Week of Miracles

Familia, friends, hello from chilly Greenwood! This week has been a week of miracles although I don't have much time but I'll try to tell you about all of them.
A pretty huge miracle happened this week. Sister Billock loves knocking, which is pretty much my least favorite thing to do...so I'm learning to like it, because we've done a lot this week. Sister Billock felt prompted to go to a certain apartment complex not on our schedule and to knock there. We had knocked all of them accept for one. A man opened the door without a shirt (everyone does that here! I don't understand. Put on a shirt hairy men!) and he was very nice. We started talking to him about the Book of Mormon and how it provides guidance to our lives. We gave it to him and we heard a voice from inside say "Can I get one of those?" A young woman, probably about 23 came to the door. I reached into my bag to grab one and what? there were none to be found! I always carry one with me so I'm confused. We say that we can get one from the car and she walks with us. She talks about baptism right off the bat and said that she would like to be baptized and I'm just like....what?! Are we being filmed right now?! Is this some kind of joke? We didn't invite her right then to be baptized but we did acknowledge it's importance. We talked to her more and I read her the promise in the front of the Book of Mormon. She started crying...no sobbing is more like it. She said that she's just been searching for answers and she felt like we were an answer to her prayer. I started rubbing her back and she falls into my arms and hugs me tight. We sat that way for a while, hugging and her just shaking as she cried. I testified to her that Heavenly Father loves her and that we were there as an answer to her prayer. She pulled away after a few more minutes, apologizing for her tears, but happy, oh so happy! I invited her to be baptized and before I was even done she was shaking her head yes. I know that that was a miracle, and I know that Sister Billock and I were meant to find her. Sister Billock through her love of knocking and me because I know how to be compassionate. If my anxiety and depression have taught me anything it's how to "mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort." Sister Billock can't handle tears and doesn't know how to deal with them, but I do, and I know that I was able to be a comfort to her at that time. We haven't been able to get in contact with Shardell since, but I know that something great will come from this.

We met a very interesting man named Alvin this week. The experience might have been so interesting because I'm pretty sure that he was drunk through out this entire encounter. He's an older gentleman, and he started talking about the bible and how it is the word of God..the only word from God. We testified of the Book of Mormon and of its truthfulness. We tried to offer him a copy but he said that he couldn't read...but I was like...how do you read the Bible then? I didn't say that out loud, but I think he was confused because he was just a tad bit tipsy. He invited us in for some walnuts, because apparently he had walnuts to spare. He got them from a bucket outside of his house (because there is no way I was going inside of his house) and started filling up a bag. He started talking about his life and how at one point he was almost a famous country singer. I was just like...oh really...huh, sure. I thought it was just him being funny...and old...and drunk, but he was serious! He pulled out an old boom box and put in a CD, and sure enough, it was him singing an old country tune. I told him that I loved country music, and in his excitement, he gave Sister Billock and I a CD of him and his band singing. So even though I can't listen to it, I got a CD from Alvin, the Walnut giving, almost famous, drunk country singer. Does anyone know how to crack walnuts? To crack the pecans we've got we usually just throw them on the floor.

Ooh! Then there was the miracle of the iHop. Sister Billock likes to eat out...a lot which is seriously draining my bank account (and she doesn't share food...something about a bad experience with a past companion, which is why my bank account is so low right now mom, that and I bought two cute adorable shirts at Belk because I am shrinking and my clothes are not and I had nothing Christmasy for the ward christmas party). So we were going to iHop instead of packing a lunch which makes zero sense to me but whatever, and we ran into this lady walking out of iHop. She said that the line was much too long to stay and that she'd be going somewhere else. I asked her where, and we started talking. She saw our name tags, and she exclaimed loudly in excitement "Y'all are mormons!" She said that she loves mormons and that she has a really good friend who's mormon. Her name is Linda by the way, and she's an older lady, probably in her 60's. We kept talking and long story short we ended up in Waffle House, eating lunch with a Holiness and teaching her about what we believe. She said that she's not interested, but we got her information and she lives in our area! We're going to keep nourishing that seed and hopefully bring her to baptism. The whole experience was just sureal. Oh...Greenwood...they are so backwards. They have smoking in their restaurants. Smoking!!! I mean...what century are we living in! Everyone knows that Tobacco and nicotine are bad for ya...so why is it in the restaurant where the tired mormon girls are trying to eat and unload?! Ugh the people are weird here, they don't believe in sidewalks or streetlights either. It's a miracle we haven't hit something at night because it is pitch black at about 9. But that was a pretty cool miracle huh?

