November 4, 2013 - Pleasant Hills So.

November 4, 2013

Hello!

So this week was really good! To start we had a really awesome lesson with Linda and her husband Stan, we taught about the restoration and they really seemed to enjoy the lesson! What is way cool though is that Linda was already reading the Book of Mormon before we even met her! And she has been really liking it, so we committed her to keep reading it and she said that she would and we encouraged her to pray about the things she reads and also about Joseph Smith, Stan has already read the Book of Mormon before but he committed to start reading it again as well! We also invited them to be baptized and they said they need to pray about that, but if they felt from God that they needed to then of course they would which is cool because that's totally going to happen! Whoo!

We also had a really great lesson with Yuritza this week, we taught her lesson 3 - The Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went so well! She, in previous lessons, had told us that she was already baptized and just kept giving the impression that she didn't want to again, but in this lessons she kept asking about it and had us re-explain to her why baptism is important and why the proper authority is important.  We decided to read with her the sacrament prayers and that helped her to better understand the covenant of baptism. By the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized again and she said that she would pray and ask God if it was right and that she would work toward the date we had given her, so we will see how that goes!

The Trunk-or-Treat activity was also this week and that went really well! We combined with the Poinciana ward and had it at our building. There were so many games and treats and food, so that made it really fun for everyone and there were SO many non members there so that was way cool! Sister Baker and I also went crazy calling and texting all the less active families in the area to come and some of them ended up coming! We also tracted into a man named Tony last week who was baptized 18 or 20 years ago and never came back to church and we invited him and his daughter to the Trunk-or-Treat and they showed up and brought like 6 non members friends haha it was sooo cool!!!!!

So what was way cool this week is, I guess in this area the missionaries have never really had a good relationship with the ward members and working together, and that is something I have been way noticing. So obviously that bothered me way bad, like hello we are supposed to be working together! So on Saturday the RS 1st Counselor Sister Smith had a training at her house of the RS teachers and we were invited to help and I was way excited because that is the perfect place to get appointments and network I guess and so at this meeting brunch thing we made a goal that we weren't leaving until we had an appointment with ever sister in that room and BOOM! We got it! Tomorrow we will start with Sister Gomez the RS President and Sister Smith the counselor and that way we can get to know them better and ask them what we can do to help them and the sisters in the ward, we really need to build trust with these ladies so that they can feel comfortable calling us to go and visit members and do whatever else they need, because we are here to help! We also made goals to get around and visit members more, so that we can build strong relationships with them, because zero of the missionaries in this ward do and that needs to change PRONTO! 

The last really cool thing that happened this week is that we were able to provide service for a woman we are teaching named Gevina, her sister in law had a kidney and liver transplant and just moved into a new place by the high school, and needed help moving and cleaning things like that and let me tell you uggh, that place was unlivable when we started cleaning it, truly dirty and it made me so OCD and sad because she needs things really sterile and it was just so dirty, so Sister Baker and I scrubbed that place with bleach the best we could so that she (Brenda) does not get sick. It made me think about you mom and how clean everything has to be so you don't get sick and I just felt so sad for Brenda, so we really helped things look nice even though it is still quite run down. I hope that this place serves her well and that she can recover here! Well that's all I have time to write about this week! I love you all!!!

Sister Jamison  

October 28, 2013 -Companion w/Sister Baker

Hey Family,

So this week was good! It is the first week of the transfer and I am still here with Sister Baker! YAY!!!!

So lets see, this week we had a good lesson with Jeff and Anthony! We decided that we needed to read the Book of Mormon with them and it was so awesome because Jeff's wife Jessy joined in with us which she never does so that was awesome! Jeff kept talking about how he really loves to read mystery book and action books and how he was excited to start reading the Book of Mormon, because if its anything like the Bible there will be a lot of killing and wars, haha it was kinda funny but we helped him to understand why there were so many contentions. It was also cool because when we got there Jeff asked if he could say one of the prayers and Anthony wanted to say the opening prayer, sweet! Jeff enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon but he wasn't too good at reading, because of the old English and such it was kind of tripping him up, which it does any person who is not familiar with reading scripture, so Jessy his wife was getting frustrated and was like here just let me read! So they all took turns reading and it was soo cool because Jessy was the one who was explaining what was going on and helping Jeff and Anthony to understand. Way cool, they also are way excited about coming to our wards Trunk-or-Treat on Wednesday and that will be so good, because then they can come to the church and meet people without the Sunday church setting, which will be a good transition for both Jeff and Anthony.

We also got to do a fun service project this week at Cypress Park Elementary School in Orlando. We helped plant new flowers and other plants and really pick up and make the founds look way nice, so that was way awesome. I hope that it is a nice surprise for the teachers and students when they return to school today!

