He Is the Gift!

So I'm super short on time but I will do my best to update you all! First I would like to say I've been out 5 months today! WHAT?! I feel like its been MAYBE a month! How is it already Christmas?! Next week brings in 2015!!!! Where is time going?!

So for Christmas we go caroling as a zone on Mondays. Its an adventure to say the least... Ha but anyway we went on exchanges on Tuesday! It was so AMAZING! I went to Lacey with Sister Dunster (who just happens to be from St. Joseph, Mo. and her home ward is my new ward as my parents just moved in there! Crazy!) We had a great day together. We discovered we know all the same dancers at BYU-I and were even at the same game night without even realizing it. Small world! Somewhere in the 24 hours we were together something clicked for me that I probably won't ever be able to explain but I can say that Grace is real. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Something I've always gotten stuck on is that Grace makes up for the rest after "all we can do". I could never get it out of my head that there was more I could do and I would become frustrated with myself when I fell short. Its so great to know and feel that we don't have to be perfect because we can learn from our imperfections and continue progressing. I love the Savior and His gospel.

Tomorrow is our Christmas party and I'm kind of bummed about how long it is. Its from 9 am to 4pm. That's a long time not to be working. But it'll be fun. I get to see all the missionaries I love (well those still here). Its amazing how random strangers become family within seconds. Even before I know them I love them! I'm out of time though so I'm just going to say I hope this email makes sense and that everyone has a amazing Christ centered Christmas!!!!

Love you all!

One slow week

Well there really isn't anything to report on this week. It has been very slow moving week. We are currently in the finding phase so hopefully the work will pick up!

The ward had their Christmas party and I have NEVER seen a ward go as all out as OLY 4th. They are serious about their ward parties. The relief society was working from noon until 5:30 pm decorating the table with elegant table centers along with the stage, the piano, and the food tables. It was all very impressive. We spent a good bit of time helping and had a lot of fun with that.

The Christmas Devotional was absolutely great last night. I really enjoyed all of the talks. If you didn't get a chance to watch/listen to it I'd encourage you to go find it on lds.org.

Well sorry this is so short but like I said there really isn't anything to report on. This coming week we have president interviews and I always enjoy my conversations with President and Sister Blatter so that'll be fun. Hopefully next week will hold more exciting details for you all to read but until then I hope you all are doing well!

Gratitude means having a great attitude

So there's not too much to share this week.

We ended up pushing Alyssa's baptism to December which worked out for the best as she got the flu a few days beforeSaturday. It'll be good as she'll have more time to prepare.

We've begun teaching the sweetest little boy named Charlie. He is 8 years old and comes from a rough home. He is always hanging out at Regina's and started sitting in on our lessons and has come to church the last two weeks. Its really sad to see his home situation but it makes it even more apparent how much the gospel blesses our lives. He is loved by everyone at church and he already is singing all the songs in primary and answering questions! He is a way outstanding little man. Charlie has already informed us that he can't wait to go on a mission in 10 years! We're hoping some of his faith will rub off on his parents and brighten things at home for him.

Thursday was the longest park day I've had yet. We ended up using the Elders bikes the first half of the day. I never realized how intense the hills were here while in a car (other than the ridiculously steep drive ways I walked up my first transfer). We didn't bike too much maybe 7 miles or so but it was an adventure.

Transfer calls came on Saturday with a surprise. Sister Kramer and I will both be staying in Olympia for the next 6 weeks. Everyone here is very pleased. The Relief Society women actually cheered when we announced that all 4 of us missionaries were staying. OLY 4th is really catching on to missionary work and it will be really great to watch how much more they will grow here in the next few weeks.

Pretty sure every week comes with at least one funny comment towards us from somebody. This weeks was from our lovely Regina. She was talking about how she understands how we must have felt watching her learn and prepare for baptism as she was getting to do that with Charlie and she said it was just so amazing. She continued talking about how great the church and gospel are and said she had been hooked the first time we talked to her. She then looked at us very seriously and said, "You two are like my gospel dealers." Sister Kramer and I had to take a moment to process what she said then busted up laughing. I never expected to be compared to a drug dealer. Especially while on my mission. I guess it sort of works. The knowledge of Christ and His gospel is something you want to be fully dependent on. Leave it to Gina to give us the weirdest analogies! Haha!

This week was full of miracles. Last Sunday on conference call President Blatter announced that he was going to set goals that if we could reach them we would be able to attend transfer meetings whether we were being transferred or not (which was a big deal because so many amazing missionaries are returning home this week). Sister Kramer and I really focused on the goals president set and it was by miracle alone that we actually reached them all!

My testimony on prayer and fasting was really strengthened this week. Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers the way we expect but He DOES answer them. All you have to do is ask and then be willing to accept the answer He gives. We may really wants something but He knows what is best and His answers are SO much better than what we wanted. We simply have to let Him show us how.

