May 27th letter. Cutie Sister Kelcey belchy

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWDY!!!

 

Well they shipped us over the other side of the mountain.

 

So that means my companion/greenie (sister robinson) and I are staying in the Denver, Colorado South mission! You will never guess were we got sent...actually you probably won't be able to guess because nobody has probably even heard of the town we live in. We are in the absolute middle of no where. In the lovely town with a population of 3000 =CRAIG COLORADO haha. Where there are more animals than people and everyone is related :)  I ABSOULTELY LOVE IT!!!

 

I have been dreaming about coming to Craig since I first started my mission. I love small towns and Craig is the smallest of the small. Actually we cover a little branch in Baggs, Wyoming and that is even smaller. There are 400 people who live there and there are only 2 paved roads. haha It is the best.

 

I got a huge kick out of the anwser I received from the previous elders who covered our area when he told us where we were living. In his exact words he said, "ummmm It's the last trailer at the end of the dirt road." Yes! I knew all of my expectations of craig were going to come true when the elder told me that.

 

The work has been extremely slow up here in craig and baggs and unfortunately it's because there were pretty disobedient missionaries here before us. But that is all going to change. Sister Robinson and I have been working like maniacs to get to know as many people as possible and teaching as much as possible. Our goal is to try and have the area split by the time we leave.

 

I already love the people so much. The members are amazing. The 1st counsler in the bishopric actually had us give a talk this sunday  on families and everyone is so nice and complimented us on our talks. The ward is wonderful. 

 

We actually got 17 referrals this week from all of the members in Baggs, and here in Craig. They all are working hard on their missionary efforts. I am so excited to be here and help the work progress.  

 

Well I have to go, I hope everyone is having a good week and make sure you find someone to refer to the missionaries this week!!!

 

Love you all!!!

 

Love Sister Jones

 

Picture #1 Our trailer sweet trailer ;)

Picture #2 A pretty pic of colorado and my name tag

enjoy!!

May 20th Transfers!

Well ladies and gentleman,

I got a call this weekend AND........I'm being transferred. So sad :( Not only am I being transferred but I am training and white washing?!?! (starting a new area for sisters) What the?!? 

I know? Crazy right. I just finished my last training session with sister waters yesterday and now all the sudden I am training a little greenie and starting a new area.

 I really don't know what to think.I don't know where I'm being transferred to yet but I'll find out tomorrow morning during transfer meeting. All the elders think I am going to bible park (it's in our same district and both elders are leaving) But I have no idea. I could say that I was pretty sure I was going there but then end up over the mountain. 

The suspense is killing me. Because not only will i find out where I am serving but I will also find out what mission I am going to. This transfer meeting will let us know if we are staying in the south mission or if we are going to the north mission. I know I'll be happy in either mission but I really want to know! haha sister waters knows that she is going to the north mission because she is staying in this area. It would be awesome if I went to bible park because then I would still be in the same district as Sister waters and I would be in the same zone as sister Flanery. Plus if I go to the north mission there is a chance I could come back to my first area. 

I love it here so much. It has been so weird saying goodbye to the people. I'm going to miss them like crazy. This Sunday was a perfect Sunday to end on though. We had SUCH a good Sunday  We had 3 investigators at church!!! Nellie Boyles came. She is 83 and she has been taking the discussions for 3 years. She FINALLY came to church. Oh.my.gosh. I was so happy I wanted to cry. She sat right next to me in sacrament and I just wanted to hug her the whole time. When we were singing the last song "Nearer my God to thee." The spirit touched her heart and she got a little teary eyed. There really isn't a greater feeling to see people taking a path that will lead them to happiness. and being able to help them on that path....Nothing comes close to the joy I felt at that moment. It was wonderful. 

I told sister waters to keep on her and make sure she comes all the Sundays after this one. She needs it so badly in her life. We also went to see Mike Bohannan on Saturday to tell him the news. After our lesson and when I was telling him my final goodbye He got super teary eyed and hurried back in the house before he started crying. haha aw he is such a sweetheart. All the goodbyes I have said don't really seem real or final. I know I will see all of these people again. It is just a temporary goodbye. But I am still going to miss them. 

I am having mixed feelings because I want to stay but I know there are some more people I will grow to love just as much as I love these people here. Plus I know the Lord needs me in this new area too. I can't wait to see the miracles and meet the amazing people who live...where ever i'm transfered to. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Know that I love you all and I will keep you posted on my new area!!

LOve sister Jones

Picture #1 a cute pic of our district (notice how us sisters are like 2 feet away from the elders haha, we were to scared to get too close. President says elders really do have cuties)

Picture #2 Elder Adams (my district leader) and his companion Elder Rodriquez (they both are leaving bible park area and they think I'm taking over their area)

May 13th letter

Happy 3 months!!!!!

Ladies and Gentleman, it's official. I am no longer a greeny! Wa-hoo!!! Enjoy my little list of things I have learned up to this point to graduate from the title greeny. 

You know your not a greeny any more when...

1. Praying in the middle of the street holding hands with a complete stranger isn't weird any more.

2. Having dog hair in your pantyhose is normal. 

3. When you hum "Come Thou Fount" and "How great thou art" all day instead of One Direction and Katie Perry. 

4. When you accidentally say a scripture reference instead of an apartment number (some how I said Ether 2:12 instead of E212)

5. You have an experience where don't recognize your investigators in church because their dentures are in and they aren't in their pajamas. 

