Life in the Bronx 😎

Holy cow, what a week! The Bronx is like a totally different universe

compared to Yorktown! We had so many awesome things happen to us this
week!

Thursday- Thursday night we got to meet Rosa and Jadeden! And they are
AMAZING:) It's a mom and her son and they were tracted into and they
are just so prepared for the  gospel:) We had such a good lesson with
them and the Spirit was so strong, and they are preparing for baptism!
I can't tell you how excited I am for them!

Friday- It was the calm before the storm... Literally! Friday was
amazing weather and we mostly just planned out our crazy week!

Saturday- Yes, the storm affected us haha! The buses stopped running
and we got DUMPED on. But it was probably my favorite day of the week!
We still had to go out and "mish" but I can't say that it felt too
cold, maybe because of all the layers I was wearing haha! And it was
so satisfying to see people that we went to visit, they were so
shocked that we were out doing this in weather so bad. It was an
amazing way to testify of the importance of the gospel, it doesn't
stop even when the rest of the world does! It was a miraculous day,
mostly because it should've been miserable but ended up being
magical!:)

Sunday- The aftermath... Because of the storm, a lot of people weren't
able to make it to church. So I think the final count was about 30
people who came, and we only had an hour of church. I have never been
in a sacrament meeting with only 30 people, but it ended up being
really special. There was a really cool and reverent feeling with so
few people there! And then we went to go visit a few people that day
and they were all so happy that we came! They kept saying how they
felt bad that they couldn't come to church so it was perfect that we
decided to visit:) One of the families we visited was a mother and a
daughter who are less actives that moved from upstate but no one knew
they existed, they were found because missionaries gave them a card on
the street and they recognized it as the church they were baptized
into over 10 years ago and gave them a call! It was a miracle, and
they are just so willing to progress in the gospel! I've met them once
and I love them already haha:)

Monday- Monday was a little rough lesson wise but we did meet with
someone who ordered a Bible online (let me tell you... We have over 50
people who have ordered Bibles in the last few weeks- so a lot of our
time is just trying to get them their Bibles! E'erbody wants a Bible!)
and now she is meeting with us! She has had a really hard life but has
so much faith in God! I think that is what I have noticed a lot about
people on my mission- especially this past week- that people have such
hard lives and they rely so much on God because that is their only
choice. He is the only one that can help us in such hard times, and
they truly understand that!

Tuesday- Nuts, absolutely nuts! We met a lady that the Spanish
missionaries referred to us and she is so solid! We asked her if she
would pray to know if Joseph Smith really was a prophet and if the
first vision really did happen, and she said she already knew it
happened and that it was true. And she was so happy we were there
because she had been praying a few weeks ago and that is when the
Spanish missionaries knocked on her door, and then she was praying
again yesterday and 20 minutes later is when we knocked in her door.
She really took that as a sign from God:) And she is planning on
coming to church on Sunday and she accepted baptism for February 20th!
I know that God answers prayers and I am so grateful that I get to be
part of that answer for some people:)

Wednesday- And now it's Wednesday again and that was the fastest week
of my life! The Bronx is CRAZY, but in the best way:) Sister
Quackenbush and I are having so much fun haha! Never a dull moment!

Love you all!

Love, Sister Jones

"Before" going out in the snow storm

"During" the snow storm!

                                                        "And this was the 132 stairs we walked up to go home, 

                                                            you couldn't tell they were stairs anymore haha! 

                                                                     And... that's me... I fell... :)

Saying Goodbye

Well, looks like my time here in Yorktown is up. It's like leaving
home all over again! But, I am so grateful that it was so hard to say
goodbye! It was a week full of hugging and picture taking, crying and
note writing, and testifying to the family I found here that this is
the true church! And it was a week full of miracles! Heavenly Father
really is looking out for us:) I was wondering how we were going to do
it, see all the people I felt like I needed to see one last time, but
I saw this week that this is God's work! If He wants something done,
it'll get done:)

Two of my favorite investigators (Maria and Jasmine) both work on
Saturdays- we knew they wouldn't be there but we decided we needed to
stop by anyway. And- they both had work off. WHAT!? So I was able to
see them and say goodbye and it was really special:)

One thing about this week that was truly amazing was the baptism I got
to go to! (That's what's cool about serving in 2 areas at once haha)
It was for a man named Anderson and it was one of the most spiritual
experiences I have had on my mission, the only thing was- it was all
in Portuguese so I couldn't understand a word... But I think that is
what made it so spiritual! I wasn't able to pay attention to the
speakers or testimonies because I couldn't understand- so I was just
left to focus on this man and the amazing decision he has made to
follow Christ! The water in the font was freezing, and they had to
redo the baptism for some reason (don't ask me why, I couldn't
understand;))- but his face when he came out of the water showed that
none if that mattered! He was just feeling the Spirit so strongly, and
the rest of us were feeling it too. That's an experience I'm not going
to forget anytime soon!!

