Dec 13 2013 from Roswell GA

This week was good. We taught the Plan of Salvation three times in one day! Craziness. 

This week has slipped my memory so if this email is short, bare with me! 

On Wednesday we got to teach Dayjah. Have I told y'all about her? She's 19 and an RM from the ward brought her two weeks ago to church. Well this was our second lesson with her and it went perfectly. Everything made sense to her and she basically already believed in everything before, we were just confirming that what she believed before is in fact true and we have scriptures to help. Her face lit up when Isaiah, the RM, mentioned something about eternal marriage. That thrills her, and to her it makes sense because otherwise, what is the point of marriage? Also, yesterday we text reminding her about church and she said she would be going to another church with her family and we were way bummed! So we're at church and Dayjah walks in! We didn't have time to talk to her until after sacrament meeting, but she said that she wanted to surprise us and didn't want to tell us. Awesome investigator. Oh, and on Wednesday we told her she could go to the YSA if that's where she feels more comfortable because Isaiah took her there once, and she kind of freaked out and said,"What? No, I want to keep meeting with you guys." And Isaiah will be going to BYU I after Christmas, so she wants to make sure she feels comfortable with us when he's gone. We love her. SHe's awesome. 

We also got to teach this lady, Shanavia on Friday. She is a single mom and has the best attitude. She didn't keep her commitment to read to the Book of Mormon, so we're working with her on that. I think that if she keeps her commitments, she will for sure become of a member. 

We also got to teach Andre, that man that was in special forces. He's fascinating, he knows so much about the bible. Like even the Old Testament, which barely anyone knows and/or talks about. It's so interesting. If people just read the entire bible it would make sense. Oh and the cool part was we taught him a little bit about the plan of salvation because he asked us about our Heaven. So we taught him the spirit world and then he said something about three kingdoms. And we said, "oh did you read about that online?" ANd he's like, "No. It's in the bible, there are three kingdoms." !!!! No one believes in the three kingdoms because they gloss over that part in 1 Corinthians, but he knows. He basically believes in everything we teach, he just needs to understand that we do too. 

On Saturday we had a really stressful lesson with the Persian family. So since mormon.org does not come in farsi, Shahrad and his wife, Marjan, have basically been reading anti-Mormon stuff online. Oh brother. And it's super difficult trying to explain things to him when he can barely understand us. Needless to say, we FINALLY found someone that can speak farsi, they're in another stake, he just works a ton this week so we have to wait until next week to have a lesson. Shahrad and Marjan want us over for dinner on Saturday, which I'm excited about. And Shahrad and Marjan's friend has a wife that wants us to go visit her sometime this week. No wonder I've always liked Persians. The crazy thing is that they keep coming. I'm shocked. They must be feeling the Spirit. Hahaha

 

Anyway, Merry Christmas family and friends!

Love you all,

Sister Smith 

Jocelyn's Photos from Roswell GA

 Sister Andrus & Sister Fabulous Jocelyn

 Sister Jocelyn at the Baptist Church in Roswell GA

(a little inter-faith networking)

Sister Jocey in front of their Christmas Tree in Roswell

(a nice lady in their ward donated it)

Dec 16th 2013

This week was way good. We met a lot of interesting people and had a great lesson. On Tuesday we had a zone training that was really good and I felt like I got a lot from it. We need to invite more people to attend church, so that was good to have hit me in the head. After zone training we had a lesson with this girl, Dayjah, who came to church that previous Sunday because her friend (an RM) invited her. The lesson went really well and we testified and after we testified she asked us what our conversion story was. She wanted to know the member's conversion story and mine and Sister Andrus's conversion story. It was really cool and she said she wanted to have her own answer from God while she read the Book of Mormon. So we invited her to be baptized and she said that if God does answer her prayers then she will. She's on date and everything. She's super awesome and text our member that she's been reading the Book of Mormon. She responds to all of our texts positively and her friend said that she really likes us. She's way cool I'm excited for it to all pan out. 

We had dinner at this lady's place whose son is serving in the Long Beach mission! His name is Elder Jared Varney. I think he's in Long Beach for reals right now, but if you find him that would be way cool. Sister Varney is gorgeous! I don't even know how old she is, she is just beautiful and she's been through a lot (years ago, but still). But she is so service-oriented. I'm learning a lot on my mission because of the homes we get to be in and the people we interact with. The wonderful examples of stellar members is definitely going to carry with me after my mission. We had tracted in her neighborhood before dinner and met a lovely girl named Kamilla that loves Mormons. She is Muslim and she is willing to take lessons just to learn more. She is really devoted to her Muslim faith, but she is wonderful. I love meeting Muslims, Hindus and other eastern religions. The people are so calm, open and nice. Even if they're not taking lessons from us to be converted, they definitely leave a positive impression on me because of their quiet example and humble faith and they are willing to learn more about others. 

Wednesday we did service at the McArthur's. We like to do service right after studies because tracting at that time is SO ineffective. So we helped clean out her SUPER cluttered basement and cleaned all of her dishes. They were piled way high, but I like doing dishes so I had no issues with it. We didn't have a dinner that night so we went to this nice Chinese restaurant because there was nothing else around and it was kind of expensive. I don't think we'll be eating out anymore this month. 

Thursday we had a contact that lasted for an hour and a half! We will be meeting with that contact again. This man was in special forces and he lived in Afghanastan and Iraq and the works. He's a big black guy that's originally from Jamaica. That's actually why he wanted to talk to us. We were talking to his wife first and she gave us her number and didn't have time because she was cleaning, so as we were walking away she called out to us and said that her husband actually wanted to talk to us. So they let us in and he said he always saw missionaries in Jamaica on bikes and always wanted the chance to talk with them. So we began to teach him and little did we know how smart he is! He wasn't bible bashing or anything, he's a genuinely nice person you can tell. But he knows his stuff. He was a free mason before, but some things didn't really quite click with him. Though he did say he got to the 21st degree. And he told us a little bit about what they practice. That was really cool to hear. He's been everywhere in the Bible except for Jerusalem, but he wants to go. He is so interesting. He would be a wonderful asset to the church, the Lord could really use him. Hopefully it all works out.  Fingers crossed. If nothing, we've opened his eyes more. 

Friday was good. Lot's of weekly planning and a couple lessons that went really well. Saturday we had a really good tracting experience. It wasn't the best with potentials and stuff, but I felt the spirit while we were tracting, even though I was freezing cold. It is so cold to tract for two hours everyday, that's all I've gotta say. 

We had a sweet contact last night while visiting the nursing home. A lady in the ward told us to visit two other ladies so we did that last night and we didn't know what rooms they were in so we went to the nurses station and this man looked at our tags questioningly and said, "Sister Andrus, the Church of Christ... Jesus Christ of Latter day saints..." And we talked to him for a half an hour about his life and our beliefs. We're teaching him again this week. He's from West Africa and is extremely intrigued with the Book of Mormon. I really liked him.

Yesterday we had 6 investigators at church! They were all Persian... I love them to death! But the language barrier is making it difficult. I'm praying the something will come through. There aren't that many materials in Persian either and the Book of Mormon in Farsi is only excerpts. I can understand why since people can't really proselyte in Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan, but it's definitely a hindrance to our teaching. We're praying though. I really really love them. They are an awesome family that even brought their friends. 

