Dear Friends, Family, loved ones, and supporters,
Thank you! First and foremost, thank you, for all that you have done to support me and show me your love. It has meant so much and this journey has been life changing. I love my mission. I love my Savior. I love His gospel. Christ lives. I know He does! He loves us and wants to be with us.
I know that coming home will be a new experience, but I am so excited to be able to serve the Lord at home in a way that I couldn't before, but can now because of my mission. I know it will be a hard adjustment, but I do have confidence that the Lord will be with me. My call to be a missionary wasn't for 18 months. It was for life. I will forever be a disciple of Christ and I will serve Him. I love Him and I know He lives.
I love you all so much. I am excited to see you and want you to know that I love each one of you! May the Lord continue to be with each of you as you serve Him. May HIS force be with you!
Love,
Sister Felicia Jones :)
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Merry Christmas! :)
We have had some interesting experiences with many of our potential investigators and actual investigators telling us their not interested, or kind of fading out of contact with us. It's been really hard, especially when we are trying to do so much to work harder and more devoted than we ever have. However, I have felt that the Lord is helping us to clear people out of the way that are not ready at this time so that we can find those that are. I know that there are people ready, and we have found a few new potentials! There are also many other parts of the mission that are blossoming! I know that the Lord's timing is wonderful and merciful. He knows so well when we need what we need. I know that our faith is being tried, and that in turn our hearts are being purged. I know mine is and I am so grateful that the Lord loves me enough to purge me a little more.
As we are striving as a mission to do more than we have done, next week we will not be taking time for our normal preparation day stuff on Monday. As a mission we are giving that day to the Lord as a gift to Him this Christmas. Therefore, I will not be emailing or reading my emails until the Tuesday before I come home. I want you all to know how grateful I am- really grateful- for all of your love and support! I have been so blessed over the past 18 months as I have served as a full-time missionary. I love this work! I know that it is a sacred call to represent the Savior and share His gospel 24/7. I know that I have grown and learned so much through my service to and with my Savior. He has changed me. He has refined me. He has helped me become more of who I can become to be like my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior and my Father in Heaven. They are real and they are living. They love us and they know our desires, our needs, and our potential. They know you!
May you all have a blessed and merry Christmas day and week as you find and put a little more Christ in your lives. I love you all! Talk to you soon!
As we are striving as a mission to do more than we have done, next week we will not be taking time for our normal preparation day stuff on Monday. As a mission we are giving that day to the Lord as a gift to Him this Christmas. Therefore, I will not be emailing or reading my emails until the Tuesday before I come home. I want you all to know how grateful I am- really grateful- for all of your love and support! I have been so blessed over the past 18 months as I have served as a full-time missionary. I love this work! I know that it is a sacred call to represent the Savior and share His gospel 24/7. I know that I have grown and learned so much through my service to and with my Savior. He has changed me. He has refined me. He has helped me become more of who I can become to be like my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior and my Father in Heaven. They are real and they are living. They love us and they know our desires, our needs, and our potential. They know you!
May you all have a blessed and merry Christmas day and week as you find and put a little more Christ in your lives. I love you all! Talk to you soon!
Monday, December 8, 2014
The Gift :)
We also had interviews on Tuesday and MLC Thursday and Friday. There is a powerful spirit at those mission leadership council meetings, and I think Sister McDonough said it best when she testified, "The spirit is strongest when you sacrifice." In this last MLC meeting we talked about our baptism goal for this year and if we should lower it or keep it, since we would need 20 baptisms more than what we've ever gotten in a month. After discussion we decided to keep it and do our best to increase our faith and diligence this month. As a result we discussed what we need to do in order to make it happen. The reality is, if we want to accomplish something we've never accomplished before, we have to do something for it that we've never done before. This means sacrifice will be necessary. What are we willing to sacrifice in order to receive the blessings of Heaven? I didn't realize how much my heart loved certain things until we talked about sacrificing them.
The Lord is answering my prayers and I am truly being refined during these final weeks of service as a full-time missionary. I know that there is more for me to learn and become, and my hope is that I won't stop it from happening. Am I willing to put my fear, my personal comfort, my routines, and my habits on the alter of sacrifice? This will be the test. Christ doesn't just want us to give up the bad. He wants us to give up the good for the best.
