Amazing Week! ~ "AH HA" Missionary Moment

MMMMM yummy, 6 months and i finally got me some Chipotle!! YUM! with my missionary stomach i ate the Whole thing clean!

AHHHHH this week was AWESOME!! I finally had my missionary "ah ha" moment where it just clicked of why i am a missionary and why i am here. I love this gospel! I love being a missionary, it is the scariest thing ever!! Its worse than door to door sales, why? because you aren't selling anything, you are giving something FREE that you know EVERYONE needs... and when people don't accept it you cry because you know that THIS gospel is the only way anyone can return to live in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I see and experience many miracles that i can't keep track!

One amazing miracle this week was finding a less-active/part member family... it was Tuesday night around 8:20 and we had nothing, so we thought we should go and knock these 5 apartment doors that i have bee thinking about for the past couple days.. The first door we didn't even need to knock because it was open! There was an adorable Spanish family sitting on the couch watching TV, at first we felt intruding, but the mom quickly got up to come talk to us... After we told her who we were she had said she is a member of our church... but she hasn't gone to church for almost 20 years! WOW what a miracle that we found her, and she knows it! she wanted us to come and share a message with her and her family, so she told us a day and time on Thursday.. We had the appointment on Thursday and she was so cute, she got baptized in Tijuana. She wants to come to church, but its hard because she is a 24 hour care giver on Sundays :/ we told her to pray and ask your father in heaven to help you come to church, and we promised her that he would help her if she has the desire to go! she was so nice and happy to see us, she asked us to come back over again :) sadly she couldn't make it to church :/ but we are going to ask her this week if she would like us to come and teach her and her kids once a week!

Tuesday we also had an AMAZING zone conference!!! Ah it was all perfect :)

Las Hermanas, Hermana S, Hermana P, Hermana M, Hermana Jaeger in front of the amazing beautiful Library we Email from!

MIRACLE NUMBER TWO, the family i talked about last week, with the referral for T (who moved) well we have been teaching the dad R and the daughter M he pretty much was begging to read the book of Mormon and to find the truth and to come to church!! he and his little girl said about 5 times that they want to come to church!!! So Sunday morning before church we stopped by and they said "we are going to shower and then we will come to church!" they were so excited and happy :) well we waited all 3 hours of church and they never showed up :/ or they did but left.. we have no idea but we will find out why when we visit them this week!

MIRACLE NUMBER THREE, We found an adorable little family that moved here about 4 weeks ago, i mentioned them last week.. B. Well we visited her for our appointment on Thursday and she wasn't home.. we were so sad! so we left a note, and walked around the trailer park for 10 minutes (there was obviously a reason Heavenly Father did that because we found a man named J and gave him a Book of Mormon and talked to him!!).. we were about to leave but  felt prompted to go back and try one more time.. We did, and we found her home!!! she was soo excited to see us, she said she has been thinking about us and waiting for us!!!! we had to go to dinner but we set us to visit her right after dinner... so we ate, and came back. she was so cute and excited, she had her book of Mormon, and she read a little bit! She knows it applies to her because she loved the first few chapters talking about faith and the story of Lehi's family and Nephi. we taught her the Restoration and she understood most of it! She told us ever since she met us she has felt peace and tranquility in her life :) She said she really wants to come to church, but might be out of town this weekend :/ Well Saturday night we called her... she said she could come!!!! AHHHH I started crying!!!! we quickly set up a ride for her to come to church, and her and her 3 kids came to church!!!!! They stayed all 3 hours and loved it. B was agreeing and understanding the classes :) AHH it was an amazing Sunday :) 

MIRACLE NUMBER FOUR, Saturday night around 8:00 we were out walking around and found a family of 7 outside, we talked with them and asked if we could come by again. Even though they are catholic we aren't giving up!! We walked the corner and met an adorable couple and a friend! the friend M immediately started talking to us said "hey are you churchins? do you have something i can read?" we gave him a Book of Mormon and then he asked "awesome thank you so much!! I need to go to church tomorrow, when and where is it?" we gave him all the info and then Immediately called the english elders and told them!! we hope and prayed that M went to church!

Practicing some soccer last night in our appartment before bed. hahah i love these girls!

Well It was an amazing week filled with SOO many miracles!!!! all we have to do is pray for the opportunities and Heavenly Father will give them, but THEN we must talk to everyone!!!

love you all so much. The work is AMAZING! <3 I cried Saturday night and Sunday morning because of all the little miracles I was able to be apart of this week!

cuidase!  ~  Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

One Heck of a Week! So Legit & Creepy...

6 MONTHS WHAT!!!???? Time is flying by like a rocket!  well i didn't write in my journal this week... oops!! so im emailing things that i wrote on my sticky notes... forgive me!! 