That's all, 

Love y'all

Sister Smith

p.s. we need to figure out the time I'll be skyping y'all on Christmas! :)

Sister Fabulous Jocelyn and her companion Sister Andrus in Roswell GA

It just sprinkled on us 

Roswell GA Sister Jocelyn Dec 8 2013

Hello loved ones!

The highlight of this week was Thursday night hands down. We had gone tracting earlier for an hour and we still needed to get one more hour in. We had a lot of appointments and we weren't sure if we would have time. One appointment for 7:30 fell through and we used that time for tracting. It's getting dark at 5 ish 6 ish so it was pretty dark then. And it was pouring. Rain here is so different than rain in California that is for sure. It's like a whole new experience driving and walking in the rain here. Well, we needed to do something and it had to be tracting so we did it. By the way, my jacket came in that morning so it was perfect! We did not getting any really meaningful contacts and most people looked at us like we were crazy. Honestly, it was raining so hard it makes me smile thinking of how wet we were. When we got home we looked at ourselves and wondered what was the point of wearing rain jackets. Our skirts were soaking like we jumped in a pool and our shirts had water on the front and the back. It was stupid ridiculous but so much fun. I don't think we've laughed so hard like we did that night. To top it off this lady called our number, I think she thought the number on our card was for the church as a whole, and made a complaint. She said that it was inappropriate that we were out in the pitch dark in the pouring rain. Little did she notice the smiles on our faces and earnestness for work. Plus, I don't think that people understand that this is what we are doing 24/7. It's our life for 18-24 months. The show must go on. Ahhhh some people. 

There's this wonderful family that I could not love more that is in our ward. They are going through some really trying times right now. The wife needs to work while the dad stays at home because he's going through all these medical surgeries and what-not, so he's playing <r. Mom, and the job she has isn't a glamorous job that pays well. Anyway, they've been going through tons of hard things and they are SO giving! Sister Andrus was home in July and August for kidney  surgery and she has issues eating certain things, and one of those things is high carbs. So members can't feed us gluten or dairy, let alone high carbs. It's hard for some of them to feed us and our dinner calender isn't filled often. However, this family thinks that is unacceptable and they so willingly feed us. They won't let us deny them the chance to feed us. I love them, they are so stellar. Most people in better situations are so unwilling to serve like they do. I hope that if the Lord blesses me temporally, that I give of myself and not be selfish. I want to make a difference in someone's life, and I can't do that by mainly focusing on myself. Though, of course, I need to work on myself to be the best I can be, but in the midst of doing that, I want to be able to stand before the Lord knowing that I also gave myself to service. It's definitely hard, but I want it so badly. I'm hoping that the mission changes me to continuously serve others for the rest of my life. 

There is this other family that is also beyond stellar. They are very well blessed with money and stuff, but they give of themselves so incredibly much. It's amazing. Watching other members give so much of their time and energy to recent converts or new investigators is inspiring.

We taught Josie again. The Haitian french and creole speaking lady. It went really well. It was a humbling experience on my part as well. It's easy to get lost during her lessons because while Brother B. is telling her everything in French I get lost listening to the French and I forget the next point. Plus it made me realize how much I need to keep studying Preach My Gospel. So I've been studying that for the past week and will continue to do so, along with Jesus the Christ. Sadly she will be in New York for the next couple weeks and we have her number so we will continue to text Book of Mormon scriptures to her and hopefully she'll still feel the spirit while she's gone. She definitely felt it while we taught her the plan of salvation. She believed everything we taught her and I think it gave her hope. She used to think that it was just Heaven and Hell and that those stages were permanent, but then of course we taught her the Lord's doctrine and it spoke to her. She's a gem. I hope all is well with her being gone. 

We also went to contact an old contact and she let us in her house and we taught her part of the first lesson. The thing is, she works night shifts so she was really really tired and we could tell, so we just left her with a prayer and will hopefully be in with her this week. We're teaching a LOT of single mothers right now and I love them. It's nice having elders and sisters working in a ward because then we can just work with the women, or families, that we find and I really love it. 

Yesterday we were tracting and this lady had the door closed basically all the way when she first answered. And then I just introduced myself and said, "Hi, I'm Sister Smith" and Sister Andrus did the same and she opened the door a ton after I said my name and then a ton more after sister Andrus. She invited us in! She has a lovely apartment! It reminded me so much of Georgeanne. Just that really ornate and gold decor with some really nice rugs. She had a really fancy couch with a beautiful painting. She's originally from Paris and came to the U.S. from England. She's just wonderful. She's probably in her 50s? Anyway, she told us her experience with Mormons and it made me a little upset with stupid people who make dumb choices. Her son dated this Mormon girl from Utah that invited  him out to Utah and he went. This lady trusted that he would be safe because of her experience with Mormons in the past, she has a wonderful friend that is Mormon and all would be well. Well, I don't know everything that happened, but I do know that this girl's family and herself were not living up to the standards that they have so clearly been taught. This lady's son was disgusted and this lady threw away her Book of Mormon and said she would have nothing to do with Mormons again. Well, she actually really liked us. She said that after we met with her that we gave her hope. We made her feel happy. She's letting us come by again. I'm hoping she can realize that "people are imperfect, but God's doctrine is pure" (I think it was Uchtdorf that said that last General Conference and I'm only paraphrasing it).

I still feel like I have so much to learn and it's both invigorating and scary all at the same time. Because I have this place where I hope to see myself in such and such amount of months, or by the end, and I'm hoping I can achieve that. 

anyway.

Love y'all

Jocelyn

Some pics of Sister Jocey in Roswell GA, her new area.

 Those that have driven around with Jocey can probably hear her screaming "Look, how cool, a leaf stuck on the window of our car!" Only Sister Jocey can get excited about this...

 Sister Andrus with Sister Fabulous Jocelyn.  Her new companion in Roswell GA.

Sister Jocey with "the happiest District Leader in the world." Roswell GA

Sister Madson, Sister Beck, Young man who was baptized in Kennesaw, Sister Jocey

Dec 2nd 2013 First Letter from Roswell GA new Companion Sister Andrus

Hello family and friends,

 

Roswell is amazing and promising. I love Sister Andrus. She's a solid missionary and super chill. We teach really well together and everything just flows. I love it. I can feel that we're going to be on fire this transfer.

 

On Wednesday we taught this sweet lady named Josie. She is from Haiti and can hardly speak any English. There is this wonderful, wonderful member in our ward that can speak french and he came to the lesson to translate. The lesson was straightforward, simple and filled with the spirit. It was an awesome experience. And it was beautiful to hear the words we would say in French.

For service on Wednesday we do this thing called fancy fingers. It's where we go to the nursing home and paint the old ladies' nails. It's hilarious. The women are either not there or extremely sassy. There was one lady from El Salvador whose nails I did and she was not satisfied with my work. Hahah I'm not a professional.  It's great though because every one is so nice and it's fun work.

 

We did a lot of tracting this week because most of their previous appointments fell through. The good thing is we picked up a lot of new investigators. Yesterday we had a family from Iran come to church, we haven't had a lesson with them yet and SIster Andrus and her old companion contacted them a while back. Well, they came and the husband can only really speak farsi. The wife can speak broken english and the son was trying to interpret what was going on during church, but he doesn't know too many religious words. They are such a lovely family and I know they will be baptized. They believe in Jesus Christ and they want to find a church. We just need to find someone that speaks farsi to come with us while we teach. Haha I may not have gone foreign, but I'm teaching foreigners. Also, on Saturday we tracted into this lovely couple from India who want to meet with us again and we have an appointment with them this Saturday.

