Sister Allison Jones week 5

  I'd say this week has been the most exciting week so far! The first lesson I learned this week is that our Heavenly Father is perfect in every way, including His sense of humor. I can remember distinctly teasing Tyler that he would get his mission call to Kansas... but I guess this is how it goes. The Kansas Wichita Mission is the place to be!!!

    On Sunday we found out that all the missionaries in the MTC would be leaving by the end of the week. And so, on Thursday morning we left for the airport to start our journey in the mission field five weeks ahead of schedule! 

It was strange to see the airports so empty. I got to travel with an awesome Japanese missionary from my zone named Sister Walker and four other missionaries from the Baltic States Mission. There were only 14 people on the flight to Wichita and six of us were missionaries so that was pretty exciting. We also flew over a lightning storm and went through some of the craziest turbulence I've ever experienced. But we eventually made it safe and sound to Kansas at around 11:40pm. We met President and Sister Ernst and they are two of the sweetest people I've ever met! 

    On the car ride to the mission home President told us that the people here are very religious and they love the Bible... I think Sister Walker and I both realized this is going to be a very different teaching experience from what we prepared for in the MTC. Welcome to the Heartland of America! 

    I met my Trainer Sister Powell and she's so sweet! Our area is McPherson, Kansas and it's really small and cute. It's a little strange because it kinda feels like I'm just back in Southern Indiana except it's extra flat and very windy. The fields are so green and there's winter wheat all over the place. The people here are so friendly! It's so cool to be a missionary because every day since I've been here I've been able to feel a little more of Heavenly Father's love for the people in Kansas. President Ernst encouraged all of the reassigned missionaries to "dig our roots deep in Kansas soil". I think having that perspective, and not seeing this as a temporary situation but seeing Wichita, Kansas as my mission and seeing the McPherson people as my people has already helped me feel a lot of joy. I've been reminded that the quote by Elder Wirthlin isn't "come what may and get over it", it's "come what may, and love it." I love Kansas, I love my Savior, and I love the opportunity to prepare to serve in Japan too.

    During our first companion study Sister Powell decided we should read Alma 26 together. It was a really good reminder that God is aware of all of His people, no matter where they are, and that there is so much joy in serving them. So, to everyone that's been reassigned, you should give it a read!...I still wish people could read my nametag though...

    We've been working on calling as many people as we can from the area book and sometimes people pick up! We are excited to keep teaching the Peña family over video call this week! We are also looking forward to learning to make pasta sauce over video call and Book of Mormon read with our neighbor Ethan. It seems like lots of people have more free time at home so we're trying to take advantage of that. Sister Powell has also been a big help as I practice teaching in English and Japanese, I'm so grateful for my patient companion! 

    Also! Make sure to get excited for conference this week and keep studying the restoration!!

愛しています！

ジョーンズ姉妹

MTC group pic

Sister Allison Jones week 4

皆さんこんにちは！
I hope everyone has had an awesome week!
One of the suggestions I got this week was to use part of my language study time each day to read from the Book of Mormon in Japanese. I don't think I've ever had to consentrate so hard on the literal meaning of stories in the Book of Mormon before, especially when every word is a combination of symbols. But as I've been slowly reading through 1 Nephi  there have been so many things that have stuck out to me that I don't know if I would have noticed otherwise. It's also helped me develop a greater love for the Japanese language as I've learned the literal meaning of words like 天使(tenshi), which means the "use of Heaven" or angels. We've taught a few lessons on the Book of Mormon this week and it's amazing to see the spirit and power it brings.
Our district got some difficult news yesterday when we found out that the two sisters from Australia and New Zealand will be sent home on Monday for two weeks of self-isolation and then will be temporarily reassigned to their home countries. The French districts in our zone have also received their temporary reassignments. If you see a Sister Taylor in Indiana make sure to say hi!
We had a couple really powerful devotionals this week. On Tuesday we heard from Elder Soares who talked about the power of virtue. We also heard from the Hongkong Mission President and his wife who shared about how we can have the faith to lose ourselves and and the diligence to be changed through the Savior's Atonement. The MTC president had some helpful insight too:
"No affliction, no conviction"- President Lesuer
And it's true because it rhymes. But also, because I've been able to see in my life, now and before the mission, that the times that have been the hardest have also been the times of the greatest growth.
A helpful scripture this week that everyone should read is Alma 13:22-31. In Japanese the gospel doesn't just mean good news; it's the sound of blessing. I hope everyone can find ways to rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week. Take care and have a great week!
愛しています！
ジョーンズ姉妹

