5-28-13 "The Circle of Life" / Which mission will I be in????

DAD MOM RYAN RASH LIZA EMMA and my beloved brethren

Another hiking success, it sounds haha :) Hooray! I truly am amazed to hear of the outreach you and the Relief Society sisters are making in inviting and encompassing so many members and, most especially, nonmembers in feeling Heavenly Father's love for them! I honestly am so astonished and overjoyed. God is not only inspiring you, but He is driving you in this active effort of bringing to pass His work and His glory. Thank you and thanks be to God!

I love the Westerns. They are our dearest friends. We had a beautiful Memorial day dinner with them and their former home teachers from Woodbridge, the Looslis. Six kids and one on the way. We had fun feeding their chickens with live cicadas that we ourselves had found and caught. I felt torturous for a second - but then the song "Circle of Life" came to my mind and the feeling left haha.

So this sweet girl, Amber, innocently gave us the wrong address, and surely she was inspired by God to do so. When we knocked, Amber wasn't the one to answer, but instead, Mary Susan came to the door. Straightway, without much of an introduction except "we are representatives of Jesus Christ," she welcomed us in. As we sat down, she said she hoped that we would be an answer to her prayers. And surely we were! Heavenly Father loves her and what a privilege it is to love her too. She started to tell us of her brother who committed suicide and her mother who recently passed away. There we began teaching her the beautiful and perfect plan of happiness - created by our loving Father in Heaven and made possible by our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we expounded upon the scriptures, teaching from the sacred Book of Mormon, her questions were answered. She explained to us the powerful feeling of peace that washed over her body, starting in her shoulders and moving down to her fingertips, as we taught her. She loved learning of the pre-existence and she was convinced that we knew each other before this life. Oh how I adore her!! Mary Su, my sweet sister. I thank the Lord for letting Sister Bell and I know her and to be His instruments in bringing her to the truth and peace of His restore gospel.

Transfers are this Thursday --  My dear sweet incredible companion, Sister Bell will be staying in Warrenton and training!! WOOHOO! She is going to be an incredible trainer. She has taught me so much. Her zeal for reaching for and exceeding our goals is tremendous and I hope I can share all that He's allowed me to learn from her with many others. I will be leaving Warrenton (I do not know where yet) and serving as a Sister Training Leader (a new worldwide missionary leadership position for sisters.. its kinda like a zone leader, but for sisters.) What I will be doing, exactly, I have no idea. But I trust Heavenly Father does and will help me be an effective instrument in His hands in doing whatever it is He has in store. Surely there are many others far more qualified for the call, but I am grateful for the opportunity to grow, serve, and love the other sisters of the DC south mission. Oh guess what. Whoever gets transferred to Fredricksberg or Woodbridge this week will not be in the DC South mission come June 30th. Crazy huh! What a sad day that will be - to lose President Riggs. But all will be well. Whatever happens, the Lord is in it.

I love you with all my heart! 33 days, til the wall of Jerusalem, aka the Washington DC South Mission is rebuilt. Woohoo!

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN

 Mary Su

 Elmer :)

The Hartleys

Ooooh Brother Western

The Looslis

5-20-13 It's a Miracle- I Now Live Right Next Door to McDonalds!!!!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLEY LIZA EMDONG and my dear friends

I could hardly wait to tell you my great surprise!  My Life is Joyous!!!  It's a Miracle.  

"The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground," (Mosiah 7:18-19)is so Great!   That same God is our God and He has delivered me and Sister Bell!  His hand was in every detail and we will praise Him and thank Him forever. Within 12 hours, He brought us to the land of milk and honey (to live in an apartment RIGHT next to McDonalds). Surely it is the promised land! haha. I am in Heaven!!! 

