Christ is in the bindings of Christmas

**Questions for our Missionary**

You've been sick this weekend?  Are your feet staying dry in all that rain?  Let me know!

I'm doing well with the cold, we are trying to just stay warm because unless we are dead there is no way we can stay inside haha and yeah I have medicine. My boots get wet everyday haha I am still figuring that one out, they probably will just have to dry each night until it snows, then it will be easier.
I thought about what you said about sending Amazon food. If you are also able to send like noodles and canned things that would be a blessing too :) 

**I went to your friend Hannah Eaton's mission call opening last night!  It was awesome**

I just got back from Hannah ' s house where she opened her mission call. It came yesterday and she held off until tonight to open it! Can you imagine W.a.i.t.i.n.g? Wow. Okay....drumroll.....
Jackson, Mississippi. English speaking. She reports FEBRUARY 10TH.  She leaves in like 44 days....! Anyway, I thought you would want to know.

Oh my goodness thank you so much for telling me! I was wondering when she was leaving! She will be so close to me in the field! Yes if you are able to get her email I would much appreciate it! 

And thank you for the Christmas package ! It was so great to stretch out Christmas even longer :) 

Dear Fam,
This week was a long and odd week. It was full of fun moments and miracles.
On Tuesday we worked so hard that we ended up talking to 45 peopleyay! We set up return appointments and ended up running into somereally nice people!On Wednesday we had the ward Christmas bowling party! It was so fun!We brought our investigator Gary to the party and he bowled with themembers and it was so much fun! I would have won but one of the elderswon by having had previous experience in bowling in high school :/haha oh well!Thursday was an interesting day because it was Christmas Eve! No onewas here for Christmas Eve but we walked down a road and tracted alittle bit and we're finding no success so we walked back to our bikesand a truck pulls into a driveway and two men get out. We go up andask if we can share a Christmas video with him. He accept and said hehad talked to Mormons and has a Mormon best friend who has shared thegospel with him! So cool! He accepted a pamphlet and said to stop bysometime. It was very cool! Also we had district meeting and ourdistrict leader helped us to understand the purpose of our study's andhow it prepares us for helping our investigators for salvation. It wasso inspiring that my study's have been so much better and we have beenable to have meaningful study's :)And on Christmas! It was so fun! We got to wake up and after westudied and opened gifts we skypes our families! Yay! I missed myfamily so much! My brother grew 5 inches since I have been gone andnow I'm the dwarf of the family haha :) I told my family that I lovedthem and that I would see them in about 4 months :)( may 4!) . Afterskyping we were invited over to the walkers' and they served us lunchand we played a picture ha,e with them. Then cute old sister walkersays "I have so many dolls up in the attic that I just don't know whatto do with them!" So we asked if we could see them and we ran right upstairs. There were 7 boxes of porcelain and other types of dolls. Ikept telling sister Ferrell that this was the reason I did not likedolls, was because they are super creepy! Haha we had a good laugh atsome of the really old ones she had that the eyes were yellowed andone eye would fall by the other stayed normal....creepy Christmasmoment! :)Then we were invited to visit with the Thompson's for dinner! It was ablast, the Stephan family was also there and we all ate some deliciousfood and played 'Mormon mouth' which is the LDS  version of mad gab! Ikept getting my tongue twisted and then just spouting off randomphrases as I couldn't even guess what the phrases were! We laughedmost of the evening until the girls lost and the boys won, dang it! :)then we went home and just started our normal evening of planning! Itwas fun while it lasted!

This is THE ONLY picture we received this week.  Katelyn has been sick - so a bowl of soup was probably the best she could do, or perhaps the best Christmas gift (card) from Olive Garden we could have sent to her.  {Never mind that it was Christmas}

We both are currently sick but we refuse to stay in unless we can'tclimb out of bed. Last night we got home around seven because weneeded to layer up from a lot of rain fall and chill. We both havefelt terrible but started walking to a potentials house. It was a farwalk but that was okay because a log the way we found potentials thatwere willing to meet with us for return appointments. As we keptwalking I was complaining in my head that I was sick and cold and wetand tired and that I just didn't want to keep going but that I wantedto go home and sleep. I kept walking because I knew it was was whatHeavenly Father would want me to do and for some reason my feet didnot cease to move so I went where my feet took me. Just as I pushedmyself to get over my trials and move on I felt an impression to knockon the door of a house I had been curious about. My feet definitelymoved first and as we knocked on the door a woman answered. She saidshe wasn't in the mood to talk and that she had cancer. We offered topray right then for her. We did and at "amen." We looked up and shewas crying. She said she was about to call a friend but decided notbecause of how depressed she was and then we knocked on the door. Shesaid we were angels. As we kept walking, and it must have been likeanother mile and a half I think my boots were completely wet throughthe sole. Of course I started to worry again about how we would gethome this late after seeing this potential. Got to the neighborhoodand to the potentials house. They were not home so we decided to knockon a few doors. One was willing to meet with us so she set a time tocome back. We kept walking and we felt impressed to knock on a door.We did and this old couple invited us right in. They were in theirnineties and still spry. We share about the Book of Mormon and thehusband was not interested and said so. Then we testified of the truthand bade them farewell before we were about to leave when they askedus where we were heading and we said to home. And then the husbandoffered us a ride with his wife. It was pouring rain and we weredrenched and I wanted to cry, I know that the spirit answers prayersand that our testimonies softens hearts. It was a miracle and Istarted sobbing when we got home... :)Well this week was absolutely crazy b fun and we spent it with some ofthe best people in the world! I really enjoyed myself and I know thatthe purpose of the season was Christ. He was here in between the roughand happy moments; He never failed us. I know He was born because weneeded to know what love and kindness and happiness were and that wemight be a means of giving those irreplaceable things to others. I amgrateful I could be serving the Lord during this time of year, it hasmeant so much!

