March 3rd. mount garfield!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Family,

 

Sorry this is extremely short, but we just finished Hiking mount garfield. It was the most beautiful hike I have ever ever been on. It was so beautiful and the view was breath taking. We went as a zone. LOVED IT!! And the best part was that there was a random hiker that was behind us when we were hiking down. We got to teach him the plan of salvation and gave him a book of mormon!!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome! I love you all!! Trent I hope you have the best birthday ever!!! Can't beleive you are 17!!! Only one more year until you can go on a mission! Gosh I just love all of you sooooooo Much!!!!! I'll let you know next week what the transfer news is!

 

Love Sister jones

 

P.s. thank you dad, I'll send you that letter tonight.

Feb 24th. Fwd: Family Reunions, getting roped into more singing, and I love being a missionary!!

Hello Everyone!!!

We had a fabulous week this week. Did you?? Probably one of my very most favorite parts of the week was that I got to contact my great Aunt Ann who lives here in the grand juction area?! Isn't that crazy! We had dinner together and I got a bazillion pictures from her of hilarious pictures of my parents and aunts and uncles when they were younger! She also gave me a family history coloring book!!! I found out that one of my ancestors was companions with Wilford Woodruff and Thomas B. Marsh!!! He was also bishop of the Nauvoo 9th ward!! So cool! My companion said she felt like she was apart of a little family reunion haha. It was really cool getting to know them better. The only bad thing about going to dinner with them, is that they live out of our area. We got permission to visit them but it kind of made us half an hour late to a primary baptismal preview that we were suppose to sing at. Don't worry we made it barely in time to sing for our part. Thank goodness!!! 

We even went to the wrong building!!! I called the elders in our ward, who had a part in the program too, in a panic trying to figure out where everyone was.....this conversation proceeded...

Me-"WHERE IS EVERYONE ARE WE AT THE WRONG BUILDING....???!!"

Elder Horman-" Pause.............BAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

Me-"I'M SERIOUS WHERE IS EVERYONE! ARE WE SUPPOSE TO BE AT THE MELODY LANE BUILDING??"

Elder Horman-"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH........HAHAHAHA"

Me-"WILL YOU PLEASE STALL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN MAKE IT FOR OUR PART IN TIME??"

Elder Horman-"BAHAHAHA....HAHHAH.........ok ok, i'm composed now.......HAHAHAH AHHAHA BHAHAHA........yeah we can do that.....""

Me-"WE ARE DISAPPOINTING LITTLE 8 YEAR OLDS I'M GOING TO CRY IF WE MESS THIS UP!!!"

Elder Horman-"BAHAHAHAHA...HAHAHA"

*CLICK*

.....For some reason the elders think sisters are suppose to be perfect so when we mess up they get some pretty good enjoyment out of it. #annoying 

Don't worry it all went perfectly fine. I just panic when people are counting on us and we are late. Worst feeling in the world. Especially when you show up at the wrong place!

So yeah, things are going so fantastic. We had interviews with our mission president this week. He asked me if I felt like i was the missionary I wanted to be. I paused and thought about it, and I smiled. I mean this in the least prideful way possible, but I seriously feel like I am finally where I want to be as a missionary. I feel like I have officially become a missionary. I feel super comfortable in the work. I am always pushing myself, reaching new goals, and accomplishing things I never thought I would accomplish. I ABSOLUTELY love being a missionary. I can't picture my life any different. I am soooo happy!!! Thank you everyone for all of your support. for helping me get to where I am today!! I know all of you played a special part in this process. Keep being amazing! keep influencing those around you for good and keep sharing your testimony!!

I love you all!! have the best day ever!!

Love sister Jones

Here is a pic of my companion and elder mcgee and elder redd. The zone leaders in the zone right next to us. 

Feb 17th, 2014. Candle light dinner, Baptisms, and love sick zone leaders......

Hola!!!

