Sunday Will Come

**I thought I would include some of Syd's letter to me first, Oh how I miss this girl!**

Dear mum,

Had a cool experience at interviews with President this week. He asked

me what I wanted to accomplish before I go home. I told him that I

want to obtain charity and understand the Atonement better. He then

took me to the scriptures in 2 Peter 1 and taught me that there are 9

steps to obtain charity. I'll let you study that for yourself. But

then he sat back, took off his glasses, and said "The interesting

thing is, you already have what you seek. You have charity and you do

understand the Atonement because I have seen you using it. You are

strong and of a good courage. And that exact reason is why you are

here in Coventry. We felt very inspired to send you here."

Now, that was about a full 2 minutes of President complimenting me and

that is something that I have never really experienced before. It was

amazing. So cool to know that I wasn't just moved because both my

companion and I had our licenses. Reassuring to know that he has seen

the change in me that is sometimes hard for myself to see. I have been

studying a lot about these phrases/scriptures a lot this week and I

know that he was inspired to share them with me.

We spoke about how the previous relationship with the ward and

missionaries has not been the greatest and that there is a huge lack

of trust. 

 He said "That is why you are

here. I know you can bless and strengthen the member relationships

here. I have seen you do it in other areas where you have served and I

know you will do the same here." :)It's true. Member relationships

have been a very vital aspect of my mission. I know that when the

member relationships are strong, they will give us their friends to

teach, they will fill our tummies with food, and they will retain the

people that we baptise in their ward.

I could just feel the level of trust that he has for me. Now I know

what he, specifically, expects me to do in this area, other than just

baptizing converts. I look forward to repairing some broken bridges

from past and building new friendships with the people

here in Coventry. The best way to get to know someone is to serve

them, so I am excited to give my all the them! They people are lovely

here. It's a massive ward. 150+ each Sunday. So it will take a while

to get to know them all, but I am up for the challenge!

I am so grateful for the Atonement, that I have been able to

understand my short comings as well as others. I am constantly trying

to change and learn. I am grateful that I can kneel at the end of each

day and ask for forgiveness for when I "lost my cool" with my

companion for a second or when I cursed the guy that cut me off on the

motorway. I know they are just minor things, but when I am able to

take care of those minor things right away, they don't build up to a

bigger problem. It is a process. This is a gospel of constant change

and revelation. I am so grateful to be challenged to change and grow

when I am in difficult situations. I know that even when my world

seems as though it might come crashing down on Monday afternoon, that

by Friday morning, I will feel God's love and reassurance for me. The

tough moments won't last forever! :)

Dear fam-bam,

       Well, we had one heck of a week. Beryl came to the chapel to do family history on Thursday. She was looking for her long-lost auntie and only had her husbands name. She pulled out her information and set it on the table and guess what the husbands name was?! Joseph Hiram Smith. No joke.. **freak out** We met Beryl while doing family history and she has absolutely no idea about the church because we are not aloud to preach in the F.H. center. She doesn't know the significance behind the name, but we soon hope to tell her! 

Our beautiful mini-missionary Annie! So much fun!

Just havin' a laugh with good 'ole Buddha!
I know you'll appreciate this mum. And, yes, of course I rubbed his belly :)

Georgie's 22nd birthday spent at WING WAH.

       Annie from Rugby came on a mini-mission with us this week. SO MUCH FUN! She will be receiving her call this coming week and we are so excited to see where she will go. Turns out that she is the girlfriend one of my good mates in the MTC, small world. 

       We went to WING WAH for Georgie's 22nd B-day. She a recent convert here in Coventry and is a ball full of joy! We had a good time with her at her party on Saturday as well. Love this girl. 

Beautiful old building in Banbury. No idea what it is, but it sure looks nice! :)

On our way to deliver Georgie's birthday present! All strapped up and safe.

A screenshot from a video we made while tracting in the middle of storm Doris.
  #survivors

 View from the flat. On Friday the sun was out ALL DAY!
 It was BIG news here! #blessed

      Most of the week was spent tracting hundreds of doors with 98.99% of people not wanting to know. Talk about discouraging. On Sunday morning, I gave the prayer to start our planning and just asked the Lord for one person. ONE. We just needed to find one person that wanted to listen. At that moment I received the prompting that we needed to stop by a potential named Rosa and invite her to church. Keep in mind that it was 9am and neither of us have ever done this before on our missions. We were terrified to knock the door, but we did. She accepted us graciously in her sweet Portuguese language and accepted our invitation to church. We called a member that also speaks Portuguese and they rushed over to pick her up for church! This was the first week that we put on a Spanish sacrament meeting, so it was perfect for Rosa! She could understand most of it and Sister Romo's Spanish totally came in clutch. She was our one. She loved church and we will be seeing her on Saturday!

I got a picture with the naked lady.. Hahaha super amused :)
Lady Godiva

       And then! One of the Spanish members brought along their friend Maria who has Faithfull studied the Book of Mormon for years, but always finds it hard to come to church. She explained to Sis. R that she wants to be baptised more than anything.. AMAZING MIRACLES. We were able to have translators for both of them throughout the church meetings and they were well fellowshipped. 
       This all to me just meant that sometimes we have to wait all week to find those miracles. BUT, Sunday will come. "The day of mercy" will always come after a storm. The storm/drought cannot hang on for ever! We needed to be patient and trust that the Lord would provide a way for us to see miracles in our area. Rosa and Maria were well worth the wait! Such beautiful sisters with so much eternal potential! We are so excited about them. 

       So, I spent most of the day yesterday not understanding 70% of what was being said around me. Español everywhere! With Sister Romo going home in a short 4 weeks, I am in a crash course to learn Spanish!!! It has been fun. I want to get to the point where we only speak Spanish in the flat. I haven't been set apart to preach the Gospel in Spanish, but I pray that I will be supported in my endeavours to learn as much as I can in the next few weeks! 

The cathedral that was bombed.. Actually SO cool!The remains of Coventry Cathedral.. So cool!
(See about a million pictures after her email of her visit to Coventry Cathedral)

       We went to the Coventry Cathedral today. It was so cool! Originally built in 1423. I'm not sure that I've ever seen such an old building! It was bombed and destroyed in World War II, but the outer shell remained. The history in this country is amazing to me. We will have the opportunity to go to Shakespeare's home and Warwick Castle in the next few weeks! I so look forward to that!   

       My time here is quickly slipping through my fingers. I feel as though these Mondays are coming around faster than ever and there is not enough time in the day to find/contact all the people that I wish to contact!! It's scary how soon these next 16 weeks will fly by. I pray that I can fulfill my calling in this short amount of time. I know there will be someone for me to find, even up until my last moments on this British soil. So, it is time to get to work! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support! I couldn't do it without you! Have a blessed week and remember that your 'Sunday' will come! I promise you! 

           All my love,

                      Sister Sydney Jones

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