 

Jill and Bill are doing wonderful!  We went to the Jenkins beautiful home for a lesson this week. Every time I go to the Jenkins home, I feel as though I've teleported to the 1600s. Its gorgeous. The home is decorated in rich and elegent furniture and we always eat cakes and crumpets on beautiful china. Sooo fancy. But the greatest part of all was the Spirit we felt and the peace we enjoyed as we taught the Westerns the perfect plan of our Father in Heaven, the Plan of Happiness. It is truly the plan of happiness because of Jesus Christ's great and infinite sacrifice that we might escape death and hell. Through Him we can return home to our Father in Heaven and inherit all that He has.

 

Elder Echo Hawk of the Quorum of the Seventy came to Centreville to release President Hilton and call President Deon as our new stake president. He also came and spoke to our mission, and oh how powerful was his testimony. Among many things, he told us of a trip he made with Elder Nelson. Elder Nelson pulled out his copy of the Ensign and it was worn with use. He had tabs marking the talks by the First Presidency and those of his peers in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He had quotes typed and organized from their talks which he turned to and read often. To Elder Echo Hawk, he said that he needs to know what the Lord is trying to say to us through His prophets, seers, and revelators. I'm soo excited for the next issue of the Ensign to come. I'm going to follow his example and do the same with mine.

 

So last month, our mission hit a low. But President and Sister Riggs were led to a book in the Old Testament: Nehemiah (chapters 1-4&6). After discovering that the wall to Jerusalem was destroyed, Nehemiah turns to the Lord, praying and fasting, repenting of his sins. He then receives permission to go and repair the wall. Though the adversary was mocking, tempting, and fighting them, the people "had a mind to work" and they built with a tool in one hand, and a sword in the other. The Lord protected and empowered them as each man repaired his area and portion of the wallI. "So the wall was finished in the [30th] day of the month [June], in fifty and two days... this work was wrought of our God." On the 9th of May, the Washington DC South mission joined together in fasting and prayer. "The God of heaven, He will prosper us, therefore, we will ARISE AND BUILD." We are going to be His instruments in bringing many into the fold. We know that He will help us not only reach, but exceed our goals by June 30th. In 52 days, the Washington DC South mission will be transformed! Woohoo!

 

I love you dearly. Liza and Emma. You're winners! I'm so proud. New Record!! Oodallaley. I love you so much. I'm so touched by your constant efforts to share the gospel and bring others closer to our Father and Savior. Thank you for being an example to me. I love you all!

SISTER JEPPSEN

 

 Brother Jeffries, Sister Whitesides, and Sister Brown - God's servants

Elder Echo Hawk

 McDonalds is on the right and our apartment is on the left. GLORIOUS!

5-13-13 You looked so Loverly on Skype!! Progress brings Joys

DAD MOM RY RASH LIZA EMMDONG and my friends

What a happy mother's day! You all looked so loverly on skype yesterday :) Mom, words cannot express how grateful I am for all that you do. You truly waste and wear out your life for us and for our Lord. I thank Him, for I am yours forever.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!!! YESSS!!!!!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!

Halleighlueigh - Praise the Lord! I love you. And you and Liza are soon to be champions of state! How fun that you two get to run side by side and help one another and on the same team. Goodness, we are so very blessed. Heavenly Father is so good. He and His Son - I will praise forever.

I have yet to tell you about the Westerns! Well at least I think so. Jill and Bill - my dear friends. I absolutely adore them and I thank God for allowing me the privilege to learn and grow with them. Bill is a convert but has been less active for a long while. "Nice man. Good with kids" (Incredibles). Unlike you Mom, Heavenly Father's given him the gift of refraining from laughter while saying extremely clever and funny things hahaha :) (Obviously, I don't have such a gift as well.. lol I'm so funny) He's one of those cool grandpa kind of guys who can tell a joke without laughing - and very few catch on, but for those that do, they are blessed with great entertainment. I love him. And Jill is soooo sweet. She loves Christ and selflessly gives all that she has to others. I have so much to learn from her. We helped them move in to Warrenton a few months ago and have been dining and meeting with them every since. She was clear at the beginning that, though many a missionary had tried, she wasn't interested in lessons. But as we've continued to go to their home more and more, the Spirit has worked within her and her heart has changed. She humbly told us that she did not ask with sincerity or real intent the last time she read the Book of Mormon. So, her and Bill have started from the beginning - turning to God in humble prayer to know if it is true. And she cannot deny the Spirit that she feels, the clarity and enlightenment she experiences, the familiar and peaceful light that comes as she reads. I love the Book of Mormon. Its words are truly the words of Christ. We had a miraculous lesson with the Jenkins this last week, and are looking forward to another on Tuesday. If only I could write even a small portion of those miracles He graciously bestowed! But this paragraph is already huge!