So We are in the family history center because the libraries are closed and there are about 20 missionaries here....lets just say I am super distracted as I am emailing today. Especially because Elder Horman, who is on the computer next to me keeps telling me that I am going to marry the First african american apostle and I am going to have 15 children. Elders are so weird.....Anyways thank you for your emails!!! Thanks for getting my loan extended for me. I can't print the tax return here for me to sign it. So I will try to do it next week. 

Well we had a fantastic week. Sister Tew and I didn't have a dinner appointment on valentines day and we found out that Mcdonalds was having candlelight dinners if we made a reservation. Hahah We didn't make a reservation but we showed up and they squeezed us in. It was hilariously awesome!!! Sister Tew told me that I was her first valentines dinner date! I feel so honored haha. Something hilarious that also happened on valentines day was that our zone leaders and our district leader all got sick. haha We kept teasing them all day about how they were all love sick. They didn't appreciate that, but we thought it was pretty funny!

Ok I have to tell you about the absolute best part about my week this week. so there were 3 baptisms this weekend. Rick and Shirley in the 6th ward. They are such miracle investigators. The elders found them by knocking on their door. The first started teaching Shirley but rick joined soon after. Every time they visited after that Rick had invited friends over to hear the message. One appointment they had 6 new people their to hear the message. He also quit smoking cold turkey so he could get baptized!!!! So amazing!! Shirley (his daughter) is just as incredible. She has such a powerful testimony! Elder Whiteley just told me that rick went up to the bishop and said that he needs to get the priesthood as soon as possible so he could baptize his wife! AWWWWW THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

The next baptism that day was just as powerful. The 7th ward sisters live with some members and it was their son in law getting baptized. When he got baptized his wife was just crying the whole time. Then after the baptism when the bishop is welcoming him into the ward, he has him stand up next to him in front of everyone. He points out into the congregation and says "Chuck i want you to look at these elders. They have the priesthood. That is your next step in the gospel. I want you to work towards getting the priesthood." Then he pointed to the married couples and said, "See these couples in this room. They are sealed for time and all eternity. She that blonde lady in the back, she is mine. I get to be with her forever." Then he pointed to Chuck's wife chloe and said, "Chuck i want you to picture chloe all dressed in white, you all dressed in white at the temple..." Right when he said this Chuck looks at his wife and gets teary eyed. then the bishop says. "That is the next step I want you to work towards, the temple." The spirit was so strong. I was, of coarse, crying. It just hit me so strongly that this is what this is ALL about. Eternal families. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL! It is so true. It brings sooooo much happiness!!!! AH i just love all of you. I hope you are having a fantastic day!! 

Love sister Jones

Family!!! 2/10/14

So mom had ten million questions for me so I will try to anwser them all for this email entry

 How has the weather been- Super good! it snowed about 6 inches last week but it is all melting and now we just have slush and it rains a little bit. But I don't mind it because #1 it reminds me of home and #2 it's not freezing cold (THANK GOODNESS!!)

How are you feeling-I feel SOOOOO much better. I have been having a lot better morning work outs and that has been giving me a lot more energy. (thanks for my energy drinks that you and dad sent me!!) I just feel a new sense of determination to work super hard and to do my best. So that is a huge blessing

  How is your new companion- I Love her!!!! She is so good for me. She gets super stressed out and struggles with self confidence so we kind of are able to help each other stress out less and talk about our feelings. We work really really well together. I feel like I trust her already and we are realy good friends. Thank heavens!! I have such good companions.

 Have you recovered and are feeling like you are doing better with your stress level? I do feel like I have recovered. Any time I am stressed I think "is this within my control or out of my control." I also try to remember why I am here if I get discouraged or feel exhausted. That helps a lot. 

 Have you started to eat better? WELL.....Since my chocolate fast is over everyone is congratulating me by giving me chocolate. I have been not eating to much but i could work on that hahaha. 

 Did you get your box? YES!!! Thank you times a million!!! I love all of the things you sent me!!!!! Your the best!!!

 

Did you get our note about your student loan?  Yes, please let me know if they said I could get an extension or not. I can ask my mission president if i can call them to get things sorted out. 

