*SpArKLeS!!!*

Jan. 6, 2014

I hope you guys had a happy New Year! Sister Hall and I certainly did. We actually ended up going to bed early... but it was nice to be able to catch up on some sleep. We didn't have a celebration for New Years, in fact, we didn't have a lot going on at all New years. No one really wanted to talk to us. We ended up going tracting New years Eve. We talked to a few people, but no one was interested. The one who was most promising was a man named Mike. He is a born again Christian. He was really nice, he said that he liked to do comparative religion studies, so we are going to get a Book of Mormon to him. We actually talked to him for quite a bit. He has little kids and we were excited to be able to talk to him about how families are forever. he didn't believe that, I don't know how much he really liked the thought of it honestly... he went off telling us that we are sinners and that we can't go to heaven because we haven't been born again... He believes that all you have to do is be born again and then you're good. But we know that we can't just stop once we have accepted God into our lives, we keep going and endure to the end! It made me really sad to hear that from him... Sister Hall doesn't want to go back and teach him, I want to at least get him a BoM, he's actually been on my mind all week, so I'm thinking that we really need to get him a copy of the BoM.

New Years Day was a little rough... we got even less of a response. Everyone was sleeping or drunk and passed out. No one answered their doors or answered their phones... but we had a lot of success on facebook! funny how that works huh? We ended up going in early to put names in Sister Hall's GPS.

Thursday was the day of the "Big Storm." we did get a couple of inches of snow. President asked all of us to be in by 6 because of the storm, which honestly if people out here actually knew how to drive there really wouldn't be a problem... but we are obedient missionaries and so we went in. This is actually the night that we had our New Years celebration! We did our makeup with sparkles! It was so much fun! We looked ridiculous! But it was so much fun! We even got a frozen pizza from walmart and baked it! It was that good of a night :) haha!

So, funny story. President Anderson has assigned the senior companions to be the designated driver (so sister Hall drives all the time now) and the 2nd day that she was assigned as the designated driver, she got us stuck in a snow bank... we have a Subaru... all wheel drive... It was a little ridiculous that she got us stuck... but luckily, some nice guys who were on their way home to Jersey stopped and helped us get out of the snow. One of them is super interested in the church! I had this prompting to give him a Mormon.org pass along card and he got super excited! so who ever works in that area in Jersey got themselves a new investigator! haha!

Church yesterday was really empty. It had rained and then if froze overnight. You don't see this kind of stuff in Utah. It's like it rains and once it hits the ground it is instantly ice. Luckily we prayed for safety and were able to make it to church safely. And guess who came? Sonny! Yay! he finally made it to church! The thing is that he had to come to church on the day that no one else was... so fellowshipping is going to be a little more difficult...

I had no clue Matt was going to BYU-Hawaii! That is so cool! he is going to have so much fun! Tell him good luck for me! And tell Pogs congrats for me too when you get the chance.

I love you all so much and think about you all the time! I look forward to the day when I can come home and go to the temple with you all, that is one thing that I miss so much!

Love,

Sister Jess Cox

New Year New GOALS!!!!

Dec. 30, 2013

It was sooo great being able to talk to you guys on Christmas! I wish I could have talked to you longer! One hour is not enough. I'm not going to lie though, I started to get a little nervous to talk to you all... but I think it was because Sister Hall was freaking out! It was a good thing that I was driving on Christmas because I don't know if we would have made it to the Johnson's to call you otherwise. It was great to see you. The moment I hung up I just about cried because I won't be able to talk to you for 5 months! I can't believe that it has already come and gone. Now we are going into the NEW YEAR! The beginning of my "Black Year!" Not many Sisters have a black year, so its really cool that I will be spending all of 2014 in the field. So, because I will be out here for all of 2014, my goals are mission related. My first goal is to read the Book of Mormon 3 times, I also want to get a minimum of 8 baptisms (a baptism per transfer), I know that this one won't be fulfilled until next year, but I want to take an investigator to the temple.

We aren't doing much for New Years, in fact, as far as I know we are following the same schedule. In bed by 10:30... we might even have to be home early... but I don't know for sure about that. it would be super fun to go to New York! haha! Too bad we don't have any miles left for the month to go there...

This next week should be interesting though. We have 4 referrals that we need to contact! Yay!New Investigators! Oh, speaking of which. We met with Ipheka on Saturday. She is a senior in High School. Super cute little black girl. I guess that when she was in New York over the summer that she came across some missionaries. So, we are pretty much just re-teaching her and this next appointment with her on Saturday we commit her to baptism! SOO EXCITED! She has so much potential.

Today, we are going in to center City... I think that it is supposed to be rainy... which I am not looking forward to because when it rains, it rains for days at a time. :/ And, it won't help with the cold that I am starting to get. But Sister Hall wants to meet with her friend from the MTC. It will be fun.

