JUNE 18th 2012
"WOW everything this week has been amazing!!!
We went hiking this morning for our p-day activity! It was all so
wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) It was fun, but tiring at the end.
We went hiking at Red Rock- one of the top 15 places to hike in
America.
Our hike was basically "bouldering" 2 miles up a red canyon, and
seeing a breathtaking view of the valley, and then scrambling
down the rocks the 2 miles again. Super fun! There were about 18
Elders who attended :)
Saturday was SPECTACULAR. We got to see my first convert be
MARRIED in the temple!
It was so gorgeous!!!!!! I am so proud of David. He is 24 and his
wife is amazing as well! David is the only member of the church
in his family. I still remember the Joy on his face when we was
baptized over one year ago, and the Joy on his face was even
greater as he was united with his wife for eternity. During the
marriage, I got to sit in the "Mother's Chair" in the gorgeous
Sealing Room! I cried the whole time. This was definitely one of
the top spiritual moments of my mission. I am sooo grateful we
got to attend it!
After the marriage, we got to be with his family and her family
as we waited outside for them to exit the temple. We all gathered
under the shade of the palm trees, their cool shadows dancing
across our faces. It was a little windy, the sky was perfectly
blue, and the temple grounds could not have been more
breathtaking. As soon as David and Katrina came out, we all
clapped with excitement! And we took pictures! I will send some!
I have so much Joy; I feel so close to Heavenly Father. Someone
told me at church yesterday that after my mission I should "Keep
Running." I am so excited to have the gospel in my life forever!
I can’t wait to serve God throughout the days of my life!!!!!
Love,
Sister Sprouse
Jenna Julianne Sprouse is serving a mission in Las Vegas Nevada from December 2010 until June of 2012. As Jenna cannot post on Blogs or Facebook while serving, this blog will be updated with pictures and letters she writes home. Jenna left us with her favorite scripture passage: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away,even unto boasting in my God." Alma 26:35
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11th 2012
"I am here to say, that God saved my life.
It's so scary to think about. I've never had that happen to me.
God actually saved my physical life; I am ONLY here because he
chose to save me.
We were driving in our area which goes out to the mountains... we
were driving home on Friday from visiting a little city, and it
happened.
The road bends and curves a lot, and we were driving around a
curve when we saw 2 HUGE semis’s driving in the opposite lane.
JUST as we were coming to the bend in the curve, a stupid little
car jetted out from behind the last semi and went to pass them.
??????!!
I moved over to the shoulder as far as I could go, so the car
could possibly fit in between us and the first semi.
Just at the very last second he somehow squeezed into the little
space between the semi's before his life was over, and ours.
During this occurrence everything was very peaceful and
still...it all happened so smoothly and it felt normal...until
later down the road it hit us, what actually just happened.
So, I am so thankful this day that I am alive. I am only alive
because of god. How sad that would sound "Sister Sprouse died
with 2 weeks left of her mission."
I am brought to tears. I owe every second and moment of my life
to them!!!! To God!!!!!!! he saved me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fewf. I feel so spiritually connected with the lord now. I am
feeling a oneness with God and Jesus Christ. I feel they are
always with me.
The crazy thing is, the very night before this happened, I wrote
a letter to my brother Eric....Elder Sprouse. My very last words
to him were "If I die, I promise you I will be your guardian
angel and I will help you proclaim the truth wherever you are."
I still get goose bumps.
Every day I will be a member missionary after my mission.
I owe my life to God!!
This week was epic!!!!!!! We have 6 new investigators!!!!!
The wards TOTALLY loves us, trusts= us, and people are calling us
to come over for dinner! Our dinner calendar for June is already
full though!!!! The Ward activity is already set in stone: Ward
Luau August 4th at 6PM!!! Come learn how to Hula, learn the
Hauka, and eat great food and mingle with great people! .....:)
Sister Garcia and I spoke in one of our wards :) It was great!
On Monday evening we knocked on the door of a referral we
received from salt lake. We had been trying to catch this person
home for a month! No one was answering, and we were about to turn
around a leave, when a woman answered the door slowly.
She asked us who we were, and we explained that we were
missionaries and that we share a great message about Jesus
Christ. She asked "are you going to talk about Joseph Smith?" I
said "Eventually....." She then said, "Well I have some
questions, come in."
YAY!!!!!!! She is so awesome and she is from Haiti. We walked
into her clean home and taught her husband and her daughter. They
accepted the fact that there are modern day prophets, and they
want to read the Book of Mormon!!!! AHHH its so exciting!!!!! We
are teaching them tonight!!!! They have 2 other sons!!
We also are now teaching a man who is in the National Guard. We
are very close with his family. He lives with his girlfriend and
her two daughters. He came to church this Sunday and it shocked
us! He wants to roll with the lessons! YIPPIEEE
We also met with 2 other new investigators!!!
Last night on Sunday, we were visiting part member families.
I had seen his certain family at church. The dad has a ton of
tattoos, and has the appearance of a rocker. We visited them last
night to find out he is from Kentucky!!! He and his LDS wife have
only been married for 4.5 months!!! He isss sooo kind and has
questions about the church and he has been reading the Book of
Mormon!!! WHAT?? Awesome!!!!!!!!!! He is so kind and told us all
about his fishing stories in Kentucky haha! His wife and his son
are just coming back to church. THIS WILL BE GREAT!!!!!!!
All of this good work is happening!
But i must tell you, it is through faith, fasting, obedience,
diligence, and hard work that this happens. Hermana Garcia and I
have been diligently working for almost 3 months here, with no
new investigators until this week. Heavenly Father trusts us, and
now the work is flourishing! Everyone just loves us!!!!!!!! Oh
why must I leave?
I have 2 weeks left.... real life is coming. It will be
exciting!!! :)
We got to go to the temple here 2ce this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Friday we went to the temple with the other 16 missionaries
who leave when I do. IT WAS SO SPECIAL. Sister Garcia got to come
with us! She is lucky! We got to ride with President and sister
Black!:) THEY Love us so much. It is so spiritual to be in their
presence. We went out to dinner at 4:30 and our session was at
6:30pm. Everyone loves seeing missionaries in the temple! They
freak out ha-ha!!! "MISSIONARIESSS WHERE ARE YOU FROM!???? How
long have you been out for??? Thank you for gracing us with your
presence today in the temple." It's like you are famous!!!! Geez,
i love it!!! Because missions are so hard, all the love you
receive from everyone makes up for it! :) Plus you grow from the
hard experiences!! ITS ALL FOR OUR BENEFIT!!! TRIALS YAY!!
We were at the temple again on Saturday for my First convert, and
it was so wonderful.
The temple here is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO GORGEOUS! It
was also very busy...the parking lot was packed! The palm trees
and beautiful landscape was so breathtaking. Wedding guests were
outside and brides and grooms where being photographed! AHHHH !!!
So happy!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS CHURCH!!!!!!!
Inside the temple, I ran into SO MANY PEOPLE from my last 2 areas
in Vegas!!! UG! So much love!!!!!!!!! They begged me to visit
them in July!
Sister Cook, threw her arms around me and squeezed me for so
long. She said "you helped me so much!" I saw about 7 other
members from my first area of 6 months. They all flocked around
me, because they remembered me. I was able to be in the
Breathtaking Celestial Room with them, and with my first convert.
THAT felt like heaven, and I told them.
Then when I was in the bathroom inside the temple, I turned
around and saw a friend from my last area in Vegas, she said
"Sister Sprouse!!! I just got married!!!" ha-ha!!!! CRAZY!!!!
THEN when we walked outside, I saw the Wisers who I lived with in
my last area in Vegas for 6 months!! MY MORMON FAMILY WAS
EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! They can’t wait to meet my mom and have us
over for dinner in July. MAN! IT’S SUCH A great reunion
visiting all these people whom I served and loved so much during
the first year of my mission.
I share these things with you because I have SO MUCH JOY!
That covert to the church, he is getting married in the temple
this Saturday!!!!! I can’t wait!!! And since I didn’t die in
the car crash, I get to go!! HAHA
JOY JOY JOY JOY that’s all you receive when you serve the lord!
Amen!!
xo Sister Sprouse! :) THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING EVERYONE!!!!"
VISIT http://www.mormon.org/ ! will answer your questions on the temple!!
:) or ask me!! :) :)
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
"I am here to say, that God saved my life.
It's so scary to think about. I've never had that happen to me.
God actually saved my physical life; I am ONLY here because he
chose to save me.
We were driving in our area which goes out to the mountains... we
were driving home on Friday from visiting a little city, and it
happened.
The road bends and curves a lot, and we were driving around a
curve when we saw 2 HUGE semis’s driving in the opposite lane.
JUST as we were coming to the bend in the curve, a stupid little
car jetted out from behind the last semi and went to pass them.
??????!!
I moved over to the shoulder as far as I could go, so the car
could possibly fit in between us and the first semi.
Just at the very last second he somehow squeezed into the little
space between the semi's before his life was over, and ours.
During this occurrence everything was very peaceful and
still...it all happened so smoothly and it felt normal...until
later down the road it hit us, what actually just happened.
So, I am so thankful this day that I am alive. I am only alive
because of god. How sad that would sound "Sister Sprouse died
with 2 weeks left of her mission."
I am brought to tears. I owe every second and moment of my life
to them!!!! To God!!!!!!! he saved me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fewf. I feel so spiritually connected with the lord now. I am
feeling a oneness with God and Jesus Christ. I feel they are
always with me.
The crazy thing is, the very night before this happened, I wrote
a letter to my brother Eric....Elder Sprouse. My very last words
to him were "If I die, I promise you I will be your guardian
angel and I will help you proclaim the truth wherever you are."
I still get goose bumps.
Every day I will be a member missionary after my mission.
I owe my life to God!!
This week was epic!!!!!!! We have 6 new investigators!!!!!
The wards TOTALLY loves us, trusts= us, and people are calling us
to come over for dinner! Our dinner calendar for June is already
full though!!!! The Ward activity is already set in stone: Ward
Luau August 4th at 6PM!!! Come learn how to Hula, learn the
Hauka, and eat great food and mingle with great people! .....:)
Sister Garcia and I spoke in one of our wards :) It was great!
On Monday evening we knocked on the door of a referral we
received from salt lake. We had been trying to catch this person
home for a month! No one was answering, and we were about to turn
around a leave, when a woman answered the door slowly.
She asked us who we were, and we explained that we were
missionaries and that we share a great message about Jesus
Christ. She asked "are you going to talk about Joseph Smith?" I
said "Eventually....." She then said, "Well I have some
questions, come in."
YAY!!!!!!! She is so awesome and she is from Haiti. We walked
into her clean home and taught her husband and her daughter. They
accepted the fact that there are modern day prophets, and they
want to read the Book of Mormon!!!! AHHH its so exciting!!!!! We
are teaching them tonight!!!! They have 2 other sons!!
We also are now teaching a man who is in the National Guard. We
are very close with his family. He lives with his girlfriend and
her two daughters. He came to church this Sunday and it shocked
us! He wants to roll with the lessons! YIPPIEEE
We also met with 2 other new investigators!!!
Last night on Sunday, we were visiting part member families.
I had seen his certain family at church. The dad has a ton of
tattoos, and has the appearance of a rocker. We visited them last
night to find out he is from Kentucky!!! He and his LDS wife have
only been married for 4.5 months!!! He isss sooo kind and has
questions about the church and he has been reading the Book of
Mormon!!! WHAT?? Awesome!!!!!!!!!! He is so kind and told us all
about his fishing stories in Kentucky haha! His wife and his son
are just coming back to church. THIS WILL BE GREAT!!!!!!!
All of this good work is happening!
But i must tell you, it is through faith, fasting, obedience,
diligence, and hard work that this happens. Hermana Garcia and I
have been diligently working for almost 3 months here, with no
new investigators until this week. Heavenly Father trusts us, and
now the work is flourishing! Everyone just loves us!!!!!!!! Oh
why must I leave?
I have 2 weeks left.... real life is coming. It will be
exciting!!! :)
We got to go to the temple here 2ce this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Friday we went to the temple with the other 16 missionaries
who leave when I do. IT WAS SO SPECIAL. Sister Garcia got to come
with us! She is lucky! We got to ride with President and sister
Black!:) THEY Love us so much. It is so spiritual to be in their
presence. We went out to dinner at 4:30 and our session was at
6:30pm. Everyone loves seeing missionaries in the temple! They
freak out ha-ha!!! "MISSIONARIESSS WHERE ARE YOU FROM!???? How
long have you been out for??? Thank you for gracing us with your
presence today in the temple." It's like you are famous!!!! Geez,
i love it!!! Because missions are so hard, all the love you
receive from everyone makes up for it! :) Plus you grow from the
hard experiences!! ITS ALL FOR OUR BENEFIT!!! TRIALS YAY!!
We were at the temple again on Saturday for my First convert, and
it was so wonderful.
The temple here is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO GORGEOUS! It
was also very busy...the parking lot was packed! The palm trees
and beautiful landscape was so breathtaking. Wedding guests were
outside and brides and grooms where being photographed! AHHHH !!!
So happy!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS CHURCH!!!!!!!
Inside the temple, I ran into SO MANY PEOPLE from my last 2 areas
in Vegas!!! UG! So much love!!!!!!!!! They begged me to visit
them in July!
Sister Cook, threw her arms around me and squeezed me for so
long. She said "you helped me so much!" I saw about 7 other
members from my first area of 6 months. They all flocked around
me, because they remembered me. I was able to be in the
Breathtaking Celestial Room with them, and with my first convert.
THAT felt like heaven, and I told them.
Then when I was in the bathroom inside the temple, I turned
around and saw a friend from my last area in Vegas, she said
"Sister Sprouse!!! I just got married!!!" ha-ha!!!! CRAZY!!!!
THEN when we walked outside, I saw the Wisers who I lived with in
my last area in Vegas for 6 months!! MY MORMON FAMILY WAS
EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! They can’t wait to meet my mom and have us
over for dinner in July. MAN! IT’S SUCH A great reunion
visiting all these people whom I served and loved so much during
the first year of my mission.
I share these things with you because I have SO MUCH JOY!
That covert to the church, he is getting married in the temple
this Saturday!!!!! I can’t wait!!! And since I didn’t die in
the car crash, I get to go!! HAHA
JOY JOY JOY JOY that’s all you receive when you serve the lord!
Amen!!
xo Sister Sprouse! :) THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING EVERYONE!!!!"
VISIT http://www.mormon.org/ ! will answer your questions on the temple!!
:) or ask me!! :) :)
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
May 29
" WOAH!!! Heavenly Father Has TOTALLY been preparing me for
home!!!! I MUST have a verrrrry busy life coming up and he needs
me to be prepared for it. I definitely won't be the type of
returned missionary who sits and has nothing else to do! Last
week on Wednesday we were teaching a lesson at the church
building. After the lesson we were talking in the foyer, when an
Elder walks in with his father and a Stake President. "NOOOOO!!!"
I said to myself!!!! "He is JUST about to be released from his
mission!!!!" "ahhhhhhh"!! Yep, his name was Elder Peterson he had
JUST flown back to Vegas after his 2 year mission in Minnesota
and Wisconsin. How about THAT for a shocker?
THEN, when we got back to our apartment complex at 9pm and got
the mail, MY TRUNKY PAPERS WHERE IN THE MAILBOX!!!!!!!! Trunky
Papers are a nick name for the papers you get when you are about
to leave your mission. They are a really wonderful idea. There
are 4 papers you fill out: "Major Things I have Learned on my
Mission, My Testimony, My Goals, Most Spiritual Experiences." :)
Once completed you mail them back to the mission office!
The next day, on Thursday, I found out the information regarding
my LAST TEMPLE trip on my mission! I go with the other 15
departing missionaries on June 8th at 6:30pm.
Then on Friday, I had my LAST ZONE CONFERENCE! There were about
50 missionaries there....and I gave my "Farewell Talk" so to
say.... crazy!
Today is Tuesday! :) Yesterday was Memorial Day! YAY!!!!!!! I am
so thankful for all those who have sacrificed their lives on my
behalf. I am in their debt.
