ZJones: Happy Mother's Day

District Council and last day in Lujan

I don't have a lot to say just because I was able to talk with my family yesterday! It was awesome to spend a little time with them! It is weird to think that that was my last Mother's Day in the Mission. It does go by super fast!!

Elder Marquez and Me

Today I also received my TRUNKY PAPERS! NOOO!! My release date is the 30th of July. Super close.

This week was great. We found a lot of new people and helped many to be baptized.

Twins!

This week we will be working with a couple people.

1- Poala and her kids (Kevin, Tomas, Antonela, Oriana). They have been to church before and want to come. They also want to be baptized, Kevin not so much. But the hardest part for them is getting up in the morning! They are worse than Ezrom and Corom getting up for scriptures in the morning! Can you imagine that!!! haha

2.Adaliada's friend- My companion and his former companion baptized an older lady and she brought her friend to church. We still haven't gotten to know her yet, but we will be passing by during the week.

3.A less active family- We found a less active family this past week. There are 3 in the family and one of the kids hasnt been baptized. We will be helping them to come back to church and to help the kid to be baptized! Please pray for them that we will find them during the week and that we can help them and commit them to come to church this weekend!

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 ZJones: The Gospel is Everything

I am already on week three in the mission.

There are so many feelings that are good into the mission. Frustration. Joy. Peace. Everything about the mission is difficult, but it is totally worth it.

 Not much has changed since last week. We have a ton of investigators we have been teaching. We have one lady named Bibiana Ruiz that has a baptismal date for the 11th of November. Her husband and two daughters are already members. When we went over to teach her she explained to us that she was ready to be baptized. It was an awesome experience to see her making that decision for herself. It is awesome when we are able to change peoples lives, but when they choose for themselves it makes it 100 times better.

This week we had interviews with Presidente Resek and through my interview I was able to get to know him a little more. He explained to me the importance of the Book of Mormon and why when we teach about it when we make contact with people. He also explained that The Book of Mormon testifies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ more than any other book. Throughout my reading I have focused to see how important the Atonement is to me and how it is found all over the Book of Mormon. Presidente Resek has helped me so much and is really loving. He always encourages us to be better and work harder.

Yesterday, in Argentina, it was Mothers Day!! Because of this, Presidente let us Skype our families!! It was such an awesome opportunity. Though it has only been two months it was great to see that my family is doing well. (They all need haircuts though!! ha ha)

 I am grateful for this gospel. The mission is hard but that is the way it is supposed to be. This gospel expects people to change, and if I don't change on the mission, the people won't change either. I know the Atonement is real and the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ! This gospel is everything and can help us with anything!

Elder Jones

Elder ZJones: It's Mother's Day in Argentina . . .

Which means we TOTALLY got a call in October!

The funny thing about technology is that Skype and Hangouts DID NOT work very well going through the computer at all.

So we took the the smartphone to actually have an interrupted conversation!!

Zeram is doing so well. Loves his mission. Made some personal goals this week to help him become a better missionary.

And, above all, he is happy!

Elder CJones: The Marvelous Blessing of a Mother

"God’s greatest reward goes to those who serve without expectation of reward."
-President Dieter F Uchtdorf

Cuidado con Huracán Harvey!

This week a hurricane passed over the side of our state on its way to Texas. First off, pray for the people and families in Houston!  They are going through a lot. We hear a lot about them and they need our prayers. Please keep them in your prayers!

We didn't get hit by the hurricane but we did get a lot of rain and lightning. The lightning is really cool here and really loud. And after it rains, it gets really humid and hot. During the rain it is wonderful, but after it is really bad.

One of the things that we teach the the people here is that Heavenly Father knows each one of us personally because He is our All-loving Father.

This week, I received a package from my wonderful mother. What was inside was probably the best thing that I have received while here on the mission.

One of the things that mothers have is this blessing is of knowing what their children love. I got a book of the first 25 conference talks by President Uchtdorf. I think my mom just wants my companions to see me cry ;).

I am so grateful for my mom! I love her to death.

This week, even though it my not be her birthday or Mother's Day, you all should look for a way to show your love to your mother.

--
Elder Corom Jones

"May each of us remember this truth; 'one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God.' Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one." -President Monson

Elder CJones: Family is of God

"Pray as though everything depended on God.
Work as though everything depended on you."

-Saint Augustine

Well to start it all off, I got to Video Call my family this week!! It was great to talk with them and see them all--LIVE--face to face. I know that families are of God and I am so grateful for my family!

Today has been crazy! Along with the Mother's Day present, we also received transfers this week! I am one who is getting transferred again. I will be headed to another city called Valle Hermoso. Valle Hermoso is a small city a few hours from Rio Bravo and Reynosa. It's more to the south.

Image Source: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Valle-Hermoso

I will be leaving some really great people and investigators here in Rio Bravo. Recently, we were teaching a man named Adrian. He has been having some doubts about the Church and he has a lot of questions, but he has a desire to read the Book of Mormon and find the truth. He works a lot and doesn't have a lot of time to go to church. He is a really cool guy and I am praying that he will progress and one day be baptized.

We recently met another family, the Morelos family. They have been searching for the truth for a very long time. They are hoping that through the Book of Mormon and our discussions they can find the truth and find out which church is the true church of Jesus Christ. They are praying to find the answer as they read and study, their names are Sergio and Ana.

Our last investigator from the Mexican state of Campeche. Her name is Ezperanza. She is here helping her daughter take care of her baby. We passed her house one day and knocked on the door. She answered and we talked about her life down where she is from. She has come to church once and plans to read the Book of Mormon we gave to her. She has really strong faith and feels the the Gospel and the message that we bring is right. I pray that she will follow her desires and the promptings of the Spirit.

I know this work is true. I know that even when things go wrong (and they always will). May we be willing to rise up and never stay down when we will find times that are truly tough. Sometimes, it will be hard to follow up on something when it never seems to be going our way. Sometimes, we feel let down and sometimes we feel alone. At times, we my feel that we are the only ones suffering through the pain and disappointment. But there is Someone out there who wants to help us. His name is Jesus Christ and He knows all of our pains and afflictions. He is our greatest Friend and Helper and when we feel that we don't deserve anything good, He knows the best. He will always help.

One of my favorite movie series of all time is that of the Batman Trilogy by Christopher Nolan. I have learned some great lessons from those movies. One of the examples is in the first movie "Batman Begins.' After he is trained and is given an option to destroy his city, he makes up his mind to help the city and he would help them as long as they let him. Batman's trainer becomes angry because Batman will not destroy the city. In the past, I have thought about this and the importance of how this can apply to the Gospel. Those bad murderers in the movie are like Satan, he knows that we are imperfect and wants to destroy us, our Savior is like Batman. (Yes and I am really comparing this). Our Savior wants to help us but only as long as we let Him. Though Jesus Christ anything is possible. Yes, it's hard. Yes, we will suffer, and yes, it will hurt.  But just like Batman is said, "The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming."

I testify of the grace and mercy of our Savior Jesus Christ and the power that comes through his Atoning sacrifice. When we turn to the Lord, our hearts will change and we will become like Him.

Love you all,
Elder Corom Jones

"Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share. That's why it's so important. It separates us from them." -Dialogue from Batman Begins

Elder CJones: Mother's Day 2017

We had a wonderful visit today with Elder Jones.
He is happy. He is tan. He is loving his mission even though the people in Rio Bravo are not as receptive to the gospel message as he would like. His Spanish is coming along very well. With the heat and the humidity, he drinks about a gallon of water a day! He is grateful to be a full-time missionary. We love you Elder Corom Jones!