Best UnThanksgiving I've Ever Had!

​Olá Todos!!! 


This week was a good, tiring, hard, and rewarding week!! 

We had THANKSGIVING!!! But not really because it doesn't exist here haha. But Sister Conrad and I were determined so we planned a ward activity for our small group in Mafra for Thursday night and called it a Noite de Gratidão. And it was a success!! The only problem is that Mafra has 4 active members, and only one lives in Mafra itself and she works TANTO! The others live in cities close, but we need an autocarro to get there so its hard for them! So Sister Conrad and I threw the whole activity ourselves. We made a craft which was jars of gratitude. We wrote ideas on 30 little slips of paper things that they can pull out everyday and then write in a gratitude journal. We brought things to decorate it with and called it a day! We also spent almost all morning of the actitivy in the kitchen making treats (we decided not to try to do turkey and a full meal based on our rice cooking skills) So we only did chocolate chip cookies, and our spin off of apple pie with the lack of ingredients they have here in Portugal. Both things are very American and everyone loved it!! We had 11 people at the activity which is pretty much a record and 2 non members too!! They all brought treats too so we had a great night of laughs, gratitude, and food. It was so much better than I thought it was going to be and I returned to our apartment that night full of food, love, and joy. I was  sad in the morning missing my family (especially because they were in freaking HAWAII) and was kinda feeling sorry for myself, but once I focused on all of the blessings I have I snapped out of it and had a great day!!! Was a Thanksgiving I will never forget!! 

Also this week I have experienced more rain than my whole life in California I think! But I bought a cool transperent umbrella so I was pretty stoked to use it. But I think its time to invest in some rain boots because winter is upon us now. 

This semana was hard because we had to drop 2 of my favoirte investigators because they weren't progressing and I was so sad about it, but we have seen some amazing blessings in our lives and work after we dropped them so I know it was the right thing and we can't waste our time, or the Lords, on people who are not ready. 

Remember when like 2 weeks ago when Sister Conrad and I couldnt even make rice?? Well yesterday we made ARROZ DOCE without a recipe so who says you don't change on your mission??

This week was full of sacrifices which are SO HARD but I know that the Lord rewards us so much when we sacrifice and I have felt that SO much this week. Always have faith in the Lord and His plan!!! 

Sister Jones ~

Pictures are our activity and our jars of gratitude, and then the other sisters in our district! 

DIA DE GRAÇAS

HELLO!!! Wow this week was a crazy one. Basically everyday of the week was one of those days you and your companion cant even say a prayer without bursting into laughs because so many crazy and funny things happened!! 

We started off our week in Mem Martins on Monday, and then went to Lisboa on Tuesday for a special meeting for our zone. Basically our zone was chosen to be the guinea pig for a new conference, which is basically 4 hours of practicas with the president, his wife, and the assistantes. Sister Conrad and I were basically freaking out before it started because we had to give all 5 lessons and they evaluated us and it was so scary!! But we learned so much and I am so grateful for it now!! But talk about panic attack for the week leading up to the conference.

Then we returned to Mafra and on Wednesday we were preparing to have a normal work day and were doing our estudos in the morning, so it was silent in our apartment and then all the sudden the heater fan we have (Portugal is freezing if you were wondering) started sparking and then a LEGIT FIRE started in the heater. We both jumped up so fast and I quickly unplugged it. Wow, was MALOUCO. But it put itself out and left behind a LOVELY stench that I am pretty sure is still in our apartment. 

But after this heater thing we decided to put our foot down and call the office about this heater and our washing machine that’s had problems for a long time. They sent a senior couple out to look at it and they don’t speak Portuguese that great right now so it was all in English and it was SO hard. It’s been 2 months since I have had a conversation in English so it was like a weird mix of English and Portuguese and was so funny. Basically I am not fluent in Portuguese or English now so yes its great!! But they got us a new washer and heater (and we can actually have clean clothes now its a MILAGRE!!)

On Saturday we had to teach a lesson IN ENGLISH (which was pretty much a train wreck)! To a man who is from Belgium so it was only Dutch or English so we chose English. It was SO hard because I have never taught a missionary lesson in English and all of my filler words were in Portuguese it was so bad and also SO FUNNY. It was probably the funniest lesson I have ever had because he was literally so funny. Man teaching him will be an adventure because as we taught him he had a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. Oh man yea made for a great story that’s for sure. We asked him to say the closing prayer and basically the prayer was all about Sister Conrad and mine loves life (literally so many people are interested in our love lives its so funny) and then at the end of the prayer he was like "Please bring them the GOOD BOYS (really exaggerated)... they deserve it" and Sister Conrad and I lost it. We could not hold it together it was SO funny. Definitely the funniest prayer I have ever heard, especially on my behalf. Man this week was so funny I wish I could explain all the crazy things that have happened with Sister Cones (Conrad and Jones.. duh). Man life is a great adventure with us that's for sure.