So way cool, on Saturday we received a referral from the Kissimmee West Missionaries for an older woman that lives in our area named Linda Moses. So we went to visit herSaturday night and when we got there her husband answered and was about to tell us to leave (because he thought we were JDubs) and Linda came running to the door and said wait, wait is it the missionaries! And of course it was us, so we introduced ourselves and she invited us in to talk, and we notice that she had a lot of Israeli artwork and decorations around her house and some Jewish looking things, so we asked her about it and she said that she has Israeli ancestors from way a long time ago and that she really loves the culture so she studied it for a long time and taught herself Hebrew and all kinds of things, it was way cool.  She also had some ancient photographs around her house of her ancestors that were so cool looking, like way way old! we then started talking to her about her religious background and how she came in contact with missionaries and she said that she was at the dentist and the missionaries were there and started talking to her and she got a really good feeling from them and I guess her dentist also ended up being Mormon who spoke Hebrew as well! K weird right, so through her appointment I guess he was talking to her in Hebrew and getting to know her and talking about the church and she was telling us that she knew everything she was hearing was the truth, WOW! So she requested for the missionaries to come over, K and get this like 5 years ago some missionaries or someone gave her a Book of Mormon and her and her husband have read lots of it and she was saying how she was so impressed with how much love and kindness there is in it and how it talks about the Savior so beautifully. Wow again! and she said, and now you two lovely ladies are here to teach me the truth aren't you? and we were just shocked, wow, yes that is what we are here to do! So we did some How to Begin Teaching (ha) and we also talked a lot about families and genealogy work and she loved that so much. We talked about all the amazing ancestry she must have with all the cool pictures displayed and how we have the opportunity to do work for those family members and how we can help them to receive the gospel here on earth in the temple, and she loved that so much. She said she knows that, that is what Heavenly Father wants, is families to be together and to be happy and we told her that's exactly right. We set up an appointment with her for Wednesday and she and we are so excited to go back and start teaching her. She kept saying how we have a light about us and she knows it is from the Savior and she wants that in her life and she is excited to hear what we have to say because she knows she can have that light and same happiness in her life. It was seriously amazing, it felt a bit unreal how prepared by the Lord she was to receive what we have to teach her. I know that the Lord leads us to those who are ready, and I am so grateful He trusts me to teach her and her husband, what a great opportunity!

Other than that nothing much else has happened, it is starting to get chilly in the morning which I never in a million years thought would happen but it is! Sister Baker and I are going to be on the hunt to buying some sweaters here soonish! Burrr! Ok well that's it for now! 

Love you all!

Sister Jamison!

Sister Baker - Pleasant Hills So., October 21, 2013

Jurassic Park Florida, October 21, 2013

Hola Mi Familia y Amigos,

How are you doing! I hope really really well! So this week was really good a lot of miracles! 

Sooo to start off we had a really good lesson this week with Jeff and Anthony.  We talked about the importance of church attendance and why we take the sacrament, and Jeff expressed to us as we were teaching that at first he was just letting us come over because of Anthony wanting to learn, but that he was closed off to the idea of religion, but now that we have been coming over and teaching he says that the gears in his head are turning a little bit and he enjoys learning from us.  He is so great, we always have him do the additional study in the back of the pamphlets and he always does them! So cool, we committed him to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning and he said that he would get right on that with Anthony, so great! Then we also had the chance to go and visit a less active woman in our ward, Sister Grove, who lives in an assisted living home. Well it was so great, we went over there and we got to meet Sister Grove and learn that she is completely blind and has been since birth, so crazy.  She has a big shelf in her room and she has the Holy Bible in braille, and it takes 18.5 - inch thick books to make the Holy Bible in braille, it was seriously impressive, she also has Preach My Gospel, True to the Faith and the Missionary Library. It was so cool, she let us look at her books and touch them, man I don't know how people read or I guess feel the braille and understand, that truly is a gift, all those little bumps are so confusing! All I can say is it made me truly grateful for my eyesight, and for all the other things I take for granted like my hearing and the fact I can walk and move and do normal things! Such a blessing! Sister Grove is so awesome and we were able to find out that she can't afford the bus that takes her places, and that she would love to be at church, she just needs a ride. So we were able to hook that up for her and she was so beyond happy, which made us very, very happy too. We were also able to share with her 

 Mosiah 2:41 and talk about how when we keep the commandants we are blessed spiritually and temporally, it really brightened up her day and helped her to realize that even though money can be tight her sacrifice to get to church if she has to pay her way will bless her very much. It was a wonderful little lesson!

We also got a Member Referral this week which was so awesome, her name is Enid.  Sergio is the member who lives by her who has been talking to her about the church for a while.  But anyways Sergio invited her to a temple tour, but we had an appt. with Jeff and Anthony so we couldn’t go so the ZL's went, which was so awesome of them.  They were able to talk to her about the temple and why we have temples.  Luckily though before she went we had time to stop by and introduce ourselves and talk about the restoration with her a little bit and the gospel and set up a return appt. with her this week. We are really excited to teach her, she seems so solid, when we were planning another visit she totally worked with us to have a lesson even though she is way busy.  Most people just tell us uh sorry I am to busy, but she really wants us to come back! Wohhoo!

