So this week was AMAZING!! We worked so hard and it was so fun!!
Montag-
We had a surprise party for my companion. I couldn´t really help plan it too much because I´m always with her, but I helped a little before she came. It was so fun. I made up an excuse for us to go to the church and then I told her I was thirsty and needed a drink. I pretended to test her knowledge of the church building by having her take me to the kitchen. She then opened the door and the Elders jumped up and surprised her. It was so wonderful. The Elders BBQ´ed brats and then we went outside and flew a kite that the Paderborn Elders bought for her. Our District is really fun...it is made up of 2 elders in Paderborn and 2 elders here in Bielefeld. It was a great time.
After p-day ended we had an appointment with a contact named Tina. She is Catholic and seems pretty religious. She is so great, but is really busy with 2 jobs and trying to find a new apartment. We had a great lesson though. The Spirit was really strong and she agreed to meet with us again. We then went to the JAE FHA (YSA FHE) and we brought an investigator named Sonja...I don´t know if you remember her, but we "tschüss"ed her when I was with Sister Welch and then she randomly came to church last week. The FHA was a little boring, so a Mitglied (member) and I decided that we needed to play a game. It livened it up a bit. :o)
Dienstag-
We met with a super cool woman named Katharina...she is the coolest person ever. I think I might have told you what happened last week when we found her. We were totally led by the spirit to her house and then we came and taught her part of the first lesson. About Jesus Christ, Apostacy, The Restoration, and The Book of Mormon. She is really hard for me to understand, but she said that she believes that it could be true. So we set up another appointment and commited her to read and pray.
Then we had interviews with the President at the church building. Our whole zone was there and we had a really good meeting about Jesus Christ. After Interviews my comp and I were starving because we hadn´t eaten all day, so Pres. and his wife took us out to eat. It was really fun. I love my mission president and his wife is the sweetest person ever.
Mittwoch-
We met with Mira and her friend Kristin again today. They are our 18 year old investigators. They are so cute and so interested in religion for being so young. We had a great lesson. We taught them about the importance of baptism and I committed them to baptism...well I tried. It was my first time and I did my best, but then I got an answer that I didn´t really expect. One said that she had already been baptised and the other said that she hadn´t. I didn´t really know what to say because there answers were opposite, so my wonderful comp stepped in and bore testimony about the importance of baptism and then taught about authority. She is a great teacher. She then committed them to pray about it. Mira can´t come to church on Sundays because of work, but we committed Kristin to come and she said that she would bring a friend. So we picked a place and time to meet in innenstadt before church so we could go together.
We then met with a woman named Clara...she was a referral from a woman named Schwester Wolf in the Gemeinde (ward). I had spoken with her on Sunday to come as a joint teach and she agreed. So we met with them and it was really weird. Clara is so old that she can barely hear what we are saying and doesn´t remember anything. She told us at least 4 or 5 times that she has 3 children. She also put the Book of Mormon on the floor by the side of her chair so she "would remember to read it later," then when we referred back to the BofM that she had put on the floor she asked, "what book?" We taught her what we could and did not set up a return appointment. She is 94 years old and would not know what she was getting herself into. You should have seen the look on Schwester Wolf´s face though. The entire time she had a HUGE smile on her face. She was so proud of herself that she was involved in Missionary work. It was so great to watch her and hear her bear her testimony.
Donnerstag-
Today was so cool because we got a surprise investigator. We had an appointment with Sonja today, but our joint teach fell through and they really really encourage you to only teach a lesson with a JT (joint Teach) there. That is after the first appointment. So we were going to change the appointment to another day, but we just went anyways and guess what?? Sonja had a friend there. So we taught her friend as well and even gave her a Book of Mormon. They both agreed to meet with us again, so we set up an appointment for sat.
We also visited a less active member. Her name is Gerda and she just got baptized at the end of last year. Although, she is not allowed to come to church now. She is a little handicapped and so her brother takes care of all of her financial stuff. When he saw that she started paying money (tithing) to a church he forbade her to come or he would cut her off. He has all control, so poor Gerda chose to listen to him. I mean what choice does she have? She can´t take care of it herself...she needs her brother. Her family thinks that we are a sect (a cult...auf Englisch). So we talked to her and just bore testimony of how important it was that she reads in the Book of Mormon and prays. She may not be able to go to church now, but there are things that she can still do to follow Christ. We are going to visit her again this week with the Bishop!!
Freitag-
This day was the weirdest day. We had service at a members house in the morning set up and also 4 appointments...3 of which had JT´s that were coming. Well the service got moved to later so that we couldn´t go, so we studied instead and then went to Katharina´s again. She is just so great!! She is so prepared. She asked us why we had knocked on her door, she said that she wanted to ask last time, but she was too scared. So Sister Jones told her that we were looking for a certain person, but didn´t know where they lived and when we came to her building we felt like we needed to knock on the doors. So we did and we found her. The Lord has really prepared her!! We had given her 2 chapters in the BofM to read and she said that she read them over and over again. She said that she had such a great feeling every time she read and that every time she thought about the book she thought about the scripture...those who seek shall find. I really hope that she continues to meet with us. We have one more appointment with her and then she is going on Vacation till the 5th of August. So after her appointment one of our appointments fell out, but then we got a joint teach for our other appointment. Then the woman called again and said she couldn´t come because her son was sick, but that was fine because then our appointment called and cancelled. So we only had one more appointment for the day. So we went to the service and found out when we got there that the moving truck wasn´t going to be there till later and that someone was supposed to tell us...no one did. The poor woman was so stressed out that she started to cry. We told her we would do our best to be there later. So we tried to figure out a way to cancel our appointment. It was at the church with a woman and we didn´t have her number. She we tried to call the JT who was friends with her, but her phone was off. So we called the Elders to try and get another number, but that didn´t help. Finally the Elders called and they just happened to be on the bahn with the member we tried to call. So we talked to her and cancelled the appointment. We then went and helped the woman move and paint a little bit. While we were packing the truck it started to down pour!! I felt really bad for her, but we got it all done. Her husband couldn´t be there to help because he is already in Austria working. I will never move unless my husband is there to help...there were a lot of Mitglieder (members) there to help, so that was really good. It was a crazy day because nothing went as planned except for our first appointment. Welcome to the life of a mission I guess!! Nothing ever goes as we had it planned the night before!! It stresses me out a bit because I get so excited for the day and then it never works out, but I guess it does work out. I mean, heavenly father made it possible to cancel our last appointment so that we could help this woman. He is in charge and I need to learn to roll with the punches a bit more!! It was still a great and fun day.
