From Sea to Shining Sea

Transferred from Killian, south of Miami, to Naples

New Address: 3310 Bermuda Isles Circle #238 Naples, Florida 34109

Transfer calls are on Monday nights, and they told me I was staying. I was so happy because I love Miami! Then half way through P-day the next day, the AP's texted us to say that I am actually leaving! So then I had to pack up my whole life, and say goodbye to everyone I love! It was really hard! 

Then we had transfer meeting the next morning at 9:00. The whole mission meets up in Ft. Laud and they read off a power point of every area and companionship. You don't know where you are going, or who you will be with until then! That's when you meet your new comp, and head to your new area!

It is absolute madness! But it's also super fun to see mission friends! I got to see missionaries I haven't seen since the MTC. That was SO long ago!

My new companion is Sister Curnow. She is from Seattle, and she is about half way done with her mission. She has been in this area for 2 transfers already, which is a huge blessing. We also live with 2 English sisters, Sister Peart and Sister Abod. Sister Peart is in training. It's her first transfer! And Sister Abod is from the Philippines. She keeps trying to teach me Tagalog. I think I'll stick with the Spanish though!

Speaking of the Spanish...my new ward is 100% in Spanish. Oh how I miss they days of a bilingual ward where there is always someone who understands you! Yesterday was my first time having church be in all Spanish, and it completely wore me out! To make things worse, they called me up in the middle of sacrament meeting to bear my testimony, and President Richardson was there! I have never been so scared in my life! Let's just say that it didn't go well...after the meeting, everyone was talking to me and I can't tell if they were saying I did good or bad. One member from Brazil told me my Spanish sounds like Portuguese...I'm still not sure what he meant by that.

We have 4 missionaries in the ward. 2 Elders and 2 Sisters. It's SUPER fun. We typically have meal appointments together, and the Elders are HILARIOUS! They are also our zone leaders, so we see them around a ton!

Naples is SO different from Miami. I can't even describe how different it is. I left the world of sky scrapers for rain forests! Up until January, this was part of the Tampa mission. I can tell it's been a hard transition. The Tampa mission is a lot more strict. They weren't allowed to eat with members, have couches in their apartments, or talk to missionaries of the opposite gender. The ward LOVES feeding us because for a long time, they couldn't. We are so grateful!

The ward is almost 100% made of recent converts. They have a lot of faith, but don't know how a ward needs to be run. 

Naples is a lot like Island Park, Idaho, in the sense that it is a vacation town. There are TONS of empty houses, and apparently the population is going to triple in the next few months once the "snow birds" come down from up north. This doesn't affect the Latin ward as much because these people can't afford to vacation. The majority of them have careers in cleaning these nice vacation homes. They have to work so hard!

Holy cow! I have so much to say! Let's switch to bullet points!

• Naples apparently has some of the nicest beaches in Florida...not that it matters to us!
• There are panther and bear crossing signs EVERYWHERE!
• We are teaching a family of 9 from the Dominican Republic. They are AWESOME!
• I think that is finally it! 

I love you all! Thanks for everything you do!

Sister Danielle Grace Jones