Today's the day.......

In exactly 40 minutes my companion and I, and several other missionaries will be taking on the Ghost Chilli Pepper challenge. Don't worry we have been training for this experiance all week. But a few extra prayers from you wouldn't hurt. Wish us luck!!!

 

So you may be wondering what the transfer news is and I'm sad to say that sister sheppard is leaving me :(. What adds to the sadness is our beloved elder Mcgee and the senior couple missionaries Elder and Sister Kneeland are leaving us too. Gosh it is heart breaking. But I also know that we will be getting awesome missionaries to replace them. Transfers are always just so bitter sweet.

 

I am really excited about staying here in what we call the Grand Jungle :) I seriously don't know how I could ever leave this place. It is just the best.

 

Want to know the best news of the week?!?! I think I told you about our investigator Sister Dahlen, we put her on baptismal date for saturday february 22nd last weekend. Well last saturday she said that she didn't want to make any huge decisions before she finished the book of mormon (she's in alma) and if she was ready she would be baptized on that date. So she was a little hesitant.

This saturday she asked us what time the baptismal service would be on the 22nd.....i was taken completely by surpise by her question. So we paused while we processed what she just said and then i told her, "ANY TIME YOU WANT!" She was all quiet and says "ok....the reason why i ask is because my coworker (who is mormon) wanted to know if i picked a date and I told him the 22nd and he wanted to know what time so i thought i would ask...." We were so excited and what made it even better was that night she texted us and said "Ok the 22nd at 3 o clock works for me, can i invite my family?" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH so exciting!!!! She is so solid. She totally beleives that the book of mormon is the word of god! We still need to teach her the word of wisdom and all that jazz so if you could pray that she would accept all of those teachings that would be nice.

 

Well I hope everyone had a fabulous week!! I love you all and I'll talk to you soon!!

 

Love sister JOnes

 

picture of the senior couple! Aren't they just the cutest??

Just when you thought I couldn't get any dumber......

Well I am still going strong on this chocolate fast. But I think not having chocolate in my system is affecting my ability to make correct decisions.....This week I have made the absolute worst decision of my life.......

So there is this resturant called Dos Hombres.........They have this 2 1/2 pound burrito............that has ghost chili pepers in it.......and a challege to do it under 30 mins. The elders may or may not have challenged/made me promise to attempt to do it next monday...... and I may or may not have given into the challenge/forcing. I am sooooo nervous! two other elders will be doing this challenge at that time and it's going to be all recorded. I'm pretty sure that January 27th is going to be my last day of life here on earth.....pray for me.

Besides the ghost chili peper weighing on my mind and stomach the missionary work is going fantastic here!! We are finding new investigators and a lot of our inviestigators are progressing really well. The Dahlen family, who we have been teaching for about 3 months, was FINALLY put on date this week for February 22nd!!!! So exciting. They have been coming to church for about 3 months and Christie Dahlen is in Alma from her book of mormon reading :) We are super excited to help them towards baptism!! We also got to see chris again (the 13 year old who read the book of mormon in 2 months) and watched the restoration video with him. We asked him what he thought of it after and he said "It was good, I learned that people just need to have more faith in God. I want to have more faith in god." Then we asked him how he could have more faith? and he said, "Pray every day, that's what I  do." Oh he is just the coolest kid. Every time we teach him I just get so emotional because his spirit is so sweet and his faith so pure. We asked him if wanted to be baptized and he said yes!!! Oh he is the best little miracle this side of texas!! Please pray for him, that he will be able to meet with us regularly! I love you all!! I hope you are having the best week ever!!

 

Love you!

Love sister jones

 

Picture: us dominating at bowling!

My name is sister Jones and I am 13 days sober of chocolate!

I know what your thinking, "How is it possible?!" I am here to tell you that through the Lord all things are possible! I have gone the longest I have ever gone in.my.life without chocolate. You should be so proud. I even passed the little chocolate bowl in relief society without taking one peice out. It was rough but I lived. Only two more days and I will be half way through the month!! Keep praying for me!

 

Man we had a super awesome week this week full of miracles!

 

First miracle-

I sang in a duet (accapela mind you) with my companion for zone confrence AND in church!!! Whew it was a rush. That was my first time EVER singing in church. (in a group less than 30 people) The even bigger miracle was. EVERYONE LOVED IT!! Man it was awesome. Good thing i have a companion who has perfect harmonizing skills to sing harmonized with me no matter what note i'm singing :) That was awesome!