Let's see, Hmmmm ok, So I also had the opportunity to speak in church on Sunday in my new ward which was really fun. It was so different though, I had to speak slower than I normally would and really speak up because half the ward is Spanish and  they all wear headsets during church while someone translates all the English for them, so that was a little different, but way awesome, I really love my new ward, all the people are so humble and nice! All the Spanish ladies call me momma hahahaha weird.

Anyways I had a really awesome week! Sister Baker and I were visiting or trying to visit some people in some weird areas this week and it felt like we were in Jurassic Park no joke, I live in a jungle and when the cranes that are as big as me walk around and the gators are just chillin in the grass napping you feel like you are in a different world ahhh so weird haha and isn't it supposed to be fall or something? Ya no it's still 80 degrees here and all the tress and grass are very very green and over grown. I am pretty sure this week I discovered that there are more things living in the grass here than there is actual grass, ewwwww!!!!!

Well I have to get goin!! Love you!!!

Sister Jamison!

Pleasant Hills So. - October 14, 2013

So this week was good! I am still trying to get to know the area better! And it is coming slowly haha

Let's see something cool, so every Tuesday night I go to a Spanish class that an Elder in my ward teaches, (Elder Sherwin) and we practice pronouncing things and learning basics. It is kind of hard, I wouldn't say I am really learning that much haha, we don't have time to practice because we aren't Spanish speaking missionaries so that makes it kind of hard. I do know how to introduce myself and testify of a few things, haaa but my Española isn't great! Apparently I sound really super 'Merican! Wohooo! 

But we did have a way awesome lesson with a woman this week named Yuritza.  She is a referral from the elders and we were able to have a really awesome hand off lesson with her last Tuesday.  We taught her the message of the restoration and it went really well, the spirit was so strong and she just seemed so happy!  We have a lesson with her tonight and we are going to do some Book of Mormon reading I am really excited!

We also had some wonderful miracles this week! First off my therapy has been going great! My shoulder is slowing going back into place and the muscle is really starting to relax, my therapist is a miracle worker, his name is Dr. MacGregor and he really is getting me better so quickly! If you can imagine, my spine has been bumped and the muscle damage made my shoulder completely out of place like I was so off looking, but he has been working on all those muscles to correct them and my shoulder is looking a lot straighter. Apparently from what he says my C-5 and C-6 are pinching together and the nerves that are in between there are really pinched, hence all the terrible pain that shoots down my arm, but he said with the therapy it should help to release all of that and so there wont be so much numbness, unfortunately if the nerve is too damaged I could have some permanate problems such as numbness pains and things through my life, but I really don't think that will happen and he is sure that we can get a handle on it before it sits too long pinched up, so that's GOOD!!!! And like I said the spinal specialist I will see on Thursday is going to X-ray everything and really get a good look at what all is going on in there, so I know it all sounds bad, but I just keep getting a good feeling that everything is A-ok!

Also another miracle is that we have been trying to get in contact with these two potential investigators forever, literally and they kept being flaky, but yesterday we were able to see them both and teach them both! One of them is a 15-year-old boy named Jesus, and we were able to read the Book of Mormon with him and talk about the importance of coming closer to our Heavenly Father, he really liked reading with us and looks forward to seeing us this week! Then we were able to see a 13-year-old boy named Sammy, and read the Book of Mormon with him too.  Sammy is so great and wants to be baptized but he still does not have permission from his brother who watches him, (Omar) but it is nice because Omar sit in on the lesson and asked a lot of great questions, and we know that as he sits in and we can teach them both that it will really soften his heart! So great!

And last but not least there is this family that we found, and the father - Jeff, isn't really open to learning the gospel, but because his son who is 9 -Anthony has been asking so many questions lately about God and where do we come from kind of thing, Jeff allowed us to come over and teach them about the gospel! WHoO! That is so great, so we felt the impression that we needed to start off with the Plan of Salvation, and man was that right. We talked all about the Plan Heavenly Father has for us and how we are His precious children and He loves us and wants us to be happy, and Jeff opened right up and was asking so many great questions! And at the end we talked about the amazing blessing of eternal families, and that totally hit home with Jeff. He loved the idea of eternal families and expressed how he wants to be with his family forever. We told him that because of a loving Heavenly Father we have the option to be a family forever, and how special it is that we can be bonded for eternity. It was so great! and what is even better is that at the end of the lesson Jeff said I don't know how this happened, but Anthony has extreme ADD and he is slightly autistic ,and he sat through the whole lesson and didn't fidget at all! Just paid attention and asked questions and listened so well. It was so cool! Well that's the excitement for the week! I wish I had time to write more! I love my new area and Hermana Baker is so awesome! I hope you all are doing very well! Remember CPR! Love from Florida!

