Wet, Wild and Wacky

Hey ya'll

So this is Joshua who is our super cool investigator that we are working with. He is awesome and is preparing to be baptized. Also his two younger sisters Gabby and Jackie. They are just the greatest family and I love working with him and his family (it makes me wish I was in a family ward). We have been helping Joshua to overcome challenges in his life but I know that the gospel is truly amazing and that it helps each and everyone to change things in their life to become better people and be better followers of Jesus Christ. I'm so excited to help Joshua in his journey to follow the Savior even more closely.

So quick update on that miracle that I told you about, the guy who had lost contact with the church for 30 years and was basically tearing the Book of Mormon out of our hands (I told it a few weeks ago). Well  he lives at the men's rehab facility where we volunteer! The sisters before us signed us up to serve with the Miami Rescue Mission and our first time there this guy walked up to us and was like "do you remember me?" and I was like "Hi Matthew". Well talking with him more he gave the Book of Mormon to his cell roommate and wants another, so that is cool. And it turns out he was visiting a friend on Miami Beach when we met him, and was actually on his way out to go back to the Rehab place. Well that was cool!

Flashback:  We went to try and contact this less active who lives in a super super gated apartment complex, that last week we got into with the wrong address, so this time we went back with the right address hoping to contact her. Well she no longer lives there but as we were leaving the apartment complex and were going down in the elevator this guy started talking to us about if we were nuns (seriously the best conversation starter....no we are not nuns, we're missionaries, let us tell you about what we believe). We told him we were Mormons and he got so excited, he had met a Mormon girl when he was 13 and had started reading the Book of Mormon but hadn't seen Mormons in 30 years. Well we offered him a Book of Mormon and he was almost tearing it out of our hands. Super cool, helping him along his journey.

It has rained a lot this week, like massive storms which have been fun to work in. The funniest thing happened though, one day this week we were doing a lot of less active contacting and every time we were in the car it was raining and every time we were out of the car to contact someone it stopped raining so that was a cool little miracle for us. Also it has been crazy trying to visit all the people that we want to because it takes us an hour to drive to the far reach of our area (where we are working) and it takes us 15 minutes to get anywhere in our area so that has been crazy. And man we have just met some wacky people. Hey everyday is interesting and Florida has a lot of interesting people and it's been an adventure every day.

I'm so glad that I decided to come out and serve my mission. God has helped me to grow and change and become the best person that I can be. I've met so many amazing people who have helped to strengthen my testimony of the gospel and to strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful to all of your guys support and the many prayers that I know you have offered in my behalf. 

I love all of you! Have a great week!

<3/ Sister Jennings

Gators Galore

Hey everyone! Wow it's been a crazy week!

May 31: The coolest thing happened after p-day. We went to try and contact this less active who lives in a super super gated apartment complex, that last week we got into with the wrong address, so this time we went back with the right address hoping to contact her. Well she no longer lives there but as we were leaving the apartment complex and were going down in the elevator this guy started talking to us about if we were nuns (seriously the best conversation starter....no we are not nuns, we're missionaries, let us tell you about what we believe). We told him we were Mormons and he got so excited, he had met a Mormon girl when he was 13 and had started reading the Book of Mormon but hadn't seen Mormons in 30 years. Well we offered him a Book of Mormon and he was almost tearing it out of our hands. Super cool, helping him along his journey.

(funny corner in South Beach)
​

June 1: Today we took a member knocking with us, which was good because she spoke Spanish the entire time we knocked, and I handed them pictures of Jesus Christ. So yeah, working on learning Spanish and its going slow and hopefully will learn enough to give them a picture of Jesus and tell them to check out the website on the back.

June 2: We went and volunteered at a homeless shelter. It was so much fun and it was really cool to help them out and truly see the difference we can make. Then we went and met with a less active Denise and she is going through a tough time but is looking forward to meeting with us and coming back to church. She is so cool, and I can tell I'll be friends with her even after the mission.

June 3: We taught an awesome lesson about the Book of Mormon to our investigator David and he is excited to work towards getting baptized. He has a lot of questions and loves reading the Book of Mormon it is so cool and I'm excited to help him prepare to be baptized.

June 4: We tried to visit everyone that we could think of: all the referrals we've received, all of our investigators, all the less actives (not really, because there are a lot of them), and really just everyone. Also our investigator Robert wanted to meet us for a lesson at the Super Market and that was weird, we had to set the expectation with him that we can no longer meet in back alleys and at the super market but at his home so that we can bring a member with us.

June 5: We had investigators at church!!!!!!!!! Also we had a super cool meal with some members and I got to valet park my car for free in downtown Miami. It was super crazy because first of all there is no parking in downtown and second valet parking is so expensive. It was nice not having to back out of a parking spot or anything like that.

Well have a great week everyone! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Jennings

(It rained during our morning exercise)

Miracle Miami

Hey everyone! 

