June 21, 2010

This week flew by!

Guess what!?... The showers have been extra cold since i dont come home sweating because the weather cools down from the rain... therefore, i needed something to change. So the other night I boiled some water and added it to my big bucket of shower water! I took my first luke warm shower in the Philippines!! How wonderful it was! It felt strange but oh so good! YAY!!

We committed Albert and his friend, Renaldo to be baptized but are postponing it again now. We have such great lessons with them and they really LOVE learning... they just need to show a little bit more on their own. When you truly love and believe something it leads you to action. We cant just say we believe or know something... we need to show it through our actions!

We met this man at the bus station bathroom... i know weird place. But the Lord is always putting people in our paths... we just have to always be looking! He asked us what our profession and seemed interested... we gave him a pamphlet and got his address. We are actually going to teach him after this!

We lost a good investigator this week because her father wont allow her to continue. Bring souls unto Christ is truly the greatest joy... and seeing them use their agency to not is the sadest feeling! I pray that she continues to read the Book of Mormon cause she was reading it everyday!! She told me, even if she only has time to just read one verse a day she will read! Despite that we found a great BIG family. We taught them a lesson and got a return appointment. They are super nice and have many neighbors that sat in and listened... i just want to baptize their entire little community! At least thats the feeling i had as we left the appointment yesterday!

Our investigator, of 3 months na, finally came to church! We were estatic as we saw her and her two kids walk in a min before we began! We were giving the talks in sacrament meeting so we didnt get to sit by them but her fellowshipper (who works with her) sat with them. Arlyn loved church! She was taking tons of notes from the gospel principles book so we just let her take it home. He turned to me and said she was going to study so she could teach next time! How awesome is that! She finally put her faith into action and came and loved it! Im so happy!! We shared with her the other day from Alma 32 about experimenting with this seed that she has and she took the challenge and kept her commitment! Oh how i love commitment keeping people! This will be the scripture of the week... Alma 32. When you struggle with everything going on in your crazy life if you have the slightest desire, experiment. Moved forward with faith and if its a good seed it will grow and blossom... you will be amazed!

Our Father in Heaven really is there. He hears and answers our prayers. Christ knows us... we just need to trust Him. Because of the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith families can be together forever! We have a prophet today. How important it is for us to listen and heed his counsel. It is truly the counsel of God. If we really believe and know that there is a prophet on the earth today then we wont just say it but we will show it through our actions by following his counsel. I know this is the church of Christ... and i will never deny this truth! I love my Savior and Redeemer with all my heart. His arms are outstretched and He is waiting for us to come unto Him. I am grateful to feel His love every day as i humble myself, kneeling in prayer and ask for forgiveness. Im becoming better than i ever imagined i could! You can too!

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support! May blessings be poured out upon you always!!

Gugma

Sister Carissa Jones

June 13, 2010

We had our big branch activity and since the branch didnt plan the food we ran to the market and did the cooking! It was fun and luckily Sisters Blonquist and Lemmon were there to spend the night becasue of the Cebu Temple dedication the next day. We all had a blast cooking! IT was all our first time cooking pancit and it turned out amazing. S. Taperla is convinced that the gift of cooking is one of the gifts of the Spirit that is talked about in the scriptures... haha. Our turn out for the activity was really good! Sister Lemmon and I went for a bit and testified and introduced the Testaments video. There were like 10 potential investigators! And they were so thankful to be fed. They were so hesitant and even tried to leave but the members were great at getting them to come back in and eat. You could see the gratefullness in those peoples eyes. It was a great moment... for them and me!

The Cebu Temple dedication was phenominal! Pres. Monson was SO FUNNY! What a great prophet we have!! Pres. Eyring and Dallin H. Oaks were also there. We were privileged to watch the first 2 of the 3 sessions. I learned so much and feel so blessed. How lucky we are to have temples.. and in America, so close to us!

Riding home from the dedication on a jeepney. S. Taperla, Me, and E. Santoyo (zone leader). The way there we road in the back of a members truck. It was crazy... sliding around but it was fun. And since there were 6 missionaries in the truck we figured we were safe :)

Earlier this week we had a fun experience... We took a "short cut". Yeah... not much of a short cut at all! I finally turned to S. Taperla and said "short cut?... really!?" We both laughed and had a good talking to to the boy that told us it was a short cut. Haha... fun times!

