At a Fiesta!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
stayin in st peter, Dec 2013
Transfers were today.............. and I'm staying here! I already knew I would, since hna W is going home and the area is doing really well, President wouldn't whitewash the area so I'll be here for at least another 7 weeks! My new companera se llama Hermana M! I will meet her on Wednesday. From what people have told me, this is her last transfer, so I will be killing off another missionary haha. I'm a little nervous to lead the area, but it will all be fine. I'm not a psychic or anything....but I will probably be here for a long time. If hna m is going home, they probably wouldn't transfer me.....so who knows.....and a lot of Spanish sisters are leaving soon so there will be new ones to train...I could be training next transfer! Ah! I also hit my 4 month mark this week...where did the time go?! I am super glad to stay in St. peter though! I love this little place!
So sis W is going home Wednesday.....I am sad! She's awesome. I have been taking pictures of her all day because I don't have that many of her haha. Tomorrow we go to Bloomington and I send her off! She will go to the temple with pres and his wife and then have a testimony meeting and stuff like that. I will go with the Bloomington Spanish Sisters for the day, which I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for because that means I get to be with Hna P! She is from Mexico DF.. St. peter was her first area and she finished training right when I got here. She is just the best ever, I'm excited to chill with her all day!!!!!!! Anyways, then on Wednesday I will get my new comp y regresaremos a San peter.
This week in reunion de distrito we watched an old seminary clip about Christmas time.....and it was about being home for Christmas. Hna W wants to be on her mission for Christmas, but the video was so funny because it was about this guy and he hadn't seen his family for a very long time and was like "I'm going home" and idk it was just so funny because hna W was not very happy with him!
B se va a bautizar el sabado! woooo! So something cool that happened. We assigned him 3 nefi 18 to read one time, and he read the whole chapter and beyond. so in 3 nefi 19 there is a verse about how white jesus's robe is, but anyways B was electrocuted once and this is how he always says it "I've seen that bright light, I've seen the angels" (we've heard him tell the story probably 25 times, no joke so I have it memorized) and so he loved that verse because he says he has experienced that , and because of that he has the strongest testimony of the book of Mormon and it has made all the difference! He has faced so much opposition from family and friends and it is awesome to see how strong he is!
We taught some more Guatemalans this week! P and J....at least I think his name is J....last night we were counting all the js we know and there are like 15 haha.....anyways they liked the restauracion and we are going back this week. P prayed at the end and it was kind of a creepy prayer and reallllly long, my knees were killing me haha but I think he said part of it in Guatemalteco (their dialect) and was whispering it so I couldn't tell.
hno c's mom and sister are here from mexico! His sister is going to live here with him and his mom is staying for 6 months....so yeah they are going to be baptized haha. They are super awesome! They brought us each a t shirt, shot glass, and some good old Mexican meds to help us with our coughs. The medicine just says to ask your doctor how to use it.....so we haven't tried it yet. oh and they gave us pesos to use for the next time we go to mexico! But anyways, his sister has read the WHOLE libro de Mormon and been to church several times..........so I just wonder why she isn't baptized yet haha and the mom has been several times. It's funny because hno c had NO idea about any of that haha.
We got fed so much this week. One of the ward members owns a bbq restaurant and smoked some turkey for the ward party.......oh my gosh it was soooo good. The ward party was so awesome!
That's basically the week. espero que tengan un buen dia!
Hermana jones
"the little person who just keeps things going", Dec 2013
hellllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Can I just say that it is COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! man, there were so many snow adventures this week. So first of all there were exchanges. We were in a town called Cleveland just 6 miles east of saint peter and we were running late to meet the other sisters in between here and Lakeville. So we put the address in the GPS (and our gps is super crappy) and it took us this super weird way, and we were just driving through farms in the country for like 45 minutes. So we used so many miles, AND the dirt roads were icy and we got stuck a few times, AND we were like an hour and a half late.....hahaha I guess you could say we don't trust our gps anymore!!! But instead of going to Lakeville this time Hermana C came here to St. Peter! It was a crazy day, because we weren't able to use our cars for most of the day because it was snowing too hard! And they don't plow until the storm is over so imagine non stop snow all day just building up.......I was glad that we didn't have to drive much though, I hate snow driving! The next morning was scary though, because I had to drive hna C and two other sisters to Bloomington, and the roads were so dangerous
But other than that, it just keeps on dumping down on us! We have been getting texts almost every day about having to stay inside because it is too cold to be outside. In Utah, it is cold when it snows but when the sun is out it isn't unbearable, but here if the sun is out, it is just an illusion because you still freeze your butt off! The other day we helped a lady move and it was NEGATIVE 10!!!!! I literally thought I had frostbite! And because it's so cold, everything is just ice. it's EVERYWHERE!!!!