And in response to your passport question mom, I already got my passport before I left on my mission. It is all good to go :) I was hoping you could do me a favor and look up on ilp.orgto see what times of the year they are going to china or mexico or what ever other countries  they have listed. Could you forward to me what it says?? I would appreciate it a ton!!!

Well it sounds like you all are doing great! Sorry I couldn't email you individually. I will try to write you all a letter hopefully this week or next week. know that I love you all!! Hope you are having the best day ever!!!

Love sister Jones

Oh p.s. Mom we go on exchanges with the sisters and i feel like the biggest struggle they have is self confidence. SOOO  many sisters (including my companion) don't have self esteem. They think they are worthless. It seriously breaks my heart and I can't really understand it because I feel like you always taught us to have good self esteem. You really taught us how to love our selves even in our weaknesses and even when things aren't going the way we think it should. Could you email me on how you taught us that and what you did to over come that. I really don't know what to say to these sisters to help them understand they all have self worth. I would appreciate it a ton!! Thank you!! Love you 

Oh p.s.s. I found out that president murdock's wife, sister murdock, has a blog and I thought you would enjoy reading it. It is calledcoloradodenversouthmission.blogspot.com orcdsm.blogspot.com So you should look it up :) 

Sorry I didn't have time to write a mass email. I will be better next week. 

Well, I lived through the burrito challenge and my chocolate fast....barely feb 3rd

As you probably already know, participating in the burrito challenge was one of the worst mistakes I have ever made in my life.....it.was.horrible. AND It was painful! The only experience I have had in my life that comes close to how painful it was, was when I belly flopping off the high dive at my dad's work party. Luckily the burrito challenge wasn't as embarrassing as that experience. But instead of the pain being all over my body it was centralized on my mouth and it lasted for 30 minutes!!!!!!

I seriously considered quiting after the first two bites. There was literally a fire in my mouth! and about 10 minutes into it my face went numb and I went deaf for a period of time. (I COULDN'T HEAR!)  I really honestly think i could have chowed down the whole 2 1/2 pounds of burrito but the spiciness was TO MUCH! Just to give you an idea of how hot it was, I ate a jalapeno to cool down my mouth....yeah....im being serious! You will all be proud of me, i ate pretty much half of the burrito and I didn't quit for the whole 30 minutes. AND I didn't puke until after it was all done.  You will also be proud to hear that my companion DOMINATED that challenge. She ate the entire thing in 8 minutes! I blame her mexican blood. She beat everyone there. There was about 8 of us doing the challenge. We were the only sisters participating the rest were elders and one investigator. She was the champion! I was so proud of her. She didn't even puke after the ordeal was over. I am still trying to figure out how that's possible, but we will just blame her spanish heritage. It was a pretty fun bonding experience for our whole zone. Elder Whiteley even made me a sign on the back of a proclamation to the family that said. "Ghost chili peppers=nothing for sister jones" I emailed the picture to my mom if you want to see it. Everyone was cheering and making a commotion. Especially when elder White had two bites to go and he upchucked everything back on to his plate! Super disgusting. I was super close to throwing up when I saw it. I am so glad that it is all over. Never have to do anything like that ever again! Don't even think about asking me cause i will say NO!

SO besides having a gigantic stomach ache the first couple of days this week, it has been a pretty fabulous week. I have a new companion. her name is Sister Tew! She is from Hawaii!! She is the oldest of 5 adopted kids! Her dad works at byu-hawaii. She is pretty amazing and I'm so glad to have her as a companion. She will be a sister training leader with me. We have been out the same amount of time. We are now over 22 sisters. That is 10 companionships! Oh i forgot to tell you!!! Sister Sheppard is now with sister Robinson! The first sister I trained. ahaha how crazy is that. AND the other sister I trained is now in my district! Sister Gregerson!!! Aw man she is seriously the best! I love being able to see her! 

Well i better get going the computer is going to kick me off!

I love you all soooooo much!!!

have a great week

here are some pics from the buritto challenge

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!