Just a Short One This Week

Dear Family,

How is everything? Is it warming up yet? Winter is on it`s way down here. I got the packages and letter last week. Thanks. Dad, was that key chain supposed to be with your letter because it wasn`t. Thanks for the updates on everything. The Jamboree is close. I`m jealous that I don`t get to go. I`ll be doing something better though. Have fun fishing this year. It`s going to be great. Luckies. That talk by Elder Cook was great. His ideas were simple but powerful. Plus, it talked about Uruguay .

Our zone had 40 baptisms last week. Amazing. We had three baptisms in Bella Uniòn last Saturday. Elder Da Silva and I had two investigators get baptized, Moises and Laura. Elder Smith and Elder Desmullier had one investigator get baptized named Romina. It was a great baptismal service. Moises got up to bear his testimony. He was very happy. He was teary. It was really cool. Laura`s mom also got up to bear her testimony. She is inactive , but after seeing her daughter get baptized, she wants to come back to church. It was great. I truly saw how the gospel helped these two people and their families.

That was the best way to leave Bella Uniòn. I`m getting transferred. I`m going to a city called Paysandù. My new comp is Elder Guardipee. Their will be six Elders in our house. We will live with the zone leaders. I`m excited. It`s going to be great. I`m leaving for Paysandù tonight at 12:30.

I think that`s about it for today. I`m running out of time. I`ll write more next week. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Ethan Jones

HI AGAIN

Hola Familia,

Last week was long and busy. We had interviews on Wednesday so we had to go to Salto. That took the whole day. When we got back, we started divisions. I worked with Elder Smith and Elder Da Silva worked with Elder Desmullier. I slept at Elder Smith`s house for to nights. It was a neat experience. I learned a lot. Friday and Saturday were spent talking with investigators. We are getting two investigators, Moises and Laura, ready for their baptisms this Saturday, March 27. The wrok is going good here.

Today is the birthday of Elder Da Silva. The ward members love him. We have a lot planned for today. One family invited the four of us to their house for lunch. We`re going to have asado and watch Los Testamentos. Tonight, we have Noche de Hogar with another family. We`re going to eat with them and have a little lesson. I found out yesterday that I`m going to give part of the lesson. I have to plan something for that now.

Last week was frustrating. I was getting frustrated about my Spanish. I feel that I should be farther along that I am. I made a goal for myself. I`m getting close to the six month mark. I told myself that by then I want to be able to understand everything that people say and also be able to speak fairly well. Hopefully by the time I call home, I can say that I feel comfortable talking in Spanish.

We went to Brazil two weeks ago for P-day. It`s about ten minutes away on the bus. We walked around a little bit. We went to a store called El Gringo. Now I can say that I`ve been to Brazil .

Changes are next week. I think I`m staying in Bella Uniòn more change. I think Elder Da Silva is leaving. He`s been here for almost three changes. He thinks that I`m leaving and that he`ll stay and train again. I guess we`ll find out who`s right next week.

How`s everything back home? Everyone sounds busy. How are the wedding plans coming along? How`s school going for everyone? How`s work? Thanks for the letters. I think that`s about it for this week.

Love,
Elder Ethan Jones

Me Again

Dear Family,

Another week gone. The weeks go by so fast. This change ends in two weeks. I can`t believe how fast it went. All is well in Bella Uniòn. We had two baptisms on Saturday. Elder Da Silva and I had one. His name is Maxi. He is nine years old. Elder Smith and Elder Desmullier had one as well. Her name is Paola. I think she`s about ten. We had a lot of people show up. That was nice. They both got confirmed yesterday. They were both happy. We`re staying busy.

How`s everything back home? I guess a lot of stuff has been happening. Congrats Weston on getting your Duty to God. Happy Birthday as well. You can now officially date. Rock on. How is baseball going Cameron? Do youlike your team? Is your coach cool? How`s the Jamboree dad? Only four months away. Happy Birthday too. I forgot to say that last week. Did you find a good bait-casting reel? I`m jealous that you`re going to Buzzard Roost without me. We will defenitely have to go when I get home. Mom, you get to make cinnamon rolls this week, and I won`t be there to reap the rewards. Just tell everyone to think about me while you make them. Since I won`t get any, you can at least think about me while you make them.

