Elder CJones: Terminado Mi Ultima Canicula

"Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?" -Alma 60:21 (Captain Moroni)

This week President Regalado called me and told me that my plane ticket has officially been bought, OCTOBER 17!!

This week has been a great week, with a lot of heat and a lot of sweat, but a lot of good fruits! We have been working hard to continually find more people to teach and visit to be able to help them change their lives.

This week we received a really cool reference from a convert, Jetzabel Castillo, of my mission dad, Elder Carrizales. She invited her friend, Natalia, to listen to our message and she accepted, she told us that she wants to have the happiness that Jetza has in her life. Jetza told her that all the happiness comes from being a member of the church. We had a couple lessons with Natalia this week and she has started her reading of the Book of Mormon. After our first lesson she called Jetza and told her that she knows that the gospel will make her happy. Natalia also invited her sister, Alexa to come and listen to us as well. They both are progressing really well and they have a baptismal goal for the 15th of September. They are really really special, they came to church and they told us that love it!

We are also teaching the Salinas family. They are 3 youth that we found in front of their house this last week. They live with their older sister, Leydí that was baptized about 7 years ago and doesn't go and doesn't remember much about the church. They all live with their mom. Isabel, Oscar, and Diana are the 3 that we are teaching. Oscar and Diana are twins and they have come to church twice with us. They are really excited, but they need a little help to get them excited about the church. Isabel was baptized in the Catholic church and she feels that she doesn't need to be baptized again. Pray for this family that they will be able to progress and understand about the importance of the church and baptism. Oscar and Diana come with us to church this week.

REALLY COOL EXPERIENCE, this week we went to see Rocío, a young women that loves thee church, we found her about 3 weeks ago. She mom won't let her come to church or get baptized. She is 17 and needs to be 18 to accept everything without the permission of her mom. She turns 18 on teh 17th of October (go figure), when we asked her about her prayers and the Book of Mormon, she told us that she is praying and that she is already reading in Alma, SHE IS ALMOST HALFWAY DONE WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON IN 3 WEEKS!!! PRAY FOR HER AND HER SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE!!

Elder Bueso and I are working really really well together here in Puertas del Sol, we are enjoying this wonderful work of God which has the power to change lives and hearts!

Love you all!!
--
Elder Corom Jones

Elder HJones: Cambios y Bautismos

So we received transfers this week. And after five transfers (7 months) in Paipote, I am finally leaving. But I am not going that far. It is only a 20 minute car ride to get to my next sector. Now I am working in the center of Copiapo. My new companion is Elder Colson. He is from Grantsville and has two months in the mission and I will be finishing his training.

We baptized two children this past week: Ignacio and Luis. They were super ready and were way excited to get baptized. We also saw the power of the gospel and how it changes the hearts of the people.

Also, we have been teaching a family that have a lot of problems. The mom didn't want her children to be baptized. But little by little the gospel started to get to her. Drop by drop she felt the peace, joy, and happiness that this gospel brings in our lives. And now she wants her kids to get baptized! She had a mighty change of heart! So this week we are planning on baptizing two more people, Daniela and Alonso!

On Sunday we didn't have sacrament meeting. We received a transmission from President Oaks. Elder Christofferson also spoke. They talked a lot about temple blessings, ministering, and tithing. They are things that need to improve here in Chile. And they put a lot of emphasis on those things to see more progress of the church here in Chile.

This week was a week of miracles. I didn't get the change to say goodbye to the people in Paipote. We had a baptism last night and didn't have time. But my 7 months in Paipote will be 7 months that I will never forget!

2 Nephi 28:30  For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

Con mucho amor, Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: The Lord Blessing His Children

This last week was awesome! We had the great blessing of baptizing five people! On Saturday, we baptized four and on Sunday, one. It was such a great experience and they were all excited to be baptized that they wanted to stay in the water. The next day they were saying that they wanted to be baptized again! haha

This next week we are preparing three people to be baptized. But it will take some work. Kayla is 11. Her mom, Alejandra, is a member but was baptized as a kid and never went again, so she doesn't remember much. Alejandra just needs to come to church. We are also helping her to quit smoking, which is her addiction.

