July 28th- ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!!

Family,

Life wouldn't be life without a little adventure eh? I have gone on so many crazy adventures. This week we solved our ant problem and the exterminator came over and cleaned the place right up, so that is one less adventure we have to conquer everyday! This weeks real adventure happened after I went to the bathroom at a members house. I reached to unlock the door... TO NO AVAIL. It would not unlock! Shoot, I was trapped! Luckily Sister H was watching the door. She noticed my struggle and tried twisting the handle from the outside. Brother Dubay exclaimed to sister H, "Be patient! She will come out when she is ready." We both were laughing to hard to explain our situation. I was laughing to hard to cry out for help, and Sister Hamilton was laughing to hard to ask if he had a key. Don't worry, I eventually got un-locked in the bathroom. 

We stopped a lady on the street to share the gospel with her which she was pretty open to, when all of a sudden she stopped and asked.. How old are you? Well, 19 and 21 ma'am! That got her pretty frazzled and said, "I should be talking to someone my own age about all of this!" We set up an appointment with her and didn't think anything of it. She called us in about 20 minutes yelling and wanting to talk to the leader of our church. She was SO MAD our church would send young kids out into the world! She somehow got our bishops number and chewed him out as well. In response to that Bishop told us, "I am sure that Joseph Smith got the same kind of reaction." I loved that response, and was a little offended this random stranger didn't think I was up to the task! :) 

Missionaries love yard work, pants, and Pam Smith! I got to experience all three of these this week! Pam Smith is a lady who takes it upon herself to fix up the community. She is someone we tracted into, and the next morning she called us and asked.. Will you help me fix up the street corner? We were ecstatic of course! We spent the next morning weeding and whacking on a busy street corner in Coquille with a lot of people who are in high positions around the community. Pam   introduced us as her friends, the missionaries, and we got to know a lot of members of the city council. It was an amazing opportunity, and we have had people commenting on seeing us do service all week! I testify of the power of serving! 

KRISTY, a young mom, read six chapters out of the book of Mormon for the first time this week. Watch out SATAN!

Also, we have these favorite investigators, Joanna and Michael, who are getting baptized this week! (also, I told sister H I am going to convert everyone named Michael because of Dad, and seriously everyone is named Michael now :) They are about to get married (YES! NO ONE IN OREGON IS MARRIED) and asked us, "could the two of you marry us? Heck, I don't even care if we get married Mormon!" They are the greatest people and I love them! 

 

We had the wonderful blessing of going to the temple this week! I had no idea the weight that was on my shoulders from listening to all the hard things people go through! I left the temple feeling light and lifted :) We road down to Medford in a van full of 10 elders, and I was shocked to know that a van full of elders is really just a van full of 18 and 19 year old boys. They did, however, at some point start singing hymns, and it was so POWERFUL. Sometimes I am just overcome by how amazing the gospel is! :)

 

 

 

Something which I have been thinking a lot about lately is what it means to be a TRUE follower of Jesus Christ. I run into so many people who say, "I have faith in Jesus Christ and just try to follow his life the best that I can, so I don't need a religion." As I have been pondering what it means to be a true "follower of Jesus Christ," I cam across a scripture in John 6:65-67 which struck me. It reads, "And he (Jesus)said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except he doeth the will of my father who hath sent me. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." Once the Savior required something of his followers, once they needed to ACT on the things which they had been taught, they didn't want to follow the Savior anymore. The goal of this life is to prove we want to be a part of Gods kingdom more than anything else-and bring as many people with us as we can! The gospel is true, we all should do a little bit better acting on the things which we are told!

Love you!

Sister Jones

July 21- My Mission Roller Coaster!

And another week bites the dust!! :)

The beginning of the week was a little bit difficult.. Last week I ranted about how much I love the Joneses? Well, they dropped us on Tuesday! I was so heartbroken, they had come so far! Plus, if I was allowed to have a favorite investigator, they probably would have been it! Luckily, Mckayla's (6 page double sided) letter came that day and was a perfect little pick me up!  Then Crystal, an investigator who was supposed to be baptized in two weeks, dropped us on Wednesday! Since then we have seen SO MANY MIRACLES. Satan works hard, but he can't stop this missionary work from progressing! Blonde hair, don't care! (But I actually have brownish blonde hair and I really do care about these people a lot).