I haven`t looked for the carbon medication yet. I need to do that. I can`t think ofanything else to say. Talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Ethan Jones

Just Another Letter

Hola Familia,

How is everything going? Is everything well back home? Weston, you seem to be busy. Your like me. You wait til the last minute to do stuff. Rock on. However, that`s a bad habit. You shouldn`t do it. You started Little League Cameron. You`re playing for the Dbacks. What a surprise. That was the team I played on when I was in majors. Hopefully your uniforms look cool, because mine sure didn`t. Have fun. Are you and Dad staying busy with church callings, Mom? Are you going on the snow campout Dad? By the way, I got your letter that you just sent. I`m looking forward to getting your written letter.

Oh ya, Elder Da Silva wants to know if anyone has asked about me. His mom tells him that people ask about him a lot and he wants to know if people ask about me.

We had Zone Conference last Wednesday. It was good. Presidente Peterson told us that we have to speak more Spanish. He says that we`re speaking too much English. We all have toimprove om that. We found out more about Presidente Heaton. He is from Cedar City , UT. He served in the Uruguay-Paraguay Mission so he`s really excited to come back. Presidente and Hermana Peterson didn`t like talking about it. They`re really sad. They don`t want to go home. They told us that they want to make their last four months the best. That`s what we`re going to do.

All of the Chilieans were able to talk with their families. The two Elders from Concepciòn were not ble to call their families, but they were able to call some family friends. Their families are all fine.

I went on divisions with Elder Bitnoff last week. He is one of the Zone Leaders. I stayed in Salto. Elder Jimenez, the other Zone Leader, went to Bella Uniòn with Elder Da Silva. I was with Elder Bitnoff from Wednesday afternoon until Friday afternoon. It was a long two days. He walks very fast. It also doesn`t help that the whole area is hills. It was a good experience though. I learned a lot.

We have a baptism this Saturday for Maxi. His dad, Moises, got baptized in January. He is eight or nine. He`s excited. We have a goal for seven baptisms this month. We are working hard to make sure we accomplish that goal.

Mom, you might want to look at Pomeroy`s. I know that they have a shoulder bag. I`m not sure if it`s waterproof or not, but it`s worth a try. Thanks for sending those packages. I should get those in a couple of weeks.

I can`t think of anything else to say. I ope you all have a good week.

Love,
Elder Ethan Jones

Me Again

Hola Familia,

Espero que todo estè bien. All is well in Uruguay . We didn`t feel anything from the earthquake. We have been hearing a lot about it though. There are a lot of missionaries from Chile in my mission. They have all been calling their families to make sure they`re all right. There are two Elders from Concepciòn that have not been able to contact their families yet. They`ve tried calling and emailing but nothing works. They`re really nervous, which is understandable. Hopefully everything works out for them. We heard that all the missionaries are alive. That`s good. We were watching the news at a member`s house yesterday. They showed some of the damage from Santiago . It was pretty bad. I can`t even imagine how bad Concepciòn looks.

Our new mission president is Ronald W. Heaton. He`s from Utah. He gets here July 1 at 1 o`clock in the afternoon. Presidente Petersen leaves the same day at 5 o`clock. The two of them probably won`t be able to talk at all. We have Zone Conference on Wednesday so we will probably find out more about him.

There`s not much to report about. None of our investigators came to church yesterday. We were bummed. Most of them went to Carnaval in Brazil . Stupid Carnaval. We have a lot of investigators that have baptismal dates for March, so we are working hard with them. We have one really good investigator, Angelo. He`s great. I think I talked about him. He`s Catholic. He knows too much about religion. He tries to explain to us how our church works. It`s kind of funny. He doesn`t believe in Josè Smith. We told him the only way he can know is if he prays. He will get baptized eventually. It will probably be after I leave Bella Uniòn but as long as he gets baptized.

It sounds like all is well at home. Is it starting to warm up? It`s starting to cool down here. I heard the U.S. did pretty well in the Olympics. That`s good. What`s with Kurt Warner retiring? I guess Matt Leinart is the new quarterback. Blaine and Carly are getting hitched May 15. Nice. Too bad I won`t be there to make it awesome. They`re going to live in Globe. I guess Blaine won`t be selling his house. Mom, what`s the deal with going to Water Mart 20 minutes before it closed? I`m glad I wasn`t there because, as you know, I did not like when people did that. Oh well. I think that`s about it for this week. Thanks for everything. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Ethan Jones