Thursday, January 29, 2015

Sister Jordan


Reno to South Carolina


MTC


Okay, so clearly you all know where I am now. Im settled in and will be here in Goose Creek, SC for the next 12 weeks at least. Before I get to the "blog" part, we are still working out the kinks with that so this again will be my blog for the week. For those who are unfamiliar with LDS missions, we have what is called a P-day. This is the day that I can email and I am only allotted 1 hour. Because of time, I want to hear from you all but my responses with be short to allow me the time to write my "blog" email. Again, I want to keep the Spirit in my blog part. So my first part will be the silly stuff and then I will end with the serious comments. First, they have every kind of creature possible here, so Im like a little kid in a candy store. I havent caught anything yet but hey I still have 18 months. THE FROGS! Oh my gosh I fall asleep to the sounds of frogs every night and its amazing. And no one told me that it rains cats and dogs here.. .so on Friday it rained and all I have were my Toms. To say the least, I had to walk in wet/ muddy shoes for several hours. Cool. Im still cold as always. I mean COLD. And I brought what I thought were appropriate southern wear. Nope I still need warms things. Baha Another fun fact, Both Sundays in the MTC I was called Elder Jordan. Not sure what that is implying but it was good laugh. Also, everyone at home says Im too loud.. N.O. everyone here tells me I need to speak tall so they can hear. Ive been speaking fine all along :) OKAY ON TO THE MISSION.
BLOG STARTS HERE :)
Okay so for the sake of sharing things about my experience in the mission field, Ill keep the rest of my MTC experience short. The only thing you need to know is Heavenly Father knows each one of us perfectly and sent me tender mercies that I needed in order to start my mission in South Carolina with the right mindset. He is so good and the gospel is so true.
On the 20th of January I left the MTC to South Carolina Columbia. I traveled with my district in the MTC and said goodbye to them the next day. We went to our transfer meeting and there I met my new companion for the next 12 weeks, Sister Regen and we traveled to our area in Goose Creek. I cant explain how much I already love the people here. Their kindness and love remind of the people of home. Which on a side note, the lady who taught relief society looks exactly like Sarah Weckerly and it made me realize how grateful I am to have Sarah in my life as a dear friend.
My companion Sister Regen is amazing! she is from Utah and I am her first companion that isn't from Utah. I am her last companion and then she goes home. She has taught me so much about obedience and diligence. We get along great and she is just such an example to me of what I need to be like. I am thankful for her!
Now to the purpose of me being here. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I am to preach His gospel to everyone I meet. Learning how to do this when things get discouraging has been humbling. My companion and I felt the need to go see this lady so we followed the prompting. However, when we got there we both got a very clear impression that after we knocked on her door, we need to leave. We were very confused to as why but we did so. It turns out we left our area. Lesson learned that when you leave the area the Lord has assigned to you, you cannot teach. I mean we were one block from our area boundaries the change in how we felt was indescribable. Our lessons were spiritual this week. Again, the Lord sends so many tender mercies. He is so aware of each one of His children.
My favorite time is personal study. The hour we have to personally dig into the gospel is not enough time. There are not enough hours in the day it feels like. I learn so much and its crazy how everything we learn, we feel the desire to teach our investigators. The work is here, and if there is one thing Ive learned over the last three weeks, that Heavenly Father constantly reminds me of is that I am needed here. I love the people so much already and have the desire to bring people unto Christ, to teach unto them the things the we have been commanded to do.
I am so grateful for the gospel. I know my Father in Heaven lives. I know that through his Atonement and His commandments to be baptized and repent, to endure to the end, we will be with Him again. I pray that as you read this, you will come to a knowledge of Heavenly Fathers love for you. You will come to know that through this gospel and our faithfulness to Him, you will feel a greater love for those around you and a greater love for him. I challenge you all this week to be aware of those around you. Look for an opportunity to help another person. I love you all so much.
Ofa Atu
-- 
Pray always,
Sister Jordan
Hello all! 
Okay first thing first. I do not have access to my blog while I am on my mission. So I am extending an invitation to someone who lives in Reno and is good with computers and familiar with blogs and asking if they would be willing to once a week go over to my home and help my mom with uploading my blog. I would very much appreciate it. My Pdays (days I can email all you wonderful people) will be once a week. Im not sure yet when my next P day will be. Also, I will only be spending my letters out on Pday as well because that is what they have asked of us as missionaries. So dont worry, Im NOT ignoring you. Its called snail mail for a reason :) So yes, if one of my Reno friends can help me out with this, that would be wonderful. Ill give more information next week to this once I see my replys and set you up with talking to my mom. Thank you!
Shout out to My amazing Mom, Ryan Staples, Amberleigh Wheeler Grube, Challen Cluff and Chelsea Warren for taking advantage of dear elder and giving me letters. SO HINT HINT go to dearelder.com and write me a letter, I can only receive them this way until the19th.

