Merry Christmas Part 2

Hey everyone! 

Merry Christmas for reals! Also here, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th, so get ready for a LOT more emails about Christmas and New Years, haha!

This week was a really good week! It was really fun to celebrate Christmas in the mission field. Christmas this year was a perfect example of how I think Christmas should be celebrated. We first when to a mental hospital on Christmas Eve to participate in their little Christmas music program with Rita and some other members. We sang them Christmas songs and it was really great to see how we were bringing them the Christmas spirit! We went caroling that night and the next day as well. We also went to a few people who were feeling a little bit lonely on Christmas. We visited a woman in our branch named Lubov who's husband died about a year ago. She lives alone, and still seems to be struggling with her husband being gone. You could see it in her face how much it meant to her that we were there and were willing to talk to her and listened to her. We also went over to visit Marina, the one with a young daughter. Her husband was out of town (I think?) and as we were talking, it seemed like she was a little bit sad that they weren't all together. Even though it wasn't "Russian" Christmas, I think it reminded her that her husband isn't a member, and she desperately wants him to join the church. But, we watched the Christmas video with her and discussed Christ, and she seemed considerably happier after that! Sometimes, I think people just need your time and attention. This Christmas, I felt like I was doing what the Savior would do, and it gave me the best feeling inside.

We also had splits this week with the sisters in Omsk. They came here, and I went with Sister Steinagal and Sister Richardson was with Sister Wooley. Sister Steinagal and I went to see Baba Nastya, our recent convert, who is really just a delight! We talked with her about the Christmas story and the attributes of Mary and Joseph in the story, which was really interesting to discuss. We also had a meeting with Alina, and it was wonderful! We went through the baptismal interview questions, and she's almost ready!! She is such a wonderful girl. While sister Richardson was on splits, she visited Valentina in our branch. Her husband is not a member, but Sister Richardson and Sister Wooley challenged him to come to church and he did! I went over to him last transfer and we saw that he had a lot of potential so I am so glad he came! We are visiting them again this Tuesday! Woohoo!!

We also had our Christmas zone conference!! We sang lots of Christmas songs and ate good food together and talked about Christ. It was a really wonderful day! Sister Richardson and I gave a presentation about focusing our lives on Christ. When we look for good (Christlike) attributes in those around us, we are seeing people as Christ sees them. We had everyone turn to their companions and discuss the Christlike attributes they see in one another, and I think doing that strengthened a lot of relationships. When we strive to see people as Christ sees us (see their potential instead of their flaws), it allows us to work better with people and appreciate them more. It makes us happier:))

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Sister Jones

Pictures:

1. Sister Richardson and I in our Christmas (Hogwarts) pajamas

2. Our little Christmas tree we made out of branches:)))

3. Snowy Russia!!

Christmas Christmas Christmas ! ! !

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!!

This week was a wonderful week in the great country of Russia:))) We got to go on two exchanges this week! Exchanges are just when we (as Sister Training Leaders) switch companions for a day with Sister's in other areas to assess their needs there and see how they're doing. It was really fun! This week, we got to go to Barnaul, a city south of Novosibirsk. Barnaul is a beautiful city, and it was even more beautiful because there were Christmas lights everywhere! Here, the big holiday around this time is actually New Years, and then they celebrate Christmas on January 7th, so all of the decorations were actually for New Year's, but they look about the same so it was fine:) I served for the day with Sister Kofford in Barnaul which was way fun! We made banana bread with a member and she gave US a spiritual thought which was really cool! She talked about love and how we need to show love for others more and show people we really care about them. She was a really funny person, but way cute.

The other exchange we had this week was with the other Novo sisters on Left Bank. I got to stay in my area and Sister Scott came to me;) We had a really fun time going to babooshki (grandma's) and we had a really good activity that night! We had our friends over at the church and played games together. Our last activity was kinda awkward, but this one was really fun! 

We had our branch Christmas party this week! Sasha, a newer member, wrote the cutest little play about the birth of Jesus and the nativity story! Pretty much the whole branch participated and it was super cool to see them all work really hard to make the play happen. We had a few friends that came and they really enjoyed it! We also had a really less active member come and help a ton with the refreshments, so that was also really fun to see.

