Sister Allison Jones week 10

皆さんこんにちは！

    It's been another great week! We're now in a little town called Wamego and it's super cute! The whole town is Wizard of Oz themed and they have a big Wizard of Oz museum. At first it was just a joke, but now I'm really wishing I'd watched the movie more recently so I could better appreciate the culture of the Kansas people ;)

     My new companion is Sister Ganschow! She's super sweet and she's been in Wamego for almost her whole mission so she knows the members really well! It's been really exciting to get to know some of the people in our area this week, they are all really interesting! Our bishop is a chicken nutritionist! One of our interested friends is a grain science professor at K State and she had lots of advise for how Sister Ganschow and I could make our sourdough bread rise better.

     We've been working this week with a recent convert in our ward named Katie to help her get her temple reccomend. It has been such a great reminder of our Heavenly Father's mercy and His desire for all of His children to come unto Him. Katie has had a lot of really hard experiences in her life but it was so powerful to be able to remind her that we are always worthy enough to keep trying and that there is a place in this church for all of God's children. I love Elder Uchtdorf's remarks from general conference, "There is no threshold of perfection you must attain in order to qualify for God’s grace."

     President Ernst challenged us to make our apartments like temples so the whole mission has been throwing away some of the strange heirlooms that seem to accumulate in missionary apartments. It was a good reminder that only the home can compare to the temple in holiness and I have seen a difference in the Spirit present in our apartment as we have tried to be more mindful. We have also been encouraged to spend as much time outside of our apartment as possible so we do our studies on the lawn outside of our building. There is a shadow that runs down the center of the lawn and Sister Ganschow sits on one side and I sit on the other. We were pretty proud, Sister Ganschow is getting a nice tan and I... haven't burned yet! 

  Sister Ganschow and I decided to charity together as a companionship this transfer and a quote that we loved from Thomas S. Monson was:

 “Let us ask ourselves the questions: ‘Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?’ [Hymns, no. 223]. What a formula for happiness! What a prescription for contentment, for inner peace—to have inspired gratitude in another human being.Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved”

I hope everyone has a great week and make sure to look for ways to gladden some hearts!!

愛しています！

ジョーンズ姉妹

And for the sake of something more Kansas-y:

"Ad astra per aspera!"- Kansas flag :)

Sister Alllison Jones week 9

皆さんこんにちは！

    I hope everyone has had a great week! Congrats to Tyler and Jeanie!! Also congrats to Courtney and Josh with twin baby Cannons!! It's exciting to see the family keeps getting bigger:) 

It was a great last week in McPherson. Sister Powell definitely knows how to sprint to the end. It seems that all of the friends and members that we've been trying to contact decided that now was the right time to come out of hiding. We have been sharing 2 Nephi 31:20-21 and the promises in Moroni 10:3-5 with some of the members this week and it's been such a blessing to hear their testimonies of the Book of Mormon and to see their desire to press forward. 

Yesterday one of the member families threw a surprise (socially distanced) farewell for Sister Powell in their front yard. The families that we've been teaching all came and brought signs. Two of the young women played God be With You Till We Meet Again on the cello and violin. It was such a tender mercy to see the love and support of the ward. 

Sister Powell left for the airport this morning and I've been staying with a few other sisters whose companions were sent home early in Wichita until transfers tomorrow. We're all looking forward to see what comes next! 

Our district studied the talk "Meek and Lowly of Heart" by Elder Bednar and it's really awesome so everyone should give it a read!

愛しています

ジョーンズ姉妹

Last McPherson sunset!

Sister Allison Jones week 8

皆さんこんにちは！

Two months in and every week is still exciting!

We got some sad news on Wednesday night that Sister Powell is being sent home this week-8 months early-because of the new health precautions for Coronavirus. I'm really grateful for the example she has set, this week especially. We are trying to cherish every moment of being missionaries, regardless of the circumstances. President Erst reminded all of the missionaries yesterday that none of us need to wonder why we are where we are because we agreed to the work before we came to this Earth. Nothing surprises the Lord. 

The day before we had 3 week follow up training with our mission president's wife. She talked a lot about using our gift of time and that this is an amazing opportunity for all of us to take the time to refine ourselves and renew our relationship with the Savior. She reminded us to anchor ourselves upon His rock. One thing about Luke 6:48 that Sister Ernst pointed out that I hadn't realized before is that the man "digged deep" to lay his foundation on a rock. "..the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it."

