Week 65 "The Little Things"

Bonjour!

     This week we had Zone Conference. Soeur del Mundo and I presented and the subject we chose was "joy." A lot of missionaries forget that they are supposed to have joy. And there are a lot of young missionaries in our zone so we felt like we needed to remind everyone. Literally all the sisters were in tears as we presented because they are sometimes so hard on themselves. They compare themselves. Missions are hard. But there are so many reasons to have joy. Not just seeing people come unto Christ. But the pain aux chocolates, the flowers, being with other missionaries, eating raclette!

      I loved my interview with President Brown. I asked him what advice he would give me for these last 2 transfers. He sat there for a while thinking. Then he looked and me and said, "Let it sneak up on you." As in, let the end sneak up on you. Because you are so in the present, you don't even see the end coming. Then he said, "Savor every day. The desserts. When you walk down the street... soak in all the flowers around you. The members who are filled with the Holy Ghost. Every time you get to speak in French. Go outside, and seize the day. Every day."
       
       I loved this advice. President Brown and I are really similar in that aspect. We love and admire and appreciate all the little beautiful things in life. Sister Brown said sometimes the president will sometimes just stare at the sky and say, wow, isn't the sky just so beautiful. Haha. Just like me! So it is really nice having a mission President and his wife that I really relate to.

        This week we were able to see "K" twice! What a blessing. She is so sincere with her questions and is just so sweet. She had been reading in the Book of Mormon but hasn't come to church yet.  I'm really praying she comes to church this week. "L" also wanted to see us again. Even though we passed her to the English elders. We went and got hot chocolate. She is doing so well and has read a ton in the Book of Mormon. Her baptismal date is set for the 2nd of December. Can you believe it? We only met her on the train a month ago. And now she will be baptized. Even though the English Elders get to teach her, I am just happy that I got to be some part of the process for her. Whatever part God needs me to do, I'll do it.

        For pday this week, we went to a Chinese restaurant and then to the parc with the other sisters and elders. One reason I love the mission, is any free time we have, we just really make the most of it.

 We were hitting pine cones with a stick and just throwing around a soccer ball at the park and it was so fun. I am content with where I am in the mission right now, and in life.  I know the future will come before I know it. So I am content where I am.

      This week I had a pretty... annoying hard... moment. I have been praying to have more charity and practice charity this week. So I was on the train. And I told God, okay... I'm going to talk to whoever you need me to talk to right now. I'm going to just open my mouth and do it. So I sat across from this lady. I told her I liked her scarf and she said very loudly back, " J'AI PAS ENVIE DE PARLER AVEC VOUS." (I do not want to talk to you.)    I just told her that, oh sorry, I just like your scarf. And then I sat there just silent for a few minutes praying asking for charity. Then I turned to her again and I said, are you from Suisse? And she just started yelling at me. That she didn't want to talk to me. It was the my stop for the train so I said have a good day and I left. I felt so heavy and down after. But I felt Heavenly Father telling me, you did everything I asked you to do. It doesn't matter what her response was. So I prayed for that woman. To feel loved in her life. Love from others and love from God. I learned from this experience that God gives us what we need to grow. He gave me a chance to try and love someone even when it was hard.

Raclette at Fidagol's home. Rosie's daughter trying on my hair



 I hope you have a great week and spooky Halloween!!!! 
 I LOVE you!


 LOVE Abby

 
This was my mission announcement photo! "The Change" LOLOLOLOLO

The Wooley's came to visit some family in Switzerland. 
They are my neighbors from SLC

"CHRISTMAS CARD"



We finally found breakfast food. They don't serve scrambled eggs in France. It's usually hard boiled and not always for breakfast.

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Week 64 "Raclette"

Raclette with Cornettas. Our bishop is on the left. 

If you don't already know, Suisse is famous for its fondue. But there is also "raclette." We have also been eating raclette every single time we eat at a members house. Which means a LOT of gooey, delicious, melted cheese poured over bread and potatoes and bacon or sausage. OSdkfnadsjvfanodjfh;dskjf !!!!!!
I THINK I AM GOING TO EXLODE. One, because it tastes so good. And two, because my arteries might get clogged and my heart might not work any more due to all the wonderful melted cheese in my body. ITS AWESOME!

