IMPORTANT UPDATE !!!

Just in case you haven't heard.  Lauren received an honorable release from her mission, without going to Texas.  She is engaged to be married to her boyfriend from BYU, Josh Drean.

Not sure what will happen to this blog from here.  To all of you who followed it, thank you for your support for Lauren.

Delayed!

Lauren has been unexpectedly delayed at the MTC, and doesn't really have access to mail.  Please sit tight and check back for an update to the blog as soon as new information becomes available.

Almost Finished at the MTC

Oh my gosh I'm going to be in Texas in like 6 days! AH! A ninth of my mission is over and I'm headed to the real part and I'm scared. Estoy nerviosa para hablar espanol, y tambien no puedo predicar el evangelio!... Pues... yo puedo... pero a personas reales? No se!

Translation:     I'm nervous to speak Spanish, and I can not preach the gospel ... Well ... I can ... but real people? No!
 

Ok... So... remember how I told you that Poncho is going to get baptized? Well... my companion and I went in to teach him on Friday and he sneak attacked us! He was so upset and we asked him how he was doing and he told us about how his dad said that baptism was stupid and that he was really angry with his decision to join the church! Poncho's big thing has been feeling the love of God for him in his life and bringing his family unity. And so when this came up... he was so scared and didn't want to do anything to tear his family apart. We talked to him for a while... and I cried. Haha. I sat there in the middle of our lesson and cried because I knew how important this was for him! Not only that... I knew how hard this must be for him because he has such a strong desire to follow the will of the Lord and to come closer to his loving Father in Heaven. So... as I cried and told him a personal story and expressed love for him (all in spanish.. by the way) we asked him if we could come teach him the next day and help him with his problem. He said we could and we left devastated.

So... the next day we planned like CRAZY! We studied just for Poncho and we put a lesson together. We tried to follow the advice of Elder Bednar and focus only on the doctrine because the answer is ALWAYS in the doctrine. So... we did that and then we felt prompted to teach him about faith. When we went in to teach him... the spirit was SO powerful!! It was tangible in the room with us. Our lesson plan was truly inspired! (What is faith? Alma 32:21. How do we obtain faith? Helaman 5 - the end of the chapter where it talks about the lamanites praying to the voice until they have faith and the cloud of darkness is dispersed from them and they are filled with joy. Why do we need faith? Ether 12:12.  That was it and it was marvelous!)  After that lesson we got feedback from our teacher and he told us that it was one of the best lessons that he's ever been taught in the MTC or in the CCM (He taught at the MTC in Mexico for 2 years and he's taught here for 2 years as well). And I just received that confirmation that I do know how to be a missionary on some levels. I know how to love the people and pray for them and plan for their needs specifically. I know how to work so hard to do all I can to bring them closer to Christ. I know how to follow the spirit and know what the Lord wants his children to learn and know and do so that they can come closer to Him. I can be a missionary... in some ways. And I'm nowhere near anywhere close to having it all down... but the Lord is guiding me every step of the way. I really just want more than anything to be His window and I feel like with that lesson with Poncho... My companion and I were that window. The Lord taught Him the importance of having faith in him and taking that step into the darkness before he can light the path ahead.

Hmmmm... what else happened. I had a one-on-one interview with my teacher today which gave me a little bit of confidence in my abilities. I've been freaking out a little bit the past few days because I'm just sooo overwhelmed! There's sooo much to do to get ready and it's crazy! So... I talked to my teacher about it and asked him what I need to do to not lose that love for the people but also to get everything done and basically he told me to quit relying on my own strength. We talked about my progress here in the MTC with the language... he told me that in just 8 weeks my spanish is now on an 85 on a scale of 100 and how that is COMPLETELY impossible to do without the Lord doing it for me. Which is SOOO true! I really couldn't be working this hard, I couldn't be this happy, I couldn't be learning so quickly, I couldn't be doing ANY of this without the Lord. I don't know why I think and worry so much about my own strength and my own efforts and my own capabilities all the time! Nothing I say or do on my own matters! The ONLY thing that is important is my Heavenly Father, My Savior and EVERYTHING they do for me. I can't do any of it on my own! I feel so incredibly blessed! So blessed! I love my Savior and I'm so grateful for everything he does for me, everything he has done for me, and everything he will do for me. Without Him... we are all nothing. It is ONLY because of his works and his efforts that we really are worth anything in this life.

