October 10, 2011
Hello family!!!
This week has been incredible!! Probably one of the best so far!
Here are the highlights:
Interviews with President Kunz: Earlier this week we were able to have interviews and that was really neat! It was great to talk to him one on one and let him know how everything was going. We talked about what I liked from conference and what the talks motivated me to do/ change. It was way good! Then after we were filmed saying an "I'm a Mormon" phrase that they will make into a movie for the next mission president next year with all of the missionaries. I felt super cheesy being filmed saying, "Hi I'm Sister Jones and I'm from Arizona! I'm a tennis player and photographer. I love to laugh, smile, and work hard. I'm a Mormon." Sister Hawkes begged me to include at the end, "I can lick my elbow.... and I'm a Mormon." But I couldn't get myself to say it on film. BUT President and the assistants who were filming made me lick my elbow in front of them! haha! It was hilarious! Before I showed them my (what used to be hidden) talent I made them all try and lick theirs first. It was great! What a bonding moment. :)
Remember when I was telling you about Stephen? The amazing investigator who is incredible and said that he wants to do whatever God wants him to. Well we finally were able to meet with him again this week. He is super busy so it had taken forever to actually have a sit down lesson with him. The other meetings were standing on his porch and seeing how he was doing and reading a scripture. (We have a lot of those kind of lessons.) Stephen is very interested in learning about the Book of Mormon and came to church this Sunday! That was very exciting. The ward was very welcoming... so much that it was pretty funny how many people were stopping him in the hallways. He's African American, loud personality, very sharp and educated, and funny. So it's hard to miss him. He is great so we are excited to continue teaching him.
GUESS WHAT?! Dad and Michelle came to the Trail Center on Saturday with their Bishop, his son, and another friend. (I wish I could remember all of their names, sorry.) They were in town for a SUU football game and decided to come to the Mormon Trail Center. It was so much fun to see them and take them on a tour. It was almost surreal though! Another perk to working at the Trail Center is that we can see family and friends if they happen to be in the area and want a tour. I of course got permission from President Kunz before I gave the okay for the family to visit me here and had to make sure I was working in the TC that day. Everything worked out very smoothly though. I am so grateful I was able to see them and show them around my stomping grounds! It makes sense we can give our families tours here because it's still not as personal as a real visit would be because I was still Sister Jones and not Jenn and resisted the temptation to ask tons of questions about home. I was grateful Dad and Michelle helped me stay in missionary mode though. It was great being able to introduce them to Sister Hawkes and other missionaries! Yay! ALSO, Elder Naylor, who is a senior Elder and loves genealogy, researched a TON of my family history on the Jones side and gave me a huge family history chart (that rolls out a few feet) and a binder full of facts and stories!! So amazing! He gave me this stuff a week ago and I was so giddy and happy I could hardly speak! He also gave Dad a binder and the scroll of family history. He said his next project is to work on the Auteri side of the family. What an amazing man! I just love him! That was a neat experience for everybody to receive all of that family history and for Elder Naylor to give it to Dad in person. Normally he just mails that to the people's families.
Later on Saturday I had my first baptism!!! A girl named Gabi that we have been teaching got baptized this past Saturday. I was so extremely happy for you. She has such a strong testimony and is a great example. She is around 20 years old and so we decided to let the singles ward missionaries teach her towards the last couple weeks before her baptism. We started out teaching her because she didn't want to go to the singles ward. We suggested it again later on and she agreed that would be good for her and that she would fit in better in a singles ward. Sister Hawkes and I were so grateful we were still able to go to her baptism though. Sometimes it doesn't always work out like that. Gabi was so happy after her baptism and was just glowing! That was such an incredible experience. Oh how I love being a missionary!
Well that about sums up my week!!! As you can see, it was an amazing week!
I love you all!! Thanks for your emails and letters. Just so you know, my next p-day is on Tuesday.
Love,
Sister Jones
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