There's no such thing as an atheist!

hello hello!

I am super limited on time today, so sorry if none of this makes sense.  :)  We're headed to Edmonton in a bit for mission tour!  Elder Martino is coming to speak to us and it's going to be epic.  

This week....hmm.  I honestly don't even remember what happened.  SO MUCH HAPPENED but things are such a blurr.  

We had our mormon.org time and watched a couple really cool videos!  Y'all need to watch this one for sure:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/our-heavenly-fathers-plan?v=1412192349001

there are also a few other videos in this section of mormonchannel that are AMAZING, check them out for sure.  

Tuesday night, we had supper with Bishop Jarvis' family, they're my favorite people ever.  I just laugh and laugh when I'm over there, they are amazing.  Sister Jarvis helps us in the work so much, we wouldn't be where we are without her.  That night we went with the Young Women to visit the less active girls and give them a little treat, we only actually talked with one, the others weren't home, but it was good.  

Wednesday, we were going to go meet with a couple potentials we found while on exchanges last week, and we call the number....yeah he gave us a fake number.  NOOOOOOOOO..... it was really sad actually.  I was so stoked to teach this guy.  FAIL.   Oh well, whenever something sad happens, we remind ourselves that we're one step closer to a miracle.  God knows what His plan is.  

THURSDAY WAS FULL OF MIRACLES

First off, we went and visited our investigator, Bobbie.  She isn't doing too well, she's been having a hard time with family issues, but she told us that reading the Book of Mormon helps her so much!  She's been reading and praying and really gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  

After supper that night, we were really wanting to meet with Shauna, one of our other investigators, at the church and give her a church tour before the lesson.  She doesn't ever know her schedule, so meeting with her is tough.  After trying to get a hold of her for a bit, we went into the mothers lounge and prayed our little hearts out.  she didn't end up calling while we were there, so we decided to visit some less actives to invite them to the ward BBQ.  We had the thought to text Olivier, our "atheist" friend we met while tracting a few weeks ago!  We told him about the BBQ, then asked if he could meet.  He texted back really fast and said yes!  We weren't expecting this, and to meet with him we have to have someone else of our same gender, and we couldn't find anyone!!!!  it was so intense.  We didn't want to have to bring the elders, because we felt like it would be overwhelming for him, then we thought of Selena, a girl in our ward who's YSA age!  We called her, and she was all for it!  

Olivier got to the church and we gave him a little tour.  He said he felt bad because he had "only read 20 pages" of the book of mormon!  ONLY?? Most people don't even read!!!  It was so great.  I really think he's just trying to be an atheist...he's totally not.  We taught him the restoration in the chapel and the spirit was so strong.  I hadn't recited the first vision in a lesson yet, and I knew it was coming....but I was so scared.  It came time and I looked at Sister McEwen and she just looked at me...so I said it!  I can't even describe the spirit that was felt.  I just testified of the truthfulness of what we were saying and his eyes just lit up.  So powerful.  We asked him to pray about it and keep reading, but he's so stubborn.  He doesn't think God really cares if we pray, but he'll get there. Also, that was the first time I've ever heard an F word in a chapel...awkward.  OOH I ALMOST FORGOT!  OLIVIER WALKED TO THE CHURCH!  From the church to his house, it's about an 8 minute drive...not sure how many miles, but an atheist wouldn't walk to a church in the cold to learn about God...it just doesn't make sense.  #notanatheist SO MANY MIRACLES

Friday was the ward BBQ!  So much fun.  Our ward is the greatest!  We didn't have any less actives that we invited, but a former investigator showed up!  It was a fun night.  We definitely got to know the ward better.  

Saturday, we had this huge family history fair!  I guess the church puts it on every year.  People come from all over to hear seminars and attend classes to learn more about doing family history.  Not as many nonmembers came as usual, but it was still a huge success.  

Our Saturday afternoon miracle:  Bobbie texted us asking if she could get a book of mormon for her mom.  We were just like, YES OF COURSE!  Then she texts back and asks if she can get ANOTHER for her friend, then she texts AGAIN and says, "wait can I just get 4 more?"  OUR INVESTIGATOR DOES MORE MISSIONARY WORK THAN MOST MEMBERS!!!  Ha it was such a great moment.  We brought them by her house last night and she was so stoked about it.  She LOVES the book of mormon so much. 

