#goals

I love goal setting! I've been trying to get better at it for such a
long time! And this week Sister Hess and I hit hard with the goals and
learned that setting inspired goals allows Heavenly Father to help us
achieve them!

We recently decided to set a goal to get 2 unplanned lessons a day, to
talk to people on buses, trains, the street, creepy alleyways- you
know the norm- and teach them! We are always trying to talk to people,
but I love this goal because it pushes us to try harder to get their
contact information so we can meet with them again! And holy miracles!
It's only been 2 days since we set this goal but Heavenly Father has
put people in our path that He needs us to talk to!

Clara: This one is my favorite miracle story! It happened last night,
we had about 15 minutes until we needed to be in for the night and we
had one more lesson we needed to get, so we decided to go do one last
lookup. So we started walking to it and after we had been walking for
a minute we both realized that we went the slowest way possible to get
there, and neither of us knew why. Until we turn the corner and see a
woman walking towards us and we stop to talk to her. Her name was
Clara and she was so sweet! She let us know she was about to move and
we offered to help and she was so excited for the help! We also talked
to her about the Book of Mormon and the words, "I am interested"
actually came out of her mouth! To us, that's like a billboard saying-
the Lord has been preparing this one! We got her phone number and she
actually asked us to call her right there so she could save our
number! We walked away with our jaws dragging along the ground next to
us! I now know why we went such a strange way to our lookup, and I
know that Heavenly Father doesn't leave us alone in our goals. He will
provide a way for us to achieve them if we follow the promptings we
receive. And sometimes it can be hard, but walking into the apartment
at night knowing we did all we could for the Savior that day is one of
the most rewarding feelings:)

We also had another fun experience this week! Our investigator family
got a cat! And we got to help name her:) We decided on the name Kiwi.
And then the kids decided to give her a middle and a last name- they
decided on the name Kiwi Hess Jones. I've always wanted a cat named
after me! Such an honor;) I love this family so much!:) I'll send a
picture of them!

Love you all lots! Have a fun-filled week:) and good luck to all the
kiddos starting school!:)

Love, Sister Jones 

And so it begins again... :) #38days

(until General Conference! :)

Love this family:)

We spent this P day at the Bronx Zoo,

 the sun was very bright :)

Staying in the Bronx:)

We had transfers this week and I get to stay in Olmstead with Sister
Hess! I am so excited for another transfer with this crazy Sister! We
had such a wonderful week, then again I feel like they all are, we are
so blessed to be here:)

Lots of memorable stories, the baptism of the Elder's investigator
(Jason). A woman we met on the street who asked us if we could pray
for her and her husband and if we could meet with her to share more
sometime. Another woman we stopped to talk to at her home- she has met
with missionaries before and she knows quite a bit about the church,
we set up another time to meet with her. And so many other miracles
Heavenly Father has allowed us to see and take part in!

One lesson stands out as my favorite though:) We had our investigator
and her 3 children come to a member's house with us for a Family Home
Evening. The daughter of the member is friends at school with the
daughter of our investigator, so it worked out so perfectly! We had a
lesson in how Jesus Christ is our perfect example. We all had an
opportunity to testify of our Savior after the message and I heard the
most beautiful testimony coming from a 10-year-old boy. He said one
simple sentence, "I am just really grateful for my Savior and the
sacrifice He made for us" and the Spirit flooded the room. Tears came
to everyone's eyes and we just sat for a minute feeling the Spirit.
Our investigator then shared a few words, she thanked the member
family for inviting them over and she testified of the Spirit that she
had felt. She wants her home to be able to feel the same as theirs,
and I know she is well on her way to making it feel that way. I too am
grateful for my Savior and the sacrifice He made for us, because of it
I know that families are forever. I know that we will all be able to
make it back to live with our Father in Heaven. And I am so grateful
for that knowledge!

This is the Lord's work! I truly have seen that manifest so many
times, but we have to be looking! If we aren't looking, we can miss
it.

