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...

Mar 9th- BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Life is crazy! Missionary work is the best! I know that some weeks I say that it is crazy.. but this week was legit crazy. I don't even know if I can remember everything which happened...

So, tender mercy! This week a less active I was working with in Klamath Falls came up to Corvallis and took me and my companion out to sushi! It was so much fun, and I got to have eel, raw fish, and crab. Lisa's daughter (the LA) Morrigan, held onto my leg the entire time we were eating dinner! IT WAS SO FUN TO SEE THEM AGAIN! Also, there was a giant tank of fish, I pointed to a crab, and I said, "hey look Sister Crabb! It is your cousins!" The little Japanese people could not stop laughing, they thought it was the funniest thing in the world! 

We also got to go to the TEMPLE!!! drum roll please... I got to go to the Portland temple! It is officially my favorite temple. It was amazing to be inside the walls of the house of the Lord... I didn't realize how much I needed it until I was in those walls. I never wanted to leave! I received a lot of revelation and answers to my prayers! 

Friday I got to go to Newport, which is on the coast for exchanges. It was so good to be on the Oregon coast again... Next to the temple, the Oregon coast is my most favorite place in the world! 

We were out of  our area for two days this week, and it has been five days since we have been able to have our normal morning studies! We have been running around helping some sisters in our zone! Once something is gone, you realize how much you appreciate it! I LOVE HAVING TWO HOURS TO SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES EVERY MORNING. Before my mission, 10 minutes felt like an hour! Now, an hour feels like ten minutes! A little part of my heart is sad when study time is over... the scriptures really are God's inspired word for us!

This morning Sister Crabb and I got to go and talk to the seminary students about the blessings our families have received since coming on our missions. Maybe you would say otherwise, but I started out by talking to them about what it really means to be blessed. Sometimes we do receive a lot of monetary blessings, but the blessings which I have grown to appreciate on my mission are the ones with eternal significance. I talked about how my family is being more missionary minded, which is the BEST BLESSING I ever could have asked for! I also have grown to appreciate all of the testimonies which you so frequently bare to me, I didn't get those as often before my mission! Even though we are not close, I feel like we are growing closer! I have truly grown to appreciate all that you do for me! I read to the students D&C 110:1-2, which talks about when you serve the Lord your family is in God's hands! I trust God with my whole heart, and I know that he will take care of you all as long as I do my part!

I love the gospel! I know that it is true with my own heart! It is a precious gift which we must share with EVERYONE we come in contact with!

John 3:29-30. We must decrease so that HE will increase. 

Sister Jones

                                         For our Zone activity we got to play nerf wars. SUPER FUN.

Alvin got baptized on Saturday! I got permission to skype him, annie, and Sister Carter! IT WAS SO HAPPY, Alvin was so excited!

Mar 2- My new friends

1. HOW IS EVERYTHING GOING??

This is Adreana and Alexa! Also, it was raining... Gotta love Oregon.
You can see the Spanish Elders playing soccer in the back ground with
some of the little boys (we had to hand them off :( ) also, all the kids want name tags like ours!

This has been an eventful week! The work in Corvallis is slow... Sister Crabb and I have been fasting to find! However, despite the work being slow, we continue to see miracles daily! We also have so much fun that it really isn't missionary work!

On Tuesday we had a mission wide conference-it is the first time in all of OEM history that our entire mission has gathered together. Elder Neilson from the seventy came and spoke to us, as did Brother Heaton, the director of the MTC. Our mission was a test mission for ipads, and the church has officially decided to use ipads in all of the stateside missions and missions in Europe. It is such a wonderful blessing and opportunity! We are going to be able to teach ANYONE at ANYTIME. On top of that, they want the missionaries to know how to use technology appropriately when we go home. I got to see ALL of my previous companions, I was so excited I could have cried! Sister Hamilton goes home in three weeks, Sister Vance is a ROCKSTAR missionary, and Sister Carter is like a whole new person. Sister Carter told me, "My new companion doesn't talk a lot, so I am turning into you!" She was SMILING and LAUGHING! Alvin is getting baptized, Mindy is getting baptized, the Nugens are getting baptized, Mary-Ann quit smoking and got her patriarchal blessing!! I had some of my favorite people in one place at a time! I am grateful that I at least got to play a SMALL part in some of these peoples stories! Even though I wont get to be there for their baptisms, I helped plant a seed! Sometimes as a missionary you wonder if you are actually making a difference, so I was overcome with gratitude as I heard of these people progressing. GOD IS GOOD TO ME. 

