WEEK 26

hi everyone!  

i have no time to write! this week was so good and so hard! i am learning a lot about being Christlike. i love 3 nephi 12. i am learning that i will not fulfill my purpose as a missionary until i learn to be Christlike and loving in all situations. i LOVED conference!!! i was really needing it. something that stuck out to me during conference too was being Christlike, especially humility. i honestly didnt understand everything because it was in super formal portuguese and bahianas do not speak formally hahaha. but i loved it and i felt the spirit and i received a lot of personaly revelations. 

funny story of the week:

our investigator andreza this week said to us "i have a question" super serious. and she opened a page of the restoration pamphlet we gave her. she opened to the page that has a picture of our sunday meetings and she pointed to a guy on the page and said "is he a member?!" we said yes and she said "he will be there on sunday?!" hahahaha she thought one of the american guys in the pamphlet was cute and wants to meet him but i think by now he is alredy an old man hahaha. 

i am in LOVE with sistr lima, we are just killing it together and there is nothing better than working as hard as you can in the Lords work. 

also this week we had a big zone conference this week. it was AMAZING!! sister lisonbee and president both spoke and the spirit was so strong!! it is always so uplifting to see a bunch of other missionaries doing the same work! 

i cant believe i have alrady been here for six months! this has been the hardest and best 6 months of my life i am SO happy. and i know that there is no where else in the world for me to be right now than here in little coité, serving these wonderful people. my mission has already blessed my life more than i can explain. i am so HAPPY to be a part of this wonderful work. 

with love, 

sister jones

Week 26

hi friends and family!  

this week everything clicked! i finally understand how to be the best and most effective missionary i can be. sister lima and i are having so much success! one of our standards as a mission is to start teacing 10 new investigators every week. this was always super hard for us, but this week we were able to start teaching 20 new people! what made all the differnce was talking to EVERYONE. we talked to every single person we passed on the street. it was so amazing because as we showed our effort to find the Lord´s "elite," He lead us to them! we found so many amazing people who are really ready for the gospel! we are working so hard and i feel like i am fulfilling my purpose as a missionary so much more. i am SO happy. this is the hardest and best thing i have ever done. i cant believe i have almost been here for 6 months! 

this week beeing easter week, we talked so much about Christ and His atonement. we watched videos, taught and handed out the church´s easter passalong cards. i think i bore my testimony about Christ about 200 times this week, and my testimony grew so much! i have never felt SO close to my Savior. it was difficult to spend easter away from my family this year, but it was INCREDIBLE to experience an easter like this, really seeing the difference that Christ made in all of our lives. I literally feel Him right by my side at all times, as i study about Him, serve in His name, and especially as i testify of Him. I LOVE my Savior. I know He lives! and because He lives, we will all live again, and we can experience joy! how wonderful!

 

this week try to remember of our Savior and all He has done for us. 

I love you all!

Com amor, 

Sister Jones

1. Easter with sister lima! 

2. "agora é da gente"

3.  sister lima and i holding chickens in the market hahaha 

Week 25

his week was the best week of my whole mission! i am SO SO happy. 

on tuesday we took the bus tree hours to pick up my new companion sister lima. she is an ANGEL. seriously she is such a blessing. i am learning so much from her and we are killing it together! i had no idea of my potential as a missionary until now! we are working so hard and our numbers have almost doubled! we have been teaching so many people and just running all week i am exhausted!! but it is absolutely the best feeling! my mission has totally changed, i never knew how much i could accomplish! i also have never been so happy on my mission! every night when i go to bed i really know that i did everything i could and that Heavenly Father is pleased with me. it is so wonderful to serve with a younger sister like me because we have so much energy! now all of the sisters in our house, me sister lima, sister r santos and sister seixas, all are the same age on the mission, we all were in the ctm together and now it is so fun to be together again! i am LOVING every second of my mission. i am improving and learning everysingle day. this is the best thing i have ever done. 

right now we are getting three girls ready for baptism:

juciclede, who has a little baby girl and her husband is already a member of the church. they need to get married first, but she has such a strong desire to do what is right and follow the Lord´s plan for her. the Spirit is always so strong during our lessons. 

