16 Degrees of Mud

Dear friends and family,

We went to a new area this week that hasn't been worked in really at and its " The blue area" and this area is filled with a lot of very wealthy homes. We decided to go tracting. We did and the second door we knock on they already have a Book of Mormon because a cousin in Utah shipped it to them, so they were very kind to us and told us about how this family member is in MOTAB, crazy small world. We knocked on another door and a woman comes to the door saying she was on a conference call and that her mother is sick but we could come by and help tomorrow. So we do. We get there and after maybe five minutes of her daughter talking to her sick mother about what service we could give she comes back. We are brought down stairs to a play room where Santa's Workshop must have exploded and rained play dough everywhere..... She looks at us and says 'Good Luck.  Take as long as you need.' And walks upstairs.... Haha I looked at Sister Ferrell with the biggest confused look. I wasn't really sure how to tackle it. So we got organizing and it took two hours but it got done! It was kind of fun but weird that we were in a stranger's home, cleaning products the mess after their grandkids haha I wouldn't be as trusting! (So mom if you want to know the weirdest service project, this one takes the bid!)

So New Year's Eve was quite fun! After weekly planning Sister Ferrell had the idea to watch the FACE2FACE with the piano guys on our gospel library and I made us baked potatoes, broccoli and bar-b-q chicken on the stove :) oh boy it was actually really good and I forgot to take a picture because I started eating it too fast! But it was so fun to come in early and laugh and relax a moment. I have recently gotten on his cooking kick with cooking a variety of meals, Sister Ferrell must be sick of it because she keeps resorting towards sandwiches but then I make food and she becomes the taste tester!  Brother Coffin (the less active we have been working with) is incredible! He had a calling in scouts! :D which is such a mile marker for him and now he is working furiously towards the temple! We had a lesson with him and then he was telling us about his 1974 conference 'books'! Nope not magazines, books! I'm sure this dates my parents and grandparents ;) Haha but he gave me one! So cool!

This week was probably one of our slower weeks, however God gave us so many blessings! Our district leader gave a training on study the scriptures and sharing the scriptures and I kid you not it was literally the boost we needed to share scriptures again!  We have been slacking, but that's okay because repentance is not a fairy tale, its real life endeavor! After we applied the training to the very first person we saw she was hesitant at first because she said she was Jewish, we then explained that the scripture came from God to His prophets and that the scripture was uplifting. As we read it to her we offered her the copy of the Book of Mormon and she gladly took it saying she would like to go over that scripture again, she then said she had Mormon neighbors and respects religious freedom! She didn't accept a missionary visit but I know the scripture softened her heart and now a Book of Mormon has been planted into her home, haha almost like a giant spiritual bomb that is waiting to explode when someone reads it! :)

Then later throughout that day and even through the week the people we would share a scripture with were miracles and one of them was so touched by the scripture that he shared with us that he had gone through so much depression and almost tried to kill himself (God Bless him) and after that his friend helped him to find hope and faith in Christ and get baptized. I know that even though other churches don't acquire the priesthood to baptize the repentance process still comes from God and we all have opportunities to change :) then his man offered to buy us hot chocolate at a gas station and we walked our bikes over with him. He then purchased the hot chocolate and walked out! MIRACLE! We turned around and started to talk to the cashier and share the Gospel with her. She was so incredible!  She started to tell us about her life and asked us who we were and where our church was and we had to like hold back our excited smiles and joy and be calm and collected, haha but we accomplished it. She accepted a return appointment, saying she was searching for a church! MIRACLE! Then we booked right out the door because we were about to miss our bus. We got there in time with our bikes and the bus pulled up and because it was New Year's Day it was so packed and there was a bike already on the rack and I looked at Sister Ferrell and said " oh crap we are going to have to bike all the way to the bottom of our area!" The doors opened and the person who got off went straight to the bike rack, took off his bikes and went away and then sister Ferrell and I looked at each other and screamed! MIRACLE! We got on the bus and a man looks straight at me as I sat down and says 'ma'am ya got a book for me?'  And he says it two times more until I hand him our last copy we had with us. Then he doesn't say anything else and looks out the window...weird haha but a MIRACLE! Then we visited a family that is less active and shared scriptures with them and they all attended church on Sunday! :DMIRACLE! Our week has been so worn while and now we can move forward having faced many trials and can say that we are much stronger!

Yesterday we were walking to an appointment and there were three Irish people! We talked to them and they sounded so legit! They were visiting family and so we shared the Book of Mormon with the, and they accepted with so much cheer! They were amazed about our decision to leave home and share the gospel. I wanted to hear them speak all day long because it reminds me of my dear sister in Caerphilly, Wales.  Haha she must hear the accents all of the time, crazy! I know the gospel is true and that through our dedication and hard work miracles happen as we trust in Heavenly Father. I love you and hope your week is full of opportunities of success!

