The Final Countdown

This is my last full week in the MTC! Novosibirsk, here I come. 

WEDNESDAY: For class on Wednesday, we talked about verbs of motion. In Russian, there is no one word that means “to go”, they have a variety of words that describes how you are getting there and if you are going one way or two ways. Like, there is a specific word that means to walk to something and a different word that means to walk to and back from something. It’s kinda confusing, but it’s a cool concept! There are also prefixes that you put on the beginning that describe exactly where you’re moving, e.i. into, out of, stuff like that. Yay Russian!

THURSDAY: Ha, so Thursday I thought I was going to die. Not really, but I was very concerned. During our morning class, I got really bad chest pain. I waited a little to see if it would go away, but it didn’t after 20 minutes and I got a little nervous and went to the health center. It was a crazy morning. The doctor sent me to the BYU health center to get an x Ray, but it turns out it was probably just an acid reflux thing. Very scary at the time, but they were showing HGTV in the doctors office and it was the strangest thing!

FRIDAY: WE GOT OUR FLIGHT PLANS!! We are supposed to be leaving Monday afternoon and arriving in Novosibirsk on Wednesday in the early morning. Unfortunately, the travel office told сестра Eckery and сестра Maccabee that they probably won’t get their visas in time and сестра Murton’s flight plans are probably going to change for some reason, so I don’t think any of us will actually be flying together:( But IM GOING TO RUSSIA:))))

SATURDAY: We taught Виктор the best lesson on baptism today. We focused on why it was important for him to be baptized, and how we are infinitely blessed if we are. Being baptized opens the door for so many other blessings and opportunities in our lives. We asked Виктор to be baptized, and he said yes! Now, Виктор is not actually a real person; he is our teacher pretending to be someone he taught on his mission, but it was still such a wonderful feeling. I can’t wait to go and share this wonderful message with real Russian people!

SUNDAY: The devotional on Sunday night was really good! It was by Brother Gary Crittenden, who works in the “finding” department for missionaries, which is basically analyzing the most productive way to find people who want to hear our message. The most important thing that I got from his talk was to be ourselves. The cool thing about Russia is that we don’t wear name tags, which I actually think is a blessing. The purpose of our mission is to make friends and try to bring people closer to Christ, and it is so much easier to make friends and show people we really care about them when they are not scared by our name tags or have preconceived notions about who I am.

MONDAY: We had our last Skype TRC today:( We taught a cute lady who introduced herself as Sister Tamara. She lives in Russia, and she teaches English! That was wonderful, because she was very patient and helpful with our Russian. There was also something not so great that happened. Some elders were kicking this cat that hangs around the MTC, and some elders in my zone stepped in to stop them. The elders that were kicking the cat started yelling and cussing at them, and asking if they wanted a fight. All of them ended up seeing the MTC president, and it turns out there were security cameras that got the whole thing on tape. The elders that were looking for a fight would have immediately been sent home if any sisters were around to hear the profanity, but we don’t know if they are staying or leaving now. 

TUESDAY: My voice is gone (and it still is). Despite that, I sang in choir! We sang a song called Hurrah for Israel, and it’s so upbeat and powerful! Hurrah for Israel! The devotional was given by the general Primary President, Sister Joy Jones. She brought up the song “A child’s prayer”, which is one of my favorite primary songs. The first verse is from the perspective of a child. “Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?”.  I know that He does. He hears each and every one of our prayers, and He answers us. God still communicates with us, and through this, we are able to come to know Him and are able to know how we can be happier. I have seen this in my own life and I know that God loves us with an infinite love. He is there. Speak, He is listening.

I love you all! Thank you all so much for all your support:) I appreciate everything that you all do for me, and all you do to show me you’re thinking of me. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Сестра Jones

Picture:

1. Sister Gehring has rainbow John Lennon stamps and I want them!

I Don't Understand Anything!! Week 2 In Vladivostok :)

Hello all! I'm still in Russia. Crazy, I know. It's almost like America, except I understand nothing and all the signs are in Russian:) ALSO quick reminder that if you want to email me, my email is now jones.emma@latter-daysaints.ru .

