Week #65 (8-24-09) "7 weeks and I'm not counting"...

This last week feels like a lifetime, but in a good way. On Wednesday we had an Ausstellung(street display) in Rendsburg, which is about a half hour train ride from Kiel. I had been starting to get sick last week with a sore throat, but felt good enough to stand in the choir of missionaries and sing for a few hours. BAD idea. Near the end I couldn´t sing anymore because it hurt to bad. Well Wednesday came and I had lost a lot of my voice. Having the strong vocal chords that I have, I have never fully lost my voice, but I pretty much sound like a man and if I try to talk normal or higher then normal my voice cracks and squeaks!! It was pretty funny at first, but now it is Monday and it is still not back...maybe a bit better or maybe I´m just getting used to speaking low and manly!! :o) The street display was fun, but we didn´t get any contacts or anything. We had about 12 missionaries there from our zone and we talked to a lot of people, but no one was interested. It was good though just to get our church´s name out there and our information out there.

So there is this nonmember guy named Claus who comes to the RIZ (the outreach center) quite a bit and we have become better and better friends every time. He is super funny and very nice. We got to do a little bit of service for him this week...we moved some boxes into his apartment. We also got to do this theatre activity with him a few weeks ago...I have a video of it that you will have to see later...it is super funny!! I really hope that we can become good enough friends with him to get him to meet with the missionaries again. He already did once and isn´t really interested in the Gospel, but loves hanging out with people with high standards..."like the Mormons"...he said.

We got to meet with Matthew again this week...our amazing investigator from America!! It was a great appointment and we committed him to spend this time that he is in Germany to really find out whether this is true or not. He agreed to read and pray everyday and come to church!! Well, Americans rock...he came to church!! It was SO great. We watched the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong as we bore testimony to him about Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon. He is totally going to get baptized...if not here then in America and then I can fly there and see it!! WAHOO!! :o)

We also got in contact with this contact from a few weeks ago and she totally let us in and we taught her and made out another appointment for this week. She is our new investigator...she is super cool!! She also came to church!! Yeah that´s right...we had 2 investigators at church!! YEAH!! That´s all thanks to my wonderful elders in Neumünster...we decided to have one companionship fast every sat-sun for the whole district and they did it and we got SO many blessings!! I really have gained a testimony of fasting since I have been on my mission!! It totally works!! This last week was amazing and I´m excited for the new investigators that we have!! They are normal people, not crazies and will be great new additions to the ward when they get baptized!! Thanks for your prayers of faith and keep it up...I want to go out with a bang...not finish my mission with only finding time!! :o)

 

I love you and hope that you have a great week!!

Sister Jones

Week #64 (8-17-09)

This last week was great.We had zone conference in Neumünster which is only a 25 minute train ride from Kiel. It was super cool. I love being able to learn from Präsident and his wife!! They are so awesome!! The AP´s also talked about the importance of planning out your lessons really well and being on the same page as your comp before the lesson. It was probably the best zone conference for me yet.I can´t believe that I only have one more. So unfair...!! I love getting to be spiritually uplifted so often...I actually wish that it was more often. :o)

 

After zone conference I got to go to Schwerin with sister Hurst for an exchange. That was my first time in the old East Germany. It obviously doesn´t look so depressing as before because they have rebuilt a lot...well most of the cities, but you can still tell that there are differences. The people are a lot less friendly which isn´t saying much because they aren´t too friendly to strangers in the west anyway...but especially about the gospel. We would start to talk to people and they wouldn´t even look at us. In the west they usually talk to us for a second before they walk away. The people are just so atheist. So sad!! A lot of the buildings also look a lot the same. My comp said that the ones that look the same were all built during communism...I´m talking about the apartment buildings...when you get a higher look at the city it looks so boring because all the high buildings are pretty much the same...cold and gray. There is a super cool castle there. It is like gold colored!! The sisters live like across a lake from it!! WOW!! I loved it there but was grateful to come back to the west...I know it is all one Germany now, but there is still a difference. One of my MTC comps is serving in the Berlin mission and she said that one city she served in almost everyone had rainbow colored hair, tattoos all over and also piercings everywhere. They have gone so extreme because they weren´t aloud to do anything like that before. There is a huge difference between the look of this side and the other. It is so interesting!!