Sister Jamison, (or as everyone here says it, Hermana Hamison) haha

October 7, 2013 - Pleasant Hills South w/Sister Baker

Hola Familia,

So this week was just a crazy one, good but crrraaazzzyyy!! So the beginning of the week was so great Sister Thomas and I finally ran into Sister Diaz (the casquete kids mom) and we were able to have a nice lesson with them about the importance of coming to church and Sister Diaz is really coming around. She was saying how she has felt that she really needs to go to church and how she feels like the Lord keeps reaching out to her and she is committing herself to come with her children which is so great! We are also working on getting Christian and Jariana baptized on the 3rd Saturday of October and I am so so so excited about that, those kids are so wonderful and they always talk about church and how they want to go and now their parents are starting to be active again and it is such a blessing for them. Every time we come over they get so excited and say the missionaries are here!!! They love us and are always sharing candy with us and drawing us pictures, so cute. I really am so grateful that they are working together as a family now to come to church and have those kids get baptized, it is so important and they are starting to realize it! Yay!! My physical therapy has been going pretty swell too, I just do a lot of stretches and I guess that is supposed to help, the therapist told me the pain would get worse before it gets better because of all the stretching she is having me do, which I am definitely feeling, I get very very sore after my appointments, but I know that it wont last forever! We also had ZTM this week which I always love (Zone Training Meeting) and 2 minutes before the meeting started I just happen to look at the phone and saw that we has a missed call from President Berry, so we ran out into the hall really quick and called him back and he told me that I was going to get ET'd (Emergency Transferred) that evening to Pleasant Hills South which is in Kissimmee (Ki-Sem-eee) so that was a bit of a shocker!!! So as you can imagine I couldn't concentrate too well in my meeting because I was worrying about all the stuff I had to do and all of the people we were going to see, UGH!!! But it was ok, after the meeting Sister Thomas and I went straight home and on the way President Berry called us back so that he could tell us why, (he didn't have time before) but I guess there is a better doctor down in Kissimmee by the mission home that the mission nurse Sister Nielson wants me to see, and I needed to be closer, also I guess SLC is really crunching down on the missions as far as who is allowed to drive anymore, there have been many accidents I guess, but anyways Sister Thomas doesn't know how to drive, scary I know I have been teaching her for the past two weeks and it has been the scariest two weeks of my life! Ii will say no more! But anyways, missions aren't allowed to teach missionaries to drive anymore so they needed to switch someone in to drive her to prevent accidents and get me closer to a better doctor, so I guess that's all good.  So Thursday night I got moved to Pleasant Hills South, and it is everything but pleasant haha I will tell you more in another letter though... But all I can say is that no one no one no one speaks English, I can't understand more than half the people in my ward either, ughh I am going to have to be brushing up on some espanlo if ya know what I mean. I hope that I can remember some of what I used to know, but it's pretty much fizzled out my brain. My new companion is Sister Baker from Salt Lake City and she is sooo awesome! It's so cool we are like the same person! I really love her and I feel so comfortable around her, it's been a really nice change of pace for me! We really relate on a lot of things and we just get where each of us is coming from, so that's way cool! My district is also really awesome, the elders are really goofy and nice and we all get along super well! They are always telling funny stories about their weird experiences here and it's soo hilarious haha  

                          Conference was also SO SO SO AMAZING! I loved all the talks so much, my favorite would be Elder Soraes (maybe I spelled that wrong) talk about being meek and controlling anger and irritation, wow so good, I realized that I need to learn to be more meek! I also really loved Elder Holland’s talk about depression, it was a little different than his normal talks but I really enjoyed it! Elder Nelson also gave a wonderful talk on Self-mastery; I hope you all saw that it was so so good! It was so crazy because that morning in personal study I studied self-mastery from the topical guide and the scriptures just stuck out to me so much and really prepared me to hear his message.  But most of all my favorite was hoe so many of the speakers touched on what a family structure is supposed to be like, and the divine influence of women, it is so true!!! The saying that when mom's not happy no one is happy came to my mind and I was like Bluhhh!! See sooo true!!! I always love when they talk about families and how they are ordained of God, the family is so important and how the circumstances in which we start a family are so important to our Heavenly Father. Love love love that talk, husbands be nice to your wives! Anyway I really enjoyed it and I hope all of you did too! And if you missed any of it go online and watch it! There was such wonderful and inspired counsel! The true and only way to have happiness is to live the principles of the gospel, there is no other way, and it is so simple to live, aren't we so lucky we have a Father in Heaven that loves us that much. I love you all!

Sister Jamison