First of all, I talked to random people at two different times ON MY OWN! I started a conversation with a cute lady about her coat, but I didn't know what they call those fur coats so I said "I like.." and then pointed to her coat. She talked to me though! I understood her ok actually. Another time, I told a бабушка that I liked her bag. She was very interested in me, and what the heck I was doing in Russia, but unfortunately I understood almost nothing she said. I tried answering her questions to the best of my ability, but we were both just laughing because nothing made any sense to either of us. It was great!

God has sent me such tender mercies this week. My brain is so exhausted from constantly hearing Russian and trying to understand it and trying to learn from it. There have been several points already where I'm like, ok, I just want to go to bed. I can't Russian anymore. But every single time that has happened, someone has complimented me on my Russian. My Russian is not good, and that's how I know it's from God. He knows what I am going through, and He is supporting me and encouraging me!

I also ate Kafe Lima this week, which is my new happy place. Basically, this Russian man went to Utah, ate at Cafe Rio, thought "Wow, this is good," learned how to make burritos, came back to Vladivostok, and opened up Kafe Lima. It looks like Cafe Rio too! Mexican food isn't really a thing here, but these burritos are really good. I am so grateful for Mexican food!!

We started teaching a woman we met on the bus named Татьяна (Tatiana), and that was one crazy lesson. When we met her, we told her we were from a church and she started almost yelling "You're from a church?? I'm from a church! I went to seminary this morning! Let's meet and talk about church!" and I just kept thinking "oh my goodness, this is not legal to be screaming about church." Most of our lesson was her trying to convert us to her Methodist church, and I was internally laughing because she kept trying to make us see how our lives would be better with God and we just kept agreeing with everything she said. She would say, "God is our Father and He loves us." and we would say "He totally does, I'm so glad that you know that!" She was very much taken aback. After a while of this, we handed her a Book of Mormon, and started reading it with her. The Book of Mormon is so powerful. She started accepting it. I could tell she was feeling something as we read. It interested her. We promised her that if she prayed about it, and read it, she could know for herself that it is from God. She was very interested, and is excited to show it to her pastor and her boyfriend (who is the pastor's son). We might have an angry pastor on our hands, but все хорошо (it's all good)!

This week, a lady we are teaching named Tatiana wants to get baptized (different Tatiana than the one above) ! We are so excited for her. We had the best lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She knows that God loves her, and she understands how much this gospel can bless her in her life. The thing that she is the most worried about at the moment is that she is a smoker. She has been trying to quit for a while, and for her to be baptized, she needs to quit. She was very worried that she is not going to be able to quit in time for her to be baptized. We told her that if she reads her scriptures every day, prays everyday, and attends church, that God will help her quit smoking. You can see how strong her faith is, because as soon as we said that, she immediately had so much confidence. She said, "You're right, He will help me." She is so ready for this, and I could not be more excited for her. It's amazing how much confidence I have in this gospel as well. As we were telling her what she needed to do to prepare for baptism, I got chills. I know with all my heart that this church is true, and I know that anyone who wants to know can also know through the Book of Mormon and praying to God about the truthfulness of it that this is the true church. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are the words of God, and this is His church. I am so grateful to be here teaching people about something that has made me and my family so happy.

I am so grateful that I am here. I can't believe that I get to be here with all of these wonderful people teaching them the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! I can't believe I get to eat Russian Mexican food! I can't believe I'm learning Russian! AHH! Life is so wonderful:) I love you all!!

Сестра Jones

The Power Of The бабушка -Babushka-Grandmother

Hello everyone!!!

As you can probably guess, Monday's are now my Pdays so that's when I'll be able to respond to everything! Also, my new email address while I'm here in Russia is jones.emma@latter-daysaints.ru , so if you want to get ahold of me, please use that email. So... I'm in Russia!! How crazy is that? Right now, I am serving in a city called Vladivostok. It is so gorgeous here! It's all the way on the eastern side of Russia and it borders the ocean. I absolutely love this city already! 

