Elder CJones: First Week in Reynosa

Hello Everyone!!

 Today is my first day in the field and it is crazy!! Not much has happened, I'm just getting used to the area and the people. My companion speaks no English so that's really fun, this morning we went to the store and went shopping for our weekly groceries. The members feed us a lot so it's mainly just breakfast that we have to pay for and make ourselves.

My first area is here in Reynosa, on the South Eastern side of the city. It's different than what I thought, all the buildings are less than 3 stories and are all run down, well, at least on my side of the city. It's really really humid here, probably worse than San Diego, our apartment has a small AC in the main room that can only be turned on at night, it goes really really hot during the day. I wish I was back in Utah where it is snowing because I absolutely love the snow!!

I really like my new companion, and the guys in my house are the best, they help me a lot with my Spanish and they are asking me to help with their English.

We went to a member's house for lunch today and we were able to speak with them and learn a lot about the area that I am in and the people that live here. They went and got us fast food, so it wasn't too bad. We had fries and fried chicken.

So Monday morning we woke up really early, well, I guess you could say that we never went fully to sleep, we were packing and got a small amount of a snooze in before we had to meet up to go to the airport. The drive to the airport was a completely different experience, well because one, there was absolutely no traffic, which is a different experience in Mexico City because there is always traffic, we were in the airport for a while and that was really boring and we were all really tired.

The flight was a couple hours before landing in Reynosa. Our mission president met us at the airport with his wife and a couple of other missionaries. We then went out to eat at a breakfast buffet which was really an amazing place to eat. Afterward, we went to the mission home and got our picture taken and were able to call our parents from there. Our mission president then had us go to the AP's home and sleep for about 3 hours which was really needed. We returned to the mission office and got more to eat and then had meetings for 4 hours. Just about the rules and things that the mission president needed to tell us. We then received our companions and some of us left to our areas. I left last night to my area and stayed at our house last night, there are some great things that I'm learning here and I huge one is humility, I am not able to talk with the people like I want to and that is something I will be working on these next couple days.

I want to tell you how much love the Savior has for us as we devote our time to serving Him. I am so excited for these next 2 years and what I will be able to learn in another language and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know he lives and that he is our Savior and Redeemer, I know that he is always there for us and when we work hard, we will be able to overcome anything that comes our way.

Keep the love and never stop,
Elder Corom Jones

My new P-day is on Monday

Elder CJones: Last P-Day in the MTC and Thanksgiving

It's finally here!

Monday morning at 2:30 am and we leave for our mission in Northern Mexico. It's crazy to think that I've been out here for 6 weeks, an entire transfer, there are a total of 16 transfers in the mission, including the one in the MTC. It's absolutely crazy to think that in one week, I will be out somewhere, walking the streets and trying to find people to teach to come to Christ. I know that this gospel is true and that if we all turn to Christ and be perfected in Him, we can do anything.

This last week, I have to say, has been one of the most spiritual uplifting weeks of my entire life. Testimony meetings with our district are crazy! There is so much emotion in the room, everyone is in tears, this has been the most spiritual experience of my life and I am so excited to go out to the field and teach this wonderful gospel to the people outside the enclosed compound we are in.

Some crazy miracle have happened this week, my testimony of faith, prayer, and fasting have grown exponentially this week. One of our guys had a really hard week, when he checked his e-mail last week he found out that his grandmother's liver failed and had a 10% chance of living, his mom was diagnosed with cancer, and he lost his soccer scholarship, all in one week. This week, most of the guys in our district fasted for his grandmother, we prayed and every prayer that was offered this week was for his grandmother. He was able to check his e-mail during the week to be updated. When the doctor's went in to do the surgery, she didn't need it, she was progressing on her own. It's such a blessing to see the miracles that are wrought through faith, prayers and fasting.

There have been so many things that have grown my testimony this week!! My district had the most amazing testimony meeting this last Sunday, emotions were crazy high and tears were shed. I love Jesus Christ, I know he is my Savior and Redeemer. I know he lives and that he loves us all.

Not much new goes on besides all that, after I get into the field, we will all have the most amazing experiences as we begin to teach real investigators about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings it brings. I know that as I invite the Spirit, that I will be blessed because I have already seen the blessings that come when I teach with other missionaries.

One really cool experience I've had this last little while, we get to teach other missionaries as they pretend to be investigators. I also have the opportunity to act as an investigator for another missionary as he practices teaching. We have to choose a role of someone we know of and use them as an example of our investigator. I chose the role of one of my ancestors that was converted to the church, Fred Kemmethmueller. It's been such an amazing experience because when I am being taught, I feel the power of the Spirit as I act like he would have and when I do, the Spirit testifies to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the power that comes when we truly convert our lives to Jesus Christ, as we have a true change of heart.