This week was a really great time, and I am so excited for next week and for CHRISTMAS! It is so fun to be here at this time of year, as a volunteer, because it really helps you focus on the real meaning of Christmas. I am very, very grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Him and His sacrifice that we can choose to be better every day. We can be forgiven of our sins. We can find happiness and be free from guilt! Jesus Christ and His Atonement are the greatest gifts that God has given us. Please use them! It is sometimes hard to do what we know is right, but it is ALWAYS worth it. God can bless us so much more than anything of the world can. No money, no job, no possessions can bless us as much and give us as much happiness as the Lord can. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!! I love you all:))))

Sister Jones

Pictures:

Ice sculptures and lights in Novo!

Me and Sister Richardson:)))

Sick Yet Again

привет!!

Hey everyone, so this week was really uneventful. Like, REALLY. I got hit with the flu bug pretty badly and just pretty much spent the week in bed. So, one of the things I wanted to talk about was how my perspective has changed since coming on my mission.

A few weeks ago in Sunday School, we were talking about how God gives us trials not FOR something but for something. Ok, that doesn't make sense in English, but basically it means that He doesn't give us trials because we did bad things or in consequence of something (ok well sometimes He does but that's not the point) but He gives them to us FOR US. For our benefit and for our growth and learning. So, as I was laying in bed and dying all week, I thought a lot about God and what He wants me to learn from this. Not just from this week, but I have been getting sick quite a bit on my mission, and it is helpful to think of it in terms of what I can learn from it rather than why it's happening to me. I know that God loves us. He gives us trials and hard things to strengthen us and help us in our lives. I know He is there for us, as a loving parent always is.

I love you all:))

Sister Jones

I'm Training?

Hello everyone!!

So, I'm not actually training ahha, but it's something my new comp and I have been joking about this week) Sister Richardson (my new comp) is wonderful, and she came into country with all my companions that just left. She had torn her ACL in May, and had to go home for surgery, and now she's back in country! It's funny because it's like training again, because she got into country like a week ago, but it's not because she already knows everything... she came pre-trained! Also, she's from Virginia and so yay East Coast!!

This week was a pretty good week, but not super eventful. I am now a Sister Training Leader, so we went to the orientation for all the new people coming in and things like that this week. They are all so energetic, and it's was exciting to meet all the new volunteers! 

We also had a good activity on Friday night. Anton (the one who was baptized last week) loved it! We watched the new Christ Child video (for those of you who haven't seen it, PLEASE WATCH IT!! Here's the link : https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world/the-christ-child ), and Anton felt the spirit really strongly. He bore his testimony afterwards about how he knows that Jesus is our Savior. I have watched that video 4 or 5 times now, and it makes me want to cry every time. Jesus is the Christ!

I'm sorry for the short letter this week, but I hope all is going well back home! I love you all:)

Sister Jones

Pictures:

1. Me and Sister Richardson with Lenin (our pal;))

2. Some pretty Novo sights that don't actually look that pretty in pictures but I swear they were in real life.

Sister Krumperman Made Me Cry

Heyyyy everyone!!

So I know I keep saying I'm cold (I'm sorry for that btw it just happens because I AM always cold), but this week, my nose hairs froze and I burned my hand on a frozen door... so I think "cold" has taken on a whole new meaning for me and I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. It's really pretty and snowy, though!

First of all, we had zone conference this week. It was wonderful! We talked a lot just about how to work: how to connect to people, how to make friends, how to study Russian, how to study the gospel, etc and I am really inspired right now:) I also cried though... yikes. So what happened was it is Sister Krumperman's last zone conference. She was my very first companion. Sister Nielson, my STL (sister training leader) right now is also going home. And that's not all! All of my companions except my current trainee, Sister Sorenson, came in to the field with Sister Krumperman and Sister Nielson and they are ALL going home in 2 weeks. It kinda hit me at the end and I got really, really sad. But, it's ok, because I have made some of the best friends that I have ever had out here, and I have had some amazing experiences with them and learned so much from each of them. Sister Krumperman likes to write songs, and my favorite song of her originals is one that she wrote as she was leaving college and her roommates. The chorus goes "Fools call it luck, but I know God gave me my friends." 

