We were aware of the changes for Sister Jones, and because of the transfer and shift in her responsibilities,AND knowing it would mess up her P-Day opportunities to write in detail, we chose not to post an update last week. We wanted to wait for her to get settled in and then compile the two weeks. ENJOY!
May 25th (LAST WEEK)
Hey mom! it has been a crazy few days.
I was shocked when we got the call President Brough said "Sisters your area is getting white washed!" (White washed means they are replacing us with two other missionaries-specifically elders).
"Okay, awesome President, we will see you at transfers." We were about to say goodbye when he said, "Wait, I am not done with you two." He said "Sister Jones, I prayed long and hard about all of this and I want you to be a Sister Training Leader in the Louisville Zone, its a big responsibility do you think you can do that ?" and I said "I will do my best."
Sister Bryner rewarded the sisters with Peonies for a day full of service
The pit of my stomach was awful because like you said mom, I LOVE Richmond. and I LOVE Sister Hannah. I just was ripped from literally my second home and like you agree, I am not sure I am happy about it. But truly we have to leave at some point. I am just at this point trying to take deep breathes, baby steps and cry to the Lord when I need help.
Meet my new companion, Sister P. from Omaha
My companion's name is Sister Patterson and she is way nice and has been out 10 months---and get this she is Sister Hinton's last companion. So there are some similar habits and ways of teaching that she has.
I hit an anxiety switch last night before bed. Our apartment was the Elders before hand and they trashed the place. We moved from the Fair Dale apartment to the Brookside apartment and all in the process of unpacking, not having much to eat, and cleaning. Also we get IPADS this next week and we will end up starting exchanges and I am on-the-job-training in this leadership position; so I am learning as I go! Mom, I am so fearful and nervous and tired and yeah.... its too much. I just need your prayers at the moment and definitely uplifting packages because I just not sure what state I am at to be able to continue, I am only working with the Lord's help right now.
At transfer meeting, I spoke with Elder Evans, my zone leader staying in Richmond, and asked for him to look after Blake when he gets back after the summer. He said that he would. He was talking with me and asking me how I feel now that I was called to be an STL, he just was kind and sincere about following up with Blake.
***Questions FOR OUR MISSIONARY*****Did you get your IPAD?YES!!!!!!!!!! We are emailing you from the Mother's room inside the church. So much nicer for a change than sitting upright in the EKU library with a time limit.
**What are your final thoughts on the area of Richmond, KY?I miss it and I would gladly move and live there. It is a home away from home.
**What are your final thoughts of the Richmond Ward and its members?They are the most amazing members that I have ver met in my life and I was grateful for the opportunity to serve them and they will go down as my family that is away from my family.
**Would you ever go to EKU as a student?No. but I would totally visit.
**Did you take your bike to Louisville, or leave it behind for the next sister mish?Yes I couldn't bring it over here right away, I wasn't able to transport it. So the Elders are passing it through and giving to me sometime on Friday.
**Is Sister Hannah excited for going to Somerset? Where did she serve before Richmond?Yes she is and she is excited to drive, and no she has only been out 4 months, richmond was her first area.
**Do you have any words I could put in a card to Sydney on her Graduation? (Type them here: and I will copy and paste them unto a card for her to open on her graduation up at BYUI) Yes will you put the poem "Two roads diverged" poem by robert frost and tell her that she has chosen the right roads in God's plan of salvation and that it has been leading her to the tree of life and that she is one of the most amazing women I have ever known and also that I love and adore her.
I love you so much momma, I hope and pray that you all are staying safe and thank you so much for your love and concern and especially your letter that you wrote, I want you to know that I will do my best and try my hardest to be a general in the Lord's army :) thats what I want to be... and also oddly enough I am getting closer to my halfway mark!!! :D
I lovey you, tell everyone that I love them too!
~Sister Jones
I love you so much momma, I hope and pray that you all are staying safe and thank you so much for your love and concern and especially your letter that you wrote, I want you to know that I will do my best and try my hardest to be a general in the Lord's army :) thats what I want to be... and also oddly enough I am getting closer to my halfway mark!!! :D
I lovey you, tell everyone that I love them too!
