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 HJones: The Savior's Love

So we had another earthquake yesterday, and I didn't sleep through it this time.

We were eating lunch when the earthquake alarms went off and as we got out of the building, the ground shook.  At first I thought it was another drill, but when I felt everything move I knew it was real. A bunch of missionaries got in circles and prayed, and so did we. I know that Heavenly Father looks after his missionaries. He keeps us safe! It is the first earthquake I have ever felt. So it was pretty exciting. Nothing was really affected at the MTC.

New missionaries were supposed to come in yesterday but because of the earthquake, they all flew somewhere else. I think they fly in today, but not 100% positive.

It is my last week at the MTC and I got another haircut today. Let's just say it is way better then my last one!

It's crazy that I have been out for a month. Sometimes, I feel like I have been out longer then that. I leave for Chile the beginning of next week so this is my last P-Day at the Mexico MTC! And I am super excited to go to Chile and start teaching!

It was also Mexican Independence Day this week. Everyone in Mexico partied. I'm enclosed in the gates of the MTC, but I still heard everything.

Yesterday we listened to a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook. One thing he talked about was how missionaries need to love. He talked about four different areas we need to show our love:

1. Love your companion 

2. Love the people 

3. Love your mission president 

4. Love the Savior 

Love is such an important part of missionary work. Elder Cook said that we can show our love to the Savior by bringing His gospel to the world. And I can't wait to do that! In everything we do, whether big or small, we need to do things that show our love to the Savior. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us more then we can comprehend and we need to do our best to show our love to them.

Love you, Elder Jones

P.S.
Jacob 2:8- "And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul."

And that's exactly what this gospel is, it heals us. It makes us better people. Through this gospel, and more importantly the Atonement, our wounds can be clean, and it can heal the wounded soul.

Elder HJones: Another One!

What´s up!

image source: Mexico MTC Facebook Page

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21192658_1606287372738899_2811879403052471924_n.jpg?oh=0678f5f677bb0f57d0cf208ed9400c80&oe=5A51DBF5

Another earthquake hit Mexico, if you didn´t hear. It was an 7.1 or something. It was weird because I felt it! The ground shook! It was pretty crazy. The earthquake was closer to us then the last one, so we acyually felt it. But we are all okay!

Love ya, talk to ya tomorrow!

Elder Jones



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Elder CJones: Once I Was 11 Months Old

This week we celebrated Mexican Independence Day, it was Friday and Saturday and the people just party hard and get drunk. We stayed away from the parties and the beer. It was great, the ward had a little party and few members came and brough even fewer investigators.

Not much has been going on. I guess I have gotten used to all the crazy things and the normal life of a missionary that I don´t really have a lot to share all the time, it´s all normal for me.

I really love the mission, here I have rubiks cubes and I love to use them to teach lessons because it helps the people understand me. We like to use examples to help the people understand the importance of the Gospel.

I just want to say that I love this Gospel, there are so many blessings that come from it. I have seen them in my life and others have seen it in theirs. I am helping the people here to understand and to more fully take on life with Christ at their side.

I testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel!

-- 
Elder Corom Jones

Elder HJones: The Language of the Spirit

As you all probably heard we had an earthquake here in Mexico City. An 8.1. I slept right throught it. Didn't even know until someone told me in the morning. Don't really know how bad it was because nothing was affected at the MTC. Let's just say we were blessed.

I also had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Everyone has to write a 5 minute spanish talk during the week on an assigned topic, then during the meeting they tell us who is speaking (normally 3-4 people). This week I was called on to speak. I spoke about the Plan of Salvation, and how the Atonement is what glues it all together. Through the Atonement we can become our best selves and eventually live with our Heavenly Father again. It was hard for me because the talk had to be in complete Spanish, and my Spanish is no bueno. But, it was a blessing. My testimony was really strengthened as I spoke. It was a great experience for me. It was hard, but it was worth it.  I learned that even if I can't speak the language perfectly its okay. The Spirit is what teaches and the only way to teach is with the language of the Spirit.

That same Sunday we listened to a devotional. It was a talk by Jeffery R. Holland. Don't know what it was called, but it was about Preach My Gospel, and feeding His sheep. I highly recommend reading or listening to it. Maybe one of the best talks I've ever heard! Just the words I heard and the Spirit I felt really motivated me to be a better missionary! And I also said the closing prayer in Spanish after that devotional...so I was really involved on Sunday.