I love you all! And keep working hard! Come closer to your Savior! If you don't own a copy of Preach My Gospel... buy one! Buy it and study it with your scriptures! It's not just for missionaries! It's for every member of the church!

Love you! And I love hearing from you! Hopefully I'll have more time to email in the field NEXT WEEK! AHH!

Phrase not to say: El evagelio ha bendito mi vida. (The gospel has sold my life... hahah! Learned that one the hard way) The phrase to say and the phrase I was trying to say was: El evangelio ha benecido mi vida. (the gospel has blessed my life... big difference there!) Hahaha... had a good laugh about that one... for a few days.phrase not to say: El evagelio ha bendito mi vida. (The gospel has sold my life... hahah! Learned that one the hard way) The phrase to say and the phrase I was trying to say was: El evangelio ha benecido mi vida. (the gospel has blessed my life... big difference there!) Hahaha... had a good laugh about that one... for a few days.

Hermana Lauren Jones

Hey Bug!

Hey Hayley!

 

I think you get the family email this week. :) So... guess who came to speak to us last Tuesday..... ELDER HOLLAND! He's such a powerful speaker! And his talk had a HUGE impact on me. The first thing he talked about when he came was how his Mission meant EVERYTHING to him. He got a little emotional talking about all of the many wonderful blessings it had brought him in his life. He said that it has been the cause of every good thing that has happened in his life since that point. WOW! Then he talked to us a lot about how Preach My Gospel is designed to help us become converted to the gospel first so that we can teach others. Then he got REALLY fired up. He told us that we better not ever ever ever leave the church after our missions. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to him, we owe it to our investigators and we owe it to God to personally work our hardest every day of our lives and stay faithful to the covenants we have made. (None of this is organized... so I hope you can all get the spirit of everything he said and the impact it had on me) He then told us that we need to be a little persistent!! He said that we can't give up on people when they turn us down! He then said that Sister Holland's Avon lady is more persistent than most missionaries and she's selling makeup. He told us the three areas that most missionaries don't do so well in: Studying well (especially companionship study), Planning or preparing well, and teaching for commitment. He taught us a bit about those as well. He talked a lot about being the missionary that the investigators deserve. He said that the people out there deserve the hardest working and the most diligent and the most spiritual missionaries in the world. Then he talked to us (and this is the BEST part!) about the bible. He talked to us about after Christ died and the Apostles don't really know what to do. (This is in the end of John) They ask Peter, the new President of the church, What to do and he said, I'm going fishing. After 3 years of spending every minute with the Savior... and then all of a sudden it's over and the Lord is gone and he really has no idea what to do... he goes back to stinky old fish. Then after a night of no success, they see a person on the shore. The person tells them to cast their nets on the other side and they pull in sooo many fish that their boat almost sinks. Then wonderful, sweet, impulsive Peter (after John realizes and says that it's Christ) jumps into the lake and swims to the master. Then at this point the Savior kindly and wonderfully makes them breakfast after a hard night. And then asks Peter, do you love me more than these fish and that boat and those nets? And Peter says OF COURSE! Then Christ tells him to feed his sheep. Christ asks him again, do you love me more than all of this? And Peter once again emphatically says, yes Lord... you know I love thee. And Christ tells him to feed his lambs. And then Christ asks him a third time. (At this point Elder Holland said, now... at this time Peter was a bit sensitive about the number 3) and tells him again (and Elder Holland yelled this part) Then feed my Sheep! And then Elder Holland said, "When I asked you to serve me it was FOREVER! You need to be in this until the end, not just until I leave." Then he got emotional and said that it is NEVER EVER EVER over for him. We can never go back. We are called for eternity. It can never be over for us.

