I love her!!" And then after the meeting, I got to meet her. That is the picture that Sis W she sent you mom. It was such a treat being able to meet her!

This is The Time To Prepare:

One of the only things I want in life is to be able to see my Father in Heaven again and my savior Jesus Christ. But in order for that to happen we must prepare! This time here on earth is our time to prepare. We aren't just here to go through the motions. But we are here to prepare ourselves to live with our Father in Heaven again. I have heard A LOT lately about the last days. We are here, we are in the last days. We must not be procrastinating the day of our repentance. We must be making that change of our heart now! Don't you want to see your Father in Heaven again? Don't you want to say, "I endured to the end. I strived my hardest to do all that I could to see you again?" If that's what you want then what are you doing specifically to prepare? We are promised that as we hold tight to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we have Faith in him, Repent (Change of heart), make that first covenant with him (Baptism), receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and most importantly endure to the end, we will be prepared to see our Father in Heaven again. Being on a mission we hear tidbits as to what is happening in the world around us. As we prepare we won't fear because we know that we are doing what our Father in Heaven is asking of us and we will live with him again in the Celestial Kingdom. I know with my whole heart that this is true. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christ's church that he established on the earth. The true church. I invite all to find out for yourself. Is this truly the church Jesus Christ himself established when he was here? The only way we can return to live with our Father in Heaven again is through taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ and applying it to our lives. Life most certainly won't be easy but it will be okay. We need not fear as long as we are striving to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and do all that is required of us. Look towards the Temple. As we look towards the Temple we will strive our hardest to align our lives so we are worthy to enter into his Holy House. I know these things are true. I wouldn't be here on a mission today if I didn't know it was. I know we are in the last days and I know that holding tight to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and keeping an eternal perspective is what will allow us to return home. If you don't know this for yourself I invite you to think to yourself right now, "What is holding me back?" Know that you are a child of God. You have a Father in Heaven who cares for you deeply and desperately wants you home. But, it's your choice as to whether or not you want to prepare to meet him again. You're a child of God, one of Infinite worth! I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sister Skaggs & Stoddard being
cute

I love you all! Family PLEASE BE SAFE! I hope you can find out who is doing this to you [the stuff shared by mom]. Know that I pray constantly for your safety and protection! I know that no matter what happens I will be with you for all of eternity! But I know the Lord is watching over you and protecting you even with what is happening in our neighborhood. It just proves to me the last days are here. But I don't worry. Know I love you so much!

Skaggs and Stoddard being
crazy!

Love for all eternity, your favorite daughter and sister ever!!! ;D But it's true because I'm the only one!! :)

Sister Jennifer Skaggs

A Time To Learn‏

This is from Feb 9th.  Enjoy!


To All I Love,

So this week has just been a week full of just a whole bunch of stuff. I don't even know where to start with this email. This email is going to be a lot different because the library is kicking us out right now. We are only allowed to be on here for one hour and we just hit our hour mark. We can email for an hour and a half but the library is only allowing us one hour today. I'm so sorry! I need to get more effective with my emailing time.

Overall I'm doing really well! The work here is going amazing and Sister Stoddard and I doing really well. Heavenly Father is teaching me a lot right now. Especially when it comes to being diligent. But that is one of the aspects about being a missionary that I love so much. I love everything Heavenly Father is teaching me right now in regards to being a missionary!

From frozen chicken.....

.....to a meal fit for a missionary!

Tracting is for the birds! (text added
by Sis. Skaggs mom) ;)

Tracting is something I'm ever so slowly coming to love. We have seen a lot of amazing miracles come the past couple of days from tracting. I still don't have an undivided love for it yet but I'm definitely enjoying it a lot more. You know when you really forget about yourself and you recognize this is the Lord's time and not your time it changes your perspective a lot on what you need to be doing and how you need to do it. Several weeks ago we tracted into this lady who was open to us coming back to seeing her. We had a lesson with her the other day and she was super open to learning more about the Gospel. When we invited for her to be baptized she said she would if she came to know these things were true. I love the simple miracles that come when we do what the Lord expects us to do. If we hadn't of been tracting we would never of met that lady.

Eating out for the first time in
Virginia!

