June 17th post.

Well this week was so much better than last week. Ever since the blessing I received I have been doing super great. We had another successful week this week and we taught alot of people.

One cool thing that happened this week is the Widdler of the Wood competition. These widdlers from all over the world will come to Craig and for 3 days they will carve these gigantic carvings. These Carvings are ALL over town cause I guess the carvers dontate them to the city of Craig. The coolest one I saw was the Indian. They start out with this big stump and then they go to town on it with chain saws and wood burners and make this incredible statues.

They also have this 1 hour competiton where they carve something in an hour and then they auction them off. I couldn't beleive what they could do in only an hour. I'm pretty sure it would take me three years to make something like they did. It was awesome. I'll attach some pictures.

The most amazing thing that happened this week was when we were in Baggs, wy.

A few weeks ago we ran into this guy at a musuem. His name is Duane. He was in the office when we were asking a lady about service opportunities. We talked to both of them for like an hour. About the gospel and other topics. Duane said that we could come back and teach him more the next time we were in town. The next weekend he was busy so we didn't get to see him but we did go and see a family that was related to our Branch President. They are a part member family and the wife is Catholic. We also found out that the wife is related to Duane. (I think every one is related in Baggs) We had a really good visit with that family, but later in the day we found out that the granddaughter is getting married and she doesn't want her grandpa (our branch president) to marry her because she wanted a Catholic priest to marry her. The Branch president and his wife were really really hurt by this and they asked us not to go visit that family and to not see Duane any more. They didn't want the family to think that they sent us over there. And they didn't want to cause any more family drama because there was already enough drama about who was going to marry the grandaughter. ( I hope this is making sense)

We didn't know what to do because it's not like we tracked down Duane, we just ran into him when he was working at the museum. Plus he really did seem interested in hearing what we wanted to teach him. We wanted to respect the Branch president and his wife's wishes and we didn't want to cause any family drama, but we really really wanted to teach Duane.

We didn't really decide what we were going to do this weekend so we figured that we would talk to president and sister lee about it. Butthursday evening, after the ward party, we went around knocking on some doors to see if we could find some more people to teach. We knocked on one door and had a really good discussion with this older couple and then we went and knocked on their neighbor's door. You will never guess who lived at that house..........

Yup you guessed it....Duane lived there.

We seriously had no idea that he lived there. In fact we actually thought that he lived in Savery. A town about 20 miles away from Baggs. We were just as suprised to see him as he was suprised to see us. He invited us in and we ended up having a really powerful lesson about the restoration. He said we could come back and teach him some more. Wow, it was incredible. I know that the lord placed us there and that it was no accident. I love that the lord did that because Both times we saw him it was completely by "coincidence." We didn't seek him out to teach him and he knows that. He knows that nobody sent us to see him. (except the Lord) I love it. We talked to the Branch president and his wife and they said since he knows nobody sent us it was ok for us to keep teaching him. This is always how missionary work happens and I LOVE IT. I am really excited to see what the Lord has instore for Baggs, because I know some more miracles are just waiting to happen. I will keep you posted!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I love you all!!!

 

Love Sister Jones!

 

Picture #1 my favorite wood carving...the indian

Picture #2 a carving that was completed in an hour! Crazy! I know!

June 10th post

Well, this week was a little rough I have to admit.

The work wasn't struggling or anything. We had another fantastic week with 5 new investigators and we taught a lot of people. The only thing is I am sometimes a little to hard on myself.

Last Monday, I was a little impatient with Sister Robinson and after I talked to her about it, I felt TERRIBLE. I was so mad at myself for letting things bug me.I was also got frustrated because it is taking me so long to really feel like I am in the swing of things and really feel comfortable with my efforts as a missionary. Especially because I am called to train and whitewash. I am constantly trying to be better, to work harder, to pray more, to be more in tune with the spirit, to reach our goals, to have more faith, to be exactly obediant, and to become the missionary the Lord would have me become. And it is HARD!

I don't have to just change my habits, I have to change my nature. It, is hard.

Before my mission I was always pretty complacent and I didn't really push myself to my fullest potential. I was satisfied with metocre. But that is something I want to change. I want to BE the best missionary possible, I want to make every day and every moment count. I want to look back on my mission and know that the Lord was proud of me and what I was able to help Him accomplished. I don't want to have any regrets when I am called to go back home.

So last monday I was pretty down and I had the impression to ask Brother St. John (the second counsler in our ward in Craig) to give me a blessing. We went over to his house after our appointments and he asked me what was wrong. I didn't realize how close to tears I had been all day until them because I just started crying. I felt so silly because when I explained to them how I felt it came out that I feel like I am not the missionary I want to be and I am frustrated with how slow my progression is. Brother St John and his wife and the first counsler in the ward Brother Herring  then spent the next hour trying to make me feel better and complimenting me and saying all these nice things that I didn't deserve. I really didn't want them to think that I had gone to them for attention or to get compliments because that's what it kind of seemed like. But I was SO grateful they were so kind to me.

