June 22- Borderline

Nia Hao!

Grants Pass, Oregon

Speaking of mandarin, this week I ALMOST got to use my mandarin on an Asian looking man. I ran down the street to talk to him, but he had disappeared. It is going to come in handy one of these days!

Our zone has decided that our theme for this transfer is "borderline." We need to be doing things as a missionary that are "borderline" of our comfort zone, and the more we do those things the more our comfort zone expands and we can be tools in the Lord's hands! Sister Petersen and I put this into practice this week and did a lot of things that were "borderline" our comfort zone. For example, there was a thug basketball game going on, and we stopped them and shared the gospel. Half said they would listen if we played them in a game to 21, and the other half stopped to listen. (We had five minutes before we had to go in or else I so would have played.) Later we were tracting and there was a number on the front door of a house of an old man who wasn't answering. We called him and told him to come to the door. HAHAHA the sweet old man took a pamphlet. It keeps things fun and entertaining! Sister Petersen is bold and fearless, it is going to be a great transfer!

Things are going great, my companion and I were double transferred in (meaning that neither of us have been in this ward until now.) It has been an exciting week of trying to figure out the area, the ward, the investigators, as well as adjusting to a new companion's style of teaching! Oddly enough it hasn't been too stressful. We also get to do a lot of street contacting which I am excited about, most areas in the mission are in the country so the houses are far apart. I love serving in city-like areas. 

The area: Tiny. We walk everywhere. I am so excited to get my sister missionary foot tan back. This next week it should get up to 106 degrees. Bring on the sunscreen and the tan!

The ward: SO missionary minded! Every prayer in church they prayed for missionary opportunities. They are giving us referrals left and right. I think it is hands down the best ward in the entire mission. 

The investigators: There is a wonderful family, The Gandy's, who are on date for August 23rd. From the sound of it the father really wants this move for their family, but the mom has never had religion so she isn't as enthused as he is. We got to meet and teach them yesterday. The way this lesson turned out was a MIRACLE, and as we look back God had been preparing us for this lesson all week long. We brought a member whose son had recently passed away. Originally we were planning on teaching them about receiving answers to prayers, but we ended up talking about eternal families. The member talked about how she gets to be with her family forever, and momma gandy started bawling. I think that is the first time she has ever really felt the spirit. We testified that the gospel blesses our family in the eternities, as well as blessing them right now.

My companion: From Erta, Utah. She went to Stansbury high school. She is staying pretty focused, and we are going to work hard!! 

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK: I was in relief society and someone said, "you must be Corinne!" (What?? I haven't heard someone call me that in 18 months.) I turned to see a smiling face, and Sister Still is supposedly from my home ward in Mtn. Green! She told me all about my cute family and how everyone is doing great. It was such a tender mercy to get to talk with her! She used to live here in Grant's Pass, but two years ago moved to Mtn. Green! 

OH and hey, Happy Fathers Day! 

Sometimes in church we sing, "I'll go where you want me to go,  dear Lord." Throughout my mission I have started to notice at times that I will add on my own ending to the song...,"I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, [as long as it is where I want to go and what I want to do]." This is a selfish attitude which I have had to repent of many times. I asked my President during interviews one time, "I have a desire to turn my will over to the Lord but HOW do I do it?" He responded with, "who is someone you know in your life which has turned their will over to the Lord?" I immediately responded, "My father." We then listed all the attributes which my father had which qualified him to be a servant of the Lord. Some of them on the list were obedience, humility, selflessness, and charity. (All attributes which I am trying to encompass) I am so grateful for the example my father has given me for what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ, as well as teaching me what qualities are important to encompass.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Jones 

On Wednesday's, we walk Dogs... This is Gracie the Great Dane! (I don't HATE large dogs like I used to..)

There are these drinks called phosphates that are $.50. We have a goal to drink ALL of the phosphates this transfer!

Jun 15- TRANSFER to Grants Pass

Ni Hao!

I don't have a whole lot of time.. I GOT TRANSFERRED. I had an inkling
of a feeling that I was leaving, and I thought I was mentally
prepped... I wasn't. It made the move a lot easier since school was
over and everyone was leaving for the summer. Corvallis changed my
entire mission. I love the YSA. I also have grown to love the Asian
people in corvallis! I am forever going to miss them! Anyone want to
go with me to China after my mission?

It is a bummer to move, but if I had to move I said it would have to
be grants pass. Guess who got her wish? THIS GIRL. I am in an area
which is four miles by four miles, but it is going to be the best area
in the mission. We will still get to do a lot of street contacting
which I am really excited about. My companion is sister Petersen (not
to be confused with sister Peterson) and reminds me SO MUCH of our
beloved Mikkel rock. She is hilarious, I love her all ready. This is
her last transfer, so I a, going to be killing a companion for the
first time. (Is is the term we use when your companion goes home after
you are their companion)

First off, a couple of items of business.. A little old couple from my
first area moved to good ol mountain green! Anyone heard of the
hassell's? Also, if they don't remember me... They are old. But I do
love them! Also, anyone heard of Van and Meghan Wallace? They also
live in mountain green. (It was our dentists friends, I told him I
would ask.)

