Meeting my trainer, Sister Mottlova for the first time. If I only knew what was ahead of me :)
I survived my first week in the field YAY! Wow missionary work is tough. On Wednesday I was assigned to my trainer, Sister Mottlovà. She is 25, from Czech Rupublic, and was baptized two years ago. We were assigned to the Sheffield area, about a hour south of Leeds.
On Thursday, my first full day in the field, we went to teach a Czech family. The woman's Muslim brother was there so it didn't go quite as planned. We were in a heat wave and no one has AC, so it was blistering hot, everyone was speaking in Czech, and the man was yelling at me and pointing to the Koran. I had no idea what was going on. Hopefully that doesn't happen with every lesson, ha.
The past few days have consisted of following my companion around in the rain, getting on random buses, and trying to have enough confidence to start conversations with strangers. This will definitely take some time to adjust to but I am trying hard to improve!
On Sunday we experienced a small miracle. We were able to bring two friends,
S & J, to church with us. 5 minutes after the meeting started, a Slovak family showed up. We have been contacting them this past week but with no success. They came with 3 of their children, and told us they wanted to bring their other 3 but they didn't have room in the car! I couldn't believe we had 7 people at church with us... that may set the record for my whole mission!
I have been studying about charity this week in hopes to increase my ability to love, to judge less, and become more christlike. In Moroni 7:48 it says, "...pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ...". I love this scripture because it shows that we are not naturally charitable. The natural man is selfish, judgmental, and prideful. But when we pray for this love, HE can fill us with it. I hope that as I serve God's children, that he can fill me with his charity. Missionary work is hard. It is humbling. It requires patience, resilience, diligence, and so much faith. But because the gospel is true, the work is worth it. It only makes sense that others have the opportunity to have the happiness and peace we find in this gospel.
Hope all is well in America... I miss my country! Cheers!
Sister Eliza Jones
(Ps: Have you heard of the 21 day Book of Mormon challenge? If you want to change up your scripture reading a little, look it up on the church website! It helps answer many of the soul searching questions people have.)
A gift from my trainer Sister Mottlovà
Cow and Calf Hill, Sheffield England
Ani and Visi, our two friends we are teaching from Albania. I convinced my comp to let them go as I realized they were mostly just interested in her, not the church. Sister Mottlova ended up marrying Ani (the blonde...).
The Macko Family. Our sweet Slovak friends that came to church
Football in the park with friends
A good ol' mission salad
Tried to make some broccoli...future wife status!
A classic roast dinner from Toby's carvery
Gotta love the England rain
President M. Kirk Green and Sister Sally T. Green. (New Mission Presidents) England Leeds Mission
Last week in the MTC! The past few weeks flew by. This week we had the opportunity to go on a church history tour around Lanchisire. It was my first time out in the countryside and it was even prettier than what I dreamed it would be. Sheep grazing, rain falling, rolling green hills.... Enlgand is enchanting. We visited sites and old churches where the gospel was preached, and the River Ribbel where the very first saints in England were baptized. It was incredible!
The River Ribble where the first saints were baptized in all of England
The spirit was so strong in the MTC this week. On Wednesday we had the opportunity to have two members of the Area Seventy come and speak to us. The first, Elder Baxter said something that really stuck with me. He said, "You may feel inadequate. You are. You may feel like you don't know enough. You don't." But this isn't our gospel, it's his. Don't worry about your adequacy and knowledge, just get to work and find out what he needs you to do. I love this! We are so reliant on the spirit for this work.
I also loved what Elder Hirst shared about D&C 121:38. "Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against god." He compared kicking against the pricks to complaining when things don't go our way. Persecuting the saints is blaming others, and fighting against God is asking, "why me?" When things start to get challenging in our lives, many of us tend to complain, point fingers, and complain to God that it isn't fair. But when we become victims of difficulty, we are giving into the adversary. Let us be active agents in the face of adversity. What an empowering thought!
Lastly, I wanted to share an experience I had on Friday. Sister Johnson and I taught our last lesson to Eron. As we testified of the individuality of the atonement, the spirit was undeniable. All three of us were in tears. This was the moment I realized why I'm here. My heart was fuller than it has been. Helping someone feel Christ's love is an indescribable feeling. I love this gospel! I love the light it brings into my life and I'm excited to share that.
Cheers! Sister Jones
My district
I made 36 of these for each Elder... the sisters ended up wanting them too!
Sister Johnson and I were in charge of the music at the MTC. I thought that so many people participated because we were really enthusiastic... I think it was actually because they thought Sister Johnson was cute. HA!
I love the Tahitian Sisters
Sisters in the Preston MTC
England Leeds Mission: Leaving the Preston MTC July 23, 2019
This week went by faster than last. Every day we spend around 7-8 hours in class and studying. I've really enjoyed getting to know the missionaries here and here about their cultures.
One night after class, we held a mini dance workshop in the Sister's hall where a few different girls taught some cultural dances. Sister Tahiro taught us how to dance Tahitian style, Sister Shaheed taught us Indian, and Sister Paiva showed us some Brazilian moves. It was so much fun!
Tahitian Sisters teaching a traditional island dance
• Ballet with Beisinger (A professional Ballet Dancer from NYC)
For exercise time, I invented a new routine called the 10-9-8. It's 10 laps around the field, 90 crunches, 80 squats, and it goes all the way down to 1 minute plank. I started doing it on my own, but now a big group of Elders and Sisters have started doing it with me! They all think I should be a fitness trainer..Haha!