Early morning workout. Isn't Oregon beautiful?

 

FUNNY STORY. We go and teach a less active who is crazy. She really is crazy, but she is one of my favorite people! We have a hard time teaching her since she is all over the place and could probably talk to us for an hour straight! Sister H and I play a game.. we pick a story from the Book of Mormon, make it has graphic as possible on a mission (since she loves murder mysteries), then have to somehow squeeze it into the conversation. This week we related the story of Nephi on the tower to CSI. Pretty entertaining. 

We also went to another investigators house. He has been dodging us, but don't worry, we are really persistent. Brandon's son, who is 9, answers the door. He says, "My dad isn't feeling good. And.. um... he kind of isn't wearing pants. Or anything really." UM WILL YOU ASK HIM WHEN HE IS GOING TO BE HOME WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK WEARING PANTS? His son didn't know. To be continued... 

A member gave us a carrot cake. We didn't have the car. We walked around the rest of the day with a giant cake. 

An investigators dog got out. We were chasing the dog down the street yelling, "DOG" because we couldn't remember its name. 

Moral of this section of my email: Weird things happen on missions. Then you just laugh about how ridiculous the whole situation is, move on, and share the gospel. 

This week we had a giant service project called, "Make a difference" Day! Members all up and down the coast pick an area and just do service! We spread gravel, built concessions stands, painted buildings, and cleared out trails. It is hard to miss 400 Mormons doing service! Sister Hamilton and I also got the privilege of working next to the mission presidents wife (I guess you could say we are best buds now ;) That was a fun brake in our week!

Every week I try and pick one investigator to tell you about, since it would be impossible to tell you about all of them! Sister Hamilton and I tracted into a young couple in their twenties named Joanna and Michael. They sat and talked to us for an hour and invited us to come back over for a barbecue the next day/to talk to them about the gospel! (we all ready had a dinner appointment, but we can't say no to an investigator. God blessed me with an elastic stomach that day since we went straight from one dinner to the next) Joanna and Michael are GREAT people. Joanna went to school to be a youth minister, and she loves the conviction and passion that people in the bible have about religion. I can't wait to tell her about Joseph Smith!!

There is a lot of heartache in the world, and what is so amazing about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that it addresses EVERY issue in the world. Mckayla said something which I really liked in her letter, "Some people need angels, while others are meant to be their angels." God answers prays more often than not through other people! We all have opportunities to be someone's "angel" and be an answer to their prayer when we share the gospel! The church is true, and other people can't experience that happiness unless you share it!

Love you all!

 

 

Sister Jones

July 14- Coquillan It!

FAMILY/FRIENDS/EVERYONE!

Can I just say that I think I am so clever because of my title? Well, if that is allowed I am going to say it. I am staying in Coquille this next transfer with Sister Hamilton! WAHOO!! It is going to be a sad day when I have to leave... but for now we are going to COKILL IT!! (cheesy I know. oh well.)

I have learned a lot while coming out here. One of them being that the following list is of the devil.

1.ipods. It is impossible to talk to someone when they are cut off from the world.  

2.screen doors. It would be polite if you would open your screen door so I can see your face. 

3. dogs. No one can feel the spirit while a dog is barking. No one. 

That is the end of my mini rant via email! Oh, actually if I am still ranting, Sister Hamilton is taller than me. It is a struggle.

As for missionary work, we had a pretty good week! We worked really hard and have a lot of amazing potentials! On Tuesday I went up to Northbend AGAIN on exchanges which made me really excited! We did a lot of service for people... pulling ivy out of someone's yard, working in a soup kitchen, and feeding someone's fish. Wait, did I say feeding fish? The sisters were supposed to be feeding a lady in the wards fish while she was out of town but they forgot. We had to go and scoop the dead fish out of the pond. I found out later that the fish are super expensive! oopsy!! But working in the soup kitchen amazed me-a bunch of churches are working together to put on this restaurant. Everyone who works there is volunteer, and the owners of the place work full time for no profit! It was amazing to me to see how all the different faiths could come together and pull of a task that seemed gigantic and impossible! I am so grateful for all of the good people in the world. 