Thanks for all of the support! I love you all more than you know! Have
a tremendous week!

Love, Sister Jones

Zone pictures!

Sometimes the dysfunctional ones

are more fun!  :)

The Power of a (Member) Missionary

This week we have been focusing a lot on having members come with us
to lessons and we have had so many miracles! I am so grateful we are
all together in this work, every member has the opportunity to help
others come closer to Christ, and I have a personal testimony that
every person has a testimony meant to help someone else. Your
testimony is meant to help someone else! And it is so important that
we do everything we can to share it, and to help others do the same! I
am grateful for Sister Hess because she helped me to see our part in
helping others share their testimony!

We had a lesson planned for this week and we were going to have a
member come with us. We were so excited for this lesson! So when our
member said she had forgotten that her husband had the car and that
she would need to reschedule, I was SO bummed! But Sister Hess was
thinking straight haha! She knew that it was still important that we
try to help make it to that lesson- just a quick pause to say how
grateful I am for the technology we have been given to move this work
forward, Heavenly Father is hastening His work! Anyway, Sister Hess
decided we should ask her if she could Skype into the lesson with us,
and the member said it would absolutely work for her! And we were able
to have a member with us at a lesson, and she didn't even have to
leave the comfort of her own home:) And her testimony of the temple
and the blessings that come from being sealed in the temple was
exactly what our investigator needed, the Spirit was so strong. I know
the adversary was working hard to make that lesson not happen, but
Heavenly Father has given us all we need to fight against him. Who
would have thought a Skype call would be such an essential tool for
conversion?

I just want you all to know you have beautiful testimonies of this
Gospel that are meant to be shared! It doesn't have to be a big thing,
just skyping into a lesson for 10 minutes, sharing your testimony in
church, writing a letter, telling your family how much you love the
Gospel, or making a Facebook post could make a big difference! And I
have learned from experience how much it grows when you share it:) We
can't afford not to share our testimony! Heavenly Father needs it:)

I love you all and I am excited to hear all about your missionary
experience this week!

Love, Sister Jones

This one is for Dad! :)

Got a pastrami sandwich for ya! ;)

No fair

Miracles are Real

I just want to share an experience we had this week!

We had worked really hard to plan for a lot of members to come with us
to lessons this week, lots of planning but so worth the effort! And so
one night we had an appointment set up and our member was still good
to come with us, she even offered to drive! So we get to the
appointment (drive around to find parking for a good 10 minutes) and
we are just about to go in when we get a phone call- it was the
appointment cancelling! My brain went into freak out mode- what are we
supposed to do now? What is our member going to think? Why did we
forget to make backup plans? How are we going to fill our time? But I
realized that worse things have definitely happened! So, we apologized
to the member but said we would love it if she could still join us in
doing some lookups- she said she would love to:) So, we acted in faith
and stopped by house after house and nobody was home. So we got back
in the car and drove a little ways to another lookup. We go up to the
door, a prayer in our hearts, and she answers. Her name is Brunilda
and I had met her before but we hadn't stopped by since because she
was very hesitant to read the Book of Mormon and she was very happy
with her own faith, but something told us to stop by again! We asked
her if we could come in and share a message with her and she said she
had company- which happened to be her daughter who just gave birth 2
weeks ago! But we were able to testify of eternal families on the
doorstep and how the gospel helps us to attain that. And out of
nowhere, our rather shy member starts testifying of the church being
the only true church on the earth today and that the Book of Mormon
changes lives- the Spirit was definitely there as she bore such
beautiful and bold testimony. And Brunilda promised she would read it,
such a different response as the last time I spoke to her. She opened
up and let us know what her worries were about reading the Book of
Mormon and learning more- but the Spirit calms all fears and as she
spoke them we let her know that We set up a return appointment and
then we left. Sister Caine (the Sister who came with us) said that she
was just letting her know what she knew was true, it was amazing:) I
know that is where Heavenly Father needed us to be at that moment. Our
lesson that fell through wasn't supposed to happen at that time,
Heavenly Father had something else in mind, it was just His way of
getting us to the right area:) Sometimes things can get really
stressful when they don't work out the way we want them to. But if we
just trust that He won't be leading us astray, that He has somewhere
He needs us to be, and we will get there if we follow then we are
opening ourselves up for miracles to happen!