I love you all and pray your week was full of joy and splendor!
Love, sister Jones

Led By the Spirit & a New Companion

Dear Friends and Family!
This week has been kinda crazy but a great crazy! The kind of crazy that makes Satan whizzed and shake in his boots! Sister Ferrell is my new companion! Yay! She has been out on her mission 15 months, almost 16, so she will be going home soon! Crazy! She is from Virginia and is a convert of about four years, I love her to death! she and I have worked so hard this week.

Meet Sister Ferrell!

We talked to a lot of people( 83 to be exact), everywhere we went we talked to people and oh man we picked up investigators when doing so. We were biking and started talking to this man and he said we could come by but he has short term memory loss so he may not remember us. However, we stopped by at the appointment and no one answered the door. We waited and then left to continue working. Maybe five minutes later we get a phone call and its this man! He said that he was waiting for us and that he couldn't get up in time to catch us at he door and that he wanted us to come back! He remembered the appointment and everything! This man is incredible! He was jumped when he was younger and it was an attempt of murder and they damaged him so bad that he is partially crippled, has a speech impediment and short term memory loss. He has had it for fifty years and just about seems normal now. When we shared our message with him he said he felt the spirit and believed Joseph smiths experience happened. He has been remembering everything that we have taught him so far and especially our appointment times! We just love him so much, he is very inspiring! We set a baptismal date with him for January and we are going to get him baptized :) 

We had our annual Christmas conference and this year it wasn't so big because it was only a third on the mission this time! We had a wonderful set of missionaries sharing their talents and a great training of our purpose from our mission president and then we had a HUGE dinner created by the relief society in the stake! It was a huge feast. Then games! All sorts of games were there! The best one was I got to use chopsticks and feed marshmallows to an elder.... Awkward. Haha I was so nervous I couldn't keep the chop sticks straight. And it was just yeah, awkward but fun! Then they had several other games and the best one is they had us take panty hose and stuff them with balloons to make reign deer antlers! It was hilarious and then we put them on our heads and we couldn't keep back the laughter and tears rolling Down our faces!

 Elder Gould(he was in the MTC with us) is right behind me, I'm with sister Schultz

I even got to spend time with my best friend, love ya sister Hannah!

Sister Ferrell is doing so well, I love her so much. I feel like her and I are so similar that we work so well yet we are very opposite. She has so much courage. Yesterday a man was walking his dog and she gracefully walked over and in her natural quiet voice she told him about the Christmas card she was handing him. This man did not want anything to do with us but he couldn't hear her very well and kept angrily yelling "what?!" And she walked across the street and handed it to him and he said " no, not from you all I believe in Christ but my Christ is different from your Christ!" He stormed off as though we had punch him in the nose (we obviously didn't) and we yelled back " we believe in the same Christ, have a merry Christmas!" And smiled. Then she just turns around with a huge smile on her face and we go on to our appointment! She is just a bowl of light, I really love her a lot :)

God leads us on missions. This experience hit us so hard. We were biking home from an appointment and the thought came to turn at the light and check on one of our investigators because she had the flu. I thought that was a ridiculous thought because we had to go home for lunch. So like a bad missionary I kept biking. As I did the impression became greater and greater to turn around. Finally I squeezed my brakes and turned to sister Ferrell telling her that we needed to turn around. We biked to the investigators house, knocked on the door and of course she wasn't home but someone else answered. It was her aunt that lived there. She invited us right in and we asked if we could shared a Christmas video with them. They a lived and I asked if they could turn off the t.v. And the grandma with a huge sour face begrudgingly turned off the television . We showed the video and then after the aunt turns to us and asks who we were. We explain and then invite her to read the Book of Mormon. She kind of steps off a bit and then says "Oh, I have my own bible, thank you." We explain that we believe in her bible but that we also believe in this book as a second record. She then rapidly asks that we explain more to her and help her understand. We do. She then agrees to read it and have us come back! The words at that time had just fallen out of our mouths and oh boy it was an incredible lesson led literally by God, don't underestimate the opportunity to act on a prompting!

We had an opportunity for a random act of kindness. We were walking in a neighborhood trying potentials and a man was taking his leaving. We asked if we could help bag them. He stops and says "but ya’ll are girls!" Ha ha and we told him we wanted to help anyway he would direct us. He then said he could pay us and we refused. After going back and forth with him trying to give us something we started raking and bagging. He asked what we wanted in. Return and we told him that we just wanted to serve him and give him a Christmas card. He was so touched the entire time he was asking us questions about our church and then he about died every time we mentioned the standards we as youth have and that the church has. We ended right in time and gave him a pamphlet and invited him to church. He didn't end up coming but it was probably one of the coolest experiences because he was saying the entire time that he was looking for a church and that it was a blessing that we came by. I know God leads us in certain paths for a reason, and it was so cool to watch this man’s heart be melted little by little.