Ok, enough with all the sad stuff. This week was still an amazing week! We had the best meeting with Anton. Well, every meeting is the best with Anton. We talked about prophets, the ten commandments, and the word of wisdom, which for those of you who don't know, is like a code of health that our church has. We don't drink alcohol, green or black tea, coffee, and we don't smoke tobacco or any type of drugs. It also talks about how to eat a balanced diet. For those who live the Word of Wisdom, great blessings are promised, of health and always being able to feel the Holy Ghost with us. Anton is a little worried about the Word of Wisdom, particularly the coffee part because he is a barista and coffee is literally his life. But, he has such a strong testimony already of the church and of the Book of Mormon. He is such a feeling person. He feels the Holy Ghost really strongly, and he also feels the absence of the Holy Ghost very strongly. He is willing to live the Word of Wisdom, even though it is really hard for him, because he knows that it will bless him and he wants to feel the Spirit with him constantly. It was actually kinda funny, this week he kinda freaked out because he got upset about something and he didn't feel the Spirit anymore. He texted us frantically, and we told him to read his scriptures and pray and we'd talk about it later that night at our meeting. At the meeting, we asked him how it was going, and he said "Good! I figured it out. I read my scriptures and prayed, and I felt better." Bless him.

I know that prayer and scripture study really does help people. In the church, we have something called the "tripod", and it has three legs. Prayer, Scripture study, and going to church. Once we receive a testimony of things that we know to be true, we must keep doing these three steps, and if we do them faithfully and with full heart, we will not forget the things we know. I know 100% that this is true and I have seen it in the strong members here and in my own home. The times that I have really known that God is there and that He loves me is when I show Him that I love Him. How do we do this? Study His word. Seek to have experiences with Him. Pray. How can He reach out to us if we refuse to listen?

I am so sorry that there are no pictures, I took a ton this week and then I left my camera at home:( But I love you all! I hope everything is well wherever you are and that it is not as cold as it is in Siberia!

Sister Jones

Very Very Thankful:)

Hello friends!!

Happy Thanksgiving! This week was a blast! Also lowkey the worst but everything's fine now!

I'll start with the really bad part of the week because it was also the beginning of the week. Monday, I wasn't feeling too hot. All day I was kinda under the weather, but sometimes I just feel like that so I just kept going. Well, that was a mistake. We started out to a meeting and I threw up in a Russian trashcan (on the side of the road. in the middle of nowhere:)) , so that was fun! Needless to say, we went home and I was also out on Tuesday, but I got a lot of paperwork stuff done so all is well!

Sadly, I was a little bit sick for Thanksgiving and could only eat mashed potatoes but it was so fun! We went to the senior couples house and had dinner and talked. Our ballerina friend, Emily, also came! As we were going around saying what we were thankful for, it really hit me how grateful I am for my mission. I am so grateful for the time that I have spent here, the happiness I have felt, the people I have met, and the person I have become. My mission has been the best experience of my life, and I am excited to see what else is in store for the rest of it!

Now for the high of the week, ANTON GOT BAPTIZED!!! It was the most amazing day and the spirit was so strong. I gave a talk at his baptism about baptism, and he just beamed the whole time:)

I reflected a lot on my own baptism this week and what it has meant to me. Baptism is very important in our church because it is a covenant (two way promise) we make with God. We promise to take His name upon us (the name of Jesus Christ), keep His commandments, and always remember Him and in return He sends us His spirit to comfort, guide and protect us. I am so grateful for the decision I made to get baptized and the blessings I have seen from it. I am so grateful for the Spirit I feel in my life and the chance I have to help others feel the same. I love this gospel! I love my Savior! I love my God!

Love, 

Sister Jones

Pictures:

1. Me (I got sick on Monday and died in a random mall)

2. Me and Sister Krumperman!

3. Beautiful Novo<3

Life Is Going Good:)

Hey everyone!!

This transfer is almost over and that means all my companions are leaving next week... I'm not crying. But for real, seeing my companion getting ready to go home and how hard it is for her to leave has made me realize how grateful I am to be here right now serving as a volunteer. I have found such a love for these people that I've never felt before. I really mean it, too. Being here is not always easy. Actually, it's really not. This work is hard. But it is so worth it, and that is why I love it and want to stay here forever. It's like the verse in the Bible, Romans 8:18 " For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us". Not that I'm suffering because I'm 150% fine, but the thought of it.

Anyways, this week was a crazy week. My poor companion, Sister Sorenson, has been sick all week and has been having to stay with the senior couple here:( We're hoping she will be better soon. Also, we had our drunk neighbor, Dima, give a concert a few nights ago in our stairwell. He asked if we had an extra neck tie. Exciting stuff!