Anyways, I love you so much! I hope you have a great New Years!

Love,

Sista Jess Cox

Merry Christmas!

Jessica and Sister Hall

It was a"scarf" kind of Christmas:)!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Dec. 23, 2013

Merry Christmas! I can't believe that it is already here!!! I loved your Christmas card :) It was super cute! And I am super excited to be able to Skype home for Christmas!!! I will be calling you right around 2pm your time. It's going to be super fun! I've been looking forward to seeing you for a long time :)

So, my Christmas Zone Conference got moved to Christmas Eve, so I haven't gotten my packages yet... But I did get the one you sent to my apt. and I got a package from both grandparents :) Be sure to tell them thank you for me if I don't get the chance anytime soon. I am super excited to go to Zone Conference. We get to watch a movie and there is going to be a talent show! Elder Brown in my District asked me to accompany him in a song that is called In Christ Alone it is by Owl City. You should Youtube it or look it up somehow because it actually sounds really cool!

We have been staying super busy this last week! Everyone has told us that come Christmas time it is really hard to get an appointment with people, but we have been getting them just fine!

We got to meet with Sonny on Tuesday and we taught him about tithing and fasting. He actually loved it! And he messaged Sister Hall on facebook the other day and told her that the more that he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he can and should pay tithing! super cool huh?

We also went on exchanges with the Sister Trainers this week. I went to Doyles town with Sister Earl and for some reason, everyone that we stopped by was home and we were able to give them all a copy of the Joy to the World DVD! And then we ate dinner with this family that they ought to make a TV show about and call it 8 kids and counting... They are a super cute family.

So this last week. President Anderson's son-in-law fell and had some serious injuries. The whole mission fasted for him (a total of 275 missionaries). He had injured his spine and broke something... I can't remember what. But the miracle is that the next day when they were taking him to surgery, he was able to walk himself there!!! He shouldn't have been able to walk. He should be paralyzed. The miracles that occur when you fast :)

We got 2 New investigators this week! YAY! One of them was a referral from headquarters, her name is Ipheka. I think she is still in High School, but she wanted a visit from the missionaries, so we called her and set up an appointment to meet with her on the 28th. The other one is actually a former investigator who had a baptismal date and everything but then dropped off the face of the earth. We went to her home on Friday and she invited us into her home and said that she wanted us to come and meet with her again. She wants to get going on the scripture study stuff again. YAY! I am super excited!

The members of the ward have been taking really good care of us. I swear every member came up to us to make sure that we had a place to go on Christmas. I love Pennypack! I know that this Christmas is going to be a Christmas to remember!

I love you and look forward to seeing you soon. I will be home for Christmas, even if it is through Skype :)

Love,

Sista Jess Cox

Jehovah's Witness...

Dec. 16, 2013

Hey Everybody!

So, sad news on my end... but our ipads were having some problems with the installation and we will have to wait until the beginning of January to get them... So we will be skyping (or facetiming... I don't really know yet) at the Relief Society President's house. She is the one who is related to the Bloods that live in Sterling :)

Sister Williams is now in New Jersey back where she started in Woodstown. As far as I know, she is doing really well. She says that she loves it, but it's not Pennypack. But, Sister hall and I are having a lot of fun together. It took us a good 24 hours to realize that there was only two of us, but we finally got it down to a science :) The transition from 3 down to 2 actually went a lot smoother than I thought it would... but I guess that we are supposed to be in twos for a reason :)

We have our Christmas Zone conference this week and that is when I will be getting my Christmas packages :) I'm excited! We are going to watch a Christmas movie, have a talent show, and the spirit is going to be there big time with all of the missionaries gathered together! I'm not sure who's gift is that I didn't label... you will have to let me know which ones are labeled...

So, we got to stop by Brenda on Saturday... We haven't been able to meet with her for a while and it has been hard to make an appointment with her this time of year when everything suddenly gets crazy. We were happy to be able to see her for a little while... but her Jehovah's Witness friend was there too... There wasn't any bible bashing or any of that. Her friend just decided that she wanted to tell us why they don't celebrate Christmas... Which honestly, it is a really dumb reason. Apparently Nimrod (or something like that), who was a very evil guy, his birthday is on December 25th and so when we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating his birthday. We politely explained that the date has no importance and that it is all the spirit and coming close to Christ. But she thinks that we are evil... But Brenda is a big girl- she does still have issues with the holiday thing, so she wont be celebrating Christmas with us. In fact, she wants us to come back after the holiday season... until then we will be having the ward contact her and we will contact her and make sure that everything is going well. So, obviously that means no baptism this month... we get to push back her baptism date again. I am just glad that Brenda defends the church even when her friends are rough. Be sure to keep her in your prayers.

