Week #29 (12-15-08)

So, the time has come....I have been TRANSFERRED!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! I´m going to Bremen and I will be comps with a sister only on her 3rd transfer....she has only been here for 3 months!! That is nothing...well it is something, but I am considered her follow up trainer or as the missionaries here call it...her step-mom!! Her trainer is her mom. I´m leaving my place of birth and I´m a little sad. It was hard to say goodbye to the members and over the next few days I will be saying goodbye to the investigators. I know that this is what the Lord wants for me, I just hope that I did what I was supposed to do while I was here. 7 months is a long time, but not quite long enough. I´m excited for Bremen though. The other Sister Jones served there for about 7 months and she loved it!! I hope it is as good as she made it sound!! It´s all what you make it though.

This is my new address:
Sister Christi Jones
Bismarckstrasse 92
28203 Bremen
Deutschland

Zone Conference was really good. We had a few talks from the AP´s and then broke up into zones and our zone leaders then talked to us. I have the BEST zone leaders. They are the nicest and most charitable people I have met. Who ever new that there where people like them in the world!! I will miss serving with them. Now I have the highest standards for my future zone leaders...they have a lot to live up too!! lol.

After that we ate lunch...which is my least favorite part. I´m not the type of sister to sit down with the Elders and chat. If I have served with them then I feel more comfortable doing that because we have things we can talk about...old investigators, members, experiences as a district and so on. But Elders that I don´t know yet...I have absolutely no desire to talk to them... I don´t know what to say. I don´t want to talk to them about before their mission or after their mission...that´s just to personal for me as a sister. I´m not snobby or anything. I say hi and ask them how their area is doing. I wish them good luck and so on. That is about the extent of my conversations at lunch. The Elders I do know I will talk to more, but as I said it usually has more to do with the work...which is good. Maybe I have lost my social skills, but I´m sure that they will come back when I need them. :o) I left lunch early because I was bored so I went and practiced the songs that Sister Cha and I were going to sing. We ended up doing a Christmas medley. It turned out pretty good I think...even though I can´t sing as well as before. All the time I spent to cover up my nerves when I sing have gone down the drain...but it was fine because I felt the Spirit and that is what is important. We had a music and spoken word type thing and then President and Sister Thompson talked to us. I really got more into the Christmas Spirit from this Conference and realized how cool it is that I get to be here at this time preaching the Gospel and talking of Christ. Even if the people don´t seem to listen.

A lot of our appointments fell out this last week, but I finally got to see O again. She has been really sick for the past couple weeks, but I called her and invited her to come to my last Sunday. She just stayed for the first hour, but I got to see her and say goodbye. I will miss her so much as well. She was my dream baptism because Sister Jones and I found her on the street and I really wanted to see her get baptised. Find, teach and baptise is every missionaries goal!! I just hope she continues to come. I also said goodbye to Frau A today and my heart hurt so bad!! I can´t explain the feeling except that it was like someone had ripped it out of my body, stepped on it, poured salt on it and then stuck it back in my body!! I was so sad and don´t know when I will ever see her again...maybe never. I have never experienced that in my life. When ever I say goodbye to family and friends I know that I will be able to see them again. The states are not that far apart, but Germany is really far...and she is from Sri Lanke...who knows how long she will stay here in Germany!! Man...this is hard. I will really miss everyone I have met here!! I love Bielefeld...I was born here, but now it is time to move on and to try and change another place!! I just hope that I accomplished all that I was meant to here in the beautiful City of Bielefeld!!

Sister Jones