Kamusta!
Me at the Temple
1. Jenny's mom and son (AJ) he is a sick little guy right now. :(
Magandang Hapon po family I hope this letter finds you all well:) Andelyn you looked so cute in your Pommie uniform and it sounds like you are really enjoying your self. Wish I was there to see you perform but know that I think about you and miss you. and Amelia Ba-delia, I'll try to send more of the cool hair scrunchies to you when I can haha they are pretty fun eh? Wow! Niel L. Anderson is coming to speak at Stake conference this weekend for you guys? wooww you lucky ducklings! I'm so grateful for an organized church that sends it's Apostles and Prophets all over the world to talk to the Saints, we are so blessed!
Well this week has been full of blessings and tender mercies from the Lord. We are waiting for the approval from the Area Presidency to create a group here in our area. So for now it's in the Lords hands and whatever is his will is what is best for this area. I'm thinking it's going to happen though...I just feel it.
(and about the group- because of the lack in worthy priesthood members on the mountain the Pres will probably take the sisters out of this area and put in elders so that they can help run the group with the Priesthood. It makes sense...I'm thinking we will all be transferred this upcoming one and they will put elders in.)
I've felt prompted lately that we need to prepare this area and find as many less-actives as we can to prepare them to attend the group if it does in fact happen. There are many less-actives here in the mountain and we only know of half of them! It's so hard to find people because they don't have addresses and there are teaching records but they just have maps and it's nearly impossible to figure it out. One of the blessings we've received is a returning couple in the ward who lived here for 15 years and left for the province a year ago and they have just now returned and they live in our area. The Sullivan's! Man they are great. They don't have to much to do during the days so they told us they can come out with us 3 days a week and introduce us to families they know that are members that are up higher on the mountain than we usually go. So...let me tell you..we've been working our fannies off trucking up the mountains and teaching lessons haha. The Sullivan's are so great though and they add a great spirit to the lessons. Sister Sullivan is a bit feisty too and she's been rounding up some of them to bring them to church so this past Sunday we finally had some less-actives there! We were so happy to see them there:) One of them is a 16 year old girl named Jemie-Rose. We visited her and her grandmother on Saturday night shared a message with them. Than the next day she showed up at church and even went up and bore her testimony at the pulpit. She talked about how she comes from a broken family and doesn't go to church, but than the missionaries showed up and taught a lesson and she felt like she really needed to come back. Her sweet testimony made me tear up and made me feel so good inside and grateful for the gospel. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged when we visit so many less-active families every week and each Sunday no one shows up and sometimes it makes me ask myself if what we are doing even makes a difference... But hearing her say that she was grateful that the missionaries came and helped her to come back just testified to me that what we are doing IS important. We have met some more families this week and I fall immediately in love with them and look forward to visiting them and helping their families come back to the gospel.
Also this week is seems that some of the other members are more eager to work with us. I never realized till my mission about how important members are and their role in missionary work. I think back to my pre-mission life and wish I would have done more to help fill the missionaries planners with lessons. It's so hard to find them by ourselves. Tracking is great and all but it's so much more helpful when we have members who introduce us to their friends and than they have someone to come with to church and to answer their questions when we aren't there.
Jenny had a family emergency this past week so she wasn't able to attend church again, we will have to move her baptismal date again. It's okay though, we can just continue to help her prepare. She's been trying to find a job now for a month and has had no luck. We took her to the employment center in our area and she is attending a 10 hour workshop right now. I hope it helps.. Also, last week we taught her about Prayer and Fasting and we invited her to fast this past Sunday to ask Heavenly Father to help her find a job. She text us yesterday that she had been fasting and knows that she will be able to find a job soon:) man...she's just awesome, gotta love her. We've also had some more luck with her niece Brenda who is a less-active. We've been visiting her family more often and when we can't teach them she will come to Jenny's house and listen to us there. Which is an improvement because usually she's one of the ones that hides from us when we come knocking... ha. But this week has been great, our numbers were greater than they've ever been since Ika and I have been together. also our health has been pretty good, I've been good and healthy for a full 3 weeks now woohoo! I'm just loving it here, I'm loving the work and helping these families remember the covenants they made at baptism. it truly is so important to bring back those who have lost their way.
I'm so grateful for you my sweet family and all the prayers that you send my way, Maraming Salamat po talaga sa support na ibibigay ninyo sa akin palagi araw-araw. Sobrang blessed ako:) Mahal na Mahal ko kayo lahat. Maging Liktas ah?! Ingat na long kayo!
Nagmamahal, Sister Jones
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