I reflected on all the wars of this world, and I felt great
peace knowing in the next life, we will all be reunited again,
eternally! :)
I love my companion!!!
Sunday night we had such a spiritual lesson! We had dinner with
this family. The mom and one son are members of the church, and
her other son, 24 is not. They are Hispanic and cooked us a HUGE
MEAL!!! Steak, chicken, potatoes, corn, broccoli, cauliflower,
lettuce salad, rolls, salsa, every kind of
berry....chips...everything haha! ;) After wards we talked with
her 24 year old son. It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong.
The lesson was about 30 minutes long. In the beginning I asked
him "Do you believe Heavenly Father knows who you are?" He
answered "No."
It was great to find out his need, and then to teach and testify
to him how he can pray to know if God is there for him. We also
talked about the role of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith in
our lives. At the end of his lesson we challenged him to be
baptized. I said "When you come to know these things are true,
will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by
someone holding the Priesthood Authority of God?" The spirit was
so strong I almost choked saying those words.
He said "Yes."
We are very excited for him! Great things are to come as he
finds his purpose in this life! :) I love him!
Referrals are just pouring in. We are so fortunate. We are
seeing the mighty fruit of our labor!!!!!!! We are staying so
busy and productive! I love every moment!
I want every moment of my life to be so happy and productive in
great ways.
Tonight we are giving a seminar to the Youth in one of our
wards!!! 45 minutes of Missionary Discussion!! :) YAY
Yesterday I played basketball for 3 hours!!! I AM SOO TIRED!!!
BUT ALIVE!!!! I need new basketball shoes!!! haha (mine look so
dumb...i got them in 10th grade?? hahaaaaa) Some of the Elders
played basketball in college and have full ride scholarships
waiting for them. One of them is from Africa and super tall...he
will be famous one day.
This next pday we are going to have a bi-zone activity and play
basketball with 50 elders! CRAZY!!!! YEAHH!!!!!!!! there will
only be 4 sisters! yikes! the gym will get smelly .. haha!
In my zone we have 3 elders from Mexico, one from Puerto Rico,
one from Portugal, one from Russia, 3 from Canada, one from
Scotland (i like his accent), one from Tahiti ( i like his accent
too), and a whole bunch from the states (most state missionaries
are from Oregon, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, or West Virginia or
Florida in our mission!). I’m from Wisconsin YEAH!!!! There is
one elder too from WI.
Some of my Goals for after my mission:
1. Always stand as a witness of god in all times and in all
places.
2. Always be a missionary- Remember that I have left my nets to
follow Christ.
3. Be righteous, humble, and repent daily
4. I want to work hard throughout my whole life and as soon as I
get home work to earn money for my future family.
5. I want to be a righteous mother and raise Noble children
6. I always want to do the will of the Lord and accomplish his
will
7. Never murmur
8. Have great faith and have a life of miracles
9. Be my brother’s keeper! Always serve!
10. Always serve my family and give thanks to my parents
11. Sit and reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ for at least
5-10 min every day
12. Bring Heaven on Earth through my home- Have a clean,
beautiful home
13. Live my life with Exact Obedience and Attend the Temple often
14. Give my life to God in all ways.- Heavenly Father sacrificed
his son Jesus Christ for us, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for
us, I must sacrifice and give my life to them.
15. Be worth to have the Holy Ghost guide me in my life, and
follow its promptings
16. Study the scriptures daily
17. Keep in regular touch with the hundreds of people I have
taught on my mission
18. Always praise the Lord and give thanks to him!
19. Lift the feeble knee, help those who are lost
20. Reflect the life of Christ in all that I do and say.
21. Save money so I can serve a mission later in life with my
husband.
22. Budget my money and live wisely
23. Be who Heavenly Father wants me to be.
24. Serve with all diligence in the church callings given to me
............ There are so many goals and SOO many things I have
learned!!!! i should type them all up!
I am soooo thankful beyond words to have served a mission. I am
so thankful I am still serving YAHOOOOOOO
FIGHT FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST FOREVER!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND
SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sister Sprouse
" WOAH!!! Heavenly Father Has TOTALLY been preparing me for
home!!!! I MUST have a verrrrry busy life coming up and he needs
me to be prepared for it. I definitely won't be the type of
returned missionary who sits and has nothing else to do! Last
week on Wednesday we were teaching a lesson at the church
building. After the lesson we were talking in the foyer, when an
Elder walks in with his father and a Stake President. "NOOOOO!!!"
I said to myself!!!! "He is JUST about to be released from his
mission!!!!" "ahhhhhhh"!! Yep, his name was Elder Peterson he had
JUST flown back to Vegas after his 2 year mission in Minnesota
and Wisconsin. How about THAT for a shocker?
THEN, when we got back to our apartment complex at 9pm and got
the mail, MY TRUNKY PAPERS WHERE IN THE MAILBOX!!!!!!!! Trunky
Papers are a nick name for the papers you get when you are about
to leave your mission. They are a really wonderful idea. There
are 4 papers you fill out: "Major Things I have Learned on my
Mission, My Testimony, My Goals, Most Spiritual Experiences." :)
Once completed you mail them back to the mission office!
The next day, on Thursday, I found out the information regarding
my LAST TEMPLE trip on my mission! I go with the other 15
departing missionaries on June 8th at 6:30pm.
Then on Friday, I had my LAST ZONE CONFERENCE! There were about
50 missionaries there....and I gave my "Farewell Talk" so to
say.... crazy!
Today is Tuesday! :) Yesterday was Memorial Day! YAY!!!!!!! I am
so thankful for all those who have sacrificed their lives on my
behalf. I am in their debt.
I reflected on all the wars of this world, and I felt great
peace knowing in the next life, we will all be reunited again,
eternally! :)
I love my companion!!!
Sunday night we had such a spiritual lesson! We had dinner with
this family. The mom and one son are members of the church, and
her other son, 24 is not. They are Hispanic and cooked us a HUGE
MEAL!!! Steak, chicken, potatoes, corn, broccoli, cauliflower,
lettuce salad, rolls, salsa, every kind of
berry....chips...everything haha! ;) After wards we talked with
her 24 year old son. It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong.
The lesson was about 30 minutes long. In the beginning I asked
him "Do you believe Heavenly Father knows who you are?" He
answered "No."
It was great to find out his need, and then to teach and testify
to him how he can pray to know if God is there for him. We also
talked about the role of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith in
our lives. At the end of his lesson we challenged him to be
baptized. I said "When you come to know these things are true,
will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by
someone holding the Priesthood Authority of God?" The spirit was
so strong I almost choked saying those words.
He said "Yes."
We are very excited for him! Great things are to come as he
finds his purpose in this life! :) I love him!
Referrals are just pouring in. We are so fortunate. We are
seeing the mighty fruit of our labor!!!!!!! We are staying so
busy and productive! I love every moment!
I want every moment of my life to be so happy and productive in
great ways.
Tonight we are giving a seminar to the Youth in one of our
wards!!! 45 minutes of Missionary Discussion!! :) YAY
Yesterday I played basketball for 3 hours!!! I AM SOO TIRED!!!
BUT ALIVE!!!! I need new basketball shoes!!! haha (mine look so
dumb...i got them in 10th grade?? hahaaaaa) Some of the Elders
played basketball in college and have full ride scholarships
waiting for them. One of them is from Africa and super tall...he
will be famous one day.
This next pday we are going to have a bi-zone activity and play
basketball with 50 elders! CRAZY!!!! YEAHH!!!!!!!! there will
only be 4 sisters! yikes! the gym will get smelly .. haha!
In my zone we have 3 elders from Mexico, one from Puerto Rico,
one from Portugal, one from Russia, 3 from Canada, one from
Scotland (i like his accent), one from Tahiti ( i like his accent
too), and a whole bunch from the states (most state missionaries
are from Oregon, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, or West Virginia or
Florida in our mission!). I’m from Wisconsin YEAH!!!! There is
one elder too from WI.
Some of my Goals for after my mission:
1. Always stand as a witness of god in all times and in all
places.
2. Always be a missionary- Remember that I have left my nets to
follow Christ.
3. Be righteous, humble, and repent daily
4. I want to work hard throughout my whole life and as soon as I
get home work to earn money for my future family.
5. I want to be a righteous mother and raise Noble children
6. I always want to do the will of the Lord and accomplish his
will
7. Never murmur
8. Have great faith and have a life of miracles
9. Be my brother’s keeper! Always serve!
10. Always serve my family and give thanks to my parents
11. Sit and reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ for at least
5-10 min every day
12. Bring Heaven on Earth through my home- Have a clean,
beautiful home
13. Live my life with Exact Obedience and Attend the Temple often
14. Give my life to God in all ways.- Heavenly Father sacrificed
his son Jesus Christ for us, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for
us, I must sacrifice and give my life to them.
15. Be worth to have the Holy Ghost guide me in my life, and
follow its promptings
16. Study the scriptures daily
17. Keep in regular touch with the hundreds of people I have
taught on my mission
18. Always praise the Lord and give thanks to him!
19. Lift the feeble knee, help those who are lost
20. Reflect the life of Christ in all that I do and say.
21. Save money so I can serve a mission later in life with my
husband.
22. Budget my money and live wisely
23. Be who Heavenly Father wants me to be.
24. Serve with all diligence in the church callings given to me
............ There are so many goals and SOO many things I have
learned!!!! i should type them all up!
I am soooo thankful beyond words to have served a mission. I am
so thankful I am still serving YAHOOOOOOO
FIGHT FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST FOREVER!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND
SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sister Sprouse
Monday, May 21, 2012
May 21
" WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW HOLY CATS!!!!!!!!! This week has been AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
Literally, one of my favorite weeks of my mission. Maybe it is
because I am just so in love with missionary work!!! This week we
have witness SO many incredible miracles!!! And we worked so
hard. It was SUCH a fulfilling week! I am so happy! I know we
were doing the will of the lord. His work is being done-
there’s no greater feeling. :)
SO....let me tell you about it!
Monday we had transfers. Sister Garcia and I are staying
together!! YAY!!
Our Nevada Las Vegas West Mission is SPLITTING!! Reno will now
have its OWN mission starting July 1st. This is very exciting!
So, all the missionaries have been split up, and where everyone
is now, is where they will be for the rest of their missions.
With this last transfer, if they were sent up North to Reno, that
is where they will stay.. in the north. WOW. President Black had
a big job placing us everywhere!!! Transfers are so exciting!!!
It’s funny, Sister Garcia and I were the ONLY companionship to
not have been split up. HAHA. The lord wants us together to do
his work here in South Zone. YAY!!!
I LOVE SOUTH ZONE!!! If you look at a map of Las Vegas, we are
literally in the most south west corner :)
on TUESDAY morning , we got to drive to the mission office (1
hour away), and we got a new car!! Since transfers are also on
Tuesday Mornings, I got to see a lot of my old companions! It was
so exciting. There are usually 70-80 missionaries at
transfers...switching companions, putting luggage in the trailer
attached to the 12 passenger van if they are going up north....
etc... CRAZY!
We have a 2012 Toyata Corolla. WAY nicer then the 2009 corolla
haha. On my mission I have driven a Mazda 3, 2011 Chevy Malibu,
2012 Chevy Malibu, 2011 Ford Fusion, 2 different 2011 Suburu
Imprezas, and of course a 2009 and 2012 Toyota Corolla. I think
thats all of them! hehe! new cars every few months! Sisters are
soo lucky to have cars!!! My favorite car has been the 2011
Suburu. Definitely sturdy cars!!! wahooo.
So the rest of Tuesday we had epic lessons and a fun dinner with
a family we are about to teach.
Wednesday we had a great lesson with a 8 and 10 year old we are
teaching! we also taught our investigator Jaeger who just got
baptized, and had other lessons. We also had a wonderful miracle
of finally finding one of our potential investigators HOME! He
has always been gone whenever we have tried visiting him! IT was
so exciting! We talked outside with him for 40 minutes! He is SO
funny and awesome. a LV cop with a top of stories and a TON of
questions about the church. It was so exciting to stand there and
bear witness of this great church, to talk about the purpose of
life, and to explain to him what the book of Mormon is. He owns a
gun shop, is from New Mexico, and his mom and dad own a bar and a
bike shop. He is in his 30s and is a crazy awesome Hispanic.
Wednesday night, Sister Garcia and I were invited to present a
seminar about missionary work for a different ward. It was soo
fun!! From 7-8pm we taught 3 different groups of youth. We shared
WHY its important to serve a mission, and WHAT amazing miracles
they will witness on their mission. We also talked about the
challenges that arise when a person wants to serve a mission, and
how to overcome the negative thoughts Satan will try to make one
feel. We gave them a print out that we made for them with notes,
and we watched an amazing 4 min movie with them on convert's
testimonies! SO AWESOME.
Thursday we were teaching a less active family. They are from the
Philippians. For weeks we have never been able to meet the mom.
On Thursday she came out during the lesson and joined us!!! She
loved us and invited us back for dinner and a lesson this
Saturday!! YIPPIEEEEEE she is a photographer!! Thursday evening
we had a very special lesson with a woman who was recently
baptized. She is still learning the gospel. I might have told you
about her... she has 2 children and is expecting another baby
this fall. The hard part is, she just got divorced and she has no
money. She is so sad and so lonely. We visited her in her house
and talked about repentance and about the love Heavenly Father
has for us! She sat on her couch just crying as she felt the
comfort of our words, and of the spirit. I do remember promising
her, that "The dark stormy nights are at a cease, and heavenly
father is here to rescue you. Tomorrow the morning will shine
brightly, the sunrise will bring you hope, and you will feel the
love of Christ forever as you come close unto him." I cry in my
heart as I write you these words. The spirit was so strong in her
lesson. She is so burdened, but I can share her pain. I do have a
past that can help her. I promised her we were her friends, and
that we weren’t going anywhere. I love that woman. Her Hispanic
sons are so good. One is 14, and the other is 5. This woman is
finding pure strength in the gospel.
Since she needs more clothes, I went through my closet and found
some shirts and dresses for her! Last night at 8:30 we knocked on
her door, she opened it and smiled so brightly "SISTERS!!! I’m
SO glad you came, come in!" wow! What a welcome. I gave her the
clothes and she was so happy. She said, "Can i get a hug?" :) We
are friends. My family has taught me to give. When you see a
need, you give. Charity. Amazing.
Friday was CRAZYYY awesome!!!!! It was sooo hot...100 something,
and sister Garcia and I got to attempt visiting 20 families!!
fewf so epic. Not many families were home, but a few were :)
it’s always worth it!!!!
Saturday was Jaegers baptism!!!!!!!!! SOO AMAZINGGGGG IT was a
perfect baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERFECT!!! His mom and step dad
came, AND his dad and grandma and cousins..all different faiths.
His grandma actually had called her catholic priest and asked him
if she would go to hell if she attended his baptism! Yikes! Well,
it was so perfect, and needless to say, ALL His family were the
LAST ONES to leave his baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO It was soooo
sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His family loved
everything!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYY
Jaeger was sooo exciteddddddd and soo happy. We recorded his
testimony the day of his baptism on video. I will show it to you
if you want one day!
So after the baptism we felt like doing service. We called our
ward mission leader, Brother Bayardo (26 has a wonderful wife and
1 cute baby!!) and told him we felt like serving someone! He said
"Sisters, Heavenly father is watching out for me. I am just
started to work in my back yard and plant my garden! Would you
like to come and help!? " YAY so for 2- 3 hours we went and
helped him! We built a raised bed for his vegetables, and dug up
the earth for his watermelon patch. i got to use a pick axe and a
shovel!! YAY weapons!!! haha jk. Anyways we tore up 3 big bushes
and cleaned their backyard and built a fence! ya!!