This week was actually pretty hard midway through the week. Every single one of our rdvs with our amis got canceled. Soeur del Mundo and I had a little mental breakdown one morning just after studies. Sometimes you just feel like exploding on a mission... so you need to just let it out. 
I told Soeur del Mundo we needed to take a walk. So she grabbed the can on whipped cream in the fridge, we put on our flip-flops and pulled our sweatshirts over our head and took a little walk outside. We talked out our feelings of stress while half laughing and occasionally squirting the whipped cream can into our mouths. We looked like homeless children/ crazy people walking around with our whipped cream and flip- flops. I love that I can do that with Soeur del Mundo. She is super real and honest. That is refreshing.

Saturday we had a pretty cool miracle. We were on the bus going out to eat at our dmp (ward mission leaders) house for lunch. We were about to get off the bus and I saw a woman staring at our name tags. I told her I liked her ring even though we were about to get off the bus. We talked for a second. Then, she ended up getting off the same stop as
us! She was carrying a lot of groceries so we offered to help her carry them. Normally people say no. But she was really happy we asked and let us help her. 
We carried her groceries to her apartment and she asked if we would like to come up. (You don't say no when someone invites you in their house). We went up and talked with her girls. She has three girls and they moved here from Africa a few years ago. They were so sweet and offered us juice and even prayed with us at the end. They are busy this week but told us we can come by in a week again. So that was like the coolest miracle ever. It reminded me of how I just need to trust in the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost just led us along and all we needed to do was act upon the promptings we received to talk to her and help her with her groceries.

Exchange with Soeur Houkin. (Jet d'eau)

We have Zone Conference tomorrow and our interviews today. So I don't have a ton of time to write. But here are the updates on amis. We couldn't see any this week because they were busy or working. But we will hopefully see "K" twice this week.

Soeur Dubrez. She made Nanny a really pretty needle thread picture. 


I have a testimony that Christ wants us to have joy and satan wants us to be miserable. Opposition is real. You will not make it through your life without it. Letting Christ into our lives takes a daily, consistent effort. It is a choice actually. But a really, really good choice. And how do we let Christ in? Fill our lives with things that are good. Fill our lives with things that help us feel the the spirit.


Communicate with Heavenly Father daily. Prayer, music, scriptures. Even now, near the end of my mission, it is easy to let Satan discourage me. He will do everything he can to make me give up, or feel to tired, or fearful. But Christ gives me peace. He is literally my rock. Christ is ready to forgive us, help us, and bless us. If there is one thing that has changed through my mission it is my relationship with my savior. He is real. I love Him. I testify this to people wherever I go. Sometimes people don't listen. Sometimes people
think we are weird. But I want you to know, whoever reads this, that I love Jesus Christ. I know he lives.

Love Soeur Jones




Rosie. Cutest girl! We ate fondue with the Fidagols Friday. They love having missionaries over!


I wanted to wear a wedding dress and this is as close as I got. 

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Week 63 "Jamo & Haylie are Married"

Jamo and Haylie are marrieddddd!!!!!!👏
I am so happy for you two!! I am so excited to meet Haylie in a couple months.

 The wedding looked so happy and I laughed really hard that everyone crowd surfed my cardboard cutout. Thanks guys. That means a lot. Haha.

Jet d'eau / Lake Geneva 

Friday night I kneeled down and said my prayers at exactly 9:40am (1:40 Utah time) so I felt like I would be there with the family in the temple as Jamo and Haylie got sealed. I felt the spirit wash over me and felt so much love and gratitude for this new change in our family. I am grateful for the temple. I am grateful our family can be together forever.

Here is a photo Jordan Jones took on the way out of the temple after the beautiful wedding ceremony and sealing of Jamison Jones and Haylie Van Den Bergue. 

This week we had some really great RDVs with our new amis. We saw "K" again and taught her about the restoration. She has been reading in the Book of Mormon and even reached out to her cousin who is a member of the church to tell him she met us. 