Attachments area

Temple pic

Sister Allison Jones week 3

皆さんこんにちは！
It sounds like everyone has had a pretty exciting week so far! All is well in the MTC! Or at least we're all healthy and safe as far as we can tell.(gotta be careful of the teachings in 2 Nephi 28:21)  It's an unusual time to not be able to watch the news but I hope everyone is doing well with all the shutdowns! I'll make sure to keep the kids from Mom's school in my prayers!
We had a devotional on Tusday by Neil L. Anderson on Tuesday! He reminded us that the more we recognize the Lord's hand in our lives, the more we learn to love Him. Fletcher姉妹  and I have been working on gratitude this week and we've been keeping track of some of the tender mercies we've noticed. Fletcher姉妹 loves Dr.Pepper but we haven't been able to find it anywhere in the MTC, but this Tuesday we found one can of DP on the shared table outside our room. It was a reminder that Heavenly Father cares about the little things, even our soda preferences, and recognizing the daily mercies in our lives has really helped. We're also really grateful that all of the native Japanese missionaries are feeling better and will be able to go to their assigned missions in Japan on Monday. A great talk Fletcher姉妹 found is "Grateful in Any Circumstances" by Elder Uchtdorf, April 2014.
Our district hosted the last group of missionaries coming into the MTC on Wednesday which was a lot of fun. I got to help a sister from the Philippines named Hernandez姉妹. It was really refreshing to be around Hernandez姉妹 because she was so excited to be in the MTC and she's really excited to serve in Sapporo, Japan. We got to leave the MTC for the last time to go to the Student Health Center because all incoming international missionaries were tested for coronavirus.
It's been a blessing to see our Zone grow closer together this week. I'm grateful for the experiences Fletcher姉妹 and I have had over the last couple weeks because it's definitely helped us to know what to say to the French sisters as they deal with the uncertainty surrounding their assignments. It's amazing to see the way that challenges can bring people together and create opportunities to extend service and love.
Our district was preparing to sing "Peace in Christ" in Japanese in sacrament meeting this week. Although we won't be able to share it with our branch, I think it was really fitting that that was the song that was chosen considering what's happened recently. I'm so grateful to have a modern prophet and it's been amazing to see the way that President Nelson's guidance has helped prepare the saints around the world. Everyone should read D&C 121:33 and "Where Can I Turn for Peace" by Paul V. Johnson April 2013 while you're enjoying the time off!
Fletcher姉妹 and the other missionaries in our district are picking up on the language really quickly and it's been amazing to see their growth as we've practiced teaching in Japanese.
Also, 日本語 of the week! For those that asked, the brother of Jared is translated as ヤレドの兄弟(Yaredo no kyoudai) so it doesn't tell us if he was older or younger but we talked with a member who worked on the translation of the Book of Mormon into Thai yesterday and he said that they run into the same problem of only having the word for older or younger brother so it would be interesting to see what they did with that.
I hope everyone has an awesome week and stays healthy and safe!
愛しています！
ジョーンズ姉妹
Our last MTC temple trip!

Attachments area

MTC with Sis Fletcher

Sister Allison Jones week2

皆さんこんにちは！

It's been an exciting week so far! My companion was super excited when we found out the devotional on Sunday was from the BYU basketball coach, Coach Pope and that some of the members of the team would speak as well. I kinda wished I'd followed BYU sports a little better but Fletcher姉妹 loved it and I'm glad she got to get a picture with him. It was really nice though to be taught by a professional coach about the gospel, I feel like we all came out feeling very motivated. I really liked that he talked about dropping our nets like the apostle Paul and following the Savior "all in". He also mentioned how serving the Lord without hesitation can help us overcome the difficulties and uncertainty ahead, he mentioned the missionaries assigned to Japan specifically which was really nice, a lot of the missionaries in our zone felt like this devotional was written just for us. 

There's been a lot of excitement over the coronavirus for all of the missionaries going to Asia. Our district has gotten really close with a district of native Japanese missionaries that are in the classroom next to ours that got here last Wednesday. We have similar schedules and usually eat together. This Tuesday at a workshop though, one of the elders came up to Fletcher姉妹 and I and asked if we would pray for his companion who was feeling really sick. Later that day while we were teaching practice lessons with our teacher some MTC employees came and taped off the Japanese district's classroom as well as the classroom we'd been using for our practice lessons. The entire Japanese district was put in quarantine for a few days and the devotional was canceled. Luckily none of them had symptoms except the one elder still being held in quarantine. It's been such a blessing and answer to our prayers as both of our districts have been able to continue our preparations to serve. We've definetly been able to feel the Lord's hand of protection. A scripture that's helped me a lot this week is John 16:33. 

We had some excitement late Monday night when the sisters from one of the French districts knocked on our door because they'd all been locked out of their room. When we asked what happened they told us that they woke up to the sound of one of the toilets flushing continuously and they all left the room to try to fix it. Luckily Fletcher姉妹 and I were able to get them back into their room but the toilet continued to flush and fill constantly for the rest of the night until maintenance could come to fix it in the morning. Thus the legend of the residence hall ghost was born. 

At choir we learned the story behind the hymn Nearer My God to Thee and Jacob's experience seeing Heavenly Father in Genesis 28:11-20. It was super cool and D&C 88:63 is a good one too! 

Also! Fun Japanese of the week! The Japanese word for the sabbath (安息日) could be translated literally as peaceful breath day and it has the same character for safety( 安全)! So I hope everybody finds safety and peaceful breath this week! 

Make sure to tell Courtney thanks for the package! Definitely a highlight of the week! Feels good to have a coat again and the pockey  was awesome!  

愛しています！ 

ジョーンズ姉妹