September 6, 2011
Well hello my lovely family and friends!!
I hope you are all doing wonderfully!! Thanks for the emails and letters you sent me! I love hearing about your lives and everything that's going on back home.
Things in Nebraska are going well! This has been amazing week with some neat experiences! Well it's starting to get a little bit colder here... that's no bueno! So far the weather is still pretty nice though. Yesterday it was around the high 60's. We had a bigger rain storm earlier this week. It was fun! We were driving in it and it was really funny to see Sister Hawkes nervously driving on the freeway about about 35 mph or so. Good times! We get to have a lot of adventures here! Thanks for sending me some scarfs and the bigger coat mom! That will come in handy very soon. When missionaries go home they often leave behind their big coats so I was able to get a bigger coat from that selection! Some of those coats are hilarious! They look like sleeping bags that you wrap around yourselves and go to the floor. I can't imagine wearing that but who knows when it gets below 0.
So this week we had two people set for baptism!! YAY!! We also have a good amount of investigators that could potentially be in that boat next week. We had such a good lesson with a man named Steve! Missionaries had met with him a couple times about a year ago but it didn't go anywhere. So we randomly stopped by his house last week to say hi and see how he was doing. We talked to him for a few minutes on his porch and then made an appointment for a few days later. He has such a love for God and Jesus Christ. He was so excited to hear more about prophets and the Book of Mormon. He said with a huge smile on his face, "do you mean that there is a prophet just like in the Old Testament living TODAY??!" We were like, "Yeah!!" and he just sat there for a moment smiling... then he asked for his name and we talked about Thomas S. Monson for a little bit. Then we talked about the Book of Mormon and talked to him about how he can read it and then pray about it for himself. We testified and said that we KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. He was like, "that's a pretty bold statement... but you're making me really happy right now. I'm trusting you two!" Then we told him that he can trust us, but really is up to him and that he need to pray to know for himself. That's the great thing about it. People make their own choices. We are just the guides, not people who are forcing others to learn or join our church. He said he would read and pray about it and then he said he would be baptized if he found out it was true. He is sooo amazing! He's really smart, funny, and he's about 35. After I said the closing prayer he said, "Do you know what I just told God as you were praying? I said, "God, if you want me to be a mormon, then I'll be the best Mormon I can be!" I can't wait to meet with him tomorrow to see how everything went! He is the most prepared person ever. Sister Hawkes said he is the most prepared man she's met so far on her mission.
The woman we met is named Theresa. We have a lot more to teach her but we talked a lot about repentance and baptism and how she can be made clean. She said she really would like to be baptized to have that pure and clean feeling. She's an older lady who has had a lot of struggles in her life but has real intent. It will be neat to see her progess!
So Lex, you'll be happy to hear that I'm taking your challenge and writing down a miracle, tender mercy, something I learned, or a cool/ funny story down everynight on a note card. I'll gradually send them to you so you can get a better glimpse at what happens day by day. Can you keep them all together for me in a notecard box or something? Thanks! If there's anything good feel free to share it with the rest of the family. But since you asked me to do this you get to keep them. :) I also write in my journal every night so all of my expeiences are going to be well documented.
Well 2 weeks ago I recieved my first kiss on the mission... we were walking down the street and met an older man and talked to him about the church a little bit. He said he was interested so he gave us his address to meet him later. He smelt like alcohol but wasn't too drunk. When we were leaving we gave him a hand shake and he held on to my hand and kissed it! Yuck!! He just dove his head down right for the kill and there was nothing I could do about it. It was kinda funny though! Luckily it was just the hand... there would be no way he could sneak anything else!
Then this week one of our investigators (the one with the mullet) snuck a hug! He went in to hug me and i put my hands up and I was like, "oh sorry, we're not allowed to hug." So he quickly gave my comp a hug without her knowing. Then acted like he was giving me a handshake and gave me a quick hug. Once again, not my fault! I tried to avoid it. He was like, "come on, there's nothing wrong with a hug to a friend! Look, I even give her a hug! (as he gives his friend Theresa a hug.) He is a funny man but it's not happening again. So those were some funny experiences. I was warned this would happen but I thought I could avoid it a lot better. Practice makes perfect though...
The bugs here love me! It's ridiculous! I have random bug bites on my legs and on my neck. They are always flying around my face and I look like a crazy person trying to swat them away as I'm talking to random people on the street. They don't go near Sister Hawkes though. So bizzare!
Also, I've tried putting my pictures on the comp to sent to you but it's not working! It might be my memory card because it says, "connection error" but my chord works for other people's cameras and they get their pictures on just fine. I'm going to buy a new card today and try it later. I'm printing pics today and i'll send them to you all! :)
I have to go now!
I love you all!!! The work is going great here and we get to teach a lot of people. I love it!!
Love,
Sister Jones
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