Two lovely little pets!

Hey y'all!

We had a lot of service opportunity this week and member stop ins. We
can find like 10 baptismal dates and new investigators a week on our
own just by contacting, but then we end up dropping all of those
people a week later, so since we really only have one investigating
family right now, we are doing plenty of member stop ins. This is to
strengthen our relationship with the Ward and receive referrals. So
far so great! We also teach about 20 less active lessons a week.

Anderson family: Jessica found a job so she can live independently
from her ex! But he won't find his own apartment probably for another
month. The family really struggles making it to church. The adversary
really doesn't want them there.  ¦ |

We had another hubcap fall off! We are pretty sure they were stolen
the first time, but this time it fell off. Our car just wants to match
our area!

The other morning I was brushing my teeth and sister Ricks was still
laying in bed. I saw a cockroach on the bathroom door. It was probably
as big as my thumb. It was huge!!!! It crawled onto the side of the
door with the hinges so I slammed he door shut to try to squash it
there! Sister Ricks practically fell out of bed at the crash of the
door and the cockroach was not even harmed! It ran under my bed! We
grabbed a cup and captured it under there and left it there while we
exercised and studied. During companionship studies we saw another
cockroach on sister Ricks plate of toast! We captured it in a jar and
then boiled both of them to death. Cockroaches are almost invincible,
they can't be smashed or they will play dead and then spring back to
life! They won't drown, they can hold their breath underwater for
three days and will crawl back up the drain. So the elders told us to
fry them, that's what they did! But we decided to boil them instead.
It was less messy that way.

This was probably the last normalish week of the transfer. This week
we will have MLC, then exchanges with Gilmer, then Halloween!

My ponderizing scripture is Mosiah 4:30 "But this much I can tell you,
that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words,
and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in
the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord,
even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man,
remember, and perish not"
This scripture is what virtue is to me. Consistency in thoughts,
words, and actions. Some things become who we are.

Love,
Sister Jones

An everyday view of our area :)
This is lil Roachy, we don't have a picture of big Roachy

Count Chocula! :)

Hey y'all!

Here are some updates

Anderson family: Jessica's date moved to the 14th of November, the
same date that her oldest son J'daruious has set. Aujayla and
Jaymarian are doing well, they still haven't been to mutual or scouts
yet though. Their ride this week never picked them up!

We also saw a lot of less actives this week.

Ponderizing scripture: Mosiah 3:19 "For the natural man is an enemy to
God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and
ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and
putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement
of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble,
patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord
seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his
father."
It is only through Christ's atonement that we have any hope of putting
off the natural man and becoming our best selves. It is funny that as
we grow up we are striving to become as we were when we were little
kids! Learning how to consecrate ourselves to the Lord is our purpose
as we serve his purpose.

Lastly, you know you have the best mom when you had a rough day and
you get home to a package with Count Chocula in it! :)

Love,
Sister Jones

Don Ward declared his reactivation and would like a calling now! :)

Transfers

She is staying in Nacogdoches with Sister Ricks.
They took Sister Bushman to transfer meeting to get a new companion.

We all live in a yellow submarine! ...or a semi-truck

Hey y'all! 

It was a fun last week of the trio! Tuesday and Wednesday we worked in Longview and the rest of the week we worked in the Nac.  We will take sister bushman to transfer meeting tomorrow so she can get her new companion. Sister Ricks and I are staying together again! We are so excited to set new goals and to continuing to work together! She really helps me to become the best that I can be. she is so hard-working and supportive, I'm so happy to stay with sister Ricks! We could match outfits for days!

We had a very interesting visit with a less active we just met. She is hilarious and had us laughing the whole time, the only issue is that she is a very strong believer that women need to hold the priesthood. =/ 

Jessica wants to be baptized so bad that she asked her ex boyfriend to live in his semi truck and still pay the bills! Since that probably isn't happening we are praying hard for the Lord to work something out so she can be baptized this transfer! We are trying to work with her oldest son as well so the whole family can become members! Aujayla and Jaymari need the extra support!

So as Thomas supposedly is supposed to live in his truck, we all live in a yellow submarine. 

The scripture I am ponderizing this week is Jacob 2:17-19 

17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.

18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good--to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

Where do my priorities lie? This scripture is not just about riches in material things, but in time, talents and energy. Where are my thoughts, where is my energy, where is my treasure? 