 

At this point I was sobbing. I was filled with an overwhelming love for my Savior and all that he's done for me. I'm even crying now. I LOVE my Savior more than anything. I pictured myself in Peter's shoes and the Lord asking me, Lovest thou me more than these? I can honestly say that I would emphatically answer, YES! Of course I love you! More than anything else and I will leave behind everything for you! And I was just SO FULL of the love of my Savior to the point where I felt like I, Lauren Jones, did not exist. I knew in that instant that all of my talents and all of the things that make me who I am have only been given me to make me a better window to the Love of my Savior. Every person NEEDS to feel this way about their Lord and Redeemer. And I am going to be the one to tell them. I only want to be a window. I want to work so hard and develop every Christlike Attribute so that every person I encounter can know and feel how much the Lord loves them and wants them to be fully and completely happy. How could I EVERY go back to stinky fish after having been so filled and blessed by the Lord? I WILL NEVER go back! I, like Elder Holland, am in this forever and ever. I can't go back to fishing.

 

Ok... I could go on forever. Buuut... there are other things to say!

 

Poncho is getting baptized!!!  We have been teaching our teachers and each companionship is on a different playing field and working on different things with each one and this Friday Hermana Daniels and I had the chance to teach Poncho! Well... we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom and he expressed his desire to come closer to God and do what is right and I jumped right in and said that in order to come closer to God and truly feel his love is through baptism. And we explained it and talked about it a little. And he expressed apprehension and said that he doesn't even know all the commandments and we said, well, we'll teach you those and we'll get it done in 3 weeks. And we committed him to be baptized in 3 weeks! And he said yes! And I'm so so so excited! I know that he's my teacher and that he's not really getting baptized... but to know that I can have the spirit testify so strongly to a person that after only a few meetings they have that desire to make that covenant with their Father in Heaven... I just feel so happy! I feel like even though I'm not a great teacher and I have flaws and whatever... the Lord is making up for them! He knows what will touch the heart of every person and if I follow those promptings... people will find happiness and joy! I'm so excited that "Poncho" is getting baptized!

 

Hmmm... what else. The food here at the MTC is killing me! My poor little body can't take anymore processed food! Haha. But I love it at the same time. I have a week a 6 days left here! I'm freaking out a little! I don't know how to be a real missionary yet! But... my goals are coming along well. In the past week I've read over 200 pages in El Libro de Mormon and I'm able to think in Spanish a little!

 

Ok... I'm out of time. I love you all and I want you all to answer the question: "Lovest thou me more than these?" and really decide if you love the Savior more than anything in the world. Leave your fish behind and serve him!!

 

Love you!

 

Hermana Lauren Jones

January 11, 2011

So... life is crazy! :) But a good crazy! I don't even know what I need to write about. Two sisters in my district wrote a song this week and I helped! We had an awesome class about the story where Peter walks on the water. We learned about how it was a stormy night and then they see Christ out there and they don't know who it is or what's going on and they're afraid. Then Christ reassures them and tells them that it's alright that it's Him. Then Peter, being the awesome impulsive man that he is, says... Lord, if it's you bid me to come! The Lord bids him come and then Peter starts walking on the water! While his eyes are fixed on the Savior and His power, he is able to do this seemingly impossible thing. It is only when Peter starts to fear and doubt his ability and look at all that is going on around him that he starts to sink. When he takes his focus off the Lord and focuses on himself and the trials around him, he fails. Then as he sinks he cries to the Lord to save him and IMMEDIATELY the Savior comes to his aid and lovingly chastises him and asks why he doubted.