Sorry it is transfer day, so I don't have a whole lot of time. But
this last week was pretty crazy. We had zone conference, and sister
Yeung had been having really bad intense pain in her mouth, so we
spent some time in the dentist. That is a miracle for another day.

Most of my week was spent prepping people for the summer! The YSA is
going to be teaching a lot of people over Skype which is pretty
cool... That is about all that I can really remember.

I love you all and will give you a more detailed update next week!

I LOVE THE GOSPEL.

Sister Jones

June 8th- HEEEEEY!

 

 

EMAILS.

Sister Yeung LOVES icecream, this is at Baskin Robbins! 

We had a lesson with an investigator, Nicole, and our member Nancy fell asleep. (We were watching Joseph Smith prophet of the restoration)

My two wonderful companions and my very favorite member Lyndzi!

 

 

HELLO FROM OREGON! 

Sister Yeung quotes of the week:

This week I asked Sister Yeung, "When you think of Americans, what do you think of?" She responded without missing a beat, "Fat." 

Later I asked her, "How do you like those Cheetos? (she is always eating Cheetos)" She said, "I will repent later." 

This week was dead week! That is the week before finals here at OSU. The students on campus LOOK dead. The busier the students get, the less there is for us to do as missionaries! We did a lot of finding and found ALOT of people to contact after finals week, but for now everyone is busy! Finals week will be even crazier. 

Even though this week was crazy, we did manage to put two people on date. (Well, we didn't really do anything, it was all the spirit.) 

Mei- I talked about her a couple of weeks ago? I wasn't there for that lesson because I was at MLC, but she is on date for August 15th. Kind of far out because she is going to China all summer, so we are going to be having skype lessons with her.

Amber - We have been trying to meet with Amber the past 4 1/2 months, and we FINALLY MET WITH HER. She is basically LDS, she pays tithing to her church, lives all the commandments, grew up with mormon friends, has always wanted to read the Book of Mormon, and we found out has watched conference when they broadcast it online! She asked us to come help her out, and before we went in I prayed, "Heavenly Father, we need a miracle." When we showed up she said, "Ok, can we just talk about where your church came from right now." Thank. You. Finally. We taught her the first discussion, and I was AMAZED at how she believes all of our doctrine. She goes to another church, but she told us that she doesn't believe all the things that they teach! She also has been praying about baptism and God told her it is in her near future. AUGUST 22ND! (ambers is so far out because she is trying out for the Voice. She made it through the first round all ready.)

Seriously, we are teaching the coolest people right now. Amber is going to be on the Voice and Jonathan is the OSU basketball manager. Could life get any better? We did teach Jonathan this week, and he wants to talk to his aunt before he gets baptized. He also wants a friend to get baptized with him. That is ok with me :) 

God also lead us to two chinese families this week.

I JUST WANT TO STAY IN CORVALLIS FOREVER. 

I DON'T HAVE A SPIRITUAL THOUGHT THIS WEEK, other than the gospel is true, AND I LOVE IT! 

Our entire mission, in one picture! I am sitting down second row from the front on the right.

Sister Peterson is my favorite! She CRACKS me up! This picture makes me super happy, so I thought you would all enjoy it. 

Love you all! MWA!

Sister Jones

Jun 1- DESIRE GOOD THINGS!

We found 2 new Chinese investigators this week, which was exciting! (don't let that fool any of you, I stop them, Sister Yeung talks to them!)

OH, funny story! We were teaching a Chinese lesson, and an Asian looking man walked into our lesson looking confused. He was looking for the chinese elders. I said, "hello!" and when he still looked confused I said, "Ni Haoma!" (Hello, how are you.) He said, "I don't speak Chinese." Awkward. I said, "Oh, where are you from?" He said, "Where do you think I am from?" (in my head I was thinking, OBVIOUSLY NOT CHINA.) "ummm.. Portland?" (in my defense, anyone who looks chinese but isn't from China is normally from Portland.) Later I found out he was from Indonesia. HAHAHAHA those awkward missionary moments.... ok, actually that was just an awkward moment. 

Also, this week our DL and his companion were in a car crash. We were told that one of the elders was "realeased." We thought he was released as a missionary. We all cried and baked them cookies. We found out later that he got released from the hospital... (sisters are always SO DRAMATIC.) haha, but they are both doing fine, they just have to sleep a lot. 

We taught Corey, a Chinese investigator, and he wanted to know what Christians always get emotional when they talk about Jesus Christ. That was the coolest question I have ever received on my mission!

MIRACLES OF THE WEEK:

We taught Lexa, an investigator, and when we got to the restoration she said, "Why have I never heard of this before?" She then wanted to watch a movie about Joseph Smith, it was awesome.

We also went tracting, and we tracted into Trudy who is 54. Not YSA age, but she let us right in! We were all in tears as we talked about how Christ has helped us in our lives. We left her with a Book of Mormon, and she told us to come back anytime!  She reminds me of my sweet Mary Ann Sackett from my first area. I miss that woman!! 