We are also teaching Ana. She is the mom of two of the kids that we baptized this past week. We are helping her to receive all the lessons and to continue with her desire to be baptized. Javier and Rocio are great. They are still working towards marriage and are planning to be baptized on the 22nd of this month! Pray that all these people can progress and that we can help them through the help of the Lord.

We have transfers this week--actually tomorrow. I will be staying here in Lujan. My companion will be leaving and will be going to an area in Moreno. He is excited but doesn't want to leave. He was a great companion. I will receive a new companion, Elder Rivera from Peru. He has about 11 months on the mission. Pray that the Lord will help us in the months of September and October!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder EJones: Week Third in the MTC

This week was super fast but super good!!

Elder D. Todd Christofferson was our devotional speaker on Tuesday!! It was the coolest thing in the world. He talked about the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He talked about our role as members and that THIS is The Church of Jesus Christ and He leads and guides this church. We aren't "LDS" or "Mormons." Elder Christofferson talked about how we can't change what other people call us, but we can start with ourselves.

This week's devotional helped strengthen my testimony of Christ, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church, and He still gives revelation through His prophets, because through them He told us of the mistake we've made to not call His church after Him.

The more I'm here in the MTC, the more I'm able to feel of the Savior's love that He has for all of us. He wants us to succeed and return to Him. He wants us to use the agency we have to do that. I've learned more and more that the Lord blesses those who are willing to act. Faith without works is dead.

Just to let you know, I always sing in the MTC choir and it's the best thing in the world!!

Spanish isn't always the easiest to speak and understand. My companion and I taught an "amigo" and  he was a Chilean. At first, it was so hard to understand him. But we learned that sometimes it is not the things others say that we respond to, but the promptings from the Holy Ghost that tell us to testify of something. We've also been able to feel the gift of tongues here, too. But I know that Heavenly Father won't give us that gift unless we are willing to learn all we can in the language first. The gospel is true, and prophets are called of God!!

I put a mission quote up in the mirror in my room, "You have had an eternity to prepare for your mission and you will have an eternity to reflect on it, but you only have two years to live it." I've really tried to take that to heart and make these two years worth it, to be the most obedient and best missionary I can be so that I end with no regrets.

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Bendiciones del Senor

 

This week has been one to remember! I saw the Lord helping us in many ways. This past Sunday we helped a family of cousins and friends come to church. Five of them came and they loved it! We are teaching them and helping them a lot. We are preparing them to be baptized this weekend and helping them to receive the Holy Ghost. We are super excited and grateful that the Lord has helped us with this family.

Yesterday, as we passed by to visit them, one girl said that she does't feel ready to be baptized. But we explained to her that the Lord has specific blessings for her that He wants to give to her now. We also explained why we are baptized. It is to help us to become clean of sin. We don't have to be perfect before we are baptized, we need to follow Him and trust that he will help us and guide us. Pray for them this week that they can prepare for this weekend. (Rudolfo, Patricia, Monica, Agustin and Jazmin).

We are also helping a couple, Javier and Rocio, to get married. They have all their papers ready and will be getting married in a month. We are excited for them and will continue to help them to come to church and to do those things that they are doing now.

I hit a year in the mission which is super crazy to think! I am grateful for all the things that I have learned. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement, The Plan of Happiness, and that Families are centered in His Plan.

In The Family, A Proclamation To The World, it says:
"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

When these priniciples are in the home, God will bless us, strengthen us and guide us!

Love You! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder HJones: A God of Miracles

So this past week was a week of miracles. I learned a lot, especially about God and how we need to trust in Him.

So we had been teaching a 13 year boy named Angel, and in the beginning he wasn't interested at all. He didn't want to go to church or think about getting baptized. But we worked with him and little by little he began to change. He had the desire to go to church and learn more of the gospel. But the hard step was baptism. He still didn't want to be baptized. All of last week we tried to help him understand the importance of baptism, but he didn't want it. So we prayed a lot and put our trust in God, knowing that He would help us.

