Email Received September 22, 2010

Heee. Ok, we had a baptism this past week. Agustin has been to just about every Christian church ever. He reads his bible and now is putting a lot of effort in to the Book of Mormon and the D&C. About 50 and single, he lives in the house of another investigator, and while initially leery of baptism, has recently begun to really fly, asking us if he was progressing enough. We assured him that he was, and arranged for his baptismal interview.

Well, he almost didn't come. His ride had a last minute injury. We made frantic phone calls while the Mission President (special case interview, anyone curious about that can see the section on conducting interviews in Preach My Gospel) sat very patiently and waited. he finally showed up, and we waited nervously while he was interviewed (because you NEVER know what's going to happen in the baptismal interview.) He passed, and was baptized that Saturday he bore a sweet testimony, asking the members to help he continue following in the path. I think that was a major wake-up call for our mission leader, cause he commented on it in his talk the following Sunday.

Speaking of the following Sunday, Spanish branch has sacrament meeting last. Gospel doctrine begins, and AGUSTIN IS NOT THERE. Nor was he there for the beginning of priesthood. Hermana and I are making frantic phone calls, when one of his room-mates calls and tells us that some anonymous white truck just picked him up and carried him away (ohmigosh our investigator just got kidnapped!) Well, that wasn't the case - one of our members had run back and picked him up. He was present and well for his confirmation in sacrament. 

Then Hermana realized that she has to give talk on service in five minutes, and I notice that our pianist (a youth volunteer from the English Program - I'm conducting) has chosen a few hymns that are either 1) not in Spanish or 2) drastically different in Spanish.

Ok, Miracle of the Month.

That same Sunday, we get a call from Zone Leaders: they just re-directed a Spanish-speaking couple our way. We're ok with that, but in a panic about Agustin. So we finally meet them after sacrament. He's super-inactive, she's not enthusiastic, and does not look happy to see us. We set an appointment for Tuesday.

(We learn later that she has had several exposures to the church and the missionaries, mainly through his family, and after church and almost directly before our appointment, she tells her husband that she wants to take the lessons super slow, and does not want to be pushed towards baptism.)
We meet for our appointment in Crystal Lake chapel. President Olvera (branch president and super-supporter of the work) comes along. The lesson starts well enough (she seems happier) and we settle into teaching about the restoration. She takes it all very well, and we begin talking about prayers and answers. He shares an amazing experience about praying to understand Joseph Smith's place in our beliefs, and receiving an answer. She tearfully concludes that she knows that Joseph was a prophet. we ask her to be baptized on October 23, and she says the sooner the better. We ask if the 9th is too soon, she says it might be, she'll check her schedule. Meanwhile her husband unswalows his tongue (he's been in silent shock ever since we asked the baptismal question) and shares a few similar experiences from his mission (which he had had to end early due to health issues). He basically testifies that we've been called of God, and that he knows that when missionaries work hard, miracles happen. He holds back his tears, but sincerely thanks us for our sacrifice. He then offers a sweet closing prayer, and does a brief interview with the branch president.

Ok, you may now be wondering why on earth I say the sky is falling when we're seeing miracles. It has nothing to do with the huge thunderstorms we've been having (we've had to pull off the road several times this month due to extreme rain and wind). The other night we had just finished an appointment, and were outside talking with an investigator outside of a Burger King when something black falls out of the night sky and lands with a "slap" in the parking lot... and then crawls a few inches. I'm the only one to see it. At first I think it's a frog, but there hasn't been a tornado in over a week. Maybe a leaf blown in the wind?... but there are no trees nearby, and it's not that windy. I go over and look, confusing both my companion and the investigator. I get close enough to see, bend over, and then declare that it is a bat. (Except I don't know how to say bat in Spanish, so I just say bat, which I think just made them more confused.) They come look, and say that it's a "Morcieloga" (I think I've got that right.) I reach out to touch it (you know me) and Hermana freaks out a little, saying it's going to suck my blood. I firmly correct that myth. The little brown bat bares its teeth at me but barely moves as I gently touch its back. I think it was hurt, but what could I do? if dogs and cats are to be avoided, bats are definitely off limits. We leave it laying there in the parking lot.

Ok, that's all I've got. Have a wonderful week.

