March 4, 2013

Oh my goodness I cannot believe that I've been in Jamestown for an entire month! The local grocery store here is selling Blue Bell ice cream this week as part of a special thing, and my companion and I are buying some to celebrate our one month anniversary together. Seriously, the time has flown by.

This week was pretty fun. Sister Jepson went to Richmond for leadership training, so I was in a temporary trio with two other sisters whose companions were also at leadership. It was good to have a chance to teach with different people and to see the Williamsburg area. (The Williamsburg and Jamestown areas are both in the city of Williamsburg.) We taught some amazing lessons.

Sister Jepson, the Williamsburg sisters, and I are putting together a Community Easter program to get people in the city together. Last week we visited 19 churches in town and asked them if they would be willing to participate in our program. We asked them to contribute a spiritual thought about why Christ is important or a musical number focused on Christ. We asked some awesome members from our ward to share a spiritual thought and the Williamsburg ward choir is going to sing. Both Relief Societies are contributing refreshments. Thus far one church has said yes and only three have said no. We're really excited to watch it all come together. We have already seen miracles, so we know that God is helping us organize this. We're praying that our parking lot will have enough space to hold all the people who want to come, since our meetinghouse has a small parking lot. 

We met with one of our investigators, John, this week. The last time we met with him went really well - he just asked for a month off to keep praying about the Book of Mormon. We went in to meet with him and he told us that he had finished reading the Book of Mormon, but he had a hard time believing that it was true because there wasn't any archaeological evidence. We asked him what he was expecting from the missionaries and how we could help him, and he told us that he didn't want to meet with the missionaries any more. He felt like we couldn't help him. He was grateful for the peace that we were able to bring him when he first invited us into his house, but he was no longer interested in our message. It was heart-breaking to walk away from that appointment. I felt the "godly sorrow" Jacob talks about in the beginning of the book of Jacob when he tells the Nephite people that he is saddened by their choices. I know that the message of the gospel has the power to change people's lives and bring them happiness and it was so sad to watch someone reject that chance. I know he'll come back around. He's read the Book of Mormon and felt the Spirit and someday he'll have a desire to hear the missionaries again.

I wish I had more time to tell more amazing stories, but I never do. I absolutely love being a missionary. This is God's work. I know I say that every week, but that's because it's true. There is definitely no way I could ever do anything if I wasn't being guided by the Holy Ghost. I know this is Christ's church restored on the earth in these last days. 

I love you all and I miss you more than I can say! I pray for you every night. 

With love,

Sister Jasperson

P.S. In case my announcement didn't make it into last week's email...they're splitting my mission in July! We'll find out in the June transfer whether we're in the Virginia Chesapeake or the Virginia Richmond mission. Also, congratulations to my wonderful brother on his mission call to Brazil! And congratulations to my best friend Natalie Hughes and her extra lucky fiance Conor Fishback on their recent engagement.

With Sister Jepson

Near a Baptist Church