Jan. 5th- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy 2015 everybody! As I reflected on this last year I thought of all the changes I have experienced- I finished my first year of college and said goodbye to my second family in Provo, I left on a mission, and I spent six wonderful months in Coquille with two wonderful companions. It has been a year of growth, learning, and... CHANGE! I don't care how cheesy this sounds, this past year I have grown closer to my Savior than ever before! He overcame the world! We can rely on Him for strength! I am FOREVER going to love the year 2014, because that is the year God changed my heart! No matter how painful the process, the end results are worth it. I am so excited for this next year, however, and all the adventures and growth it holds! I still have so much to learn! I get to spend 2015 serving God! How cool is that?

Now for the nitty gritty of my week!

Miracle: I lost the keys to our house, apartment, and my name tag. The miracle? I at least found the nametag. #dejavu

Funny Moment of the Week: We asked a little boy at dinner how he can do missionary work. his response was not exactly what we were looking for... "I am going to do missionary work by teaching people about Satan." Maybe I wasn't speaking clearly...

The lessons of the week worth noting:

Janette- the most organized hoarder I have ever met. Her house has PILES and PILES of stuff-but everything is color categorized. And dusted. And vacuumed. 

Ray- Prayed about the Book of Mormon. The answer he received was, "Not now." Is it appropriate to tell someone, "EH! Wrong answer?" Probably not. THE CHURCH IS TRUE THE BOOK IS BLUE.

SO, we probably had our biggest miracle on Saturday since being in this area. There was a non-member who has been coming to church the past couple of weeks, and we keep trying to set up appointments with him, and they keep falling through. On Saturday he called and asked, "could you come by at four?" ALVIN IS GOLDEN AND SO PREPARED. He asked SO many questions, our lesson with him took 2.5 hours. Testimonies were born, tears were shed, and experiences shared. I felt bad that we were there for so long... but he wouldn't let us leave. He had so many questions- many of which we told him we would address another time! He wanted to know President Monson's entire life story... every prophet in the book of mormon... whenever we bore our testimonies, he would ask, "WHY?" Sister Carter and I have been praying and felt strongly that we could have someone ready for baptism by February 7th. Alvin is an answer to that prayer! 

Second biggest miracle since being in this area: Sometimes you go through all your plans, and all of your back up plans, like a piece of tissue paper in a fire! Sunday was one of those days! I always think, "When everything falls through it is because God needs us to go somewhere we wouldn't go otherwise." Sister Carter and I pulled the car over and prayed! A house popped into my head, clear as day, of a lady which we had gone caroling to a couple of weeks prier. She had told us that she had cancer, and couldn't stop crying when we showed up at her house to carol. We stopped by her house and she broke into tears at the fact we remembered who she was. She couldn't stop thanking us for being an answer to her prayers. I will forever be grateful that I got to be an answer to her prayer. 

Third biggest miracle since being in this area: We got a missed call from a random number. I called it back and he said, "Hey this is Scott." (WHO IN THE WORLD ARE YOU SCOTT?) " I am Amy's husband (Amy is an investigator who loves the book of mormon, but her husband has always avoided us like the plague.) Could you come help me take down my Christmas decorations? ok bye." We went by this morning and he was sick, but he said, "Come by another time! That way we can take down the decorations and then talk after." MIRACLE. MIRACLE.

I have a testimony that God pushes us to our breaking point- and then showers us with miracles!

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Dec. 29th- I AM DREAMING OF A... Christmas in paradise.

Yellow!

It is finally snowing! A couple of days late, but everything is white
nonetheless. We are also out of miles (for the car) so we will get to
enjoy this lovely time of year :)

I am super almost out of time, but here we go.

Handing out free hot chocolate on Christmas Eve...

Christmas was wonderful! I loved talking to me sweet little family! We
got to watch Frozen, play games, eat LOTS AND LOTS OF FOOD, and then
go to bed early! (I honestly never thought i would be so excited to go
to bed at nine) we had a white elephant gift exchange, and the elder
who got my giant box of hair was SO MAD. I told him that it contained
the hair of everyone I love (investigators and recent converts) but
for some reason he still didn't like it. Hmm. Weird.

We also had so many miracles his week! Our Saturday was PACKED, and we
taught basically all of our lessons for the entire week :) we met with
a new gator, Ray. He has been very prepared! He is a nice old man who
is going to make a wonderful member! This area is starting to
progress, slowly but surely. I actually just found out that they split
the area when sister Carter got here, and so we basically opened the
area! (Also, sister Carter and I are both staying here for another
transfer)

Exciting lesson of the week: pass the putty. I went on exchanges with
sister Stover and we taught eight little children. We did this by
passing this silly putty around, and if the children's hymns stopped
on you, we asked a gospel related question. I.e. How do we pray?