Samstag-
We met with Sonja and Alexandra again today and the bishop's wife came with us!! She is such a great JT and Mitglied!! I love that woman!! It was an interesting appt. It was really weird because neither of them really seem very interested...although we finally found out that Alexandra is a little mad at God because he took her dad away. I can understand that, if I wasn´t a member of this church and didn´t understand His Plan I would be mad too. So it was nice to find out her concern right up front so that we can help her understand His plan for us. We have another appt. with them next week!
Sontag-
I love Sundays. We were stood up today...Kristin never came. We have an appt. today so will see what happened. Sacrament meeting was so good though...at least what I could understand!! It was about repentance. I couldn´t understand everything, but I could feel the Spirit and the power of their testimonies. My comp and I taught the 3rd lesson in the investigator class and it went well. The elders have a baptism next week and so that is who we taught. Although we had to run around and find a woman member who would come in with us...we can´t be in there without another female. It all worked out though and went well. After church we had an eating appt. and told her right when we got there that we had to leave in an hour and 15 min. to catch our bus because we had to go to Oerlinghausen. She said ok, but I was still doubtful. The Mitglieder like to keep us forever, especially on Sunday...at least 2 hours or more. This woman especially. But we did it. We ate and it was wonderful and then I gave the Spiritual thought and then we left. Sister Jones said that that was the quickest Sunday eating appt. of her whole mission!! We were very excited. Then we went home, packed a dinner, and headed out in the pouring rain on our bikes to the train station. We got SO wet!! When we got there (about 20-25 minutes in the rain) I rang the bottom of my dress out because it was so soaked!! It was so funny!! We laughed and took pictures!! My long coat helped me out a lot!! We then got on the train and went to Helpup, visited a family there and then went to Oerlinghausen...it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. When I imagined Germany that is what I pictured!! I love it out there. We did doors for an hour and a half and then headed back home!! We had a good time!! I love Sister Jones, she makes even the worst weather fun and exciting. Thankfully the rain didn´t follow us to Helpup or Oerlinghausen!!
So that was my week...it was great. We got 5 new investigators and had 5 joint teaches. We hope to make more of our new investigators this week progressing investigators next week!! We worked so hard this last week and I loved it. We have so much fun together doing missionary work!! It will be a great transfer!!
Love,
Sister Jones
21 July 2008
14 July 2008
Letter #7 (July 14, 2008)
Things are GREAT here. Transfers were on Thursday and so I have my new companion...Sister Jones. She is the best. Seriously!! I love this girl. I prayed so hard in the MTC to have a comp like her...and now I have been blessed to learn from someone that is so wonderful. She only has 2 transfers left and I hope that we get to serve the rest of the time together. She is very obedient and works really hard. We have so much fun together and I have learned that missionary work is actually really fun. It doesn´t feel like a chore with her. I´m excited for each day that we get to go out and talk to people and teach people. She also really pushes me. I have done things with her that I never thought would be possible. I have called Germans on the phone to set up appointment or joint teaches, even though I have no clue really what they are saying back to me. I have a part in every lesson that we teach and I talk with more people on the street then I ever thought possible. The work in this city has slowly been going down hill, but we are working our little tails off to change that around. I love how she just does what she is asked and what is excepted without asking questions or making up excuses. I don´t want to make her sound perfect or anything, but she is the perfect comp for me. We have a lot of the same goals and things that we want to change and make better in this city!! I'm just so happy.
Friday was our first full day together and we got 3 contacts from talking to people on the street. We called them the next day and have 2 appointments next week from the 3 contacts...that is amazing!! She also rode a bike for the first time on her mission on friday!! It was really funny...she makes everything fun!!
We met this woman on the street...one of our contacts..and I couldn´t understand her, but she said something and I bore my testimony about the book of Mormon. The I started to explain it a little bit before giving her the Book on the street. I talked about how it is another testiment of Jesus Christ and then she said something else that I didn´t understand. A thought then came into my head as my comp replyed to her and I turned to 3 Nephi 11 (when Christ appears to the Nephites) and I then told her to start reading in that chapter and quickly told her what it was about. She said she would read, but she didn´t want to give us her info. She said she would call us when she had more time and I really think she might...she was really excited about it. After we walked away I asked my comp what she said and I guess she told us that she doesn´t know anything about Jesus Christ, but she wanted to learn more...normally I just have people read moroni 10 when I give them a book on the street, but I had a feeling to do something different and I followed it. It was so cool. I may not be able to understand everything, but that was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father can still work through me to bless other people. It was so wonderful to see the joy on her face as we bore testimony of Jesus Christ!!
On saturday we had an eating appt. with the GML (ward mission leader) and that was good. My last comp didn´t like the GML, but we both think that he is great. Before we ate he asked if sister Jones would say the prayer, but didn´t look at either of us...we just stared at him and then he looked at us and laughed. He then asked the older sister jones to say the pray...still without looking at us. So we all folded our arms and waited...Sister Jones is older on her mission and I´m older in the area, but we both thought it was the other sister Jones. Again the GML laughed. Then he finally asked me to say it. It was funny!! So many times already we have had funny things with our names..."Hallo, Ich bin Sister Jones." (Hi, I´m sister Jones) "Ich auch." (Me too) It´s really awkward, but WAY funny!! We had another lesson with Andrea on Saturday and she is doing ok...she hasn´t read since the last time we met. If you aren´t reading or praying then you won´t progress. I recommited her to pray and read. I committed her to pray specifically that she will be able to come to church...she has to work on Sunday mornings, but I know that the Lord will provide a way, but she has to CONTINUE to do her part. I have come to see how important reading in the Book of Mormon is. It was written for our day and I can always find things that apply to my life now and what I am going through. I love it. Through the Book of Mormon we come to know of God´s plan for us, plainly and clearly and we also learn that it is only through faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end that we can be saved and return to our heavenly Father. It is repeated so many times and it is the only way. Also through the Book of Mormon we can gain a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Gospel was restored through him. I love telling the first vision auf Deutsch...I feel the Spirit so strong everytime!! It is amazing how strong the Spirit can be felt, even when you tell it so many time. It´s because it´s the truth and I know it. I love this work...it is amazing and we are seeing miracles everyday.