ana clara, her whole family are members of the churc, but they are inactive right now. her dad has a drinking problem, but he is improving a lot and they are all showing a lot of desire to come back to church and help their family receive more blessings. 

vanessa, she is the daughter of one of our recent converts, vanilza, who was baptized on christmas day. she is SUPER shy so she always refused to come to church but some kind of miracle happened and she is a lot more open with us and went to church on sunday and told us that she wants to be baptized! i think she saw the difference that the gospel of Jesus Christ made in her mom´s life, and God has been preparing her, and now she is ready! 

we also have a TON of new people to teach. this week it was RAINING references hahah we received 14 from ward members! these people are SO amazing! 

never forget that with God´s help  and faith, we can accomplish anything! 1 nephi 17:51

have an amazing week! i love you all! 

com amor, 

sister jones

photos:

1- brazil has these tiny tiny ants that show up EVERYWHERE and we got home last night and they were all over inside of sister limas clock hahaha

2- our little ana clara 

3&4- sister lima and i went to teach the family of a member, and they live in the most beautiful place ouside of the city

5- tiny coconuts! you crush it with a rock and inside is a tinnnnyyyy coconut that you can eat and it is delicious!

Week 24

Good news im staying in Coité!!!!! for at least one more transfer!! i am so excited! yesterday at church i was looking around at all of the members in our ward and i got so sad thinking that i might leave. i just love these people SO much. i was on the verge of tears when out of nowhere president and sister lisonbee showed up (because yesterday was stake conference) and right away president said "sister jones you are going to stay here for one more transfer, at least." what a tender mercy! i am SO happy to stay here and contintue to serve these amazing people. my work here is not done yet. we have a lot of new investigators to work with who i am really excited about.  

also my companion will be sister lima!!!!! i met her in the ctm and we became such good friends (even though i didnt speak portuguese hahah) but i am SO thankful and excited to serve with her! it will be such a great transfer. and sister cruz is going home right now! she was such a good missionary and im so thankful to have learned so much from her. she left such an impact on me. God is showing me His love every day every day every day.

also this week we have been working even more with andreia and derivaldo and their family. we have been seeing even more miracles. we managed to talk to derivaldo almost every day! and an even bigger miracle: he is drinking way less!!! he is going DAYS without drinking! we are seeing a HUGE difference in him, and his whole family. it is so wonderful! and andreia and ana clara came to church yesterday for the first time in YEARS. it was so wonderful to see the whole ward welcome them home. 

president and sister lisonbee spoke in conference and i loved their talks. president spoke about missionary work and he invited everyone to pray that night and ask God for a name of someone in their lives who is ready to accept the gospel. i was thinking as he said this "im gonna have to follow up on this invitation with all of the ward members!" then this morning, a irmã, liliana came running to our door shouting "jones sister jones!" when i went to the door she said: what are you doing saturday at 3:00?! i said that we dont have anything yet and she said "great then lets go saturday at three." i said okay! but where are we going? she said "sister dont you remember? president invited us all to pray for a name. i prayed and i got an answer! she said that shell be home saturday at three so we can teach her!" i cant even believe these amazing people. less than 24 hours after president invited her, she prayed, had faith to receive an answer, and she acted on it immediatly. i am SO thankful for the example that these people are to me. wow. i was just amazed by this irmã this morning. 

sister lisonbee´s talk was especially amazing. she told a story about two men she knows whose wives died of cancer. she said that one man had fallen away from the church for years, and when his wife died, it was a time of pure darkness for him. he had no hope or anything. she said the other man, who was active in the church at the time, serving in his calling, and living the gospel when his wive died, said a prayer at his wife´s bedside, thanking God for her wonderful life that she lived. of course it was still devastating, but he had an understanding of God´s plan, he knew that he would see her again one day. she connected this to the story of the ten virgins and their lamps. the second man was prepared, his lamp was filled with oil, so when a trial came, he wasnt left int he dark. sister lisonbee said that we all need to be constantly filling our lanterns. we fill our lanterns with attending sacrement meeting, prayer, fasting, scripture study, tithing, family home evening, going to the temple, and offering service. every day we need to ask ourselves if we are filling our lanterns to mantain light in our lives. 

doctrine and covenants 50:24 

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

have an amazing week i love you all!!!

com amor, 

sister jones

WEEK 23

Boa tarde!! 

this week was FULL of miracles!!!