We are sure working with a less active/returning member and he is amazing! He is preparing to go to the temple! Yay! He met with the Bishop and even came to the fireside last night! So cool! We are super proud of Brother Coffin!

So my sister just got in her first mission area this last Wednesday and she is in Caerphilly, Wales!

It's been a long week of exciting events and now off to Christmas! We have a Christmas Eve bowling party and then we have wonderful members ready to take us under their wings!

I love you all! Stay happy and cheerful all the year long!

Love, Sister Jones

Sent from my iPad

This is my excited face!!!!!!!

CONGRADUATIONS MOM!!

Ah! I am so unbelievably proud of you!! I just keep thinking ask to those times in your first year when we were helping each other with chemistry, hahahahahahaha! I just am so grateful to have you as my role model for success! I just know that you are so loved and so precious to both me and my sister in Wales! And also two the two other men in our lives but let's be honest the three girls in this family are best connected by the hip! ;) I love you so much and I am so peeved that our family sucks at showing support and love! But the best part is we have opportunities to take higher ground, I know you and I will take that higher ground and be happy that YOU HAVE BEEN DILIGENT IN YOUR EFFORTS! 

Ahhh! I really love that it's Christmas again, it doesn't look like it here, it's cold but rainy. No snow, I'm kinda sad. It whispy snowed once this week but didn't stick and then it was 60 degrees one day and I was in awe! 

So I got permission from my zone leaders to have TWO SKYPES! I am allowed to Skype with you all at home in the morning 10 a.m. On Christmas and then at 1:30 a.m.that night. I can three way skype with you all and syd in England!ahhh! I was so grateful! They said that the skyping has to be under forty minutes each! :)
I sent a package and I sent exactly what Jaden and Dad wanted and since you didn't ask for something I got you something anyway ;) I hope you like it. I sent it today so it won't get there until Saturday so ya'll can open it when you want :)

I love you and miss you and I will see you on Friday, twice!

-Sster Jones

Stake Conf, Zone Meetings, and my Home Girl -- Sister Hannah!

Dear Family & Friends,

We have had an incredible week! We have seen the fruit of our prayers and our labors! We have picked up baptismal dates and investigators and now we can start using most of our time for teaching yet still continue to find!

On Tuesday it was literally miracle after miracle, after miracle! We first had lunch at Arby's more downtown because that was where we were meeting our next appointment. We ordered our food and went to sit down. Sister Reed went to the bathroom and I sat there and waited to eat. Then the cashier came up to our table and he asked "are ya'll trying to be nuns or something?" Haha I laughed and then said no and explained who we were? He was so excited and then asked what our purpose for sharing gospel was. We told him about the Book of Mormon and his purpose in life. He shared his story about going to prison and now he was working for .25 cents an hour and that he was looking for greater truth in his life. He was so awesome that he wanted to learn more so we gave him a pamphlet and our phone number and a Book of Mormon! He said he would gladly read it and let us know what he thought! He was really excited about! So cool!

Then we had an appointment at a coffee shop with some guy that really didn't want anything to do with our message but we shared the gospel anyway. He had a lot of questions and sat there and concluded that the Book of Mormon wasn't true, even though he had never read it-go figure! Well we promised blessings and answers from doing so and left, it's all we could do! We biked home in the rain and we had plans to contact a less active that sister Reed had been trying to see for months! She ended up being home!  And welcomed us in warmly! Sister Reed was so excited! We talked with her and ended up setting time to go back and serve her! :D yay!

 Then that same night we saw brother coffin (a less active returning member) and taught him the law of chastity which then Led us into a word of wisdom lesson and brother coffin finally told us what substance was holding him back. It was one of the most powerful lessons that we had ever had with him. He almost cried but as Sister Reed and I bore testimony, we were crying ourselves :,) as we started walking home for the night we realized that we had a miracle day and had made every single goal that we had set up to have! Then not even a moment later Satan steps in and has a random person call a crude name from his car while driving past! Haha we laughed and said 'oh Satan, trying to ruin our happiness, not going to work!'. Two minutes later the bus literally pulls up and we realize we are able to get home on time! Yay! Loved that day!

We have been applying as many of the trainings as we can remember and trying to also be obedient as well, and as we have done so, every time we have repented some sort of blessing or amazing thing happens and we knew it was from the hand of the lord. Also it has helped us with following the spirit better and that even in itself has been a great blessing. We have applied he Book of Mormon training in all our lessons and most of the people we talk to and it has really invited people to really understand the purpose of the Book of Mormon. We used it at a dinner appointment and sought for a refferal and after we asked them who they knew they said they know of quite a few people and proceeded to ask our advice on how they could approach their friends and neighbors! It was awesome! They are now working on their friends and we plan to follow up!

The leadership training was awesome! I know Elder Kepishka was definitely inspired to say what he said. The entire time I wanted to over step my boundaries and say exactly what I thought should happen with the wards, etc.(that's my bad side, haha) but I knew that I wanted to say something and put my voice there and silly enough I was kinda praying to Heavenly Father and asking him what I should say and if I could have an opportunity to say it. Then elder Kepishka asked for missionaries to come up and recite the missionary purpose and oh man that was all I needed haha. Kinda funny how something so simple and small of our desires does matter to God! I know He answers righteous prayers.

