Blessed in Birmingham: Taa-daa Switzerland, Hello Zambia

Dear family and friends,

Hello! How are you all doing? How did you do with stepping back from social media? Were you able to see a difference in your life because you decided to do something other than scroll through Facebook? I hope so! I challenge you to continue to 'ween' yourself from the addiction that is technology in the 21st century. I promise you will reap of the many blessings that are sure to come your way by doing so!

Transfer news is in! As Sister Wiesner departs back home to Switzerland tomorrow, I will be staying in Caerphilly and will get Sister Selwa from Zambia Africa! She has been out on her mission for about 9 months and will be such a blessing to this area! I am so excited to meet her and get to work for the 5 weeks that we have together! It will be great! I've heard she ia a wonderful missionary, can African dance and is super hilarious; basically my twin. Hahah okay, but seriously, I am so excited! I know we will get along great and that the ward will love her!
This week was one for the books! We were able to begin the week with Sister Marsden (from Shelley, ID) and Sister Sorensen (from Seattle, WA) on exchanges in Myrthr Tydfil. It is always so good to see how other sisters work, to be able to learn from the "seasoned veterans" of the mission! ;) Sister Sorensen helped me to realize that we need to be patient with ourselves.
As missionaries, we are often looked at by members and others as these 'perfect beings' that have never and will never made a mistake. Which, they have a right to believe, simply because we are the Lord's servants and we are held to a very high standard! But sometimes (all the time) we see every little imperfection as a huge set back in our eternal progression. We allow ourselves to nit-pick the small shortcomings and often get caught up in dwelling on them. But, as missionaries, there is no time for that! We have to learn how to fix and repent from our mishaps and move on, because the Lord needs this work to be done and His time is precious!
We need to know that it is okay to make mistakes and to see ourselves come short. It is definitely a whole lot easier said than done, but when we know that we have a Savior that is willing to pick us back up, all will be well! I can testify that when we put our trust in Him and are willing to be humbled and submit to His will; that He will guide us in this world. He will help us to find our way back home to eternal perfection. He is the key! And His Atonement was freely given for you and me! Use it. Use the strength that it will give you. Don't be so darn hard on yourself. "You are doing better than you think". You are chosen children of promise! You are not perfect yet! But work towards that end unceasingly and you will be blessed!
And now for our biggest miracle of the week! Our investigators Andrea and Lowri were able to come to the ward activity on Saturday and they loved it! At the end of the activity, Lowri asked her mom if she could come to church! She said yes and we were able to sort out a ride for them. When 9:00 came, we were calm but so nervous! We walk in and they are already there standing with quite a few members just getting to know each other! They looked so comfortable. They looked like they were home! It was beautiful to see! We had a wonderful sacrament meeting and afterwards we noticed that Andrea was quite overcome with the spirit. Her eyes watered and hardly any words let her mouth. Before we asked her any more questions, we made sure she was okay and that it was a good cry! Haha. Assured us that everything was okay and she didn't really know what was going on with her emotions. It was incredible! We had the best opportunity to explain to her that this overwhelming feeling was a confirmation of where she needed to be. It was so tender and I was so grateful that the Lord provided us a way to have that experience with our sweet Andrea. We know that there are great things to come for these beautiful girls in the next few weeks! They are anxious to learn and are willing to do all that they need to, to please their Father in Heaven. What a blessing they are to us!
We have been able to see mighty miracles wrought this week simply by believing that they will come. A sister in our zone taught me that when we expect the miracles to come, that we will be able to see even the smallest of miracles bless our lives! When we do our part (all that God asks us to do) we are allowed to expect those miracles; because they do come! We give our all to the Lord and He showers us with blessings! Pretty fair deal huh? :)
I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to share the last six weeks of Sister Weisner's mission with her. She is my sister. She has taught me how to be bold and how to reach to my potential as a missionary of the Lord. She has helped me to realize my shortcomings, but that it is okay to experience this growing moments. She has encouraged me to be better in every single way possible. We were able to share some of the best laughs of my life and some wonderful memories that I will hold dear forever. She has an incredible life ahead of her and I know she will always have the Spirit of the Lord in her life!
I hope you all understand how much I love this woman!! :) She is golden! By far, the best missionary the Swiss Alpes ever sent out! I know I will see her again and that we will be lifelong friends. How blessed can I be to know her??
I am sure excited to see what this week will hold. I am so thankful that I am able to continue serving here in Caerphilly and that Sister Selwa is on her way! Let another transfer of miracles begin!! :)
Thank you for your words and letters. I am ever so grateful! This mission is flying by, does anyone know how to slow it down a bit? Nearly five months and counting.. Wow. This is the Lords work. This church is true and it is growing. I know that we have a sacred calling to share it with all the world and I feel so privileged to be sharing it with the wonderful people of the UK!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and hope to hear from you soon! Please let me knkow how you are doing! :) I'd love to hear.

I LOVE MY MISSION!

Taa-daa for now

Love,

Sister Sydney Jones