The Christmas Devotional was beautiful! I don't know if you got to see it but it almost made me cry. I was just like...that's my home. That's where I used to sit and that's where I used to walk by. That's my temple. I don't know guys, the holidays are weird, and it's hard feeling like I'm alone here because Sister Billock isn't really compassionate...at all. I'm not saying I cry all the time, but when I try to confide in her about how I'm feeling she just kind of brushes it off and basically says to deal with it. Don't get me wrong, she's amazing and a great missionary, I just feel alone a lot of the time. But I am never alone. I am a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and as such I am entitled to having the Comforter, the Holy Ghost with me always. I can call down angels to bear me up. But most importantly I can talk to Heavenly Father, and with him on my side I am never alone. I know that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate our Savior and Redeemers birth. I know that because of Him, we are never truly alone and because of him we can return to live in our permanent home, our Heavenly Home, where we can live without sadness or grief or separation from our families ever again. I am so grateful for my Savior, and I am excited for this opportunity to celebrate his birth in the mission field.

TLLY and in case you forgot I do to!

Love, Sister Jones

Greenwood, Oh Greenwood

Hola familia and friends!

So, the big news, the moment you've all been waiting for. I am in Greenwood, Greenville. If you look in my call packet, you'll see that Greenwood is also in the North-Western part of the state. This area was actually part of my old Zone, the Greenville Zone, until they split it a transfer ago. I was in the Greenville North Zone and now I'm in the Greenville South. I don't know if that helps you with the closeness of my areas. I wonder if I'll just inch my way across the state until I finally get to Charleston...which is my dream location!!! I don't know if it'll happen, but if I could just put that in the suggestions box in heaven, I'd do it for sure. It's about an hour south of Clemson but very very different. It is a more Urban area so there are actually clothing stores. I saw an Old Navy the other day and I nearly wept for joy. :) No luck with a whole lot of clothing stores in Clemson. OH, and they have a mall here! I never thought I would say this but I am so happy that I can go shopping! I guess that it just takes the lack thereof to really miss something, and I missed clothes! Greenwood used to be a milling town, and when the economic crisis hit, this part of the country was hit the hardest. The people are very humble and in very poor conditions. Lots of trailer parks and lots of small houses. But I'm getting used to it and I 've already met some pretty incredible people. Our apartment is really nice. We have a washer and dryer (thank goodness) and separate bathrooms. I also have a walk in closet which is something that I've never had before! I kind of just felt like living there, pulling in a pillow and reveling in my walk in closet.

