Dear Family,
Wuz up? How`s life for everyone? That`s pretty funny that dad made you give your testimony mom. That happened to me two Sundays ago when I had ten minutes to prepare a talk for sacrament meeting. Good times. How was Uncole Kyle`s breakfast? I always enjoyed those. Are elections coming up soon? If they are, that term went by quick. It sounds like our family is pretty lucky. A lot of you guys( and ladies) won prizes. I missed the primary program. Those are always fun to watch. I remember doing those. I especially remember the one with Sister Eames. "BE ENERGETIC!" "USE YOUR HANDS!" Good times back in 7th Ward. Now there is a new primary presidency. That`s cool. One of these days I need to write a letter to the Riveras. I told them I would when I felt my Spanish was good/well enough.(Spanish is killing my English). Anyways, I `m to the point to where I can do that. I better do that one of these days.
Moving on. Last week was fun and busy. We did a lot of contacting again. We finally found out where some members so now we can start visiting some. That will give us more things to do. We`re working with our investigator Alejandro. He has a lot of problems. He`s so afraid to quit smoking. he dowesn`t think he can do it. We`re trying to encourage him. We think he still doesn`t have his own testimony. He says he believes everything, but he needs to have a personal testimony. We`re really his only friends so he believes anything we say. We are going to have a lesson this week about getting a terstimony and why it`s important to have a testimony. If he has a testimony, then he will be willing to do anything to live the gospel. He will be willing to change his life so he can get baptized. He`s a super nice, humble guy. He`s just too afraid so we`re going to help him overcome that fear and help him learn to trust in the Lord.
The ward here is pretty strong. They rely on the missionaries a lot. A lot of members here do that. We have correlation every week which is great. I`ve never done that in any of my other areas. The members want to see baptisms so we`re going to try and make that happen. Member help is so important in missionary work. As I said, we`ve been knocking a lot doors lately. We get rejected 90 percent of the time. People see us and automatically don`t want to talk to us. That`s why the members need to talk with their friends first and help them understand what the church is. Then we can go and teach them. They will be a lot more likely to let us in. Also, when they get baptized, they will be more likely to stay active because they have friends in the Church. I love Elder Bednar`s quote, "Missionaries are full-time teachers; members are full-time finders". That sums it all up. We`re going to try and emphasize that.
I`m super excited for general conference. The sessions here are at 1 o`clock and 5 o`clock. Priesthood is at 9 o`clock so they`re going ot record it and we`re going to watch it Sunday morning. I want to here a lot about missionary work. I want the members to get excited. Some of us have been guessing about where new temples will be. We think there will be at least one new in South America . We`ll see. Daylight savings starts this Sunday at 2 am. That means I`m losing an hour of sleep. Not cool. Oh well. Què serà serà.
That`s about it for this week. Nothing else to report on, so until next week...
Con amor,
Elder Jones
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Work Continues Part 2
Sorry I pushed the wrong button and it sent the email.
Our new ward is cool. There are a good amount of people that come. They had Elder Arnett and I get up and introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies during sacrament meeting yesterday. We`ve been knocking on a lot of doors the last few days. It`s fun. We`ve had some interesting contacts. We knocked at one guys house and he opened his window to talk to us. We tried to shake his hand and he said, "I`m not going to shake your hand. I have nothing to say to you." Then he shut the window. Nice guy. Another lady compared us the Testigos de Jehovà. She doesn`t like the Church because her daughter`s friend`s dad couldn`t see his daughter get married because she got married in the temple. She said we`re like the Testigos because they`re not aloud to give blood even if one of their family members is dying. She said that`s not what Jesus wants. Then she went inside. Nice lady. I`m met some interesting people on the mission. Good times though.
I hope you`re enjoying the heat. It`s warming up pretty quick here. It`s still a little chilly in the morning then it warms up quick. I can`t wait for the nice, hot, humid weather. ¡NOT! You sound nice and busy Dad. Good times, right? How`s school going for everyone? Is there anyone new in the ward? Tyler hits his year mark this week which means I hit my year mark in six weeks. I don`t like that. Time needs to slow down.
How`s the misisonary work in the ward? That`s a bummer that not very many investigators went to that activity. I know how that feels. Tell those missionaries to never give up. Everything works out in the end.
I have one favor to ask. When the Jamboree letter gets mailed to me, can you send a little 5 by 7 photo of the Mesa temple. When I tell members that Mesa has a temple, they want to sometimes see a picture. The problem is I don`t have one. Deseret Book or some Mormon store should have one cheap. Gracias.