It is really easy to find new investigators in the YSA ward, and these people are so open and humble! We always have ROCKING first lessons with them, but then they disappear since school is hard and stressful! They are also easily persuaded by their peers! We are hoping we can set up all our second lessons this next week! 

LESSON I LEARNED THIS WEEK:

How important the desires of our hearts are! I was reading in Alma 47 and 48, and it contrasts the desires of Amalikiah's hearts against those of Moroni's.  (Amalikiah: Alma 47:8, 20. Moroni: Alma 48:7, 10) I realized that in both of these instances, they both received what they truly desired. One had righteous desires, where the other didn't. That made me think, what are my TRUE desires? I will receive what I work towards, whether that is something good or bad. Dallin H. Oaks said, "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we ACT on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming." 

I LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE A GREAT WEEK! DESIRE GOOD THINGS!
(does that even make sense?)

Sister Jones

May 25- RUNNING OUT OF CREATIVE IDEAS FOR HEADLINES

HEEEEEEEYYYYY!

 

                                  Classic Sister missionary selfie.

 

Highlights of this week:

1. Jonathan. Jonathan is the OSU basketball manager, is black, and has cerebral palsy. I don't think I have met another human soul who is as amazing as him in my entire life. He was suppose to be paralyzed and never be able to walk, but through some miracles he can walk. We taught him the restoration and he agreed to be baptized. He told us, "I know that the answers I am looking for can be found in this book." Yes they can Jonathan. The Book of Mormon Truly answers the questions of our soul. Since Jonathan knows the entire football and basketball team, we plan on baptizing them all soon. I will keep you posted.

2. Mai. Mai is from Hong Kong, and luckily speaks really great English! She started crying when we talked to her about the Savior's atonement. We asked her how she felt, and I have NEVER heard an investigator so perfectly describe the spirit in a first lesson. She talked about how she felt, "Warm, emotional, bubbly, almost sad but in a happy way." She also agreed to be baptized.

3. Lin Lin. She is from China, and we have been working with her for a couple of weeks. I have NEVER had someone ask me SO MANY questions. We struggle getting through any of the material we have planned because she has so many things she wants to know. She read thirteen chapters in the Book of Mormon last week and loved coming to church.

MIRACLES, MIRACLES, MIRACLES. They come in overabundance.

My mandarin is slightly improving. I now know five phrases instead of two. ;)  When you speak Mandarin you use sounds that don't exist in the English language. I didn't even know that some of these sounds are even possible... If any of you know a native Chinese speaker, ask them to pronounce the "pin yin" word Shue. I promise, it is not a pretty sight. No, it does not sound like "shoe." I sympathize for missionaries who have to learn a language. It is not all roses and butterflies! Our trio keeps chugging along, my two companions are the best companions ever. Really. (except I still can't pronounce Sister Yeung's name correctly...)

I read an amazing talk this morning called, "The Challenge to Become" by Elder Dallin H. oaks. I recommend it.

Here is a quote which I loved...

"The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become." I love this quote! Sometimes in my life I feel like I need to have a "good deeds" checklist. If I rack up enough good deeds, God will be kind to me on judgment day! This quote helped me understand life isn't merely about doing good things, but it is about BECOMING something good. For example, it isn't good enough for my just to come on a mission, but I need to BECOME a missionary. There is a difference! One day I can't just be a mom, I have to become a mother,  a nurturer, a caretaker. This can apply to any stage of our lives! We can't just have a testimony of the gospel- we have to BECOME the gospel message. Someone who is caring, kind, compassionate, full of charity, selfless.. In short, we need to become like our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I remember I was struggling in school my second semester. I had signed up for a heavy load in order to apply for the communication disorders program before I left on my mission. I still remember my all knowing mother telling me a story she had read in the ensign about a man who had inherited his fathers business after his father had passed away. The business did good for a while, but it started to tank. This son kept praying for help, and felt as if heaven had abounded him. One day his father appeared to him in a dream and said, "no one on heaven cares about your business. We just care about the man you are becoming." I realized that day that it didn't matter what life would throw at me, that God is at the head and he is changing us into the people he wants us to become. 

Jesus Christ lives and loves each and every one of us!

Sister Jones

                                Sister Yeung had panda for the first time! She hated it.

May 18- Ni Hao!

Ni Hao!

This has probably been the most stressful week of my mission! (Hopefully you all know me well enough to know that sometimes I am dramatic, it wasn't all THAT BAD! It was the kind of stressful that makes you laugh really hard :) God is good to us, as always!

Tuesday we had a meeting in Roseburg all day. It was spirit PACKED!! We learned about the things which we need to take back to our Zone's. We got to ride down with President and Sister Russell, BONUS! I love them both so much!

Wednesday we had another meeting in Roseburg! 

Friday we had another meeting, but thankfully this one wasn't in Roseburg!

Even though we had so many meetings this week, God still blessed us with a lot of amazing miracles! Sister Yeung was able to stay and do missionary work in our area while we were gone (blessings of a trio!) She found and taught someone the first lesson who is excited to learn more!

