Sunday Best!

“Testimony is as elusive as a moonbeam; 
it’s as fragile as an orchid;
you have to recapture it every morning of your life,
you have to hold on by study,
 and by faith and by prayer.”
-Harold B. Lee
——–
Hope your Sunday was the Best!! 
Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Still Organizing?

So I have recently had a 
little extra time on my hands. 
And of course, one of my favorite
 things to do, is Family History. 
It is so fun!
Besides doing research, 
it is fun to organize it.
 I have noticed though, if you haven’t had time to organize, and reorganize. It kinda piles up. I spent the entire day today organizing and reorganizing my Family History. It is an ongoing process. My new goal is, to never let it get so bad again. I will do two hours of Family History every Sunday afternoon. There, now that it’s out there. I will be more likely to follow through. Pick a quiet time of the week for organizing your Family History. It’ll make you feel great!!! I promise!
Happy Family History Friday! 
Love, Joy

I love Mother Teresa!

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people my accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. 
It was never between you and them anyway.”
-Mother Teresa

Totally "Fort Worth" it!

Hermana Kelsey 3:2 -email-
Hola Familia!
Long time no talk right? Today is better, but I think that is because it is p-day. I’m hoping I can adjust a little more very soon.
Last night we got dinner from one of the members in the English ward. They were cool. They have two cute little girls. Anyway, we don’t get dinner very much, so that was nice.
Also last night we taught this crazy guy, and he offered us some water. We told him we didn’t want any, but he insisted. He gave us water from a gallon milk jug, but apparently he hadn’t rinsed it out before he filled it with the water so it tasted really gross like sour milk. It was so not cool. 
Oh also, how was your talk with Flexy? Is he doing so great? I wish I could have talked to him longer.
Anyway, I better go now. Love you all. XoxoXOXXXoOxx
 
P.S. Dad, that is so cool you have a black widow pet. Maybe you should fatten her up and then give her to the Nature Center again. 🙂
 
BYE!

Howzit-Elder Flexy!


Elder Flexy 11:1 -email-
Make,

ya i just realized that when we were talking that i never said happy mothers day so… HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!! so i don’t really know what to say today that i didn’t say yesterday. but life is good and all is well. love you
    Elder Flexy
Dad,
ya that’s so weird that all those young ones are getting so old. My brother Bryce?!?! that’s great but ya it was nice to hear from you guys on the phone. but ya we have been seeing a lot of snakes lately so that’s intense. but ya that’s all for now.Love you.
    Elder Flexy

M,
ya it was fun to talk to you about work. its good to know all the old people are doing well but  I’m about the same as a was yesterday but ya. Love you.
    Elder Flexy

Howzit-Elder Flexy!



Elder Flexy 10:4 -email-
Make,
the baptisms went great i performed the baptism for Nokwanda. its was way cool and i didn’t have to do it more than once. but ya mission is going well we have a massive teaching pool and the area is doing good. we played soccer yesterday and i didn’t do well we don’t play as much in swaziland as we did in in durban so i’m losing the skill i had.  but life is good!! we had interviews with president and i enjoyed speaking to him i think he might put me in a leadership position after this transfer but if not all the better the leadership positions stink i just like to worry about me,  my comp and my investigators. so about the phone call i will see if i can use the blackburns land line and then call you so you have the number then you can all me back so hopefully that will work. but life is about the same as it always is in swaziland. anyway love you.
    Love Elder Flexy

Baba,

thats good that time is going fast that means your staying busy. we are too, we work really really hard and its paying off we are finding people like crazy. but mission life is kinda funny you start to feel like you do the same thing every day. but ya its going well swaziland is very well prepared of the lord and the people are listening. thats so crazy your selling your truck. but the roof was looking pretty bad when i left. but ya i turn ten monthes on saturday so thats pretty intense!!! i’m quickly aproaching half way done so thats pretty much the craziest thing ever the time is going so fast and i’m loving it. love you
    Love Elder Flexy

Totally "Fort Worth" it!