so the subject of the email is a sentence from someones prayer haha. We are teaching a guy named W who says the greatest prayer, and he prayed for me and said "Bless sister Jones, the little person who just keeps things going" so I guess I'm just a little person! He has come to church 3 times, but just won't commit to be baptized....it's frustrating sometimes!
Guess what..........we had the craziest thing happen this week. so sometimes we do finding in a town called Le center, but we don't spend a lot of time there because there are no members there and it is super far away from the church and hard to find rides for people. Anyways about a month ago we were finding there and found this guy named A, and he said he was from mexico, but we were pretty sure he was from Guatemala because he spoke Spanish differently. Anyways we taught him the restoration and gave him a book of Mormon, but hadn't seen him since. One time we called him to help him get to church, and he said he would go (but we weren't sure if he completely understood what we were saying) and so we kind of forgot to find a ride for him or anything. Then he called us and told us that he waited and waited that morning for someone to bring him to church, but no one came, and we felt sooooooo bad. Well anyways we asked Bro. C to take him to church because it is kind of on the way for him and he went and got him yesterday and so A came!!!!!! And he really liked it. And then after church he came with us to a member's house to eat lunch, and we were able to teach him more about the book of Mormon, and he says he has been reading it! Woo! And he is Christian, and Christians really understand the restoration much clearer than catholics, so there is definitely some real potential there.
J had his baptisimal interview on Saturday, and afterwards I got the best feeling in the world! It just made me so happy that he is going to be baptized and I think it was that joy that it says in Dand C 18 15. IT was awesome because he knows the book of Mormon is true and has been going to church and praying and keeping the commandments. But then something bad happened. We went to wake him up yesterday morning for church, so like right after his interview, and there were beer cans all over the floor in his trailer, and he was definitely drunk. We asked him if he has been keeping the word of wisdom and he swears on his life that he had, and kept telling us that it was his roommates that were drinkning, not him. Well one is a recent convert who definitely doesn't drink and it could have been the other one, except for the fact that J was definitely drunk. So we told the bishop not to announce the baptism in sacrament, but we still have yet to talk to J. we couldn't trust what he said because he was drunk, but at the same time we have to take his word for it. We don't know if we will put off the baptism yet, but it's just so sad because he is _____ <-------- this close. But addictions are hard, especially if it's been an addiction for 20 or so years. We just can't give up on him!
But B is still good to go to get baptized!!! The only sad thing is that it is right after Hermana W leaves, she is hoping that there is some crazy storm and that she is forced to stay here for a few days and doesn't have to go home. It's so funny, she is in denial about going home, and claims she still has 2 months, but really its like......7 days haha. IT was her 23rd birthday this week, and Hno c threw her a birthday party! He gave her soooooooo many presents, and he said he felt bad for me so he gave me one too haha it's a little cross keychain. He gave her a balloon with a cross and basically everything he gives us has a cross on it, so when we see him tonight we are going to tell him that we don't really use the cross. It was really nice of him though!
We taught another Guatemalan named D this week. He is so cute because he has the biggest smile ever, and when we met him he just smiled so huge the whole time.And his name means Sunday so it makes him that much more cute. I love how small the people are, even though it makes me feel like a giant.
That's basically everything for this week! Just freezing but that's normal
Hermana Jones
sorpresa, Dec 2013
bueno.....this week has been weird because of Thanksgiving. But great!!!
We went to Sister C for thanksgiving and it was delicious. She had everything I love......rolls and stuffing. And other stuff but I chowed down on those. Oh and apple pie!!!! But my favorite pie was a berry pie. It had raspberries that she picked in Wisconsin, and they had quite the story behind them.... she got chased by a bear while she was picking them!!!!!! so it was more like BEARY pie haha. There were some widows from the ward that came and also some of their family, so there were a lot of people. It was really awesome. They even invited our recent convert E!