Speaking of changes of heart, this week I have been studying the topic of charity and how when we show charity, we experience a change of heart in ourselves and, in turn, we can change the hearts of others. I've studied how service changes our hearts to love the people, and when we love the people and the culture, we become true example and disciples of the Lord.

I've read Mosiah 2:9-19,21 and Alma 5, as I read Mosiah I changed all the words of service to love, and then when I read in Alma, I asked myself if I could feel that mighty change of heart.

My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.

But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to [love] you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.

I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your [love], even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;

Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you—

And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might [love] you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day.

Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day.

Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your [love], I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the [love] of your fellow beings ye are only in the [love] of your God.

Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to [love] you, then ought not ye to labor to [love] one another?

And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your [love], and yet has been in the [love] of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!

I say unto you that if ye should [love] him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should [love] him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

I know that as we all go out and love the people that we can have a mighty change in our hearts, like that of Alma the Younger, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, King Lamoni, and King Lamoni's Father. We can all have our hearts converted to the Gospel as we go and love other children of God.

I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

Can we feel that love in our hearts? Do we truly have a change of heart to become like Christ?? I love the Mexican people, they are truly children of God and God has called me to serve them. As many of them have the opportunity to work here in the MTC, we have the ability to talk with them and really get to know and love them as a people. I love my teachers. they are both from Mexico and they truly are teachers called of God and called to teach me so I can learn how to teach the people in my mission.

I love this opportunity to serve and I am so excited to finally get our there and share this Gospel to the people in Reynosa!

I love you all!! I pray for you all every night to constantly have the Spirit in your lives. Never be ashamed to preach the Gospel to people you come in contact with. This fire of the Gospel I will never let die. I love this Gospel with my entire soul and I hope you all will study, pray and exercise faith to do the same.

-- Elder Corom Jones

"Back home you turned to your family, friends and leaders for help. Now in the mission, when you need help, you bend your knees and plead with the Father." -Presidente Avila

Elder CJones: 11 Days to the Field!!

Hola!!

This week has just been a great week, as the weeks get farther into the MTC and as we are getting closer to joining our fellow missionaries in the field, we feel the comfort of God everyday as we work hard and study harder and love the hardest. The MTC experience is amazing, there is a strict schedule everyday but it's for the best, so you can work hard and become a better missionary.

Great things and not so great things happened this week, as I told you, on Friday we had to go to the Embassy to apply for our residencies, there were tons of people, and a couple of us tried to place some Books of Mormon to people walking around the building. The Mexican people are amazing!! They are such hard workers and they love the missionaries. The church hires people that live nearby to work inside the MTC, they do tons of yard work, they are chefs, they clean and they are so respectful of us as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Friday, a good majority of the missionaries here were served chicken that had something wrong with it, a few guys, including me got sick from it, it's all good though, I know that the Lord is watching over all of us and I know that it is a blessing because that's what it will be like out in the field for the rest of my mission.

Out here in the MTC and I know it will happen in the field, Lucifer and his army is trying to make the missionaries feel that they aren't good enough, that they can't do the work of the Lord and it's hard for some missionaries here to see that. But as we have bi-weekly testimony meetings as a district and really get to know each other, I know that it is important to develop a good relationship with your companion as well as others in your district because they will help you through the hard times. The power of the priesthood is real and it works!! There is no shortage of it here in the MTC as we give blessings a lot to help other elders get through the hard times looming ahead.

I know that God loves us each individually and that he cares for each one of you. as we practice teaching and as we play the part of an investigator for other missionaries, we understand and feel the Spirit as it resonates in our lessons. The Lord really loves us and works hard to help us feel of that love. I know he loves each one of you and that he is willing to testify that to you is you work hard and never ever take the Gospel for granted.

As all of us got into week 3, which was 2 weeks ago, we are all just ready and prepared to go out and serve, they have really made it so we can learn the language here in the MTC and I know that it will be harder as I get out in the field and work, we all know how to speak the language in basic form now, we are all speaking it very well in our classes and in our lessons, I know that as we have all worked hard and studied that the Lord has blessed us with the Gift of Tongues.

More about the MTC! It's on a 30 acre property of land, it is beautiful!! It was once an old high school but they converted it years ago, it was more of a boarding school because of the houses on the property. One of our teachers went to high school here and told us more about it.

I really love everything that you learn here, and if you have a desire to go on a mission and bless the lives of so many other people, than I know it is the correct choice for you. I promise you that the Lord will bless you as you turn to Him and He will help you change the lives of so many people.