I LOVE SUNDAYS!!! I always feel like I have made so much progress!! I spoke more in church today then any other Sunday. In our Sunday morning meeting I had to try and explain how our investigators are doing and what the ward can do to help...I managed to get through it. I then set up a few appointments, joint teaches, and even changed one of our meetings this week to a different time!! It was so fun. I just went from member to member and said what I could and listened intensly. I understand a lot more every Sunday, which makes me so excited for a new week. Oh my gosh...do you remember Sonja?? She was an investigator that we "Tschüss"ed because she wasn´t keeping commitments. Well she showed up at church today. We saw her on the street the other day and asked if she was coming to church. She said yes, but I had heard that so many times from her and she wouldn´t come...I know, I know I didn´t have any faith...but she came!! She was about an hour late for sacrament meeting, but she stayed for the rest of the meetings and even stayed for our ward lunch. We set up an appointment with her this week to see if anything has changed!
We have so much going on this week. We have been setting up appts. like crazy and we are working hard to have joint teaches. They ask us always to have a joint teach (bring a member) after the first lesson so that they can make friends in the ward and also see that it is possible to live this life because there are others who do it...not just us weird looking missionaries!! ;o) It is so fun the have a joint teaches.
After church we went to visit a contact, but silly us...we forgot to write down what building she lived in, we only had the street. So we just started checking the names on the klingles (the door bells). The first building we came to didn´t have her name, but I had a feeling to just klingle the building (do doors in the building) the second one we klingled let us into the building...so we walked up the stairs to her door and she wasn´t interested. So we just knocked on the other door on our way down the stairs. After a few rejections we finally came to a door and a woman answered and said we could come back. We gave her a Book of Mormon and left. Then as we were going home from that area we stopped a girl on the street who was interested and she said we could come back on Tuesday. We didn´t end up finding the actual contact, but we got 2 others that we are going to visit on tuesday and the original one as well!! People really are placed in our path. It was so cool!!
It will be a good week. I hope to be able to tell you about a lot more investigators next week. Right now we only really have 1 that is progressing and she (Alicia) is 10yrs old...her mom is a new member and Alicia has a baptisimal date for the 9th of Aug. Other then that we don´t have much...this week will be good for us.
I love this place and I love the people. It is hard sometimes when they turn you down, but that is just the way it is. Missionary work is the hardest thing you can do, but also the most rewarding. I love seeing miracles and I hope to be able to recognize even more as time goes on!!
Sister Jones
Friday was our first full day together and we got 3 contacts from talking to people on the street. We called them the next day and have 2 appointments next week from the 3 contacts...that is amazing!! She also rode a bike for the first time on her mission on friday!! It was really funny...she makes everything fun!!
We met this woman on the street...one of our contacts..and I couldn´t understand her, but she said something and I bore my testimony about the book of Mormon. The I started to explain it a little bit before giving her the Book on the street. I talked about how it is another testiment of Jesus Christ and then she said something else that I didn´t understand. A thought then came into my head as my comp replyed to her and I turned to 3 Nephi 11 (when Christ appears to the Nephites) and I then told her to start reading in that chapter and quickly told her what it was about. She said she would read, but she didn´t want to give us her info. She said she would call us when she had more time and I really think she might...she was really excited about it. After we walked away I asked my comp what she said and I guess she told us that she doesn´t know anything about Jesus Christ, but she wanted to learn more...normally I just have people read moroni 10 when I give them a book on the street, but I had a feeling to do something different and I followed it. It was so cool. I may not be able to understand everything, but that was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father can still work through me to bless other people. It was so wonderful to see the joy on her face as we bore testimony of Jesus Christ!!
On saturday we had an eating appt. with the GML (ward mission leader) and that was good. My last comp didn´t like the GML, but we both think that he is great. Before we ate he asked if sister Jones would say the prayer, but didn´t look at either of us...we just stared at him and then he looked at us and laughed. He then asked the older sister jones to say the pray...still without looking at us. So we all folded our arms and waited...Sister Jones is older on her mission and I´m older in the area, but we both thought it was the other sister Jones. Again the GML laughed. Then he finally asked me to say it. It was funny!! So many times already we have had funny things with our names..."Hallo, Ich bin Sister Jones." (Hi, I´m sister Jones) "Ich auch." (Me too) It´s really awkward, but WAY funny!! We had another lesson with Andrea on Saturday and she is doing ok...she hasn´t read since the last time we met. If you aren´t reading or praying then you won´t progress. I recommited her to pray and read. I committed her to pray specifically that she will be able to come to church...she has to work on Sunday mornings, but I know that the Lord will provide a way, but she has to CONTINUE to do her part. I have come to see how important reading in the Book of Mormon is. It was written for our day and I can always find things that apply to my life now and what I am going through. I love it. Through the Book of Mormon we come to know of God´s plan for us, plainly and clearly and we also learn that it is only through faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end that we can be saved and return to our heavenly Father. It is repeated so many times and it is the only way. Also through the Book of Mormon we can gain a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Gospel was restored through him. I love telling the first vision auf Deutsch...I feel the Spirit so strong everytime!! It is amazing how strong the Spirit can be felt, even when you tell it so many time. It´s because it´s the truth and I know it. I love this work...it is amazing and we are seeing miracles everyday.
I LOVE SUNDAYS!!! I always feel like I have made so much progress!! I spoke more in church today then any other Sunday. In our Sunday morning meeting I had to try and explain how our investigators are doing and what the ward can do to help...I managed to get through it. I then set up a few appointments, joint teaches, and even changed one of our meetings this week to a different time!! It was so fun. I just went from member to member and said what I could and listened intensly. I understand a lot more every Sunday, which makes me so excited for a new week. Oh my gosh...do you remember Sonja?? She was an investigator that we "Tschüss"ed because she wasn´t keeping commitments. Well she showed up at church today. We saw her on the street the other day and asked if she was coming to church. She said yes, but I had heard that so many times from her and she wouldn´t come...I know, I know I didn´t have any faith...but she came!! She was about an hour late for sacrament meeting, but she stayed for the rest of the meetings and even stayed for our ward lunch. We set up an appointment with her this week to see if anything has changed!
We have so much going on this week. We have been setting up appts. like crazy and we are working hard to have joint teaches. They ask us always to have a joint teach (bring a member) after the first lesson so that they can make friends in the ward and also see that it is possible to live this life because there are others who do it...not just us weird looking missionaries!! ;o) It is so fun the have a joint teaches.
After church we went to visit a contact, but silly us...we forgot to write down what building she lived in, we only had the street. So we just started checking the names on the klingles (the door bells). The first building we came to didn´t have her name, but I had a feeling to just klingle the building (do doors in the building) the second one we klingled let us into the building...so we walked up the stairs to her door and she wasn´t interested. So we just knocked on the other door on our way down the stairs. After a few rejections we finally came to a door and a woman answered and said we could come back. We gave her a Book of Mormon and left. Then as we were going home from that area we stopped a girl on the street who was interested and she said we could come back on Tuesday. We didn´t end up finding the actual contact, but we got 2 others that we are going to visit on tuesday and the original one as well!! People really are placed in our path. It was so cool!!