 

Talk about a power-house story!! Oh my goodness! This is exactly like us in every aspect of our lives. Here we are out there in our little boats of comfort and then when something we don't understand comes up we freak out. Then the Lord reminds us that He is in every one of our trials. If we turn to Him in every hard time, he will consecrate it for our good (2 Nephi 2:2). Then we start going for it! Whoever reads this... keep your focus on the Lord! Always! Don't worry about what you can do! Don't worry about what is happening! Don't focus on the things around us. Do EVERYTHING you can to keep your focus on the Savior. That is the only way we can accomplish anything in life. I repeat. That is the ONLY way we can accomplish anything in life. As to our strength we are nothing. It is only through Christ that we can do hard things. But I testify that through Christ we can do anything. We can even walk on water.

 

So, that's what the song is about. I'm going to see what I can do to get you a copy of it! It's great! It's uplifting and splendid! We sang it in church on sunday (Me and the Hermanas) and we're going to try out on Thursday... I think... to sing it in a Devotional or Fireside or some other something. We'll see!

 

I get to Host new Missionaries tomorrow! I'm really excited! But today is freezing cold! So... I hope tomorrow is a bit warmer. By the way... for those who don't know, I get to take new sister missionaries around and help them with their luggage and show them where they live and take them to their first day of class. I feel so old! I only have 2 weeks and 6 days left here! Speaking of which, I have a new goal to read the ENTIRE Libro de Mormon in Spanish before I leave! It's 31 pages a day and it's brutal! But, it has been promised that it's pretty much the best way to learn a language... so, here I go! Also, I have a personal goal to only speak Spanish. It's exhausting! But I really am learning so much! I even had a dream in Spanish the other night! It was really slow Spanish... I could tell my brain was trying to translate everything while I was dreaming. But... pretty cool right?

 

Hmmm... what else? I hope you're all doing well! I miss you all lots! But I'm so excited to be out here doing the Lord's work! I think I'm almost ready to be out there in Texas preaching the gospel! It's kind of intimidating though! I teach as often as I can here... but I honestly am kinda scared to be out there teaching REAL people! People who don't have the gospel! But at the same time I feel this urgency to go share this wonderful amazing message with the world! Every person needs to hear this message! And I wish I could just go out and tell every single one of them! I'm working so hard to make my teaching simple and focus on the doctrine and help people understand my message so that they really have NO ROOM to doubt the things I tell them. Along with that I'm striving every day to have the spirit more and more in my life and my teaching and just radiate the light of the Savior. I am learning more and more how CRUCIAL this gospel is for happiness. It really is the only way that people can return to their Father in Heaven. It is the source of all true joy and happiness. I encourage all of you to study as often and as much as you can! Especially the Book of Mormon. That book contains power! Even while reading it in Spanish I've received personal revelation of the things I need to do.

 

I love you all and I can't wait to hear from all of you!

 

Hermana Lauren Jones

This Week In My Life!

Hey family!! How are you?!

So... lots has happened this week! I ventured to the outside world! Don't worry, it was totally legal. My companion has had this weird eye thing going on the past few days and my foot went numb! So, they let us go to the doctor. We went to the BYU Health Center which is just down the street but it brought back some memories! My comp had some tissue buildup in her eye (gross!) and I had the equivalent of carpal tunnel in my foot! Weird, huh? I guess it's caused by the way I've been sitting in my desk and stuff... so the doctor said that I need to use a hot compress 3 times a day and also take aleve twice a day because it's an anti-inflammatory. I also can't run for about a week until the skin on my foot is no longer numb. So... that's lame. But oh well. Anyways... for my companion's eye thing we went even further into the outside world and ventured down North Canyon Road (away from my apartment) and went to the eye doctor. It was SO weird!! There was really Babylonian music playing in the waiting room! And at first I ticked because it was the kind of garbage mom likes to listen to (I love you!!! Just kidding!... But it really was that kind of music) and then they started playing some cooler stuff. I probably shouldn't have been listening... but I did. And on the plus side I was also reading my Spanish Book of Mormon. When we walked in, it was funny because a man standing at the counter said, "It looks like we've got some sister missionaries here!" and I was like... oh yeah! I'm a sister missionary! Weird! And in the real world there aren't a thousand of us at every turn. We stand out and stuff! Well... I was sitting there all alone without my companion and just studying and I realized what a crappy Missionary I was being!! So, I decided I needed to better fulfill my purpose and invite someone to come unto Christ. I was SO NERVOUS! But there was this really nice couple sitting next to me, so I started talking to them about stuff. And it turns out they were working on submitting their mission papers! He works in the BYU Library and they were so sweet! So we talked for a bit and I tried my hardest to emit the light of Christ and love them and be a good example and stuff... and I hope they felt it! By the time we left I felt so much love for those two people! Even though I didn't leave them a commitment... I know I left them happier by the end of our conversation and feeling the love of God a little more in their lives.