 

And we also taught this lovely lady Kim yesterday. She is a referral from the elders and has two young children. She hasn't been to church in 12 years but she wants to raise her children in a good environment. She used to be a part of this non denom Christian church years ago, but the church just crumbled and turned sour. She's been afraid of that happening so she hasn't gone. She has excellent morals and tons of questions. The wonderful thing is, we have the most perfect answer for all of her questions. She seems really concerned about the well-being of the church, which is perfect. She does understand that there are imperfect people in churches, so she gets that there are sometimes issues.  SHe just wants to find something that answers her questions and puts her on solid ground. She's really fun and really sassy. I love her. She has a good light about her.

 

We also had a sweet contact last night. We were trying to contact a referral and she couldn't talk to us because she was about to go to bed (it was about 8:00 then) and outside of her house was this man smoking and talking on the phone. We approached him and asked if he had a second. He told the person he was on the phone with that he would call them back. About a minute or so of us talking to him he said "Oh I'm sorry, let me get rid of this cigarette" (imagine a southern black guy saying it because that's how it sounded) and he let us talk to him. Turns out his manager or something is LDS and had shown him a video of a church activity and he's been wanting to go. He wants to check out our church because he wants to find a home. ANd he thought the Joseph Smith experience made sense. It was an overall really good contact and I think we were meant to meet him. I hope it all works out.

 

We're also meeting with two other contacts this week and potentially one other. I'm excited. I feel really good about this area and Sister Andrus as my companion.

 

That's it for this week,

 

Love y'all!

 Sister Smith

Jocelyn is getting transferred Nov 27th 2013

Nov 25, 2013

Hello hello!

 

I'm getting transferred! I will be serving in the Roswell zone with Sister Andrus. I think we're in the Roswell ward? The assitants forgot to tell me which ward I'm in. I'm stoked. It's a nice area. I'm afraid that tracting will be hard because the area is really nice and everyone may or may not be snobs. The nice things is that they have a Trader Joe's :)!

 

This week was quite slow because Sister Beck is still sick. And not only is she just sick, she has bronchitis. So sad. But on Wednesday we had the sisters' day with Sister Wolfert and it was awesome! I absolutely loved it. I had the opportunity to teach yoga, which was just the best. I got up extra early to figure out a flow and all that jazz, so it was great. And then we had some breakfast and then we had trainings on make up and hair and nutrition. Finally, we ended it whilst sitting in a circle and talking about our concerns and feelings about the mission. I realize this is probably such a sister missionary thing to happen. But it's great and I loved it. Sister Wolfert just felt like the sisters needed a girls day and I think she'll be doing this every few months or so, just to let the sisters bond and stuff. That was definitely one of my favorite days this week.

 

Then we did service for that one lady that has the gift shop. She had us make really elaborate and decorative bows. That did not feel like service, it was just an extension of girls day ahahah. She gave us these pack of Christmas cards for free and I will be sending out some letters soon! They're really pretty handmade cards.

Thursday we did tables again. Both Sister Beck and Sister Madsen were not feeling good so I was the only one contacting. I did not get that many contacts, but they were really longggggg contacts! A majority of them were 20 to 30 minutes long. Goodness. I was pretty tired on Wednesday. But it was a good tired so I did not mind.

 

We had another lesson with that less active kid. It was great. Lessons with him make me sad though because he does not see his potential. Ugh. I just wish he could see how much happier he would be if he would just give in to the Lord's will! He knows it will make him happier, that's the whole reason why he asked us to meet. But still, he doesn't completely understand, and it's so hard to try and build someone's self worth when they don't belive you. He's such a gem too. Everyone in the branch loves him, he's amazing at playing piano and just a really sweet, kind guy. Hopefully it all works out.

 

We had the chance to teach Isabella, she's the one who stopped the elders while she was running. She's so cute. She hasn't been in a religion for 7 years or so! But she's so open to learning everything. She loves Mormons and they have been a good influence in her life in the past so she really does want to be a part of it. Oh she's from Colombia and her parents raised her in the Jehovah's Witness church. I don't know much about their beliefs, but she does not have good memories of that church, that's all I can say. I know she will be baptized, she's so ready.

 

We met with Brannon. He is not ready to be baptized, but he knows he will be baptized. Being out of a divorce, and he's moving to Woodstock and he's changing jobs, he is kind of scared to jump into another big change. He's been talking to other members and wants them to help him get acclimated to the church. He's another one that I know he'll be baptized. He's just taking his sweet time.

 

We really just hung around the apartment yesterday and saturday. Friday we were at the doctors for three hours for Sister Beck. They even did an xray. And since we don't have our tiwi cards and sister Beck is on cough syrup, we couldn't really go anywhere and the doctor told her to rest. Hopefully she'll be better by Wednesday when we transfer.

 

Love y'all!

 

Sister Smith

Jocelyn's email Nov 18th 2013

Hello all!

This week went by super super fast! I can't believe it. Sister Beck is still sick, but she did get a blessing today and she says she already feels better. Power of the priesthood folks. Anyway, we had that lesson with that less active guy and it was really good! He doesn't feel like he has a testimony, but you can tell he really really wants one. He wants to know that this is all true. The only thing holding him back is self worth. He doesn't believe that he is worthy of forgiveness. 

For goodness sakes, God loves everyone! And He wants everyone to be forgiven of their sins, just go unto Him and he will relieve you. Matthew 11:18-20, definitely one of my favorites. 

We had a really good experience tracting. There was not anyone in particular that seemed elect, but the spirit was with us the entire time and we were certainly lead to specific people to plant a seed if nothing else. It's funny that something like tracting can create a more spiritual environment. I love it though. It has been getting pretty cold. Those sweaters and jacket were amazing! Thank you mom! I love packages, they truly are the best. And I'm wearing that grey one right now :).

Oh a cool story, this one girl came up to us at tables and said she had a Book of Mormon. So I approached her and asked her what she thought of it. She said she loved all of the values taught in it, but she didn't really know the historical background. So I took that opportunity to ask her if she would want to meet with us the next day and we could teach it to her. She said yes. We arrive at her apartment and she said she made us food! She is so cute! She made us hot chocolate, or herbal tea, and raviolis. We have never had an investigator do that. But she said she loves missionaries and she wants to feed them. She typically has Christian missionaries over I guess. And we taught her the first lesson. It was really good and we committed her to read the testimony of Joseph Smith and Moroni 10:3-5. She was really touched by Joseph Smith and the First Vision. We are meeting with her this Friday. Wish us luck!

Yesterday an investigator we hadn't actually met with came to church! Here's her story: She was running and the elders were on their bikes and she ran past them and then she turned around and ran up to them and stopped them. She said she wanted to go to one of our churches and they gave her our number. Well, she called us last week and told us she could go to church, she was busy with work all week so we couldn't actually meet up with her. So we meet her and she is elect! She's super cute and Colombian and she said we are the only church that seems to practice its values and principles. She does work over in Salt Lake and she dated a Mormon a few years ago, so she's been surrounded by them for a while. She has definitely been prepared. We are meeting with her on tomorrow. I know that she will be baptized someday. I can feel it. 