It will be a good week. I hope to be able to tell you about a lot more investigators next week. Right now we only really have 1 that is progressing and she (Alicia) is 10yrs old...her mom is a new member and Alicia has a baptisimal date for the 9th of Aug. Other then that we don´t have much...this week will be good for us.
I love this place and I love the people. It is hard sometimes when they turn you down, but that is just the way it is. Missionary work is the hardest thing you can do, but also the most rewarding. I love seeing miracles and I hope to be able to recognize even more as time goes on!!
Sister Jones
07 July 2008
Letter #6 (July 7, 2008)
Ok...so I have been here for almost 6 weeks now...which means it is time for transfers. In this mission we do it a little different. We have a huge conference call and all of the missionaries listen as the pres tells us where we are going. Sister Welch my comp is going to Hannover with Sister Seiter who came out with me. When the pres was announcing the Bielefeld Sister he said, "Sister Jones as Senior Companion...." (pause) "That´s Sister Brittany Jones as Senior Companion and Sister Christi Jones and Junior Companion." All of the missionaries laughed and pres. said that no, it was not a mistake!! :o) So my next comp is Sister Jones as well...I heard she was really nice, so I am very excited to meet her!! I don´t really feel ready to show someone around a city and introduce them to the members, but I have no choice now. It will be good for me though...I need to have more responsibility!! I´m really excited for her to come!!
So one thing that is nice about a mission is you notice all the horrible things about yourself and then you try to figure out how to fix it. I want to change so bad and become more like Christ, but it is hard...you can´t do it over night. One thing that I have been trying to work on is looking for the possitive in things. The Lord is blessing me and if I can learn to recognize it more, then I will be even happier. Sundays are always the hardest day as a missionary...especially fast Sunday. I love Sundays though because of all the blessings that I get. I understood people more then I ever have before. Not perfectly, but enough to have a few conversations. It is so exciting. My German is really bad and I have been really afraid to talk to the members, but I noticed that as I tried to talk that they helped me and they understood what I said...and even what I could not say. I love that they are so helpful and I hope that I can work on opening my mouth more so that they can get to know me better and so that I can get to know them as well!!
We had a cool miracle this week...well I consider it a miracle. We ride the bus all the time and I had seen this older lady with white glasses on the bus quite a few times and for some reason she always stood out to me. Well we were walking down the street this last week and she was coming toward us carrying some really heavy bags. We stopped her and started talking to her and she handed us the bags...she was completely out of breath. So we helped her carry her bags home and she invited us in. We were on our way to an appointment, but we talked to her for a little bit and asked if we could come back. Her apartment was really messy, so we offered to help her clean and organize and even invited her to church. She said she was going on Urlaub (Vacation) but we could come by when she got back. I´m so excited...when I first saw her I felt something and I didn´t know why until this week. I really hope that it all works out.
We met this other girl on the street and we talked to her about the Book of Mormon. I asked her if we could meet and we could give her a book and tell her more out it. She agreed!! It was so great. We ended up calling her and she wanted to meet us at the Library. Sister Welch didn´t think she would actually be there, but she was and she brought a Friend to. They are 17&18 and are super cool. We set a an appointment with Meera (who we met on the street) and then asked her friend if she wanted to come as well...she thought for a second and then said, "Warum nicht" (why not) It was so awesome. The appt. is on Wednesday...I hope it goes well!! I´m very excited!!
Ok, so cool German stuff for this week. I have been thinking of what to say and I wanted to talk about weird phrases, but I only have one for now..."Wir sehen uns" which is translated to "we see us" which means "we´ll see each other later". It is so much more fun to say. I love this language. I will try to listen for more and tell you more things next week!!
Well I think that is all for this week!! I love you and I hope to hear from you next week!!
Love
Sister Jones
So one thing that is nice about a mission is you notice all the horrible things about yourself and then you try to figure out how to fix it. I want to change so bad and become more like Christ, but it is hard...you can´t do it over night. One thing that I have been trying to work on is looking for the possitive in things. The Lord is blessing me and if I can learn to recognize it more, then I will be even happier. Sundays are always the hardest day as a missionary...especially fast Sunday. I love Sundays though because of all the blessings that I get. I understood people more then I ever have before. Not perfectly, but enough to have a few conversations. It is so exciting. My German is really bad and I have been really afraid to talk to the members, but I noticed that as I tried to talk that they helped me and they understood what I said...and even what I could not say. I love that they are so helpful and I hope that I can work on opening my mouth more so that they can get to know me better and so that I can get to know them as well!!
We had a cool miracle this week...well I consider it a miracle. We ride the bus all the time and I had seen this older lady with white glasses on the bus quite a few times and for some reason she always stood out to me. Well we were walking down the street this last week and she was coming toward us carrying some really heavy bags. We stopped her and started talking to her and she handed us the bags...she was completely out of breath. So we helped her carry her bags home and she invited us in. We were on our way to an appointment, but we talked to her for a little bit and asked if we could come back. Her apartment was really messy, so we offered to help her clean and organize and even invited her to church. She said she was going on Urlaub (Vacation) but we could come by when she got back. I´m so excited...when I first saw her I felt something and I didn´t know why until this week. I really hope that it all works out.
We met this other girl on the street and we talked to her about the Book of Mormon. I asked her if we could meet and we could give her a book and tell her more out it. She agreed!! It was so great. We ended up calling her and she wanted to meet us at the Library. Sister Welch didn´t think she would actually be there, but she was and she brought a Friend to. They are 17&18 and are super cool. We set a an appointment with Meera (who we met on the street) and then asked her friend if she wanted to come as well...she thought for a second and then said, "Warum nicht" (why not) It was so awesome. The appt. is on Wednesday...I hope it goes well!! I´m very excited!!
Ok, so cool German stuff for this week. I have been thinking of what to say and I wanted to talk about weird phrases, but I only have one for now..."Wir sehen uns" which is translated to "we see us" which means "we´ll see each other later". It is so much more fun to say. I love this language. I will try to listen for more and tell you more things next week!!
Well I think that is all for this week!! I love you and I hope to hear from you next week!!
Love
Sister Jones
30 June 2008
Letter #5 (June 30, 2008)
Hello my beautiful family!!