~Sister Jones
June 1, 2015 (Today)
Dear Family and friends,
Well, I guess I'm the new Sister Training Leader in the Brookside-Louisville area!
Sister Hannah and I went to transfer meeting and we knew where we were going so we tried
THE Bryner family who supported and loved us so much!
Richmond Zone Leaders: Elder Evans (staying in Richmond and Elder Beekum (going home)
to enjoy the last few times together and do the best we could to be happy- even though eye cried and hugged 50 times we knew we could have the opportunity to see each other again and write throughout our missions! But that is just the beginning of our friendship! We have so much more in store!
So now my companion is sister Patterson from Omaha Nebraska! She is an awesome missionary and a totally fun sister! We ended up having to move from one apartment complex to another so we moved from a Fairdale apartment to the Brookside apartments. The Brookside apartments have been for the last 10 years an Elders apartment..... WE WERE NOT HAPPY.
When we walking in for the first time! It was des using! They left the placed trashed and to top it off one of the previous elders ran over a baby turtles head with his bike tire, so he decided to take the dead turtle, tape it to a piece of paper and hang it over our toilet in our bathroom with some snide remark... We were horrified! So we moved all our furniture from one apartment to the next plus dumping all the other gross furniture and then cleaning everything top to bottom and then putting our new stuff in the right places took forever!! But
nothing like a woman's touch to sooth it over!
nothing like a woman's touch to sooth it over!
First time in 8 months I get to drive a car (okay, not in this picture...but you get the idea!)
One cool thing about this area is we get a car!
I literally have not driven in 8 months and I have been driving all week! So cool! This area has so many people and they are all from different countries and lands. It's literally the melting pot of Kentucky!
We have taught a girl from Thailand, a couple from Haiti, and plenty of people from the hood!
It has opened my eyes to the many cultures of the world! Anyway we are also having to drive to new Albany Indiana every week for district meeting so I got to drive of the freeways and spaghetti bowls of Louisville and it was so fun but so scary!
No. Way. Finally!
Hanging out in the Mother's room at church on P-Day emailing. :)
I was so excited when we got to new Albany because our surprise was the iPads! That is right we are now iPad missionaries and in a few short weeks after some training we will be Facebook missionaries!
It is so convenient to have this technology right at our fingertips!
Sister Patterson and I went to a less active woman's house this week and she is the coolest woman ever! She ended up having a friend over so we decided to share the articles of faith- more so for the benefit of this less active sister and not her friend. Her concern was whether we believe in just the Book of Mormon and she saw that the bible was more incorrect than anything else. We told her that we believe in the bible as far as it is translated correctly, but most versions have not been and that is the reason for the Book of Mormon and she sat and there and thought about it even more and then asked Sister Patterson and I what we have learned most about our missions.
Sister Patterson told her that she has learned how lucky she is to have been blessed with a wonderful family and growing up in the gospel.
As sister P. talked I was thinking and the thing I had learned most on my mission so far is when I serve and love those around me I learn to love and appreciate myself. And I have learned to be okay with who I am am and that I have the atonement to change and improve myself each day. I have so much gratitude for my mission! Sister Patterson and I were talking about it and we shared the same perspective that if we were still home that our spiritual progression that would occur would be slower and we wouldn't get to who we are right now for at least five more years. Heavenly Father definitely knows how to make us grow!
Something I have learned week is the power of prayer. Heavenly Father will always answer all of our prayers and he loves us more than we comprehend. I know that a we surface and raise all of our concerns, desires, fears, and trials to God, than we can be at peace with our
life and can continue to move forward!
life and can continue to move forward!
I love you all and hope your week is wonderful and full of miracles!
~Sister Jones
New Mailing address:
6908 Brooklawn Drive #1
Louisville, KY 40214
For packages (bigger than a mailbox), mail to:
c/o Rita Thorn
8909 Mountain Brook Drive
Louisville, KY 40214
No comments:
Post a Comment