 

We also got to teach quite a few more lessons this week. The lord is blessing us with success as we continue to show our patience and diligence!! 

 

Sister Jones

Christi and the castle in Schwerin

Water tower they found while out knocking on doors...Sister Hurst.

"Me after a hard day of work....all I want is water!"

Week #63 (8-10-09)

Well well...another week of finding. It is really hard, but can also be rewarding. We found a few more contacts this week, but naturally they are going on vacation till September!! :o) That is just how it has been for us!! But we are trying to stay positive. I had my birthday and I was not excited for it...funny this happened though (well not funny...more ironic). My comp woke up on my birthday and told me that she had thrown up in the night and she was super weak and tired from that....she slept almost all day. We didn´t even go outside. The missionary couple came over and gave her a blessing and gave me a birthday cake and the Elders stopped by to give me a card...don´t worry, they didn´t come in!! :o) So I pretty much read and listened to music on my birthday. Wow...I was not expecting that. The Elders made fun of me and said that I prayed her sick so I wouldn´t have to do anything on my birthday. I laughed...but it was SO not true!! That would just be mean.

 

We saw a really cool miracle yesterday. We just had 2 appointments fall out and we were not excited to keep working. My wonderful little golden though decided that we should get on a random bus and then get off at a random stop and try to find someone. So we get on and then got off and walked....there was NO ONE around!! It was Sunday...there is never anyone around on Sunday. Well, we walked for about 15 minutes or more and were about 10 minutes from our home when we saw a guy. We approached him and I started to talk to him like I normally do when he said..."Uh...Sprechen Sie Englisch?" (Do you speak English) and I was so excited because he had a total American accent. We talked for a really long time about the gospel and then we also set up an appointment to meet with him this week. He is super cool...from Minnesota and will be here till December...and guess what?? He is not going on vacation...so we can start teaching him now!! WAHOOO!! We are totally going to baptise him!! :o)

 

Well I have to go and play!! :o) Have a great week!! 

Sister Jones

Week #62 (8-3-09)

Well this last week was really long. In 7 days we only taught 2 lessons!! We had SO much finding time...we almost died!! Don´t get me wrong I love missionary work, but hour after hour and day after day of doors and street contacting in Germany really wears on a person. We are still alive and excited for a new week. We did find 7 contacts last week. Many of them were pretty good, but they will be busy for the next few weeks. I think I forgot how it was last summer...When Europeans go on vacation it is for usually at least 10 days. Did you know that Germans get between 24-30 PAID vacation days a year?? Could you imagine that?? WOW.!! So everyone is on vacation or going on vacation and that makes it hard, but that is haw it was last year as well. This time is almost harder then Christmas. Well, it will be fine because they have to come back at sometime and then that is when we will get them!! hehe!!

Well, I´m sorry if this letter is not very exciting. We experienced a lot last week, but I´m so exhausted that I don´t really feel like typing any of it. We are going to watch a movie today so that we can relax before another long week of walking, talking and being told no!! We will be praying for some serious miracles this week. I know that there are people out there that are prepared, but the hard thing is trying to find where they are and still keep a positive attitude among the NO!! I love the work and know that the miracles are there for us...we just have to prove that we are faithful even when it is hard!!

 

I love you and hope you have a great week!!

Sister Jones

Christi's new companion...

Sister Folsom and Christi

Our little German girl!