Mandy-
Thanks for the email. I looked on your blog and almost started to cry as I watched the video of Cameron at his swim lessons. He looks so big and grown up. He is SO cute!! I really miss my little nephews and niece!!! Well I miss you all, but they change so much more!! I hope that I answered all of your questions in my big email. if not let me know and I will next week!! I love you and I thank you for the prayers for Andrea. She needs to get baptized so that she can truly feel the cleansing power of Jesus Christ and companionship of the Holy Ghost. I have never wanted someone to have this Gospel so bad. It hurts my heart to think that she might not get baptized. Continue to pray Mand!! She needs a miracle, but I know it is possible!!
Teri-
YEAH!! WASHINGTON!! How are you doing in the greatest state ever?? How fun for you and I heard that David came and surprized you?? That is so great!! Ok...so I met Elder Thompson. I talked to him about what his mom said...so hopefully he will add more detail to his emails. He seemed pretty cool. About Kassel...I will never be able to go their because there are no sisters their. We only have like 15 sisters and they are only in the biggest cities and they haven´t had sisters their for...well I accually don´t know if they ever have. If they open it to sisters then I would have a chance, but otherswise no!!
Thanks for the blog...it is wonderful!! I would love to look at your blog to if you want to put pics/videos on there that you want me to see!! Thanks would be fun!! Thanks for the support Teri. I love you and I hope your last week at home is wonderful!!
Vicki-
Thanks for the dearelder...I got it from my mission president at Zone conference, but I don´t know when it was written!! You are such an inspiration for me. I love the stories you relate from your mission and the spiritual thoughts as well!! Thanks for everything!!
I love you all and thank you for all you do!!
Love sister Jones
And the rest...
Well this week was so great!! I love being a missionary. It is really the hardest thing I could ever do...I knew it would be hard, but I didn´t know how hard until I got out here and found out for myself!! I have really been struggling for the last couple weeks, but I finally feel like I´m slowly moving forward instead of backwards!!
Last Monday for P-day we had a District picnic in one of the many parks in Bielefeld. We had a lot of fun...cartwheel contests, races, and summersalts make up a great pday. We then had a meeting with a contact that we met on the street. When we first walked in she told us that she was Catholic and that she is staying Catholic, but we ended up staying and talking to her for 45minutes. She had a lot of questions, but sister Welch did good in answering them, I just tried to bear my testimony when I could. It´s so great to see how much the Book of Mormon was really written for our day. The woman´s name is Rosa and she practicly quoted the BofM without even knowing. She started talking about how she already has a Bible, and she doesn´t need another Bible. It was really funny in my head, but also really sad. So we committed her to pray about it and we are going to go back and see her...she wouldn´t set up an appointment with us, but she did say we could come back!!
We had Zone Conference this week in Dortmund...my first one. It was SO great. The Spirit was so strong and I got to renew my desire to follow the rules more fully and to talk to everyone. My district sang a musical number and they talked me into doing a solo as one of the verses. I have really missed singing, so I loved it. We also did a Tausch (exchange) with the Dortmund Sisters. Sister Welch and Sister Cha went back to Bielefeld and I stayed with Sister Denton in Dortmund. It was so fun. We got along great because we are a lot a like. We have very similar backgrounds and out looks on life. I love how she talked to everyone. Male, female, old, young...EVERYONE!! My comp sometimes doesn´t talk to people because they are too old or a male. It is her choice, but everyone is a child of God and should get a chance to hear the Gospel, even if they won´t accept it...that is not for us to decide. I´m not perfect, but I learned a lot from the Tausch and I hope to be a better missionary because of it. I was with her for about 24hrs and then we switched back. It was really good and it helped me to love my comp more. Sister Denton and I would be perfect together, but I have to learn to get along with other people, not learn to get along with people like me!! That would be pointless. I know that one of my greatest trials that I am going to face on my mission will be companions. It will be good for me, but I know it will be hard!!
So, we travel a lot on the buses and Bahns, but we also have bikes. My comp has been on a bike for almost a year, so she is super fast. This one day we were trying to catch the train and so we were riding really fast and I swear I was going to die!! It was so hard, but kind of fun!! I like bikes because then I don´t feel as lazy just sitting on a bus or Bahn all day. Oh random thought. We saw this guy on the Bahn the other day and I swear it was Christian Bale. I just stared at him and couldn´t find a difference in their features. If we weren´t in Germany I would have gone and asked him...they were seriously identical...especially in the eyes. It was weird.
So I had some cool experiences with the gift of tongues this week!! On the Tausch I could understand the people better. Then in an appoint. with my comp on Sat. I was telling the Joseph Smith story and words were just coming out of my mouth. The Spirit was so strong. I looked her right in her eyes and I KNEW that she could feel what I was feeling. She wants a few weeks to read through the BofM a bit, but it was just cool. I can´t even remember what I said, but I know that the words weren´t mine!! I really hope she doesn´t forget that feeling.
Then on Sunday this JAE (YSA) came up and was talking to me about Waterskiing and then I asked her to come to a teaching appointment with us this tuesday. I did it all by myself and she understood me and we even set up a place to meet so we could go to the house together. I was so excited. I´m not perfect that´s for sure and I can´t understand much, but I´m trying!!
Andrea is doing well. We are still trying to work out her work situation so she can come to church. We committed her to pray about Joseph Smith, but when we visited her on Sunday she still hadn´t prayed about him yet. So we recommitted her. She is so wonderful and needs this Gospel so bad...more then she realizes. She has come so far. She gave up drugs, smoking, coffee, and tee when she wasn´t even meeting with the missionaries because she just didn´t feel it was right. Who does that?? Hardly anyone...the Lord has prepared her. Now she just needs to come to church so she can get baptized!!
Well I think that is all!! I hope that my next week is even better. I´m striving to look for the possitive and concentrate on that and that is really helping me!!
Love,
Sister Jones
Mandy-
Thanks for the email. I looked on your blog and almost started to cry as I watched the video of Cameron at his swim lessons. He looks so big and grown up. He is SO cute!! I really miss my little nephews and niece!!! Well I miss you all, but they change so much more!! I hope that I answered all of your questions in my big email. if not let me know and I will next week!! I love you and I thank you for the prayers for Andrea. She needs to get baptized so that she can truly feel the cleansing power of Jesus Christ and companionship of the Holy Ghost. I have never wanted someone to have this Gospel so bad. It hurts my heart to think that she might not get baptized. Continue to pray Mand!! She needs a miracle, but I know it is possible!!
Teri-
YEAH!! WASHINGTON!! How are you doing in the greatest state ever?? How fun for you and I heard that David came and surprized you?? That is so great!! Ok...so I met Elder Thompson. I talked to him about what his mom said...so hopefully he will add more detail to his emails. He seemed pretty cool. About Kassel...I will never be able to go their because there are no sisters their. We only have like 15 sisters and they are only in the biggest cities and they haven´t had sisters their for...well I accually don´t know if they ever have. If they open it to sisters then I would have a chance, but otherswise no!!