Anyway that's all I have to say so I hope you're all doing well. Love you all and don't forget to pray!

Last week of transfer 3? WHAT?!

Its crazy how time flies!!! I hit my 4 months in the WA-TAC this coming Saturday! Its super crazy.

Not too much to report this week. We had our mission tour this week and it was amazing. Elder Snow and Sister Snow came and spoke with us. I wish I had remember to bring my notes! It was so great! We were all required to prepare a talk on faith and 4 missionaries were called to speak. President Blatter informed me I got lucky because he had put my name on the list of who he would like to speak. I love teaching investigators/small groups but half the mission of mostly missionaries with much more experience than me would have been highly terrifying/intimidating. President really knows how to get me worried (not in a bad way). Pretty sure he likes to see me under pressure. Its probably amusing or something. I'll have to work on that.

We are preparing another amazing person for baptism! Alyssa is Regina's (the miracle baptism from last week's email) daughter who informed us the Sunday after the baptism that she wanted to be baptized. The plan is for her to be baptizedon Saturday morning! She is an extremely shy 17 year old and we want to make sure she is completely ready before she's baptized but we had a break through yesterday and feel like she'll be ready! On top of being shy she has a severe case of social anxiety and despite that she came to ward conference yesterday and attended ALL 3 hours! Afterwards we asked how she was and she said she really enjoyed herself! And she now feels like she can have friends her own age! Its SO SO SOOO amazing to watch the Lord bless people as they try to align their lives with His will. God is so great! I know without a doubt that I am on His errand and that He is doing His work. All I'm doing is getting to watch the miracles unfold. Its such a blessing!

I'll keep you up to date with Alyssa next week!

I felt like I was living the life of a real missionary last week when we came home for dinner Tuesday night and as I went to pull my boots off the entire heel fell off it was quite a surprise. Thankfully we had some super glue so I was able to reattach it. Even bigger blessing is that it didn't rain at all last week! Though it is getting VERY cold. For a small moment the cold made me miss pants but when I remember why I was here doing what I'm doing it didn't seem to bother me anymore. Can you say blessing from above?

Like I've mentioned in past emails (I hope) as a mission we are all reading the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. To do so we have to read 7 pages a day. Looking back when we started this last month 7 pages was a struggle. It amazes me to see how I'm now having to force myself to stop at the 7 pages so that I stay paced with everyone else. I can't express to you how much I love the content of the Book of Mormon. I KNOW without a doubt in my mind that it is the word of God. These last few weeks we've met some people that have challenged/invited/instructed(various other type words) us to read the bible and just the bible. The first time someone told us this I didn't agree with her but I didn't tell her no. As we walked away from that door it really bothered me. As I pictured my life (even just one single day) where I didn't read the Book of Mormon I knew right then and there that I couldn't and wouldn't EVER go a day without reading the Book of Mormon. I wish I had told her that. Thankfully I remembered that experience the next few times we've had someone say that to us. I was so grateful to have grown even stronger in my testimony to where I lovingly but boldly was able to tell them that I would not take them up on that challenge and why. It was cool to experience. None of them accepted our invitation to learn for themselves. YET. I know everything happens in God's time.

Last thing to report for the week (told you I didn't have much to say) is to stay tuned for transfer results. If anyone plans on writing me I suggest you send it to the mission home just in case. (4007 Bridgeport W Suite D University Place, WA 98466)

I hope everyone is doing well!

Have You Ever Led the Life of a Homeless Person? ...

This week was a WHIRLWIND! It was a good one though!

Last Monday was our Zone activity. It was a lot of fun though a little dangerous from the missionary aspect. We played "Do You Love Your Neighbor" which for normal people would consist of slamming into one another along with various other crashes and fall. (For those of you who don't know this game its simple. Everyone sits in a chair arranged in a circle with one person in the middle. The point is to not be the one in the middle. Whoever is in the middle asks a person is they love their neighbor -hence the name- if the person replies yes the people on either side of the person have to switch seats before the person in the middle sits in one. If the person answers no they then reply with "but I love people..." and they give a different thing such as "who has ever worn hairspray" -that one is amusing to see who runs for it- anyone who fits the description has to move to another seat. The last person standing is the in middle.) Its an odd game but can become very amusing. Especially with missionaries when both Elders and Sisters are playing. The whole avoid contact rule creates some highly amusing situations.... Anyway that was Monday. 

Regina got baptized! It was so amazing! We hadn't taught her a single one of the lessons before Sunday but purely by the will of God we were able to teach her everything thoroughly and help her be completely ready for the special commitment that baptism is. We met with her EVERY day for at least an hour (or a few hours... it was a lot to cover in one week). On Saturday she got baptized! It was the most powerful baptism I've ever attended on the mission and before it. The spirit was so strong I wasn't sure how the room wasn't bursting. She had a lot off friends of different beliefs there and they could all feel it. The majority of them were in tears. As a result we have begun teaching Regina's daughter Alyssa who wants to be baptized and may also begin teaching 3 more of her friends. We'll see how it goes but it is truly amazing to watch how GOD moves His work along. 

