Elder CJones: Blessings and Challenges

Well, this week, the baptism fell through. That doesn't mean we are giving up. What it means is we didn't have a service this week.

This week started out great. We had a baptism scheduled and we started more to work with the members, having Family Home Evening at their homes so the members can invite their friends and we could all work together to make new investigators and have greater success in sharing the gospel to the people here. One of the greatest things we can do as missionaries is use the members to help us find people to teach. We worked hard this week to find people to invite to the Family Home Evenings we have every night and asked every time we ate at people's homes for people that they know that we can go teach.

Tuesday was another day of working and it seems like we are blessed everyday to receive blessings from people. On Tuesday nights, we pick up our clothes from the washers and there is a lady in the ward that helps us with the clothes. As we were walking home, there was a taxi that drove by and started to honk at us, which is normal here. But as we kept walking, he followed us. We then turned and talked to him and he offered us a free ride to our house. The people here are so humble and most of them will help anyone that is a representative of Jesus Christ. Another night, we went into the 7-Eleven--that is really close to our house--to buy a jug of water and a couple other things. As we went to the check stand, we put our items on the counter. Right as we were about to pay, a man just standing there asked if he could pay for our things. We accepted and then afterwards, we asked him why. He told us that he knew that we were representatives of Christ and that we paid for our own missions and he wanted to help a few servants of the Lord. As time went on, we had some amazing experiences that really touched our hearts.

One night, it was pouring rain and we were freezing cold. We were on our way home when we felt that we needed to stop by one more house. We walked into a random neighborhood and knocked on the first door that we felt impressed to knock on. Then, the blessings flowed. A man answered the door. He invited us in out of the rain and we began to talk to him about the church. He told us that he was a member and hadn't been to church in years. We talked to him more and he told us more about the missionaries when he was a boy and how he loves the church. We began to talk about the sacrament and the blessings that come when we go to church. We then turned to the wife. She was sitting there, in the corner, really quiet and we asked if she had anything to ask. She is Catholic. She asked if we were married. We told her that we were missionaries and we can get married after we return home. She then asked if we could fix a marriage and we got a little confused. Then, it got really emotional. They both have been having struggles in their marriage and wanted to fix what was there. We shared with them the Family Proclaimation to the World and said a prayer with them for their family. We ended that night, all in tears, as the power of the Spirit was almost tangible in the room.

Anyway, to say the least, the family that was going to be baptized this week, the family Jimenez Garcia, they bailed the day of. BAILED DAY OF!! Who does that?! We will be working with them more this week to try and build their faith a little more so they can be baptized. They have their agency to choose, we are just here to invite, not to force.

This week has had its ups and downs, but our Heavenly Father has watched over us. He knows all of us personally and He puts people in our paths to change our lives. I know that through prayer miracles are wrought. But it only comes when we are looking for the answer and personally intend to follow through on the answer that is given to us. I know this Gospel changes lives in a matter of one, 30 minute meeting. We saw it happen this week. Through prayer we can change the hearts and the lives of the people around us, and even in ourselves.

-- Elder Corom Jones

 "I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and His doctrine is pure. But He works through us - His imperfect children - and imperfect people make mistakes." -Dieter F Uchtdorf

Elder CJones: Prayers ARE Powerful

Miracles happened this week and it's only through faith and prayer that I know that miracles are possible.

This week we constantly worked with one family in order for them to be baptized this week. Here in Mexico, there are three things we have to ensure during the first meeting: the Word of Wisdom, the Sabbath Day and the Law of Chastity. The hardest one for people here in Mexico is the Law of Chastity. It's really expensive for people here to be legally married--thousands of pesos--and that's a lot to the people here in Mexico. Therefore, this week was totally focused on this family. They had to be married this week.

To be married, the couple must first have a blood test, they must have a meeting with a professional counselor, have papers signed by a doctor and then with all that done, they can go to the Civil Registry to be married. This week we had to get all of this done, and it's not fun at all.