So... I think the biggest lesson the Lord is teaching me this week is HUMILITY! Oh my goodness... being humbled by the Lord is probably the hardest thing to endure! It all started when my teacher had us practicing door contacting. Because my comp and I were at the doctor, we missed when he taught us how and all the practicing earlier... so we were kinda just thrown into the situation. He said that if he felt the spirit that he would let us in. So... my comp and I tried. And we tried. And we tried. And we tried... at least 10 times! And not once did he let us in! I was crushed! My whole world was shattered and I felt like a failure. So of course, I broke down and cried... because it's me. And my teacher freaked out. Haha! He pulled me out of class and talked to me about it. And while we talked I expressed all of my feelings about everything and he tried to lift my spirits a little bit and told me to be more genuine. He told me to use my gifts and talents to build others up. And I just couldn't figure out how! And so the next few days I was in a funk. :( I was trying hard to be happy and cheerful, but I really just felt so inadequate. Then I talked to my teacher again and he showed me some scriptures, one of which is in Philippians 4:12... or vs. 18. I can't remember. But it's about being able to do all things through Christ or something like that. And he also told me that I need to be humble. This isn't about how good I am at something or about how much I can do. It's all about the people and being able to do things through the Lord. Anyways... I spent a lot of time thinking about that. And then I read the talk by President Benson titled "Beware of Pride" and it hit me hard! I had been spending so much time trying to look good to other people and trying to be the smartest and the best and the most spiritual and in doing that I wasn't focusing on just lifting up the people around me. I wasn't focused on trying my hardest to uplift my district or the people I was teaching. I wanted to be a great teacher and be a great companion and do all the right things... but for completely the WRONG reasons. So... I had a LOT of repenting to do! My companion and I spent time changing the way we do companionship study and changing our motivations... and it's been working!! We have become more effective teachers! We have been able to meet the needs of those we teach! I've been nicer because I'm no longer focused on myself! I am really trying to only think about how I can help others. So... this week I commit all of you who are reading this to read the talk "Beware of Pride" by President Benson. Read it and apply it to your life. Do all you can to build up those around you! Because I KNOW it will make you happy. If you are disatisfied with something in your life... humility will help. It gives you self confidence and helps you feel the love of God in your life. 

Yesterday Hermana Daniels and I taught the Restoration in Spanish 3 times! I am so surprised that we were able to remember and use all of the things we have been learning! The first time we taught for 45 full minutes! In Spanish! And he understood! And we asked questions! And it was a good lesson! We kind of missed the mark and didn't quite understand how to meet his "need"... but we taught in Spanish! The second lesson was only 25 minutes long and the third was only about 15 minutes long. But... it was good! We're practicing lots! It's hard to believe that I'm leaving in less than a month! My departure date is scheduled for January 31st and I'm halfway there! So weird! It feels like I've been at the MTC my whole life and that I will be here forever... but at the same time it feels like just yesterday I was at the Mayan having dinner.

I love you all! I hope my letters help you in some way. I am trying hard to help you share in my experiences here and feel the things I'm feeling and also uplift you all. Know that I love you and pray for you all the time!

Hermana Lauren Jones