Sunday was SOOO EPIC. Jaeger got confirmed and was given the gift
of the Holy Ghost :) the man we have been teaching (3x a week),
who USED to be an alcoholic is 13 days sober and he wore a tie
and suit to church!!! ??? HELLO!!!! WOWOWWWWWWWWW. and his wife
came with him!!!! She usually has to work on Sundays!!! Less
actives were popping out everywhere!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYY :)
The Bishop was sooo happy. !!! AND GET THIS!!!! During the first
hour of church, we were sitting next to Jaeger, and then someone
came and said "someone wants you in the foyer." A Korean woman
was standing there and she told us "For two years I have driven
past this Mormon Church and I feel this is the place I need to
be. Will you teach me and my daughter?" ???? WHAT!! THAT RARELY
happens!!!! Holy cow. for 25 minutes she cried, and told us her
story and how her daughter is having so many trials...we are soo
excited to help them. I’m still stunned!!!!!!! That was the
icing on the cake!!!!!!!
Sunday night I crashed, and today at 8 am we met a husband and
wife who are looking into the church and they made us breakfast
and we painted their bathroom. They are AWESOME and in the
national Guard!!
Now i am sitting here so tired, but so excited. What will happen
today? Tomorrow? Next week?? These weeks are PACKED . I am slow
at typing bc I am tired. haha. YAY FOR THIS
Gospel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:) LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VISIT OUR MISSION WEBSITE :
http://www.nevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com/
LOVE SISTER SPROUSE!"
" WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW HOLY CATS!!!!!!!!! This week has been AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
Literally, one of my favorite weeks of my mission. Maybe it is
because I am just so in love with missionary work!!! This week we
have witness SO many incredible miracles!!! And we worked so
hard. It was SUCH a fulfilling week! I am so happy! I know we
were doing the will of the lord. His work is being done-
there’s no greater feeling. :)
SO....let me tell you about it!
Monday we had transfers. Sister Garcia and I are staying
together!! YAY!!
Our Nevada Las Vegas West Mission is SPLITTING!! Reno will now
have its OWN mission starting July 1st. This is very exciting!
So, all the missionaries have been split up, and where everyone
is now, is where they will be for the rest of their missions.
With this last transfer, if they were sent up North to Reno, that
is where they will stay.. in the north. WOW. President Black had
a big job placing us everywhere!!! Transfers are so exciting!!!
It’s funny, Sister Garcia and I were the ONLY companionship to
not have been split up. HAHA. The lord wants us together to do
his work here in South Zone. YAY!!!
I LOVE SOUTH ZONE!!! If you look at a map of Las Vegas, we are
literally in the most south west corner :)
on TUESDAY morning , we got to drive to the mission office (1
hour away), and we got a new car!! Since transfers are also on
Tuesday Mornings, I got to see a lot of my old companions! It was
so exciting. There are usually 70-80 missionaries at
transfers...switching companions, putting luggage in the trailer
attached to the 12 passenger van if they are going up north....
etc... CRAZY!
We have a 2012 Toyata Corolla. WAY nicer then the 2009 corolla
haha. On my mission I have driven a Mazda 3, 2011 Chevy Malibu,
2012 Chevy Malibu, 2011 Ford Fusion, 2 different 2011 Suburu
Imprezas, and of course a 2009 and 2012 Toyota Corolla. I think
thats all of them! hehe! new cars every few months! Sisters are
soo lucky to have cars!!! My favorite car has been the 2011
Suburu. Definitely sturdy cars!!! wahooo.
So the rest of Tuesday we had epic lessons and a fun dinner with
a family we are about to teach.
Wednesday we had a great lesson with a 8 and 10 year old we are
teaching! we also taught our investigator Jaeger who just got
baptized, and had other lessons. We also had a wonderful miracle
of finally finding one of our potential investigators HOME! He
has always been gone whenever we have tried visiting him! IT was
so exciting! We talked outside with him for 40 minutes! He is SO
funny and awesome. a LV cop with a top of stories and a TON of
questions about the church. It was so exciting to stand there and
bear witness of this great church, to talk about the purpose of
life, and to explain to him what the book of Mormon is. He owns a
gun shop, is from New Mexico, and his mom and dad own a bar and a
bike shop. He is in his 30s and is a crazy awesome Hispanic.
Wednesday night, Sister Garcia and I were invited to present a
seminar about missionary work for a different ward. It was soo
fun!! From 7-8pm we taught 3 different groups of youth. We shared
WHY its important to serve a mission, and WHAT amazing miracles
they will witness on their mission. We also talked about the
challenges that arise when a person wants to serve a mission, and
how to overcome the negative thoughts Satan will try to make one
feel. We gave them a print out that we made for them with notes,
and we watched an amazing 4 min movie with them on convert's
testimonies! SO AWESOME.
Thursday we were teaching a less active family. They are from the
Philippians. For weeks we have never been able to meet the mom.
On Thursday she came out during the lesson and joined us!!! She
loved us and invited us back for dinner and a lesson this
Saturday!! YIPPIEEEEEE she is a photographer!! Thursday evening
we had a very special lesson with a woman who was recently
baptized. She is still learning the gospel. I might have told you
about her... she has 2 children and is expecting another baby
this fall. The hard part is, she just got divorced and she has no
money. She is so sad and so lonely. We visited her in her house
and talked about repentance and about the love Heavenly Father
has for us! She sat on her couch just crying as she felt the
comfort of our words, and of the spirit. I do remember promising
her, that "The dark stormy nights are at a cease, and heavenly
father is here to rescue you. Tomorrow the morning will shine
brightly, the sunrise will bring you hope, and you will feel the
love of Christ forever as you come close unto him." I cry in my
heart as I write you these words. The spirit was so strong in her
lesson. She is so burdened, but I can share her pain. I do have a
past that can help her. I promised her we were her friends, and
that we weren’t going anywhere. I love that woman. Her Hispanic
sons are so good. One is 14, and the other is 5. This woman is
finding pure strength in the gospel.
Since she needs more clothes, I went through my closet and found
some shirts and dresses for her! Last night at 8:30 we knocked on
her door, she opened it and smiled so brightly "SISTERS!!! I’m
SO glad you came, come in!" wow! What a welcome. I gave her the
clothes and she was so happy. She said, "Can i get a hug?" :) We
are friends. My family has taught me to give. When you see a
need, you give. Charity. Amazing.
Friday was CRAZYYY awesome!!!!! It was sooo hot...100 something,
and sister Garcia and I got to attempt visiting 20 families!!
fewf so epic. Not many families were home, but a few were :)
it’s always worth it!!!!
Saturday was Jaegers baptism!!!!!!!!! SOO AMAZINGGGGG IT was a
perfect baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!! PERFECT!!! His mom and step dad
came, AND his dad and grandma and cousins..all different faiths.
His grandma actually had called her catholic priest and asked him
if she would go to hell if she attended his baptism! Yikes! Well,
it was so perfect, and needless to say, ALL His family were the
LAST ONES to leave his baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO It was soooo
sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His family loved
everything!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYY
Jaeger was sooo exciteddddddd and soo happy. We recorded his
testimony the day of his baptism on video. I will show it to you
if you want one day!
So after the baptism we felt like doing service. We called our
ward mission leader, Brother Bayardo (26 has a wonderful wife and
1 cute baby!!) and told him we felt like serving someone! He said
"Sisters, Heavenly father is watching out for me. I am just
started to work in my back yard and plant my garden! Would you
like to come and help!? " YAY so for 2- 3 hours we went and
helped him! We built a raised bed for his vegetables, and dug up
the earth for his watermelon patch. i got to use a pick axe and a
shovel!! YAY weapons!!! haha jk. Anyways we tore up 3 big bushes
and cleaned their backyard and built a fence! ya!!
Sunday was SOOO EPIC. Jaeger got confirmed and was given the gift
of the Holy Ghost :) the man we have been teaching (3x a week),
who USED to be an alcoholic is 13 days sober and he wore a tie
and suit to church!!! ??? HELLO!!!! WOWOWWWWWWWWW. and his wife
came with him!!!! She usually has to work on Sundays!!! Less
actives were popping out everywhere!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYY :)
The Bishop was sooo happy. !!! AND GET THIS!!!! During the first
hour of church, we were sitting next to Jaeger, and then someone
came and said "someone wants you in the foyer." A Korean woman
was standing there and she told us "For two years I have driven
past this Mormon Church and I feel this is the place I need to
be. Will you teach me and my daughter?" ???? WHAT!! THAT RARELY
happens!!!! Holy cow. for 25 minutes she cried, and told us her
story and how her daughter is having so many trials...we are soo
excited to help them. I’m still stunned!!!!!!! That was the
icing on the cake!!!!!!!
Sunday night I crashed, and today at 8 am we met a husband and
wife who are looking into the church and they made us breakfast
and we painted their bathroom. They are AWESOME and in the
national Guard!!
Now i am sitting here so tired, but so excited. What will happen
today? Tomorrow? Next week?? These weeks are PACKED . I am slow
at typing bc I am tired. haha. YAY FOR THIS
Gospel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:) LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VISIT OUR MISSION WEBSITE :
http://www.nevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com/
LOVE SISTER SPROUSE!"
Monday, May 14, 2012
May 14
" This is what I wrote to my Mission President this week:
""Awww, President Black, you are SO KIND to me!
Your letter to me was so great. Thank you so much! It was such a
blessing to see you on Mother's Day! Tears fill my eyes when I
think about how great you and Sister Black are. You both mean so
much to me.
I love you so much President Black. Thank you for all the support
and love you have given each of us. Thank you for teaching me,
thank you for giving me strength. I will always remember how you
have been a Moroni to each of us. I trust you, and every time I
see you, I feel like I am seeing Christ. You bask in his spirit.
I never want to leave your presence, because of how holy you are.
I am SOOOO thankful for thousands of things. Just yesterday after
calling my mom, I just balled. I know I have changed so much, and
at that moment my eyes were awakened to how much my Heavenly
Father has ALWAYS been here for me on my mission. He has NEVER
left my side. Every single moment he has been here for me, my
investigators, all those we teach and meet. He loves us all. I
have no doubt he loves me. I am so thankful he has put in SO much
time into preparing me for my future, for building me, for
shaping me, refining me. I am so blessed to be his child.
My mission has been amazing. I will work so hard to the end! You
can count on that! Thank you for the reminder that I should work
with all my strength.
My mission HAS been a mission of mighty miracles, visions, and
revelation. I am so blessed. I have so many things I still need
to work on, but I am so thankful I can keep improving throughout
life.
I have kept good track of recording revelation I have received
for those we teach, and for my daily improvements. I am so happy.
When I served in Lone Mountain zone, that was purely heaven. We
were goaling for 17 people to be baptized Sister Dillistones
first week here in the mission. Those months I was the most
exhausted. Satan literally attacked me so deeply for weeks on
end, and my daily battle was him. So many baptisms came from that
area, the wards were changed and become missionary focused, my
understanding of the Atonement grew in such deep ways I can
barely describe it, and the birth of "The Book of Mormon Tool
Kit," developed.
There’s no doubt in my mind I have worked my hardest, tried my
hardest, and have become my best. I want to continue improving
daily. I didn't just serve a mission here, the mission moved
through me, and Christ has changed, and healed me. I am so filled
with joy for my Savior; I only want to always give my life to Him
in any way he asks.
I love this mission. My mission is for life. Live for Christ,
Fight for Christ, Die for Christ.
I love you President! These wards are amazing. So many miracles
are happening. Alcoholics are becoming sober. We have never been
turned down once, and the wards are catching the fire of true
missionary work. The lord is our leader, our councilor, my
friend.
I love my brother on a mission in Florida, and my sister enters
the MTC in August.
Have a wonderful week President.
Sister Sprouse""
WOW, missions are so wonderful!!! My heart is so so so full. I
feel like I am in Heaven. Daily as I council with the lord
through my desires, heart, mind and soul, I feel myself communing
with him, and it’s just so heavenly.
On mother’s day, we sat in the 3rd row with our investigator
Jaeger. He is getting baptized this Saturday at 10am!!!! He is
from Korea- 19 years old. Weeks away from going to boot camp for
the Marines! :)
Remember the man who is an alcoholic? HE HAS BEEN SOBER FOR 8
days now!!!! He says he is putting his faith in God. Sister
Garcia and I are so amazing. We are so so so happy! he has come
to church twice now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sat by us too in the 3rd
row at church. President Black , our mission president, and his
wife came as well to OUR church building here in south zone on
mother’s day!! IT WAS AMAZING To see them!!!! Mother Sister
Black, smiled down at me during the meeting and my heart felt so
warm. I love them both, I cannot describe it.
Heavenly Father's miracles are amazing and so abundant.
I HOPE you can feel his love and SEE his miracles. We can always
know God lives!!!
We hadn't had many dinners since we have been here, because of
the change between Elders and Sisters. We've been rebuilding the
wards so to say. Last week though heavenly Father delivered us!
Our dinner calendar is filling up!!!! It all began with last
Monday.
We were sitting in Cafe Rio, about to eat with a member. She was
so kind to have taken us out to eat. I was sitting there so
thankful, so tired, so in awe. Since our dinners had cancelled or
we didn’t have any...it completely shot my immune system. I've
been sick for 2 weeks. Anyways, we were sitting there, and I was
feeling SO overwhelmed, and then, another member came up to us
and said "I want to buy your next meal," and gave us $20!!!
YAY!!! THENNNNN, a little while later, a little boy about 8 years
of age, came up to me and held out his hands. He was so cute, and
had blue eyes and freckles. He held out in his cupped hands a
little mint, and said looking at me, "My brother in on a mission
in Brazil," and he gave me the mint! AWWWWWW IT WAS SOOOOO
CUTEEEEEEEE. I almost cried. UG! Tender mercies! I have that
peppermint on my desk to always remind me of the lord’s tender
mercies.
I may suffer small things on my mission, but it only brings me
closer to Christ. I am so thankful for this great work which we
do.
The past 6 weeks Sister Garcia and I have worked hard. We are in
finding mode! We are now seeing MANY blessings come from it.
Referrals are pouring in, and members want us to come into their
homes and teach them!
I know God lives. I just know it. It is breathtaking! I am so
happy for the many people we are teaching. It’s so awesome.
I love my companion Sister Garcia, and I love you. I smile when
I think about each one of you. You matter so much.
Yesterday when I called home, I had a once in a lifetime
experience. I was on the phone; my brother on a mission in
Florida was also on speakerphone on a cell phone, and my sister
Emily in college was on another speakerphone. We were all
together! We sang "Happy mother’s day " to mom, and she started
to cry. She said "I’m so thankful that I have children with
such great integrity....." It was a breathtaking moment. Ug,
Heaven is on earth!!!!
We can conquer Satan! We can live our dreams! We can have visions
and receive inspiration and knowledge from above. We CAN become
all God wants us to be, with his help. I know this. HE WILL
forgive us when we make a normal mistake.
I love you all.
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse
" This is what I wrote to my Mission President this week:
""Awww, President Black, you are SO KIND to me!
Your letter to me was so great. Thank you so much! It was such a
blessing to see you on Mother's Day! Tears fill my eyes when I
think about how great you and Sister Black are. You both mean so
much to me.
I love you so much President Black. Thank you for all the support
and love you have given each of us. Thank you for teaching me,
thank you for giving me strength. I will always remember how you
have been a Moroni to each of us. I trust you, and every time I
see you, I feel like I am seeing Christ. You bask in his spirit.
I never want to leave your presence, because of how holy you are.
I am SOOOO thankful for thousands of things. Just yesterday after
calling my mom, I just balled. I know I have changed so much, and
at that moment my eyes were awakened to how much my Heavenly
Father has ALWAYS been here for me on my mission. He has NEVER
left my side. Every single moment he has been here for me, my
investigators, all those we teach and meet. He loves us all. I
have no doubt he loves me. I am so thankful he has put in SO much
time into preparing me for my future, for building me, for
shaping me, refining me. I am so blessed to be his child.
My mission has been amazing. I will work so hard to the end! You
can count on that! Thank you for the reminder that I should work
with all my strength.
My mission HAS been a mission of mighty miracles, visions, and
revelation. I am so blessed. I have so many things I still need
to work on, but I am so thankful I can keep improving throughout
life.
I have kept good track of recording revelation I have received
for those we teach, and for my daily improvements. I am so happy.