The end of the MTC was great. Don't get me wrong, I made so many friends there and I'm really grateful for the experience, but I was so ready to leave! I traveled with one of the Elders also serving in Novosibirsk, Elder Carlsson. Sister Maccabee left really early the next morning. The whole "getting to Russia" thing was such a long process. My flight plans got changed, so I actually flew from Salt Lake to LA to Moscow to Novosibirsk, and wow it was crazy long. As soon as we got to the mission home in Novosibirsk, they gave us food and let us sleep for a long time. I met my trainer, Sister Krumperman, in Novosibirsk, and then we flew to Vladivostok together which was another 6 hour journey by planes. So, this week was one of little sleep and just a lot of general confusion. I didn't know what day it was half the time. But I'm here now and wow Russia is so wonderful! Also, Sister Krumperman is so great. She's from Seattle, and has a dog named Griffey:)

My very first day in Vladivostok (on Friday) was a lot of sleeping. We had an overnight flight from Novosibirsk, so we didn't really sleep the night before. But that evening, we had разговоры, which is an English discussion group. That was super cool! I got to meet some of the people in the area who aren't necessarily members of our church, but just want to come and practice their English! I also got to meet the two sets of Elders that are in this city as well. Sister Krumperman and I are the only two sisters in our district. We had another разговоры on Saturday, and it was so fun. We mostly just play games and talk in English, and that's really nice, especially for me because I don't speak Russian yet! We went and got drinks with a girl named Вероника (Veronica) afterwards. She isn't a member, but she's really good friends with Sister Krumperman. It was so cool, she opened up a lot about her life and the things that she's struggling with right now, and Sister Krumperman said that she hadn't done that before. It was nice to just sit there and to listen to her and try to help her. She also told this way cool story about her бабушка (grandma) that I think really shows the power of the бабушки in Russia:

One day, this woman was out gardening when she hears a noise. She looks up at the house and front of her, and through the window, she sees a man frantically pointing at something behind her and yelling at her to come inside. She turned around, and a tiger was 100 feet away from her, getting ready to pounce. A normal person, aka me, would have just ran inside, or maybe screamed. But, that is not what бабушки do. This lady starts telling off this tiger! She startes scolding him, and telling him to go home. And he did! The tiger just turned around and left. So there you go, that is a Russian grandma for you. They are wonderful and slightly terrifying, so don't make them mad.

Another super exciting thing that happened this week was that the elders in Vladivostok have 3 baptismal dates set right now, which is so cool! We also just started teaching two young girls and a grandma. I've only been here for like 3 days, but I can see the Lord's hand at work here! I am so so excited to be here and to be working with these people. I have already been able to make so many friends here, and I don't even speak Russian!

There is one more story that I wanted to tell from this week. Yesterday was Лаура (Laura)'s birthday! Лаура is a recent convert, and she just turned 14. We got to go over to her house for a birthday party! We were there with the branch president and his family, Лаура and her grandma, and Лаура's aunt, uncle, and cousin. At the beginning of it, I was very nervous. I understood nothing that was going on, and people kept talking and I couldn't even pick out a single word. I just sat there thinking, "Oh my goodness, I have to learn this language". We ate food, and after we ate pizza, the branch president leaves the room. When he comes back in, he is in a full on clown suit, from a hat with curly neon orange hair to brightly colored toe socks! He started pulling things out of his bag and talking in really fast Russian, and we started playing games! It was actually so much fun, and I am so grateful for the branch president and his wife. They are a little crazy, but they are such sweet, genuine people. His wife talked to me a little bit in English too! The Russian people are really so sweet, even if some of them have hard exteriors. She served a mission, and didn't know any English. She had to learn so she could talk with her companion and teach some of the people they were teaching, and she told me that after the first two weeks, she was crying and ready to go home because she didn't understand anything. But, she didn't, and she just told me that it would all be ok and that I would learn!

There were so many other things that happened this week, but those were some of the highlights. I just wanted to end with a little reminder that God knows and loves each of us so so much. There have been many many times in the past couple of days where I feel absolutely terrified and anxious and overall stressed. But, each and everytime I have felt that, there was a little something that reminded me that I was ok. I know that those are from God. I know that as we learn of Him and try to be like Him and help other people, He will bless us and He will keep us safe.

I love you all! I am praying for all of you. I hope this next week is wonderful:) 

Сестра Джонз  (Sister Jones)


Pictures:
Mom: Here are a couple photos that Emma sent of her and her companion!  My fav is seeing Emma's very long Russian coat. 