This gospel brings so much happiness. I have felt more peace and joy in the past month, then I have in my life. I still miss you all, but this gospel is such a blessing. And I'm so grateful that I can sacrifice two years of my life to share it with others!

This gospel is true! I wouldn't have left my family, friends, and life if I didn't believe in it. It has brought me so much joy, and I just want to give it to others!

Love, Elder Jones

¨The work is more WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE ARE, then WHAT WE SAY.¨
- Elder Bednar (The Character of Christ)

Elder HJones: Earthquake!!

Hey!

Just you to let you know that I'm alright. Apparently, there was 8.1 earthquake last night in Mexico City. Pretty much everyone here slept through it. I didn't even know it happened until they told us this morning. Don't know a lot of details, but I'm safe.

Love, Elder Jones

Elder HJones: Mexico MTC August 15, 2017

image courtesy of the Mexico MTC Facebook Page:

 https://www.facebook.com/mexicomtc/photos/ms.c.eJwtyMEJADAIA8CNijE2mv0XE0rveVBAKEuXrubBC9rMULJ~;FOjpnPECAfoKKQ~-~-.bps.a.1435465293154442.1073741833.842713389096305/1601614966539473/?type=3

Elder CJones: Investigator Flood and "Fuimos Bien Lejos"

Well, to say the least, we had 12 of our investigators show up at church on Sunday!! That is an amazing number!  Which means that many people are trying to change their lives so they can be baptized. We are so glad when the investigators want to show up. One of the hardest things here in Mexico is that the people don't like to come to church, so we have to make sure that they really want to come before we can baptize the people.

Our week was amazing. It was pure teaching and contacting. We worked hard to teach and to find the people that are ready to hear our message. We have a good amount of people that we are teaching and preparing to be baptized. Here are some of the people we are teaching:

Maya Family -
The father, Nacho, is a member. He was baptized almost 20 years ago. His wife, Reyna, was raised Catholic and they have two kids: Frank and Samantha. We first met them on a really rainy night at the very end of the day, this was about a month ago. We were on our way home and we felt that we needed to contact one more house. We knocked on the first door in the area and Nacho came out and invited us right in to share a message with them. We shared a message with them and asked them some questions about their family and that's when we found out about all the problems they have been having with the marriage. We shared a message with them and we all left that that lesson with tears and an amazing growth of a testimony. We are now preparing them to be married and then she can be baptized.

Palomeque Family -
The kids are baptized and the parents are waiting to be divorced from their first spouses and then they can be married. They already pay tithing and want to go to church every week. They love the church and help us take investigators to church every week.

There are so many others that we are teaching, but I can't share about everyone because that would just get crazy.

There are some people that want to know about the drug cartels and the military and all the crazy stuff that happens. Well, there are a lot of drug cartels and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. It's not surprising if we have to take cover because of shootings. The military uses a helicopter to shoot the members of the cartels. We see the members all the time and they carry guns and estrellas. Estrellas are used to pop tires, they are made of rebar and are sharp. I have heard a lot of gunshots. One night, about a month and a half ago, we saw a guy that got shot that was bleeding everywhere. But we as missionaries are safe and protected by the power of God.

I have been studying the scriptures a lot too. The scriptures are an amazing way for us to receive revelation to do better. In Doctrine and Covenants 18 we read:

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" 

As I read this I learned that it says that you will be with the person you help in the Kingdom of the Father. That means you will both make it to the Kingdom of God, we need to baptized people that are ready, not for the number because we are helping the people use the Gospel to return to the Celestial Kingdom.

Oh, and we have some houses that are really really far away. They are over a 3 hour walk. I will tell you about that next week. We tried to walk there one day after lunch, but it was impossible so we will go visit and contact a lot of people that day!!

I was thinking about the Atonement this week and I thought of this story.

"Brother Christianson taught Seminary. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I
need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.

When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk..

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott, do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration
coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?" Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I help him?"

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, pleaded to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

I love you all and I want you to know that the power of the Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for all of us to return and use this amazing gift, but only if we use it.

--  Elder Corom Jones

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken." -President Dieter F Uchtdorf

Elder CJones: The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done!