Lets get all the goofy stuff out of the way. So first, at home I would always say "Its a Cassie thing" I have now transitioned into saying "Its a Sister Jordan thing." My sisters have learned of my "you" jokes and love them. OKAY so the third day I was here, I was so excited to write in my journal and that hit my foot on another sisters suitcase. Swelled up right away and was black the next morning. I went to the nurse and there told me... I BROKE my toe. Seriously who does that?! Leave it up to me to break something on a suitcase. I laughed about it. So for youre wonderful people's enjoyment I have included a picture of my foot, about 20 minutes after I hit it. 
I want to get stuff out of the way first because for my blog I want the Spirit to be present as people read it. 

Okay so this will be my "blog" for the week.  I am asking all of you, if you never read a single email from me again, I ask that you read the rest of this one. I ask that you really focus on what your feelings and thoughts are as you are reading about this wonderful experience I am having. OKAY LETS GET STARTED!
The Missionary Training Center is ridiculously crazy. The Spirit here is amazing and I truly know now this is where Heavenly Father wants me for the next 18 months of my life. The blessings and miracles I have already seen are incredible. My district have 4 elders and 4 sisters. I cannot even describe how much I love them and the amazing potential they have shown in being extraordinary missionaries. We are all headed to South Carolina on Tuesday the 20th, with the exception of one sister who is serving in Salem, Oregon and is leaving the day after. I am the oldest in my district and have gained the title "Sister Mama Jordan". Every day, my districts tells me how I have the ability to be motherly and get everyone back on track to the things we need to be doing. I love these people with all my heart and am excited to start this adventure with them. My companion is Sister McMullens. She is from Fremont, California and is wonderful. Ive truly been blessed again to be with a sister 24/7 that I get along with and have learned most everything there is know about each other. She has been such an example to me and has helped me grown so much.
Okay so now the reason why I am here. I am here to teach people that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that His gospel has been restored in these Latter Days. We have three investigators while we have been in the MTC and its been humbling. First there is Olivia. She is so spunky and says once she knows the gospel is true, she would be the first to be baptized. But has told us she hasnt learned for herself yet. We then have Jamie. Jamie is slowly progressing but wants to learn more. She asks many questions in which my companion and I definitely have to rely on the Spirit to guide us. Lastly there is Mina. I have grown to love all my investigators but I have a special spot in my heart for Mina. She has accepted our invitation to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. She loves to learn and you can see the light of Christ in her eyes. Teaching is an incredible experience. I cant wait to get into the mission field and teach more people about the knowledge I have and share with them the truth that I know to be real.
Its crazy how much you learn and I cant even express that enough. The first real lesson we taught, I FORGOT TO START WITH A PRAYER. Who does that?! Lesson learned. 
My dear family and friends, I know this gospel is true with all my heart. I know Christ Atoned for our sins so that we may be forgiven. I love my Savior so much ask all of you who are wondering about the gospel of Jesus Christ to ask me through emails. Seek out the missionaries in Reno or wherever you are. Trust me they are there! Ive meant plenty of them. And most importantly, ask your Father in Heaven in Prayer. He loves you so much. I love you so much. God be with you Until we meet Again.
P.S. Gotta have my lime green with me ;)
-- 
Pray always,
Sister Jordan