1- Jairo was baptized this week!!! it took so much work and prayer and fasting and faith, but he was able to become worthy to be baptized! he has come so far!! two months ago i thought it was a big step for him when he started wearing a shirt during our lessons without us having to ask hahah. he has grown so much and worked so hard to change his life. he has been going to church every week, studying, praying, fasting, and working so hard to follow our Savior. it is so amazing to see the difference the gospel has made in his life, and his family. after his baptism, everyone went up to him to congratulate him and welcome him to the ward, but he went straight to his daughter to give her a hug. it was so sweet! the other day during a lesson with him, he said "thank you, God that i have more light in my life now." the change in his life is exactly that; more light! i know that this gospel can bring light into the life of anyone. jairo is still the same jairo (he wore a muscle shirt and a chain to his baptism hahhaha) but now he knows who he is, and what his purpose is in this life. that is such a powerful thing!

2- this week i have been praying a lot for opportunities to talk to derivaldo, the dad of a family who is less active, who we are trying to help. he has a serious drinking problem and he is really hard to talk to because he always leaves at night. we havent been able to talk to him for over a month. after a lot of prayer, we were able to talk to him three times this week!!! and he is showing a real desire to change and help his family!

this week our sister training leaders came to teach with us one day. sister ramos talked a lot about the quote "come what may and love it." i am thinking a lot about this becase we have a transfer coming up this week! i have so much hope! im not even worried about where i will be, or who i will be serving with. i know that God has a plan for me and wants me to be happy. and this is true for all of His children. sometimes He will give us trials, to grow. whatever happens, we just need to accept it and choose to be happy. :)

have a wonderful week! i love you all!

Com amor, 

Sister Jones

PICTURES:

1 jairo (in the middle and irmão sergio!

2 all the sisters in our house and our sister training leaders!

3 there are a TON of pigeons in feira de santana hahah

(we went there for a zone meeting this week)

Week 22

Hi friends and family happy monday! 

This week went by so fast!! i still cant believe how fast time on the mission is passing. ive already been here 5 months and time is flying! 

this week Jaiele was baptized! it was a really special baptismal service and the Spirit was so strong!it was super hectic before because everyone showed up an hour and a half late but everything worked out okay! i am still getting used to the "bahia time" hahah. sister cruz and i sang "when i am baptized" and sister cruz played the introduction on her recorder. (she was super nervous but killed it as always). then two of my favorite irmãos bore their testemonies very simply and powerfully. it was so amazing to see how happy jairo was seeing his daughter be baptized! especially knowing that he is following close behind (we are working toward this coming saturday!) soon after the baptism, the irmâo who baptized her had to go to work, but first he decided to sing an impromptu hymn for everyone. it was beautiful! but i dont think jaiele was expecting that much eye contact hahah. i just love these people so much. 

 Jairo is still struggling with worthiness, but he is really trying. and our bishop and other men in the church are helping him a ton which is really good! it is so cool to see the change he is making in his life. honestly when we first started teaching him i did not expect him to get this far! just based on his lifestyle i totally judged him. now i know how wrong i was. this gospel really is for EVERYONE. we all accepted God´s plan before we came to earth. we are all God´s children and He wants us ALL to return to Him one day! i am so thankful for the perspective i am gaining on my mission. 

we are teaching this funny man named rubns. he owns a restaurant and one day we stopped by his restaurant and he had the pamphlet "the restauration of the evangelho of Jesus Christ" on display, opened to the picture of the first vision for everyone to see! he is so funny and it is so great that he already wants to share this amazing message with everyone he knows!

we talked a lot about prophets in church yesterday. it is such a blessing that we have a prophet today to guide us! we talked about all of the blessings that we can receive if we follow the prophet and irmã michelini said "when the prophet speaks, if we obey, we will ALWAYS be on the right path." it is true! Thomas S. Monson knows exactly what we need to do, because he receives revelation straight from God. i am so thankful for a Prophet!