I am so excited for the new year, basically the entire year I am going
to be serving the people of Oregon! We get to start OVER, and just
like Lots wife we should never look back! Jesus has told his
disciples, "once you put your shoulder to the plough, don't look
back." This work is never finished! Everyday we need to work harder,
and never look back to the past. Faith is ALWAYS directed to the
future! It is my prayer that we can ALL continually be bettering
ourselves!

I LOVE THE GOSPEL. Thanks for the sacrifices made on your part
allowing me to be out here!

Sister Jonesy

Dec. 22- Christmas Time!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS.. AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Crazy story of the week! We had a dinner appointment and a little four
year old boy bit my butt. Twice. Which is SUPER awkward, and I am not
allowed to hold children, so I wasn't sure how to get him away.. MTC
didn't prepare me for this :)

We had a really good week! I don't know if I ever told you that the
elders got pulled from our ward for the rest of the transfer, but they
did... That means we can steal there investigators right? Right. We
thought so ;)

A couple of weeks ago we gave a lady a Book of Mormon on the doorstep.
We went back to follow up and she had been reading! Almost every day!
We dubbed it a mission miracle and had an amazing first lesson with
her :) she has a cute little family and is excited to talk with us
more!

We also had a lesson with six CRAZY kids! I have come to realize on my
mission that people get uninterested VERY quickly if you don't talk
super animated.. So I have this habit of getting VERY passionate when
talking to people about the gospel. Maybe passionate isn't the right
word.. More like excited! These kids were not paying attention, so I
turned the entire lesson into a game! We were teaching the gospel of
Jesus Christ and ended up writing the principles on paper and you had
to use them to get across the room without touching the floor. The
kids loved it.. As did I. All eight of us were laughing and I was
teaching the principles every time they stepped on one! It was
probably the most fun lesson I have had on my entire mission! There
was also a small moment where none of the children were fighting so we
considered it a success.

Merry Christmas everybody! I have loved being on a mission during the

Christmas season, there is absolutely NO "fluff." We spend all our
time thinking and teaching about the Savior! I feel so privileged to
be serving God during this time of the year. May we all remember what
is truly important!

Sorry this is a short email, I will just talk to my sweet little
family in three days!

Love you and see you then!

Sister Jones

Dec 15th- I am Singing in the Rain!

Aloha Family!! 

 

I have  officially graduated from being a student missionary. I got a real name tag. I have never felt so relieved in my entire life (no I am not dramatic). Here are some random things which made up my week.

Wednesday Sister Carter was practicing for a musical thing for zone conference. (she was going to be practicing LIKE ALL DAY) I usually get ornery when we don't do missionary work for long periods of time, so she sent me out on an exchange with another sister! We taught a lesson to a part member family. The mom is less active and the dad is a VERY opinionated non-member. Needless to say, I like him a lot! The SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG. You could almost feel it in the room! Even though he told me he refuses to take the discussions... I am convinced that he will. (YOU CANT DENY THE HOLY GHOST) (well, actually you can, you will just go to outer darkness) (but I am not making a final judgment) 

 

Then, that same day, I called someone to confirm a dinner appointment, the lady said, " is this sister Carter?" Me... "no." Her... "Oh, you just don't sound as chirpy as usual, so I figured it was Sister Carter." The two of us couldn't figure out which one she was insulting. 

 

Thursday was zone conference! It was an extremely emotional day. I guess that is what happens when you feel the spirit! We had to leave early because sister Carter had a doctors appointment. but we discussed the basics of the gospel; Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and Joseph Smith. President and Sister Russell are amazing. 

 

Friday we had the Ward party. Stressful, yet awesome. As a missionary you feel the need to talk to everyone in the entire room, but you can't. We are only one person. I say that, even though there is two of us, you are still basically only one person. You can't stray too far from each other. 

Saturday we taught an interesting lesson to Joey and Rachel. They are 11 and 8. Joey has ADD and ADHD. Use your imagination. As crazy as you are imagining this lesson in your head is how crazy it was in real life, trust me. They also have a dog which I am convinced has ADD and ADHD as well. It bit Sister Carter in the bum. Yes, that happened in the lesson as well. *sigh* life as a missionary, there is never a dull moment. Well, the dull moments are few and far in between. 