I guess that`s it for this week. Nothing else to report. Until next week...
Con cariño,
Elder Ethan Jones
Our new ward is cool. There are a good amount of people that come. They had Elder Arnett and I get up and introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies during sacrament meeting yesterday. We`ve been knocking on a lot of doors the last few days. It`s fun. We`ve had some interesting contacts. We knocked at one guys house and he opened his window to talk to us. We tried to shake his hand and he said, "I`m not going to shake your hand. I have nothing to say to you." Then he shut the window. Nice guy. Another lady compared us the Testigos de Jehovà. She doesn`t like the Church because her daughter`s friend`s dad couldn`t see his daughter get married because she got married in the temple. She said we`re like the Testigos because they`re not aloud to give blood even if one of their family members is dying. She said that`s not what Jesus wants. Then she went inside. Nice lady. I`m met some interesting people on the mission. Good times though.
I hope you`re enjoying the heat. It`s warming up pretty quick here. It`s still a little chilly in the morning then it warms up quick. I can`t wait for the nice, hot, humid weather. ¡NOT! You sound nice and busy Dad. Good times, right? How`s school going for everyone? Is there anyone new in the ward? Tyler hits his year mark this week which means I hit my year mark in six weeks. I don`t like that. Time needs to slow down.
How`s the misisonary work in the ward? That`s a bummer that not very many investigators went to that activity. I know how that feels. Tell those missionaries to never give up. Everything works out in the end.
I have one favor to ask. When the Jamboree letter gets mailed to me, can you send a little 5 by 7 photo of the Mesa temple. When I tell members that Mesa has a temple, they want to sometimes see a picture. The problem is I don`t have one. Deseret Book or some Mormon store should have one cheap. Gracias.
I guess that`s it for this week. Nothing else to report. Until next week...
Con cariño,
Elder Ethan Jones
The Work Continues
Dear Family,
Hello from Montevideo . My new area is nice and big. It`s a prettyn central part of Montevideo. Like I said, we share the area with the two AP`s, Elder Ercison and Elder Maes. I am not one of the AP`s. The AP`s were working with a man in our area. So he is now now our investigator. His name is Alejandro. He`s a great guy. He`s had a super hard life. He recently quit smoking and now we`re trying to help him quit smoking. He smokes 40 cigarettes a day. He has anxiety problems and he`s always nervous. He`s also super fidgety. He smokes to stay tranquilo. The Church has this quit-smoking plan that we discussed with him. It`s a seven day program. There are fourteen steps to quit smoking. This is the first time that I`ve ever used this program. The most important step is to always pray for help. We tried to emphasize a lot. He`s really nervous to do it. We set some goals for him. We `ll see how it goes
Hello from Montevideo . My new area is nice and big. It`s a prettyn central part of Montevideo. Like I said, we share the area with the two AP`s, Elder Ercison and Elder Maes. I am not one of the AP`s. The AP`s were working with a man in our area. So he is now now our investigator. His name is Alejandro. He`s a great guy. He`s had a super hard life. He recently quit smoking and now we`re trying to help him quit smoking. He smokes 40 cigarettes a day. He has anxiety problems and he`s always nervous. He`s also super fidgety. He smokes to stay tranquilo. The Church has this quit-smoking plan that we discussed with him. It`s a seven day program. There are fourteen steps to quit smoking. This is the first time that I`ve ever used this program. The most important step is to always pray for help. We tried to emphasize a lot. He`s really nervous to do it. We set some goals for him. We `ll see how it goes
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Change Week
Dear Everyone,
How is everyone? It sounds nice and hot there. How`s the basement? You`re right Mom. Being a missionary has a lot of perks. That`s pretty cool that you`re in the musical Weston. Let me know how that goes. Is everyone staying busy? I am. How`s school going for everyone? How`s work?
Changes are today, September 14th. You can go ahead and out that on my calendar. I am leaving Playa Pascual. I`m going to Montevideo . I`m going to an area called Flores 11 Bis. My new comp is Elder Arnett. I`ll be junior comp. We are actually opening the area. It`s part of the AP`s area. I guess hat means that I`m an AP now. It sounds like a cool area. The AP`s just came to our house to get my luggage. I had to rush to pack all my stuff because I didn`t know when they were coming. Anyways, while I was packing they were telling me about the area. I`m excited to go there.
