Elder CJones: Little Wonders

"Love to serve, serve to love" -Dad

A typical Valle Hermoso Twilight

This week was a week well planned and put together by my companion and me. We had a lot of success this week and we thank it to our prayers and the diligence in our work.

We are preparing three people for baptism this month and are hoping that a few more will be willing to come to church so they can start their eternal progression. The work that we do together is powerful and we know that is all because we trust in each other and in God.

Flor is a mother who is looking to find happiness in her life. She is about 45 and one of her friends who lives in Utah told her about the church. She is coming every week. She has a desire to learn, to be baptized, and share the Gospel with the people around her. She is going through a lot of family problems and she needs our prayers so she can feel happy and have the blessings of the Gospel and a happy family in her life.

Estrella is another investigator, is 14 years old. We met her one morning as we were walking down a dirt road. She was on the second floor of her house and through the window and we began to talk to her. Our recent convert, Anahi, is helping us teach her so Estrella can feel like she has friends at church. She is really happy when she has the chance to talk to us and come to church.

Marianela is a young mom. She is 20. Her husband is a member of the church and they are looking toward a goal as an eternal family. She is feeling that she needs to wait for baptism but we are trying to help her understand that the longer she waits the longer it will be until they can go to the temple. Pray for them both that they will be able to go to the temple in a year.

 I made Brownies!!

One of the hardest things for me here in the mission is the heat!! The average temprature each day is 104 degrees. Some days are hotter than others. The humidity is deadly! On a normal day, we have 95% humidity. When it first started to get hot I was very against it! The members who know me know that I love the cold. I have gotten used to the heat - - - but not all the way. I was really not a fan this week because it got REALLY, REALLY hot! July and August are the HOTTEST months of the year. During the day we pray for clouds becausethe shade is wonderful. As it changes to night, it's most peaceful and beautiful, with bugs of course.

One night, as we were walking it slowly changed from day to night. I was able to see more stars and the creations of God during the nights here in Valle Hermoso. As I was peacefully walking with my companion, I was reminded of one of my greatest testimony builders before I left, an experience from my job before the mission, Harmons.

Many things can testify of Jesus Christ. One day, when I was working, pushing carts at Harmon's, I heard a song play on the overheard speakers, "Little Wonders,"  by Rob Thomas. It comes from one of my favorite Disney movies. I listened to the lyrics as I took out the trash. As the part of the movie played through my mind, I felt a rush of something I can't explain. It's a feeling that's common to me only at times when I intensely feel the Spirit. As I exited the building, I put in an earbud and turned on the song again, analyzing it for ways it relates to the gospel. The lyrics stunningly, in my mind, related so well to mortal life and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The following are the lyrics to the song and my attempt to verbally analyze them.
As we repent, we are told that our sins are no longer remembered by the Lord,

Let it go

Let it roll right off your shoulder

Don't you know

The hardest part is over

Let it in

Let your clarity define you

In the end

We will only just remember how it feels

In the end of these mortal lives, we will only remember the unconditional mercy our Mediator shows on us when we truly repent.

In one of the classrooms in the Alta Seminary building, a teacher had a single strand of string that ran the diagonal length of the room. The string, itself, represents eternity, forever extending in both directions. In the middle of the string was a single knot, which represents mortal life. That knot will always be there no matter how long the string is. Mortal life will always determine our eternal kingdom. This mortal life, this blip in time, is so vitally important it accounts for the entire eternity afterwards. Therefore:

Our lives are made

In these small hours

Small tender mercies we see from the Lord:

These little wonders

These twists and turns of fate

Time falls away

But these small hours

These small hours still remain

Again reminding us of the power of repentance:

Let it slide

Let your troubles fall behind you

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” So I thought as I listened:

Let it shine

Until you feel it all around you

And I don't mind

If it's me you need to turn to

We'll get by

It's the heart that really matters in the end

Earth life is critical:

Our lives are made

In these small hours

These little wonders

These twists and turns of fate

Time falls away

But these small hours

These small hours still remain

The power of the Atonement is one of amazement! We will never fully understand its power, but the Lord does:

All of my regret

Will wash away some how

But I can not forget

The way I feel right now

So using the Atonement here in mortal life is so critical to the eternal progression of self:

In these small hours

These little wonders

These twists and turns of fate

These twists and turns of fate

Time falls away but these small hours

These small hours, still remain

Still remain

These little wonders

These twists and turns of fate

Time falls away

But these small hours

These little wonders still remain

I know that each of us receive our promptings from the Spirit in different ways. God knows each one of us personally and He knows how He can touch each of our hearts so that we can have a change. I know that God loves us all and wants us to be successful and as we turn to him, our lives WILL change.

