Mom's additional note: Well last Wednesday, I got Jen's letter from the previous week, but none from transfer week - not even sure if got transferred. This past Monday I got some pictures, but no letter. So here are all the letters I have received so far since last update!
Mom's one more additional note: Finally got confirmation (AND TWO LETTERS) from Jennifer that she kind of got transferred. She moved locations - has a new companion - but, still in the same ward boundaries.
October 11, 2015
Hey!
This week was pretty good! We met quite a few people this past week, and hopefully this week brings some more. It has been quite interesting this week with trying to get to know the area.
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| The Eber Family - Live a couple blocks from Sisters - Taking good care of Jennifer in New Carlisle |
I went on exchanges here in New Carlisle with Sister Meyers, and we had a lot of fun. Something that she taught me, that I never really believed until now, because I never really wanted to accept it, was when she told me that she could see the love that I have for the people. You know me, being my own worst critic, I never really realized that all of the people that have said that to me before were being sincere. In the past, my mind always said, "Oh, they say that to everyone!".
It was not until this week, when I was reflecting back on my mission so far, as well as some comments that I have gotten from members and investigators in my past areas, that I realized that I truly did and DO love the people I serve. That I really DID have an impact on their lives. I never thought that I was going to be one of those missionaries, that people told others, "Yeah, Sister or Elder so-and-so is my missionary!" I now realize just how much people mean it when they tell me something like that, because I usually like to be the "behind the scenes" person. But I now realize that it is the "small and simple things" that make the greatest impact. It was one of the best exchanges that I have had, and I learned SO much from it.
Another highlight of the week, was when we stopped by a less-active woman's house, who has been less-active for 7 years. When we knocked on the door, she answered, and almost immediately after we started talking, she told us that she would be coming to church that next day with both her father, who is a returning member himself, and also her 7 year old son. It was such a neat experience.
I am grateful for the many things that I was able to learn and realize this week, and I hope that I can continue to learn and realize more as we go out and "work with all our, heart, might, mind, and strength" with the Lord's help.
Hope everyone is having a great week so far!
Love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!
Love Always,
Sister Jennifer Rose
P.S. In case you didn't know, my GOLDEN birthday is next Wednesday. I will be 21 on the 21st! Man, I'm old! LOL!
October 5, 2015
Hey!!
So sorry that there was not a big email last week. It was a crazy day, and there wasn't really anything exciting going on last week.
However, this past week there was A LOT that went on! We did have transfers this past week, and I guess you could kind of say that I got transferred. What happened was that they kept me in the Huber Heights
ward, while Sister Garza was transferred out of the ward. I am now in New Carlisle, which is up in the top of our ward boundaries now. It is also out in the middle of the country, and I DEFINITELY prefer the
city. But hey, at least we have a car now (even though I'm not the designated driver, which stinks!).
My new address is: 211 E Lake Ave, New Carlisle, OH 45344
My new companion is Sister Morgan, and she is from Kalispell, Montana.
She has been out for almost a year. (It will be a year on the 15th). She is a twin just like me! We have quite a bit in common, and it is actually kind of creepy!
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| Jennifer's District (I am assuming - she didn't say) |
September 22, 2015
I just realized that tomorrow, I will have officially been set apart as a missionary for 14 months!!
I can't believe how fast the time has gone! But I am grateful for the time that I have had so far to serve my Heavenly Father and do his work.
This week was pretty good! We met quite a few people this week, and hopefully we can start teaching them! There is so much that went on that I don't know where to begin, so I guess I will just tell you a couple stories of what happened this week.
On Tuesday, as we were walking home that night, we saw one of our potentials, named William, out walking. We stopped and talked to him, and we talked to him about the Atonement and the power it can have in our lives to heal us. He shared an experience with us about his brother, and that he knew he was going to see him again. The Spirit was really strong as we bore testimony of the healing power of the Atonement. It was a great way to end the day!
A couple days ago, we met with a less-active older couple. They are super sweet and they have such a strong testimony, but there are health concerns that keep them from coming to church. Last week, we took them a cake for their anniversary, so we went to pick up the pan. We shared with 1 Nephi 17:50-51, which talks about how Nephi helped his brothers to see that with God's help we can do anything. As we talked with them about them Book of Mormon, the husband mentioned that he has read the Book of Mormon 160 times since 1990 (which is about 6 times a year!) now that is what I call diligent scripture study! They are the cutest old couple I have ever met, and I hope to be like them when I get old.