Anyway, sorry this email is dry. I'm trying to remember all that went on last week and it's all slipping my mind. Oh but the best thing was last night. Hahah!

So Sister Madsen hates Christmas anything before Thanksgiving. Well, there are these old Christmas decorations in our apartment and Sister Madsen went to bed last night at like 9:45. So Sister Beck and I get out the decorations and decorate the apartment. There's even a fake Christmas tree and a bajillion strings of lights and Christmas stockings, the whole bit. And at 10:28 we wake up sister Madsen and tell her we want to show her something. She comes out and we say "Santa's here!" And she just groans, "I woke up for this?" And we just busted up laughing! I loved it. Now our apartment looks so cheery. I'm glad we did it :)

Can't remember what else I wanted to say.... 

Love y'all ;)

Jocelyn 

p.s. I tried so hard not to be a poser and say "y'all," I broke last week. It's so easy to say and like the white handbook says, I am supposed to use the culture's form of "you" properly. Hahah :P

Jocelyn's post on Veterans Day Nov. 11 2013

On Nov 12, 2013, at 12:27 PM, Jocelyn Smith <jocelyn.smith@myldsmail.net> wrote:

> Yeah, the library was closed yesterday so we have the chance to email today! Wow. Our pday yesterday was phenomenal though! We started it off by cleaning and then we went to this vintage store and I talked to this old lady about God and Jesus and stuff and then I gave her a Mormon.org card and that was fun. And then we ate at the hip burger place that reminded me of California. It was surprising to see out here in Georgia, it's not really all the southern, and therefore I really like it ;). Anyway, so we're driving and we decide to stop at this little gift shop called "Eclectic." The cool thing out here is that a lot of little stores and salons and even some dentist offices and the such, are in old houses. It's super cute and very unique, at least to my realm of experience. And the stuff inside is all stuff that is most likely sold in Roger's Garden, it's all so pretty and just mmmm. I loved it! And the owner started talking to me for a little bit and then she mentioned she was LDS, but it sounded like she was inactive. Well, we all started talking to her about her store and what she sells and decorating, etc. And then we offer to help her decorate the store for Christmas and such. Finally, she said she almost didn't want to talk to us, but when she saw us she knew that she needed to go back to church. She has a daughter who is a crack addict and she's so weighed down by the troubles in her house from it that she knows she's been needing some pick-me-ups from church. Needless to say, it was really awesome and we're going to her store next week to help her.
>
> Then we go to the number one selling pet store in the nation, (crazy right?! In Kennesaw!) because Sister Madsen is animal crazy and you can hold the puppies while you walk around and she was having a bad day (her grandpa passed away on Sunday), and the puppies are adorable. Well this guy that works there calls us "sisters," so we know he's Mormon and we ask what ward he's in... He's in our branch! He's a less active that is on our 5-5 list and we had no idea he worked there. Well, we didn't talk all that much about church with him, but we did talk about his job and such. When we were getting ready to leave he asked us if he could have a lesson with us! THat is the trick my friends, making them think it's their idea. And it was. To be honest, it was perfect because we legit cared about him and we didn't push anything on him, we just talked to him and since we're missionaries he knows he can have a lesson with us so he asks! So cool!
>
> Last week the work was slow slow slow slow slow. Sister Beck has been really sick. She's in denial too hahaha. She's coughing up her lungs at least once an hour and then she's super fatigued. She only tells people she has a cough... Seriously. Anyway, she is feeling a lot better though so we're getting back in the swing of things. It's strange finding that balance between not feeling guilty because she's sick and feeling guilty because our work is so slow. It's something that I think every missionary has gone through and I don't like being in that strange balance. I mean, I can't really be upset, but I just want to work.
>
> One really great thing that we had last week was zone conference and that was awesome. I felt the spirit for most of the meeting and I just admire President and Sister Wolfert so much. Sister Wolfert is like the epitome of what I want to be when I am her age. She is so spiritual and classy and beautiful. She's everything. (so are you mom don't worry! I may be biased, but I always think that you are probably the best mom in comparison to my companions' moms hahah!) Lot's of new insight and perspective that I hope to apply to the work.
>
> Oh I almost forgot! Andrew. He's a member referral and he's amazing! He's the one that hears the spirit through music and such. Anyway, we finally got to teaching him about the Restoration. We taught him in the cube that the lds student assoc. has on campus, and we found out they have a copy of the Restoration video, so we taught him the first lesson pretty quickly and were already feeling the spirit and then we watched the movie... wow. If nothing, I felt the spirit like a ton of bricks! It's so beautiful, because none of us are caught in any weird emotions or anything, we're just watching a movie on Joseph Smith and bam! The spirit just enters into the heart and testifies like no tomorrow. Well, that increased my faith and Andrew prayed about it and he says he knows it's true. He afraid to get baptized so quickly because of bad experiences in Catholic school growing up, but I know he will eventually. He also said that he didn't realize it, but he felt like he needed to see that movie that day. It was probably the best first lesson I've gone through so far.
>
> There aren't really anymore stories to relay... I will be picking up my package today! I couldn't get it because it didn't fit in the locker thing and it came on Saturday, and since yesterday was veterans day we couldn't get it. So hopefully we have some time to pick it up. Hahah in all reality, I might have to get it tomorrow :P. It is really cold today! The wind is so so so so chilly! It looks all nice and beautiful outside and the wind just chills. Man. The leaves falling are gorgeous and we drove through a rainfall of leaves this morning.
>
> Happy Birthday Ashley on Thursday! Love you tons! Mmmmm. I wish I could have some Oak Glen Apple cider. So delicious!
>
> Love you all like crazy,
> Jocelyn

Sister Fabulous Jocelyn in front of the Atlanta GA Temple

Sister Madsen & Sister Jocelyn

Sister Madsen & Sister Smith Kennesaw GA

Sister Beck & Sister Smith in Kennesaw GA

Jocelyn 11/4/13

Thank you for your email dad, that was a good one. 

I went to Target shopping  because I need a thicker, fuzzy blanket on my bed, it's getting really cold at night here. Plus, my alarm broke. Hahah it was terrible! It was about three in the morning, I'm using this old elders fitted bed sheet that does not go all the way around my bed and so I'm basically sleeping on bare mattress (which is disgusting because elders used to sleep on it) and I'm tangled in my mess of sheets and my clock is beeping every two minutes. I was so tiredly angry and I kept hitting it and it did not work so finally I got up and put it in another room in my desk drawer. The next morning I looked at it and it's completely broken. So today I had to get a new alarm, a fitted bed sheet that actually fits my bed, a blanket and my deoderant broke last week so I had to get that. I needed a lot of things today! 