We are getting a Christmas tree today!!!! I am so excited! A member in the ward got one and realized that they don't need it, so they are giving it to us and the best part is that it's REAL!!! YAY!

I love you all so much and will be sending off my Christmas cards hopefully today! :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Sista Jess Cox

Too much fun?:)

Dec. 9, 2013

Hey everyone!

this week has been great! definitely full of adventure! We went to center Philly on Monday and it was super pretty!! We went to Love Park and they had the cutest little Christmas village up! And they had a huge tree! It was super fun! There was a guy there who was taking our pictures for us by the Love sign and he was telling us all about how he was recently saved as of June of 2013... we were pretty sure that he was high on something... We got to go to the temple sight and I got to see elder Larson from my first district and elder Cowley who I taught with on the airplane! We had so much fun talking with them and catching up! The temple is growing!!! Oh my gosh its crazy! While in center Philly we went into this big cathedral! It was so pretty and honestly kind of scary. It is so cool to see the difference in the spirit from one side of the street to another!

We also got to see Brenda on Monday. She is doing good. Right now she is praying about a baptismal date, but we are pretty hopeful for the 22 of December. And then we met with Sonny on Tuesday and he is progressing very well. We just have to get him to come to church and then he is ready to be baptized! Wahoo!!!

Thursday was super fun!!! Sister Kayce Johnson (the relief society president) took us to the zoo!!! America's first zoo!  :) We had such a fun time. we had to get special permission from president Anderson to go, but he told us that "in the interest of getting to know the members, I think you better do it!" I love President, he is the BEST! And to  make things even better, the animals were all pretty active and having a bunch of fun! The monkeys were going crazy, the tigers were going crazy, the otters were going crazy! It was a good time of day to go to the zoo!

We also got Christmas pictures taken by a lady in our ward who normally charges a ton for pictures, but she did ours for free :) They turned out super cute and as soon as that letter gets to me with all of the addresses I will send out a card :) Then we came home to plan, but we didn't get to plan because the power was out... so we took crazy jumping pictures :)

Friday was the day that we found out about transfers. So... when they called us they told us that we are staying in a trio! I was super excited to hear that because I love my companions so much! But at the same time, it didn't feel quite right. But we were all excited to be able to stay together for Christmas. We started putting all of these plans together and everything. Well, in the morning we decided that we should text the assistants just to make sure that we really were staying in a trio, because for some reason the word never gets down to the trios that someone is being transferred. Well, they got our text and called back telling us that they were confused because Sister Williams is getting transferred. All of the sudden the excitement dropped, but I had this feeling of peace come over me that Sister Williams needs to leave, that she is needed elsewhere. She was praying so hard that she would stay in Pennypack, but apparently that wasn't according to the will of the Lord. We have been going around to as many people in the ward as we can so that she can say goodbye.

Yesterday it snowed. People in Philadelphia do not know how to drive in the snow. IT IS RIDICULOUS!!!! It took us and hour and a half to go 1.5 miles! Ugh! I am so glad that I know how to drive in the snow! It really does bug me that people think that slamming on your brakes is going to help when in all reality it does no good, it only makes the situation worse. There were people sliding all over the roads, we saw a bunch of people completely off the road. When I say crazy Philly drivers, you really don't know how crazy they really are. ugh!

But Sister Hall and I are staying in Pennypack. Same address and everything. Hopefully we will be getting ipads this next week... but we have to make it to transfers first. I will be getting facebook this week. But just so you all know in advance, I can not add you as my friend unless you are not a member or a less-active member, and even then I would have to get special permission to add you as a friend.

I love you all so much! Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Sister Jess Cox

Book of Mormon CHALLENGE!

Nov. 25, 2013

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving in Pennypack was so much fun! We went to the Menezes family's home for thanksgiving. They "Americanized" thanksgiving for us since they are from Brazil. It was so good! All of the missionaries in Pennypack were there, the elders all had additional appointments, but we didn't... we had plenty of offers, but honestly there is only so much you can really eat! It sounds like you had fun on the Maylett's side for thanksgiving! I kept on telling my companions about how we go and get a Christmas tree Thanksgiving morning, they think that it's crazy! But I love it! It's those simple little traditions that make the holidays so much fun!

So, I'm pretty sure that we broke the rules... but we did go black Friday shopping.... we mostly just wanted to see the crazy people at walmart, but we ended up getting footsie pajamas! black Friday at walmart started at 6 over here! its so ridiculous! Its really funny how on thanksgiving we show are gratitude for the things that we have just to go shopping for more that same night.