Taught a lesson and got some free food!  I love teaching.

well Tuesday we taught a lesson AND our investigator gave us free vegetables haha it was so nice :)

Wednesday we went to visit an investigator but she wasn't home.. we see a girl so we follow her, but then she disappears. we see a house with a door open so we look inside.. see a group of people, start talking to them.. they've all met missionaries before so they weren't interested :/ but out behind a wall comes a guy... he says "hey I'll listen to a message!' so he steps outside and pulls up a chair.. we taught him, gave him a book of Mormon and hes interested and wants to come to church! SO LEGIT. that night we also walked on the streets and met some other cool people. the Lord really places people on our path, we just have to talk to them! 

Vancouver mission is so dang beautiful every day

Thursday we did service cleaning windows. that night while we were out on the street we met an interesting man.... he said some very rude things to us and cursed the savior.. it was hard to stand and listen so i just bore my testimony about how much the savior has done for all of us. its so sad how many people don't see what heavenly father or the savior have done for us. the faith of some people is so small.... so we are responsible to teach and testify with the faith that we have so we can help build each other up! 

Friday we ate a delicious dinner, carne asada!!! SO GOOD! the members here in the branch are so loving! we taught a lady for Honduras! it was so amazing. she was so interested and accepted a Book of Mormon.. her kids are even reading in the book of Mormon! we also taught another investigator E... small story short, she has been taught by MANY MANY missionaries.... still not baptized or reading in the book of Mormon. well we visited her and found out she is from southern ca and had family in my home town!! we crated a great connection! i hope this is it for her, i hope she will listen to our testimony and grow her own and get baptized soon! 

Hermana M.  I LOVE my companion)

Saturday we ate at Costco for lunch. WOW i have never seen so many members in one area before, it was hilarious they were so nice and wanted pictures of us.. haha this day we also went to visit a referral, but couldn't find her.. so we decided to walk inside a store and ask.. turns out the guy who we talked to has a book of Mormon! we have a 2 hour conversation with him in the store about our beliefs. it was so amazing.. the spirit really guided us to him!

Sunday we had a delicious break the fast with the branch.. no investigators came to church :/ that night we also got hit on by some creepy men!!! haha it was kind of funny! he said "why are you laddies walking the street late at night, dressed all nice?" and hermana said "oh.. awkward that does look bad!! hahaha" we just walked really fast to our car! and the guy yells, "you are beautiful"! haha

We went for a sick hike/climb through The Ape Caves! It was pitch black & freezing!! But so fun!

p-day was epic! we hiked the Ape Cave by Mt. Saint Hellenes.. it was so fun, freezing, dark, and scary! but a blast!! we had some cool little miracles talking to everyone in our site that night... no matter if people are interested or not we still try to talk to them!

Me and Hermana S

Hermana P & I  ~  Looking up from inside the cave

Climbing over the rocks.

 adios!  Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

Transfers & Training again :)

Tamanawas Falls Washington/Oregon

So it is transfer week, and yes I am getting transferred.. after 4 1/2 months in beautiful Hood River Oregon and White Salmon Washington I am now getting doubled into the Vancouver Spanish Branch and I will be training another new missionary... Yes my 4th companion and my 3rd time training on my mission so far. The Lord trust me so much, I need to step it up and work harder! and WOW I hit 6 months this month.... I go home in 1 year. MY mission is the best time ever. I wish everyone could see how much I have grown and how much I have learned!

Well as my time in Hood River comes to a close, I am very sad to say goodbye to this beautiful place :/ but I will be back very soon after my mission is over!

For p-day last week we went on a super fun hike to a gorgeous waterfall that we could walk behind!(see pictures!) 

Hiking with the Z Family

Hermana S, Hermana V & me hiking.

This week has been a miracle week yet again :) Well, i have some amazing stories to share! One is about The R family... The R family is a non-member family that is friends with a member family in White Salmon, the L family (he just recently got released as bishop) all the family speaks spanish. So sister L set up a dinner with the R family and invited us over to eat and talk and share a message (this happened in June). They were an amazing family. A month passed and we never heard any more about the R family.. well on saturday 2 weeks ago Sister L came with us to go teach on investigator on date, P.. well P she wasnt home :/ so sister L had a great idea, she would take us to visit the R family and see if we could teach them.. well the R family wasnt home either, but sister L said "now you know where they live, visit them soon." so 4 days later we felt a strong prompting to visit the R family.... and BAM they were home, the wife and the husband. They had just got off work. They were so nice and excited to see us! They let us in and we talked and eventually got to teach them The Restoration and give them a Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong! well we were getting a return appointment with them and they said "why dont we have dinner again at the L's home!" we got oh so excited!!! we said yes and set up a day and time(this tuesday, right before i leave!) So we called sister L and told her the good news, she was so amazed and excited!! The L family are an AMAZING member missionary family!!! Because of them they have now brought The R family to the knowledge of this gospel :) I will have to keep you updated of what will happen tomorrow!