Thanksgiving was spent at the Lichfield household. The Lichfields are incredibly wealthy...and I'm not exaggerating at all. We drove up to a gate, then put in the code to get through the gate, then spent another couple of minutes driving up a very long road to get to the house. And then, the awesome happened...horses!!! They are ranchers and have 30+ horses, and for some reason they loved our car. They swarmed us, and I was a little fearful, but incredibly stoked all at the same time! I cautiously got out of the car and made a new best friend. I don't know what her name was, but she was very attached. She would follow me around and nuzzle me and try to eat my bag at times (it is bright yellow, it looks yummy). Just another day in the life of a Disney Princess. :) We had a pretty good Thanksgiving dinner although I miss Western stuffing. They call it dressing here and they always put corn in it...not my favorite but the pie and the drinks were excellent so it was a pretty successful Thanksgiving. I didn't eat as much as I normally would, my stomach still hasn't quite adjusted to eating solids after my fight with that evil flu minion, but we still had a good time. OH! And they had cats, lots of 'em. One of them crawled on my lap, and just melted my heart. She stayed on my lap pretty much the whole time while we gave a lesson to Yakira. Yakira is wonderful. She is one of those incredible people that I've met so far. She is the Lichfield's niece, and her mom died when she was little, and through a series of events that I don't quite understand, she ended up here in South Carolina. She speaks very little English, so we had Maria, her cousin, translate for us. It was a very powerful lesson. Sister Billock (I'll tell you more about her later) and Sister Burbank taught her the first lesson and we started teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. I love teaching people about the Plan and I love teaching people about the Spirit World! I just love the spirit world! It truly proves to me that Heavenly Father is a merciful God and wants all of his children to return to him. I told her the story about how I've felt Bradon Jones very close to me at certain times during my life, and how I know that he is my guardian angel. I recounted one time when I felt very close to him and we both started crying. She came over and gave me a hug when I was finished. She is so sweet and kind and has such a sincere desire to know! When we were about to leave she told me, in broken English "You are a very good person and a good friend, thank you." Then gave me another hug. That was an incredible lesson and an incredible day.

Met a girl named Holly Jones the other day. We knocked into her. Guess what she's studying...nursing! I just wanted to shake her and be like,

"If you have a boyfriend, and his name isn't Doug, end it now!"

It was weird. We are going to be teaching her on Wednesday I believe. I'm pretty excited for that. :)

Um...what is this I hear about my Luna being dead? I'm gone for 3 months and my car decides to die? She misses me! Is she dead? I got a letter from grandma and there was something about my car being dead. I'm a tad bit concerned.

So, Sister Billock...is awesome! She is very different from me, which I think is good, because then the whole world would just explode with drama and british accents. My first couple days of the transfer were pretty hard, and she wasn't really helpful...like at all. She's not really sentimental and doesn't really know how to react to tears. I'm pretty sure I scared her. :) But, if I learned anything from this past week, it's that Heavenly Father will be with us through afflictions, and the best way to feel better is to serve. Don't worry, the medication is kicking in and I am starting to feel more at home here. Sister Billock is awesome though, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about her. She is tall 5'10! She is also 29. She knew that she wanted to go on a mission when she was 21, but Heavenly Father told her that it wasn't time yet. So she waited, and prepared, and she wasn't called to go on a mission until she was 28! She is truly a wonderful example of submitting to the will of God unfailingly, and having faith that everything will turn out ok. She is also a very hard worker. She knows that she is here to work, so that's what we do. She is from Arizona and loves guns...something very new to me. She also loves John Deere and animals (we have that in common). She coughs when she eats green apple flavored stuff and loves the shows Parks and Recreation and Friends. We'll get along just fine. :) She comes from a family of 2 and she has an older Sister. Parents and still in Arizona and are still happily married. I'll send you pictures as soon as I buy batteries for my life sucking camera. I've been through 8 batteries on that thing!

Thank you grandma for my letter! Iwas very much appreciated. I will make sure to get Sister Seaman's letter to her as well at the Christmas Zone Conference. We are combining for zones so I'll see her on the 17th of December.

Some exciting news, I was able to find a scale and...drumroll please...I've lost 30 lbs! Ah!!! I haven't weighed this little in a long time. :) I'm very excited about this. It just goes to show that if you put your mind to something, you can accomplish great things. I still want to lose about another 40, but don't worry, I'm staying healthy and I'm going to space out my weight loss. I hope that I can skype you mom and dad so that you can see my new improved self!

Well, I think that's everything. I love you all and am so grateful to have you in my life. I am doing much better, and I know that I can have great happiness on my mission, as I serve the lord and his children selflessly, because I love them. I say that every morning for standing quotes, and I know it to be true. Hope to hear from you soon!

TLLY, and in case you forgot I do to. :)

The healing Sister Jones