 

Anyway, this week was good. It went by pretty dang fast! Except for yesterday hahaha. Our mission president wants us to use institute and get investigators going there so that's been kind of a cool experience. We only go if we have open time, but we went last Tuesday and our investigator, Brannon, came and I think he really benefitted from it. The teacher is a sealer in the temple so he talked a lot about the temple because we were reading from Deuteronomy and he talked about how the veil is thin there, etc. And that made Brannon realize that God has always been here. We are the ones that make the "veil" thicker and God is always ready to give us revelation, so long as we have a sufficient amount of faith to recieve it. It has been so cool to see his mind open and to realize that God is over all of us and He cares about us, we just need to have the faith and use it. Brannon also writes his prayers down, and as he recieves revaltion he writes that down. His writings are so poetic and really cool to see, he basically knows he needs to get baptized. However, he's scared to commit. There's one side of him that knows if he chooses God's way he'll be happier in the long run. On the other hand, he's tempted by quick vices that he's slowing himself down from being baptized. It's both really cool and really frustrating. It's a struggle mankind has dealt with since the fall... 

Will got the priesthood yesterday and I haven't seen him so genuinely happy before. When he was baptized he was happy, but he was crying, but yesterday he just radiated happiness. He's been an awesome investigator. Honestly, the coolest part about him is that we got to see him from lesson one all the way down to baptism. I don't know if I'll ever get that chance again. Not too many people are that faithful from the beginning.

On Halloween we had to be home by 6, that was nice though because we could just chill out and relax. I just flipped through Ensign magazines and read Jesus the Christ. That book is fantastic, every member of the church needs to read that book. It details everything so perfectly and puts it all in one place.

We did exchanges on Wednesday and I was in an area called Woodstock and it's a really pretty area. Actually I'm in Woodstock right now because that's where the library is hahah. But Sister Gibb is a sister training leader and I was with her for the day and she's from Washington, but get this... She is related to Gibb's in Canada! She doesn't know any of them, but her grandpa is from there and he told her any Gibb from Canada would most likely be related to her. We tracted forever in her area because all her appointments fell through. That was a neat experience, it actually went by faster than you'd think. The great part is that she's training for a half marathon so we got up earlier and ran four miles. Oh my goodness. That was pure heaven. After not running on real pavement for the past two months made that run so amazing! I was first off proud of myself for running four miles, I've only run on a treadmill a couple times since I've been out here plus I was barely even sore, a little tight, but not banged up.

We did the food pantry again on Saturday, that is definitely one of my favorite things to do. We also had a chance to go to the park and do service there, and it happened to be on the most perfect day. I actually had the chance to talk to this really nice less active lady. It was completely by design. She was there with her husband and step son and their dog and she called us "sisters" when her dog came up to my companions, and I knew she had to be a member. Turned out she was a less active and we talked for a bit.  I didn't really talk about church with her, except for when she complimented my outfit and I talked about the age change (which she didn't know about).  Which then let my talk about my decision for coming out here. So that was cool, with people like that I just want to be good influence and not a pushy person.

Anyway, it's been really great. I love it out here. I'm scared/ excited for transfers. Which sadly are the day before Thanksgiving. I'm conflicted with whether or not I would want to stay in Big Shanty, or move to a family ward. Not that it's my decision, I'm down for both, but I'm just curious about what I'm feeling. I love the fall here. Mom would love the fall here, it feels so cold and crisp.

Love you all tons and tons!

Jocelyn

Week Ending: Oct 28, 2013

Well this week was a weird one. Good, but weird. We barely made any contacts despite all the tracting we did and the tables and everything. It was really quite disappointing. This week did go by fast though and it went by in a blur.

Our investigators are not progressing a ton, it's been really hard. It's hard to see them and know that they know it's true, but they're either too lazy or too scared to commit 100%. And I never know how to help those people. It's kind of disheartening. We did however teach a less active this week, and we only had 20 minutes to do so and he came to church on Sunday! That was nice. Actually, there were two other less actives that came, and they're all less actives that we have been trying to get a hold of. And in relief society the teacher asked us missionaries to teach the first lesson in the beginning and when Sister Beck recited the first vision, the less active girl that came was crying and looked at her friend and said she had goose bumps! That was cool. I hope that she sees that she needs this in her life to give her complete joy.

One of our investigators won't meet with us. She keeps randomly texting us saying that she wants to come to the branch and she misses it. She even asked us to do lessons with her. But we tried meeting with her on her day off and she didn't want to because it was her day off. She just wanted to relax. We are the most relaxing demand ever! All we do is sit and invite the spirit to teach people! I mean, come on...Anyway, I digress.

We got to work at the bishop's storehouse this week and I really like doing that. I love doing that hands-on service type stuff because we're moving the whole time and people are so grateful. Missionary work is awesome, but some people are not thankful to have missionaries on their front door step talking about Jesus. We do, however, always meet such nice, sweet people, so there's nothing to complain about. It's a good day to be a Mormon. It's a good day to be a missionary. That's what one of our elders said while he bore his testimony and I really really liked it. Yeah, there can be days where no one wants to talk to us or learn from us or anything else, but it does not mean it's a bad day. There's always something good in every day, you just have to find it.

So Saturday was probably the best day this week... We got to meet and hear from Elder Oaks! So so so cool! He is such a nice and relaxed man! I had no idea. And his wife is the spunkiest, most adorable woman ever. She is just darling. There really is no other way to explain her. Anyway, Elder Oaks was all over the place topic-wise, but the spirit was so strong and he taught where the spirit directed him. He even told us that. And three times he said, "it does not matter what I say. What matters is what you hear." So good! I meant to bring my notes with me while I was emailing but I completely forgot! In the end he talked about how this isn't our missions. That it is untrue to say that this is "my mission," that we need to understand that this is the Lord's mission. Talk about something really hitting you. So true! Now I'm trying to devote myself to having the Lord etched in my heart and mind so that I can become a missionary. He said that you can do missionary things and be obedient and a good person, but that doesn't mean you are a true missionary. Here's my commitment to change. And the last thing he gave us was a list that President Hinkley gave to missionaries in Poland or something. I cannot remember everything on the list, but I'll try. It's a list of ten things we need to take home from our missions:

1. Understanding of the meaning of personal virtue

2. Increased polish and poise

3. The courage to act

4. The faith to try

5. The humility to pray

6. Increased appreciation and love for your parent

And I honestly cannot remember everything else. That's sad... I mostly remember the first two because those are the one's that really spoke to me. But I love all of them, I just can't remember the exact wording and/or order, which is important because the last one he said was the "humility to pray." I find that interesting and extremely telling. Anyway, I'll continue to write more about his talk next week when I bring my notes.

 

Love you all tons!

Jocelyn

Sorry everyone of Jocelyn's fans.  I had her email down incorrectly.  Here is the correct email:
jocelyn.smith@myldsmail.net

email from Jocelyn 10/21/13

Dad I'm excited for you to be serving with Bishop Johnson (well...now President Johnson), he's always been one of my favorites. Tell him thank you for me. 

This week is a blur. We made a standard! Our mission goal is to get 70 contacts in a week, and we've never made it to 50 and this week we got 70! We only had a short amount of time to tract yesterday and we only had 11 left so we ran from house to house because we wanted to get our 11. Well, the Lord blessed us and we got exactly 11! However, we were 15 minutes late to our appointment because we ended up talking to this one lady for days. 

We did tables at KSU, it's both fun and hard. It can be really awkward just going up to random students my age and trying to talk about Jesus with them. Some are really receptive and nice, others are just downright rude and/or awkward. IT's great though because the people who really listen are the people who are hard to forget. Also, one of the members in the branch had work off that whole Wednesday we did tables so he hung out with us the whole day and came to lessons with us and bought us dinner. It was way nice of him and now we want to do that with other members in the branch, especially the ones that are planning to go on missions or have not gone on a one and should sometime soon. This guy has gone on a mission, so he was nice to have around for tips and knowledge and all that good stuff. 