This week we were super involved with the primary. We taught little kids how to share the gospel at a primary activity and then taught singing time on Sunday. Have I ever mentioned neither Sister Hamilton or I are musically inclined? It was still so fun to go and sing! Those little children sing with all their hearts, whether they are hitting the right notes or not! The spirit was so strong, they are so precious! One of the little girls drew me a picture to say "thanks" for all the great things I do!

We had a pretty exciting lesson this week with the Jones' family. (I am partially biased because of their last name) Sister Jones is a less active member and brother Jones isn't a member. When we first started going over Brother Jones would sit in the other room, then he started sitting in during our lessons, and now he actually participates! I always thought he was a mute rock, but I guess not! Not only does he participate but he gets excited when we come over! Wahoo! During our lesson this week we made leaps and bounds of progress. Last week we challenged them to read a verse from the Book of Mormon together every day. When we showed up they solemnly said,"We didn't read a verse a day. But before you came over we read three chapters together." UMMM THREE CHAPTERS IS A LOT MORE THAN SEVEN VERSES. We taught a lesson on prayer and found out, to Sister Jones' amazment, that Brother Jones has prayed before when his life was in danger. For the first time in their whole marriage (they are in their 70's) they promised to pray together before going to bed every night! The progress is slow, but we are getting there! The joneses are probably one of my favorite families at the moment which is why I am telling you all about them :)

Maria is also getting baptized in two weeks! She is a sweet eleven year old girl who has started opening up to us ALOT. She is pretty cute, apparently she never cries. Every. But almost every lesson we have with her she gets really embarrassed because she starts to get teary eyed! She has started talking to and opening up a lot to us! 

You come across people out here that don't want to listen to your message which is fine. You say, "oh well" and move on! But I would probably say that the hardest thing about being on a mission is that there are certain people that you grow to love. It is when those people reject the gospel that it is so sad! But you just keep trying, because one day they are going to accept the gospel :) Before I came out here I didn't know that you could love so many people! I came across a really cool scripture in 1 Cor 13 which states, "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." Paul is saying he can do so many marvelous things, he has so much faith, he can move mountains for heaven sake! But if he does ANYTHING which isn't motivated by love it doesn't mean diddly squat. Sharing the gospel with someone is probably the biggest act of love you could offer them!

Love you all!

Sister Jones

July 7th- Yet Another Week In the Life of a Missionary!

Jul 7 at 12:12 PM

How is it going friends and family??

Last Monday feels like an eternity ago! Maybe I always say that, but there are a lot of things that happen in a week :) My highlight of the week is when we were out tracting and the most adorable little golden retriever decided that it wanted to be our friend! It followed us from house to house for about an hour and a half. Normally I strongly dislike dogs, but I loved this one! If I was almost done with my mission I would have seriously considered taking it home with me! At ever door it would try and run into the persons house which is kind of an issue, but it gave us something great to talk about even if they weren't interested in the gospel! Note to self.. buy a cute golden retriever when I get home. 

Then we ate dinner at the Relief Society Presidents house! It is always an adventure going there.. her son bombarded us when we showed up and SOAKED us to the bone with a water gun. Awesome. It was kind of nice though since we had been walking in the burning sun all day! then we walked inside and Malachi, there seventeen year old daughter, made a giant display of kissing her boyfriend in front of us. AWKWARD. 

We have been trying to get a hold of a mom who just had a baby for WEEKS! We finally got a hold of her and she exclaimed, " I was hoping that you guys would stop by!!" She is amazing, but I think that I am more in love with her daughter Havanah! She has kissed me, punch me, shoved slobbery toys in my mouth, and about everything in between! 

We met our new mission President, President Russell this week. We were a little nervous to meet him, but him and his wife are some of the most fun loving people which I have ever met! I am excited to see what they bring to our mission. 

I see so many miracles every day, even though we had a little bit of a dead week, I still can see how he is actively playing a role in our missionary work.For example, you will get a little feeling to knock on a specific door, or say something during a lesson, or talk to someone that you normally wouldn't talk to! My eyes have been opened up to the misery and hopelessness that envelope the lives of so many people, and I know that it is through the gospel they can have that hope and peace in their lives. It is sad when people turn that away, but God has given us our agency to act for ourselves! 