 

Second Miracle-

My companion only had gluten once this week and was only completely dead to the world for one day. Who knew gluten was so deadly. We had to stay in the entire day on saturday. At least it wasn't three and a half days like last week. No bueno. Oh and I got a lovely (I think much deserved) nap, while she was recouperating.

 

Third Miracle-

Brace yourselves for this one because I have been just dying of joy since it happened. So a couple months ago we were teaching these adorable little boys, Chris and Josh. Chris is 13 and Josh is 11. We started teaching them and their friends on the street once, last fall. Chris was the only one who wanted us to come back to teach him more. When we went to visit him we found out that his mother passed away when he was really young and when his dad got engaged again to a different lady, she passed away too. Now the dad is a complete alcholic and is wasted every time we go see them. It is a heart breaking situation. But chris and josh are the sweetest, nices boys I have ever met. I once asked chris if he ever prayed and he said, "Yes I pray every day. I taught myself how to pray." Oh man he is a sweetheart. We brought them to a halloween party and they loved it! A couple weeks later though the dad told us that the boys didn't want us to come back any more......I was broken hearted. It was so hard to let them go. I think it was extra hard because I have a 13 year old brother and I just see them as my brothers. That was the last time we saw them until this week.....We were going to see a potential investigator and I spotted chris walking across the street. He waved at us and I jumped out of the car to go talk to him. This conversation followed;

Me:"Hey chris!! How are you doing?!"

Chris:"Good, hey do you remember that mormon bible you gave me?"

Me:"Yes, the book of mormon?..."

Chris:"Yeah, I read it."

Me:"What?! You read the whole thing....The book of mormon!?"

Chris:"Yup, i read the whole thing!"

Me:........trying to process what just happened and then said...."Well what did you think about it?"

Chris:"I really liked it"

Me:"What did you like about it?"

Chris:"I don't know, i just liked the whole thing. It was all just so good."

Me:"Did you pray about it? What did you feel when you prayed about it?"

Chris:"I felt really good when I prayed."

Me:"Do you beleive that it's true?" 

Chris:"Yeah i do!!"

 

OH my goodness that was the coolest experiance of my life!! A thirteen year old boy read the entire book of mormon in 2 MONTHS!!! He wanted to come to church but unfortunately the dad said that the boys weren't home. Chris said he would like to be taught again and he would like to come to church. Oh my gosh. I burst into tears after chris left. I was soooooooooo happy. I have been telling everyone who will listen about this miracle because it is soooooo cool! Wow, I can just feel that chris has the most amazing spirit ever. I can not wait to teach him again. I asked him about how his dad said that we shouldn't come back and chris told me it is just because they were so busy, but now we can meet with them again. I would really appreciate anyone who could pray that we could meet with these boys again and help them to baptism. Man they are just to precious. I hope everyone is having a great week full of miracles!!!!

 

I love you!!! The church is true!!!

 

Love sister jones

Chocolate Fast.....what was I thinking?!

Yeah.....so I may or may not have made one of the worst mistakes in my life....I promised one of our investigators that I would go on a chocolate fast while she was trying to quit smoking. I thought it was inspired because I thought of it during the lesson and said it without thinking. Oh man I'm in trouble. However! I have not had one peice of chocolate for 2 whole days!!! Everyone should be so proud. I am telling all of you so I can get as much moral support as possible. I told her I wouldn't have ANY chocolate for the whole month of January. So if you could send some inspirational quotes about not giving up and not giving in, that would be helpful.

 

We had a fantastic week this week. WE GOT AN APARTMENT!!! Woot woot!! It feels so nice not being homeless any more. The elders and our ward mission leader helped us move. They only had 1 hour to help us....yeah we basically still left ten billion things at the sister apartment and we accidentally packed 2 shirts and a sock that wasn't ours. But! we have a home. Can't complain. Sister sheppard was a little bit nervous about the new area we moved to because it is a tiny bit scketchy. And there is a less active who is in love with her who lives down the street. But the elders left a blessing on our home and we have seen a HUGE difference. Man we just feel so safe now.

 

We had MLC's this week (Missionary Leadership Counsel). All the zone leaders and sister training leaders meet in glennwood. I.love.that.meeting!!! It helps us remember what's most important and how we can help the missionaries. It's super inspirational and helps me a ton.

 

Well I hope everyone is enjoying 2014!!! I really thought the world was going to end in 2012 so every year after that is like a bonus year to me!! So happy second bonus year!!!!

 

Love you!!

 

Love sister Jones