(PS - Halloween is coming up, and I want pictures!!!)

Hermana Maren Jones

Email Received September 15, 2010

The sister side of the mission is in an excited frenzy. The dress code has changed!
Most of the changes are minor, but the example images are much more updated, and a lot better. No more powder-pink suit jackets!

Major changes include:

1.    Nylons are not required (although the mission president says we still must wear them to all meetings. this is in addition to his rule that sisters must wear suit jackets to meetings.)

2.    Slightly shorter skirts are allowed - covering the knee when sitting, instead of mid-calf. (not that any of us were huge on this rule - not even Sister Doll.)

3.    (And this is the big one) instead of repeatedly using the words "dark and conservative colors" they are using "bright" or "colorful." this includes shoes.

One of my favorite parts is that boots are no longer restricted. Not that there's much I can do about that at this point.

Everyone is thrilled. I even had a visiting stake-president comment to me on it. We've all had the thing happen where people think we're nuns of some kind, but with the new rules, that's just not going to happen.

I can think of a few items I would like, but there's no rush to get me them.

We had a spectacular Zone conference last week, showing us how to break down out numbers and use them to set long-term goals. Hermana and I want to triple the number of contacts we make each week, but we're having issues trying to just set aside time for contacting. We've been blessed with a large investigator pool (about 20 individuals) and most of them are trying for baptism.

Which brings us to another issue, I want some advice on. As you know, we've been working with the English program, which as a grand total of 2 investigators, one of which is the wife of one of a recent convert, who just started the lessons later than her husband, and is progressing a little more slowly. Now, we've not been doing a whole lot of time finding - we've been getting a long and steady stream of referrals from the Spanish program this past month - so we've not been able to expand the pool. knowing how little time we had to use the area, we decided to work the referrals first. We selected a several of the more prominent and diligent members of the English program and gave them a "Three-invite card," on which they were to record three names of people they were to invite to SOMETHING that week (dinner, FHE, church, mutual.) They were to then call us and report three things: 1) who was it, 2) did they accept, and 3) did they want us there. NO ONE DID IT. I was shocked. This is a ward, not a branch; they have a full complement of leaders, 60% visiting teaching, and all their meetings start on time. What did we miss?

We went to the Relief Society for the first time this past Sunday - We'd been all over the place the other weeks - and I was surprised to find that the sisters were just barely coolly polite to each other. I knew that wasn't the case among the Brethren - we'd seen them jovially shaking hands and we often heard laughs come from their priesthood meeting, even before I was in the English program.

How do we get the fire of love and charity into these people?

Way over time; love you all. Keep being awesome.

sis. Jones

Email Received September 9, 2010

I feel like our investigator pool has been shuffled. A lot of new people who had huge potential just disappeared and a lot of old investigators have shown up in new places, and are eager to try again. We're also anticipating a bit of an elevator effect as some of our pool works toward baptism.

We've had some fun this week. In particular, we've seen our good friend, Mariana, all over the place this week.

Mariana is 3. She's the granddaughter of one of our members. Her mother (not a member) is almost always at work, so Mariana is being raised by and large by her grandparents, whom she calls "'Lito" (short for Abuelito) and "'Ila" (short and slightly mangled for Abuelita). However, her grandparents also work, if not the hours that her mom does. As a result, she is often being cared for by others. The funny part is that it seems like we're always running into her. We've met her out knocking, visiting different investigators, and looking for referrals. It seems like as long as we're in Harvard, there's a 90% chance of running into her that day. Add to that, her grandmother brings her along when she comes with us to appointments, so we see Mariana about three or four times a week. As a result, Mairana has leaned that I usually carry crayons, paper, and a picture book with me, and if not, always have my scripture-marking pens and left-over coordination sheets that she can use. She is very careful to return all these supplies to me, and has learned to ask very quietly for them during lessons and church. For this service, she has memorized my name, and I frequently hear her calling for "Hermana Jones!" when I enter a building. I think this irks my companion, because she's been in Woodstock for as long as I've been on my mission, and Mariana still doesn't know her name.

Out of time. Remind me to tell you about the FHE & Blitz we did next week.

Love you all. Hope School is treating you well. Kudos goes to Myr for writing. ^_^

Hermana Maren Jones

Email September 1, 2010

Huh.

