Tuesday, December 6, 2016

1 Year later...(and wiser too).

My new address!

Smart turkeys... HA! Aren't these the coolest??

Dear fam,

      Tuesday rolled around and transfers came too! Said a sweet goodbye to Sister Puggy and the wonderful Stourbridge ward. We made it to the mission home just in time to see the greenies and their trainers! Sister Swasey and Sister Harrigfeld ran out beaming! *Proud grandmother moment* Turns out that Sister Harrigfeld knows my pal Olivia Rutledge from home, how cool is that? :) I'm excited for them to do big things in Banbury! 
I'm a grandma! #posterityrules

Sister B and I on our beloved YEAR MARK.
Ahhhh #MTCcomps

 Last time together! One of the best districts that I have ever been apart of. Blessed to know these people. 7 different countries are represented in this picture.

 Sister Berrett and I loaded up the car and made our 3 hour journey back home to Wales! Woot! We got stuck in traffic, sang some songs, and helped other teams with transfers; all while I tried to figure out my "STL duties" (of which I still have no clue). It was brilliant! We came home to a freezing flat and no hot water. What a welcome! It got as low as 5 degrees Celsius and we nearly had icicles forming in our noses! I know, not safe. Not safe at all. The next night we couldn't bare the cold any longer or the lack of a warm shower, so we had to spend the night in Caerphilly. What an odd experience that was for me. Nearly exactly a year later and I was chillin' in the exact same flat. The streets were the same and so were my greenie feelings! I loved it! And get this...the next day, back in Merthyr, we hit up Subway after district meeting only to find Bishop Price and Brother Barry from Caerphilly! So fun! These tender mercies given to me in my first few days back in Wales, reminded me that I am exactly where I need to be. HOME. 
Bishop & Sister Watton and Ty! I will miss them dearly.

6 degrees Celsius...in our flat.
#survivors
{That's 42 degrees here in the USA!}

       I had the opportunity to take a gander through the ward list on Thursday evening, only to find that there were two full pages of JONES'! Mercy. When Brother Jones (ha) introduced me in Sacrament yesterday, he said "You'll never believe our new sister missionaries name. JONES! Isn't that fantastic?" And our first dinner appointment was at the Jones' as well! I couldn't feel more at home. Wales is where it's at. 
1  year older and wiser too! 1 year since the MTC.. crazy

       On Wednesday we were GQing in town centre and we found some sweet turkey hats..We told ourselves that if we found 4 potential investigators that we would buy these 3£ turkey hats! And we did it! Best purchase ever. Refer to picture below :)

      We had MLC on Friday and it was wonderful. Leadership is great. We set a goal to have 228 baptisms in the year of 2017. It can be done! We have a lot of fun conferences and meetings coming up in the next three weeks, so fun! So busy!
David O McKay's mother's home here in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. 

       After church on Sunday, we visited the home of David O. McKay's mother. She emigrated from Wales in 1856 with her family. President McKay was 1 of 10 children. When he came back to Wales in his late years to dedicate our chapel, he visited his mother's childhood home. He came out of the home with tears in his eyes and all the members from the Merthyr Stake were standing on the hillside singing "We'll keep a welcome". Elder Cook relayed this experience in our conference with him in October. And now I'm here.. so cool.

       The members here are AMAZING. Over 100 active members who all care for our happiness and well being. We have a DA every night and are receiving member referrals all the time! Steve came up to us on Sunday and said that his granddaughter wants to be baptized! WOOT! Look out for Courtney, we will start teaching her this week! We are excited to work this area hard this week. We will be going on split exchanges in Caerphilly this week after our two Zone Meetings, it should be great. 

       My mission just got a whole lot more busy! Time to hunker down and get to work in this terribly cold Welsh winter weather! I'm stoked! :) Missions are the absolute greatest, especially around Christmas time. I hope you are feeling the abundant Christmas spirit! Are you participating in the 25 days of service? Go to Mormon.org to find out how you can serve every day until Christmas!

      May God bless your travels and your beautiful families this season! Christ lives. This church is true. I know that upmost happiness can be ours if we strengthen our relationship with our Saviour. I am so grateful to be here in the UK, serving the Lord with all my heart! There is no where that I would rather be.

      Love from Wales,

            Sister Sydney Jones

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