Brother St John gave me a blessing and it was incredible. I felt so peaceful and all of the stress left my body. Heavenly Father promised me that He knows my efforts and He knows my heart and He has a plan for me. He said that he sent me here for a very specific reason and soon I will know what that reason is.

After the blessing Brother St. John gave me a few more words of wisdom and I know he was inspired to tell me this.

He told of a story of how some teenagers died in an accident because they weren't wearing their seatbelts. He said he went all through town and collected prize money from all of these places and took it to the police department. The police department then pulled over people who were wearing there seatbelts and they would give them prizes. Like gift certificates or free things. He said this went on for 17 years. Then Brother St. John told me the reason why they went to all of this effort to do this.  He looked me right in the eyes and he said, "If we saved one life....we did our job.....and If you save...one soul. You did your job."

The spirit was so strong I couldn't help but cry all over again. It is so true. I am so worried about myself and all of my problems I am not focused on God's purpose.

To find those prepared. So I have decided to quit worring about it and just push forward. To find those souls who need saving.

And in case that wasn't enough comfort, I just so happen to read 2 Nephi Chapter 4 in my personal study and it helped me SO much. I felt so much better after reading that chapter of scripture.

I know the Lord is watching over me. He will help me become the missionary I want to be. I am just going to focus on the work.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and all of your support.

 

Love Sister Jones

June 3rd letter.

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been one of my absolute best weeks on the mission! So many great things happened.
 We had Zone conference in Grand Junction on Thursday and we got to have a sleep over with the two other sets of sisters in Rifle on Wednesday night. It was so awesome. It was fun to catch up with the sisters that I served in the MTC with and to meet the other sisters I haven't seen yet. We had a great time. Zone Conference is always the best. For those of you who don't know, it is when a few Zones get together and we have spiritual thoughts/trainings from the Assistants to the President and trainings from President and Sister Maynes. I always leave Zone Conference on a way big spiritual high and it was the same with this one. We had lunch there and I got a little treat for having a birthday in the last transfer haha. 

Another awesome thing that happened this week is that we have a new pet deer. (Brother Bambi) He likes to sleep/rest in our front "lawn" and just say hi every once in a while. There are deer all over the place in Craig. The deer seem super tame and don't mind humans at all. I got within 5 feet from Brother Bambi and he didn't care at all. Last night he had a lady friend with him and Sister Robinson and I think we might need to teach him the Law of Chastity soon.

The best thing that happened this week though is we got 5 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!! That has been my goal of the mission. To find 5 new people to teach in one week. And it happened. Oh man I could cry I was so happy. All of them are really solid too. One of them is a little boy named Zachary. His family is really less-active and Zachary has only been to church about 2 times. (we think) The bishop asked if we could stop by and see if Zachary wanted to be taught and if he wanted to be baptized. We showed up and both Zachary and his brother,Preston, (age 9) Stole my heart!! If I could adopt them to be my sons I totally would. They are the most adorable little boys I have ever met. They are so precious! I just want to squeeze them and carry them in my pocket all day long. We went over for our first lesson with them we sat down around the table and Zachary says "When can I get baptized?" (I wish I could hear that every day) We told him that we needed to teach him the lessons and he needed to come to church 3 times. He was bummed it was going to take awhile but we started right into a lesson. It was all over the place. They asked us a million questions. We basically could only answer about 5 of them. They were questions like, "How did God put our spirit into our body? If God loves us why did he make things that hurt us?Are Zombies real? Why did Jesus make Dinosaurs?" The only two things we really did get to teach them was about prophets and pray. It was so sweet because when we told them how Heavenly Father hears and answers every prayer we pray they both turned to their mom and were like."Mom! we can not forget to pray at every meal!" At the end of the lesson we committed them to say their nightly prayers and ask Heavenly Father if what we said was true. The were like, "Oh we believe every thing you have said." (another thing I wish we could hear every day lol) We told them not to take our word for it, to ask Heavenly Father if it is true and they said they would. 
Oh that lesson touched my heart so much. Their faith and their hearts were so pure and so humble. It helped me to realize that, that is what it is all about. We all need to find our child-like humility and faith to remember our testimonies. When I think about when my testimony started i think I was about 6. Heavenly Father answered one of my humble prayers and I have always believed ever since. I am so grateful that I had a family to teach me at such a young age, when my faith was so pure. I am also so grateful to be here to help others find that faith again or for the first times in their lives. I absolutely love being a missionary and I am so excited to see the new miracles the Lord has in store for this area and these people. Thank you for all of your love and support! I love you all!!!!!!

Love Sister Jones

Picture #1= Brother Bambi in our "lawn" haha

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