Anyways, hopefully this all makes sense.  Being a missionary is so humbling.  I'm so thankful for the time that I've had so far and for all of the things I have learned.  God really is in control and He has a specific plan for each and every one of His children.  It's incredible what miracles can happen when you truly submit to his will.  

I love you all so much!  

Onward, ever onward. 

love,

sister jones

Time out for...Pics

 Canadian Skies...*sigh*...Incredible!

 

 Wax on, Wax off

  Study time...

 Eating Perogies for the first time (heart attack in a box)

 Eating Mr. Maples...mmmm!

 Bundling up!

 Hiding in closet waiting to scare the other sisters...hehe!

My other twin

 

Jump-roping at the ward BBQ with a tug-o-war rope!

Ward BBQ friend:)

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas??

Hey everyone!

yeah.  It snowed last night and all of this morning.  Actually, it's still going pretty strong.  Apparently it's the earliest they've seen snow up here, so that's exciting I guess!  First time I'll have snow for my birthday!!!  ......

Anyways, this week was good!
On Tuesday we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders.  Since Grande Prairie is 5 hours away, when we do exchanges, both of them come here and we basically have to double book our appointments and such, so it's a bit stressful.  I was really nervous because I feel like I'm still super new and don't know the area well enough to not get lost and all that, but it was SO GOOD!  Sister Tanner was my companion for the day and we started off by going out to Wembley for an appointment.  We planned on teaching Donald about our life on earth and the atonement, but he was super confused about the Book of Mormon.  Apparently we didn't explain it very well and he thought it was our version of the bible. oops.  So we got that all cleared up!  He has like over 20 different versions of the bible, but alas, no king james version.  We are getting him one this week so he can read the most correct one.  We weren't sure we should keep teaching him, because he hasn't been progressing at all, but now I feel like he totally will!  So that was good.
We tracted for a while out in Wembley and actually got a few new potentials!  SO EXCITING!  We'll be teaching them this week, I'm stoked.
We also had supper with a less active family, they have a little girl and she TOTALLY reminds me of Sophi!  It's so great.

I learned so much on exchanges.  I had to take the lead in lessons and felt so great about it after.  You truly do grow so much when you get out of your comfort zone.  "there's no comfort in the growing zone and no growing in the comfort zone".

I was pretty sick with a cold this week, and it was pretty frustrating.  Being sick on a mission is the WORST.  But now I'm all better after loading up on the cold medicine.  But now Sister McEwen has it...oops.  :)

Like I said before, we've really been trying to involve the members in missionary work.  We asked a few specific people to bear their testimonies in fast and testimony meeting about missionary work yesterday.  Let me tell you, it was SO GOOD!  The spirit was so strong, and I think it got some people really excited about missionary work.  Things are definitely looking up.

We got dropped by one of our investigators though...that was a shot right to the heart.  It's hard when people literally say no their eternal salvation...I didn't realize how big of a deal it is until I got out here.
I was a little discouraged, but read in the September Ensign an article called, Your Journey of Giving (y'all should give it a good read) and this quote really stood out to me:
"In the days ahead you will find many occasions to murmur. But remember that God is in control and is never absent. Remember that your call is to work after the manner of the Lord, not after the manner of men, and that by following His voice, you will become a powerful instrument in His hands for doing good."

Also, this talk by Pres. Uchtdorf is PHENOMENAL!  Read it.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/the-love-of-god?lang=eng

By being obedient, we show our love for God.  I've found that God is literally WAITING to give us blessings, he is just waiting for us to obey his commandments, and once we do, he will pour them out upon us and we won't even have room enough to receive them!  It's incredible.  

I love you all!  this work is truly amazing.  Rough at times, but "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven", right? :)  I am so thankful to be here and I know without a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church here on the earth.  It is the same church that Jesus Christ organized in His earthly ministry, and there is no other way to happiness.  Satan tries to fool us into thinking that his way will bring happiness, but it only brings temporary satisfaction.  Accepting Jesus Christ and living according to His teachings is the only way to gain true joy in this life, as well as in the life to come.  

keep up the good work, my friends, onward, ever onward.  

love

sister jones 

Our faces when it starts snowing on September 7th.... -___-

Agents of Jesus Christ, Peddlers of the Bike of Righteousness, and SOLICITORS OF SALVATION

If you're wondering about the subject line, Sister McEwen and I thought we were pretty smart while thinking it up.  Ha lots of people here have signs on their doors that say "no agents, peddlers, or solicitors"..and as a missionary sometimes you think you're hilarious and this is one of those times.  Carry on.

