Week 46

July 10, 2012

Hello family!!!

I am just so happy to be able to tell you about what an AMAZING week this has been! Oh my goodness! I'm on the edge of my seat typing this because SO MANY great things are happening!!!! I have a sticky note full of things I want to share with you that I've written down throughout the week. Some things are random that I've been meaning to share for a while but forget and others are just incredible happenings from this week.  I'll just quickly type them out in bullet points!

First of all, I really feel incredibly blessed... I am in in the best mission in the world (Nebraska Omaha Mission!), I get to serve at the Mormon Trail Center, also proselyte in Plattsmouth, have a great companion, have wonderful friends from back home who keep in touch, amazing family members who also write and support me, and life just couldn't get any better. Seriously, I'm in heaven! No worries, I do miss seeing you all and talking to you though!

Nebraska update: It's definitely getting hot and humid here. Some days are worse than others. Today is beautiful! I actually just got done going to the zoo! (for the 4th time on my mission! haha!) We went for the "Watson Wagon," which is where Elder Watson takes missionaries to different places to visit on preparation day. It was a blast!

With the heat and humidity has come lots of bugs! Which leads me to (dun, dun, dun...) BED BUGS!!! They are taking over Nebraska and many of the surrounding states! We have had several trainings about how to avoid them and kill them if we have them. They are hard to get rid of though. Luckily our place doesn't have bed bugs but a lot of missionaries have them! We actually found a couple at the trail center yesterday on the couch in the back room. It's hilarious how some of the sisters react to bugs. Although it is a serious matter because they are hard to get rid of, it still cracks me up. About a month ago when we spend the night as some of the sister's apartments near the Trail Center we didn't know they had beg bugs and I woke up in the morning with about 15 bug bites! Most of them were scattered on my arms and a few on my face. Trust me, it was really attractive having large zit-like bug bites on my face. :)  I'll have to send you a picture if I have time of the bites! We are all being really careful though when we go to investigators places to be sure we take in only the things we need and to check ourselves after if the place was dirty.

I love corn!! The corn fields are getting really tall and have sprouted up before my very own eyes the past month or so! They are gorgeous!!

For the 4th of July we worked at the Trail Center in the evening. So we did the usual, had a great time giving people tours. The whole week prior we got to see fireworks that people let off in the front yards.

That was the light hearted randomness. Here comes the good stuff!

Tami: Oh happy day! Tami is getting baptized THIS Saturday!!!! She has been leaning from the missionaries for a while but hasn't been baptized because of anxiety and and other fears. She decided officially on Thursday that she felt ready to be baptized and is going to take the leap of faith!! YAY!!! You have no idea how happy we are for her because she has wanted to be baptized for so long but has let fear get in the way. Be sure to pray for her that she will have the faith and strength to be baptized on Saturday. She is amazing!

Trudy: Sister Kirby and I took Trudy on a church tour earlier this week! Brother Timmerman, who is a recent convert, came as a team-up. This was one of the most powerful church tours I have ever been a part of. The Spirit did all of the work. The most powerful part was when we were in the chapel. We talked about the sacrament (3 Nephi 18) and focused on Christ and the atonement. As we were talking about that I felt really strongly that we should sing her a hymn, I'll blame/ give credit to the Holy Ghost for that one. So I said, "Trudy, we would love to sing a hymn for you!" I looked over at Sister Kirby and made sure she was ok with that idea, she nodded and smiled. So then the hymn "How Great Thou Art" suddenly came to mind and so I suggested that one. Trudy then turned over a necklace she was wearing and said, "Come here and read this." So I did and it said, "How Great Thou Art" and she said it was her mother's necklace. That definitely confirmed that this singing idea was inspired. So we me and Sister Kirby sang that hymn and the Spirit filled the chapel. Trudy cried through the entire song and Brother Timmerman was tearing up as well. After the song we were then able to help Trudy recognize the feeling of the Spirit. She said she felt that God was giving her a bug hug and telling her everything was ok and that this was true. -I love moments like that! It makes everything worth it! So next we took her to see the baptismal font and she said she wants to be baptized still and feels that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. :) So basically the biggest hurdle will be to get her to church and to quit smoking.

Ayn & Casey were married last Saturday and Sister Robertson and I were able to attend! They were married in the chapel of the church and it was such a great experience! Ayn is the woman who was baptized at the end of April.

All of us sister missionaries are putting a singing concert for the different stakes around the area! On Saturday we performed for the Council Bluffs stake and it went really well. It's called, "Tribute to Pioneers Past and Present." I am the narrator and also sing the choirs. It's so fun!!

I have so much more I would love to share with you all but those are the main points! We are keeping busy at the trail center as well! I hardly ever get to sit the whole 6 hours we are there for a shift. But it's ok because I get to meet so many people! Yesterday I gave a big group tour to a ton of single adults from UT. It was a blast!

I hope you are all doing well! I love you and am so thankful for all of your examples! Have a wonderful day!!

Love always,

Sister Jones