Thanks for the blog...it is wonderful!! I would love to look at your blog to if you want to put pics/videos on there that you want me to see!! Thanks would be fun!! Thanks for the support Teri. I love you and I hope your last week at home is wonderful!!
Vicki-
Thanks for the dearelder...I got it from my mission president at Zone conference, but I don´t know when it was written!! You are such an inspiration for me. I love the stories you relate from your mission and the spiritual thoughts as well!! Thanks for everything!!
I love you all and thank you for all you do!!
Love sister Jones
And the rest...
Well this week was so great!! I love being a missionary. It is really the hardest thing I could ever do...I knew it would be hard, but I didn´t know how hard until I got out here and found out for myself!! I have really been struggling for the last couple weeks, but I finally feel like I´m slowly moving forward instead of backwards!!
Last Monday for P-day we had a District picnic in one of the many parks in Bielefeld. We had a lot of fun...cartwheel contests, races, and summersalts make up a great pday. We then had a meeting with a contact that we met on the street. When we first walked in she told us that she was Catholic and that she is staying Catholic, but we ended up staying and talking to her for 45minutes. She had a lot of questions, but sister Welch did good in answering them, I just tried to bear my testimony when I could. It´s so great to see how much the Book of Mormon was really written for our day. The woman´s name is Rosa and she practicly quoted the BofM without even knowing. She started talking about how she already has a Bible, and she doesn´t need another Bible. It was really funny in my head, but also really sad. So we committed her to pray about it and we are going to go back and see her...she wouldn´t set up an appointment with us, but she did say we could come back!!
We had Zone Conference this week in Dortmund...my first one. It was SO great. The Spirit was so strong and I got to renew my desire to follow the rules more fully and to talk to everyone. My district sang a musical number and they talked me into doing a solo as one of the verses. I have really missed singing, so I loved it. We also did a Tausch (exchange) with the Dortmund Sisters. Sister Welch and Sister Cha went back to Bielefeld and I stayed with Sister Denton in Dortmund. It was so fun. We got along great because we are a lot a like. We have very similar backgrounds and out looks on life. I love how she talked to everyone. Male, female, old, young...EVERYONE!! My comp sometimes doesn´t talk to people because they are too old or a male. It is her choice, but everyone is a child of God and should get a chance to hear the Gospel, even if they won´t accept it...that is not for us to decide. I´m not perfect, but I learned a lot from the Tausch and I hope to be a better missionary because of it. I was with her for about 24hrs and then we switched back. It was really good and it helped me to love my comp more. Sister Denton and I would be perfect together, but I have to learn to get along with other people, not learn to get along with people like me!! That would be pointless. I know that one of my greatest trials that I am going to face on my mission will be companions. It will be good for me, but I know it will be hard!!
So, we travel a lot on the buses and Bahns, but we also have bikes. My comp has been on a bike for almost a year, so she is super fast. This one day we were trying to catch the train and so we were riding really fast and I swear I was going to die!! It was so hard, but kind of fun!! I like bikes because then I don´t feel as lazy just sitting on a bus or Bahn all day. Oh random thought. We saw this guy on the Bahn the other day and I swear it was Christian Bale. I just stared at him and couldn´t find a difference in their features. If we weren´t in Germany I would have gone and asked him...they were seriously identical...especially in the eyes. It was weird.
So I had some cool experiences with the gift of tongues this week!! On the Tausch I could understand the people better. Then in an appoint. with my comp on Sat. I was telling the Joseph Smith story and words were just coming out of my mouth. The Spirit was so strong. I looked her right in her eyes and I KNEW that she could feel what I was feeling. She wants a few weeks to read through the BofM a bit, but it was just cool. I can´t even remember what I said, but I know that the words weren´t mine!! I really hope she doesn´t forget that feeling.
Then on Sunday this JAE (YSA) came up and was talking to me about Waterskiing and then I asked her to come to a teaching appointment with us this tuesday. I did it all by myself and she understood me and we even set up a place to meet so we could go to the house together. I was so excited. I´m not perfect that´s for sure and I can´t understand much, but I´m trying!!
Andrea is doing well. We are still trying to work out her work situation so she can come to church. We committed her to pray about Joseph Smith, but when we visited her on Sunday she still hadn´t prayed about him yet. So we recommitted her. She is so wonderful and needs this Gospel so bad...more then she realizes. She has come so far. She gave up drugs, smoking, coffee, and tee when she wasn´t even meeting with the missionaries because she just didn´t feel it was right. Who does that?? Hardly anyone...the Lord has prepared her. Now she just needs to come to church so she can get baptized!!
Well I think that is all!! I hope that my next week is even better. I´m striving to look for the possitive and concentrate on that and that is really helping me!!
Love,
Sister Jones
23 June 2008
Another pic of Christi, her comp and mission president
***also, check out the video on the side bar....it's a video from the MTC of all the german speaking missionaries singing. You don't have to listen very hard to hear Christi...she's the soprano!
Letter #4 (6-23-08)
This week has been interesting. I feel like we spend more time traveling then anything else. It is a little difficult when we could be knocking doors or something, but our area is really big and it takes usually a half hour to an hour to travel to anyone we are teaching or meeting with. We went and visited this one member who just joined the church a months ago and it took us almost 2 hours to get to her house!! 2 HOURS!!! It was crazy. I´m mostly just trying to figure out how to do missionary work. We are asked to talk to everyone, but my comp hates talking to people on the buses and Bahns (subway) because she doesn´t know what to say to start a conversation. I want to talk to them because I LOVE to talk, but I´m at a literal loss for words. I can teach a simple version of the Gospel, but I don´t know how to talk to a stranger in German on a bus or Bahn. On the streets we just approach people and talk about the Gospel, but then they have the choice to walk away or stay and talk. On the Bus and Bahn you don´t want to force the person to talk to you about the Gospel, so you have to bring it up some other way. Or so they say. I can do it easy in English, but my limited vocab makes it a bit more challenging in German. I will get there though. That is one of my goals for my mission is to be able to talk to everyone , no matter where I am at, street, doors, buses or Bahns...I want to gain a vocab that will help me accomplish all of those aspects of missionary work. I have a long way to go, but I will just keep working at it. I´m still not sure what missionary work is, but I will just keep trying and see if I can figure it out.