This week has been an adventure (as always).  We had half of our lessons fall through due to less actives really not wanting to meet with us.... it's frustrating.  But we did a whole lot of tracting!  Good ol' tracting..we actually find quite a bit of success while tracting, believe it or not!  Anyways, I'll tell ya about my week. 

Monday was pday!  After emailing and such, we had supper with a member and then went to the YSA FHE!  We played dodgeball which was such a good time.  Then I got DRILLED in the face by an Elder in our district...hahaha and afterwards we were visiting a less active and she goes, "was it this side of your face?...I can tell..."  HA!  I had a pretty good fat lip, but it was gone by tuesday :)  Good times...

Tuesday was good, the two wards in Grande Prairie had a relief society dinner activity, so we went to that!  We've been really trying to get close with the members!  Missionary work without the members is nothing.  NOTHING I TELL YOU!  so all of you non missionaries, GET ON IT!  :)  

Wednesday morning, we did some service and helped with a "street store"!  It was the first one the community put on.  Basically what it is, is a TON  of donated clothes that they put out and people who can't afford clothes for themselves come by and take what they need!  They literally had MOUNTAINS of garbage sacks full of clothes.  

Thursday we had district meeting and all that fun stuff.  We got a new investigator!!!! Her name is Christa and she's so wonderful.  She and her husband have two little kids.  We taught her the Restoration, and she really seemed to understand it all.  BUT their family is going out of town for two weeks...NOOOOO!  so we'll have to get in touch with her in a couple weeks.  She said she would read the Book of Mormon on the drive though!  She's so solid.  

Friday and Saturday...we did so. much. tracting.  It was tiring.  We found a couple potentials though!  SCORE!  Tracting on saturday nights isn't very effective at all though...our appointments fell through so that was basically our only option..yeah drunk people aren't really all that receptive to the spirit...who woulda thought?? :)  But I did get asked which wife I was.  That was funny.  WE'RE NOT POLYGAMISTS I PROMISE!  Oh well.  good stuff.  We had supper with a member family on Saturday, they're the greatest.  Everyone here has babies and I just want to hold them but I can't and it's depressing!!! We went over to the Bishop's to visit, and literally, they are my favorite people ever.  The kids are HILARIOUS I can't stop laughing when I'm over there.  They made me a cupcake with the letter J on it for Jones.  cute, right?  They're so wonderful.  

Yesterday, we had supper with the Wheelers after church.  They are literally the funniest people I've ever met.  They all have british accents, and are recently coming back from inactivity.  They're going to the temple in October and it's so exciting!!!  I love them so much! 

I realized on Saturday that I've been out for a month!!!  It's nuts.  missions are just a giant time warp I don't understand it.  I'm so happy to be here. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!  

Like I said before, we've been working really hard to get the members involved.  It's coming along...slowly but surely.  Most people can't remember the last time they had a convert baptism in our ward, so the members don't really think it's all that possible.  It'll happen here pretty soon though, I know it!

One thing Sister McEwen and I have talked a lot about lately is that the works of God cannot be frustrated.

D&C 3:1-3  look it up!  Even though sometimes we may feel that things aren't going as planned, they totally are.  God is always in control and He has a plan.  Whenever someone would cancel an appointment, we would get frustrated, but then have to realize that God is in control.  He knows where he wants us to be and he will make a way for success as long as we are working our hardest.

I love you all so much!  Don't be afraid to seek missionary experiences.  Pray for them and God WILL give them to you.  He will place people in your path that you are meant to share your light with.  Sharing the gospel not only strengthens those around you, but it strengthens YOU!  

Onward, ever onward.

Sister Jones

Finding, finding, finding

This week has been such a blur!!! Holy moly..sorry if this doesn't make any sense. 

We had a really full week planned, but SO MANY of our appointments just didn't answer their doors or cancelled at the last minute, which was really frustrating..but since we had more time, we did a ton of knocking doors.  It goes to show that Heavenly Father really always has a plan, because we found 6 NPI's (New potential investigator) this week!  Almost one everyday!  We were super stoked about it!  This week should be full of appointments with them!

