Love in the air!

Love was in the air this month in Jersey and so was the snow!  The snow is certainly beautiful here, but is also dangerous because it creates havoc on the roads and since we have a lot of trees their limbs break as well.  And yet, another record was set in this great state.  The historic Blizzard of 2013! Snow, wind, ice, sleet, rain…gotta love it!  But since the groundhog didn’t see his shadow we are hoping for Spring to be right around the corner.

This month we had our great departing missionaries go to George Washington’s Winter Headquarters Museum, The Empty Sky 9-11 Memorial and the Russian Teardrop.  We had lunch at a Portuguese Restaurant in Newark and visited the famous Graffiti wall too! Someone had sprayed “NJMM 4 LYFE”.  Someone has been tagging?  Can’t imagine who it was??? We are hoping to return to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty at the end of May and into the summer.  That hurricane Sandy really took its toll.  We drove down to the shore and there was still a lot of work to be done.  Pretty sad!

We also had the Historic Surge of Missionaries 2013 begin this month.  26 missionaries arrived! We had to use both vans and a car to get them to the mission home.  Then feed the little army, interview them, and get them all settled in every bed, couch and floor bed we could find.  It was great!  We love having all these new sisters come and the extra elders as well. We have had many senior missionaries arrive and will continue to receive them in the next few months.  We love our senior missionaries.  They are amazing!  They have been out scouting for the apartments, helping with furniture and getting 100 more beds, mattresses and pillows.  The office staff also continues to amaze us with all their hard work and efficiency.  

This month our focus was “Relying on the Spirit”.  One of our missionaries said, “That is exactly what I need, to build that ability to rely on the Spirit.  My dad told me ‘never deny a generous thought!’ It’s great because the more we focus on that it helps miracles happen. The more we teach by the Spirit, the more people feel the spirit and get baptized.  I love the way it works!  Just in the last 20 minutes it worked!  We walked into the library and there was someone coming in and I felt something tell me to open the door for her, so I did!  She approached us about 10 minutes later and told us she was a member that hadn’t come to church in a long time!  She wanted the missionaries to come over! The Spirit is real!”  Don’t you just love that!?!?

Our missionaries continue to work hard and we are so proud of them.  27 new converts into the water!! Our missionaries love the people of New Jersey.  They continue to develop faith to find and they put in great effort every day!  That is our new theme for the second half of our mission.  LOVE, FAITH and EFFORT!

We are looking forward to having Elder D. Todd Christopherson of the Twelve and Elder Tad Callister of the Seventy come and spend an afternoon with us with March!

I looked out the window and what did I see, two Mormon Missionaries smiling at me

They had brought me such a nice surprise, a Book of Mormon right before my eyes

I can take some time and read it through, study, ponder and pray about it too

It was really so and it seems to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me!

Missionaries of New Jersey hope you will share a Book of Mormon with a friend or someone you run into.  Just open your mouth!  It’s pretty easy.  Then you can say one day,

I looked in the chapel and what did I see, many converts smiling back at me

They were happy it was no surprise, the gospel light shined bright in all their eyes

We can share the gospel with everyone.  Give pass along cards you know it’s fun

It is really so, and it seems to be, if you share the Book of Mormon you will be happy

Hey, here’s a fun fact of New Jersey: Leo the MGM Lion, Cheetah the Chimp of Tarzan, and Elsie the Borden Cow are buried in New Jersey. Not only Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra and Sting, but famous animals are here as well! We love New Jersey!

And we love you,  Dad and Mom, Grandpa Jon and Bon Bon, Jon and Bonnie, President and Sister Jeppson NJMM