Don't EVER let the adversary get to you, he is deceiving and will do anything he can to destroy a person close to Him. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that if you read it with a real intent to learn and pray with faith that you will receive as well as pray with a sincere heart, you will receive an answer on the power of the Book and the truthfulness it contains.

Oh!! One of our teachers is really stressed with all the things going on in his life. his name is Nefi Alvarez, please keep him in your prayers, it was his birthday this week and we tried our best to make it a great day for him. As well, keep all the missionaries in my district in your prayers because we all need them: Elder Christian Pratt, Elder Tad Richardson, Elder Thomas Payne, Elder Eli Martineau, Elder Jacob Chidister, Elder Ethan Heiner, Elder Grae Hargis, Elder Jacobsen Cole, and Elder Drake Jennings.

--
Love you all,
Elder Corom Jones

Feliz Cumpleanos, Hermano Alvarez!

Elder Jennings and Elder Jones

Elder CJones: Queme Los Barcos!!

Hello Everyone!!

First of all I want to apologize for yesterday, this week our P-Day was moved to Friday. This morning we had to go down to a governmental building and get our fingerprints taken and sign a bunch of documents for residency here in the Mexico. So I am sending it all out today.

I have to say there has been a really big highlight of my week!! Last Friday, I began reading the Book of Mormon again, just to refresh myself of all the information and doctrine that is jam packed in it. I finished on Wednesday and I will tell you all that I know for a fact that the Book of Mormon is the most correct book on the face of the earth and I know that you and anyone who reads it will become closer to God, our Father in Heaven as you work hard to understand His will for you!

I testify that the gift of tongues is real and that is really is a gift from the Spirit. I am still not fluent and need to learn a lot more vocabulary, but it's coming! I can form sentences in my head and say them pretty quickly out loud, I think in Spanish at times and sometimes I can't think of what the word is in English and I can in Spanish. I testify that the gift of tongues is there for those who really pursue the language and want to know it, even more so if you are a missionary.

Sundays are the greatest days here in the mission field, we have our meetings at 9 and then have the rest of the day for personal study and meetings. We have a devotional at 4 and then another one at 8, they are always so beautiful and the Spirit is tangible in the room, as well as our district testimony meeting afterwards.

We love to tell stories and hang out at night with all the guys in our house and district. A little bit more about my district. there are 10 Elders and no sisters. 9 of us are heading out to Reynosa on the 28th, the last is going to the Oregon Salem Mission on the 29th.

Elder Heiner, the one going to Oregon, is from Ogden, he reminds me of the twins, he like the trendy stuff and is great!! He is different than them tho, he really is an awesome guy, he loves breakfast food, watches, floral ties and glasses. Floral ties are kinda the thing down here.

Elder Chidister, the comp of Heiner, is a stud he is from Spanish Fork and loves to swim and sing. He is a great guy to get to know and he wears a robe around the house when we are all in our pajamas and relaxing! He is having a really rough time physically from being here, he has had a headache for over a week and is going to see the neurologist on Monday, pray for him!

Elder Pratt, he is from Gilbert, Arizona. He is the cousin of Scott Urry. Pratt is our district leader and such a great guy. He has some great stories from back home. He is a car guy, loves them to death and has driven sooo many really expensive cars and we love to talk about them together. He really knows how to lead our district, he is really smart and a real gentleman.

Elder Richardson is from Pleasant Grove. He plays soccer and is one great kid! He loves to talk about music and just loves talking to people about all the great things about the mission. He is a great example, he left the church a few years ago and was inactive for a while, but as he came back and decided to go in a mission, he knew that it would bless him and his family.

Elder Payne is from League City, Texas. He is really tall and probably one of the smartest kids I know. He loves to learn about really anything and is really spiritually in tuned. He knows a lot of Spanish and works really hard to learn more. He has some pretty cool stories about living in Texas. League city is about a 30 minute drive south of Houston.

Elder Martineau is from Snowflake, Arizona. He is one of 10 kids and is the oldest, just like me, his comp is Payne and they get along really well and work hard to teach. He is a great kid and I don't talk to him much.

Elder Hargis is from Safford, Arizona. He is a blonde/redhead, he is 6'6" and played basketball during high school. He is a really really hard worker and works probably the hardest to learn the language because it's difficult for him to speak it. His dad is a doctor at the local hospital and he has 4 siblings, the crazy part is this, his dad is a twin, his mom is a twin, he is a twin, and has two siblings that are twins. His parents both went to Ecuador on their missions and that's where they met. His twin sister is going to the Spain Malaga Mission, which includes the Canary Islands!

Elder Cole is from Riverton, he lives really close to us and he is an amazing story teller, his stories could be made into books and movies, him and Hargis probably have the best relationship out of all the companionships in the district. Elder Cole is the king of guy that you really want as a comp, he works really hard but also knows how to have fun!