Sunday was definitely hard, saying bye to the Ward I've been in for so
long! But it was fun to think about my first Sunday in the Ward and
how I was falling asleep in Sacrament Meeting because I was so
exhausted, and then to see where I am now- loving church like I never
thought I would!!

Monday and Tuesday were CRAZY! I got go to dinner with one of my
favorite members (Sister Mejia) and while we were in the restaurant
two other members walked in and I got to say bye to them too- tender
mercy! I got to say bye to a lot of other people but one of my
favorites was the Lane family. I told them I was leaving and Sister
Lane just said, "Who said that? I didn't authorize this." It was the
best coming from her, and I felt really loved haha! We had an amazing
last lesson about faith that I am never going to forget. Especially
because as I was bearing my testimony to them I just got this feeling
like, "yes". This is true and I know they feel that too, this Gospel
has blessed them so much already and I just LOVE that family!

And early Wednesday morning, I was out!:( We drove down to meet my new
companion, Sister Quackenbush, who just so happens to be my old TA for
sign language at BYU... Small world!! And then we went to go watch the
worldwide missionary broadcast! It was cool learning how to do
missionary work from the best in the field haha! It got me excited to
start fresh in my new area, to become the representative of Jesus
Christ I want to be:)

Oh, and one small detail. My new area is Kingsbridge.

The Bronx

:)

Love, Sister Jones

"It won't all fit!"

"Taxi selfie,

check that one off my bucket list! "

New view in the Bronx!!

Elder Holland! :)

This week we had the AMAZING opportunity to meet and listen to an Apostle of God! We found out last week that Elder Holland was going to be coming to our mission, so we woke up bright and earlySaturday morning (4 AM...) and traveled down to the city (Whoop-whoop)! It was such a cool thing to be able to feel the Spirit as that man walked into the room, and then to shake his hand, and then to hear him speak to us! He requested to shake all of our hands so that he could "interview" each of us, and you could feel that it was an interview- let me tell ya!

One thing he said really stuck out to me though. He told us that he didn't give his life up for a fairytale. And I know he didn't. I'm not giving my life up for this year and a half for a fairytale- this church is true, it's real and Jesus Christ is at the head! And I'm so grateful for that knowledge:) And I love how everyone can know that for themselves! God provides a way for us to know of the truth of this gospel, all we need to do is ask.

I want to challenge all of you to do that:) Do it every night! Ask Heavenly Father if this church is true, we can never have too much conviction!

I love you all and I love this Gospel!

Love, Sister Jones🤓

Our Trio: Sister Hancock & Hermana Larsen

Got to meet & listen to Elder Holland!!

WOAH!

Ok, so I didn't know how crazy this week was going to be when I wrote

last week haha!

We found out on Wednesday night that we were going to be in a trio for
the next 3 weeks! Hermana Hill just finished her mission, so Hermana
Larsen is now our 3rd companion:) She is awesome, and it is cool
having a companion who knows Spanish (especially in an area where it
isn't uncommon to run into Spanish people haha!)! She is serving in
Danbury, Connecticut sooooo, we are now covering both areas! It means
a lot of driving and a lot of switching between apartments! It's been
kind of nuts- but in a good way haha!

Thursday morning we picked up our new companion:) and we spent
Thursday and Friday in our area. Thursday is our planning day so it
took a long time trying to figure out how the next 3 weeks are going
to work! (But again, I'm a big advocate for planning ;) because I am
so less stressed about the next 3 weeks now haha!) But Friday we GOT
TO WORK!:)

Saturday was interesting... We spent half in Ossining and half in
Danbury, but the weirdest day was definitely Sunday! We both had to go
to the Ward in our area and we weren't sure how we were going to do
that! So we had to get a little bit creative! Sister Larsen asked one
of the young women in her Ward if she could be her companion for a
day, we got President's permission and it was grand:) But we had to
leave at 7:15 to drive to Danbury from our apartment and then drive
back in time for church! And then drive back again to pick her up!

Monday and Tuesday weren't any less crazy:) We tried to plan out what
days we were going to be in what area but it didn't really work
because people invited us over in the opposite area of where we were
planning to be...! It's just been very hectic:)

But, my point to all of this is just how amazing our Heavenly Father
is! We have been running around a lot, and we feel like we have no
direction! But we always seem to end up in the right place in the
right time to help somebody, or to share a message with someone who
needs it! I am so grateful for this work, and I'm so grateful that He
is in charge of it and that He is guiding us to where we need to be!
Even when we don't recognize it sometimes!

I love you all:) And I hope you had a happy New Years!

Love, Sister Jones🤓

I just imagined this as Hanna! :)

"One of my favorite members,

Sister Pesantes" :)

This is a video of Hanna celebrating the New Year. :)

(don't know if you will be able to see it)

She said they woke up for 10 min

for sparkling cider, pop-its, 

& right back to sleep! :)