There are so many homes that are already decorated for Christmas! I love how they actually celebrate and decorate for the holidays out here, and its not just for Christmas, they decorate for everything! The small space that some of them actually have is completely decked out, it is super fun!!!

I haven't gotten a gift for Matt yet. But I am going to center Philly today and so hopefully I will find something for him. Mom, please make sure that I still have money on my card please :) I am excited to see Love park today with the big christmastree set up! It's going to be fun!

So, funny story... we went to a part member family's home on Friday for dinner. The husband (aka the non-member) came in a little late. I go to shake his hand, he grabs my hand and pulls me in for a hug (like a guy hug that is super awkward especially when a guy is hugging a sister). I didn't know what to do! then he told me that he is a hugger... According to Sister Williams, my face was priceless...

Brenda made it back to church yesterday! Yay!!!! I was so happy to be able to see her again, I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her walk through the doors into the church. She gave us a hug and then went right into the chapel acting like she is already a member! I am so excited to go and teach her tonight. Hopefully we will be able to reschedule her baptism, since she was sick this last time.

I finished the book of Mormon this week! And now I've started all over again! I love how you can read the BoM so many times, and yet you can learn something different each time that you read it! So now I am reading it again and I am so excited to be able to learn more! If you are up for the challenge, then I think that the whole family should read the BoM from cover to cover by Dad's Birthday which will also be my half way mark! My goal is to read it 2 more times before then, but you guys can read it once.

Anyways, I hope that everything is going well for you and I hope that you enjoy the snow! It has snowed once here, but we don't have any snow on the ground to show for it... I love you all so much! I'll be sure to let you know about transfers next week and whether or not I am moving.

Lots of Love from Pennypack!!!

Love,

Sista Jess Cox

Sister Hall, Jessica, Sister Williams

Black Friday shopping:)

Where is Sister Hall?

Happy TuRkEy Day!!!

Nov. 25, 2013

Hey Mom!

Happy Thanksgiving! It seems like time is just flying by over here. This transfer has just flown by! I will be done being trained here pretty quickly. This week for my training, I am in charge of everything! I make all of the appointments, I do all of the planning, I start every lesson, I end every lesson, I leave the commitments with them... I do it all. Sister Williams and Sister Hall are pretty excited to be able to sit back and do nothing all week long. haha! Too bad I will be putting them to work! :)

I am so sorry to hear about Brady. He had changed so much these last couple years or so for the better. It is so hard to have someone that you know pass away. But it is also so comforting to know that he is in a better place right now and he will be able to live with his family for ever. Tell the Simons family I am sorry for their loss and that I am keeping them in my prayers.

This week was a pretty good week. We had zone conference! It is incredible how strong the spirit is when a group of missionaries come together to learn. We learned how to give super short lessons using the missionary pamphlets and we also learned about how there are NO RANDOM THOUGHTS! If you have a thought about an investigator or someone who you are teaching then you should probably call them or stop by to see how they are doing. Or if you have a thought to go down a certain street then you should probably go down that street. Most of the time you have no clue why you are doing it. But it is so important to follow the promptings that you receive.

We had the opportunity to go and work in the Pennypack South Elder's area to work with some single sisters in the ward. One of the ladies that we stopped by- her name is Elizabeth Kelly- we can't tell if she is just going through a really rough time or if she has some mental issues... I think its a little bit of both. But we stopped by her and she went off about her daughter who she has a baby and how she is always drunk and can't take care of the baby and then she kept on asking us if she addressed things correctly, she wanted our council and advice, which as missionaries, we aren't allowed to give. She is one tough cookie to read though.

Unfortunately, no baptism yesterday... Brenda got sick and has strep so we will be moving her baptismal date to Dec. 7 and then she will be confirmed the next day in sacrament mtg. And Sonny is still coming along. We didn't have another girl with us to teach so we let the elders teach him instead of cancelling the appointment.

It has been such an amazing week! I have been paying so much closer attention to the spirit and the prompting that I receive. I may not always see the direct result of what happens when I follow the spirit, but it is always better to do rather than to regret not doing and regretting it later. It is so great to know that because I have been following those small and simple promptings and that I act on them that Heavenly Father trusts me more and more with those small and simple promptings.

I actually do miss doing the book for basketball Saturday mornings. I am excited for Basketball getting started! Tell Mikaela, Spencer, and Sadie good luck for me!

Thank you so much for the package! It definitely made me smile. My comps got packages the day after I did and we were trying to decide whose mom was the cheesiest. And guess what?! You won with the whole "Orange you glad we love you!" haha I loved it!!! I hope that the package I sent for Spencer and Mikaela got to them for their birthdays :) And I hope they liked them!

I love you so much thank you so much for all that you do for me! I love you!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Jess Cox