Last week was good. We met our contact goal for the first time this change. We found some new investigators. All in all, it was a good week. I hope that the investigators we found progress. Some of them were so-so. They didn`t seem to interested.
I got bit by a dog last week. It wasn`t bad. It didn`t break the skin. We were talking to this lady outside her house when I felt a sharp pain on the backof my right ankle. I looked down and saw a little rat dog running away. I have always wanted to kick a dog, and that was my chance. Too bad it ran away too fast. I also got hit in the head by a soccer ball yesterday. We were walking down the street, and there were some kids playing soccer. One of them kicked the ball and hit me in the side of my head. He didn`t do it on purpose. Anyways, no harm done. All is well.
I gave a talk on Sunday. I had about ten minutes to prepare. Elder Watson was asked to give a talk a couple of weeks ago. They never asked me, but I was thinking that I would give one. I was right. We were sitting in priesthood when the second counselor in the bishopric called us out. He confirmed that Elder Watson was giving a talk and then asked me to give a talk. Good ol` procrastination. I was asked to talk about how members can better use Preach My Gospel. After priesthood, I had to run home quick and grab Preach My Gospel. Then we had Gospel Principles so I couldn`t prepare anything then. I had a little bit of time just before Sacrament meeting started. Anyways, it went well.
I guess that`s about it for this week. Not much more to report on. Until next week...
Chao,
Elder Ethan Jones
How is everyone? It sounds nice and hot there. How`s the basement? You`re right Mom. Being a missionary has a lot of perks. That`s pretty cool that you`re in the musical Weston. Let me know how that goes. Is everyone staying busy? I am. How`s school going for everyone? How`s work?
Changes are today, September 14th. You can go ahead and out that on my calendar. I am leaving Playa Pascual. I`m going to Montevideo . I`m going to an area called Flores 11 Bis. My new comp is Elder Arnett. I`ll be junior comp. We are actually opening the area. It`s part of the AP`s area. I guess hat means that I`m an AP now. It sounds like a cool area. The AP`s just came to our house to get my luggage. I had to rush to pack all my stuff because I didn`t know when they were coming. Anyways, while I was packing they were telling me about the area. I`m excited to go there.
Last week was good. We met our contact goal for the first time this change. We found some new investigators. All in all, it was a good week. I hope that the investigators we found progress. Some of them were so-so. They didn`t seem to interested.
I got bit by a dog last week. It wasn`t bad. It didn`t break the skin. We were talking to this lady outside her house when I felt a sharp pain on the backof my right ankle. I looked down and saw a little rat dog running away. I have always wanted to kick a dog, and that was my chance. Too bad it ran away too fast. I also got hit in the head by a soccer ball yesterday. We were walking down the street, and there were some kids playing soccer. One of them kicked the ball and hit me in the side of my head. He didn`t do it on purpose. Anyways, no harm done. All is well.
I gave a talk on Sunday. I had about ten minutes to prepare. Elder Watson was asked to give a talk a couple of weeks ago. They never asked me, but I was thinking that I would give one. I was right. We were sitting in priesthood when the second counselor in the bishopric called us out. He confirmed that Elder Watson was giving a talk and then asked me to give a talk. Good ol` procrastination. I was asked to talk about how members can better use Preach My Gospel. After priesthood, I had to run home quick and grab Preach My Gospel. Then we had Gospel Principles so I couldn`t prepare anything then. I had a little bit of time just before Sacrament meeting started. Anyways, it went well.
I guess that`s about it for this week. Not much more to report on. Until next week...
Chao,
Elder Ethan Jones
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saludos from the 20 year-old
Dearest Family members,
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yesterday was good. I ended up not telling anyone that it was my birthday. Elder Watson knew of course. He made a card. Elder Da Silva(my trainer) remembered my birthday. Hermana Heaton also called me last night to wish me a happy birthday. We made microwave brownies and ate ice cream. The brownies weren`t as good as usual. We didn`t have enough flour or cocoa, but they still turned out alright. I took some pictures that I`m going to send. Oh and by the way, I hope my birthday dinner was good. It sure sounded good.
We were supposed to do divisions yesterday with the young men. The branch mission leader set it up. He ended up not coming to church yesterday. He was in a little accident earlier in the week so we figured that`s why he didn`t come. Anyways on our way to lunch we had to walk through the feria(that`s like a flea market). While we were walking, we saw him there with his wife. He talked with Elder Watson. He wouldn`t talk to me. He kept whispering things to Elder Watson. Anyways, the point of the story is we didn`t do divisions. I think me and Elder Watson were the only two that remembered.
