Where does time go?

Mom's note:

I can't believe how fast time flies.  I seem to get further and further behind in Jennifer's letters.  I can't believe she has been out 6 months already.  

February 12, 2014

This week has been pretty good. Our ward mission theme for February is "praying for missionary opportunities", so when we eat at a member's house, we show them the video "I'll go where you want me to go" on lds.org. I recommend everyone to watch it. 

On Monday (9th), we had choir practice for a fireside that we are doing on the 22nd. I love the songs that we are singing, a medley of "I'm trying to be like Jesus" and "Lord, I would follow thee". We are also singing "The Lord's Prayer". We went to target and I got a new skirt and cardigan. For our district activity (see attached picture), we played "Speed" (a basketball type game where you see who is the best at shooting hoops, I am not very good at it.) We also played "signs". It was a lot of fun! We had a lesson with one of our investigators who is really starting to progress. She is super awesome!

Back Row: Elder Jones (Zone Leader), Elder Edlund (District Leader), 

                 Elder Quinton, and Elder Donaldson (Zone Leader)

Front Row: Sister Preston, Sister Farmer, ME, Sister Burningham 

On Tuesday (10th), we worked on a little bit of family history. We also did quite a bit of tracting. We got a return appointment with a lady for that night, but she wasn't home when we went back.  We had a lesson with a less-active family, but it was really awkward because the family doesn't really like to talk. We struggled with getting them to talk. We also went and saw a few other less-actives in the ward.

On Wednesday (11th), we had District meeting and we talked about Christlike Attributes and about Listening and asking inspired questions, as well as how to find people to teach. We also went on exchanges with our sister training leaders. We had a lesson with one of investigators, and it was a really good lesson. We talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation. We had dinner with a really awesome family, and they have a couple of really cute kids (a baby and a 5 year old). 

On Thursday (12th), not much happened. We mainly just went and saw a bunch of less-actives and formers (hardly any of them were home). However, we did contact a referral that we got and she is really cool and wants to learn more. We had a Relief Society Activity for Valentine's Day. We talked about the 5 love languages.

On Friday (13th), we helped a member paint part of her house. It was a lot of fun! Then we gave the referral that we got, a Book of Mormon and taught her a little bit about it and she said she would read it, so hopefully she does. We also saw a less-active sister and sat and talked with her for a little while. She said that we really helped to lift her spirits. We also did some of our weekly planning.

On Saturday (14th), we had coordination meeting with our ward mission leader. We worked on our family history, and we shoveled 7 people's driveways (Most of which were members). We also finished our weekly planning.

Yesterday (15th), we had church and we talked about the creation. We had a lesson with a new investigator and we talked to her about the plan of Salvation. She is going through a hard time right now, so we are trying to help her through it. We had a meeting tonight about the ward splitting. We are now in the Polaris ward (a newly formed ward). We will be meeting at 1 pm now instead of 9 am, but I would rather go at 9 am. 

Today, obviously is our p-day. We will be having a birthday party for one of the sisters in our district.


February 9, 2014

Hey!

So this week has been pretty good so far!

On Monday (2nd), we had a lot of fun at our zone activity, we played ping pong (which I stink at by the way), and pool (which we almost won the semi- final championship. That night we had dinner with a part-member family, and we are teaching the wife. She shocked us all when she said that she believes the Book of Mormon is true.

On Tuesday (3rd), we just went and visited a few people (nothing too exciting).

On Wednesday (4th), we had our district meeting which was really good for me, because I have been trying to figure out how I can get better at studying from the Book of Mormon, and doing it effectively. We did some tracting (which by the way is really hard to do when you are not a very outgoing person). We worked on our "My Family" booklets and filling them out.

On Thursday (5th), I only have 1 year left!! We shoveled a few driveways and we also saw a few other people. We had a lesson with an investigator of ours, and it went really well. We invited him to be baptized, and he accepted. We also made some cookies for some of our investigators.

On Friday (6th), we worked on our family history booklets. We also visited a bunch of people but most of the people had either moved or weren't home. We also did our weekly planning.

On Saturday (7th), we started out the day with a little bit of tracting. (We tracted quite a bit, which helped me to get better at doing it.)

On Sunday (8th), obviously we had church. We talked a lot about agency, and also about journaling (which by the way, I am about a month and a half behind. Thank goodness for planners!) We shared this quote at dinner. "Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely" ~President Uchtdorf Oct. 2009 General Conference. We also had a lesson with one of our investigators.

Today, we are going to choir practice for a fireside on the 22nd. We are also having a District Activity (I don't know what it is yet.)

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you soon! WRITE OFTEN!!

Love Always, 

Sister Jennifer Rose 


February 2, 2015

This week has been pretty good! (Except for the train horns blowing constantly, even throughout the night! UGH!!)

On Monday (26th), We met an older couple in our ward, and afterwards, we shoveled their driveway.