We haven't been doing a lot of finding lately because we have been really busy, but this week we were able to do a lot and we found a lot more people to teach! 2 of the 3 speak Spanish (and we didn't even find them in a trailer park....crazy) so it's pretty exciting
So we were teaching this guy named G, and he was SO funny and we even got him to come to church one time, but after that we couldn't get a hold of him for a while, and we finally did and he told us to come back next summer. We kind of thought he was kidding but then we asked him again but he was really serious :( he has been really busy at his work so apparently he doesn't have time for us. We wanted to say to him "You don't have time for God?!" so if by some miracle I am still in St. Peter next summer, he is going to be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!
This area has tons of Guatemalans!!!! But it's so hard to communicate with them because Spanish is their second language. But I love talking to them because we automatically have something in common....we both love Guatemala! Sister W said this is the only area of her mission where she has worked with Guatemalans so I better take advangtage while I can. We met one the other night in the Laundromat, and his name is D (which means sunday) ! Such a cute name!
so this is the sorpresa I want to talk about.....B, the old guy who we had to postpone the baptism for, still wants to get baptized! He told his wife (catholic and doesn't want anything to do with the church) about tithing, and they are really tight on money and so she told him if he started to pay tithing she would kick him out of the house. So without her support, he decided to postpone the baptism for a while. So we were still teaching him about once a week, just not pushing to be baptized until we could have his wife's support. Well the other night he called us and asked what time his baptism was this coming Saturday......so he still thought he was getting baptized...haha so we had to tell him we still need to teach him a lot more but he is back at it! Woo!
But then we had a set back with J. So we scheduled his baptisimal interview and it has to be between 7 and 10 days before the baptism, and we had it all figured out but then he decided to go to Iowa like an hour before his interview without telling us! So he will have to wait another week to have his interview and another week to be baptized. Hopefully Hermana W is here to see him get baptized and that there are no more setbacks. She goes home in just 2 more weeks! It's so weird to start my mission with someone ending theirs.
We found this guy a while ago named D, and for some reason have been really persistent with him and finally were able to meet with him and his girlfriend, and her name is C. They are so awesome and prepared and at the best time in their life for the gospel because she is pregnant and wants to raise the baby in a religious home because she wasn't raised in a religious home.
hna W has been sick for the past week and a half with a bad cough, and I thought I wasn't going to get it.....but yesterday morning I woke up with a sore throat and cough........nooooooooooooooo! It also came with heachaches and an achy body so I've been taking tylonel and that has been helping. I hope it doesn't last as long as hers!!!
I wish I could think of a funny story to tell.........but I can't at the moment. This week we have a zone conference where we get to watch a movie...not a church movie but a REAL movie! I am so excited! espero que tengan una semana buenisima y Dios les bendiga
Hermana Jones
12 degrees, Nov 2013
chipas it is cold here. seriously!!!!!!! The other night we were tracting at 8:00 at night and it was 12 degrees!!!!!!! and it's only November!!!!! so I think the main difference between the cold in Utah and the cold here is that the SECOND you go outside in this kind of cold, your whole body is frozen. Like you can't feel your hands after 10 seconds. So it's the same temperature, but here it like makes you colder faster. But asi es!
so we had a BAUTISMO!!!!!!!!!!!! woo Hermano C. It was such a good day. He was soooo nervioso though haha and it was sort of stressful but everything worked out fine. We also got 2 investigators to come to it! Then after there was some great food. I will send pictures next week, I forgot my camera cord.
So J had a HUGE turnaround this week! So come to find out he didn't fully understand the word of wisdom, he thought 1 beer every once in a while was ok haha so we cleared that up and he has been having a lot of spiritual experiences lately so he is well on his way to being baptized!!!!! He went to the baptism and said he felt like crying, and we told him that was ok to cry and he seemed relieved. Then he told us that he went home after the baptism and read in the book of Mormon and he said he got a confirmation that it is true and he said, "I wanted to call you and shout I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!!!!!!" Ahhhh it's sooo awesome. When he cut out those bad influences his spiritual progression just skyrocketed.