Well, not a lot has happened on my end. I'm still being eaten alive, and in our attempt to get to know the new ward, we’ve been in double the number of meetings. In short, we've been very busy doing not a whole lot.

We've been introduced to the misnamed "three-card invite," which is ONE card, on which are three places where members put 3 names of people they are going to invite to SOMETHING (FHE, dinner, Mutual, church, etc.). The card has our number on it, and members are to call us at the end of the week, and to let us know how it went. No luck yet, but we're still fishing.

I would like to comment that the illegal immigration problem is making everyone jumpy, and there was a member (not in the state of Illinois) who said some, in my humble opinion, very stupid, short-sided remarks very publicly, which we gently have to explain are NOT the opinion of the church.  But this and a few other incidents have drawn my attention to the fact that as members, we ALWAYS represent Christ and his Church, whether we have a name-badge on or not. We need to behave as such at all times.
On the other hand, Members are People, humans, wonderfully flawed and pleasantly challenging. I mean, I'm sure you all can make a wonderful list of my shortcomings. We must have tolerance for others weaknesses, and support each other mutually.

Now I'm going to say something a little harsh:

Every once in a while, one will find some bad members. Someday, you will meet some member that is obnoxious, insulting, inconsiderate, or maybe just downright mean. They may even have a significant calling - they may even be your companion. (I'm quite lucky in that all of my companions are wonderful.) You, and possibly others, will be genuinely wronged and hurt by this member. You will be offended.
The question is, what will you do?

I'm not trying to justify these shortcomings. I'm trying to explain how to deal with them. We all know the celestial standard is perfection, and most of us strive for it, counting on Christ to make up the difference. (For more on the topic, I highly recommend the book "Believing Christ.") But what happens when we see this person, and are hurt by them, perhaps not once, but repeatedly?

We HAVE to forgive them. We HAVE to let go of all that pain and hurt, and we HAVE to resolve that we will maintain our own spirituality. We have to decide to do it NOW, before we ever meet that member, because if not, and I kid you not, THE FATE OF THE WHOLE WARD IS AT STAKE! I have seen several instances where THE INABLILTY TO FORGIVE drags down the whole organization. The offender causes a small if potent spark, which will wither and die if left on its own; without fuel, it will not do anything. THE OFFENDER DOES NOT CAUSE THE FAILURE. But when we take that spark, and hold it close - hold it as a grudge - WE START A BLAZE that too many times we lack the strength to put out. The fire spreads, and can very quickly destroy everything we hold dear, and can in many cases destroy the lives of those around us as well.

I turn to the example of the Twelve Apostles. These elect-of-the-elect basked in the brilliant glow of the Savior's personal ministration for three years, as did many others of the leaders of the church. But even among them, there was a thief and a traitor. Judas Iscariot offended many, and committed the Unpardonable Sin on a scale that makes Sherem's work as an Anti-Christ pale in comparison. Now, what did the members of the Church do in response? Did they say to themselves "No church that has leaders like that can be true?" Did they say "I don't want to go to the same church as Judas? I'm going back to being Jewish?"

No! Their world was just as rife with corruption as ours; they understood clearly that even the very elect were subject to some of the same temptations as the wicked, and that there was always the chance that they would give in. Instead, they clung to their testimonies, declaring the righteousness of the prophets and the saving Grace of Christ.

Don't think this is an extreme case, 'cause it's not. I've seen too many people who have let one offense destroy their testimony, and in the process have destroyed the testimony of all those around them. Offense is poisonous for all involved - the offender, the offended, and anyone who happens to fall in the cross-fire.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE< THE BOOK IS BLUE< AND DON"T LET ANYONE TAKE THAT WAY FROM YOU.

End rant.

Not that any of you deserve it, but I needed to get that out of my system. Let me know what responses you guys have to it.

Love you all, and I love the Mish. I have no idea how I'm going to live without it.

Oh, I'm not sure if I told any of you, but I've finally decided what career I want to peruse. Actually, I came to the conclusion several months ago, but as I'm not entirely sure how to get there, I've kept relatively quiet.

I want to design video games.

And on that controversial thought, I wish you a very merry school year.

Sincerely,

Hermana Jones