Mother's Note:  Last week Jennifer hit her 9 month mark - wow, where has time flown!

The poem Jennifer refers to is below.  It was told in our Stake Conference a couple weeks ago by the Sisters serving in our mission.  Makes you stop and think.

BUTT PRINTS IN THE SAND

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."

 

"My child,"  He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."

 

"You disobeyed,you would not grow,
The walk of faith,you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up
And there I dropped you on your butt."

 

"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

                                    Author Unknown

April 27, 2015

Hey!

Thanks for the poem! It made my day!!

Man, where do I even begin... This week has been great, but crazy at the same time.

On Monday, we were able to teach the plan of salvation to a part-member family, and they are awesome! We were able to answer some of the questions that they had about it, which was nice that I am finally getting to the point where I actually feel comfortable with teaching the lessons.

On Tuesday, it was Elder Geslison's birthday. (He came out the same time I did.) It was a lot of fun, and member even threw him a birthday party. The family that we had dinner with that night took us out to eat at Bob Evans. It was delicious! I am also 20.5 years old now... weird!

On Wednesday, we had District meeting, and then we went exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders, Sister Bowie (from Australia), and Sister Crandall. I went to Riverside with Sister Bowie, and it was a lot of fun. We had quite a few appointments to go to, so that was good. We tried teaching one lady the Plan of Salvation, but she kept going on tangents. However, we were both able to bear a strong testimony of the gospel. It was really cool, and I could definitely feel the Spirit. Then, we had an appointment to watch the Restoration with a recent convert, but he started to fall asleep in the middle of the movie... awkward... Then we went and tracted a street which was a little bit weird, because I am pretty sure we were being stalked by 2 guys.... We then went and talked to a member in the ward for ideas on what we could do for Sister Crandall's birthday. Weirdly enough, we got talking about where I am from, and I told her the Brigham city area. She said she had a cousin that lived there and her first name was Leann and her son is a cop. I thought to myself "The only LeAnn I know that lives in Brigham City is Aunt LeAnn"... Oddly enough, that is exactly who she was talking about! So we took a picture and she sent it to Leann.

Then at dinner, the dad of the family that we ate with actually served his mission in Riverside from 2003-2005 (the same time we were there!) What a small world!! That night, I blew up 25 balloons for Sister Crandall's birthday.

On Thursday, it was my 9-month mark!! WEIRD!!! We worked on some family history, had lunch and dinner, and had a lesson with a recent convert/less-active member.

On Friday, we did our weekly planning, had a lesson with one of our other part-member families all about prayer, and the importance of it. It was a really amazing lesson that we were able to have, even though it was a little bit crazy at times.

On Saturday, it was crazy busy! We made some cookies to give to some ward members, and we did some family history. We also had choir practice for our fireside that we had last night. Then, we went to dinner with a member that lives WAY OUT IN THE BOONIES!!!! They have a farm with chickens, lambs, dogs, and a big turkey. They also have a garden. It was cool! After that, we went to a part-members' house and talked with them for a little while.

Yesterday, we had an area conference broadcast, where Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder Robert D. Hales, Larry S. Kacher, and Linda S. Reeves. It was really cool, and I learned a lot. We also had our fireside tonight, and one of the recent converts came. I also saw some other people from my past areas, so that was nice. One of my favorite parts of it, was when the male recent convert was talking. He said that, "I had prayed and asked God to send me a good Christian woman, and I got 2!!" (He was talking about the Sister Missionaries that knocked on his door, but it was SUPER funny!)

Today, we had our district activity, and we played ultimate frisbee, and it was Juniors vs. Seniors. So it was Elder French, Me, and Elder Geslison vs. Elder Jensen, Sister Corbett, and Elder Rodriguez... IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!! I loved being on a team with those 2. It was so much fun! Unfortunately, we did not take a picture from it.

I am SO grateful for the knowledge that I have to share this gospel each and everyday, and for the opportunity that I have to help those of Heavenly Father's children here in Scioto come closer to Him. I am so grateful for the many blessings that I have received from serving Him here.

I hope to hear from you soon!!

Love always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

April 20, 2015

HEY!!!

It's SO crazy to think that on Thursday I will be halfway done with my mission!! AHHH!!!! WHERE HAS MY LIFE GONE???

That's awesome that Ashley made it to state with the choir. I also can't believe that she is already 18... where did time go??

I also went to Olive Garden this week... a member in the ward took us there, and we basically had a 7-course meal... I felt so sick the next couple days! LOL :)

This week was pretty good! We did a lot of things, so it is hard to decide what to say.

Tuesday, we had interviews with President and Sister Daines, and they went pretty well. We also met a lady, who we have actually been knocking on the wrong door to find, but we actually knocked on the right one this time. She was taught by other sisters in the past, and she really wants to learn and get back into a church. She is an amazing lady and has been through A LOT in her life.

Wednesday was awesome because we got a new investigator. She is super awesome and really excited to learn. She asked us some really great questions, and I was able to help answer most of them... It was cool! We also had district meeting, which was really good because we spent most of the time planning for an activity that we will hopefully be able to do sometime next month. It is a "Cinco De Mayo" themed potluck/chapel tour to help us find more people to teach.