I love you all, keep opening yourselves up to those miracles! They are
real, and they happen all the time, just be looking for them!

Have a SUPERB week!:)

Love, Sister Jones

Bronx graffiti.. my favorite! :)

There was a bug...

We call them Bronx bugs

Happy Pioneer Day!🇺🇸🎇

Hello! I hope you all had a fantastic week:) It feels like I wrote you
yesterday and it is rather alarming! It has been a very entertaining
and Spirit-filled week!


On Thursday we had zone conference- so we got to hear from President
Smith for 8 hours! I love meetings like that, they always relight a
fire for this wonderful work! We also had another meeting on Friday
for new missionaries, so we got to hear from President Smith for
another 5 hours! So, with the Spiritual tank filled to overflowing, we
went out to work:)

On Saturday the Elder's investigator was getting baptized so we
invited our investigator to come! It started out so wonderful, the
ward has been waiting for this sister to be baptized for a long time
now and it was so wonderful that it was finally happening! So, long
story short- this sister is also afraid of water. It led to a lot of
people literally cheering for her and encouraging her very loudly to
"just do it!" It was slightly reminiscent of a Super Bowl game...
Everything worked out finally and the crowd treated us with a round of
applause. It was all especially interesting because our investigator
also has a fear of water... After everything settled down she came out
and bore her testimony. And that brought the Spirit so strongly! It
might not have been the most conventional baptism, it might not have
gone exactly as planned, but she had an undeniable testimony of this
gospel and of her loving Heavenly Father:) Our investigator loved it
and she is so excited for her own baptism:) I love how no matter where
we are in the world or what our background is, the true Gospel of
Jesus Christ unites us and the Spirit is the same wherever we are.

Sister Hess and I have been working hard this week and we have
definitely seen the blessings that come from it! One way we really saw
the hand of the Lord in our lives this week was all the referrals we
received from other missionaries! We got multiple calls from sisters
in the mission saying they had found the MOST PREPARED PERSON IN THE
BRONX! So we called all of them, I'm not sure which of them is the
most prepared person in the Bronx, they all seem like it! We have
appointments set up with all of them for this next week and I am so
excited to see how Heavenly Father has been preparing them! I know He
knows all of His children and that He is preparing hearts LONG before
we come into the picture, and it's such a blessing to have a front row
seat to the miracles we see!

I hope Pioneer Day was cheery for all of you! We had a different kind
of Pioneer Day, meeting REAL pioneers in our day:) Everyday there are
people deciding to follow our Savior, they may not have to trek across
the plains, but their sacrifice is hard and it is real. I am so
grateful for all of the sacrifices people have made for this gospel
and this church! I know it is true:)

Love, Sister Jones

I spy the Chrysler building!

We went through the whole museum

JUST to find this:) 

Art nuts would have our head! :)

We saw Sister Bain again!! :)

Random Thoughts!

It's one of those emails this week:)