We went tracting in this ghetto ish apartment complex and we taught to these people while they were smoking, which was fine, but one guy was rolling a doobie most of the time we were talking to him. However, two of the people in the group actually seemed legitimately interested and asked us for a Book of Mormon. Hope they feel the spirit when they read it. :P Anyway, in this area there was a lady who was getting out of her car and I took the opportune moment to ask if she needed help and she said she was fine, but she wanted to know what we were all about. We briefly taught her a little bit about the Book of Mormon and she said," my mom is native american and I've always wondered where they started and how they started." Also, she's from Northern California! And we got her number and have been keeping in touch with her so that we can teach her this week. Let's hope it goes well. 

In another area where we were tracting this wonderful lady answered and seemed weary at first, but then she felt our spirit and let us talk to her about Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. At the end she said she wanted us to come talk to her daughter. She said that her daughter has been going through some rough things and she needs God in her life. I think she knew we had something that her daughter doesn't have yet, and that we could help her. So she was an awesome contact. 

A few days ago we taught these two Christians that only really met with us so that they could prove us wrong. That was both really awesome and caused me a lot of anxiety. It was great because we taught them the first lesson the best we've ever taught it before. I felt the spirit the entire time! And then they were kind of dumbfounded when we finished and they just sat there like they didn't know what to say. Eventually their demeanors changed and they began bashing us. That was not fun. However, I bore my testimony with the most strength I think I've ever born it and they got quiet again. It was quite awesome to watch to be honest. But again, I really do not like bible bashing, neither party is going to change and the only thing I can hope to do is to bear my testimony and hope they feel the spirit. People aren't converted by facts, they're converted by the Spirit. 

Last night we taught this man who is getting divorced today. It was hectic. His son was running around and his dog was going crazy, I felt so much stress and yet somehow the spirit was present. I had such a mix of  emotions last night that I didn't really know how to respond to the whole lesson when we came home. 

I can't think of anything else to report. Anyway, I know my favorite scripture now: Jacob 6:12 "O be wise, what can I say more?" Nothing hits the core quite like a simple question that is still yet profound. 

Much love!

Jocelyn

Email from a girl in the branch who adores Jocelyn;  I mean who doesn't right?

Hi Brother and Sister Smith, 

My name is Lauren Hutchinson and I am a member of the YSA branch where your daughter is currently serving. I wanted to let you know how much I absolutely love her! She has such a strong testimony of Christ and His gospel, and that shines through in everything she does. Teaching with our three sisters over the last few weeks has been helping me to build a testimony of missionary work, and Sister Smith has especially been a key part of that because of how much she and I have in common. Seeing her diligence and passion for her service to the Lord has given me a lot of insight into how I can more fully live the gospel of Christ myself. I know that most of the time when we hear about and talk to missionaries we get stories of the investigators and converts they are helping teach, but I want y'all to know that the members of our branch benefit just as much from your daughter's and her companions' service, if not more. 

I hope you are having a lovely day! God bless, 

Lauren

Email from Jocelyn 10/14/13

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving;

I'm so jealous of the delicious food you'll be eating tonight! I can just imagine mom's yam casseroles. Mmmmm.

 

WE HAD OUR FIRST BAPTISM! Wooohooo! He cried after he got out of the water and he cried when he was confirmed on Sunday. Also, his parents did not approve of his baptism before, but his dad apologized to him on Saturday after he was baptized! The Lord is already blessing him! Seriously, he was met with so much opposition before that I can't believe he went through with it. He totally gets it though, so I'm proud of him and excited for the next.

 

Our ward mission leader is 19 and has a friend that's been going through some really hard struggles, so our mission leader, Trevor, brought him to church. Andrew (the investigator) said that he felt peace as soon as he walked into the branch building. We taught him about prayer a week ago. We didn't have the chance to teach the first lesson because Satan is working so so so hard on him! He's also been having some really crazy trials happen lately so we just told him to pray for the Lord's strength, it took us an hour to tell him how to do it effectively I guess. He's so wonderful though, he's a music major and when he feels the spirit he hears music. When we finished praying he ran up to the piano and started playing this beautiful beautiful song and said that that was what he heard when we finished praying! He says that he's terrible at reading music, but as soon as he hears something in his head, or just anything, he can play it! He's so wonderfully gifted. I had this vision of him becoming the next Paul Cardell or John Schmidt or something. Seriously, he was so good! Anyway, I asked if he and I could figure out and make a musical number to do in sacrament and he said he'd love to, hopefully that all goes through because he's really talented! Member referrals are the best.

 

So we have this new rule to go tracting for 2 hours everyday and I actually surprisingly like it. One of the best blessings that has come of it came from a referred contact. These other sisters referred us to this guy they contacted and we went by his house and he wasn't home but his roommate was so we handed him our card and told him to have his roommate call us. It was a shot in the dark, but an attempt nonetheless. The next day guess who called us? The referral! We never ever get anyone actually calling us first! We call them, and typically they don't answer or they tell us they're not interested, but not this guy! His name is Ben, and we went over the next day to teach him the first lesson. Well, we show up and he says he's already read all of 1 Nephi and if he had had time he'd be halfway through! And we committed him to a baptismal date! We tried to get him to talk about his feelings while we taught the first lesson, but he wouldn't really dive into it, but he said he felt something. I know he felt the spirit! I know he did! I sincerely hope he's baptized on November 16th, the Lord prepared him.

 

We have two others on date, but they're softly on date... This is where faith and miracles comes in, but doubt is a very real, very present emotion that comes frequently into my mind. However, we're told to expect miracles, so guess what, I'm expecting miracles. If nothing, I know for a fact that Ben and Andrew are prepared to recieve this gospel so at least they'll be baptized.

 

Oh and we were totally bible bashed this week. Actually we were doctrine bashed, bible bashed and we talked to an atheist feminist about the priesthood. Wow. So the bible bashing was stupid because the guy goes to KSU and he's really too far ahead of himself. He doesn't truly know what he believes in and how he sees God, really the only thing he wanted to do was to prove us wrong, which didn't work out. He uses way to big of words for his simple intellegence and tries way too hard! Anyway. It's hard to explain over email, but his guy honestly had no idea what he was talking about, so it wasn't that good of a bible bash. And the doctrine bash was with a muslim dude. He tried to get us to question our faith. I mean, he understands that we all, Muslim and Christian churches, are based on the same values, but he doesn't understand that we do legitmately believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He tried asking us how Mary concieved Jesus. Easy. First off, we only know what's in the scriptures and second off, who cares? What's really important here? Getting back to live with God and our families someday, or figuring out how Mary was concieved. And the atheist feminist was my personal favorite. She was very classy and spoke very poignantly and elegantly, I just liked her. She really understands values and being a good person, her only hiccup is the fact that she doesn't believe in God. Our conversation revolved around the priesthood and stuff, which again was surprisingly easy. She was the best to talk to because she was calm, cool and collected. She respected our beliefs while we respected hers. It was cool. My companions think I'm the secret weapon because I don't talk as much as they do during lessons, but as soon as someone wants to "bash" us, I step in and start talking about the important things. I thought I would hate it, but those are when I'm the most calm and in control of what we're discussing. Honestly, this is the only church that fully and completely follow God's ordinances from the Old Testament. The more I know about the bible, the definition of the word religion, and when I reflect on the teachings of the temple, the more I realize how logical this church is despite how illogical people seem to think it is.