On Tuesday (27th), we tracted a few streets, and on one of the streets that we tracted literally no one answered their door. We also tried seeing a bunch of less-active members, but only a few of them were home. We also did some family history. (By the way, are there any stories from yours and dad's side that you know of back to my great-great grandparents?)

On Wednesday (28th), we had zone meeting. We talked a lot about the role of the Book of Mormon. One thing that I really liked was when someone said, " The Book of Mormon has no power until it is opened." We tried to see more less-actives, because we are trying to get to know the ward, but only a couple of them were actually home. We had dinner with the Cluffs, (Sister Cluff looks a lot like Sister Gubernick from the Irvine ward.)

On Thursday (29th), we had to go to the mission home and talk to President and Sister Daines. We also were able to have lunch with them, which not many missionaries can say that. For dinner, we went to a health food store called "Earth Fare", and we had dinner with one of the ward members and her kids.

On Friday (30th), we had a lesson with a new investigator (who is actually a former from the area book). It went pretty well, and we took a sister from the ward with us. We had homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner that a member brought to us, and it was super good! We were in bed by 9:15, because we did our nightly planning while we had dinner. It was awesome!

On Saturday (31st), my package came. We tried to see a bunch of  people, but they had either moved or weren't home. We also had a lesson with a less-active lady who really wants to come back to church, but it is hard because her family only has one car, and her husband takes it to work.

Yesterday (1st), we had church and the "theme of the day" was Love. We had a lesson with someone who is trying to come back to church, and she is super awesome, and has an AMAZING story. We also delivered some thank you notes to members of the ward that have fed us or have helped us since we got here.

Today, we are having a zone fun day where we are going to play pool, ping pong, and foosball (not my favorite things to do, but at least it is something to do!).

I look forward to hearing from everyone, and hope everyone is staying warm!

Love always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

January 26, 2015

Man, I can't believe it has been 6 months already!

NEW ADDRESS

8326 Finch Shelter Dr. Apt. C

Columbus, OH 43235

So far the transfer is going great! I am in Lewis Center, which is about 20 minutes from Powell where President Daines lives. Lewis Center is a richer area, and the ward is super nice, so we are fed pretty much every single night.

My companion is Sister Burningham from the Highland/Alpine area in Utah. She has been out for about 17 months, so she goes home next transfer. 

This week has been ridiculously crazy.

On Wednesday (21st), I found out I was leaving. We went and visited a bunch of people that I wanted to say good-bye to. I was up until 12:30 packing all of my stuff. (I didn't realize how much stuff I had accumulated over the past 6 months!)

On Thursday (22nd) we had transfers, where I found out that I was going to be coming to Lewis Center. The funny part was was that Sister McCarty totally guessed that I was coming to Lewis Center. We went out to lunch with Sister Carter, the Relief Society President in the ward, who brought us home from transfers. We didn't really do much except for unpack. We went to dinner at a member's house and they had 6 girls. It was crazy!

On Friday (23rd), I hit my 6-month mark since I went into the MTC. We had lunch with our ward mission leader Brother Newton. We tried to visit a few of the members, but some of them weren't home. We got a new investigator!

On Saturday (24th), we had a lesson with a less-active couple. We had choir for the missionary fireside on the 25th. We are going to sing for Elder Christofferson. We also finished our weekly planning.

Yesterday (25th), was church and just the primary alone, there are 130 active kids, there are about 50-75 active youth, and who knows how many active adults there are! In Sacrament meeting, one of the speakers said that, " Heavenly Father would never send us to earth without giving us a way back to Him." Iyonna, my recent convert from Fairborn was confirmed!! 

We had a missionary fireside with Elder Christofferson, where we as a choir sang "Come, Follow Me" and "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing". I got to shake Elder Christofferson's hand afterwards. (I took a picture, but I will have to send it next week, because I forgot my cord that connects my camera to the computer.) He talked about the importance of Repentance, Baptism by immersion, and Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I really liked when he said, "How great of a gift it is to have the gift of the Holy Ghost!" I also liked when he said that, "we truly can be transformed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace." One of my investigators from Fairborn came to the fireside.

Last night, we got about 3-5 inches of snow, and the roads are super slick.

I look forward to hearing from everyone! Love and miss everyone LOTS!!!

Love always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

January 21, 2015

Sooooo... I am being transferred. Super scared and totally don't want to pack, but I guess I have to.

This week has kind of been an eventful week.

Iyonna did get baptized on Saturday, but she did not show up to church on Sunday to be confirmed. Her birthday was on Sunday, so she went with friends and had some fun. She is still okay to be confirmed on Sunday, so that is a good sign.

On Monday night (12th), we planned Iyonna's baptismal program.

On Tuesday (13th), we went on exchanges and we taught a couple of lessons to a couple of our investigators. We helped take down our ward's Christmas tree.

On Wednesday (14th), we had district meeting. We also did some service for a ward member. We taught Iyonna about following the prophet, and praying often. We also taught another one of our investigators about the first part of the plan of salvation up until the Atonement.