First Proselyting Experience with my companion Sister Johnson
Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the heart of Machester and proselyte for the first time. I was so nervous. But I felt the Lord giving me confidence as I opened my mouth. I even gave a Book of Mormon away! We talked with Jehovah Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Christians and non-believers. It was such an eye-opening experience.
At the end of the day, Sister Johnson and I ended up talking to a retired police officer for about 45 minutes. We could tell he was lonely since he didn't have much to do, and that he just needed someone to talk to. When we mentioned The Book of Mormon, he said his daughter saw the play the previous night! I know the play isn't a great representation of the church, but at least it brought some familiarity to the conversation. Although not much came out of this experience, I felt really good that we planted a small seed in this man by giving him a good experience talking to missionaries.
Watching recordings of our practice teaching in the MTC eek!
Lastly, I want to share a message that Elder Bednar gives in a missionary devotional. He says that missionaries worry too much about whether the Holy Ghost is prompting them, or that it is their own thoughts. But we need to stop worrying about that. The Spirit isn't going to slap us in the face every time it needs us to say or do something. As representatives of the Lord, he increasingly trusts us to use our best judgement in what we say or do. In D&C 80:6 it reads, "Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss." All we need to do as missionaries is be good, follow the rules, keep the commandments, and try our best. When we are doing those things, the spirit will be in our thoughts and judgement. I love that promise! I have been struggling to recognize the voice of the spirit here, especially as I teach, but I know that with time I will learn to trust it's voice and follow it's promptings.
Regarless of the strange stares we get everywhere we go, I am so grateful to represent Jesus Christ! Cheers! Sister Jones
Preston Temple
MTC roommates!
My Room in the Preston MTC
BEAUTIFUL ENGLAND!!
Peter Rabbit sweater (too cute!)
Typical Meal in England. Meat pie with mash and veggies. Gravy to top it all off.
Hello everyone! I made it through my first week! The Preston MTC is awesome. The days feel like weeks but the missionaries and teachers here are so kind. Since there are only 56 missionaries here, we have gotten really close already. There are Elders and Sisters from Denmark, Pakistan, Germany, New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, Tahiti, Italy, Russia, Peru, England, Scotland and Canada.
My district at the MTC
Many different accents and cultures! On my first day here, we had the opportunity to go to the Preston temple, which is just up the street from the MTC. The temple ground are beautiful. There are massive hedges and hydrangeas, paths with trellises filled with roses... it looks like a story book.
My companion's name is Sister Johnson. She goes to BYU and is a contemporary dance major! I am so lucky to be her companion...we have so much in common! We were assigned as the music leaders over the whole MTC so we are in charge of putting together musical numbers and leading choir practice. 5 minutes after I learned of my calling, 40 people filed in for choir practice. For anyone who knows me, I do not have much knowledge on how to lead a choir practice HAHA! But I just went with it and acted like I knew what I was doing.
The food here is, well, not great. The cooks are very kind though. The other night we had fish pasta that included a lot of tiny bones. Yum. Also, you should be SO proud of me because I cut all my chicken off a bone the other day! (For anyone who doesn't know, I am NOT a fan of meat on a bone.) On the 4th, the cooks made it really special for us and threw a 4th of July BBQ. We had sausages in pretzel rolls, USA potato salad, and a lot of funky desserts including chocolate bananas on skewers. In was very far from an American 4th of July, but we appreciated the effort.
A British attempt at a 4th of July BBQ. Notice the "USA potato salad" and "New York Pasta Salad". They also had brauts and fried bananas? The only accurate 4th of July food was watermelon.
I am already starting to see why missions are so hard, but I am so grateful for the spirit I feel here in the MTC. Fast and testimony meeting was so powerful this past Sunday. I was touched by the elders and sisters that spoke in broken English and bore simple testimonies of their love for God. We also had a really special opportunity to go to a new convert fireside. Every sixth months in Manchester they take 10-15 new converts and have them share their conversion stories. Each convert talked about the way that the gospel made them FEEL. When they talked to the missionaries or read the Book of Mormon, they felt something very peaceful, happy, powerful, etc. I am so grateful for the genuine and simple testimonies of these members.
My entire group at the Preston, MTC.
In the MTC, there are actors who come in so we can practice teaching investigators. Let me just say, I did NOT realize how hard it is to teach. I thought that since I was speaking English, it wouldn't be too difficult. But it is miles harder than I ever thought it would be. Yesterday I taught my third lesson, and I was feeling really down afterwards. It didn't go very smoothly, and I had a lot of trouble trying to introduce the gospel to our investigator. I began to ask myself how in the world I would be able to do this in REAL situations. I felt so inadequate. But in the temple this morning, I read Alma 26. In verse 27 it says, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethern, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." Even though I am weak in speaking and teaching, I am trusting that the Lord will be able to work through me. I do not feel adequate enough to be teaching the gospel, but I have faith that the Lord can help me.
Thank you for the emails and prayers, I really appreciate it! Feel free to shoot me an email any time during the week. I can read them any day, I just can't respond until Pday. Have a great week!
Sister Jones
My first fish n' chips!
Authentic Fish n' chips. Wish mushy peas and yellow curry of course!
Eliza was able to call on July 4th and called us on her pday which is Tuesday in the MTC. I can't believe we are actually able to face time her!! Seeing her face each week is so incredible to me! We are used to Jamison & Abby's mission where we wait for Christmas and Mothers Day to talk to them. It was so wonderful as her siblings were able to give her advice on how to approach people. This new way of connecting with Eliza helps our family be involved in her mission. It helps us be more prayerful and missionary minded as well.