Im learning more than i can express! I love this gospel and i love being a missionary. I striving to not just say im a missionary cause i have a name tag that says so... but to truly be a missionary that the Savior, Jesus Christ, would recognize as His missionary.

Scripture of the week... 1 Nephi 15:8. I think sometimes we dont know where to find answers and feel so lost but do we forget to ask God? One principle that has grown tons on my mission is prayer. It is so important! There is nothing too silly to ask God. I hope He is our first source instead of men. Keep doing what your doing and striving to be better one day at a time!

Love you tons!

Sister Jones

June 7, 2010

Well everybody... here is my weeks events and thoughts...

Monday we committed Albert Fermin to be baptized on June 19th! He is so excited!!

We had an incredibly lesson with a lady we've been teaching for 2 months, Arlyn. She is awesome and has some difficult trials. We made a deep connection with her and she really opened up to us. We all cried a bit and we verbally told her how much we love her and i know that she really knows that we do. She thanked us and i felt for a moment what our Heavenly Father feels for all of us. He REALLY loves us... and to feel that love for someone else is the most amazing feeling ive ever felt! He wants us to return to Him so bad! Help Him to achieve His purpose/goal by making sure you will return to Him.

Thursday was a difficult day... I felt like i knew nothing and my companion was very frustrated with me. Avoid contention with everything you got. My mission president told me a great thing in my interview... Contention happens when two people think they are right and the other is wrong... but if just one stepped down and simply just apologized no contention would exist. Be the first to apologize even if you know you are right... eliminate contention. Trust me, blessings will come to those that do so!

Friday was AWESOME! I felt very blessed after thurs being so difficult. Interviews were awesome and i learned lots about Charity and Love in our training from our ZL's. The rest of the day was great too. Sister Taperla and I were really united and had the Spirit when we taught! We spent some time going around trying to meet people and had lots of fun talking with everyone. We met a Korean through this girl that always says hi to us. He has been here a year and doesnt speak well cebuano so we were about equal. He didnt understand a few things i said so maybe i am getting this language! hehe. I also had my first halo-halo on Friday! Its like a specialty dessert here. Its ice cream and crushed ice and all sorts of other toppings... mine had coconut, jackfruit, jello, corn, beans, frosted flakes, and a few other things. It was tasty! Never thot to put corn or beans in a dessert but hey... it was yummy! Our dinner appt fell thru so we went to the BBQ Haun... YUM! What a good good day!

Saturday we had a big FHE at a members house (the Fermin Family... which is the family of Albert). A bunch of things happened that were unexpected and S. Taperla got frustrated and turned to me at the last minute and told me to teach cause she didnt have the Spirit. At first i was frustrated cause here was 30 people, i didnt have a plan and i cant speak cebuano all that well. But after 22.7 seconds what Andrew said to me right before going into the MTC came to my mind... "This is a good thing... This is a good thing..." I changed my attitude and decided to make it a good learning experience! It went really well and Sister Jamin helped me explain the scripture i shared more deeply. I shared 3 Nephi 18:21-22... so that is the scripture of the week. I know that family prayer and FHE (meeting together often) is so important and we all should strive to be better at these things! I know it isnt always easy but try... If you put forth the effort, Heavenly Father will give you strength that you didnt realize that you had! PROMISE!!

Sunday we had great attendance... 55! And 4 investigators! We were very happy!

This week we have lots planned!!... Saturday a big branch activity and Sunday the Cebu Temple decication!! We are so lucky to be able to watch it!

I love you all and hope all is well!!

Gugma-Sister Jones

P.S. Tell Kristin that i got her email and i love her and will write her a handwritten letter tonight and send it tomorrow. And to Carson... i sent the mass email to him every week but it usually gets sent back as delivery failed.. but only to him. Does he have a new email or something? I just dont want him to think i send it to everyone but him... cause i send it to him!

May 31, 2010

FAMILY!

The work is going good. Im getting better at this whole missionary thing every day i think. Prayers are keeping me going. I think to myself, how lost and hard this world/life would be without prayer! And why dont we pray more!?