 

 

Anyway, that's all for today. Love you and miss you all.

 

Jocelyn

This is an actual piece of the Berlin wall! It's on KSU campus and it was probably the coolest thing to see. I'll send more pictures next week. I haven't quite figured out how to do it hahah This is just a forward from somone in the branch.

Email from Jocelyn 10/7/13

This week went by so quickly! It was crazy! This week was also really really awesome though. We had a ton of meetings because Wednesday was our follow up meeting where everyone that came in at the same time as me all go back to Lilburn and learn more from our President. It was so nice seeing my MTC "family" again. Seeing them again made me realize how blessed we were as a district to be put together in the MTC. They're all such amazing people. Anyway, so my first week here we baptized this girl that Sister Beck taught and our mission mets its quota for baptisms, and President rewarded us with the priveledge to go to the temple! First off, since it's not in our mission, typically the only time I'm supposed to go to the temple is my last day here. And second off, the day we found out I lost my reccomend! But, since we would be seeing President on Wednesday he interviewed me and activated one on Friday so it was all good.

Anyway, we got to go on Friday and it was seriously so fantastic. I gained tons of insight and a new appreciation for the temple. I've always loved the temple since I went through, but this time around just seemed profoundly real. I cannot wait to go as often as I can when I'm back from my mission. Plus, it was much needed.  And since then I've been studying temple stuff in the scriptures and it's driving me wild. I just love the temple so much. Honestly, it just shows that there is so much more to this life than people really think.

 

Every first and third Thursday and Saturady of the month we go help at this Methodist food pantry and I think it's one of my favorite things about serving in this area. On Thursdays we pack all this food in bags, and there's this really nice tetris-like method to it, and I think that's my favorite thing to do because it's so organized. And on Saturday there's a long line of people who need food and we help carry their bags to their cars and it's so rewarding. There are some really wonderful people that work at the food pantry and wonderful people who come to the food pantry. It's just an amazing experience overall.

 

Will also recieved revaltion that he should serve a mission! He is seriously the craziest investigator. He said that on Monday he went to FHE with the branch, came home and prayed and asked God what he should be doing. He said that without even really thinking, the thought to do what we are doing popped into his head and he freaked out! He was terrified of the idea. He asked if we missed our families a lot. The idea of actually going on a mission freaked him out, but he knows that that's what God wants him to do because he's prayed about it three times this week and he gets the same answer. He's not even baptized yet! His baptism this Saturday. So stoked for him. We have another investigator on date, but he's quite hesitant. He's going through this rough divorce and stuff. Sister Beck received revaltion in the temple that he should be baptized on the 26th, and he's willing to pray about it. The hard thing about him is that he knows it's all true. He knows it! He just doesn't want to try. I asked him why he thinks that coming unto God seems to make it harder for him because "take [Christ's] yoke upon you, and [he] shall give you rest." I mean duh! what else is supposed to help you through all this heartache? Nothing. That's when God and Christ needs to enter into one's life. He said he knows that, but that's what almost makes it hard. I'm surprised by the disappoint I feel from people who know the truth and are not willing to just live it. I know he will be baptized one day; however, I hope it's not after he's completely hit rock bottom because that would be heartbreaking.

We also have another girl on date, and I have faith that someday she will be baptized too, but I don't think it's going to be while we're here.

 

Conference was amazing. I receieved so much inspiration from the Saturday Morning Session, everything just hit me and was exactly what I needed to hear. I thought of multiple investigators or people that need to listen to Uchtdorf's talk.

 

Real quick, yesterday there was this dog at the house we ate at that literally should be a cartoon character. It's a long, skinny greyhound that has a massive overbite! It's seriously the silliest looking dog in the world! And he doesn't turn around, he backs up! It's so funny, he looks like a car when he does it. I wish you could see this dog, he's just so funny. Also, the wife of the people that fed us is from New Zealand, but she's from the south island which is not Wellington. Sadly I couldn't see if she knew Jonty or Zac.

 

Love you all. Hugs and kisses

Jocelyn

Email from Jocelyn 9/30/13

Hello all!

 

This week was a wonderful and blurred week. It went by really really fast! Our investigator, Will is moving along so nicely. He just wants to get baptized! It's so cool. He told us a little more about his life this week and I just feel so bad for him. He has had countless trials since he was two years old. It's so sad and I just want to help him, but that's what this gospel is doing, it's helping him. On Tuesday, we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he brought a roommate with him. Since his roommate doesn't understand the nature of God at all, it was hard for him to understand the Word of Wisdom. However, since he did not see the point, Will did! Will bore testimony of the word of wisdom, and he's never even lived it before! He's just so golden of an investigator it's really quite crazy. And he says that everything we teach him and when we do it falls right into place with what he's dealing with outside of our lessons. A couple days before we taught him the word of wisdom he got really drunk because of family problems, and this is the second time he's gotten hammered, and he absolutely hated the experience. It was a terrible night for him, so now he's so unbelievably willing to live the word of wisdom and it's the coolest thing ever. And he feels like the scriptures that we randomly text are exactly what he needs at that moment. He truly feels the Spirit so strongly.

 

Our tripanionship is doing loads better!  All of our strengths are so different that in a lesson, they all work together to make one awesome lesson. Not to boast, but I think the people in the branch really like us. This week and our interactions with people, testified that we were put together for a reason. We're put together to strengthen the branch with our differences we can use the Spirit in different ways to speak to specific people. Will told us yesterday that our personalities blend really well together to just create the perfect atmosphere. He said that sister Madsen was whaky, which opens people up, that I'm motherly and that Sister Beck is stern. First off, wow, no one has ever called me motherly! And second off, so cool that even he could see that we all work like a yin and yang with three pieces and I've been thinking that all week. I think he thinks I'm motherly because he brings out this side of me that just wants to hug him and tell him everything will be okay. He has some physical limitations and he had some pretty unloving parents and relationships and he was bullied through junior high to high school. He's just so strong and so kind, by now, most of us would be bitter toward the world, but he sees that God has blessed him with the ability to love even after experiencing all that hatred. AH, he's a life-changer.

 

Our other investigators are quite hesitant. This one girl just needs a nice dose of motivation, and I don't know how to make that. Hopefully we figure out how to do that. The other investigator we have is going through a divorce and all that fun stuff, so we have to work with him really slowly. He has this undeniable faith in God and he knows what he has to do. He also knows that God's church is on the earth and that it's the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he just doesn't want to completely commit to the lifestyle. However, he let us take his chew, coffee and whiskey last week and throw it away. He said he will not have any coffee (which is the hardest one for him to quit). He's also afraid to lose friends if he were to baptize. We'll see how he comes along.