Today, we have an activity¸ up in Columbus with President and Sister Daines, as well as some of the other zones in the mission, as an "End of Summer Bash", so that will be fun! Hopefully I will be able to send some pictures, but if not then I will send them next week. Today is also one of the sisters' birthday‚ in the ward, so we are going to give her a birthday card and poster. It will be fun!
Well that is just a little bit of what happened this week, and there will hopefully be even more to talk about next week, because of Transfers next week, so I won't be able to respond back until next Wednesday, but you can still send me emails, letters, etc.
I LOVE YOU ALL!! I hope to hear from you soon!!
Love Always,
Sister Jennifer Rose
On Thursday, since we went to the temple on Wednesday, we had our district meeting. It was a little bit different because President and Sister Daines were there. It was a very helpful district meeting about the Book of Mormon and how we can better use it to figure out the needs and concerns of our investigators. It was great, even though it was weird having them there.
On Friday, it basically consisted of weekly planning and dinner at a member's house. The member's house was SO cool!!! If you have ever seen the TV show "American Ninja Warrior", then you can only imagine what their basement looked like! It was pretty sweet!! They literally had an entire obstacle course in their basement!!
On Saturday, we met with a less-active member, who is super sweet and has an awesome testimony, but she has some social anxiety, so being in large groups is her biggest thing. She had 3 chihuahuas, and they are super cute!
Yesterday was pretty good! We went to church, and there was a lady named Gwendolyn who just showed up to church out of the blue. No one knew who she was, but she seemed to love it. During gospel principles, we talked about missionary work, and the sister that taught thought that she was teaching next week, so she winged it. But it all turned out really good.
We also got to help out in the Mia Maid class. We talked about how our words and actions can influence those around us. I shared this quote from President Harold B. Lee: "That which you possess today in testimony will not be yours tomorrow unless you do something about it. Your testimony is either going to increase or it is going to diminish, depending on you." It is so true, no matter what your testimony consists of today, doesn't mean that it will consist of those same principles tomorrow. We build our testimonies by studying, praying, pondering, and acting. The example we set for others is a way of sharing that testimony with those around us.
Today, we had our zone activity! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!! We played volleyball, corn hole, and a few other things that I can't remember. I am pretty sure I got sunburned again too, but it was totally worth it!
We are going to start teaching one of the member's friends tomorrow, and she is SUPER prepared. The member just got back her mission, and while she was on her mission, her friend had a really spiritual experience. She loves the church, and has even come to church a couple of times as well. She seems really excited and interested in learning more about the gospel and how it can bless her life. I am excited to be able to start helping her come to know and understand more about her Savior.
Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Love Always,
Sister Jennifer Rose
September 9, 2015So this week has been SUPER hot!!! We got SO sunburned!! There was so much that happened this past week and a half, but I feel like not much happened at all... So let's see... Where to begin? Last Tuesday, we made cookies for our neighbors to introduce ourselves, and that was when we made the giant cookie. We also bought a couple of facial masks, and we put them on. It was a lot of fun!On Wednesday, we had zone meeting, and I definitely learned a lot about how to better use the Book of Mormon in our teaching. It was a really good meeting, and the Spirit was felt verySister Garza and Our Giant Cookie
strongly as a couple of converts came and shared their testimony with all of us.
On Thursday, it was SUPER HOT!!!! I literally thought I was going to die!! But we were able to meet with an investigator who has been meeting with missionaries for a little while now. She is super nice. We invited her to church, and she said that she might come. We also met a girl named Holly, and she has a friend from the ward that is on her mission right now. She said that she wasn't super interested right now, but she said that she would read the Book of Mormon though,so we will see what happens.