We got to meet with Andrea this week 4 times. She is really struggling, but she is praying everyday and reading the Book of Mormon. She wants to come to church, but she has to work. So we are praying for a miracle. She wants to get baptized on Aug. 8 (my birthday!! Although she doesn´t know that) but she has to come to church at least 3 times and then be able to come to church after her baptism as well!! So we are praying for a miracle, so that she can come to church. Another thing we are working on is how to get new members and investigators to church. That is not much of a problem in the US because almost everyone has a car. Well hardly anyone has a car and the buses and Bahns make travel a little longer. We have a new member Stella, who was just baptized, who would have to travel about an hour and a half with 2 small kids to get to church. The hour and a half isn´t that bad...it´s the fact that she would have to take a taxi and then a Bahn and then a bus. That is a lot of work to get to church, so we are trying to get her there some other way. It is hard, but possible. It is just a test of their faith. I know that Lord will provide them a way and make it worth their while.
We unfortunately had to "tschuss" and investigator this week. (tschuss means bye and that is what they call it when someone drops you or when you drop someone) She wasn´t making any progress and she wouldn´t really keep her commitments either. She said she was coming to church last week (not yesterday, the one before that) but she slept in. She has been an investigator on and off for years and she still doesn´t want to get baptized. It was sad, but time to say Tschuss.
We got 4 contacts this week, which was exciting. We stopped a woman and her daughter on the street and set up an appointment for Tuesday. I really hope it goes well.
It was a good week and next week I will let you know if I have figured out missionary work more!! :o)
Love,
Sister Jones
We got to meet with Andrea this week 4 times. She is really struggling, but she is praying everyday and reading the Book of Mormon. She wants to come to church, but she has to work. So we are praying for a miracle. She wants to get baptized on Aug. 8 (my birthday!! Although she doesn´t know that) but she has to come to church at least 3 times and then be able to come to church after her baptism as well!! So we are praying for a miracle, so that she can come to church. Another thing we are working on is how to get new members and investigators to church. That is not much of a problem in the US because almost everyone has a car. Well hardly anyone has a car and the buses and Bahns make travel a little longer. We have a new member Stella, who was just baptized, who would have to travel about an hour and a half with 2 small kids to get to church. The hour and a half isn´t that bad...it´s the fact that she would have to take a taxi and then a Bahn and then a bus. That is a lot of work to get to church, so we are trying to get her there some other way. It is hard, but possible. It is just a test of their faith. I know that Lord will provide them a way and make it worth their while.
We unfortunately had to "tschuss" and investigator this week. (tschuss means bye and that is what they call it when someone drops you or when you drop someone) She wasn´t making any progress and she wouldn´t really keep her commitments either. She said she was coming to church last week (not yesterday, the one before that) but she slept in. She has been an investigator on and off for years and she still doesn´t want to get baptized. It was sad, but time to say Tschuss.
We got 4 contacts this week, which was exciting. We stopped a woman and her daughter on the street and set up an appointment for Tuesday. I really hope it goes well.
It was a good week and next week I will let you know if I have figured out missionary work more!! :o)
Love,
Sister Jones
16 June 2008
letter #3 (6-16-08)
(answers/comments to her sisters questions)
Teri,
Well I don´t know Elder Thompson, but if I meet him I will say hi from his family. That is funny that his family wants to follow my progress. Elders tend to not write much!! The Elder in you ward from Kastle?? I´m not sure where that is at, but if I get moved there I will definitely find his parents. That would be awesome.
(and the rest....)
This week has been great!! I love my companion and the ward that I am in. They are so supportive of us...which makes our work a little easier. The German is coming...slowly. I´m trying to learn as much as I can and I sometimes can understand what people are saying, but only every once in a while. I love that I can be sitting in church and feel the Spirit and have no clue what they are even saying. That is a testimony to me that this is the truth. It is amazing.
Ok...so I have been thinking of funny things that have happened this week. I have been making a list of interesting things that are in Germany that are not in America and I also have been making a mental list of my favorite excuses of why people can´t talk to us on the street.
Reasons people can´t talk:
Most use- "Keine Zeit, keine Zeit" (no time, no time)
They don´t think it is right to talk about God on the street. (Jesus Christ talked to people everywhere, so why can´t I as His representative?)
The best reason, so far, why they can´t talk:
This one lady said- "Ich habe keine Zeit. Ich muss auf Toilette." (I have no time. I have to go to the bathroom) It was so funny!!
Ok, so cool things about Germany:
- The washing machines take a few hours to wash the clothes.
- The toilets have hardly any water in them...the US wastes water.
- There are NO public toilets or drinking fountains. If you find one, you have to pay to use it.
- There is graffiti EVERYWHERE.
- Not many houses. Mostly just apartments and they have these Klingle boxes that you have to push and someone who lives there has to buzz us in. Even places that look like one house...it is really one apartment per floor.
- People have simpler lives. Not everyone has a TV...most people don´t have computers or the Internet. They just have less stuff because they don´t have HUGE houses to fill with just things!! It´s really kind of cool. People get out and go for walks in the BEAUTIFUL parks. They ride bikes everywhere and spend time outside. It is so wonderful.
- The ambulance has this really annoying sound...like you hear in movies, but the worst part is when it passes by you. The annoying sound somehow changes keys and it drives me batty. I get one key in me head and then the moment it passes me it changes and I freak out!! (Well my insides freak out because it sounds horrible) Maybe it is just the singer inside of me!!
- My personal favorite thing is the bike bells. They are hard to explain in writing, but I will try. In America the bells on bikes are like a "bring,bring" sound. Here it is just a little "ding". When I first heard it I had no clue what it was. I don´t know if that makes any sense, but it I love it!!
Ok, so one more funny thing. Sister Welch and I were waiting for the Bahn (subway) and this man came up to us and said, "Ich bin Gott" (I am God) We were really confused. So sister Welch Said, "Sie sind Gott? (You are God?) And then he went on to tell her that he was God and that if we were going to be representing him that we shouldn´t dress so professionally. People would take us to seriously. I think that is that point though...they need to take us seriously. I don´t think that he was quite all there in the head!! It was really funny!!
So we have this investigator Sonja who we are struggling with a bit. We will commit her to things and sometimes she will keep it and sometimes not. On Tuesday she didn´t read, so we spent the appointment reading with her what she had committed to read. So we gave her more to read and committed her and went again on Thurday expecting that she didn´t read. Then she did. Sister Welch was all ready to tschuss her. (Tschuss is goodbye in German and that is what the missionaries call it when you let an investigator go...or when they let you go.) But now we are at a loss of what to do. We had a great meeting with her on Thursday though. During the lesson the words, "Werden Sie sich taufen lassen?" came to my head. (Will you be baptized) and I felt like we needed to ask her that. I didn´t know how to just come out and say it with the little German that I had, so as I was thinking about what to say first when sister Welch started to talk about baptism and asked her. She said no, but it was so great that we both had the prompting. There was a reason for that...we are not sure what it is yet, but hopefully we will find out someday. We committed her to pray about it. She is so awesome and we know she knows it is true...she just doesn´t want to make the change. I hope we can help her realize how important this is.