We had Zone Conference last Wednesday and have interviews this Friday! I love seeing President Malit and Sister Malit! I learned a lot from Zone Conference and it was great to see my fellow missionary friends. Mom, i told Elder Darrington how you and his brother work together... we think thats pretty cool! E. Darrington truly is one of my favorites!

We are getting some new good investigators... and they are families! It's so hard to tell how they will be but so far they are great and seem interested. The hardest thing, i find, is getting them to church! We try so hard to emaphize the importance but they never come. If anyone has advice on what we could do ill take it!

We do have one AWESOME investigator! He is the only person in his family that isnt a member. The tatay has been a member for awhile but the mother and other kids are recent converts (within the last year i think). Albert will be 18 next week. The second week i was here we tried teaching him and it was an absolute struggle getting him to even come in the house. He wouldnt look at us or give us the time of day. I tried asking him if he knew that he is a child of God and the God loves him... He didnt know and didnt seem to care to know. What i would call stubborn to the max!... Well... two weeks ago he attended the multi youth conference with his siblings and other nonmember friend. Something awesome must have happened at youth conf. He was at church that next sunday and when we went to teach Tatay Fermin he came in and opened a Basahon ni Mormon and read with us. After we turned to him and told him we want to teach him and asked when we could come back... He said "Tomorrow!"... oh, you have no i idea the excitement that started running through S. Taperla and my bones!! So we had a great lesson with him last week and he asked lots of questions... and he was at church again on sunday! And we are teaching him tonight too! I cant even explain the happiness i feel to see this total 180 change in this young man! He is a great example of Ether 12 and God making weak things strong after the trial of our faith. He took action/exercised faith and went to youth conference and now God is strengthening him! We also found out that he was the only one from our branch that bore his testimony at YC! He said that he isnt a member yet but he knows that this church is true... what faith huh! Man, the church IS true!!

We keep trying to teach this catholic 82yr old lady that loves to read. We always saw her outside her house reading so we gave her pamphlets to read. She read them so this week we tried teaching but she kept saying how she hasnt heard about Joseph Smith being a prophet in her books (Duh... cause they are catholic)... She also said that Adam wasnt a prophet, just the first man, which i didnt know that they catholics believed that. She was funny but frustrating at the same time. Its funny how those people that are such good people and seem to have such great faith because of how religious they are, actually dont exercise faith at all cause they are so blinded. If only she really opened up and gave it a chance she would know.

The last thought i have is about family. This sunday the district president talked about families and temple marriage! And then in sunday school we talked about families. "Families are the most important institutions in this church." And then i was reading in the 'Preparing to enter the Temple' book and it says how other things in the church are organized in regular buildings but families, we organize them in the temple because of how important they are. Remember that... Remember to love your family!... Family is where its out. If we arent striving to strengthen our families we have nothing! I love my family so so so much!

Well keep it real! I love you all!

Gugma
Sister Carissa Jones

MAY 24 2010

Pics arent working again... sorry :(

This week was full of ups and downs like always. My language is improving slowly... im determined to not be that missionary that comes home and never learned the language! My companion, S. Taperla, says im getting better so thats good. I really wish i had a language study hour but S. Taperla wants to go out and work at 10 so i just try to cram it in at night or if we come home to take a nap i just study while S. Taperla sleeps.

A few highlights of the week...