May 23: We had a fun zone activity playing volleyball, which was good because we went to FHE tonight and they were playing volleyball but we gave a chapel tour to our investigator David instead. David is a cool miracle actually, he texted us on like our 2nd day in Miami asking us if the sisters were still in Miami because he wanted to meet with us. Cool!

May 24: It rained a lot today and it poured like crazy. While we were knocking we met this family who had 3 of our pass along cards displayed proudly in their home, they definitely have talked to missionaries before. We also met a really cool lady who wants to be baptized and set a good example for her two kids, so the elders will be working with her to achieve that goal.

May 25: We were looking for a less active member in this super gated apartment complex. Like it takes a code to park in the building then a different code to actually get into the floors where the apartments are. Well we got lost on which floor we needed to be and ended up going to the first floor. Right when the elevators opened there was a security guard (which is usually bad news for us) and we explained to her that we were looking for a member of our church. Well she noticed our name tags and got super excited. Her name is Alexis and she is a former investigator and wants to come back to church and be baptized. It was a crazy cool miracle finding her.

May 26: While at dinner today I got approached by a Jehovah's Witness who was so excited that i was a Mormon. We then talked about what we believe and I gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet (which talks about where we come from, why we are here, and where we are going after this life). It was really cool because he had some misconceptions about what we believe and got to help set him straight on that.

May 27: We found a less active who wants to come back to church! It was a really cool miracle and I'm excited to help him.

May 28: Today we got a call from a guy at BYU-I who wants us to teach his sister. That was cool so we'll be meeting with her this week.

May 29: Well our investigators didn't come to church and only one of the less actives we are working with did so that is our big push this week, to help them come to church and understand the importance of church.

May 30: We met with our investigator Robert and set him with a baptismal date and we are excited to help him work towards that. And then we were looking for a less active and we couldn't find the address, but being stubborn I wanted to knock one more door and we met Danny who is a former investigator and wants to learn more, so he's now our new investigator.

Well it's been a crazy week of miracles. Until next time.

Love ya all,

Sister Jennings

Miami Mayhem

Hey all ya'll!

Well I'm now down here in Miami and its super fun. My new companion is Sister Tui she's from Hawaii and this is her last transfer. Which means this will be the first companion I will kill (send home). Ahhhhhh

May 17: Crazy day saying goodbye to everyone in Boca Raton, I do have to say that I have never been fed better in my life because literally everyone wanted to give us food when we saw them.

May 18: Transfer day, my trainer finished her mission today so that was real sad but I got my new companion. Miami traffic is absolutely crazy (and I get to drive in it) it made us 45 minutes late for an appointment because we got stuck in traffic, I'll definitely have to learn how to be patient as I drive and not get angry at other people.

May 19: We are still figuring out the area since neither of us have served here before and we are still trying to figure out where all the YSA (Young single adults) live so that we can knock around them and find some new investigators. Also don't know what my mission president was thinking putting two english missionaries in a very very very spanish area. We knocked an apartment complex that was all spanish, so I've decided to start learning spanish.

May 20: Today we went ghetto trailer maze hunting for a less active member and we actually found him! It was crazy it was like a maze of trailers with a very potholed dirt road and I had to do some crazy driving to get to his trailer but we found him. Even bigger miracle is he wants to come to church this Sunday and he even has a car to get himself there. Yeah!!!

May 21: We actually got a new investigator today, his name is David and the previous sisters found him. It was really cool, they had given him a Restoration pamphlet and he read the whole thing and then taught us the first lesson about the Restoration of Christ's church. And then he told us all he wanted was a Book of Mormon so that he could start reading to find out for himself if the church was true. Wow #whattheelect. 

May 22: Yeah church!!! Got to meet all of the awesome YSA here and I'm so excited to work with them and help them to grow. Also the coolest miracle, we were praying for a Sunday miracle and were hoping that one of the less actives we met would come to church or our investigators would come to church. God threw a curveball though and sent us a ton of referrals from otehr missionaries so now we get to go contact all of them and then teach those people the good news, teh message of teh Restored gospel.

Well until next week! Have a good week! 

Love,

Sister Jennings

My new address: 

1989 NE 173rd st.

N. Miami Beach, FL 33162

Fiestas, Weddings, and Farewells - A Week Worth Celebrating

Hey Friends and Family

Hey so I forgot my notes for what happened this week so I'll just tell ya what I remembered and send a whole bunch of pictures! :D

For starters our investigators Chardene and Wilkens got married! So that is super exciting for them and we couldn't be happier.

Pic #1 & 2: Making sweet plantains. So we had this super cool zone activity for cinco de mayo and they asked me and sister smith to make sweet plantains since they are absolutely delicious. Let's just say I got to be a pro at making them by the end of that day.

Pic #3: At the activity they made luchadore masks but since we were late we just took pictures in other people's masks. That's more fun anyway

The Hitmen

Hey family and friends!

May 2: Today for p-day we went and rode a carousel near our house and it was so much fun.