We also had stake conference yesterday and that was awesome! Elder Kepishka talked about the few things we can do to be betters members of the church and make the work go along faster. Here are some of my notes:

When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ we have two key messages: Jesus Christ our savior and the living son of the living God; and that he has overcome every obstacle that we will ever go through. "If only in This life all we have obtained is hope in Christ, we are miserable" but Jesus Christ gives hope to salvation. 

The second thing is That Joseph smith is a prophet of God and that we have the

Reason we praise Joseph smith, is because the things that we know about Jesus Christ is because of Joseph smith. We would not have any of it if it were not for Joseph smith.

-If we ever have any questions, we should go to the source.

-He does not leave us in a dark world without any light!

-Behold, your house is left unto you deselect=behold, I will leave your house (German translation)

-what other stones do we throw?

      - Stone of indifference

      - Stone of rejection

      -Stone of selection--> pick what we like and apply those and blend out the other things (am I stoning the prophet right now?)

-1. We will be safe and 2. Our faith will increase as we follow the prophet

As we serve others we come to know the master

Life eternal is to come to know God the father and his son Jesus Christ.

Memories=a life of service, a life of love

AFTER (it's been about seven months)

Also I got to see all of my favorite members from the Richmond ward! They were at stake conference so that was pretty fun :) I love all of those members! :) Also, I saw my BFF SISTER HANNAH TWICE IN ONE WEEK!

April 2015

December 2015

We found quite a few new investigators this week as well but we went over to the Wilson's for dinner and they were pleased to share that they had some referrals to give us on who we could teach! We are going by this week to see them! We were teaching a recent convert yesterday and after we got done we got the thought to ask her to come to our next lesson :) so we all went to our appointment, knocked on the door and likely she was asleep and her granddaughter answered the door and we asked to teach her! She said yes and we did so. She was awesome! We set a baptismal date with her for January 16- she then said that that was two days before her birthday! Inspire!

This week was just incredible! I was so excited for all that the lord blessed us with and now we are ready for another crazy one!

Idaho Initiative & Thanksgiving Miracles

Dear mom! :)
I am seriously excite for Syd! She is so awesome! And thank you for sending her address I was wondering where I could send a letter to. Thanksgiving was great! We spent our first meal at the Hale's home! They are my favorite family here! Brother hale is this 68 year old man that is just super funny and is like my grandpa out here! He is like an Elder Thaxton! I just adore him!

**WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR WHICH SEMESTER TO START SCHOOL WHEN YOU RETURN, SO I CAN HANDLE YOUR BYU-I SCHOLARSHIPS?**
OKAY IN REGARDS TO MY RETUNRING HOME PLANS I HAVE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT WANTING TO WORK AT THE INN UP AT JACKSON HOLE WHERE THE KUNZ'S OWN IT? I FEEL AS THOUGH WORKING THERE FOR THE SUMMER AND DELAYING MY COLLEGE ENTRANCE UNTIL THE FALL IS SMARTEST TO DO. HOWEVER I AM WONDERING IF DOING THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY MY COLLEGE SCOLARSHIP? 
But yeah that is kind of my plan! So I am kinda just going to go with one to benefit the other so it should hopefully work out, haha I have no idea and we live with very "trunky"(=home worrying and lazy) Hermanas... So I am determined to not be that way and still focus on the work because it's the only time I really have to serve God. :) I really am excited to see everyone once again and move forward with my life plans but that is really all the thoughts that I have.

**TELL US ABOUT SISTER REED**

Yes, Sister Reed is awesome! I love her to death! She is just down to
earth and super funny! She is incredible though. Her mom is half Blake and half Mexican and her dad is black (Cajun too) and he is also a convert to the church. Sister Reed went to Utah state (not graduated yet) and had be inactive for two or three years and then started coming back to church when her sister came back home from her mission! Sister Reed loves to draw just like me! She LOVES STAR WARS and STAR TREK( so if you happen to see any Star Wars stuff that you could get for her for me and send it out as a Christmas gift, that would be incredible!) she is super funny and can do impressionable voices! Especially the Grinch ;)

Dear family and friends! Happy thanksgiving weekend!
We had a great Thanksgiving Day and week! We first went to the Hale's and they had their family there. Brother hale was whipped and ready to eat a lot of food. We stayed there and ate for a few hours and then came home and slept and then we went out once more for dinner at the church with the elders and the members of the church for a very wonderful evening of playing on the piano and listening to Christmas music and stuffing ourselves silly! It was really the funniest day ever!

A Church Referral results in a Baptismal Date set
Sister Reed and I have been praying hard for more investigators and we saw a fruit of our labor and we received a referral from headquarters a week ago and we went this week to contact him and he is incredible! We ended up teaching the restoration and setting a baptismal date! He has read the first two books of the Book of Mormon before but that was fourteen years ago! He believes that he church has all of the truth from the things he has researched already about the church. His name is David Boling and he is awesome!

Awesome Member Brother Hale
We also found two more investigators that we are working with! Brother Hale stopped by this week and he had picked up our bike to "look at it" and end up taking it to get the frog wheel fixed from my bike accident -_- he is so sweet but he does way too much for us! I graciously thanked him and he neglected to even tell me what the cost was so I could repay him! But his kindness served well because we have been able to bike again!