MTC Pictures

Important Notes!

“...Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies.” Thomas S Monson


-Have the steady determination of a lifetime
-The hungry dog hunts best
-Preaching the gospel is a joyful work
-Missionary work is drudgery for those who are not motivated by the Spirit


Sister Bednar:
-Keep focused on the message of our heavenly home


Elder Bednar:
-Listen
-Be worthy of the still small voice
-Stop having expectations of feeling the Holy Ghost
-“You always show up when I’m about to cry”
-“Just be good and go”
-Wait upon the lord and his timing
-We pray to find out what god wants of us
-You are normal
-There is not a right way to receive revelation


Tad and Kathryn Callister:
God is eager for us to learn his mind and will
We have the right to receive revelation to help us with our responsibilities
—> the right to be an inspired missionary because we are called of God
Record spiritual impressions, they will become more frequent
Fruits of the spirit:
—> Peace
—> Intent to do good
—> Enlightened understanding
—> Delicious to the taste

Mitch Davis:

“You are immortal, eternal, sons and daughters of God”

There are no ordinary people. Help people become better not worse

We should care about immortal things - the big picture

Love people and mean it

PEOPLE

What are the obstacles?

1. Lack of Faith -> in God, in the gospel, in yourself 
2. Holds everything together when nothing else can
3. Difference between discouragement and disappointment NEVER LET YOURSELF BECOME DISCOURAGED
4. Open your mouth and love gods children 
5. Repent, forgive, move on (fast)
6. The atonement applies to US as well
7. Lack of Work
8. What is my capacity to work?
9. Do your best work every single day (ahh what is the talk?)
10. Work for the approval of the Lord, not for anyone else
11. When you don’t want to be here ... “I might as well get something done”
12. “Mans extremity is God’s opportunity”

Be still and know that you are representatives of God.

Susie Boswell:

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ; we strive to become like Him and follow Him

I have been called of Him

We will be out among His people

John Boswell:

How will we become as He is?

John 7:17

Give everything we have

Do His will/following Him

Do it, feel it, know it.

Every principle you need for salvation is in preach my gospel, but we need to apply them

Scriptures 

Underline always and never in missionary handbook; obedience 

Obedience brings safety and happiness

The spirit converts, we just need to love the people and share what we know

Compare our past to our present, not to other people

Robert B. Jones:

He had me at the words Jesus Christ

Don’t judge, best thing you can smell in a sacrament meeting is alcohol and cigarette smoke. Some sins are more visible than others, but we are all trying to change.

We are here to serve Jesus Christ

“The spiritual manifestation came as a natural consequence to the performance of duty.” If we do what we need to do, our testimonies will be strengthened -David O McKay 

I’ll be what YOU want me to be

Joy D. Jones:

Secret weapons

How is Logan?

Who are the children I am leaving an impression on? What am I sending home, what am I telling them?

We are in this glorious work together 

Small things bring about great things

Do I know that I’m a child of God?

We can’t really understand who we are until we understand WHO’S we are

**A child’s prayer

The point of the gospel for us all to reach our full potential and to become Gods and Goddesses

The more rooted we are in the fact that God loves us, the more we can show others God loves them

I am doing exactly what the lord wants me to be doing. When else in my life will I be able to say that with such confidence? I will be blessed

OBEDIENCE our quest, not our irritant

7 times, perfectly obedient

Has anyone ever regretted their mission? 

Look for opportunities EVERYWHERE to share the gospel, open your mouth!!

“I am so much happier and confident when I’m obedient”

“Thy sins have been forgiven thee” teach repentance. That’s what Jesus always says first

What extent am I willing to go to bring souls unto Christ

The kingdom of God, or nothing 

Phone= less friends, so distracted

Gary Crittenden:

It happens one by one, not dozens by dozens

Family members of people in the church are generally the most readily prepared

Then friends of members

Then people through digital finding

Then missionary efforts

The lord has his hand in the reunification of families

Use your personality to your benefit

We don’t wear a name tag, we have more of an opportunity to be ourselves without any preconceived notions

Elder Jeffery R. Holland:

Can should bless

The spirit will fortify you, you can do this 

Take faith in the legions of missionaries before you

If you’re the kind of missionary you are supposed to be, this will mean everything to you

You can do this because it’s true

Teach with the POWER and AUTHORITY of God

How to be successful:

1. Obedience is the first law of everything !!! Do this the Lords way
2. D&C 130:20-21
3. D&C 50:17-18 not our way
4. The Book of Mormon is the greatest book on earth. It has a power all it’s own. It’s the principle proselytizing tool. Get the Book of Mormon into their lives as quickly as possible. 
5. Be your best self, be no one else. He needs me, if I’m being the best I can be. I don’t need to worry about not being heard or being overshadowed. The lord needs me. But, give Him the credit. Without Him, we can do nothing. 

Bless that fears will dissipate, we will be calm. If we abide by these simple things, we will be astonishing. We are engaged in the salvation of the human soul. 

Cross country; heaven and god cheering us on

Gma Lynn's Conversion

Gma Lynn:

Hi Emma..I know you have Grandma Sue’s conversion story, but I have never written mine down until today..you know that Grandpa Bill and I were baptized together on Mothers Day weekend in 1972 but here is , as they say , the rest of the story...

Grandpa Bill and I met while we were students at the University of Oregon and were married 2 years later when I was a senior.

Right after we were married Grandpa Bill came down with a horrible flu bug. He was in bed almost an entire week barely moving, and for the first time in my young life I began to worry about what happens after you die .

I didn’t try to talk to him about it then as he was also not talking much, so the thoughts built up in my mind that week as I could not get past worrying that he would die. The thought and feeling of going on without him was more than I could bear. Even though l had read some of the Bible , I had been taught that only Priests can pray and talk with Heavenly Father, so it never even crossed my mind to try to pray.

He obviously did get better and when he did I told him how scared I was that he would die and we would not be able to be together any more. He agreed and we decided to go to some of the local churches to see what they taught.

We went to 5 different churches in as many weeks and as the Pastors gave the sermons in each different church the words that they taught left me feeling more confused and unsatisfied than ever.

Soon after this as Grandpa Bill was putting up a wall in our garage he slammed the hammer on his thumb. It was after 11pm and in those days there was no urgent care or even an emergency room open at that hour.

All I knew to do was have him soak it, which we did , but it was very painful for him and he wasn’t able to go to sleep until the next morning.

I turned on our tiny TV set that Sunday morning trying to find something to do that was quiet so he could sleep, and there was a man on there who was standing behind a podium talking about Heavenly Father. I realized as he spoke that was another name for God. As he continued to speak he began to weep saying he believed in Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ with all his heart..and that he also believed in the plan of salvation and that families could be together forever.

It wasn’t just his words, but the feeling I had as I listened to him speak, the feeling of peace and comfort I had not had listening to any other preacher.

At the end of his talk it said the program was from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whom I had never heard of, and the name of the man was Bruce R. McConkie.

I didn’t realize that this church was the Mormon Church that Grandpa Bills brothers Bob and Dick went to.

Later that week I opened our front door to two guys about our age at the time in suits who asked me if I was interested in learning more  about Heavenly Fathers plan. I realized then that the only time I had heard God called that was in Bruce R McConkies talk the Sunday before . I felt that same peace and comfort talking to them as I had listening to Bruce R. McConkie snd realized I did want to hear more. 

They wouldn’t come in as Grandpa Bill wasn’t home , but we made arrangements to meet the next evening.

As we were so ready at that point to hear the gospel, we ate up everything they could tell us and were baptized a few weeks later.

We became great friends with the missionaries and kept in touch over the years.

I didn’t realize until I had been in the church for a few years the preparation I had gone through so I would be ready to accept the gospel when I heard it.. but Heavenly Father knew what I needed to be ready when the missionaries came and knocked on our door . 

I truly believe Emma , that the missionaries Heavenly Father sent were the ones we needed at that time to proclaim the gospel to us.

Because of my experience I know there have been others prepared in Russia that will be drawn to you.

Thank you for being willing to be the ones to go to their rescue..

Love you Emma.. so thankful for the few months we had to get to know each other so much better before you left...grandma Lynn