Sister Hamilton decided to make it a goal this week to talk to every person which we saw about the gospel. We were by no means perfect, but it made missionary work so much more FUN! When you talk to people about the gospel you are showing God that you fear Him more than man. I don't know if I have shared that with you or not, but it is something which has really stuck out to me! Who cares what other people think? What matters is what God thinks of YOU! 

 

SO, while everyone was up late partying on the Fourth of July, I couldn't be more excited to go to bed! But Sister Hamilton and I wanted to have our own celebration! Since there isn't a whole lot to do on holidays, we decided to write in chalk around town different aspects of the gospel! It was  so much fun, and was a great way to break up our day!! Later that night we went and had dinner at my favorite family in the wards! 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Jones

June 30th- Duck Territory

"You are in duck territory now, so you better get out your quackers!" - random citizen in Coquille, Oregon. I have finally seen the rain!! It is kind of an adventure to be out walking around in the pouring rain for days straight! 

How I am going to fit everything which happened into one email this week I have no idea.

The week started off horrible. Jaylene, the first door I ever knocked on, dropped us on Tuesday! She had been progressing so fast and so well. She knows the church is true! Why doesn't someone stab my heart with a knife? ;) Just kidding, I am over it now! To top off that day, I forgot to wear deodorant. 

Then, the next day we found out that Sister Jennings (a less active member whose husband committed suicide in February who we have been working with. Might I add that she was just barely starting to come back to church and read her scriptures) was involved in a house fire. Her whole house exploded and two of her three grand kids which were staying with her passed away! My hear broke yet again, poor Sister Jennings. We knew that this traumatic thing had happened, but no one in the ward new where she was staying. Sister Hamilton had to go to the bathroom one day so we stopped by the church. We were just about to leave and Sister Jennings called! Might I add that normally we are never in the church on a weekday, and we were probably there for five minutes tops. She looked up the churches number since she had lost all her contacts. Even though this hard trial was placed in Sister Jenning's life, I know that God is still watching out for her. Given the circumstances, she is doing well. It says a lot that she is willing to real out to the church. 

THEN things went up from there! Mariah decided she wants to be baptized on July 26th!! WAHOO! She is eleven years old and has a built in fellowshipper since her grandma is a member. She is just the sweetest little thing, I love teaching her! Normally eleven year olds are super hard to work with, but Mariah cries when we teach her because she feels the spirit so strongly! 

THEN Marissa decided she wants to be baptized! Granted not until November 8th, because she has to wait until she is 18, but we are happy non the less. She was glowing just talking about it! Marissa is 17 years old.

THEN Carol Jones, an inactive member, cried. She bore her testimony to me. Come to church Carol, I know you know it is true. YOU TOLD ME. 

THEN Mary Ann was baptized!! Mary Ann is going to be a kingdom builder. She has always been 100% willing to do whatever God asks of her. She quite smoking after 40 years. She has almost read the entire book of mormon. She hasn't missed a Sunday at church since we started meeting with her. She is also one of my really good friends, and I hope always will be! After she was baptized she just bawled, and you could see the light radiating out of her. Mary Ann's faith never ceases to amaze me. The whole ward really pulled together for her baptism, and that is partly because everyone who meets her absolutely adores her! She is that type of person everyone wants to be around! 

 

THEN we went out to meet the Mcwilliams. We have met with Mike, the husband, before but never his wife. We finally met his wife and her heart is so open to the gospel. We read her Moroni 10:4-5 and she said, "So does that scripture say I need to study, ask god, and keep an open heart and open mind? This all makes sense. Of course we would need another book of scripture to back up the bible." WHAAAA? Just in case you don't know, people don't normally say that. 

I don't think I did any of these stories justice in this email, but it ended up being a very successful and amazing week. You can see the Lords hand in this work. He is preparing the hearts of men. The church is true!! 

Love you all,

Sister Jones

p.s. PresidentYoung has moved out and President Russell has moved in! I meet him Thursday, it should be exciting.