I have to get off now. I'm so sorry this isn't like my usual emails. But the library needs us to get off right now. I love you all so much! I know this Gospel is true with all of my heart. I love the blessings that come as we sincerely strive to live the Gospel and apply it to our lives. I love Mosiah 24 - I believe it is. Life is going to be hard and life was never supposed to be easy. But I know that as we have faith and trust in our Savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven the trials that we have experienced in our lives can be made lighter. He is willing to ease the burdens that are placed upon our backs but we must first have faith in him and reach out to him. I love you so much! Again, I'm so sorry this email is short and not like the rest of them. This week has been a great week and I'm learning A LOT! I love my investigators, I love the members, I love my companion and I love the trials that I'm facing. Is it hard? Yes - the hardest thing I have ever done. Am I having to make sacrifices? Yes. But it is worth it. It's beyond worth it! Have a great week! Be safe!! Oh and I won't have p-day until TUESDAY next week due to it being a national holiday on Monday! Love you!!

Sister Stoddard feeding a friend!

Love,

Sister Skaggs

A Blessing to Be Here‏

To Everyone,

So sorry I'm emailing so late. We came here earlier and when we first got here, to the library, we waited for 15 minutes for a computer, which took time away for us to email because we had our dinner appointment and so our emailing time was going to be reduced so we could get there on time. Well, I started praying asking Heavenly Father for a way for me to be able to have the full hour and a half since this is the only time during the week I get to email you. We finally get to a computer and well, myldsmail thought it was super funny and didn't want to work. Sister Stoddard and I decided that we would just email President Wilson and then would try to email home after. After 30 minutes we still couldn't get it to work which would have left only 45 minutes for us to email. After talking with our STL's they said to come back later. So, here we are now. It's funny how Heavenly Father answers our prayers. It reminds me a lot of D&C 98:2 my favorite scripture.

Okay so I probably should start sharing with you what has been happening all the way over here in good old Spotsy, that's what we call it. :)

The Members:

I'm pretty sure that is probably one of my favorite aspects of missionary work out here. It is something that I never really understood, just how special it is. I mean, the fact of being able to work face to face with members. Sister Stoddard and I have really made it an effort to really get to know the ward and to develop friendships with them and to really get their help in regards to missionary work. We have some truly amazing members here. Mom, the lady who sent you the picture last night of Sister Stoddard and me, that was Sister Wangberg, our Relief Society President. She is so amazing! We had dinner at her house the very first night that I got here and when we were leaving she said, "If a dinner appointment ever falls through I will be offended if you don't come over and have dinner." She is always so willing to help us out in any way that she can! But it's not just her, its everybody in the ward here. On Saturday we were unable to find out who our dinner appointment was and so we made an announcement in Relief Society the next day apologizing and pretty much all the Sisters were like, "Wait. You didn't have a dinner appointment? Don't ever let that happen again. If anything ever happens please call me right away."

Haha oh so funny story!:

I have to Pee! The other night Sister Stoddard and I were out tracting and I had to go to the bathroom so bad but we were about a 20 minute driving distance from home. I mentioned to her that I really needed to go. She was like, "Sister Skaggs, why don't you just ask someone when we get to their door if you could use their restroom?" Hahaha! My reply, "Heck no! You think I'm going to ask a random person if I could use their bathroom? You're crazy. Tracting already scares me and now I'm going to ask to use their restroom? Yah I would rather just pee my pants." Sister Stoddard, "Okay well you must not have to go that bad. I wouldn't make you do that I was just checking to see how bad you had to go." I was like, "But I really do have to go. I just refuse to ask a random stranger to use their bathroom." She was like, "I wouldn't make you do that. Haha. I wouldn't even do that. That is just weird and scary!" What a nice companion! :) I love her though. She is amazing! We walked back to the car because, literally, I had to go to the bathroom! We made a quick phone call to a family in the ward who lived near by. They didn't answer. She texted us back asking if she could call us later. We were like "We just are in the area tracting and really have to go to the bathroom." She was like "Absolutely. Come over right now!" Well, we get there and they are in the middle of dinner. That was just awkward. Interrupting a family's dinner to use their restroom. Afterwards the dad said, "First the Elders ask for toilet paper and now the sisters use the bathroom. Our Restroom is always yours, sisters!" Haha I just love the Camps! They are such an awesome family!