When I served in Lone Mountain zone, that was purely heaven. We
were goaling for 17 people to be baptized Sister Dillistones
first week here in the mission. Those months I was the most
exhausted. Satan literally attacked me so deeply for weeks on
end, and my daily battle was him. So many baptisms came from that
area, the wards were changed and become missionary focused, my
understanding of the Atonement grew in such deep ways I can
barely describe it, and the birth of "The Book of Mormon Tool
Kit," developed.
There’s no doubt in my mind I have worked my hardest, tried my
hardest, and have become my best. I want to continue improving
daily. I didn't just serve a mission here, the mission moved
through me, and Christ has changed, and healed me. I am so filled
with joy for my Savior; I only want to always give my life to Him
in any way he asks.
I love this mission. My mission is for life. Live for Christ,
Fight for Christ, Die for Christ.
I love you President! These wards are amazing. So many miracles
are happening. Alcoholics are becoming sober. We have never been
turned down once, and the wards are catching the fire of true
missionary work. The lord is our leader, our councilor, my
friend.
I love my brother on a mission in Florida, and my sister enters
the MTC in August.
Have a wonderful week President.
Sister Sprouse""
WOW, missions are so wonderful!!! My heart is so so so full. I
feel like I am in Heaven. Daily as I council with the lord
through my desires, heart, mind and soul, I feel myself communing
with him, and it’s just so heavenly.
On mother’s day, we sat in the 3rd row with our investigator
Jaeger. He is getting baptized this Saturday at 10am!!!! He is
from Korea- 19 years old. Weeks away from going to boot camp for
the Marines! :)
Remember the man who is an alcoholic? HE HAS BEEN SOBER FOR 8
days now!!!! He says he is putting his faith in God. Sister
Garcia and I are so amazing. We are so so so happy! he has come
to church twice now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sat by us too in the 3rd
row at church. President Black , our mission president, and his
wife came as well to OUR church building here in south zone on
mother’s day!! IT WAS AMAZING To see them!!!! Mother Sister
Black, smiled down at me during the meeting and my heart felt so
warm. I love them both, I cannot describe it.
Heavenly Father's miracles are amazing and so abundant.
I HOPE you can feel his love and SEE his miracles. We can always
know God lives!!!
We hadn't had many dinners since we have been here, because of
the change between Elders and Sisters. We've been rebuilding the
wards so to say. Last week though heavenly Father delivered us!
Our dinner calendar is filling up!!!! It all began with last
Monday.
We were sitting in Cafe Rio, about to eat with a member. She was
so kind to have taken us out to eat. I was sitting there so
thankful, so tired, so in awe. Since our dinners had cancelled or
we didn’t have any...it completely shot my immune system. I've
been sick for 2 weeks. Anyways, we were sitting there, and I was
feeling SO overwhelmed, and then, another member came up to us
and said "I want to buy your next meal," and gave us $20!!!
YAY!!! THENNNNN, a little while later, a little boy about 8 years
of age, came up to me and held out his hands. He was so cute, and
had blue eyes and freckles. He held out in his cupped hands a
little mint, and said looking at me, "My brother in on a mission
in Brazil," and he gave me the mint! AWWWWWW IT WAS SOOOOO
CUTEEEEEEEE. I almost cried. UG! Tender mercies! I have that
peppermint on my desk to always remind me of the lord’s tender
mercies.
I may suffer small things on my mission, but it only brings me
closer to Christ. I am so thankful for this great work which we
do.
The past 6 weeks Sister Garcia and I have worked hard. We are in
finding mode! We are now seeing MANY blessings come from it.
Referrals are pouring in, and members want us to come into their
homes and teach them!
I know God lives. I just know it. It is breathtaking! I am so
happy for the many people we are teaching. It’s so awesome.
I love my companion Sister Garcia, and I love you. I smile when
I think about each one of you. You matter so much.
Yesterday when I called home, I had a once in a lifetime
experience. I was on the phone; my brother on a mission in
Florida was also on speakerphone on a cell phone, and my sister
Emily in college was on another speakerphone. We were all
together! We sang "Happy mother’s day " to mom, and she started
to cry. She said "I’m so thankful that I have children with
such great integrity....." It was a breathtaking moment. Ug,
Heaven is on earth!!!!
We can conquer Satan! We can live our dreams! We can have visions
and receive inspiration and knowledge from above. We CAN become
all God wants us to be, with his help. I know this. HE WILL
forgive us when we make a normal mistake.
I love you all.
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
May 2, 2012
"WOW! Well sister Garcia and i sure have been busy! Today we got to go
to the temple with all the missionaries in our mission here in Vegas!
It was wonderful, peaceful, perfect, refreshing, and beautiful.
Our mission is splitting as of July 1st! Reno will have its own
mission! Exciting!
Amongst the people we are teaching, we are teaching an alcoholic. He
is a really nice man, and his family got baptized a couple years ago.
They are all super nice and terrific! In the beginning of my mission I
picked up a book called the "Addiction Recovery Program." It’s a
program created by the church to help people break the chains of
addiction. It is a 12 step program like, Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a
great book and I think EVERYONE should read it. It teaches the
Atonement of Christ.
I am grateful for this opportunity to teach this man. It really takes
a lot of patience. I have so much hope for him, so much love..but in
the end, HE has to have a desire to change. Its so neat to use all the
tools I have been learning, to help this man.
He is our friend. We will go over to teach him, and he can be drunk
and his eyes will be foggy....then 2 days later we will go back, and
he is dry as a bone, totally alert, and understands all we teach him.
He will look and act like a man, our lessons will be SO powerful,
bold, yet loving, and then BAMB. Then next day he doesn’t keep his
commitments, our hearts are sad, and he is drunk again and doesn’t
understand what we are saying. What a whirlwind!
It just reminds me of HOW much ENDURING love god has for us. He loves
us so much. He has so much patience, and he is always so kind. I am
trying to apply all the Christ like attributes to my life. Last night
the man said "Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for not giving
up on me. Thank you for not judging me. Thank you for being
understanding. “Man, his words stuck my soul. I always want to BE
like Christ and always have his patience, love, and understanding
mind. I love this man we are teaching and his whole family. Last night
it actually hit me, and my heart sank as tears came to my eyes. I only
have 7 more weeks to help these people.
Our wards LOVE us, and it’s so exciting to have the little primary
children at church look up at us and say " Hi missionaries!" hehe :)
May 5th- we are attending a baptism!
May 12th- is the sealing of the family I helped teach
May 24th- My last big zone conference with the other missionaries (I
give my departing testimony)
My last temple trip is June 11th. (A special temple trip for outgoing
missionaries).
June 16th is the sealing of my FIRST convert. He got baptized March 2011!!
YAY
June 20th something I have my Departing Interview with President Black
June 26th..hum.....no bueno! haha :) but I am excited to see you all again.
BE STRONG! BE BOLD. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!
CHECK OUT MORMON.ORG
"WOW! Well sister Garcia and i sure have been busy! Today we got to go
to the temple with all the missionaries in our mission here in Vegas!
It was wonderful, peaceful, perfect, refreshing, and beautiful.
Our mission is splitting as of July 1st! Reno will have its own
mission! Exciting!
Amongst the people we are teaching, we are teaching an alcoholic. He
is a really nice man, and his family got baptized a couple years ago.
They are all super nice and terrific! In the beginning of my mission I
picked up a book called the "Addiction Recovery Program." It’s a
program created by the church to help people break the chains of
addiction. It is a 12 step program like, Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a
great book and I think EVERYONE should read it. It teaches the
Atonement of Christ.
I am grateful for this opportunity to teach this man. It really takes
a lot of patience. I have so much hope for him, so much love..but in
the end, HE has to have a desire to change. Its so neat to use all the
tools I have been learning, to help this man.
He is our friend. We will go over to teach him, and he can be drunk
and his eyes will be foggy....then 2 days later we will go back, and
he is dry as a bone, totally alert, and understands all we teach him.
He will look and act like a man, our lessons will be SO powerful,
bold, yet loving, and then BAMB. Then next day he doesn’t keep his
commitments, our hearts are sad, and he is drunk again and doesn’t
understand what we are saying. What a whirlwind!
It just reminds me of HOW much ENDURING love god has for us. He loves
us so much. He has so much patience, and he is always so kind. I am
trying to apply all the Christ like attributes to my life. Last night
the man said "Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for not giving
up on me. Thank you for not judging me. Thank you for being
understanding. “Man, his words stuck my soul. I always want to BE
like Christ and always have his patience, love, and understanding
mind. I love this man we are teaching and his whole family. Last night
it actually hit me, and my heart sank as tears came to my eyes. I only
have 7 more weeks to help these people.
Our wards LOVE us, and it’s so exciting to have the little primary
children at church look up at us and say " Hi missionaries!" hehe :)
May 5th- we are attending a baptism!
May 12th- is the sealing of the family I helped teach
May 24th- My last big zone conference with the other missionaries (I
give my departing testimony)
My last temple trip is June 11th. (A special temple trip for outgoing
missionaries).
June 16th is the sealing of my FIRST convert. He got baptized March 2011!!
YAY
June 20th something I have my Departing Interview with President Black
June 26th..hum.....no bueno! haha :) but I am excited to see you all again.
BE STRONG! BE BOLD. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!
CHECK OUT MORMON.ORG
Monday, April 23, 2012
April 23
" WOW, I am just SO SO SO SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:) I LOVE OUR AREA! I LOVE MY COMPANION AND I LOVE THE PEACE I
FEEL EACH
DAY.
I am so happy my family is getting blessed so much! It’s so
fantastic!
It’s been really funny. Since I am nearing the close of my
mission,Heavenly Father has really been laying down the "marriage and
dating"
talks! Every talk at church has been about the temple, and temple
marriage....raising a happy family....etc. and we attended a
woman’s conference on Saturday, and the whole thing was on Womanhood and
being a good mom and wife! HAHA! :)
It’s getting SOO hot here in Vegas. Even at night...you are
baking! The sun will be completely down, and it is nighttime, and it’s
still 90 degrees. It feels like a person has locked you in a sauna and you
cant come out! :) It’s amazing! :)
My body has been in a little bit of a shock. I've been working on
my breathing. Fallon's elevation is 6000 feet, and I left the city
at temperatures in the 50s....and here the elevation is 2001 ft, and
its 95 degrees. Every day it’s a physical struggle to some
degree...but missions are supposed to be hard. I LOVE IT!
Everyone loves us! They are so excited to see sister
missionaries. We are getting into doors, that have been closed to the missionaries
for a long time. It’s awesome!!!!!!!!
Our area is soooo pretty! Las Vegas is a valley, and we are on
the up curve of the valley against the mountains. So we can see almost
the whole city, and we are right across from Henderson.... It’s a
nice view! :) The people are nice as well. Its not a ghetto area at
all. There is a HUGE park by our house, and we live in nice
apartments!!! I’m emailing from computers right by our complex!
My brother Eric sent me a package this past week. He sent me back
a Missionary book I had lend to him, he gave me a tie, a letter,
and a SPIDER he caught!!! It’s a fiddle spider! EEEEK He and his
companion played with it, took pictures of it, and then stabbed it and I
have it in a little box container on my desk. WIERD! ha-ha!!!!
Elder Sprouse is doing soo well!!! I LOVE having a brother on a
mission !! And I AM SOO excited for Emily to go too! :)
Last night, driving home, it was 8:45. We had 15 minutes left to
do something! So, it hit me. We went and parked the car. We walked
out into the desert 30 yards in the dark, and we stared at it. We
stood as we stared at our opponent. We looked across at the towering Las
Vegas Strip.
"That’s what we are up against," I said to Sister Garcia. It
hits us Every now and then, that we are in Las Vegas. The strip is so evil. There is so much
pain here. Yet, we have so much success and Heavenly Father’s
miracles are for all who will come unto him. As we stood there, we didn’t
kneel (Scorpions), but we did say a prayer. We prayed that the Lords
will would be done, and that we would receive all the inspiration and
revelation that we need here to serve the lord. It was wonderful.
I will always remember last night. What is really cool, is that
on the other side of the strip stands the brilliant LDS temple! Far
across on the other side of the valley. As much wickedness and pain there
is here in this city, there is SO much good. That is why Vegas is such a
crazy place to serve. I am learning so much, and growing entirely into
someone the lord would have me be! I am so thankful!~!!! I LOVE
HIM!
I love the lord will all my heart. I need him. In the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen. "
Love! Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
" WOW, I am just SO SO SO SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:) I LOVE OUR AREA! I LOVE MY COMPANION AND I LOVE THE PEACE I
FEEL EACH
DAY.
I am so happy my family is getting blessed so much! It’s so
fantastic!
It’s been really funny. Since I am nearing the close of my
mission,Heavenly Father has really been laying down the "marriage and
dating"
talks! Every talk at church has been about the temple, and temple
marriage....raising a happy family....etc. and we attended a
woman’s conference on Saturday, and the whole thing was on Womanhood and
being a good mom and wife! HAHA! :)
It’s getting SOO hot here in Vegas. Even at night...you are
baking! The sun will be completely down, and it is nighttime, and it’s
still 90 degrees. It feels like a person has locked you in a sauna and you
cant come out! :) It’s amazing! :)
My body has been in a little bit of a shock. I've been working on
my breathing. Fallon's elevation is 6000 feet, and I left the city
at temperatures in the 50s....and here the elevation is 2001 ft, and
its 95 degrees. Every day it’s a physical struggle to some
degree...but missions are supposed to be hard. I LOVE IT!
Everyone loves us! They are so excited to see sister
missionaries. We are getting into doors, that have been closed to the missionaries
for a long time. It’s awesome!!!!!!!!
Our area is soooo pretty! Las Vegas is a valley, and we are on
the up curve of the valley against the mountains. So we can see almost
the whole city, and we are right across from Henderson.... It’s a
nice view! :) The people are nice as well. Its not a ghetto area at
all. There is a HUGE park by our house, and we live in nice
apartments!!! I’m emailing from computers right by our complex!
My brother Eric sent me a package this past week. He sent me back
a Missionary book I had lend to him, he gave me a tie, a letter,
and a SPIDER he caught!!! It’s a fiddle spider! EEEEK He and his
companion played with it, took pictures of it, and then stabbed it and I
have it in a little box container on my desk. WIERD! ha-ha!!!!
Elder Sprouse is doing soo well!!! I LOVE having a brother on a
mission !! And I AM SOO excited for Emily to go too! :)
Last night, driving home, it was 8:45. We had 15 minutes left to
do something! So, it hit me. We went and parked the car. We walked
out into the desert 30 yards in the dark, and we stared at it. We
stood as we stared at our opponent. We looked across at the towering Las
Vegas Strip.
"That’s what we are up against," I said to Sister Garcia. It
hits us Every now and then, that we are in Las Vegas. The strip is so evil. There is so much
pain here. Yet, we have so much success and Heavenly Father’s
miracles are for all who will come unto him. As we stood there, we didn’t
kneel (Scorpions), but we did say a prayer. We prayed that the Lords
will would be done, and that we would receive all the inspiration and
revelation that we need here to serve the lord. It was wonderful.
I will always remember last night. What is really cool, is that
on the other side of the strip stands the brilliant LDS temple! Far
across on the other side of the valley. As much wickedness and pain there
is here in this city, there is SO much good. That is why Vegas is such a
crazy place to serve. I am learning so much, and growing entirely into
someone the lord would have me be! I am so thankful!~!!! I LOVE
HIM!
I love the lord will all my heart. I need him. In the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen. "
Love! Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Monday, April 16, 2012
April 16th
Hello Everyone!!!!
Things are going GREATTTTT in our two new wards!!! They are beautiful
wards too! Right at the base of the Red Rock mountains. Everyone is so
nice to us!! THEY ARE SOOO excited to have sister missionaries! :) its
so humbling! :) I love them!