Friday we had a note taped to the door from our apartment managers informing us of a 3 Day Pay or Vacate because there had been some weird issue with rent and there was a outstanding balance of $20 (pretty sure its because they notified us after the rent had been paid that they were raising it...) So anyway we called the mission office to inform the Elder in charge of housing when we informed him of the notice he calmly (very serious sounding) replied, "Have you ever lived the life of a homeless person?" When we answered no he (still serious) replied "Well in this mission you'll get all sorts of life experiences..." I busted up laughing because I knew Elder Harwood had a very unique sense of humor but poor Sister Kramer looked very concerned for the few seconds that he held back his laughter. Have I ever said how much I love being a missionary in the WA-TAC? It really is the greatest!

Tuesday I started getting sick. That's no fun. Thankfully its just a lame cold. I am super tired because of it though so I will apologize now to all who are expecting letters and don't receive one. I promise I haven't forgotten you but I really need a nap... Still love you all though!

Hope this email finds you all well!

Love,

Sister Jones

Halloween and a Shotgun Baptism!!!

This past week was crazy and this coming week is going to be crazier!!! I'm super short on time but I'll try to give a good update! 

So it started off pretty normal. Strike that it wasn't normal from the start. We had a typical p-day during the day and then began exchanges that night. Normally we swap in the morning but the Sister Training Leaders had a meeting earlyWednesday so we started at night.

They reorganized which sister training leaders are over which areas so I have two new sisters. They are super great! Sister Smith stayed in Lacey and Sister Kramer went with her. I FINALLY got to stay in OLY 4th with Sister Fowkes! I was way happy about that. Anyway so Tuesday we had lots of small little miracles and awesome lessons (taught and learned). I wish I was better at retaining details but I can promise you that it was awesome. I love both Sister Fowkes and Sister Smith they are outstanding missionaries. While we were very business it was still lots of fun. I still don't feel like I've worked a single day out here! I love being a missionary!

Wednesday was a normal day and so was Thursday day. Friday for Halloween we had zone meeting at 3. They switched up the building that we met at and due to technology issues none of us sister realized this so we were all super late. None of us were happy with that but it was still a great meeting. Then because it was Halloween we had to go to a members house instead of proselyting. I'm not going to lie. I'm not a fan of holidays on the mission. It was nice to have dinner with all of the missionaries in the zone but I just really wanted to be out doing the work. It drove me crazy having to sit on the couch and watch a movie. Could have been worse though! It just meant we worked even harder the next day to make up for some lost time :)

After the movie (The Best Two Year, which is way funnier when you know what missionary life is actually like) we had to go straight to our apartments. That didn't exactly happen for Sister Kramer and I. Shortly after getting in our car I noticed a bee not too far from my hand. Sister Kramer is terrified of bees and started screaming (I'm not a fan of them either) I pull over and we spend 10 minutes trying to kindly chase it out of the car.

One of my big take always from the week is that the times we struggle aren't those times that our situation is hard but the times when we aren't fully letting God into our lives. Seriously we probably looked like freaks. We had all the doors open and we're waving our coats in the car. We're total dorks. After ten minutes we couldn't see it in the car anymore so we finished our drive home. We record miles for the day and as we grab our stuff we discover it had been resting on the back of my seat! We left it in the car because it was too stubborn to leave. Not sure where it went... but it wasn't there the next morning!

Okay! So for the thing I've been most excited to share! We met with a woman named Regina Olson once before and put her on date to be baptized November 8th but then after a tragedy in the family we lost contact with her for two weeks. We went to visit her planning to move the date of her baptism but before we could she told us she knew the church was true and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from being baptized this coming Saturday (Nov 8th)! CRAZY RIGHT?! We hadn't even given her the full first lesson but she had gone to church once and researched a ton on her own and she has a stronger testimony than anyone I know! We told her all of the requirements to be baptized including having to attend one moreSunday before her baptism which means she couldn't miss yesterdays service. She said she wouldn't be missing another day unless she was in the ground. She is seriously amazing. Before we even told her she couldn't smoke because of the word of wisdom she informed us she had snapped in half every single cigarette she owned (in front of her daughter) and flushed them! Did I mention she's amazing?!

So yesterday sacrament was 10 minutes was from starting and Regina hadn't shown up. We were super bummed. 5 minutes before it started in walks Regina! From talking to her we found out her rides car wasn't working and she found out last minute so she started walking!!! She lives over 6 miles away from the church building. She told us that she had made it 5 miles and didn't think she could go any further (she has a good bit of health problems). She was about to give up when one of her neighbors brothers who didn't know she was going to church pulled over and teased her saying "aren't you supposed to be at church?" she told him she was trying to get there so he gave her a ride the last mile!  God really prepares a way for His children to do anything so long as its righteous. Where there is God there is a way! I love it!