Not much happened on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (besides church), so I will skip that. On Monday, there was a ward Labor Day picnic, and it was a lot of fun. We played "cornhole"or bean bag toss. We also played bocce ball with Alexis and Sydney (two girls from the ward). I had a lot of fun, and it was fun to get to know members in a more natural setting. We had dinner with Sydney and Alexis's family, and then we went and tried to take cookies to a sister in the ward, but she wasn't home. On Tuesday, we made a cake for a member that we had met a couple days before, because it was their anniversary, and they can't really go out of the house very much. So, we took them a cake, but since we didn't let it cool off all the way, and it was super hot, all of the frosting melted off. But the cake was still really fluffy! Then that night, as we were walking towards a referral's house that Alexis gave to us. We met a guy named Richard, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. As we left, he told us that we had brightened his day. (I think that is one of the first times on my mission that someone has said that). As we continued walking towards the referral's house, we saw the Huber Elders (Elder Strong and Elder Segle), and talked to them for a little bit. We then continued walking, and a few minutes later, Alexis called us and told us that the Elders had told her to pick us up and take us home. (It was about 8:30 at night). It was super awesome of them to do that for us.I Love to See the Temple
Today was my favorite day of the week! Why? Because we got to go to the temple!!!! I lovegoing to the temple and being able to help someone else. As we were there, I could really feel that the person who I did the work for was there too. It was such an amazing experience for me. We also went to this chocolate factory that is super close to the temple. There was so much chocolate there!Now that is a buckeye....
Well... I had a pretty good week, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!Love Always, Sister Jennifer RoseAugust 31, 2015So this week was pretty good! We were able to have a pretty good week of finding, and we're able to find a few newinvestigators. On Wednesday, we got to help a couple of members. We helped 2 of the sisters in the ward make cupcakes for different events. One was for the Cub Scout arrow of light, and the other was for a baby shower. It was so much fun! They turned out super cute. On Thursday, we went on exchanges with the Urbana sisters. I went to Urbana (a small town outside of Springfield) with Sister Parkes. We had a lot of fun. We got to walk around the small town, and we met a LOT of people. Some were interested, and some were not. But, overall, we had a great time! We got to see a lot of deer as well, but unfortunately, no pictures. On Friday night, we went to a member's house for dinner, and she lives on a farm. She has a horse, a pony, about 40 chickens, and 2 Bassett hounds named Penelope and Sam. We had a lot of fun. On Saturday, we went a returning sister missionary's open house. Also on Saturday, one of my investigators from Scioto, Barbara got baptized. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go, but I am so glad that she made the choice to be baptized.Then on Sunday, we went to church. It is so cool to see some of the people that I knew when I was in Fairborn. We also got rained on, and we didn't even have our umbrellas with us. I hope all is going well, and I hope to hear from you soon! Love Always,Sister Jennifer RoseAugust 24, 2015 As you probably guessed, I am in Huber Heights now. It is only about 30 minutes away from Xenia. What is even funnier is that Sister Phelps and I, and Sister Garza and Sister Alius just switched companions. I am now in Huber Heights with Sister Garza, and Sister Alius (Eye-leeyas) is in Xenia with Sister Phelps. My new address is: 5094 Nebraska Ave, Huber Heights, OH 45424Sister Garza is from Michigan, which is a new one for me! Most of my other companions have been from Utah. She has been out for 11 months now, so she came out right after me. It has been good here in Huber Heights. The members are awesome, and I even got to see my mini-missionary, Sister Balli! Not a whole has happened so far, other than last Thursday morning, both ofus were packed and ready to leave, and at 6 am President Daines called us... Not a good sign when he calls us that early in the morning... So anyways, we had missed the call so we called him back. When we called him back, he told us that Sister Phelps was staying in Xenia, and that I was going to be followup training... He said that he had been thinking about leaving her there,because we had just been put back in, and it would have been bad for theward. Well Sister Phelps is the one that is follow up training, not me...Whew!!! THANK GOODNESS IT WASN'T ME!!! On Thursday morning, the Malone's took us out to breakfast before transfersto Frisch's Big Boy. I ate so much, which was probably not a good idea. LOL! Anyways, after breakfast they gave us our gifts, and then we went totransfers. I was super sad to be leaving Xenia, but Huber Heights is prettygood too. While at transfers, they started with the Dayton East Stake first... Finally! But, then I found that our area here in Huber Heights is a walking/bikingarea... NOT FUN!!! It kind of stinks not having a car, but I get the point of it, because our area is small... Even though it would probably take AT LEAST 2 1/2 hours to walk from one end to the other... UGH!! It is so weird to