We got to do mission prep with some of the young women in our ward over video call. It was amazing to be reminded of the reasons we serve and to see their excitement for the work. 

We have seen miracles! We were so excited to get a call from the Peña family this week because we haven't been able to get a hold of them since McPherson went under stay at home order. It turns out the dad was trying to call one of his daughters but he accidentally called us instead. He agreed to meet with us again! The Lord works in mysterious ways. 

A helpful verse this week was Mark 5:36, so everybody should give it a read and take time to see the miracles this week!

愛しています！

ジョーンズ姉妹

Also! Buffalo! Very Kansas like.

Easter treats

Sister Allison Jones week 7

皆さんこんにちは、

I hope everyone had an awesome Easter! 

It's been a great week! We've had a lot of fun getting to know the members in our area, especially our ward missionary Brother Olsen. He's really fired up about missionary work and we've been teaching him how to use his Facebook this week. He was so excited when he figured out how to make a group chat with his family and friends so he could share an Easter message with his grandkids. 

 We were able to have a lesson over the phone with an inactive sister in our ward and it was so exciting to hear her recall the times she's felt the Savior's love when she needed His help. 

We've seen how much Heavenly Father loves His children in McPherson by how many times we've had to write and rewrite the messages we share with people. It's so exciting to see the way that we can see the Lord's direction as we look for ways to serve His children, even if that direction doesn't come all at once or in the way we expected. 

Sister Powell is a really good cook and we've had fun experimenting with new foods this week during our meal times. I think I've learned a lot about planning and preparation as Sister Powell has gently steered me away from making what she likes to call "goulash" which is made by mixing whatever I can find together in a pan and adding sriracha..and cumin (courtesy of Tyler :)

Along with learning about meal preparation, I've been reminded of the importance of daily spiritual preparation. I love the example Moroni sets in Alma 50 where he continues to fortify the Nephite cities and to increase his armies daily, even in times of peace. I love President Nelson's guidance, "As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths."

Have a great week!

愛しています！

ジョーンズ姉妹

Extra thanks to Grandma Linda for the tasty Easter goodies!!

Dinner and Kansas Clue

Sis Allison Jones week 6

皆さんこんにちは！

I hope everyone enjoyed conference and had an awesome week!

It's been a week of a lot of firsts! We had our first restoration lesson this week with a friend named Kendra! She was cleaning her bathroom when we called. I can't say I imagined the first time I'd teach the restoration would be over facetime with someone cleaning a toilet but it was still a really cool experience! And she dropped everything once we started sharing the first vision! She's the best and we were really excited that she was able to watch conference yesterday!

I appreciated Elder Uchtdorf's reminder that we are not subject to "heavenly micromanagement". As Sister Powell and I have been looking for ways to reach out to the friends in our area, along with many prayers, we've definitely had to follow the invitation to develop some backbone and move forward. We've had some difficulty because most of the people living in McPherson are elderly and aren't comfortable using video call, the internet connection and phone signal are also pretty questionable. Sister Powell decided we should try decorating doors with quotes from the prophets and scripture references for all the people we've had trouble connecting with since we can't meet in person. I love the trust our Heavenly Father has in us and the way He allows us to learn for ourselves through our mistakes if we are willing to act. 

We've also learned from our experience that the best way to get signal to call our friends in the area book is by standing on a chair in the middle of the living room. We're still working on how to get them to not hang up once we tell them who we are though...;) 

We are so glad to have Elder Holland's encouragement that we can and should continue to hope. I love the beautiful truths that were focused on during this General Conference. It was amazing to see the center on the Savior and the temple. It was also an awesome reminder of the blessings of the restoration. In keeping with the Spirit of Elijah and the promises from the prophet, everybody should use their free time to do a little family history this week! Sister Powell and I are going to try some indexing!

Also that's crazy about the Dubai and Shanghai temple announcements; the Lord is hastening His work!

Hope everyone has an awesome Easter week!

愛しています！

ジョーンズ姉妹

First member meal!...delivered through the hole in our screen door!

First Book of Mormons placed on our referral's doorstep!...and the beginnings of the Kansas Wichita Mission Clue boardgame during mandatory fun time!