Cast List

The announcement of a cast list is a time of great anticipation. It's like walking on the edge of a knife - you can speculate all you want, but until you see your name under the group or character, you just can't  be sure. But when you finally get to look at the printed list, to see who is your partner and part of your group, there's a lot of joy. More anticipation too . It's go time.

So transfers are always like looking at a cast list. You're just waiting for your name to show up, and also looking for friends. I love seeing where everybody is going. I basically had a sneak peak though. I found out earlier that morning who I was training. We also knew were Hermana Gonzalez was going - there was only one Sister who was follow-up training. Hermana is in Victoria now.

And I'm with Sister Smith. Yeah I know. Jones and Smith. Two of the most generic names ever. It's awesome though. We get along really well. Seriously. This will be a wonderful companionship.

But there was one big surprise waiting for me at transfer meeting that I didn't know about. Transfers happen as a slide show. We go by zone and every area that is changing is displayed as a power point. The new companionship is shown, along with any leadership positions that they might hold (ZL, DL, STL and training). So when the Rosenberg slide came up, I wasn't surprised to see my companion, or that I was training. What I was surprised to see/hear is that I have been made a Sister Training Leader. Without ever being told that was happening. (Just as a bit of background, President usually calls ahead of time to ask you to do stuff like that.) President forgot to call me :) Crazy!

Anyway, so it's been a good week. It's been all over the board, but it's been good. We're working hard and having a great time.
The weather has also been all over the board here - hot then cold then warm. Ugh. Weather, just pick a side! Na, it's good. It keeps us on our toes.

I love being a missionary. I love my new companion Sister Smith. We're going to have a blast. Most of all, I love doing the Lord's work. I'm glad I get to be part of His cast of characters.

RE-choreography

Choreographing is a challenge. A fun challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. Trying to match music and movement with the message that you want to send requires a lot of effort. It takes a lot of thought and time. Sometimes though it just doesn't work the way you thought it would. So you scratch everything and start again. Sometimes it does work but you don't like it. Sometimes you just want to start over.

This week has been awesome. There have been many miracles. But this has also been a week of scratching and starting over. Literally. Transfers are in two days. We found out on Thursday that our companionship is being separated. And I'm not the one leaving.

I'm training again, so Hermana Gonzalez is being transferred. It was really shocking to have President call and tell us all of this. We've only been together for six weeks. I guess the Lord thinks that's enough.

We've had a great week though. We've been working with a family that has accepted a baptism date. They are seriously awesome, especially since Sister Thompson was teaching them for a long time in her previous area. It's cool to have that connection.

We're also teaching a part member family. The husband and several kids are not members, the wife and her kids are. We're teaching him and he has a lot of really deep questions and cool metaphors to help him understand. I'm excited to work with him because I can especially see how the gospel will bless his life - he deals with a lot of demons from being in the army special forces.

Oh, I got a haircut today. Sister Montalvo gave me layers. I'll send a picture next week with my new trainee. 

I hope everyone is doing well. I am. Change is hard, but with it comes new adventures and the Lord can help us grow. 

Love!

Sister Jones

Picture week

Mom's note: this one is late because I have been busy with Sarah's grandma's illness.

Picture week in dance is crazy. It takes over the whole studio for at least a couple days. The schedule goes up and that takes a lot of coordinating. Then we have to prepare all the costume and hair changes, as well as think up poses. Pictures are the best though. It creates memories that last forever, both in the mind and on a 5x7 piece of paper. 

We had a surprise baptism this week! Meet Hailey Hernandez, the newest member of Rosenberg Ward. The original plan was for her to get baptized this upcoming weekend. But the spirit (and others) told us that this weekend was when it needed to happen, and they were right.

It was a really good week. We are working with some amazing people, and things are awesome.

 But  the reason why this week talks all about pictures... Yeah, I've been really bad at sending pictures. And I don't feel like typing. So this can be picture week for the mission blog too :)

Enjoy!

Josie's baptism

Beautiful Texas Sunset

NASA

Now Sarah REALLY seems small!

NASA control room

Baby alligator

Brazos Bend State Park