Hermana Kelsey 3:1 -email-
Madre,
 
Hola! How are you doing? I hope things are going great for you. The mission field is really weird, especially when I’ve been so out of the world for so long. I am forgetting how to use technology! It’s craziness. Anyway, the spanish is no bueno. I can’t understand half of what anyone is saying because they talk so fast. I can pick out words, but it’s really hard. And I feel so exhausted at night because my brain is working so hard to try to understand people all day. Plus, we teach in english too, which you would think would be nice, but it just confuses my brain, and now I can’t teach very well in either. It’s really hard. I’m don’t feel like I’m learning any spanish at all, but my companion says it will come in time.
 
My companion is Hermana Vaughn. She’s really cool. I’m her last companion before she goes home, so she’s been out for a while. She is from Idaho. She just had surgery to get her gallbladder taken out like a three weeks ago, but she is almost completely better and doing the work like usual. She has a really good spanish accent, and she speaks spanish very well. She is great.
 
But anyways, my first area is a really big area. It’s kind of weird, but I like it. I’ve been meeting a ton of people, and most of them are totally crazy. They say the funniest things, but I never understand them until Hna. Vaughn explains them to me later. But they are pretty much hilarious. We have a few people that they have been teaching for a while that are supposed to get baptized soon, so that’s pretty cool. I think it’s crazy, because when we go tracting, we meet people who have never heard of the Mormons. I thought everyone knew of us, or at least had crazy ideas about who we are. That was definitely eye opening.
 
We had church yesterday, of course, and it was insane. We went to the just spanish ward, and it was so tiny. There are only ten women in Relief Society on a good day, and in sacrament meeting there was only like 30 people. I’m used to really big wards to that was really strange. Since it was fast Sunday, the President asked us to get up and bear our testimonies. So I did…and I slaughtered it. They could all tell what a gringa I am. It was sad. But everyone is really nice so that’s good. I also ended up saying the closing prayer in sacrament too. So that was fun.
 
I will probably call after church on Sunday. We have church at 11 on Sunday too. But since we are an hour ahead, it will probably be between like 3 and 5 ish. I’m not really sure. Just keep your phone handy. 🙂 Anyway, I better go now. Love you lots. I’ll talk to you on Sunday.
  
Love, Hermana Kelsey 
 
Padre,
 
My first week has been okay. The work is really hard, but I like it. The Spanish is crazy! They talk so so fast, and most of the time I don’t know what they are saying. Me and my companion don’t speak that much Spanish with each other, but we talk some. I ask her a lot how to say things, and she’ll tell me so I can say them at another point. It’s fun.
Anway, I better go. Love you lots.
Love, Hermana Kelsey

Thejoyfulnest is 2!!



It’s true! I have been officially blogging for 2 years! 
It has been a wonderful thing! 
What has been my goal for the past two years?

  • To have a joyful and happy place for people to visit!
  • To write fun and interesting stories about life and family?
  • To be informative about how to get started doing “Family History!”
  • To make a history of my family and my darling missionaries!
  • To tell the world that I believe that life is wonderful, and challenging, and if we “just keep swimming” it will be great!

My goals for the future of thejoyfulnest?
More of the same! I will hope for a few more visits and new friends! 
Love, Joy

The "Grapefruit Poem"


“I wish I was a grapefruit, 
and here’s the reason why
when you came to eat me, 
I’d squirt you in the eye!”

That  my friends, is the first poem I ever memorized when I was a little kid. I just thought I ‘d share…for posterity!

Totally "Fort Worth" it!

Dear Family,
Sister Sagers and I want you to know that your missionary has arrived safely here in Texas. We look forward to serving together in accomplishing the Lord’s work. We hope you enjoy the attached picture of your missionary, as well as knowing that the missionaries are in good hands here as they are in the Lord’s service.
Sincerely,
President and Sister Sagers