On Sunday a member brought a friend who only speaks English so I had to translate for him and wow it was so hard. I didn’t realize how much Portuguese I actually know until this week. I have finally reached the point where I can think in Portuguese and can speak without having to translate my thoughts so then this week it was all thrown off with all this English but tudo bem. 

Um but this week was good!!! Oh also Ingrid Gubler is the girl that Kim Thomas talked about a lot before my mission because they are all in the same ward! I know her and will actually see her tomorrow at Conferencia de zona. She is serving in the area that Sister Conrad served in last. They weren’t companions but they lived together. She is way sweet!! 

ALSO THIS WEEK IS DIA DE GRAÇAS!!! They don’t have in Portugal which I am a little sad about but we are having a ward (actually a group here in Mafra haha) activity with some Thanksgiving activities to bring our home here!! This year I am so thankful to have grown up in a home that always had the spirit and for my wonderful family who I miss so much. I will miss Thanksgiving so much with you guys. Holidays are not the same without family that’s for sure.  Also so thankful for the Savior and the fact that through Him I can change everyday and be better and truly be transformed as I use the Atonement in my life everyday!! 

Oh also as I was praying this week during a lesson a dog attacked my face with kisses and I freaked out during the prayer and could not hold it together. My life is a joke here in Portugal when literally every single person has a freaking cão. so yea that was fun. 

LOVE YOU ALL!! HAVE A GOOD THANKSGIVING! 

Sister Jones 

Pictures of us celebrating one year of being a missionary for Sister Conrad and then our awesome Christmas tree. You gotta be creative when you don’t have any money

Zona Cacem

Seven Times a Charm!

OLÀ!!!

This week Sister Conrad and I made rice!! After 7 tries it finally worked and we learned!! It sounds stupid but we were under special circumstances here in Portugal. .Don’t worry I know how to make rice at home but it is different here because stove tops are very different and things burn in like 5 minutes. 

But don’t fret we got it. 

Also we have basically lived in Mem Martins this week. We have divisions there for 2 days last week. And we are here now and have divisions tonight and then Lisbon tomorrow to have a special training with our zone. A little nervous but excited to learn more!! The special training is basically going to be practicas with the president, his wife, and the assistants so I am only freaking out a little bit. Its so scary but I mean what’s the worst that could happen.. they kick us out of the field?? haha I hope not. 

Last night we decorated our house for Christmas but we don’t have any decorations so we hung lights around a coatrack and called it a Christmas tree so that’s awesome. We also made brownies and sang Christmas music very loud. LOVE NATAL!!

Taught a family this week full of girls and it was so fun and so happy!!! And so distracting but tudo bem!! I already love them and the fact that all the little girls fight for attention during our lessons. It’s so cute I am so excited to keep teaching them. But the 1 year old kept asking me to hold her and I wanted to so bad but I cant because of our rule and it literally broke my heart. 

But yea this week was good! We found a family and they were so nice! We taught 2 lessons to them and we want to continue to teach them so I really hope so! This week I have really seen how the Lord guides us and inspires us to go to certain houses or call certain people at the right time. We visited a menos ativa (less active) this week and she lives alone and I really think she just needed someone to talk to and she is so awesome. She has such a strong testimony but cant go to church because of work so she only comes like once every few months. She was so sweet and like a grandma to us. 

Yesterday at church we had 15 people and I looked around and was like wow we got a full house here. Really funny because I was serious. That is way more than normal! But none of our menos ativas or investigators came but we are working! We are having an activity next week to hopefully help our menos activas and our investigators at the same time!! We want to respark the group and get them excited about all the exciting work that is taking place. 

Everyday we have one hour of personal study where I study my scriptures in English, but I study PMG (Preach my Gospel) in Portuguese because I can understand close to everything. Then we have an hour of companion study all in Portuguese. Then we have an hour of training, which is basically practicas. Then after lunch we have an hour of language study where I study the language. Sometimes we study alone or together. After this transfer I still have language study everyday but it will be for 30 minutes. But I can understand so much more and can speak without having to think about what I will say sometimes. I know a lot more than I did even 2 weeks ago. I don’t have a specific thing I am studying. I want to finish the book of Mormon in English so I can start in Portuguese so I am in 3 Nephi right now but only read like one chapter a day and then study PMG to help our investigators so it changes depending on the day. 

We found some really cool people to teach this week and had a lot of fun teaching them and preparing future lessons. The work here in Mafra is not the easiest but we know the Lord has people prepared here for our message and will help up find them. I am learning so much this transfer about myself, how to work smarter, and the Lord. This transfer has been SO HARD but also been SO REWARDING and I am so ready to keep working hard and trying to be better everday. So grateful for this opportunity I have to learn so much every day!! 