On Friday, we met with the lady we had met on Tuesday. She told us basically her life story, and it was incredible to hear just how much she has been through in her life. We also had a lot of fun putting sticky notes all over a member's door!

On Saturday, we worked on some family history, and I Finally got through Jennie and Isaac Perry's life stories now only 4 more stories to go through! We also met with one of our other investigators, who is super awesome. She is still looking for her answer to be baptized, but it will probably take a while for her.

Yesterday, church was great! We talked a lot about "standing as witnesses of God" and also about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. It was interesting to see how everything connected. We had dinner with a less-active/recent convert lady, and she is super awesome... she is a little crazy, but super awesome! She is constantly trying to do the best that she can given her circumstances, so that's awesome. She also wants to start coming back to church!!

This morning we did our "spring cleaning" to our apartment, but haven't done anything else besides emailing. Hopefully I will be able to just sit down and write some letters today, that I have been meaning to write, but never had time.

I hope everyone is doing great, and look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Love Always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

April 13, 2015

I did not get transferred this week, but I do have a new companion. Her name is Sister Corbett, and she is from West Jordan UT. She has been out for almost a year. She is the first companion that I have had that hasn't been super close to going home...

Elder Jensen Elder Geslison Elder French Elder Rodriguez Jennifer Sister Corbett

It is super weird to think that ALL 6 of my previous companions are already at home...

I wasn't really worried about the tornadoes, because there was no tornado watch for Franklin and Pickaway counties. So not really worried... However the weather has really started to warm up here, and I can tell that it is going to be a very warm summer...

That's exciting that Amber and Ashley are going to be moving to Provo... 2 of my previous companions, Mikail Burningham and Ashley Dana, are going to be attending BYU as well, so tell them to look out for them!

This week has been pretty good! ... except for Thursday, because that is when Sister Dana left, and it was really hard for me because she has become one of my best friends. However, it turned out okay, because I know she got home safely and she promised to write me each week! :)

On Saturday, we had an AMAZING lesson with a recent convert... she has been struggling with a lot of things, but we read 3 Nephi 13:1-15 with her, and she was so very grateful, and she expressed to us that it was exactly what she needed to hear. I am so grateful for the power of the Holy Ghost and for the influence it has to touch the lives of those around... even if it is in the smallest way possible.

Sister Staley told me that Papa is doing well, and that he was able to go home even though he has to use a walker all the time. I think that it will be better for him, and hopefully he will be okay.

I am so very grateful to know that no matter what happens in this life we will be able to see our family again. I am so very grateful for these past 8 months, and for everything that everyone has taught me. I know that as I continue to put God first in my life, I can become the person that He would have me to be. I am SO very grateful for the amazing knowledge I have of this gospel, and for the opportunity that I have to serve my Heavenly Father and His children here in Grove City.

I look forward to hearing from everyone, and please write! (I don't hardly get any letters besides emails.)

Love always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

April 6, 2015

MAN I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS WEEK IS TRANSFERS ALREADY!!!!

 

This week has been pretty good! We have only taught a few lessons, but they have been really good ones. There were quite a few really good things this week, but my favorite was general conference. I was able to receive a lot of insights from it.

 

One of my favorite quotes was by D. Todd Christofferson. He said, "many things are good, many are important, but few are essential." I also liked when one of the seventy said that, "the more we understand about the Atonement, the more we will understand our purpose here on earth." Another one said, "All of us are lost, and need to be found."

 

I am looking forward to this next week when I get a new companion, and I hope that we can become great friends like Sister Dana and I have become.

 

I look forward to hearing from you all soon! Please write!

 

Love Always, 

Sister Jennifer Rose

March 30, 2015

So this week has been pretty good.

Last Monday, we had a zone activity. We played ultimate football and ultimate frisbee, and volleyball as well. It was a lot of fun!

On Tuesday, we had a really great lesson with one of our investigators who is really progressing, and really wants to be baptized. It is so amazing to see the light that comes into a person's life as they learn about the gospel!

On Wednesday, we went to our ward young women's activity, because one of our investigators was there, and she really seemed to enjoy it and she is really starting to progress and she has already expressed that she wants to be baptized which is awesome!

On Thursday, we had a really good lesson with the 14-year-old girl that we are teaching.

On Friday, we did our weekly planning and it was very productive, and we were able to get a lot done.

On Saturday, the new video "Because He Lives" came out so whenever we went over to someone's house we showed it to them. They all really seemed to like it, so I would invite all of you to check it out. HeLives.mormon.org

Yesterday was really good. In sacrament it was all about Easter, and Sister Dana spoke. I gave the closing prayer.

Today, we had a district activity, and we played chair soccer, and "knockout" it was a lot of fun, except I am pretty sure I bruised my toe really bad, because it hurts to walk on it. I also twisted my ankle 3 times, but that is fine. I am doing better so don't worry! We are going to be teaching a couple people tonight, and hopefully show them the new video.

I love this gospel, and for the opportunity that I have to be here in the great OCM teaching God's children!

Love all of you, and look forward to hearing from you soon!!

Love always,

Sister Jennifer Rose

OCM 4 LIFE!!!