6. You have perfected the speed walk. 

7. You can tell who is a member from the first word that comes out of their mouth when you run into them at a random place like Wal-mart. (it's cause they say hi to us first, everybody else avoids eye contact.)

8. Waking up in the middle of the night teaching a discussion is a nightly occurance. 

9. Weed doesn't really smell that bad any more. haha just kidding it always will stink. 

10. 2 hours of studying goes by super fast. 

11. You can guess the age, how many kids they have, and some times the religion they practice just by walking up to a persons door. 

12. A prayer never leaves your heart. 

13. Your companion's bowel movements are way more hilarious than awkward. 

14. You can get into every buzzer apartment your potential investigators live in. 

15. Talking to people who only open their door an inch doesn't phase you. 

16. You have accepted the fact that missionary work is just 18 months of awkward and spiritual experiences. 

17. When being able to sleep in until 6:30 is exciting. 

18. When you stop wanting to murder someone cause your skirt is staticy. You just get over it. 

19. When it is sunny outside you want to cry you are so happy. 

20. You love ALL the people in the whole world!

Welp it has been an incredible 3 months and I look forward to all the wonderful things I am going to learn in these upcoming months. 

I love you all! I am doing wonderful. Have a great week!!!

Love sister Jones

Picture one: Nerds!!!! 

Picture two: Sister Flanery, Sister Waters, and Sister Hoynacki

 

Sister jones.

Again, I'm a little behind. I think it is not a good thing! But at least I'm posting!

HOOOOOOOOOOOOWDY!!!

Don't worry everyone! I survived another week with an Idaho driver. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew because that in itself is pretty notable for this weeks accomplishments. ;)

We had a crazy week this week. The title of this email basically sums up the lovely experiences we had haha.

Subject 1: Fiber Bars

I'd first like to start off by saying that I learned this week that Fiber bars are of the devil. No missionary in their right mind should ever come in contact with them...EVER! I'm serious stay away. I will bear my testimony on it if you need me to. I'm sure your imagination will testify to you what happened to me this week because of them.

Subject 2: Obese Cat with an anxiety disorder

I know this subject sounds crazy but we did actually run into someone who owned this very cat. Here's the story...This week we didn't get as many lessons because we spent a TON of time trying to find people. I think I told you last week that we are preparing to find as many people as possible for the new missionaries that are coming in soon for this summer. The main way we have been spending our time finding is by doing the prayer approach. We have been doing it a lot! At least for an hour every day. In doing the prayer approach I have found that it brings many more hilarious, awkward, and memorable experiences. I mean knocking on someones door and asking them if we can kneel and pray with them is awkward in itself haha. So we have plenty of funny experiences this week haha. This one was my favorite.
Saturday afternoon we were looking through our area book and saw that a potential investigator lived pretty close by. We decided to stop by and pray with her and see how she is doing. We drove up to the sketchiest apartment building I have ever set foot on in my life. It was tall, white, with chucks of stucco broken off and graffiti scattered here and there. (I've learned not to look to closely to what the graffiti says because it is usually inappropriate). We looked up the four creaky,rusty, flights of stairs, said a little prayer in our hearts, and climbed up. They kind of reminded me of an apartment building stairs that you see on a Borne Ultimatum movie. Where Jason Borne is doing sweet par core moves with bullets flying as he jumps/flips from stair case to stair case. I could even smell the weed that I'm sure was in the movie too. haha
We got to the top floor and knocked on her door. This short plump lady with chicken legs and no teeth answered the door. Turns out she was the right lady, but she has joined the catholic church and has no intention of ever coming back to our church. We asked if we could pray with her still and she said sure and invited us in. We walked into her dark, cluttered apartment and saw that she owned two cats. One probably weighed as much as our spare tire in the trunk. He was HUGE! Biggest/fattest cat I have ever seen in my life. For a second I thought it was pregnant or something but the lady said "Oh this is Leo (or something I can't remember it's name) she was like "He is a little obese but he has an anxiety disorder..." You could tell she loved this cat with all her heart. He kept trying to escape or eat sister waters for a snack i'm not sure which one but she kept saying "Don't you do that, you big Baby." She called him her little baby like five times. haha I don't think little is the correct word. I think I could feel the floor creak and rumble under its every footstep. The funniest part was when sister waters was praying it was all over her trying to get her to pet it while she was praying. She really really really doesn't like cats so she kept pushing him away with her leg while she prayed. Then.....He bit her!! I felt really bad for her because it must have hurt but sister waters did the last thing i expected her too. She kicked the cat! I could not believe she just kicked this lady's pride and joy! Thankfully it didn't cause to much ca-motion and the potential investigator didn't notice because then she probably would have sicked the cat on us and we really would have been eaten and she never would come back to the church. It took me ten minutes to compose myself after that hilarious experience. Oh man too funny!! K I better get to my last subject because time is running out.

Subject 3: Baptism

ED LUSSIER IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh!! He is the most amazing man ever. He has been taking the discussions for 3 months and we challenged him to think about being baptized and he told us this week that he got his answer and he is going to be baptized on june 1st. We all were so happy we couldn't speak for like 5 minutes. The spirit was sooo strong. Wow, that was the best feeling in the world. It makes everything worth it. The fiber bar experiances, getting bite by cats, and working extremely long days. It's all worth it when people gain that testimony of the Savior and know of the truthfulness of the gospel. Wow. So happy.

Well I have got to go. Sorry It was pretty all over the place today. But know that I love you and I am having an extremely good and rewarding time here on my mission. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Love sister Jones