So I was driving the car for a little while, but the mission just got a new rule where they are doing designated drivers, so Hna W has to drive again haha. She is so sick of driving since she has been doing it for like 5 transfers. I'm kinda glad with the snow and all!
So we are kind of teaching this old mexicano couple (we are teaching the abuelito ingles) and last night we went over right when they were finishing dinner and so they let us have some, it was muy rica and picante!!! The tortillas were fresh and handmade...mmmmmmmm. I love Mexican food. Maybe one day I will be in a Spanish ward and get fed Mexican all the time. Haha I just thought of a funny thing that happened a while ago. So we ate dinner with an investigator and he gave us organge soda, and we had a lesson afterwards and all 3 of us were burping like crazy during the whole lesson haha. Too bad it wasn't a burping competition or I would have won!
oh I got the package!!!! And the card is hanging on my wall! My favorite thing was that Anna sanders wrote something in Spanish.....I didn't know she served a mission or served Spanish speaking! But yeah, it's super fun to see. I never would have imagined myself getting one of those. And the bag is super cute, I love it. It works great also.
So we went to this Mexican restaurant in Madelia the other day that was so cheap. I got and enchilada and salad for 2.50 it was GRRRRQUISIMAS.
We started teaching English classes yesterday! We only had Hno. C and J there, but it went really well. We are going to try and have it every week right after church.
I know I keep talking about food but there was so much good food this week......we ate dinner at a less actives home, and it was this really good chicken and this weird yummy rice. I asked her what it was and she said it was Minnesota wild rice. Apparently there is a kind of rice that grows in the lakes here that the native Americans harvest and sell, and it was so good! And I guess it only grow here, so I will have to send some home so you can try it.
That's basically it for this week..........................
Hermana Jones
corn fields, Nov 2013
hola hola!
It's weird to think that I've almost been out 3 months! It's flown by, and it will keep flying by! Sometimes 18 months seems SO LONG but other days I look at how far I've come already.
Well being in this area has really opened up my eyes to some things. One of our investigators, S, is from El Salvador and is in the US on a work visa. He got into some trouble with the law and was on probation for a while, but we found out a few weeks ago (when we were translating a letter for him) that he was no longer on probation. But something weird happened and they took him to a detention facililty last week because his DUI was a violation of the work visa (obviously) and they are probably going to deport him. It is SO sad because he has a wife (well techinically girlfriend) and two little girls. They don't have much money and don't know what to do. It's so hard to see because if their dad gets deported, they may never see him again. It's just so sad and keep them in your prayers. his wife is super strong though and just keeps saying that God has a plan and its true, it's just hard to watch.
Also another sad story. There is another family in the trailer park and the mom works CRAZY hours milking cows (like 65 hours a week or something) and the dad can't work because he has health problems. And because of this, their kids haven't grown up in a home with parents that are always there for them, and they are just a handful. Well one of the sons fell out of a tree and got really hurt, and so child services counted it as neglect, and the mother is now in a detention facility waiting to be deported also. We heard about this from someone else, and so we went to stop by and see if there was anything we could do to help, and J (the dad) answered the door and he just looked so stressed. We asked him how things have been and he almost started crying, and he couldn't even get himself to speak. He kept walking around the room running his hands through his hair and kicking the chair and there was so much pain in his face. He couldn't get himself to say what had happened, and he just told us to come back later. It was so hard to see that. I wish there was something we could do to help these people in their suffereing, but all we can do is pray and tell them God has a plan for them.
Other than that, things are going pretty well. We have a baptism on Saturday! I'm excited. It's cool to look back and remember one lesson we had with him where he argued with us about the difference between a profet and a pastor, and then to see him invite a friend to one of the lessons and bear his testimony to his friend about how he knows Joseph Smith is a profet. It's so awesome!
I've been having a hard time this last week just being afraid for the end of the transfer. Hermana W goes home after this transfer, and I am pretty sure I will stay in St. Peter, but I rely on her SO MUCH and I don't know how I will be able to do things without her. I am so nervous for my Spanish especially. But I know that it is not going to be easy no matter what, so I just need to buckle down and try and learn all I can before she goes. Everyone says that they are finally comfortable with Spanish during the 3rd transfer, and I feel like I won't be then and so that is also making me nervous. I just need to work really hard and expect miracles I guess.