We had Anton's baptismal interview this week, and he was just glowing after it! The light of his testimony and his faith is really amazing to see. His date is this Saturday, and we are all so excited for him!

We also had a really fun meeting with a girl named Emily. She is - you guessed it - not Russian! She is from New York, but she is here as a ballerina in the Russian ballet! Pretty much, she is the coolest person. She is also a very believing person, and it was so fun to talk to her about what she feels like her role is here. She tries to help those around her find answers in Christ, and she knows that even though she is far from home and a bit overwhelmed, this is where she needs to be. I learned a lot from her.

There were a lot of other wonderful meetings this week, but I wanted to spend a bit of time talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. What is it? It is all the Jesus Christ has does for us. It is how we can be forgiven for our sins, and not just forgiven, but have the slate wiped clean. We can receive comfort and help and guidance through the Atonement. We realize that we are not alone in the world. That is not God's plan. We are expected to try our best to be good people, but we will never be asked to give more than we can. He really is there for us. He needs to be, because there is not one of us that is perfect. Sometimes, we get too caught up in how imperfect we are, but that isn't the point of life. We all make mistakes! Sometimes we are not kind, we are not generous, we are not Christlike. But, if we repent every day and strive to be better, little by little, the Atonement works in us. We CAN become better, little bit by little bit. 

I love you all! Strive to be a little better every day:)

Sister Jones

Pictures:

Me and SIster Kofford (serving in Barnaul) at Zone conference last week. Sorry for the hair, that dang snoq

The view from our window

Giantttt icicles

Russian Harry Potter!!!!

Hello everyone! As per usual, I am freezing. That is my weather report, for those of you that were wondering. Now, onto the rest of my week)

This week we had the best meeting with Anton. We talked with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked through faith in Jesus Christ and why it is important, and how faith leads to action which is repentance! I have loved talking about and studying repentance on my mission. I have really come to understand what it is and why it is important to us and to me individually. Repentance to me just means change. To really desire true change, to confess the things that you did wrong that you don't want to do anymore to God, and then move on! We have a wonderful gift given to us by God to help us be better and become the people we want to be and our Father in Heaven wants us to be. It's so amazing! Then, we talked about baptism. When we got to that point, we stayed on that topic for a while and went pretty in depth about how, after we desire to repent daily and follow Christ, we are baptized. We do this to show our commitment to God and to make a covenant with Him that we will always strive to follow Him and do as He would do. Then, Sister Krumperman asked him to be baptized and he said yes! He even picked a date for the end of this month! I love meeting with him because every time we do, he is very happy and very expressive. Anton is a feeling person, and he immediately recognized the Spirit when he felt it. He is very special, and we are so excited for him!

We also have been having a really fun time doing lessons with Alina. She is so amazing! She loves learning more about the gospel and all the things that come with it. We've been having Dima, one of the youth in the branch, in on lessons with us, and he does an amazing job. She still doesn't have a set date, but she is progressing!

Another meeting that really stood out to me this week was a meeting we had with a recent convert named Sasha. She is just the greatest! She was baptized in August (I think?) and she lowkey intimidated me until our meeting this week. She is gorgeous, and very intense. But she is also very loving, and that was what was really cool about meeting with her. She is in her late 30s and she has two sons. We went over to her, and she has a lot of questions about the gospel and about Jesus Christ. She loves learning more and seeing how it fits into her life. At one point, I noticed her Harry Potter books on her shelf, and I said "Oh! I really want to read the Harry Potter books in Russian at some point! But we can't read them while we are here as volunteers:(" and that's when she said "Oh, here! You can have one! You can read it when you go back home!". It was really kind of her and I was also really happy because when I get back to America, I can read the first Harry Potter book in Russian! (sorry mom, I know you don't understand Harry Potter but I love it)

Those were pretty much the highlights of this week. I love being here! I love the Lord! I love His work! I love His children! I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!

Sister Jones

Pictures:

Me being upset because it's cold (but lowkey really happy because I love my coat)

McDonald's thinking things are "Texan" because they add cheese and bacon... actually they aren't wrong

Pretty hot chocolate:)

BOOO I Love Halloween!!!

Hello everyone! 