Have an amazing week and i love you all!

Com amor, 

Sister Jones

pictures:

Jaiele´s baptism!!! 

and sister cruz feeding a cow

Week 21

Bom dia!!! 

this week i saw the Lords hand in my life through many many little tender mercies. I know that He knows me personally and loves me! this week has just been so so so happy. i am so HAPPY to be here. my heart is filled with peace and joy. i have been trying to always have a hymn or a scripture in my mind and it helps me stay positive and so so happy. 

we started teaching a girl named Juciqlede this week and she has such a sweet spritit! she is 16 years old and she just had a little baby girl (this is very very very normal here haha). but her heart is for sure softened! it is amazing how the Lord prepares people to receive His word! she started crying during the prayer during our lesson before we even started! haha she is very receptive to the Spirit. but i love to teach her! and im so excited to help her little family!

our investigator jairo is having a really hard time keeping the commandments. we did a fast together to help him have more strength to be worthy for baptism and he lasted the whole 24 hours! his faith is growing a lot! 

also our investigator rita was talking with us and a friend, who was trying to attack the church a little bit, and rita stood up for the church and bore her testimony to him about the plan of salvation!!! it was amazing to see how much her faith has grown! 

this week 10 members of our ward went to the temple in receife! it was a 12 hour trip by bus. it is amazing to see the sacrifice of these people to go to the house of the Lord. they all bore their testemonies on sunday and the Spirit was so strong. one of them gave a talk and he said "if we do not go to the temple and perform sacred ordenances for our ancestors, we are not members of the church of Jesust Christ." wow how powerful! also i found a scripture today: hebrews 11:40 "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." our families really need our help for their salvation! and we need to help them in order for us to be perfected also! 

i love the scriptures! i know this gospel is true! i know that God has a plan for our happiness and His plan is PERFECT.

With love, 

Sister Jones

Week 20

bom dia!!! 

this week i learned so much and i saw so many miracles!

this week we invited our investigator, Rita, and her family to be baptized. she has two children, bruno and bruna, and her husband, tico, just likes to listen but doesnt have interest in religion yet. we explained the plan of salvation, and the kingdoms of glory, how we can live with God and our families forever in the Celstial kingdom. they all said that they wanted to live there. then we explained that baptism is the key to enter the way that leads to this kingdom. we invited them all to be baptized. the Spirit was so strong and Rita said "i want to. i want to do whatever it takes to get to that place." it was amazing to see she has such a strong desire to be baptized and follow God´s plan! then her 11 year old son, Bruno, said that he wants to be baptized too. rita was a little unsure about him being baptized because of his age, she said that he doesnt really know if he wants to or not yet. we explained how when children reach 8 years, they become accountable for their choices, and bruno said "no mom i understand! i really want to be baptized, im not too young!!" it was so amazing to see his desire also! this is what it means in the scriptures to become like a little child! he just wants to follow the Spirit! 

this week our ward has been supporting our investigators Jairo and Jaiele muito! they came to the church for two different activities this week and church on sunday! the support from the ward is helping them a lot! jaiele wants to be baptized this saturday, and i think jairo is going to need to wait a little but his desire is there. i am so thankful for our amazing ward! i never have to worry about these people falling away when i leave because i know that they will always receive help and support from our ward!

Doctrine and Covenants 68:6:

"Therefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."

The Lord is always right by our side. i have felt this SO much on my mission. We really are never alone. Especially when we testify of Him! in our general missionary broadcast a few weeks ago, they said that"our most important duty is to testify of Christ and invite others to come unto Him." that if we are ever unsure what to say, speak of Him! speak of His life, His love, and His atonement. I am so thankful to be here helping these people come to know our Savior better. I know that it is only through Him and His gospel that we can find true joy. I feel this joy every day. 

His love is available to all!