think that after this transfer though, I will have spent half my mission in the Dayton East Stake!!! Weird!!!! Oh.... And we helped one of the members paint their bathroom (it was a DARKforest green, and now it is a peachy color.) It looks SO much better now!! Well... There hasn't been much else that has gone on these past few days. Love you all and I hope to hear from you soon!! Love Always, Sister Jennifer RoseAugust 19, 2015So...... I found out that I am being transferred again tomorrow....Both Sister Phelps and I are being transferred!!! Ugh! Not excited to start packing, but it will be for the best. Other than that, this week has been great! We had the car this week, so that was nice! I am sad to be leaving this awesome ward, but it will be good wherever I go. The members here are SOOOOO nice, and willing to help us out with anything! We had a great time today at Young's Dairy Farm, and we got to feed the goats! We had ice cream, and a REALLY good lunch there! The members that took us are SO AWESOME, and I will DEFINITELY miss them! (I have included some pictures from Young's as well as from the early-morning drive up to New Albany- a 2 hour drive.) We had a few lessons this week, but not a whole lot. We have been doing a lot offinding and talking to members about who they are working with. It is so cool to seehow involved these members are with missionary work. Also this week, we had a mission-wide meeting with Elder Cook (Quorum of the 12), Elder Hallstrom (Presidency of the Seventy), and Elder Titera (Our Area Authority). It was AMAZING!!!! This was the 2nd Apostle that I have gotten to meet on my mission.There were 4 things that Elder Cook told us that is part of our missionary responsibility that I really liked: 1) Our assignment is to be ward builders, 2) You succeed when you invite, no matter what the outcome may be, 3) You ARE the message, and 4) Focus your spiritual power on your teaching, on your planning, and on your purpose. I am grateful for the opportunity to be serving the Lord here in the Ohio Columbus Mission! I look forward to hearing from you all! LOVE YA!!! Love Always, Sister Jennifer Rose
August 10, 2015
Hey!!!!! This week has been pretty good! We have been able to start to see this area progress. It still has a long way to go, but it is getting there. We have been able to meet with a few people,but there aren't a lot of people that are interested in learning more... I am very grateful for the many things that I was able to learn at zone conference this past week. One quote that someone said was that "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles." We have been struggling with trying to find more people to teach lately, but I know that as we continue to always strive to be exactly obedient, we will begin to see those miracles. Last week at district meeting, Elder Brown (our district leader) challenged all of us to study about a specific topic for the week. I chose to study about the Atonement and the role it plays in my life. This morning as I was studying about it, I re-read President Packer's talk called "The Plan of Happiness" from this past conference. It talked a lot about the Atonement. One quote that I really liked was at the end of his talk. It says "... The Atonement is individual, and if you have something that is bothering you...put the Atonement to work. It will clean you up...". I also liked the scripture in Romans 5:18 that says that the Atonement is a free gift given to all. There were a few quotes in this month's Ensign that I really liked about the Atonement. "...we are not alone. The Savior is ready to help us. His Atonement's healing power can help us recover. Do not turn your back on the church. Ask for priesthood blessings and get to the temple as often as you are able. The healing process is often a long one, but having the Spirit in your life will help speed the process...", "...we play our part in the healing process by remembering that we are precious children of our heavenly father with divine potential, by attending our church meetings, reading our scriptures, praying, serving, and attending the temple. Though the road may seem long, the promise is sure. Follow the Lord, and you can have eternal life and all the blessings you are promised, Follow the Lord, and you can have eternal life and all the blessings you are promised, including peace and joy in your soul...", and "healing won't come until there is repentance and forgiveness..." I am so grateful for the healing power of Christ's Atonement in my life. I know that the Church is true, and that Christ can heal us no matter how deep the wound. Love Always,Sister Jennifer Rose
August 3, 2015
Hey Everyone!!!!! So this week has been pretty good! We have had the car, so that has been nice! We are finally starting to get more people to teach, which is nice. We had quite a few lessons this past week. A lot of the lessons that we have had have been really good! We taught this awesome lady named Marcea, and she is hilarious! She has some really great questions every time we go over! We are really enjoying being in the area... except for when we are on bikes... Not as much fun! Everyone in the ward is still super excited that there are sisters again, and the members basically fight over feeding... For example, we have a lunch AND a dinner on Tuesday! I know this email is short, but there really wasn't a whole lot that happened this week! I look forward to hearing from you all soon! Love Always,Sister Jennifer Rose
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