week 2

MTC Week 2: Deze Dingen Zenderlingen

 

If you say that title correctly in dutch it rhymes.  Its the name we came up with for our district..  were so silly these days. everything makes us laugh. it translates into "these things missionary"... doesnt make any sense haha but its fun to say. 

It was a great week here as we all got settled into the routine and got more comfortable with the language.  We still have pretty frustrating days/moments when we try to express our thoughts in our lessons but we dont know how to say it in dutch. this will probably continue until the last month of my mission.  it is pretty amazing to see how much we know in 2 weeks though. 

my companion had a cold this week and she blows her nose like an elephant.. so that has kept us laughing all day.  Ive stayed healthy though and have enjoyed long runs with one of the zusters in my district.  this morning we went on a 2 mile run outside and it felt so good! 

The highlights of this week were of course the christmas festivities.   Christmas eve we had a nativity musical fireside and ended the night with delicious sugar covered popcorn and watched a christmas carol. when we got back to our "dorms" our floor put on a nativity that was hilarious and we all had so much fun getting presents ready for our elders. 

Christmas morning we woke up early and had a christmas potluck breakfast with girls on our floor. it was fun having all sort of goodies from different family traditions (and things we snuck of of the cafeteria).  After breakfast we went to our district room and opened presents with our elders.  we had so much fun giving each other gifts and opening random things that we received from friends.

my favorite part of this was a little prank one of the elders pulled on me..  weve been having a spoon war with this spoon he stole from the cafeteria (he stole it with his jello cup because i told him i wanted the cup after, so he then thought the spoon was mine. wrong.) so the spoon started getting passed back in forth in silly ways.  Christmas morning, i show up at our room and he said i got another package (hes the district leader and picks up the mail).  so we go around the room opening gifts and i get excited to open this box (which was a decent size and wrapped nicely) but once i open it there is just a bunch of paper and curly stuff... then at the bottom is taped the spoon!  we have some pretty good reaction shots of me.. he got me good this time..it was hilarious and the war is on! i love our elders so much!
so on to the better more spiritual part of the day.  we got to watch music of the spoken word and then had sacrament meeting with Elder and Sister Bednar.  That was so amazing. The feeling of being in the auditorium with hundreds of other missionaries and an apostle of the lord was overwhelming. after sacrament we had our turkey lunch and picked up sack lunches for dinner.. yumm haha but then we got to go on a walk to the temple with our district and that is always fun.  i have so many fun pictures i wish i could upload but ill print some out and get them uploaded eventually. 

Thats all I have time for today but thank you so much to everyone who has sent me letters, emails, packages and christmas cards! I will try to get back to each of you but know that I sincerely appreciate everything! sorry again for the lack of punctuation! maybe once i leave this place (mtc) ill get better :)

love you all! <3<3

zuster jones

week 1

MTC week #1

We're one week in to our 9 week jouney of the MTC. While everyday seem to last as long as 3 did before, time really does go by fast. And it is true that missionaries are always busy. there is never enough time in the day to get everything done. and free time.. even when we have "personal time" we are translating lessons or practicing dutch or planning something. its like finals week. all of the time. some how though i have been able to stay awake through the hours of classes, devotionals and firesides. I do fall asleep in choir practice. every time. at least im awake during the important things though :)  i have already learned so much and am loving the amazing spirit that is felt here. we taught our first lesson in dutch the 3rd day we were here and had 3 follow up lessons since then. it is overwhelming and scary but we have made it through and are impressed with how much we can already speak. but were still very frustrated that we cannot express ourselves or the gospel while we are teaching.  i really do love it here though and am excited for the progress i will see in the next 8 week!

The "we" I have been referring to is my district. we have 5 sisters (zusters) and 4 elders. its rare to have this many girls (im still unsure if this is a positive or not) but i LOVE my district. my companions name is Sister Davies and she is from orem utah. shes loves to test my patience but we're learning together and i love to see the growth we have already made together. she laughs ALL the time so at least she keeps things light hearted :) and i seriously LOVE the elders in my district. they keep me sane. they are all 19 and adorable and keep me laughing and in line most of the time. we have a perfect mix of laughter, sprititualness and responsibility so we get things accomplished and have so much fun together.

so so far so good here. i can see why people get sick of this place but im loving the morning workout classes the have for the girls (pilates, yoga, step, kickboxing), the gluten free section in the cafeteria, the workshops and all the devotional and firesides. its amazing to feel the spirit all day long and to be able to learn in such a fun and loving environment.

on a light note, tuesday was something we call "magic tues" for the belgium elders and sisters. the older elders talked it up like we were going on a field trip and told us to dress nice and take our cameras. but.. we had to get blood drawn and do a stool test for our visas. I wont go into detail but it was pretty hilarious.  dont worry, we took pictures with our "poop" bag. the elders loved it. 

sorry for all the typos and the lack of capitalization, i only have a few mins and this keyboard is stiff!

 

Ik houvan jullie!

-zuster jen jones

Bye bye friends and family!

I leave in the morning but thought I'd share some photos of goodbyes from the last couple of days.  It's been hard saying "see you later" to the amazing people I am lucky to have in my life but it was also a great weekend! Thank you to everyone for the kind words, love and support as I leave for this adventure! Love you all! 

MTC and MISSION HOME ADDRESSES!

Just received my official Missionary Training Center address.  This makes it so much more official. and weird.  so here you go people, start the writing! :)

From Dec 14-approx. March 7th you can send me letters and packages to:

Sister Jennifer Lynn Jones
MTC Mailbox # 331
BEL-NETH 0214
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

If all goes as planned I will be leaving for the Netherlands in early March 2013.  My address will be changing as I move around but packages will always be sent to the mission home address.  You can also send letters here if you do not know my current address or if you want to send me a letter there before I arrive! 

Mission home:

Sister Jennifer Lynn Jones

Belgium/Netherlands Mission

Schipholweg 66

2316 XE Leiden

Netherlands

All the info in the address is needed for me to properly receive your letters so double check that it is correct :)  Also, if you send a packages to the mission home, do not declare the package over $40 or I will have to pay money to receive it :( 

You can always email me at jenjones148@myldsmail.net but I will most likely not be able to email back so make sure to include your address for me to write a letter in response!

Thanks for all your support!! 

4 days left... 

<3<3<3

one week from today...

I will be entering the MTC in Provo, UT for some intensive language and religion training.  I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I am leaving but as sad as I am to leave my family and friends, I'm excited for the adventure that awaits me!

First I have one more farewell talk and open house shindig with family and friends and lots of "see you laters" to say! Come see me if you have the time or keep following for my MTC address and more info on what exactly I will be doing for the next year and a half!