Sister Garcia and I spoke yesterday in church! She talked on the
Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I spoke on the "Blessings of the
Resurrection!" YAHOOO it was a very happy talk!!!!! I love wearing
bright colors, singing in the shower, journaling my testimony of Jesus
Christ, and praying I can serve him forever!!!!!! :) :) :)
This is such a happy end to my mission, of which I am so grateful for!!! :)
Our Mountain's Edge ward had a movie night on Saturday! We had a
picnic, and watch "The Testaments" on a big movie screen! :) IT WAS SO
FUN! :) I love the people; they are so kind and loving. We had a few
non members come to the event, it was fun!
Sister Garcia and I have been VERY busy driving through our area
making visits to part member families. This area will be very
successful, I smell it!
Each day is happy! We are blessed in both things spiritual and temporal.
This past week, I was reflecting on all of my "converts." Some of them
have been baptized for almost 1 full year!!! I got permission to call
a few families, and this is what I found out:
A less active family that we served and met with, is getting SEALED IN
THE TEMPLE MAY 12TH!!!!!!! This family is in the Meadows 5th ward, a
WARD THAT I LOVE!!!!!! I AM SOO EXCITED!!!! We might get to go!!!
I called David, He is 24....He said he is GETTING SEALED (married for
time and all eternity) ON JUNE 16TH!!!!! 10 days before my mission
ends!!! He WANTs ME TO COME!!! WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you
imagine being in the most beautiful rooms in the temple with
someone you taught and helped baptize? AMAZING!!!!! A HEAVENLY MOMENT
TO EMBRACE FOREVER!!!!!
A man who was baptized in September...this past weekend he BAPTIZED
HIS MOM!!!! and his DAUGHTER is getting baptized MAY 5th!!! I CAN’T
WAIT TO GO!!!
BLESSINS BLESSINGS BLESSINGS!!!
SEE??? SACRIFICING for these wonderful people is soooo worth it!!
A 21 year old I taught 1 year ago GOT BAPTIZED LAST WEEKEND!!!! and
Sister Garcia and I got to go!!! Thaddeus asked me to speak at his
baptism :)
I called Debbie, who was baptized May 21st 2011. We spoke for 40 mins.
She was ecstatic I CALLED! :) She loves me and I love her so much!!!!!
I'll do anything for her! She told me “I tell everyone about you all
the time ...how we met! They say 'REALLY? I've never heard of that
before!!!' I thank God every night for you coming into my life. Because
of you I am part of this wonderful gospel." She was crying on the
phone. UUGGG EPIC!!! I FEEL GOD'S LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love her and I
am so happy for her life.
I KNOW every sacrifice is worth building the kingdom of god. This
gospel is so true. I've seen so many lasting conversions. I hope
yours is true too.
I LOVE YOU!
If you need something from god...just ask! :) "
*Love!*
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Hello Everyone!!!!
Things are going GREATTTTT in our two new wards!!! They are beautiful
wards too! Right at the base of the Red Rock mountains. Everyone is so
nice to us!! THEY ARE SOOO excited to have sister missionaries! :) its
so humbling! :) I love them!
Sister Garcia and I spoke yesterday in church! She talked on the
Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I spoke on the "Blessings of the
Resurrection!" YAHOOO it was a very happy talk!!!!! I love wearing
bright colors, singing in the shower, journaling my testimony of Jesus
Christ, and praying I can serve him forever!!!!!! :) :) :)
This is such a happy end to my mission, of which I am so grateful for!!! :)
Our Mountain's Edge ward had a movie night on Saturday! We had a
picnic, and watch "The Testaments" on a big movie screen! :) IT WAS SO
FUN! :) I love the people; they are so kind and loving. We had a few
non members come to the event, it was fun!
Sister Garcia and I have been VERY busy driving through our area
making visits to part member families. This area will be very
successful, I smell it!
Each day is happy! We are blessed in both things spiritual and temporal.
This past week, I was reflecting on all of my "converts." Some of them
have been baptized for almost 1 full year!!! I got permission to call
a few families, and this is what I found out:
A less active family that we served and met with, is getting SEALED IN
THE TEMPLE MAY 12TH!!!!!!! This family is in the Meadows 5th ward, a
WARD THAT I LOVE!!!!!! I AM SOO EXCITED!!!! We might get to go!!!
I called David, He is 24....He said he is GETTING SEALED (married for
time and all eternity) ON JUNE 16TH!!!!! 10 days before my mission
ends!!! He WANTs ME TO COME!!! WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you
imagine being in the most beautiful rooms in the temple with
someone you taught and helped baptize? AMAZING!!!!! A HEAVENLY MOMENT
TO EMBRACE FOREVER!!!!!
A man who was baptized in September...this past weekend he BAPTIZED
HIS MOM!!!! and his DAUGHTER is getting baptized MAY 5th!!! I CAN’T
WAIT TO GO!!!
BLESSINS BLESSINGS BLESSINGS!!!
SEE??? SACRIFICING for these wonderful people is soooo worth it!!
A 21 year old I taught 1 year ago GOT BAPTIZED LAST WEEKEND!!!! and
Sister Garcia and I got to go!!! Thaddeus asked me to speak at his
baptism :)
I called Debbie, who was baptized May 21st 2011. We spoke for 40 mins.
She was ecstatic I CALLED! :) She loves me and I love her so much!!!!!
I'll do anything for her! She told me “I tell everyone about you all
the time ...how we met! They say 'REALLY? I've never heard of that
before!!!' I thank God every night for you coming into my life. Because
of you I am part of this wonderful gospel." She was crying on the
phone. UUGGG EPIC!!! I FEEL GOD'S LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love her and I
am so happy for her life.
I KNOW every sacrifice is worth building the kingdom of god. This
gospel is so true. I've seen so many lasting conversions. I hope
yours is true too.
I LOVE YOU!
If you need something from god...just ask! :) "
*Love!*
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Monday, April 9, 2012
April 9th
HELLO EVERYONE!!!
I AM BACK IN VEGAS AND LOVING IT!!!!!!!!
We have two new wards to work with!!! Yesterday, everyone was
STUNNED to see sister missionaries! It was so great, I felt so
loved! :) It was a very happy Sunday!
Sitting at my desk on Saturday morning, I was reflecting on "Good
Friday." Never in my life, can I say I have I give my enter Good
Friday to the lord...but this year I did! It was so cool to sit
there and think "On the day the savior died for me, I had worked
my very hardest for him." It’s the coolest feeling ever!!!!!!!!
Our Friday was SOO Busy and we were so happy and exhausted!!!!
The feeling is so cool.
I love Jesus Christ!
My new companion is sister Garcia! She is Hispanic, and from
Texas! She is so cool and chill!!! We work so well together.
Our wards are picking up...the work is going great! :) This
letter is short because I am out of time!
Here is part of my testimony:
As a missionary of Jesus Christ, serving in the Nevada Las Vegas
West Mission, I boldly declare that Jesus is the Christ, that He
Is our Redeemer, and He Is our friend. He is our hope, our joy,
our light and our life. May we love him enough to repay him for
all he has done for us. May we never flinch at the call for
sacrifice. May we never join in the hands of wrong. May we know
Christ and feel Christ, and be "firmly attached to him" (Elder
Bednar). Let us breath the gospel and live on the atoning
sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ. May we spread his gospel
and feel the Holy Ghost burn within us. Our flame in this life
that keeps us going is our testimony. Our candle stick-our
savior. Let us shine his light brightly for the whole world to
see. My favorite part of serving a mission has been seeing Christ
Heal. I love his healing power, hundreds of lives I have seen
changed by him. Embrace his love everyone, Jesus is Real. Sister
Sprouse
--
*Love!*
**
*Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!*
April 9th, 2012
HELLO EVERYONE!!!
I AM BACK IN VEGAS AND LOVING IT!!!!!!!!
We have two new wards to work with!!! Yesterday, everyone was STUNNED
to see sister missionaries! It was so great, I felt so loved! :) It
was a very happy Sunday!
Sitting at my desk on Saturday morning, I was reflecting on "Good
Friday." Never in my life, can I say I have I give my enter Good
Friday to the lord...but this year I did! It was so cool to sit there
and think "On the day the savior died for me, I had worked my very
hardest for him." It’s the coolest feeling ever!!!!!!!! Our Friday was
SOO Busy and we were so happy and exhausted!!!! The feeling is so cool.
I love Jesus Christ!
My new companion is Sister Garcia! She is Hispanic, and from Texas!
She is so cool and chill!!! We work so well together.
Our wards are picking up...the work is going great! :) This letter is
short because I am out of time!
Here is part of my testimony:
As a missionary of Jesus Christ, serving in the Nevada Las Vegas West
Mission, I boldly declare that Jesus is the Christ, that He is our
Redeemer, and he Is our friend. He is our hope, our joy, our light and
our life. May we love him enough to repay him for all he has done for
us. May we never flinch at the call for sacrifice. May we never join
in the hands of wrong. May we know Christ, feel Christ, and be "firmly
attached to him" (Elder Bednar). Let us breath the gospel and live on
the atoning sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ. May we spread his
gospel and feel the Holy Ghost burn within us. Our flame in this life
that keeps us going, is our testimony. Our candle stick - our savior.
Let us shine his light brightly for the whole world to see. My
favorite part of Serving a mission has been seeing Christ Heal. I love
His healing power, hundreds of lives I have seen changed by him.
Embrace his love everyone, Jesus is Real. Sister Sprouse
--
*Love!*
*Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!*
HELLO EVERYONE!!!
I AM BACK IN VEGAS AND LOVING IT!!!!!!!!
We have two new wards to work with!!! Yesterday, everyone was STUNNED
to see sister missionaries! It was so great, I felt so loved! :) It
was a very happy Sunday!
Sitting at my desk on Saturday morning, I was reflecting on "Good
Friday." Never in my life, can I say I have I give my enter Good
Friday to the lord...but this year I did! It was so cool to sit there
and think "On the day the savior died for me, I had worked my very
hardest for him." It’s the coolest feeling ever!!!!!!!! Our Friday was
SOO Busy and we were so happy and exhausted!!!! The feeling is so cool.
I love Jesus Christ!
My new companion is Sister Garcia! She is Hispanic, and from Texas!
She is so cool and chill!!! We work so well together.
Our wards are picking up...the work is going great! :) This letter is
short because I am out of time!
Here is part of my testimony:
As a missionary of Jesus Christ, serving in the Nevada Las Vegas West
Mission, I boldly declare that Jesus is the Christ, that He is our
Redeemer, and he Is our friend. He is our hope, our joy, our light and
our life. May we love him enough to repay him for all he has done for
us. May we never flinch at the call for sacrifice. May we never join
in the hands of wrong. May we know Christ, feel Christ, and be "firmly
attached to him" (Elder Bednar). Let us breath the gospel and live on
the atoning sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ. May we spread his
gospel and feel the Holy Ghost burn within us. Our flame in this life
that keeps us going, is our testimony. Our candle stick - our savior.
Let us shine his light brightly for the whole world to see. My
favorite part of Serving a mission has been seeing Christ Heal. I love
His healing power, hundreds of lives I have seen changed by him.
Embrace his love everyone, Jesus is Real. Sister Sprouse
--
*Love!*
*Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!*
Monday, March 26, 2012
rch 26, 2012
HI FAMILY!!! ! you are all amazing!!! How are you feeling today?
Great!??? I hope so!!!
I want to tell you of an adventure! On Saturday we got to do
something really cool! On the Native American reservation for the
Paiute and Shoshone tribes, they were branding cattle and team
roping! Since we know Leona Hicks on the Reservation (who is the
coolest person ever!!! also really old so she knows everything
and everyone)... we got invited to go! Oh, and it was also in her
backyard!!
It started off where we stood against the fence and just watched.
There were about 30 Indians there. 2 little boys came over to us
and gave us water bottles! So we eventually made it over closer
to them, until we were sitting on the back of their trucks with
them! We laughed and threw water bottles at the cowboys, and took
pictures, and just chilled with them. It was SO GOOD. We didn’t
know them, and they didn’t know us, so the bonding time was
excellent. I’m going to give them the pictures I took.
In the beginning of the day, they vaccinated over 140 head of
cattle....and then they took a brake before the team roping. All
the Natives sat on their horses and drank! HAHA so funny. They
shot jokes at each other. Then, the fun began.....
Team roping is tough and takes a lot of muscle!!! It was soo cool
to see it!!! With their lasso, someone has to rope the head of
the cow, and someone else the feet. Once it is roped it falls on
the ground ...then another man comes over and has to flip the cow
over on the correct side! This sounds easy, but the cows are
bucking and running and going crazy. The cowboy has to, as soon
as the cow is roped, twist the rope around the horn on his
saddle, and that keeps the cow from running off. So the horse is
keeping the cattle from running. They have to be careful--fingers
can be cut off, and arms broken.
...Soo all day we watched them chase after cows! When the cow
was on the ground, they sat on it, and someone branded them,
their balls were cut off, and they were vaccinated twice in the
chest, ALL at the same time, while they are tied down from both
ends and someone is sitting on them, another person has their
boot on their neck. They are STUCK! Sucks for the cows!!!! :(
They made crying sounds ha!
I’M SO coming back when they brand the horses on the
reservation! AND in the fall, I want to take part in the action
in the ring!
The funny thing is...they had a "ball bucket" and they tossed all
the cows testicles in there. Then someone strung them on a wire
and cooked them over the same fire that was heating the branding
irons! These are men! They snacked on the cow's balls! Haha! So
awesome. We laughed when a 5 year old said "I want another cow
ball! " .....so they are branding, wrestling cattle, have bloody
hands, are drinking, and trying to catch the darn things in the
first place. Funny. SO exciting! I WANT TO BE A COW GIRL!
Seriously, all I have been learning up here is about trucks,
farming, the Calgary stampede, rodeos, barrel racing, team
roping, raising horses, braking horses, dogs, horses horses
horses!!!! .... Like everything!!! So many members have horses
too...I’ve seen HUNDREDS! I've learned so much!!!!!!
At the end of the day, everyone went into Leona’s small house
and had dinner!!
I hope you all have a blessed spring and summer!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU
ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
LOVE SISTER SPROUSE!!!
HI FAMILY!!! ! you are all amazing!!! How are you feeling today?
Great!??? I hope so!!!
I want to tell you of an adventure! On Saturday we got to do
something really cool! On the Native American reservation for the
Paiute and Shoshone tribes, they were branding cattle and team
roping! Since we know Leona Hicks on the Reservation (who is the
coolest person ever!!! also really old so she knows everything
and everyone)... we got invited to go! Oh, and it was also in her
backyard!!
It started off where we stood against the fence and just watched.
There were about 30 Indians there. 2 little boys came over to us
and gave us water bottles! So we eventually made it over closer
to them, until we were sitting on the back of their trucks with
them! We laughed and threw water bottles at the cowboys, and took
pictures, and just chilled with them. It was SO GOOD. We didn’t
know them, and they didn’t know us, so the bonding time was
excellent. I’m going to give them the pictures I took.
In the beginning of the day, they vaccinated over 140 head of
cattle....and then they took a brake before the team roping. All
the Natives sat on their horses and drank! HAHA so funny. They
shot jokes at each other. Then, the fun began.....
Team roping is tough and takes a lot of muscle!!! It was soo cool
to see it!!! With their lasso, someone has to rope the head of
the cow, and someone else the feet. Once it is roped it falls on
the ground ...then another man comes over and has to flip the cow
over on the correct side! This sounds easy, but the cows are
bucking and running and going crazy. The cowboy has to, as soon
as the cow is roped, twist the rope around the horn on his
saddle, and that keeps the cow from running off. So the horse is
keeping the cattle from running. They have to be careful--fingers
can be cut off, and arms broken.
...Soo all day we watched them chase after cows! When the cow
was on the ground, they sat on it, and someone branded them,
their balls were cut off, and they were vaccinated twice in the
chest, ALL at the same time, while they are tied down from both
ends and someone is sitting on them, another person has their
boot on their neck. They are STUCK! Sucks for the cows!!!! :(
They made crying sounds ha!
I’M SO coming back when they brand the horses on the
reservation! AND in the fall, I want to take part in the action
in the ring!