Tuesday we went to a members house around lunch time and there were tons of fiestas going on. After teaching we went with them to one of the fiestas for lunch. It was super yummy and they feed you so much food at fiestas. The fiestas are to celebrate saints... so its a catholic thing. And we love people of all religions and respect them... especially when food is involved :) On our way back to the members house some of their neighbors insisted that we join... pretty sure it was because there was an american... me. We all laughed and decided to eat again! We were so stuffed by the end and couldnt believe we just attended two fiestas back to back... WOW!
That night i taught a cool lesson from Mormon 9:31 to an awesome girl in our ward! We were just talking with her about trials and such and this scripture popped into my head so i turned our casual talking into a lesson... it was neat and I really felt the Spirit.
Thursday was a very very long day but awesome! We did so much teaching and i was able to push through and teach effectively. We walked SO much that day! From 4 to 9 we were constantly on the move. We taught lots of families and met some great less active families that we hadnt met yet. We hiked out to the bukid to visit this lady we met the other week and she ended up not being home so we were super tired when we arrived home. We walked most of the way home barefoot because it just felt nice. It was at least a 3-4 mile walk! The next day we found out that two girls later that night had been killed in the exact area we were walking through (but later in the evening, past our curfew when we are already in our house). We felt blessed and we always feel protected. This is the work of God... and as we are obedient and diligent we missionaries are protected!
Friday was a difficult day... most of our appointments fell through but we never stopped going! We walked a ton that day just from house to house of people we knew trying to find people to teach. The night ending with a nice dinner at Pres. Ang's house and hey, at least we got lots of exercise in!
I dont know if ive mentioned it yet but there is a guy in the branch that is 45 and has crushes on all the americana missionaries. So, thats me now. Its awkward at times and S. Taperla is starting to notice how he will always move from where he is and sit by me. It isnt to a point where he is crossing a line so im ok for now. I just hope he keeps his distance so i wont have to be transferred from this area soon. He is a good member and really helps with the missionary efforts and everyone knows that he is like that with the americanas so im safe. S. Taperla and i get a good laugh about it sometimes and other times i just want to punch him... haha.
Yesterday, Sunday was good. Sacrament meeting attendance went up to 48 and we made lots of visits. A few families we were really expecting to be there werent there so that was sad but we have appts to visit them all this week so we will try again!
Im excited for this week... number one: to work and teach and become a better missionary... and two: we have zone conference on wednesday! I love seeing and hearing what President Malit has to say to us. He is the best ever!

I love you all and you are always in my prayers!! Remember to learn all you can!... Scripture of the week... 3 Nephi 27:26.

Gugma
Sister Carissa Jones

P.S. Tell Kristin if she hasnt written me yet im going to have to beat her!!... and that goes for Kyle as well!!!!

May 17 2010... to all

This week was actually pretty dang slow! We got punted tons but our main saying is "No effort is wasted!"... Sister Taperla and I had to say it a lot to each other.. hehe...

As you can see i didnt get transferred... we are still in Naval, which i was super happy about. Im not ready to leave this place!

We did have a giant service project on saturday. It was national service day for the church so all over the Philippines we were walking around wearing cute, bright yellow vests cleaning. We took down all the political posters and such since election is over. The way they campaign is much different... no yards equals no yard signs (hehe)... so there are papers and banners stuck to all the walls all over the streets. We had a good time as a branch and had a yummy lunch!!

Im getting better at teaching and just spitting things out in cebuano. There are times where i truly feel the Spirit take over and help me speak with ease and without question. The words just roll from my mouth. Its true... the words and things you study will come to you at the exact time you need them through the Holy Ghost! Its awesome!

Every third sunday the missionaries in this branch talk so... we got talk! YAY! I talk on service and fulfilling our callings. As we serve one another we are greatly blessed! Make sure you are doing your calling to God's expectations. Also, please do visiting teaching and home teaching... that is one thing we are really trying to get the members to do and really struggling with. It is so important and you will be so much improvement in the ward if everyone works together and does their visits!

I lied last week... it gets up to like 115 at least during the day. I took my temp thing out with us one day... RIDICULOUS! All the sweating is really helping my lose weight. I put on my jeans to do service on sat and they wont even stay up! I didnt realize i had lost that many inches in my waist! SAWEET!... no worries... im not like deathly skinny by any means!

I really dont have much at all to say and my pics arent loading on this comp so sorry... they will have to wait till next week.

But the scripture of the week is Moroni 9:25-26... Keep your chin up!

Gugma
Sister Jones

May 10, 2010 After the Mother's Day Phone Call

I love you all SO MUCH! It was great to talk with you! You lifted my spirits and give me strength to tough it out and keep going... thank you! Tell grandma and grandpa thank you so much. It was so great to hear their voices! I wasnt able to get out my thanks cause i was crying but thank you for your love and support. I feel it pick me up when im having a bad day... Know that you are always in my prayers and i couldnt do this without you. You are the most important people in my life and i love you more than you know!

Scripture of the week... Joshua 1:9

Gugma
Sister Jones

PS to answer the question about the temp... it gets up to 105 maybe during the day and 80 at night... thats my guess