On Thursday, we taught Angel the Plan of Salvation. And something changed in his mind. He understood it. He understood that baptism was a necessary step to live with God again. So he wanted to do it. And he got baptized on Saturday! And it was during una noche blanca! There were a lot of people getting baptized, so everyone was in white!

I know that God is a God of miracles. That He has a plan for each one of us. And I know that If we put our trust in Him, and will always provide a way!!

 I have learned a lot as district leader and I am very far from perfect. I have felt so many times this transfer the burdens and problems that leaders really do have. My mind is always thinking about investigators, missionaries, and how I can help them. And to be honest, some tears have been shed during this transfer as I have learned how to be a better leader, as I have thought of the things that I need to improve and the things that I am lacking. I  I have learned more and more during this tranfer that I need the help from God, that to be a good leader I need Him.

This week we had zone conference with President Resek. We talked about chapter 12 in Preach My Gospel, about the entrevistas (interviews) and how we can better prepare our investigators for them.
And Presidents told us some exciting news: Elder D. Todd Christofferson is going to come to our mission!! On September 22 he is going to come and speak to all the missionaries. So on this day all the missionaries will meet up in Antofagasta. All 200 (mas o menos) of the missionaries. IT'S GOING TO BE SUPER AWESOME!

Hasta Luego,
Elder Jones

P.S. No puedo creer que hay cuatro misioneros de nuestra familia en la mision. Que loco! Pero un gran bendición!
(I can't believe that there are four missionaries in our family on a mission. So crazy! But what a great blessing)!

Elder EJones: Week Second in the MTC

Hola Everyone!

This week has been crazy. It was super fast!! We've learned so much in the language and in the gospel and it has helped me to grow a lot. We learned about keeping things simple while teaching and making it so that others can feel the Spirit. It's not about what we say to those were teaching, but how they feel the spirit while we teach them. Because we aren't the teachers. The Spirit is and are only acting as the mouthpiece for the Lord.

We were able to watch a devotional from Elder Bednar from a couple years ago where he taught about the Character of Christ. Throughout His whole ministry Christ didn't look inward at all. Even after he had fasted for forty days, after He went through the atonement, after He suffered for our sins, and after He died for us, He was always looking to comfort others and make sure others were okay. We can't always do it the way He did because we aren't perfect like He is, but as we strive to be more like Christ, we should strive to love like Christ would--to love our enemies and to focus on the needs of others rather than our needs.

As we learn to help others, we learn to help ourselves, and while we may be struggling in our own lives, as we look outward to others, we will find joy and through Christ we can lift our own spirits.

I know the Lord will bless us only when we are doing all we can to hearken to His counsel; and when we put in all our work and effort, first. I've been able to feel His love for me this week and I know He wants the best from us --- it's our choice if we want to accept His blessings by living worthy.

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Him

I don't really like to think a lot about how much time I have. A lot of missionaries think about how much time they have, and many know how many days they have remaining. I don't like to think a lot about how much time I have or how much I have left. But I do have to say, time flies!! I can't believe that I hit halfway this week. It's really crazy. There is a feeling a joy and happiness knowing that I  have accomplished one year in the mission. But, it's also sad to think that in a year I will have to remove the name badge.

Everything is normal now for me in Chile (or shall I say, everything is normal for me here in Paipote). I am pretty sure that I should just buy a house right here because I don't think I will every leave! haha  Yes, I am used to the food, the language (even though I cannot speak perfectly yet), and I love the culture.

So this past week, I was able to speak in sacrament meeting. I still remember the first time I spoke in sacrament meting as a missionary. I was really nervous and the members probably didn't understand anything that I said! ha ha

But this time, as I prepared my talk, I thought of two questions. Questions that I am trying to apply better in my life to help strengthen my testimony and help others gain a testimony.

1. What has Jesus Christ done for me?
2. What am I willing to do for Him?

Jesus has done everything for everyone one of us. We can never repay Him for the many things that  He has done. But what are we willing to do for Him? Are you willing to follow His example and "take up your cross?" I know that we can never repay Him. But we can do what He commands. We can do the simple things in this gospel to take up our crosses and follow Him.