 

On Wednesday or Thursday (I can't totally remember) it rained so much and I loved it! The rain here is beautiful. The gray contrast to the all the green is just wonderful and I just wanted to soak it all in. It made tracting really enjoyable and it made me want to go to Oregon or something. I wish it was like that more often here. I'm so stoked for the fall weather here though. The adorable Halloween decorations that the people have on their doors already just kill me, Mom, you would die they're so cute. 

 

Mom, your package this week was manna from Heaven! Seriously, that stationary is to die for and to see Trader Joe's brand stuff on my shelf is stupidly comforting. Who knew I would miss Trader Joe's so much. I'm going to make your life-changing bread today :) Thank you for sending all those ingredients! I can't wait to eat it.

 

Mom and dad, you are both wonderful, amazing parents. I promise I'm not just saying this because I'm on my mission. My feelings are obviously intensified since I'm out here, but I love you both so much. I think of  you both everday and I know that it was because you are my parents that I have made the right choices to be out here on my mission. I think of your teachings and examples and how they have made me who I am today. Your examples and covenant keeping has greatly influenced my life and our family for the better. I thank God for you and Ashley, Tegan, Davis and Jared (and my family in general, so including the nieces and nephew, soon to be nephews!) every day and night.

 

Love you all to the moon and back,

Jocelyn

Email from Jocelyn 9/23/13

I have been looking forward to emailing all week. All of your emails have just lightened my day! 

This week was amazing! 

On Tuesday we taught Will, that guy that came up to us at the tables, and he felt the Spirit throughout his entire body! He said that the warm fuzzy feeling he feels is usually only in his chest, but that at that moment it was all over his body! And we're like, "it's the Holy Ghost!" Ahhhhhh. He's so amazing. He has this really rough family life and he is just so loving and just so inspiring. So we asked him to be baptized on October 12th and he wants to be baptized now! But he can't because he needs to go to church twice hahaha. And yesterday, he wasn't planning on coming to church because he was going to visit his mom and tell her he was getting baptized, but she ended up telling him that if he did he would no longer be  his son. And so he got really drunk (we haven't taught word of wisdom yet, though he did say he won't do it again) and his roommate was being really aggressive with this girl and he stood up for her and his roommate punched him and beat him up. He was up on Saturday considering committing suicide and he remembered the feeling of love that he felt in the branch building. So he slept on a couch in some friend's house and came to church. We had to sit outside with him for a while while he cried and told us the story. I started tearing up I felt so bad for him! He is so amazing for coming to the place where most people would say caused his pain, but he realizes that he feels the Lord's love when he's here. So so cool. 

Also, that inactive kid that came to our table. He agreed to have a lesson with us and he just opened up his whole story.  It was so crazy and so beautiful and he just cried. It's so amazing to see people just open themselves and hand their hearts to you and they're like, "this is me, it's ugly." and we're like,"no, you're loved and you're beautiful." AHHHHHH People are just so fantastic, I can't handle it. Honestly, if it weren't for these crazy spiritual experiences and connections into these people's lives, I would really miss home. 

We went to this sandwich place where a member works and I swear I walked into a fancy Secret Spot that embodied Jared. I freaking miss Jared! First off, there's this HUGE collage of pictures of the Beatles, Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, Buddah, Bob Marley, Mohammad Ali, and others. Seriously, it was Jared in one collage. Oh and Kurt Cobain and just craziness. Plus, guess who was playing when we walked in? Explosions in the Sky! What?! I cannot believe that they were playing. I was going nuts! And behind the sandwich stuff was a picture of a beach, it looked almost exactly like Crystal Cove. Needless to say, it was hard not to miss home when I walked in. Plus Jared just gets me.

Today we got to go hiking. Finally! But we went with people in the branch,  the view was beautiful and we got to walk through this quick museum in the visitor center. It's the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park. So there was a battle there! So cool. And we got to see uniforms and cannons. I would love to take Jared there too. There's all these old rifles and just cool stuff. 

 I love serving in a YSA branch, the members are so enthusiastic and so willing to help us. We have had some amazing help and experiences with the members, it's awesome. 

I don't know what else to report on. Hopefully I can email my friends :P 

love you all so much, hugs and kisses

Jocelyn 

Jocelyn's email....she wants everyone to write

 I'm sorry, I had Jocelyn's email down incorrectly, here is the correct email: jocelyn.smith@myldsmail.net

email from Jocelyn 9/16/13

Hey to everyone!

 

This week was significantly better! 

 

Although, this week we had way more fun and goofed around often, which in turn meant we worked harder. On Wednesday we had the chance to set up a table at KSU and we set it up with copies of the Book of Mormon and some pamphlets and stuff. It was really fun once people started coming up to us. At first I was way stressed but then really cool experiences happened. This guy came behind the table and asked me what mission we were on and I told him and then I asked "are you a member?" To which he responded: "Meh, I was but I haven't been in a really long time." He was so chill and nonchalant about it, it was kinda cool and surprising. Well we were talking and eventually I asked him to come to church on Sunday and he said he would. We also invited him to play frisbee on Thursday. The YSA kids play frisbee with a bunch of nonmembers and the missionaries can come in pday clothes and play while contacting and doing a spiritual thought after. So he came and the people in the branch fellowshipped him really well. I'm really proud of the people in the branch, they are just so cool. So this guy came to church on Sunday and I think he got emotional during sacrament and the first talk (which was about repentance and it was actually a really good talk) and I tried not to look so as to give him privacy, but I know he felt the spirit. I asked him afterward what he thought and he said it was good and it was worth it, "I'll definitely keep coming." BAH! So happy and so proud!

 

Another guy came up to sister Madsen and sister Beck and told them he had a Book of Mormon, but he wanted to know more. So on Thursday he met up with us and we taught him the frist lesson. First off, a little bit about this guy, he goes to KSU and is majoring in History Ed. He wants to be a teacher that teaches tolerance and love, and so he's been to MANY churches and learned about them so that he can get a real understanding of different religions and their culture and beliefs. He's quite a cool individual. So we taught him and he said he's never been to a church that legitamitely emphasizes learning and understanding in order to get a testimony. He loves that we encourage him to ask God if what we were telling him is true. And he thought that the whole story of Joseph Smith made historical and spiritual sense. He said, "yeah, I mean why would God stop talking to his children jsut because it's modern?" Exactly! And the whole part about Christ appearing to the people in the Americas made sense to him too. He's an awesome investigator.

 

It's been a really good week and we had a lot of good experiences. I hope this week is good too. Oh and on Wednesday morning we did the Bishop's storehouse and after everyone had gone through the ladies told us to take whatever produce we wanted. Seriously, the Lord blessed us. I had like nothing when we left and I came home with a huge bag of grapes, broccoli, cauliflower, plums, apples, oranges and carrots. It was so nice to have food this week! Also, we found out our complex has a gym. Also, another great blessing to find that out.

 I wanted to write Jared and I realized I don't remember his email. So if you could send that so I get it next week that would be cool. Tell him I miss him and I think of him going on a mission in a couple years and it's really cool thinking of him doing that. The work is worth all the emotional drainage. I love sister Madsen, she's a bright light and way spunky and happy all the time.

 

I pray for you guys and am thankful you are my life and my family. I miss Huntington Beach, but that makes sense. And I still love the humidity here and the green. The college campus is really cool and makes me miss school, but it's not enough of a miss to distract me. 

Love you lots, think and pray about you all 

Love you all to the moon and back, 

 

Jocelyn