I just love the members here overall! Those are a few of the simple highlights so far. I have had so many other amazing experiences with the members here but I don't have enough time nor do I type fast enough to be able to share with you all of them. Oh, another thing that is super common here is you don't ask people what they do for a living. Haha, it always ends up super awkward. Why?? Well, pretty much everyone works for the government. When I mean government I mean like they truly work for the government and we aren't allowed to know what they do. It's kind of scary, kind of comforting and kind of intriguing. So, yah, I pretty much just don't ask anymore. We have encountered far too many awkward situations where people are like "Ummm, I, umm, I just work for the government." That goes for both members, tracting, etc.

Investigators:
 

Tom and Shannon - I just love them! The sisters were already teaching them before I arrived. They are such an amazing family! They have such a sincere desire to learn. They are going through A LOT right now but they are just so sweet. They have a little girl named Haleigh who is 8 and she is just so sweet. At church she sat next to me and was reading all of the notes that I was taking out loud and was super excited to sing with me every time we sang a hymn. She really loves the hymns. She asked us several days ago why everyone else had hymn books but she didn't. She asked how she could get one. I first thought, "Well, why don't I just go buy her one?" But then I just decided it's not going to kill me to give her my little copy. So, I gave her my copy and told her that I wanted her to have it. I just said, "Since my name is in here you are going to have to cover it up and put your name there because its yours now." She left and we continued to teach her mom and dad. About 10 minutes later she comes back over to me. She opens the front cover, comes over and is like "Look what I did." She had taken my name and drew a heart around it and then wrote "This is to remember that Jennifer Skaggs gave me this hymn book and I don't want to forget that..." It brought me to tears. She is the sweetest ever and I love her so much! I will have to take a picture with her and send it to you! Her parents are always texting us making sure we are okay and always asking us what they can do to help us. Which is funny because we should be helping them since we are the missionaries and they are the investigators!

Sister Stoddard and I:

So much for a diet!

Sister Stoddard and
Sister Skaggs

I don't even know where to begin. She is amazing! I'm learning so many different things from her right now. I'm learning the importance of being diligent and being obedient. She is such a hard worker! Heavenly Father is humbling me quite a bit right now. This past week we have both been sick. There is a nasty flu going around right now and my body thought it would be super funny and hop onto the flu train. I still have it, but, oh well, it is what it is. You know when I get sick I'm sick and I'm sick for awhile. Today we had a really good conversation about a lot of things and really discussed what we can do to really help each other. We recognized that her strengths were my weaknesses but my strengths were her weaknesses. She is such a humble and diligent missionary which is something I have found that I lack in quite a bit. Haha - she was like, "You are so patient with everyone." Which is weird because that is something I have lacked since I was a little girl. I'm amazed at everything she is teaching me. And it's funny because we HAVE SO much in common. Like A LOT! But yet we are so different!

These Things are True:

I want you to know that I know with my whole heart these things are true. We have encountered several individuals this week who have been "anti" and it just breaks my heart. But every time it just really strengthens my testimony that these things are true. This Gospel truly has been restored on the earth today. We encounter afflictions and trials because it allows us to grow to become who our Heavenly Father needs us to become. I can promise you and I can testify that we do have a Father in Heaven. He knows us each by name. He knows us each personally. I can promise you and I can testify that as we each open our heart and have that real intent to know if we truly are his children he will testify to us through the Holy Ghost that we indeed are. I am so grateful to have this knowledge and to have been raised with this simple truth my whole life. I feel blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ as my foundation. As we simply strive our hardest to lay the Gospel as our foundation in our life and build upon that, we will be able to see our Father in Heaven again. I know my Savior, Jesus Christ lives I know the atonement is real! I leave my testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I love you all! I hope you are each doing well! This gospel is true. If you don't know that for yourself I ask you to please ask your Father in Heaven right now if it is. Please get down on your knees and simply ask him. I can promise you he will answer you.

Please be safe and have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Sister Skaggs