Week #61 (7-27-09)

Well I got my golden, Sister Folsom...let´s just say my mission has changed a lot in the last few days. I always told people that Sister Sayson (my first golden) was  not really like a golden. She could speak the language already and I just had to show her around a bit and show her how I approach people and pretty much just how to do missionary work. People always told me that she was a real golden, but I didn´t agree. To me, a golden is someone who has no idea what is going on (cause they can´t understand the language or what people say to them), and who can´t say much except bear their memorized MTC testimony. Sister Sayson could say anything she wanted to, but my poor comp can´t. I feel so bad for her...I have completely forgotten what it was like to be new. I have come so far and I didn´t even give myself credit for it. I was always so critical of myself and the slow useless progress that I was making...I wanted it to be now and immediate. Well...now that the tables are turned and I see her at the point I was at, I have realized that I really have changed and progressed. It was just so slow that I couldn´t see it. I´m so grateful to the Lord for the blessings that he has given to me. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn in the next 3 months, but I´m excited to learn what the Lord has in store for me. It will be hard, but totally worth it.

I don´t have too much to say because we did a lot of traveling this week and a lot of finding time. We had a few lessons and found a new investigator. This guy came up to us on the street a few weeks ago and asked for the address of our church then ran off. He then came to church last week. Then, through the persuasion of me and a member, he decided to meet with us this last week. Now we have another appointment for this coming week as well. The Lord blesses us every where we go. We also got a new missionary couple..they just got to Kiel yesterday. We met them and they are SUPER nice. They don´t speak any German, but will for sure work good with the young people. I´m excited to work with them.

 

love,

Sister Jones

Week #60 (7-20-09) 100th POST!

Well you know how I said last week was the best one ever?? Well I lied because this week tops all!! :o)

 

Well first to start off with the not so great part of the week. We had transfer calls again on Saturday morning and Sister Psota is being transfered and my new comp is a GOLDEN!! That means fresh from the Provo, MTC!! AHHHHHH!!! I know that I was already a trainer, but she was German...this is completely different!! I´m really nervous, but I know it will be fine!! I kind of wanted a Golden for my last couple transfers because I think that will help me keep going...she will have that new missionary excitement and I want to experience that again!! I will let you know more next week after I meet her and everything.

 

Well, so much happened this week and I don´t have time to tell all of the experiences, but the best experience I had this week was when we did a power hour with one of the members in the ward. (We did 4 this last week and saw a miracle each time.) We went to the members house and chatted for a few minutes and then we gave them a Spiritual thought about having the faith to find and the power of praying specifically. The Spirit was SO strong and then the member prayed before we left. That is when it happened. I was closing my eyes when she prayed...obviously...and I saw many streets in my head...it is hard to explain what it looked like, but it´s like I was driving through the city super fast and just saw a whole bunch of streets, but didn´t recognize anything. Then I saw this street really clearly. There were apartments on one side and grass on the other side of the street. I saw it so clearly and knew that we had to find that street. We then left the house I felt such a pumping and hurrying feeling in my heart. My heart was beating so fast and I knew that there was a woman who was waiting for us to give her the Book of Mormon with the testimony from this member in it. I told my comp what happened and she said that the same thing happened to her, but she didn´t see a specific street. I was explaining to her what it looked like and she told me the name of what she thought it was. Well we went there and when I walked around the corner it looked just like what I saw when the member prayed. During this hour we prayed like 4 times to know where this person was at. Right at the end of the hour we found her. We rang the bell and walked up the stairs and right when we saw her we both got the feeling that she was the one. We talked to her for a while and then gave her the book. She isn´t interested in meeting with us right now, but we are going to go back in a few weeks to see how she likes the book. Even though she wasn´t interested in meeting with us I know that we were lead to her. She needed that book and the Lord knew it. I have never had such an experience my whole mission. I have never had such a strong impression and urgency to find someone before. Man, the Lord really cares about His children...why can´t they see that?? Why can´t we remember that as members. We are so easy to forget what the Lord does for us. He loves us and I know that He is always there for us. I know He lives and that Christ is his son. This Gospel is true and will lead us to Eternal Life.

 

I love you and hope that you have a great week!!

Sister Jones