Elder Jennings is my companion. He looks like Napoleon Dynamite without the big hair, he is a great kid and loves to talk. I've had to learn how to listen and just let him do his thing.

Our district is awesome, we love to sing, and with our bathrooms right next to each other with a thin wall in between, we can hear each other in the bathroom and Elder Richardson and I love to sing duets at night when we both shower. There are 5 rooms in each house and 4 missionaries per room, one of the guys, Elder Pannell, I went to school with! He is a great guy and loves to sing. He is going to the Merida Mexico mission.

Not much is happening down here because of Trump, we are all just glad that Hillary didn't win.

One of the coolest things down here is that people volunteer to come into the MTC and we get to teach them, solely in Spanish, it can get really nerve racking but it is way cool!!

We love to learn idioms in Spanish and in turn we talk to our teachers in Spanish about all the things we say in English and they laugh at what we say, I really love the teachers that we have.

Our district has a motto that we talk about. This last week, we started talking about the ancient people in the Americas and it got into how the Spaniards came and started taking over the land. Cortes was not a very good guy but he started conquering the land, but his men wanted to go back home and wouldn't give an 100% effort to the work, so Cortes, burned the boats and ships that they used to get to the Americas, so "Burn the Boats, we're all in" came to be, is a saying that reminds all of us that we need to keep moving forward and we can't turn back. But I mean, we can't just say it in English, so it is, "Queme los Barcos".

Mail takes about a month to get here to the MTC, if you want to send me a letter that I can read anytime during the week, there are a couple of websites that you can use to type it up and then they print it out here and give it to us.

I testify that as we work hard and endure to the end, that we can conquer any challenge ahead of us as we work hard and have faith. An important part of faith is work, and we need to be working in order for God to bless us.

--
Elder Corom Jones

"[I'm] out here grindin', [I] workin'"
-Jamesthemormon (Workin)

L to R: Elders Payne, Martineau, Richardson, Pratt, Heiner, and Chidester

Lto R: Elders Hargis and Cole

Elder CJones: Four Weeks to Reynosa

It's been crazy to be here and to feel the amazing Spirit that is around all of us here at the MTC. It's so crazy to work with such amazing missionaries and to learn the language with them and to experience the wonderful gift of tongues that will bless you as you work hard and the Spirit provides the rest. I know for a fact that the Lord blesses those who are called to serve His purpose.

It's gotten a lot easier since last week, the language is coming and it's getting easier and easier to teach and speak. There are times when we are in lessons and by the end I had no idea what I said but the Spirit is tangible almost constantly here.

This week was the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, and they are really into it, it's the biggest holiday here, parties go on all night long for like 5 days in a row and there is loud music and a lot of fireworks. Halloween isn't much of a thing here.

Before my mission, I was not a morning person, but as I have adjusted to being in bed at 10:30 and being up at 6:30 isn't too hard, you just have to get used to the time. We work a lot out here, our mornings are packed with classes and our afternoons with language study and teaching. It's such a spiritual experience to see the growth everyone has made.

One of the best parts about being here, the Mexico City Temple is about an hour drive away, and about 2-3 times during our visit here at the MTC we get to go and do temple work. We don't get to choose when we go, we are just randomly assigned and we went today as well as last week. P-day here starts at about 7:45 and ends around 5, the temple trip takes out about a 6 hour block from that so we have to use time wisely on the days when we do go to the temple.

We practice teaching people everyday, solely in Spanish, along with that, we have scriptures to memorize, and just you really have to know how to connect with the investigators because it is crucial to have them trust you and they have to know you are a representative of Christ.

It's important that you always have the Spirit with you so He can inspire you and tell you exactly what to say. I have faith and know for a fact that Heavenly Father is there for all of us and is willing to help us if we just let him into our lives, because he will change us.

Soooo, the computers here at the MTC are really restrictive and I can't send very many pictures, 2-3 at most, so I will send the better ones now and when I get out in the field, I will add all of them to a folder and share all my pictures with you.

I am so grateful to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and that I have the opportunity to not worry about anything else but serving him for 2 years. Everyone please remember that you are a Child of God and that he loves you and he wants what's best for you because he knows you better than anyone else does, even yourself!! These past 2 days I have used my personal study to really dig into the Book of Mormon, I read from Mosiah 1 - Alma 20 and those few chapters give amazing accounts on what the Lord will do for you if you trust Him and let him work it out, the Nephites were prosperous when they worshiped God.

I challenge you to read Mosiah 27, and search in that chapter what the Lord did for Alma and think about how he can help you in your life overcome your biggest challenges.

Thanks for all the support and love!!

--
Elder Corom Jones

Elder Palma, my morning instuctor