Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Statehood Day

Dear Everyone,

Well the Lord`s work continues. We had three people come to church yesterday. Two older men and a ten-year old girl. Their names are Jorge, Jacinto, and Yessica. Jorge and Jacinto will be getting baptized February 26th; next Saturday. We`re pretty excited. Yessica won`t be getting baptized yet because we have to talk with her parents first. We`re going to talk to her dad because her mom is a naughty person. Here`s the story why she`s naughty. I was on divisions last week with a new missionary. We went to teach Jorge. He lives with his friend. This naughty girl happens to live there as well. From the moment we got to the house, this girl just stood in the doorway and laughed and talked the whole time. It was hard to concentrate. Then she decides to bring out a very naughty picture. She walks up to my comp and puts right in front of his face. What does he do? He smacks her hand away. Oh ya! It was great. Then she just stood in the doorway with the picture in front of her face. We just ignored her as best we could and finished the lesson. At the end, Jorge asked us for a blessing. This naughty girl continued doing her thing. Right before giving the blessing I finally said, "Please leave!" She said a few things and then left. We then gave him a blessing and left. Don`t mess with missionaries!

Elizabeth Ramos didn`t make it to church yesterday. Satan is working hard on her. It is very easy to see that. She`s not as excited as she was when we first met her, she doesn`t think she`ll be ready to be baptized by her baptism date, and she`s having a hard time giving up her last cigarette. I`m feeling that we`ll have to be firm with her at our next lesson and straight up tell her that Satan is behind everything. If she wants to beat him, she has to stand up and tell him NO. She`s a super nice lady. She wants to get baptized. She just has to show it more. She has to exercise her faith.

I totally forgot that today is Statehood Day. Happy Statehood Day! 99 years young. We`ll have to all go see MOTAB next year.

The school system changed a little. That`s cool. Taylor won`t have as many teachers and Mesa will have a lot more. Where is Little League going to be now since they`re building a new building? They better not get rid of it.

I`ve been in this area since October 26th; almost three changes.

I`m about out of time. I`d write more but my comp is pretty strict about being out of here on time.

I hope you all have a good week. Keep doin` what you`re doin`.

Les quiero,
Elder Jones

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Mission is Going Great

Dear Family,

Well, last week I saw the Lord`s hand in His work again. First off, we had a miracle find. It happened Saturday afternoon. It was about five and we were walking to a bus stop to go to the church. We went the way we always do because it`s quicker. We don`t have to back-track to get to the bus stop. Anyways, we were walking down the street when we heard someone shouting at us. This guy named Jorge says, "The missionaries taught me five years ago in Buenos Aires . I never got baptized, but now I want to." Those words are music to a missionary`s ears. He said he`s having some problems and decided he needs to get baptized. Yesterday we picked him up at his house and took him church with us. He`s awesome. I don`t know if it was the Spirit making sure that I would on that street or just me being lazy and not wanting to walk more than I have to. Whatever it was the Lord was involved. That was just another example of someone the Lord prepares to receive the restored gospel. There have been many times on the mission when I`m tired and want to go home because no one is listening. Thankfully, I have experiences like that that keep me going.

Elizabeth, one of our other star investigators, is doing great. She went to church yesterday(by herself). She`s just accepting everything. The missionaries have tried teaching her for years, but she was never interested. Those other missionaries planted the seed and now we`re sowing it. She wants to get baptized. These are her words; "It`s my time to become a mormon." Yet another example of the Lord preparing His children to receive the gospel. All these experiences help me to remember that, even if people choose not to listen to the gospel right now, a seed is being planted that future missionaries can sow. It`s great being part of the Lord`s work. I know the gospel is true, and I`m grateful to be sharing it. If the Lord can take someone like me and turn him into a missionary, he can do it with anyone. I hope you all being missionaries. Remember D&C 24:12. It`s one of my favorites.

We had special guest in our ward yesterday. Elder Foster, of the second quorum of the seventy, along with his wife, decided to visit our ward and the other ward that shares our building. He`s the secondcounselor in the area presidency. We actually showed up to church early because we misjudged how long it would take to walk from Jorge`s house to the church. Anyways, I walk into the chapel see Elder Foster and his wife talking to the stake president. I recognized right away and thought, "Wow! There`s a general authority here. Oh boy!" We actually started sacrament meeting at 9:30 instead of 9:45. I guess having a general authority come means that church has to start on time. Needless to say, a handful of people showed up late. He got up and bore his testimony at the end. He`s still learning Spanish, but did well. That was another cool experience.

All sounds well back home. That`s good. Everyone is up to something. The weather finally cooled down there. It`s about time. The weather is constantly changing. Today is cloudy and there`s a slight breeze. That means tomorrow will probably be scorching hot. Oh well.

I have one little favor to ask. I lost my oil vile. I`ve never seen one in the distribution center. Whenever you send the calender, can you send a cheap oil vile as well? Gracias.

That`s all for this week. I hope you all have a good week.

Les quiero,
Elder Jones