Well that's all I have time for so I hope all is well! I love you and just want you all to know that there isn't a doubt in my mind that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is GOD's church reestablished on the Earth. I am so privileged to witness Him do His work!

<3

Miracles, Baptisms, and Firesides

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11

"(5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober(7) For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. (11) Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do."

A member read these verses to us and I just loved them so I thought I would share them with you all!

This week has been amazing! On Wednesday I hit my three month mark. It's kind of disgusting how fast time is going. I feel like there isn't enough of it! Also on Wednesday one of our investigators had her baby! She is so cute and it killed me a little not being able to hold her. She is so tiny looking! (Then again I'm used to practically 10 lb nephews! Zoey is just under 7 lbs). It was way exciting news for us.

Saturday Sister Kramer and I got to be part of Garret Crist's baptism. Elder Singleton returned to OLY so that he could perform the baptism. It was such a sweet night. The spirit was so strong and even though there had been chaos and people going to the wrong building that was all forgotten after the baptism began.

I learned that once one person finds out you can conduct music (I conducted the music at the baptism) you end up having to conduct the music in sacrament meeting when the chorister is running late. So that was a fun surprise.

During Sunday school I taught the lesson. I was suppose to teach it with one of my favorite people Sister Berg but unfortunately they had to take Brother Berg to the hospital because of some insanely painful kidney stones. So I ended up teaching it by myself and it was such a testimony builder to see how when you let go and let God teach powerful things happen. We ended up using 2 quotes out of the manual and the rest was all guided by God. It was awesome.  Such a simple lesson on what honesty is turned into a lesson on Why being honest with ourselves and God is crucial to our salvation and the sharing of the Gospel. It was way cool to realize that even something as simple as telling someone how you're really doing when they ask is essential to sharing the gospel! I wish you all could have been there to feel the spirit teach so amazingly. I felt like it was pointless for me to be standing in front of the class because I didn't even have to speak! It was so great. There is no doubt in my mind that the church is Christ's true church reestablished here on the earth!

Sunday night our zone and a few other zones got to do a Why I Believe Fireside which is hosted by the mission and has recent converts (people baptized within a years time) share their testimonies. Christina McCarthy (for those who don't remember she was the first person I got to teach who has gotten baptized) was one of those recent converts to speak and she was seriously amazing! I was almost in tears by how powerful her testimony was. She seriously is going to be General Relief Society President or something. She is SO amazing! I love her so much.

This weekend was full of reunions with the baptism and the fireside I got to see so many of the missionaries I've come to love as family. It made me think of just how great its going to be when we all get to live together for ever! There's just a happiness that is indescribable.  

We mixed up our routine this morning and went shopping before we came to email and it was so cool as to why we were guided to do that. First off in the checkout line right before we were about to introduce ourselves to the cashier as missionaries he started asking what church we were from and ended up pouring out to us that he wants to learn more because he knows there's something out there he hasn't yet found! It was SO AWESOME! He doesn't live within the boundaries of our area but we are super excited to introduce him to the sisters in his area so that he can find that thing he's searching for because we know the truth of Christ's gospel will bless him an immeasurable amount.

The next cool Wal-Mart experience was as we were leaving we drove past a guy holding a sign about him being homeless and needing some help. We ended up turning around and going back to talk to him. When we approached him you saw recognition just light up his eyes. We gave him $10 (not much but enough for something warm to eat). We asked him if he had ever met missionaries and he informed us that he was a member who just hasn't gone to church in years. He said he's going to come to church on Sunday because he knows God is looking after him. We told him we knew the reason we felt like we should come back and talk to him was to let him know that God know's his situation and is taking care of it. I just love being a missionary SOOO much!!! It truly is the greatest thing ever!

I hope you are all doing well and a special love you to my mum! Happy Birthday Mum!

One Crazy Week!

Last Monday was insane! P-days are not as relaxing as I figured they would be. Especially the p-day right before transfers. I spent most of Monday cleaning and making sure I had all the needed information for the area written in my planner.

Tuesday we drove to Tacoma and swapped companions before we went in for the meeting. That was a very long but very nice day. I got to meet Sister Kramer and I am pretty sure this is going to be a great transfer. She was extremely excited when I told her that I was a BIG advocate for the rules so that was a good sign. She is 19 and from American Fork, Utah so I'm 2 for 3 with companions from Utah. We had a great transfer meeting which seemed a little weird since I knew multiple missionaries giving their final testimonies. It seems like I've been mostly surrounded with older missionaries until this current transfer.

Another great thing about transfer meeting was all the fantastic missionaries I got to see from the MTC and my first transfer. It was way awesome seeing Sister Sandau again. She's so great and I missed her like crazy! After transfer meetings I was hoping to be on the road as quick as possible but we didn't end up leaving Tacoma until after 6:30 because we stayed to help the OLY 3rd sisters find their car keys. The power of prayer is great after a LONG time of searching for them we found them in the bathroom trash can. It was crazy because they had literally just checked there and then the next time it was check hello keys! The church is true!