Also, I have been working on my Mandarin. For a while the only phrase I knew how to say REALLY well was, "I know the gospel of Jesus Christ.." the "is true" part was too difficult! We got to teach some Chinese lessons this week though, and that was an interesting experience. For the post part I don't know what is going on, but occasionally Sister Yeung will ask me to answer some of their questions! I LOVE THE CHINESE PEOPLE!!! They are amazing, and I love them to death. I am falling in love with their culture! It is really funny though, in Mandarin it is all about the tones. In English, tones dictate your emotion. In Mandarin, the tone changes the word meaning. So Chinese people don't understand the concept of "sarcasm!" HAHAHA I love it! Sister Yeung is also really bold missionary. She just got out of training, but has no problem stopping people on the streets. That is way more ahead of the game than I was when I first got out of training. She makes me and Sister Peterson laugh so hard because she is hilarious. The other day I said, "This is my companion, Sister Hong Kong." She wont stop teasing me about it! Also, the other day we were at dinner and someone said, "for dessert we have ice cream!" Sister Yeung started squealing in excitement. I told the member, "icecream is her favorite food." She quickly snapped at me and said, "No, first rice, then ice cream." HAHAHAHAHAHA it is true, she always has her little rice cooker going, breakfast and lunch!

I just have to say that I feel extremely blessed that God is trusting me to help establish the Chinese group here in Corvallis. I am imperfect, and for a while I was struggling because I have invested so much time into other people in Corvallis, and now president wants us to stop focusing on them and focus on finding Chinese investigators. This week I came across a scripture which I have read many MANY times, but it hit me really hard this time! It is Alma 29: 1-3, "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, i would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I OUGHT TO BE CONTENT WITH THE THINGS WHICH THE LORD HATH ALLOTTED UNTO ME." I realized that I need to be content with everything God gives me, whether that is 6 weeks in corvallis or a year! Whether God needs me to be focusing on people I have in the past, or a new group of people! We all need to be content with the things which the Lord has given unto us!

Wo zhidao yesu jidu defuin shi zhen shi de!

(I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true! That is "pin yin," not actual mandarin. I don't know any of the characters!)

Sister Jones

                1. Our zone picture!

 

2. Language study... (Sometimes Mandarin sounds like R2D2. Or karate moves. Or the noise old computers make.)

                                                    3. TRIFORCE!! 

May 11th- My Companions

THIS IS SISTER YEUNG! She is super hilarious, I lover her! We have taught  her the important american slang, such as "totes" and "supes"...

 

                                       My two lovely companions in front of the OSU sign!

Our beds are literally touching each other from wall to wall! HAHA! It is super fun! 

May 4th- CRAZIEST TRANSFER CALL EVER.

Family!

I AM STAYING IN CORVALLIS!!! WITH SISTER PETERSON! Answer to my prayers. But here is the catch.. we are getting a third companion, Sister Yeung. She is from Hong Kong and speaks Kantanese, but she needs to learn Mandarin. Also, we are going to be teaching the chinese people in Mandarin, and none of us know how to speak that language.. should be interesting. I am super excited! We also get to do language study, which will be super awesome. I have had nightmares my entire mission that I get called to be a chinese speaking sister. (Really, I had them when I first got here.)  Now that it has happened all the nerves are gone and I am just excited. Since coming to Corvallis I have fallen in love with the Chinese people and the Chinese culture. They truly are amazing. We also found a chinese sister, Sunny, last transfer and had to hand her off to the chinese elders, but now we are going to get to teach her. 

This last week has been amazing though. Let me tell you the highlights. 

First off, for some reason I have been introducing myself as Sister Peterson, not once but multiple times throughout the week. What the? 

1. On Tuesday we were instructed to start street contacting people in a different way. The first person we talked to, Andrew, set up a return appointment for that same day at four. We taught him the restoration and invited him to be baptized. He said if the Book of Mormon is true, he would do it. GOOD NEWS PEOPLE, THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE SO THAT SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM. 

2. We met with an investigator, Robi, who is on the ultimate frisbee team at OSU. He had dropped off the face of the earth, but we met with him and he wants the church to be true SO BAD. GOOD NEW PEOPLE, IT IS TRUE SO HE WILL BE ABLE TO FIGURE THAT OUT. 

3. I AM JUST SO EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO TEACH CHINESE. 

I want to let you all know, that from the bottom of my heart, God's commandments are not restricting in anyway. I KNOW THAT THEY ARE GUIDEPOSTS TO A HAPPY AND ABUNDANT LIFE.  "It is never a sacrifice to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never a sacrifice when you get more than you give. It is an investment. And the living of the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a greater investment than any which we know because it's dividends are eternal and everlasting." - Gordon B. Hinckley. I know that from a worldly standpoint, serving a mission, giving up recreation on the Sabbath, avoiding alcohol, and keeping ourselves morally clean seem like a sacrifice with no reward. I know that the rewards we receive from doing what God asks of us are infinitely greater than anything we could do by ourselves.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Jones

April 27th- BEAVER TOWN

                                                      

                                       FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.