Have a great week!!

com amor, 

Sister Jones

Week 19

oi família e amigos!!!

this week was a great start to a new adventure with sister cruz!! i love her! i was super sad to say goodbye to sister lee but im so thankful to have another amazing companion! sister cruz is such an amazing example when she teaches! she always teaches by the spirit and explains the gospel SO simply and clearly. i am really trying to follow her example.  

life without sister lee was a bit of an adjustment because now i am the only american in the city hahah.. funny story:

sister cruz arrived tuesday morning and after she got settled, i called bishop to ask him where we had lunch (because i forgot to check the calendar). what i understood was: "oh you dont have lunch today, sorry. youll have to eat lunch in your house today." i said "okay, no problem! thanks bishop!" and we hung up. we made lunch in our house and ate, and after we finished eating bishop called me and asked where we were. it turns out he was joking with me but i didnt understand!! hahahaha talking on the phone in portuguese is hard. we ate two lunches that day.

this week we have been working a lot with less active families. i love teaching families! it reminds me why i am here-- my family is forever and i want to help other families have this same gift! we are starting to teach all of the missionary lessons to these families again. i think it will really help them remember why they were baptized in the first place. 

this week sister cruz taught me a cool object lesson that we used to teach robert and his cousin about repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost. we gave them a marker and they drew marks on their hands, this represents our sins. then we took a bar of soap and rubbed it on the marks trying to clean their hands. this represents repentance. this helped clean the marks, but not completely. then they took a bowl of water and put their hand under the water, this represents baptism. but they had to keep rubbing the bar of soap on their hand (continue repenting) in order to become completely clean. then their hand is clean, but covered in water, so we gave them a towel to dry off and help their hands stay clean (the Holy Ghost). i love this example!! because we really need baptism to become completely clean of our sins. but we have to keep repenting after we are baptized, every day every day every day! 

this week, our mission´s ponderize scripture is D&C 84:85

"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."

i have been really trying hard to apply this scripture! it is super difficult to follow the Spirit during lessons because when i try to follow a prompting and say something new i usually stumble over my words a ton and it seems like they dont understand me. it is so much easier to say things that i have already said/explained a hundred times before. but i know that this isnt allowing the Spirit to direct my words. i have been praying so much for help to rely on the Spirit, and trust that He will help me to communicate these things. 

there is a scripture in Matthew 10:20 that reads: 

"for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." 

i have been trying so hard to stay humble and remember that it is not my abilities that qualify me to teach these people, it is all through the Holy Ghost. He is the teacher! its not me! i am so thankful for the scriptures and the personal revelation we can receive from reading them prayerfully every day. 

com amor, 

Sister Jones

my new companion sister cruz!!!

Week 18

Bom dia!!!

good news im staying in coité for at least 6 more weeks!!! im so excited and i know i still have a lot of work to do here. sister lee is leaving this afternoon and i will get a new companion. her name is sister cruz, and this is her last transfer of her mission--thats all i know so far! i will meet her later today i think. i know i will learn a lot from her! and now in our house will only be brazilians so i dont think i will ever speak english again hahaha.  

this week was so difficult and i learned a TON! because sister lee was sick i had to take on a lot of responsibility! i had to get Robert and jefferson ready to be baptized pretty much all by my self. sister lee stayed home with a member and i went with tais (a 16 year old girl in our ward). i learned SO MUCH! i had to make all of the decisions, phone calls (its really difficult to talk on the phone in portuguese), help tais prepare for our lessons, everything. i think it was actually a  good way to finish my training. now i feel a lot more prepared to take on whatever is coming my way this transfer. 

on saturday robert and jefferson were baptized and it was so great! there were a lot of almost disasters but everything worked out great! and on sunday our recent convert, vanilza, reveiced a calling in the relief society presidency! it is so amazing to see the fruits of our labors, that we are actually helping strengthen the ward! also on sunday it was so amazing to see everyone in church. EVERYONE was there!!! our 5 recent converts were there, all with members sitting by their sides. and some of our less active members and investigators came too! it was amazing to see our ward supporting them. i am so thankful for our amazing members!

i am just so happy to be here in this wonderful city sharing this joy with others! 

alma 57:26 never underestimate the power of faith!

com amor, 

Sister Jones

1&2- the water ran out in the church so we had to fill the baptismal font with buckets 

3- batismo!! robert is the cutest little one in the middle and jefferson is on his left (no theyre not brothers haha)

4&5- my two favorite little babies in our ward: luna and raquel