 

Since it is Christmas we have been going caroling with our district! It starts to get dark at four, and by the the eight o clock rolls around, no one wants to talk to you! Caroling is a great way to find late at night! It is amazing to watch family come together, their faces light up, and little kids get giggly as we go around singing. No one even get mad we are on their front porch! IT IS SO MUCH FUN! one day it was pouring rain, it just added to the adventure! (Also, right now it is snowing outside. Winter has officially started)

 

Here is a good quote I came across this week! "Remember that casualness in spiritual matters never was happiness. Make the Church and the restored gospel your whole life, not just a part of your outward or social life. Choosing this day whom you will serve is lip service only--until you actually live accordingly." -Elder Klebingat. The gospel only works if you embrace every aspect of it and implement it into your life!! We need to choose TODAY where we stand! "Choose you this day whom ye will serve.. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)." The gospel is true! I love it with my whole heart! I am honored to be serving the Lord!

 

Asta mañana! (Why did no one ever tell me Asta lavista means see you never? I say that all the time! I will see you all again one day :)

 

Sister Jones 

PS.Here are the two of us testing out Skype. We are both making our
CLASSIC faces. Haha love sister Carter!

Dec 8-Testimony Reconfirmed

Hello!

Funny story of the week: on Sunday sister Carter and I could not find
the keys ANYWHERE. We literally were ripping the house apart trying to
find them. We needed to go to church so we decided we would walk to
church, lock the door, then break in after church and find he keys. We
walked outside and guess what we're still sitting in the lock on the
outside of the house? That is right, the keys :) Glad that the car
didn't get stolen.. Or that anyone broke into the house...

The beginning of the week was rough, our one semi-solid investigator
dropped us :) haha but then we had a miracle packed day on Saturday!
We found some new investigators and taught the majority of our
lessons! Our area is starting to progress and sister Carter and I love
each other :) I have no complaints!

It is amazing how God puts you where you need to be. This week sister
Carter and I had a feeling to go to the church and we weren't sure
why... But away we went, and a sweet old lady showed up and asked for
sister missionaries! It was such a testimony to me that God is aware
of us!

This week we got to go to the temple! Amazing! It was such a special
experience to go and sit in the house of the lord! I had a lot of
questions answered in the celestial room. I know the gospel is true
with all my heart,but occasionally I ask again so that I know what it
is that my investigators are going through. A flood of memories
flashed into my mind.. Countless nights reading my scriptures and
feeling gods love, the overwhelming spirit of peace I feel as I
recount Joseph Smiths first vision, the knowledge which came to be as
President Monson spoke that he is God's messenger, and countless other
testimony meetings. I want you to know that I know AGAIN this is
Christ's church. I LOVE THE GOSPEL.

 

Sorry these aren't super detailed, we aren't allowed to use the
computers anymore and it takes a lot more time to type on the iPad!

Love,

Sister jones

Dec 1st- I know they said lock your heart, but...

My Lovely Family!!!

I don't have a lot of time to write today! But it has been a crazy week!

Thanksgiving was so much fun. We played a lot of sports, I was so sore
the next morning! We played sports, weekly planned, had thanksgiving
dinner with the ward mission leader, and hung out with the sisters. I
love you all a lot, but I wasn't homesick. Sorry of that offends
anyone ;)

The sisters in mah zone. They are the funniest! (Notice how my name

tag still looks ridiculous?) also, this is my apartment!

I will tell you a quick miracle! So there is a 12 year old boy named
James we are teaching which is the most adorable little thing! He
reminds me a lot of Braydon. If I wasn't a sister missionary I
wouldn't stop hugging the cute kid! His mom is less active and doesn't
plan on coming back soon, but will help us teach her son. He READS THE
SCRIPTURES ON HIS OWN WITHOUT ANYONE EVEN REMINDING HIM. Who does
that? Sister jones didn't when she was twelve... We asked him if he
wanted a children's Book of Mormon and he said,"No... I like this one
right here." He wants to come to church really bad but his momma won't
let him because she said they need to go back together. He said, "you
better wake up for church tomorrow mom." I promised him that if they
came to church I would change my talk I had prepared and speak on
whatever they wanted me to! :) they didn't come, but I think James is
he most adorable little thing.