--
Elder Corom Jones

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

-Doctrine and Covenants 88:84

 Zona Poderosa Valle Hermoso
FRONT l to r: Elder Dangerfield, Elder Shipton, Elder Henley,
Elder Palacios, Elder Dias, Elder Hidalgo, Elder Chosco, Yo
BACK: l to r: Elder Hernandez, Elder Cruz

Elder CJones: Escuela Para Padres

"Jones, you're officially a dad now." -Elder Dangerfield

Every week we, as missionaries, have the chance to help the government here with a class for all adults that want to learn how to be better parents. It's called Escuela para Padres, or Dad School. This week was the last lesson and graduation for everyone that attended. Because of the help we give every week we got a card to say thank you, thus I attended a school to be a better dad, and so I am an official dad!

I love the work here. This week five people to come to church with us. One lady will be baptized next week. She has a huge desire to change. She came looking for our church on her own. Her name is Flor. Another family, the Mendoza family, came to church and they loved it! One of the daughters is a very strong Christian and doesn't really want to change. Please pray for her so she can feel the truth and that she will want to search for the truth on her own.

I know for certain that our Heavenly Father knows each of us personally and he wants the best for us. Siguen en la verdad y van a recibir bastantes bendiciones!

--
Les quiero mucho!!
Elder Corom Jones

Elder CJones: Birthday and Basketball and a Bautismo

"Limpia tu mente del 'No Puedo'"
-Unknown

This week was packed with good and bad things, like every week, but I really loved this week!

I'll start with a week ago. I missed an email due to a lot of work that we have to do as missionaries. We had a baptism a couple weeks ago, Cinthia was baptized to join her sister, Anahi, as a member of the church!

This week I got to play in two basketball games! Our first was on Tuesday and the other team didn't show so we won haha. We got some guys around to play and our team played against the refs and the other men that were there. Our second game we received bad news that we were to lose one of our biggest guys. Yet, we had hope and we beat the team in first place by one point! I love basketball and it helps us take a break from the work so we can recharge our mission energy!

We met some really cool people this week: Christina, Carolina and Carla. They are friends and invited us to teach them this week. They are really cool and they came to church this week!! Pray for them that they will feel the desire to continue and pray as well for the members and the bishop to help us more with the missionary work.

There are two Mama Galletas in our area. Mama Galletas are people that really show and love the missionaries. Two of them, Hermana Dinora and Hermana Tellez, put on a party for my birthday. We had food and cake and music! It was really cool and I love the people here!

I know this Gospel is true, I know that as we continue to work hard we will be blessed if we abide by it's teachings, one thing we are sharing with the people.

THE PARABLE OF THE PEARL

You have seven beautiful pearls. They are very brilliant and shine brightly. You meet a man that has nothing, no house, no food, no car, nothing. How many pearls would you be willing to give him? Two? Three? Let's say you give him six. You tell him that he can do whatever he wants with his six pearls but the last is yours, and it's very important to you. How would you feel about this man if you found out that he robbed you of your last pearl? Angry? Maybe he is greedy? Our Savior has given us six days to do what those things we need to do and he gives us one day, Sunday, to specifically remember Him.

I love this work and the amazing things that happen as we follow all of the commandments!

-- Elder Corom Jones

CLICK HERE for his birthday cake video

Elder CJones: Another Baptism

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."
-George Washington

This week we were ablet o have another baptism; another soul on their journey back to their Father in Heaven. Nothing brings greater joy then that in the heart of a missionary when another investigator wants to be baptized.

Every week we start with a fresh slate. We give our investigators a few weeks to come to church and if they don't show progression then we leave them so they have a chance to reflect on our messages.

I love it out here!! I am getting more comfortable out here and I love the mission! The Mexican people normally only eat one meal a day in the early afternoon. It's a large meal. We eat tortillas everyday. Beans, rice, and chicken are the main foods that we eat. I am getting tired of eating chicken haha. Since I live so close to the border, there are benefits from that. We have a lot of American restaurants here. My companion has been out for 10 months. We are working hard
together!

As we celebrate our country's anniversary remember the blessings we have as a country and as a church and never forget that we can share the Gospel whenever we want and in other countries they can't.

--
Love you all!!
Elder Corom Jones

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln

Sorry---no photos this week.