Dear Family,
How is everything? How`s the heat? It`s still rainy/windy/humid/cold here. Do you want to trade? When does school start? I`m excited to get the package. Pretty ironic that Sister Hulsey was at the post office at the same time. I sent a letter to Tyler . I don`t know if he got it though. Can one of you ask the Hulsey`s if he got it? Gracias. When is my other niece/nephew due? No one is going to know me when I come home.
My transfer dates are: March 30 and May 11. I left the MTC/got to Uruguay on January 5. That`s it for now. I might get transferred next Tuesday. We have changes next week. I like it here. I wouldn`t mind staying.
We found some new investigators last week. That was nice. The work pays off eventually. We had an investigator in church yesterday. That was the first investigator that we`ve had in church this change. It has rained the last three Sundays in a row, and no one comes when it rains. We finally had an investigator in church. His name is Antonio. He lives with a member that got baptized last year. They are getting married next Friday, August 6.
I`ve been reading the Book of Mormon more in Spanish. I`m getting to the point where I`ll start doing my personal study all in Spanish. I understand most of it.There ae always some words that I don`t know. but I still understand most of it. It`s nice when I study Spanish grammar an everything starts to click in my mind. The gift of tongues is real. I took two and a half years of Spanish in junior high and high school and I could barely speak. It`s really cool to see how far I`ve come. I defenotely have the Lord`s help.
Something interesting happened down here. You all may have heard about it on the news. Argentina legalized gay marriage. Elder Watson and I saw it on the news the other while we were eating lunch at a member`s house. The First Presidency wrote a letter for the saints down here. They read the letter in all the wards yesterday. The First Presidency restated what the Church`s views are about gay marriage. They encouraged all the members to hang a copy the Family: A Proclamation to the World in their houses. They told the members to not be affiliated with any group that supports gay marriage. Hopefully this won`t effect the work down here at all.
Well I think that`s it about it for this week. I hope you all have a good week.
Les quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Another niece/nephew. I`m not surprised.
Dearest Family,
Well first off, it looks I`m going to be an uncle again. I`m not surprised though. I knew it would happen eventually. ¡Felicitaciones Jenny and Paul! Looks like I`ll another new niece/nephew to meet. It`s also good to hear that all the other unborn babies are doing fine. G and G Jones now have a lot more names to remember.
How`s the quiet house? It sounds like everyone gets to have fun during the Jamboree. What`s new in Mesa? How are the temples coming along in Gilbert and Phoenix ? Have the city councils approved the construction of them yet? Keep me posted with that. How`s the ward? Are there more new members? Is Jason getting ready for his mission? Heather told me he decided to go on a mission. I don`t know what else to ask. If you guys think of something to tell me, tell me.
Last week, we had our first zone conference with Presidente y Hermana Heaton. They are really nice. They act just like grandparents, especially Hermana Heaton. Presidente Heaton is remembering spanish. He served his mission here in Uruguay , so he knows Spanish. He just needs to remember it all now. He did pushups in front of everybody. There were a few changes. We are going to start having zone conference and interviews every three months(every other change). The Church has come out with 8 new lessons for missionaries. These lessons are not replacing the 5 lessons in Preach My Gospel. They are just to help us become better teachers. They help us focus more on the important things that we are supposed to teach. The Church will start teaching these lessons in the MTC`s around the world in May of next year. General Authorites are going to the different missions around the world to teach these lessons to the missionaries already in the mission field. That way when new missionaries come after May of next year, we will have all been taught the same lessons. The zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers will be taught the lessons. Eventually, every missionary will be taught the lessons.
It`s been raining the last couple of days. It`s supposed to continue until tomorrow. Last week, there was actually snow in the forecast. Luckily it didn`t snow. As a missionary, I hate the rain. It kills the work, especially in a culture where the people don`t do anything when it rains. We didn`t have any success yesterday. It rained all day. We came home about an hour early. We finished our weekly planning. Hopefully it won`t rain to much this week.
Last week was great. We found nine new investigators. Most of those investigators were found while we did divisions with the zone leaders. Elder Novoa came here to Playa Pascual, and I went to Montevideo with Elder Powell. I`m really glad that the World Cup is over.
I gave a talk yesterday. I spoke about the Atonement. I used the stroy of Alma the Younger as an example. It went well I suppose. There were only 22 people at church yesterday, including us. When it rains, people don`t go to church. I`m still not used to that. It was good though.
I don`t know if you have any Melaleuca lotion Mom, but I could use some more of that. Winter weather dries out my skin. That should be it.
I guess that`s about it for this week. Have agood week.
Les quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones
Well first off, it looks I`m going to be an uncle again. I`m not surprised though. I knew it would happen eventually. ¡Felicitaciones Jenny and Paul! Looks like I`ll another new niece/nephew to meet. It`s also good to hear that all the other unborn babies are doing fine. G and G Jones now have a lot more names to remember.
How`s the quiet house? It sounds like everyone gets to have fun during the Jamboree. What`s new in Mesa? How are the temples coming along in Gilbert and Phoenix ? Have the city councils approved the construction of them yet? Keep me posted with that. How`s the ward? Are there more new members? Is Jason getting ready for his mission? Heather told me he decided to go on a mission. I don`t know what else to ask. If you guys think of something to tell me, tell me.