 

Progress brings joy. When we become, when we grow, when we stretch, when we work, when we better understand and know God and Jesus Christ, we experience joy. Happiness comes as we live the gospel, not once the gospel is lived. Christ has made possible eternal progression and everlasting joy. Its up to us to want it and to live it. Love you dearly.

LOVE SISTER JULIA

 

Fambly picture!- Mother's Day!!! 

Our family loves to sit with Ronald- Tradition!!! 

The Westerns

I hit a tree... A very long driveway at night, pouring rain... trying not to hit Sis Bell!!

 

5-6-13 The Lord is in Charge- Timing & given the Words to say!

DAD MOM RYAN RACHELLE LIZA EMMA and my lovely friends

HAPPY BIRHTDAY RYAN!!!!!!!!!! YAY! You were born - WOOHOO! HAZAH!! FOR ASLAN!!!!!!!

And Momma's day... is SUNDAY! OODALALLEY MOM! I get to see your beautiful faces next week! Stinky lama face!!!

 

I loved your sacrament talk Dad on having a soft, open heart! It was beautiful. Ever since I was little, I have always loved the way you would incorporate into your lessons personal experiences - that not only were engaging, but inspiring - teaching the principle in a real and practical way. As a little girl (and even when I was not so little) I would find much pride and honor when your stories would involve something wherein I was involved. That is of course, assuming that the story wasn't one of a "what-not-to-do" example haha. Dad, you said in your talk, "If you are like me, one of the main reasons we harden our hearts is to protect ourselves and our own vulnerabilities from being discovered by others. But part of having an open and loving heart means that it is okay for others to see that you have your own struggles and triumphs."  I've always felt incapable of sharing experiences due to a lack of remembrance and a struggle to open up myself. Thanks to you and your talk on opening our hearts, I am excited to grow and improve in my ability to share personal experiences. As I follow the Spirit in helping my dear friends here in Virginia apply the precious principles of the gospel, the Lord will bring experiences I've been blessed with to my mind so I can help them better understand. I've prayed for His help in doing so, and it's been really great to remember and learn from my past, sharing these experiences  with my friends.  

 

A story: Through the whisperings of the Spirit, Heavenly Father directed us to visit a man by the last name of Riggs, whom we had met a week prior. For obvious reasons (his last name being the same as our beloved mission president), we were excited to return to his home and were hopeful of sealing him to his family in the future haha. Because our Father in Heaven has the most perfect timing, we stopped and talked with a woman by our car for 10 minutes before walking down the Riggs driveway. Riggs pulled in just as we were walking. How remarkable. For whatever reason, he had lost interest in meeting with us and quickly turned us away - saying he had read the pamphlet we gave him and was content with where he was at. But with power and authority, and with boldness, persistence, and great love - we began teaching him of the apostasy, of which he could relate. We told him of Joseph Smith and his search for the truth. As we told him Joseph's experience in the sacred grove, the Spirit worked within him. Oh the power of God! He had a mighty change of heart and by the end of our conversation, with deep sincerity and thirst for more, he gratefully accepted a Book of Mormon and asked that we come and teach his family. How miraculous! This is the single most important message that any man can receive. And oh how I thank Him for allowing me allowing me the priviledge to be here. It is so cool how the Lord is in Charge! 

LOVE SISTER JEPPSEN