May 3: We had a cool thing happen today, we went on a fire exchange with the Elders. Instead of switching companions for an hour we had 4 elders knocking doors with us so that was tons of fun. We also met with a part member family where the member makes Jesus Fish with LDS inside it and he passes them around to everyone. He gave us each one so I'm super excited about that.

The Hitmen of May 4, 5, 6 - that's right I got hit on three days in a row.

4 - I was on an exchange and we walked up to this old guy and gave him a picture of Jesus Christ. He then continued to talk to us and tell us his life story. Then he asked if there were beautiful women at church like us because he was looking to find a wife. He then told us that he would ask us out but doesn't want to rob the cradle.

5- Knocking doors, this guy answered and invited us in and we told him we couldn't go in because there wasn't a woman home and he told us how his friend really needed a prayer though. So he yelled at his friend to come to the door because these girls were there to pray. Well after the prayer they asked us where the church was because the friend needed to find a pretty wife like us.

6- We had to take our car into Firestone and while we were waiting for it this middle aged guy sat down next to us and started telling us how he works for the FBI solving cold cases. He then proceeded to ask us out for a glass of wine that night and we explained that we don't drink alcohol. So he proceeded to ask us out for drinks and dinner. Then he changed his tactic to taking us next door for pedicures while we waited for our cars to be done. At that point our car was finished and we booked it out of there.

*Note: missionaries get hit on all the time and it seems like we just find the craziest of people. Like they are somehow drawn to us. Well I thought it was super funny and definitely a funny story to tell.

May 7: We actually got to visit a recent convert we've been trying to meet up with weeks. She was actually there for her appointment and so that was an amazing miracle. I'm excited to actually work with her and help her to become more active as well as teach her good friend.

May 8: I GOT TO SKYPE MY FAMILY!!! Also got to speak in church but really the family skype is more  important. Really funny moment, at our meal appointment they decided to guess our first names and mine was really hard for them their favorite guess was Karen and Kendra but they also guessed things like Kelp and Key Lime (which turned into Key Lime Pie)

​

Supper good week! Loving life and Loving the Lord!

Love ya,

Sister Jennings

Sign at the church building

At the gospel class on Wednesday. The Relief Society room is always cold and there is no way to fix it so they have a basket of blankets that I definitely take advantage of. I never thought I'd be cold on my mission but man they crank the A/C here :D"

Welcome to Rat's Mouth

Hey Friends and Family!!!

So for starters found out what Boca Raton translates as. It's Rat's Mouth. Now when we drive down the road it's really funny seeing all the signs. Mouth Pointe, Mouth Terrace, Mouth this and that.

April 25: Today while we were knocking doors we met Djvante who was so grateful that we were going around sharing prayers with people. Like ready to email us big long thank you emails. Funny....we don't use our email very often. 

April 26: While volunteering at Restore today, we were dusting all of the stuff and we had like 3 people offer to take us home with them and dust their houses (one lady even offered to feed us). Really funny though, we would love to come over to all of their houses and help them clean, if we could share a prayer and just invite the spirit into their home. Funniest experience while knocking. We knocked on this door and the lady let us inside, turns out she met with missionaries 20 years ago in Brazil and still remembered their names (and even where one of them was from) all because she thought he was super cute. It made us laugh super hard because she talked about it was hard to concentrate during the lessons because he was just so attractive. Also while we were contacting less active members this Colombian guy walked up to us and in our broken Spanish we told him what church we were from and where it was and he told us about how beautiful we were. Then it turned awkward when he asked to do a bejous (kiss on the cheek - its a big culture thing) and we instead offered a hand shake. 

April 27: After interviews with President today we went out to West Boca Raton to Casa do Pao where they have amazing Brazillian food and we had coxinias.

Also while knocking doors we interrupted a Jehovah's Witness lesson so that was cool.

April 28: We randomly texted a guy that the previous sisters had found to see if we could go and teach him and he said sure. So we went and taught him about the Book of Mormon and cleared up some confusion about what he thought the Mormon church was about. No its not what you see on tv in southpark and on the simpsons.

April 29: While looking for less actives today we found a lot of empty lots where houses used to be. Yeah I don't think they live there any more. During our time knocking today we met this spanish guy and his daughter and she was shy and didn't want to talk to us so I said "Me llamo Hermana Jennings" (My name is Sister Jennings) then the dad got so excited and asked us if we spoke spanish. I still don't. Then as we walked away the little girl asked her dad where we were going.

April 30: Today was a really cool day finding less actives. We tried like 5 people and found out a few moved but also found some who want to meet again with us so we can help them come back to church. It was really cool because most of the time you knock on empty houses so you never know and you have to go back again trying to find them.

May 1: Church was really cool today, not because investigators came :( , but because we had a bunch of less actives we are working with come. One of the little boys who is 7 wanted to bear his testimony and it was just so cute. And of course we went and visited Li and Aaron and during the lesson Aaron said he wanted to be a missionary, so I let him wear my nametag during the lesson so he could be a missionary like us.

Well that's all for now!

Love,

Sister Jennings