* Sister Barnes was confirmed this Sundayy! She bore such a beautiful
testimony that made me cry! I have loved being able to share the
gospel with her and to learn from her:) It was the best day!
* Sister Hess and I met an amazing man walking home the other day. His
name is Ray and he was a paramedic during 9/11. He was probably the
sweetest man I have met and he has cancer because of what he did on
9/11, but he says that he would do it all again if he had to. What a
wonderful human being he is!
* So the other day, Sister Hess and I were talking about hurricanes
and how it would be sad if that were to happen here, but that all of
the service opportunities would be amazing! And then... All of a
sudden, there were a couple raindrops that fell from the sky, which
then turned into a lot of rain drops, which then turned into literal
buckets of water falling on our head... It added new meaning to "ask
and you shall receive"! It was really fun though:)
* I said "ax" instead of "ask" in a lesson the other day, and I am
slowly perfecting my Jamaican accent. I am basically from the Bronx.
* We had an AMAZING lesson yesterday! It was with an investigator
named Sister Marshall. And last night Sister Hess invited her to be
baptized and she said yes! She is so sincere in her desire to be part
of this gospel, she says she will be baptized but she wants to learn
what she can and be prepared to do something so important:)
* Also, our investigator, Joy, is doing wonderful:) I have never met
someone so prepared to receive the gospel! I have such a strong
testimony that Heavenly Father is preparing the hearts of those around
us, never hesitate to open your mouth about the gospel. We don't know
what it could mean to them, we are the answers to prayers as we act in
faith to share the gospel!

We have been learning a lot this past week! I'm so grateful for my
companion:) We work hard and I know that as we do as the Lord asks we
are blessed for it. I have seen those blessings in this area! Hearts
are being prepared and people are listening:) I love the Bronx. I love
my mission. I love my Savior. And I love all of you!

Have a terrific week!

Love, Sister Jones

This is the Bronx. 

And in the background is one 

of my favorite views, Manhattan:)

One of our Young Women came out with us the other night:)

Sister Kaufman used to be a Sister Jones:) 

Could a Week get any Better?

No, no it can't. Let me tell you why:)

First, SISTER BARNES GOT BAPTIZED!!! Words cannot describe how amazing
of an experience it was! She was baptized this past Sunday and my
heart almost burst with happiness to see how many people came to show
her support on such an important day. It's a day I will never forget:)
The Spirit was so strong, and it just got stronger as Sister Barnes
bore her beautiful testimony to everybody there. I know that this
Gospel is true and I have seen the power of the Spirit working in
Sister Barnes' life! I am forever grateful to Heavenly Father for
allowing me the opportunity to know her and share the gospel with
her:)

Another piece of WONDERFUL news! Sister Bain is safe here in New
York:) I got to see her yesterday and it made my day! Also...... I am
training!!! And my companion happens to be Sister Bain's MTC
companion, Sister Hess!

Let me tell you a little about Sister Hess:) She is amazing! I am so
blessed to have her as my companion, she is so willing to learn and to
work! She has a powerful testimony of our Savior and she really wants
to share it with everybody! We went to go get ice cream yesterday and
I said the deal was that we could get it if she gave a card to the
cashier, and she DID! Like a professional:) Our day yesterday was full
of moments like that, it helped me to learn even more how short our
missions are and how we need to always strive to make the most out of
it. Lesson number one I have learned from Sister Hess! I know there
are plenty more to follow!

We also had an amazing lesson yesterday with a mother and her 3
children. We met the, last week and we have already met with them 3
times, I have never met anyone with that deep of a desire to KNOW! And
their lives have already been blessed because of it, they have been
keeping all of the commitments we have left with them. And yesterday
we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as we were talking about
the Spirit the mother testified to us about the Spirit that has come
into their home since they have been meeting with us, and I we were
able to feel just how much their life has changed in just the past
week. It seems like such a short time to be able to see such a
difference, but I know that is what the Gospel does for our families.
Our Heavenly Father's blessings are immediate when we are keeping the
commandments. We may not always recognize them, but they are always
there! And I am so happy for this family who have been able to
recognize so clearly how the Lord has blessed them!

I love this work, I love the trust that our Heavenly Father has in all
of us! He KNOWS we can make it back to Him someday! And I have faith
that all of us truly can make it back to Him, and that we will! I love
you all, have a beatific week! (That's the new word I learned this
morning!)

Love, Sister Jones

Sister Barnes baptism!!! :)

"Look who I have! :)  

My girlies:) I love them both! 

(No... I'm not actually taller than them...) "   

Sister Hess & Sister Bain! :)

"One of our investigators gave us these, 

she is adorable :) "   

Goodbye Sister Fu. :(