Journal Entry from 01/02/12 - Qrimsen

January 2, 2011

We visited with *Qrimsen on December 30, 2011. We talked with her for 2 hours...actually she talked to us for 2 hours. We each said one sentence each I kid you not! She was a convert about 20 years ago and became inactive because some mormon guy broke her heart. She told us how she loves listening to the preachers every single day and she gets Christ's doctrine mixed with all the other religions. She told us some weird story how she anointed herself which didn't make sense. Then she told us how everyone in the ward wasn't friendly and they were boring and to basically boring people are not Christian, and she went on and on judging the ward how they weren't talkative and shy and just all this stuff, yet when she first became a member she talked to everyone. She didn't make the effort to go visit with others as well. Then she went on and on how she gave missionaries presents and no one else did so they are not Christian.  I hope that we can find members to help fellowship her more and that we can teach her and that the spirit will soften her heart to forgive others.

Journal Entry from 01/02/12 - Dixon Family

January 2, 2012

Last night we met the *Dixon Family. They are an inactive family. Dad and Mom are both converts and then there are 4 children. We had one of the kids read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 and none of the kids could explain that to us. We had to really explain it. After that the kids were going crazy wanting us to help them read the scriptures. I gave the youngest boy a tiny book of Mormon and told him if I gave it to him he had to read it. They are a super nice family and I am not so sure why they dont go to church anymore, but they should. All the kids acted like they would love it, and they loved when we came to their home. They shut off all their games, and I dont even know if their parents told them to do so. We will get them to come and get the kids baptized.  I am excited to teach this family and get faith rebuilt there.

Journal Entry from 12/30/12 - Jackie

December 30, 2011
Sister Pitt came with Sister Gunnell and I to visit *Jackie last night. Jackie is an endowed member of the church and is innactive. She had a lot of deaths in her family, her husband being one of them. She told us before last night that she did not believe God had a body of flesh and bones, she couldn't ask for anything when she prayed, and she didn't believe in organized religion. Her ideas were extremely misconstrued to say the least. Then Sister Pitt just started having conversation with Jackie and she opened up her heart. She started dating a man after her husband died and this man abused her. She doesn't feel worthy anymore. We shared our testimonies of the atonement, and of repentance. We also shared with her the need the members have and the need she has to be an active member at church. She said she would come to church on Sunday so I hope it works out. We plan to continue visiting Jackie. Missionary work isn't about baptizing. It's about giving His children a way back to Him. Especially for those who have already made those sacred covenants. We could have been out with non-members, but we find the the Lord works in many ways to bring His children to salvation. Alma 24:27

Journal Entry from 01/02/12 - Elizabeth

January 2, 2012
I don't even know what to say about Elizabeth. After her blessing on Friday night she was ready to give up cigs and we were going to meet with her Saturday and have dinner so she didnt have to have a stupid party night for New Years Eve. She ended up hanging out with her sister. She smoked more than the 4 she said she would and then didn't show up to church like she said she was going to on Sunday.  We went over to her house last night which was Sunday night to see what was going on. She said that she couldn't count how many cigs she had that day and then i saw that she had an empty vodka bottle. The one time she straight up lied to us. ugh!!!! But she doesnt have anyone and so much crap happened to her in her life and it just makes me way sad. She was totally drunk. You couldnt smell it but she said to us "well, maybe I like being unhappy because I am used to it." Then she said she wanted all that the gospel has to offer. She doesn't know what she wants in a state like that, but it really just made me sad how she talked about being alone.  I know she was drunk but this woman suffers from extreme problems and depression being one of the many products of that, but as she talked about being alone, tears just streamed down my face. She knows the Lord loves her and is there for her and all this stuff, but she really just broke my heart when she talked about wanting to erase the sins she has gone through but always being alone. It's really hard trying to explain loneliness cuz we can't always SEE the Lord in His body, but when we choose to see His love and how we are truly not alone we can physically see the blessings in our life and the opportunities we have to change, which in turn brings happiness. 
I love Matthew 3:8 and it talks about the fruits of repentance. A fruit is a product of labors, which with this scripture we can physically see repentant people.

Journal Entry from 12/28/12 - Elizabeth

*Elizabeth has committed to fast from cigarettes as Sister Gunnell and I fast from food and water for 24 hours together. I wanted to make sure I could take a walk in Elizabeth's shoes so I put out all of my treats on my desk as a temptation. I am also fasting from gum which is something I have a hard time going without.  As we studied this morning I realized my heart, mind, and desires were set upon my treats. I learned that if we are making a sacrifice and we dwell solely on the thing we are giving up and not the reason or the blessings that will come then we will miss out on why we fasted in the first place. Our fast will then have been in vain. What does our heart desire? Yeah throughout the day we will think of these things we are missing, but are we dwelling on how much it sucks? Is the blessing worth the sacrifice? I know that it is, and it can be, if God's promises are of great worth to us then we will be willing to give up everything to obtain that blessing.

First Discussion in the field

I am in Teay's Valley! pronounced Tays...I live in a city called Hurricane, pronounced the same as the Utah one. Sister missionaries have not been in this area for 2 years so we have Lots of planning and figuring out where the heck we are, and the gps isnt amazing in WV cuz the roads and valley is psychotic! trees are everywhere looks like a forest and im just going camping. its beautiful. I am in an incredibly nice area so nothin outta the ordinary yet!

My trainer is Sister Kayla Gunnell from Farmington. She is flippin awesome! we get along INCREDIBLY well! the day after we moved in and started doin some work after a lot of planning we talked to *Joy who is an older woman and has been talkin to the missionaries for over 30 years. She has 8 cats...but i only saw 1 and the evidence of all the others....thats beside the point. we started gettin to know her and she told me she had some doubts about Joseph Smith. as soon as she said that, I UNLEASHED the Spirit on her! Threw questions at her right and left, soul searching questions (the kind that make you wrestle with the spirit and feel it). and The Spirit ROCKED and then my comp jumped in after a series of scriptures and pulled out a random date to be baptized. she told us she couldnt give us an answer it wasnt yes or no. so i asked her to pray with us, she sat there in silence and finally said she couldnt get the words out. I then asked do you belive in God? yes Do you believe He is our Father? yes Do you KNow he loves us? yes Do you think He wants us to talk to Him? yes Do you wanna talk to Him?........................she didnt say a word. Joy are you mad at God? no. Why wont you pray? silence...I just cant get the words out. I think we prayed with her in the lesson but i guess i asked her atleast 10 times to pray (my comp was counting) and i only remember 3. but then again. everytime i opened my mouth I was SHOCKED at what came out! I KNOW she knows this to be true and now is the time for her to act. we committed her to pray this week. but we went home and my companion said wow you dont need to be trained, she thanked me for being proactive too, also she said she never felt the spirit quite like that and loved my soul searching questions! the spirit was so amazing! I was on a HIGH like no other!  i read her teaching record later and we learned that she is still holding a grudge towards her husband for cheating...i think she doesnt feel like she should be baptized by holding that. dont worry we will get her! cuz if all this is true then she has Got to let go. plus, I know she KNOWS for a FACT that this is the true church! Amazing first lesson! I love it!

I gotta go, sorry i cant give more but i have so much going on! 

Love y'all

merry christmas

Mission Address

Jessica arrived in West Virginia on 12-13-11.  She has been assigned her area and her address is:

Sister Jessica Little
107 Arbaugh Drive  Apt #6
Hurricane, WV  25526