A 40 minute Conversation Changes Lives

This whole week we haven't been able to do much and we could finally talk to people and share the gospel! We ended up running into a man who was religious and we ended up taking forty minutes to share the gospel with him, then after a wonderful forty minute talk with him he starts to throw out as much false doctrine and anti at us as he could muster. I was annoyed but we both kept our faces bright and attitudes happy and bore our testimonies. He couldn't argue no more and we offered to say a prayer with him and he said "Well, to be honest I would rather not because the way you pray and the way I pray is completely different and I don't want to jeopardize anything. We asked him how he prayed and he said "It’s not necessarily how I pray, it's more who I pray to. You all don't pray to the God I pray to." I looked at him square in the eye, I think a little roughed up not but still kind, "My parents have always taught me that if I pray to God that he loves me enough to give me an answer to that prayer. We pray to the same God." Then he set a return appointment with us and we ended up leaving! We know when we do go back this week that our testimonies will be the only convincing evidence for this man, nice guy just not yet too humble :) it'll come later on though :)

Sister Reed found a glitter pumpkin!

It’s All Uphill

Friday we had district meeting and Saturday we had our own coordination with the elders because our Ward mission leader was gone. It was heavy raining, as it has been all week and we had to walk there. Haha so we started our two mile walk to the church and boy was that fun! There was a Louisville vs. Lexington football game that had just ended and the fans were walking home. Obviously Lexington lost, haha, and the fans were either drunk or angry or combined as angry drunks. Sister Reed and I walked through these crowds of people, through the rain and up the hill. When we finally got to the church we were soaked and sore haha but we were able to have a good coordination and help earn the trust of our bishop more fully. 

Ward Council with our President Brough & the Idaho Initiative!

Yesterday President Brough came and attended our ward council! It was awesome! We heard from him about the Idaho initiative! Yay! Idaho is making headway for the church! Good job guys!;) the ward council members didn't look to excited about it except for us missionaries, the Bishop and President Brough! I know though that this will help the ward continue to grow.

Visiting Seventy Elder Kenisha
This week has been awesome and we are looking forward to more! Elder Kenisha of the Seventy will be here for our stake conference and I will get to see Sister Hannah! Yay! So excited :)
I love you all so much and have a great week!
Love, Sister Jones

Us mimicking Mariah Carrie's singing haha or even Christina Aguilara's too funny....

Miracles, Lara's Baptism, and Accidents Happen

Hip hip hurray! :) Larsa is now a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Yay Larsa's was baptized! She is the cutest thing ever! The sisters have been teaching her for quite a few weeks and now she is a member! She had to be dunked twice and the baptism was a very amazing experience as sister reed spoke and the Hermana’s that we live with did a great musical number! Yay! And then yesterday were waiting for Larsa to get confirmed but her and her friend who was going to confirm her! We called and called and called and finally they showed up! She received the Holy Ghost and oh she started crying and was just so happy! I just know that the only true and LIVING GOSPEL is here and helps everyone to receiving the sweet tastes of salvation! I know this Gospel is true!
:)

At the bus transit center! I love taking the bus!

We had a cool experience on the bus! President Brough gave another training on how to use the Book of Mormon and how to also introduce it. So we decided that since we were taking the bus that day to the church we would use it. So we walked on the bus and literally every seat was filled. Right then a young black man looks at us and is like here would y'all like to sit down and gives us his seat! Then Sister Reed is an even bigger gentleman (and likes to beat me to it) and says "Okay sit down Sister Jones!" We argue about it for a second and then I finally sit down. Then the woman to my right says here you also take my seat. So she gets up puts her child on her lap and sits down somewhere else! I looked at sister reed and just grinned big. Then the woman that moved says to Sister Reed "I saw your name tags and knew who you were so I moved" and bam a long conversation about the Gospel starts! So cool! So I got jealous that she was talking to someone and really wanted to share it with someone else as well so, I mustered up the courage and turned to the woman to my right! She was so sweet! I used presidents training and literally it brought in the spirit soo strong! She left us with her name and phone number and we did the same! She said she would attend church this next Sunday!

So, funny story but first I have to start at the beginning!

So on Tuesday it was a weird day especially set aside for miracles! We were trying people all day and nothing seemed to work out. We went and visited a recent convert and got onto the bus. As we rode with all the other passengers there was a blonde girl that got on. She stuck out to me and I got the distinct impression to share the gospel with her. Unfortunately I was in a different seat so I prayed in my head that if Heavenly Father wanted me to share it with this girl that I would talk to at least ten more people if He would provide a way to share it with her. We planned to get off at stop farther down the road but this girl proceeded to get off right then. So what does the spirit tell me to do? Run. So we get off, grab our bikes and chase after her... I'm sure we looked creepy doing but our intentions were right. We caught up to her and told her that she was a beautiful daughter of God and that He wanted her to know about His restored gospel! She was so kind and said we could come and visit with her and took a Book of Mormon a and started to share with us how she had been going through some health challenges and finally she had been able to find relief and then find God. It was so cool! So spiritual!