Have a great week!! Love you all!!

Sister Jones 

P.S.- Yes I heard about Donald Trump- Its pretty sad and crazy. I am glad I am not in America now and have to deal with all of the protesting and stuff. I bet its horrible. People dont really talk about it here so I dont know close to nothing about it but its better that way. 

PSS- I am trying to video so it will be like Christmas for you!

Three months in the mission and I still can’t make rice!

Sister Jones and Sister Conrad

OLÀ!!!!!!!!

This week was good!! Still use the map A LOT but we have been able to find all the addresses we need and some days I don’t even need the map to find an address so yes progress!!! But other days we look like tourists as 2 Americans wonder around the city looking at every street sign HAHA but é vida. ~

But this week was good! We had TWO meals this week, which doesn’t happen often, and they were both so good so it was a great week. . People here eat A LOT its really funny. We get a lot of Brazilian food which is literally just rice beans and meat but some how the way they make it is SO GOOD!!! I think after my mission I need to move to Brazil because the food there is literally incredible. 

Also it’s really good that we had meals because I Sister Conrad and I are literally a joke in the kitchen. So like I mentioned last week we tried rice and literally failed so hard. So we literally dedicated our hour of almoço to making rice 4 different days this week and still failed. But don’t worry we asked an investigator what we are doing wrong and I think we learned. SO this week we are going to buy more and we are going to make rice and it will be amazing. HAHAHA yea our lives may be a tad pathetic but its okay. When I return home I will now how to make rice!! Just wait. ~

Also this week we realized we have close to no investigators that are progressing in Mafra. It’s no secret that Mafra is the hardest area in the mission. I tried really hard not to believe that but its true. The people here are not the most receptive and so we will give a few lessons but not many to people before they drop us or we have to drop them because they aren’t keeping commitments. That’s the hardest because there are people I LOVE that just won’t do anything so we can’t waste our time on them but its really hard to accept that at times. 

We have some in other areas that have much more potential so we decided we need to buy bus passes so we can visit these people more often. But bus passes in Mafra are SO expensive so we will probably be starving by the end of the month but tudo bem because I am so excited about the fact that we can visit anyone any day we want!! Its so freeing and I think it will help our work a lot!! YEA!!

Also this week we basically decided that we need to dedicate a lot of time to inactive members in the branch. We only have 2 fully active members in Mafra and then 1 in a city fairly close. But we have literally so so so many inactive members. It’s hard because a lot of them have been offended by people in the church, but still have a testimony. But we are trying to visit them a lot more and are really focusing on bringing the spirit back to their home. AND THEN YESTERDAY at church LUCAS and ALICE came to church!! For Alice it was her first time in over a year!!!! When she walked in I was shocked because Sister Santos and I worked with her every week for 6 weeks and saw no progress but but AHH!! and the Lucas came too! He is 19 and has a really strong testimony but the only member in his family and he’s just kinda lazy so it’s hard for him to wake up in time. But he is awesome and we are focusing on helping him be prepared for the priesthood. But I already have such a love for all the menos activos and really want to help them so I am excited and ready to really try to reactivate them!! 

Also this week has been a week of cão (dog). Which is a huge bummer because bother Sister Conrad and I HATE dogs so it’s the worst. Literally every time we see a dog in the street we freak out a little bit and I swear every person we teach has a dog it’s the WORST! Also really funny when 2 young adults are screaming in the street because a dog keeps coming up to them. We are way to similar its actually a problem hahaha

A few answers to questions Mom asked:

I don’t get as many emails as much but I still get a lot more than I expected. A lot are the same people every week but sometimes other people surprise me and so it’s really nice. 

I already miss the temple so much so I know in a few more months I will miss it so much. Already can’t wait to go when I return. 

Also okay I was thinking about things for Christmas I want pictures!! Literally so many of anything! Funny family pictures selfies literally any pictures that are old or recent. Pictures are gold here and I regret not bringing that many so much!! Also idk if you guys know how to do this but videos on a flashdrive. Like The Best 2 Years or good Disney movies on a flashdrive so we can watch on Pday. You will probably have to ask people how to do that and if you cant figure it out its totally fine. Also last thing is I want things that are sentimental and maybe cheesy?? I know that’s lame but Christmas here will be so different than at home so I want things that will remind me of home and notes and cards from you guys are great always. Okay I know that’s a lot so I don’t need all of that haha I feel greedy right now 

  

BUT YEA! That was my week. Nothing too exciting to report on. Its hard out here in Mafra but we try everyday to work harder and be better and try to find the people that the Lord has prepared for us.