Elder HJones: Dedication of the Concepcion Temple!

Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to and watch the dedication of the temple in Concepcion.

It was awesome!!

The Spirit was really strong and my testimony for the importance of the temple as grown. President Nelson spoke and he had so much power in his words. (So much so that the earth shook where we were when he was giving the dedicatory prayer!) I know that Pres. Nelson is a prophet of God. I know that temples are important. Temples are necessary for us to make ordinances and enter in the kingdom of God!

And this past week we baptized Ignacio. He was super prepared when we found him. God prepared him. We just found him, taught him, and baptized him. I love being an instrument in the hands of God! And this next week we are planning on baptizing Luis. Please pray that he can feel the Spirit and have the desire to do it.

Elder Jones

Elder EJones: Week 6!

This week has been a lot better. My companion and I have grown a lot: learning better together and laughing more. This week marks the first 6 weeks of my mission, the first transfer in the mission but it has been really good, I'm excited to make this next 6 weeks even better.

This week I read in Helaman about Samuel the Lamanite (Sam the Lam haha) and in his three or four chapters he mentions repentance 26 times. I'm learning that I need to do a better job at crying repentance. And that doesn't mean they have to be doing something bad or wrong, but to change. Like to start reading the Book of Mormon or start praying. And these are the same things Christ teaches when He visited the Americas. He taught the people to repent and be baptized in His name. This week was hard. Not a lot of people progressed and it feels like were losing some of our investigators. But I'm learning to submit my will to the Lord and do all I can to find people. He will help me find those he has prepared.

No weird food this week, just the normal. We always have soup and rice and chicken, it's all good. My health is still really good, so I'm glad. And I'm learning to be more happy, and that as I smile the happier I am. So don't forget to SMILE!!

Love you,
Elder Jones

P.S.
Just for the record. This week we helped some random lady bury her dead dog and helped other people figure out some electrical work in their house! It helps that my companion likes electrical work so we figured things out together! And it's so weird, I have the "work bug" alot!

(Definition "Work bug" what happens when you are compulsive about cleaning).

Elder ZJones: Doctrine of Christ

We had Zone Conference this past week! We talked about the importance for us to apply the Doctrine Of Christ in our lives before we share it with others. The Doctrine of Christ is:

Faith in Jesus Christ

Repentance

Baptism By Immersion for the Remission of Sins

Laying on of Hands For the Gift of The Holy Ghost and

Enduring to the End

We need to set goals and make sure that we are progressing in these things and that we know the ways that we can become better. There is no perfect member or degree that we can learn. We should continue to grow in wisdom and to be more like Christ!

Yesterday, we had a baptism for Sara and Cielo and will be planning on confirming them on Sunday. Pray for them and Jeremias that he will be baptized next week as well! Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder EJones: One Day at a Time

This week was full of lots of things!!

We had the opportunity to hear from our prophet president Russell M. Nelson two times this week!! The first was a broadcast from Lima, Peru where he spoke to the missionaries. The second time was a transmission from La Paz for the members in Bolivia.

He spoke of the teaching of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi and our responsibilities to learn the gospel and to share it. He reminded us to do as Jesus Christ did while He was on the earth: He taught to baptize, to teach doctrine, and that there be no disputations among the people. On Sunday, President Nelson spoke to all the members in Bolivia and talked in SPANISH!! He taught of the responsibility to learn the gospel in our families, and the responsibility of parents to teach their children!!

I had my testimony strengthened of the divinity and power of the prophet of God. As we listen to the words of the prophet, and apply his counsel in our lives to go to the temple, and to learn in our families, we can receive marvelous blessings!!

We had a baptism this week and it was an amazing experience. The first for me and Elder Reyes!! I got to baptize our investigator!! It was the coolest and most humbling experience in the world to be able to baptize in Spanish, and then my companion confirmed our friend in sacrament meeting.

Pray that the people will continue to open their hearts to receive this message, the message of eternal joy and happiness!!


haha Forgot to mention another thing. So Friday night at like 8:30 were walking to another appointment and we get a call for me to speak in church that Sunday. So I had Saturday to prepare a 10 minute talk in Spanish on "Enduring to the End" in our little time to study because we had the conference with President Nelson! haha. But it went well and the gift of tongues is real!!

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Hola!

So I am doing really good. We are working SUPER hard. This past week was a week of miracles.

At the beginning of the week, it was hard. A family that we had been teaching told us that they didn't want anything with us anymore. That was after we had taught three people in their family and they all had baptismal dates. When we stopped by their house to teach them, they told us to leave. That's how our week started. But we continued working hard and prayed a lot. We literally talked with everyone in the streets. We received a lot of rejection, but found a lot of people. And now looking back, it was a week of success!! God is so good!