Wednesday we went planned to go to the blood testing center and finish one part of the process. We showed up to their house at 5:30 to take them, after all of our work that day. As we arrived, we were told by the brother that the testing place closed early on Wednesdays. But we had to get the tests done that day, so we all went with faith and said a prayer that we would be able to get the tests done and the results that same day. Each of us said a prayer in our hearts. We headed on the public bus, with the family to Periferico, a big mall, to get their blood tested. We arrived at the place and to our surprise it was still open! We entered and asked the people if we could get the tests done. As we presented all the information that we had for the tests, the brother realized that he didn't have his ID. Again, we each said a prayer in our hearts that we would be able to get the tests done that night. The doctors trusted this brother's word and we were able to proceed with the tests. Afterward, we were told that it would be over an hour to process the tests and to get the results. So, we headed into the mall and hoped that they could get the results before closing in an hour. We took the family out to Pizza Hut and then returned to check right before they closed and the tests were ready and we were able to receive the results before the day was over. But that wasn't the end of the answered prayers.

Thursday pulled around. The day for the meetings. We picked the family up in the morning, with the help of a member, and we went downtown to find this place for the meetings. That morning, my companion and I prayed that everything would work out and specifically that we would be able to get it done the next day. That morning we received word that the Civil Registry would be closed on Saturday. This put a small panic in our mind knowing that we would have to do everything faster. We finally found the place to have the meeting and found out the schedule for them. We found out that the meetings were held twice a day, each for one hour. One meeting in the morning at 9:00 and one in the afternoon at 2:00. Worrying that we missed the times, we glanced over and the clock right as it struck 2:00. A miracle happened. We were able to find the building just in time to arrive inside right when the meeting was about to start.

Friday. Our day of complete rush as we worked hard to get this couple married so they could be baptized. With the help of another brother in the ward, we were able to make it to the Civil Registry in the morning. The building was packed as people registered their children over their names and as people we filing papers to get married. We entered and found the line. It was extremely long and the process to marry two people takes a long time, and each couple needs 4 witnesses. As we waited we shared quick gospel messages with the people around us. An hour later, we finally made it to the desk and we finally able to breathe. Well . . . almost. You see we forgot one part that we thought we had. That was the doctor's note, signed by any doctor, don't ask me, I don't know what it was for.

We frantically rushed out of the building to find the nearest pharmacy to find a pharmacist. We rushed around the block and found a pharmacy close, but their was no doctor. We exited and stood at the corner, looking down every street to see if we could find another pharmacy, and we couldn't so we just started walking, hoping to find another one. At this moment, I said a prayer in my heart that we would be able to find a way to get to the pharmacy and back, and right as that happened we heard someone honking their horn at us. We turned to see someone in their car, across the street yelling at us, but not in a mean way. He beckoned for us to come and see him. We crossed the street and he told us that he was a member of the church from a different ward and stake and had a prompting to stop and ask if we needed help. We told him about our situation and he gave us a ride to the nearest pharmacy. We finished there in 10 minutes or less and rushed to the Civil Registry to get this couple finally married. And, to say the least, they are now civilly married and we are baptizing them on Saturday!!

My testimony and experience with the power of prayer grew an amazing amount this week. Saturday and Sunday, as we walked the streets, my mind would think about the topic of prayer and the great things that happen when we pray. There is something I though of that is really cool about prayer, this is just an idea and thought, not a doctrine:

We experience time as a constant. We can try the best we can but we will never be able to stop, reverse, or fast forward time, that's just life. But our Father in Heaven doesn't, time for Him is a variable, which means He can change it and look at the past, present, and future whenever he would like. When we pray, we are asking our Father in Heaven to help us, we essentially can change the future when we ask the Father and if it be His will. When we understand the great power that prayer holds we will understand that with faith and prayer, we can do anything. Our Father in Heaven just turns back the pages of time and sweaks something very small in the past, which changes the
path of the future and makes it possible for us to do anything because anything is possible when we ask God.

I know these things are true and I know that as we pray, miracles are possible. When we pray we are asking Someone that can do anything, just to do something small for us.  And since He loves us more than we can possibly imagine, we are blessed with the power to do anything through our works and out faith. I know it works and I challenge you to pray with a real intent to follow through with whatever happens and I know, for a fact, that you will be blessed. I love this work and I pray for each of you every night because I know how much this gospel and the Atonement can change our lives.

--
Elder Corom Jones

"The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." (Prayer, Bible Dictionary)