I know they tell us to lock our heart, but... I love all the people of
Oregon!! For instance, little James! My heart aches and yearns for
these people to learn about the gospel! We are still working hard to
find people to teach and turn the area around! I am still praying
daily for how to best help sister carter! I push her to be a more
obedient missionary, which she doesn't always take super well.... Oh
well :D

The church is true!! Mwa love you all!

Sister Jones

Nov 24th- K-Falls. Miracle Pit. (2)

Family, Friends, Siblings, and all ya'll,

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. I want you to know up front that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY and am in REALLY GOOD SPIRITS despite everything that has happened :) I just don't want mom to worry about me, so I am saying that up front. 

MY NEW COMPANION: If God were to make a clone of me, keep the height but click the opposite button, you would have Sister Carter. It works out well because one of our personalities clicks with basically every single person which we meet. We have all ready discussed how opposite we are and laugh about it, but here are a couple of examples. I love pink. She loves black. The ward says, "The new missionary is a bubbly one!" Sister Carter suffers from depression. I have one idea of what it means to be obedient, she has a completely opposite idea. Around 6:29 every morning I am yanking her out of bed kicking and screaming :) She cracks me up! There is a lot which I have to learn from her! 

 Our pizza we made!

 

MY NEW AREA: Klamath Falls 3rd ward, here comes Sister Jones. The white and blonde Sister Jones. I took the place of the only other Sister Jones in the mission, who was black. It is pretty funny because I will introduce myself to people as Sister Jones and little kids get so confused and so, "No you aren't." HAHAHAHA. Plus it doesn't help that I lost all of my name tags... so mine is a little make shift name tag. Don't worry, I ordered a new one. Anyway, I came into this area and it is a DISASTER. The areabook is basically non-existent, Sister Carter has been here for a transfer and hasn't meant BASICALLY all of the investigators, and the missionaries in the past had burned a lot of bridges which need to be repaired. I came into the area and said, "Sister Carter, are you ready to find, teach, and baptize?" That is what I plan on doing. Under God's direction of course :) We spent the first half of the week cleaning everything up. Then I was out of the missionary force on Friday (tell you about that in a second), and we worked SO HARD to find on Saturday and Sunday. By the end of the week, we had found more new investigators than they had THE ENTIRE LAST TRANSFER. We also met with a lot of LA's, and Sister Carter kept saying, "That is the best lesson we have ever had with them!" I was a little confused since we basically just asked a couple of questions to figure out where they were with the gospel, but I  just kept saying, "It's all because of the faith of my family. They pray and fast for me a lot." SO THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS. KLAMATH FALLS= MIRACLE PIT. It also has started snowing and our heater was broken, so our apartment had been around 40 degrees! But it got fixed Saturday, I am forever thankful for heat!

Here is us studying by our little heater.

 

So Thursday night I went to bed and my stomach hurt a little bit. I didn't think anything of it. The next morning, it kept getting progressively worse through studies. Then we went to district meeting, and I could hardly sit still. We are serving around a lot of missionaries, which is different from Coquille but a lot of fun, and they all wanted to go out to lunch for burgers. Granted, I did not feel like a burger, but you go where your companion goes :) I ate this giant burger and we headed out to do missionary work. About 15 minutes after lunch my stomach felt like it was eating itself. Sister Carter made me call the mission nurse and she said, "you have the stomach flu. Whatever you do, DON'T EAT ANYTHING." oops. had a burger. So long story short, I spent Friday throwing up and curled up in a little ball! Food has looked disgusting to me ever since Friday, but I am forcing myself to eat enough to stay alive :) 

 

We really have seen so many miracles over the last week. We have found a couple new 'gators and a lot of solid potentials! On Sunday in Relief Society we had a lesson on Elder Uchdorf's talk, "Being Grateful in Every Circumstance." It was a huge answer to my prayers. People go through HARD THINGS in life. I have seen a lot of tough situations on my mission. But what is amazing is that we really do have the capacity to be grateful, not matter what. This is such a good season for that! God has commanded us to be grateful, and not just during the easy times. In 3rd Nephi 10:10 it talks about how there is mourning, weeping, and wailing, but that did cease and people turned to PRAISE and GIVE THANKS to the LORD our REDEEMER. Because of Christ we will live again! We can be redeemed! We can have hope! We can feel peace! That alone is enough to be grateful for. I am grateful for my mission, good and bad, the people which I have met! I am grateful for Christ and the atoning sacrifice which he made for all of us! I am grateful for my sweet family and friends who have helped shaped me into the person which I am today!

I am also really thankful for heat.

LOVE YOU ALL! SERIOUSLY BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST!

Sister Jones