Elder ZJones: Petting Zoo

Elder ZJones: Mother's Day in October

This is what Mother's Day in October looks like at the Jones Home! (Vive el dia de las madres en Argentina!!)

Elder CJones: Bienvenido a Casa!

Elder Corom Jones arrived home on October 17, 2018, having served an honorable mission 

to the Mexico Reynosa/ Mexico Monterrey East Mission.

Elder EJones: Take Note

This week was full of ups and downs. First off, we invited a friend to watch conference and he said he would. So long story short, we didn't see him at the conference so when we had our appointment we asked him why he wasn't there. Turns out he was there!! He just walked in late and didn't see us. SO we got really excited! Turns out, he also had notes from all the Sunday morning talks so we were able to talk and testify of prophets!!

This week we also had a couple of friends that just kinda stopped listening to us, didn't want to read the Book of Mormon, or listen to our message. So that was kinda rough. I'm learning to be happy even if people reject the message we have.

We had a multi-stake conference this Sunday and got to hear from stake presidents and our mission president. They talked a lot about sustaining the prophet, living as examples, and living to show that we sustain the prophet. As we live to sustain the prophet, we live and are example and representatives of Christ. All of us should share the gospel and live as example to all those around us! I know this is Christs Church and that he calls prophets today!!

Love you all,
Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: Hola!

Where do I want to start. This week was good . . .and hard.

We actually found a lot of people during the week to teach and to help, but by the end of the week none of them didn't want anything more to do with us. Getting people to church was hard. We went Sunday morning to wake people up and take people to church. When we passed by the first time for a family, they were excited, got up, and started getting ready. When we passed by 10 minutes afterwards for them, they said no. They explained they didn't have shoes, though they were wearing shoes when we passed by. Others weren't ready and weren't going to go. Others just didn't answer. So we didn't have the chance to get the people to church. After church I was a little frustrated and disappointed that nobody wanted to come. Pray for us.

Pray that this weekend we can prepare our friend, Lucia, to be baptized and the next week we can prepare one more person. We are trying this week to look for people who have been to church before to get them to go again.

This week we had a plaza abierta in an area called Open Door on Sunday. It is far from Lujan, about 30 minutes in bus. So members are starting to meet there on Sundays in the house of a member. So I went to two sacrament meetings. It was cool. We talked to a lot of people on Saturday and invited them to come to church.

Elder HJones: This Week

This week was kinda hard but it was good. I have learned that sometimes the mission is really good to you, but sometimes you have problems.

Today was kinda crazy. It's a holiday today here in Chile. Which means that places aren't open for emailing, so we have to email from the house of a member, so I don't have a bunch of time.

We didn't baptize this week because we didn't have that many people progressing in the beginning of the week. But we found a couple people that really want to learn more, two families in particular. Miriam, Ariel, and Alex. They are way awesome. Miriam is the grandmother. She came to church with us us last week and liked it a lot. (But we do need to teach the members how to fellowship our friends, because the members sometimes don't really understand how important that is). Miriam liked Church a lot and we are working with their family.

Also, we met a woman named Jennifer. She is the wife of a convert and she is very cool, and knows that the church is a good thing and wants to be a part of it, but she is really slow in the progressing part of it. So we are trying to help her recognize an answer and hopefully she can be baptized on Sunday.

And we met another family a grandmother, mother and children. Silvia, Karen and the children Brandon and Byron. They are really awesome and we are helping them attend church and feel the Spirit, So we have some people that can really progress and hopefully they can do it. I know they can!

So here's something cool: The other day we talked to our convert, Jeannette. She has had a bunch of problems in her life. She just broke up with her pareja (boyfriend). They were living together and he was cheating on her, so they ended the relationship. But through it all she got baptized. And the other day we were talking to her. She didn't come to church the past week to receive the Holy Ghost, so next week she will. But we were talking about destiny. She started saying that she thinks that God sent us to her, specifically at this time, to help her with the problems that she is facing now. And she is so happy that God is watching over her and her family. It was cool to hear and see that she recognizes us as representatives of Jesus Christ. And that she knows that God sent us to her to teach her and her family, and to baptize them. It's so cool to hear the testimony of your converts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And no for some Spanish:


Muchas gracias! Yo me encanta hablar de la familia con las personas aca en Chile. Porque es por medio de la familia que encontremos gozo y felicidad. Cuando las personas ven una foto de mi familia todas piensan que es gigante! Y si, es verdad. Yo recuerdo una vez durante una entrevista la amiga que yo estaba entrevistando  no estaba hablando mucho. Ella fue muy tímida y ella no sentía el espíritu. Pero yo le mostré una foto de nuestra familia y empece hablar de mi familia. Las bendiciones y la felicidad que yo he recibido por medio de mi familia y el evangelio. y despues todo cambio. Ella empezó hablar y hacer preguntas. Ella sintió el espiritu y la entrevista salio super bien, fue tan bakan! Entonces muchas gracias por todo. Estoy muy agradecidos por ustedes y las cosas que me han enseñado. Amo mi familia!