Last week, we had our first zone conference with Presidente y Hermana Heaton. They are really nice. They act just like grandparents, especially Hermana Heaton. Presidente Heaton is remembering spanish. He served his mission here in Uruguay , so he knows Spanish. He just needs to remember it all now. He did pushups in front of everybody. There were a few changes. We are going to start having zone conference and interviews every three months(every other change). The Church has come out with 8 new lessons for missionaries. These lessons are not replacing the 5 lessons in Preach My Gospel. They are just to help us become better teachers. They help us focus more on the important things that we are supposed to teach. The Church will start teaching these lessons in the MTC`s around the world in May of next year. General Authorites are going to the different missions around the world to teach these lessons to the missionaries already in the mission field. That way when new missionaries come after May of next year, we will have all been taught the same lessons. The zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers will be taught the lessons. Eventually, every missionary will be taught the lessons.
It`s been raining the last couple of days. It`s supposed to continue until tomorrow. Last week, there was actually snow in the forecast. Luckily it didn`t snow. As a missionary, I hate the rain. It kills the work, especially in a culture where the people don`t do anything when it rains. We didn`t have any success yesterday. It rained all day. We came home about an hour early. We finished our weekly planning. Hopefully it won`t rain to much this week.
Last week was great. We found nine new investigators. Most of those investigators were found while we did divisions with the zone leaders. Elder Novoa came here to Playa Pascual, and I went to Montevideo with Elder Powell. I`m really glad that the World Cup is over.
I gave a talk yesterday. I spoke about the Atonement. I used the stroy of Alma the Younger as an example. It went well I suppose. There were only 22 people at church yesterday, including us. When it rains, people don`t go to church. I`m still not used to that. It was good though.
I don`t know if you have any Melaleuca lotion Mom, but I could use some more of that. Winter weather dries out my skin. That should be it.
I guess that`s about it for this week. Have agood week.
Les quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones
Monday, July 12, 2010
The World Cup is OVER
Dear Family,
How is everything going? How`s the heat? What`s new in Mesa? Before I forget, I`m fine with money right now. I`ve had some bills to pay. That`s why I kept taking out money. I`m also going to buy some more stuff to stay warm. I`m going to get a scarf and some earmuffs. The money situation is fine. I`m not starving or anything
About the thermals: a 28-30 waist sounds good. The tops should be fine. I have small tops right now, they fit me well. So that should work. Also I don`t if you have one yet, but I need another journal. It`s a green, mini three-ring binder form Deseret Book. It says missionary journal on the front. My favorite non-chocolate candy would have to be Sour Patch Kids. I think that`s about it there.
Elder Watson and I were supposed to give talks yesterday, but the stake presidency came. We`re giving them next week. I`ll let you all know how it goes.
Uruguay did lose. Fourth place isn`t bad though. Spain beat the Netherlands yesterday in the final. Hopefully we`ll be aqble to find some new investigators now. I know ther`re out there. We`ll keep looking for them. Heavenly Father will lead them to us or He`ll lead us to them. It doesn`t matter how. I love reading the stories of the missionaries in the Book of Mormon. It keeps me going because a lot of them had hard times as well. The only convert Abinadi had was Alma . Abinadi may have thought that he had failed, but, in reality, tens of thousands of people came into the church because of him. All those stories keep me going. I may not see immediate success, but I`m planting seeds that future missionaries will harvest. I love this work. I know I`m here for a reason. As long as I do my part, the Lord will do the rest.
Presidente y Hermana Heaton got here safely. We`ll meet them this Wednesday at Zone Confernce. All of the zones outside of Montevideo have already had Zone Conference. Everyone says that Herman Heaton is a great cook. Everyonedescribes them as grandparents. I guess that means we`ll get treated like their grandkids. Sounds good to me.
I think that`s about for this week. I love you all. Thanks for the support.
Les Quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones
P.S. Happy Birthday to Hazel last week and Happy Birthday to Brian this week.
How is everything going? How`s the heat? What`s new in Mesa? Before I forget, I`m fine with money right now. I`ve had some bills to pay. That`s why I kept taking out money. I`m also going to buy some more stuff to stay warm. I`m going to get a scarf and some earmuffs. The money situation is fine. I`m not starving or anything
About the thermals: a 28-30 waist sounds good. The tops should be fine. I have small tops right now, they fit me well. So that should work. Also I don`t if you have one yet, but I need another journal. It`s a green, mini three-ring binder form Deseret Book. It says missionary journal on the front. My favorite non-chocolate candy would have to be Sour Patch Kids. I think that`s about it there.
Elder Watson and I were supposed to give talks yesterday, but the stake presidency came. We`re giving them next week. I`ll let you all know how it goes.
Uruguay did lose. Fourth place isn`t bad though. Spain beat the Netherlands yesterday in the final. Hopefully we`ll be aqble to find some new investigators now. I know ther`re out there. We`ll keep looking for them. Heavenly Father will lead them to us or He`ll lead us to them. It doesn`t matter how. I love reading the stories of the missionaries in the Book of Mormon. It keeps me going because a lot of them had hard times as well. The only convert Abinadi had was Alma . Abinadi may have thought that he had failed, but, in reality, tens of thousands of people came into the church because of him. All those stories keep me going. I may not see immediate success, but I`m planting seeds that future missionaries will harvest. I love this work. I know I`m here for a reason. As long as I do my part, the Lord will do the rest.
Presidente y Hermana Heaton got here safely. We`ll meet them this Wednesday at Zone Confernce. All of the zones outside of Montevideo have already had Zone Conference. Everyone says that Herman Heaton is a great cook. Everyonedescribes them as grandparents. I guess that means we`ll get treated like their grandkids. Sounds good to me.
I think that`s about for this week. I love you all. Thanks for the support.
Les Quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones
P.S. Happy Birthday to Hazel last week and Happy Birthday to Brian this week.
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