FAMILIA,

This was the fastest week on my entire mission. We are going into the last week of the transfer, and I am praying with my whole heart that I get to stay in Corvallis with Sister Peterson! I have never wanted to stay in an area this bad, which probably means I am going to get transferred out, but we shall see!

MIRACLES OF THE WEEK:

Remember how I told you we tracted into Trinh? She is vietnamese? Well, she came to church this Sunday. I was nervous that she wouldn't understand what is going on, but she felt the spirit super strong! In gospel principles our lesson was on, "The Life of Christ." She told me, "I want to say something." I was super nervous, but she ended up bearing an AMAZING testimony on Jesus Christ! SHE IS SO GOLDEN. 

Next, we found someone in our areabook who was a potential, Amber. She grew up with a lot of Mormon friends and told us, "I have always wanted to read the Book of Mormon, but I was always nervous it would challenge my beliefs. I am excited to read from it with you now!" ALSO GOLDEN. The first thing she told us when we showed up at her house was, "I have always wanted to go to one of your church meetings!"  

GOD IS PREPARING THE HEARTS OF HIS CHILDREN. 

Here is a scripture I loved this week!

Alma 36:27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.

God can deliver us from our bondage's, but I got thinking about HOW? What does his look like?

For example, the Jews wanted to be delivered a certain way- a specific way. They knew that Christ would come and deliver them, and they were expecting a physical deliverance. They were so caught up in how THEY thought they were "supposed" to be delivered, they didn't notice when the deliverance came. They are still waiting for a deliverance which has all ready happened. I know that God can deliver us-He all ready has delivered us. He has delivered me. I, however, have not been delivered physically. Often times, that is the way I wish that I could be delivered. I wish that God would physically deliver me from my weaknesses, that they wouldn't be a part of me anymore. I have come to understand that God does deliver me, every day. He all ready has delivered me through His son Jesus Christ. The price has been paid, but this deliverance is in a way that I don't expect in my everyday life. Is He capable of physically delivering me? Of course. The true deliverance comes as I learn patience battling with the weaknesses I face every single day. I have been delivered from physical death and spiritual death, one day being able to be resurrected and live with God again. Have I been delivered from my weaknesses right now? No. Death  Let us not be like the people of Jerusalem when Christ came, and understand that Christ does deliver us, in his own time and in his own way. Never the way we ask for, but the way we secretly hope for.

LOVE YOU! 

Sister Jones

 

p.s. Also, you know how everyone says that Utah drivers are crazy? They are.

 

                                     Gelato. It's an oregonian thing.

April 20th- #GodisGood

 

Familia, 

We had a week of rain before a week of SUNSHINE!!! It has been warm and sunny these past couple of weeks! This has both a positive and a negative affect. Everyone is so much happier and willing to listen, which is amazing! But everyone also likes to party outside now. Basically everywhere you go there is a massive group of people playing beer pong. I appreciated things more when the "great and spacious building" was inside of buildings, not outside on all of the streets :) Lets just say I am grateful for the gospel morals. We found people to teach, but at the same time we experienced a lot of opposition. Satan works hard before the miracles! 

On my birthday Sister P took me to get a clown cone. What a kind companion. 

Last week Sister Peterson and I realized that none of our investigators were progressing. Zip. Zero. Nada. God whispered to us that we need to have the faith to drop people who aren't progressing and work hard to find those who are prepared! It just wasn't our teaching pools' time yet! We dropped almost everyone and spent our entire week finding. WE HAVE SEEN SO MANY MIRACLES since decided to do so. Sister Peterson is amazing and the two of us buckled down and worked hard. Neither of us are super eloquent with sharing the gospel, sometimes we are a little awkward in our approaches, but we both are obedient and work hard.

We taught Megan, that super sweet Malaysian girl, and Aiko, her japanese roommate, this week. Lets just say that it is really difficult to teach someone with NO christian background who also can't speak english. It was a struggle, and all we were talking about is prayer. I think they both left mroe confused than when we started :D HAHA!

We also taught a muslim man this week who is a direct descendant of Muhammad. That was interesting. If he actually is interested in learning more and joining the church he can never go back to Islam or he will be killed. I guess we will see what happens!

Not going to lie, it was a little discouraging to drop everyone and just find! We had a week full of miracles, however, and last night was the perfect cherry on top. We had been tracting for two hours (tracting is always an adventure) and I said, "Ok, I am done tracting. Lets go make a couple of phone calls." Luckily my companion is amazing and she said, "Lets just try a couple more doors." So we kept knocking, even though no one was home. On our very last door we tracted into a vietnamese girl who looked at us with a shocked expression and said, "who are you?" We thought that she was offended we were knocking on her door, but long story short this Trinh had been wondering if God is real. She said a prayer last night about her school work, and then that same night she  had a dream, and a friend came and spoke to her. That next day she had been watching netflix, and right before we showed up her internet died. She kept exclaiming to us, "oh my gosh. God sent Jesus to my door!" In her super sweet broken English. We testified that God had sent us to her and are excited to meet with her next week. I feel like I have read stories like this in the Ensign, and every missionary has one. "God is good.. oh God is good! We've come so much farther than we thought we would..." My homeboy's Nashville Tribute band.