Les amo! Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: In the Service of God

Well, Ezrom has finally left for the mission! It is awesome to think that I have three brothers serving missions alongside me. I know that the Lord will bless us and my family. Like it says in Mosiah 2:17

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

As we serve Him, He will bless us with His help and with His guidance.

Everything is good here in Lujan. I have to say that I have gotten used to it and love the area. We ride our bikes about 20 minutes to get to our area. Our area is the poorer part in Lujan and it has been awesome working here. Dirt streets and stuff, but we have bikes. I thought it was super safe here, but yesterday, a teenager, who was high on something, tried to rob us. Nothing happened, really. He tried to hit me with a stick, but some other kids grabbed him. Everything turned out okay. The teenager didn't have any weapons or anything on him. Nonetheless, I believe it is a safer areas. ha ha.

This week, my companion and I had the blessing of helping seven people come to church. We prayed a lot. We asked the Lord that, if we do our part well, He would do His part in helping them come. I know that He helped us Sunday morning as we got up early looking for these people to help them come. As we go to church we can feel of His Spirit and His Love. But more importantly, we go to church to partake of the sacrament. We can think of the covenants that we have made with Him and do all we can to become better. It is a time to reflect and to feel of His love and His Atonement. I am grateful for my Savior and the example that we can follow.

Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

It is through the example of Christ and the chance that we have to change to become more like Our Father in Heaven! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder EJones: First Three Days in the MTC

These first three days in the MTC have been one for the books. It has already been such a great week of learning and finding out my purpose a missionary. Our purpose is simple--to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them to understand and gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and his atonement. To help them learn the the gospel and first principles of the gospel, Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end!!

Things are so great here!!

My companion's name is Elder Dawson and he is from Wyoming. We get along really well!! Our whole District does!

It's funny because we have a district of 14 Elders, 12 of us are going to the Santa Cruz Bolivia mission, and we were all supposed to go to the Mexico MTC, but were here in Provo. But there's a reason were here, so we gotta find out why, and do our best to learn our purpose and to help each other to grow spiritually and mentally.

We all get along super well and literally, all 14 of us go everywhere together and it's so great to already have that bond after only being here for a couple of days. The food is pretty good I guess.  The schedule is good and there's so much class and stuff we have to do and sitting down for hours a day isn't the funnest thing in the world. P.E., or our exercise time, is really nice because it gives us time to let loose after sitting in a room for hours. Most of the Elders in our District all play some type of sport so were all connected there, too.

Our District leader is Elder Jeppson and Elder Dawson and I share the same room with him and his companion, so that's good, were all trying to do the best we can to adjust to the schedule and learn Spanish.

They have a program here that's called SYL or "Speak Your Language." It is a way for us as Elders and Sisters to try to speak our language as much as we can, especially when were not in class. It's crazy because all of the Elders in our District have Spanish backgrounds so were already picking up and learning a lot faster then I think most Elders would learning a new language. But we help each other out a lot and that's really great. I've actually been really surprised (haha) because I haven't felt homesick at all these past days, and maybe that will change, but the connection, fun, and spirituality we have all together in our district is the coolest thing and so I think that's helping us out a lot.

Being a missionary didn't feel real until I got here and put the name badge on!! It's humbling to have my name right by the name Jesus Christ, and to be a personal representative of Him and His gospel. I know that His gospel is key for us and for our eternal salvation. Jesus Christ loves us so much and did the will of the father so that we might repent, grow and become like him. I know that He lives, and want us to learn and grow. And as we put in the effort to learn from him, He will bless us. I know He loves us!!This week has been crazy, but one of the best of my life!! The Lord loves us no matter what we've done. But as we put our trust in him and are wiling to change he will always be there to help us!! The gospel is true, and the Book of Mormon is the word of God!!

Love you guys,
Elder Jones

Avalanche #4

Today he left.

The fourth oldest and second missionary of seven.

Off to Boliva to teach the word of God . . .

He was was supposed to leave yesterday for the Mexico MTC. But because his visa for Bolivia has yet to arrive, he was reassigned to do his training at the Provo MTC. So he waited one extra day.

 

He was greeted by Elder Wilson of Bountiful, his host companion for the day. 

And Ezrom was very happy! 