Tuesday morning, we visited The Dude.  The Dude is this guy who, 27 years ago, got into an ATV accident.  He can't talk and he can barely move, but he talks to us with his fingers.  It's pretty crazy, super cool though!  We go with the elders in our ward and Brother Meyers and get to share a message with him.  Aaand have nerf gun wars hahah.  He's really incredible though! 

Thursday night, we went to a baptism!!!  Her name is Twyla, the other sisters have been working with her.  But she has basically been a member of the church her whole life.  Her mom is a member, but her dad isn't, and he wouldn't let her get baptized.  So on her 18th birthday, she was finally able to be baptized!  It was really cool, we had our investigator, Mary, come and she also brought her daughter!  We're really hoping she'll be ready for baptism soon, she's progressing..but very very slowly.  She's been taking the lessons for a really long time and has already been taught everything.  Now she just has to act on it.  So we're working really hard with her. 

FRIDAY WAS SUCH A BLESSED DAY

We had a lesson with Mary and another with a less active.  We had a few other appointments that day, and afterwards, we only had about 25 minutes til we had to be into our apartments.  We decided to tract for that time, and the first door we knocked on, nobody answered.  Across the street there was a guy standing out on his patio.  We went over to talk to him and he was like, "I believe in Lucifer!!!" hahah..uhh...so we just kept talking to him.  A lady poked her head out the door, and he was like, "Oh!  Talk to her, she's a real strong catholic woman!!!" (he thought we were nuns lol) so we started talking to her.  She was really weirded out at first, but we started talking about the Book of Mormon.  She was really intrigued.  We told her that unlike the bible, there is only one interpretation of it and it contains the fulness of the gospel.  She asked us about baptizing babies, and we told her that we baptize after the age of 8, because children aren't accountable before then. She was really relieved!  We then got into the Plan of Salvation somehow and she just asked us if it was bad that she felt like crying.  We taught her that it was the spirit, and the spirit testifies of truth.  She started crying then we started crying...it was SO POWERFUL I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN IT!  But we're meeting with her tomorrow!!!  I'm so stoked! 

Also, our investigator, Bobbie, has been praying everyday and she always texts us about how she feels that God is with her and she is so happy with herself when she prays!  #winning  We're so excited.

I can't believe it's already week three in Canada, time really does fly.

Sister McEwen and I had an epiphany the other day.  We realized every time we got an NPI, it was because we invited them to learn about SPECIFIC principles in the gospel, not just the gospel in general.  For example: would you be interested in learning more about life after death?  Stuff like that.  It has worked SO MUCH BETTER! 

I want to encourage all of you to really get into Preach My Gospel.  Your confidence in sharing the gospel will increase so much as you study the truth and learn the basics.  Simplicity is power! 

I love you all so much and really appreciate your support! 

love,

Sister Jones

In The Promised Land (where record breaking heat is mid 80's)

HELLO MY DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

It has been such a crazy couple of weeks!  Sorry I didn't get to email last week, our pday in the MTC was Wednesdays, and we left last Tuesday.  So I'll try to tell you all everything that I remember!

My district!

The last Sunday in the MTC was so bittersweet!  We sang our district farewell hymn in sacrament meeting, which was Come Thou Fount, and now every time I hear it I die inside a little.  In a good way..sort of.  It's great.  But lo and behold, guess who gets called out of the congregation to speak?  Sister Jones!  Ha I had a feeling it would happen though.  I just spoke on Repentance.  Good thing they pound the 5 principles of the Gospel into your head in the MTC, right?

So our MTC district was so great!  Saying goodbye to them was awful enough, and do you know what's even worse? Saying goodbye with a handshake.  A HANDSHAKE!  Ha oh well, #missionarylife I guess.  Anyways, Sister Rush, Sister Burton and I were the only ones who came to Canada, the Elders and Sister Rigby went to Seattle. 

Sister Rush, Sister Burton and me!