Les amo mucho! Elder Jones

No tengo mucho de tiempo. Pero digan a la familia que les amo y siempre estoy orando por ellos. Por favor oren por las personas que escribí antes. Ellos necesitan sentir el espiritu. Estoy bien. Estamos trabajando muy duro y Dios nos esta bendiciendo. Oh, y por favor oren por mi distrito. Que podemos lograr nuestra meta de 10 bautismos en el mes de octubre. Hasta ahora tenemos 3, necesitamos mas! Muchas gracias!

Elder EJones: Prophets, Apostles, and Revelation

Conference in the Bishop's Office!

This week was a great week!!

General Conference was amazing. I was able to watch it in English with five other American missionaries in the bishop's office of one of our church buildings. It's amazing to me how the Lord is fulfilling his promise in the Book of Mormon to share His gospel with all people in their own language. I loved learning about taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ. It is our job to take upon us His name, and to become one in Christ. Love Him, defend Him, and serve Him by serving others.

This week was funny because in one of our lessons to a family they had me read a couple scriptures in English because they thought it was so cool. I also had the opportunity to give a priesthood blessing with my companion. This strengthened me to know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, that it is the same Holy Ghost who testifies to all that these things are true. And that His gospel is true, no matter what language we are speaking.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church and through His prophets we receive His word.

He loves us.

As we learn to put Him at the center of our lives and in our hearts, President Eyring said, He will write His name in our hearts.

Let us not forget that He lives and loves us, and through Him we can do all things.

Elder ZJones: I love General Conference!

I loved General Conference and there were so many things that I learned.

I learned more about the importance to take upon me that name of Christ and His Church. It is the way that we show Him that we do love Him and that we know that this is His church. Especially as a missionary when everyone asks if we are Mormons and stuff. I know that as we testify that we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they will feel the spirit and know that this is His Church.

Now we have the great chance to continue to study there words to grow spiritually throughout the next 6 months!

This week we did baptize Jeremias and Adaluz. It was awesome that the Mom, Annabella finally was able to agree to this and the kids were super happy. I am grateful for the spirit for helping us this week. A lot happened this week. Monday we had Meetings. Tuesday we were working in another area with the Zone Leaders and learning from them. On Wednsday we had a mission activit/ Party for reaching our goal of more that 150 baptisms this past month. On Thursday we had the baptisms. Friday was normal and Saturday and Sunday or course the highlight of the week! So a lot happened and many great things! We were super happy!

Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder HJones: GENERAL CONFERENCE!!

So this week we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to General Conference!! It was really uplifting and I learned a lot. I also felt the great love that God and Jesus Christ have for each one of us. One thing that I learned during conference is that God trusts us. He trusts in the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He gives us responsibilities and new revelations because He trusts in us and knows that we will follow Him. But of course, it's up to each one of us if we will follow Him. He trusts us and He wants all of us to return to Him.

This week we worked really hard to find new people and to get people to church. We found some awesome people and a family that is really receptive! But we weren't able to get anyone to go to church with us. It's always a different feeling when you walk into the church and you don't have a friend with you. So this week we are going to work really hard to get people to come to church with us!

This past week God blessed us with a miracle. We baptized Jeannette, the mother of two of our recent converts. It was a great experience. God is so good.

Have a great week!

Elder Jones

Elder CJones: The Time Period That Most Changed My Life

"The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is." -President Henry B. Eyring

This week we have been looking for even more people to come to church and help!! Before I go home we are working with one person that can be baptized--Memo! We are praying really hard that he will progress so that he can make the decision to be baptized. I know that it will change his life! Please keep him in your prayers!!

I have had a lot of deep thoughts this week. As one increases in age, their thoughts become more profound and deep. I have though about my past two years: two years of my life speaking a foreign language, two years eating food that has destroyed my stomach, two years of amazing experiences and really difficult trials, --- there is nothing in the world that would make me regret the decision that I have made! I have loved these past 24 months and I know that it can bless the lives of anyone that wants to have a stronger personal relationship with our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ! This mission is the GREATEST thing that I have ever done!!

I testify of the truthfulness of this Gospel and it is the only source of true and everlasting happiness!!

--
Love you all!!
Elder Corom Jones

"I am not a missionary that uses the Spirit as a tool. I am a missionary in which the Spirit uses me as His tool." -Me