Dearest family and friends, we need your prayers. This mission is doing things it's never done before. Progess is being made, but it needs to continue in ways it never has before. We truly need Heaven's help to share the gift of our Savior and help others come unto Him.
I would invite you all to watch the video the church has put out called "He's the Gift" at christmas.mormon.org. It is just over 2 minutes long and it really brings the spirit of Christ into your home and heart. Ponder it and Share it. It is a wonderful opportunity to share the gift of our Savior, and it's so simple! I know that the more we share our testimonies of the Savior, the more hearts will be open to receive Him and His gospel - including our own.
I know my Savior lives. Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. He is my brother and Redeemer. He is my leader and my friend. He is my everything. He is the gift. Discover the gift! Embrace the gift! Share the gift!
Monday, December 1, 2014
Thanksgiving :)
What a great week we had! Thanksgiving was quite literally a blessed day! That's a common phrase down here, "Have a blessed day!"
We spent most of the day at [a member's] home with the two other sets of missionaries in the Madison ward. We love that family! And the other missionaries! We got to do service for them, which is why we are in jeans and t-shits in the picture :)
That morning Sister Harley and I went to help Sister McDonough with cooking. Then after the [serving at the member's home] we went back to the McDonough's! All 6 of us missionaries who were at the [member's home] went to the McDonough's, as well as our Zone Leaders and a recent convert of just over a year from the Madison Ward. We had a great time there too!
We also visited [a sweet sister], a less active who has the last few months worked so hard to do all she can to be a covenant keeper, even though she is nearly 90, almost blind, and practically deaf. She is such a good example to me and such a sweetheart. I love her so much and am so grateful I got to know her here.
Exciting news of the week is that [an investigator] from the Jackson Branch was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! Sister Keyes and I were the first missionaries to teach her, and then we passed her off to some of the Jackson Elders since she moved closer to them. She is a sweetheart, and has been through a lot to be where she's at now, but she is strong and will do great things if she will continue that way! I'm so proud of her!
I also learned this week on exchanges the importance of knowing the how of our message. Our message is of great value and importance, and it can enable us to improve the quality of our life and overcome problems, challenges, and concerns, but if we (or those we teach) don't know how to apply it, they won't get those blessings. They way to apply it is to make covenants with God and keep them. As we are obedient to the covenants we make, we access the power of the atonement and our lives our changed - our heart is changed. That is the gift that the Savior has given me - a changed heart. I am so thankful for that gift. He is the Savior of the World. He atoned for the sins of all mankind. He will come again.
We spent most of the day at [a member's] home with the two other sets of missionaries in the Madison ward. We love that family! And the other missionaries! We got to do service for them, which is why we are in jeans and t-shits in the picture :)
That morning Sister Harley and I went to help Sister McDonough with cooking. Then after the [serving at the member's home] we went back to the McDonough's! All 6 of us missionaries who were at the [member's home] went to the McDonough's, as well as our Zone Leaders and a recent convert of just over a year from the Madison Ward. We had a great time there too!
We also visited [a sweet sister], a less active who has the last few months worked so hard to do all she can to be a covenant keeper, even though she is nearly 90, almost blind, and practically deaf. She is such a good example to me and such a sweetheart. I love her so much and am so grateful I got to know her here.
Exciting news of the week is that [an investigator] from the Jackson Branch was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! Sister Keyes and I were the first missionaries to teach her, and then we passed her off to some of the Jackson Elders since she moved closer to them. She is a sweetheart, and has been through a lot to be where she's at now, but she is strong and will do great things if she will continue that way! I'm so proud of her!
I also learned this week on exchanges the importance of knowing the how of our message. Our message is of great value and importance, and it can enable us to improve the quality of our life and overcome problems, challenges, and concerns, but if we (or those we teach) don't know how to apply it, they won't get those blessings. They way to apply it is to make covenants with God and keep them. As we are obedient to the covenants we make, we access the power of the atonement and our lives our changed - our heart is changed. That is the gift that the Savior has given me - a changed heart. I am so thankful for that gift. He is the Savior of the World. He atoned for the sins of all mankind. He will come again.
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