On Thursday (15th), we taught some lessons and visited some other people, nothing too exciting.

On Friday (16th), we did our weekly planning, except it was more of just talking about anything and everything, but it was good to take some stress off. We made over 100 cupcakes for Iyonna's baptism. It was a little bit ridiculous  because they were mini red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting and pink sprinkles on top.

On Saturday (17th), we had a late breakfast with a member in our ward. It was super good, and we had apple pie for dessert. Then. we filled the font for Iyonna's baptism. Iyonna had to be baptized about 3-4 times because something kept going wrong. Sister McCarty and I did a special musical number "Teach me to walk in the light". After that we had a little birthday party for Iyonna. Then we had dinner at another member's house.

Sister McCarty, Iyonna, Brother Mazey (Ward Mission Leader), Me

On Sunday (18th), we went to church, and saw a few other people. Nothing exciting happened other than Iyonna didn't show up for her confirmation.

On Monday (19th), we did more of our weekly planning, since we didn't really get any of it done. Us and the Elders did a special musical number for the elder's convert getting baptized. The Elders and I sang "I love to see the temple", while Sister McCarty played the piano. We taught the rest of the plan of salvation to our investigator, and he also came to church on Sunday.

Yesterday (20th), we didn't really do much, because all of our appointments fell through except for 1. So we went and visited some less-actives in the ward.

January 12, 2015

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been pretty eventful!

On Tuesday, we taught our investigator Iyonna about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and enduring to the end. She is so excited to be baptized on the 17th! We also taught another one of our investigators, Derickia, who has been out of town for the past week and a half. We are reteaching her the Plan of Salvation just to make sure she completely understands it.

On Wednesday, we had Interviews with President Daines.We also got a new investigator, who was a mormon.org referral. He is super cool and works for the Air Force. We also had a lesson with Jason our recent convert.

On Thursday, we did some service for a sister in our ward. We also had another lesson with Derickia, and we taught her about recognizing the Spirit in finding her answer to be baptized. We also had a lesson with Abby, another one of our investigators. We answered some questions she had about the Restoration and we were better able to understand her religious background a little more.

On Friday, we had weekly planning, so nothing too exciting.

On Saturday, we helped a sister in the ward get her groceries. We walked about a mile total with her to the store and back and the Elders came and took her groceries back to her apartment because she doesn't have a car. So we had a good hour to talk with her. We also had a lesson with Iyonna.

Yesterday, we had church and we talked about "the first great commandment is to love the Lord". Iyonna is super excited to be baptized on Saturday! She has been quitting smoking, so we made her her own box of "Spiritual Cigarettes". They have 3-4 scriptures in each one. 

Today, we went to Goodwill and I got a few shirts. We also went Gabriel Brothers (a clothing store) and I got about $35 worth of clothes for $7.48. It was awesome!! Then we went to Walmart and did our grocery shopping. And now we are here.

I love and miss everyone! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Sister Jennifer Rose

January 5, 2015

Hey!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope this letter finds you all well. I look forward to hearing from you each week!

On Tuesday (30th), we had a lesson with our investigator Iyonna. Her new year's resolution is to stop smoking, so that she can get baptized.

On Wednesday (31st), we had zone meeting, and we talked about how we should always be bold in extending commitments. We did some service for a member in our ward, and we actually ended up eating dinner with them. We also had a lesson with Iyonna. We didn't really do anything for New Year's because we had to be in bed by 10:30.

On Thursday (1st), we tried to have a lesson with Iyonna, Things didn't turn out as we had planned, but she is still trying to quit smoking. Hopefully she can do it!

On Friday (2nd), we had our Sister Training Leaders join us for our personal and companionship study and for our companionship inventory. It was really awkward because they told us to pretend like they weren't there, but no matter what I did, I knew that they were still there. However, I had an awesome study time.My personal study was based around the "light of Christ" and how we can feel it more in our lives. I didn't plan it that way, that is just the theme it turned out to be. We also had coordination meeting. For dinner, we ate with a semi-active member who took us to a family diner in town.

On Saturday (3rd), we got an new investigator who seems really interested in learning more about the church. We taught her part of the Restoration, but not all of it. The YSA elders had a baptism, and Sister McCarty played the piano while the elders sang "Glorious" from the "Meet the Mormons" movie. It was awesome!

On Sunday (4th), we had church, and learned about giving service to others. We helped a member in the ward make a soup that she has never made before. We also helped her make dinner. We have our investigator Iyonna on date for baptism on the 17th of this month!!!!!! I am just about as excited for her to get baptized as she is!!

Today (5th), we went to the Air Force Museum as a zone, and it was a lot of fun!

I am super excited for Iyonna to be baptized on the 17th! She is awesome and is SOO ready for baptism.

I look forward to letters and packages! Don't forget to write!

I hope everyone is doing well!!

With all my

Sister Jennifer Rose

P.S. Tell dad I hope he feels better soon!