We finally got on the road and made it back to Olympia (have I ever mentioned I REALLY dislike city driving? 4 lanes for each direction is way too busy and confusing for me). That night we went to plan and I discovered my planner was missing. I have no clue where it could have gone. I never took it out of my bag. Thankfully Heavenly Father helped me remember all but maybe one or two of the appointments we had set for the week. Surprisingly I didn't stress as much as I normally would. Blessings from above for sure!

We got a way awesome referral from Bishop Ottoboni and now Regina Olson is on date to be baptized in the beginning of November! Her three children may join her! Its way awesome. She's soaking up everything with such faith and amazing prayers! 

I absolutely love being a missionary in the WA-TAC it really is the greatest mission in the world. I hope this email finds everyone well. 

Love,

Sister Jones

Bashers, Glow in the Dark Girl Scouts, and Transfer mayhem

So this week has been CRAZY! My brain is all over the place today so hopefully I can focus long enough to write you and it'll make sense. Anyway.

I have now experienced anti/bashing from people while tracting. It was actually kind of cool. This is why. Tuesday we were knocking doors and we knocked into an older gentleman who was very... interesting. He stated very quickly that he is Baptist. I have been working on being bolder so I didn't let that send us walking. We struck up a conversation on how great it is to have Christ as the center of our lives and how its so amazing knowing that we are all brothers and sisters. This conversation helped me learn why I had to wait until I was 22 to come on my mission. If I had came when I wanted to that encounter would have been extremely negative. As soon as he told me that we had too much opinions and that women were to remain silent I would have gotten so mad at him. I am so grateful that I came now instead of before. As he began putting women down I was overwhelmed with love for the poor guy. I got to bear my testimony on how men and women are all God's children and how I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have our own divine roles but that we are still equals on every level. We probably talked with him longer than we should have but that experience was overwhelmingly spiritual. I felt so energized walking away from that conversation feeling like my testimony had tripled in strength.

Through the week we encountered many more bashers. I found there was a common theme with all of them claiming that the Book of Mormon went against the Bible and each time I found the spirit testifying to me of how untrue that is. On my first exchange with Sister Gehring she told me to watch for patterns in the negative things people say and check my testimony on them. I am truly grateful for that because each time I heard them talking I was able to recognize the repetition and pray that Heavenly Father would strengthen my testimony. I have known for a long time that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. Now I know with an unshakable knowledge of its truth. I am so grateful for opposition in my life. It isn't always fun in the moment but it never fails to make me a stronger person!

Winter is quickly coming to Washington so by the time knocking has ended we have to wear our reflector belts to walk safely in the dark. It was highly amusing the first night because Sister Lechuga and I were both super hyper from the spiritual experience with the negative gentleman. We couldn't quite laughing at the fact that we looked like total goobers walking with the belts draped like sashes and decided we look like glow in the dark girl scouts. Probably not as funny to you all as it was to us. I'll send a pic next week.

The last thing to update you all on for the week is transfers... Transfer calls were insane. We could feel that something was going to change. We figured seeing as I had been in Olympia longer I would be leaving and that would be the change... Boy were we wrong. The Presidents Assistant called us and you could tell he was trying to build the suspense the little punk. Anyway. He informed us that Sister Lechuga would be leaving and I would be staying! I won't lie I was kind of relieved. I love Olympia and was happy to have another 6 weeks to spend with everyone. That wasn't the end of the shocks. What came next made Sister Lechuga wish she had been recording my reaction. AP Steed informed me that I will be follow up training Sister Trainer. There are no words to describe how I felt when I heard that. The closest description is probably that my heart definitely stopped for a few seconds. Those were definitely the most terrifying words I could have heard that night. But thankfully after lots of prayer I know that I am fully putting that in God's hands. Not long into my first panicked prayer I knew that God qualifies who he calls.

This next transfer is going to be amazing. I am excited to continue working with the people of OLY 4th and I'm excited to see what Sister Kramer will teach me! Talk to you all next week! Love you!

Zion's Camp

We did 6 obstacles. Each had the purpose of building unity for both companions and the mission. The first was a 12 foot wall that had absolutely nothing for you to use to climb it and we had to get all 16 sisters that participated over the wall. It was easier for some of us and harder for other. We had a time limit and weren't allowed to talk or make any noise. In the end, it wasn't enough time. We ran out of time before we got the last sister up and over. While doing this activity the thoughts that went through my mind were how it was so amazing to see everyone work together to help each other over the wall. One of the rules was that once you went over the wall, you couldn't touch those still going over. That last sister who was running and jumping to try and grab hold of those on top of the wall made me think a lot. At least once in our lives, we are all that sister. We each come to a point where we're faced with a wall where we are trying our hardest to jump high enough, hold on tight enough. Only to not reach that hand or slip out of it. That is the point where we know we can't do it alone. In life, there will be times that we will have to ask ourselves "am I allowing the Savior to help me? Or am I letting myself be defeated by a wall?"