Also, something which Elder Neilson spoke about moral agency. He told something along the lines of, "If you have been baptized and gone through the temple, your agency is spent. You don't have agency anymore. If agency was credit, you spent yours and gave it to God. Now, when you choose to "use your agency to not go to church," you aren't using your agency. You are a covenant breaker." It was actually comforting to me to know that I have given my agency to God, I now just have to live in line of those covenants. 

This week I locked myself in a members bathroom. Ooops. Not the first time it has happened on my mission. 

Also, pretty eventful story of the week, I am practically fluent in spanish... We met a little Spanish boy named Luise!! Pretty soon he had introduced us to everyone in his complex who speaks Spanish! These people are AMAZING. They have hearts that love Jesus Christ! We eventually ended up playing soccer with TONS of little kids, and they begged us over and over again not to leave! It tugged at my little heart. This week the Chinese elders also had a baptism which we attended- it was the most spiritual baptism. Half of the people there were singing in chinese, and the other half in English. I KNOW THAT GOD LOVES ALL OF HIS CHILDREN. There is so much diversity in Corvallis- I have met Christians, budhist, people from Vietnam, athiests, radical christians, Muslims, and so much more. I ALWAYS feel God whisper to me that they are his child, and they are loved. 

YOU ARE ALSO GOD'S CHILD AND ARE LOVED. 

I love you all! and being a missionary!

Sister Jones

Feb. 23rd- Another week in the promised land. (aka Corvallis)

HELLO! 

I am going to attempt to give you a detailed email about what is going on since I actually have time today! Plus I am on a normal computer... so here we go! Sorry if I repeat things.

I talked a little bit about this area in my last email. We are serving around OSU's campus. The ward is FANASTIC, you know those miracle stories you here in all of the homecoming talks? Those people live in this ward. They are all converts and I LOVE THEM!

Monday's we go to FHE, and this last Monday the Chinese elders put on a Chinese New Year! IT WAS SO FUN, and we had over 200 people show up, which is ALOT. Everyone was packed in the institute building like sardines. We had to help make the wong tongs, and it actually a lot harder to fold them than you think... we folded 535 wong tongs in total! Nonetheless, it was a glorious p-day! Then I went and helped set up, bossing everyone around because I am not really tall enough to do anything... The Chinese members were giving everyone Asian names. My Asian name was "little dumpling," and I did not appreciate that... they refused to give me a name which meant "strong," because "those are only male names." Whatevs. 

On campus we do a lot of OYMing (opening your mouth) because there are actually enough people to do that! I think it is a lot of fun, all of you should try it sometime this week :D People probably think I am crazy because I get really excited, hyper, and JUST LOVE THE GOSPEL. That is how we do a lot of our finding! We were walking around one day, and about halfway through the day, MY SHOE BROKE. We weren't anywhere close to our apartment... and it would take to much time to go there... so I just kept walking around. My feet were a little bit sore, and I might need to buy a new pair of brown shoes, but I didn't let it affect our missionary work! I 

Tuesday we go to a family history class to support a recent convert in the ward... so I was looking at my family history, and said, "oh my gosh, I have so much royalty in my family." The castles don't mean royalty people, so if you are ever doing your family history, be aware of that. ;)

Thursday we met with an investigator named Nichole. She is from the Marshall Islands and works to support her family here in America. She was on date for baptism a while ago, but she works on Sunday's. Missionaries have been fasting and praying with her for a while to try and help her out. She really wants to be baptized, and has the faith to find a new job, but she is so quiet and shy it is a struggle for her. We came by this week AND SHE TALKED TO HER BOSS. He told her that he would give her enough time off to come to sacrament meeting. Better than not coming to church at all, so we are pretty excited about that! God works miracles!

It is a lot of fun being in a YSA ward because everyone's tells you all the ward DRAMA.. who is dating who, who is getting engaged to who, who kissed who, who asked someone on a date and they didn't want to go... and everyone feels the need to tell the sister missionaries EVERYTHING. Probably because they know we wont tell anyone. I love it but hate it! 

