LOVE

Hey y'all!
This week was miraculous! We had 50 lessons!
We moved back in with the Warners. We will definitely miss the
Joneses! It was so awesome to live with our recent converts. And the
cats. =P
We were able to do exchanges almost every day this last week including
Sunday morning and Sunday night. Sunday morning sister Iona was able
to have breakfast with the Moffetts that we made. After breakfast they
all went to church together. While she was doing that I was able to go
and visit Carolyn and give her a ride to church with the Byrne family.
We had so many investigators at church and less actives return to
church. It was a great day!
When we got to Carolyn's house to pick her up she had a big sore on
her toe and she didn't want to go. But the Lord prepared us by making
sure I had mole skin in my purse!  We were able to help her cover up
her blister so she was comfortable coming to church. =) She had a
great time at church, when the release Society president asked her if
we would see her again she said "I hope so!" Caroline has a baptismal
date for July 18. She talked with the missionaries and took lessons
about a year ago, but she told us this time feels different. She feels
more love and it gives her more desire to follow the gospel of Jesus
Christ. We love Carolyn so much! This week we are going to go over to
her house to paint her nails bright red =) when we really reach out
and love people, not focused on numbers, but focused on how we can
serve the people, then they feel our love and have a natural desire to
come closer to Jesus Christ and to keep their commitments =)
We also got to visit sister Underwood on her birthday and bring her
cupcakes! She is such a sweet lady who just turned 92 but has told us
that she's turned 93, 94, and 104 the story changes every time. We
love her so much she is adorable. =)
I never want to leave the colony!
Love,
Sister Jones

Moving

She is moving back to the Warner's house.

Sister Melina Jones
5936 Sandhill Circle
The Colony, TX 75056

data entry! =P

hey y'all,

this week has been full of meetings and data entry! we have had to

transfer all of our records onto the iPads. we are still not done! we

have spent probably over 30 hours doing it!

We haven't had a lot of time to proselyte. we only got 35 lessons this

week, which is actually still a lot but to us we went crazy being

inside for four days straight!

I got to sing a duet at the iPad training meeting with an Elder who

sings. We sang consider the Lilies of the Field. =) I love that song!

We have been struggling getting investigators to church so on Sunday

we made breakfast potatoes, eggs, and waffles and brought them over to

have breakfast with Mary Lynn before church and then asked her for a

ride, so she came! =) She has a baptismal date for July 25th, but we

want to move it up to the 18th. We have been working with her on and

off the whole time I have been in the colony. We are going to take

breakfast to her again next week and try to make it a normal thing. =)

Love

Sister Jones

Splits with a member that loves Melina

Disciples in the digital age

Hey y'all!
We received iPads on Friday! We haven't used them much yet because we
are still being trained. We are the 4th test group for iPads, only 86
of 416 missions now have them!
We had another miraculous week in The Colony! We have been keeping up
our amazing number of lessons each week :)
We had a lesson with brother Hegarty, his wife is a member and he has
been going to church with her for a couple of years but never felt
ready for the missionaries until now. The spirit was so strong in our
lesson! We invited him to be baptized but he is still thinking about a
date because he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon first. The
spirit was just so strong in that lesson I hope he realizes that he
doesn't need to know everything before baptism because baptism is just
the gateway for more learning.
We also met a less active guy named Jared. His dad died two years ago
and he felt like the message we shared on faith came directly from his
father so he wants to start coming back to church!
This next week we are focusing on love and service for the people we
are working with so we bought a ton of cookie dough and we are also
going to do some yard work and house work for people.
This week may be rough because of all the trainings we are receiving
for the iPads. Trainings and meetings are my least favorite part of
missionary work because I'd rather be out with the people. But I
understand the necessity of the trainings. Wow I sound really spoiled
to complain about that! We are so blessed to be able to learn how to
use these amazing tools that we have been given! The world is
changing; people now a days communicate more on social media than
anything else and are not as comfortable talking to strangers face to
face. So we can use a medium that people are more comfortable with to
reach them! We can also use them to plan and coordinate the work more
effectively :) best of all we will be learning technology skills that
will bless us for the rest of our lives, for example, how to be safe
online, use time wisely, and not let devices distract or take away
from the here and now.
We are so blessed to be missionaries in the digital age and to be here
in The Colony!
Love,
Sister Jones

Sent from my iPad

THE IPAD

"The Sisters of Zion"

Janic Kapp Perry wrote new lyrics to the well-known hymn “As Sisters in Zion” (Hymns, no. 309). Her new lyrics celebrate women’s role in bringing the gospel to all the world. They were sung for the first time by sister missionaries in the Provo Missionary Training Center on May 12, 2014. Now sister missionaries there sing these lyrics every Sunday! It’s a rousing missionary number!