 

A RC of five months, Sarah, joined the church against her parents wishes. They even told her she would get disowned if she joined. She got baptized anyway. This is a direct quote, and she was talking about when she told her parents she had gotten baptized. She said, "In their eyes, I told them, I became a member of the mormon church. Also, I just became a member of the KKK." HAHAHA it was super hilarious. Anyway, we were asking her about how she finds the strength to be the only member in her family. She was telling us that whenever she has the courage to bear her testimony to her parents or stand up for what she believes in, it leaves an impact that lasts longer than if she didn't say anything. I LOVED THAT. Anytime we stand up for what we believe in, people think about what we believe a little bit longer. They understand that this is something that is truly important to us-and they want to understand why.

LOVE YOU!

Sister Jones

 

 

                                                           Check out our beaver shirts!!! 

April 14th- Let it RAIN Let it RAIN Let it RAIN

I can't believe it is time to email again!

Gossip 411 in the YSA ward: EVERYONE IS GETTING MARRIED. It is marriage season people, and every week someone else has a giant shiny rock on their left index finger. TIS THE SEASON! It is fun to be a part of without actually being a part of it (if you know what I mean..) There isn't going to be anyone in the YSA ward, I swear, because everyone is either getting married or going to be home for the summer! 

FUNNY STORY: This week, we were walking around and it was bright and sunny! We were both wearing short sleeved white shirts, and I commented, "wouldn't it be funny if it started raining?" Almost immediately, giant black storm clouds rolled in, and within ten minutes it started POURING rain... and we were no where near our car! I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING, we were so unprepared. It was freezing and we were wet, but it was a highlight of the week! It was a lot of fun :D This Oregon rain, I haven't seen in on my mission until recently! 

We are still working really hard to build up the area! Things are starting to progress, however. We are working on finding the elect! Nicole is still working on Sunday's, and this week we had a pretty intense font to table lesson with her. This is where you teach half in front of the baptismal font, half in front of the sacrament table. The spirit was SO STRONG- the member we brought started crying. However, Nicole is apprehensive to come to church and quit  her job still.. Sadly, we can't help Nicole progress if she never comes to church and she isn't willing to take the steps to get there. We are going to keep praying for her, but we might need to let Nicole have a little break and focus on some of our other investigators. 

Friday we had ZTM, where the whole zone gets together and learns from each other. There are two zone leaders and two sister training leaders who put on the whole thing, and none of us had every been in charge of a ZTM before! HAHA it was crazy, but fun nontheless. Sister Peterson and I taught half of ZTM, which was intimidating because we have so many amazing missionaries in the zone! I swear I always learn so much more from teaching than anyone I actually teach. 

BIGGEST MIRACLE OF THE WEEK: On Friday I went on exchanges with one of the sisters in the zone. We went contacting on campus, (which is where you go on campus and talk to everyone in sight) and talked to a girl named Megan from Malasia! We sat down and taught her on a bench right there on campus. She is really sweet and has only been in the United States for two weeks. She agreed to come to church on Sunday, and on Sunday SHE CAME! She brought a friend who just recently got here from Japan. Her Japanese friend, Iko, doesn't know a whole lot of English, so they didn't understand what was going on at church. HUGE MIRACLE! We are really excited to start teaching them. 

Monday we had interviews with President. Than man is so inspired! I am grateful to get to know him. Interviews were in Newport, which is on the coast, so afterward our zone got to go and play on the beach. IT WAS RAINING AND FREEZING COLD! we played on the beach anyway, but we were huddled up like little eskimos. The Oregon coast isn't warm, people! It was freezing! 

Every week I pray about what I should write home about, and usually different spiritual experiences which I have had pop into my mind. This week my testimony has really grown of Joseph Smith. I know that God spoke to this fourteen year old farm boy! I know that the priesthood keys were restored through him. President Benson said, "Joseph Smith was a prophet of the LIving God, one of the greatest prophets that has ever lived upon the earth." I love the example which Joseph Smith set by saying, "When the Lord commands. Do it." He followed instructions given to him exactly. There were times when the Lord chastised Him, but he never was chastised for the same thing twice! 

I LOVE THE GOSPEL, I KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST LIVES, JOSEPH SMITH IS HIS PROPHET, and I also love being a missionary!

Sister Jones

April 6th- Pushing Along!

ALOHA! 

How are things going? The work is progressing up here in Corvallis! 

All the Sister Training Leaders at MLC (Mission Leadership Council) with Sister Russell!

LOOK AT ALL MY AMAZING COMPANIONS! Not Pictured: Sister Carter, Sister Crabb is missing in action, and Sister Hamilton just went home! 

Selfie with my sweet little Sister Vance! 