Thursday I was on exchanges here in Hood River with Hermana K. We tracted ALL day long! We had amazing experiences! It's truly amazing, Heavenly Father really does put prepared people in our path, all we have to do is just talk to them! One amazing experience was with a woman named O... Hermana K and I were walking to an apartment complex and about to start tracting, well I noticed a mother and her daughter sitting on the park, i said "hey lets go talk to her!" so we went over and started talking... O is so prepared, she wants to be closer to God and she wants her faith stronger!!! We taught her about The Atonement and Faith.. The spirit was so strong that we invited her to baptism and she said yes!!! AHH!!!!!! we were so excited! We  put her on date for september 28th! 

Friday I woke up to a BEAUTIFUL rainbow :)  full and bright rainbow! Well friday was an interesting day.... two drunk guys started talking and asking question and arguing with us.. why imperfect people are teaching a perfect gospel... It got me a little frustrated because NO one is perfect, all Heavenly Father has to work with are imperfect people! So i kept my chin up and testified and gave them a Book of Mormon. Hermana V looked to the drunk guy that was talking about Buddha and laughing the whole time. she says "whats your address...? what is the best time to come by?" they guy mumbles his address and says "visit me wednesday thursday friday or saturday any time" she says "sweet okay we will see you soon. here is our phone number and a Book of Mormon." they guy says "thanksssss, my phone number isss...... see you soon. you're all beautiful(and he winks at us)."  well hey, we got a new investigator!!

Sunday was an amazing day at church!! Finally after 4 months 2 some families finally came to church! It was a miracle!!!! This are progressing so much here in Hood River and White Salmon!!!! There will soon be a spanish branch, I know it!! We put another girl on date as well. Her name is M. The Elders found her and passed her to us. We had an amazing first lesson with her and she understood it! So we invited her to baptism, she said yes, and put her on date for september 21st! WOOHOO another child of God coming into the fold :)

so yes many many many miracles here in the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge. I dont want to leave!!!!! but I am excited to hear what happens :) I am excited to see what miracles will happen in Vancouver! I love you all so much, i'll talk to you all soon!! BYE :)  ~  Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

My companions and I having a little fun with shopping!

Early Birthday Celebrations!

Our tri-panionship.  The 2 Hermanas that I am training. They are amazing.  

Well this week was ALL a blur!!!!! We got a few new investigators this week, they are all very interested!! So many little miracles i cant even explain! Well still no one coming to church :/ but we are doing our best, even going with members to go pick up our investigators for church. This is a short email this week because i don't even remember what all happened! we continue to teach amazing lessons in spanish and english. little by little we improve our teaching and expand our knowledge of what and how to teach people. 

All the ermans in our District.  4 are Visa waiters :)

I got all 3 birthday packages last week at our Sisters training... i opened them.. hahaha :) sorry i couldnt wait!!! saturday we will be working so i wanted to open them asap! we laughed so hard when i opened the bottel of RANCH! We are having a party as a zone today so i get to use all the stuff you sent me:)there are only 13 of us, plus an elder couple.. so a total of 15. we want to celebrate and party today! Thank you also to everyone who continues to send me love and those that sent me a little birthday surprise and other things!!!  :)

My Birthday Boxes :)

Little miracles this week, like getting in to teach certain people that never showed interest before. Planting MANY little seeds of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I learned many things this week. most importantly is that we dont always see the fruits of our labor... just as we plant a seed, me may not see the tree grow. or we may not see the fruit begin to grow. all that is important is to plant seeds every where any time. You never know what the future holds :) 

Don't be afraid to be you! be who you are while being a representative of Jesus Christ. we all have different identities and ways to learn and teach and grow. no one is exactly the same, which is why everyone is assigned to serve a mission EXACTLY where they need to be. A mission is for us to grow and learn. we all make mistakes in this life. I am thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that i can try and try and continue to try to be better. 

Well time to enjoy the rest of P-day.. we are going to make cupcakes and celebrate my brithday early with my Zone! and then we all get back to work haha. We are going to have a pinata and use all the  birthday decor I got in the mail.  Sorry I opened all my birthday gifts! I couldnt wait :)  I love everything.

I opened my gifts early.  Thank you!

Time is going by so fast. i come home in 1 year... WOW!  keep working and keep serving!  Cant wait we are listening to Elder Holland come and speak to us August 24th!

I love my family so much :)  Again thank you everyone!  love you all so much!

stay healthy and stay happy :) --  Hermana Kelsey Jaeger

 

Love the Birthday t-shirts  ~  Have you heard of Sheris?  Well, it was yummy!!