Short email, 12/23/2013

So I only have a little time today because our pday is Christmas and we are skyping sooooo yeah this will be short.

My new comp is HERMANA M she's the best!!!! She is from California and she is super funny. We have a lot of fun. This is her last transfer and so we are going to work super hard here to make it the best transfer ever!!!!

It doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet, but I am excited! We are going to chill at the familia D's house and eat yummy food. On Christmas eve we are going to be with Hermano C and his family, and that will be super fun. We are also going caroling with the elders tomorrow! Before my mission I was bummed that I would miss 2 Christmas's at home, but now I am glad because mission Christmas's are really special and different.

So the baptism was great! B agreed to bear his testimony after the baptism, and I was afraid that he would talk for hours about how he was electrocuted when he was 7 and how he had "seen that bright light and seen the angels" but he just gave a short testimony of how he was proud to be a Mormon and loves "the Mormon book" as he calls it haha

So we have been teaching this lady E for a LONG time and she has never come to church, but she is going through some really hard things right now and so we decided we were going to teach the Sabbath day again and commit her to come to church and we were really gonna crack down because it's about time. well right when we sat down her daughter runs up to us and says "vamos a la iglesia manana!" so that was awesome, we looked at each other like "ok, that was easy". AND SHE REALLY CAME!!!! It was the biggest miracle of the week!

Well that's basically all. oh wait one more thing. Hermano C thinks of us as his "angeles", which drives me crazy but I know it's a cultural thing. Well anyways he has 3 porcelain angels on top of his Christmas tree named P (she was the sister here before me ) W, and Jones.............I will have to send a picture..........it's so weird because the angels say our names on them..... weird.

Well feliz navidad and see ya on Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana jones

At a Fiesta!

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

something Hno. C gave us.....he says those two angels are us haha we don't know what to do with it. it even lights up!

trailer park with tons of snow

"the little person who just keeps things going", Dec 2013

helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

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

pictures

 baptism!

me and the saint peter water tower

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