Funny story: We were driving to a church building out in Philomath but we didn't have the address. We drove in the general direction, and finally I pulled over. No one was answering their phone, so we (we as in I) was starting to get frustrated since we were late. However, a member in the Philomath ward called and was trying to give us directions. Finally she said, "Wait, are you pulled over on teh side of the road?" We responded, "yes!" We looked over our shoulders and we were LITERALLY parked right in front of the church but on the opposite side of the street. HAHAHAHA, this brought new meaning to the scriptures which says we shouldn't, "look beyond the mark!"

A couple of updates: Remember how I told you about that man Steve who we keep running into on the streets? He showed up at the institute on Sunday right before conference started. WHAAAT? God is good to us! 

Also, last week I told you my favorite scripture was Mosiah 6... awkward, it is actually Mosiah 16. That has been bothering me all week. 

This week we set up another booth on campus to hand out #becausehelives cards. No leprechauns tried to talk to us this time, so it was relatively calm. We also went to MLC this week which was AWESOME. We were so spiritually fed! It really has changed how Sister Peterson and I have approached our missionary work! 

Anyway, Sister Peterson and I set some high finding goals for this week because our teaching pool diminished after spring break... BUT WE REACHED THEM! In between sessions of conference we were determined to find one new investigator, so we would go out street contacting! We would talk to EVERYONE and no one would be interested.. but right before we would go back into conference we would say, "lets try just one more person!" And WALA, God would place someone in our paths!

Sorry I am running out of time, this is not going to be a long email! (also, I didn't have time to write in my journal this week, so I partly can't remember what happened...) I hope that you will forgive me. I know that the words we heard from the prophets this weekend were true, however! We heard so much inspired council! We are so privileged to get to hear from God's chosen and ordained servants.  I especially loved Wilford W. Nelson's talk when he said, "I can teach you to dance but you have to hear the music.. we learn the dance steps with our MINDS but we feel the dance steps with our HEARTS!" I attest that this is true! We can go through the motions of the gospel but that isn't the point- the point is to partake of the fruit that the gospel can bring. 

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Jones

BOWLING!

                                                                      We decorated Easter eggs! 

Mar 30th- Corvallis.. THE BAPTIZING PALACE.

My Lovely Family,

This week has been a GREAT one! My new companion, Sister Peterson, is super awesome. She is from Alpine Utah, and played Lacrosse at BYU the same time I was there. She is a ROCKING testimony, and is a very deep thinker.. which is good for me. I always just want to say, "CAN'T YOU  JUST FEEL HOW TRUE THE GOSPEL IS?" But Sister Peterson comes in with the logic behind why the gospel is true. It is a pretty good combo! She is also really funny. 

Look at all the food people gave us!

Funny moments of the week:

1. We knocked on a door looking for a member, and their door said, "Hippies use back door. No exceptions." We went to the back door. No one answered. We found out the member doesn't live there. #onlyinoregon #landoforganicfood #andhippies

2. We have three sets of missionaries in the YSA ward. During correlation the Chinese elders were talking to our ward mission leader and one of them said, "We had a miracle this week which wasn't cool." Sarcastically I said, "Was it a lame miracle?" He excitedly responded, " YES!" As he proceeded to tell us all about his miracle, we said LAME! (which is an oxy-moron, all miracles are awesome.) His Chinese companion sat there really confused and said, "What does LAME mean?" We were in the middle of correlation, so we told him that we would tell him later. He looked it up in the dictionary, and said, "OH! LAME!" and made a motion with his hands like he didn't have any legs. HAHAHA he thought we were using lame meaning crippled. WE COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING.

3. This week Sister Peterson and I got asked if we are allowed to date... multiple times. ACTUALLY, NO I CAN'T, BUT I HAVE AN AMAZING MESSAGE ABOUT THE RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. 

This week was REALLY slow since NO ONE was here over spring break. There were crickets in the street.. But we worked hard anyway, and talked to the few people we could find. We did have one super cool miracle... (not a lame miracle by any means..) We do service at a soup kitchen, and a man came up and talked to us about the church. He had met with missionaries in San Jose, and he told us he wanted to stop by our church sometime. We gave him a card and told him to give us a call. (We can't proselyte at service.) The next day I got out of the car and our friend, Steve rode by on his bike! He stopped and we shared the Book of Mormon with him and had a wonderful little lesson right on the street. Sunday morning Sister Peterson and I walked to church (it is the end of the month and we are almost out of miles) And we prayed that we would find someone to invite to church on the way there. Guess who we ran into? STEVE. AAAAH! Steve is Chinese so we are going to have to hand him over, but that is a-okay because another soul will be coming unto Christ! GOD IS GOOD. (Have I ever mentioned that before? ;) 

Nicole is still trying to come to church. We had a very bold lesson with her and said she needs to do more than just pray and read her scriptures, she NEEDS TO COME TO CHURCH. The spirit was strong, and we thought for sure she would make it... but she still didn't come Sunday. Keep her in your prayers. 

The more that I go through hard things on my mission, the more that I have learned to appreciate the things which the Savior must have gone through. I start to realize more and more the weight which was placed on his shoulders. If I have to go through trials to come closer to the Savior, that is a small price to pay. However, I am grateful for this time of the year that we have to remember the Savior's resurrection. One of my favorite chapters is Mosiah 6, more specifically 6-9 (I think. That is just off of the top of my head, I may be wrong.) Because of Jesus Christ there is a resurrection, death has no sting, and we will be able to see our families again one day. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. THE CHURCH IS TRUE. 