First of all, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! I ate cake and sang, so it was pretty good;) The rest of this week was pretty good as well!

One of the highlights of this week was that we have a new investigator! His name is Anton, and he the boyfriend of a girl in the branch (Tania). We had a lesson with Alina (our other investigator) on the Plan of Salvation on Wednesday, and Tania asked if she could come and bring a friend. Alina also brought her friend, Nastia, which was pretty cool. That lesson was a wonderful lesson. The spirit was really strong, and it was just very powerful to share our own thoughts and feelings on our purpose in life. Anton was very moved by the whole experience. We also sheared what it means to feel the Holy Ghost, and after the lesson, he turned to us, looked straight at us and said "I felt it". He is very motivated to learn more, and wants to meet with us three more times next week!

We also celebrated Halloween with the branch this week! People generally know what Halloween is here, but they don't celebrate it. Halloween was so much fun! We all dressed up, and had a party! I was a doll, Sister Krumperman was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, I was a doll, and Sister Sorenson was a skeleton! We had games, like who can tie up a person as a mummy with toilet paper faster, and who can eat the donut on the string the fastest, and we also had spooky treats (БУгощение, if you know Russian) and we had all the kids trick or treat around the church. It was so much fun and so cute! I love the people here! 

I hope you all had a wonderful week, and a wonderful Halloween!

Sister Jones

Pictures:

I am sorry I only have food pictures this week I am the worst but here is some really good borscht I ate (yes mom it is really good!) and our scary treats we made:)

Worlds Shortest Volunteer Email

Hello everyone!

As per usual, I am running behind on my emailing time. AHhhHHhhhhHhHHHHhhhhh. I am sorry. But I am in Novo now! Things are going great! I am still adjusting and missing Ulan Ude a little bit, but I love Novosibirsk!

This week, we had a meeting with Alina. She walked into church last Sunday (I wasn't here yet), already knew like everything about the church and wanting to become a member. What?? She is so cool! We talked with her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is very excited for the church in general! She definitely knows and feels that it is something she wants to be a part of. The one thing she isn't one hundred percent sure about is when she wants to have the service. She wants the person who introduced her to the church to be there, but he can't come until February. We have explained to her that it will be harder to wait, and that it really isn't about who is there anyways, but it's her choice. We'll see.

We also spent quite a bit of time with her on Sunday. She came to the service of an 8 year old in the ward, and she said that she felt the spirit so strongly that she wanted to cry. We also got to go to her house and meet her grandmother who has read the Book of Mormon! I don't really know many people here yet, but things are going great here!

I love you all! I am sorry again for the short email and no pictures,... I need to figure out my life. I love you all! Have a good week!

Sister Jones

Hello :) Will You Save These Pics For Me?

WoW I love Ulan-Ude!

Приветтттт everyoneeeee!!!!!

This week was overall a really great week! But first some sad news. And happy news. I am getting transfered from the beautiful, wonderful city of Ulan-Ude:( BUT I am going to Novosibirsk Right Bank! I will be in a trio with Sister Krumperman, my first companion in Russia, and I will be finishing the training of Sister Sorenson! I am way pumped and way sad but it's going to be good!

Saturday was so ridiculously fun! It was overall an amazing day! We had a branch talent show. At the talent show, we had 9 non-members come, quite a few less active members that we hadn't seen in a while, and some of the strong branch members as well. We had a lot of good acts from a variety of people (volunteers, non-members, less actives, and strong members). As volunteers, we shared a few of our talents. We like to think we are funny, so we did a few funny skits and things that the people loved! It was a really cool experience when it felt like, after all of our seemingly unresponsive efforts, everyone just came together and was united.

Sister Bybee and I played our ukeleles, Elder Carlsson killed it on the piano, and Elder Soucek and Elder Kull thought they had no talents, so their talent was eating yogurt. They put a sheet with a hole cut out on Elder Kulls head, and Elder Soucek put his hands through and fed him the yogurt, and it was HILARIOUS! Then, we did the famous Jones family tradition (ok maybe not tradition but we did it a few times) of blowing into bottles. Our rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was made even better by the fact that Elder Graham's note (the highest one) was wayyyy flat... no one could keep a straight face after that. SO pretty much we are hilarious and that is my talent:)