"United Nations" me and Soeur 

We also meet with "F". She moved here from Paraguay ago ten years ago. She has two kids. She hasn't been to church in a really long time. But I met her on the train last week and she said she would love if we stopped by.
We went over and it was such a sweet experience to remind her of how much God loves her. She wants us to come by twice this next week! We also met with "M". I also met him on the train last week. He is an older man (70ish) and just very sincere. When I met him,  I gave him a Book of Mormon and explained how precious the Book is to me and how it has really taught me about who Christ is.  He has been reading in the Book of Mormon this week and even came to church on Sunday! 

ALlenbachs. They love Nanny and Grandpa. This is the Allenbchs son who was in innstitute with my Grandparents and now has 2 kids.

So viola-
Those are the miracle people from this week. We were even able to see sweet "L". She came to our ward activity Sunday. She said she has been reading in the Book of Mormon and she is just so curious to find out more about what we believe. She knows she is mission something, but doesn't know what. We are going to try and pass her to the English elders this week because she speaks English.

"L" from Holland



Some girls ran up to us at the gare saying "Sisters!" They were members from England. 

Funny note. There was the biggest spider in our study room this week. Soeur del Mundo and I are both terrified of spiders so we both just started screaming. We yelled for the Spanish sisters to come in and kill it and they were laughing so hard at us.

Soeur Ortiz made deep fried...everything! Deep fried Oreos were the best!

Yesterday night, I was scrolling through the photos from the camera I brought to the MTC. Seeing all those pictures of me from the very beginning of the mission freaked me out. I was so bright, so fresh, so blonde, so ready to go. And now- over a year later... I am a little more tired, a lot less blonde, and still goin strong. But man, these rollercoaster experiences have shaped me into something better, someone changed. Yeah I am tired... but I ask for the Lords strength every day.

 I have been stripped away of everything I thought made me, me... and been sanctified through Christ into the person god knew I could become. I know that as we trust the lord and just put our lives into his hands... he will mold us into the best version of ourselves.


It is hard for me to believe over a year has passed since I entered the MTC. And now. I'm here. How did that happen? I am so grateful for all the challenging experiences I have had.. and still have... that make me so dependent on Christ... and HIS strength.

I love you. You want to know what I love most? My family. It is truly God's greatest gift to me. And yes, it has been a sacrifice being without you for 15 months. But it has made me realize how blessed I am to have a family like you. And I know that this mission is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now. When people ask me on the bus, woah... you've been away from your family for over a year... is
that hard? I say... yes. It is. And I smile. But then I tell them that I sacrificed that little bit of what I love to share the gospel with them and all the people here. And yes it is worth it. Some days it doesn't feel like it. Some days I forget why I came. But in the end, I know why I am here. I am here because I love Jesus Christ. I love sharing his gospel with others who do not know. And I will sprint to the finish.

Love Abby


CHOCOLATE at the grocery store!

FOOD

Dessert. Cooked apples. You should try this, Dad. You would love it. You just peel the outside and carve out the inside, then put nuts and almonds and dried fruit inside. 

PDAY

PDAY AT THE PARK





3 legged chair by the United Nations

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Week 62 "Precious People"

I want to start off by saying.... CONGRATS to JAMO and HAYLIE who are getting married this Friday. Holy cow. That is going to be so awesome coming home to a sister in law. I am sad to miss the wedding but know that I am where I am supposed to be right now. So it's okay. 

Sisters at MLC

This week was incredible. Sooo... we didn't really have any amis when I got here. We had one amis and that was it!

Both Soeur del Mundo and I were so determined to find new amis that we just went "ham" this week. There is a big push in the mission right now to "contact everyone." And honestly, that has helped us find new amis.

 The other day we were getting on the train and this cute blonde girl was getting on too. We started talking to her and she ended up wanting to see us again. Her name is "L" and she is from Holland. We went over to her house and taught she and her husband, "M". They got married about a month ago and are so adorable. We talked about the temple with her and told her she could be together with her husband forever by being sealed in the temple. And she said, "Wow, that's great, I want that!"   She is honestly so prepared and just ready for the gospel in her life. And guess what.???.. they came to church on Sunday. Sad news is, they will be passed to the English elders since they will be in the English ward. Good news is, it doesn't matter who teaches them because they will have the gospel in their life and that is amazing! 