Here are the new lyrics for you to enjoy!

“The Sisters of Zion”

The sisters of Zion are called to God’s labor,

We willingly serve Him with spirit and might.

We go to the nations with truth everlasting,

We teach of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank Thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us,

We trust in his words and our purpose is clear.

The angels of heaven are walking beside us,

We’ll share our glad message with all who will hear.

We go forth enlisted with Helaman’s army

In numbers much greater than ever before.

With power and spirit we’ll faithfully witness

The heavens have spoken and truth is restored!

The Colony just can't get enough of Sister Jones ;)

Hey y'all!

This week that I thought was my last here was amazing! We worked super hard and got 47 lessons! Then I found out I am actually staying! awkward because I already told everyone goodbye...but I am excited to stay for my 5th transfer in The Colony! That will make almost 8 months by the time I leave!

I can't believe I have been on my mission for 9 months! 3 in Dallas six and 6 in The Colony! 

We were driving past the library the other day and saw a former investigator (Mary Lynn) go in. We decided to follow her in there and she told us she had a feeling she would see us there that day! We were able to set a baptismal date with her again, hopefully she comes to church so she can make it this time! 

Back in December we used to visit a less active woman, Rosi, and she told us to stop wasting our time with her. We decided to go back for the first time this Saturday and she welcomed us in! She said she had been thinking about us a lot and about coming back to church!

We had so many other miracles, but not a lot of time to describe them all! =)

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Jones

Cuddles and Snuggles fighting

Jaderious!

Jamie's sassy face =)

Little Elm District

Rosi Velazco =)

Sister McCoy =)

Sister McCoy! She thought I was leaving!

Vision-->goals-->plans

Hey y'all!

We had iPad training on Wednesday! We should receive them a day or two after transfers.

The mission 5K was one of the highlights of my week! I absolutely LOVE running! It was so fun to train for it and to challenge myself. Running has not always come naturally for me.  In my senior year of high school I decided to be a great runner. I had that vision, so my goal was to shave down my 5K time by 3 minutes. I made plans to run routes that I had picked out every day. I was able to improve my time by 8 minutes. So training for it out here in the mission field has been a lot of fun! I believe any goal can be compared to this, even spiritual goals. We don't have to be naturally good or have a lot of skill in missionary work (planning, teaching, finding etc.), but if we prayerfully start out, work hard, and train diligently for these skills along with our vision, goals, and plans, we can accomplish miracles. Our weakness can be turned into our greatest strengths and we can come out on top as well as help others reach their potentials. Unlike the 5k at my high school, thankfully, life is not a race against each other, we are all on the same team against the adversary. It was so much fun to go back and cheer on my companion and finish the race with her as well, because we are working together in the strength of the Lord. 

Speaking of goals, Sister Iona and I have really enjoyed setting goals together this transfer. We had a goal to beat The Colony record of most lessons taught in one week and we beat it two weeks in a row! Last week with 36 and this last week with 37!!!

We saw so many miracles in The Colony this week! We have been teaching a very special family. The mother, Karina, expressed to us how important it was to her to raise her children as God would have her do and to protect and strengthen them against the world. The spirit was so strong and she was tearing up a little. Teaching this family is such a great privilege! 

Jaderious no longer has a baptismal date, he didn't feel ready. So we are going to keep working hard with him to strengthen his testimony in the restoration of the gospel. In a little bit we are going to go play basketball with him and then watch meet the Mormons! =) 

The Jones' are still amazing as always! They have gone above and beyond what is expected of someone to house missionaries!

Josh's grandmother, Marilouise is already through Mosiah in the Book of Mormon! She is such a sweet woman, we love working with her! She even gave us each a little book with daily bible scriptures in it! 

I was sad to hear about the deaths of a friend, apostle, and relative, but I am so grateful to know of Heavenly Father's plan for us. This life is not the end =)

Love,

Sister Jones

Josh and Sister Urrutia

Land's House, Brooklyn! =)

Marilouise and Josh!

Sister Underwood!

5K