This week has been absolutely crazy!! It has been a testimony builder and a great strength to me as I have worked hard on a lot of things. the flight was great, the airline gave us complimentary drink and snacks and it wasn't the worst experience of my life. Mexico City is crazy and the MTC is great!!
We got to the MTC around 5 on Tuesday, it's about an hour drive from the airport and the buses aren't as nice as the ones in the United States, and the roads are absolutely crazy! They are packed and people drive really really close to each other and it's stop and go, and people don't use blinkers and pedestrians cross the street where ever they want to. It's worse than California driving. But it was great and the dinner meals every Tuesday night is Costco pizza, and we had a devotional that night and Sister Oscarson was the guest speaker.

My district is amazing, there are 10 elders in my district, all but one going to Reynosa, the other is going to Salem, Oregon.

We are all getting so close to one another, 6 of us are from Utah, 3 from Arizona and 1 from Texas, we have grown so well together as a district and I could say that we are the best bonded in the MTC.
I will say, the MTC has been the hardest thing I have ever done. The first full day was the hardest day of my life, it was a very stressful day because mostly everyone that works here speaks Spanish and very little English. so you have to make so with what you got. But as the days go on, my homesickness fades as I keep myself busy, it's the times that we are relaxing in our room at night is when I get homesick the most. But it has been a great experience overall.

This week I have gained a testimony of the power of prayer, our teachers help us learn the language by solely speaking Spanish, and it was really hard to start, but as time went on for these past few weeks, I have been blessed to understand and ever communicate with my teacher as well as my practice investigators. 3 days in we were given an investigator to teach, and the investigator only knows Spanish so you have to prepare a lot for the lesson beforehand. The other elders in my district all have less Spanish knowledge than I do, and my comp has a really hard time speaking and understanding so much on the time I have to take the lead and teach most of the lesson. He is hard work and I know that I am supposed to help him, he loves to talk and sing and sometimes he gets a little annoying but I have been trying my best to just deal with it and help him with everything and our comp relationship has been getting better.

Every district has 2 teachers, one for the morning and one for the evening and they are great guys, Hermano Palma is our morning teacher, he is a stud and has an amazing spirit, he is funny and is really short. But they are really helping us prepare to teach in the field.

The food here is, well I don't know how to explain it, it doesn't stay warm for long so I/we are usually stuck with eating cold food and most of us are not used to it so we are constantly running to the bathroom every hour or so.

Sleep is good, we are in with lights out at 1030 and are up at 630, it's still hard to stay awake during the day but it's getting easier and easier to get up early. Study is good, we spend a lot of time memorizing scriptures and passages in Spanish to help us in the field. We study a ton of Spanish and have to memorize and understand between 30-50 words a day, we have computer time when we use a program to help us learn and teach.

Our schedules for the day are packed full and we don't have much time to ourselves, it's go go go but it's been helping us get better at the language and better prepared to work hard out in the field.
The MTC is surrounded by a high brick wall and barbed wire fencing, it's a really poor part of the city that was are in. The houses are really close together and they are made of concrete and painted a ton of different colors.

Today, for P-day, we were given the chance to go to the Mexico City temple and do an endowment session there, we get to go 3 times while we are in the MTC. It was an amazing experience to hear some of it in Spanish, I am grateful that I can go to the temple and have the peace that comes from such a great refuge.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, he dedicated his life to making sure that all of us could have the gospel in our lives, we watch a church movie on Sunday night about Joseph Smith and had a district testimony meeting after the video and it was the greatest testimony meeting that I have ever been in, I know that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, and I know that the happiness that the gospel brings me is something that I can't wait to share it with the people in Northern Mexico.

I'll tell you that support is what keeps me going, getting e-mails from people keeps me going and letters are even better, I can receive letters any day of the week and I can write them in my free time after class or in our house at night, and I CAN RECEIVE PACKAGES, they messed that up last week and I can receive packages. Anyway, I would love to hear from more of you.

Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes, there are times that it gets really hard and I need them. You're all the best, and I hope to hear from you all soon!!

The MTC mailing address is:

Elder Corom L Jones
Mexico Reynosa Mission
Mexico Missionary Training Center
Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828
Gustavo A Madero
Colonia Zona Escolar
07230 Mexico City, Distrito Federal
Mexico

You are the greatest and remember that Heavenly Father loves you, I know that he loves you!!

I love you all and hope that life is progressing well!! I pray for you all every night!!

The Avalanche Just Begun

Today he left.

The oldest Elder Jones.

The first of seven.

Off to Mexico to teach the word of God.

And behold, we saw and felt that it was good!