We biked on and we only went so far before some kid was walking toward us and we stopped and talked to him. We only introduced ourselves before we were interrupted by a massive moving truck that didn't hit his breaks early enough had slammed right into a SUV and the glass shatter. The truck ended up push the SUV into two cars in front of them. Then a mom got our crying and screaming and ran to the back car seat. We all dropped our conversation and quickly skipped right on over to see if people were okay. They were all alright but some had really bad whiplash. A man had it so bad that when we knocked his window he asked if we were Jehovah’s Witnesses and if we could say a prayer with him. We did and told him we were Mormon. Then cops and fire trucks came and everything went really alright. We gave all of the people cards with our number and provided prayers! So cool! We provided our witness of the accident and biked away.

We looked back later and realized that if we had not felt impressed to talk to the kid and stop biking the glass from the SUV and other material would have directly hit us if we had kept biking! It was a sure testimony that Heavenly Father was looking out for us and also of following the promptings from God! :,)

That same night as the accident Sister Reed and I were biking from a missed appointment and this is where I didn't follow the promptings of the spirit. We rode through a small pile of leaves that were in the sidewalk and I didn't think much of it until a wire that was hidden in there got caught in my front wheel. I thought to try and get it out but another thought came "What if you fall off the bike and hurt yourself?" I thought no way, so I used the front of my boot and tried to kick the wire out. Well... I wasn't looking and my boot caught in between the front wheel and the bar and pinched my foot and I went flying over the handle bars and slammed my chin right on the pavement! I literally face-planted-it on the ground..... I didn't want to get up so I just kind of laid there. Sister Reed came running my way (good companion:) and asked if I was bleeding. I wasn't but then another woman's voice. A woman saw the whole thing and was walking with two labs who came up and licked the tears off my face haha and then she walked away....awkward. So now I have a massive bruised chin-I keep telling Sister Reed it's my newly found Kentucky chin hair :) haha I have to laugh about it or it's no fun!

     The next day we got a call from the man driving the moving truck, he apologized for his mistake and asked us if we could pray for him right on the phone, so we did. He was so grateful!

    Sister Reed got a health problem this week so we haven't been able to go outside very much but we went on splits with the Hermana’s so she could stay inside. Hermana Bennett and I went out and tracked and we knocked on quite a few doors and one of them a man opened the door and came right out and said 'I'm Methodist but you should try that family across the street. They are agnostic!' He pointed to a house of a family that was nicer but it was a little roughed up because they had five kids. We knocked on the door and a tired dad came to it and opened up. We said can we share a quick message with families and he said that we were welcome to come back! This was an answer to our prayers and we have an appointment to visit them this next week! So exciting! :D please pray that Sister Reed and I can find more investigators! We know they are out there we just have to stay righteous in order to find them!

Where are you spending Thanksgiving?**

At a couple’s home for lunch- brother and sister hale! Hey are awesome they are like the Thaxtons! I love them so much! And for dinner we are going to the church. A member is providing thanksgiving dinner for members of the ward without family nearby and they are doing a great meal! :D

Did you get my package - and is it keeping your legs warm?**

Yes! Thank you so much! They fit perfectly too!

How was your Sunday, did you get a nap?**

Haha nope, naps don't happen on Sunday's on a mission. Unless you want to use your lunch or dinner hour but there is too much work to be done!

I am really sad that Sister Butikofer passed away. I am grateful I'm am out here though. I mean, if I were home I would have been super distraught. But I know the plan of salvation and said long as bro. Butikofer and Jacobie(their grandson) and Ashley and her family are being well taken care of I know then that all will be alright. I know God has everything in his hands. 

And yeah I can't believe its five months. That's four transfer but now we are almost done with my fourth and going on three left. We live with very "trunky" Hermana’s and they talk about home way too much and wow they drive sister Reed nuts and she is so worried that I will getting trunky but no I mean I don't feel like wanting to come home. However it makes me sick to think that at some point all of this will be over! I love my mission so much! I am so grateful that I came out here! I have changed so much! And I just know that I will not be the same person that I was when I first came out on my mission! :) I just am so happy, I'm not disturbed by anything, I stand up for myself, I am able to clearly know who I am and why I'm here, I am so much more confident and I just don't care about the stupid stuff I would normally cry about and get anxious over! I'm just happy :)

Well sorry mom that was a long explanation of my thoughts but it's true and Syd will experience the same idea on her mission! Literally the mission changes hearts and helps us know who we are and why we are living and especially who Christ is. 

Uh! I am just so proud of Syd. She is incredible! I love her so much! And yes Jaden is about to become a spoiled squirt! Crazy!

Well this week was uh weird. Haha but I have never laughed so hard in my entire life because Sister Reed and I get along so well and we have been laughing about the Grinch and Spongebob jokes all week as we walk to our destinations! So great! :D 

I love you all and hope your week is safe and happy and that you are finding gratitude for every little thing you can find! I am so grateful for my sister! She leaves for her mission in 9 days! Yay! Congrats Syd! I know that England will be the right place for you and that the lord will strengthen and consecrate you! 

I love you!

-Love , Sister Jones

Change is Good

Dear Family and Friends,

So this is week has been awesome! 

Back to Biking Basics

It is so refreshing to be in a bike area again!