Porting (knocking on doors)

Another miracle. I was on the train and I talked to this cute lady named "K" from Peru. She was so kind and agreed to see us again. We met with her Saturday and gave her a tour of the chapel. She is so humble and open. She was really touched when we gave her a Book of Mormon. I love that. It is amazing because her cousin is already a member in the states. But she has never asked him about the church. And I just happened to meet her on the train. We talked about Heavenly Father, who he is and how much he loves her. She told us how good it was to hear that because she had forgotten. We invited her to be baptized the 11th of November and she said yes! It was amazing. We thought she would be passed to the Spanish ward but then when we asked her, she said she would like to be in the French ward cause she is here to learn French. So we get to keep her. Finally! We get to keep an ami we found. These two miracles taught me that we just have to keep being diligent and have faith cause we never know when the Lord will give us miracles. 

The ward gave us chocolate bars on Saturday at the end of "Secret Missionary Night" The ward showed us so much love that night!! Honestly I feel famous in this ward. 

There are so many different cultures and languages and people here in Genève. I also absolutely adore the ward here. They treat us missionaries very well. We had an activity Saturday night called "secret missionary." Everyone watched a slideshow of pictures of us when we little and stuff. And everyone was able to find out a little bit more about us. They found out what we like to do, where we are from and what our family is like. It was crazy because I never talk about myself as a missionary so it was kind of like... oh yeah! I still am a human. I had a life before! Haha. 

Ward repas after fast Sunday

What a precious experience it is for me to be here where my Grandpa Max and Grandma Nancy (Nanny) served. It was so special for me going to church on Sunday. It was fast and testimony meeting and Frère Allenbach got up to the stand after I said the Jones were my grandparents. He talked about how Grandpa Max "Frère Jones" showed him so much love. Everyone keeps telling me that Nanny and Grandpa were the best couple to ever serve in Geneva. 

Volpecceli couple who love Nancy and Max

Two experiences from this week that I wrote down to remember: 

Frère Allenbach- bore his testimony about how much Christ must have loved us to have given his blood. He talked about how grateful he was for "Frère Jones" (Grandpa Max) and how Frère Jones showed him so much love. He explained how much he helped him when he really needed it in his life. He explained how Max and Nancy were the best missionary couple to have ever served here. 

"Brother Allenbach ran up after the meeting and said" Ahh I love your Grandpa so much"

Then came up after and talked to me and had tears in his eyes. He said how grandpa was always pondering and thinking deeply about things. He remembers grandpa sitting in the corner one time just reflecting on how he could be better and help the ward. Frère Allenbach's son came up to me with his baby and said how Nancy and Max were there when he was in the institute and left on his mission. He said they were the "Best teachers" in the institute. 

Allenbachs....the son knew Max and Nancy when they were in charge of the institute. He is now married in the temple and has 2 kids.

Soeur Volpechelli- said how grandpa was always telling funny jokes all the time. And how Nanny is the sweetest person. How she is very "douce" and has a sweet voice. And is cute and small. She said how Nanny gave her 2 dresses or shirts or something to remember her and she still has them....She wore the outfit to church.

Seriously it is a dream being here in Geneva. I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. I know I needed to be here at the end of the mission too so that I could more fully appreciate and understand the people here. I looked over in church yesterday and Soeur Volpecelli was wearing Nanny's outfit that she had given her. And I seriously felt the presence of Nanny and Grandpa here. I don't think they fully realize the impact they had here. 

Soeur Muller who literally was clinging to me like this because she loves Nanny so much!

People LOVE them and still remember them. They are so special to the people in Gèneva. And that is what I love about French/Suisse people. They are so loyal and once you are friends, you are friends forever. 

Je vous aime! Abby  



MLC in Lyon. I got to see Amandine again!!!



Wow, we are so spoiled in this ward. This is a "feed the missionaries" sign up sheet. The top line says, "be charitable and invite the missionaires" ha ha


My previous companion Soeur Cusick at the MLC

My Companion Soeur Goold from the MTC.

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