His full-time mission has begun!

And we saw and felt that it was good!

Elder EJones: Setting Apart

Elder CJones: Puro Trabajar

Howdy All!!

How are you all?? I hope that August is treating you all well. It is really, really hot here in Reynosa. Walking in the sun all day is a normal thing, but I still feel the extreme heat. We are really working hard right now to continuously find new people with their desire to make covenants with our  Heavenly Father and start their spiritual progression towards exaltation.

Right now we have a couple of people that are listening:

Esmeralda - She is an 18 year old that is 5 months pregnant. She was an investigator about a year ago but she recently started listening to us again. She is really excited about her baptism and we hope that
everything will work out for her. She works in a candle shop with her sister and they are the only two that work there. Her day to work all day is Sunday which makes it really hard for her to go to church and her sister sometimes isn't willing to change days with her. Esmeralda is being really patient with everything. Please pray that everything will work according to plans this week so that she can be baptized.

Rocío - She is a 17 year old that we found in the street and we are doing the best we can to help her. She has a huge desire to come to church and listen to our lessons but her mom doesn't let her come to
church. This week will we be working with her mom to trust us and let her daughter come to church. Please pray that the heart of her mom will be softened to let her daughter come to church and listen to us.

Teo and his wife - Teo is an American that was deported and now works making hot dogs every night to make a living and his wife works in a bakery. We will be starting to teach them this week and we ask that you pray that they will be able to have time to listen to us.

We had a really cool experience this week. On Tuesday, we were looking for people and we heard two men call us out and tell us to talk to them. We found out that they were less active members that they were going out to visit other less actives. They told us that they were chatting with all the other elders in the ward, the others were trying to plan a barbecue, and they decided to do visits, just these two. They had never met each but they decided to go help others. It made us so happy that they took the work of ministering to heart and decided to use their time to help others that needed it.
--
Love you all!!
Elder Corom Jones

Elder ZJones: This Week

Everything is good down here in the pais de Argentina! Como sabe, mucho español, milensea, y perros. But everything is just dandy! We had a baptism this past week. We baptized a young boy by the name of Emanuel. He came to church by himself and loves it. He was super excited for his baptism and everything. We will be trying to help his brother, Jeramias, to come to church as well.

The District Leader thing is good. I am still getting used to everything, but I can feel that the Lord is helping me, too. I am always praying for His help, especially when I don't know exactly what I should do!

Love,
Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Commandments are Blessings

This week was really good! We found some awesome people and had a lot of success.

We had 12 investigators at church!! It was awesome! We have been teaching a Bolivian family and they are really receptive and humble. They are from Santa Cruz and they are not married. But we already talked about baptism and marriage, so they said that they will talk and pray to see if they should do it. The mother has a son and grandchildren in Santa Cruz and she wants the missionaries to visit them. So she is going to give us the address to send the missionaries to them in Santa Cruz! But they loved church! We are praying a lot for them to make the correct decisions in their lives to receive all the blessings that God has for them. They told us that the church takes away their burdens. Whenever we visit them and when they are in the church their burdens go away. Because like it says in Jacob 2:8, this gospel heals the wounded soul!

I am learning a lot as district leader. It went a lot better this week. I still have a lot to improve, but I am getting a little used to it. I conducted a baptismal interview yesterday for a man from Haiti. There are a lot of people for Haiti here, they come here to work. He was really humble and said something that I really liked, something that I wish investigators would say, "Si Dios quiere, voy a hacerlo." (If God wants me to, I will do it). Anyway, he is planning to be baptized on the 18th and I am super excited for him.

This has made me think, are we willing to do everything that God wants us to do? Are we willing to do things that maybe we don't want to do, or things that make us uncomfortable, because God wants us to? When we open our hearts and do the will of God we will find happiness. Maybe in the beginning we see commandments as rules and barriers, but they are what keep us on the strait and narrow path, to eventually partake of the most delicious, most white, and sweetest fruit that God has to offer!

This past week was really good, and now we are working with some people to baptize them next week. But thanks for everything. Thanks for your prayers!! Love you guys a ton!

Con amor,

Elder Jones