The funny thing is...they had a "ball bucket" and they tossed all
the cows testicles in there. Then someone strung them on a wire
and cooked them over the same fire that was heating the branding
irons! These are men! They snacked on the cow's balls! Haha! So
awesome. We laughed when a 5 year old said "I want another cow
ball! " .....so they are branding, wrestling cattle, have bloody
hands, are drinking, and trying to catch the darn things in the
first place. Funny. SO exciting! I WANT TO BE A COW GIRL!
Seriously, all I have been learning up here is about trucks,
farming, the Calgary stampede, rodeos, barrel racing, team
roping, raising horses, braking horses, dogs, horses horses
horses!!!! .... Like everything!!! So many members have horses
too...I’ve seen HUNDREDS! I've learned so much!!!!!!
At the end of the day, everyone went into Leona’s small house
and had dinner!!
I hope you all have a blessed spring and summer!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU
ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
LOVE SISTER SPROUSE!!!
Monday, March 12, 2012
March 12, 2012
Hello family! I hope your trip to GA was AMAZING!!!!! Roger wrote
me a letter before he graduated! He is going to be in the
military for 5 years!!?? Ahhh crazy! He says he is keeping his
testimony strong. Let me know how you are all doing! I hope its
fantastic!
We are teaching some wonderful families!! I finally have been
blessed with this super amazing family that reminds me of YOU
guys! Yay! 15 months down the road it happens! NO one compares to
you guys....but this family sort of does! They have 6 kids and
whenever we go over for lessons, and are just talking and
chilling, the kids are scattered across the kitchen just laughing
and messing around with each other. I told them that are what we
do in OUR family--but Julia usually sits on the fridge. They
said, "oh, I never thought of that!" They are a tough family...by
the looks of them you may get intimidated, but they rock! The mom
had black and blond hair and has tattoos everywhere. She wears
DARK makeup and is a big woman. The dad is a Native American and
wears his long hair in a ponytail. One of the daughters has tons
of piercings, and tattoos as well....One son is SO tall like
eric. Their family just got baptized in California 4 years ago.
They rock haha. We had dinner with them last week, and it was
SOOO FUN!!! Holy cow, we all sat around the table and messed
around. They love us! We love them! They have this dog named
vicious too! ahh they have ducks and geese and chickens. They
live out in the country. I have a picture I’ll send soon. After
one of their lessons when we were driving away from their house I
ran over a quail!!!! All I saw was a poof of feathers in my rear
view mirror lol....So Spencer was telling them that story at
dinner and they all were making fun of me. ha. The dad called on
me for prayer at the end "I guess we'll call on the great bird
hunter to say the closing prayer...!" ha we are reactivating
them. Sitting in sacrament and watching the mom and dad take the
sacrament after 1 full year made me so happy!!! Yay! The
atonement at work!
Did you hear our mission is splitting??? Read the BLOG!!!
http://www.nevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com/
Sometimes Spencer and I don’t know what to do with
Fallon...yesterday we walked through a park and everyone just
shunned us. People HATE the Mormons here...even our neighbor’s
cant stand talking to us for more then 1 minute! So on Saturday
Spencer and I walked up the main road of Fallon and we just waved
to people! It worked! We made someone smile in Fallon!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Success!!!!!!!! Also that morning, I prayed
that I could hand out a Book of Mormon to someone...I wrote my
testimony in it and dated it. We were walking past a hotel and we
saw a 25-year-old woman sitting and staring into the sun...BINGO!
We were able to talk to her and I gave the Book of Mormon to her!
YAY!!!! She was from Florida, so of course she didn’t mind
talking to us haha. It may seem like I’m ripping on Fallon, but
this is the way it is. It’s soooo hard as a missionary.
Spencer and I walked for a few miles, and then we stopped in this
Hispanic small grocery store and I got to talk to my friend
Juanita. I showed Sister Spencer her store, and she gave us 2
FREE Jarritos sodas! :) It was a great day.
Actually, everyday we feel sick and our bodies are exhausted, but
that’s normal. 16 hour physically, mentally and spiritually
hard working days for 15 months straight, no break...we can be
tired. :)
Spencer is so funny. We are really attached. We can be in our
apartment and be in separate rooms and we miss each other. Oh
dear. She comes and sits on my bathroom floor sometimes when I am
putting on my make up haha.
Don, the biker is doing really well! He loves watching the Mormon
messages we share with him.
I really love being a missionary! I am happy being a missionary.
This week will be busy! We have TONS of lessons set up and like
6-8 hours of service we are doing!
Oh yes, another happy moment- last night our dinner appointment
was soo fun!! We love that family. We've been to their house many
times.... I needed another spoon so I got up and went into the
kitchen and returned holding up a spoon. I said " I found your
silverware drawer....we are official family!" haha! They burst
into laughing. Dang, that grandma has gooooood raspberry rhubarb
jam! I had 3 bowls of elk stew and 3 rolls and a salad and
desert! YUM it was great food. Usually we get food poisoning from
someone’s cooking here in Fallon once a week. I don’t know
what it is!!! And the water.. Ahhhh. "We tried a new recipe!" um
no thanks ...my body is tired. Sometimes I just want to eat an
orange.
Spencer always makes fun of me for eating vegetables. I am not a
horse I am a human thank you.
We built a fort in our living room 2 nights ago...Rosie- we
needed your help! You too Lilly! Where were you guys anyways?? jk
:) I am so happy my sister Lilly is baptized! I can feel her
spirit all the way in Nevada.
Have you watched this video??
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/temple-blessings-in-el-salvador?lang=eng
Love Ya bye!!!!
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Hello family! I hope your trip to GA was AMAZING!!!!! Roger wrote
me a letter before he graduated! He is going to be in the
military for 5 years!!?? Ahhh crazy! He says he is keeping his
testimony strong. Let me know how you are all doing! I hope its
fantastic!
We are teaching some wonderful families!! I finally have been
blessed with this super amazing family that reminds me of YOU
guys! Yay! 15 months down the road it happens! NO one compares to
you guys....but this family sort of does! They have 6 kids and
whenever we go over for lessons, and are just talking and
chilling, the kids are scattered across the kitchen just laughing
and messing around with each other. I told them that are what we
do in OUR family--but Julia usually sits on the fridge. They
said, "oh, I never thought of that!" They are a tough family...by
the looks of them you may get intimidated, but they rock! The mom
had black and blond hair and has tattoos everywhere. She wears
DARK makeup and is a big woman. The dad is a Native American and
wears his long hair in a ponytail. One of the daughters has tons
of piercings, and tattoos as well....One son is SO tall like
eric. Their family just got baptized in California 4 years ago.
They rock haha. We had dinner with them last week, and it was
SOOO FUN!!! Holy cow, we all sat around the table and messed
around. They love us! We love them! They have this dog named
vicious too! ahh they have ducks and geese and chickens. They
live out in the country. I have a picture I’ll send soon. After
one of their lessons when we were driving away from their house I
ran over a quail!!!! All I saw was a poof of feathers in my rear
view mirror lol....So Spencer was telling them that story at
dinner and they all were making fun of me. ha. The dad called on
me for prayer at the end "I guess we'll call on the great bird
hunter to say the closing prayer...!" ha we are reactivating
them. Sitting in sacrament and watching the mom and dad take the
sacrament after 1 full year made me so happy!!! Yay! The
atonement at work!
Did you hear our mission is splitting??? Read the BLOG!!!
http://www.nevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com/
Sometimes Spencer and I don’t know what to do with
Fallon...yesterday we walked through a park and everyone just
shunned us. People HATE the Mormons here...even our neighbor’s
cant stand talking to us for more then 1 minute! So on Saturday
Spencer and I walked up the main road of Fallon and we just waved
to people! It worked! We made someone smile in Fallon!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Success!!!!!!!! Also that morning, I prayed
that I could hand out a Book of Mormon to someone...I wrote my
testimony in it and dated it. We were walking past a hotel and we
saw a 25-year-old woman sitting and staring into the sun...BINGO!
We were able to talk to her and I gave the Book of Mormon to her!
YAY!!!! She was from Florida, so of course she didn’t mind
talking to us haha. It may seem like I’m ripping on Fallon, but
this is the way it is. It’s soooo hard as a missionary.
Spencer and I walked for a few miles, and then we stopped in this
Hispanic small grocery store and I got to talk to my friend
Juanita. I showed Sister Spencer her store, and she gave us 2
FREE Jarritos sodas! :) It was a great day.
Actually, everyday we feel sick and our bodies are exhausted, but
that’s normal. 16 hour physically, mentally and spiritually
hard working days for 15 months straight, no break...we can be
tired. :)
Spencer is so funny. We are really attached. We can be in our
apartment and be in separate rooms and we miss each other. Oh
dear. She comes and sits on my bathroom floor sometimes when I am
putting on my make up haha.
Don, the biker is doing really well! He loves watching the Mormon
messages we share with him.
I really love being a missionary! I am happy being a missionary.
This week will be busy! We have TONS of lessons set up and like
6-8 hours of service we are doing!
Oh yes, another happy moment- last night our dinner appointment
was soo fun!! We love that family. We've been to their house many
times.... I needed another spoon so I got up and went into the
kitchen and returned holding up a spoon. I said " I found your
silverware drawer....we are official family!" haha! They burst
into laughing. Dang, that grandma has gooooood raspberry rhubarb
jam! I had 3 bowls of elk stew and 3 rolls and a salad and
desert! YUM it was great food. Usually we get food poisoning from
someone’s cooking here in Fallon once a week. I don’t know
what it is!!! And the water.. Ahhhh. "We tried a new recipe!" um
no thanks ...my body is tired. Sometimes I just want to eat an
orange.
Spencer always makes fun of me for eating vegetables. I am not a
horse I am a human thank you.
We built a fort in our living room 2 nights ago...Rosie- we
needed your help! You too Lilly! Where were you guys anyways?? jk
:) I am so happy my sister Lilly is baptized! I can feel her
spirit all the way in Nevada.
Have you watched this video??
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/temple-blessings-in-el-salvador?lang=eng
Love Ya bye!!!!
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Monday, March 5, 2012
March 05, 2012
"Well, I'm not even sure who all reads my letters. I am going to
be pretty open and honest in this one so be prepared! It’s
pretty epic.
I pray you all are feeling happy today, and are super energized.
Last week was THEE hardest week of my whole mission. I can't
describe everything to you. It would take a long time, and you
would probably cry. It’s been really challenging serving in
Fallon, but the Lord has provided many ways for the missionary
work to improve here. Last week I feel like I was being tried the
MOST, and the very confusing thing was.... I wasn't feeling
Heavenly Father's Spirit. Here I was going through VERY intense
trial. I felt so weak, so tired, and I was just trying to push
through. I wrote in my journal on Friday that I felt I was
sitting in the bottom of an empty cellar, alone, and by myself.
I've never felt so distant from Heavenly Father. I couldn't
understand why he had forsaken me. One day I can share these
certain large trials with you, but for now, I want to focus on
the positive.
Even though this was the most intense week of my mission, I came
through learning the very biggest life lesson I have learned.
Satan has been working so hard on me personally. He doesn't want
my mission to end strong. Finally there are missionaries in
Fallon who are extremely hard workers, and every challenge that
could be thrown at us, has been. Anyways, Saturday morning I just
went and laid on my bed at 10:15am. I was exhausted, but I still
didn't want to give up. I went in our closet and knelt down and
prayed. I called upon the powers of heaven to be sent to help us
accomplish the work that must be done here in Fallon. In my
weakest moment, I still did not want to give up. Even though my
faith was absolutely being tested by God himself. I told him,
“I just want to serve Thee and love Thee Heavenly Father!”
That day I picked up and read during lunch, a book my dad sent me
called "Serve with Honor," by Randy L Bott. I came to a chapter
that changed my life, and I know it will change yours as well.
The heavens opened up for me personally at that time!
So now to the glorious part of what I have learned.... The
Chapter I read is called "2 Reasons why the Spirit Withdrawals."
It reads, "When the spirit withdrawals because of sin, it is like
a swift kick in the pants. When the spirit leaves because you are
being tested at a higher level, it is a pat on the back. This
congratulatory signal shows that your Heavenly Father is
confident that you are ready for the next level in your spiritual
Progression."
"When you master trials and lessons on one level, the Lord may
withdrawal to some degree the direction of his spirit, much as a
wise parent lets go of a child's hand when the child is wise
enough to cross the street without help. You wonder what is
wrong. But sensing that you weren't doing anything different than
you were an hour ago when you felt the spirit striving with you,
an appropriate response might be to humbly pray and thank your
Heavenly Father for having confidence in your ability to move to
a higher level of commitment and spirituality. Before long the
test is over and the spirit returns, carrying you to a higher
level."
In 2 Chronicles 32:31 it says "God left him, that he might try
him, that he might know all that was in his heart." then back to
the book, " We must learn to do whatever the lord requires of
us--even when we are not highly motivated by the spirit to do
it."
WOW! WOW! Wow! This is incredible!!!! Hasn't this already helped
YOU??
Back to the book, "Understanding the Lords process of perfecting
you will help you avoid condemning yourself when the spirit with
drawls."
Jiminy crickets! This is powerful. I totally understand why the
Lord seemed to have "left me" in my hour of desperate need. He
realllly did try me and push me. But he did it to see what Jenna
Sprouse was made of. He lovingly did this to help me! I feel so
honored. I have grown SOO much because of this. I have such a
closer understanding now to the Savior as well. I have a
connection with HIS moment of crying to the Father 'Where art
thou?' Christ felt alone and forsaken hanging on the Cross.
Sometimes we have to do extremely hard things. Because I have
made it through this past week, I know without a shadow of a
doubt the Lord IS always with me and LOVES me to death, even when
I think I am forsaken. I can't even explain how alone I felt. But
because I kept my head up strong, and because my dad sent me this
wonderful book, and because I have a Savior who suffered for me,
my faith has been fortified to withstand all the storms of this
life, to lead me to eternal life. Just think, if Christ had given
up his last week- there would have been NO suffering in the
garden of Gethsemane, NO Crucifixion and NO Resurrection...NO
eternal life.
I am thankful I get to share these things with you. I thought
after 3 months of serving "How can I learn even more?? How can my
faith be strengthened? I feel it is at its max!" -Even with that
faith I had, I feel it was a mustard seed compared to the giant
tree of Faith I have grown into.
So, for everyone reading this, Mormon or not, God loves us. I
know this will help everyone.
Brigham Young (LDS prophet) said "There is and it is simply
this--God never bestows upon His people, or upon and individual,
superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove
that individual, or the people, to see whether they will keep
their covenants with Him, and keep in remembrance what He has
shown them. Then the greater the vision, the greater display of
the power of the enemy."
We see this, as we are latter-day saints trying to perfect
ourselves. I'm sure the heat in the oven is most hot when the pot
is almost finished! God pours down trials upon us (like the heat
in the oven) jusssst before we ding! And are finished! Just
before he takes us by the hand and lifts us higher and closer to
him. He lifts us closer to understanding His eternal view. We are
brought closer to his love. We are brought closer to him.
I can't imagine I'd learn anything if I always decided to give
up.
I am really grateful I had to endure this! Look at how much I
have learned! And that you may have learned!!
I feel like I could end here, but HERE ARE SOME STORIES.
So, Sister Spencer (my companion) and one of our recent converts
(she lives on base), THEY ARE TURNING ME INTO A WOMAN! Ahhh,
eeeek Noooo!!! haha I want to be a tom boy forever!!! They have
taken away my old spice, my skater backpack.....my guy watch....
arg...hahaha and we went through my closet. Granted missionaries
have NOOOO money, but we still went through and got rid of the
winter clothes. haha! I went shopping and Spencer helped me. I
got a pencil skirt, cute white church shoes, a new shirt, and a
new bra, and a new purse!! ha! I feel like a woman! Finally! I
got to look good...my mom has had me on a detox program and I am
finally loosing the mission weight I put on! I still am keeping
my knife though, and pocket mace. OH, and they gave me all new
make up and I learned what bronzer is, and I have to wear
lipstick crap. Oh dear. They say I have to learn how to woo a man
for after my mission. OH DEAR! Deer....That’s right I HUNT!
Boo-yah!