So we had a Longview zone general conference for our Zone meeting is week, it was super fun! We all gave talks. Apparently, I was the general primary president of the Longview zone. I pasted my talk that I wrote in the car on the way to Henderson below. This picture is from zone meeting.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Jones 

How to recognize and combat Pride

Nephi was led to the promised land, and through his seed, the Lord created a blessed and mighty nation. His example of courage, obedience, perseverance and faith shone to all his descendants. They prospered in this land prepared for them of their loving Heavenly Father. So why did they fall? I am sure there are various arguments that could be made about the reason, but the core and the underlying germ that poisoned the Nephites was their pride. Moroni 8 :27 reads: "Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction." 

Today I would like to briefly speak about how we can recognize and combat pride. 

Pride is essentially enmity. Opposition or hostility toward God or toward our neighbors. The nature of pride is competitive: our will verses God's, or I have to be better than the guy next door. 

Opposition against God may take the form of rebellion, stubbornness, ingratitude, unrepentant, easily offended, conceitedness, and sign seeking. Ezra Taft Benson said: "the proud wish God would agree with them. They aren't interested in changing their opinions to agree with God's."

Have you ever expressed frustration over transfers or over a missionary rule? I never realized before that this is a manifestation of pride, when I should be relying on God's greater knowledge and plan. I am still working on this one. 

Opposition against our fellowmen can also take many forms: comparison, competition, fear of judgement, and jealousy. C.S. Lewis described this type of pride: "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1952, pp. 109–10.) 

I can't believe when I was in high school I would be overjoyed when I got an A and everyone else failed a test! We need to seek to lift others up when we learn something so they can benefit from the skill that we have gained. I should have been tutoring and lifting, not laughing and celebrating! 

I don't need to be the missionary that is remembered, the ward's favorite missionary, or the missionary that changes someone's life. Isn't that God's job? I don't need to be an STL because it means I am better than any other sister. Truthfully, I have a lot to learn from all of the sisters. My mission or even daily life isn't about "how everything affects me."  

Ezra Taft Benson said that when,  "pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men’s judgment. The world shouts louder than the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. The reasoning of men overrides the revelations of God, and the proud let go of the iron rod." The world shouldn't determine our self worth. 

We need to ask ourselves:

Are we finding fault in our companions, Ward members, or investigators?

Are we gossiping, or complaining on a daily basis? 

Are we envying or coveting a different life outside of the mission? 

Are we envying or coveting the relationship or attention our companions are receiving from members or investigators? 

Are we jealous of someone in a leadership position? Or someone who isn't in a leadership position? 

Are we unforgiving or taking offense or getting defensive too easily at the smallest irritations or comments?

Are we withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another for our own selfish reasons? 

Are we challenging God's wisdom through our disobedience?

Pride is damnation, it stops progression. Pride will mask our divine identity and the divine identity of those around us. 

I am so grateful that we have our Savior, Jesus Christ, who was the epitome of humility, to overcome our pride. 

How to we treat the malady of pride? Humility, meekness, and submissiveness is our medicine. Coming to Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit is our antidote for the poison. 

We can combat pride by:

Esteeming our brothers and sisters as ourselves, lifting them higher than ourselves, serve them and praise them. 

Embracing counsel and correction with grace and gratitude.

Forgiving those who have offended us.

Rendering selfless service.
Teaching and applying the atonement.

Confessing and forsaking our sins.

Loving God and submitting to his will without complaint.

Putting Christ first in our lives.

Lastly, we can rely on Christ's atonement to aid us in our quest to defeat the vice that plagues our race. We can't do it on our own. I would like to invite y'all to join in my quest so we can become one in this goal. 

I know that Heavenly Father loves us as his children and that he has a plan for each one of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sent from my iPad

I am a blessed little old lady!

Hey y'all!
We had another crazy week!!!!! This transfer is just so insane! We did
exchanges Tuesday and Wednesday with Gilmer. I got to go to Gilmer
with sister Terry!!!! It was fun to be reunited! Then we became a trio
late late Wednesday night in Longview with sister Bushman. Her
companion went home two weeks early due to injury. Sister Bushman is
still in her second transfer, the poor sister! I went on two exchanges
with her previously and now she is with us for the last week of the
transfer. We are trying to cover Nac and Longview right now! Longview
is an hour and a half away!

General conference was SO good! I found many things I need to work
on!!!!!!! I am so thankful that we have the atonement to help us
overcome our weaknesses. I have never been more aware of my weaknesses
than I am right now! I am so excited to change and become better to
rely completely on Christ to humble me and help me improve.
I love that "the Holy Ghost gives us customized counsel" so I can be
prompted to change and repent.
And I know Elder Bednar was referencing aging, but this applies to
missionaries and especially trios as I am sure it can apply to many
limiting situations: "when you cannot do what you have always done,
you only do what matters most." or maybe I really am just aging and
becoming a worn down little old lady!
Love,
Sister Jones

Exchanges with Sister Terry!