Nine Months Already

Dear Family,

Well, first off, I`m staying in Playa Pascual for a third change. That means I will be celebrating my birthday here. It`s on a fast Sunday again this year. Elder Watson wil still be my comp. I need to give him some slack. The two comps he had before me were pretty lazy missionaries. That didn`t help him at all. He`s told me many times that he`s sorry he didn`t work harder last change. He wants to work harder. I think this coming change will be good. We`re both going to improve ourselves and work harder.

This morning, we went to the temple. Elder Watson and I almost missed the session because we couldn`t figure out how to get there. We knew the general area that the temple was in, we just didn`t know the specific directions. We finally got there. They held the session for us. This trip to the temple was supposed to be a zone activity. There are 20 Elders in my zone and only 6 of us showed up. I don`t know why none of them wanted to go. Oh well, it`s there decision. After the session was over, we saw the oros(greenies) arrive. They were arriving from the airport. We all waved at them as they drove by on the bus. After that, we went to the mall and ate Burger King. It was quite delicious. Unfortunately, they were out vanilla ice cream to make shakes, so we all went to McDonald`s and got McFlurry`s. Now I`m here writing to you.

We have one solid investigator right now. I think I mentioned him last week. His name is Antonio. He is livnig with a recent convert right now. They are getting married this Friday, and Elder Watson and I will probably be going. He`s been to church the last two Sundays in a row. He only needs to come one more to get baptized. We`re going to give him a baptismal date this week. He doesn`t know how to read so we have to go slower with. His soon-to-wife is really helping out though. He`s our only investigator right now.

Utah sounded fun. It sounds like you all did quite a bit. The Jamboree is almost over. Annie is coming soon. Jenny is due in March. I`m going to have some new kids to meet. It sounds like the Dbacks have been busy trading. When to the Cardinals and the Sun Devils start? What`s new in Solomon Ward? Can you give Sister Cluff my new address, if you haven`t already, so she can mail the newsletter. I think I already sent you all my new address.

I hit my nine-month mark this Friday. I can`t believe how fast the time goes. This could be my last change as junior companion. I have to really improve my spanish this change. I am now starting my sixth change.

I guess that`s about it for this week. Thanks for everything that you all do for me. Until next week...

Les quiero,
Elder Ethan Jones

Letter from Elder Jones

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

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

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.

Greetings From Playa Pascual

Dear Everyone,



How is everything? I guess a lot is happening back home. Philmont sounds great. The only place better to be is Playa Pascual , Uruguay . What`s new here? I got my new comp last Wednesday. I was late getting to the bus station to pick him up. I was supposed to be at the bus station at 6:30 AM. I woke up at 6:50. The alarm didn`t go off. Elder Zorilla and I took a taxi to the station. Luckily there were a lot of other missionaries there. We were at the station for a while. We eventually made it back to Playa Pascual. We had to wait for the AP`s to pick up Elder Waton`s luggage. Elder Watson is my comp. We take a city bus from Montevideo to our area. It`s about an hour bus ride. It`s far enough away that we can`t take a taxi there so the AP`s have to take the luggage to our area. Anyways we got that figured out and made it to our area. We are pretty much starting over here. We have no investigators. They all got dropped. Well we have one "investigator". His name is Luis. He has some crazy ideas. We found him last change. I took Elder Watson to meet him on last Saturday. He essentially told us to change our religion. He says the Book of Mormon is an alteration of the Bible. We`re not getting anywhere with him. He doesn`t want to listen to what we have to say. He tries to teach us the "real" gospel. Anyways, we told him we weren`t going to come by anymore. He flipped out. He told us that Jesus wouldn`t do that. He went off for about 5 minutes. We eventually told him we`d come back. We left him some scriptures to read. We`re going back in a month. Besides him, we have no one. We`re going to work with the members more. We`ve made some good plans. We`re hoping to see success. I`m giving another talk in two weeks. This is talk number 4. Ì only have to talk for twelve minutes so it shouldn`t be too hard. Presidente and Hermana Heaton arrive on Thursday. I believe there in Buenos Aires right now having a mission president conference with the Area Presidency.



I`m kept pretty up to date with the World Cup. The U.S. lost to Ghana . Uruguay beat South Korea though. Uruguay will now play Ghana in the quarter finals. All of the Americans were hoping the U.S. would win so Uruguay would play them. Unfortunately, it didn`t happen. Uruguay is doing great though. `We`re still not getting any work doen though. When we clap at houses most people don`t let us in. They see us, but they`re too busy watching the World Cup. I believe the championship game is July 7. It`ll be nice when it`s over.



I don`t know if you remembered Mom, but make sure you send packages in the USPS Flat Rate Boxes. Customs never opens those.



I don`t know what else to say. I guess that`s it for this week. Tell me all about Philmont. Until next week...



Les Quiero,

Elder Ethan Jones

Another Change Gone

Dear Family,



First off, Happy Father`s Day two days ago. What did you buy yourself this year Dad, more camping stuff? I hope it was a good day. Also say Happy Birthday to Grandpa Jorgensen. I looked on the calender and saw that it was his birthday.