There were many things learned at the other obstacles, especially the trust fall. But the one that sticks with me is the spider web. I've done something like it a few times before at girls camp, but it was different being a missionary. I went through the web first. The purpose of this activity was to get everyone through without the thicker top and bottom ropes moving. Another sister was passed through and I helped her from my end. Then another and another. A few times the rope moved and we had to start over. I had a big thought from being on the side that everyone was trying to get to. The first was that of a greeny perspective. I was on my own at first trying to figure out what would help best. It made me very grateful to have had such a great trainer to help build a foundation of the expectations. The second was that of a member. The side I was on was the member side and the other was the missionary side. As the fed people through the without communicating (talking again wasn't allowed), it was hard to know how to be the most helpful. Many stepped back and simply watched as a few tried to support those incoming sisters who didn't have their feet on the ground yet.

That's how it often is with members. When there isn't two way communication and equal effort on both ends, people get dropped int he mud. Missionary work isn't the right name. It is and should be more commonly and simply called God's work. Everyone is needed. Everyone has something to contribute. We all just have to figure out how we personally can best contribute.

That's my challenge for whoever wants it. Ask yourself and God, "how can I most effectively contribute to God's work." It is an amazing thing to be a part of . You constantly see miracles and blessings.

Love you all!

I am grateful for a living prophet of God!

So this week was a normal week.

Fridays seem to be jinxed right now. We've had two of them I a row that we have been dropped by one of our investigators. Its such a sad thing to see them saying no to something so great. Especially after they have felt the potential happiness. But I guess they just aren't ready yet.

This weekend was AMAZING! I LOVE LOVE LOVE General Conference! It was so great! I really can't even put into words how much I learned and grew this weekend alone. I've never really appreciated General Conference to the magnitude that I should. That'll never be the case again. One of my favorite things from Conference is that I feel it truly helped me to discover my true potential. I really feel like a missionary now. I thought I knew what my purpose was but now I REALLY know. I am so pumped and am SO thankful for the time I have to be a missionary. I feel like this short amount of time is only preparation. The MTC was like preschool. I feel like I'm in the real MTC now. These next 18 months (yes I know its not 18 months anymore but I'm going to keep claiming it is at least for another 4 months...) are really just the preparation for being a missionary.

Wearing a name tag isn't what makes me a missionary. As a full time missionary I can only do so much to progressing the Lord's work. What I've learned in my two months is that the real missionaries are the members. They reach more people and are able to do more than a full time missionary ever could. Its such a powerful lesson I've learned. I LOVE being a missionary!

One fun thing about the week is that I held a giant tarantula. I'll email pictures of it next week. I was a big chicken but eventually sucked it up and overcame the fear. It really wasn't that bad. I'll probably hold Waffles again. (Yes the spiders name is Waffles)

A funny quote of this week comes from one of my favorite people in Olympia, Christina McCarthy. She was baptized back onAugust 9th and she's just amazing I love her so much. Anyway she has been learning about all the rules we have to follow as missionaries. Saturday night while we and the elders were having a discussion about General Conference (which she absolutely loved by the way) she out of the blue asked, "Is there a rule that you must all have your teeth extra white?" She said it with complete seriousness. It was super funny. I couldn't help but wonder how long she had been thinking about that. It was so great.

Well that's really all there is to this week. Coming up this weekend we will (hopefully) be having a baptism (if the dang stomach flu will go away). We also will have transfer calls on Saturday. Let me just say I really really don't like the whole everything is up in the air feeling. It's 50/50 right now so stay tuned and I'll let you know if I get to stay in OLY 4th or if they're booting me out!

Love you all!

The Goldfish Ate the Shark!

So I'm a terribly slow at typing and I have like 20 minutes to update you all...

This week was a great week. Maybe we were just having so much fun that it didn't feel like work but I really don't feel like I've worked in a while. How quickly I crash at night disagrees with that but I've made a goal to work so super hard this week that there is not a doubt in my mind that I'm doing my best.

Becky's baptism has been moved to the 10th of October so that's super exciting! Also around that date will be the release of Meet the Mormons in theaters. WATCH IT! We got to prescreen it this past week. Seriously. Take all of your friends and watch it. The money made from it is going to places like the Red Cross and such. Its really a great documentary on I think it is 6 different LDS families and just shows how the gospel blesses our lives while still showing we are normal people. :) Its awesome.

Zion's camp was a blast. I loved every second of it. My muscles are still a little sore but that's a good thing. We did a lot of different obstacles (that I will talk about in my letter to sam and hopefully she'll include in the blog... sorry not enough time left!). It was a really great growing experience. 