Yesterday we taught a viajito English! He is going to take the citizen test so we helped him learn some of the words he will need to know. The saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" really is true haha. He just kept saying that how we were saying it was wrong, even though we were saying it in English how it is supposed to be said. Then he would say it in a Spanish accent and say that was the right way. I was cracking up. We are starting an English class at the church this week! we are going to do it after church every sunday as an incentive to get people to church and also to find more people. 100% of the people we teach that don't speak English want to learn so it will be a good opportunity for them.
One of my favorite people, C, went to California :( he is going to be working there for a month and then in Iowa for like 6 months, so I don't know when we will see him again. He is a recent convert from mexico and is so awesome. He is just so short! I am sad because I didn't even get a picture with him because one day he was just gone. it was so weird.
There are 3 people we are teaching in Madelia. J is 17 and from El Salvador, W is 12, and W is 13. They are siblings and so awesome. It was really hard to get a hold of them for a while, and FINALLY this week we got to teach them....TWICE! They were both great lessons. We are going again tonight and hopefully they are there. We have learned that the best thing to do is to just stop unannounced and so hopefully they will be there!
I can't think of anything else for this week. Its getting really cold here and everyone is getting ready for the winter, Christmas lights and everything! I can't wait to get my David CD!!!
Thanks for all the support!
"if I won the lottery, I would build you mormons a new church", Nov 2013
So I will explain the quote. We were teaching this guy B, he has 76 years. Anways we were teaching him and right at the beginning he said "I told the man up stairs in my prayer this morning that if I won the lottery, I would build you mormons a new church" haha he's the best.
well this week was a pretty basic week. There were a lot of good things that happened, .like a less active from El Salvador who hasn't been to church since he moved to the us came with his non member wife and daughter!! WOO!! We are going to do fhe with them tonight.
so C is our investigator from china and SHE IS THE BEST!!!! The last time we taught her I wanted to change missions and go to china for a minute haha. She goes to Gustavus and we met her there to teach her. She bought us all this yogurt and these cookies from the cafeteria even though we had just eaten dinner. So she was a referral from the sisters in dinky town, but even though we hadn't even met her she like ran over to us right when she saw us and started hugging us and holding our hands and stuff, she is SO CUTE!!!!
two of our investigators with baptisimal dates had major setbacks this week, but its ok! We will keep working through it. One of them is doing super great though, we just hope he doesn't work during his baptism! It should be not this saturday but next, I am so excited!
We had a mission conference this week in Lakeville, and Elder G from the 70 talked to us. It was awesome! He had so much energy and made everything so exciting, and I want to be able to do that. Sometimes I feel like I am so solemn when I teach because I am trying to speak the language right and teach the doctrine right, but I need to be more excited and full of energy so people don't care about how i am speaking the language, but what I am saying.
We taught a lot of people from Guatemala this week, and it made me want to go back SO BAD!! There is even an elder here from guatemala, and I talked to him about going to rio dulce and he said that is where his family goes on vacation all the time. It made me super nostalgic. I love teaching people from guate because then I have something to talk to them about besides the gospel haha
well that's basically it!!! cuidense
hermana jones
minesoooooota, Nov 2013
yo yo yo familia
well I actually remember stuff to write this week!
so first of all Minnesota is actually becoming pretty to me! Cuz there are no mountains the sky goes on FOREVER and it's cool to see with all the fields and trees. And all the rivers and lakes are really pretty too! I will send a pic I took last week of a sunset over a random lake in the middle of nowhere haha. We were driving on this highway and there were no cars so we just stopped in the middle of the road to take the pictures.
So we were in a town called Le Center, and we don't go there very much so we went finding and found this mom and her 2 kids and taught them. Her kids were SO cute. Actually, all Hispanic kids are. When they speak their cute little Spanish....I want to die because its SO CUTE!! Sometimes its a bad thing because its gets me excited to be a mom haha but that will have to wait. Her little boy who was like 2 was such a talker. He would repeat everything like 100 times and we let him look at our restoration pamphlet and he pointed to Jesus on the front and said "Es Jesus" and it was soooo adorable. One of our investigators has a little daughter who is probably 6 and whenever we come she gets so excited and just yells "CRISMOS!" Which isn't really a word haha. Oh one more story about kids. You always see little kids who are really chunky....well they ain't got nothin on this one little Guatemalan guy. probably 15 months old.......looks like a sumo wrestler. like the kid's gotta be wearing like 6 year old kids clothes he is so big. If it was appropriate to take a picture of him....I would haha seriously....a sumo wrestler.