On Monday night, we basically only got 40 minutes of sleep!  We had to be at the travel office by 2:30am, and we still had to pack and clean out our residency and all that fun stuff, so that was exciting.  We went to the travel office and our traveling party was I think 23 missionaries!  Crazy, right?  So many missionaries.  The flights weren't too bad, I was hoping for a missionary experience, but I sat by a member lady on the first flight, then after the layover in Denver, I sad by Sister Burton.  Oh well I guess!  We were then greeted by President and Sister Manion after getting our visas and such (which took like 8 years).  We went to the church and right from the get go started street contacting in Edmonton!  We got rejected so many times it was crazy.  But we actually got into a really good conversation with 3 people who were very strong christians.  The girl seemed really interested so we gave her a book of mormon and the restoration pamphlet.  Super cool.  Hopefully the missionaries in Edmonton get in contact with her soon. 

Sister McEwen, Myself & Bro & Sis Manion

We stayed at the mission home that night and had a devotional and such, President Manion is so great.  Such a funny guy!  They're so sweet!  On Wednesday, we had transfer meeting where I met my trainer and found out where I would be serving!!! :)  My trainer's name is Sister McEwen and she has been out for 14 months! She's from Idaho and is a great missionary!  We are serving in Grande Prairie which is about 5 hours north west ish from Edmonton.  It's super pretty here, but we only get mail like once a month since it's so far away.  Sister Rush, my MTC companion is here as well and we get to live together!!!!!  We were so happy when we realized that!  Oh, also, Grande Prairie is the furthest north that they send Sisters.  All the sisters say they want to go here, so we're lucky!  Sister McEwen says we'll probably be here for about 6 months!  But you never know. 

NOW TO THE GOOD STUFF!  My first lesson was with an 83 year old man who lives in Wembly named Don.  He's such a sweet guy, he's Christian and reads the bible quite a bit.  It's really hard to get into lessons with him though because he talks SO MUCH.  his wife passed away in 2005 so he's a really lonely guy.  We only talked about prophets ahhaha but we gave him a book of mormon and invited him to read it and pray about it.  Hopefully he does!  We're meeting with him again tomorrow.  Ha and at the end of the lesson he goes to hug sister McEwen and it was awkward but then she just hugged him then I did.  hahahah oops.  I mean he's 83, what could we do?? :) 

On Friday we visited a less active lady, she has two kids and they're so adorable!  She really knows she needs to be back at church, her friends are really bad influences on her though.  She has stopped drinking though and really wants to come back!  We just gotta keep working with her, we're having FHE with her and her fam tonight, I'm excited! 

Saturday, we went out to another less active lady's house and she lives out in the boonies!  She has a horse ranch and we helped her wire up her new fence with the Elders who are serving in our ward.  It was pretty hot, but not compared to Utah!  Also, fun fact: DADDY LONG LEGS BITE IN CANADA!  Creepy, right??  Yeah I think Heavenly Father is trying to make me less scared of spiders because they were crawling all over me and I didn't quite freak out too bad..hahahah.  Sister McEwen got bit by on though it was crazy.  On our way back, we get a call from a high priest who was speaking in our Sacrament meeting the next day, and asked if one of us would speak with him....so I volunteered because I knew I'd speak in the next couple weeks anyway, may as well, right?  I just spoke on our purpose (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, enduring to the end) super easy just coming out of the MTC. 

Also.....WE GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!  she was a potential, so we went over to see if we could meet with her and she was sitting on her porch! We talked to her for a while, and she seemed kind of stand-offish, but we just jumped right in.  We talked about a lot from the first lesson, and she said she really feels good when she talks to us.  She read the first vision, and told us she just got a really good feeling when she read it.  THAT'S THE HOLY GHOST PLEASE JUST BE BAPTIZED!  Ha but really.  She also said she'd read the book of mormon and pray about it.  SCORE!  So that's my first new investigator story. 

We've also done a little bit of tracting, but mostly we work with less actives.  It's good!  We really want to try to get the members to be more involved in the work, sot that's my goal while I'm out here!  Also, President Manion said it's possible I could be training after 12 weeks...DAHH!  So I'm really trying to prepare for that! :)  

Sorry this is so long there's just so much!  I love you all so much!  MISSIONARY WORK ROCKS

Also, read 1 Nephi 1, and put yourself in Lehi or Nephi's shoes. It's pretty cool. 

love ya'll! 

Also, everyone here talks really weird, I hope I don't pick up on it hahah :) 

Love,
Sister Jones

MTC Pics!

  Pics of me, Sister Rigby, Sister Burton and Sister Rush!

 My zone!

 Sister Rush & Me!

Oh Look!  We match!