I've decided President Blatter finds it amusing to watch me get embarrassed because before leaving camp I was shaking his hand and he pulled me away from my companion to talk to me (you can imagine the confussion on my face). He then just talked to me for a few minutes about how a ton of people were telling him how well I'm doing (I only have on companion so I don't know who else he's talking to). He then laughed at me when I turned red. Then Sister Lechuga came up and asked him if he was going to let me train next transfer (confussion was not the look on my face at this point...) Thankfully President said there are only 3 sisters coming in this transfer and non the transfer after so I think I'm safe for at least two more. Still lost to learn before I'm ready for that kind of responsibility. I feel like I've turned red more on my mission than the rest of my life combined.

Friday we parked the car all day because we were short on miles after driving to Zion's Camp. During 5 to 7's I got a taste of the next 6 months as it poured on us about 30 minutes into walking. I can definitely see the blessings of being a missionary as I don't even have a small cold from it. I was practically dripping from 5:30 until 9:30 that night when I finally got to change into dry clothing. Despite the shivers I have never loved the rain more. When it stopped raining we got to see two rainbows (right at the end of 5 to 7's) it was really awesome and made my day even more amazing.

Seriously every day in the WA-TAC is a good day. Even if we did get dropped by one of our investigators and learned that a recent convert is planning on marrying someone who is very against the church. I've come to know that everything serves God's plan. 

Well I'm sorry this isn't nearly as detailed as I was wanting to give you. I will send Samantha an update and hopefully she'll be able to update my blog shortly after getting it.

The Womens broad cast on Saturday was great! My big take away was that through Christ we can all find our TRUE eternal potential. I know I've seen the truth in that in the 2 months I've been in the WA-TAC. I can't wait to see it even more.

Hopefully this all makes sense and finds everyone well!

Make sure you all watch EVERY session of General Conference its such a gift to be able to listen to God's prophet!

Love

Sister Jones

Sister Wilson and I at Zions Camp post obstacle courses

The water used to just be big mud ponds until it started raining.

Not sure the order but yes in one of them I am ringing out my skirt. I swear it weighed 5 lbs more after the rain...

The street sign is a street in the OLY 4th area and it made me think of you mum <3

Gray Skies and Exchanges

It looks like winter is on its way to WA. The skies have been gray every morning for the last little while. Though the sun still manages to make an appearance. I'm not going to lie I'm excited for the rain. I got a short taste of the drizzle on Fridayand people weren't lying when they told me I wouldn't really even get wet. I'm weird and looking forward to winter.

This week was a pretty average week. Nothing too exciting to mention. Though our ward has decided they were allowing us to starve and think over feeding us now will make up for it. (Not that I'm complaining. Our fridge is very full)

 We haven't gone a single night without a meal since the beginning of last week and its the same straight through until at least the end of the month! Its so great because we're finally meeting more of the members. We had one elderly couple who due to some health problems had to change their diet so they gave us pretty much everything they couldn't eat. We now how pork chops and various other things to eat if we are ever without a meal.

Friday we had interviews with President Blatter and exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. Interviews were at 10 amand went pretty smoothly. I love the Blatters. They are super sweet and you can tell they really love assisting with the Lord's work. They're an inspiration. (Sister Blatter of course took a number of pictures so they should be on the mission blog by now.)

Our music standards have changed a little so that's sweet. Now on top of listening to Christian music composed and performed by LDS members we can also listen to classical music from composers like Beethoven, Bach, and Debussy! I'm super excited about that. They just have to be the original composition.

Last transfer Sister Sandau and I had to go to Leschwab because our front right tire kept going flat. Turned out there was a nail in the tire. They fixed it up and all was good. At the beginning of this transfer the same tire started going flat again. So while I was in Elma on exchanges Friday Sister Lechuga took the car back to get fixed. It had ANOTHER nail in the same tire! Apparently the guy that fixed it was the same as last time and he thought it was very weird.

So as I mentioned we had exchanges this week. I was supposed to stay in Olympia with Sister Gehring while Sister Lechuga went to Elma. Last minute Thursday night the Sister Training Leaders texted saying that plans had changed. So I packed my bags and we met with the sisters for lunch right after interviews. Turns out Sister Gehring had just worded the text funny and had meant that her and Sister Julien were switching who was going where. Since I was the one packed I went to Elma. It was nice. We parked the car as soon as we arrived at their apartment and walked the rest of the day. I'm not sure how my legs didn't feel it the next day. It was fun though. We met a few really sweet people and had plenty of fun sharing the greatest thing possible.

Upon returning from exchanges we helped our apartment manager repair/seal up her RV. It was super fun climbing up on the top. We resealed every single part of the roof. No more leaks for that thing.