I finally used my rain suit for the first time last week. It rained all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and half of Saturday. I stayed dry though. That was a plus. It made the work harder, though. We had terrible numbers. At least we were out trying to get some things done.
We`re still working with Antonio. He`s progressing slowly. We`re going to start over with lesson one. We`re going to go principle by principle so he understands. He came to church again yesterday. He also said the opening prayer in Gospel Principles. He`s our only solid investigator. We had a special mission fast yesterday. We fasted to be able to find those people who Heavenly Father is preparing to recieve the gospel. We also fasted to be able to apply all the things that Elder Arnold taught us.
This is the last week of the change. We find out changes next Monday. I`m actually hoping that I go up to senior comp. I want to be the one in charge. I want to stay out and work all day. In this mission, misisonaries usually go up their seventh change and next change is my seventh change. So we`ll see.
Elder Watson and I set some goals for this week. We want this to be the best week of the change. We want to have a lot of lessons and find some new investigators. We`re hoping it happens.
Anyways, it sounds like you are all doing a lot. That`s cool that you got some autographs Cameron. Keep me updated with the sports. What else? When do you find out if you`re having a boy or a girl Jenny? Thanks for the pictures Emilie. Annie is a cutie.
How`s your Labor Day? I know Uruguay has a Labor Day, but I`m not sure when it is. They have a lot of holidays here.
Thanks for telling me about Sister Flynn. I`m happy for her. Jason should be getting his misison call soon. Maybe he`ll come here, and I`ll be his trainer.
Anyways, I guess that`s about it for this week. I love you all.
Con amor,
Elder Ethan Jones
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yesterday was good. I ended up not telling anyone that it was my birthday. Elder Watson knew of course. He made a card. Elder Da Silva(my trainer) remembered my birthday. Hermana Heaton also called me last night to wish me a happy birthday. We made microwave brownies and ate ice cream. The brownies weren`t as good as usual. We didn`t have enough flour or cocoa, but they still turned out alright. I took some pictures that I`m going to send. Oh and by the way, I hope my birthday dinner was good. It sure sounded good.
We were supposed to do divisions yesterday with the young men. The branch mission leader set it up. He ended up not coming to church yesterday. He was in a little accident earlier in the week so we figured that`s why he didn`t come. Anyways on our way to lunch we had to walk through the feria(that`s like a flea market). While we were walking, we saw him there with his wife. He talked with Elder Watson. He wouldn`t talk to me. He kept whispering things to Elder Watson. Anyways, the point of the story is we didn`t do divisions. I think me and Elder Watson were the only two that remembered.
I finally used my rain suit for the first time last week. It rained all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and half of Saturday. I stayed dry though. That was a plus. It made the work harder, though. We had terrible numbers. At least we were out trying to get some things done.
We`re still working with Antonio. He`s progressing slowly. We`re going to start over with lesson one. We`re going to go principle by principle so he understands. He came to church again yesterday. He also said the opening prayer in Gospel Principles. He`s our only solid investigator. We had a special mission fast yesterday. We fasted to be able to find those people who Heavenly Father is preparing to recieve the gospel. We also fasted to be able to apply all the things that Elder Arnold taught us.
This is the last week of the change. We find out changes next Monday. I`m actually hoping that I go up to senior comp. I want to be the one in charge. I want to stay out and work all day. In this mission, misisonaries usually go up their seventh change and next change is my seventh change. So we`ll see.
Elder Watson and I set some goals for this week. We want this to be the best week of the change. We want to have a lot of lessons and find some new investigators. We`re hoping it happens.
Anyways, it sounds like you are all doing a lot. That`s cool that you got some autographs Cameron. Keep me updated with the sports. What else? When do you find out if you`re having a boy or a girl Jenny? Thanks for the pictures Emilie. Annie is a cutie.
How`s your Labor Day? I know Uruguay has a Labor Day, but I`m not sure when it is. They have a lot of holidays here.
Thanks for telling me about Sister Flynn. I`m happy for her. Jason should be getting his misison call soon. Maybe he`ll come here, and I`ll be his trainer.
Anyways, I guess that`s about it for this week. I love you all.
Con amor,
Elder Ethan Jones
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