So since it is a huge bike area we have been biking way too much but on the times that we can't bike anymore, we ride the bus! And oh man is that a crazy story itself! We had an appointment with our baptismal date Lara's and she just moved out of our area but we had permission to go if we were able to get over there. So we took the bus! It was so fun but we were pretty much out of our area and then we went taught our lesson and then when we were done we realized that we had ten minutes to get to the bus stop to get home. We got over there and we were literally two minutes late! We were stranded! Luckily we called the Winchester sisters to get the pioneer sisters number and called asking for a ride! We felt so bad! However, good ole' Sister Hinton, Sister Lloyd and Sister Rammel came to our rescue! It was so weird to see Sister Hinton again but such a wonderful blessing! I love her :)

Brother Hale gave us and the elders a ride home. And he himself wanted an icee and so we stopped at a gas station and got some! Sister Reed and I were having too much fun :) I adore here :)

Tell us about Lexington and your new companion

Sister Reed is an awesome missionary! She is black!!! Haha I love her! She is my height... Actually a bit taller and is so cool and down to earth! She is hypoglycemic and lactose intolerant, so we eat pretty healthy around here! Plus the biking is adding to that :) she has been out around 8 months and she was companions with Sister Emended my MTC companion. The area we are working in right now is fairly dead and the ward is a young family ward that skunk the missionaries but we have goals to change that! We actually just set a baptismal date with a woman named Carla and we have a baptism this week! I am so excited! :D We are so excited because Laura is getting baptized and the sisters have been working with her for a while and she is so prepared and wants to do all that she can to follow Christ ! We love her!

This is area has so many blessings! I love it!

We share our apartment with a companionship of Hermanas and our apartment is SUPER NICE! We have wifi in our apartment so I can receive emails but can't obviously email until Monday.

Lexington is a college town, just like Richmond and there are a lot of people here. We ride the bus and we can only teach the people that are not college students -_- so we have to look a little bit harder. But! That means we can teach families! :D

Praying about goals and miracles

I know that I say that about each of my companions but I just am so proud of her humility and hard work ethics! She is doing well for taking over an area. She has goals, and her and I matched up our goals, and they are practically the same. We plan to baptize two people in December as a goal and we actually just set a baptismal date with a woman named Carla for December 31 and we are currently searching for the second one. It was so cool because we both prayed for a number of a goal to baptize and she and I came up with same number and that has happened every  time we pray about a number or goal or something that we need to do. We have seen so many miracles from doing so.

Well there was so much that happened but I think I am already getting tired of writing emails.....

Happy birthday to my cousin Tristan!  You’re an old fart yesterday! I hope it was a great birthday!

I love you all and pray your week has plenty of miracles and happiness that last

*Question from Mom:  Are you close to your BFF, Sister Hannah now that you’re in Lexington?*

Yes Sister Hannah and I are in the same stake! I just saw her last night because our zone/stake had a fireside and I saw her there and a lot of other missionaries that I adore! :D our stake conference is in two week so sister Hannah and I will be making sure to hang out then!

Oh man I love it here :) and Sister Reed and I get along so well and we work hard and laugh and oh man she is so incredible!

Also I saw a lot of members from the Richmond ward that were at our church building yesterday because they have stake callings! Oh I love it! And riding the bus is crazy I have a fun story about that! I love it!

Don't worry mom! You’re getting us all back! We are not gone forever! It's freaking me out even more how close to home I am getting, obviously still have a six months but being in a young family ward is surreal and freaking me out......

My address is: 2075 regency road #72 Lexington, Kentucky 40503

-I love you and yes, please send those tights -- it will be a blessing    !

Sister Jones

Goodbye Louisville, Hello Lexington!

***QUESTIONS FOR OUR MISSIONARY**

What are some things you will miss about Louisville?

I am going to miss the huge progression of the work. I have seen so many miracles because this area is so huge and has so many wonderful people that are prepared! I know other areas will as well but they won't compare to this one! I will miss the hustle and bustle and being close to the mission office and home! I love going across the bridge every Wednesday to our district meeting and being a part of the leadership at MLC. But I do know that like you said I need a change. I just need a new focus and I am excited to leave for that but sad because this is my new family. I love everyone here and this is probably my favorite ward that I have serve in!

What is the strangest service project you have done so far on your mission?

The strangest service project I have ever served.... Hm.... Was probably cleaning a discussing house. That seems like what happens a lot in our mission is we clean people's really gross houses and then the way they look in the end is so priceless!

Have you met Sister Reed before (she's going to be your new companion, right?)

Yep Sister Reed was in my zone last transfer but then got transferred to Lexington! She is awesome!

What did you get out of Stake Conference that was so important to know and remember?

This was the basis of topic for the stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. I learned so much from the explanations that were given! I understood the parallel between our decision making throughout the week and our duty and also privilege of partaking of the bread and water at church. I believe with all of my heart that if we are desiring to progress we must show Heavenly Father that we are wanting and going to do so. We are commanded to continually repent and as the savior said "if thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!" So true! I know that we cannot complete the repentance process unless we quickly repent BEFORE SUNDAY STARTS! Not at the door nor in the service, but in the moment we commit our sin, we must use the atonement and seek forgiveness and change! Then we must partake of the sacrament and show Heavenly Father that we are willing "to take upon us the name of Christ", willing to change, willing to follow Him. I know that God expects us ALL to live a higher law as He has given.