Yes, this week I hit my nine month mark... I started crying! (literally, I started crying) WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM HALF WAY DONE WITH MY MISSION? I decided not to think about it. Right now we are working hard to find people to teach, there isn't a whole lot going on, but we are having so much fun! I love my life right now! 

We went on exchanges with some of the sisters in the zone this week! It is fun to see how other missionaries do their missionary work, you learn ALOT! We go on exchanges to help them in their missionary work, but really they help me! Sister Giesler is the HAPPIEST and most POSITIVE person I have EVER met. She looks for the good in absolutely everything, which is a blessing! I have never heard a negative remark come out of her mouth! 

This week our WML spoke in sacrament meeting and he talked about being an ACTIVE member of the church, not a PASSIVE member of the church. We go to church to help others! To lift! THAT IS WHAT THE GOSPEL IS ALL ABOUT. MWA! LOVE YOU ALL! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

Sister Jones

Feb. 16th- Beavers Fan!

Me and my new companion Sister Crabb! I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

 Hola!

Life is crazy. CRAZY FUN! I am not even sure where to begin to tell
you about how AMAZING this transfer is going to be!

1. My companion. Sister Crabb is from Layton and is an awesome
missionary. She has been out for a year. I have not laughed so hard on
my mission since the MTC, she is an absolute HOOT! We almost have too
much fun together, butI can't complain! It makes a huge difference to
have a companion who loves the work!

2. My area. Don't mention the Oregon Ducks, you will get shot... So in
order to stay alive I am now a Beavers fan! We are just over a YSA
Ward which is a party all the time! Missionary work isn't work when
you are having fun! It is weird to be teaching people my age, but it
is so much easier to relate to them! I AM NEVER GOING TO LEAVE
CORVALLIS. It also was raini every day for months, but the day I got
here it hasn't rained since! Everything is upset green, and I brought
Klamaths sunshine with me :) it is absolutely beautiful!

This week was spiritual awareness week on campus, so we spent a lot of
time talking to people and handing out flyers for an event the church
was doing! There were so many people we talked to who were open
(college age is the perfect age to accept the gospel.. They are all
just barely away from home and trying to figure out what they
believe.)

We also had the joy of having Sister Russell, our mission presidents
wife, come out with is! She is so amazing! We taught a girl named
Palmer. Palmer doesn't believe in God (most people here don't believe
in God, which is very different from my last areas. I also found out
Oregon is the most Godless state.) the spirit was SO STRONG, there is
no way that she didn't feel the love God has for her. She wants to
believe in God, which is good because the righteous desire is there.

We are working with a lot of amazing people which I will have to feel
you in about next week! I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun I
am having..l I absolutely love this work and the gospel. God gives us
this amazing ability to feel the love which he has for people. Even
just talking with someone for twenty seconds, you can feel it! Thanks
for the prayers and all you do!

Here is to a transfer which is going to be packed with miracles!

Love you :)

Sister Jones

Copy of Sister Training Letter sent to Corinne

  February 11, 2015

Dear Sister Corinne Jones,

You have been called to serve as a Sister Training Leader; we are pleased with your dedication and faith.  The Lord will lift you and the Holy Spirit will guide you in this assignment.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost you will lead your missionaries, teaching and providing the example for obedience, diligence, and working by the spirit.  Specifically, you will lead by example in planning, finding, teaching, inviting and baptizing.  Help each sister missionary have a vision; to set goals and plan with great devotion.  Help them to inspire and teach members.

You earn the missionaries’ respect when you demonstrate effective work in your own area.  As you produce and bring people to Christ, building a successful area, missionaries will want to be like you.  You are expected to lead the way with your area; you should lead out in all key indicators.

Lead by example – look at the sons of Helaman for an example:

                “And they were all young men (applies to women), and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold this was not all – they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

                “Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the command-ments of God and to walk uprightly before him.” Alma 53: 20-21

Through your special talents and gifts, God will provide you with heavenly inspiration.  Through your faithful obedience and dedication to the work, various blessings and endowments will be poured out upon you.  You will be guided in your work; He will inspire you.

Be true at all times and remember not only do I trust you, but so does the Lord!

In addition to the above counsel, please see attached specific duties of a Sister Training Leader.

With profound love,

H. Jeffery Russell

Mission President

CC:  Parents

        Bishop

        Stake President