Sunday was probably one of the best church experiences of my entire life. We had our friend Nika come and Alacia as well. I sat with Nika and Sister Bybee was with Alacia. I was talking with Nika right before church started. She normally comes with her friend is Tuiana, who is a little bit less comfortable talking about church stuff, so we've been trying to play it safe with how much we say about church and stuff. However, Tuiana couldn't come to church because she was working. Nika and I were talking, and all the sudden, she turns to me and says "I watched the Book of Mormon videos", talking about the new BofM videos they have online. I said "wow that's great!", a little surprised. Then she said "I've also read the Book of Mormon. Just a little bit though. Only First Nephi and Second Nephi." I just about died. We hadn't even given her a Book of Mormon! She has been doing a lot of research on our church, and from what it seems like, she is getting all the information from the church's official website. I assume she just found the Book of Mormon online, and started reading it. I asked her if she understood what she read and she said "Most of the time. And if I don't understand, I read it again and I understand it. It's very interesting. Plus, the Book of Mormon videos helped a lot." Nika is a straight up miracle. Sacrament meeting was amazing this week. I bore my testimony, and then two members gave the best two talks I have ever heard on faith and how to build faith. After the meeting, I asked Nika what she thought. She said "I felt peace. I liked the talks. They talked from their souls." Unfortunately, after church I got really sick so I didn't get to follow up, but she is ready.

Now to Alacia. Sister Bybee talked to Alacia during church too. She loved the talks on faith and really wants to find her faith again. Sister Bybee talked with her about it and how we help people find their faith if they want to! Branch council, timely as always, started right then, so she didn't really get an answer, but Alacia was tearing up and she's looking very promising as well!

I just loved this Sunday because there were also a lot of less actives that came and all of the amazing members. I love them all so much. I am excited to come to Novo, but I am really going to miss Ulan-Ude.

I want to talk a little bit about how God answers prayers. There had been times during my service in Ulan-Ude that I felt like I wasn't doing anything, and that all my efforts weren't really yeilding any results. At church this Sunday, I felt finally like wow, I helped people here. I was able to be an instrument in God's hands, and I was finally able to see it. God answers prayers, ALWAYS, even if the timing is a little long.

I hope you all had an amazing week!!

Sister Jones

Pictures: We made the Elders Planners:)

Conference And SNOW!

Hey everyone! Remember how last week I said I was cold? Well.... take a look at my pictures this week. They feature me as my new goal in life (a Russian grandma) and a blizzard because apparently it's winter? But it's not? Please send help and lots of blankets!

This week was not as eventful as in weeks past, but we're still chugging along. We had a great game night this week! We had a lot of new friends come. It is so fun to just be around people and to have fun together:) I love the people here with all my heart.

We had a lot of fun meetings with people, we walked around a ton, it snowed, and it was a fairly good week. Wednesday was a special day because we had exchanges. Exchanges (i don't know if I've talked about this before) are when the Sister Training Leaders in our area come and go do our work with us for a day. Guess who I was with? Sister Brockbank! My second trainer/ companion from a few months ago! It was way fun to show her how far my Russian has come and to be with her again!

NOW I have finally watched most of conference.... some in English and some in Russian so we're still working on it. But I think one of my favorite talks so far was from Women's session by Reyna I. Aburto. I love her! She is just a really amazing person, and I also think it's cool that she's from Nicaragua, where my dad served his mission. Her talk was about mental and emotional health and how we can deal with it and help others deal with it. I loved her focus on the Saviour and His atoning sacrifice for each and ever one of us. Yes, it does cover sin and when we repent we can become clean from sin, but the Atonement of Jesus Christ does much more than that. As it says in 2 Nephi, men are that they might have JOY. No matter what we are dealing with in this life, Christ and His Atonement are always there for us. It is important to seek help here when we are having problems and taking advantage of modern medicine and things like that, but turning to Christ can help us find hope in a world covered in storm clouds.

I'm sorry for the short email (but maybe they're better like that... long emails get boring;)) but I hope you all had a good week and are warmer than I am currently!

Love, Sister Jones

Привет From A Cold Russian Volunteer

Helloooooooooooo I am running out of creative ways to start these emails.

This week was COLD. I am cold. Why is life cold. Darn Russia. And every time I say I'm cold, everyone's like "wait until winter!" and I'm like "you just told me it was going to snow next week! Isn't it already winter?!?" So yeah. That is my life at the moment, just in case y'all were wondering. 