 What are you in need of, my Kizzer?  Are you ready for another Kentucky winter?

And I just got my winter clothes back just in time for transfers. I have a great coat (3 actually) and a few hats and a member just gave me some really good gloves and I still have my new boots from the beginning of this year. I believe I am all set but if there is a possible chance you could send like an electric blanket? I think that would be very helpful, especially if my new area is a bike area and I will coming in super cold each night. Also my pillow is wearing out and only if you are able a new pillow would help. But I can definitely go on without a brand new one! Sending hot chocolate for me would be awesome! :) And that should be it, I really am doing well and I can't tell too much until I get in my new area because here're might be other things and then again there might now be. 

Yes, we were able to text and talk to her AND see a picture of her, during Sacrament yesterday.

Thanks to Jen for being the best member missionary momma to all of Louisville, we may not get to see her anymore in Lexington.

I love you so much mom and yes my heart is racing with how much closer it is getting to flying home, I have four transfers left and it sickens me. I want to come home don't get me wrong! I just know that this last year has been one of the greatest journeys I have ever been given. I hope you all will notice the change in me that has occurred as I have been out when I return home. I know Syd will be able to have the same change. I know she will baptize like crazy and see so many miracles!

Have a great week and please keep me updated throughout the week, I can read emails but I can't reply.

~Love,

Sister Jones

Dear Family & Friends,

This week has been crazy! I can't even explain how great of a week it has been! Sister Elliott passed away this last Monday. She has been sick this last few transfers and no one knows why, they thought it was pneumonia and that is what she was diagnosed with. She went into the hospital and didn't last but four days. They realized she had cancer! She was misdiagnosed!  Lame.....Sister Jensen and I started crying, I will miss her so much, she was someone that I wanted the best for and now she is back in the arms our her Heavenly Father, doing the work He has asked He spirit world.

Doodling Artwork by Kizzer

We were able to make our goals this week and we got members to some awesome lessons! One for example was so cool! So a couple of weeks back Sister Jensen and I contacted this young girl and shared a portion of the Book of Mormon with her. It was one of the most awkward contacts I have ever had (and I have had a lot of those!) and she was like "I think my sister would want to hear this". So she gave us her phone number and address and walked away. We went by last weekend and introduce ourselves to her sister and read out of the Book of Mormon with her. She loved it! Asked for a copy and we returned on Monday with the restoration lesson prepared!  So get this! Earlier that day I was texting her asking if she had read and prayed and she said she did and that she had read probably a third of the Book of Mormon already!

We got there and asked her the same question and she showed us her Book of Mormon and she read all the way to the book of Jacob in three days! What?! We were shocked!  This girl is only 14 years old and she read that much! We asked her to be baptized and she accepted whole heartedly! Oh my goodness our heart was so full and even the member that came with us was astonished and excited!

 I found mini bananas :)

Then we had MLC this week and it was so fun! There were a few elder companionships that were late and hadn't shown up yet and so all of us started getting an idea that we should hide until they come! So we did and oh man our mission president is so cool! We waited until we heard them and they opened the door and we screamed real loud and jumped at them! It was sooooooo fun! Loved it! The meeting was great as well! I learned a lot about making baptisms happen and our priority to stop waiting around waiting for them and start really making them happen! We will baptize 63 in November I know it!

Then we had zone meeting and that was a lot of wonderful things shared with us as well. Elder Langford gave a great training on helping our investigators understand the sacrament and had us role play! He gave a step by step on what to do! It was an answer to our prayers because our investigator Angelee has been struggling with even getting to church! We applied the training and the spirit was so strong when we taught her! We felt so excited! But upon the agency she now possesses she did not attend stake conference. :( We know that every training will always work as you faithfully apply them and if it doesn't work out it is because the person did not use their agency correctly or simply it is not the right timing... I know that this training was inspired and I also know that sacrament is the greatest blessing that we can be given for our own spiritual and eternal progression!

And transfers are in.... I am heading out to old wild rolling hills of Kentucky in Lexington! I am so excited to be going there! I know that God has so much more in store for me to do and someone He has prepared for me to find. I also know that this area is a bike area! Haha being cold never was so exciting as it will be on bikes! Haha well I hope to stay warm!

I am going to miss my wonderful companion. She has become a rock and a best friend to me. I am completely proud of her diligence in keeping the commandments of God and willingness to humble herself when God requires it. She has been someone I could trust in and also be trusted by. She may not believe it but she is loved by me! We got to contact a man Last who we bore testimony to for 45 minutes to an hour and when the fictitious words of this "wise man" gave me unsure feelings of how to answer, I was grateful to my companion that she plainly stated her purpose and our purpose and this man’s purpose. She boldly proclaimed that simply this man should humble himself before the lord and find happiness in reading the Book of Mormon and keeping His commandments! She is incredible! I will be sad to leave her!

Lastly the announcement from D. Todd Christofferson were clear and precise! I know that the revelations for the handbook are true. I know that when God commands we must abide. I know that families are forever. I know they can be as we listen to Gods counsel and follow the commandments (all of them, not just one or two!).

Goodbye Louisville, Hello Lexington!

I love my savior and know He lives and is there every step of the way. I love you all and hope you week is full of miracles!

~ Sister Jones