Well another change is gone. The last six weeks have flown by. I`m staying in Playa Pascual. Elder Haslam is leaving. He`s actually going to my old area in Paysandù. I`ve been telling him a lot about it. He`s going to look for my memory card when he gets there. I hope he finds it. My new comp is Elder Watson. I`ve met him before and he is hilarious so it should be a fun change. I was hoping to a Latino comp that doesn`t speak English. That would have helped with my Spanish.Elder Watson speaks pretty well though so it should work out. I`m hoping that by the end of this change, I`ll be able to understand everything people say. I can speak alright; it`s the understanding part that I`m still working on. Hopefully by the end of this change I`ll be able to understand everything. I hope that`s the case because this could be my last change as junior comp. A lot of missionaries go up to senior comp their sixth change. We`ll see.



I went to the temple this morning. That was my first time going in almost sixth months. I went my second day in Uruguay . I understood a lot more this time. The first time I didn`t understand hardly any Spanish, but I understood a lot more this time. It felt so good going back. Elder Haslam and I had to spend the night at the zone leaders house because our session was at eight in the morning. My area is about two hours from the temple. We kind of got lost on the way to the temple. We got off the wrong stop. We finally got there though, and it was great.



So Philmont is this week. How long will that last? It sounds like it going to be fun, but as much fun as being in Uruguay . Let me know how that goes. A lot of stuff is happening in the family apparently. I bet that`s fun for everyone. I`m glad I don`t have to set up the backdrops.I`ve done that enough.



So me and Tyler are the only two misisonaries in the ward now. Rock on. Preston`s having a hard time with English. I hope that`s how it is for me.



Uruguay beat Mexico today 1-0. Everyone was pretty happy about that. They also beat South Africa last week 3-0. Whenever we`re on the bus we here about the World Cup. I`m not sure how much longer it goes, but hopefully it ends soon.



The work is slow here right now. We have two investigators right now. We found both of them in the last few days. We`ve had to drop a few investigators because none of them are progressing. I hope this change is successful.



I`ve had to pull money a couple of times in the last two weeks because I`ve had to pay some bills. Luckily, I get to reimburse them and get the money back.



It`s so cold here. I know I say that every week, but it`s cold. It`s really hard to get warm. I do have a pair of thermals though so that helps. I think I`m going to buy a thicker pair of gloves because the ones I have don`t do much. I`m also going to buy a scarf and ear muffs. That`s how cold it is right now.



How`s Water Mart? Who works there now? Did Neil get his mission call? I know Mark Halbert did. He sent me a letter telling me. He`s going to Riverside, California(American Sign Language). He sounds pretty excited to go.



Anyways that`s enough from me. Until next week...



Les quiero,

Elder Ethan Jones

Letter from Uruguay

Dear Everyone,



Well last week was better. I realized I just have to keep working hard and leave the rest up to the Lord. Elder Haslam and I met some interesting people last week. Yesterday, we chatted with a guy for about 20 minutes. He straight up told us that he doesn`t like our church. He had an interesting reason for not liking our church; a reason I had not heard yet. He said he went to our one Sunday about four years ago. After that, he never wanted to go back again. He thinks we spend too much money on our church buildings. He thinks we should be using that money to help the needy. We didn`t really say much. He didn`t want to listen so we left. If he only knew about the Church`s humanitarian services. As we walking away, I told Elder Haslam that that man better not go to Temple Square because he would have a heart attack haha. We meet a lot of interesting people who have some pretty crazy ideas, but I love them. Uruguay is a great place. The people are great. I`m still getting used to the country. Siesta drives me crazy. Nathan knows how siesta is. It kills the work. All the dogs also drive me crazy. Almost everyone has a dog. Everyone time we clap at sometimes house, the dogs start barking which makes it hard to hear people. I`m glad I`m here though. This is where I`m supposed to be.



The weather hasn`t been too cold the last few days. It`s been raining since Saturday morning. It`s still raining right now. We were out contacting on Saturday for a few hours. We were soaked from our knees down. We weren`t really having any success so we finally decided to go home. We got back around six and left at eight to go to a lesson. The rain makes the work hard here, but not impossible. We`ll probably be out in the rain tonight again. Rock on.



We have changes again next Tuesday. This change flew by. I think my Spanish improved quite a bit this change. I started studying harder which helped. I`m catching on to this language. I still can`t understand everything, but I`m getting there. I feel pretty good about the language right now. In fact, I have to repeat the things that my comp says sometimes because the people can`t understand him. That makes me feel pretty good.



The World Cup started last Friday. In terms of missionary work, that is bad for two reasons. First, everyone here loves soccer so, of course, they are going to watch it. Second, Uruguay is in the World Cup this year. The World Cup lasts for a few weeks. We`re not expecting to get into a lot of houses over the next couple of weeks, but we`ll try.



A lot is happening back home. The Jamboree is in a month. Philmont is soon. Westom has an Eagle Project. I guess everyone is staying busy. Preston gets home this week also. It looks like me and Tyler are the only two full-time missionaries right now in Solomon Ward. Is anything new in the ward? Is anything crazy happening in Mesa ? Has construction started on the Gilbert and Phoenix temples yet? I guess that`s all the questions I have.



Can you send me a conference issue of the Ensign? I have a Spanish one, but I want an English one. Normally the Church sends English ones as well, but I don`t know what happened this time.



I guess that`s about it for this week. Thanks for everything. I hope you all have a good week.



Les quiero,

Elder Ethan Jones