I'm an actor

Story time!

There I was, driving home with Sister Burkgren after a long day of
exchanges (i.e. switching companions for the 24 hours). Instead of
catching up like we normally would, she whips out the phone and makes
steady eye contact with me (but my eyes were on the road, k).
"Whatever you hear, stays in this car. Do not tell anyone about this
conversation."

I'm great at keeping secrets, I swear. I mean, this next part of the
story is approved to go on my newsletter email. The next 10 minutes
unfolded in a dramatic series. The short of it is that a sister
missionary needed to go home early, and so sister Burkgren and I took
on her companion, sister posadas. We are now a trio. And we're
covering her area as well. All together, we were over 5 wards this
week. 5 WARDS. This is going to continue until February first, and on
that day sister posadas will get a new companion. I'll get a new
companion as well, since sister Burkgren is also going home. She's
served her whole mission, calm down.

Sister posadas is a hilarious missionary from the Philippines 🇵🇭 she
has a great taste in music and has been out for 15 months. I'm stoked
to have her as a companion for the next week, we get along like yin
and yang.

Every morning we've had to do roleplays to prepare for lessons.
Roleplaying is the most painful way study. But the other day I just
woke up and realized that I'm an actor when roleplaying, an decided
that I could get used to it. On that day we had interviews with our
mission president, and he said that we don't have to do them at all.
Typical.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I wanna hear from you all, so
send me an email containing the following; the best thing that's
happened this week, your birthday, a missionary moment you've had
recently, your address, and what you've been up to (i.e. jobs,
relationships, hobbies, etc). Keep me in the loop, love you guys<3

-Sister Jane Petty

run run run

Good morning! And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good
evening, and goodnight! 😘🌙😴💤

This week has been the bees knees. Although my companion has been
struggling with sleeping, and my constant sleep talking doesn't help.
My sleep talking has gone to a completely different level since I've
entered the field. I'll give the lessons, get on my knees to pray, and
actually get out of bed and stand up to try and shake someone's hand.
As long as I don't try to bike or drive to appointments I think I'm
fine haha😅

I've also been running, two miles every morning. It might not sound
like much but it's a big deal bc I've never willingly ran before. I
don't like it but maybe if I keep at it I will? I'm counting on that
anyway. I can't imagine summers, it's already pretty toasty when I get
moving. props to Kate for braving Chicago winters.

I feel excellent, there's nothing better then a chance to share what I
know is true to someone who wants to learn. We may have a new
investigator, the stars are aligning for the boan family. They are so
well read and clever, I adore talking to them about the scriptures and
mission life. Not once they've asked what I'm going to do after my
mission, which is refreshing.

Have a great Martin Luther King Jr. day (today's everyone's pday;)

-Sister Jane Petty

Definitive breaks

Good morning! 🌞

This week Sister Burkgren and I helped Clair & Ben set up their family search accounts and helped them find names to take to the temple. Clair's mom (who isn't a member) is stoked to learn more about her ancestry. Apparently Ben is a family history buff, he's already figured out his family lines clear back to the 1600s. So we're going to sync his ancestry account and continue to build Zion💃

A few nights ago we were tracting in the rain. The first door we knocked on was sherri's, who almost started crying when we told her who we were and offered to help with anything. She invited us to come in and help her take down her Christmas decorations. She was so nice. She has an unshakable testimony of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Unfortunately, she isn't open to learning about the Book of Mormon. But we were invited to come back, which we will(;

For New Year's Eve we busted out our favorite cds and played games with one of our ward missionaries, Nanette. We laughed too hard and drank too much sparkling cider. It was a good one though, it beats the stake dances I've been to by a long shot. Even though we were in bed by 10:30 hahaha

Power to the peons✊️

-Sister Jane Petty

Funky square dance (part 1/2/3)

HEYYY

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! On Wednesday 1/3 of the
mission got to go see the mesa temple lights (much like the salt lake
temple lights, minus the debilitating cold). It was beautiful, and we
even got a tour of their visitors center and was encouraged to bring
investigators there. So this probably won't be the last time you'll
read about the mesa temple(;

On Christmas Eve sister Burkgren and I enjoyed a delightful dinner
with Gary Robinson and his family (fun fact- brother Robinson was a
missionary in New Zealand and lived with my dad and his family when my
dad was just a kid💁). After that we drove by the Phoenix temple (just
a few minutes from my apartment- don't know if I've mentioned that but
I'm blessed as heck). It was wonderful to be there, on the night we
celebrate the Lord Jesus's birth.

The owoeyes came to church to hear us give a talk! The talks went
well, I was over the moon that they came to support us and feel the
spirit on Christmas Day. I loved the chance to see my parents and my
little sister, it was wonderful because they're the best family ever,
no joke. Love you all!!

-Sister Jane Petty

Embuscade

Hey now!

We've been teaching a really great investigator family called the owoeyes, they've been amazing. The mom, sanrita, told us that she wants us to think of them like family. I love them, I'm really hoping that they'll come to find that the church is true. They're going through a tough time in their life though (as well as all our other investigators, it seems). I really wish that others could see that Jesus Christ is the best way to ease burdens, not an added burden.  

The other night we were trying to decide where to tract or who to visit when we saw a big moving truck and a house full of family. We walked up and asked if they needed help. They said no, but we could sing a Christmas carol to the children (this request may be the consequence of wearing Santa hats, but I can't be sure). So they hollered in the house to get the children to come out. Two came out. Then four. Five, six, seven. More and more until we had a staggering crowd of 15 kids, aged 3-16. Amidst the requests for rudolf the red nosed reindeer, frosty the snowman, and deck the halls, we hushed them up with Away in A Manger. After we finished our tune they clapped and all of us started bringing in the stuff from the moving truck (they were more open to us helping after that scene). We found out that it wasn't one family but an extended family who all happened to visit that night. The moms name was Michelle. The chance of them becoming investigators is slim but not impossible. If anything, it was an interesting experience.

We also met an interesting couple in their 60s called the robinsons. They just moved in from Utah but aren't Mormon. They were so welcoming, they invited us in our home, introduced us to their friends (by our first names, that was weird), gave us slices of pie, and even gave us a tour of their home. I was honestly a bit unsettled by their friendliness, but I enjoyed it(: hopefully they'll like to know more about the church as well (my mantra for this week).

Do good, feel good, God is good,

-Sister Jane Petty