Happy Thanksgiving!

First of all, I'm grateful for my companion! She is living and we are finally together haha!:) She was able to make it here to Kingston on Thursday. Her name is Sister Heiner and she is from Ogden, Utah. We have a lot of fun together!:)

This week has been especially miraculous! Transfers tend to bring miracles with them, it's fun to see how we are all called to the area we are in for a reason!

A couple of my favorites:

District Meeting- We had Zone Conference on Monday and that is usually when we have District Meeting, so Sister Heiner and I thought there wasn't District Meeting this week because that is what we have seen in the past (Zone Conference replaces District Meeting). However, somehow word didn't get around to us and we missed District Meeting, which had apparently been moved to Tuesday... but the miracle in the story is the lesson we were able to have when we should've been in New Paltz for District Meeting! We met with one of our investigators who has been through a lot lately, and she really needed us that morning. We were able to testify to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I truly could feel the Spirit speaking through us as our Father in Heaven comforted His daughter. I'm in awe at the many different ways Heavenly Father brings His purposes about, even things as silly as 2 Sister Missionaries not getting the memo about District Meeting.

Referral- We received a referral for someone who had ordered a copy of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, SO EXCITING! And so we called and set up an appointment and we got to meet with him! I think we may have been talking to the 14-year-old Joseph Smith himself! All the same questions, all the same concerns. I have never felt so confident in telling someone that the message of the Restoration would answer their questions and bless their life. And both Sister Heiner and I could see this man and his family as members of the church, passing the sacrament, sealed in the temple, all of it. It was an amazing feeling! But I think it's a miracle to be able to witness firsthand how Heavenly Father is preparing His children to accept this Gospel! I LOVE being a missionary!!!

I love you all! Make it a marvelous Thanksgiving week!:)

Love, Sister Jones 

Random car selfie! :)

#becausewecan

Happy 9 months

Sister Heiner! :)

Transfer Week!

What an eventful week! On Monday morning we found out that Sister Lin was going to Harlem! And then Tuesday was transfer day! We had expected to stay together so that was a shock, and everything happened so fast and now she is gone! Haha, it left me with my head spinning for sure:) Now, the fun part- my new companion! Her name is a Sister Heiner, however, I haven't met her yet! She is sick and in the city:( SO, in the meantime I am in Poughkeepsie with a Sister Coffee and Sister Leavitt until tomorrow!  So all of the happenings of the last couple of days have chased most of my memories of the last week away! Let's see what I can fish out though!

At church this week we had 2 investigators and 3 less actives we are working with come to church- it was so wonderful- my heart was full:)

We also had a member come to a lesson with us! He is a YSA who is preparing to leave on his mission in just a few weeks! It was a cool experience:) So, I want to step up on my soap box for just a quick second and tell you all to go find some teaching opportunities with the missionaries! Especially if you are preparing or planning on a mission- there is no greater feeling than the Spirit working through you and testifying to others that this message is true, I have never gained a greater testimony than I have doing just that. I know the church is true, and I know this work is real! My heart is full of gratitude that I get to be a missionary at this time, there is no place I would rather be than among the wonderful people of New York sharing the greatest message of all time.

Love you all, talk to you next week! Make it a magnificent 

Love, Sister Jones 

Goodbye Sister Lin! ;(

My new companions, Haha! :)

Isn't he cute?! :)

A Mighty Change of Heart

We have a goal as a mission to have 30 baptisms a month for 3 consecutive months. It's been going on for awhile and we finally reached the first part of it! (36 baptisms as a mission in the month of October!) So we decided to have a gratitude fast and to fast to see how we can contribute to the next two months of the goal! Meanwhile, we have a less active that showed up on our records recently that really stuck out to us for some reason, so we have been stopping by at least twice a week for the past month or so trying to catch her, and we haven't been able to! And then on Sunday as we were fasting, we went to go look her up again- and she was there! She let us right in as if she was expecting us! She recently moved from another area where her grandma is a returning less active and has been encouraging her to go back to church as well. So her heart has been being prepared for awhile now, so when we started talking to her she had no problem agreeing to bring her daughter to young women's today, having us come visit on Friday, and she was the one who said she would be coming to church on Sunday. She says it is time! Her husband is not a member but has never been unsupportive, he goes to church when she goes, AND they have an 8 1/2 year old son who has not been baptized. We left her home with our jaws on the ground. This was our answer, they WILL come back to church!:) I really feel that Heavenly Father has a lot in store for this little family. 

We also saw another miracle this week:) We looked up another less active family and they ended up inviting us over for dinner, the deal was we needed to, "leave the preaching at the door." We knew we couldn't do that but we decided to go to the dinner appointment and we prepared to teach the Restoration. We were praying that their hearts may be softened enough to allow us to share our message with them. Dinner was SO fun, they are so wonderful and I really loved visiting with them. When it came time to share our message the mom got a little grin and said, "I thought we said to leave the preaching at the door?" But we continued teaching and the Spirit was so strong- and they didn't protest through the rest of the message. Their hearts were softened, and it wasn't drastic, but it was real and immediate! And they ended up sending us home with a pie and a whole chicken:) I know that when we put our trust in our Father in Heaven enough to do as He asks, no matter the circumstances, that He will make a way for us! 1 Nephi 3:7! 

Love you all! Make it a good week:)

Love, Sister Jones

Kingston!

(The first capital of New York!)

Beautiful Hudson River!

Hmm...  :)

🎃Happy Halloween!🎃

Exciting things this week!

First of all- it snowed!! Winter is coming! ☃️ It turned into rain later in the day haha, and the snow is gone now- but it was a fun surprise:)

Our Ward Halloween party was on Friday and it was a huge success! Our Ward is so wonderful at inviting their friends to activities, even if they are uninterested in the gospel at this time they still take the time to invite them to fun things so that they can continue to be surrounded by the good in the church until they find themselves prepared to hear the message. We had 55 members attend the party, and 53 nonmembers! We were able to talk to a lot of them, and we actually set up appointments and got contact information for a few of the nonmembers there:) I love Ward activities, such amazing missionary opportunities! 

We also had Stake Conference in Newburgh on Sunday! We had the opportunity to hear from President and Sister Smith there, I always love hearing them speak- I wish my mind was a sponge so I could soak it all up! I loved the theme of Stake Conference as well, such a big emphasis was put on family! And I loved how the focus was on how we can live the gospel in our families no matter our circumstances- single parent, part-member, mixed family, or just single- the gospel was given to us to bless our families, and no matter what our family looks like the gospel works the same. I thought that was beautiful:) My favorite, favorite part about Stake Conference though, were the miracles that took place! We have been working hard to invite, and coordinate rides for people to be able to attend Stake Conference... and things weren't looking good, people had cancelled and plans had changed so we didn't think anyone was going to be there. But when we showed up we saw our little recent convert! His name is Joshua and he is 11, we didn't know he was going to come, but a family in the Ward had ended up being able to give him a ride last minute! I was so happy:) And while we were still getting excited over that, another less active member came up behind us and surprised us, she had been able to get a ride as well. While not everyone was able to make it to Stake Conference, I was so grateful that those 2 were able to make it. It really was a miracle:)

That's all for this week folks:) I hope you have a stupendous week! LOVE YOU!

Love, Sister Jones

SNOOOOOOOW!!

Halloween Party!:) 

(I dressed up as a Sister Missionary;))

That's the Rondout lighthouse behind us :) 

For P-Day we went to a Maritime Museum! 

Super cool :) 

Hey look! I'm driving a tugboat :)