So I had a super cool experience on Sunday. My mission pres asked that the whole mission fast for the investigators that have baptisimal dates in our individual zones. We have 3 on date right now. So Sister Welch and I fasted and also added the names of our investigators to the list of people we were fasting for. Well we had this one investigator, Andrea, that we hadn´t heard from in almost 2 weeks. I only met her once at a lesson and the Spirit was so strong there. Then we just couldn´t get a hold of her. We would call and she wouldn´t call back. We went and visited her and she was never home, so we left notes and still nothing. So Sunday afternoon after our fast she called us!! On the message she said that she was sorry that she hadn´t called us. She said that things were not going so well and that she wanted to meet with us again!! It was a miracle!! I know that was a blessing from the Lord. She is so ready to get Baptized. She is just scared....that is why she disappeared. I will keep you up to date on her progress.
Anyway...my time is up. I´m a little sick this week and by a little I mean...snot, cough, head and chest pressure...I hope it goes away soon!! I have work to do!! :o) I love you all and I hope you are well!! Thanks for all the support!!
Love,
Sister Jones
Teri,
Well I don´t know Elder Thompson, but if I meet him I will say hi from his family. That is funny that his family wants to follow my progress. Elders tend to not write much!! The Elder in you ward from Kastle?? I´m not sure where that is at, but if I get moved there I will definitely find his parents. That would be awesome.
(and the rest....)
This week has been great!! I love my companion and the ward that I am in. They are so supportive of us...which makes our work a little easier. The German is coming...slowly. I´m trying to learn as much as I can and I sometimes can understand what people are saying, but only every once in a while. I love that I can be sitting in church and feel the Spirit and have no clue what they are even saying. That is a testimony to me that this is the truth. It is amazing.
Ok...so I have been thinking of funny things that have happened this week. I have been making a list of interesting things that are in Germany that are not in America and I also have been making a mental list of my favorite excuses of why people can´t talk to us on the street.
Reasons people can´t talk:
Most use- "Keine Zeit, keine Zeit" (no time, no time)
They don´t think it is right to talk about God on the street. (Jesus Christ talked to people everywhere, so why can´t I as His representative?)
The best reason, so far, why they can´t talk:
This one lady said- "Ich habe keine Zeit. Ich muss auf Toilette." (I have no time. I have to go to the bathroom) It was so funny!!
Ok, so cool things about Germany:
- The washing machines take a few hours to wash the clothes.
- The toilets have hardly any water in them...the US wastes water.
- There are NO public toilets or drinking fountains. If you find one, you have to pay to use it.
- There is graffiti EVERYWHERE.
- Not many houses. Mostly just apartments and they have these Klingle boxes that you have to push and someone who lives there has to buzz us in. Even places that look like one house...it is really one apartment per floor.
- People have simpler lives. Not everyone has a TV...most people don´t have computers or the Internet. They just have less stuff because they don´t have HUGE houses to fill with just things!! It´s really kind of cool. People get out and go for walks in the BEAUTIFUL parks. They ride bikes everywhere and spend time outside. It is so wonderful.
- The ambulance has this really annoying sound...like you hear in movies, but the worst part is when it passes by you. The annoying sound somehow changes keys and it drives me batty. I get one key in me head and then the moment it passes me it changes and I freak out!! (Well my insides freak out because it sounds horrible) Maybe it is just the singer inside of me!!
- My personal favorite thing is the bike bells. They are hard to explain in writing, but I will try. In America the bells on bikes are like a "bring,bring" sound. Here it is just a little "ding". When I first heard it I had no clue what it was. I don´t know if that makes any sense, but it I love it!!
Ok, so one more funny thing. Sister Welch and I were waiting for the Bahn (subway) and this man came up to us and said, "Ich bin Gott" (I am God) We were really confused. So sister Welch Said, "Sie sind Gott? (You are God?) And then he went on to tell her that he was God and that if we were going to be representing him that we shouldn´t dress so professionally. People would take us to seriously. I think that is that point though...they need to take us seriously. I don´t think that he was quite all there in the head!! It was really funny!!
So we have this investigator Sonja who we are struggling with a bit. We will commit her to things and sometimes she will keep it and sometimes not. On Tuesday she didn´t read, so we spent the appointment reading with her what she had committed to read. So we gave her more to read and committed her and went again on Thurday expecting that she didn´t read. Then she did. Sister Welch was all ready to tschuss her. (Tschuss is goodbye in German and that is what the missionaries call it when you let an investigator go...or when they let you go.) But now we are at a loss of what to do. We had a great meeting with her on Thursday though. During the lesson the words, "Werden Sie sich taufen lassen?" came to my head. (Will you be baptized) and I felt like we needed to ask her that. I didn´t know how to just come out and say it with the little German that I had, so as I was thinking about what to say first when sister Welch started to talk about baptism and asked her. She said no, but it was so great that we both had the prompting. There was a reason for that...we are not sure what it is yet, but hopefully we will find out someday. We committed her to pray about it. She is so awesome and we know she knows it is true...she just doesn´t want to make the change. I hope we can help her realize how important this is.
So I had a super cool experience on Sunday. My mission pres asked that the whole mission fast for the investigators that have baptisimal dates in our individual zones. We have 3 on date right now. So Sister Welch and I fasted and also added the names of our investigators to the list of people we were fasting for. Well we had this one investigator, Andrea, that we hadn´t heard from in almost 2 weeks. I only met her once at a lesson and the Spirit was so strong there. Then we just couldn´t get a hold of her. We would call and she wouldn´t call back. We went and visited her and she was never home, so we left notes and still nothing. So Sunday afternoon after our fast she called us!! On the message she said that she was sorry that she hadn´t called us. She said that things were not going so well and that she wanted to meet with us again!! It was a miracle!! I know that was a blessing from the Lord. She is so ready to get Baptized. She is just scared....that is why she disappeared. I will keep you up to date on her progress.
Anyway...my time is up. I´m a little sick this week and by a little I mean...snot, cough, head and chest pressure...I hope it goes away soon!! I have work to do!! :o) I love you all and I hope you are well!! Thanks for all the support!!
Love,
Sister Jones
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