Anyways, other than the fact that it's the beginning of October and I'm already freezing (but really who's surprised?), this week was really really really good!

First of all, this week, we met with our friend Lada to help her quit smoking. There's a program that our church has, and there are 15 steps that she can do every day for 7 days and then she will no longer be a smoker! It sounds kinda crazy, but I've read it and it makes a lot of sense! There are some funny things on there though. One of them is that after every single meal, she has to drink a glass of non-sweetened grapefruit juice and eat a healthy breakfast every single morning. After the first day, she called us and said "I HATE oatmeal and I HATE this grapefruit juice!" but she's on day 5 now of not smoking, so I'd say it's working! Woohoo!

We also met with our friend Ksusha this week. We walked with her just around the city and talked for a while. We actually ended up lost in a part of the city that neither I, Ksusha, or Sister Bybee had ever seen before. The worst part was that Ksusha's phone was glitching and kept telling us we were standing in the middle of the river:/ But it's ok, we got back safe (except my legs really hurt). Anyways, while talking with Ksusha, we asked her if she would be interested in talking more about what we believe in... and she said yes! So, we are meeting with her next week:)

This weekend was probably the most eventful weekend. It started on Friday night with Game Night. We had 15 people there (including the volunteers) and 9 were non-members which was actually pretty cool! It was a little stressful, but we all had a fun time and all the people enjoyed themselves:) 

Then, on Saturday, we met with our friends Nika and Tuiana to get sushi, and we brought Polina along with us. We wanted our friend Alacia (the one who came to church last week) to come with us, but she couldn't make it. They are really cool, and we invited them to come with us afterwards to a party we were having at the church to celebrate Polina and Sasha having been baptized for a year. We let them know there was going to be a spiritual thought and everything, and they came! We had Polina and Sasha share how they found the church and how the church has blessed their lives. The spirit was very strong, and it was really cool to see how very different experiences they had in joining the church. It was a testament to me that God does know us individually, and he helps us with our specific needs. On our way out the door, Olga called out to them, and invited them to testimony meeting on Sunday. As we walked with them to the tramvay, they asked us lots of questions about it, and told us that they would come! Also, side note, I now love sushi... well, chicken sushi:) I hate seafood still.

Sunday morning, we actually ran into them on the tramvay on their way to church! In sacrament meeting, I asked Nika (who I was sitting next to) a little bit about her religious background. She has been to the Russian Orthodox church, but she didn't like it. It scared her a little bit. But she said she really liked our church because it's very peaceful. I couldn't read either of them very well during church, but afterwards they just kept talking about how nice people were and things like that. They still like us at least, so we can follow up next week. We are going to put on a little showing of Womens Conference on Saturday night, and we are going to invite them. Hopefully they will come! 

Our friend Alacia couldn't make it to church this week because she went on a camping trip with some friends, but she is going to try to make it next week! We also want to meet up with her soon and see how she felt about church a little bit more in depth.

Also, one of our investigators, Alyona, came to church this week! We hadn't see her in a while, and I think it might have something to do with her husband, but this week she came! That was really good.

I have not been able to watch General conference yet, but we will watch it next week, and I am sooo exciteeeddd!!!

This week, I want to share a little clip from last General Conference. It's from President Russell M. Nelson's talk, "Come, Follow Me". 

“Pour out your heart to God. Ask Him if these things are true. Make time to study His words. Really study! If you truly love your family and if you desire to be exalted with them throughout eternity, pay the price now—through serious study and fervent prayer—to know these eternal truths and then to abide by them.

“If you are not sure you even believe in God, start there. Understand that in the absence of experiences with God, one can doubt the existence of God. So, put yourself in a position to begin having experiences with Him. Humble yourself. Pray to have eyes to see God’s hand in your life and in the world around you. Ask Him to tell you if He is really there—if He knows you. Ask Him how He feels about you. And then listen.” God cares. He is there. And He listens. 

I love you all!

Sister Jones

Pictures:
1. Me and Sister Bybee in front of Memorial "Победы" (Victory)

2. THE NEW TRAMVAY!!!!
3. THe old tramvay to compare to the picture I sent of the new tramvay

4. My chicken sushi:)

5. Me freezing every single day

6. Our friend Kristina took us to the Datsan (Buddhist temple place)
7-13. More fun pictures at the Datsan