~Love,

Sister Jones

Well hello all!
We started off his is week with very high goals that we wanted to accomplish! Our area has been struggling with finding and keeping investigators. So we fasted last Sunday for new investigators.  Heavenly Father is appreciative of those who sacrifice and work hard.  I know it! Every single day we made it a point to just accomplish our daily goals and reach a little higher each day. So remember I had mentioned that we raked leaves for a guy and he got all impressed??  Well he is now a new investigator. We introduced the Book of Mormon this week to him and were able to get his phone number so we could call him.... However after setting up a return appointment and going with a member wasn't really good because we think that he had his pastor there.... No good... But we politely walked to the member's car and drove elsewhere. He said he would attend church but did not show up, but that is okay because we just have to keep tying!

On Wednesday we had biked in the middle of our area all day and we were talking to people here and there and left and right and then we had to head home and there is a part where there is some construction is and a large amount of mud  and I being "bright"  thought I could just bike through it and it would be okay. Well I did. The mud was not watery like I had planned, it was clumpy and it stuck right to the wheels of our bikes... Haha and my companion followed right after me....:s so we stood there probably for fifteen minutes using a plastic bag to scrape off the mud from our tires! We must have looked super funny to the cars passing by, we got most of it off and then realized we had five minutes to get home on time and got there in ten :) all the mud is off now.
Thursday was our Zone Conference! Yay! Our zone is so small! But President Brough gave tune ups and they probably lasted about an hour and a half to get through! ;6 haha but we received a tune up from the First Presidency that we are not supposed to be having transfer meetings anymore, they were never allowed in the first place! :/ so now we basically just go straight to our areas without the excitement and mystery of knowing who is going home and who our new companions and areas will be! But we have to be obedient! We find more success when we do so! :) We had lunch and then had a great training by our zone leaders about repentance and my goodness it all worked perfectly! We applied it when we went tracting and it worked! It got us a return appointment!
Friday we called a recent convert in our ward and she lost her cat and so we offered to walk over and help her out up signs! As we were walking over we saw a man walking with a mountain stick and with longhair and almost looked like an Indian. We started talking to him and introduced the Book of Mormon and he said he only believed in the bible and so we explained God loves all of his children and so He wanted us all to know all of His truths. So he set up a return appointment for that day! Yay! We sat in carols car and stapled a picture of the cat Jill on wooden poles. It was fun! :)  Then we went to our appointment and lo and behold we saw a white cat come onto the porch as we were teaching brother rainwater! Haha but there cat was different in a few features, so it wasn't Jill but we about jumped for joy! :)
Highlight of the week! That evening we were walking with only an hour left and no appointments set. We decided to check on a few people.  There are two ways to get to this persons house but as I thought about going one way I felt unsure, as though it wasn't safe, so I took us the other way and we met a kid from Nicholasville who has been clean from drugs and he accepted a Book of Mormon! Cool! The. Kept walking and no one was home so we took the other way home which now didn't feel unsafe anymore. In my head I thought "Lord, I want to talk to at least to more people before returning inside. So with that in mind we walked through an alley and to the road to cross. As we crossed there were two kids that started to climb a ladder to a billboard. The boy was swing back and forth on the ladder over a random trailer under the billboard. I looked at sister Ferrell asking if we should consult them to get down and she said "probably" so we did and I shouted that their decision wasn't smart. The he said he bought was too and got down and we started to walk away like a bad missionary and then sister Ferrell said "should we talk to them?" I said "yeah we should". We turned around and asked to share a video and we showed because of him and learned that the boy was atheist and that he and his sister were bored and decided to climb the ladder...-_- my mom would kill me if she knew I had started doing that, really any mom would! Then he told us his sister doesn't hear very well and we realized after walking away that if he had fallen and we hadn't said anything his sister wouldn't hear anything if she turned around! His poor parents! And he would not have fallen gracefully! It would have been a painful fall!  Of man guess God led us along the right path! Those kids don't even know!
Last night we visited with Sister Darling (a less active). And she has a slight hoarding problem and a few other things she is trying to overcome. So we offered and got her kitchen and dining room all clean. She had the biggest smile on her face as we looked at all of it and it was actually quite fun! :) I have learned how important it is just to keep things clean in our house, it shows respect for Heavenly Father and the things he has given us so we can have his spirit.  I know that God lives and His Son is also there and is mindful of us.  They won't leave us, just be faithful and move of onward and onward.
I love you all and work hard!

Love,

Sister Jones

Here we are in the cold!