I can’t play with knives too now. At our dinner appointments
Spencer will take away my knife and say "no Sprousey, here is a
spoon.:" ha! We are best of friends!
I bore my testimony yesterday at church and like a thousand
people told me they like it! (Okay, haha well....not a thousand.)
Spency and I also taught the Relief society lesson and we had
those woman and grannies "role playing" with each other and we
had them become better missionaries! It was fun and great!
We also set 3 people with a baptism date this weekend! YAYYYYY
Finally after 3.5 months of hard core labor!! 2 of them we
didn’t even expect to, but the spirit told us to set them with
a date to work towards, and they are super exited. Its fun being
a sister missionary because everyone loves you! We have a new
ward now (we switched with our zone leaders), at first we were
like NOOOO but yesterday it was like we were famous!
I am terribly going to hate leaving Fallon. It’s where I have
grown the MOST. Hopefully, I can stay here until I die (mission
timing wise).
A woman got baptized last week in our new ward and that was super
exciting.
My mom will be scared at this fact, but I can’t help it.
Everywhere we go there are drugs! We visit this drug house and
that drug house, and see teenagers with babies ALL the time. More
middle schooler’s are pregnant here, then HIGH SCHOOLERS! I
wasn’t even kissing boys at age 14. It’s seriously sad
though. Saturday night we were with a 19 year old recent convert.
He was visiting friends in a major party pad, and we were out
talking with him and some of the boys. They are all teens or
early 20 year olds. They stood there with their skateboards
smoking and talking to us about their lives. (This was at
8pm...). Sister Spencer asked one of them "So how many children
to YOU have?" and the 17 year old boy said "5, and all with
different women." AHHHH what are we going to do here in Fallon??
This same young man also just tried committing suicide. He
doesn't even know who HIS father is...of course he is going to be
messing around. Morals are SOOOOO needed. Please do not judge
these people, they just weren't raised to have them...and these
problems are world wide of course.
Having friends who have lived on the streets and hearing their
stories have changed my life. Life is so tough. I've had my share
of knockouts and its good to be able to talk to these people.
Everyone has a hard life. Those who have grown up in Compton or
LA I think have had it worst the most.
I have soooooooo many stories to share, not enough time. All in
48 hours this weekend I went from feeling everything I mentioned
above, to last night, comforting a friend who was at his lowest
point in life. He grew up in Compton and was raised in crack
houses and saw his dad murder people. Hum, healthy! He asked me
to smell his breath last night to see if it smelt like
alcohol....He is just trying soo hard to do all that is right. He
had to crash last night. Another one of his family members died,
he has seen so many deaths. I smelt his breath in my face, and
yes, it did smell like alcohol and I told him. He started to
ball. He put his hands in his face and just wept. "How could I
have done this!”? His parents are still drug dealers... He
needs a new place to live.
My heart is so full. Of pain because of the pains of the world.
Of faith, because Christ has overcome all.
I love you and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.”
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
"Well, I'm not even sure who all reads my letters. I am going to
be pretty open and honest in this one so be prepared! It’s
pretty epic.
I pray you all are feeling happy today, and are super energized.
Last week was THEE hardest week of my whole mission. I can't
describe everything to you. It would take a long time, and you
would probably cry. It’s been really challenging serving in
Fallon, but the Lord has provided many ways for the missionary
work to improve here. Last week I feel like I was being tried the
MOST, and the very confusing thing was.... I wasn't feeling
Heavenly Father's Spirit. Here I was going through VERY intense
trial. I felt so weak, so tired, and I was just trying to push
through. I wrote in my journal on Friday that I felt I was
sitting in the bottom of an empty cellar, alone, and by myself.
I've never felt so distant from Heavenly Father. I couldn't
understand why he had forsaken me. One day I can share these
certain large trials with you, but for now, I want to focus on
the positive.
Even though this was the most intense week of my mission, I came
through learning the very biggest life lesson I have learned.
Satan has been working so hard on me personally. He doesn't want
my mission to end strong. Finally there are missionaries in
Fallon who are extremely hard workers, and every challenge that
could be thrown at us, has been. Anyways, Saturday morning I just
went and laid on my bed at 10:15am. I was exhausted, but I still
didn't want to give up. I went in our closet and knelt down and
prayed. I called upon the powers of heaven to be sent to help us
accomplish the work that must be done here in Fallon. In my
weakest moment, I still did not want to give up. Even though my
faith was absolutely being tested by God himself. I told him,
“I just want to serve Thee and love Thee Heavenly Father!”
That day I picked up and read during lunch, a book my dad sent me
called "Serve with Honor," by Randy L Bott. I came to a chapter
that changed my life, and I know it will change yours as well.
The heavens opened up for me personally at that time!
So now to the glorious part of what I have learned.... The
Chapter I read is called "2 Reasons why the Spirit Withdrawals."
It reads, "When the spirit withdrawals because of sin, it is like
a swift kick in the pants. When the spirit leaves because you are
being tested at a higher level, it is a pat on the back. This
congratulatory signal shows that your Heavenly Father is
confident that you are ready for the next level in your spiritual
Progression."
"When you master trials and lessons on one level, the Lord may
withdrawal to some degree the direction of his spirit, much as a
wise parent lets go of a child's hand when the child is wise
enough to cross the street without help. You wonder what is
wrong. But sensing that you weren't doing anything different than
you were an hour ago when you felt the spirit striving with you,
an appropriate response might be to humbly pray and thank your
Heavenly Father for having confidence in your ability to move to
a higher level of commitment and spirituality. Before long the
test is over and the spirit returns, carrying you to a higher
level."
In 2 Chronicles 32:31 it says "God left him, that he might try
him, that he might know all that was in his heart." then back to
the book, " We must learn to do whatever the lord requires of
us--even when we are not highly motivated by the spirit to do
it."
WOW! WOW! Wow! This is incredible!!!! Hasn't this already helped
YOU??
Back to the book, "Understanding the Lords process of perfecting
you will help you avoid condemning yourself when the spirit with
drawls."
Jiminy crickets! This is powerful. I totally understand why the
Lord seemed to have "left me" in my hour of desperate need. He
realllly did try me and push me. But he did it to see what Jenna
Sprouse was made of. He lovingly did this to help me! I feel so
honored. I have grown SOO much because of this. I have such a
closer understanding now to the Savior as well. I have a
connection with HIS moment of crying to the Father 'Where art
thou?' Christ felt alone and forsaken hanging on the Cross.
Sometimes we have to do extremely hard things. Because I have
made it through this past week, I know without a shadow of a
doubt the Lord IS always with me and LOVES me to death, even when
I think I am forsaken. I can't even explain how alone I felt. But
because I kept my head up strong, and because my dad sent me this
wonderful book, and because I have a Savior who suffered for me,
my faith has been fortified to withstand all the storms of this
life, to lead me to eternal life. Just think, if Christ had given
up his last week- there would have been NO suffering in the
garden of Gethsemane, NO Crucifixion and NO Resurrection...NO
eternal life.
I am thankful I get to share these things with you. I thought
after 3 months of serving "How can I learn even more?? How can my
faith be strengthened? I feel it is at its max!" -Even with that
faith I had, I feel it was a mustard seed compared to the giant
tree of Faith I have grown into.
So, for everyone reading this, Mormon or not, God loves us. I
know this will help everyone.
Brigham Young (LDS prophet) said "There is and it is simply
this--God never bestows upon His people, or upon and individual,
superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove
that individual, or the people, to see whether they will keep
their covenants with Him, and keep in remembrance what He has
shown them. Then the greater the vision, the greater display of
the power of the enemy."
We see this, as we are latter-day saints trying to perfect
ourselves. I'm sure the heat in the oven is most hot when the pot
is almost finished! God pours down trials upon us (like the heat
in the oven) jusssst before we ding! And are finished! Just
before he takes us by the hand and lifts us higher and closer to
him. He lifts us closer to understanding His eternal view. We are
brought closer to his love. We are brought closer to him.
I can't imagine I'd learn anything if I always decided to give
up.
I am really grateful I had to endure this! Look at how much I
have learned! And that you may have learned!!
I feel like I could end here, but HERE ARE SOME STORIES.
So, Sister Spencer (my companion) and one of our recent converts
(she lives on base), THEY ARE TURNING ME INTO A WOMAN! Ahhh,
eeeek Noooo!!! haha I want to be a tom boy forever!!! They have
taken away my old spice, my skater backpack.....my guy watch....
arg...hahaha and we went through my closet. Granted missionaries
have NOOOO money, but we still went through and got rid of the
winter clothes. haha! I went shopping and Spencer helped me. I
got a pencil skirt, cute white church shoes, a new shirt, and a
new bra, and a new purse!! ha! I feel like a woman! Finally! I
got to look good...my mom has had me on a detox program and I am
finally loosing the mission weight I put on! I still am keeping
my knife though, and pocket mace. OH, and they gave me all new
make up and I learned what bronzer is, and I have to wear
lipstick crap. Oh dear. They say I have to learn how to woo a man
for after my mission. OH DEAR! Deer....That’s right I HUNT!
Boo-yah!
I can’t play with knives too now. At our dinner appointments
Spencer will take away my knife and say "no Sprousey, here is a
spoon.:" ha! We are best of friends!
I bore my testimony yesterday at church and like a thousand
people told me they like it! (Okay, haha well....not a thousand.)
Spency and I also taught the Relief society lesson and we had
those woman and grannies "role playing" with each other and we
had them become better missionaries! It was fun and great!
We also set 3 people with a baptism date this weekend! YAYYYYY
Finally after 3.5 months of hard core labor!! 2 of them we
didn’t even expect to, but the spirit told us to set them with
a date to work towards, and they are super exited. Its fun being
a sister missionary because everyone loves you! We have a new
ward now (we switched with our zone leaders), at first we were
like NOOOO but yesterday it was like we were famous!
I am terribly going to hate leaving Fallon. It’s where I have
grown the MOST. Hopefully, I can stay here until I die (mission
timing wise).
A woman got baptized last week in our new ward and that was super
exciting.
My mom will be scared at this fact, but I can’t help it.
Everywhere we go there are drugs! We visit this drug house and
that drug house, and see teenagers with babies ALL the time. More
middle schooler’s are pregnant here, then HIGH SCHOOLERS! I
wasn’t even kissing boys at age 14. It’s seriously sad
though. Saturday night we were with a 19 year old recent convert.
He was visiting friends in a major party pad, and we were out
talking with him and some of the boys. They are all teens or
early 20 year olds. They stood there with their skateboards
smoking and talking to us about their lives. (This was at
8pm...). Sister Spencer asked one of them "So how many children
to YOU have?" and the 17 year old boy said "5, and all with
different women." AHHHH what are we going to do here in Fallon??
This same young man also just tried committing suicide. He
doesn't even know who HIS father is...of course he is going to be
messing around. Morals are SOOOOO needed. Please do not judge
these people, they just weren't raised to have them...and these
problems are world wide of course.
Having friends who have lived on the streets and hearing their
stories have changed my life. Life is so tough. I've had my share
of knockouts and its good to be able to talk to these people.
Everyone has a hard life. Those who have grown up in Compton or
LA I think have had it worst the most.
I have soooooooo many stories to share, not enough time. All in
48 hours this weekend I went from feeling everything I mentioned
above, to last night, comforting a friend who was at his lowest
point in life. He grew up in Compton and was raised in crack
houses and saw his dad murder people. Hum, healthy! He asked me
to smell his breath last night to see if it smelt like
alcohol....He is just trying soo hard to do all that is right. He
had to crash last night. Another one of his family members died,
he has seen so many deaths. I smelt his breath in my face, and
yes, it did smell like alcohol and I told him. He started to
ball. He put his hands in his face and just wept. "How could I
have done this!”? His parents are still drug dealers... He
needs a new place to live.
My heart is so full. Of pain because of the pains of the world.
Of faith, because Christ has overcome all.
I love you and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.”
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
1-5-12
"Wow, this week has been thoroughly epic. Satan is working SO hard against us. These are the toughest times....He knows when you are about to do soo much good, and he does everything in his power (plus his devils), to tare you down to the ground. Just imagine the scene of a faithful missionary. He/She is trying to do his/her best. They do their studies, they push forward with faith. They are obedient, kind, try to be selfless and have unconditional love towards everyone. They are patient and have the trust of the President. They are trying to adapt all the Christ like attributes, and be 100% obedient, worthy of the spirit, and fully engaged with an eye single to god. They work hard, and don’t give in. They prepare faithfully for lessons. They keep track of time and make their time meaningful. They have powerful lessons that change their lives. They meet people daily that change their lives or the missionary helps change theirs. Bonds are formed; miracles are witnessed everyday of their lives.
Yet, here awaits the devil, waiting and wanting to destroy the lives of those the missionaries teach. Wanting to destroy them. I can just picture Satan creepily sliding his way to catch that missionary sitting down for studies every morning to try to tempt him to quit. To stop. If Satan can just stop the missionaries, he was won.
This is the biggest battle of all. My entire mission has been about facing opposition. Facing the effects of Satan, and battling him myself. We are the army of God and we hold the truth. We treasure the truth. We fight for the truth to be proclaimed.
It’s time for a lot of miracles to happen in Fallon. Heavenly Father knows we will work hard, and so does Satan. I don’t mean to talk about him so much, but this is my life. Want to know the life of a missionary? It’s a battle.
In my last are in Vegas, 4 months before miracles started to pour from heaven daily, there was a space for a week where I felt Satan and his followers surround me daily. I felt so sad inside. It was the hardest thing i have personally had to conquer. I knew there were so many of the evilest devils cutting at me. Their presence weighed me down daily. I knew I could conquer them though and i told myself, If I’m going to battle for the cause of Jesus Christ, it’s going to be hard. But it’s worth it. I am so happy to say those devils did not take me down!
Here they are again though, possibly trying. I know they are there, and their presence as we walk the streets of Fallon weighs on me. But I’m not going to let them get me. They know that’s a fact too. Fallon is changing for the better! These people here have souls who are crying for peace, comfort, and joy! Here it comes! IM COMING FOR YOU! Just wait a little longer. Hope is on its way, because I get to bear the specific and holy name of Jesus Christ.
Miracles bring me joy! In fact last week my joy was so great i was brought to the depths of exhaustion...that’s how great was MY JOY! I received an update from my last area! In the Lone Mountain zone, when I got there, there wasn’t a lot of work going on....the missionaries serving there had been sluggish and non efficient. The effects of working hard are unparalleled. I did not do ANYTHING in my last area. Heavenly Father did it all! Through tracting and contacting individuals on the street and through referrals, by my second transfer there I had over 100 people listed in my planner has potential investigators. Potential individuals to accept the truth. How outstanding! I am so happy still! You know what happened there, because you have been reading my emails...since I’ve left the work is even more busy! Sister Dillistone is receiving even more investigators then 22. She told me almost everyone is progressing! That is SO wonderful to hear! Investigators are praying and coming to church and are wanting to be baptized. Potentials we found are taking the lessons. I could sit and list names, but it wouldn’t mean much to you. It means the world to me.
I think of how Heavenly Father knows us on a personal basis. I am thoroughly convinced he REJOICES when we choose the right! How happy we are when those we teach read the scriptures! Yes! How sad God is when we break a commandment. Heavenly Father works SO HARD for us, to just get us back to him! He gives us everything we need. How crushed he is to see us reject his son. What more could he give us? HE GIVES US EVERYTHING.
That is why I am so happy to be here in Fallon! It’s such a random place to serve 6 months of your mission!!! It’s about the people. Here, it’s harder missionary work. People don’t flood the streets like in Vegas. The missionary work up here is so epic because all the missionaries across these small cities fast, pray, and plea for missionary work to happen.
Don’t let Satan get to you. You can conquer anything with God’s help, I PROMISE!
This week we had a zone fast. We then had a member of our bishopric call us and tell us "I have a friend that I want you to teach." That’s the FIRST time in my whole mission a member has presented one of their friends for us to teach. (thank you members for doing your job!!) Andy is so cool, so awesome! We are teaching him tonight! He got to see his friend on a mission in South Africa over Christmas on Skype. He is so ready for the gospel!