We had a super good lesson in relief society yesterday. The RS president talked about the Spirit and how it guides us to do missionary work and she told us that a few months ago there were only 2 missionaries in the Mankato ward, and then there was a stake conference where the stake president said "Mankato will be a stake of Zion" and soon after that there were 8 missionaries in the ward! It's just a cool thing to see how big things are happening here and I get to be a part of it! The crazy thing is that the Mankato ward boundaries are HUGE, it's hard to imagine there be a stake here really soon but we are doing our best to make it happen!
My first day here we had a little orientation at the mission home, and President C said that this mission is a foreign mission in the united states because there are so many people from around the world. And it's so true! There are so many Africans! Not in my area, but there are some. We talked to a lady from Somalia the other day, and she told us a lot about her country and the wars going on there and it was just super cool to talk about her culture. And of course I get to teach the Hispanics, but I've learned so much about different parts of the world. We are even teaching someone from China tonight so that will be fun.
Speaking of cultures......the other day we went to visit some recent converts named C and M (they are brothers) and we walked in to see 6 dead chickens just sitting on the counter!! They had just been plucked and they were starting to clean them and get all the meat out. Haha M just went to a farm and picked the chickens as they were running around, and then the farmer killed them and gave them to him.... 3 for 20 bucks....I guess that's a pretty good deal for a few chickens haha. I will send a picture. We went back later and got to see all the blood and guts, it was kinda gross.
Sometimes I am AMAZED at how different the latinos view time. I don't even know how to describe it. It's like time doesn't exist to them. They can talk for literally hours on end and they will stop whatever they are doing to talk. And they also are late for EVERYTHING haha. It's so hard for me to understand sometimes but asi es.
So sometimes it stinks here and I don't know why, but I swear everyday I say something like "it smells like poo" well the other night we were riding our bikes and as we got home I just thought to myself "It smells like poo" but I say that so much so I didn't say it to my comp or anything. well then I am walking inside and it really did smell like poo so I looked at the bottom of my shoes and they had dog poo ALL OVER THEM! It was nasty. luckily I found it before I walked all over our apartment! So never say that phrase or else it will happen to you haha
So this week we went to a restaurant in Mapleton! Yes there is a town called mapleton here! It is owned by some members of the ward and it is a barbecue place. They had a yummy pulled pork, but not as good as the smoking apple. But they had these REALLY good sauces to go with the pulled pork, like this one peach flavored one. It sounds weird, but it was SO GOOD!!!
I finally had an authentic Mexican meal! our investigator F wanted to feed us so of course we said yes! He made homemade tortillas, some Mexican saugage with eggs, frijoles, and then me and Hermana W made some salsa in a molcajete! It's like the one we have at home. I told him that my family had one and he asked me a ton of questions about it haha. It was really yummy. I wish I could have it right now mmmm
We went to Mankato to go shopping today, and I got a super cute skirt and shirt from target. the skirt is a pencil skirt that is pink and has a cute design and the shirt is leopard print! They were both on sale so I couldn't pass it up. I also got lots of good food. We go to Mankato to shop whenever we can because there is only one store in St. Peter and it is pretty expensive. BUT there is a shopko opening up here, and I think it is just a grocery store. but yeah, it's crazy because then there will be 2 grocery stores......st peter is growing!
Up at gustavus there is a building that looks like the provo temple so I am going to try to take a picture of it when I am there tonight to show you. It's crazy how much it looks like it! Excpet instead of a moroni and the top there is a cross because it is a Lutheran school.
J came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited because this whole week he wasn't drogado or drunk all! and since he came to church he will receive blessings. ANd he is still planning to be baptized on the 23 woot woot!
Pretty sure that is it. I can't believe it snowed in Utah because it hasn't snowed here yet! Just rain which is so weird
hasta lunes!
Hermana Jones
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