We were suppose to be having a baptism on the 28th for Becky but there were some scheduling conflicts with the stake people and none of the Bishopric would have been able to attend so we will have to push the baptism to October 12th. I was kind of bummed and a little frustrated since Becky had chosen the date herself but then we realized that this means her two daughters could potentially be baptized on the same day! That made me excited. It also allows us a little more time to prepare since this week will be extremely busy and we are losing a day in Olympia as we are going to Zion's Camp for a missionary training of sorts. I don't really know what it is but I've heard lots of good things from older missionaries so I'm pumped.

I'm also way excited for the General Women's Conference on Saturday! How great is it that we get to hear from God's living prophet and many others called of God to help lead us and provide us with guidance! Its super great in my opinion. I hope you all get the chance to watch it this weekend and of course the Saturday and Sunday sessions next week (Oct 4th and 5th)

I think that about wraps it up. I hope you all are doing well. I know that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us. All we have to do to know it is ask Him!

Love you all!

Kaitlyn

Not Much to Report

Sorry this week there isn't much to report! It was a really busy week full of finding miracles. Like I said last week we had extremely high goals that there was no way we could reach them but we went out and tried our hardest. It was an exhausting week that passed really fast. We are now teaching 6 new investigators! Its so great to see the work hastening!

The other day while knocking doors we were approaching a house when this older woman saw us coming and came out to tell us to go away. We could tell she was struggling so (In Sister Sandau fashion) I simply told her to know she was always welcome at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You could see something in her change and she learned that we wanted to have her feel welcome and loved. She expressed how she wished we had come 7 months earlier. As we talked with her you could see her opening up to us. We learned that her husband had passed away in February. She had so much heart ache. She invited us in and we sat and talked to her for quite a while. You could see how badly she had needed that. We are going to be teaching her fully the plan of salvation tomorrow. Its so great knowing how God leads us to His children at just the right time. We had planned on knocking in an entirely different area and felt prompted to knock Fir Tree instead. We also had felt like instead of handing out Restoration pamphlets we needed the Plan of Salvation. It was all because we were suppose to meet Juliana. She has such a sweet soul and I know through the Gospel of Jesus Christ she can be healed! The message we share is true. I know it with every part of my heart! He can heal us if we allow Him to! None of us have to suffer in pain.

This coming Friday we have interviews with President Blatter so that will be fun. Takes time away from the people of Olympia but we'll make it up by working harder tonight.

I pray all of you are doing well! Love you all!

Here in the WA-TAC

So things are VERY different this transfer with a new companion. Its super stressful but I'm working hard not to let it get to me. Every time I find myself stressing I think of a scripture reference Sister Sandau gave me (2 Timothy 1:7). Its extremely helpful but needless to say I had it memorized by Wednesday.

So Tuesday was a long day. We had transfers up in Tacoma. Traffic on the way there was insane. I don't think I'll ever get use to traffic here. I'm still use to being held up by tractors not congestion of too many cars.

The rest of the week was a challenge as Sister Lechuga wants to start visiting more people each day than I'm used to/that I know. It's a challenge to know who to see when I barely know anyone but with lots of prayer its coming together. Obviously I can do it since transfers are inspired by God. Him along with people here think I can take care of the area with Sister Lechuga's help so I will work my hardest until I see what it is they see.

It is a good experience because I can see myself becoming more bold with the individuals we teach along with growing in my love for them. Its really great to get a small taste of how important and special each one of us are to God. I love it!

The other day we went to finish knocking a neighborhood Sister Sandau and I had started. It was interesting. We ran into a potential who had come to church the previous Sunday. He was talking to a member when we pulled up to park in front of their house. He greeted me with a really slobbery kiss on the hand. It was the most awkward moment of my whole mission... (you know the whole 7 weeks...) Any way after he left the member informed us he was a "little" drunk. I really need to start cluing in because I had no clue. But we got to teach him a lesson after he sobered up and it was awesome. He said he would be at church Sunday. Unfortunately he wasn't but maybe next week! He did say after he finishes the case of beer he has he won't be drinking it anymore so that was pretty cool.

Really cool experience on Sunday. Our normal number for investigators at church is 1 but this week we had 6! It was so great! One of the six was a lady we had lost contact with until church. She put herself on date! It was so cool! Words can't really highlight the experience properly. The church is true!

Anyway we have some extremely high goals set for the week. I think they're a little too high (I'm working on doubting my doubts before I doubt my faith). I also know that through faith God can accomplish anything. So with that I will just work my hardest and let God accomplish what he wants to and not even worry about numbers (its the only way I'm not going to stress) I've come to the decision that while keeping numbers is important because it shows progression and encourages progression I can't focus on them because they never really show the amount of work being done anyway. (For all you current missionaries and r.m.s feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in that.)

I know that through God all can be accomplished. We are not here doing our work but His. I am so grateful for this time to serve my brothers and sisters because I have come to understand just how special they all are. I look forward to the rest of my life and the opportunities I will have to share this amazing gift God has given us.

Love you all! Hope you're all well! Sorry no pictures this week!