It doesn’t matter if 1 person or 20 people are baptized on your mission. It’s about souls. It’s about restoring souls, less active, active, non member. Everybody everywhere needs the gospel of Jesus Christ and it’s currently being spread to everyone across the earth! What joy fills my heart!
As we went through our past records of previous investigators, we came across a name that stood out to us. We went to visit Don. He is a biker and super down to earth. Let me tell you, that lesson was SO powerful!!! The most spiritual lesson I have had in Fallon yet!!! He completely opened up to us right away! He poured out his soul. He is so confused. He is around 65 years old. One of his precious questions was " I guess what I am trying to say is, am I worth your time? I mean, do I really even matter?" Those words stung my soul. How joyous it was to proclaim to him "Yes! Don your life matters so much. YOU, mean the world to heavenly father...." It was so special.
The world has it to seem like nothing matters. go ahead, swear! Drink! Have sex with whomever! Sell yourself! You’re ugly, you’re worthless! Smoke that joint, here, kill yourself-the world would be better without you anyway. .. ... ..
I love Don, and as I personally knelt down the night we met with him, after I prayed this poem started running through my head. It is written about the people like don, like all of us. Here it is.
The Conversion
I oft heard of a man, a man to save. Not only me, but the world. This man they say, spotless and pure, gives light and nourishment to all in need. I have often wondered who is God and why is He so great? Yet, I do not know for myself if he lives, is this my mistake?
Am I, an old man, to think I'm worth saving? I've lived my life, it’s been a terrible one, why would he love me for Pete’s sake?!I am a lonely man, encouragement I know not. I sit on this bench and merely wait.
Wait for what you say? Change I hear? Why do I need to change? I don’t think I need the help of another man.
I do have a heart, its softening somehow. I do not know how! For my life is compared to a grain of a thousand sands. Does my life matter? Oh what the pain!
Why am I here, where do I go?Does my life have purpose or do I just go with the flow?Trembling, scary thoughts you must know. I soon will die and know not where I'll go.
Time has come, my mind is in disarray. I see two Mormon missionaries coming my way.Oh do not look at me, just pass me by!They continue to walk towards me, I let out a sigh.
“We are representatives of Jesus Christ, He lives and Loves you.”Their words fill my heart, what is this new feeling?Me, a child of God. Bah! Or could it be?
Read, pray, I do what they ask. Believe. I give it a chance. This chance I gave is making me change. I hold my head higher, I feel less pain.
A conversion is needed? What does this mean? “Come unto Christ and you will see.”Is this really happening? Oh what love! Jesus my Savior, he comes to Redeem!
My tears of pain, my tears of anguish, meet the tears of my missionaries who exclaim, “Your life is not a waste.”Tears in my back pocket, I search the scriptures.
This is true! This is true! My heart sings day by day!My soul has been rescued! Where has this long awaited truth laid?
By the power of God I am converted.Oh what thanks I give day to day. I long for sweet repentance, my baptism was so great!I had no idea of such cleansing power on earth to save.
I am clean! I am free!I grasp the Elder who just baptized me and wrap my arms around him.'Thank you for leading me to Jesus.'
Now I look forward to meeting you, Christ. You are the absolute greatest miracle in my life. My eyes water my pillow by night, my souls reaches towards heaven.I can't wait to meet the man who saved ME, and who gives me eternal life.
Written in Remembrance of Don. Our investigator who questions the worth of his soul. How heavenly it was to exclaim, “YES!”
Sister Jenna Sprouse12-20-11Heavenly Father is awesome! :)
Just like Don, we all wonder. One time in our lives we will feel, "am I fulfilling my purpose? What IS my purpose?'
Coming from Vegas, to here...the worlds problems are the same across the world. We all wonder, we all feel pain, and there is only ONE person to take our pain, and shape it into Joy.
Jesus Christ it is! Serving here, I am so centered now about just helping one person.
There is a quote by Elder Eyring. "True disciples of Jesus Christ have always been concerned for the One." . . . . The one who is missing. The one who is sad. So many times in my life have I passed up a friend who needed a meaningful conversation about hope.
This is long !! YAY!
Three weeks ago, I just felt my trials piling up. You know what I found? Depression as I kept complaining inside. I sat on my bed one night at 950 and stared into space. Who was I being? I completely right then and there changed 180 degrees and instead of praying to get through my trials, I thanked God for all of my blessings.
Ever since then my joy has been FULL! Thanking God has been the best decision of my life! I only thank him and thank him and thank him and thank him. Tears roll down my face. He is so great.
This past week Sister Badger and I had to move (a reoccurring theme amongst missionaries..). (Mind you this has been the epic battle Satan week too!). Our new place is so awesome! But we have been SO tired!!! Our new apartment was SOO dirty!!!! We went to Wal-Mart on Saturday to buy cleaning supplies. I remember that morning in my prayers I said "Heavenly Father I pray that we will be able to clean fast and effectively, but even so, you bless us so much, it does not matter if you grant us this thing."
At Wal-Mart a member saw us checking out, and he bought us our 41 dollars worth of cleaning supplies. Man, tender mercies are so precious and pure!!! We walked out of Wal-Mart in rejoicing awe!
Then, on the SAME DAY, a member we met randomly in Fallon gave us each $20 and said, "have a good lunch!"
Man, Heavenly father DOES know us. He knows when we are having a hard time, He lovesssss it when we rejoice and thank him daily.
I have SO much to thank my Heavenly Father for!!!!!!!! Each and every day! I pray I will find all my faults. I pray I will cleave unto my covenants. My new goals are to ask myself "Do I represent the purity of the temple?" I want to have an eye single to the glory of God. I want to be selfless. I want to be full of love. I want to find that one sheep that needs guidance.
I prayed recently that "my burdens would feel light." WRONG. I immediately stopped progressing.
Take what comes your way. It’s for a reason.
Ask yourself this week, "what makes me rejoice? What makes me desire to serve God?" "Am I happy?"
I am happy serving the Lord.
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse
"Wow, this week has been thoroughly epic. Satan is working SO hard against us. These are the toughest times....He knows when you are about to do soo much good, and he does everything in his power (plus his devils), to tare you down to the ground. Just imagine the scene of a faithful missionary. He/She is trying to do his/her best. They do their studies, they push forward with faith. They are obedient, kind, try to be selfless and have unconditional love towards everyone. They are patient and have the trust of the President. They are trying to adapt all the Christ like attributes, and be 100% obedient, worthy of the spirit, and fully engaged with an eye single to god. They work hard, and don’t give in. They prepare faithfully for lessons. They keep track of time and make their time meaningful. They have powerful lessons that change their lives. They meet people daily that change their lives or the missionary helps change theirs. Bonds are formed; miracles are witnessed everyday of their lives.
Yet, here awaits the devil, waiting and wanting to destroy the lives of those the missionaries teach. Wanting to destroy them. I can just picture Satan creepily sliding his way to catch that missionary sitting down for studies every morning to try to tempt him to quit. To stop. If Satan can just stop the missionaries, he was won.
This is the biggest battle of all. My entire mission has been about facing opposition. Facing the effects of Satan, and battling him myself. We are the army of God and we hold the truth. We treasure the truth. We fight for the truth to be proclaimed.
It’s time for a lot of miracles to happen in Fallon. Heavenly Father knows we will work hard, and so does Satan. I don’t mean to talk about him so much, but this is my life. Want to know the life of a missionary? It’s a battle.
In my last are in Vegas, 4 months before miracles started to pour from heaven daily, there was a space for a week where I felt Satan and his followers surround me daily. I felt so sad inside. It was the hardest thing i have personally had to conquer. I knew there were so many of the evilest devils cutting at me. Their presence weighed me down daily. I knew I could conquer them though and i told myself, If I’m going to battle for the cause of Jesus Christ, it’s going to be hard. But it’s worth it. I am so happy to say those devils did not take me down!
Here they are again though, possibly trying. I know they are there, and their presence as we walk the streets of Fallon weighs on me. But I’m not going to let them get me. They know that’s a fact too. Fallon is changing for the better! These people here have souls who are crying for peace, comfort, and joy! Here it comes! IM COMING FOR YOU! Just wait a little longer. Hope is on its way, because I get to bear the specific and holy name of Jesus Christ.
Miracles bring me joy! In fact last week my joy was so great i was brought to the depths of exhaustion...that’s how great was MY JOY! I received an update from my last area! In the Lone Mountain zone, when I got there, there wasn’t a lot of work going on....the missionaries serving there had been sluggish and non efficient. The effects of working hard are unparalleled. I did not do ANYTHING in my last area. Heavenly Father did it all! Through tracting and contacting individuals on the street and through referrals, by my second transfer there I had over 100 people listed in my planner has potential investigators. Potential individuals to accept the truth. How outstanding! I am so happy still! You know what happened there, because you have been reading my emails...since I’ve left the work is even more busy! Sister Dillistone is receiving even more investigators then 22. She told me almost everyone is progressing! That is SO wonderful to hear! Investigators are praying and coming to church and are wanting to be baptized. Potentials we found are taking the lessons. I could sit and list names, but it wouldn’t mean much to you. It means the world to me.
I think of how Heavenly Father knows us on a personal basis. I am thoroughly convinced he REJOICES when we choose the right! How happy we are when those we teach read the scriptures! Yes! How sad God is when we break a commandment. Heavenly Father works SO HARD for us, to just get us back to him! He gives us everything we need. How crushed he is to see us reject his son. What more could he give us? HE GIVES US EVERYTHING.
That is why I am so happy to be here in Fallon! It’s such a random place to serve 6 months of your mission!!! It’s about the people. Here, it’s harder missionary work. People don’t flood the streets like in Vegas. The missionary work up here is so epic because all the missionaries across these small cities fast, pray, and plea for missionary work to happen.
Don’t let Satan get to you. You can conquer anything with God’s help, I PROMISE!
This week we had a zone fast. We then had a member of our bishopric call us and tell us "I have a friend that I want you to teach." That’s the FIRST time in my whole mission a member has presented one of their friends for us to teach. (thank you members for doing your job!!) Andy is so cool, so awesome! We are teaching him tonight! He got to see his friend on a mission in South Africa over Christmas on Skype. He is so ready for the gospel!
It doesn’t matter if 1 person or 20 people are baptized on your mission. It’s about souls. It’s about restoring souls, less active, active, non member. Everybody everywhere needs the gospel of Jesus Christ and it’s currently being spread to everyone across the earth! What joy fills my heart!
As we went through our past records of previous investigators, we came across a name that stood out to us. We went to visit Don. He is a biker and super down to earth. Let me tell you, that lesson was SO powerful!!! The most spiritual lesson I have had in Fallon yet!!! He completely opened up to us right away! He poured out his soul. He is so confused. He is around 65 years old. One of his precious questions was " I guess what I am trying to say is, am I worth your time? I mean, do I really even matter?" Those words stung my soul. How joyous it was to proclaim to him "Yes! Don your life matters so much. YOU, mean the world to heavenly father...." It was so special.
The world has it to seem like nothing matters. go ahead, swear! Drink! Have sex with whomever! Sell yourself! You’re ugly, you’re worthless! Smoke that joint, here, kill yourself-the world would be better without you anyway. .. ... ..
I love Don, and as I personally knelt down the night we met with him, after I prayed this poem started running through my head. It is written about the people like don, like all of us. Here it is.
The Conversion
I oft heard of a man, a man to save. Not only me, but the world. This man they say, spotless and pure, gives light and nourishment to all in need. I have often wondered who is God and why is He so great? Yet, I do not know for myself if he lives, is this my mistake?
Am I, an old man, to think I'm worth saving? I've lived my life, it’s been a terrible one, why would he love me for Pete’s sake?!I am a lonely man, encouragement I know not. I sit on this bench and merely wait.
Wait for what you say? Change I hear? Why do I need to change? I don’t think I need the help of another man.
I do have a heart, its softening somehow. I do not know how! For my life is compared to a grain of a thousand sands. Does my life matter? Oh what the pain!
Why am I here, where do I go?Does my life have purpose or do I just go with the flow?Trembling, scary thoughts you must know. I soon will die and know not where I'll go.
Time has come, my mind is in disarray. I see two Mormon missionaries coming my way.Oh do not look at me, just pass me by!They continue to walk towards me, I let out a sigh.
“We are representatives of Jesus Christ, He lives and Loves you.”Their words fill my heart, what is this new feeling?Me, a child of God. Bah! Or could it be?
Read, pray, I do what they ask. Believe. I give it a chance. This chance I gave is making me change. I hold my head higher, I feel less pain.
A conversion is needed? What does this mean? “Come unto Christ and you will see.”Is this really happening? Oh what love! Jesus my Savior, he comes to Redeem!
My tears of pain, my tears of anguish, meet the tears of my missionaries who exclaim, “Your life is not a waste.”Tears in my back pocket, I search the scriptures.
This is true! This is true! My heart sings day by day!My soul has been rescued! Where has this long awaited truth laid?
By the power of God I am converted.Oh what thanks I give day to day. I long for sweet repentance, my baptism was so great!I had no idea of such cleansing power on earth to save.
I am clean! I am free!I grasp the Elder who just baptized me and wrap my arms around him.'Thank you for leading me to Jesus.'
Now I look forward to meeting you, Christ. You are the absolute greatest miracle in my life. My eyes water my pillow by night, my souls reaches towards heaven.I can't wait to meet the man who saved ME, and who gives me eternal life.
Written in Remembrance of Don. Our investigator who questions the worth of his soul. How heavenly it was to exclaim, “YES!”
Sister Jenna Sprouse12-20-11Heavenly Father is awesome! :)
Just like Don, we all wonder. One time in our lives we will feel, "am I fulfilling my purpose? What IS my purpose?'
Coming from Vegas, to here...the worlds problems are the same across the world. We all wonder, we all feel pain, and there is only ONE person to take our pain, and shape it into Joy.
Jesus Christ it is! Serving here, I am so centered now about just helping one person.
There is a quote by Elder Eyring. "True disciples of Jesus Christ have always been concerned for the One." . . . . The one who is missing. The one who is sad. So many times in my life have I passed up a friend who needed a meaningful conversation about hope.
This is long !! YAY!
Three weeks ago, I just felt my trials piling up. You know what I found? Depression as I kept complaining inside. I sat on my bed one night at 950 and stared into space. Who was I being? I completely right then and there changed 180 degrees and instead of praying to get through my trials, I thanked God for all of my blessings.
Ever since then my joy has been FULL! Thanking God has been the best decision of my life! I only thank him and thank him and thank him and thank him. Tears roll down my face. He is so great.
This past week Sister Badger and I had to move (a reoccurring theme amongst missionaries..). (Mind you this has been the epic battle Satan week too!). Our new place is so awesome! But we have been SO tired!!! Our new apartment was SOO dirty!!!! We went to Wal-Mart on Saturday to buy cleaning supplies. I remember that morning in my prayers I said "Heavenly Father I pray that we will be able to clean fast and effectively, but even so, you bless us so much, it does not matter if you grant us this thing."
At Wal-Mart a member saw us checking out, and he bought us our 41 dollars worth of cleaning supplies. Man, tender mercies are so precious and pure!!! We walked out of Wal-Mart in rejoicing awe!
Then, on the SAME DAY, a member we met randomly in Fallon gave us each $20 and said, "have a good lunch!"
Man, Heavenly father DOES know us. He knows when we are having a hard time, He lovesssss it when we rejoice and thank him daily.
I have SO much to thank my Heavenly Father for!!!!!!!! Each and every day! I pray I will find all my faults. I pray I will cleave unto my covenants. My new goals are to ask myself "Do I represent the purity of the temple?" I want to have an eye single to the glory of God. I want to be selfless. I want to be full of love. I want to find that one sheep that needs guidance.
I prayed recently that "my burdens would feel light." WRONG. I immediately stopped progressing.
Take what comes your way. It’s for a reason.
Ask yourself this week, "what makes me rejoice? What makes me desire to serve God?" "Am I happy?"
I am happy serving the Lord.
Love!
Sister Jenna Julianne Sprouse
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