Sister Jones

Mar 23rd- Leprechauns and Transfers

HOLA FAMILIA!!!

Interesting week. Every week is an interesting week, what am I kidding?

First off, this week was finals week. The upcoming week is spring break. No one wants to talk with missionaries during finals, and EVERYONE is going to be out of town next week. We will see what trouble we can get too... 

ON CAMPUS WITH OUR GIANT FREE POSTER. We are with the Elders and the Chinese missionaries!

This week was "Book of Mormon" week in our mission. I know, really every week is Book of Mormon week, but this week our mission decided to make it a competition. Sister Crabb and I decided to set up a booth on campus. We had the elders make a giant sign that said FREE it bright red letters. (We most definitely know our audience) It was super fun, and we got to talk to SO MANY people about the BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD. We also had a couple of funny experiences that I would love to share!

1. A man singled me out amongst a crowd and prophesied to me about my spiritual talents and my standing before God. I appreciated the concern, but it was the second weirdest experience I have had this week. He practically looked into my soul for a solid three minutes and told me about my life... weird. He wasn't interested in a Book of Mormon. HAHA!

2. This was the weirdest experience. I met a Leprechaun. He was wearing a neon green wig, was wearing rainbow suspenders, and was riding around campus on a bike with a yellow trailer behind us. He cornered Sister Crabb, me, and a member and started recording our conversation WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION. He told us he is in charge of a podcast and he was going to put us on the show. It was super awkward and long story short we told him he didn't have permission to use our recording. However, I am not too worried, but if there is a podcast that goes huge and it is episode eight of "spirit of the forest" and there is a voice which sounds like mine, it is probably because it is. I MIGHT BE FAMOUS. (God still loves everyone.) 

We ended up passing out 15 Books of Mormon over two days. YES. CHECK. God is good. No one wants to meet with us until after the brake, but that is ok because we have a lot of contact information. Keep praying for us to be led to those who God has prepared!

We also got transfer calls... Sister Crabb is getting shipped off to Eugene YSA. I WAS SO SAD. We got along so great and had so much fun together! I am training a new STL, Sister Peterson, which will be interesting since I don't know what I am doing still. She gets here later tonight, so I don't know a lot about her, other than she came out with me and is probably awesome. God likes to ask me to do things I don't know how to do, but somehow I get through it! (Actually, it is proof that the atonement is real. I TRULY couldn't do this without Him.)

                                              We went to lunch with some of the sisters in our zone!

Nicole is SO CLOSE to baptism. I don't know if I have told you about her yet... she just needs to come to church one more time. It is so sad to see, she has the strongest desire, but her boss wont let her off of work. Satan is working so hard in her life. 

I am grateful for all these wonderful people I am able to meet and work with! Have I ever told you that I LOVE the gospel? Well, if not, I LOVE THE GOSPEL. I know that Jesus Christ lived and died for us, and that we can rely on him through the good times as well as the bad. 

READY TO FIND, TEACH, AND BAPTIZE THIS NEXT TRANSFER!

Sister Jones

Mar 16th- Another week bites the dust

My lovely Family,

I am going to try and shove everything that happened this week into this email.

We saw so many miracles! It is "dead week" in Corvallis, so everyone
is getting ready for finals. NO ONE WANTS TO TALK TO US. We were
getting kinda bummed (plus sister Crabb is having tailbone issues) but
we saw miracles none the less!

We were teaching a LA and she brought a Chinese friend, Sunny! We
ended up talking to her about prayer since Sunny doesn't believe in
God. The spirit was so strong, and the spirit practically yelled at
me, "ask her to pray!" I cannot even tell you the joy that I felt as
Sunny prayed to her Heavenly Father for the first time EVER. I felt
honored that I was able to be there for that experience.

There is another girl named Palmer we have been teaching. She also
doesn't believe in God. This Sunday, she just showed up at church..
And LOVED IT. she also told us about an experience she had with
prayer, and she believes that prayer works. This is a huge miracle
because she hadn't been progressing at all.. We were thinking of
dropping her! However, she moves to California at the end of this
week! Kind of a bummer!

We get doors slammed in our faces, we deal with sisters who are
packing their bags to go home, and we have issues with members!
However, all the struggles are worth in when you start to see someone
feel the spirit. I get to hear atheists pray! Who else gets to do
that? I have a little black name tag which allows me to have spiritual
experiences with strangers on the street! People I don't even know
confide in me and want to know how to feel God in their life. I LOVE
BEING A MISSIONARY, despite all of the challenges and set backs. God
wants me to grow.

I know the gospel is true, and I love it with my whole heart! I WANT
EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT IT! Sorry, we are on our iPads so it takes
longer to write. I wish I could tell you more, but keep Corvallis in
your prayers!

Sister Jones

We totally photo bombed this picture!

                                                                          Dinner with members...