Nerf Fights, Sister Scire's Baptism, & The Catholic

9_14_15

Dear Family and Friends,

       

Why were we so busy?!? Here is why!

We had an amazing and incredible week! We were busy with two exchanges, a training and also a baptism! We were exhausted but any way I wanted to share a very spiritual experience that Sister Jensen and I had.

More Exchanges and Trainings

Before though we had exchanges with the Shephardsville sisters and also the Charlestown sisters. I went with sister spencer and we had so much success. I learned so much from her. She literally became a Mary Poppins for me that I just look up to her so much. We went to one of our investigators that we have just been having a hard with and she said that to solve our problem we needed to ask inspired questions.  We did and solved her concerns! It was incredible! So proud of her! She is so awesome!

Also I exchanged with Sister Webb and she came to Brookside. I was so grateful to be companions with her for the day and for her happy and bubbly attitude! She is very awesome about just going and talking to people and being their friend. She knows the doctrine and knows how to teach it. Sister Webb and Sister Spencer are both very terrific missionaries and they have a great desire to work hard and be obedient!

So Sister Jensen and I have been working our hardest to apply all of the trainings from the past couple of weeks. And we have been implementing powerful pure and simple testimonies. We have not hesitated to do this and it brought so many return appointments! My teaching in contacting even got better because I now can boldly explain the restoration so that others understand what I am sharing!

I got to look at a Koran up close

The Catholic and Book of Mormon Evidence

For example Sister Webb and I were using our last twenty minutes for good measure before going inside and she started talking to a woman on her porch. The woman was not going to listen at all. So we started to boldly testify to her that the true church was back on the earth and started to recite the restoration. She stood up completely straight and walked quickly over to U.S. And asked how we knew these things. We gestured towards the Book of Mormon and testified again. She started to cry because she said that she has been complacent on religion because she has been through so much and that she felt the spirit or something good touch her heart. We left her with the Book of Mormon and set a return appointment. We stopped by yesterday and had so many valid question to ask and is going to be our next baptismal date for October! So cool! 

Love our Kentuckians!

Also on Saturday all of our plans all fell through and we had an hour and a half before going to fill the font. We decided to go see a less active that a member referred us to. As we walked up to her house we noticed a man talking on his phone while sitting on the porch. We introduced who we were and asked if the member was home. He explained she wasn't and was ready to imply for us to leave when he looked at us and with stumbled words asked us what we believe. 

We said short things and he shared how he had been a catholic member his whole life and that he was not going to change his standards. We testified more how what we shared and he talked about how he had family pass away this last week. We asked an inspired question and shared Alma 40:11 with him. This started him in on asking more and more questions and finally we had ended up teaching all the first three lessons in one sitting. Finally out of frustration he said "all of this sounds exactly like what I believe in in the Catholic Church, now what makes you different from any other church?!" 

We thought we explained well but apparently not. We gave him the Book of Mormon and had him read Moroni 10:4-5. As he read it out loud his speech got slower and more solemn. Finally he read all of the verses and Sister Jensen was about to say something and I nudged her when I saw several tears fall from his eyes. He stared at the Book of Mormon and we couldn't help but cry as well. The spirit was so strong and he said "thank you, you both are angels, I don't know how to explain this to you but I feel as though I need to be alone to pray." 

He continued to wipe his eyes with his shirt and we told him that we were nearby and would stop by in the near future and he said "I'm not going to promise that I will be at church on Sunday but I do want you both to come back".  As he shook our hands multiple times and we walked away we knew the spirit led us to that very place. We cried a few times and then offered a prayer of gratitude for that man and a blessing upon him. It was incredible and I can boldly testify that I know this man felt the spirit and that he desired comfort and because he was humble he received it. We are representatives of Christ and the Book of Mormon is our evidence of this truth and many other truths.

Sister Scire’s baptism

We also had a wonderful baptism of Sister Scire! It was so wonderful!  She is now a member to god's true and living church! Her baptism started off a little rocky but it ended very well. Many members arrived and even her family came! It was so cool! Then we forgot to tell her to come out with her jumpsuit and so she sat in the bathroom praying to God as we were running around to get things done! We went to go find her and she was waiting patiently, we felt so bad! But she came out and as she was being baptized my heart was so full because I have grown to love this woman so much and she was making covenants with Heavenly Father. 

Then after getting dressed she came out and went straight to the pulpit and bore her testimony and calling us missionaries her 'tools' to grow closer to Heavenly Father! I love her so much! Amazing woman! The next day she confidently walked to the front of the congregation and received the Holy Ghost and even our bishop started to cry as he was giving it to her. The ward loved her and she fully started to participate in relief society and everything. It was so cool! Then to top it all off she sign up as a members on our meal calendar to feed us and we laughed hysterically on how excited she was to do it!

Splits with the Laurels

We have one more busy week this week. We got asked to be a part of a "mini MTC" and go on splits with several laurels in Elizabethtown Kentucky. We are so excited! And then it will be weird because our last week of the transfer will be a slow week because we won't have much going on! Crazy missionary work! I love it! Well that is pretty much it for this week! I love you all and hope to hear from ya'll soon!

Love,

Sister Jones

*P.S. It is my 20th birthday on Sunday! ;)

9_7_15

Dear family and friends!

Chasing Joggers with a B of M

     This week has been a rolling coaster of events. But one of the coolest things that happened this week was we went to the church to sync our iPads and  we saw some joggers walking out of the parking lot and we chased after them to get their attention. We introduced ourselves as being the missionaries for this church building and they asked us a couple of questions and the thought came like lightning to my mind to invite them to tour the church right then and there and so we did and they excepted it and came right in and as we walked around the building they were so excited to hear that we didn't have a preacher shout to us and hat we had another book of scripture! They begged us for a copy of the Book of Mormon each and said they would come to church! So awesome! They didn't end up coming to church but we knew that Heavenly Father led us to the right spot.

Rough week

This week has been rough but we got through it with the best of faith. We ended up losing two of our baptismal dates and many lessons have fallen through. We are planning to find other areas in our area where there are prepared people.  Sister Jensen is amazing! As she works harder and harder she sets higher goals even when she and I are in a pinch! She has taught me so much!

This last week we got to exchange with the Salem sisters, Sister Resendez and sister Israelsen! They are an incredible companionship!  As Sister Israelsen and I exchanged with each other we worked on her 12 week training for the day and on talking with people and sharing the gospel instantly! She was superb I was completely proud of the type of missionary that she is and the 'can do' attitude!

Nerf Gun Fight!

Today we just had a nerf gun fight and played in the gym with all of the sisters in our area! So fun. Sorry this email is short!

We are going to have quite the week! We are going to have back to back exchanges, we are teaching a training at zone meeting and then we also have a baptism! Sister Scire is so excited to get baptized! So I have a lot to share about next week as long as I don't drop and fall before then. But I know that Heavenly Father will strengthen us every step of the way!

~Sister Jones